6 month old - Disney Paris

[JulyDreams]

Would you take a 6 month old to Disney Paris yes or no? if it was just you and your partner with the baby?

I have a 30th birthday next year and by the time my birthday arrives baby will be 6 months. I would love to go to Disney Paris as it's one of my favourite holidays. I know some rides are very baby friendly and by then I'd hope baby would be at least aware of sites and sounds and all the characters.

What do you think?

A six month old won’t get anything out of it. If you want to go for you then go and have fun but most rides you will be alone while your partner looks after baby or vice Versa.

@Sirzy I'm wondering what to do. Partner isn't one for massive rides anyway so it would just be me going on them which I wouldn't mind leaving partner with baby. More likely we would just enjoy the atmosphere/ restaurants. Not sure!

Waste of time and money - the baby won't have a clue what's going, the rides aren't baby friendly, they may be child friendly, you will be riding alone while your partner holds the baby and then you'll have to swap out.

nothing in it for the baby, if you want to go go but it will just be you that enjoys it.

Thanks- wondering where we can go in January with a 6 month old really with 'ok' weather. Not sure city breaks are baby friendly

What?! No way haha! Have you ever met a 6month old??! What a waste of money, you'd never be able to do anything and one of you would be left holding the baby. Also you'd be on a regular nap and feeding schedule so I doubt it's the ideal place to leave your husband looking after the baby, especially if you're breast feeding.

Better to go on a normal city break where you can wander nice places, sit in pavement cafes, go to quiet parks for naps in the buggy and see the sights. Plenty of city breaks are baby friendly, especially if you use a sling and a travel buggy like a yo-yo.

I wouldn't bother going on a city break with a baby, have a delayed break the year after when they are a bit older. 😊

@15223thatgirl 😂😂 I'm literally driving myself mad. We are thinking of a city break in Jan but just not sure where best place would be to go with a 6 month old. Wanted to ideally be out the UK and head on the Eurostar maybe

We took a 6 month old to DLP, but it was for his older siblings benefit, not his. The baby enjoyed it, but no more than he’d have enjoyed a trip to a toy shop, or grannies house. The hotel had a pool though and it was nice to take him in there every day.

If you want to go for your own benefit then that’s still a good reason to go. It will be more fun for your baby than a city break would be and there’s no reason you can’t enjoy it. They let you swop on the rides so you can queue up together but then take it in turns to ride or hold the baby. At least you’d know you were going somewhere with good facilities that’s easy to push a pram around.

@ClocksGoingBackwards I was thinking the facilities and the easy access for prams are quite good in those sort of places.

We are going to judge when little one is here. If she's a difficult sleeper and feeder it won't be much fun and we will probably give it a miss.

Complete waste of time and money🙄

Paris is January is also bitter.

Tbh, I'd go to Dubai. Sunny, off season, warm, very baby friendly.

I don’t think it’s a waste of money. You won’t be paying for baby anyway and if it’s something you’d enjoy then why not. The only comment I’d make is how stressful it could be. A lot depends on baby but my DS was a nightmare at 6 months (reflux, sleep etc) so travel with him wouldn’t have been any fun. We just took him at nearly 3. Still stressful in some ways but we all enjoyed it !

there has to be a balance between ‘what baby will get from it’ and what you want!

What holiday do you want OP? A 6 month old will come along with you regardless. I personally would want a sun filled holiday to relax, dip the baby in the pool and relax again. If you want to visit galleries etc then go on a city break.

We did it with a 6 month old and baby could go on most rides with us. Check out the Disney site for a list of family friendly rides with no height restrictions. There are surprisingly many.

It was great and we enjoyed it. A hot tip is to bring a baby carrier. You won’t be allowed to queue with the buggy and holding a small baby in a queue for 45 minutes is exhausting.

I have been in January before in my 20s with no children. It was bitterly cold. I think quite a few roses were closed too for repair. I’m not sure I would take a six month old in January!

City breaks & babies don't mix. Go on a nice relaxing holiday in the canaries if it's weather you're after. Plenty of resorts to suit all tastes & budgets. Disney a waste of money, baby won't have a clue what's going on at that age!

