Surviving Disneyland Paris with a 14 month old

[Liverpoolgirl50]

Hi,

So we’re going to Disneyland in September with our 14mo DD. Our lovely in laws are paying to take us all away on a big family holiday with my SIL’s little boy who is 3, so a non napping child.

We wouldn’t have chosen Disney at this age but of course weren’t going to say no, as that’s where they wanted to go (and we would never turn down a free holiday!)

How do we survive? She’s a creature of habit - naps naps at 9am for 45 min and 1pm For 1 hour and is asleep between 6:30-7pm every. Single. Day. I want to be flexible but when we try to keep her up later she’s an absolute nightmare.

Do we just try and roll with it, accepting we may have an overtired, overstimulated toddler for a week?! They want to do the fireworks… at 9:30pm! I feel like saying I’ll just take her back early as it so won’t be worth it.

Any advice welcome 😂

Take a pram, let her nap in the pram when she needs to. Enjoy it, she might be more flexible than you expect.

Thank you @1stepforward2stepsback I so want to enjoy it and make lovely memories but the sleep anxiety is real 🤦🏻‍♀️

I would do the nap in the pram during the day. I would not be staying for the fireworks though. I think you can have a degree of flexibility in the day but I would stick to your guns with the night time routine. You can tag team so you both get to enjoy a later evening in the park.

Either let her sleep in buggy or skip the holiday. It's pretty hard to be regimental about routine on a holiday like Disney.

I took my 14mo and she loved it. Was like you, a big family trip, and actually that helped because it meant others were happy to take a turn pushing buggy around when she was sleeping or one night my parents took the kids back for bed so DH and I could stay for fireworks.
There are a lot of rides a 14mo can go on. Mine loved the parades and the shows the best though. She met a couple of characters and loved that. If you are in a Disney hotel make use of the early magic hour, no queues at all for some rides.
I think it's called 'parent swap' but can't remember exactly. If you go on a ride by yourself, as you come off if you say to a staff member they will give you a pass so whoever was standing with the buggy gets to join the priority line next time.
My 14mo napped in the buggy every day. I didn't stress about the times. It was later bedtimes than she was used to so she did actually nap longer than normal.
We only ate in the quick serve/fast food ttype restaurants but did vary so we had pizza, pasta, burger, chicken strips, sandwich. We took some fruit from the hotel breakfast too just so I knew we had some nutritious snacks. Also took some of the baby yoghurt pouches in suitcase with us. although we don't use them at home it was handy to have another snack option.
Queuing for rides does take a while. My 14mo and 3yo loved the bubble guns that they sell and that helped with the waiting.
The Alice in Wonderland maze was a hit if your little one is walking. Also the island in adventure land is fun just to walk around. The big train that goes around the park never had a queue and was fun for my toddler.
I think you will all have a great time.

@Raggeo This is amazing - thank you! I think she will have a great time, she’s so into everything and loves crashing round like a maniac so I have no doubt she’s going to enjoy it. I just need to relax and try and enjoy it too 😂

Thanks everyone - she does nap in the pram so that’s our plan for the day.. maybe with a snoozeshade or something 😬

We’re in Paris for the week and only doing Disney for 3 days to be fair, so the rest of the week will be pretty chilled. I think we can survive 😂🫣

You might find she is really flexible when you're there as there is a lot to stimulate them.

I first took my little girl when she was just over 2, at first she was adamant she wasn't going to nap because there was too much to see but we just went with the flow and tried to encourage naps around her usual times. If you need somewhere calm to sit, cafe hyperion in discoveryland is ideal as there's lots of seating and they play classic mickey cartoons on the big screen. As soon as she fell into her nap we'd go and push her around the shops, it was just getting her to sleep in the first place that was the challenge.

If you're staying on site with a hotel that has a pool, we had a couple of days where we walked back to the hotel, let her rest for half an hour and then went in the pool for a bit, it broke up the days and usually the walk back to the room/back to the park after was enough to get her to nap.

Definitely don't be afraid to head back early if you know that's what will help make the rest of the time enjoyable.

The second time we went she was three and hadn't napped in ages, but even then a full day was enough to make her nap in her pushchair occasionally so don't rule it out with your nephew either.

Basically, I'd say the key to survival is minimal expectations, make the most of the times she is happy and awake and fit in downtime where possible! A walk around the lake in the village, a sit in a cafe, a sit on a wall while waiting for a parade.

I'm sure you'll have a great time but I know it's daunting when you have such a solid routine at home.

If you are staying at one of the onsite hotels you can go back and put her to bed when she's ready. Your oh can then swap with you so you can either do the fireworks one night or rides. At that age I would just go with the flow but with my youngest if she's napped in the pram she'd want her bed by the evening. If you are at one of the onsite hotels make use of the extra magic hour (parks are open an hour earlier tfor those staying onsite), take plenty of snacks and just embrace it.

Tbh a 3 year old at Disney actually sounds worse than a 14 month old. At least you can stick them in a buggy and get them to sleep if they get over tired and wingy.

a Disney trip would have been so much nicer with a 7 and 9 year old, but maybe your in laws didn’t want to wait so long if they’re getting older.

just make sure you have a pushchair that’s comfortable for naps and be prepared to go back to the hotel if needed. I doubt the 3 year old will be able to manage while days in the park without becoming over tired and over whelmed so you can probably get nap times built into the day.