I Suppose the Baby Can Come, As Well-A December 2013 PTR Updated 12/13* TR Link Up

[MEK]

How wonderful that you got a last minute trip to the world. Probably was a smart idea to leave those vouchers at home. Much too tempting!

Landon is adorable and is probably wondering what all the fuss is about. Soon enough you will understand Landon - soon enough!

Glad you guys tried WPE. It's always good to spice things up a bit, right? The pizza looks yummy!

 

[amazingact21]

Yay for a last minute get away. And you got to go to DTD?!!!! I'm glad your mother in law liked it. So did you find out what vinyl was in the box you bought as a gift? Yes I am nosy.

Haha, they got Spider-Woman. I'll admit, we were happy we picked the box we did.

Live and learn. That's why we always try to drive at night!

We definitely learned our lesson there. On the way back, we left at midnight, and it was much easier, in comparison.

Sorry Alex, but I have to admit, I'm a WPE fan. I think it was probably a good call.

He said he'd eat there again, someday, so alls well that ends well.

It is definitely great to have an extra set of hands. That way you actually have someone to ride with, even when you do use Rider Swap.

Alex perfers to ride the coasters with someone. I've done both, so I don't mind, but it will be nice to not have to worry about rider swap if there's a ride both of us really want to do. Plus, I can always fib about how long the wait was to our babysitter.
"Sorry it took so long, Mom, the wait was almost 40 minutes! No, of course we didn't go into some stores or walk around after we were done. What makes you think we did?"

Try pushing a double stroller from Casey's to Adventureland in front of Crystal Palace right after Wishes...

Nope. No way. That just sounds bad.

I'm glad that she's starting to see it in that light. Seems like a great opportunity for her to see her son and grandson, and you guys, to enjoy the parks and visit her with her proximity to the World.

My MIL loves to make cracks that so long as Alex and I love Disney, she knows she's guranteed visits since she's close to Orlando.

Glad you got a nice little taste of Disney!

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It was a nice little getaway, and now I'm really impatient for our real trip!

So, I was totally excited for you when I read that y'all made a spur of the moment road trip and yet had no idea where you were going. Then I saw DTD and my excitement went through the roof! I LOVE that y'all were able to make a short trip there and it sounded like it was an awesome day. I'm glad that you were able to get that "trial run" in! And I'm really glad that Alex's Mom made sure to tell you how much she enjoyed the day!

I know I've said it before, but I just can't get over how adorable Landon is!

We were really excited, too. It was just what Alex and I needed. We were getting a little stir crazy not going anywhere. To go from 3 trips a year to none in 10 months was hard! So, we both feel a little saner now that we got a short break. We can survive these last few weeks, now.

That's great that you were able to get in a mini-semi-Disney trip! Nothing like a taste of the magic and a trial run with baby. Very cool day!

I'm very grateful we got a trial run in with the baby. It taught us a lot and got rid of that, "Holy cow, we have to navigate this crowded park with an infant!" anxiety.

How awesome that you got a little unexpected disney visit! That's pretty exciting, and a great way to judge how Landon will take everything. Not long till the trip itself now!

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I know! October needs to quicken the pace, for both of us!

How wonderful that you got a last minute trip to the world. Probably was a smart idea to leave those vouchers at home. Much too tempting!

Landon is adorable and is probably wondering what all the fuss is about. Soon enough you will understand Landon - soon enough!

Glad you guys tried WPE. It's always good to spice things up a bit, right? The pizza looks yummy!

I really enjoyed WPE, and I'd gladly return there for another lunch.


I have no delusions that Landon will give me a lot of those "what?" looks on this trip, and probably for the next 18 years, but Alex and I hold out hope that he'll enjoy Disney as an adult.

 

[Disney9.9.10]

What a great little weekend away! It is great that you were able to do that, and give yourselves a bit of a test run (and some Disney magic!!) before your trip. It takes us a whole weekend just to drive to WDW, so we don't get to take those little trips lol I love that baby's first Christmas ornament!! So cute

 

[MeeskaMomma]

Eps hat fun! What a great dose of Disney!!!!

