Taking a Baby to the Park – Part 1


Did you know you can’t take your baby on Astro Orbiter unless they have shoes or socks on? Well, neither did I. That’s why I found myself digging through the diaper bag trying to find socks. I thought I was prepared to take my 4 month old to Disneyland. I’ve been to Disneyland a hundred times, I’d read blogs, I did everything I thought of to be ready. But of course, you can never be completely prepared. So here are a few things that made our trip a little easier.

Have realistic expectations

To start, you have to set the right expectations; you are going to be a lot slower than you used to be without having kids or a baby. My husband and I used to be able to do at least 25 rides a day. With our baby in tow we slowed down to about 15. You have to go much slower when you have to take the time to park the stroller and take the baby out, or wait with the baby while the rest of your party rides an attraction and then use the rider switch, and of course taking the time to feed and change diapers.

That all makes it sound pretty bad, but actually, this trip was one of my favorites. Watching her eyes get wide and focusing on rides like “it’s a small world” and The Little Mermaid – Ariel’s Undersea Adventure was the best. Even though she is little and couldn’t interact with everything, she loved looking at everything and I loved watching her reactions.

Make sure baby gets his or her naps

This one is so so so important. There is not much worse than an overly-tired and over-stimulated baby. Getting baby to sleep with all the noise and distractions can be a little difficult, but it is a priority. If your baby needs a quiet place to sleep, find a bench or corner in the shade to sit down. If baby likes lying flat to sleep, bring your own stroller with a seat that leans back. Some babies won’t sleep in the park, if that sounds like your child, take a few hours and go back to the hotel to get some peace and quiet. Whatever you need to do to get your baby to sleep, do it.

Bring a stroller or get a locker to keep all your stuff

You do not want to carry everything you need for a baby around Disneyland all day long. With all the diapers, extra outfits, blankets, food, toys, etc. you will want somewhere to leave it. Now, never leave valuables in the stroller because you don’t want anything stolen. So if you don’t want to carry your valuables around then a locker is a great idea. Otherwise, the stroller works great. We had a bag with the necessities like a few diapers, wipes, supplies to feed her, and then we kept the rest in the bottom of the stroller. It worked great. When we needed extra supplies we could grab them from the stroller rather than carrying everything.

Take Advantage of Rider Switch

If you have never used rider switch, you definitely need. It works on any attraction with a height limit. It’s super easy to use. All you have to do is let a cast member know you need to use rider switch. They will scan the ticket of the adult sitting out with the young child. A return time is attached to the ticket, so after the rest of the family rides, the adult can enter through the FastPass line or exit. And as an extra tip, the rider switch can be used for more than one rider so the person waiting doesn’t have to wait alone or you can even take someone who just got off again so they get to ride twice.

And there you have it, hopefully these help you have a better experience taking your baby to Disneyland. And if anyone knows why babies have to wear socks on Astro Orbiter please comment and let us know!

An old paper Rider Switch Pass for California Screamin'

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