1st Trip as Mommy & Daddy! Celebrating DSs 1st Bday Nov 11-UPDATE 11/13 TR LINK!

[leshunlenese]

Well i have flown with my son as a lap child 4 times and even though the last time was a bit scary, i had no problems with it but so many people here will not agree. If u search lap baby in the transportation, i started a therad and the people were really upset about it but also alot of people who dont. i almost got kicked off because i was about to curse. Anyway sorry bout that, i have never had any problems with him and i constantly thought like you with all the 'what ifs' and i totally understand where you are coming from but everything was always fine and i have never been on a flight were anyone bought a seat. There has always been several lap babies to florida. Im actually kind of sad that he turned 2 and so this time i have no choice. If you like you can schedule a later flight. We took a 5pm flight from disney last dec,it was on airtran though but devyn got his own seat because the flight was empty.

I do not like driving. we did that every year as a child and even though it was a shorter ride than yours it was still 8 hours too long. I also know that flying is safer than driving and i also know that Macon to florida. there is no level 1 trauma center in ga south of macon. So God forbid, if you get in a real bad accident south of macon, the hospitals are more rural and may not have the needs to deal with a bad accident but im also coming a different way than you. Im sure whatever you decide it will be fine! Just decide what is more important to you at this time for this trip. Saving time or money?

 

[khertz]

We flew with our DD several times as a lap child. Never really had any problems. As she got older, we ended up on a trip to Arizona right before she turned 2 buying a DVD player INSTEAD of the ticket, knowing that she would be too squirmy otherwise. The only problems we had were her spiking a fever once on a long flight. We had medicine but had forgotten the dropper to dose her with. Couldn't get her to drink it, and ended up having to get the flight attendent to break into the medical kit, which requires calling the ground apparently....

...anyways back on your concern. I can see where your coming from being worried for your son. If it's any consolation, most plane crashes the seat belt isn't going to make much of a difference! (OK - that was my dark sense of humor - sorry.) SEriously though - during take-off and landing, I would strap him in by sharing your seat belt, just for that short time...the rest of the time, the seat belt isn't much use anyways, unless you get into some ridiculous turbulence.

I don't know how well you know the SWA flight schedule, but here's one thing to try - if you pick a flight that is NOT full, they will generally let you bring your baby carrier on the flight and use a seat anyway. However, so many SWA seem fully booked now, I am not sure how well that plan would work for you.

Really, what I keep thinking is...if it really was a true SAFETY CONCERN to hold your child on your lap, would SWA allow you to do it? I don't think they would. You figure they would rather make the money of selling the seat? So, if they could argue it from a safety point of view, they would, right?

IDK - I probably put you no closer to a decision...myself I would probably fly unless the cost difference was significant. (More than $300-400) Our time off is so precious, it's tough to use it up on travelling.

Re the bolded, my DH says the same thing!! lol However, at this point, I think we are between buying DS a seat and flying or driving, so...still not really much closer to a decision. I just know I need to do what is going to keep me sane and have a seat for DS or I will be even MORE of a nervous wreck about flying than I am normally! That would be awesome if we could get DS the free seat, but I don't think I have ever been on a SWA flight yet that wasn't full, so I don't want to hope for that and have it not work out.

I found myself taking way too many pics and not enjoying the moment, so i've tried to just enjoy instead now. Plus, i have NO time to scrapbook anymore. I do it all online now, although i'd prefer to do it the old fashioned way, i simply don't have time.

I have to agree with Pete, I know it is pretty grim, but in a plane crash, not sure how much difference the seat is going to make. And the chances are just so slim (as you know, chances of car crash are so much greater). I would totally do lap baby, it's such a short flight anyhow. I did it with Will when he was 4 months old. Getting that stupid car seat in the seat of the plane was a complete nightmare the time we did use it. Last December, he just flew in the regular seat. And like Pete said, if you get a flight that isn't full, you can always spread out if you want! I would take flying over driving any day.

I am definitely leaning more towards flying for the safety factor. SO MUCH can happen on a 13+ hour road trip each way. We have done it before, but it is really just miserable being in the car for that long anyway! It's just SO much more expensive to fly, so that is what I think is holding DH back. It is still a money vs. time issue. I just wish we could make up our minds soon because the planner in me needs to know what the PLAN is!!!

