*****Official February 2015 Thread! Come check in and chat!*****

[MommyWithDreams]

I agree with your thoughts, for sure!

And I really enjoyed following along with your trip on Instagram!!

Did you guys get any dessert at Big Thunder BBQ? We got the smores bake. It was rich but really good!

I got a birthday cupcake but we didn't do dessert otherwise. We were stuffed!

 

[Gisele]

But yet another techie tissue issue. Lol

 

[ClaraOswald]

But yet another techie tissue issue. Lol

...??

 

[MadameRebecca]

13 months was our hardest age (so far) for the reasons you said. He wasn't walking at all yet (but he was very close) so it wasn't like he could crawl around.

That makes me really nervous! My daughter will be 13 months. We fly out from Australian next Sunday.

 

[ten6mom]

Found out today we are closed for Presidents Day so only 4 more work days for me!!!

Does anyone know if the magic shop and silhouette store are still open on Main Street?

Silhouette is definitely open, not sure about magic.

Magic Shop was also open this past Sunday!

 

[MissAriel94]

I'm just checking the weather on AccuWeather and it's says that on the 23-25 it's gonna be 82 degrees. And we were worried a couple months ago that it was going to be cold. I had even bought a new coat!

 

[ClaraOswald]

I put up a photo on Facebook yesterday of myself, my husband, and our son in Cars Land. My cousin pointed out that we were in shorts and t-shirts but there's a baby in the background wearing a coat and winter hat. It's funny how different people are with various types of weather.

I wore shorts and a t-shirt every day and then put a sweatshirt on some evenings. We did put pants on our son each night along with a sweatshirt. But the bulk of the day he was just in shorts and a t-shirt too. Our temps were in the 70's most of the time, a bit of the 80's. And I think the coldest was maybe mid-60's (my favorite!)

 

[jasy]

That makes me really nervous! My daughter will be 13 months. We fly out from Australian next Sunday.

I wouldn't worry too much. Every child is different.

We took my son to Disneyland at 11 months (he took his first steps in the lobby at the GCH, going after another child's balloon), and then again at 15 months. Both trips were awesome for us (flights and Disneyland) and we've taken many since (usually 2 x a year from Canada). On those trips we spent quite a bit of time in Toon Town in the little kid play area and we would let him "walk" by holding our hands, etc. We usually left our stroller parked somewhere and went around without it. We would either wear, carry him, let him walk etc. There are lots of little areas around where you can let your child "out" for a bit you just need to look for them. When he was ready for a nap we would go back to the hotel, we also spent a lot of time at the pool (we always stay onsite so we could easily make an afternoon of it)

Whether you've flown with your child before or not, think positive. I'm sure it will all go well, travelling with littles is just a very different experience all you can do it just go with it.

 

[KalamityJane]

We fly with our kids a lot, I always bring the car seat on the plane because they will usually sleep (worked this time too). As far as walking goes, we let the youngest set the pace or babywear them, generally they are in and out of the carrier. We only go for a few hours in the mornings and back to the hotel to swim, so there's ample time for baby to walk/crawl/whatever. In DCA, there's a water play area in Bug's Life that the youngers really enjoyed if it is hot enough.

 

[ClaraOswald]

I wouldn't worry too much. Every child is different.

We took my son to Disneyland at 11 months (he took his first steps in the lobby at the GCH, going after another child's balloon), and then again at 15 months. Both trips were awesome for us (flights and Disneyland) and we've taken many since (usually 2 x a year from Canada). On those trips we spent quite a bit of time in Toon Town in the little kid play area and we would let him "walk" by holding our hands, etc. We usually left our stroller parked somewhere and went around without it. We would either wear, carry him, let him walk etc. There are lots of little areas around where you can let your child "out" for a bit you just need to look for them. When he was ready for a nap we would go back to the hotel, we also spent a lot of time at the pool (we always stay onsite so we could easily make an afternoon of it)

Whether you've flown with your child before or not, think positive. I'm sure it will all go well, travelling with littles is just a very different experience all you can do it just go with it.

