Back and determined to do it old school: Team P vs. the New Disney (A month-long TR with a baby and a pre-schooler!) Updated 8/24!

[Rach P UK]

Hi!

Welcome to my sort-of-kind-of live TR from the World! (The live-ness will depend on how many naps the little people notch up!) We're here from the UK for a month so there's hopefully going to be plenty of goodness for you to digest. If you have any questions about the conditions here right now, feel free to ask!

Who the heck are we?

Here's my crew:

https://flic.kr/p/2nCC6fE

I'm Rachael. I've been lucky enough to vacation in the World most years for the past 20+ (we're not counting the last couple of years, right?). I've also done it pretty much every way it's possible to do it. This time we're offsite in a villa- sort of because there’s a whole bunch of us but mostly because the cost of a month on property made my eyes water.

I’ve written TRs before (my log-in has disappeared somewhere in my aging brain!) but they’ve mainly been dining reports because who doesn’t love food? I guess this one will also be skewed towards the noms but I’m hoping to get in a little more touring detail in there. We were seriously antsy about coming back after all the changes and TRs were a big help- even the tiniest little details helped with reassuring us that not everything was different. And not all the new things were scary. So, I’m hoping I can help at least a couple of you out there with your future plans!

I love most things about the World. Mainly the food (and the drinks!). I’m also a fan of the stuff you can’t really describe. That feeling when you walk out onto Main Street. The smell of your favourite hotel lobby. Even the way the monorail announcements make you feel. All that good stuff that’s teeny weeny really makes me the happiest. Aaaand yeah, I guess some fast rides too.

https://flic.kr/p/2nCzAvW

Matt is my DH. He’s fairly easy going in term of planning and happy to go with what the rest of us decide. He doesn’t really do coasters (dw I’m raising the kids to be my ride +1s) but likes a good, slower themed ride. He’s a foodie like me and can often be found bush-leading his way through Epcot crowds to retrieve the F&W goodness.

https://flic.kr/p/2nCzB8H

This is Finley. He’s 4 and hasn’t been since he was 1, so everything is pretty much new to him again. He’s super, super excited but I don’t think he really gets what he’s coming into. He’s a water baby and a bit of an adrenaline junkie so he’s going to be my ride buddy this time!

https://flic.kr/p/2nCuDxo

And this is Archer, the newbie to Team P. He’s six months old and a baby with a real dual personality. He can be super, super sweet and cute and full of those baby giggles (usually when I’m just about hitting my limits). And he can also be a complete monster- if you hear a baby screaming any time in the next few weeks, it’s probably Arch losing a sock or getting the wrong colour toy or something equally as life-altering. Archer is just starting weaning so he’ll be giving verdicts on the suitability of Disney food for baby chomping

We’re also here with my extended family: my parents, brother (31) and sisters (13 and 5). They’ll be joining us for food sometimes, and I’ll occasionally have a sister tagging along on a park day.

To say we were apprehensive about this trip is an understatement. I am an old school girl and the things I love about Disney are the nostalgic things. I’m so used to knowing what I’m doing and where I’m going that all the changes got me worried- I’m sure like a lot of you- that it wasn’t going to be the same. I’ve rolled with the punches over the years but this time felt like a lot at once. But, at a pre-trip family conference (sponsored by prosecco) we decided we’re trying this with a positive outlook. Hoping things will have changed for the better. And hoping we won’t miss fast pass too much.

So come along and see how far that outlook gets me!

Hope you all enjoy my report- we’re very excited to be back! Like I said: any questions, please ask! Next up: a brief look at our travelling day.

 

[Disney102015]

A month, wow! Looking forward to following along - we are headed to WDW next month with a 4yo, 1.5yo, and 3 month old. Your kids are so cute! We have the same baby seat your little one is in

 

[rdkeim]

Following! Wow - a month. That's wonderful.

 

[Hubie]

Joining in! We're headed down in late Oct.

 

[MyGoofy26]

Can't wait to hear more and steal some tips and ideas! We go in December with our girls who will each be a couple weeks from birthdays #4 and #2. I enjoy reading all the TRs but I get especially excited about the ones with littles because there aren't too many of them around that I can glean info from.

 

[DL1WDW2]

This is gonna be fun for your family and me and prob the rest.
So it’s Monday, jet lag, “Florida” … and new school vs old school .
Got updates? Questions ?
Plans to visit Lego , or any place else?
And family looks perfectly perfect Wishing you Months worth of Magic!

 

[footballmouse]

 

[MaleficentMe]

But, at a pre-trip family conference (sponsored by prosecco)

 

[Rach P UK]

A month, wow! Looking forward to following along - we are headed to WDW next month with a 4yo, 1.5yo, and 3 month old. Your kids are so cute! We have the same baby seat your little one is in

Ah thank you so much You're so brave going with kiddos that age! Good luck! The baby seat was meant to be a little thing to get our little guy through the vacation but we actually love it! It's perfect for his age!

