coachlevy
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2007
- Messages
- 121
I have been a fan of Disney since I was a little kid. Now I have passed this trait onto my my 20 months old son. Of course Ive been brainwashing him since birth, and boy has it worked! He adores all the characters, loves listening to Spectromagic and Illuminations (he even coordinated a dance for the latter), and looks at pictures from previous Disney trips practically every day. It is such a joy to see Disney through his eyes. Here is a recount of his 2nd trip to visit the Mouse.
Cast of Characters:
Me: 29, teacher turned stay at home mom, I love Disney and have visited 16 times.
DH: 34, teacher/track coach. Not the biggest Disney fan, but enjoys going for me.
DS: 20 month old Disney fanatic. Loves all the characters, parade music, and the castle.
Track team: DH traveled with 8 athletes and another coach for Spring Training at the Wide World of Sports. Technically, DS and I were tagalongs on this trip.
Day 1, Sunday: Departure
Before I give any details about our departure day, I must first give a little background from the preceding week. All of our bags were packed 3 days in advance and we were all so excited for the trip. We asked DS, Where are we going? and Who will we see? to which he answered, Florida and Mickey, Goofy, Minnie, Genie, and Pooh. On Friday afternoon DS had a 102.5 fever and was totally lethargic. I contemplated staying home with him because he seemed so sick. By the way, DS rarely gets sick and hadnt been sick since September. On Saturday he awoke with 103.5 fever. I made an appointment with the doctor and everything was fine. By some miracle his fever broke early in the day and he was back to himself by the afternoon. Still, I was stressed about him flying due to all of the germs. But everything worked out fine.
We left our house at 8:15 AM for the airport. DS was dressed in his Mickey t-shirt, Mickey jacket, and Mickey shoes. Here he is with his Disney pals before leaving the house:
Our flight departed on time and was very smooth. It was at DSs nap time so I thought hed sleep for most of the flight. DS had other plans and was a little crazy on the flight.
I had to feed him snacks the whole time to keep him occupied. Another thing that kept his attention was a foam puzzle of Disney Princesses that I bought at the Dollar Store. When we arrived in Orlando we walked all over the airport to catch the Disney Magical Express bus. We walked from Terminal A to B and had to go down elevators, then back up, then back down. It was quite confusing. The Magic Express was really good, although we picked up our own luggage. I heard too many stories of luggage arriving hours later and I didnt want to take any chances.
We arrived at the Caribbean Beach Hotel at 3 PM for check-in. Since we were a large group it took a long time. DS had fun running around the lobby. The hotel was nice, but we have always stayed at deluxe hotels in the past. The reason for the CB was a discounted rate through the Wide World of Sports. We stayed in Barbados #14. The hotel was fine for our needs, but I wouldnt stay there again. The hotel is enormous and too spread out It was a 5 minute walk just to get to the food court. I was also bummed that the main pool was under construction.
I probably would have liked the hotel better if Id experienced the pool.
DS had been awake since 6:30 AM so I really wanted him to take a nap so we could enjoy the evening. Luckily he took a short nap that refreshed him for our night at Downtown Disney. Before leaving, we ate dinner in the Food Court. The Food Court was adequate, although I wish they had some healthier options. DS and I shared salmon and veggies. Most people in our party ate pizza, hamburgers, and chicken fingers. After dinner we headed to the bus stop and waited 25 minutes for a bus to Downtown Disney. DS played with stickers he received during dinner and had a blast putting them on my jacket and taking them off.
Downtown Disney was very crowded so we didnt stay very long. DS enjoyed the lego creations and the character statues outside the World of Disney store. We really wanted ice cream from Ghiradelli but the line was out the door and almost to the water. Instead we walked to Haagen Daz and waited on a much shorter line for ice cream. I have never eaten Haagen Daz and boy was it delicious. I cant believe I missed out on it all these years. I shared my sundae with DS and he was in heaven. He kept saying, more ice and I couldnt shovel it in his mouth fast enough. When were at home DS eats hardly any junk food so you can imagine how good this tasted for him. After our treat we caught a bus back to the hotel and went to bed at around 10. Here we are on our way back to the hotel:
Stay tuned for our day at the MK and Epcot.
