Free Dining with a 5 month old (still not sure on my title) Updated!

[tabrizia]

Okay I can't think of a good Trip Report title, feel free to make suggestions, since I really don't like the current one. I tried to do a trip report after last year's trip, but kind of fell off the face of the boards, due to pregnancy. So I figure I might as well try again for this year's trip.

Okay to start off the cast of our trip report:

Me: You can call me Sarah or Tabrizia or Kiir, I answer to all three, the second two being my long term message board nicknames. I'm 29, been to Disney a bunch both as a child and adult. I am fairly relaxed and laid back but I love to plan. I really don't care if my plans turn out how I set them up, I just like to go through the planning stages.

DH: I'll either call him Dan or attriel (or atty). He answers to either as well. He is 30, we've been married 6 years and together 11 years now. He put up with my planning and really appreciates me keeping most of it to the message boards so he doesn't have to deal with my obsessions. He likes Disney and has been almost as many times as me.

DS: Desmond, though he has all sorts of nicknames, my favorite for the moment is Mr. Flirt, he loves to flirt with all the ladies. He's 6 months old (on Friday October 5th), so 5 and a half months old for the trip. He is a cutie, and a very happy, easy going baby. He has only been to Disney World in Utero, till this trip.

Ddog: K-line, he maybe mentioned a bit, he spent the trip at the kennel, poor pups, apparently Mickey doesn't like dogs. He's 5.



Okay background for this trip. We went last year at the start of Free Dining for our 5th wedding anniversary. We also found out about a week and a half before we left that I was pregnant. Which was a bit of a surprise, a good surprise, but unexpected. So our lovely trip I had so carefully picked out all the restaurants for wasn't quite as nice as it could have been, because I just wasn't that hungry and a lot of my favorite foods didn't appeal to me. We had fun on the trip though and it was a nice vacation.

Fast forward to May. Mr. Flirt was about a month old, and we were finally getting into the new rhythm of our lives. I noticed that free dining was available again. We thought about it and DH said we could go ahead and book, since we could get both the Halloween Party and the start of Food and Wine in with it. Plus I had not really gotten to experience all the food I wanted to last year. So I booked us at Pop for September 22nd (last day to check in and get free dining) through the 29th.

I then figure out our dining reservations, and have DH call to make them, we are redoing a bunch of last years restaurants with a new one thrown in. Which works for me. We get the basic times we want. So now all I have to do is wait for tickets for the Halloween Party to come out.

 

[tabrizia]

Last year we went to Flying Fish, Spoodles, CRT (dinner), Le Cellier, Coral Reef, Raglan Road, Jiko, Boma (breakfast and dinner), and Narcoosse. We had also had a reservation at Artist Point which we ended up canceling due to not wanting to do anything that evening.

So when I was choosing reservations for this year I did a lot of the same ones that we liked from last year. We went with Jiko, Narcoosse, Raglan Road, Coral Reef and Artist Point. We figured since it was a trip to make up for me not being able to enjoy the food I wanted last year we should go to the places I wanted to go last year and we enjoyed, even if I wasn't overly hungry. We got the basic times we wanted so we were set there. Of course I had to watch the Dis dining boards to see what people were saying, but I didn't end up changing anything, at least not till we got there.

When Halloween Party tickets came out I got our tickets and figured I was mostly set. I didn't need to do a ton of planning since I had gone through all this before. Well without the baby, but still. So I spent the next few months relaxing and not worrying about the trip to much. Till July that is...

 

[disneyfanforlife]

Yay I am the first to reply. I just found your trip report. I love to hear about baby's first trips. I can't wait to read more.

 

[Nanu57v]

Hey, where's the rest? I can't wait to see some cute pics, too!

 

[tabrizia]

Erm yeah I kind of disappeared for a bit, but I'm back and I have some pictures. Which I will add as well.

So we hit July, I am getting ready to pay for the trip at about 55 days out and DH gets the news that his company lost the contract he is on. Eep! No Disney? he learns this right before I pay, which is good since if we can't go then we still haven't really lost any money, but we only have about a week to decide what to do.

