Traveling with 9 Month Old (General Questions)

[dinandmick]

Hello!

We are in the early stages of planning a possible trip this December with our little one. We are new parents so don't know much about traveling with an infant. Two of our my major questions are:

Do you need a rental car? We are leaning towards getting one in the event of an emergency and for convenience for exiting a park if the baby gets cranky, but were interested to see if anyone relied soley on the Magical Express and Disney Transportation with any success.

Should we bring our own stroller? We still are unsure of where we will be staying. If we stay with my sister who will be going at the same time with her 8 month old, it will be at the Dolphin. If we stay on our own, it will be at either POFQ or Pop. (I was hoping for the Contemporary or the Polynesian for easy access to the MK, but don't think it will be in our budget this year with the new addition). Can a 9 month old sit safely in a Disney rental stroller and would it be comfortable? Is there a lot of stroller theft if we bring our own?

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give this new mom!!!

 

[Master Yoda]

You can rely solely on Disney transportation but a car will make things easier. With a 9 month old I would bring your own stroller. You could get away with a rental but they really seemed to be designed around kids that are a little larger. I have been probably 50 times or more with a stroller and stroller theft is definitely not an issue.

 

[DisneyJoe]

Either bring your own stroller or buy one from Disney when you get there ($40?). A few reasons:

1 - If you rent a stroller from Disney, you can only use it in the parks; walking from the park to the bus or even your car you would need to carry the child; then you would need to do the same once you got off the bus at the resort when going to your room.

2 - I believe the hard plastic rental strollers are very uncomfortable

 

[happymom52003]

Two things I feel very strongly about!!

1. We've done it both ways. We prefer renting a car, ESPECIALLY when you have a baby with you. Being on a crowded, stinky bus with a baby and a folded up stroller is no fun. Neither is standing in the long bus lines, possibly waiting 30+ minutes for the next bus to arrive. Some complain about the parking lot trams, but we have never found them to be a problem....espcially compared to how much trouble the buses are. It is so nice to get into your own comfortable, air conditioned car after a long day at the parks and get back to your resort so much faster (some will argue that having a car won't save you that much time, but in my experience it saves a ton of time).
Also, it gives us peace of mind to know we have the car if we need it. We've used it many times to go to the grocery store or pharmacy, and once we even had to go to a clinic because our daughter woke up out of the blue with croup.

2. Bring your own stroller...you will want a stroller outside of the parks, especially with a 9 month old. Make sure it is comfortable, because at that age there is a good chance your baby will nap in the parks. I used to LOVE strolling through the shops while my little one slept in her stroller!

Also...you will LOVE the Baby Care centers in the park...they are amazing! I wish all public places (especially malls) had baby care centers like the ones at Disney.

 

[happymom52003]

You mentioned a monorail resort was desirable but probably not in your budget...have you considered the Wilderness Lodge? We stayed there when my little one was 12 months old and the boat to the MK was great!!

 

[lebeau]

Hello!

We are in the early stages of planning a possible trip this December with our little one. We are new parents so don't know much about traveling with an infant. Two of our my major questions are:

Do you need a rental car? We are leaning towards getting one in the event of an emergency and for convenience for exiting a park if the baby gets cranky, but were interested to see if anyone relied soley on the Magical Express and Disney Transportation with any success.

Should we bring our own stroller? We still are unsure of where we will be staying. If we stay with my sister who will be going at the same time with her 8 month old, it will be at the Dolphin. If we stay on our own, it will be at either POFQ or Pop. (I was hoping for the Contemporary or the Polynesian for easy access to the MK, but don't think it will be in our budget this year with the new addition). Can a 9 month old sit safely in a Disney rental stroller and would it be comfortable? Is there a lot of stroller theft if we bring our own?

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give this new mom!!!

Rental car? Highly recommended. We just stayed at POR and while we liked the resort, the bus service was terrible. Especially with little ones.

