A Toddler, Preschooler and Disney.... oh my! Completed Trip Report

[Macduffy]

Welcome to my Trip Report! I started a pre-trip and now this completed report to hopefully help out all those other families travelling with little ones for the first time like we did! I'm also hoping that some experienced advice can be given as we are already planning our next trip (well I am at least LOL)!!!!

We traveled September 19 - 24 during Free Dining!

The cast:

Myself, Stacy, 30 and the planner of the family. I was guilty of over planning this trip but once we arrived I learned to "let go" and enjoy the world sans itinerary.

DH, Scott, was 30 on the trip. He was the muscle! Carrying the park bag, strollers, car seats and at times a screaming toddler. Thank god he is a patient man LOL!

DS4, turned 4 on the trip. He is the "preschooler" in the title of the report. What a magical birthday. Yesterday he asked if we could go back to Disney World and never ever come home to our house again. Boy did I want to say YES!

DS2, well he's 20 months but that can get really annoying to type. I can honestly say I was scared about what to expect with him. Toddler are famous for meltdowns and tantrums.

We traveled from east coast Canada to Bangor Maine to fly out. We got a great deal on airfare $150 return CANADIAN! This meant staying overnight at a hotel connected to the airport which the boys loved LOL!

DS2 was only supposed to have his own seat for one leg of the trip. Lucky for us there was an open seat on the flight and they gave it to Logan! I`m soooo happy he had his own seat for the entire trip and that we brought a car seat. He, like most boys and toddlers is active and his car seat reminded him that he was to stay in his seat.

I had no worries about DS4 on the flight. He loved it - as I expected. He pretty much watched his movies and ate his snacks LOL

DS2 fell asleep at the end of the flight to Orlando but at least he fell asleep!

We are very inexperienced travelers with kids so my advice on traveling with little ones:

If you have a active or squirmy toddler bring a seat or rent a CARES system but know that the CARES does not have a crotch strap and your little one can wiggle out of the bottom! We brought our lightweight Cosco Serena seat. It`s in our second car and the lightest air travel approved seat. It really wasn`t that difficult to bring with us.

USE MAGICAL EXPRESS!!! Just be sure to pack important stuff into your carry on. To not have to deal with luggage was a true gift from Disney. We had enough on our plate to manage.

If you are in pull ups - use a night time one during travel days. You will probably go longer between changes on travel day and we got stuck with 2 leak through and used all extra clothes. Poor DS2 arrived in Orlando with a pull up and t-shirt on!

 

[Macduffy]

While DH is oblivious to the whole planning part of the trip (which I both admire and love) he is always so appreciative about the work put into it. He kept saying over and over and over again that he was so happy with Magical Express.

Being the muscle he said he couldn't imagine dealing with 2 strollers, 3 carry-ons, one car seat and two large luggage bags. He was right. I was scared that our luggage would take forever to show up at the hotel but since we weren`t planning on hitting the parks on travel day I figured we’d be okay as long as we had swimsuits and diapers for DS2! Our luggage arrived about 2 hours after we did. We came back to the room after lunch and a dip and it was there waiting for us *magic*!

When we arrived at MCO we headed to Magical Express after a quick diaper change. I didn’t know what to expect at all. Thank god I brought the Magical Express booklet with me because we would have to wait in another very long line.

The wait to get on the bus was LONG. I seriously thought we'd be there forever but we only waited about 20 minutes. The one complaint I do have and I'm even sure it's legit is that there were a few lines to the coaches depending on your resort. Well, if the cast member was letting people in Moderate or Value lines go and someone just walked up to the deluxe rope she would stop flow and let the deluxe vacationers go through and then go back to letting the other people go. If I were at a deluxe resort I'd probably think that this was fair b/c they pay so much per night but I wasn't staying at a deluxe so I was cranky LOL!

This is DH and DS4 on the ME bus!

When we arrived at the resort there was another long line to check in but I had checked in on line and had NO WAIT at all!!! I simply gave my name and the welcome package was waiting for me. We headed straight to the room - YAY!!!

Next: Where we stayed!!!

 

[Macduffy]

We chose All Star Sports for a few reasons.

1. It was a value resort
2. It was first on the pick up/drop off bus rotation
3. We have two boys so thought the theme was fitting for them

I would have loved to stay at a deluxe but we couldn't afford it. We looked into a moderate but I really felt like we weren't going to get much more for the extra money. I'm SO happy with our choice! If I ever get a crazy good deal I'd stay at a deluxe but to be honest for a family of four with two small kids a value is all we needed. Our kids don't do well with table service meals (it's too slow for them) so the food court was perfect for us. It had enough selection for the week and filled our tummies for breakfast and snacks.

