Disney World with a 14-month old

[WDBRDWLK]

A few more pics from DTD

and at Lego

I like this one, see that Bassett Hound next to the stroller, that looked so much like our beloved 'Lady ...RIP

We then strolled over to the West Side. It had been about 4 years since we had been over to this side. I think we had inquired about the Cirque show but it was expensive. We opted to rent the video. If your local video store has it it is worth renting. Pretty amazing tricks.

Heres our GD trying on a hat

Did I mention that the sweater she has been wearing is from when our DD was a toddler...23 years ago. We saved some of our son and daughters clothes and they were in really good condition.

And lastly for the night at DTD (but out of order in this TR) we went into the Toy Store at DTD earlier and I was talking to a CM, an older woman, who was chatting with our GD, or trying to anyways. She asked where we were from and then said she has a daughter in our area and was recently in town. Not surprising...it really is a small world after all.

We decided to call it a night as I was tired too. So we headed back to the resort. I got our GD cleaned up and in her pj.s, gave her her milk and waited about 15 minutes or so...then as I laid her down in the pack n play and she let out a cry as loud as she could...well I did not want to disturb the other units so I picked her up and sat down and rubbed her back...nope, she wanted her grandpa....grandpa has the magic touch. He could always get our kids to sleep by rubbing their backs and our GD was no different. Within ten minutes our little grand princess was sound asleep.

We took the opportunity to get the bags ready for the next day, Magic Kingdom here we come...

stay tuned..

 

[WDBRDWLK]

After a good nights sleep for all three of us it was the day I had been looking the most forward to. It was Magic Kingdom Day! I was up early, about 6:30 am and woke DH. We let our GD sleep for a little bit more. We had our breakfast and double checked the diaper bag and backpack. When our GD awoke she looked a little disoriented, not sure where she was, but that was due to us having the drapes closed and a small light on at the stove. Once she heard our voices she was standing up ready to be picked up...Grandpa beat me to that! She had her breakfast and was happy, happy, happy.

MY DH always gets goose bumps when we approach the Walt Disney World sign and this trip was no different...the hair on his arms stands straight up, like the wooden soldiers from the Christmas parade! For me, I get chills and a tingle on the back of my neck.

Last year on our trip when our GD was 3 months old we had purchased a Minnie Mouse dress for her..This is a pic from then

It was a bit big but it was so cute on her...

And a year later this is how she looked in the same Minnie Mouse dress

We were ready around 9am and headed to the car. The drive was short and easy, about 10 minutes, and not really any traffic. We had about three cars in front of us as we approached the parking booths. We timed it pretty good as we were kinda upclose in the parking area, Mickey lot! We parked the car and got the stroller out. The day began looking a little cloudy and gloomy, but it was early. We hoped that the sun would clear that up and it did a few hours later. Since it was just the two of us adults dealing with the stroller, bags and the baby we opted to walk to the entrance rather than have to deal with the tram. There have been other times on the tram when we have seen parents struggling to hold onto everything as the tram took the corners...we thought it safer to walk..and we were pretty close to the entrance anyways.

We always take a picture with the camera and the cellphone of the lot we are parked in along with the row number...at the end of the day when your tired you wont have to wander the parking area looking for your car.

We decided to take the

rather than the monorail, the line was shorter. We were towards the back of the boat and our GD could see the other boat coming and was trying to say something...I kept repeating boat, boat but she just smiled and pointed...

As we exited the ferry boat and headed to security for bag check the monorail was just arriving and letting those guests off..it was a mad rush to the entrance for some people..Security check went pretty quickly and it was time to place our ticket in the machine and enter through the turnstile..I get so emotional each time at WDW..the water in my eyes, well I just blame that on the sunscreen!
We get a photopass and have our picture taken infront of the train station

We decided we would start out on Main Street USA with Snow White since that was the first she saw a year ago
From May 2008:

We got inline for Snow White, we were probably the 5th or 6th ones and waited a good half hour...she was good, looking around and watching the other children...DH is holding her and begins to rub her back...guess who decided to take a nap??

After a 30 minute wait it is now our turn to meet Snow White. We enjoyed talking to her...

