First Trip with Kids - A Toddler and an Infant - A Sept 2017 PTR

[jrmint427]

I am so excited to be planning our first trip to WDW with kids! I've been planning this trip since before our first daughter was even born, back in 2014. When we take our trip in September 2017, she will turn 3 while we are there. Our second daughter is due this October.

We put a deposit on our resort yesterday! With under 13 months to go, I am already counting down. A pre-trip report seems like a great way to document our plans, seek advice from others, and hopefully have an outlet so I don't drive my family too crazy with trip planning.

The Who

The planner - me! My name is Jessica, and this will be my 5th trip to WDW. I went when I was 3 and 10, and then my husband and I took adult-only trips in 2012 and 2013. I ran my first marathon at WDW in January 2012 and returned in 2013 to run the Goofy Challenge. Me with Mickey in 1995:



This will be my husband's 6th trip to WDW. He went 3 times when he was growing up in addition to our adult-only trips.

DD1 will turn 3 on this trip. Her birthday is really just an excuse to get our family to Disney World. I'm almost 8 months pregnant with DD2. She is due in October and will likely be almost 1 when we take this trip. Yes, I know my kids will not remember this trip, but I do think they will have an amazing time, and we will love having the family memories. And I'm confident this will not be our only family vacation to WDW.

My parents will also be joining us on this trip. We've invited my husband's parents too, the more the merrier!

The Why

Because we will have been away for almost 5 years! And the timing works out really well. We plan to start the trip when DD1 is still age 2, so both kids will be free at WDW, and DD2 will be a free lap child on the flight. And the best part is, DD1 will turn 3 on the last day of our trip, which seems like the most magical way a 3-year-old could spend her birthday!

Planning Process

Preliminary Plans
Re-booked
Mickey Mouse's 88th Birthday
Updated Plans and ADRs

 

[jrmint427]

Preliminary Plans

Without knowing exactly how many people will be going with us and what kinds of deals we will find on the resorts, I have an initial daily plan already in place! This will most definitely change as we get closer to the trip, but it will be fun to see what evolves from this.

Trip Length and Approach: As of now, we are planning 8 nights and 6 park days. With such young kids, our park days will most likely be partial days, either starting later or leaving earlier, and building in the option to take afternoon naps back at the resort. I am typically a "fit as much as possible into each day" type of planner so I am trying to be conscious of planning a few big activities for each day, and being flexible with the rest.

Resort: We have booked a preferred room at Pop Century. We have never stayed there before, but it seems like a good option for a value resort. If we can find a good deal, I would love to stay in one of the Port Orleans resorts instead, but will be waiting to see what deals are released next Spring.

Preliminary Plan:

Day 1 (Sat) - Travel Day - fly to Orlando, relax at the resort (pool time?), dinner at Beaches & Cream Soda Shop, walk around Boardwalk after dinner

Day 2 (Sun) - Animal Kingdom - breakfast at Tusker House, maybe dinner at Boma

Day 3 (Mon) - Magic Kingdom - lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern

Day 4 (Tues) - Resort/swimming day - maybe brunch at Kona, swimming and naps, evening at Disney Springs

Day 5 (Wed) - Epcot - breakfast at Garden Grill, snack at the International Food Festival for lunch and dinner (although I would really love to go to Tangierine Café for lunch! It's one of my favorites)

Day 6 (Thurs) - Flex day - sleep in, pick park that day based on what everyone is in the mood for - no plans in case we just need another day to relax or just want a half day at a park

Day 7 (Fri) - Hollywood Studios - maybe dinner at Mama Melrose's for the Fantasmic Package

Day 8 (Sat) - Magic Kingdom - DD1's birthday! Breakfast at Cinderella's Royal Table and dinner at Be Our Guest

Day 9 (Sun) - Fly home

I welcome any feedback on our plans and advice for traveling with young kids, the dining reservations (what would a 3 year old be most impressed with?), and any other tips and tricks!

 

[vettegirl]

Tusker House is great for breakfast, my son has been a few times and loves it. He just turned 2 last month. They will more than likely release deals for your time frame so keep an eye out. I have stayed at Pop solo and with my son this past March and it a nice value resort. However if you can swing a mod I would go for it with a good deal. My DH and I love CSR but are now hooked on the Yacht Club and Beach Club. We also did Garden Grill for lunch last trip and my son loved it, the food was great and the character interaction was some of the best we have ever had.

 

[jrmint427]

Tusker House is great for breakfast, my son has been a few times and loves it. He just turned 2 last month. They will more than likely release deals for your time frame so keep an eye out. I have stayed at Pop solo and with my son this past March and it a nice value resort. However if you can swing a mod I would go for it with a good deal. My DH and I love CSR but are now hooked on the Yacht Club and Beach Club. We also did Garden Grill for lunch last trip and my son loved it, the food was great and the character interaction was some of the best we have ever had.

