3 Very Small Kids- Attractions that will work

[2019TripIdeas]

Hello,
We're planning a trip to WDW for either Feb or March of next year. I'd love any advice in terms of making it work with 3 small kids. We'll have a double stroller with a glider board, our kids are generally really easygoing and we'll plan in a rest day or two, time for naps, etc. We'll have a 4 year old, 2 year old (though both will be close to turning 5/3) and an 18 month old when we go. I've been to WDW three times, but not with kids.

We've done Disneyland when the older two were nearly 3/nearly 1 and actually had an awesome experience in terms of rides, etc. We found that our littler one could go in an ERGO carrier and most rides without height restrictions allowed him on that way (Haunted Mansion, Small World, Pirates, maybe even Dumbo but I could be wrong there?) I remember we had to take him out of the carrier and sit him on the seat for the Astro Orbiter but I think that might've been about it. Non- face character interaction was a struggle, but rides were generally great and our kids were super into them.

My major concern and what I'd most love advice on is
-Will we find same rides at WDW will accomodate a baby in a carrier? (Not having to unbuckle, etc made it super convenient!)
-How do you think we'll do in terms of being able to ride together- will we be stuck with lots of rider swap? I'm not concerned about kids being nervous/afraid so much as I am the general ride configurations.
-Will we find rides require 1 adult: 1 child ratio because of our kids ages?

-If it looks like we won't be able to ride at the same time because of having 3 so young, we'd definitely consider bringing along another adult, but wanted to feel it out here to see all of your thoughts! Also, our kids seem to be about average to small on height/size, so I know many things will still be off limits in terms of that. Thank you in advance!

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

You'll be fine. Some rides you will fit all 5 in one car (Pooh, magic carpets), and others you will split up 2 and 3 (Nemo, Peter pan, under the sea). You can do everything that doesn't have a height limit. Almost 5yo might want to try things like barnstormer or 7dmr, so just one adult would take him/her. Not sure on the configuration for Astro, if they would let 3ppl ride together.

 

[2019TripIdeas]

Awesome. Thank you. I need to look up but I'm assuming the height limits for rides are the same at WDW and Disneyland? My oldest loved the little rollercoaster in Toontown at Disneyland so I'm assuming Barnstormer will be a hit (and hoping our almost 3 year old might even be able to do that).

Does anyone have experience with baby carriers (Ergo, Bjorn) on rides?

 

[ajwolfe]

I've never used a baby carrier on a ride but I know I have seen others do it. I would think as long as the lap bar fits properly there wouldn't be an issue??

 

[NJlauren]

I left DD in the ergo for some rides. I can not remember what ones to be honest she was 10 months. However when she was 18 months she was just to big to walk around in the ergo for long periods of time so I didn’t try it that trip.

 

[2019TripIdeas]

Thanks! I'll look up more on which rides have the lap bar. I was honestly kind of surprised they let us do it on Haunted Mansion and Pirates at Disneyland, but no one questioned it at all and we rode them twice each that way.

We may be out of luck on the ergo if our youngest ends up being squirmy but I'm hoping he'll hang in there some to keep him contained. While the other two are more average on size, our littlest is itty bitty (he's continuously stayed 1st percentile and is almost 6 months now) so I'm kind of hoping he'll still be comfortable that way at 18 months, but of course you never know. I'm sure my back couldn't have done my other two kids at 18 months around the park either.

I appreciate all the advice. It's hard to even know where to start with WDW I have SO many questions. Disneyland was great this past year, but we were even underplanned on that I think so I want to try to figure things out more for WDW.

 

[rosedolph]

The last baby I wore in a carrier was my five week old, 7 years ago. I was able to wear him in any ride that had no height limit and was toddler friendly. Things might be different now, and it might be different with an older child.
I’m pretty sure I read somewhere that if A child is old enough/big enough to sit by himself he would have to be seated during the ride. BUT of course I can’t find that info now.
I’m just being nosey - why do you want to wear your 18 month old? I would think that at that age he would want to run around, so maybe a stroller- quick in and out- would be better. But that’s just my opinion. Do what works best for you.