Here are pictures of the room!

We choice a preferred room because we wanted to be close to everything since the kids are so young. He stayed in Surf's Up. When we go again I'm requesting a more location specific room (close to the pool) because even though we were in preferred we were still pretty far out.

DH called Mousekeeping to get the playpen!

There are tons of pictures of the resort so I won't bother posting them but it was ideal for us!

 

[jana616]

I'm in! I can't wait to read all about it! I totally agree about the car seat if you don't mind lugging it around. My 2 year old was kind of drunk with non-car seat freedom, and was definitely more rambunctious than he is in the car. I'm so impressed you guys lugged all that around by yourselves. We had 2 grandmas to help and it was still a challenge dealing with all our "stuff"!

 

[Macduffy]

I'm in! I can't wait to read all about it! I totally agree about the car seat if you don't mind lugging it around. My 2 year old was kind of drunk with non-car seat freedom, and was definitely more rambunctious than he is in the car. I'm so impressed you guys lugged all that around by yourselves. We had 2 grandmas to help and it was still a challenge dealing with all our "stuff"!

Navigating JFK with all the extras was tough but thank god the boys were well behaved that day! Scott and I managed to get through the day without a single argument too

 

[Macduffy]

Since we are hoping to take the boys to Disney as much as humanly possible over the next 15 years I thought a nice tradition to start would be DTD on arrival day!

I booked a reservation at T-Rex for 4:30 PM and we headed over there.

Oh. My. God.

You know that person on the bus with that kids who cries all the time? You know... that really annoying one who you think "oh god I'm SO glad I'm not THAT person" yup that was me.

Logan hated Disney Transit. HATED it. He would squirm and cry and twist and turn until we reached our destination. Everytime he would do that. Not sure why but he did.

On our first trip it was devastating. "oh god please stop crying please please please" but he didn't. By the end of the trip I just accepted his hated of public transit systems.

We made our way to T-Rex right away and got seated. They put us in the "Water" room and I was disappointed. Next time I'm requesting the ice cave. In hindsight I'm glad we were where we were because the ice cave would abrupt into a giant roar and change colors. I think the kids would have been freaked out but I thought it was SO cool LOL!

We ordered these dino bone drinks for the kids (100% sugar!!!). I thought it was gross but the boys liked it of course.

Logan just wanted to run around the restaurant and I couldn't blame him. It was exciting and he'd been stuck in a seat most of the day. The restaurant was practically empty so we "toured" the place alot.

DS4, Ben, wanted to make a dinosaur so we did. I feel bad I didn't get one for Logan, DS2 - god why didn't I???? Anyway next time we'll get one for him. It was neat and cost about $25.

The meal wasn't on the Dining Plan and cost about $100 which I expected. The food was okay but really we went for the atmosphere and that was worth it. The boys LOVED it and it was a great way to show them what to expect for the rest of the week.

We did some looking at stores but didn't buy much. I was anxious about money and didn't want to buy a lot at the start of the trip and have nothing left at the end so we waited.

We had been up since 4:00 AM so we went to bed super early that night. Magic Kingdom in the morning!!!!!

 

[cheryterese]

Here I am! Can't wait to read!!

 

[cheryterese]

Being the muscle he said he couldn't imagine dealing with 2 strollers, 3 carry-ons, one car seat and two large luggage bags.

I am so scared of this! We are staying offsite, so will have to deal with this. Hopefully we can get one of those rolling luggage carriers or something.

 

[cheryterese]

I booked a reservation at T-Rex for 4:30 PM and we headed over there.

Feeling very stupid here, but what and where is T-Rex? I've done a ton of trip planning and haven't come across this yet!

 

[mupt02]

Can't wait to keep reading more. We will be traveling with a 4,2, and 9 month old next summer. It's great to start learning some of what to expect.

 

[BlueEyes78]

LOL re: The Muscle. I also dubbed my husband "the muscle" on our first day as he was loading the stroller into the tram in the DHS parking lot, and it stuck. Anytime we needed something lifted MY DS4 (Caden) would start calling out, "Muscle! We need you over here, muscle!" Then I had to have a name so I dubbed myself "The brain." We make a good team!
Looking forward to more!

