In April of 2019, I visited Disney World while 8+ months pregnant for 10 days.
My son Dylan was set to ship off to Navy boot camp immediately after he graduated high school, and my gut instinct told me this would be our last family trip together.
Fast forward to present-day 2022, I just came back from visiting him from his first Naval deployment. My hunch was correct, as my other son Dom is currently serving in the Air Force, and my daughter Isabelle is a senior in high school with aspirations of leaving for college.
We’ve not all been under the same roof since the spring of 2019.
So, yes, I would do it all over again.
Is going to Disney at 8+ pregnant advisable for every woman?
Probably not.
Even though I did have a high risk pregnancy, my OBGYN and perinatologist both gave their blessing for me to travel. In fact, my OBGYN was of the opinion that other than being close to his office or the hospital, Disney was probably the next safest place to be if I were to go in labor.
I will add that I continued HIIT workouts until that very week, so I was strict about maintaining my physical fitness.
So off we went to Disney, our multi-generational family of 8, myself (35 weeks pregnant), my husband, 4 teenagers (my 18 year old sister-in-law, and kids ages 17, 15, 13), and the grandparents.
Here are the lessons that I learned while being **very** pregnant at Disney:
Tip Number 1: Book a preferred room if it’s in the budget.
Or, request a room nearest the main amenities of the resort, like the lobby and transportation.
For this particular trip, we booked a Cars Family Suite at the Art of Animation Resort (pre-Skyliner days). I did tons of research and faxed in a request to stay in Building 1. I was super grateful that Disney accommodated the request. As you can see pictured, we were literally footsteps away from the lobby, food court, and transportation. It made it so easy to get back to the room when I was exhausted at the end of the day.
Present-day, I would likely have booked a Finding Nemo Family Suite and requested Building 4 (or building 5 just across the Big Blue Pool). The Finding Nemo section at Art of Animation is considered preferred; it’s sandwiched between the lobby and the Skyliner.
It’s important to note that the only way to guarantee a preferred room is to book a room in the preferred room category. Otherwise, requests are not guaranteed.
If you want to request a specific building or area (regardless of room category), your Smart Moms Travel vacation planner can help you do that. Similarly, these exact requests are not guaranteed. But Disney and your planner will do their best!
Tip Number 2: Get the DAS Pass if you or someone in your party is eligible.
“Disability Access Service (DAS) is designed to accommodate guests who have difficulty tolerating extended waits in a conventional queue environment due to a disability (including non-apparent disabilities).”
For the record: pregnancy alone is not a disability.
My father and mother are both disabled and DAS eligible, so we obtained the DAS pass for them and used it a handful of times for this trip. For obvious reasons, I did not ride thrill rides and my dad did (does) not either, but Mom still enjoys them. But it was nice to be able to avoid extended wait times for ride experiences that we could all enjoy together.
Which brings me to my next tip…
Tip Number 3: Ride all the rides! (without the Expectant Mothers Advisory)
My doctor’s advice was simple, and I am comfortable saying that most doctors would probably agree. Avoid rides that have Disney’s Expectant Mothers Advisory.
I literally rode rides every day, and did not feel like I missed out on anything. Magic Kingdom had the most amount of rides that I could enjoy.
Mini-tip: I did get motion sick on the Mad Tea Party teacups, which was a first for me. So just keep in mind that you may be a bit more prone to motion sickness than you normally would be.
Finding rides to avoid is easy to do in advance by visiting the Attractions & Entertainment Page, and filtering the Expectant Mothers Advisory. That’s it! Ride everything else!
Tip Number 4: Focus on character experiences, shows, and other forms of entertainment so you don’t feel like you’re missing out on rides.
So, obviously you won’t be able to ride Space Mountain and all the things you’re probably used to. My husband and dad have never been into thrill rides, and I never really understood what they did while us thrill-seekers were on rides. I mean, I know they like to grab coffee and eat snacks, but…
Turns out, there’s a whole lot of other things at Disney that have nothing to do with rides. I experienced a lot of “firsts” during that trip (and I have been going to Disney for 30+ years)!
Character experiences and shows became a highlight of this trip for me, and anything with air conditioning (R.I.P. Rivers of Light. *Why* Disney would replace RoL with KiteTails boggles my mind! I digress…).
Tip Number 5: Don’t hesitate to rent a scooter or wheelchair.
I didn’t rent a scooter or wheelchair while pregnant. Did I wish I did? At times, absolutely, yes! Especially at the end of the night when I was exhausted and everything hurt. It was technically considered a geriatric pregnancy with my fourth child… but I can be pretty stubborn and prideful sometimes. Don’t let that be you.
There is zero shame in renting a scooter if you think it will make for a better vacation. I did use a wheelchair at the end of each night, which I will talk about in my next tip.
