Disneyland With A Baby - Everything You Need To Know
let’s go to disneyland!!
OK you guys I said I would write a blog post about Disneyland with a baby… So here we go! I will preface this by saying the more prepping time you have before a trip probably the more sane & prepared you will feel but since we only had about two weeks before we left on this trip, I honestly feel like Amazon prime was my BFF LOL. And also just kind of winging it as we went, but everything honestly turned out amazing. Hope this helps you in some way feel less stressed or more organized haha!
I also wanted to say, I know this isn’t a choice everyone would make, in fact I did get a few DMs from people asking why I would even take my daughter to Disney at such a young age. And to that I just say - we wanted to :) We made super special and fun memories, took lots of pictures, laughed a lot, and feel like it will be a memory Matt and I have forever. Don’t worry too much about all of the planning & making it all perfect, enjoy your time with your little ones and make. the. memories!! xx
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the airport + flying
PACKING: When we packed for Disneyland Matt and I both packed a suitcase as well as Taya’s, who has her own. We always fly Alaska Airlines fyi. We checked all three of those suitcases onto the plane as well as her stroller base, car seat and toddler seat. I’m sure there are many ways to do this especially depending on what airlines you fly but for us we always fly Alaska Airlines and we get a third bag checked for free which is why we checked her bag. This is a quick breakdown of what our morning looks like when we’re driving to the airport: Taya’s was in her uppa baby mesa car seat in the car (she still fit in this at 10months) & when we got to the airport we swapped her into her toddler seat that clicked in to the upper baby vista stroller base. When we checked all three of our luggage, we also checked her car seat. We kept her in the toddler seat in her stroller to push her around the airport - which gave us storage space in the bottom as well as free hands to carry our own bags. When we got to the gate to get onto the flight we just walked up to the front desk and let them know that we wanted to check our stroller and the toddler seat attached to it. This is a common way that a lot of people check strollers instead of having to do it at the very start, because it allows you to use it throughout the airport. They will tag your stroller and the toddler seat attachment and ask you to break it down and takeoff the wheels, etc. to make it small. You don’t have to put it in a bag but I suggest purchasing a simple stroller bag from Amazon and putting everything in there just to keep it together. The stroller bag isn’t going to protect it from getting hit or thrown but it will protect it from getting super dirty. When we landed in California we got our bags from baggage claim as well as the car seat and the stroller and the toddler attachment. On the plane we did not use a car seat or any type of seat for Tay because she is so mobile and likes to explore.. we just personally felt like it would not be successful and I am so happy with that decision because I feel like it would’ve just been in the way! OH, you can also rent a stroller @ Disney if you would rather. Disneyland rental strollers go for $18 per day. You can rent a double stroller for $36 per day.
FLYING WITH A BABY: The first question I get asked about is how is flying with Taya. When we went on this Disney trip she was about 10 months old, taking two solid naps a day, drinking bottles before naps and eating real food as well. I know it can feel a little bit overwhelming to “mess up“ a schedule that has a really good thing going for it, but I really think that babies are pretty good at going with the flow and changing up their routine as they need it. Flying with Taya went how you would expect flying with a 10-month-old to go hahah I mean I think the biggest take away for flying that we figured out was that we definitely want to buy an extra seat for her. At this age treating her as a lap infant was not very successful. On our flight down we actually flew first class so Matt and I each had a seat that was extra wide and had plenty of light room where she could crawl around and play and I think that was really the most ideal situation because it gave her space to roam and we kind of had our own little bubble. On the way back we only were able to get two seats on the plane since the plane was completely full - in hindsight I wish we would have maybe just booked a later flight and really made having to her own seat a priority. At this age where they are moving so much, they’re curious, they want to do things on their own and play, it really makes it so much easier for them to feel like they have space and they’re not just being passed back-and-forth. Like I said this is my own experience so if you only want to purchase two seats, I can only afford two seats, etc. then that is not an issue - it’s just what we will be doing in the future is purchasing a 3rd seat. I think we would even do that if she had been younger, then instead of holding her or a nap we could just set her on the seat between us.
