Favourite Top Tips in Florida?

[Beth_Disney]

Just thought of another. Restaurant take out/curbside pick up is a good compromise between cooking at a villa and eating out. Especially if you're travelling with a multi-generational group on different sleep patterns.

[ginwithaslice]

First time for us this year so thanks for the tips! On previous holidays in the sun I've found that 'hangry' is a likely prelude to an argument. Make sure you get lots of snacks and rest stops to keep those blood sugar levels even!
Also agree it's better not to force things; we let everyone choose a must do that we all have to go along with so everyone gets something they want!

[Th1nkT1nk]

I agree with everything said so far regarding taking things in and judging the mood of your family and responding appropriately!
- I also like to take videos / pictures of dd watching a parade etc, rather than just videoing the parade itself- it’s wonderful to look back at her reaction.
- We like to have a stash of healthy snacks for when we have time before a breakfast etc... none of us are particularly pleasant if we are hungry!
- Even if you’re not big on planning, it’s a good idea to familiarise yourself with park maps before going. Last time we went I’d prepared loads on the shows / fast passes / rides but when I got there I was stood looking a bit bewildered because I didn’t know which direction to walk in especially at AK!

[angel_eyes]

Even if you don’t want to stop for a full break in the parks, be sure to stay hydrated and have plenty of snacks. On our first day (Epcot) we tried to carry on as if it was a normal day back home: stuck to regular meal times for food and spent the rest of the time charging around the park to see everything. By the time we got back to the villa in the evening our son - then eight years old - was so tuckered out he was at the point of collapse. After that we realised keeping energy levels going throughout the day was paramount so even when DS said he wasn’t hungry we made sure he had a snack bar/fruit periodically throughout the day and kept refilling our bottles at the water fountains. Take one of the small concentrated juice bottles with you if you don’t like plain water.

[Andy_]

My tip is... you’ll never get everything done!

We have returned to Orlando several times and still have lots of things we still would like to do. Don’t put pressure on yourself to try and complete everything!

If you add too many things into your itinerary you won’t get time to just relax at the pool.

[cornishfrogboy]

Originally Posted by Andy_

My tip is... you’ll never get everything done!

We have returned to Orlando several times and still have lots of things we still would like to do. Don’t put pressure on yourself to try and complete everything!

If you add too many things into your itinerary you won’t get time to just relax at the pool.

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As a veteran of 10 visits.. I agree with you. Once you get in to car hire, then the possibilities within 3 -4 hours travel are endless.

[DisneyFoodie]

Hi all, we returned on the 14th from our trip with our 7 month old and I thought I'd share some tips. We feel incredibly lucky to have managed to have our trip before all this madness kicked off, but I hope this helps some of you still trying to plan.

Things we found essential:
A good baby carrier! You are not allowed prams in a lot of areas - e.g. the whole Land pavillion in Epcot. However, you are allowed a baby carrier nearly everywhere - we took our baby in it on Jungle Cruise, Pirates, Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan, Haunted Mansion, Small world, Under the Sea, Nemo, Living with the Land, Minnie & Mickey's runaway railway, Kilimanjaro safaris, Lion King. Plus, all the queues, the bus (you have to fold the pram for the bus), and the airport. We had the solar connecta (previously solar integra) and it was excellent because it folds into nothing, but is very comfy. Our 7 month old even took whole naps in it! (She slept all the way through Festival of the Lion King!)

A snuzshade blackout blind for cots. This is like a big blackout cover that fits over a cot. It meant that our baby could have her midday nap in blackness (and therefore sleep well) but we could chill out in the room without sitting with the curtains closed all day. Absolutely brilliant. Disney hotels will give you a crib with mattress and fitted sheet but no bedding - we use grobags but if you use sheets and blankets you will need to bring these.

A pram that reclines and folds really easily. We were originally going to take our pram but in the end we didn't think we could carry it through the airport (or push it and the suitcases) so we hired one from Scooterbug. We paid a bit more to get the City Mini 2 because it reclined nearly flat, which was really good for our little one to sleep in. Note it IS only world-facing, which might be a consideration for those of you with smaller babies. But our little one loved it! Also, it folds so easily - with one pull of the handle! Scooterbug were great - it was ready to pick up when we arrived, completely hassle-free.

