The idea of visiting Disney with a baby may be pretty intimidating—we definitely got a lot of “you must be nuts” looks when we told people we were taking Arabella to Hong Kong Disneyland when she was 100 days old (this was before the protests got big and before coronavirus). But visiting Disney with a baby can actually be really fun, so if you want to go, you definitely should. Yes, the baby won’t remember it, but you will! And while any kind of travel with an infant can be a challenge, there are a few things to know/think about when planning your Disney trip to make everything go much more smoothly.
Naps/breaks
If you’ve ever been to Disney, I’m sure you’ve seen some epic meltdowns. To avoid being those poor parents who are dealing with a screaming, cranky baby, you want to have your baby take all her naps as usual, or as close to the normal times as possible. If your baby will sleep in a stroller or carrier, you’re golden. But you still may need to take a break or two from the park(s) during the day—especially if you have slightly older children, too. Because of this, I would recommend staying on Disney property or as close to Disney property as possible (there is no need to stay on Disney property in California or in Tokyo, since there are other nice hotels very close, but if you’re in Orlando, for instance, the nearest non-Disney hotel is a bit of a hike). This way, you can go back to the hotel to rest, change, play in the pool, or nap and then go back for the fireworks at night.
Baby care center
All Disney Parks have baby care centers. The centers at the Orlando Disney parks, the California Disney parks, Shanghai Disney, and Tokyo Disney Resort include nursing rooms, electrical outlets, high chairs, tons of baby changing tables, and also a bunch of supplies you can buy if you run out/forget something. They also have air conditioning (or heat) if you need to take a break from the weather, and you can hang out in there as long as you want/need to. The Tokyo Disney one also has a place and brushes/soap to wash bottles, plus filtered water for mixing formula, but I’m not sure if other ones have that. Disney World and Disneyland do say theirs have a kitchen with a microwave and a sink.
Hong Kong Disneyland also has a baby care center, but it is pretty small and just has a few changing tables and a handful of nursing rooms. Paris Disneyland’s site says its parks have baby care centers, too, but there isn’t much information available about what they offer, so these might also be on the smaller side.
You may not need to use the baby care center at all—we didn’t even go in the one at Tokyo Disneyland, though we did use the one at Disney Sea—but it’s a really nice thing to have if you need it!
Rides
One of the reasons people think taking a baby to Disney is weird is that they assume you can’t bring them on any rides. But that’s actually not true. There are plenty of rides with no height requirement, so depending on the age of your baby, she may be able to go on several! In Hong Kong and Tokyo, many (not all) of those rides require riders to sit unassisted, so younger babies can’t ride, but at Disney World, babies should be able to sit in a parent’s lap on any ride without a height requirement, they just can’t be in a carrier on any ride with a lap bar. At Disneyland, it looks like you actually can wear your baby on rides with a lap bar, but you may need to face them forward. Some rides that are good for everyone at every park are It’s a Small World and Pirates of the Caribbean. For others, you may want to look on the attractions page of the park you’re visiting ahead of time, and make a list of the rides without height requirements to take with you (the Tokyo parks site also lists which require guests to sit unassisted). These may vary by park: I was able to wear Arabella on the Winnie the Pooh ride at Hong Kong Disney, but the one at Tokyo Disneyland said riders must sit unassisted, so we didn’t take her on it. It also looks like Dumbo is fine for all ages at the US parks!
For the rides the baby can’t go on, there are a few options. For rides with a Fast Pass option, I would suggest getting Fast Passes for everyone other than the baby. Then, as soon as the FP time window opens up, have one adult stay with the baby while the other members of the party ride. Once they finish, they can stay with the baby while the other adult rides. We did this option for Space Mountain at Tokyo Disneyland and it worked beautifully—Arabella and I shopped while Toby rode, then he walked around with her while I rode.
For other rides, you can do the rider switch option. What that means is that, assuming you have two adults and one baby, one adult would ride the attraction while the other waits with the baby. Once the first adult returns, he or she hands the baby to the other adult, and that adult rides the ride without waiting in line again. Make sure you check with a cast member when you get in line, though, to make sure that rider switch is an option on that ride!
Stroller/carrier
We brought our own stroller because I figured the rental ones were designed for older kids, and we wanted to bring our stroller for the rest of the trip anyway. But there are strollers for rent at all Disney parks, so you definitely don’t HAVE to bring your own. However, if you do bring your own, please note that stroller wagons aren’t allowed, and there are size limits, so you should double check to make sure yours is the right size. Here are the rules for Disney World and the rules for Disneyland.