Well i have flown with my son as a lap child 4 times and even though the last time was a bit scary, i had no problems with it but so many people here will not agree. If u search lap baby in the transportation, i started a therad and the people were really upset about it but also alot of people who dont. i almost got kicked off because i was about to curse. Anyway sorry bout that, i have never had any problems with him and i constantly thought like you with all the 'what ifs' and i totally understand where you are coming from but everything was always fine and i have never been on a flight were anyone bought a seat. There has always been several lap babies to florida. Im actually kind of sad that he turned 2 and so this time i have no choice. If you like you can schedule a later flight. We took a 5pm flight from disney last dec,it was on airtran though but devyn got his own seat because the flight was empty.

I do not like driving. we did that every year as a child and even though it was a shorter ride than yours it was still 8 hours too long. I also know that flying is safer than driving and i also know that Macon to florida. there is no level 1 trauma center in ga south of macon. So God forbid, if you get in a real bad accident south of macon, the hospitals are more rural and may not have the needs to deal with a bad accident but im also coming a different way than you. Im sure whatever you decide it will be fine! Just decide what is more important to you at this time for this trip. Saving time or money?

That is EXACTLY the issue! I think it is still going to take us a little while to decide on that. Driving would be about half the cost of flying, all factors considered (plane tickets & rental car if we fly, or gas, food, and extra hotel rooms if we drive). Time is more important to me, and we could save SO MUCH of that if we fly!!

I started a thread about it on the Families board, and the first response let me know it was a heated subject, but it stayed civil, so I was relieved. I got a little freaked out when I saw that! All I was asking was if you could gate check both a carseat and a stroller. I think every family should do what is best for them, whether that is lap baby or buying them a seat and strapping them in. I don't know why people get so uptight about what other families are doing, when it is perfectly acceptable!

 

[Colleen27]

Hi there! I followed you "home" from your post about Bonnet Creek on the Orlando resorts board.

Our littlest one flew as a lap baby a couple of times with no problems. I worried about our Disney trip when she was 16mo but it turned out to be a breeze. She was content to nurse on take off/landing and just cuddled & napped the rest of the short flight (2.5 hours from here to MCO). Flying is so much easier than driving that I think it is well worth the expense, especially with you just needing two tickets.

 

[khertz]

Hi there! I followed you "home" from your post about Bonnet Creek on the Orlando resorts board.

Our littlest one flew as a lap baby a couple of times with no problems. I worried about our Disney trip when she was 16mo but it turned out to be a breeze. She was content to nurse on take off/landing and just cuddled & napped the rest of the short flight (2.5 hours from here to MCO). Flying is so much easier than driving that I think it is well worth the expense, especially with you just needing two tickets.

Thanks for reading! We are pretty excited about heading back to Bonnet Creek. It is actually where we bought in with Wyndham, although due to some contract issues, San Francisco is now our home resort. We have only stayed there once, but we are looking forward to going back and spending more time enjoying the resort this time around.

DS nurses right now, but I'm thinking he will be weaned totally by then. He is not as interested in it during the day anymore. We are looking into trying the Earplanes earplugs I have read about here, and the sippy cup as backup for the take-off & landing. He is not a cuddler, so I think DH & I will have our hands full keeping him entertained, but it is only for a max of 2 hours on the plans, so I think we can handle it. I think the more I talk to DH about it, the more accepting he is of spending the money to save the time!

 

[khertz]

I figured since it takes me awhile between updates (I mean, I DO have a recently mobile 9 month old to chase after!), I can start doing my daily plans and be done by the time the trip gets here.

As for the travel dilemma, we still haven't totally decided, and that is mostly because I have been waffling. I'm pretty sure we have decided to fly regardless. DH and I discussed just buying our plane tickets now, and if they reduce the price along the way, we will get that credit back on our tickets, and can use it towards a ticket for DS if it is significant enough. I can also pick up some extra shifts at work once we get busy to cover the cost of a ticket for him if that's what is going to put my mind at ease! So, I'm basing these plans off of us flying out on November 4th.

We always fly out of New Orleans, because it has always been cheaper and faster than flying out of Lafayette for everywhere we have wanted to go. So the night before, we'll drive to NOLA and spend the night at my mom's house, and she will drive us to the airport in the morning. The flight we would book is scheduled for 9:05 am, so I figure we'd get to the airport between 6 and 6:30 am to get our bags checked, get through security, eat some breakfast, and wait in the terminal.