Cast of Characters:
Me: 29, teacher turned stay at home mom, I love Disney and have visited 16 times.
DH: 34, teacher/track coach. Not the biggest Disney fan, but enjoys going for me.
DS: 20 month old Disney fanatic. Loves all the characters, parade music, and the castle.
Track team: DH traveled with 8 athletes and another coach for Spring Training at the Wide World of Sports. Technically, DS and I were tagalongs on this trip.
Day 1, Sunday: Departure
Before I give any details about our departure day, I must first give a little background from the preceding week. All of our bags were packed 3 days in advance and we were all so excited for the trip. We asked DS, Where are we going? and Who will we see? to which he answered, Florida and Mickey, Goofy, Minnie, Genie, and Pooh. On Friday afternoon DS had a 102.5 fever and was totally lethargic. I contemplated staying home with him because he seemed so sick. By the way, DS rarely gets sick and hadnt been sick since September. On Saturday he awoke with 103.5 fever. I made an appointment with the doctor and everything was fine. By some miracle his fever broke early in the day and he was back to himself by the afternoon. Still, I was stressed about him flying due to all of the germs. But everything worked out fine.
We left our house at 8:15 AM for the airport. DS was dressed in his Mickey t-shirt, Mickey jacket, and Mickey shoes. Here he is with his Disney pals before leaving the house:
I had to feed him snacks the whole time to keep him occupied. Another thing that kept his attention was a foam puzzle of Disney Princesses that I bought at the Dollar Store. When we arrived in Orlando we walked all over the airport to catch the Disney Magical Express bus. We walked from Terminal A to B and had to go down elevators, then back up, then back down. It was quite confusing. The Magic Express was really good, although we picked up our own luggage. I heard too many stories of luggage arriving hours later and I didnt want to take any chances. We arrived at the Caribbean Beach Hotel at 3 PM for check-in. Since we were a large group it took a long time. DS had fun running around the lobby. The hotel was nice, but we have always stayed at deluxe hotels in the past. The reason for the CB was a discounted rate through the Wide World of Sports. We stayed in Barbados #14. The hotel was fine for our needs, but I wouldnt stay there again. The hotel is enormous and too spread out It was a 5 minute walk just to get to the food court. I was also bummed that the main pool was under construction.
I probably would have liked the hotel better if Id experienced the pool. DS had been awake since 6:30 AM so I really wanted him to take a nap so we could enjoy the evening. Luckily he took a short nap that refreshed him for our night at Downtown Disney. Before leaving, we ate dinner in the Food Court. The Food Court was adequate, although I wish they had some healthier options. DS and I shared salmon and veggies. Most people in our party ate pizza, hamburgers, and chicken fingers. After dinner we headed to the bus stop and waited 25 minutes for a bus to Downtown Disney. DS played with stickers he received during dinner and had a blast putting them on my jacket and taking them off.
Downtown Disney was very crowded so we didnt stay very long. DS enjoyed the lego creations and the character statues outside the World of Disney store. We really wanted ice cream from Ghiradelli but the line was out the door and almost to the water. Instead we walked to Haagen Daz and waited on a much shorter line for ice cream. I have never eaten Haagen Daz and boy was it delicious. I cant believe I missed out on it all these years. I shared my sundae with DS and he was in heaven. He kept saying, more ice and I couldnt shovel it in his mouth fast enough. When were at home DS eats hardly any junk food so you can imagine how good this tasted for him. After our treat we caught a bus back to the hotel and went to bed at around 10. Here we are on our way back to the hotel:

It was really funny. Next we visited Ariel to get her autograph. DS was looking for Sebastian and wasnt too thrilled with Ariel. We made our way to Peter Pan and Small World. DS loved the clock and windmills in Small World. I think we rode this ride 5 times during our stay. We checked out the Enchanted Tiki Room also (no big deal). We saw Captain Hook and Mr. Smee in Adventureland as well. DS loved both characters and laughed the whole time.
