Lunch at Disney World

by Jeanne Jett

We were on vacation in Disney World with our 11-week-old son in tow. The Magic Kingdom was the park of our choice for that day. I had an item on my agenda for this trip, other than riding "It's a small world", and that was to breastfeed in public for the first time. As I am a very modest person, this would be a huge milestone.

Disney World is a very liberating place; there are many mothers of different cultures openly breasteeding there. So I felt I could accomplish this first attempt without much attention from passersby.

Although I enjoyed utilizing the Baby Care Stations at the park when my son needed his diaper changed or became hungry, this particular time my little boy decided it was time for lunch even though we were far from any Baby Care Station. So this is where I made my own history. My husband decided to take our 5-year-old daughter to the character meet-n-greet while I sat nearby at an umbrella table, with my back to the street in Fantasyland. I only had a huge landscape rock facing me so felt I had a little privacy and felt secure in my surroundings.

All was going well when I felt a few raindrops. No big deal, I was under an umbrella. A shower just might cool things down a bit. However, within minutes it was a torrential downpour. My husband and daughter were trapped leaving me helpless under the umbrella, which was providing little shelter from the rain, which was sleeting sideways. I stretched my tank top over my baby's head and body in an attempt to keep him dry. Of course, he was still happily enjoying his lunch and dozing, oblivious to what was going on around him. People were running everywhere in feeble attempts to get out of the rain.

When my husband finally came to my rescue, he suggested that I (with baby still nestled under my shirt) "make a run for it" across the street to the "Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh" attraction waiting area. For the first time since occupying this table I turned around to assess my escape route, but much to my surprise and embarrassment, there were approximately 200 people who had also sought shelter in the waiting area, and they were all facing me. So much for being discreet! I was completely on display for these other park goers. Surely, every one of these people could tell what I was doing. All I could do was to follow my husband's advice and run. When I arrived at my destination everyone broke out in applause, a few even came over to see the baby and told me how they'd been watching me and feeling sorry for me while I was trapped in the rain.

So for all those of you like myself who are apprehensive to serve up a meal in a public place, this is another example that perhaps our concerns are unfounded. By the way I was soaked to the bone, but my son came out from under shirt well fed, rested and fairly dry!