Our ‘Parent Fails’ During Megatron’s First Disney World Trip
Baby Bricker’s first visit to Walt Disney World was perfectly imperfect, and this trip report covers the challenges we faced as new parents in taking Megatron to Magic Kingdom (and beyond). This features thoughts on adjusting her sleep schedule, split stays, surfaces, screen time, and doing a Moderate Resort, plus a few photos (mostly unrelated to the commentary).
This is the third part of our Walt Disney World trip report, continuing from the first installment of ‘What Went Right’ during that family trip and the second installment of Walt Disney World vacation highlights. Overall, this was fun and immensely satisfying as we rediscovered Walt Disney World as parents. If you’re looking for the positives from this trip (and the overwhelming majority was amazing), check out those first two parts. They’re the heartwarming stories and photos from Baby Bricker’s first vacation to Walt Disney World.
By its very nature, this post is less endearing and uplifting. In addition to being amazing, this trip was also a huge learning experience and went far from flawlessly as we basically relearned Disney as new parents. But we wouldn’t trade this trip–warts and all–for anything. We love her so much and Walt Disney World so much, and taking our favorite person to one of our favorite places for the first time was a true joy that we’ll cherish forever!
As mentioned before, we’re not posting any embarrassing stories or things that Megatron would be mortified to read when she’s older. We want to share our experiences while also preserving her privacy (hence the fake name and no face photos). That also means that what went wrong with Baby Bricker’s first trip is really what went wrong with the Bricker Parents’ first trip to Walt Disney World.
That makes more sense, anyway. Babies aren’t exactly out there making mistakes left and right while traveling. They are…being babies, doing baby things. Babies are also a fairly known quantity; they’ve been around since at least the mid-1980s and their key features haven’t really changed since then.
It’s really more about how we, as parents, adapted to navigating Walt Disney World now that we’re no longer a childless couple and are instead tasked with caring for the needs of a small but mighty human. That’s probably at least somewhat obvious, but a lot of the emphasis in parenting is placed on the baby (“every baby is different”)–but it’s the parents who have vast amounts of lived and learned experience, and come at this from very different perspectives as a result.
And while the post is titled “parent fails,” that’s honestly too harsh of a term. We didn’t necessarily make any major mistakes–it’s really more about the challenges we faced, what we wish we would’ve known before going, and what we learned along the way. That’s not as concise or catchy of a title, though. Regardless, hopefully other new or future parents can put some of this to use before their first WDW trips with babies, and those of you seasoned parents can relate to our experiences…
Sleep Schedule – Sleeping is probably the biggest issue for any new parents, and we are no different. This trip to Walt Disney World was a perfect storm of sleep schedule issues, though. First, it was our first time traveling with Megatron and we were working against a 3-hour time change. Even the start of Daylight Saving Time back in March had an outsized impact on her sleep schedule, so we were dreading what a 3-hour change would bring.
Second, we had just started transitioning from her bassinet to a crib before the trip. We knew this would be somewhat of an issue as we’ve done hotel stays around Disneyland since January, and those have never been smooth sailing. As it turns out, home court advantage is huge for us. We have a routine at home and a full toolkit, so to speak, to assist with the sleep process.
You don’t fully realize this until you’re on the road and realize that some of those little things you lean on at home aren’t available to you–and also that there are externalities beyond your control. I don’t even mean sleep accessories–helpful habits you develop may not work while traveling. Conversely, noise from neighboring rooms or the hallways can disrupt the sleeping schedule.
Finally, just the differences in the routine can cause changes to the sleep schedule. Megatron loves to sleep in her carrier, pressed up against one of us. She loves to sleep outdoors. Walks around our neighborhood in her carrier are one foolproof (knock on wood) way to soothe her when all else fails.
Well, about 75% of every waking hour at Walt Disney World she spent in that carrier and outdoors. That meant a lot of daytime sleeping–more than normal, including times when she otherwise might’ve been playing and burning off energy. We tried to take plenty of breaks to give her tummy time and playing, but it still wasn’t the same as at home. Even had none of the above issues existed, this last one alone would’ve been incredibly disruptive.
Suffice to say, I have fond memories of doing laps around this fountain in the Magnolia Bend section of Port Orleans Riverside. The carrier and the outdoor air and the soothing sound of the flowing water was the perfect recipe, and she’d be out in seconds. All it took was a few laps to calm her. (Not to make myself sound like the hero–Sarah is the one who does the nighttime heavy lifting, as I’m literally not equipped to address Megatron’s middle of the night needs!)