Stroller? Bring your own. Disney rentals are outrageous. And you still have to carry your child outside of the parks.

Check out the trip report in my sig for all the grusome details. But I stand behind these recommendations 100%.

 

[lebeau]

I used to LOVE strolling through the shops while my little one slept in her stroller!

Amen!

 

[DisneyJoe]

once we even had to go to a clinic because our daughter woke up out of the blue with croup.

Just an FYI - a clinic that I used once on a WDW trip had a van that picked me up at the resort, then took me to the pharmacy and waited while my prescription was filled, then took me to the Studios and dropped me off so I could meet my family. All I had to do was ask at the front desk of the resort and they called for me, and I only waited 10 minutes for the van.

 

[dinandmick]

You mentioned a monorail resort was desirable but probably not in your budget...have you considered the Wilderness Lodge? We stayed there when my little one was 12 months old and the boat to the MK was great!!

I love the Wilderness Lodge. Especially that time of year. If they have any great deals for December, it is something I would seriously consider.

 

[Nikki M]

Definitely bring your own stroller. They are designed for older kids and it is quite pricey to rent every day. If you are flying you want your stroller in the airport, too. It makes things much easier.

We prefer to rent a car. You can go to Wal-mart and pick up anything you need - milk, food, breakfast, medicine. It is definitely worth the extra money. In my opinion, it is not any faster to walk to your car at the parks versus ride a bus, but it is faster to drive your car to downtown disney than wait for a bus. We drove and parked at MK one night. We had to ride a tram, then ride the monorail to the park. We said "Why did we do this?" It took a lot longer than riding the bus. If you stay at the Dolphin (we always stay at the Swan) the bus to MK is always quick. Sometimes we even walk through Epcot and ride the monorail. It's not faster, but fun.

If you can afford to stay at a monorail resort, do it. Last year we got a deal for the Poly and it was so worth it. The monorail is fast to get back to the room for naps.

Two things:
1. Stay on the schedule, even though you are tempted to skip naps, bed times, etc. They will last out the week and stay happier if you do. It is tempting to stay in the park and skip the nap, but don't do it. You will regret it!

2. Utilize the baby care centers in each park. They are great spots for breaks in the day and to change diapers and feed.

Have a great time! We went with our son when he was 6 months and 14 months and had a great time. Take lots of video and pics!

 

[amykissangel]

1) Absolutely bring your own stroller. The fabric umbrella strollers are the easiest, most pliable and fold up quickly. We brought my sister when she was 1, 2, 3 and 4, and the umbrella stroller was absolutely fantastic.

2) I disagree about the rental car, as would my parents.

If you choose a hotel with a great bus system (like POP), it truly does come every 20-25 minutes. With the stroller easily folding up, one person holds the baby and one folds the stroller and hops on. It's absolutely a cinch.

It takes you at least 10-15 minutes to get to your car in the parking lot, and then it's getting the baby in the hot carseat, then maneuvering your way through the parking lot, getting on the crowded freeway, parking in your parking lot, getting the baby out and getting back to the room. When all you would've had to do is relax in the shade of the bus area, get on the bus, let yourself be driven back to the hotel, and you're done.

Yes, if you're bringing 8 diaper bags and a stroller that rivals a tanker, by all means, take your own vehicle. But with a small stroller that folds easily and a backpack used as a diaper bag...we've relied on the bus system solely for quite a while now - even to get to church we head to DTD and take a taxi the extra few miles.

We have always felt that a vehicle at the parks is far more of a hindrance than a help, and a bit of a waste of money.

But if you've got a lot of ADRs at different resorts, THEN I'd think about a car. Otherwise that's 2 long busrides with a baby.

Have a wonderful time with your little one - I know we always did!

