A toddler and a preschooler's first trip! What could go wrong? PTR: 1/30/16 - 2/6/2016

[JReneeW]

I think the title sums it up pretty well! It will be my boys first trip to Disney World! They will be two and four at the time of the trip and we are super excited to be taking them! So here is the run down on our family:

Me - Mom and planner. I've never written a trip report before, but decide maybe this would be a constructive way to get out my Disney excitement rather than keep bugging my husband. Half of the fun of a Disney World trip to me is the planning and anticipation of the trip itself.

Husband - Wasn't always so excited about Disney World. He remembers waiting in a lot of lines as a kid. Once I showed him how to do Disney World "right" he's become a lover of trips to Disney World, although doesn't get quite as into the details as I do.

Son 1- He will be four at the time of our trip. Lover of Mickey Mouse and Cars. Doesn't understand that Disney World isn't Mickey Mouse's Clubhouse. I hope he won't be disappointed.

Son 2 - He will be two at the time of our trip (just hardly - his birthday is the week before). Also loves Mickey Mouse, but we think he acts more like Donald Duck.

So the run down on plans so far:

We will be staying at Wilderness Lodge. The construction gave us some reservation (see what I did there?!? ) at staying here, but in the end, the price was right and we decided that perhaps it's actually a BONUS to have construction going on when you have two boys that love heavy equipment and watching "workers". We're also staying in a Bunk Bed room, which is a surprise to the boys. Son 1 talks about wanting bunk beds all the time (since he read about them in a "big brother" book).

Dining Reservations:
Saturday - Nothing, although hoping for a Skipper Canteen lunch or dinner reservation!
Sunday - Crystal Palace Breakfast (pre-park opening) and Biergarten Dinner.
Monday - Tusker House Lunch
Tuesday - Be Our Guest Lunch, Whispering Canyon Cafe Dinner
Wednesday - Coral Reef Lunch
Thursday - 'Ohana Dinner
Friday - Sci-Fi Dine in Lunch, Garden Grill Dinner
Saturday - Be Our Guest Breakfast (pre-park opening)

I think that's it for now. I have some crafting projects I might post, more random thoughts and dilemmas. I'm not sure what to expect since I haven't written one of these before, so bear with me!

 

[JReneeW]

[GALLERY=] [/GALLERY]

So, here is craft project number one for the trip. Son 1's hoodie is altered to be the big guy himself, Mickey Mouse and Son 2's hoodie is altered to be of his alter ego, Donald Duck. My favorite part is the little sailor hat on the hood!

Hopefully they hold up to the abuse two little boys will be sure to put them through!

 

[kcpinwdw]

I am following along! I have toddlers too (two 3 year olds). I have a weekend planned at WL just a week before you! It is going to be a mother/daughter trip. I am a trip project person too, I make LOTS of matching Ts for my family and costumes for the kids. Your hoodies look great! I love that little sailor hat!

 

[Trixie15]

The sweatshirts are so cute! Love the sailor hat.

I'll be there at the parks for part of the same time as you. I love going in January!

 

[JReneeW]

I am following along! I have toddlers too (two 3 year olds). I have a weekend planned at WL just a week before you! It is going to be a mother/daughter trip. I am a trip project person too, I make LOTS of matching Ts for my family and costumes for the kids. Your hoodies look great! I love that little sailor hat!

Awesome! I'm always looking for TR of people who have toddlers and/or pre-schoolers. Trying to figure out what they did/didn't do, why, what worked, what didn't. The list "big" trip we took was when my oldest was 14 months and he was the only kid. Reading TR from other people makes me feel like I have a better idea of what to expect (even though I know that all kids are different and their trip really means nothing for how mine will go!). I find myself crafting too much for this trip! I need to finish a couple of half started projects, hopefully I can post those soon!

The sweatshirts are so cute! Love the sailor hat.

I'll be there at the parks for part of the same time as you. I love going in January!

Thanks! We've never been in January before; we've always visited in the fall. I'm just hoping it won't be too chilly!

 

[JReneeW]

So, we're finalizing up the loose ends for the trip (I know it's early, but I like to get things checked off the list). I'm trying to nail down our Garden Grocer order and then figure out what we what, if anything, we want to do for a "welcome gift" for the boys. We are planning to give them each a lanyard and a few pins for Christmas. Then they can "earn" more on our trip by being good, listening, etc. (or lose them by not doing those things). So, I'm thinking we may have "Mickey" give them each another pin and a set of pajamas. Looks like the Disney Store might have some good deals for Black Friday/Cyber Monday?

I also want to draft up some touring plans so we can prioritize our FP+. Having never been to Disney with mobile children, I'm not quite sure how to plan. We've also never been with FP+, so that's a new thing, too!

Oh, and I have to finish up the blanket for Son 2. I'll post below a picture of the blanket I made for Son 1. It will double as a stroller blanket for chilly mornings, a soft thing to sit on, and a place to gather autographs if they decide they are interested in doing that. Anyone know of a good writing utensil for flannel?

