Foster Care

What not to do at Disneyland with a baby & the things that helped us along the way

December 21, 2016

Last weekend we went to Disneyland to celebrate JJ’s birthday. It’s one of our favorite places and it had always been a dream of ours to take our future children someday. So, to say we were looking forward to the trip was an understatement; we were over-the-moon-excited to take A. I spent a few nights scrolling through Pinterest, and various blogs in preparation for making a trip to Disneyland fun and stress-free for all of us. I came to fine that there are dozens of articles with advice out there on this subject. Articles like, “Surviving Disneyland with a Baby”, “25 Must Haves When Taking a Baby to Disneyland”, or “What You Need to Know Before You Take a Baby to Disneyland”. I read a few of them to JJ and we had a good laugh about some of the articles. We naively thought, it’s Disneyland and the happiest place in the world after all – what could go wrong? Well, the answer is a lot. A lot can go awry when you bring a baby to Disneyland.

The road trip to L.A. went great. Little A played with her toys, she napped, and we took several breaks to feed and change her. Once we got to the hotel we dropped off our bags, hopped onto the tram and soon we were surrounded by twinkling Christmas lights, music, and that nostalgic feeling of childhood. We went on a few rides and then watched the night parade. It was a completely magical night. Little A danced, clapped, and giggled at everything. She fell asleep in the stroller as we sipped on some hot chocolate and watched other families walk by. We were happy to observe that there didn’t seem to be many people at the park and we were both hopeful that the next day would be an easy, non-crowded day. We packed up and headed back to the hotel.

Now this is the part of our trip where things started to go downhill. Many of you may not know this, but I was in an accident about a year and a half ago. I was in a wheelchair, unable to walk for almost a year. I was going to attempt to not use my wheelchair this trip and only use my cane. While I am so much better than I used to be, I still need a lot of help with little things, like putting on pants, tying my shoes, taking a shower, and getting in and out of bed. We still need a handicap room because of these things. We didn’t factor in, however, that having a bath tub instead of a handicap shower would be important while traveling with a baby. Let’s just say that little A was not a fan of the shower. It was a long night of getting A bathed, fed, in jammies, snuggled, and in her bassinet. We usually travel with a sound spa attached to her car seat everywhere we go and on the trip it ran out of batteries. She wouldn’t fall asleep so we soon found a white noise app and that seemed to work. We got to bed late and hopeful for all the memories we were going to make the next day.

We woke up early the next morning and got ready for our first full day at Disneyland. We were up by 7:30 and were hoping to make it to the park by 8:30. Well, one thing led to another, and we didn’t end up on the road until 11:30. I was so bummed, I wanted to make JJ’s birthday a memorable one and I felt like it was already off to a weird start. There were just so many things we wanted to be sure to pack and it just took us forever to get out the door. Once we finally found a parking spot, we waited for the tram to take us from the Disney parking lot to the park. That is when we saw the swarms of of people. The lines went all the way to the ticketing booths. After waiting in line we had to wait in another line at City Hall to get a handicap pass for me so we wouldn’t have to wait in long lines for the rides. After all the waiting, A needed to be changed and fed so we found a place to stop for a bit. I asked JJ what ride he wanted to go on first since it was his birthday. He said if I didn’t mind waiting with A, he really wanted to go on his favorite ride, Space Mountain. We made our way over there and waited in the handicap line. A cast member approached us and said that the ride had broken down and that they weren’t sure when it would be up and running again. So, we decided to head over to Toon Town to get pictures of A with Mickey Mouse. On our way there we got stuck about halfway due to a parade. We pulled off to the side and A took a nap while JJ answered birthday calls and texts. Forty-five minutes later the crowds cleared enough for us to make our way to Toon Town. We decided to get A some Mickey ears before heading over to his house. The lines for the shop were out the door and it wasn’t until 3pm that we were able to get in line to see Mickey. The wait time was over an hour. A had fun playing with a few kids as they explored Mickey’s house. About half way through A peed through her diaper, jeans, and all over JJ’s shirt. We attempted to change her while standing in line and then I carried her in our Solly wrap. Finally, we got to see Mickey. I wanted to get a picture of just her a Mickey so I put her in his arms and about 2 seconds later she started screaming. JJ and I ran to her and took a quick picture of the all 3 of us. The shrieks of terror continued as we thanked Mickey and the cast members and made our way outside. At this point it was almost 5 o’clock and we were all hungry, cold, and tired.