FORMULA: If your baby is still taking bottles of formula like Tay did, I would suggest asking a flight attendant for a cup of warm water or just to even fill an empty thermos on the plane right when you get on the plane. Or ask for a water bottle if you prefer. FYI: The two times we have flown we have had to dump our water while going through security - yours may let you through but we have never had luck! I do think if the formula is liquid based they let it through security, and powdered formula is fine. But we have had to dump our thermos of water each time. We have found that if Tay is eating a bottle at takeoff it helps to pop her ears and soothe her because it’s something familiar. If you don’t think plane water is ok to drink then just ask for a water bottle - totally your preference! OR if it is available, purchase a water bottle right before boarding and use that!
ON THE PLANE: For the plane itself we kind of had to just roll with the punches, even though you really hope that your babies going to sleep the whole flight, that’s not really practical LOL and even when they scream and cry you just kind of have to know that that’s what a baby does. We did bring a bag that had toys in it as well as some snacks, a fruit pouch that could easily go through security and be eaten quickly and cleanly. Of course we had diapers and wipes and a couple changes of clothes as well. I think my biggest take away with the flight is that you can’t really control what your child is going to do on the flight, so just staying calm and peaceful and quiet as much as you can helps them feel calm even if they are freaking out.
my essentials for baby travel
disney details, schedule & resort
THE RESORT: The resort that we stayed at (Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa) in Disneyland was pretty expensive, although the location was incredible and completely worth it, the room itself is pretty basic unless you wanted to upgrade to a larger room with more space. You can also stay off the resort property at a much lower price; and I believe you can just shuttle in or even park and walk in. If I was to do it again I would book the same hotel because the location could not be beat. It took 5 minutes to walk from our hotel into either Disneyland or CA Adventure. There were also shops in DownTown Disney right below us for food, dinner, coffee, drinks, and clothes.
SLEEP SITUATION: For just the two of us and Tay the space in the room was plenty big, however it did take a little bit of creativity to find a place for her to sleep. We had called the hotel ahead of time and let them know we had an infant and that we would want to be using their pack & play for the few days we were there for her to sleep. If you call ahead and ask for it, most hotels will have a pack and play you can use and that is just one less thing you then have to pack!! We ended up putting her pack and play right by the door because it was in the darkest spot in the room. Typically if there is a bathroom with a door or a walk-in closet we can put her in there and as long as it’s dark and quiet she’ll sleep fine. We do have a pack and play black out cover that adds a little bit of darkness & protection from light that we put over the pack and play as well. For naps and bedtime we brought her hatch sound machine from home because I felt like hearing something familiar during those crucial sleep times was important for her to get good sleep.
HOW MANY DAYS: We did three full days at Disneyland and California adventure, I believe that you do have to specify online when you buy your tickets which park you’re going to be at which day and this helps them not over book the parks. I think Matt just did it online about a week before we got there and he said it was really easy. As far as the rides for each park went there was really rides in both Disneyland and California adventure that Tay as a 10 month old could go on. Almost everything in Pixar pier and California adventure is available to babies and toddlers. Some rides do have height requirements but they’re sort of obvious because they’re like roller coasters or rides that obviously baby wouldn’t go on. There are some not so obvious rides that you would think maybe a baby couldn’t go on that they can, like Pirates of the Caribbean! Om at one point when we were on that right I was like thinking that I just scarred her for life with these pirates yelling pirate AHOY MAYTEES! above us in the dark - it was just really hilarious to see her pointing things out and smiling when it was supposed to be scary haha. Other rides that babies can go on in Disneyland are the tea cups which are so much fun, Dumbo, Peter Pan‘s ride, really anything in fantasyland is geared toward kids. Even if you don’t go on a ton of rides with your baby it is really fun to walk around and see the lights, walk through stores, see Disney characters, and just sort of experience all the hectic chaos of Disney with a little one!
