Boo to You & Turning 2! Oct 2012 PTR *NEW* 10/30 We're Back! TR Link Posted!!

[MEK]

Is Paxton's birthday October 24th? So is my son's.

 

[khertz]

Is Paxton's birthday October 24th? So is my son's.

Yep that's his birthday!! How fun that our boys share a birthday!!

 

[skier_pete]

Hey just one or two comments:

MNSSHP - we went in 2010 the week roughly about the same time (October 14-24th) so I have to give you a warning. I chose the Thursday night MNSSHP thinking it would be less crowded, but it was PACKED with people. Quite honestly the worst crowds we've seen at MK outside of Christmas weeks. Yeah, the rides were all walk-ons but everything else (characters, shows, candy lines, parades) were totally insane. (And the rides were a walk-on most of the week.) It was a real turn-off for us for how much money it cost and the fact that we spent most of it standing in line.

I'm not going to suggest skipping MNSSHP, but I am going to suggest doing the Tuesday one. After the fact we asked around, and the one on Tuesday was almost dead that same week. If I was ever to go to another one (unlikely) I would do either Sunday or Tuesday, NOT Thursday or Friday, especailly that close to Halloween.

I think your ideas of doing shorter days with 1/2 day breaks are a good one. I think you did a great job with P on your last trip, so I am sure you will adapt. As kids get older, they sometimes have a harder time napping in the stroller, so you may find that it's not as easy as last trip. (The worst is when they get to the age that they don't want to take naps anymore, but still sort of need a short one. Probably not a problem yet!)

 

[afwdwfan]

I have to say I agree with your assessment about the parks. I love DHS, about 3 or 4 rides in particular, but it just isn't a good park with a small child. I don't think it is possible to schedule too much MK time. DW and I always enjoy that park, and as long as DS has plenty to do and is enjoying himself, that's all that matters anyway.

I think I'd wait until closer to make a call on MNSSHP, but I'd probably try it. It's definitely a bonus to not have to pay for Paxton's ticket. You can at least see the parade and fireworks. He might enjoy some of the "bonus" character interactions that will be available, and it will definitely be a good opportunity to ride some big kid rides when he falls asleep for you.

 

[khertz]

Hey just one or two comments:

MNSSHP - we went in 2010 the week roughly about the same time (October 14-24th) so I have to give you a warning. I chose the Thursday night MNSSHP thinking it would be less crowded, but it was PACKED with people. Quite honestly the worst crowds we've seen at MK outside of Christmas weeks. Yeah, the rides were all walk-ons but everything else (characters, shows, candy lines, parades) were totally insane. (And the rides were a walk-on most of the week.) It was a real turn-off for us for how much money it cost and the fact that we spent most of it standing in line.

I'm not going to suggest skipping MNSSHP, but I am going to suggest doing the Tuesday one. After the fact we asked around, and the one on Tuesday was almost dead that same week. If I was ever to go to another one (unlikely) I would do either Sunday or Tuesday, NOT Thursday or Friday, especailly that close to Halloween.

I think your ideas of doing shorter days with 1/2 day breaks are a good one. I think you did a great job with P on your last trip, so I am sure you will adapt. As kids get older, they sometimes have a harder time napping in the stroller, so you may find that it's not as easy as last trip. (The worst is when they get to the age that they don't want to take naps anymore, but still sort of need a short one. Probably not a problem yet!)

Thanks for the tips on the party. The only reason I was not going with the Tuesday party was because I really wanted to do the early morning breakfast at CP on DS's birthday, which is Wednesday. I guess I will have to weigh out which is more important as the date gets closer. And I guess we first have to decide if we are actually going to try the party or not!

Yeah, I'm a little nervous about the stroller naps as he gets older, but I guess we can see how it goes the first day. If he doesn't nap as easily in the stroller, we'll just have to stick with his home schedule. He is down to one big nap in the afternoon (usually 2-3 hours), so that gives us all morning and the evenings in the parks.

