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"Smudge's" First Trip... a baby's perspective on WDW!

michellem1118

DIS Veteran
Joined
Feb 2, 2008

Why, hello there, good DISers. It's been a while. I hope some of you remember me. I last posted in my Summer of Disney TR a few weeks after returning home from my last trip, in early August last year. Soon after our return home, we returned to work, and began anxiously preparing for the arrival of our little "Smudge" in January. I regret that the DIS did not remain on my priority list, and I haven't been around much since.

But now, we're about to head off to Disney with Smudge for the first time... well, as an outside baby anyway. ;)

Who are we, you ask? (What, you don't remember me? I knew you wouldn't! :rotfl: ) Well, let me introduce you to our cast of characters.

Me: Hi, I'm Michelle. I'm a high school history teacher in Texas, anxiously counting down to the last day of school.

DH: His name is John, and he's a high school math teacher. He's probably more anxiously counting down to the last day of school than I am.

Smudge: Oh, I guess I should tell you his real name. Gavin was born on 1-11-11, and has no idea he's going to Disney. Not because we haven't told him (we have, many times), but because he's not quite 5 months old and has no idea what we're telling him.

Guest appearances will likely be made by wigdoutdismom and wsushocker since our dates overlap.

When are we going, you ask? Well, that's also a good question. We leave Dallas in the early morning hours of June 9, and sadly return home in the evening hours of June 16.

And now you probably want to know where we're staying, too, don't you? DON'T YOU?!?! Well, I'll tell you anyway, since this is a trip report and all. ;) We'll be spending the first four nights at AKV, in a club-level one-bedroom villa, and then moving over to BWV for the remainder of the trip.

I'm sure there's more you want to know, but I have to save some mystery for other posts, now don't I?

Say hi and join the fun, I don't bite, I promise!
 
I am FIRST! :banana: I have never been first!!!!!!

Your trip sounds wonderful, club level and the BWV AND DIS meets with Anita & crew!
 
Well, it's not the first time I've been second!
Hi!!! :wave:

I just happened to see on FB that you started this! good timing, eh?

How cool that your son was born on 1-11-11! Easy to remember!

AKV - ahh! We stayed there in March, although only in a simple studio.
Your trip sounds great and you get to see Anita and Marc? BONUS!
 


I'm here and excited about hearing all about the plans and how
smudge enjoys his very first mickey mouse experience!:goodvibes
 
Hi there Michelle!! :) Looking forward to hearing all about your little guy's first (of many) trips!!

Tracy
 


I, too, am a teacher anxiously counting down the days until summer! 1-11-11 is a pretty cool birthday! My DS was born on 5-7-09...it makes it very easy to remember! (As if I might forget??:lmao:) Looking forward to reading your adventures! We waited until Colby was 13 months until we took him the first time, mostly because I could not miss school easily. Even though he does not remember it, he loved it! And now he loves looking at pictures from our trips!
 
I look forward to Gavin's reviews on our Happy Place. I hope he likes it. :goodvibes

It's going to take on a whole new magic to Mom and Dad. :wizard:
 
I'm joining in. We are taking our little one in Sept. I"m excited for baby in WDW Trip reports!
 

I am FIRST! :banana: I have never been first!!!!!!

Your trip sounds wonderful, club level and the BWV AND DIS meets with Anita & crew!

Yay, gold medal to you, Brook! :)

Well, it's not the first time I've been second!
Hi!!! :wave:

I just happened to see on FB that you started this! good timing, eh?

How cool that your son was born on 1-11-11! Easy to remember!

AKV - ahh! We stayed there in March, although only in a simple studio.
Your trip sounds great and you get to see Anita and Marc? BONUS!

Silver medal to you! We love G's birthdate, no one ever forgets it! We've stayed at AKV before in a studio, we're really looking forward to our upgrade. :goodvibes

Third isn't so bad either!:cool1:

And the bronze medal goes to you!

I'm here! Can't wait to hear about Gavin's first trip!

I can't wait to go on Gavin's first trip... we get there two weeks from TODAY!!!

I'm here and excited about hearing all about the plans and how
smudge enjoys his very first mickey mouse experience!:goodvibes

I hope he enjoys it!

