Suggestions for WDW Veterans w/ a 1 Yr Old

[tinydancr06]

We are planning to take our daughter back to WDW at the end of April a couple weeks before her first birthday staying at AoA. I am curious what experiences have been a hit with other one year olds (restaurants, rides, shows, whatever!). We are Floridians and have been to WDW many many times and baby has been once before when she was 5 months old. We did Chef Mickey's and she did great with characters at the time. Really I just love the trip planning process and would love to hear what ADRs, FPs, and other plans we should be prioritizing. General tips are welcome as well!

 

[MaryMichelotti]

Breakfast at Ohanas. My little one loved the parade they did around the restaurant with stitch. Also Crystal Palace was a big hit with the Winnie the Pooh characters.
Magic Kingdom: love the winnie the pooh ride queue, small world, tiki room, jungle cruise and carousel. Also if she hasnt had her haircut yet, main street barber shop does a great job, you get a certificate, they save you a lock of hair, and you get mickey ears
Epcot she enjoyed the aquarium and nemo ride
Animal Kingdom can't go wrong with all the animals.
Hollywood Studios has a great Disney Junior show,my daughters face during this made all expenses worth it lol.

 

[LBear1121]

My daughter went at 3 months, 6 months, and 13 months old. She did great with characters the first two trips, but was scared of them the last time. She takes a few minutes to warm up to new experiences usually and then dives right in so I thought she’d do fine with crystal palace since you can see the characters coming and we had been there both previous trips, but she was not having it. We are also typically big table service people, but it was a less enjoyable experience trying to keep a one year old entertained and I wish we had done more counter service. Every kid is different though and you know them best. If they’re outgoing and fine at restaurants then definitely do some character meals.

In general, she liked rides ok, but she really liked a lot of activities that didn’t involve fast passes. We definitely had to change up our normal touring style but it’s so worth it to see how happy she was.

In animal kingdom she loved the avatar boat ride, bone yard playground, and rafikis planet watch petting zoo.

In Epcot we spent a lot of time at the seas.

Any of the little splash pad areas were like a magnet so make sure you bring a change of clothes with you to the parks.