I have to say I agree with your assessment about the parks. I love DHS, about 3 or 4 rides in particular, but it just isn't a good park with a small child. I don't think it is possible to schedule too much MK time. DW and I always enjoy that park, and as long as DS has plenty to do and is enjoying himself, that's all that matters anyway.

I think I'd wait until closer to make a call on MNSSHP, but I'd probably try it. It's definitely a bonus to not have to pay for Paxton's ticket. You can at least see the parade and fireworks. He might enjoy some of the "bonus" character interactions that will be available, and it will definitely be a good opportunity to ride some big kid rides when he falls asleep for you.

DH and I LOVE DHS, but it was the worst of the parks in terms of doing things along with DS, especially this past year because we decided not to brave most of the shows with him. I'm thinking we will try at least a few of them (probably Little Mermaid and Beauty & the Beast - even though that one is longer, it will be easy to make a quick exit if he's acting up) this trip since he will be older. And possibly try the Great Movie Ride. We both just felt bad because he ended up spending SO much time in the stroller when we were at DHS because he couldn't or wouldn't do most of the attractions!

Yeah, we are going to wait on making a decision on the Halloween party until it gets a little closer and we have a better idea of his schedule at that time. Next year we will probably be making another October trip to get in one more year of him being free, so the alternative would be waiting until then when he is just about to turn 3 and might be able to tolerate staying up a little later, but still be able to get in free. We are still discussing it. But thank you for chiming in since you actually have experience with the party & a toddler of that age!!

 

[Imagineer5]

Just stopping by briefly. Aria is sick

Hope you don't think this is too stalkerish lol but I put in your flight date of may 21st for Seattle to new orleans or Lafayette. I found 185 for new Orleans and 235 for Lafayette. Both about same flight time. Is this what you're seeing? That isn't going to be 250 more then. I used matrix.itasoftware.com - I like this site best to see flight prices, just doesn't show Southwest. There's also an app called ita software I think.

$113 for the lax - sea flights. Don't remember what you paid for those.

 

[khertz]

Just stopping by briefly. Aria is sick

Hope you don't think this is too stalkerish lol but I put in your flight date of may 21st for Seattle to new orleans or Lafayette. I found 185 for new Orleans and 235 for Lafayette. Both about same flight time. Is this what you're seeing? That isn't going to be 250 more then. I used matrix.itasoftware.com - I like this site best to see flight prices, just doesn't show Southwest. There's also an app called ita software I think.

$113 for the lax - sea flights. Don't remember what you paid for those.

Oh, no! Poor baby girl. I hope she feels better soon!

The $250 was including all of the other expenses we'd incur from changing our original arrival and departure destinations. So to fly to Lafayette to come home, we'd have to get a one-way rental car to get us to New Orleans at the beginning of the trip, or else our car would be stuck there and we'd have the hassle of getting it back. I also had added in a tank of gas for the rental, and the cost of a cab if we can't find anyone to pick us up from the Lafayette airport, but I'm hoping my cousin can do that which would save us some $$. But thanks for thinking of us & looking! I have never tried that site, so I'll have to keep checking there also.

We had gotten $115 for LAX to Seattle, so I'm happy to see there wasn't anything drastically less than that that we would miss out on!

 

[khertz]

So, as I mentioned in the last update, we spent this weekend in New Orleans for the St. Patrick's Day Parade on Sunday. I wish I could say we had a great weekend, but that would be a lie. lol Parts of it were great, but the bad parts were BAD!

We left our house around 1 pm on Saturday, Paxton's usual nap time, and to our delight, he slept almost the whole two hour drive to my mom's house. We hit some traffic on the way, so we got there a little later than we had planned. We rushed to 4 pm Mass, then had hamburgers for dinner that night. My grandparents were able to come over for dinner because they have been wanting to see Paxton for awhile. I was surprised that he went straight to my Paw Paw and held his arms up for Paw Paw to pick him up, then cried when he put him down! During dinner, Paxton was of course being a little ham...

First, he put the dogs' (thankfully EMPTY!) water bowl on his head. Then...

He got in one of the dogs' crates and tried to close himself in!