The flight would arrive in Orlando at 11:45 am local time. I know it will take us awhile to get all of our luggage together and get our rental car, so it will probably be somewhere between 12:30 and 1 pm before we get to Bonnet Creek to check-in.

Hopefully our room is ready, but I'm not counting on that at all. We are going to request a fireworks view room, but depending on how DS is doing at that point and whether or not he napped on the plane, we might have to just take whatever we can get at that point, and get the fireworks view when we have to change rooms in the middle of the week!

About that time will be our usual lunch time at home, since our bodies won't be adjusted to the time difference yet, so I'm sure we'll pick something up on the way.

If we are flying, that means we won't be able to bring any food items with us, so we will have to make a trip to the grocery sometime that afternoon to buy snacks, food for Paxton, milk, etc. And hopefully by that time, we can get into our room and get settled.

In my ideal world, I'd really like to head to a park for dinner...nothing fancy, just a CS meal somewhere. I have never been able to enter a park on our arrival day before, so I'd love to this year since we will have AP's this year and can have that kind of freedom! Of course, my choice of park would be...

We would get to take the monorail in, see the Castle, walk down Main Street...some of my favorite things about Disney World, all on our first night!

Before or after eating, we can head to Guest Relations and have our tickets we purchased upgraded to AP's! I doubt we will ride anything, mostly just to save the excitement for when we can actually enjoy it, since I'm sure we'll all be ready to crash pretty early that night.

DAY 1 - November 5th
Our first day, we will spend at...

...Animal Kingdom!

Since the hours are so short, and we will be going to church that evening, I don't think we'll park hop this day. I'm a little nervous about that, because it will be our first day to test out how DS does napping in the stroller, etc.

We "plan" on getting there for rope drop (I plan on that most mornings we are there, but with a little one, you just never know!). I have never seen the opening show, so I'm hoping we make it there on time to see it. But if we don't, it's ok.

We will probably join the herd headed for the Kilimanjaro Safaris and get that done first.

After that, DH or I can run to grab us some FPs for Everest to ride later, or if the wait is short, we may just take turns riding it then.

After that, our two big must-dos will be done! So I think we'll try taking the Wildlife Train to the Conservation Station. We have never been to that area before, but maybe we can see the vets working on some animals. I at least want DS to get a chance to check out the animals at the petting zoo.

By then, I'm sure it'll be lunchtime, so we'll grab a bite to eat at Pizzafari. DH and I love their pizzas!

After lunch, we'll wander the animal trails for a bit so DS can see the animals. He wasn't too impressed with them when we went to our local zoo a couple of weeks ago, but our local zoo is pretty pathetic too, especially compared to AK. We are going to try to take him to the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans (or like I keep calling it, the REAL zoo) sometime before our trip so he can see what a real zoo looks like!

The afternoon will probably be spent with a Festival of the Lion King show, our favorite show in AK...probably all of WDW.

I'd like to get some pictures with characters throughout the day as we come across them, to get DS's feet wet in that area. If the lines at Camp Minnie-Mickey aren't long, and especially if they are already in their Christmas sweaters (anyone know when that starts?), I'd like to get his pictures with them there, but we will be meeting Mickey a lot so it's not vital we do it our first day!

Other than that, there isn't much else we feel like we need to do in AK. We plan to focus on the animals and characters like we did last time we were there. The only other rides I see us squeezing in is the kiddie ride in Dinoland and maybe if DH wants to ride Primeval Whirl by himself (I'll actually be glad we can't ride this together...I hate that ride!). Neither of us are interested in swapping for Dinosaur, and I think ITTAB would be a mistake with a 1 year old, so we'll happily skip that.

Hopefully we can call it a day by early afternoon and head back to the resort for a nap and maybe a swim before church at Mary Queen of the Universe Shrine at 6 pm. We'll get dinner somewhere around there I'm sure, either an early dinner before church or after, depending on how DS is doing. Right now, he is early to bed, early to rise, and is calling it quits around 6:30 pm, but I don't know how his schedule might change in 3 months! We are putting the nighttime stuff in the plans, but are prepared to not see any of it in the parks if DS is not having it, hence the coveted fireworks view room! That will be the end of Day 1, so we can rest up for Day 2!

 

[Colleen27]

Thanks for reading! We are pretty excited about heading back to Bonnet Creek. It is actually where we bought in with Wyndham, although due to some contract issues, San Francisco is now our home resort. We have only stayed there once, but we are looking forward to going back and spending more time enjoying the resort this time around.