 

[amazingact21]

What a great little weekend away! It is great that you were able to do that, and give yourselves a bit of a test run (and some Disney magic!!) before your trip. It takes us a whole weekend just to drive to WDW, so we don't get to take those little trips lol I love that baby's first Christmas ornament!! So cute

Alex and I try to never take advantage of the fact that we live so close to Disney. We know not everyone can do these sort of trips. Plus, with his career, we predict we'll move out of state eventually, so the days of dropping by DTD are limited.

What a great dose of Disney!!!!

It was a great little dose of Disney. Just the thing we needed to make it through these last few weeks before our trip.

 

[dtr_angel]

just realized you had this going! Read through and will continue to follow!

Planning with a baby is tough, but I'm sure he will be fine. who knows, maybe Landon will be like Gavin and sleep better on vacation? We never should have left Disney in May haha. LOL I guess I was one of those parents arguing with The Land CM, but Gavin was asleep.

 

[amazingact21]

just realized you had this going! Read through and will continue to follow!

Planning with a baby is tough, but I'm sure he will be fine. who knows, maybe Landon will be like Gavin and sleep better on vacation? We never should have left Disney in May haha. LOL I guess I was one of those parents arguing with The Land CM, but Gavin was asleep.

That'd be fantastic! For the past few days, Landon's been fighting naps and waking up about 3 hours earlier in the morning, so I'm hoping he sleeps better on vacation. At the very least, even if he doesn't, at least I'll have Disney to look around and keep me entertained through the lack of sleep.

 

[amazingact21]

Day 3 Plans (Tues, Dec. 3rd):



Unarguably, this is the day Im looking forward to the most. When youre sitting at home, dreaming about that perfect Disney day you are going to have soon, this is the day I imagine. I combined some of my favorite attractions, events, and food together to make one heck of a Disney day.


It all begins really early.


Like 6:00am early.




The four of us will drive to the TTC probably around 7:30 and take the monorail to the Magic Kingdom.


Are the monorails open that early?




This is something Ive never thought of before. Hmm.


Anyways, well all get to the Magic Kingdom someway or another.


And I want us there pretty early.


Not to just stare at the gorgeous holiday decorations.





But because we have an 8:35am breakfast at:





Ive heard nothing but great things about pre-park opening meals at Crystal Palace, and Im excited to finally experience it for myself.



Plus, Im not too proud to say it; I want those infamous empty Main St. photos Ive seen so many times.


Getting a shot of Landon in front of Cinderellas Castle with the Christmas decorations set up is a big Must-Do, and to have the opportunity to do it while there arent wall to wall crowds in front, behind, and around us is too good to pass up.


So, if all goes according to plan, my group will get to the park a little after 8 oclock. Theyll piddle around while I take a million pictures and pose them in front of various statues, and by our reservation time, everyone will be ready to get a break from all the Kodak moments.


This should be an interesting meal.



It will be Landons first character interaction of the trip, so this will determine whether or not I can keep some of my meet and greet fastpasses, or if I need to run the other way every time Mickey makes an appearance.





Im really hoping he, at the very least, tolerates the characters. It would be a bummer to not get a picture of him with some of the Fab 5 characters.


What gives me hope is the fact that he loves his plush toys, so hes familiar with their faces and bodies.


His top 2 favorites?
Why, thatd be Sully from Monsters Inc. (We were out in public the other day, and a little girl passed by with a Sully doll, and Landon started laughing and bouncing. It was adorable.)


His number one favorite character, though&.


That spot belongs to&





The chubby little cubby all stuffed with fluff.


Landon loves his Pooh Bear.




I made the Crystal Palace reservation long before I learned of this love, but Im so very relieved that I did. This kid is crazy about Winnie the Pooh. Even the theme song must be sung to him a few times a day.


So, if theres ever a test about his character tolerance, Pooh Bear is the one. If he cant stand his best buddy, then theres no hope for the others.





Once breakfast is over, the park will have been opened for awhile, so I dont suspect there will be many deserted queues and abandoned streets to enjoy.


Still, well wait in lines for some of our favorites.


All of which, ironically, are in the direction of Adventureland.




I doubt I will be able to resist my favorite dark ride in the park.