We kept him on relatively the same schedule as at home so he got his bath and was in bed by 7:30. This time, we brought his PnP from home and because my mom had moved some furniture around, he actually had a room all to himself. DH and I tried to go to bed early because of the time change, but we had trouble falling asleep because we kept hearing DS shuffling around on the monitor trying to get comfortable.

Finally at 12:50 he woke up crying so badly we had to go in there and do something. After several failed attempts to get him back to sleep over an hour, we tried bringing him in bed with us, but he would only sleep for 10 minute stretches before waking up crying. We did this and tried several other methods to get him to sleep for a total of 3 hours. Finally at 4:30 am (after the time change), he fell asleep and slept for 4 hours. It was probably the worst night EVER since he's been born!

We had some breakfast, then left to head to FIL's friends house which is just a block off the parade route. We found a pretty close parking spot to his house, then walked over there strapped down with stuff!

Once he could get down and run around, DS was having a great time!

So nosy! He just had to see what was going on in that ice chest...

Climbing the stairs...another big hit!

He did fall and skin his knees twice, but other than that, no problems. At least he didn't fall down the stairs! That had me the most nervous.

The parade was scheduled to start for 12 pm, so we headed over to find our spot at around 11:40. My sister and her friend met up with us, and DS was excited to see his Nanny!

I had not seen my sister in awhile, but she looked great! She has lost about 40 lbs in the last few months...so proud of her! She traded a few kisses for flowers from some of the walking groups, and DS enjoyed playing with them.

Once the floats started coming, DS caught some interesting throws. A shamrock clacker...

...And not 1 but 2 Easter Egg coloring kits!

Hanging on tight to his loot

I want those beads, Mama!

Someone caught this hat and gave it to him, and he didn't want to take it off!

​

They throw a LOT of food at this parade! The traditional stuff is cabbage, carrots, onions, and red potatoes. We caught all of that stuff, along with 2 mini King cakes, packages of cookies and fruit snack, and Moon Pies.

Paxton's first taste of Moon Pie

Love my little family!

I thought this was hysterical...Someone gave him a Dora activity book and he cracked it open right there on Daddy's shoulders!​

After a couple of hours of parade time, DS was getting VERY cranky after his night of little sleep. So we decided to head back to my mom's to get our stuff around 2:20. We made a pit stop at my grandma's house because Paxton's & my godfather, Uncle Mike, was there, and he has been wanting to see Paxton for awhile. Luckily he perked up a little bit around them, but he was still pretty grumpy and only wanted me or DH to hold him. He did let Uncle Mike pick him up for one picture though!

We got our stuff and headed home, where we dumped out the bag of the stuff he'd caught, and he went crazy putting all of the beads on and taking them off.

​

We all went to bed at our usual times, but I didn't hear one peep out of him all night. All 3 of us slept hard!! It was nice to make up for the night before, that's for sure. It was fun, but next time since the parade is a little later in the day, we will definitely skip sleeping at my mom's the night before! I don't know what had him so agitated and unable to sleep, but it was just awful! We did have a good time at the parade, though, so I'm happy we decided to go!

 

[MEK]

Yep that's his birthday!! How fun that our boys share a birthday!!

Of course, my son is 17! That's why I can actually go out of town during his birthday. He's rather go out with his GF. Shocking, I know!

So I was wondering what the Halloween party would be like that late in October. Sounds like the Christmas party I went to in mid December. Once was enough. The rides were empty, but everything else was crazy.

I've been to two Halloween parties in September and they were awesome. Hmmmm- I may have to rethink my plan about attending the party on 10/19.

Poor Paxton not being able to sleep the night before the parade. I guess he knew he was in a strange place and developmentally he wasn't dealing well with it. That's so exhausting. Been there. Done that.

Still - he looks like he has a blast during the parade and those pictures of him in his shamrock hat are adorable.

 

[ash-n-brensmom]

Your plans are looking great so far. I gotta start researching easywdw to compare with touringplans and try to come up with a more detailed plan as well.
LOVE those pics from the parade...but my faves are the ones where he put on all those beads!! HE IS TOO CUTE!!!!

