Pregnant at Disney World

[Adaline'sMama]

My stepmom (whom I love and adore) LOVES Disney World and is turning 50 in August. For her birthday, she is taking the whole family on a family vacation to DW. We will be there for 7 days and we are staying on Disney's property at Sarasota Springs resort. It has a couple of pools, hot tub, and a jacuzzi in the room. I love water, and I plan on spending a lot of time in it. I think I will buy a thermometer before I go so that I can use the jacuzzi at a safe temperature.

I will be about 16 weeks pregnant when we are there, so for me its that weird time where I feel super frumpy, but no one can tell that Im pregnant. Im sure that this will be accentuated by the fact that we will be in Florida in August and I will be HOT. I know that there are a few rides that I can ride (the pirates ride), but for the most part I know I cant ride anything. DD is not really old enough to ride anything (she will be 17 months). I know there will be shows and stuff I can watch, but other than the shows, what can a pregnant lady do at DW?

Im trying to get excited about the parks, because right now Im just thinking that Im proabably going to spend a lot of time at the hotel and pool. I know my parents will want to spend a lot of time with DD, and encourage me and DH to go do something. What can be do that is romantic within the confines of DW? We will take a rental car to the beach one day, but other than that, we are probably going to stay inside of DW. My parents are buying us each 5 day park passes, and I know we will spend at least one whole day at Animal Kingdom which will be awesome, but Im really looking for something to help me get excited about the other parks. (Im not a big Disney fan, Im doing this for stepmom).

What are your favorite places to eat (we will eat mostly at the hotel, but where is good in the parks)
What park would you avoid if you were pregnant? (which one has the most rides)
Is there a kiddy area at Magic Kingdom that will have stuff for DD to do?

TIA!!!!

[Autoemesiss]

We got back from WDW about a month ago. I was about 26 weeks. I would suggest looking at the mom's panel on the WDW website. A couple of tips: Bring a water bottle, keep it full at all times. While dining, always ask for low sodium option, everything is loaded with at least 2-3gms of sodium and once the edema/swelling starts, you'll never get rid of it. There are only 2 types of salads in the entire resort. I went on a quest to find dark green vegetables. I only found broccoli rabe twice and had one meal with a TOTAL of 5 spinach leaves in it. Avoid the apples and bagged grapes, they are beyond gross. 

There is a online grocery store that will deliver food to your hotel room. BOOK IT EARLY. They run out of days to deliver about a week before your dates. There is also out of parks rental for strollers, do it. They are so much nicer to push and deal with, than the rentals at the parks and they are cheaper. 

Magic kingdom will work well for your child's age. Also, Epcot has a aquarium/finding nemo ride that is really cute. We did MG, AK, Epcot and Hollywood studios. I would skip the HS. 

Book your dinners/meals out asap. We went in May and booked everything in January. And whatever you do, do not eat at the "something" grill in Epcot. The food was horrible and the restaurant spins, slowly, but enough that it made all of us sick. 

Good Luck! and remember DRINK WATER ALL THE TIME.

[egmaranian]

I just got back from a week in Disneyland at 31wks pg.  I know, not the same as the multi-park WDW (which I've also been to a few times not pregnant), but the experience is similar. 

I ditto Autoemesis on drinking lots of water.  I have a 32oz Camelbak bottle that I kept with me at all times and I still didn't feel like I was getting enough hydration. 

For you and your DD, the Magic Kingdom should have plenty for you both to do.  I was able to go on many more rides than I expected.  Almost all of the kiddie rides are ok and Pirates is fine.  Just check the signs at the entrance and don't go on the ones that have an expectant mother warning.  You may even be able to get a list of rides that are safe ahead of time from the WDW website.  Anytime DH and the grandparents wanted to go on something that wasn't appropriate for me or me and DS (24mo), I took the opportunity to find a shady spot to sit and relax for a while.  It gave me the chance to elevate my feet and stretch out my hips, which really was a life saver.  

You won't be a far along as I was, but I wore a pregnancy support belt while we were actually in the parks to keep my belly lifted up off my bladder. It really helped my back, hips, and kept me from needing to pee every 5 min.

As for your DD, you might be surprised at what she can ride.  Most of the Fantasyland rides don't have any restrictions and would be fine for her.  Depending on how tall she is, she may even be able to go on many more.  My DS is 35" tall and that gained him entrance onto a LOT more rides than we expected.  He was even eligible for some that I didn't feel were appropriate for such a little guy (Matterhorn, etc.).

I think you will find plenty to do and I wouldn't stress out too much.  Just try to take it easy when you need to and don't cram too much into any given day.