 

[k_reile]

oh she is too adorable in her minnie dress and then of course napping on Grandpa! I love pictures of sleeping babies. I soo want a girl next so I can dress her all up. They don;t have as cute of clothes for Disney for boys like they do for girl (like the cute little dresses)

 

[WDBRDWLK]

oh she is too adorable in her minnie dress and then of course napping on Grandpa! I love pictures of sleeping babies. I soo want a girl next so I can dress her all up. They don;t have as cute of clothes for Disney for boys like they do for girl (like the cute little dresses)

She is definetly got grandpa wrapped around her little finger! My DH's grandparents were already deceased when he was little so he did not have that exposure. When we had our children he was always, and still is, a very hands on Dad! He just adores his GD. He adores his DS, DDIL and DD too! He braggs about their accomplishments with friends and family.

As for the clothing for little boys, Target and Wal-Mart are your best bet. They are both licensed to sell the Disney brand. Our son was our first born and it was hard to find cute boy clothes back then, he will be 27 this fall.

We wanted a girl too and I talked to my OBGYN and got some advice and it worked! Our DD will be 23 on Tuesday!!

 

[WDBRDWLK]

Now back to the report. After Snow White we saw Pinocchio so I got in the back of the line, which was in the sun and grandpa stayed in the shade near the candy store. He joined me once I got to the shade. There was no photopass photographer there so we had to have a CM take pictures with our camera.

Some pictures come out good when CM's take them, others do not. We had one taken on MainStreet USA that was on a 45 degree angle. Maybe he meant to do that.

This one turned out okay.

She was still sleeping and I tried to keep the sun out of her eyes. she was getting sweaty so I wanted to get out of the sun. We put another coat of sunscreen on her after the photo was taken. Better to be prepared.

It was time to head over to

We went into Minnie's house. It was crowded and the line did not move as fast as I would have liked it to. By the time we got to Minnie's sunroom it was hot in there.

After that we stopped in at

The wait time said 30 minutes but there was no line that we could see, oh that Disney magic, so we walked up through and once we turned the corner, a line. The line moved fairly quickly. It took about 10 minutes and we were on our way to say hello to my favorite

and

and

I thought these were pretty neat

I wouldn't mind having them in my house!

After we exited the room we got back in line to see Tinkerbell and the other fairies. That line took what felt like forever. There was the cutest Aurora in front of us, had just come from Bibbity Bobbidy Boutique I assume, her hair was in a bun, all sparkly with a tiara and she had on a sash. Adorable. I can not wait until our GD grows enough hair to be able to do that with her...By the time that happens she will have a closet full of dresses! This line moves very slowly, they only take 3-4 at a time. I wondered why and found out when it was our turn to meet the fairies. Once it is your turn to enter the walkway this is what you will see

to be continued....

 

[WDBRDWLK]

I bet we waited a good 45 minutes to see the fairies. But it was fun. As we entered the fairy room Silvermist was on the left, Tinkerbell in the middle and Irradessa on the right. Silvermist did not have anyone in her line yet so she came over to see us! Wow, personal fairy service! She was soft spoken and petite, just like a fairy.

We then got to meet Irradessa.

And now Tinkerbell

And again all of us with Silvermist

It seemed to take longer with the fairies. I do not remember if it was because they chatted more with the children or not.

That was our first experience seeing the fairy room and it was really cute. The decor made you feel like you were 6 inches tall too.

I went to the restroom to change her out of the Minnie dress and put her in another Minnie outfit that we purchased at DL in October. It's a size 2T and just fits her.

After that we headed toward Winnie the Pooh and the line looked fairly short, 2.5 rows, sign said 30 minutes, we had an hour before our lunch reservation at Crystal Palace. So we got in line and our GD was a little figgidy, wanting me to hold her and then grandpa then me..

I kept an eye on the time and looking at the line I had a bad feeling that we were not going to make this ride, at this point we had only gone 1.5 rows, so when we could we exited at the end of a line and got a fast pass instead. We headed over to the Crystal Palace and got there just in time for our reservation. We had to wait about 10 minutes but we were lucky to get a bench to sit on. They called our name and we were seated near a window. When the hostess brought us the highchair I took a wipe and washed the highchair down, anywhere her little hands could touch. I also washed the table area and the underneath, just in case some little kid smeared his/her nasty hands under there. Just being cautious. Our son had called and was concerned about the Swine Flu that was going around. I told him we would wash everthing down and wash her hands often, especially after touching the rides.
Lunch time!