 

[Rach P UK]

Can't wait to hear more and steal some tips and ideas! We go in December with our girls who will each be a couple weeks from birthdays #4 and #2. I enjoy reading all the TRs but I get especially excited about the ones with littles because there aren't too many of them around that I can glean info from.

I'm the same! It's such a different trip with kid isn't it! I fondly remember the days of being able to do what we want when we want without two tiny terrors in tow! Wouldn't change it for the world but, man, do I love nap time!

 

[Rach P UK]

This is gonna be fun for your family and me and prob the rest.
So it’s Monday, jet lag, “Florida” … and new school vs old school .
Got updates? Questions ?
Plans to visit Lego , or any place else?
And family looks perfectly perfect Wishing you Months worth of Magic!

Thank you so much The heat and the park schedule have definitely been an adjustment and down time has been spent on the couch nursing a drink (or three) We've got a few non-Disney day plans and we're hoping to just have some days where we stay in and stop for a little while!

 

[Rach P UK]

Part 2: Travelling (Have we counted the kids lately?)



Ok, so for those of you not coming from the UK, most of this probably won’t be too relevant, but bear with me. Who knows: you may find my tales of a 24 hour day with 2 hyper young kids, an unpredictable baby, and a teenager in tow amusing. It was certainly testing.



So we had a 4am get-up. Which I absolutely smashed because I’m up anyway with The Baby Who Does Not Sleep. It was awesome to have fellow zombies for once, and we made good time to Manchester Airport. For my fellow Brits: yes, the airport is crazy; yes, it’s worth fast-track security; yes, it’s worth the lounge access. The kids were bouncing off the walls and it’s a flipping miracle we didn’t go all Home Alone and end up on the other side of the world from each other. I mean, look at these two: zero thought for anyone but themselves:

https://flic.kr/p/2nE9cHC

We flew with Virgin and have stored enough points (and quite a chunk of savings from putting it off and off thanks to That Damn Virus) to upgrade to the Upper Class cabin. This was a total lifesaver with my crew. Finn just snuggled up with his iPad and a few crafting bits and, to be honest, I really didn’t hear much from him for 8 hours. Archer traded his time between me, the grandparents, his dad and the cute little bassinet area (check it out below):

https://flic.kr/p/2nE7SFR

The last time we flew with Virgin, Finn was 11 months old and it was a nightmare. They were completely un-baby-friendly and it was a super stressful trip. This time it was totally the opposite- they couldn’t have done more for us. From bringing me drinks and snacks while I was nursing to hunting down some pureed food for him to practice with to not being bothered when I was taking up a chunk of the galley area trying to rock him to sleep… they were awesome. It could have been a billion times harder.


We breezed through security at MCO and the bags were through pretty quick. This was the point, however, the tiny humans hit that fabulous over-tired, hyperactive stage. It’s an absolute miracle we left that place with the same amount of people we landed with. If you saw a four and five year old jetting around arrivals singing and dancing, that was my kiddos. And sorry. Hope the ringing in your ears has calmed down.


The car hire company we booked with (Sixt) was, unfortunately not the best. Won’t bore you with the details but 0/10 would not recommend. We all made it to the villa (after a quick trip to Walmart because our villa didn’t include our requested crib , bouncer and high chair ), and treated ourselves to food from the Golden Arches. It was good. It was so good. But it was far from the gourmet I’m expecting this trip!



Then it was a bed crash ready for our first proper day!

 

[Isabelle12345]

Following!
Flying with kids is always stressful… especially overseas! I am glad to hear things went ok for you!
Can’t wait to read more!

 

[Rach P UK]

Day 2: Springing into Disney



So, our first real vacation day is always spent at Disney Springs (I’ve become so well-behaved when it comes to not saying Downtown Disney, but it still feels weird). We arrived at about 11am on Saturday and oh. My. Goodness. Was it busy. I’ve done Disney Springs on a weekend before, but I wasn’t really prepared for this level of madness. Every store was jam-packed and lines were crazy. I’ve never queued to get into a store there, but I did it several times. It didn’t help that this was our first time driving the double stroller (there’s a knack to that thing) and the jet-lag was still a bit painful.



The day definitely called for a decent lunch. Please accept my apologies now because there exist no pictures of our Raglan Road arrival spectacular (excuses fall between not yet unpacking the phone chargers and being exhausted and hungry and having chaotic children). I promise there are way more food piccies coming up from places so yum that it will make up for my neglect this time. But Raglan Road is a Team P Arrival Day tradition and it doesn’t disappoint. Raglan is up there with our staple meals- reliable, tasty and filling.