 

[JReneeW]

[GALLERY=][/GALLERY] Here is the blanket! I hope it gets put to good use!

 

[kcpinwdw]

An autograph blanket is an amazing idea! I would probably guess a sharpie would work but test it out first. I may steal this idea some day

My tips for touring with young kids are 1) don't plan on much, 2) rope drop, 3) FP for later in the day for your must dos, and 4) think of everything else as a bonus.

 

[yeheyprincex2]

hello, on our last trip this past April our boys were 2 & 4, lots of fun. Its true two years old act a lot like Donald.
Love the hoodies I bought one almost like the mickey one for my nephew. Blanket is really cute. Originally we had almost the same dates as your for our next trip (during my DH bday), but he changed his mind and now we are considering a July trip for my youngest 4th birthday.
one tip that I learned on our last trip is always have water with you, we had to leave during the Indianan Jones show cause my son was cry for water and I did not have any. Plenty of snacks but no water talk about a Donald Duck moment.

 

[sara1215]

Love your craft projects! We are going the same time as you. I think they make markers just for fabric, that might work on your blanket.

 

[pd1138]

When we stayed at WL my boys loved the boat ride to MK! Oh and I'm in total agreement the construction at the lodge will be lots of fun! Love your picks for dining. Our boys loved eating in a car at the sci fi diner!

 

[jmccoy18]

Just found your PTR! Our next trip will be with a 5yr old and a 2yr old, so your PTR is perfect for me to follow! DD1 went on her 2nd birthday, so we will be taking DD2 for her second birthday

I love those jackets you made for your boys! How cute! I am hoping to make some things for my girls before our next trip as well.
January is a great time to go! It isn't as crowded and the weather is nice. We usually go around NYEish and have expereiced weather from all 4 seasons.

 

[JReneeW]

An autograph blanket is an amazing idea! I would probably guess a sharpie would work but test it out first. I may steal this idea some day

My tips for touring with young kids are 1) don't plan on much, 2) rope drop, 3) FP for later in the day for your must dos, and 4) think of everything else as a bonus.

Thanks! I have a fabric marker I need to test out, but flannel is so textured I'm not sure how it's going to work. Your #1 piece of advice is going to be hard for us to follow!

hello, on our last trip this past April our boys were 2 & 4, lots of fun. Its true two years old act a lot like Donald.
Love the hoodies I bought one almost like the mickey one for my nephew. Blanket is really cute. Originally we had almost the same dates as your for our next trip (during my DH bday), but he changed his mind and now we are considering a July trip for my youngest 4th birthday.
one tip that I learned on our last trip is always have water with you, we had to leave during the Indianan Jones show cause my son was cry for water and I did not have any. Plenty of snacks but no water talk about a Donald Duck moment.

That's a good call about the water. Snacks and water are always a must it seems like. If a kid needs one or the other, they need it NOW!

When we stayed at WL my boys loved the boat ride to MK! Oh and I'm in total agreement the construction at the lodge will be lots of fun! Love your picks for dining. Our boys loved eating in a car at the sci fi diner!

Sci Fi was a later add on, so I'm glad to hear your boys liked it! We weren't planning on going to HS at all, actually, but then decided to give it one morning and grab lunch there.

Just found your PTR! Our next trip will be with a 5yr old and a 2yr old, so your PTR is perfect for me to follow! DD1 went on her 2nd birthday, so we will be taking DD2 for her second birthday

I love those jackets you made for your boys! How cute! I am hoping to make some things for my girls before our next trip as well.
January is a great time to go! It isn't as crowded and the weather is nice. We usually go around NYEish and have expereiced weather from all 4 seasons.

Welcome! That's awesome! A second birthday tradition! I'm just hoping it won't be too cold in January. Son 1 is already convinced it is going to be really warm.

 

[JReneeW]

So we managed to get a few things checked off our "to do" list this week:

1) WE PAID OFF THE BALANCE ON OUR TRIP! And have our spending money accounted for, too.
2) We placed our Garden Grocer order. Enough food for 5 breakfasts, drinks (Son 1 can't have much cow's milk) a few snacks and a little bit of beer.
3) I was initially going to rent a double stroller since we never use a stroller at home, but we found a Britax B Agile for just under $200, so we bought it instead. So, check!
4) Re-booked our flight tickets when the prices dropped. We are now on our ideal times for less than when we initially booked! I think they boys will be glad we aren't making them fly out at 5:45 a.m.
5) Ordered the lanyards for the boys' pin trading (One Monsters University and one Cars). They'll be Christmas gifts.
6) Potty trained Son 2. He's doing really well. We're hoping he'll be solidly potty trained by the time our trip rolls around so we won't have to worry about diapers or SUPER urgent potty runs.

