Disneyland Babymoon

It only feels appropriate, if not slightly ironic, that I write this as a sit at home on bed rest, asked by my doctor not to go to work. So to stave off boredom, I am both planning imaginary future trips and working on the blog while binge watching TV (obviously I started working on this post a couple of weeks ago…).

Thankfully, it is fun to recall our spring babymoon to Disneyland. You may wonder why Disneyland. After all, in the realm of babymoon possibilities, Disney anything may not rise to the top of the list, but I’m here to confidently say that it was, in fact, the perfect pre-baby trip. Today, I’m going to share some of the reasons it was perfect and some of the strategies I used to balance the chaos of Disney with staying healthy while pregnant.

First, let’s discuss why I think Disneyland makes a perfect babymoon. For one, with the concerns about Zika, a lot of tropical locales - the classic babymoon location - were off the list. Of course, there is always Hawaii, but for me, even flying that far seemed daunting. What with the swollen feet and multiple in flight bathroom trips, a flight of any length just seemed less and less appealing. I’m sure Hawaii would have been lovely, but for us, Disneyland was a short, non-stop flight from home. And because we flew into Orange County, rather than LAX, arrival and getting to our hotel was painless.

But that’s just for starters. Disneyland itself is seriously great for pregnant ladies, for many of the same reasons it is great for kids. There are bathrooms everywhere. Do not underestimate how important this is. I could literally find a bathroom whenever I needed one and never once did I have to wait in line. There are also food menus and drinks that cater to children. I truly enjoyed trying all kinds of fun mocktails, readily available at even the fanciest of restaurants. I also loved that if all I wanted to eat for lunch was macaroni and cheese or something similarly basic and lacking in nutrition, it was easy to find.

Then there was just the food overall. Snacks were abundantly available (I refuse to confess just how many churros I ate) and being pregnant is the ideal excuse to eat them all guilt free, especially when we spent most of the day walking. Don’t worry, there will be an entire post all about the food.

We convinced ourselves we burned off all the calories with all of the walking we did. A Disneyland babymoon basically requires you to stay active, making me thankful that we went when I was 23 weeks pregnant and not much later in my pregnancy. But really, all the walking was (mostly) a good thing.

And let’s not forget one of the most important reasons Disney is a perfect babymoon - the cute shirt opportunities. Even better, there are photographers everywhere who will take your photo - with their fancy cameras if you have a PhotoPass or with your own phone for free. Some of my favorite photos from the past few months happened on this trip, even if Brandon rolled his eyes each time we got in line for a photographer.

I’ll share more about what we did in another post, but rest assured that there were plenty of things for me to do and relatively few of the rides were off limits because of pregnancy. Plus, Brandon going on a ride without me gave me the perfect excuse to sit down for a few minutes, probably with a churro in hand. Going solo on some of the “bigger” rides also gave Brandon access to the single rider lines, allowing us to pack a lot of rides into our Disney days.

Now, that’s not to say that being pregnant and tackling Disneyland and California Adventure did not present some challenges at times, so here are my best tips for making it more manageable.

First, pack appropriately. I was all about the comfortable shoes and was able to mostly comfortably wear the same pair of Skecher’s GoWalk shoes for all three days in the park. I also made sure I had a different pair to wear when we weren’t in the parks to give my feet a rest. Even so, by the third day, my feet were definitely feeling the miles. I also made sure I had temperature appropriate clothing. Fortunately, the April temperatures in southern California were much more manageable than temps would have been later in the spring and summer.

Second, stay close. One of the great things about Disneyland is that there are so many (relatively) affordable offsite hotels within a comfortable walking distance of the parks. I’ll share more about where we stayed, but the proximity allowed us to easily return to the hotel each afternoon for a nap before returning for more fun in the evening. The daily nap was crucial to enjoying the trip.

This proximity brings me to my third tip. Get an early start. You know you’re not sleeping anyway (thank you pregnancy), so just go ahead and enjoy the less busy parks first thing in the morning. Our early mornings allowed us to check all of our “must dos” off the list by lunch time, giving us leisurely afternoons that definitely included naps during the warmest parts of the day. This schedule, more than anything, helped this pregnant lady actually enjoy the inevitable intensity of a Disney vacation. We only had three days, but with a longer trip, I would have made sure to have a least one non-park day to rest, relax by the pool, get a massage, or just generally do anything except be on my feet all day.

And my final tip - don’t be afraid to splurge. Take advantage of this time as a couple to do all the things you won’t be able to do the next time you return with kids. As much as Disney offers magic for children, it is just as magical for adults. Make reservations for that fancy dinner, eat multiple courses and eat them slowly, have afternoon (non-alcoholic) cocktails while having an adult conversation. Savor those moments while you can.

Our Disneyland babymoon was a blast. We had so much fun together “being kids one last time,” as Brandon put it. We did what we wanted when we wanted to do it (or more accurately, when I wanted to do it…), we explored the parks as two adults whose lives are about to be drastically changed. We simply loved being together, away from work and home and responsibilities for a few days. I know we will love our son’s first trip to Disneyland, a whole new kind of magic we cannot yet fully appreciate. But, for now, a babymoon to Disneyland was just right.