NAPS ON THE GO: Taya’s is currently taking two naps: one nap is about 2 1/2 hours after she wakes up and the other one is typically from 3 to 5 PM in the afternoon before she goes down for bed around eight. I honestly was not sure how her naps would go while in Disneyland because I really didn’t wanna have to go back to the room twice a day and just like sit in a dark quiet room and waste the day away haha! I mean if that’s what she needed, we would do it but I felt like for what we were paying I really wanted to experience Disneyland and be outside. I was pleasantly surprised and impressed with how she took the first nap each day, basically she would just fall asleep in the stroller and we would take a blanket around her and put the seat back a little bit so she was laying more flat and she would take about an hour long nap in her stroller each of the three days we were there for her first nap. One day she even fell asleep on me as I was holding her for Its’s A Small World, and it was cracking us up because that’s just about the only ride you can hold a baby like that on and it be OK haha. Basically my take away from this is try to roll with one nap on the go if it’s working for your baby and it’s not affecting their attitude and then really make sure the second nap is in their same napping environment that they’re used to at home. For the second nap we kind of tried to sync up Tay’s nap with our friends daughter Blair who is two 1/2 years old. She napped from around 2 to 4 so that is when we tried to nap Tay as well back in our room. She was super tired and exhausted from being stimulated throughout the whole day so I thought she napped really well and took a solid two hour nap every day we were there!! During that time Matt and I laid on our bed and took a nap or scrolled our phones and just had downtime and relaxed so we could be quiet in the room as she slept in the area next to us. One day I actually came back to the room and put her down for a nap and took a nap myself, and then Matt and our friends we went with went on a couple rides so it worked out really well that the hotel was so close to the park. That’s definitely my favorite part of the hotel we say that because it was SO easy to go back to the hotel when we needed to, even if we forgot something it would take five minutes to get back to the hotel.
EATING ON THE GO: For food on the go honestly Taya’s mostly ate bottles, fruit packs, and little bits of whatever we ate, because it was quick and easy and not messy. When we got Starbucks coffee and breakfast in the mornings we would also buy her a banana and feed her some of our pastry as well as the banana throughout the day. You definitely can bring in snacks and food into Disneyland as long as it sealed, they didn’t really check for food at all so I would just consider having a grocery delivery send you a few items to your hotel room and then packing it for the day if you’re worried about feeding your baby for the day. I didn’t really want to buy things at the park for her that I knew she wasn’t going to eat; she doesn’t eat sugar or processed foods so it just made sense to keep her food really simple for these few days. When we went out for lunch or dinner I would also feed her things like refried beans, rice, guacamole, or anything that was a side dish from what I ordered but I really didn’t focus on ordering her anything specific because the food is so expensive and I just didn’t want to risk buying a bunch of stuff that she wasn’t gonna eat. You can bring a thermos full of warm water as well as formula and bottles in a diaper bag to the park, they just checked it when we left the hotel and also when we’re going into the park they check the bags. I personally felt like food was the easiest part about the trip, there is places to buy coffee and water and snacks and food all over the park both for yourself and for your child no matter what age they are!
disney ears under $15
random thoughts
CONCERNS WITH SAFETY: To be honest when you were inside Disneyland it really didn’t feel like C*vid it was a thing, I’m still deciding if that was a good thing or a bad thing LOL but honestly it felt really nice to have something seem “normal”. No masks were required inside the park except for if you were going on a ride that was indoors, then the characters asked you to please put on your mask once you were inside. It definitely wasn’t ever a hassle and it didn’t seem like they were forcing people to do anything, it was just very respectful and people just need you to put them over their faces before they went inside. I did have a few questions of people asking if I felt like Tay was safe there and to be honest I can only answer that for myself. But yes I do feel like Taya was super safe and that the park is taking the precautions that they feel necessary to be safe. If it’s something that makes you anxious then it might not be a good time to bring your child to an amusement park, however we felt really good about our decision. Honestly Tay wasn’t really around that many people when she is being pushed in her stroller all day and then held by us on rides. One thing to note is that if you or your child is expecting to get close to Disney characters you are not allowed to go near them, all of the characters were either behind fences or had ropes around them or you couldn’t get super close to them which is totally understandable but something to note!
MERCH/CLOTHES: This is kind of a fun and silly part about Disneyland but purchasing the cheesy clothing and cute ears before hand is definitely the more affordable route to go, I found almost identical ears at Disneyland for $45 that looks just like a pair I bought on Amazon for $12. I’m definitely not against buying small memories or fun trinkets at Disneyland, but really shopping on Etsy or Amazon beforehand is more affordable and you will find more unique and creative pieces. I will say one thing we did with Tay since this is the first like big trip we’ve been on with her is it letting her “pick out a stuffed animal” or “stuffie” as we call it! LOL as much as a 10 month old can pick out something for themselves haha. We basically just went to a store that had a lot of stuffed animals and walked around and let her kind of look at everything and point things out and smile, it was really cute even though deep down I knew I wanted her to get a Minnie doll LOL. So we held them both up and let her grab which one she wanted, kind of silly but it was still fun and a cute memory to have from her first trip to Disney.
disney gear on amazon