July 2025
The Perfect First Vacation for You and Baby – Walt Disney World
I know I know, cliche isn’t it? Of course Disney World is for babies, right? As previous Disney adults, we knew Disney is for kids but I was surprised just how perfect it was for babies and parents looking to get away and relax – an actual vacation for everyone.
When our baby arrived, we knew we wanted to start traveling with her as soon as possible to start getting used to traveling as a family of three. While I knew a trip to Disney would be a high contender, it became obvious that it would be our first family vacation. And you know what? It was absolutely wonderful.
Now, there is definitely a right and a wrong way to do a Disney trip and I am here to guide you to a blissful vacation with your baby. Let me break down the reasons your first trip with your baby should be to Disney World.
Orlando is set up for family travel
Orlando is set up for family travel. It is the epicenter of theme parks and thousands of families are going through MCO as you read this blog post. There are very good transportation options when you are ready to leave the airport that are usually ready to go with a child’s needs such as car seats. Not having to pack a car seat is a big win since you do not need it once you are on Disney property. Orlando International Airport has many flight routes at all times of day to accommodate your baby’s schedule and so you can schedule those flights around nap time or whatever time suits you. We also felt comforted knowing that on a flight to Orlando, there are 100% going to be children so if our baby was upset during the flight, it would not stand out so much with so many other kids onboard. Orlando International Airport (MCO) has dedicated family lines at TSA security checkpoints. The TSA at MCO was also very used to checking baby items and it was one of our smoothest TSA experiences when it comes to that.
Disney is for families
This is certainly an “well of course” statement but I just didn’t realize how true this was until we traveled to other places and being so grateful for how easy Disney really makes it. From transportation, changing tables access, understanding staff, heck even understanding guests – there is not one parent there that does not understand what you are going through when your baby or child is having a moment.
One of the magical aspects of the Disney vacation is being immersed in the Disney bubble and a lot of that is due to the internal transportation system that moves guests to all points of the resort. From the monorail to the boats and buses and the skyliner, all of these modes make moving with kids easy. If you need a ride, the MinnieVan service is Disney’s rideshare program that includes car seats as well. Logistics of getting from one place to another are easy and can accommodate all your needs with the kids in tow.
Every parent has “been there” – when our baby was fussy every parent was able to sympathize and outwardly expressed that they were there before too. It’s not something that they’re unknown to and most people were very encouraging of us being out and about on vacation with our family. While we sat at Flying Fish with our unhappy baby, then taking turns with her outside, to ultimately leaving our meal early and finishing it in the room (thanks to the wonderful servers who packed up our desserts and wine!) – we did not feel embarrassed but instead got support from those around us. The table next to us were an older couple who joked about having eight grandkids and they were all too familiar with the fussiness. When I was outside with the baby where I am sure the entire boardwalk could hear the screaming, parents nodded and offered their “we have been there” phrases. And shockingly, being surrounded by understanding parents was a surprising delight. While this dinner example was our only time on the trip with such an unhappy baby, the rest of the time we were stopped by people who loved seeing a new baby and congratulated us on making the trip.
And this piggybacks to the cast members who at every point – from security at bag checks to the front desk to transportation and servers – everyone was accommodating and helpful during our stay. The fact that the servers at the Flying Fish experience above noted how we were struggling and offered to pack everything up for us – even the wine left in our bottle – it just made everything so much easier and relaxed. The front desk was able to get our room much earlier than check in time and also gave us a “first visit” pin for the baby. Honestly the specific examples are endless just from this one short trip alone. Cast members are an essential part of the Disney magic and we continue to experience it with a baby.
Stay onsite in a DVC Villa at a Deluxe Resort
Definition: DVC Villas (Animal Kingdom Lodge Villas Jambo House and Kidani Village, Bay Lake Tower at Contemporary, Boulder Ridge Villas at Wilderness Lodge, Beach Club Villas, BoardWalk Villas, Copper Creek Villas and Cabins at Wilderness Lodge , The Villas at Grand Floridan, Old Key West, Polynesian Villas and Bungalows, Riviera, Saratoga Springs, Treehouse Villas at Saratoga Springs, The Riviera Resort): The Villas with DVC (Disney Vacation Club) take luxury to the next step by adding the comforts of home. There are fully stocked kitchens (food not included but it can be delivered to your room on arrival!), living space, and washer / dryer – everything you need to feel at home. And the best part is these villas come with separate bedrooms so there are multiple rooms to enjoy and spread out. Traveling with a large party? Select villas can sleep up to 12 people! While you get the bang-for-your-buck when frequently staying at these accommodations through the DVC program, there is a nifty way to get these rooms without being a DVC member and for a fraction of the price by renting points. Essentially, you are renting someone’s DVC timeshare to benefit from the cheaper prices. There are many companies that rent points – I have used The DVC Store and DVC Rental Store.
In my opinion, this is the key to success for your stay with a baby. Some people say vacation with kids is just parenting in a new place so why not get a place that mimics the comforts of home. Every DVC Villa that is a one bedroom or larger has a full kitchen, separate bedrooms (yes, a door!), and an in unit washer and dryer.
