Saturday, September 28, 2013

The Advantages to Taking a Baby or Child to Disney

The Advantages to Taking a Baby or Child to Disney


Yes, you read right I said there are advantages to taking a baby or toddler to a Disney Park. Most people only think of the “problems”. You know the problems, diaper bags, formula, toys and the child getting fussy in line. Well, let’s turn that thinking upside down.

The first positive thing to taking a baby or toddler to Disneyland is the slower pace. You must slow down with a child in tow and be ready to “go with the flow”. You can’t go running from ride to ride packing in as much as possible as you usually might. Instead you get the opportunity to stop and smell the Disneyland Roses and people watch! You child is asleep in the stroller and you want to ride a ride? Well maybe there is a show or parade you can stop and watch instead and let your child rest. You might have missed that parade or show otherwise. Stop in at Tom Sawyer’s Island or Challenge Trail at DLR and let your child run around! This is a break from having to stay still and calm in lines. The little ones need that. You will find yourself wishing you could run around on some of the things designed just for them and you will be happy to take the time to rest your Disney abused feet!

The second positive is you will get to spend some fun time with your child! You might also get some memorable pictures of your sweet bundle of joy with Mickey or Minnie Mouse! The characters will be happy to cuddle your princess or prince! These memories will last a lifetime. If your child is a young baby you will most likely not have any problem getting that picture with a Disney Character. Once your child is a toddler be aware they may be scared of that giant mouse, dog, teddy bear, pig or tiger! Don’t force the issue. Just snap a picture of them looking from afar. Wait a couple of years and they will be ready for it.

The third advantage to taking your child to Disney is seeing the park through their eyes. Watch what they look at and catches their eyes. Enjoy the smiles and giggle along with them. Are they enjoying the flowers? Do they giggle at the characters dancing around in a parade or show? Maybe it is a ride that seems to make their eyes get huge! Whatever it is remember it and enjoy it with them.

The forth advantage is the Child Swap program. How this program works is you get in the line for the ride of your choice that your child is too small or afraid to go on. This is great for groups or several families doing Disney together. When you reach a Cast Member tell them that you wish to do a Child Swap. One or two people will stay at the exit of the ride while the rest of your party goes through the line. When those that rode the ride return up to two adults can go back up the exit or to a specified entrance to reenter the ride without waiting through the regular line. If there are two families with more children than one or two people can safely and sanely handle at alone get more than one Child Swap pass. A good time to do a Child Swap is when your child is napping or where you have another ride, show or attraction you can take your child too while you wait.

There are ways to make it easier to take a child to Disney Parks. If you are flying I highly suggest not bringing a stroller. You can rent a stroller at the parks. Advantage is you don’t have to bring one with you. Disadvantage to the Disney Parks stroller is you can’t use it to take your child back to your hotel after your day at the park. You end up carrying a sleeping or cranky child back to the hotel or your car. There are companies that will deliver all your stroller directly to your hotel. Some will also deliver car seats, bath seats and other necessary items along with it. The advantage of renting from an outside company is you can take the stroller wherever you go. If you spend days at a different park or other tourist spot the stroller can go with you! I highly recommend City Stroller Rental for DLR (look for the link to their sister company that does WDW). Their website is http://www.CityStrollerRental.com.

Know your child’s limitations. Are they afraid of the Characters? Don’t force them to go up and take a picture with them. Are they afraid of a particular ride? Don’t make them go on it! Do they have special needs? Are they physically disabled or have ADHD, Autism? Make sure your travel agent knows and gives you the information you need to reduce your entire families stress as well as the stress to the child. If you TA does not have the knowledge to assist I suggest you find one that does.

If you need a TA with knowledge to assist with special needs I will say this next statement is a shameless plug for the fantastic Travel Agency I work for, Your Fairytale Vacation www.YourFairytaleVacation.com. You can email me at Carolyn@YourFairytaleVacation.com if you wish more information on how we can assist you. You can ask questions with no commitment to book with me. Your Fairytale Vacation has a subspecialty assisting those with disabilities.




My Christmas book, “An Angel Remembers 25 Voices of Christmas” is available!!
This is a collection of 26 short Christmas stories that together bring the amazing events of Christ’s birth alive. It is my hope that this will help encourage families to spend 10-15 minutes a day together during the busy holiday season remembering the true reason for the season.
You can find it for ALL eReader formats and PDF at:

For your Nook the link is:

It is also available at the iTunes book store and many other ebook seller sites.
The only big site not carrying my book is Amazon.
You can download a Kindle version from Smashwords.com




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