We figure the trip is going to be canceled. He interviews with the company that won his contract and they want him, with a raise, sound good to us, and he can still go to Disney, he asked about it. So yay, the trip is still on. So I pay for the trip, and relax again for awhile. I figure we just did this last year there isn't a ton I need to plan.

 

[tabrizia]

Now since DS is way to young to know what Disney is or to talk for that matter, I don't have a super excited baby to get me really excited. I do however have the DIS boards! So we buy DS his costume for the Halloween Party:

Of course I forgot how hot Disney still is in late September, but that's okay he can use the costume tonight for Halloween.

I start making actual plans and getting things ready to pack. DH and I discuss what we are going to do about diapers. DS uses cloth, and we aren't sure if we want to deal with the laundry or not. We finally decide to go for it since we can always buy disposables if we decide it is too much trouble. I decide to pack DS' clothes in ziplock gallon bags to make life easier for figuring out clothes for him, it works really well. I also write out a basic schedule for us including good places to stop for the night on the drive down, what dinners we have reserved and what parks might make sense to do which days. It is a fairly short plan, but it works out great for us.

I pack all our stuff, though not enough for the full time we are gone since we figure we can do regular laundry one night while we are there as well. We are packed and ready, except for diapers 2 days before we are leaving. We have a small suitcase which is full of clothes for the trip down, the big suitcase that is for while we are at Disney and another small suitcase with most of DS' diapers. We are more or less ready to go.

 

[tabrizia]

The plan for Thursday September 20th was that DH would work and we would leave when he got home, of course that would mean going through DC metro rush hour on a Friday so I wasn't expecting to get far.

DH decided it would be much easier if he worked from home on Thursday and then we could leave after DS' Gymboree class or whenever we were ready. Much better plan. So on that Thursday morning DH took K-line to the kennel, and then came home and started packing the car, while I dealt with the munchkin and packing our personal day bags (ie books, toys for baby etc). We were all packed and ready at 11:20am, just in time to head over to Gymboree. We figured going to Gymboree made sense since it let DS move around a bit before being stuck in the car. After Gymboree we picked up lunch and realized we had left some stuff at home. So back home we go. We grabbed the stuff we needed, headed out and realized we had still forgotten something, so we got on the road around 1:30pm. Not to bad.

We drive, well actually DH drives I sit in the back and entertain the baby. We make it out of DC without hitting traffic, yay! We were planning to stop in Rocky Mountain North Carolina for the night, but it was still fairly early when we got there so we kept going. We stopped in Fayetteville at a Hampton Inn. We went out to eat at Ruby Tuesdays since that was the only thing really about. Came back, played with the baby and went to bed.

We were not impressed by the hotel or the cost. We decided to make sure not to stop there on the way back. We did figure that we would make it to Disney on Friday though, instead of Saturday as planned so we called the reservation office to see if we could get just a single night reservation at a value for Friday night. Unfortunately they were full, and we weren't willing to spend the money on a moderate. So we decided to stay at the La Quinta closest to Disney, we like La Quinta and it was cheaper then the Value for a lot more space and free fridge, which was nice.

Anyways in the morning DS woke at 5am and won't go back to sleep, ugh. So we all got up, went to the breakfast at the hotel, packed up the car and headed out. Lots of driving went on. I looked for billboards for Disney and saw maybe 2, I was a bit disapointed considering I had seen 50+ for South of the border. We made it to La Quinta around 3 or so and settled in. We decided to go to the outlets and Downtown Disney.

I wanted to get a few more cheap pins for trading at the outlet and we did, which was nice. We then went to Downtown Disney and Cooks of Dublin for dinner. We decided to split an order of Fish and Chips, it was decent, nothing to write home about, but okay. (I have pictures of food, but haven't uploaded it yet will add it when I do).

We then went to Goofy's candy shop and got a make it yourself marshmallow, now this was great, highly recommend this it was the perfect snack/desert for us later that evening.

We got back to the hotel and DH started diaper laundry, which was needed. We relaxed for awhile and went to bed semi early since we were up so early in the morning.