Regardless, you can’t bring strollers in lines for rides, so you will probably want to bring some kind of carrier with you in case you have to wait a long time. I brought my ring sling because it’s the fastest for getting her in/out, but a normal soft carrier works well, too.
Restaurants
All the table service and counter service restaurants have high chairs, but you should bring some wipes to clean them off. Strollers also are not allowed in most of the restaurants, so you may want to wear the baby if she is too young for a high chair. You might want to consider some character dining experiences so that you can get a reservation ahead of time and also make sure you’ll get photos of the baby with characters without having to stand in long lines. Character dining is hard to come by at Tokyo Disney, but there are plenty of options at the US parks! There’s also at least one option at Paris Disney, but you HAVE to make a reservation ahead of time.
Depending on how old your baby is, you’ll also probably want to bring your own baby food and formula (they do have some available there, but it’s expensive and may not be your preferred brand). Arabella really likes white rice, so we gave her some of that at Tokyo Disney, and also let her taste a few things, but Disney food generally isn’t the most nutritious!
Other fun stuff
Though babies can’t go on all the rides, they can definitely watch parades and shows, and meet characters. In fact, I’d recommend that if you can, you focus mainly on those types of attractions and only try to go on a few rides—maybe two or three with the baby, and two or three using the FP or rider switch methods I described above. The parades and shows are great because the baby will likely enjoy them, and you can sit somewhere and just hang out while waiting for the show to start. Meeting characters is also awesome because you’ll get all sorts of adorable photos. And while you might not think a baby would be into it, Arabella seemed to really like meeting Snow White and definitely liked meeting Pooh. I think she might have recognized him as the same bear as her toys at home!
Arabella has not had any issues with fireworks (she slept through some on Christmas and also through the ones at Disney), but if your baby is sensitive to noise, you may also want to bring some noise-blocking headphones. We have these.
Since babies tend to be pretty messy (and ours is prone to blow outs), I’d definitely recommend having at least one, but preferably two, changes of clothes for the baby, as well as an extra shirt for whoever is going to be holding/wearing the baby. But if you’re not up for lugging around formula, baby food, changes of clothes and all the other stuff you need all day long, do yourself a favor and get a locker to store it in! Every Disney park has lockers.
That’s all I can think of for my guide to visiting Disney with a baby, but please leave questions in the comments or email me if there’s anything I missed! I am still working on some other Disney content, including a guide to Tokyo Disney and a guide to Hong Kong Disney, but in the meantime you can check out my military family guide to Disney World, my guide to what to eat at Disneyland, and my American Disney fan’s guide to Disneyland Paris.
Looking for gear to take on your Disney trip with baby? (please note, most of these are affiliate links)
Carriers and gear: Lillebaby Mickey Mouse carrier (the Disney ones are sold out, but this is the same carrier), Wildbird ring sling
Diaper backpack (Pooh is no longer available, but Mickey, a cool metallic Mickey, Lion King, and a different style backpack with the Little Mermaid are all available).
Nuna Tavo stroller, UPF 50 baby blanket
Incredible Dad shirt, Minnie Mouse baby blanket (I also love this Mickey 90th anniversary one)
Little Mermaid stuff: Little Mermaid baby sunsuit, Mermaid onesie
Mommy and me matching ears (Custom made by Bows and Anchors Designs)
Pooh stuff: Pooh fleece baby outfit, Winnie the Pooh socks, Pooh swaddle blankets, Eeyore adult hat, Furry tiger striped women’s jacket (exact is sold out, but this one, this one, and this one are similar), Pooh smocked dress (sold out, but if you visit this page and search for Disney, you’ll find a lot of similar and adorable options!)
Star Wars stuff:
Star Wars swaddle blankets, Chewbacca baby outfit (sold out at Gap Kids, but this one is similar), Yoda hat for baby (sold out at Gap Kids, but this one is similar, and Arabella also has this super cute Yoda outfit)
Rebel Princess moccasins for baby, R2D2 baby blanket (sold out, but this cute one is still available)
Star Wars crossbody purse (sold out, but this is the same bag in an Avengers print that’s very similar, and this Dark Side one is also super cute and by the same company), R2D2 gloves
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If I can persuade Matt to go to Disney, we’ll definitely use these tips for Logie!