And if we go on my favorite, itll only be fair that we take a tour on Alexs.





Jungle Cruise should be a lot of fun on this trip, because Disneys changing it to a holiday theme.



Itll be the Jingle Cruise!



Supposedly, there will be a new script read by the skippers with new festive jokes.



Alex cant wait.



Since Ill be in the area, I will check out the wait time for Thunder Mtn. and hopefully get to ride it for the first time in over 2 years.





My goal is to make up for lost time and ride BTMRR as many times as possible. I need to ensure I get my mountain fix before I leave, just in case I have another 2 year gap between ride experiences.




I have no doubt that in addition to riding some of the attractions, Ill take too many pictures of the castle and the decorations.






I would be surprised if the Baby Care Center and the Emporium werent visited on our way out of the park; thats just the price that comes with going to Disney with an infant and Alex.




My group plans on going back to Pop in the early afternoon and recouping with naps and some pool time. If my mother is in a sweet mood, shell wake up a little earlier and watch Landon while Alex and I nap, because I have this sneaky feeling the little boy is going to do all his sleeping in the stroller.


I suspect by our allotted afternoon break times, Landon will just want to hang out on the resort floor and play with all his toys for awhile.


So our normal nap times will become the baby shuffling game. A different person takes him each day.





I suppose the upside to this foreseeable lack of sleep is that I am more conditioned to running on fumes since becoming a mom. It used to be, if I only got 4 hours of rest, Id be a zombie the following day.


Now, though, 4 hours is plenty to refuel me and keep me going.





Whatever direction our break takes, the four of us will head to our next park that evening.





The lovely Hollywood Studios:






I have Fastpasses for TSMM for all of us between 4:00 and 5:00pm, so thatll be where we head to first.






Its a strange concept.


Going to DHS and getting on TSMM. I wont know what to do with myself when I dont have to partake in the running with the bulls chaos at park opening anymore.





Alex and I have been debating who gets stuck with the baby on this ride.




Were not overly competitive people, but we do like to challenge each other and see who can win. And now that I know its possible for me to, Im going to have the taste of victory in my mouth and want to keep my streak (of 1) going.



Perhaps I can sweet talk my mother into taking Landon?



Originally, I was just going to plan on us riding twice, and swap baby duty after each time. But then I scored the fastpasses for this evening, so I am leaning towards spending our Studios morning doing meet and greets.


That being said, if Landon hates the characters, Ill know by that evening that we can shift our plans back to riding TSMM again rather than get in character lines.




Thats something I cant predict until we are actually on our trip.




After Toy Story Mania, Alex and I will head over to Sunset Blvd. to use our Fastpasses for Rock N Roller Coaster.









Alex and I normally go on this attraction multiple times in a day, but I believe we will be content with the one spin.


Okay, maybe content isnt the right word, but well deal.


I know I wont mind too much, because waiting on the other side of the park will be my absolute favorite event at WDW.



Before heading over there, well grab a quick dinner somewhere. (Probably ABC Commissary; Alex liked his dish the last time we were there.)



Just as the sun is setting, I will settle the four of us in the middle of the Streets of America and wait for my favorite show.



If I could only do one thing at Walt Disney World ever again, Id pick this. Its one of my main motivators for going to the parks during the holidays.



You know what it is&.









I love, love, love the Osborne Lights!




I went back to my trip report from Dec. 2010, when I first saw them, and read this:



I wanted to stay there forever. The whole atmosphere put me in such a happy mood. Everywhere I looked people were dancing and singing. We passed by a young family and their baby was having the time of his life. He ran into DBF a few times, because he was too busy looking up to watch where we was moving.
Seeing him made me want to bring my own children to the lights someday.



I actually remember the little boy I was referring to, and I recall thinking how amazing those lights would be to a young child. It was at that moment that I decided I wanted all my kids first trips to be during the holiday season.


And 3 years later&.





I know that sounds like such a sappy story, but it is one of those things that make this upcoming trip so special. For years I dreamed about watching my future child take in all the dancing lights, to hold them and dance to Christmas music inside the Disney park. And here we are&about to make a dream of mine come true.