The problem came with going back into the room, closing the door, and transferring her to the crib all without waking her up. During the day, she’s able to sleep through bright light, loud cheer groups, dance parties, and just about every attraction…but the quiet “click” of a hotel room door instantly puts her at high alert. So I tried to not just get her to fall asleep while making laps of the fountain, but get her to a state of deeper sleep. (Odd as it might sound, but these really are fond memories–I look at the above photo and smile, and that fountain will always hold a special place in my heart now!)
Even once she’s asleep, Sarah and I have both developed this weird state of ‘anxious awareness,’ for lack of a better term. It’s kind of like that scene in Jurassic Park where the velociraptors are in the kitchen–you’re doing your best to remain silent and still, worried that any sudden move and you’ll have to repeat the process all over again. And like a velociraptor encounter, your heart is racing afterwards.
We can both be beyond exhausted, but wound up and not able to fall asleep because of this–or worried that she’s not actually down for the count. On the plus side, that time decompressing is great for looking through photos from that day of our baby’s first trip to Walt Disney World…a good reminder at 2 a.m. that it was all very much worth it and that we wouldn’t trade those sleepless nights for anything!
Split Stays – I regret to inform you that you were all right. Split stays are more difficult with a baby than just two low-maintenance adult travelers. Who could’ve guessed, right?! It actually wasn’t an issue with Megatron–as soon as she gets in the carrier or car seat, she’s cool as a cucumber. She also loves all forms of transportation at Walt Disney World.
The actual process of the transfer also wasn’t all that difficult. Thankfully, it was really smooth on both ends. Our luggage arrived before the scheduled time and we had zero wait to get a crib at the Contemporary. I’d give Walt Disney World a 10/10 score on the whole process, and that’s not always the case with split stays!
So what, exactly, went wrong with the split stay? The biggest issue was packing and unpacking. This has never been a problem for us–it typically takes the two of us 15 minutes from start-to-finish to leave a hotel room. Totally different ball game with a baby. They have more stuff, and it’s just not nearly as easy to get out of the room. It took us over an hour and was more stressful. I can’t even quite articulate the why of that…it just was. We also had less park time per day in the first place, so this just felt like an unnecessary layer of complexity.
Part of it might be a “skill issue,” and we’ll likely (hopefully!) hone our approach and become more efficient with resort room changes with a baby. I am still, perhaps foolishly, convinced that split stays can work just fine for us. We just shouldn’t have done one on the first visit. There were already too many moving pieces and areas for uncertainty. Having the resort and room be a constant would’ve been nice.
It also didn’t help that we psyched ourselves out. Some reader ‘words of warning’ about split stays were fresh in our minds, and we definitely overthought things. We fretted too much about being separated from our luggage, not having access to things until late at night, or issues with the crib at the resort.
As a result, we overpacked our day bag and also brought our pack ‘n’ play from home. With the benefit of hindsight, both of these were poor decisions. And while I can appreciate that preparing for all possible contingencies gives some parents peace of mind, it just isn’t us.
We’re more roll with the punches kind of people. I like to know what could go wrong, but just to have an idea in mind ahead of time about how to adapt for a scenario…not to be prepared for it. (If that makes sense.) One of the more difficult adjustments in being a new parent is adjusting for this. When it comes to generalized advice, we know what works and doesn’t for us and can weigh it accordingly and apply it to ourselves.
With a baby, we don’t have that. At least, not as much. There’s this pressure not to screw things up, and err on the side of not making any errors. I know this isn’t unique to us, and one of the most helpful pieces of advice that many readers gave us back during the pregnancy was the importance of ignoring advice because nothing is one-size-fits-all. Only you know what’s best for your family. We’re already seeing just how true and important that is…but it’s also easier said than done.
Moderate Room – Traveling with a baby has already given us a whole new appreciation of hotel rooms and also caused us to reevaluate our priorities and preferences. Before, we never cared all that much what type of room we got. A standard room was a standard room–it didn’t matter whether it had two queen beds, one king, a pull-down table/bed combo, etc. We also weren’t that preoccupied with square footage. We traveled light and thus didn’t need that much storage space, and having empty areas of floor also made no difference.
Having a baby means far less flexibility. Now we know that we want one bed for us and free space on the floor for playtime, as well as for a crib or pack ‘n’ play. We learned this the hard way with the Royal Rooms at Port Orleans Riverside. The room itself held a lot of appeal–Megatron loved the light-up headboard–but the layout and space was too cramped. I honestly don’t know how families of 5 do this all in a single room. (I’m guessing/hoping that it gets easier and that babies have unique space needs–we’ve crammed 4 adults into Value Resorts before and don’t remember space being this tight!)