DS nurses right now, but I'm thinking he will be weaned totally by then. He is not as interested in it during the day anymore. We are looking into trying the Earplanes earplugs I have read about here, and the sippy cup as backup for the take-off & landing. He is not a cuddler, so I think DH & I will have our hands full keeping him entertained, but it is only for a max of 2 hours on the plans, so I think we can handle it. I think the more I talk to DH about it, the more accepting he is of spending the money to save the time!

We haven't stayed offsite since I was a kid, but we're seriously considering Bonnet Creek this time. With three kids and my mom the extra space of a 2 bedroom unit is mighty appealing. It is the rental car question that has me waffling because I'm just not sure I want to drive at Disney.

My DD was mostly weaned before our trip, but she did want to nurse when the change in pressure on the plane made her uncomfortable. She did just fine on our last trip with a sippy cup, though she was very jealous of her big sister's gum. She isn't usually a very cuddly baby but something about waking her up at 4am to get to the airport made her a little more mellow than usual for our flight down to Orlando . The evening flight home is usually a bit tougher but by the time we're coming home she's pretty much wiped out and has lots of new goodies to look at.

I'm so jealous that you're making park plans already! I'm still working on the pros and cons of where we're going to stay and waiting on Disney to release fall discounts, because we can't really nail down dates until the resort question is settled.

 

[skier_pete]

I don't think AK breaks out any Christmas stuff until the Friday after Thanksgiving, though I think sometimes they start the JJJ parade earlier. I did a search and couldn't find a consistant date for when it started LAST year. (One said November 14th, the other November 26th) I don't find the JJJ overlay any better or worse than the regular parade, so I could care less. I do find the little trees in CMM cute, but wouldn't be disappointed not to see them. The characters I also don't care...we've decided this trip we are not going to spend a lot of time with the characters beyond any meals we're doing. DD subborn refusal to meet them makes it hardly worth it. Basically, if there's a line for the character, we're not waiting for them.

 

[khertz]

We haven't stayed offsite since I was a kid, but we're seriously considering Bonnet Creek this time. With three kids and my mom the extra space of a 2 bedroom unit is mighty appealing. It is the rental car question that has me waffling because I'm just not sure I want to drive at Disney.

My DD was mostly weaned before our trip, but she did want to nurse when the change in pressure on the plane made her uncomfortable. She did just fine on our last trip with a sippy cup, though she was very jealous of her big sister's gum. She isn't usually a very cuddly baby but something about waking her up at 4am to get to the airport made her a little more mellow than usual for our flight down to Orlando . The evening flight home is usually a bit tougher but by the time we're coming home she's pretty much wiped out and has lots of new goodies to look at.

I'm so jealous that you're making park plans already! I'm still working on the pros and cons of where we're going to stay and waiting on Disney to release fall discounts, because we can't really nail down dates until the resort question is settled.

I was SO nervous about driving around Disney World the first time we stayed at BC. I even tracked down a website that had the GPS coordinates of the parking lots at all the parks and printed driving directions to and from BC. Never needed them! WDW is saturated with purple signs telling you where to go, and if you miss your turn, you can just keep going and in no time you'll see another sign telling you how to get there. It is really really easy.

Hopefully you can get everything worked out with your dates & resort so you can get to planning. That is half the fun of a Disney World trip!

I don't think AK breaks out any Christmas stuff until the Friday after Thanksgiving, though I think sometimes they start the JJJ parade earlier. I did a search and couldn't find a consistant date for when it started LAST year. (One said November 14th, the other November 26th) I don't find the JJJ overlay any better or worse than the regular parade, so I could care less. I do find the little trees in CMM cute, but wouldn't be disappointed not to see them. The characters I also don't care...we've decided this trip we are not going to spend a lot of time with the characters beyond any meals we're doing. DD subborn refusal to meet them makes it hardly worth it. Basically, if there's a line for the character, we're not waiting for them.

Oh, well, I figured we'd be missing it! Not a big deal. I don't even know if we'll last in the park with DS until the afternoon parade, but I'm kind of hoping we will because I have never seen the AK parade. Thanks for the info!