Hi there Michelle!! :) Looking forward to hearing all about your little guy's first (of many) trips!!

Tracy

Definitely first of many... already scheming to do his first birthday in Disney... :rolleyes1

Woohoo! I'm here (and think I made it to the first page)

Yep, you made the first page! :)

Joining in here!

Glad to have you!

I, too, am a teacher anxiously counting down the days until summer! 1-11-11 is a pretty cool birthday! My DS was born on 5-7-09...it makes it very easy to remember! (As if I might forget??:lmao:) Looking forward to reading your adventures! We waited until Colby was 13 months until we took him the first time, mostly because I could not miss school easily. Even though he does not remember it, he loved it! And now he loves looking at pictures from our trips!

What do you teach? We have 7 days left, not that I'm counting...
Oh, right, I already said I was counting. Well, we have 7 days left!

Here! Here! Here!
Can't wait to see you all, especially Gavin!!!!

And we can't wait to see you, too! Gavin wants to meet his fairy godmother! :goodvibes

Just popping in to say hi!! :)

Hi! Hope you'll stick around!

I look forward to Gavin's reviews on our Happy Place. I hope he likes it. :goodvibes

It's going to take on a whole new magic to Mom and Dad. :wizard:

I can't wait to experience Disney magic through a child's eyes!

I'm joining in. We are taking our little one in Sept. I"m excited for baby in WDW Trip reports!

We'll have to compare notes when you get back. How old is your little one?

Here! I have loved all your TR's and can't wait for this one!

Glad to see you again!

Can't wait for more.

Coming right up!

I'm here too!

Glad to have you along for the ride!
 

While Gavin is enthralled and watching So You Think You Can Dance, I thought I'd take advantage of my newfound freedom to type up a quick update. First, to further our introductions, some pictures.

Here's me & DH on our June 2010 trip. Gavin was about the size of a pea, but he was along for the ride...
Photo0149.jpg


And here's Gavin, taken about two weeks ago...
IMG_3440.jpg


Ok, now that you've seen just how adorable our little Smudge turned out, on to some trip details... (I admit, I'm showing you how cute he is so you'll keep reading, LOL)
We arrive on Thursday, June 9 around noon, so I'm hoping to be at AKV by 1:30. I have no idea if we'll head into the parks at all that day, a lot will depend on how well Gavin handles the day of travel - he might need a LONG nap by the time we get there!

We actually have very few things planned already. We're for sure doing the Sunrise Safari on Sunday, June 12. It's a club-level only thing, and since we may never splurge on club-level again, we figured we have to take advantage while we have the opportunity!

Then, on Monday, June 13, we'll move over to BWV, and will officially have stayed in every DVC property in Orlando. :woohoo: We have our only dinner ressie of the trip this night, at the new Italian place in Epcot, since we'll be able to just walk over through the "secret" entrance, and if Gavin is holding up well, we'll probably try to stay for Illuminations.

I subscribed to TGM, so I have a general idea of what park we might want to visit each day, but I have no idea how well we'll be able to tour on this trip. I imagine we'll be able to do the early mornings pretty well, and we'll almost definitely have to go back to the room for naps mid-day since Gavin is my child and won't sleep if ANYTHING is going on around him. I'm hoping we'll be able to head back out in the afternoons/early evenings as well, but we're completely playing it by ear.

Any suggestions for touring with a tiny one? I *need* to ride the rides I had to skip last summer (RnRC, ToT, EE to name a few), so I'm assuming we'll be doing a lot of child-swapping.

Oops, Gavin is fussing - he doesn't like commercials - so I guess I'll wrap this up. I'll try to get another update up tomorrow from work, otherwise I'll definitely get one up this weekend.

OH! If you've traveled with a baby before, I need some suggestions on things to make sure I pack for him - this is our first trip going further than 45 minutes away! :)



 
Awwwwww!!!! What an adorable picture of Gavin!! Cutest smile ever!! :goodvibes. How cool that you will have stayed at every DVC!! I've only done AKV, BC and SSR :) Have been to BW but not the villas so I can't count that ;)

I hope you love Via. It has been put on my favorites list :thumbsup2:thumbsup2

Tracy
 

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