Honestly, we would’ve been better off at a Value Resort. The new style with the second bed folding up into the table opens up floor space. I think that would’ve been more practical for our purposes, and we’ll probably do that next time over standard rooms at a Moderate. The DVC style rooms really seem ideal–even just the studio. I can understand now why so many parents praise the 1-bedroom layout and get addicted to adding on points!
Surfaces – We’ve read plenty about mouthing, but like so many baby things, I think it’s impossible to fully appreciate the extent to which it happens until you experience it firsthand. Again, not unique to us, but I feel like the baby literature folks could put this in blunter terms: infants are basically like a cross between goats and Slimer from Ghostbusters, and their mouths have a gravitational pull on any object in their vicinity.
Obviously, this is something we experience at home…and everywhere…and wasn’t unique to Walt Disney World. The unique part was my sudden awareness of just how many easily accessible and lickable things are all over Walt Disney World. Handrails on buses and monorails, lap bars on rides, high chairs and table cloths, stanchions, literally the entire queue in the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh–the list goes on and on. We were on constant guard to keep things from getting licked.
Unlike other things on this list that I feel like are going to get better as we gain experience, I’m guessing this only gets worse. If Megatron managed to almost (our success rate at stopping her was 100% outside of restaurants!) get so many things in her mouth with limited mobility, I can only imagine she’s going to have far more success in the coming months and years as her skills improve.
The scientists say this is actually good–that mouthing functions to accurately calibrate the developing immune system and facilitate antibody production…but did those scientists study the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh queue?!? I feel like that’s ground zero for new diseases.
Screen Time – In family updates over the holiday season, we mentioned how the witching hour was tough early on. During one of these long evenings, I inadvertently discovered the perfect solution to this. Megatron was in her carrier and I was bouncing around, as one does, to rock her to sleep. To keep myself calm and cool, I put on the cathartic visuals of the NHL. Shortly thereafter, she calmed completely. I had done a great job!
I had not done a great job. As it turned out, she had caught a glimpse of the cool glow of the television, and was entranced by the bright lights and high-contrast of hockey. I was mortified. We had been attempting to avoid all screen time until she’s 18 months old, and here I had just let her watch hockey at like 3 months old. And it wasn’t even a good game!
In the months since, we’ve come to embrace a more nuanced view. “Hey Bear” sensory videos are our break glass in case of emergency option, and a couple minutes of those can quickly calm her. (Side note: Disney needs to acquire the theme park rights to Avocadosaurus ASAP.) I’m also mesmerized by them. While we defer to experts, they also say to always eat your steak well-done. In a real world scenario, it seems better to have a baby who has been quickly soothed by a screen than one who is agitated indefinitely.
Anyway, there are a surprising amount of screens at Walt Disney World. I had never thought about this–after all, Universal has the reputation for an over reliance on screens. They’re all over resorts, restaurants, and even attractions. For example, did you know Journey into Imagination not only has several screen-based scenes, but also screens throughout the queue? Well, it does…and that’s probably a part of why it was so captivating for Megatron!
In hindsight, that hockey mistake might’ve been a blessing in disguise. It got my screen freakout out of my system then, read scientific studies about detrimental effects, and had a more relaxed reaction to the screens at Walt Disney World as a result. We still made a point to not take her on any screen-based rides, but a few fleeting screens likely isn’t the end of the world. But I guess if she doesn’t get into MIT, now we’ll know why.
Okay, I’m going to cut this short here. This was originally intended to be a single post, but in typical fashion, I got carried away and ended up writing nearly 5,000 words…and still had a few more things to say. So we’re going to split it into two posts, like Avengers: Infinity War (but not nearly as good). I think it actually works better this way, as our “parenting fails” are distinct from things that just happened to go wrong for reasons beyond our control. Anyway, we’ll be back with the final installment very soon–I’m ready to wrap this up to focus on fewer firsthand accounts and more substantive planning resources.
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
Thoughts on our challenges we faced and things we learned during Baby Bricker’s first trip to Walt Disney World? Anything else you’re interested in reading about with regard to Megatron, babies in the parks, etc? Anecdotes of your own about first visits to the Disney parks? Any other questions? Hearing your feedback is always appreciated, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
Sorry to have to tell you this, but the packing and checking out of hotel rooms never gets better as the kids get older. Mine are currently ages 7 and 8, and it was honestly easier with babies. I will never understand how a person a quarter my size can take up twice as much suitcase space as me!
