How To Do Disney World or Disneyland When Pregnant

When you booked your Disney vacation a year ago, you didn’t think by the time your vacation rolled around that you’d be pregnant!

But not to worry! It’s totally doable to visit a Disney park while pregnant, but there are a few things you might want to do to prepare.

In addition to staying hydrated and planning breaks, you can also review which Disney World rides are pregnancy friendly — and which ones are not. If you’re going to visit Disney World while pregnant, we’ve got some tips to help you get ready!

First, we recommend consulting with your physician on your travel plans to know what’s safe for you and your pregnancy at the time of your vacation dates. As every pregnancy is unique, only you and your doctor can safely decide what it best for you during this special time.

Accommodations

If you’re a seasoned Disney World vacationer, you might be used to long days of park hopping from dawn until dusk. So traveling to Disney while pregnant might require you to take it a bit easier than what’s typical. We suggest making a room request to help ensure that you have quicker access to the amenities you need when you do return to the Resort for a rest.

Since many of the Resorts are large, requesting a room close to the lobby, transportation, or pool can save a lot of walking. When booking your hotel, there are Preferred Rooms available for an additional charge. These are the rooms that are located closest to popular amenities. But you can also make room requests even if you have a Standard Room booked. There are two ways to submit a request. First, when completing the online check-in for your Resort, you can select up to two room requests. The second approach is to contact the Resort directly about five days before your check-in date. This is typically when the rooms are being assigned, so you can speak with a Cast Member directly about any location requests you’d like to make.

Submitting room requests can help ensure you end up in a location that makes navigating your trips to the buses, pool, and amenities easier. Note: Disney will try to honor your requests, but room locations and requests can’t be guaranteed, unfortunately.

If it works with your budget, we also recommend booking a resort close to the park you plan to visit the most. These will most likely be Deluxe Resorts, which will cost more, but you may find that money well spent when your swollen feet can’t take another step, and you need to dash back to your room for a bit of R&R before finishing your park day.

The Polynesian Village Resort, Grand Floridian, Contemporary, and Wilderness Lodge are the closest resorts to the Magic Kingdom. Animal Kingdom Lodge (both Jambo House and Kidani Village) is the closest to Animal Kingdom, BoardWalk Inn, Yacht & Beach Club, and Swan & Dolphin and Swan Reserve are the closest to EPCOT and Hollywood Studios.

A little further, but still accessible, are the Riviera Resort, Caribbean Beach, Pop Century, and Art of Animation resorts, all on the Skyliner route. This means fairly easy access to Hollywood Studios and EPCOT, and an option for every budget. Fort Wilderness Cabins and Campgrounds is considered a Moderate Resort and is a peaceful boat ride away from Magic Kingdom.

Pacing Yourself

Again, you’ll probably need to take it relatively easy on your trip, so we suggest building plenty of downtime into your schedule. Instead of packing your days with back-to-back Genie+ Lightning Lane reservations and Advance Dining Reservations, start by prioritizing a few of your must-do attractions and restaurants. That way, you can experience the most important things to you without feeling rushed or pressured to do it all.

One suggestion we use is to plan a mid-day break around 2PM or 3PM. You can return to the Resort to relax by the pool or take a quick nap during that time. This will allow you to escape the peak of park crowds and Orlando heat for some rest, and vacations are all about rest anyway, right?

Along those same lines, we also know expecting mothers who prefer to build an entire down day into their trip. This is especially helpful for those spending a week or more at Disney World. By taking a day off, you can recoup your energy, rest your feet, and be ready to dive in to the second half of your vacation.

Restrooms

Being aware of the closest restrooms is especially important for expecting mothers. All of the public restrooms on Disney World property are listed on the My Disney Experience app. So if you’re ever in doubt, pull up the app and filter by restrooms to find the closest option.

One of our readers also noted that the size and frequency of restrooms can vary by park. “It seems like Animal Kingdom has fewer restrooms, with a lot of stalls. At the other extreme, Epcot has a ton of restrooms, but with just a few stalls.”

So, it might be worthwhile to take a quick glance at the map before you start your day, just to get a general feel for where the restrooms are in the park. We have a whole post on some secret bathrooms that often go unnoticed, and it’s always handy to know where to find those!

Stay Hydrated

Orlando is HOT and HUMID. So we recommend that everyone drinks plenty of water, but this is especially important for expecting mothers. There is free water available at fountains and bottle refill stations, and Quick Service locations throughout the Parks will give you a paper cup of ice water for free (ask for a big cup).

Water is, of course, sold at stands and restaurants throughout property as well. But we suggest bringing a reusable water bottle with you to ensure you always have water on hand. Which leads us to our next topic…

Items to Bring with You

We recommend you bring a few items with you, a few comforts of home (or from Amazon) that could help make Disney vacation a little more comfortable. The first is like we just mentioned above, bringing a refillable water bottle with you. It’s a great way to keep you hydrated!

You can pick this one up from Amazon for $11.99.

Wedge Pillow

You may have to sacrifice some space in your luggage for this item, but it might make all the difference to help you get a good night’s sleep. A wedge pillow can provide support to your changing body where you need it.

You can pick this one up from Amazon for $19.89.