I started to feed our GD while my DH went up to the buffet. Once again, that sippie cup gave me a hard time...we ordered our beverages and got some milk for our GD and I had to dilute it with water. Apparently I did not have it screwed on tightly because it was dripping all over my GD when she went to drink it. I took it away from her to tighten it and she was not happy about that. Think fast Nana...so I gave her a Gerber puff, those melt in your mouth baby snacks. She likes those. Once DH came back to the table he tightened the cup and we switched places. The characters started strolling through and this would be her first time this year seeing them up close and personal. I was not sure how she would react and I was not going to subject her to being frightened.
First up was Pooh...she did okay as long as they were standing up and about 2-3 feet away from her...once he bent down she freaked out! Just about jumped out of the highchair into her grandpa's arms.
This is the before pic

It really amazed me that some parents can be so cruel to their kids just to get a picture. There was a child that was about 5 yrs old that did not want to get close to any of the characters and was crying and almost hysterical..while mom was forcing him to stand with Pooh...

These pics are how our GD greeted the characters, in her grandpa's arm...

 

[thefigueroas]

Your granddaughter is TOO CUTE!!!!! I love the Minnie Mouse outfits! She seems to have the cutest clothes. Where do ya'll shop?

I agree with you about pushy parents as well. I also have seen too many screaming children be forced to do something it is obvious they are terrified to do. Sometimes it is as simple as putting a buffer, i.e. yourself, between the character and your child if you want to get a picture. That is what we did with our then four year old (he is eleven now so I don't think we'll have any trouble this trip) He just needed some space and reassurance. We got great pictures this way. I wish some parents would realize that a great trip to Disney World isn't all about "getting your money's worth")

On another note, was there plenty for her to eat at the Crystal Palace buffet? We were thinking of going there with our baby as the menu looked extensive enough for there to be plenty of variety. We ate there once seven years ago so my memory is very fuzzy about the food.

 

[WDBRDWLK]

Your granddaughter is TOO CUTE!!!!! I love the Minnie Mouse outfits! She seems to have the cutest clothes. Where do ya'll shop?

I agree with you about pushy parents as well. I also have seen too many screaming children be forced to do something it is obvious they are terrified to do. Sometimes it is as simple as putting a buffer, i.e. yourself, between the character and your child if you want to get a picture. That is what we did with our then four year old (he is eleven now so I don't think we'll have any trouble this trip) He just needed some space and reassurance. We got great pictures this way. I wish some parents would realize that a great trip to Disney World isn't all about "getting your money's worth")

On another note, was there plenty for her to eat at the Crystal Palace buffet? We were thinking of going there with our baby as the menu looked extensive enough for there to be plenty of variety. We ate there once seven years ago so my memory is very fuzzy about the food.

Thanks for the compliments! I work PT at TDS so most of her clothes are Disney related at our house...and alot at our DS and DDIL' house too! Just can not resist those cute outfits.

I agree with you too about putting a buffer between the child and the character so get a picture...We did not subject our kids when they were little to the characters, although I do have a pic of my DD in my arms with the Easter Bunny to the side crying her eyes out...she was about 2yrs old then. Never did that again. I learned my lesson.

The Crystal Palace had a pretty good assortment of food your child could eat. Our GD has 8 teeth, 4 on top and 4 on the bottom. She was able to eat/chew mashed potatoes, mac n'cheese, very small pieces of chicken and loved the pudding. We also took jars of baby food with us, just in case.

You can actually get the menu's on line...just google the restaurant!

 

[WDBRDWLK]

I need to get this TR done as my memory is fading. I actually have to look at the 400+ pictures we took to remember what we did..

But before I start the next installment I wanted to share with you something about pics on photobucket. I have uploaded alot of those pics and thought I would like to have a few printed to put in my office at work. So I went online to a local (nationally too) camera/photo store which I have done many times before...I had selected 11 pics to be made into 4x6 prints...to be picked up in an hour...so I go to get them and 4 of the 11 came out fine...the others were terrible. The lady said the pixels were off because I selected them from the internet. I asked how come the other 4 came out fine...again it was the internet...they were not even worth keeping but I had to pay for them. It was less than $2 but it was the fact that 4 came out fine! Anyone have any ideas as to what happened?