 

[khertz]

Of course, my son is 17! That's why I can actually go out of town during his birthday. He's rather go out with his GF. Shocking, I know!

So I was wondering what the Halloween party would be like that late in October. Sounds like the Christmas party I went to in mid December. Once was enough. The rides were empty, but everything else was crazy.

I've been to two Halloween parties in September and they were awesome. Hmmmm- I may have to rethink my plan about attending the party on 10/19.

Poor Paxton not being able to sleep the night before the parade. I guess he knew he was in a strange place and developmentally he wasn't dealing well with it. That's so exhausting. Been there. Done that.

Still - he looks like he has a blast during the parade and those pictures of him in his shamrock hat are adorable.

That is one of the many reasons I am still debating even doing the party...the extras will be fun for DH and I but I doubt DS will even care about the character greetings and trick-or-treating trails. And while it would be nice to ride the attractions with lower wait times, we will be spending a LOT of time in MK, so we may not even really need that. I am still so back and forth on it. Some days I am scouring the Internet for costume ideas to fulfill DH's requirement, and some days I think to myself, "We should just wait a year." Who knows what we will end up doing!!

I think a big part of it was that he was sleeping in an unfamiliar room, and the nightlight was pretty bright, so that only made it more obvious to him that he was somewhere strange. It was a terrible night for all 3 of us! But he did have fun at the parade (although you'll see in a few pics he got his pacifier, which he NEVER gets during the day, but we gave it to him because he was so cranky!), and it was nice to see some people we never get to see.

He is obsessed with that hat!!

Your plans are looking great so far. I gotta start researching easywdw to compare with touringplans and try to come up with a more detailed plan as well.
LOVE those pics from the parade...but my faves are the ones where he put on all those beads!! HE IS TOO CUTE!!!!

I still have not checked out easywdw, but I guess I need to so I can compare. Although after having Touring Plans for a few years, I kind of know their criteria for best & worst parks, so I could probably do it on my own. But I love having their crowd calendar and touring plans, so I continue to subscribe!

He was SO funny with the beads!! He kept trying to take them off by pulling them over his head, then realized how much easier it was to just push them over his shoulders and let them fall to the ground around his feet. He loves putting things on his head or around his neck! And thank you!

 

[debrapagliasotti]

What cute pics from the parade

I always dread daylight savings...not so much in the fall, but the one in spring is always so hard on my poor kids!!

 

[khertz]

What cute pics from the parade

I always dread daylight savings...not so much in the fall, but the one in spring is always so hard on my poor kids!!

Ughh, DST, I am NOT a fan! It really kicked our butts the last two time changes. That was one thing I forgot to mention in my November TR wrap up post...we will NEVER travel over a DST weekend again!! We arrived on Friday and had to go forward an hour since we were moving from Central to Eastern time zone, then Saturday night had to set our clocks back an hour. While the extra hour of sleep was nice, it really threw the three of us off schedule going back and forth like that!

 

[khertz]

I know it is only Spring, but I can't help thinking about our MNSSHP costumes! (Should we end up going, that is...)

Like I mentioned in a previous post, DH only wants to go to the Halloween party if we dress up in matching costumes. My stipulation for this was that I didn't want to spend a ton of money on these costumes because I hate dressing up and would only wear the costume at the party. So because Paxton would potentially be wearing the costume both for the party and on Halloween night, it would have to be something that could be a stand-alone costume since I won't be planning to dress up for trick-or-treating.

So here's the 2 ideas we came up with and our pros & cons for both since we are still deciding.

First up would be one of Paxton's recent favorites, Curious George.

Paxton would, of course, be George. I'm not crazy about any of the actual George costumes (they are kind of lame looking), so it would just be a monkey costume similar to this one.

DH would be The Man in the Yellow Hat.

I'd have to be Professor Wiseman from the TV show since there is so few female characters on the show. I already have a white lab coat from nursing school that I could take the patch off of, and I would just wear a skirt and shirt I already have with my glasses.