Not to mention, my mom has never seen the lights before, either. So while Landon is experiencing all the holiday festivities, so will my mother. Disneys bringing together the young and old alike.



Not to say my mothers old, per say.



But, well, she is a grandma.







If Alex can tear me away from the lights before the park closes at 8 oclock, well head over to Star Tours and use our last Fastpasses of the day. Neither of us love the attraction, so if we skip it, it wont hurt anyones feelings.


Thats not to say we dont like Star Tours; its just not a must do. In fact, we cannot go on it more than once without experiencing motion sickness, which doesnt exactly add brownie points to the ride.




With the park closing so early (as of right now) it will be an early night for our crew. Im sure we will all be tucked into our rooms by 9:30pm, which the mother in me is relieved about. Landons normal bedtime here at home is 10-10:30pm, and we usually begin the nighttime routine around 9. So to get a little normalcy into his schedule will be nice.


Maybe it wont make him have a meltdown the following day or will ensure a decent nights sleep.


Who knows?



But rounding out such an eventful day with a quiet night should be just the thing all of us need. Itll revive our energies for Day 4!

 

[Queenofallthings]

That sounds like a perfect day! The story of the little boy with the lights brought a tear to my eye. I can't wait to see pictures of Landon there!

My oldest niece's favourite character was Pooh and when she saw him she was in love! She was 2 and didn't play strange at all...I hope you have that same kind of pixie dust!

 

[teekathepony]

What a wonderful day! Love the early pre-park breakfast with Pooh AND the Osborne lights in the same day. Awesome!

 

[afwdwfan]

It will be Landons first character interaction of the trip, so this will determine whether or not I can keep some of my meet and greet fastpasses, or if I need to run the other way every time Mickey makes an appearance.

I know this feeling all too well. We had one that loved the characters on her first trip. Another, not so much. Good luck!

Landon loves his Pooh Bear.

Who doesn't?

Itll be the Jingle Cruise!



Supposedly, there will be a new script read by the skippers with new festive jokes.

Wow, I hadn't heard about this! Sounds like fun.

My goal is to make up for lost time and ride BTMRR as many times as possible. I need to ensure I get my mountain fix before I leave, just in case I have another 2 year gap between ride experiences.

You can never get enough Thunder Mountain.

Alex and I have been debating who gets stuck with the baby on this ride.




Were not overly competitive people, but we do like to challenge each other and see who can win. And now that I know its possible for me to, Im going to have the taste of victory in my mouth and want to keep my streak (of 1) going.

When you hold the baby, and still win, it just gives you even more bragging rights. Just sayin'...

Alex and I normally go on this attraction multiple times in a day, but I believe we will be content with the one spin.


Okay, maybe content isnt the right word, but well deal.

Maybe the line will be really short and you won't have to "deal." One ride on this one is definitely not enough.

I went back to my trip report from Dec. 2010, when I first saw them, and read this:



I wanted to stay there forever. The whole atmosphere put me in such a happy mood. Everywhere I looked people were dancing and singing. We passed by a young family and their baby was having the time of his life. He ran into DBF a few times, because he was too busy looking up to watch where we was moving.
Seeing him made me want to bring my own children to the lights someday.



I actually remember the little boy I was referring to, and I recall thinking how amazing those lights would be to a young child. It was at that moment that I decided I wanted all my kids first trips to be during the holiday season.


And 3 years later&.





I know that sounds like such a sappy story, but it is one of those things that make this upcoming trip so special. For years I dreamed about watching my future child take in all the dancing lights, to hold them and dance to Christmas music inside the Disney park. And here we are&about to make a dream of mine come true.

This... This is why those of us who hang out around the Disboards love Disney World and want to share it with our friends and families. These are the memories that it is all about. Not sappy at all.

Not to say my mothers old, per say.



But, well, she is a grandma.

If she reads this, you're in so much trouble.

Maybe it wont make him have a meltdown the following day or will ensure a decent nights sleep.


Who knows?

You won't know until you're there, unfortunately. Again, between our 2 kids, on their first trips, DS didn't sleep well no matter what, and DD was pretty good about going with the flow, napping in the stroller and sleeping at night. You know, when there weren't drunk people kicking the door.