Two words: hard work!

I went once with my DH, our older child (8) and a 5 month old. The child had fun, but the adults less so. Me and DH spent the day swapping the infant between us, and looking for quiet places to change and feed the baby. There was a dedicated room, but it was a long trek back to it! The 'baby swap' option on rides was good, but it does mean you don't get to go on the ride with your partner.

I'd save it for when they'll find it exciting and magical, and go somewhere a bit more relaxed...

I disagree that city breaks and babies don't mix. That, in my opinion, is a very defeatist way of looking at it. We did great city breaks to Copenhagen, Bruges, Paris, and Rome with a baby. They are portable and sleep loads.

If you are stuck on January OP, could you do a very new year break and go to Bruges whilst they still have all the lovely markets? We did it on the train from London. It's chilly so you'd all need layers but if baby is wrapped in sling it could work. The city is teeny tiny so you'd always be a 10 minute walk to your hotel if you wanted them to nap there, or go and sit by the fire. Cafes all have outdoor heaters and it's just lovely. Loads of magical twinkly lights, lovely log fires to sit by with a hot chocolate, gorgeous streets to wander and cosy hotels to chill in.

If that's not your cup of tea though perhaps consider a delay until warmer weather, but imo a 9 month old + is way harder to bring along on a trip than a 6mo.

Personally I would book the canaries in January, it's pleasantly warm but not hot, pick somewhere that's all inclusive then you have no worries at all. The place I stayed at had lots of infants and provided cots, high chairs etc. even a supermarket nearby if you need supplies

The restaurants are awful though. And totally overpriced! I wouldn’t do it. If you are dead set, get a hotel with a pool or maybe even that Center Parcs that is near.

I took my 5 months old to Walt Disney World and it was fantastic. She loved interacting with the characters and the colours etc.

Will she remember it? No? Will I? Yes - seeing her face light up and the enjoyment of watching everything is such a highlight.

I always hate the they won’t remember it argument. Who cares? They enjoy it in the moment, you enjoy it, you remember it!

Go for it!

Should add we booked through TUI, £500 for the week and was hassle free, I'd use them every time for that sort of break. If your budget is more extensive a cruise would be good too but January isn't ideal if starting in the U.K. (in the winter you normally have to fly to the start point) the advantage of sailing from Southampton is that there's no luggage restrictions, you simply drove you car to the drop zone, the valet parking guys unload your unlimited luggage and check it in then park your car, all you do is walk inside with hand luggage and your baby. Lots of babies on the trip I took pre covid

I would, but January can be very cold. Lots of rides are fine for a six month old baby, ours will be seven months when we go, and she’ll be able to sit on our knee for quite a few if we all decide to ride.

The food isn’t great, but they generally turn a blind eye to you eating your own food in the cafes if it isn’t busy.

If you enjoy DLP, then I would. I took my 7 month old to Disneyland - not at all concerned about whether he would remember it. It was a complete joy for me and I had absolutely no regrets.

Baby doesn’t need a ticket so no money wasted there. Disney parks are some of the easiest places to take a baby - both Paris parks have baby care centres so you can easily escape for a bit if the overstimulation is too much for either of you. Babies can go on all the dark rides and meet characters - anything without a height restriction (coasters!) is fine.

if you like wandering around the park and you and baby are both happy walking with a sling or baby carrier, then it’s really lovely. The idea of a pram or pushchair at the parks is very unfun to me - you’d have to park and unload for every change of attraction. I much prefer baby wearing for days out. If it turns out you do as well, for January, you might want to look into a coat that will work well with a sling so you’re both warm enough.

however, if you’re not already a fan of DLP, my advice would be different. I know plenty of people who find the parks stressful and judge a Disney trip by whether they ride every ride and would never think a slow paced Disney day was a good thing. I get the impression that’s not you and you’d be fine to watch the parade, meet Mickey and Pooh, and take a baby on Peter Pan’s Flight, and if that’s the case you will have a wonderful time. Make sure you get a lovely family photo!