Tomorrow we get to Disney World!

 

[peightonmom]

Great report so far! What a cutie you have there!

 

[Nanu57v]

Yay! This is so exciting. I really want to cloth diaper our next baby (DD did daycare, so that was too much), so I'll have to come to you for a tutorial when the next baby comes, whenever that is.

 

[tabrizia]

Thanks for all the comments so far. I am apparently motivated to post today, either that or having a baby nap on me makes it hard to do much else. So we'll get onto the actual arrival etc.


Saturday morning we wake up around 9ish and head to the free breakfast for La Quinta before packing up and heading out. We get to Pop Century around noon maybe 11am I really don't remember exactly but it was slightly before lunch time I think. Head to check in and wait in line, our room isn't ready yet, but it is exactly what I wanted, 4th floor 50s building with a King Bed, I had only requested the King Bed, but apparently Disney read my mind. Our room wasn't ready yet, but that wasn't a big deal, we got our keys to the world and headed to Magic Kingdom.

Now we hadn't actually planned to go to a park on Saturday, since I had figured we would just be arriving and such, however we did get 8 day park tickets just in case we wanted to go every day, since it was like $4 a ticket more, vs a 6 day ticket. We did not take Disney buses at all during this trip because with Mr. Flirt it was far easier to have a car in case he needed to head out quickly.

That being said, we drove over to Magic Kingdom and parked in Minnie Mouse, nice and close. We took the tram to the Transportation center anyways. We decided to just use the Mei Tei and skip the stroller for today, later on in the trip we use both. So DH puts Mr. Flirt in the Mei Tei and we're on our way. We get to the Magic Kingdom and head to the baby care center since someone needs his diaper changed and to eat. I have to say I liked all 3 of the baby care centers we visited, we never went to MGM (or Disney Studios or whatever they are calling it now) because it doesn't hold much interest to us, EPCOT's, Magic Kingdom's, and AK's baby care centers were all very nice. We probably ended up spending the most time in MK's. DH changed the wiggle worm (I didn't get pictures of this baby care center) and then I went into the nursing room and fed him. Once we were done we headed to lunch (if I remember correctly, I claim new baby brain, so my recollection of order maybe a bit off). We went to Columbia Harbor house and decided to split the soup and half sandwich. DH is allergic to meat, he can and does eat a lot of fish, but he can't eat meat, which limits options at time. We got the Veggie Chili for DH and I got half a tuna sandwich, with the apple thing for desert. It was decent, fairly good for counter service. After we finished DH wore DS again, who quickly fell asleep.

We headed over to Winnie the Pooh where I picked up fast passes and we stood in line since it wasn't too bad. DS kept sleeping all through the ride.

So he slept through his first Disney ride. Since the line was now longer then we wanted to wait through for a second ride we headed over to Buzz Light Year. No line for this so we headed through, I believe DS slept all the way through this one as well. He then woke up and seemed okay so we headed to the Laugh Floor, unfortunately he started getting fussy before we got to the seating area, so we just walked right through and headed towards the Baby Care center. Of course with perfect timing it was parade time, so we changed him and I fed him in an out of the way area since we couldn't get to the Baby Care Center. We then got fast passes for Buzz again and decided to try The People Transportation ride. This was by far the scariest ride for DS. He hated the pitch blackness of it, so we only rode it once.

After that we hit Pooh again then Buzz, I am pretty sure we did the Tea Cups as well. We also headed over and did Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion. We also stopped at the Baby Care Center again somewhere in there where DH called and got our room number.

It was evening time and we were ready to head out and get settled into our room. So we headed out to the park and back to Pop.

 

[Bashful in TN]

I'm in.

We are contemplating a trip next September with our then 6-7 month old. Looking forward to seeing how your son did.

 

[tabrizia]

So we get back to the room and decide to head over to the food court to eat. We head over and I get the Chicken Mediterranean Flatbread, not realizing it has olives on it, DH gets the Veggie Lasagna, I get strawberry milk and he gets chocolate milk, he gets chocolate cake for desert and I get carrot cake. So we sit down to eat and I realize my meal has olives, lots and lots of olives. I hate olives, green olives (which this had) make me gag, so I realize there is no way I am eating my dinner. So I go back up and get a Turkey Ciabatta instead. I also pick up a refillable mug, since it seemed like a decent idea.