Your Smart Moms vacation planner can help you rent an ECV or scooter. I prefer booking Scooterbug for my clients because they are the “exclusive Disney Featured Provider of these mobility devices for Guests staying at Walt Disney World Resort hotels.”
This is just fancy-pants talk to say that you don’t have to meet a person to pick up or drop off the scooter. Just pick it up and drop it off at Bell Services at your resort. I personally use them to book my daughter’s strollers when we go to Disney all the time.
You can also elect to rent from Disney directly!
Tip Number 6: If needed, use special loading areas for the various forms of transportation.
It is important to note that most people are Disney tired at the end of the night. At the end of our first day at the parks, we waited in line for the bus back to the resort, and there were no seats left. I stood and held the rail on the bus ride all the way back to the resort. No one would make eye contact with me or offer their seat.
Again, I chalked this off to people being Disney tired, so perhaps they didn’t notice an 8-month pregnant female standing on the bus. So, I felt no shame about waiting in a wheelchair at the end of the night with my pops and boarding the rear door for the remainder of the trip.
My dad physically struggled with pain and discomfort this trip, and I did too. So, we would sit in a wheelchair at the end of the night when waiting for the buses and load on the bus together.
“Guests using canes, walkers, crutches or who have difficulty walking can board via the rear door.”
If you plan to use the Skyliner and are nervous about your footing or balance, there are stationary gondola loading areas. Or, you can simply ask a Cast Member to slow the gondolas down for you.
And lastly, there are also elevators to access the Monorails more easily than taking the ramps.
Tip Number 6: Buy the Memory Maker!
I show my daughter P.J. these trip photos all the time and say “Look! You have been going to Disney since you were in mommy’s belly!”. I mean, I was poppin’, check out that belly button!
We also took this opportunity to announce P.J.’s name to our friends and family.
R.I.P. to The Chapeau that has since been closed.
You are going to want these Memory Maker memories forever. Literally. Priceless.
Tip Number 7: Wear orthopedic inserts or shoes.
Three types of shoes that I still wear at Disney to this day are Adidas sneakers with OrthoLite inserts, FitFlops sneakers, or good old Crocs clogs (zero affiliation or sponsorship with any of these fantastic companies). OrthoLite is also the name of a shoe insert that can be worn independent of the Adidas brand. I just like Adidas.
I rotated my shoes daily because it was a long trip. *BUT* the shoes that made my feet, hips, and back feel best were the FitFlop sneakers. I would even sometimes switch to them in the afternoon if my feet were fatigued.
Tip Number 8: Rest!
I was going to make this multiple tips, but when it came down to it, I realized that the most important thing was also the most cliche: just listen to your body and rest.
Be sure to take at least one planned break per day and as many many breaks as you need.
There are a few ways to do this, in and outside of the parks.
If you’re not up to completely abandoning your family, or making your family leave the park with you, you can totally take advantage of the Baby Care Centers at each of the parks. They are located next to First Aid at each park.
They are air conditioned and comfortable, and each of them have a dimly lit nursing room with rocking chairs. I don’t have pictures of the inside areas out of respect for the nursing mothers, but I did take advantage of them. Not only to relax while pregnant, but a few months later to pump (there are sooo many electrical outlets to do this) and a few months after that to nurse.
Another way to build planned rest in your day is to book at least one table service meal per day. It doesn’t have to be an expensive meal (I explain how to budget for table service meals in this article), but I do recommend at least one daily table service meal, to get out of the elements, off of your feet, and to eat quality food.
Lastly, sit as frequently as possible, in the shade. Sometimes there aren’t many places to sit at Disney, but I was not shy about asking other guests if I could sit next to them. I also brought an umbrella so that I had my own portable shade (I got my tried and true umbrella from Amazon).
If you’re used to rope-dropping till-park dropping, you may want to reconsider that.
And lastly, you’ll want to plan a rest day, or at least a rest morning, or rest afternoon in your trip. Be kind to your body. You’re growing life. ❤️
Tip Number 9: Eat all the Snacks
If you were expecting a lecture on moderation from me while snacking at Disney while pregnant… you’re not going to get it. Enjoy. All. The. Snacks!
NEED HELP PLANNING YOUR DISNEY TRIP?
If you’re already connected to a Smart Moms Travel Authorized Vacation Planner, you’re in great hands because every Smart Moms planner goes through tons of ongoing training. Smart Moms Travel is also a Disney Platinum Earmarked agency!
If you’re not already connected with a Smart Moms planner, I’d love to help you plan your trip! I frequent the parks and truly love and have a passion for helping families get to Disney. I specialize in traveling with grandparents, speak Spanglish, and am a military mom of two awesome dudes and two girls. Just fill out this form here and I’ll be in touch!
