Advice for taking an infant on rides?

[xoxosmom]

I have planned most of our trip around my munchkins comforts and likes. We are planning on taking it easy, using EE and taking a long break in the afternoon. He is usually a very easy going baby and we will take things as they come. .

I am more concerned with how the rides work. I feel kind of silly but how do I know if it is safe to take our baby on a ride?

Thanks.

 

[xoxosmom]

Oops, I forgot to mention he is 1 years old.

 

[amw]

I can't speak for DLR -- only WDW -- but generally speaking, they want your toddler to sit beside you. I went with my 18-month-old, but she was my second-born and quite large, so I had no problems with her sitting on her own (Miss Independent!) My own experience was that if she was tall enough to ride, she could sit on her own. We did have to hold her on the carousel (standing beside her horse). I can't remember anything where she was able to sit on our lap during a ride. Of course, that's not a "baby". I'm not sure what the policy is for younger than that.

I do remember when planning that trip reading a post about a mother who didn't like the Peter Pan ride because of the way the bar system worked (cross between them) and felt her small one-year-old might slip out of the ride. Wasn't a problem for me.

Generally, she faired much better on the rides than her (at-the-time) 3-year-old sister. At 3, the imagination is in full gear and they're apprehensive about rides if they don't know what comes next. At one, they seem to enjoy the "scenery" of the world going by

 

[amw]

Just to add...

Here are the rides my DD could do when she was 18mths:
- Carousel
- Peter Pan
- It's a Small World
- Dumbo
- Mad Tea Party (really liked that one!)
- Winnie-the-Pooh
- Jungle Cruise
- Tiki Room
- Railroad
- Speedway(autotopia at DL)
- Playhouse Disney
- Muppet Vision -- although 3-D shows were lost on her

And, she loved any show and parade. We just took it slow that trip, and enjoyed the magic through their eyes. My at-the-time DD3's favourite memories of that trip were splashing in the hotel pool, riding the monorail, and eating at a charcter meal (Chef Mickey's)

 

[B9erSteve]

My children have been going practically since birth. Disney is really good about height requirements. If there is a requirement, then it would be of-course unsafe, but Most of the other rides are easy to take an infant on. The list above is good but I would also add Haunted mansion (if the child doesn't spook easily) and Pirates. Both my children loved these rides as toddlers, interestingly enough, now that my son is school age he scares far easier than he did as a preschooler.

 

[Dukland]

My ds was 19 months last summer, and Pirates was his favorite ride. He dragged me or dh on that ride so many times, he rode it more than any others. He did also like Buzz AstroBlasters, but he didn't shoot anything, obviously. He just enjoyed the ride and watched Mommy show off her less than impressive shooting skills.

 

[mimichan]

We were in Disneyland this past March with my then 14 month old granddaughter. We weren't sure how she would be on the rides and I'm sure it will pretty much depend on how your child is in the dark and how your child is around loud sounds. Well, my granddaughter loved the carousel and that turned out to be her favorite ride in both Disneyland and DCA. She absolutely hated all the "dark" rides so we pretty much stopped taking her on them after trying a few of them. The strange thing is that we took her into "It's Tough to be a Bug" in DCA and she was absoutely fine (dark theater) but when we thought about it, we actually went there at night so maybe she might have been okay going on the "dark" rides only at night. She was also afraid of the fireworks (outside the park) because you can pretty much only hear the loud booms while outside the park. She actually slept through both the fireworks and Fantasmic while we watched them inside the park so not sure how she would have been if she were awake. You may have to just see how your 1-year old reacts when you get there.

 

[happyrebster]

My daughter started on Disneyland rides at 4 months! Small World, MerryGoRound, the tiny train in the Bugs Life area, Dumbo -- all fine for lap riding. I believe that Alice was as well. Everyone seemed fine with it and we have some great photos.

Really depends on the squirminess factor, but, by one year, he should be able to ride most of the smaller Fantasyland rides with no difficulty. Have a blast!

 

[dletz]

Seems you've gotten a lot of advice on rides. My daughter has been going since she was 2 months old, and was almost the size of a newborn, and we've never had any issues. At age 7 she has been on every ride except Maliboomer (and tower of Terror at DCA, but has been on TOT at WDW)

My number 1 recomendation would be the baby care centers. I like the one at DL better than DCA, but that's because I'm used to it more. They are climate controlled, the changing tables are wiped down often (when it's not too busy it's between every person, it there's a long line, sometimes the butcher paper just gets changed, and the table gets wiped between every other. They have little pottys for the kids training, high chairs, they will heat up food for you, a place for nursing, and they sell lots of different items you may need (extra food, formula, diapers, bottles, pacifiers, sun screen, etc.)

Unless it was an absolute emergency we would generally trek to the baby care center, I just prefered it over the regular bathrooms with the metal areas.

The one in DL is located behind the Corn dog cart on the way to first aid and child lost and found. Turn at the Camera store from mainstreet.

The one at DCA is located next to first aid behind the mission tortilla factory, that one also has a companion bathroom. I would usually make my pit stops while I was here with my daughter, just made it easier. They also have a table with some books. The one at DL sometimes has books out and sometimes doesn't but you can ask.