What areas? We couldn't really find anywhere for our son except Pixie Hollow at night when no one was over there. We must not have seen that area in Toon Town. We didn't explore that much over there. It was super crowded. When you have a son who is NOT a steady walker, especially in shoes, there just aren't any safe places. At least none we could find. So if you can be more specific, that might be helpful (though we won't be back anytime soon, I am still curious.)

We fly with our kids a lot, I always bring the car seat on the plane because they will usually sleep (worked this time too). As far as walking goes, we let the youngest set the pace or babywear them, generally they are in and out of the carrier. We only go for a few hours in the mornings and back to the hotel to swim, so there's ample time for baby to walk/crawl/whatever. In DCA, there's a water play area in Bug's Life that the youngers really enjoyed if it is hot enough.

Again, that play area in Bug's land is great for steady walkers (and if you don't mind your kid getting soaked.) But so not safe for an unsteady kid. Ours fell on his face at DCA even without the ground being wet and slippery.

I wish my kid had slept on the plane. He was in a car seat and did okay on the way down (except for getting air sick.) But on the way home he didn't want to be in his seat. Probably because he'd spent so much time the past week sitting in a stroller (which he got really sick of too.)

I am pretty jealous of you people with good travelers. We originally thought we'd try to go to Disneyland again next year. While we had a good time....we will be holding off on another trip for a few years, at least.

 

[KalamityJane]

What areas? We couldn't really find anywhere for our son except Pixie Hollow at night when no one was over there. We must not have seen that area in Toon Town. We didn't explore that much over there. It was super crowded. When you have a son who is NOT a steady walker, especially in shoes, there just aren't any safe places. At least none we could find. So if you can be more specific, that might be helpful (though we won't be back anytime soon, I am still curious.)



Again, that play area in Bug's land is great for steady walkers (and if you don't mind your kid getting soaked.) But so not safe for an unsteady kid. Ours fell on his face at DCA even without the ground being wet and slippery.

I wish my kid had slept on the plane. He was in a car seat and did okay on the way down (except for getting air sick.) But on the way home he didn't want to be in his seat. Probably because he'd spent so much time the past week sitting in a stroller (which he got really sick of too.)

I am pretty jealous of you people with good travelers. We originally thought we'd try to go to Disneyland again next year. While we had a good time....we will be holding off on another trip for a few years, at least.

Aww, poor kiddo, I didn't even think of the slippery part. We went at 17mo, and he was walking at 10mo, so he was fairly decent at walking then. Disney Junior show is a nice area at DCA too, it's just a big carpeted room.

I'm sorry the plane trip went badly

 

[ClaraOswald]

Aww, poor kiddo, I didn't even think of the slippery part. We went at 17mo, and he was walking at 10mo, so he was fairly decent at walking then. Disney Junior show is a nice area at DCA too, it's just a big carpeted room.

I'm sorry the plane trip went badly

I hadn't thought of that since we don't typically go in there. Have to remember that in the future, just in case.

Our son didn't take his first steps until around 14 months or so. And at almost 17 months he's still pretty unsteady...especially in shoes. So that did make it pretty hard for him, unfortunately.

 

[AZMermaid]

The play area is next to and inside of Goofys house. It's on the left as you walk into Toontown. It's kind of like a mall play area, which both of my kids enjoyed even as crawlers, and even outside, if you aren't super worried about dirt, this area is great. When my son was 13 months and still crawling, we also took him into the theater on main st where they show the cartoons. He could crawl around in there for a while to burn some energy and its was pretty empty. Animation building worked well too, but it was much more crowded in there this trip. I agree that an earlier Disney Jr. show would work well too. We did a later one this time, around 2:30, and it was packed to the back, but we have done the first show and it was like half full.

 

[AZMermaid]

Jill- was he able to walk the lines? I know you were hoping to not hold him too much.