 

[GatorGambit]

We did this with our daughter when she was 6 months old. Thougts:

I am of the opinion that you should always have your own car. Relying on Disney Transportation is convenient, but unreliable. For example, we thought it would be a nice change of pace to take the boat transportation roundtrip from POFQ to DTD for dinner. I wish we had driven instead. The ride to DTD was ok but not so much coming back. Instead of leaving when we wanted in our nice air conditioned car, we stood in a crowded, hot line full of people at the boat dock with a screaming 6 month old waiting to get on a boat with an engine so loud you couldn't hear yourself think. Now take that one experience and multiply it by every time you want to go somewhere, having to stand in line waiting for a bus / boat / etc. I'll take my own car or a rental car every time over Disney Transportation.

The strollers in the parks are utilitarian at best, large plastic seats on wheels with not much room for storage. Also, you will want to use your stroller for times when you are not in the parks. If you absolutely have to rent a stroller, go with a non-WDW orlando based stroller rental company, which provide nicer strollers for your full visit and deliver to any hotel yo uare staying at.

 

[Birdie757]

My daughter is now 4 but we started taking her at about 9 months...she has been about 8 times now. When we get to our resort our car is parked and not used again until the trip home. We have never had any problems getting any where on property whether it be by boat, bus, or monorail. I quickly fold up the chicco umbrella stroller when the bus arrives and dh holds her. Never had a problem. We mark our stroller so we can tell it from the 300 other red chicco strollers in the stroller parking areas so it is easy to find. When we would leave for afternoon naps the buses are nearly empty, cool, quite and get you back "home" pretty quickly. We live in FL and know first hand that a car is going to be smoking hot after it has sat in the parking lot all day. Even if it takes a few minutes for the bus to get there you are in the shade and baby can be in the stroller while you wait.

If you do decide on renting a car I would at least try once to go on the buses...so next time you can decide on your own if the rental is worth it for your family.

 

[Erika]

I'm another one recommending you bring your own stroller

Our trip was to Disneyland, not WDW, but I went expecting that we'd have to go back to the hotel every day for naps. Instead I was pleasantly surprised to find that my son (a few days short of 9 months old) slept for hours in his own stroller- much more soundly than he slept in the hotel room. We had a full stroller vs an umbrella stroller which gave us the advantage of being able to lay him completely back and pull the shade around him.

 

[NewfieFan]

I'll chime in and recommend that you bring your own stroller... it's a must with a baby that young!

This is a great travel stroller if you don't already own one and you plan to buy... http://www.amazon.com/Combi-Flare-2010-Lightweight-Stroller/dp/B002ZNKSMK

I've actually purchased two of these - in the past we've traveled with two small children. I still have one that I even bring for my 4 year old! It folds up quite small (which is important if you use Disney transportation).

There's also two other rental locations in Orlando that service the Disney resorts (if you didn't want to purchase a travel stroller). These rental strollers seem to be a lot better for babies than the ones Disney rent (and bonus - you have the stroller everywhere you go, not just in the parks)!

http://www.orlandostrollerrentals.com/

http://www.magicstrollers.com/

Hope this helps!

 

[cegrant]

The car....
I think time of year has a lot to do with it. We went in early Dec with a 3 year old and 12 month old and the buses were fine. We had an easy time getting the stroller on and someone always offered us a seat if it was crowded. However, it was the off season and things were never jam packed. Also, we never closed down a park so we weren't dealing with the mass exodus of people that sometimes overloads the system.

The stroller....
Either bring your own or rent one from an offsite company. Disney strollers are not designed for babies, and you will want a stroller outside the park gates.

The airplane....
It's not required but I recommend getting the baby their own seat. For one, it's safer. Second, it's nice to have the extra space. If you aren't renting a car (so don't need to take your car seat) and they are over 20lb, get one of these strap systems to use in place of the car seat on the plane.
http://www.kidsflysafe.com/
We used one for our 12 month old last year and it was fantastic. Many wondering looks from parents struggling to wedge their car seats onto the plane. It took maybe a minute to install.

Have a great time.