Matt and I both had the Worth the Wait beef sandwich. This was so good, and just what I needed. It was a huge portion but, to be honest, I was hungry enough I basically inhaled it all. Matt didn’t leave a crumb either. The kid had mac and cheese but he wasn’t a fan. This is normally one of his go-to meals but he said this tasted weird. I had a try myself and, he was right, it was weirdly sweet. He was good with bread and stealing my fries, though, so he didn’t go hungry!



We had a bit of a mooch around Disney Springs after- a brief glance in world of Disney and then straight out because of crowds!



Don’t worry, our jet lag will settle in a couple of days and then the real reviews will start!

 

[Rach P UK]

Day 4: Let the Magic (Kingdom) Commence!



So, Day 3 was spent on a shopping trip with my little sister. It was an awesome day but expensive day! I love the girl but her spending habits make me very happy I have my boys who are happy with a teeny Hot Wheel and a rattle respectively!



But Day 4 was The Official First Day. And, in our family, The First Day must be spent in Magic Kingdom. Anything else is pure sacrilege.



We started out with a Poly breakfast at Kona. As you may be beginning to tell, we are creatures of habit, and Kona is creeping onto our traditions list as a must-do eatery. This was our first time having breakfast there, however. We rocked up at 8:30- basically lunch time for us with the jet lag still waking us up early- and got seated very quickly. I love the Poly. It’s one of the few places we haven’t actually stayed but it’s on the list for next hotel. It’s just so airy and tropical and really gives me that vacation feel. Maybe it’s because it’s the complete opposite of where we live!

I did feel like the menu was pretty limited. I mean, I knew this going, and I knew there was something we would like, but, still, I would’ve liked a couple more options.

Matt and I got the same: Two Eggs Any Style. Matt had his eggs sunny side up and mine were not. Matt is Very British when it comes to his breakfasts and, if it doesn’t involve beans, Proper Bacon, mushrooms and black pudding, he’s prob not gonna be interested. So it’s a very high compliment from him that he said this was okay. I thought it was yummy. The potatoes were the best part, and the sausages were really good too. The toast was kind of warm bread-y, but edible. Here's my plate. Yes, that's ketchup. I have ketchup with most things. Honestly, my palate is pretty sophisticated but ketchup is my Achilles Heel. It's the same with my kiddo.

https://flic.kr/p/2nEkzoW

Finn got the Mickey Pancakes (coz: obviously) with fruit and yogurt. This was HUGE. Seriously, I couldn’t have finished it. He gave it a good go, though, and Arch helped with a suck on some of the fruit.

https://flic.kr/p/2nEi7ke

We finished up and monorailed it into the park. It was busy, but not outrageously so considering it was pretty much 10am by the time we were in the park. We got the obligatory Main Street picture and then it was ride time. Now this was my first time with Genie Plus and, given the general vibe online, I wasn’t expecting great things. However, it worked really nicely for us. I should probably put on a disclaimer that we weren’t trying for any of the traditional ‘big’ rides. We spent the majority of our time in fantasyland BUT it worked well for our little family and, the most important thing, avoided any of those long-line-tantrums.

Look at us. Adorbs and relatively un-sweaty:

https://flic.kr/p/2nEjrPP

We smashed Peter Pan, Small World, Winnie, Dumbo and the Carousel quickly. For any of you nursing mums out there, Small World is an amazing place for a quick feed (lol). Here he is, drunk on that mama magic:

https://flic.kr/p/2nEkzhD

Finn enjoyed the rides, but quickly complained that he wanted a but more thrill in his life. Goofy’s Barnstormer was a great choice for this- he loved it, and, as his first real rollercoaster, it made me feel cool about allowing him to try some bigger stuff. After this, we hiked over to Tomorrowland for some food and some Buzz. There was about a 90 minute wait before our LL pass, which was fine for us to grab some lunch at Cosmic Rays. Lines were long but not insurmountable. We all got tenders and fries. Honestly, this was exactly what we needed. It wasn’t gourmet noms, but it was perfect! Outside seating was a little warm, but the indoor options were insanely crowded and I wasn’t in the place to battle with crowds. Here's Finnster with his nuggs. I could 100% eat them now (I'm not doing a great job of convincing you of the sophistication of my palate am I?)

https://flic.kr/p/2nEd4B2

After lunch we headed over to Buzz with the intention to Baby Swap. We were initially asked to take Archer out of his stroller, but Cast Members were super friendly and helpful when I asked if we could figure out a way to keep him in as he was fast asleep (and, boy, did he need a nap at that point- heck, I needed a nap at that point). So we got shuttled around the back of the ride (this made Matt disproportionately excited. We once got stuck on Pirates, and he still counts it as one of his favourite Disney moments ever that we got to evacuate with the lights on and trek through backstage. He calls it ‘That Time We Saw Woody Without His Head On’.) Baby Swap was easy and fun and, as always, Buzz is an awesome ride.

