Disneyland has been one of my favorite short weekend getaways since moving to Las Vegas about a decade ago, and I have managed to find a way to carve out at least a day to go each year since my arrival.  I figured once I got pregnant that those annual trips would have to be put on a bit of a hold.  And then, when I got pregnant again when Addie was only four months old, I realized I’d be in the toddler stage for the next several years, and figured Disney was just one of the many sacrifices that came with the early years of parent.

I was shocked to hear a friend went with her six-month old and became elated when she told me I would have no problem going pregnant.  I dove into research.  Maybe it’s just common knowledge for the California locals that Disneyland is built for families (it seems like a real “DUH!” now that I’ve been) but for us outsiders who primarily enjoyed it in our single years, this was a revelation.  Clearly, I had a lot to learn, considering I didn’t even know how accessible it was for babies and pregnancy.  And even in my research, I didn’t find a ton of info on bringing a little one under a year old (or being pregnant) so I decided to share what I did find and learn personally with you.  EVERYONE should know that Disneyland isn’t one of the many things that early parenthood puts on hold 😊 

Here are some of the questions I wanted answers to, and hopefully they help you too!

To use a stroller or not to use a stroller?  My vote: Definitely Use!

Addie was 8-months-old—and a big 8 months old at already 23lb.  I couldn’t fathom having her in a carrier all day.  Actually, at 5 months pregnant, it wasn’t even an option for me but even asking Tony to lug her around for a potential 10 hours didn’t seem reasonable.  I had, of course, seen all the stroller parking in my previous trips, and didn’t bat an eye—ah, the ignorant bliss of childless life.  Now I wondered in a frenzy if bringing a stroller was safe? If it would be too cumbersome?  If I risked having it stolen? I spent more money than I had wanted to on our stroller and was not about to risk having it taken from me.  My husband pointed out that statistically, our stroller was not worth being the one of the thousands to be stolen but that aside I was convinced we’d never see it again.  I did google it, and it appears only one serious theft has occurred, which resulted in an arrest and jailtime for the crook.  So that made me feel better.  And sure enough when I got there, ours was only one of hundreds and hundreds of our brand of stroller. 

Having a stroller makes it a little more difficult to navigate through crowds, but that’s a given in any situation.  I personally felt the benefits far outweighed that minor inconvenience.  The stroller became our moving locker and an easy place to keep Addie on her nap schedule.  Babies come with lots of extra baggage (no pun intended) and it was so helpful to have a place to keep all her extras.  As we went from one part of the park to the next, we would simply walk the stroller, find a good parking spot, secure our belongings, and ride all the rides in the area before returning.  I say secure our belongings, because again, I’m hypervigilant.  We packed enough extras to fit in two diaper backpacks and a small fabric cooler, and at the beginning of the day I used The Mommy Hook to hook them all together and then to the stroller so it would be hard to quickly walk away with anything.  I’ll admit by the end of the day I had relaxed a bit, but hey, it never hurts to be overly cautious in my mind! It was early December, which is just becoming chilly in southern California, so the stroller was also an excellent holder for our layers when we could shed them. 

To rent or bring our own stroller? My Vote: Bring Your Own

We were driving in to California from Vegas for the weekend, so we were bringing the stroller anyways for the rest of our trip.  I had seen that you could rent strollers directly from Disney for only $15 a day (only for singles, they don’t rent doubles, but you can rent 2 at a time).  Because of my intense fear of theft I felt it seemed like a great deal, but I couldn’t find a picture of one anywhere.  We decided to wing it and bring ours, check into it at the park and then we could just take ours back to the car if it was worth it to just rent.  I was so glad we brought our own!  The rentals are the small cheap plastic blue strollers that you might find at the mall.  They have zero storage space, don’t lean back for naps for baby, and make it difficult to distinguish as your own. (We actually did tie a green ribbon on our own stroller handle but with all our stuff didn’t really need it since it was easier to just spot our stuff). 

What can my baby ride? 

Okay guys, this is the meat and potatoes of the post.  Babies can actually ride a lot!  And this was why it was a revelation to be able to go as new parents—we could still have fun on a majority of the rides and bring the baby along too! My only caveat to this is that we decided to stick with only Disneyland on this trip and did not bother with California Adventure.  There are far fewer selections for babies and pregnancy at California Adventure, and we were going to use our Sunday for some real Cali adventures of our own, so we just stuck to the one park. 

Disneyland only has a few rides that have height restrictions: 

• Autopia
• Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
• Indiana Jones Adventure
• Gadget’s Go Coaster
• Matterhorn Bobsleds
• Space Mountain
• Splash Mountain
• Star Tours 

These were essentially the only rides that were not accessible to myself or the baby, leaving us a TON of things to still do.  We found that Fantasyland had the most concentrated area of rideable attractions for us. 

What can a woman ride during pregnancy? 

Obviously, don’t rely on me to answer this for you.  I’m an (almost) therapist, not doctor.  I made my own choices based on my unique experience of pregnancy and would recommend you ask your doctor.  However, I had no problem on any of the rides I went on, which was essentially anything not listed in the previous answer for having had height restrictions. (BTW, on the Disneyland Attractions page these are the same rides that they list as having an “Expectant Mothers Advisory).  You might be mindful of some rides with light drops (Pirates of the Caribbean) but like I said, I had no problems personally.