Still trying to come to terms with not doing as much in the parks and working through the touring plans. I've read a lot of people don't do touring plans with little ones, but I feel like we have to or we're just going to stand around saying "Okay? What do you want to do next?". I feel like if we at least have an order to follow it will help keep us doing things in the right order and keep us from asking that question over and over.

I'm also stalking any posts I can find about Skipper Canteen. I just love the Jungle Cruise and think a Jungle Cruise restaurant would be pretty much the best thing ever. I'm sure ADRs will be hard to come by (if they're even available by then!)

 

[kcpinwdw]

I've read a lot of people don't do touring plans with little ones, but I feel like we have to or we're just going to stand around saying "Okay? What do you want to do next?".

Definitely have a touring plan, or at least a good idea of what you want to do. I think what I meant by "don't plan on much" was not to overload your schedule/plan. I make pretty detailed touring plans actually, but they become loose once we are there and seeing real time ride lines. My strategy is to minimize waiting over walking, so we tend to bounce around a bit more in order to not have to wait as much. And if you have a few "must dos" outlined that are your core, and get them done, you will still feel you had a good day if everyone goes into meltdown mode unexpectedly at 11am (been there.)... and if you get more done it will feel awesome! And my kids really like going on a ride twice, so having extra time built into the plan prevents me from being anxious if we have to go on Small World three times in a row.

 

[yeheyprincex2]

I second having a plan, you kind of have to with FP+. I write down what we want to do or top priorities. Honestly felt like I was planning around our FP+ times mainly at MK but there was still time to do what we wanted.
If your plans not going to work out you just have to walk away from it and go with the flow. Also kids(well at least mine) want to ride there favorites over and over. It can get old fast.

 

[jmccoy18]

Still trying to come to terms with not doing as much in the parks and working through the touring plans. I've read a lot of people don't do touring plans with little ones, but I feel like we have to or we're just going to stand around saying "Okay? What do you want to do next?". I feel like if we at least have an order to follow it will help keep us doing things in the right order and keep us from asking that question over and over.

Always have a touring plan! We did when DD1 was 2yrs old and it was great. We were able to do everything we wanted and more. Make sure to add in a break/rest time and a little flex time for riding rides twice, etc. Just because you have a touring plan doesn't mean you can't be flexible!

 

[pd1138]

Definitely have a touring plan, or at least a good idea of what you want to do. I think what I meant by "don't plan on much" was not to overload your schedule/plan. I make pretty detailed touring plans actually, but they become loose once we are there and seeing real time ride lines. My strategy is to minimize waiting over walking, so we tend to bounce around a bit more in order to not have to wait as much. And if you have a few "must dos" outlined that are your core, and get them done, you will still feel you had a good day if everyone goes into meltdown mode unexpectedly at 11am (been there.)... and if you get more done it will feel awesome! And my kids really like going on a ride twice, so having extra time built into the plan prevents me from being anxious if we have to go on Small World three times in a row.

This is great advice! I always go in with "a plan" too as even my DH will look to me after we finish something and say, "what's next???". So it minimizes the stand around thinking about it time. But, definitely be prepared to be flexible! I *fondly* remember a time in AK when we were about to go into the Nemo musical. My DH had DS 3 and I went to take DS 16 mos out of the stroller and.....yeah, poop all the way up the back! He was happily sitting in it! So DH took DS3 into show and I walked back to baby care center to clean up DS16 mos and stroller! Ah the memories! We laugh about it now!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

I am totally following along. We will be in Disney the exact same time frame! I too am really hoping for a Skipper Canteen reservation! (Fingers crossed)

Our first trip to Disney, our girls were 3 & 5. You def need to just play your days by ear with little ones. A simple break for a snack can make all the difference.

 

[JReneeW]

Also kids(well at least mine) want to ride there favorites over and over. It can get old fast.

This is what I'm worried about! Skipping individual "steps" seems okay, or even flip-flopping order... but totally throwing off my "plans" with going on the same thing over and over... I'm not sure! I think DH and I are going to have a hard time on this trip touring in a way we aren't used to (since we are so used to touring as two adults who CAN stick to a plan!)

Always have a touring plan! We did when DD1 was 2yrs old and it was great. We were able to do everything we wanted and more. Make sure to add in a break/rest time and a little flex time for riding rides twice, etc. Just because you have a touring plan doesn't mean you can't be flexible!

I'm trying to plan it at a "slow" place so that there should naturally have time for potty breaks or whatever else might come up. It's just hard to think about not doing EVERYTHING!

I am totally following along. We will be in Disney the exact same time frame! I too am really hoping for a Skipper Canteen reservation! (Fingers crossed)

Our first trip to Disney, our girls were 3 & 5. You def need to just play your days by ear with little ones. A simple break for a snack can make all the difference.

Awesome! Welcome! Sounds like ADRs for Skipper's Canteen may be coming sooner rather than later! I'm stalking threads like it's my job! I think we have three meal opportunities we could make it work, so I'm hoping ONE will pan out for us! I hope you get one, too!