We decided to head over to California Adventure in hopes that the crowds there would be less crazy. We grabbed some dinner and danced with A as we listened to a live band. We sang happy birthday to JJ and then went on the Little Mermaid ride. There was no line at all and A loved it. After that we grabbed some birthday churros, and watched the fireworks. Then we went to the California Adventure Hotel and drank hot chocolate while sitting by their breath-taking fireplace.

While the day ended well, we were shocked by how stressful and exhausting the whole day had been, and we had only gone on 1 ride! It didn’t help that we had never seen Disneyland that crowded in our lives. Our real issue, however, was that we both had this expectation that we would be able to go on all the kiddy rides, and make awesome memories for A. Instead we felt like we had literally waited in lines all day, lines for parking, lines for entry, lines for rides, lines for shops, and lines for the bathrooms. We had to take a lot of breaks for me and for A, which is not something we normally do when we are there.

We learned a lot about what not to do while we were there. We learned that as hard as you try to make the perfect memories, sometimes you just have to go with the flow and enjoy what ever happens, even if you do spend the whole day waiting in lines. We learned that you can’t expect to go on a lot of rides when you have a little one. We learned to ignore the strange things people would say to us. People like to give people with babies lots of advice and I have learned to not take things personally. Honestly, I think people are just trying to help at heart. But when you are a disabled, brand new mom, who has no idea what she is doing, it’s hard not to feel like people are judging you. We learned to pack a lot of extra clothes and always pack more diaper than you think you will need! If you run out Disneyland does have a Huggies station you can use. They have seriously thought of everything. I learned that JJ was just happy to be there and so was A.

The next day was wonderful. We learned from our mistakes the day before and ended up going on a lot of rides with A. Now we are not afraid of road trips or vacations with a baby. We learned to enjoy the moment and go with the flow. Schedules might be thrown off, and we may be new parents and have no idea what we are doing but we are trying and learning.

Thankfully, there were a lot of things that helped us out as new parents at Disneyland. Here are a few of the things that saved our day!

Solly Baby Wrap – I am in love with these wraps. I asked for one for our foster shower before we were placed with baby CC and now I have a small collection of them. Every morning at Disneyland I would wrap A up and wear her in the lines. There are even a few rides you can baby wear on which I thought was awesome. I will be writing more about how much we love our Solly wraps in another post, so stay tuned!
Uppa Baby Stroller – We got this stroller on sale and it has easily been the greatest investment, as far as strollers go. These strollers come with bassinets and so at night we would simply attach the bassinet to the stroller and lay A in there for the night. It was the perfect makeshift crib and she slept great in it. It also comes with a rain cover which is awesome for those day’s at Disneyland when it’s raining. On Friday night it rained on us a bit and we were so thankful for this cover.
Fawn Design Diaper bag – This diaper bag is amazing. It stores everything beautifully and you don’t have to dig around in it or pull everything out just to find something. We were able to carry everything we needed for A in it while we were at Disneyland, and as a first time mama I packed a lot! After observing a lot of different diaper bags on our trip I am so thankful for the size of it! I didn’t smack anyone in line because it was too big and it didn’t make our stroller tip over (We witnessed this happening to many couples on our trip.) While we were waiting in line at the Haunted Mansion a woman tapped me on the shoulder and asked if she could take a look at the bag because she was debating about which one to purchase. A few other ladies in line came over as I showed them where I stored everything and how it’s super easy to clean. It was honestly one of the funniest moments of our vacation because JJ and the other Dad’s in line just stood there and rolled their eyes at all of us. But hey, us mamas work really hard and finding a product that really works is honestly a life saver!
Kbcutedesigns Blanket – These blankets are a must have. They are the softest blankets in the world and they come in tons of fun different colors and designs. I brought a few for A to bundle up in at night when we were walking around Disneyland.
Chewable Charm – Sweet A is teething like crazy right now. I wore my Chewable Charm necklace every day that we were at Disneyland. We even let her hold it and play with it while she was in the stroller. They really work and are super stylish.
Modern Burlap Disney Blanket – My mother-in-law got this for us as a gift when we decided to become foster parents. It was great as a simple blanket for A. It was also perfect for when she fell asleep in the stroller because I would just take the blanket and cover the stroller with it so she was fully shielded from the sun and people. It is amazing to me how many people will just reach out and touch your baby. Having this covering our stroller made me feel better about keeping her safe and covered.
Warm clothes and lots of them – I packed a lot of warm clothes and beanies for A. I was able to use some GapCash I had and purchased A some really cute Disney clothes. Gap is doing a collaboration with Disney right now and oh.my.goodness it is all so adorable!