My first trip with children - will I survive? A pre-trip report...

[golden1]

This trip has been 11 months in the making.

Okay, that's not really true.

This trip has been 11 YEARS in the making.

I have always loved WDW. I went many times growing up. This is one of the few perks of being a child of divorce, twice as many family vacations due to parental guilt. The weird thing is, I am not a huge Disney fan. I was never into Mickey and friends, more of a Warner Bros. fan to be honest. (I know - BLASPHEMY!) But I absolutely LOVED Walt Disney World, and I still do.

In 1995, I roped my reluctant fiance (now DH ) into having our honeymoon at WDW. To tell you the truth, it was not my best vacation ever, but one thing I remember were moments where I would think, "Someday, we'll bring our child/ren to see this."

We went twice more in 1999 (part of a DCL vacation) and 2000. By far the best trip was the 2000 trip. We went with my in-laws and they turned out to be great traveling companions. They are, seriously, the best human beings I have the pleasure of knowing. I tell my dh all the time that he should thank God for having such wonderful parents. We had such a blast on that trip.

In 2001, I became pregnant and in 2002 we were blessed with a beautiful daughter we named Aurora. Now I SWEAR this name has nothing to do with Sleeping Beauty. My husband and I are into celestial names (as you will see when we get to my son).

In 2004 we had my son, Orion (see, I told you so!). With two young children, and me being a SAHM, I was not up to travelling with young children. So my dream had to wait.

Early this year, my DH and I started discussing when we should go. Our kids were 3.5 and 1.5 and it seemed like they were getting to the age where they would enjoy it. Since dh is not a Disney person, I expected him to agree to go in - oh, 2015 or so. To my surprise, he said that we should go this year or next year. Yes! My first Disney vacation with the kids would be a reality!

 

[WDW Poly Princess]

Oooh, just a few days left!

I always say that I want to have kids just to take them to WDW! I bet you'll have a great time rediscovering it all through their eyes!

 

[golden1]

I guess it is time to introduce the cast now:

Judi, 33, SAHM for the last 4.5 years, a chemist in my former life, currently getting my M.S. in Plastics Engineering. A bit analytical, very low maintenance for a female, pretty much type B, except when it comes to WDW planning.

DH, 34, Chemical Engineer, not a big WDW fan. His first and last trip as a child was in the middle of February, offsite, in the middle of a Florida cold snap. He is going for the sake of the kids and I. I am secretly hoping he will see how happy the kids are and agree to go more often than the "one trip per 3-4 years " plan that he currently has. He has had no desire to do any of the planning which I don't mind because I love it.

Aurora, 4.5, princess-lover and super girlie-girl. A nice girl if somewhat high maintenance. I have been prepping her for this trip for a year now. She is very excited and is ready to meet the princesses! In the interest of keeping her relaxed and calm about this trip, I have been telling her in detail about the parks, hotels etc... but mom still has a surprise or two up her sleeve!

Orion, 2.5, is pretty much oblivious to the WDW excitement. He knows we are going to WDW but doesn't really know what it is all about yet. He os a pretty laid back kid but I am a little worried about his reaction to the characters. We went to the Rainforest cafe last week and he was scared of some of the animatronics which has me worried. When the gorillas started to move, he would cry and cower in his seat. On the bright side, he did get used to them and by the end of the meal he was making monkey noises right along with them. He is a pretty active kid who is in love with trains and I think he will enjoy the playgrounds and the WDW railroad more than anything else.

 

[golden1]

I get the green light from DH in early January and I hopped right on the WDW vacation to price out a trip. Ever since AKL opened, I have been dying to stay there. I priced 6 nights at AKL savannah view and realized it was a little out of my budget. I start looking at Moderates. Then dh gives me a call. Apparently one of his colleagues is a DVC member and clues him in on renting points. The only down side is it would shorten our vacation to 5 nights since the weekend points are so high. He thinks this is the way to go and wants to rent a 1 bedroom to have a room for us to hang out in after the kids go to sleep. So I price this out and it is only a bit more than a moderate for a BWV standard 1 bedroom villa. I talked to my in-laws who enthusiastically agreed to come with us (yes!) and we decided to rent a studio for them. I put a request out there and found a great DVC'er who called and found availability for the second week of December. Awesome!