Let’s break each of these down:
- Full kitchen allows you to actually stay and enjoy the room. While your baby is waking up throughout the night, you can take it easy by making breakfast in the room, having snacks midday on your balcony, and so much more. You can order groceries or anything else you need for your trip which can make packing a lot easier. We ordered from Garden Grocer and our items arrived the day of our check in. Our list included items like cereal, milk, coffee, cheese and crackers, fruits, bottled water, even a large sunscreen so we did not have to pack that. We were even able to save leftover food from eating out since we had a full refrigerator. It was such a game changer! On our most recent trip, we ordered Target pick up and stopped on our drive from the airport to our hotel which worked equally as well.
- Buy diapers, wipes, and anything else that you can when you arrive or have it sent to your accommodation. We had diapers, wipes, and formula sent by Amazon to our hotel ahead of time and it worked exceptionally well and allowed us to pack a 24 hour supply for those items and then get what we needed for the rest of the trip when we arrived. This also saves a ton of space! Just schedule the delivery close to your arrival date and format the delivery address with the to line “GUEST (your name) ARRIVAL (date of arrival)” and then the address of where you are staying. Then retrieve your items upon arrival at the front desk.
- Having this much space was never a priority on vacations since you spend most of the time out of the room. But this is no ordinary vacation – this is a vacation with a baby. And since we spent so much more time in the room than ever before on a trip, the extra space is so important. The power of a separate bedroom was never more evident when traveling with a baby. Once bedtime rolled around, we were able to make the room very dark, turn on the sound machine, and close the door while Kevin and I were able to spend the rest of the evening in the living room. Parents can actually enjoy their evenings while the baby is sleeping instead of hiding in a hotel room to avoid waking up the baby. Pro tip is to book a resort with a firework view so you can watch the fireworks every night with your partner – we got to do this every night with our room at the Boardwalk Villas.
- Having access laundry is a key to packing success. This is what makes staying in a DVC villa so wonderful! DVC villas that are one bedroom and larger have an in unit laundry so that whatever happens to baby’s items, we can run a quick load without running out of clothing. This will significantly reduce the number of items you need to pack and save a ton of room.
- Ample bathroom space with shower and tub options for easy bath time routines for the kids. And the bathrooms have separate compartments to not disturb while kids are napping or sleeping.
Preserve the Night
When baby’s bedtime is 7PM, there is a large part of the night that goes to ‘waste’ while on vacation for adults. But we did not experience this at Disney! We stayed at the Boardwalk and enjoyed our balcony where we could continue to see the nighttime entertainment and watch the fireworks from EPCOT every night. Since we had a one bedroom villa, we were able to enjoy our living space as if we were home since the baby was fast asleep in the bedroom with the door closed. We were even able to get take out and ice cream to enjoy in the room. Having this set up really extended our nights more so than on other trips we took where we felt confined to the room or had to stay quiet – it was so easy for one of us to run to the Boardwalk area and grab something we wanted to enjoy the evening. My most recent favorite hack is to visit one of the Basin stores on property- one at Disney Springs and one at the Grand Floridian – at the beginning of the trip and get some luxurious bath products to enjoy in the evenings. The tubs in the DVC rooms are large but do not come with bath products so do yourself a favor and treat yourself to them to really enjoy the tub and a great way to relax at the end of the day.
Do NOT go into the theme parks
Disney trips can be overwhelming and with the high prices of theme park tickets and complex system in place to get on rides, we opted to not go into the theme parks. There is so much to do outside of the theme parks – I have an entire blog post dedicated to just that. And I have to say, for our four days here with the baby, we never ran out of things to do! You move far slower with a baby than you did before so that certainly was a factor, but there is just so much to do outside of the parks that I think we will definitely be doing this strategy again.
To briefly highlight things you can do without going into the theme parks:
- Visit Disney Springs for shopping, dining, bowling, see a Cirque du Soleil show, even go up in a hot air balloon or ride in an Amphicar.
- Hop around to the resorts as there is so much to see and do. See animals at Animal Kingdom Lodge, ride horses at Fort Wilderness, go to the spa at the Grand Floridian, watch fireworks from the Polynesian, rent boats at the Yacht and Beach Club – just to name a few!
- Ride along the many modes of transportation – they are rides on their own! From the iconic Monorail to the many boats and the newest Skyliner.
- Enjoy the amenities at your own resort such as the pool, playground, splash pad, and recreation activities including movies, s’mores, crafts, and much more.
Here is a post highlighting the Perfect Itinerary for Walt Disney World Without Visiting the Theme Parks
Even though we didn’t go into the parks, our baby also was able to experience the first character interaction because on occasion the characters go out and about to the resorts and go visit the people that are hanging out there. So we got to actually do that and the baby got to meet Chip for a very cute interaction – core memory activated.
Enjoy Dining
One of the reasons we loved Disney as adults is the ample fine dining and we did not expect that to change with the addition of the baby. Food options are widely available for all needs. If the baby is fussy you can get a quick service meal or you can even book more fine dining locations and it is not frowned upon to bring a baby in there. We had good experiences and we ate at nicer restaurants every night. Our servers were fantastic in either speeding the meal up or even packaging up the rest of our meals when the baby was fussy. And they did not balk an eye when we brought our baby in. They were able to accommodate the stroller at the table and we were able to enjoy some of our favorite dining experiences in Disney world with baby because of this.
While we have done several vacations since this first trip with the baby, I do find myself looking forward to our next Disney trip since it was so enjoyable as a true vacation for everyone where we really could relax. It certainly was the best way to introduce travel as a family of three and I think we may see ourselves back very soon.