After this we were pretty much done (that heat tho), and let the boys nap in the stroller while Matt and I had a mooch around Main Street shops. We grabbed Archer his first visit ears and some Marvel ones for Finn. Embroidery on Archer’s ears took around 20 mins, which was perfect for some browsing and shopping (that 50th merch is so pretty). And then we were done.

First park day down! Up next BEACHES AND CREAM

Also, a quick question: we've got some piccies and a review from Discovery Cove, is that of interest/ allowed here? Let me know

 

[MaleficentMe]

Following! Love your writing style!

 

[lauralynn0612]

Sounds like a great start! (And while I can't speak to whether the Discovery Cove review is allowed, I would love to read it.)

 

[Rach P UK]

Day 5: Mama needs that Grand Marnier Slush



Anyone else in love with Beaches and Cream? Surely it’s not just me? You can give me all the fancy pants meals in the world but, omg, burger and a sundae? Yasssss… So we got a Beaches ressie. Told Finn he could have ice cream for lunch. Aced being the best parents in the world.

If you haven't been there, it's a gorgeous little place in a gorgeous resort. Yacht and Beach are firmly in my heart as favourites. The vibe is just so chilled out and vacation-y. And our walk up to B&C was probably the first actual feelings of relaxing I've had (I know, we're five days in and I only just get the relaxed feels Go figure).

Despite being told he could just have ice cream, Finn decided he wanted an entrée first (smart boy!). He chose the grilled chicken sandwich with grapes and watermelon. Again, he shared his watermelon with his brother (first try of watermelon: he loved it), but he managed to devour the rest! (He's already attacked the grapes in this pic. Sorry, I'm often distracted by food before realising I need to take pics)

https://flic.kr/p/2nEJcEH

Matt and I shared a bowl of chilli with fries and onion rings. This was amazing. I am quite fussy with my chillis and this didn’t disappoint. It was enough food to satisfy my savoury tooth, but not so much that I didn’t have room for ice cream!

https://flic.kr/p/2nEJcCD

AND THEN THE MAIN EVENT

https://flic.kr/p/2nELFY4

LOOK AT IT!!! We shared a Fudge Mud Slide. Brownies covered with hot fudge, vanilla ice cream, Oreos, cream, chocolate sauce and a cherry. I wanted the Kitchen Sink but was (probably sensibly) outvoted by the boys. This was amazing. Obviously. How could it not be? It’s everything that’s good in the world. We managed to eat it all and then decided we needed a walk to shift those calories.

We didn’t intend to go to Epcot, but that’s where we ended up. The park ressie system worked well and we had no issues getting into the park. We just decided to have a wander around World Showcase. Finn decided he wanted a ‘baby Pikachu’ to match his t-shirt and, because I’m a sucker, I added yet another plushie to our collection. Here he is, knowing that he has me wrapped around his little finger.

https://flic.kr/p/2nEJaHe

And then obviously it’s just plain rude to go past France without loading up on a Grand Marnier slush. If you haven’t had one of these bad boys, where have you been? They’re cold and fruity and have a lovely kick that takes all the stress out of one kid hyperactive from too much ice cream and one kid refusing to nap because everything is so new and cool. They, unfortunately, go down far too easily, and this was gone before I knew it. But mama was happier, and that’s all that matters.

https://flic.kr/p/2nEJaGh

We walked a loop around World Showcase- Finn hopping in the stroller around Mexico for a disco nap (these naps are really screwing up his bedtime but who cares, we’re on vacay). Crowds were okay- I suspect this had something to do with the ridiculously hot weather and only crazy people such as us being out in it. Then we hit the Beach Club again, bathed in the lobby’s a/c for a few minutes, and headed home.

 

[Rach P UK]

Day 6: A brief Celebratory Interlude



I love Celebration. It’s the cutest little town. I can’t go without coveting houses and browsing through places for sale and exploring the feasibility of packing everything up and moving. But then I remember I like my friends and I don’t like snakes so I give up.



Anyway, we often go for a wander around Celebration while we’re in Orlando. It’s great for a little chill and some good food. And they have a cute little farmer’s market on Sunday mornings.



Our favourite place to eat is the Celebration Town Tavern. It’s a New England style place with The Best food. You should definitely check it out if you can. I have something different every time, and it’s all been good.



We also grabbed some macarons from Le Macaron on Front Street near the lake. These were tiny mouthfuls of heaven. I mean, just look at them. A little bit pricey, but SO worth it.

https://flic.kr/p/2nEQkgS

You should definitely go to celebration and eat and drink and wander around. It’s a great place out of the bustle of Disney. But you won’t find me living there. Coz snakes.



Next up Disco Day!

 

[erinch]

I’m in! Great writing!