GEM
Mommy to Paul - 1lb 7oz wonder
- Joined
- Sep 23, 1999
- Messages
- 5,054
We spent 5 nights at Saratoga Springs (Dec. 18th-23rd). This was Paul's 4th trip to the world and we had a GREAT time. I don't have time for a full report, but here are some highlights.
The flights were great. Paul was no problem. We took his carseat and he either slept or colored or watched his Video Now Jr. with no complaints at all. We also used Magical Express and it worked like a charm on arrival and departure.
Saratoga Springs was great with a toddler. We rented points from a DVC member for a studio and it was perfect. Paul LOVED the quiet pool and the playground in the Paddock area. It was the coolest playground I've seen at any of the Disney resorts. We found the bus service from there was great. No problems or complaints.
We did the Christmas party one night, and even though it was sold out, we had a great time! We didn't do any rides or anything - just the special shows, parade, and fireworks. Paul loved it all - especially the falling "snow" and the dance party with the characters in Fantasyland. He stayed awake (and happy) right up until we left the park at midnight. We closed down the party! He fell asleep on the bus and we just dropped him in bed in his clothes. Hey, we're on vacation!
Paul wasn't afraid of anything - dark rides, fireworks, characters, etc. He's just not afraid of much of anything. He loved it all.
We took our own stroller, and we were glad we did. Even though we had to lug it on and off the busses, Paul was much more comfortable than he would have been in a rented stroller. He was able to take a nice nap in his stroller each afternoon while we enjoyed some shopping or people watching.
Crowds were pretty heavy, but it didn't really impact us. We went with the plan of just doing our very favorite rides and shows, enjoying the Christmas festivities, and having a laidback time. We didn't want or need to see and do it all. With some planning (and getting up early) we did everything we wanted to do and never waited in line more than 15 minutes.
For those nursing moms out there, I (happily) noticed quite a few nursing moms out and about at the world on this trip.
Don't be afraid to nurse your little one anywhere at Disney - benches, rides, shows, restaurants, etc! It's a very breastfeeding friendly place. Paul is still nursing, but he's down to only first thing in the morning and right before bed, so we didn't do any public nursing on this trip. Although, we definately did on all three of our previous trips!
Some of Paul's favorite things this trip:
-Riding Dumbo
-Ridng Winnie the Pooh
-Riding the Jungle Cruise
-The Country Bear Jamboree
-Breakfast with Pooh and Pals at the Crystal Palace
-Breakfast with Mickey and Stitch at Ohana
-Meeting Minnie Mouse and getting to give her a kiss (He has a bit of a crush on Minnie. His favorite souvenir from the trip is a small Minnie plush wearing a pink "princess" dress. It's the only thing he begged for in any of the stores.)
-Seeing the elephants on the safari at Animal Kingdom
-The Osborne Spectacle of Lights at MGM (He kept saying, "Wow!')
-Riding the busses to the parks (His mantra every morning was, "Ride the bus, see Mickey!")
-Illuminations (This has always been one of his favorites!)
-Spacehship Earth (I don't know why, but he was nuts about this!)
-Swimming in the quiet pool at SSR
-Playing at Pooh's Playful Spot and the little playground in Toontown (He could have happily spent hours in both of those places.)
-Micky Mouse rice krispie treats!
-Riding in the basket of the Surey Bike we rented at the Boardwalk. What fun!!
-Getting his first real haircut at the Main Street Barber Shop
-Having his picture made with Santa at Downtown Disney
Also, he's obsessed with trains right now. So, hands down, his very favorite things from the trip were:
-Riding the WDW Railroad at the Magic Kingdom. We must have ridden that circuit 15 times over the five days we were there. I've never seen him get so excited about anything. He just about passed out from excitement everytime the whistle sounded - no matter where we were in the park.
-Riding the monorail. Especially when we got to ride up front from the Magic Kingdom to the Grand Floridian for our breakfast reservation. He kept saying, "I'm driving the train, Mommy! I'm driving the train!". That ride in the front cab of the monorail made every penny we spent on the trip worthwhile.
-Riding the TTA in Tomorrowland. It was train-like enough to thrill him beyond words.
-And, his absolute favorite thing: the model trains outside Germany at Epcot! He and his daddy spent two full hours watching those things while I did some shopping. He would watch them on one side and then dash across the bridge to the other side when they went through the tunnel. He was fascinated! He was having so much fun that people actually stopped to watch him watching the trains! They really were there for just over two hours - and he still was very unhappy when it was time to move on!
Anyway, those are some of our highlights. If anyone has any questions, I would be happy to try to answer them.
P.S.