Ditto.
We just completed our first visit with our first baby (21 months old) and while we LOVED the proximity of Bay Lake tower to Magic Kingdom, and the ability to avoid the busses and walk, we even found the Studio DVC rooms to be a tight fit. There is no possible way we could fit 2 children in a studio room at Bay Lake. I have heard great things about the 1 bedroom rooms though, so we will likely try that on our next visit!
I would recommend checking out the Slumber Pod for quiet and dark night time sleep while traveling. We’ve used it since our little one was ~5 months old and she gets great sleep just about anywhere with it! While it is one additional thing to carry, it fits over any pack and play and has proved to be worth it time and time again.
The current BLT studios are bad–you are correct. Not only are they small, but they also have the “old” design. They’ll be redone starting in September 2024, and should utilize space much better once reimagined!
Tom:
Lighten up, my friend. Sports don’t count as screen time. But you might have searched for a better game.
oh this was too funny!! I have followed you for years and have never commented before. I am the the mom of 11 children and we’ve been to Disney more times than I can count…..in various stages of pregnancy, nursing babies, toddlers and every age through adults. Our family has LOVED it and we have so many great memories. I have only four at home now but we all still get together with spouses, grand children etc and love our Disney trips. Embracing and loving the chaos is some of the best parts of life. ❤️❤️❤️
I highly recommend the LilleBaby carriers. We tried many different brands (Ergo, BabyBjorn, etc.) and found the LilleBaby to have the most comfortable straps and support belt for all day baby carrying at Disney. Sometimes they even have models with Disney prints, perfect for the parks!
I’ll never forget the magic moments of our first Disney trip with our first son. He was right around the same age as your daughter was for hers! What is funny is I know parts of that trip were hard but those details have faded. The memories that haven’t faded are his awe at Small World and my eyes welling up watching him see Mickey for the first time.
We’re 3 kids deep now, with many more Disney trips with littles under our belts. There have been hard trips (side eyeing my middle kid catching norovirus mid-trip, the rail licking is real when you hit toddlerhood) but infinitely more magical moments. Each trip is different but seeing Disney through their eyes never, ever gets old for us.
Many long years ago after a week at Daytona Beach we added 1 night at All Star Movies so that our baby and 3 year pull could experience the Magic Kingdom. We had such big plans for that last vacation day. I was a huge fan of Walt Disney and was so excited to actually get to stay over night there. It was also a time when we had little money or time for travel so expectations and excitement were at epic levels for me. We got to the resort and the room was not ready so we went right to the park knowing we would get a call when it was ready. We had a fun and uncomplicated morning until about noon when our baby “spit up” on my wife. She smelled, was embarrassed with her soiled shirt, so we went back to the resort. I found myself at the front desk pleading for a room, any room, even a room at another All Star if available. Disney delivered and we enjoyed a long afternoon at the resort instead of the Magic Kingdom. We did make it back to the MK that night, saw wishes, but when Spectro Magic started, my 3 year old “was scared” of the Spectromen and we had to miss the parade and rode some rides in Fantasy Land. The years that followed kept me waiting for the time that both of them could walk so that we could try it again – that was my wife’s rule. No WDW until they can both walk.
It gets easier as they get older. The amount of stuff decreases with age and they’ll eventually be able to haul some it themselves. You’ll get more practice traveling without the whole home and your kids will get more resilient and tolerate the stress better. Don’t sweat the little bit of screen time. You sound like new parents (which you are!) so everything you’re experiencing is perfectly normal. Keep enjoying all the small moments.
Last November my wife and I took our grand daughter (just short of her 4th birthday) to WDW for her first trip with just her grand parents. We stayed at the Riviera. Her favorite thing was riding the Skyliner. She even asked to go back to EPCOT one evening just so we could ride the Skyliner. Suffice to say, she was mighty disappointed this past January when we arrived at Old Key West for a whole family trip and there was no Skyliner.
Watching NHL hockey is far from a fail!!
But she needs to be a Tampa Bay Lightning fan ( guess I’ll let you off if you are Ducks or Kings fans)
Also a note on split stays. I firmly believe they will eventually work again for you, but they will never be the same. Each stage of Megatron will bring a different experience, as what worked this time might not work next time. With kids split stays come with a hefty price (and I don’t mean dollars) as there will be new compromises that didn’t exist before, even from 1 year old to 10 years old. In our last split stay my oldest daughter discovered the second hotel pool was fantastic, so she begged us to use the new pool. We decided to change plans to squeeze this. Dinner reservations vs pool. Worst part was my son didn’t want to leave the first hotel … you see where I’m going? Are we planning another split stay… of course! But again, not as simple as before.