Other Mom Suggestions: 

Avoid the weekends if at all possible!  I used to always go on either a Monday or Tuesday, back then I was in the Las Vegas Industry and those days were my typical days off. In fact, the best day I ever went was a Tuesday after Labor Day—zero lines at all, it was amazing!  Now that Tony and I are grownups (yuck ☹) we had to accommodate our 9-5 weekday schedules and drive up Friday night after work.  We went to Disney on a Saturday the first week of December, so I assumed it wouldn’t be as busy as winter break, but boy was I wrong.  I’ll never go on a Saturday again, regardless of the time of year.  Everything was far busier than I’d ever seen it.

My highest recommendation is to download the Disneyland app, even if just for the day.  If you can only come on a weekend, it makes it far easier to at least plan your day efficiently and substantially cut down on some of the down times throughout your adventure.  It provides a map letting you see the wait times of each ride so you can plan your day and save on unnecessary waiting/walking/parking of stroller, etc.  You can also cut down on wait times in lines with the use of Fast Passes, which only some rides offer.  I HIGHLY recommend the purchase of the Max Pass with your ticket (only $10 extra for each ticket) because then you can you can activate fast pass access directly from the app and then make your way over to that ride at the appropriate time, rather than zig zagging across the park getting a fast pass and going to wait in other lines.  Note that you can only have one fast pass activated at a time and each ticket holder will need their own fast pass, meaning you do have to add Max Pass to each individual ticket. Max Pass also gives you the option to unlimited photography from the professionals around the park. 

I wish I had known about the app sooner, but one benefit that we missed out on is that you can also book meal reservations in advance.  It lists all the restaurants in the parks, in Downtown Disney, and even in the Resorts, seeing which restaurants have availability at what times and allows you to book directly through your phone.  If you don’t want to sit down for a full meal, the app even lets you put in an order for pick up at many of the restaurants, specifying what time you would like to pick it up (MIND.BLOWN.)  

Additionally, it lets you know if any attractions are closed and for how long.  It details show times, which may come in handy for nap times for babies or a nice indoor rest for pregnant Moms.  Character appearances are alerted on the app with their location.  Park photographers’ locations are noted and you can scan and review your pictures through the app.  Finally, parade times and pathways are available also so you can grab a spot with a view where your family and stroller will fit—another opportunity to take a much needed break!  Overall, it just makes planning your day a million times easier—and when you’re traveling pregnant and/or with tiny ones, the more you can plan efficiently the BETTER. 

Food 

I was shocked and so excited to learn that Disneyland allows you to bring in food.  Their restaurant prices aren’t exactly cheap and I had always just assumed that it was a necessary evil once entering the park that eating there was your only option.  Once you become a mom, the option to bring in food becomes MONUMENTAL—I firmly believe snacks and extra bottles are the key to keeping kids happy throughout a long day outside of their routine.  They also happen to keep ravaging pregnant women at bay when walking thousands of extra steps 😉 Win, win.  We brought lots of extra formula and a big canteen of water (there were water fountains for refills too, SCORE), several fruit packs, some almonds, cheese and crackers, and granola and protein bars.  We wanted to still have a nice Disney lunch somewhere, but if you wanted to skip the wait and extra cost, I saw lots of people who even brought their own sandwiches and chips.  Also, we loosely follow Baby Led Weaning so feed Addie bits of what we eat, but if not don’t forget your baby food and spoons! 

Speaking of lunch, that was a much harder endeavor than I would have expected!  As was dinner.  I wish we had utilized the app the day before our trip, because all the restaurants were fully booked by the time I downloaded it the morning of.  We did get in for an early lunch with no significant wait at about 11a (just in time for Addie to stay on track for her morning nap—perfect!) at the French Market Café.  We took a small snack break for us (and nap time for Addie) in Tommorrowland at about 3pm but by then even the lines for the snack bar were pretty outrageous so I was thankful to have some cheese on hand to hold over the crazy that was beginning to take over me.  And by the time we decided to find dinner somewhere, at about 6pm, everything was a cluster. Wait times were an hour to two hours literally everywhere, including in Downtown Disney.  So, we packed up and called it a day by about 7:30pm, eating near our hotel instead.  Had we not had snacks to hold us over I can only imagine the disaster that could have ensued throughout the day—especially near dinnertime as peak exhaustion had set in.  

Diaper Changing 

Going from Disney hopping alone and single to with a baby, you don’t realize how much more slowly everything will go. The bathroom trips definitely caught me off guard—in their number, their frequency, the inconvenience, and the time it took!  Fortunately, all restrooms we went to in the park had changing stations–both female AND male, thanks Disney! They didn’t come with all the amenities of a good Buy Buy Baby changing room or anything, like I was hoping, but fortunately I brought plenty of diapers and wipes.  Can you tell I’m an overplanner yet?  And though we didn’t use them, I was informed that there are two Baby Care Centers also in case you do run out of, or lose, ANYTHING in the way of changing or feeding your baby.  They also provide high chairs, microwaves, and areas for breastfeeding/pumping.  Note that it does not provide a napping area for babies.    

I think that covers everything that I found important in planning my trip.  But I’m sure there are a million other things to research or learn. Please feel free to ask any questions and I’ll do my best to answer them from my own experience.  I hope this encourages you to continue to challenge yourself to find ways to enjoy some of the more fun things in life despite pregnancy or a little one.  Early parenthood is definitely an adjustment, but it doesn’t have to be miserable! It’s easy to fall into a routine with an infant and feel like you can’t challenge that for a couple years.  I think it can begin to feel that your own satisfaction and excitement starts fading as a human being who has sacrificed her life to become a Mom, so I think these small getaways, even though they are a little extra work, are SO worth it for both you and your family.  

Do you have any additional tips that I’ve missed! Please share them or some of your own experiences below, I’d love to hear them! 

XOXO – Lindsey Paoli