I don't blame you on the characters. Part of the fun when you have kids along is seeing them interact with them! I'm hoping DS will be still too young to be afraid. Right now, he will go to anyone who holds their arms out to him (just this past weekend, he happily let the lady behind us in church hold him for several minutes...definitely no stranger danger with this kid!). I don't know how that will hold up with the masked characters, but I'm thinking he'll at least do fine with the face characters. That will be another "wait & see" part of the trip!

 

[khertz]

A couple of weeks ago, we took DS on another "practice for WDW" outing to see the Ringling Bro & Barnum and Bailey Circus at the Cajundome. I wasn't sure how he would do...we have never done anything with him like that. He took a great nap that morning and we got over to the venue about 30 minutes before the show to find our seats.

Me & Paxton waiting for the show!

He loved it at first! Couldn't take his eyes off the animals. But after about 20 minutes, the interest started waning. He was more interested in looking at the people in the seats behind us. He got really crabby towards intermission, so we ended up with this gem of a picture for his first Circus experience:

He woke up after the intermission and seemed to enjoy most of the second half, although that container of puff snacks we brought saved the day towards the end.

I am pretty optimistic because he was really good in 20 minute stretches, and the shows we'll probably be doing won't be much longer than that. I guess we will find out on our first day in the parks when we attempt Festival of the Lion King at AK! I'm really glad we took him though.

I made a really fun trip purchase this week! DS still uses a pacifier for naps and when he is really cranky, but I have never used a pacifier clip because I'd rather him not have easy access to it when he doesn't really need it. But he also likes to take it out of his mouth and wave it around. So I figured investing in one for the trip would be a good idea. I looked around for a cute Mickey Mouse one and found one with his ears, shoes, shorts, etc that was really cute. But when I went to the seller's ebay page, I found the one I HAD to have in her other designs!!

We bought the one on the right with the Fab 5 Mickey heads and she sent us the USA one free! It was all of $6 for the clips and shipping. I love them!!

Anyway, with that out of the way, on to the plans for...

DAY 2 - November 6th

We are going to be up and moving early today because it's our first morning in Magic Kingdom!! We will eat a quick breakfast in the room, and get over to the park, hopefully in plenty of time for the Rope Drop show.

We will be joining the Dumbo Dash for the very first time! It will be DS's first time on Dumbo of course, and DH and I are still debating who gets to ride with him and who is going to take pictures.

I'm thinking we will spend the morning conquering Fantasyland as much as DS tolerates and collecting FPs along the way for the "Mommy & Daddy" rides to use while he's napping.

At 10:45 am we will be heading into the Harmony Barber Shop on Main Street for DS's first haircut!

I'm really excited about this, though it will be a pretty expensive couple of cuts since DS has hardly any hair. lol However, it is so important to me that we get that experience, and I just don't know if I could wait until he is 2 for his first haircut! So I don't mind paying for the experience and the memories.

After the haircut, we will grab some lunch at one of the CS restaurants we enjoy. Depending on DS's mood, we might squeeze in some more attractions before we head back to the resort for a swim and a nap.

After our break, we'll be heading to Epcot for the evening.

Since it's a F&W weekend, I'm planning to focus on the Future World attractions and stay away from World Showcase. Hopefully that will mean it won't be really crowded, but I don't think it will matter too much for the attractions we are planning to do. I think all we are going to want to ride are Nemo, Figment, Spaceship Earth, and Living With the Land. Both DH and I feel like we could skip Soarin', and Test Track & Mission Space are not must-dos for this trip for us either. If DS drifts off, we might swap out for one of the latter, but that's about it. I also want to spend more time checking out the aquarium in the Seas pavilion, since we have never really done that, but I think DS will enjoy it.

We'll probably just grab some dinner at Electric Umbrella or Sunshine Seasons, depending on where we are in the park when we get hungry.

No fireworks in the parks tonight, I'm sure. We might be back at Bonnet Creek in enough time to catch IllumiNations from our balcony (if that fireworks view room comes through of course!) and put DS to bed. We will have another early morning the next day!

 

[skier_pete]

Looks like fun plans so far...seems wise your keeping it pretty low-key, I think knowing how your child will react at Disney is almost impossible to predict. I hope you have better luck with him napping in a stroller than we ever had. Our DD wouldn't nap in the stroller at all, only get crankier and crankier. We had to bring her back to the room to get her to nap.

 

[Colleen27]

Aww, it looks like he had a blast at the circus! We took DD3 to her first one not long after we got back from Disney and she enjoyed it, but was very put out that the elephant ride we promised her was on a big stinky old thing and not a flying pastel fiberglass model.

