Disneyland with Baby

Ah Disneyland, that famous landmark of childhood. I love to visit whenever I can (yes even as a young adult with no kids) but now I have a baby, and I wondered how things would be. Taking a nine month old baby to Disneyland may sound insane to some people, but I just had to give it a try. Lucky for us, we found that our little girl really seemed to enjoy her time in the magic kingdom. There are many rides and attractions that are suitable for babies, and several little perks that make taking a baby to the park a very reasonable proposition.

We started out by purchasing a three day park-hopper pass. These passes are often available for a discount, so it was not actually that much more than purchasing one day passes for each of the parks. The three day pass allowed us to break up our time into smaller chunks, just a few hours at a go, which was much more baby-friendly. When you have just a one day pass, one often feels like staying as long as humanly possible to get the most out of the experience.

Next, we rented a Disneyland stroller. Now this would not be necessary if we lived nearby, but since we had only our very small travel stroller along on this trip, it was better to pony up. The rental strollers are larger jogging type, and they offer much more comfort, storage, and sun protection that our little umbrella. Delphinium seemed quite happy to tool around in style. One stroller tip. Put a diaper in a clear plastic bag, and tie it to the handle of the stroller. There are so many of the same rental stroller around the park that some people make mistakes and take the wrong one. A seemingly dirty diaper keeps this from happening.

Now what did we do with the baby once we got into the park? There were two different approaches, and we used them both at different times. On our first visit, we had several other family members along as well. This is when we took advantage of the Kid Switch Pass. On a ride with Fastpass, go up to the castmember working this line, and ask for a Kid Switch Pass. Then, the group goes and waits in line and rides the attraction as they normally would. One adult remains with the baby, and then when the rest return he or she uses the Kid Switch Pass to go up the Fastpass return with one other adult. It's a great way to ensure that everyone gets to ride without having to wait in line twice. We got to ride Splash Mountain that way, and it worked perfectly! Wheeeee! We got soaked!

We took the baby on the haunted mansion (it was a little loud in the elevator, but I covered her ears) without any sadness, and then the Jungle Cruise got more than one "oooo" of appreciation from her. Adults also rode Space Mountain, Matterhorn, Big Thunder, and Pirate of the Caribbean. It was a great day, and our girl stayed awake the ENTIRE time. The last thing we did was visit Small World which is definitely a baby-friendly attraction if ever there was one.

Small World was, hands down, the baby's favorite ride. She was dancing in our arms while we were still waiting to get in the boat. The fabulous '60's era decorations, and the magical clock-work figures were just her cup of tea, and she made it clear to everyone in a ten foot radius how excited she was. It only got better once we got inside. She sat on Grandma's lap and watched it all with her mouth open. Anyone who says a baby can't really appreciate Disneyland is crazy.

Our very last day in the park it was only Mommy, Daddy, and Baby. On this day, we used the second approach to taking Baby to Disney. The whole day we did only things she could do with us. We rode the Finding Nemo submarines, went for a spin on the carousel (the only thing in the whole park that threatened to make her cry), rode the river boat (I haven't done that in years), and visited the petting zoo. Did you even know there was a petting zoo? Neither did I, but she had a ball meeting the world's cleanest goats. In short, we made it all about her. The pace was slow, the activities were limited, and it was such a wonderful time for all of us. I love seeing things from her perspective.

Some argue that babies don't really belong in Disneyland since they won't remember their experience. However, her enjoyment is something that will remain with her if in a less tangible way. Also, watching her enjoy the place is now one of my most memorable experiences there. I would take her back in a heartbeat.