The only sad moment came at Goofy's Barnstormer. He wanted to ride SO bad, but he was still way too short. He's really small for his age. Oh, well. Maybe next time!
The flights were great. Paul was no problem. We took his carseat and he either slept or colored or watched his Video Now Jr. with no complaints at all. We also used Magical Express and it worked like a charm on arrival and departure.
Saratoga Springs was great with a toddler. We rented points from a DVC member for a studio and it was perfect. Paul LOVED the quiet pool and the playground in the Paddock area. It was the coolest playground I've seen at any of the Disney resorts. We found the bus service from there was great. No problems or complaints.
We did the Christmas party one night, and even though it was sold out, we had a great time! We didn't do any rides or anything - just the special shows, parade, and fireworks. Paul loved it all - especially the falling "snow" and the dance party with the characters in Fantasyland. He stayed awake (and happy) right up until we left the park at midnight. We closed down the party! He fell asleep on the bus and we just dropped him in bed in his clothes. Hey, we're on vacation!
Paul wasn't afraid of anything - dark rides, fireworks, characters, etc. He's just not afraid of much of anything. He loved it all.
We took our own stroller, and we were glad we did. Even though we had to lug it on and off the busses, Paul was much more comfortable than he would have been in a rented stroller. He was able to take a nice nap in his stroller each afternoon while we enjoyed some shopping or people watching.
Crowds were pretty heavy, but it didn't really impact us. We went with the plan of just doing our very favorite rides and shows, enjoying the Christmas festivities, and having a laidback time. We didn't want or need to see and do it all. With some planning (and getting up early) we did everything we wanted to do and never waited in line more than 15 minutes.
For those nursing moms out there, I (happily) noticed quite a few nursing moms out and about at the world on this trip.
Don't be afraid to nurse your little one anywhere at Disney - benches, rides, shows, restaurants, etc! It's a very breastfeeding friendly place. Paul is still nursing, but he's down to only first thing in the morning and right before bed, so we didn't do any public nursing on this trip. Although, we definately did on all three of our previous trips!Some of Paul's favorite things this trip:
-Riding Dumbo
-Ridng Winnie the Pooh
-Riding the Jungle Cruise
-The Country Bear Jamboree
-Breakfast with Pooh and Pals at the Crystal Palace
-Breakfast with Mickey and Stitch at Ohana
-Meeting Minnie Mouse and getting to give her a kiss (He has a bit of a crush on Minnie. His favorite souvenir from the trip is a small Minnie plush wearing a pink "princess" dress. It's the only thing he begged for in any of the stores.)
-Seeing the elephants on the safari at Animal Kingdom
-The Osborne Spectacle of Lights at MGM (He kept saying, "Wow!')
-Riding the busses to the parks (His mantra every morning was, "Ride the bus, see Mickey!")
-Illuminations (This has always been one of his favorites!)
-Spacehship Earth (I don't know why, but he was nuts about this!)
-Swimming in the quiet pool at SSR
-Playing at Pooh's Playful Spot and the little playground in Toontown (He could have happily spent hours in both of those places.)
-Micky Mouse rice krispie treats!
-Riding in the basket of the Surey Bike we rented at the Boardwalk. What fun!!
-Getting his first real haircut at the Main Street Barber Shop
-Having his picture made with Santa at Downtown Disney
Also, he's obsessed with trains right now. So, hands down, his very favorite things from the trip were:
-Riding the WDW Railroad at the Magic Kingdom. We must have ridden that circuit 15 times over the five days we were there. I've never seen him get so excited about anything. He just about passed out from excitement everytime the whistle sounded - no matter where we were in the park.
-Riding the monorail. Especially when we got to ride up front from the Magic Kingdom to the Grand Floridian for our breakfast reservation. He kept saying, "I'm driving the train, Mommy! I'm driving the train!". That ride in the front cab of the monorail made every penny we spent on the trip worthwhile.
-Riding the TTA in Tomorrowland. It was train-like enough to thrill him beyond words.
-And, his absolute favorite thing: the model trains outside Germany at Epcot! He and his daddy spent two full hours watching those things while I did some shopping. He would watch them on one side and then dash across the bridge to the other side when they went through the tunnel. He was fascinated! He was having so much fun that people actually stopped to watch him watching the trains! They really were there for just over two hours - and he still was very unhappy when it was time to move on!
Anyway, those are some of our highlights. If anyone has any questions, I would be happy to try to answer them.
P.S.
The only sad moment came at Goofy's Barnstormer. He wanted to ride SO bad, but he was still way too short. He's really small for his age. Oh, well. Maybe next time!
