A Pack of Lions is a Pride - Squishy’s First Trip to WDW! A February 2022 Trip Report

[LifeTheDisneyWay14]

I flew for the first time with my kids (5 and 7) since they were babies (1 and a half and 3). IT WAS SO WEIRD not lugging around diapers and heavy car seats he he.

Our families aren't local, so I've already flown alone with Squishy twice to visit my mom in Germany. It's definitely exhausting every time and I've been meaning to go back for another visit/my mom has really been wanting to see her grand baby again, but it's so hard! I never have enough hands.

Since Prince Charming can't just leave work and go as often as we can (I'm currently mostly a SAHM and Squishy doesn't have school yet, so our schedules are very flexible) I'm often traveling alone with Squishy. It will be such a relief when I don't have to lug our stuff, her diaper bag, and that big clunker of a car seat! Being a mom is such an arm workout lol.

 

[ZeeWP]

Our families aren't local, so I've already flown alone with Squishy twice to visit my mom in Germany. It's definitely exhausting every time and I've been meaning to go back for another visit/my mom has really been wanting to see her grand baby again, but it's so hard! I never have enough hands.

Since Prince Charming can't just leave work and go as often as we can (I'm currently mostly a SAHM and Squishy doesn't have school yet, so our schedules are very flexible) I'm often traveling alone with Squishy. It will be such a relief when I don't have to lug our stuff, her diaper bag, and that big clunker of a car seat! Being a mom is such an arm workout lol.

I was in a terrible car accident and broke my bones and wrist a couple of years back. Once I was in recovery, I was picking up my then 3 year old to get those muscles stronger again, haha!

 

[LifeTheDisneyWay14]

I was in a terrible car accident and broke my bones and wrist a couple of years back. Once I was in recovery, I was picking up my then 3 year old to get those muscles stronger again, haha!

I'm sorry to hear about the accident, but glad you recovered well! That must have been terrifying, especially with such a little one needing you!

 

[lvcourtneyy]

Following along. I’m also a FTM to a now 13 month old. We’re actually just gonna miss you in February. We’re from Staten Island but just recently moved to NJ lol.

We’ve gone to Disney with my son 3 times already. I would bring your own stroller. That’s what we’ve done each time and i like it because it’s very helpful to have in the airport. Plus I have my extra storage on it (mommy hooks,stroller organizer etc) and we accumulated stuff pretty quickly in the parks lol. We bought the baby a seat on the plane each time and bought a lightweight car seat to use specifically for flying and I got a strap that attaches it to a rolling suitcase. I either left the baby in the stroller in the airport or baby wore him and threw all the backpacks in the stroller lol. Either way I thought it was helpful to have it.

We’re also down to one nap a day now and I’m not sure how well handle it in the parks yet. My son is pretty good about sleeping anywhere so I think I’ll play it by ear our first park day and if he sleeps well in the stroller, we’ll stay in the parks. If not we’ll readjust our plans.

There are no freezers in the rooms now. I think they make arrangements for medical needs so maybe contact Disney and see if it’s a possibility.

 

[LifeTheDisneyWay14]

Following along. I’m also a FTM to a now 13 month old. We’re actually just gonna miss you in February. We’re from Staten Island but just recently moved to NJ lol.

We’ve gone to Disney with my son 3 times already. I would bring your own stroller. That’s what we’ve done each time and i like it because it’s very helpful to have in the airport. Plus I have my extra storage on it (mommy hooks,stroller organizer etc) and we accumulated stuff pretty quickly in the parks lol. We bought the baby a seat on the plane each time and bought a lightweight car seat to use specifically for flying and I got a strap that attaches it to a rolling suitcase. I either left the baby in the stroller in the airport or baby wore him and threw all the backpacks in the stroller lol. Either way I thought it was helpful to have it.

We’re also down to one nap a day now and I’m not sure how well handle it in the parks yet. My son is pretty good about sleeping anywhere so I think I’ll play it by ear our first park day and if he sleeps well in the stroller, we’ll stay in the parks. If not we’ll readjust our plans.

There are no freezers in the rooms now. I think they make arrangements for medical needs so maybe contact Disney and see if it’s a possibility.

Hi! Wow, three times in 13 months - lucky kid! He must be such a travel pro by now.

Bummer about the freezers. I wish they had an email concierge, I’ve tried calling several times but always end up having to give up by ~45 minutes on hold because of something baby related. I’ll keep trying! Hopefully I’ll get lucky and catch them at a time when the phone queues aren’t so long.

Have fun on your trip!

 

[lvcourtneyy]

We are lucky that he's pretty easy going so far. It's crazy at this point because they're so different so quickly that you never know what to expect from one trip to the next!

Ugh that's terrible. The wait times on the phone are insane these days. They should definitely have the get a call back option instead of waiting!

 

[LifeTheDisneyWay14]

TOMORROW IS THE DAY! WE'RE GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!

I'm so, so excited for our first Disney vacation as a family. I hope Squishy loves it as much as I do! She's an explorer and loves hotels, animals, music, etc. so I have good reason to believe/hope that she will.

Anyway, fingers crossed that everything goes well! Hopefully we'll be able to add Prince Charming and Squishy to our Disney-obsessed ranks by the end of the week.

We're free-styling a lot of our meals, but we do have a few dining reservations:

* Brunch at Boma
* Lunch at Tiffins
* Lunch at Tokyo Dining

I'm going to see if I can find a Sanaa reservation still too. And if anyone knows of any really good sushi in Orlando (off-property is fine if they deliver) let me know!

We'll take lots of photos, eat lots of good food, and report back after!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Have fun!

 

[LifeTheDisneyWay14]

We're back - we had a great time! Magic Kingdom and Epcot were the standout hits, Animal Kingdom fell a little short for all of us at this age (though I think she'll like it as an older toddler).

I'm undecided about whether we'll go back next year when she's two, but I definitely want to take her again when she's 3! We're holding out until she's 2 years old to allow any screen time, so when she's 3 she'll finally have seen some Disney movies/shows and be familiar with the characters. She'll also understand the concept of vacation more then, which will be fun. So we'll see about next year, but this was good for our first trip!

The biggest struggles (other than keeping a squirmy, active one year old happy during the flights there and back) was definitely trying to convince her to sit in her stroller now and then (give my arms a break!) and keeping her happy during the bus rides from AKL to the parks and back.

On our next trip we might stick with our old fave (AKL) but I'm also thinking we might try the Grand Floridian. I'll also definitely make more dining reservations next time, we ended up being a little short this time! But we still found lots of delicious food to eat.

Here's a photo dump from our trip.



The food pictured is from (in order) Coral Reef in Epcot, a booth in Italy in Epcot, and Satu'li Canteen in Pandora in Animal Kingdom. All of it was delicious, as was all the unpictured food - Epcot's Germany's Karamell Kuche is forever YUM. I was going to do a dining report, but I kept forgetting to take pictures of my food... next time!

Thanks for your help with the planning!

 

[ZeeWP]

I love your pics! I'm glad you had fun. Are you making a trip report? I can't wait to read it if you are!

 

[LifeTheDisneyWay14]

I love your pics! I'm glad you had fun. Are you making a trip report? I can't wait to read it if you are!

Not this time, but I’m planning to for the next trip! Thanks!