After dinner we head back to the room, I deal with the baby while DH brings stuff in from the car. And brings stuff in from the car, and brings stuff in from the car. And brings even more stuff in from the car. We brought a lot of stuff . While he is bringing stuff in he starts diaper laundry so DS has diapers for Sunday. Once everything is in, we decide to see how DS likes the pool. So we get him dressed in his swimsuit and life vest and we both put on our swimsuits and we head to the bowling pin pool. DS loves the pool, I have to say it was probably one of his favorite parts of the trip. So we swim with him for about half an hour. Then we head upstairs. We head to the food court again and pick up a second refillable mug and fill both of them. We also stop at the shop and look around for a backpack type thing for me to use as a diaper bag, because the backpack I brought was way too big to cart around all day, we find a stuffable bag that we use the rest of the trip. I also pick up a hat for me, since I forgot mine. We don't find a good hat for DS though, even though we look for something, nothing looks and fits right on him.

We then head back to our room and settle in for the night.

 

[tabrizia]

So Sunday dawns, and we sleep in, and sleep in a bit more. Since we had done Magic Kingdom the day before we decided to visit Animal Kingdom today. We get ready, and head out into a rainstorm. Oops. Now I have a hat, but neither DH or DS have one, so when we get to Animal Kingdom we sit in the car a bit and wait for the rain to end. We then get on the tram and head to the entrance. We stop at the store outside the park and find a hat DH is willing to wear. We also find a pirate bandanna Mickey Mouse hat (for adults) that fits DS if we put it on him backwards. It is the best hat we've found so far for him so we decide to get it.

We then head out and find Friar Tuck and Chip and Dale outside. so we get some pictures.

Ignore DH's weird face, the baby was heavy.


We then head into the park, we head on back and get fast passes for the Safari and then head over to the train and take a ride around, without getting off. DS enjoyed his train ride. We then head to the baby care center.

I have to say of all the baby care centers we went to I like Animal Kingdom's the best, they had nice little changing and feeding rooms so DH could stay with me and keep me company while I fed DS. It was also very cute and much more modern looking then EPCOT's or Magic Kingdom's. After the baby changing and feeding we headed to Pizzafari, ugh. DH and the baby waited at a table while I waited in line. 30 minutes later I came back with our cheese pizza (to share), bread sticks, a frozen lemonade, and a coke. We were not impressed, in fact we were very unimpressed, we won't be eating there again likely. The lemonade was good, but it is kind of hard to mess that one up.

We still had a bit of time before the Safari so we headed over to see if we could watch the Nemo show, we had seen the Lion King show last year, and while it was good, we had also seen the broadway show which was way better. So our goal was just the Nemo show this time. Then we saw the line, and laughed. DS had fallen asleep by then so we walked a bit more and I went on Primeval Whirl while DH waited with the baby, he had ridden it last year, so he didn't feel the need to do it again. DS was still sleeping so we decided to head back to our room rather then to the Safari. As we headed back we saw the line for Tigger pictures, so we decided to do that. Of course it started to rain while we were doing so, but that's life. We got some cute pictures with the character's and sleeping DS which was nice. We then headed out of the park and back to our room.

DS crawled around a bit and such while we hung out in the room, and then we got ready for our first real dinner, Jiko...

 

[tabrizia]

So last year, we ate at Jiko and it was our second favorite meal after Narcoossee, so when making this years plans it was on our list of places we wanted to eat again. Too bad, we should have tried something new. Anyways, we got to Animal Kingdom Lodge and parked. We stayed here last year and we really missed it while we were at the Pop this year.