Your plans look nice, very laid back. The haircut is well worth the money. My 9yo still cherishes her "first haircut" ears and the 3yo just earned hers on the last trip.

Planning more time for the Seas is a great idea. All three of my kids loved aquariums when they were babies. We took DS13 to the one at Niagara Falls when he was about 15mo, thinking to pass a rainy morning, and ended up there all day!

My understanding is that the Sunday Food & Wine crowds aren't very heavy compared to the rest of the weekend, probably because folks have to be at work on Monday and that limits how much they can imbibe. We're going to be at Epcot too and that's one of the rare days I'm not bucking the planning sites' advice.

 

[CandleontheWater]

I think all your plans look great! One thing about day one is don't forget there is a single rider line for Everest, so that is always really short if you guys want to ride during the day or while Paxton is napping.

I love the circus pics! We took DS to the circus for "Disney practice" when he was 4th months old. I'll have to look and see when it is coming back, I'm sure he'd love it even more now!

I also don't think you'll have any problems with your Epcot day, most of the F&W crowds stay in WS, so I don't think they'll impact your touring plan. Also Test Track has a single rider line, perfect for those napping moments!

 

[khertz]

Looks like fun plans so far...seems wise your keeping it pretty low-key, I think knowing how your child will react at Disney is almost impossible to predict. I hope you have better luck with him napping in a stroller than we ever had. Our DD wouldn't nap in the stroller at all, only get crankier and crankier. We had to bring her back to the room to get her to nap.

You are so right, I have no way of knowing how he'll react, so I'm kind of planning for the worst and hoping for the best at this point! He has taken naps in the stroller before, he did it a lot when we were on vacation in Panama City. So hopefully that keeps up, but I don't know if all of the stimulation will keep him from stroller sleeping in Disney. I'm hoping we'll really get to test it by taking him out for a day in New Orleans before the trip, going to the Aquarium, maybe the zoo, riding on the riverboat, and walking around the French Quarter. Lots of people & stimulation there!

Aww, it looks like he had a blast at the circus! We took DD3 to her first one not long after we got back from Disney and she enjoyed it, but was very put out that the elephant ride we promised her was on a big stinky old thing and not a flying pastel fiberglass model.

Your plans look nice, very laid back. The haircut is well worth the money. My 9yo still cherishes her "first haircut" ears and the 3yo just earned hers on the last trip.

Planning more time for the Seas is a great idea. All three of my kids loved aquariums when they were babies. We took DS13 to the one at Niagara Falls when he was about 15mo, thinking to pass a rainy morning, and ended up there all day!

My understanding is that the Sunday Food & Wine crowds aren't very heavy compared to the rest of the weekend, probably because folks have to be at work on Monday and that limits how much they can imbibe. We're going to be at Epcot too and that's one of the rare days I'm not bucking the planning sites' advice.

That would be great if Sunday ends up not too busy. It was really the only way I could fit Epcot in was to do 2 afternoons vs. 1 whole day and still get to do the morning things that were important in the other parks. We are not big on Epcot really ourselves, so I don't think it will bother us to not have a ton of time there this time.

We are planning to take him to the Aquarium of the Americas in New Orleans later this month as another little "practice for Disney" outing, so I hope he likes it. I'd love to take him to our zoo too, but it is just so dang HOT!

I think all your plans look great! One thing about day one is don't forget there is a single rider line for Everest, so that is always really short if you guys want to ride during the day or while Paxton is napping.

I love the circus pics! We took DS to the circus for "Disney practice" when he was 4th months old. I'll have to look and see when it is coming back, I'm sure he'd love it even more now!

I also don't think you'll have any problems with your Epcot day, most of the F&W crowds stay in WS, so I don't think they'll impact your touring plan. Also Test Track has a single rider line, perfect for those napping moments!

OOH, I did forget about the single rider line for Everest! I only ever seem to remember the one for RnRC, which I'm sure we'll utilize. We can save our FPs for something else instead.

 

[vamassey1]

Hello!

I followed you over from you post on my report. I'm marking my spot so I can go back in get caught back up.

