By: Stephanie Martin, a Marvelous Mouse Travels agent
We've heard it so many times from our family members: “You’re taking a baby to Disney World?”, “Why would you waste money taking a 2 year old? They won’t remember any of it anyway.”, etc. Many people don’t understand the amazing experiences that they can have with the under three crowd at the Happiest Place on Earth. Well, I’m here to tell you all the reasons why you should take your kiddos to Disney and how Disney makes it as easy as possible for you to enjoy the parks, even with the littlest of Mouseketeers.
Baby Care Centers
Located in each park is a baby care center. These centers are available for all guests to go and do everything from change diapers on clean, padded changing tables to nurse in a quiet, air conditioned, semi private room. Need to warm up a bottle or some food for your baby or toddler? They have microwaves that are free to use and even have a small convenience counter where you can buy any of the baby essentials that you may have forgotten or ran out of during your day at the park. We have used the Baby Care Centers numerous times and they are one of my favorite perks to traveling to Disney with our little ones.
Memories
Let’s be honest. Are your infants and toddlers going to remember going to Disney World? Probably not. But do you know who will remember? YOU! I’ll admit it, I took my son to Disney World at 5 months old for myself (and my husband and parents who were there too). While he will never remember eating breakfast at Chef Mickey’s or riding the Jungle Cruise for the first time, we have memories that we can tell him about when he’s older and pictures to show him too. These pictures are ones that I will cherish forever, even though our son won’t remember them at all.
Rides
Unlike conventional theme parks, Disney was designed with families in mind. While there may be a number of rides that babies and toddlers cannot go on, there are a greater number that they CAN go on. Rides like It’s A Small World, Jungle Cruise, Navi River Cruise, Frozen Ever After and so many more are the perfect rides for the whole family. Little ones will be fascinated by the colors and music, while adults can enjoy the nostalgia, innovation and even humor behind the rides. One of my best tips for riding these attractions with smaller children and babies is that almost all of them will allow you to have your baby in a carrier on the ride! Your son or daughter is asleep and you don’t want to wake them up? No problem, just hop in line and enjoy the ride. We find many of the dark rides the perfect place for our son to take a nap without us having to leave the park.
Baby Swap
For the rides that have height requirements, parents and older children can still ride. The rider swap system is easy to use and allows the rider waiting with the underage children to be expedited through the line for their turn. How does it work? Everyone in your party needs to find the cast member at the front of the line of the ride you are doing rider swap at. The cast member will ask who is staying with the younger guests and then scan your Magic Band or ticket. They will also ask if there are up to 2 other guests who would like to ride with the guest waiting and will scan their Magic Band or ticket as well. While group 1 rides the ride, younger guests and the waiting adult can explore shops, grab a bite to eat, take some photos or ride another ride. Once group 1 is done, group 2 can proceed to the fastpass entrance where the cast member will scan their band or ticket and then it is their turn to ride!
IT’S FREE!
All Disney World guests under the age of 3 are free! Free to get into the park, free to get into the waterpark, free to eat off of your plate at restaurants, free to have their own plate off of a buffet, FREE! Ok, you get it. This is the number one reason that our son has been to Disney World so many times and he just turned two. We want to take advantage of the savings while we still can!
Want more information about how to have a magical vacation with your family of all ages? Please reach out to Stephanie, an agent with Marvelous Mouse Travels to plan your next vacation or you may contact Marvelous Mouse Travels.