I'm glad to hear Tusker House and Garden Grill were hits! Those are two of the places I'm most excited to try on this trip. I will definitely be keeping an eye out for the mods when deals are released. I'd like to stay somewhere that makes it easy to get to and from the parks with such young kids. A monorail resort would be ideal, but I don't think that's likely to happen this trip.

 

[jrmint427]

Re-Booked

So I cancelled our trip yesterday... but re-booked it right away! We decided to use a Disney Travel Agent to help plan our trip. Half the fun of a Disney vacation for me is the planning, so I had mixed feelings about this. But, with two kids now, I'm worried I might miss reservation-making dates, deals, etc., and the travel agent will get up early in the mornings to make our reservations for us if I want to sleep in.

We are still booked at Pop Century, but I am really hoping to change to Port Orleans-Riverside when room deals come out next Spring.

I'm also stuck on what to do on our arrival day. On one hand, the Boardwalk sounds like a lot of fun. But on the other, I think it will be difficult to get to from either resort, and will maybe take more travel time than it is worth (looks like we would need to take a bus and a ferry, and it would take over an hour each way). Our other options are to just hang out at the resort (pool, nap, dinner), go to a park for a few hours that evening, or go to Disney Springs (although we have another day we can spend there). Suggestions are welcome!

 

[thebyrdwoman]

Following along! We are planning our first trip with a toddler and baby too! Well, my "baby" turns one next week but still - a WDW trip with two littles is going to be a whole new experience!

We are going in February.

Can't wait to hear more about the trip!

 

[jrmint427]

Following along! We are planning our first trip with a toddler and baby too! Well, my "baby" turns one next week but still - a WDW trip with two littles is going to be a whole new experience!

We are going in February.

Can't wait to hear more about the trip!

Thanks! I am definitely going to be following along with your trip planning as well. I'll be interested to hear what lessons you learn travelling with the little ones!

 

[jrmint427]

Celebrating Mickey Mouse's Birthday

I'm hoping to get my daughter excited about the trip by introducing her to Disney characters and movies over the next year. She already loves Mickey and Minnie Mouse, so I thought it would be fun for us to celebrate Mickey Mouse's 88th birthday on November 18th. I bought a Mickey balloon and made a dinner that had lots of Mickey Mouse ears hidden in it.



She was so excited to see the balloon! For days she kept calling the balloon "Mickey's Birthday Party!" I made veggie patties into Mickey Ears (this is just mashed up veggies with egg and cheese, and covered in bread crumbs):



I used a mouse ears cookie cutter to make Mickey-shaped watermelon:



Our main dish was personal pizzas. I used tomato and fake sausage to make hidden Mickeys on the pizza:



And finally, Mickey cupcakes. Chocolate cupcakes with homemade chocolate icing and Oreos for the ears:



I also pulled out an old Disney World t-shirt that was my husband's when he was little. It was huge on her, but my daughter was excited to wear it during dinner.



We watched some Mickey holiday videos on Netflix after dinner. Overall, our first Disney party was a success!

 

[thebyrdwoman]

What a fun birthday party for Mickey Mouse!

 

[jrmint427]

Updated Plans

We have our ADRs and at least know which parks we are going to each day! I'm currently working on daily plans for each day, and coordinating outfits based on characters we will be meeting :-D I've gone a little overboard on buying clothes for the girls (we may be looking at multiple outfit changes some days), and would like to at least do a little Disney bounding for my husband and me. For now, here is our updated daily plan:

Day 1 (Sat) - Travel Day - fly to Orlando, check-in and relax at the resort (POR), dinner at Boatwright's

Day 2 (Sun) - Hollywood Studios - Fantasmic lunch package at Mama Melrose's

Day 3 (Mon) - Animal Kingdom - dinner at Yak and Yeti

Day 4 (Tues) - Epcot - breakfast at Garden Grill, snack at International Food Festival for lunch and dinner

Day 5 (Wed) - Magic Kingdom- lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern

Day 6 (Thurs) - Animal Kingdom - Lunch/dinner (3:30pm!?) at Tusker House with the River of Lights package

Day 7 (Fri) - Day off - sleep in, swim, go to Disney Springs; in the evening, husband and I (and MIL and aunts/uncle) are going to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party!!

Day 8 (Sat) - Magic Kingdom - DD1's birthday! Breakfast at Cinderella's Royal Table and dinner at Be Our Guest

Day 9 (Sun) - Fly home