First Family Trip and First Birthday!

[Blue Eeyore]

My husband and I are like most of you on these boards... going to WDW (or journeying back to the homeland as we usually put it) is a ritual, a way of life, a staple...whatever. For the past 8 years, it's only been the two of us. But now the two has become a family and what a BIG TRIP this next one will be! Not only is it my son Jake's first trip to WDW (I could cry just thinking about it) but we are going to be there on his first birthday!!! We are staying at WL for 7 days and at this point in time, I'm thinking that we'll have a cowboy birthday party at the Whispering Canyon.

So let me get to the point(s)...

1) Is there anything in particular that I should make sure Jake sees? Especially things that would appeal to a one-year-old?

2) I put a note in my reservation that it was Jake's first birthday. I know to go to City Hall and get him a birthday pin. Anyone else I should talk to or anything else I could do to try to see a little extra 'magic'?

3) Does anyone know anything about special birthday cakes and costs and stuff? I know some of those chefs up there create amazing, beautiful cakes. Who do I call to see if I can get a really great cake for Jake?

4) This is probably such a "DUH!" question to most of you, but when you go to Mickey's Toon Town Fair, do they still take your picture with Mickey and you have the option to purchase it? I think that's what they did back when I was a teenager.

5) Any other must-sees or must-dos for my scrapbook? It's ALL about the photo ops! Preserving my Disney memories is very important to me.

Thanks SO much for reading and for any help you could offer this wet-behind-the-mouse-ears family!

 

[Diz-Mommy]

Sorry I can't help you at all, but I'm interested to see how people respond to this post. We are going as a family this year for the first time too! AND it will be Tyler's first brithday! I have a feeling we will never see Disney the same way again, and I can't wait! I get tears in my eyes thinking about it too. The mere thought of Tyler possibly taking his first steps in Disney makes my heart race!

Yes, I know you can get your pics taken with characters everywhere and purchase them. They make it much nicer now and put them online. I think you can wait till you get home to purchase them, so you don't have to worry about keeping them in good shape while you travel.

I'm doing a specail album just of Tyler's Disney firsts...Like an ABC album. I'll post it if I get done pre-decorating the pages before we go

Have a great time. I'd love to swap 1st birthday stories with you when we are both back from our trips!

 

[Blue Eeyore]

Hey Angie! Looks like we're in the same boat. Except... you are pregnant now? I waddled the world last December and it was great. I got a Mommy-to-be massage, a facial and a manicure/pedicure at the GF spa. It was great!

I'd love to swap stories! You get to go first so let me know how it goes! Are you going to do a special birthday dinner for Tyler?

I can't wait to see what people respond with. No luck yet, but we'll see!

 

[staci]

I dont know much about the birthday, except that I read somewhere on here that you can get a small cake at any restaurant, just order it at the table. As far as anything extravegant, maybe check out the boardwalk bakery?

As far as toontown (and the rest of the parks) they now have photopass, which essentially means you will get a little credit card type thing. when any photographer takes your photo in the parks (main street, characters, etc) you hand them your photopass. Once you get home you can view and purchase your photos. The nice thing is, they really do take a lot of photos so you can pick and choose.

Take lots of pictures! Have a good trip!

 

[Blue Eeyore]

Wow, thanks for the info on photopass. I'm not very patient... how long does it take to receive the photos once you order them. Is there any way to order them and pick them up before I leave WDW?

 

[3princesses4us]

I loved photopass! At the end of the day, you can go to the camera center at the front of the park and view & purchase your pics right then and there! We got several 5 x 7's and a couple of really good 8 x 10s. You can put a fun border around some of the pics as well although in retrospect, I preferred the ones without the border myself. Most places have package prices. If you're a Disney Visa cardholder, you could get a free 5 x 7. Oh, and make sure you get a Photopass guy/girl to take your pic at the front of MK and MGM where you're "pretending" to look in your hand (at MK) or inside a hat or on the ground (at MGM)- you'll be pleasantly surprised at what or who shows up in your picture. The MK one was our favorite of the trip and you can't take a picture like that on your own. It would be adorable with a little baby!
My best advice (because I'm an avid scrapbooker also) is to zoom in your camera yourself before giving it to a CM. Every picture I got back was great, but looked like it was shot from across the street! No one zoomed in. Anyway, you can even have the photopass person take a second picture with your camera as well! DH and I went by ourselves for my first trip, now I can't wait to take my DDs back. You'll have more fun than he will I bet!! Good luck!
Oh! And if you don't want to keep up with your pictures, you can have them sent directly to your resort (we did this once). But if you pick them up at the end of the day, I'd just take them with me.

 

[staci]

Wow, thanks for the info on photopass. I'm not very patient... how long does it take to receive the photos once you order them. Is there any way to order them and pick them up before I leave WDW?

I know there is a way to do this, my photopass card says you can 'claim your photos today in the park where they were taken, ask any photographer for details'.

We did not take advantage of this, we pretty much went with ds's schedule, and tried to fit as much as we could into the time where he was happy. So we just waited until we got home, it was real easy to pull up online, and online if you buy $125 worth, you can get a percentage off? It seems like a lot of money, but the pictures are expensive, so if you are really planning on purchasing alot of them, it might be worth it to wait and do it all at once to take advantage of the discount.

Hope this helps you!