Travelogues - Disneyland With Infants - Part One

Disneyland for Infants
Since we live in Southern California, Jeni and I have taken our son Will to Disneyland any times. We loved the place long before he was born so we were eager to see if he felt the same way. Over the last year, we've learned what to do - and what not to do - there and concept we'd try to pass this wisdom on to other people.

First Things First
First thing we found is we needed to consider the kind of personality our dinky guy has. Some dinky ones go with the flow no matter where they are. William is on the other end of the spectrum - he's very sensitive to stimulation. Too much and he melts down (as most kids do).

Train Table For Kids

That's why we've found it's best for us to book a room at a around hotel when we go to Disneyland - even though we live in the La area. It boosts the cost of our trip, but it allows us to go back to the room and let Will rest and decompress before heading back out for more fun. Without that, we don't think Disneyland would be too enjoyable for him - he'd melt down and never recover from all the cool stuff he's finding for the first time!

There are three Disney-owned hotels inside the park grounds. They're not cheap - so this is without fail a luxury - but they allow guests early entry into the parks on distinct days as well as the potential to ride the monorail into the middle of the park. However, these literally aren't the only hotels in the area. There are also scores of very cool and less high-priced hotels just off the Disneyland property.

We expect that as Will gets older, we won't need the hotel room to crash and relax in, but for now it's the cost of having fun at the Happiest Place on Earth!

Day One
In December, when Will was practically 13 months old, we spent two days at Disneyland. The first day, we started out with a walk down Main Street. Jeni put Will in a baby carrier because he prefers that to an umbrella stroller. But soon he was toddling around, attracting crowds of fans, window shopping, and commonly enjoying himself.

We walked straight through the Sleeping Beauty's Castle and over to the Peter Pan and King Arthur's Carousel. We've found that Will enjoys both rides - although the car flies around so fast on Pan that some dinky ones could be a dinky scared. This time when we arrived, we found a 30-minute line for Pan. That was no good for our son. At his age, he doesn't understand the concept of waiting for something. We jumped onto the carousel instead.

After that, we took a walk straight through Frontier Land to see the real-life reindeer, turkeys, and other animals. After a quick stop to meet Pluto, we headed back to rest in the hotel room. Will had had enough. If you haven't booked a hotel room near the park, we advise taking your baby to an out-of-the-way place to let her decompress, relax, and nap for up to a merge of hours.

Places we advise contain Jack Sparrow's Island, any locations in front of the Magic Castle that have benches, and a big eating area by the Rivers of America in Frontierland. Jack Sparrow's Island is Jeni's favorite place to rest with a young child. Even though the island is built for kids to run around, it's very large so even when it's busy, it's not too busy - and it has plentifulness of benches to rest, feed your baby, and relax.

Another choice when you need to take a pit stop is going into an child care center. There's one in the customary park and someone else in the California Adventure park. They're quiet, clean places to change diapers, nurse your baby, or feed them a full meal.

Though adults can't eat there, the Baby town has small tables and highchairs for dinky ones to chow down. This is especially helpful because some youngsters are so overwhelmed by all the characters and sounds and commotion in the parks that they lose their appetite.

The Baby town in Disneyland is at the end of Main Street, just before you get to the castle; the one in California Adventure is next to the Mission Tortilla factory in the Pacific Wharf (but please be advised that this park is undergoing major renovations so the location could change).

Back at the hotel, Will napped for a merge hours. We did the same and then unpacked and got ready for the evening. When Will woke up, he started crying. We couldn't figure out why until it dawned on us - he wanted to go back to the park and was afraid we weren't going to let him!

We saddled up again and headed back to Disneyland to see the Christmas parade. The hardest part of the parade was waiting for it to start. It seems everybody in the park is jockeying for a place to watch it so you have to stake out your position about 15 to 20 minutes early. Jeni held our place while Will and I walked around. I showed him the train leaving the hub and gave him some snacks I had in my bag. Once the parade finally started, I think our son commonly enjoyed it. I have to say that it was dark and loud and we rarely take Will out at night so it was a lot for him to take in, but he watched the characters parade by for about 20 minutes before he told us he was ready to go.

If we hadn't listened to Will, he would have melted down. He was over-stimulated and ready for a break. When we got back to the hotel, we had been gone less than an hour and a half. We fed and bathed him and put him to bed. When we're staying in a hotel, we bring a bed rail and have him sleep in our bed. It makes all of us more comfortable to have him close in these new surroundings. The hotel also supplies pack-and-plays if you or your baby prefer that.

Tomorrow, day two... An unforgettable character interaction.

Travelogues - Disneyland With Infants - Part One