 

[leshunlenese]

I love that picture of you guys at the circus!Sooo cute! You have some good plans and the dumbo dash is not bad at all. we were at MK this past Wednesday. we were there super early,we drove and got to MK about 8 am and the monorail was not even open yet but it was still crowded at the entrance because resort guest were already up there but i did not have to run at all and we were on the 2nd ride of the day! i was thinking crazy like people knocking over strollers and racing

 

[AprilRenee]

This PTR caught my eye cause of the title and I just finished reading your Babymoon trip report. How fun! I was really happy that you wrote about your experience being pregnant in Disney cause DH and I JUST (like 3 days ago) found out we're pregnant so our trip in Jan is now going to be our Babymoon!! So excited! We did the same thing as you, we went this past Jan for our "last trip before kids" and then decided, screw it, we wanna go again and if I'm pregnant...GREAT! So we just did it and we're going in Jan '12 now. I'll be about 30 weeks pregnant (so a little further along than you were). We weren't really expecting to get pregnant so quickly (it happened our first month of trying) so I'll be a little further along than I had hoped but hopefully it'll be fine!

I really want to change the words over our countdown ticker now but we aren't telling people for a while and some of my FB friends are reading my TR and I don't want them to see the ticker.

 

[vamassey1]

I'm finally up to date. Paxton is just too cute. His smile is contagious. Your plans look great. I've never taken a baby to Disney so this is all new to me. Danielle was 3 the first time we took her. She napped in the stroller the first 4 days but on the last day day no way. Boy we paid for it later, she was soooo cranky.

I totally understand the flight vs driving decision. Flying is so much faster! But driving so much cheaper.

 

[khertz]

I love that picture of you guys at the circus!Sooo cute! You have some good plans and the dumbo dash is not bad at all. we were at MK this past Wednesday. we were there super early,we drove and got to MK about 8 am and the monorail was not even open yet but it was still crowded at the entrance because resort guest were already up there but i did not have to run at all and we were on the 2nd ride of the day! i was thinking crazy like people knocking over strollers and racing

Yeah, I'm more interested in seeing the opening show on our rope drop morning, so I'm not planning to join the crush of crowds under the train station! I don't mind waiting a little while for Dumbo, but your experience definitely gives me hope. That is what I'm imagining, a Nascar race of strollers to Fantasyland! I'm glad to know it is a little tamer than that!

This PTR caught my eye cause of the title and I just finished reading your Babymoon trip report. How fun! I was really happy that you wrote about your experience being pregnant in Disney cause DH and I JUST (like 3 days ago) found out we're pregnant so our trip in Jan is now going to be our Babymoon!! So excited! We did the same thing as you, we went this past Jan for our "last trip before kids" and then decided, screw it, we wanna go again and if I'm pregnant...GREAT! So we just did it and we're going in Jan '12 now. I'll be about 30 weeks pregnant (so a little further along than you were). We weren't really expecting to get pregnant so quickly (it happened our first month of trying) so I'll be a little further along than I had hoped but hopefully it'll be fine!

I really want to change the words over our countdown ticker now but we aren't telling people for a while and some of my FB friends are reading my TR and I don't want them to see the ticker.

and thanks for commenting! And congratulations on your pregnancy!!! I thought I wouldn't be as excited to go back to WDW without being able to ride all the thrill rides over and over, but since we have had DS, I'm honestly not even thinking about what we'll be missing. I'm just so excited to experience it with him! You are lucky that your babymoon trip will be in Jan when it is nice and cool (hopefully not too cold!) because that heat was brutal! I had moments where I wondered what the heck I was thinking going to Florida in the worst of the summer and 6 months pregnant! It will be such a different experience, seeing things that you can't wait to share with your little one, and feeling them move during the fireworks. I absolutely loved being there pregnant, minus the heat of course.

If you have any questions about going pregnant, feel free to ask me! And if you start a PTR or do a TR I definitely want to follow it!

I'm finally up to date. Paxton is just too cute. His smile is contagious. Your plans look great. I've never taken a baby to Disney so this is all new to me. Danielle was 3 the first time we took her. She napped in the stroller the first 4 days but on the last day day no way. Boy we paid for it later, she was soooo cranky.

I totally understand the flight vs driving decision. Flying is so much faster! But driving so much cheaper.

Thank you! He is such a little flirt too, but I love it.

It's so hard to plan anything because he changes so much week to week. He'll go several days in a row on the same schedule of naps and feedings, and the next week he throws a wrench in it and does something completely different. So doing WDW with an infant will definitely be a learn-as-we-go experience. I have no clue if he'll nap in the stroller, how he'll do on the attractions, with the characters...but I'm excited to find out, good or bad.