 

[heaven2dc]

Joining in on this one! I'm curious how my DGS will be on our next trip (he will be 3). He was 14 mos old last December 2008 and was very good at staying in his stroller (which I was afraid he'd try to climb out of). Luckily he didn't start the "throwing his dish down on the floor when he's done eating" routine until a month after we got back - I would have been mortified at the restaurants! (No matter what we tried doing, he kept this routine up for the next 4 months or so.)

Can't wait to see how the boys like the rides! (btw they are so adorable!)

 

[Charlefours]

Hello!

I ran across your TR link on another board and followed it over. Of course I searched to read your PTR too! I totally agree with all the others about taking younger kids to Disney! It so magical to them that I want to experience it for the first time through my DD3's eyes.

I am looking forward to seeing how ODS birthday went. We will be celebrating my DD 4th birthday too. We are so excited about it! I am looking forward to seeing how the day went and the you had delivered (if you did have one). We are looking at ordering one for her--its been added to the budget!!

Can't wait for the next around.

 

[crocko]

Joining in to read along...

 

[mommyof2Pirates]

great start! We loved All Star Sports too. The food court was great and lots of choices we also ate there a bunch of times. I did fax a special request for a room a week prior which I am so glad I did. Definitely remember that next time you will be happy you did. We were in the building right by the pool but in the back so it was nice and quite. It was only a short walk to the FC and buses. I laughed about your DS not wanting to sit on the bus. Mine did not get upset and cry but he never sat sit. Constantly standing up sitting down....on my lap....off my lap....Uhh it was a little frustruating. I am so jealous you ate at TREX that seems like so much fun for boys. We decided to skip it since it wasnt on the plan...cheap skates I know. I think next time either way we will hit that up. The drinks looked so yummy too. 100% sugar....LOL. Yes only on vacation right? We often laughed about the stuff we let our kids do and eat on vacation. Well I look forward to hearing lots more.

 

[Macduffy]

In all my planning I never once thought we'd make it to any park for rope drop but we did! Ahhh... the benefits of an early bedtime LOL!

We made it to MK and waited outside for the park to open. It was so cute - Logan was so excited when Mickey Mouse arrived on the train that he started screaming then burst into tears from all the excitement. He reminded me of teenage girls crying when the saw the Backstreet Boys or some other teen sensation.

We started through the gates and Ben was upset. "I want to go to Disney World". When all of a sudden I turn the stroller around and he screams "It's Disney World!!!!" when he sees the castle. It was at this moment my touring plans were out the window!

I wanted to head straight for Fantasy Land and start hitting the popular rides but both litthe guys wanted to stare in awwwww over main street USA and walk through the castle and see this person and that person. That's when I thought to myself "this trip is for THEM and if this is what they want to do then this is what we do!" Ben would have been devasted if we didn't take the time to look at the Castle and walk through it - twice. THAT was his Disney World so I caved and let my boys have their Disney moments.

We did stick to our basic itinerary for breaks, lunches and dinners. But when the kids saw something they liked or wanted to do (Pooh's playground!) then that's what we did. I'll admit I did throw a temper tantrum the first day but let go of the "Type A" that was inside to enjoy the moments.

We rode Dumbo and then It's a Small World (mainly for Logan and the air conditioning). Then we hit Snow White. Oh. My. God. Ben, 4, was TERRIFIED of this ride. I felt SO bad for him but it was too dark and loud for him. I was worried he'd be scared of all the rides but luckily it was just this one.

We went to Peco Bills for lunch and stumbled ordering our food as it was our first time on the DDP. It was great food! On our way out I checked the Barbar Shop to see about the wait for Logan 1st haircut. There was only 2 ahead of us so we waited.

This was one of the highlights of our trip!

After naps we headed back to MK for our ADR at Crystal Palace. I was SO excited about this Character Meal but was VERY disappointed.

The character ratio was unbelievable. We spent 2 hours waiting for Tigger to come over!!! The kids were getting cranky but I still had that "we're having the perfect Disney vacation" attitude and we stayed against better judgment. The waitress said that he couldn't step out of line. The food was good but too noisy for me. There should have been more characters or less people in that restaurant!

We hit a few more rides, Aladdin, Tiki Room and then got our ears. The park was closing at 7 PM for the Halloween party so it was a short evening.

I wanted to boys to get the same "classic" mickey ears Scott and I had from our previous visit but of course Ben wanted to make his own! I'm glad he likes them but still wish he just got the regular ones. These things cost me $43!! I couldn't believe it!

We looked around a bit more and headed back to the hotel for more swimming - you'd think we didn't have our own pool at home the amount these kids swam!

I had a hard time dealing with this day because we only did about 15% of the things I wanted to get done/see.