Got out of the car and headed inside and down to the restaurant. I had times wrong since I had our reservation at 7pm and they had us down for 6, oops. On the plus side they weren't that busy and we got there around 6:20 anyways. We checked in and DH went and took DS to the bathroom to change his diaper while I waited. About a nano second after he left they called our name. So I asked if we could wait till DH and DS got back, no problem. When they got back we were quickly seated. Our waiter was great, and DS was good he enjoyed eating his menu. I had some kind of Martini, can't remember which now, but it wasn't to my taste, and I normally like flavored martinis. For appetizers I got the new shrimp one which was decent, but not amazing and DH got the tamales which were good. DH got the halibut for dinner and I got the lamb. He was unimpressed which his, not much flavor. My lamb was melt off the bone, which was really nice, but the seasoning and flavors were lacking, it needed something more. For desert I had the Dulce de Leche which was good and DH had a kid's sundae (he isn't a very adventurous desert kind of guy). We both left the meal feeling kind of let down. The food was good, but it wasn't great or that exciting and it definitely wasn't as good as last year. Our waiter was great though and I left him an extra tip. We decided we probably won't be back next time we go to Disney though, the meal just didn't impress us.

We then headed back to our room where we took DS swimming again and hung out for the evening before headed to bed. It was a good day and not too busy which was nice.

 

[Poohtigeey]

Subscribing! I'm enjoying your report, reading about your cuties 1st Disney trip. You need more pictures! We've never stayed at Pop, but maybe next time. Can't wait to read more. Was it really hot when you went? Was it crowded?

 

[tabrizia]

Subscribing! I'm enjoying your report, reading about your cuties 1st Disney trip. You need more pictures! We've never stayed at Pop, but maybe next time. Can't wait to read more. Was it really hot when you went? Was it crowded?

I'll try to get up more pictures, I'm just using the ones I have online so far right now, but I do have bunches more from the photopass cd as well.

It wasn't crowded, I think the longest line we had was 15 minutes or so, and most rides were only 5 minutes or so. It was quite hot in the high 80s/low 90s every day.

 

[tabrizia]

So Monday morning dawns and I wake up early. At 7am, and this is early for me. DS and DH are still asleep, but I think, hmm if we all get up we can make it to the park for opening. So I wake them up. We get ready and head out. DH and DS wear their matching shirts/onsie with Baloo on them today as well.

We decide to take the boat to the park instead of the monorail and it works well. We also take the stroller today. We get to the park just in time for opening ceremonies yay!

We then head straight back to Dumbo. We both wanted DS to ride this but there was no way we were waiting in a long line for ir. So it worked out perfectly. I don't get a good picture of him on Dumbo since I am riding it too, but we do get a picture of him in the car outside the ride after we're done.

We then head to Ariel's Grotto, and get his picture there too. We figure that it always has a long line and since it only had a 10 minute line we might as well. DS really likes the seaweed and such.

We then head over and ride the teacups. After that we head to the train station in toontown. We grab the train and figure we'll ride the full circuit. DS starts to get fussy though so we get off on main street instead and go to the baby care center to change his diaper and feed him. We then wander about for awhile and call some friends we know who we are planning to meet up with. We decide to meet at Haunted Mansion. We meet up and say hi to everyone. We then ride the ride, DS has decided he has had enough of the park for awhile though, and after the ride we talk to our friends for awhile and then head towards the exit. On the way out we see timon and rafki so we get DS's picture with them.

We then head back to the car and Pop.

 

[Poohtigeey]

Cute pics and love the Baloo shirts!

 

[Nanu57v]

You're giving me baby fever! Your DH looks so tired and your DS looks so awake in that one pic. Also, you mentioned your DC was big, how heavy is he? Does the mei tei give you upper back pain with a heavy baby? We had the Bjorn and the answer to that is YES! My back hurt before I got my Ergo and DD did back carry.

 

[tabrizia]

He was around 20 pound during our trip. He doesn't give me back pain in the Mei Tei, but he does get heavy after about 2 hours or so. He gives DH a bit of back pain in the Mei Tei, but DH has a bad back to begin with. I love my Mei Tei, actually I just got a second one in a different brand as a holiday present. I tried to Ergo but it didn't feel right, I'm still debating a Beco eventually though.