I can no longer remember the order of what we did.

We stood in line for It's A Small World. The line was already outside the building, but we knew that the ride loads fast. Our GD was looking around and pointing and alot of people were talking to her too. Then its our turn to load onto the boat and guess who feel asleep! But we enjoyed the boat ride. We did take her back on later in the day while she was awake.

I think this one was when she was awake as the time is around 5pm

Can you tell which one is sleeping here...looks like both of them to me!

If I remember the ride was closed recently for renovation. I did notice that not as many back drops had the glitter as they did before. It was just freshly painted. I missed the glitter especially on the leaves that are close to the ground!

bumper boats!

After that we went on Cinderella's Carousel. We did have her ride the horse and wrapped the strap around her tightly and we were on each side of her holding her as she went up and down. She loved this ride!

 

[WDBRDWLK]

We made sure that she did not put her fingers in her mouth after the carousel ride. Once we were off I was washing her hands with the washcloth that I brought along and some baby soap! germs, ICK!

After the carrousel we took some pics of the back of the castle.

And then they traded hats!

We also took her on Snow White's Scary Adventure..

Its a tight squeeze getting onto this ride, and even more so when you have a toddler in your arms. We all know that American's are heavier than they were back in 1971!

Here she looks unsure of the ride, but then again she always had her finger in her mouth!

 

[WDBRDWLK]

The line at Winnie the Pooh was not bad at this point so we decided to try again. This time we made it!

She really did like the oversized book on the walls. She babbled along with the song as we were on the ride.

Then

came out and we began to bounce! She liked that alot.

Our DD, at 23 yrs old, closers her eyes when going through the woozles...she its not fond of them, actually, she says they are scary!

Oops, I thought I had more pics uploaded...to be continued...

 

[WDBRDWLK]

At one point during the day we stopped in the shops along Main Street USA and at Casey's Corner. We took a short break. While I was sitting at a table inside with my GD we had a visitor

This cute duck actually flew inside right over the heads of the other guests. He looked hungry, thats my story anyways, so I decided to feed him out of my hand. I had some rice krispies and put some in the palm of my hand and held my hand low enough for the duck to eat them. Other people where throwing hot dog bun pieces to the duck too.

Here's one of the light posts decorated

We also went on Buzz Lightyear. This is at the entrance.
Our GD loved the bright colors. She kept pointing and talking in her toddler language!

Once we got into our vehicle I had her sit on my lap and showed her the handle that makes the vehicle spin...

That did not take long for her to figure out what to do with it.

I did notice that this ride had been nicely refurbished since our last visit. Once we rounded the corner I could see the flash up ahead where they take your picture... I had her blanket with me so I tried to cover her face when the flash went off..it is so bright I was not sure what her reaction would be. Apparently it worked because when we exited the ride and looked for our pics the blanket was covering her up...

 

[WDBRDWLK]

OMG are you kidding me! Where is the rest of the TR from earlier today....I spent my lunch updating this TR about the Wishes fireworks and its gone!!!

 

[Sneezie]

I'm really enjoying your report. I'm taking my niece in September (she'll be 16 months then) and it's good to know what she can and can't ride before we go.

Please keep it up!

 

[WDBRDWLK]

I'm really enjoying your report. I'm taking my niece in September (she'll be 16 months then) and it's good to know what she can and can't ride before we go.

Please keep it up!

Thanks Sneezie! September is a good month to go to WDW as it will be less crowded. There are actually alot of rides that your niece will be able to do and remember that if you want to ride an adult ride and you have another adult with you, you can do the switch-a-roo too. You know where one adult rides while the other stays with the child and then you switch without having to get back in line.

I am going to attempt to finish the Magic Kingdom day again. Wish me luck!

