05 February 2006

WDW baby care centers reviewed

First and foremost, it's wonderful that there are Baby Care Centers at all the Walt Disney World theme parks. Not having to whip out a boob in the middle of Fantasyland is a very good thing. The changing facilities are consistently clean and there are enough of them. The supplies they offer for sale seem to be adequate, though I didn't buy anything. It was still nice to know they had food or diapers or tylenol for an emergency. If you are loyal to particular brands and they aren't Huggies or Gerber, bring your own. I'm guessing the prices are outrageous, so bring your own anyway.

All that said, all of the Baby Care Centers are flawed to varying degrees and in different ways. They could all use a bit of a decor upgrade. This would be a great project for one of the design shows on HGTV.

Magic Kingdom - I know it's right off Main Street and on the edge of Frontierland but the rockers in the nursing room are uncomfortable, right out of your great-great-grandmother's parlor. And the small side tables are nearly inaccessible from the rockers.

EPCOT - Completely unreachable side tables in the nursing room. Maybe if I had the wingspan of an NBA center.... Every time I was at this one there was a mom complaining about the tables. The location is atrocious, convenient to Mexico and not much else, though I'm having trouble coming up with a spot that would be better. EPCOT could really do with two Baby Care Centers.

Animal Kingdom - Claims to be the best but I was unimpressed. There are private nursing rooms with a changing table, in addition to the large changing area. That was nice, I suppose, but I found nursing in there a bit creepy. It was too quiet, too isolated. I think I was used to the communal aspects of the nursing rooms at the other parks and this one took me by surprise. Lose the lavender.

MGM - Hard to find, no attendant. It is a doorway off the Guest Relations room. It took me five minutes to figure out that for nursing I should go in one of the tiny "rooms" (more like a miniaturized fitting room) and pull the curtain. No attendant ever appeared during the entire time I was there.

Downtown Disney Marketplace - There is no Baby Care Center, but according to Guest Relations, any of the shops will allow moms to nurse in their fitting rooms. I tested this and found the staff at the main shop (I call it House of Mouse but the real name escapes me just now) very helpful. Then again, they probably didn't want me to do anything that would scare all the kids.

No comments: