You're bringing a baby??

Happy Saturday!! We have begun the countdown...15 days and counting before we head home!!

Today I wanted to talk about our decision to bring our 5 month old (she'll be 5 months 3 days before we leave). A lot of people think we are nuts and ask why don't we wait until she's older? It's not like we have other children that are older traveling with us. My philosophy is, you can't ever be too young for Disney!!

The decision was made partially for selfish reasons...my husband and I wanted to travel back to Disney as we always have and felt that having a baby didn't change that! The other part was, and call me crazy, but I really think she's going to enjoy it.  She's very aware of her surroundings and constantly interested in EVERYTHING that's going on...even if just a simple trip to the grocery store. She loves bright lights and music (what baby doesn't) and she travel really well.  Except if she's hungry, she's a very easy going baby!

On a positive note, Disney makes it very easy to travel with a baby! Before that, we have to get to Disney right?  Another reason we are taking her now is....she's FREE!!  The airline allows children 2 and under to travel for free when they are sitting in your lap.

I've mentioned before that I will be trying to order several things to make our traveling easier.  From Garden Grocer* we will be ordering diapers and I will be shipping her formula ahead of time to the resort.  I'll still be bringing a diaper bag with enough formula and diapers for the day.

We debated bringing  a small stroller and renting a car seat from Alamo but in the end decided it was just easier to bring our own travel system and check it at the gate.   Our daughter is comfortable in it and it makes the most sense.

We are booked at Coronado Springs in a standard room.  I like the benefit of having  a small mini-fridge and more space. We have also requested a Pack-n-Play, a free amenity provided by Disney. We also requested a connecting room with my parents which will offer more space and easy access to some very helpful Grandparents :)

Did you know that each park offers a baby care center? The baby care centers offer a cool and quiet place to take your baby. They offer a fully stocked kitchen so you can heat bottles, a high chair for feeding, nursing rooms and changing station. They also offer a variety of items available for purchase like diapers, baby food, infant and children’s medications, binkies, clothes, etc.  While I'm not sure we'll need to use these centers, it's definitely a nice perk to know I have somewhere to go should we need a quiet space to feed or change her away from the hustle and bustle.

I mentioned that we will be bringing our own stroller. Another reason we are doing this is to avoid renting a  Disney stroller. While these might work for older children, they definitely won't work for us.

We will more than likely keep the car seat in the car and let her ride in the front of our stroller, the busy body that she is.  It will offer us a great place for her to nap but also works while she's awake so she can scope out the "world".

While we won't be bringing food into the parks, we will be bringing in bottled water as well as formula and possibly baby food. Disney doesn't allow coolers (the large rolling kind, lol) but they do permit you to bring food into the parks.  We will of course need to bring our diaper bag and there will probably be at least 2 camera bags!!

So now that we are all packed up and ready to hit the parks, what do you do with a baby? At Walt Disney World children can go on any ride there isn't a height requirement!  There are quite a few rides and shows that I'm excited to take her to.

It's A Small World

Snow Whites Scary Adventure

Peter Pans Flight

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh

Journey into Imagination

The Seas with Nemo and Friends

The Great Movie Ride

The Voyage of the Little Mermaid

Beauty and The Beast on Stage

Disney Junior Live on Stage

Muppet Vision 3-D

Festival of the Lion King

Kilmanjaro Safari

Finding Nemo the Musical

So what about the big kid rides? Hubby and I don't want to miss out either!  Since we are traveling with my parents we will have the opportunity to see everything!! Here are our two options:

1) If someone isn't interested in riding (like my dad) then that person can stay with the baby while the rest of us ride

or

2) We take advantage of Baby Swap

What is baby swap?  Baby swap is a great service Disney offers for those traveling with children too small to ride but everyone else can!  Ask a Cast Member at each attraction for more details but usually  how it works is EVERYONE gets in line for the ride. When it comes time to actually board the ride, in our case 2 people will stay back with the baby. Once the first 2 return we will "swap" the baby and the 2 waiting now get to ride. This allows us to stay together and not spend ALL day in line.

After all, our last trip was while I was pregnant and I have several things in mind that I just don't want to miss!!  Overall this trip might be a little slower paced and more relaxed than past trips because we are bringing her along but it works for us and we are so excited to share our favorite place and continue the magic!

*NOTE: I no longer recommend Garden Grocer. We stopped using their services back in 2012 and only use WeGoShop.com now.