 

[WDBRDWLK]

We did not take alot of pics during Wishes, my camera just does not capture the darkness very good.. or maybe its the operator! Ok, its me.. besides I wanted to watch the show and my GD's expressions. We did get a few shots of the castle.

and the reason why we opted not to take photos during the show

If you have a small child at the parks I would recommend taking a light weight blanket with you. Even if it is 90 degrees outside. The AC on some of those rides is chilly and you definetly do not want a screaming child with you. I took her blanket with us on everyride, just in case. And sometimes I used it!

 

[WDBRDWLK]

I forgot to mention where we always watch Wishes from. We like to stand at the end of the bridge near Stitch. It does not have alot of trees obstructing the view. We have tried other places along Main Street, which is very crowded, and over near the Crystal Palace, even near Cinderella's carousel, but we prefer the bridge. Our GD was content sitting in her stroller while we conversed with others around us. I was talking to a guest who had a nice camera and was taking a lot of pics of the castle as it changed colors. She said the lense alone cost $1000 but it was worth it for her. She said that she had a bad body and did not know how much longer she had. She wanted to remember everything about this trip. I hope she gets well, God Bless her.

Just before the fireworks started DH picked up our GD so she could see the castle and the fireworks. She was great during the whole show. Those fireworks can be loud and some children do not like the loud noise. It was a bit windy that night and Tinkerbell did not fly through the evening sky. Maybe next time... The show was fantastic as always and after it was over and the guests started to venture to the front of the park we decided to hang out at Starlight Diner and listen to the music. Our GD kept pointing to the castle as it changed colors and I kept saying the word 'castle' over and over to her. I think I heard her say it! DH listened too and then he surprised me and said " do you remember the word little Jack said in the movie Meet the Fockers? My reply, yes, why? He said that is what it sounds like to him. OMG NOOOOO. Nana did not teach a curse word to her 14 month old GD...but each time she said 'castle' it did sound like @$$-^#%!...I thought I would have some fun with my son back home in Charlotte so at 10:15pm or so I called him to say his daugher had learned a new word! He was not amused!

 

[WDBRDWLK]

The crowds had pretty much twiddled down to nothing so we thought it would be a good time to head out. We opted to take the boat to the transportation center rather than the monorail since the line for the monorail was down to the bottom of the ramp.

We hung towards the back of the line for the boat as I did not want to run into the back of other guests with the stroller. We were all tired but have a great day at MK. Once we exited the boat we walked to our car rather than take the tram. Ok, get out the camera and find out where we parked...got it! The parking lot was pretty empty now and I could see our car in the far distance. It looked like a longer walk than it did earlier that day.

When we got to our resort I gave our GD a bath to get all the sunscreen off her, then gave her some milk and put her in the pack n'play with some toys...nope, that was not going to work...she wanted to be held so grandpa picked her up and cuddled with her until she feel asleep in his arms. Darn, where was the camera when I needed it! They looked so cute.

She was sleeping soundly so he lied her down in the pack n'play and we called it a night too.

Next up: Hollywood Studios and EPCOT

 

[WDBRDWLK]

Tuesday morning started off perfect. The sun was shining and the forcast was going to be great. A light breeze, warm, not hot, and not really the humidity that is often the case in FL.

After breakfast and making sure the bags were ready we headed to Hollywood Studios first.

Once again we parked fairly close and walked to the entrance.

The lines at security were only 1 or 2 guests long. We used our hopper ticket and entered through the turnstile. It did not seem that crowded, but it was early still, the park had been open for about 45 minutes at this point.

I had our GD dressed in her 'future cast member' hat and t-shirt. She looked adorable. Here are a few pics from the front of the park

We walked by the fountain and she like the splashing of the water.

We headed toward Little Mermaid and guest were starting to line up for the High School Musical show. We would have watched it if we had found shade to stand in. We noticed that the caricacture artist was there. He drew a cute pic of our GD last year when she was 3 months old and we decided to do it again this year but later in the day. We headed over to the Little Mermaid, I took our GD out of the stroller, grabbed her blanket, and DH found the stroller parking lot! We did not have to wait more than 4 minutes and we were inside selecting our seats. We opted to sit in the back just in case we needed to make a fast exit.

 

[WDBRDWLK]

I thought these pics were cute.

We also enjoy strolling through

but it was closed on this day. This is a great biography of Walt and all his dreams. It is why we all come and enjoy WDW! To remember the Magic!