I think we are going to go ahead and fly because the driving is just sounding worse and worse the more we talk about it, despite how much more expensive it is to fly. But we still haven't bought plane tickets, so anything can happen between now and November!

 

[khertz]

Lots of little trip updates to report!

1. PLANE TICKETS
Last night, the fares for the two flights we wanted dropped, so we bit the bullet and bought them! Our flight to Orlando was $116/person and our return flight was $130/person. Looks like we did the right thing because I JUST went to check, and those same flights are now $124 and $148 again! We are hoping that the return flight will decrease and we can use the credit towards our flight to California next year, but if it doesn't oh well. We also ended up not buying a seat for DS. I am just going to hope that the flight is not full & he can get a seat for free, but if that doesn't work out, I'm just going to have to take some deep breaths and try not to worry too much.

So our flight to Orlando will depart from New Orleans at 9:05 am and arrive at MCO at 11:45 am local time. Our return flight departs Orlando at 3:40 pm and arrives in New Orleans at 4:35 pm local time. It's really the ideal times for us, and we can maybe even squeeze in a little park time on our departure day! We could have left a little later for $116, but we'd have to change planes in Houston vs. a direct flight. I did my best to convince DH we should just stay all day Saturday and get a cheaper flight early Sunday morning, but he didn't go for it. Now that we have the tickets booked, I have to start shopping for DS for things specifically for the plane ride, namely the Earplanes earplugs I read about that are supposed to keep their ears from hurting (I'm going to try to get some soon so we can "practice" putting them in so that he isn't totally against it on departure day!), and some child sized headphones in case we have to break out an Elmo DVD. I'm really hoping he'll sleep the whole way and we won't need them though!

2. A BABY'S BEST FRIEND
Thanks to reading other people's TR's (Thanks, CandleontheWater!), I learned about A Baby's Best Friend. They rent out pretty much any baby supplies you can think of! We went ahead and rented a rocking chair for the 8 nights we will be there, since we use ours a LOT at home to put DS down for naps and when he wakes up during the night. I was actually surprised with how quickly DH agreed, since he doesn't like spending money, but even he knew how important it was that we had one. It was not expensive, either! Only about $60 and they deliver it to the resort and pick it up.

3. COUNTDOWN CALENDAR
I went to Home Depot the other day to stock up on Mickey heads for my countdown calendar, and despite being what I thought was pretty stealth about it, I still turned around to find one of the cashiers giving me a funny look. Hey, it's not stealing if they are free, right? Last trip, I took one of the Mickey heads and traced it 75 times, then had to cut them all out until my hand was cramped and my fingers were locked into the shape of the scissors. This time around, I don't have time for that, I have a little one at home! So I just got as big of a stack as I thought I could manage, and ended up with just the right amount! I was going to start with 95 days because that's about where we were at in our countdown, but it didn't look right in rows of 7 for the weeks, so I started with 91 instead. We are already down to 89 days!!

Last time, I also just crossed the number out instead of pulling one down every day. But this year I decided to pull them off, mostly because I want to keep them for the next countdown! I had a hard time getting a paint pen in a color that would write on the black heads, and I'm not interested in doing that mess all over again. You can't see it in the picture, but the yellow paint pen wrote decently on the black Mickey heads.

4. PREMIER PASS HOLDERS
After listening to the Dis Unplugged podcast where Kevin & John discussed using their Premier Pass in DL for 15% off ALL food, not just table service restaurants, we decided to crunch some numbers again and see what we came up with.

We first figured out the difference between the AP and the PP. Then from that we subtracted the cost of a DL 3-Day Park Hopper and the cost of parking at DL for 3 days. It came to about $33/person more to get the PP, and we figured we'd more than make up for that in merchandise and food discounts (and maybe a room discount in the Spring when DH & I want to go on our Mommy & Daddy Only trip?). And if we even step foot into DL for a 4th day (either our arrival or departure day), we'd actually SAVE $13/person, plus the discounts. So we decided it was worth it for us, and the trips we are planning on in the next year. I might be crazy, but I'm pretty excited about it!!

 

[skier_pete]

Yeah for flying!

Yeah for a countdown calendar. (Too early for me though - we start @ 50 days).

Yeah for Premiere Pass!