When we left dinner it was pouring rain. Thankfully I covered the stroller with the rain cover. DS did not like being under it though. I donned my yellow Mickey poncho and was ready to see World Showcase. First we went to Mexico to ride El Rio del Tiempo. DS said hi to Donald and the birds the entire time. DH walked around the market area while DS and I stopped at the Kidcot station. Here is DS proudly waving his mask:
Of course we stopped at Beaches and Cream and ordered an ice cream sundae. It was good, but paled in comparison to the Haagen Daz from last night. We finished the entire thing though. We returned to Epcot and met up with DH to watch Illuminations. DS loves to listen to this CD at home and has a little dance for it. When the music started he had a huge smile on his face and started to do his dance. He also enjoyed the fireworks and kept saying, boom, boom.
We left just before the end to beat the crowd, and returned to the room at around 10. Another great day at WDW!
Here he is hanging out at the beach:
DS recognized the statue of Roy Disney and Minnie from our pictures. He said, Roy before I noticed where we were standing. We walked through Fantasyland and it was mobbed. I decided to go to the least crowded ride in the entire park, Tomorrowland Transit Authority. I find the ride very relaxing. DS enjoyed it as well, especially the stars in Space Mountain. I didnt feel like waiting on any lines so we went to the play area in Toontown. DS ran around for awhile and had fun. We killed about 45 minutes walking and doing these activities. Next we went to Main Street to stake out a spot for the parade. The parade started at 9 PM so we got to Main St. at about 8:05. We found a spot in front of the camera shop without a problem. The cast members had a lot of activities to keep the little ones occupied. DS played with a hula hoop that was bigger than him. At least it kept him occupied:

They drove up from Bonita Springs to spend a day with us. They arrived as DS was getting autographs from Clarabel Cow and Horace. Nobody in line knew who they were, but there was still a long line. I think theyre from the original Mickey Mouse movies. I just wanted DS to have their autographs in his book. Heres a pic:
We walked to Frontierland to see Woodys Cowboy Camp again. I knew my family didnt have much time with DS so I wanted them to see him react to characters. He did all of his dancing, clapping, and calling names. I was picked to be a part of the show as the rattlesnake. I really dont like attention being called to me, but I figured no one was looking at me because they were probably watching their childrens reaction to the show. I still hated standing there with the silly hat on my head
My family decided to go on the Great Movie Ride so I went with DS to The Voyage of the Little Mermaid. He liked Ariel and was mesmerized by the entire show. I met up with my party at the Sorcerers Hat. I love how MGM is small and you can easily find your party. We walked to the Fantasmic theater, stopping for some ice cream along the way. Im not sure if DS liked the show or not. He was dancing and watching intently, but then he would close his eyes, suck his thumb, and say, all done. We left about halfway through because DS said, Mommy ears which I interpreted as it being too noisy. They really crank the music up for this show. As we were leaving we saw the beginnings of the lunar eclipse. It was very cool. I drove back to the hotel with my family. They checked into the Caribbean Beach and were given a room right near ours. DS went to bed at 10 while I wrote my trip notes and packed the bag for the next day. Another magical day at WDW!
DS was awake when I returned from my run. We visited my mom and aunts in their room before our 8:15 departure for AK. DH and the track team actually came to the park with us, but we were ditched immediately so they could ride Expedition Everest. At least I had some company for the bus ride and help with the stroller. DS was really cranky and wanted to eat the entire time he was in the stroller.
DS loved it on our last trip. Good thing were going back in a few months so we can see it. DS stayed sleeping while I took him out of the stroller to get on the bus. I was so glad for that. He slept from 11 until 2:30. He really needed it. When he woke up we put our bathing suits on and headed to the beach. DS played in the sand and water before we swam in the pool. Our time in the sun was short because we had a 5:30 reservation at Chef Mickeys. We took a 4:45 bus to MK and then walked to the CR. It started raining during our walk but we were ready with our Mickey ponchos. Chef Mickeys is my all time favorite restaurant in WDW (actually its a tie with California Grill).