I was happy to be going but a little bit sad that we would only be going for 5 days. In March, I heard about the family suites at All Star Music and started convincing DH that it a wise fiscal choice, because airfare and park tickets would be the same $$$, we'd just have to pay for the hotel and food. He agreed and I went ahead and made reservations for the two days previous to our BWV reservation. So now I had the week long trip I really wanted!

In June I made my ADRs and was able to get my princess a date with Cinderella at the castle. I used TGM and Unofficial guide along with great advice and hammered out an itinerary.

 

[The Sweetness]

Sounds like you are going to have a fantastic time! I am going to be bringing my little one Ariel (yes, she IS named after the princess) for her first visit Also, my DD15, who has always enjoyed WDW but we havent been since '99 (last vaca was in '02, and DH put his foot down and insisted on USF and SW instead for that trip) Unfortunately, as I am writing this, I realize that this may well be the only time I get to take both my daughters on a magical vaca, as Heather's 15, and not exactly a little girl anymore

 

[golden1]

Thanks Sweetness! I actually considered the name Ariel when I didn't know if ds was a boy or girl.

Well, I finally hammered out a plan and here are the details:

Fri Dec 8th: Flight leaves at 7am, arrives in Orlando by 10:15pm.
At hotel by noon, I hope - All Star Music Family Suites. I requested an early check in so we'll see how that goes
5pm at the Hoop de doo Revue.

Sat Dec 9th: 8:15am Cinderella Royal Table ressie with just DD.
Tour Fantasyland, Toontown and Frontierland courtesy of Tour Guide Mike.
Lunch at MK.
Evaluate crowds and either stay at MK or take monorail to Epcot and tour World Showcase. Perhaps just rest at resort instead. If we feel u[ to it, Spectro is at 8pm.

Sun Dec 10th: Check out of ASM , head to Epcot - Tour FW
My in-laws arrive at 2pm or so, check into BWV with them once they call us and rest at hotel. Ditch kids and head to 7:15pm ressie at Le Cellier. Watch illuminations and head back to hotel.

Mon Dec 11th: MGM Day

8:05am ressies for Playhouse Disney breakfast for Mom, Dad and the kids.
Meet in-laws later (they like to sleep in). Tour MGM.
4:00pm ressies FDP Mama Melrose.
6:00pm Osbourne Lights
7:00pm Fantasmic

Tues Dec 12th: MK day
Tour the rest of MK at a leisurely pace
11:30am Crystal Palace lunch
6pm Wishes

Wed Dec 13th: AK day
Tour AK until 5:30pm. Ditch kids again and head to AKL for 6:10pm dinner at Boma. Take bus to DTD for 9pm La Nouba

Thursday Dec 14th: Free day
DD has a date (she doesn't know it yet!) with Aurora at the Perfectly Princess Tea party! I will probably meet dh later at MK but we will either rest this day or tour wherever we want!

Fri Dec 15th: Epcot Morning
Tour Epcot leisurely
11:20pm Garden Grill
Tour Epcot until 2pm when we have to get to ME bus for our departure.


That is it in a nutshell. It will be interesting to see how my plans turn out!

 

[Mrs.Reese]

Can't wait to hear your trip goes...

 

[golden1]

The week before our trip was a flurry of activity. I bought those last few supplies. I kept eyeing the weather report hoping it would not snow the day we left. I have had flights delayed and cancelled due to weather before so I was paranoid. It seemed that there might be a few flurries and very cold but otherwise it looked promising. My dd came down with an ear infection 6 days before we left but Zithromax took care of that.

It was the night before Disney and I was filled with trepidation. I had planned this trip for 11 months. Could it possibly live up to the hype? Would my dh assume a Grumpy role or would he rise to the occasion. My kids had never been on a plane before - would they be okay? How would they handle the WDW experience?

To be continued in the trip reports forum.....