 

[dtr_angel]

Your plans look great! We LOVED getting into MK early for our CP breakfast. We got the best pictures of Gavin in front of the castle! Landon's late normal bedtime should work to your advantage in Disney!

 

[Disney9.9.10]

Sounds like a great day! I've heard amazing things about CP before park opening and we have this on our list to do for our next trip as well. It is really great to see the park so empty! I hope that Landon likes meeting his buddy Pooh so that you can really enjoy your meal. And the Jingle cruise sounds awesome, I'm glad that they decided to do that (and hope that they will do it again sometime when I am there!)

It is so strange to think about going to DHS and not making the mad dash for TSM at rope drop, isn't it??

I loved your story about the Osborne Lights. It makes me so sad to think that we might not get to take our kids to see them. I really hope that Disney comes up with some kind of plan for them because they are really unlike anything I've ever experienced.

 

[amazingact21]

That sounds like a perfect day! The story of the little boy with the lights brought a tear to my eye. I can't wait to see pictures of Landon there!

My oldest niece's favourite character was Pooh and when she saw him she was in love! She was 2 and didn't play strange at all...I hope you have that same kind of pixie dust!

I'm hopeful that Landon will love meeting Pooh. It'd be great to get a picture of him with his favorite character to hang in his room.

What a wonderful day! Love the early pre-park breakfast with Pooh AND the Osborne lights in the same day. Awesome!

If all goes well, this is going to be a fantastic day.

I know this feeling all too well. We had one that loved the characters on her first trip. Another, not so much. Good luck!

With characters, it's always a coin toss on how they'll do. Won't know until we try.

When you hold the baby, and still win, it just gives you even more bragging rights. Just sayin'...

I think if anyone's capable of that, it'll be Alex. Then, I'll never hear the end of it.

You won't know until you're there, unfortunately. Again, between our 2 kids, on their first trips, DS didn't sleep well no matter what, and DD was pretty good about going with the flow, napping in the stroller and sleeping at night. You know, when there weren't drunk people kicking the door.

Landon's a really good nighttime sleeper, so I'm optimistic that he'll be all right in the hotel room. But he hates napping, so I'm sure we'll have a day or two where he melts down in the stroller. At least we're prepared for it.

Your plans look great! We LOVED getting into MK early for our CP breakfast. We got the best pictures of Gavin in front of the castle! Landon's late normal bedtime should work to your advantage in Disney!

I can't wait for those pictures on Main Street.

Sounds like a great day! I've heard amazing things about CP before park opening and we have this on our list to do for our next trip as well. It is really great to see the park so empty! I hope that Landon likes meeting his buddy Pooh so that you can really enjoy your meal. And the Jingle cruise sounds awesome, I'm glad that they decided to do that (and hope that they will do it again sometime when I am there!)

It is so strange to think about going to DHS and not making the mad dash for TSM at rope drop, isn't it??

I loved your story about the Osborne Lights. It makes me so sad to think that we might not get to take our kids to see them. I really hope that Disney comes up with some kind of plan for them because they are really unlike anything I've ever experienced.

With all they hype that the Jingle Cruise is getting already, I'd be surprised if it wasn't a success and they didn't bring it back.

I've set a pretty high precedent for any future kids. All right, you're brother got to see the Osbourne Lights his first Christmas, guess we have to do it again with you.

 

[Dugette]

Yeah, that sounds like a pretty great Disney day!

We're doing a pre-park-opening Crystal Palace also and I'm so excited to get pictures of her walking towards the castle! I bet Landon will love seeing his Pooh bear come to life!

Can't wait to experience the Jingle Jungle Cruise!

It is going to be so weird to not have to do the dash to TSMM. Yay! I saw in another TR that the couple had their daughter sitting right between them...I'm hoping we'll be able to do that, so that we can both fully play. We'll see.

Love your bit about the Osborne Lights! I can't wait for that!

Nice that Landon's normal bedtime won't be too much different than at home. Hope that helps everybody!

 

[MagicShell]

Sounds like a great day! I LOVE Crystal Palace breakfast. Pooh is my favorite too. I hope Landon likes Pooh and the other characters.