Pregnancy Support Belt

A pillow can help you get some sleep, but if you need some support while you’re in the parks, consider a pregnancy support belt. These support belts can help take pressure off your back and abdominal muscles for the time you spend on your feet.

You can pick up this one from Amazon for $19.99.

Compression Socks

Swollen feet and ankles are common pregnancy symptoms, it’s also common for Disney vacationers who spend hours on their feet. So when you compound those, you may find that your pregnancy swollen feet are now Disney-vacation-pregnancy-swollen feet. In which case, some compression socks may come in handy!

You can pick up these from Amazon for $13.99

Some Go-To Snacks

Every pregnancy is different, and some women experience extreme food and smell aversion, which can last for a few weeks or all throughout their pregnancy. If you have these aversions, you may want to pack a few trusty, standby snacks. The advanced dining reservations (ADR) you made 60 days ago might’ve sounded good at the time, but walking up to Coral Reef, Crystal Palace, or Sanaa might not sound so good when your ADR time arrives.

Since it might be difficult to know when these aversions might pop up, we recommend having some reliable snacks, like Saltines, granola bars, or other travel-friendly snacks you can count on.

Disney World Rides That Are Not Pregnancy Safe

In general, the rule of thumb for pregnancy and Disney World rides is height restrictions. Any ride with a height restriction (of any height) is not recommended for pregnant people, and you’ll see signs notifying guests of these restrictions outside the entrance of these rides. If you see “expectant mothers should not ride” on any ride sign, you know that it’s not considered safe.

These rides are considered unsafe due to factors like speed, rapid starts and stops, and pressures and forces the body may experience. The full list of Disney World rides that are not safe for pregnant riders is listed below:

• Avatar Flight of Passage
• Barnstormer
• Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
• Dinosaur
• Expedition Everest
• Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind
• Kali River Rapids
• Kilimanjaro Safaris
• Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run
• Mission: SPACE
• Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster
• Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
• Slinky Dog Dash
• Space Mountain
• Splash Mountain
• Star Tours
• Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance
• Test Track
• Tomorrowland Speedway
• Tower of Terror

Pregnancy Safe Rides

So are there any safe rides? The short answer is yes!! Any ride without a height restriction is typically considered safe, which means tons of classic Disney rides like Dumbo the Flying Elephant, “it’s a small world,” and Peter Pan’s Flight are not restricted.

Shows, parades, and character meet-and-greets are also safe options! Basically, there are plenty of things you can do while visiting Disney World pregnant, but you have to cross thrill rides off your list.

Note that it might be a good idea to speak with your doctor or midwife to find out if you should avoid any specific movements. For example, the rides below include short drops but are technically not restricted, so you may want to consider your personal limitations.

• Pirates of the Caribbean in Magic Kingdom
• Frozen Ever After in EPCOT

We’ve broken down all the safe rides by parks below:

Magic Kingdom

• Astro Orbiter
• Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
• Carousel of Progress
• Country Bear Jamboree
• Dumbo the Flying Elephant
• Enchanted Tales with Belle
• Enchanted Tiki Room
• Haunted Mansion
• “it’s a small world”
• Jungle Cruise
• Liberty Square Riverboat
• Mad Tea Party
• Mickey’s PhilharMagic
• Monsters, Inc Laugh Floor
• Peter Pan’s Flight
• Pirates of the Caribbean
• Prince Charming Regal Carrousel
• The Hall of Presidents
• The Magic Carpets of Aladdin
• The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
• Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover
• Under the Sea – Journey of the Little Mermaid
• Walt Disney World Railroad

EPCOT

• Awesome Planet
• Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along
• Disney and Pixar Short Film Festival
• Frozen Ever After
• Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros
• Impressions de France
• Journey Into Imagination with Figment
• Living with the Land
• O Canada!
• Reflections of China
• Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure
• Spaceship Earth
• The American Adventure
• The Seas with Nemo & Friends
• Turtle Talk with Crush

Disney’s Hollywood Studios

• Alien Swirling Saucers
• Beauty and the Beast — Live on Stage
• Disney Junior Play and Dance!
• Frozen Sing-Along Celebration
• Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular
• Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy
• Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway
• Muppet*Vision 3D
• Vacation Fun – An Original Animated Short with Mickey & Minnie
• Voyage of the Little Mermaid
• Toy Story Mania

Disney’s Animal Kingdom

• Discovery Island Trails
• Festival of the Lion King
• Finding Nemo – The Big, Blue…and Beyond!
• It’s Tough to be a Bug!
• Maharajah Jungle Trek
• Na’vi River Journey
• TriceraTop Spin
• Up! A Great Bird Adventure
• Wildlife Express Train

There is still plenty to enjoy if you’re pregnant in Disney World! Just keep in mind that your body is building, you know, building another little human, so have patience, pace yourself, and remember to listen to the queues from your body. And don’t forget to check out our pregnancy guide below! And if you are looking to plan a trip for after the baby comes you can start here with all of the details you need on stroller rentals! Keep following AllEars for more Disney World tips, news, and more!

The ultimate guide to navigating the Disney Parks while pregnant!

Would you visit Disney World while pregnant? Tell us in the comments!

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