Disneyland with a 6 month old ////

We always get spontaneous ideas into our heads and most the time follow through with them.  Labor day weekend was coming and we had no plans whatsoever so we got the wild idea to go to Disneyland.  We had talked about it for a while now but every weekend just didn't seem right.  We decided it was the perfect time because of labor day we both were off work, and we both had the weekend off.  We packed our stuff quickly on Friday and jumped in the car at 9PM to head to California.  We debated waiting until Saturday to leave but with Archer we felt driving through the night would keep us sane.  Because this last month Archer has hated the carseat.  He screams every time we put him in and frankly I just wasn't going to listen to him scream for 5 hours.  So, we packed, got in the car and headed down to Anaheim, California.  We arrived at about 3:30 AM and was completely disappointed in our hotel arrangements (we requested 2 queen beds and got 1 full sized bed) and so luckily they had a crib for Archer to sleep in.  Anyways, we arrived and got to bed and woke up the next morning to head to DL.  The lucky part of this whole arrangement is 1. Archer was free to get in and 2. since we are military we get the military discount.  It is a 3 day pass for about $132 per person but the best part is, if we don't use all three days we can come back ANYTIME!  I had no idea that it worked like that until my good friend Kenzie told me.  So SCORE we get to come back for 2 days before 12/20/2015 and I am excited.  Archer loved disney, and I'm not just saying that.  He literally slept about 30 mins the whole day because he was having so much fun.  I got blessed with a super happy, easy going baby who most the time is fairly happy.  He hardly ever cries, and really is super super good (besides on car rides).  The waiting in line got him a little anxious because he was bored, but on every single ride he rode he would do his happy little scream and laugh.  He enjoyed his stroller and mickey mouse ears and even got his very own mickey to take him along with about 5 other toys but hey only kid+disney for the first time= spoiled rotten.  He had so much fun and I was so happy that he did because T and I are huge disney lovers and this meant a lot to see our baby so happy and so excited.  We went to Disney on our honeymoon and really want to take our children to Disney every few years because we are obsessed.

While I was there I learned some tips+tricks and will deff use them all next time so I thought I would share for all my mommy friends.

#1// take a stroller but also take something to carry them in.  I took his awesome Jeep Adventure Stroller (Highly recommend it) but I left his chest carrier in the car because I didn't think we would really need it.  But I regretted it.  While waiting in line it would have been awesome to have him on our chest so our arms didn't get tired.  We were switching back and fourth all day long to keep our arm sanity sane.  So pack a stroller+chest carrier and you should be set.

#2// Disney has a "baby care center" in the park that allows nursing moms to go nurse in AC, change your babies diaper in peace and quiet (and a much cleaner area), and have a drink of cold water (free) and feed your little ones with high chairs.  It really was SO nice to be able to go in and let archer crawl around on the floor and stretch and feed him in a high chair.  They also have baby items you can purchase (although we didn't need any) but they had everything from diapers, formula, apple juice, etc.  It was such a nice area and huge high five to Disney for that building because it was super kind and nice and the staff was amazing.

#3// Buy you baby those darn mickey ears.  Go ahead and spend the $20 on custom mickey mouse ear hats because the cutest thing in the world is your cute little baby sporting those all around the park.  I about died when we put archers on, because he was cute before but holy cow was he adorable with those on!

#4// infants can actually ride a lot of the rides.  I was somewhat worried that he would only be able to go on about 3 or 4 rides but a lot of them actually accommodate babies.  His favorite were the story land boats, the train, and pirates of the Caribbean.  I will try to remember what we rode here;; story land boats, the train, pirates of the Caribbean, snow whites scary adventures,  dumbo flies, its a small world, a rocket one, teacups, Pinocchio, Toads wild ride, Jungle Cruise, and there were probably more but I cannot remember them.  But yeah there were a lot of rides that he could go on.

#5// Don't wait in line to see characters if your baby is younger then about 6 months old.  We got luckily and got to see Woody right as he was leaving and Archer didn't really care.  He just wanted to go on rides so I was super glad we didn't wait the 60 minute wait line for Mickey because he wouldn't have cared one bit.  If you child is super into a character then maybe but archer wasn't really feeling it.  I wish the lines weren't so long cause nothing is cuter then seeing your baby with a disney character but Archer didn't really care to see them so it wasn't a huge deal for us.

#6// We only did one day of Disney and I was glad.  After that day was over, I was super tired and was so glad we didn't have to go back again.  One day was enough for me, T and Archer.

#7// Make sure to pack sunscreen, extra memory cards, water, and your own snacks.  You can take in your own drinks, so we stocked up the bottle of A's stroller with water so we didn't have to purchase much in the park.  We got there and our HTC didn't have a memory card in it and no where in the park sold one so we got stuck shooting all our pictures with our cell phones which made me sad because they aren't the best quality.  But luckily we are going back next week so I will for sure take better pictures then!  Sunscreen was a must because you don't want your little ones getting sunburnt and being cranky.  We also purchased some of these from Amazon or they sell them at bed bath and beyond and it was super nice.   You get it wet and snap it and it stays cool for a long time.  We laid it on archer and it kept him cool and not too sweaty.

#8// Stay close to the park.  We decided we wanted to save a few extra bucks and decided to stay about 20 minutes from Disney.  The hotel we stayed in offered a shuttle but it was horrible.  They only would go every hour and once it got full you couldn't go.  So the park closed at midnight but their last shuttle was at eleven, and that one was booked so we ended up having to go home at 10.  I was super bummed because we missed the fireworks and parade but luckily we will be back.  The parking lot when we pulled it was insane and i believe it costs $18 to park there so just spend the extra money and stay within walking distance to Disney.

#9// If you care to miss the parades that is the best time to go on a ride.  We got into a couple rides super quick because everyone was in line watching the parades during the day.

#10// Document your trip and take tons of pictures of your little ones!  It really is the happiest place n earth and I am so lucky to only live 5 hours from it.  Make sure to have a fun filled day and do everything you possibly can!





































I hope this helped some of you moms who are going to be going to disney soon with an infant.  I saw several people with babies younger then Archer and they still had their sanity.  So take those little ones and enjoy the day!