Tom, I totally agree with the value room and the space with the murphy bed folded until she starts walking (without much balance) and suddenly that corner from the bed base becomes your daily terror (the bed that doesn’t move, where I constantly hit my shins). Each room has its own things! Funny story we had a split stay and moved to a suite at Art of Animation, I was delighted when I saw no more corners in the main living room! She could walk freely now! Just to have her trip in the bathroom and split open her eyebrow with the aluminum base from the vanity, needed 3 stitches at the hospital. Welcome to the jungle!
My kids are now old enough that I read this and actually missed the times when this was how it was to travel. You really will get it down as you travel more and more and as crazy as it seems you will miss all of this. As for the time change, I didn’t expect my 16 year old to not be able to adapt last summer traveling to Disney World from California. He’s already a night owl and adding on weird teenage sleep rhythms, let’s just say we never made rope drop. This summer I will have 2 teenagers and I wish I could relive just one day when they were this small.
I am laughing as I read this because we had the exact opposite scenario last summer when we traveled from WNY to CA. My 17 yr old has always had the sleep patterns of a 70 yr old, up before the sun without an alarm and lights out by 9:30 , so we were usually first in line for rope drop but he missed all the late night shows. His 10 yr old brother has always been a night owl so he caught everything including trying to run from the finale of one show over to the other . And as the mom I was completely exhausted trying to keep up with them both. We did force my older son to catch the last night’s fireworks because we really wanted him to see Baymax flying and figured he had many hours on the flight back home to make up for lost sleep. He agreed that was definitely worth it.
The very best part about traveling with kids – of any age, but especially a baby- is that no matter how hard some of the moments are, you only remember the good stuff after. Ok, you might remember the hard stuff, too, but so fondly you can laugh about it. Yay parents!!
“Babies are also a fairly known quantity; they’ve been around since at least the mid-1980s and their key features haven’t really changed since then.”
Fantastically-written! As usual. I’ve been reading your posts for about the last 4-5 years. Thank you for all that you do.
Such a great article. I can’t wait for Part II.
Our biggest parenting fail on our first trip with the toddler was having her wear slip-on shoes. She had an adorable pair of moccasins that were her favorites. One fell off on only our third ride, right as we pulled out of the station on Casey Jr. She cried the entire ride. We got the shoe back, that time, and should have learned our lesson. Sure enough, the next night while trying to get down Main Street just before the parade she lost her shoe again. This time we couldn’t find it and even put in a Lost and Found request. Fortunately, we had another pair of shoes for her with us, but it cost us nearly an hour of sitting in the Esplanade while DH ran 20 mins each way back to our room. Her other shoes were also light-up and she was so excited to see them glowing in the park and she should have just been wearing them the entire time.
The other fail was building up the Autopia so much in our heads that when the wait ballooned from a listed 15 mins before we got in line to an hour we didn’t bail the line. We proceeded to be cut in front of and once we finally got on of course there was some little jerk deliberately breaking. It was the worst ride and now I understand the desire to rip the whole thing out and put in something new.
Both of those happened Day 2 and cost us a TON of touring time, but it still ended on a high note of World of Color. What a show! And we did even have the pyrotechnics when we saw it. It made everything worth it. Thank you for your advice there. We got nearly Front of House and the little one fell asleep in her stroller during it.
Excluding the mortifying stuff we won’t ever hear about and the stuff in part 2 we haven’t heard yet, it sounds to me like you all did great! Especially with such a time change to contend with; kudos to you and Sarah for making it through that together. I hope the return to Megatron’s ’regularly scheduled program’ of slumber at home went smoothly. I’m looking forward to the next installment!
I give you some big kudos. I would have never taken my infant to Disney. That being said, as long as you’re not the parents who have some screen playing in the car while just taking the kids to school for 5 minutes MIT will still be in the cards. Also, when you’re ready I highly suggest the Preschool Prep videos. My kid is crazy smart and I swear it’s because of those videos.
Thanks for sharing as always!! J.
There are no parental fails!! Only learning experiences that lead you to better and wiser future planning experiences!!.
If these are your “fails” then you did awesome! It’s so great to get your perspective as parents now. Keep the posts coming. Can’t wait until you get to the toddler years lol.