Dummy clips if you use a dummy! A few times she got a little noisy on rides or shows and the plane so we used the dummy to help her settle (which we mostly don't do any more). She is in the throwy stage, so having a dummy clip was essential. We also clipped a teething toy to her.

Highchair cushion - we have the ikea Antilop high chair which comes with an inflatable cushion and washable cover. This was really useful for cushioning the pram - it was good but it was quite big for her (she's about 8kg for reference) so the cushion helped her not fall sideways without being hot like a blanket. Most of the disney highchairs are quite small and baby-friendly, but a couple of places only had the bigger ones (Beaches and Cream) so it was useful for wedging her in then too.

We also took around 80 200ml bottles of formula in our suitcase and about 40 pouches of food. No problems at all - for security, you need to put what you are taking on the plane in ziplocks and Gatwick told me to separate the formula and the pouches and put them in their own tray. On the way back I had to have a pat down or open the food pouches, but the pat down was fine.

We washed her bottles in the bathroom sink (we brought washing up liquid and sponges) and requested a tea kettle so that we could pour boiling water into them. I know this isn't exactly sterilising but as she is over 6 months we didn't worry too much.

We were in Yacht club with only a shower and no bath, so we tried bathing her in the sink too - disaster! She was NOT happy! in the end, we ordered a bath seat from Amazon prime and sat her in the shower while pouring water on her. She didn't love it like she does her bath, but she put up with it. You can get child's farm mini shampoo and moisturiser etc. - I recommend these.

For suncream we used P20 factor 50 kids - this was absolutely amazing in how well it rubbed in. Her legs were bare pretty much every day and it was hot, but she didn't even tan, let alone burn. I wish we'd thought to put elastic on her hat before she went as she kept throwing it out of the pram.

There are changing facilities in all the Disney toilets, and they're often big shelves with lips so plenty of space. Sometimes they have rolls of paper to lay down but I recommend just bringing a nappy roll with a mat attached. One big difference: the US do not appear to have the concept of separate nappy bins. It seemed completely normal to just throw the nappies in with the paper towels. I felt a bit awkward about this but all the other mums seemed to be doing it so I just made sure they were well wrapped!

We ordered some baby ear defenders which I recommend if you plan on watching fireworks or going to noisy shows. They seemed to really help her not be startled by the bangs.

We also got a SkyBaby mattress which I do recommend if your baby is going to be a lap baby for the flight. Helps keep them off your knees a bit!

We also brought a super thin foldy beach towel from a hiking shop which made a great blanket for early mornings or late nights.

In terms of fastpasses, we mostly used rider switch (so one would have a fastpass for e.g. splash mountain and the other would do rider switch). We did this on all except 7DMT and FOP, and didn't have any issues. I will say though that if you are used to going as a couple, rider switch takes AGES! By the time you have both gone up to the queue, one of you has gone through the fastpass line, waited, ridden, then found the other one, they go through rider switch line, wait, then ride, it can take a good 40 mins or in the case of FOP nearly an hour!

I also really recommend the Epcot or Skyliner resorts. You don't have to fold your pram on the skyliner or the monorail, and this meant that 3 of the 4 parks were accessible without disturbing her nap. We would often go to Magic Kingdom in the morning on the bus, then get the monorail home and walk through Epcot while she slept in the pram. This worked really well.

(Also, not baby related but we LOVED the skyliner - a ride in itself and our favourite form of Disney transportation by a mile!)

I hope this helps someone planning a trip with a baby. Let me know if you have any questions!

[Karma]

Money saving tip: I took an orange and blackcurrant squash with me in hold luggage, kids thought I was mad until they saw the prices for similar in walmart!

[Rosemck]

Originally Posted by Karma

Money saving tip: I took an orange and blackcurrant squash with me in hold luggage, kids thought I was mad until they saw the prices for similar in walmart!

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I also take bottles of squash in our hold luggage as it's the only thing DD will drink 😂

[BucksBugsy]

Originally Posted by Rosemck

I also take bottles of squash in our hold luggage as it's the only thing DD will drink 😂

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Have you considered "squashems" (sp) they are small pouches of concentrated squash that can easily be carried around and added to bottled water for example.