HAVE FUN!!!

[redbirdlady]

Want to echo that there are a lot more rides that your DD can ride than you may be thinking of.  Most everything in Fantasyland at the Magic Kingdom, Jungle Cruise, Aladdin's Carpets, the Tiki Room (not really a "ride", but still) and Pirates in Adventureland, Buzz Lightyear, Carousel of Progress and the People Mover in Tomorrowland, the Haunted Mansion in Liberty Square...I could go on and on, and that's just the Magic Kingdom.  (I went with my kids for my youngest's 1st birthday, and we went on TONS of rides in all four parks.  The kids' favorite was Toy Story Mania at Hollywood Studios - we rode it at least 20 times, and my 1 year old even had a blast pulling the little cord on the ride.)

As for the park to avoid, honestly, there are tons of things for a pregnant woman AND a 17 month old to do in ALL of the parks.  Go to allears.net and look at the ride restrictions - there are MANY more things that you CAN do, as opposed to the few rides that you can't.

I'm going to be there in September at about 24 weeks pregnant.  We are planning to have a backpack (will be bringing our double stroller, so nobody will have the backpack actually on their back) with snacks for me and the kids - baggies of fruit, dry snacks (pretzels, trail mix, pb crackers, pb&j sandwiches, fruit, stuff like that) and extra water.

[Adaline'sMama]

Thanks ladies! It seems that I can do way more than I thought! Im getting excited. So, I noticed that some people on other websites mention taking a lightweight stroller (like an umbrella stroller). I was plannin to bring my jogging stroller but I dont know about using it on the trams to get to and from the hotel to the parks.

Im going to go to Whole Foods the day we arrive (10 miles away, but we have a rental car, and it will save us a ton of money to have food in the room) to get snacks, milk, juice, eggs, yogurt, ect. The grocery store that delivers sounds cool, but we actually have an EBT card so I dont know if they would accept that. (I know, I have food stamps and am going to WDW, it sounds bad, but Im not paying for the vacation)

[redbirdlady]

You have to fold down the stroller to get onto the buses, so definitely take one that folds easily, and go to Amazon.com or Babies R Us or somewhere like that and get cupholders that attach to the stroller handles.  Our double stroller isn't the tiniest thing in the world, but if folds very easily, and we just grab the backpack off, fold it up, and hang onto it on the buses.  You can roll straight onto boats and the monorail without having to fold up your stroller though.  (Saratoga Springs does have a boat that goes to Downtown Disney.)

Disney sells bottled water for $$, but they also have (free) water fountains around the parks.  Unfortunately, the water that comes out of the fountains tastes yucky.  We have the water bottles with the filter that attaches to the mouthpiece part, which makes the water taste fine, and we keep a case of bottled water in a cooler in our room so that we can grab and go in the morning.  Trips to Disney are also the rare time that we buy those single package Crystal Light and lemonade mix things, just to mask the flavor of the water fountain water (but don't use those with the filter bottles.)

Here is a complete list of the ride restrictions.  Anything NOT listed should be fine for you and your DD.  http://allears.net/tp/rr.htm

[strawberryprincess]

Echoing what others have said: there will be plenty for you and your little one to do while there!  And bring lots of water.  I like the idea of the bottle with a filter on it.  Last time we went (with two small kids, but not pregnant) I had bought several stainless steel insulated bottles.  They were heavy, but it was very nice to fill up each morning at the hotel and not worry about having enough water later in the day.  Bring lots of snacks to munch on.  The snacks (food) at the parks aren't terribly healthy, though there has been vast improvements from 10 years ago!  But you find the same things over and over again.  My kids were so tired of bags of grapes and apple slices after a week!

Also wanted to mention that it might be in your best interest to seriously consider going back to the hotel each afternoon for a nap.  I'm sure your toddler is still napping (and will definetely need a time-out from all the stimulation) and it will be really helpful and restorative for you too.  Plus, in August, who wants to be in the heat at 2pm?  Perfect pool time too. Get to the parks early, and go back later and stay as late as you can/want.

For the stroller, we brought ours from home.  The rental ones are nice, but get pricey to stay a whole week.  Anyway, ours was a little bigger than an umbrella stroller, lightweight and easy to fold up. I think having a stroller with lots of storage space is nice too.  You can buy add-on attachments (bags and such) to hold your extra stuff.  Carrying around a back pack all day may get tiresome.  There are lots of "stroller parking'' spots all throughout the parks while you go on rides or shows, just don't leave anything of value.  We had no issues with people bothering our stroller, but you just never know!