 

[TreeFalls]

I know on Astro Orbiter I had to sit my 7mo directly on the seat. I wore him in a carrier on lots of the other rides, though, I just can't recall which ones...

 

[2019TripIdeas]

I’m just being nosey - why do you want to wear your 18 month old? I would think that at that age he would want to run around, so maybe a stroller- quick in and out- would be better. But that’s just my opinion. Do what works best for you.

You might be right. My logic was that neither of my other kids were dependable enough at 18 months to hold a hand the whole time without trying to run off eventually. Our son has just now gotten good at it so we don't need to contain him at grocery stores or whatnot, and he's almost 2. Maybe our littlest will be way better?

When we did Disneyland, I found that we would walk to an area, park the stroller, then do the surrounding attractions on foot (i.e parked by the carousel, walked to Snow White, Peter Pan, Mr. Toad, Dumbo, etc). Is WDW's stroller parking different or is it at each attraction versus land? I was thinking the Ergo would be easier in order to have one kid contained while waiting in lines. I know that was super easy for us at Disneyland with an almost 1 year old, but I guess I hadn't thought about what a different ballgame 12 months is versus 18 months would be. Our then- almost one year old also wasn't walking at all yet when we went.

I had also figured we might end up needing both stroller seats for the older two (they'll be almost 5 and almost 3) at some points and ergoing the little guy in those cases.

 

[rosedolph]

When we did Disneyland, I found that we would walk to an area, park the stroller, then do the surrounding attractions on foot (i.e parked by the carousel, walked to Snow White, Peter Pan, Mr. Toad, Dumbo, etc). Is WDW's stroller parking different or is it at each attraction versus land? .

That is true - you do park in one area and walk around. So you’ll probably be carrying your little one anyway. I guess the worst case would be you take the ergo and then just stashing it in the stroller if you don’t use it. Better to have it and not need it, then spend all day wishing you had it.

 

[cruisingtwins]

I would bring another single umbrellla stroller

 

[AFwifelife]

I used mei tais and woven wraps but there wasn’t a ride that I had to take my second out of to ride (didn’t do Astro Orbiter though). Even with TSMM, I just lifted her butt up a little to sit on the lap bar.

 

[Joseph Vogt]

What about smaller infants. My son will be 7 months old. We are going Easter. Is he allowed to be on my lap for those rides that are Any Height?

 

[KrazeeK120]

Just to add to some of the above...we took our son at 18 months. He weighed 30 lbs at the time...no way was I strapping 30 lbs of squirmy toddler to me and walking around in the hot Florida sun (or anywhere else for that matter). I have an Ergo 360, and it recommends not wearing the child on the front past 27 lbs, so I would have had to remove him for all rides anyway as I don’t think you can comfortably ride with the kid strapped to your back. He had a great time in the stroller and could walk short distances to the rides (or we carried him short distances as well). I don’t think he would have wanted to be worn, honestly. And he didn’t want to sit in our laps on rides, either. He sat in the seat next to us (except on the safari, where I was afraid he would be jostled around too much sitting on his own).

 

[tink9702]

This wasn't at Disney & some people are going to hate my post....BUT my son was a RUNNER! It wasn't safe to let him walk anywhere at any theme park when he was anywhere from 12 months to 4 years old. We HAD to use one of those kid leashes to keep him safe. IF you find your littlest kid might be this way I highly recommend a kid leash as well as using the Ergo for different times/situations.

I'd also plan on one adult taking the older two on the rides and the second adult being in charge of the littlest and then switching off as needed.

The stroller parking is either one area in each land, or a couple areas in the land depending (pretty sure Fantasyland has two areas & the rest have one).

-Will we find same rides at WDW will accomodate a baby in a carrier?

Yes, they will allow a forward carry on some of the rides. Check with the cast member at the ride as I believe it's up to their discretion.