Pros of this idea would be that my costume would be free, and Paxton could wear the monkey costume twice. Cons would be spending $45 for the MitYH costume for DH, and that all of us would probably be pretty warm in those costumes in FL.

Our second idea, the one I am probably leaning towards more, is going as the Saints.

Paxton already has a Drew Brees jersey, so he would obviously be our amazing quarterback!

DH would be our head coach, Sean Payton.

And I would be another player, probably my second favorite after Drew, Jimmy Graham.

Pros for this costume idea would be that it would definitely be more comfortable for us to wear on a warm FL night, but could be altered as needed if it was cold (long sleeve undershirts, a jacket for DH). And DS's would be free, but we'd still have to get him a costume for Halloween (not a big deal since we would need to do that anyway). Cost would be a little more since we'd have to spend about $40 on DH to get him the headset (which he will probably never use again), and a visor (which he could wear again, so not a big deal). The other finishing touches for his costume (laminated plays and a red challenge flag) would be cheap & easy. And I would need a jersey, but I don't really consider it to increase the cost of the costume since I have been wanting one anyway and would definitely wear it a lot during the football season. I found this one online that is kind of a "fake" women's jersey for $25.

But, other options are to look at the local sports apparel stores and finding an XL kids jersey for cheaper than an adult jersey that would look more like the real thing, or borrowing one from someone and not even buying myself one at all.

So I don't know...I guess if we are spending about the same amount of money or even spending more on the Saints idea, I'd prefer that since it is all stuff we'd use over and over vs. spending so much on one costume for DH and him only being able to wear it once.

I think we are leaning a little more to going to the party this year since DS will be free and we can potentially get an AP discount. We could do the party next year, but DH and I are talking about doing a day at Islands of Adventure on our 2013 trip and we probably wouldn't want to put up the $$ for both the IoA admission and the Halloween party in one trip. DS would still be free for either the party or IoA admission next year because we will be going before or around his birthday again to get one more trip of him being free!!

Any opinions on our costume ideas? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

And just to add a few more pics to this update, here's a few from the Irish Italian parade this past Sunday. DH took DS (I had to work ) and my parents went along with him. I was pretty bummed to miss it, especially since Paxton had a MUCH better time at this parade than he did at the St. Patrick's Day parade the weekend before.

He loves wearing hats, especially 2 at a time!

Apparently, he REALLY enjoyed holding onto this potato!

Take. Them. Off!

Working on unpacking all of his catches

Look at everything I caught!​

 

[jenny105]

I love the Curious George idea but I think you guys would be roasting in those costumes, especially little Paxton! The Saints idea is really cute too and way more comfortable. I'd go with that one!

 

[khertz]

I love the Curious George idea but I think you guys would be roasting in those costumes, especially little Paxton! The Saints idea is really cute too and way more comfortable. I'd go with that one!

That's exactly what I was thinking. Even though the monkey costume looks lightweight like his lion one was last year, it will still be hard to make it comfortable if it still hot out at night. Even though south Louisiana typically has similar weather to Florida, the past few years it has been comfortable and a little cool in the evenings by the time Halloween rolls around. Florida usually lags behind some in the weather department from Louisiana. I think we might still end up getting him the monkey costume for trick-or-treating though. I think it's really cute!!

 

[tofubeast]

Love all the new pics!! He is such a cutie!!!!

I will be curious to see if you do MNSSHP. I am about 98% sure I will skip the X'mas party and do it in a few years with DD.

 

[debrapagliasotti]

Cute costume ideas. I think I would go with the Saints players b/c they would be cooler costumes in the heat.

 

[MEK]

Wait - he got ALL that stuff at the parade? He is certainly turning into a little party boy, isn't he?

As far as costumes - I think the curious george idea is more original. But, as you said, it can be pretty hot during the party. Hmmmmm - not sure which way I would go, but I am so NOT creative when it comes to costumes. To prove my point - I am wearing a Nightmare before Christmas Tee. Pretty creative, right?

 

[oboedm]

Signing on to your PTR! Your son is super cute! You have a lovely family!