 

[amazingact21]

Yeah, that sounds like a pretty great Disney day!

We're doing a pre-park-opening Crystal Palace also and I'm so excited to get pictures of her walking towards the castle! I bet Landon will love seeing his Pooh bear come to life!

Can't wait to experience the Jingle Jungle Cruise!

It is going to be so weird to not have to do the dash to TSMM. Yay! I saw in another TR that the couple had their daughter sitting right between them...I'm hoping we'll be able to do that, so that we can both fully play. We'll see.

Love your bit about the Osborne Lights! I can't wait for that!

Nice that Landon's normal bedtime won't be too much different than at home. Hope that helps everybody!

That is the advantage of taking your DD at her age, you can get those shots of her walking in Disney! I bet that will be wonderful to see.

Hmm, maybe we can get Landon to sit between us...he's so wiggly, though, I'm not too confident about that.

Sounds like a great day! I LOVE Crystal Palace breakfast. Pooh is my favorite too. I hope Landon likes Pooh and the other characters.

It should be a wonderful day!
Between Pooh and Tigger (he loves the color orange) I think Landon is going to have a great breakfast.

 

[amazingact21]

Hello all! I hope everyone had a good Halloween last night.



We’ve took Landon to a pumpkin patch a few weeks ago so he could pick out the ones he wanted us to carve.








And then, yesterday, we all dressed up and handed out candy to trick or treaters. The great thing about our neighborhood is that it’s a candy hot spot on Halloween. We kind of have the ideal route for families. It’s a guarded community with lots of young kids, and the streets are an outer and an inner loop, so people actually drive here for Halloween.


Since Landon is still a little young to take trick or treating, Alex and I just set up a little candy station in our garage. We even had the Boo to You Parade and Hallowishes soundtrack playing!



The little guy was:




A dragon!



Which he hated.








I think all our friends and family expected us to put him in a Disney costume, so it was shocking to everyone when he wasn’t.



We like to shake things up around here.




Now that the holiday is over and the leftover candy is screaming at me from the kitchen, I can say…


I’M GOING ON VACATION THIS MONTH!


And, more importantly…


I’M GOING TO DISNEY NEXT MONTH!





Ahhh!



It hit me like a sack of bricks this past week that I’m getting seriously close to my trip.


On Wednesday, Alex retrieved the mail and we got our MICKEY MAIL!



Yes!






A few days before getting that lovely package, I went on Amazon and ordered a few things that I’m hoping will make our time in Disney a little bit easier.



A huge package of disposable bibs for when we are at restaurants.


Whoever came up with this idea is a genius.


Actually, I take that back.


Whoever came up with the food catcher at the bottom is the real genius.



Because I’m pretty sure my kid tries to hide snacks for later in his highchair every night.





I also bought Landon some protective earmuffs for the nighttime shows.







We were a little worried he wouldn’t like them, but they seem to be really comfortable, and Landon doesn’t mind not being able to hear. I’m excited to see how well they work while we’re there.




Finally, with the Mickey Mail and the earmuffs sitting by my desk and my countdown in the 30s, I figured out that I’m running out of time to get all my little things done. So, I made a spreadsheet for the month of November, and if I stick with it, then I shouldn’t be scrambling at the last minute.





I can’t believe I’m down to mere weeks before we head out for a 2 week vacation. Kind of blows my mind that this trip I have been daydreaming about for a year is almost upon us. The next step will be getting our MagicBands, and then anticipation is just going to about kill me!

 

[UGAFan0829]

Oh my goodness...how exciting that time is ticking down so quickly! I loved seeing your spreadsheet! You are too orgaized!

Of course Landon was too adorable in his costume...and I have to add that I too, was a little surprised that it wasn't a Disney one. But he still rocked it out to total cuteness, either way!

Mickey Mail is the absolute best. I think for me--that's the definite realization factor for our trips...once we get it, then I know it's really real! lol!

 

[Dugette]

What a cute little dragon!

Yay for the trip coming up so soon!

We also did that ordering-things-from-Amazon-for-the-trip thing. I was just going through the box today. Good times!