-How do you think we'll do in terms of being able to ride together- will we be stuck with lots of rider swap? I'm not concerned about kids being nervous/afraid so much as I am the general ride configurations.

I honestly don't think so for most rides. Barnstormer is the only ride I can think of at MK that will DEFINITELY be an issue. It's 2 people across and they will NOT let a child under 7 ride by themselves. So you will have to do Rider swap with one parent taking the oldest & the other taking the middle child.

-Will we find rides require 1 adult: 1 child ratio because of our kids ages?

Not often - see above with Barnstormer. Most rides they consider the whole car to be together so the 5 year old could sit in front of the adult with the 3 year old if need be. And rides like TSMM will seat two small kids with an adult.

 

[KCF1216]

I used an ergo (the newer one that allows the baby to face forward) with my 6 month old in November and was able to wear her on a bunch of rides with out taking her out. She basically sat on my lap. If you have the one where they can only face you or go on your back, that likely won’t work as well with an 18 month old. It might help you in lines even if you have to put them on your back for a bit so he/she doesn’t run away and then take out on the ride.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

What about smaller infants. My son will be 7 months old. We are going Easter. Is he allowed to be on my lap for those rides that are Any Height?

almost 2 years ago now we took the grandkids which included a 4 month old and she rode everything that did not have a height requirement. toy story she had to be under the lap bar but did not have to be on seat

 

[2019TripIdeas]

Thank you for all of the advice. I don't think we're babywearing fanatics by any means but we have found our Ergo to help a ton (I Ergoed the nearly 2 year old on a 3 hr flight this week to keep him calm- baby sat calmly on my husbands lap, ha!) so I'm hoping it still works with the littlest when he's 18m-ish. Our older kids who are currently almost 2/almost 4 currently are in the 27-29 lb range now, so I am guessing weight wise, the littlest won't even be close to outgrowing it at that age (he's 13 lbs at 6 months, so itty bitty and just built smaller than the other 2). I do think we'll need a mix of front/back carry, and may upgrade to the 360 because he'd prob enjoy the rides that much more if he could see.

Tink9702- huge thanks for that info. It seems like Barnstormer then would be the only small problem, and I think both of the other 2 will want to ride (our oldest was obsessed with the rollercoaster in ToonTown at Disneyland, and I'm assuming its similar).

 

[jvz82]

I think bringing the Ergo is a good idea. You will get hot, so just prepare for that. And he may not always want to be in it. But it will be good to have. We went when my 3rd child was 12 months and I wore him a lot. We also went when my youngest was almost 2 and he did NOT want to be in the stroller! He ended up walking most of the time or insisting that I carry him. I carried him a LOT because he's a runner so he couldn't be trusted to walk most of the time, lol. Honestly, he's never liked baby wearing so I didn't consider bringing my ergo but I sort of wish I had at least tried it because it was hard carrying him around the park all day! But he would just cry and cry in the stroller. :/

You'll have 2 adults and 3 kids? You should be fine. We went when we had a 12 month old, an almost 3 year old, and an 4.5 year old and we never had any issues. We had way more issues this last time around because our oldest two kids were old enough to want to do the roller coasters and rides with the height limits so we had to split up a lot. But with a 4 year old, you probably won't be going on any intense rides anyway.

 

[jenniferg13]

You will do great! We did a double bob with three little ones and one can sit on the corner front spot or I would put the baby in the carrier a lot of the time so the other two could ride comfy. The glider board you said would work great too I'm sure! They will still have to stand I guess, even though mine have sat on our glider board at home before. The ergo is a lifesaver, but my back would ache so badly from all the carrying. I wore her forward facing though in the ergo 360, I think on my back would have been a little better and I plan to do that this next trip now that she's going to be 16 months. We didn't have any issues on rides, but I did take her out of the ergo a lot so she was comfy and could see the ride well and all that. We did rider swap for rides the baby couldn't go on and that worked great. You will all have the best time! Everything will work out great! Let me know if you have any specific questions and I can report back after this next trip now that she's 16 months, versus 9 months on our last one.