 

[ClaraOswald]

The play area is next to and inside of Goofys house. It's on the left as you walk into Toontown. It's kind of like a mall play area, which both of my kids enjoyed even as crawlers, and even outside, if you aren't super worried about dirt, this area is great. When my son was 13 months and still crawling, we also took him into the theater on main st where they show the cartoons. He could crawl around in there for a while to burn some energy and its was pretty empty. Animation building worked well too, but it was much more crowded in there this trip. I agree that an earlier Disney Jr. show would work well too. We did a later one this time, around 2:30, and it was packed to the back, but we have done the first show and it was like half full.

I didn't even consider the theater on main street. Good idea!

Jill- was he able to walk the lines? I know you were hoping to not hold him too much.

Not really. A little in the Dumbo line but that's about it. It was just too hard because he wants to run off and he doesn't really understand hand-holding yet. Thankfully my husband's arm is mostly better after breaking it (twice) and having surgery...so he was able to hold him most of the time.

One thing we loved were the baby care centers. So much better to change his diaper there than in the regular bathrooms. We also used the family bathroom near Small World a lot when we were at that end of the park.

 

[mckennakendall]

Our first day in the parks was Thursday and we were there for MM and stayed until the parks closed at 9 pm. We rode 24 rides in one day! Second day we were at parks from 10:30 am, took a 1.5 hour break, and stayed until midnight. I think we rode 18 rides plus I met up with a friend of mine. We grew up together in Panama and we hadn't seen each other since 1988. I was checking FB and saw that she was at DCA. We met at Cozy Cones and had a wonderful time chatting. Today the parks are much more crowded and we are back at hotel so the kids can go swimming. We will return to the parks tonight for a 6 pm reservation at Carnation Cafe. The evening weather is fabulous and during the day it is a bit hot. However, any day at Disneyland is a great day!

 

[ClaraOswald]

Our first day in the parks was Thursday and we were there for MM and stayed until the parks closed at 9 pm. We rode 24 rides in one day! Second day we were at parks from 10:30 am, took a 1.5 hour break, and stayed until midnight. I think we rode 18 rides plus I met up with a friend of mine. We grew up together in Panama and we hadn't seen each other since 1988. I was checking FB and saw that she was at DCA. We met at Cozy Cones and had a wonderful time chatting. Today the parks are much more crowded and we are back at hotel so the kids can go swimming. We will return to the parks tonight for a 6 pm reservation at Carnation Cafe. The evening weather is fabulous and during the day it is a bit hot. However, any day at Disneyland is a great day!

Wow...that's more rides than we did over the course of 5 days! Of course, we were only in the parks for a couple hours in the morning and a couple in the evening. The joys of traveling with a toddler, I suppose. We did go on more than we expected though so I was happy with our final ride tally. And since we've been on all of the rides countless times it really wasn't a problem for us to skip a lot.

 

[Aladora]

Well, we are home now and I just wanted to post a little mini trip report.

All in all, our trip was a huge success but it didn't start out that way and it ended with one of our bags STILL missing, although the airline says it will be here tomorrow.

The day we left, our son woke up with a stuffy nose and the sniffles. By the time we got to the airport at 2:00, he was pretty miserable so we picked up some cold meds and decided to see how things went. We ended up getting to the hotel quite late for him so it was off to bed immediately. The next morning he was WAY better so we headed off to DCA to start the day. We got through the gates around 10 minutes before the end of EMH and went right to the Chamber of Commerce to get our son's DAS. There was no line at all there and we were out in less that 5 minutes with a return time on his card for RSR. On the way there we stopped at Olaf's Snow Fest and played there for a while. We stayed in DCA until after lunch and between stand by lines, return times and fast passes we went on everything we wanted to in that park. We went back to the hotel for a rest and then hit DL in the late afternoon. DL was definitely more crowded than DCA but not so bad as to be unbearable.

The next morning (Tuesday) was EMH for DL so we started there. Again, it was a bit more crowded than I hoped but not terrible. We stayed in DL until lunch and then again went back to the hotel to rest. We had early dinner reservations for Blue Bayou at 4:30 and we checked in 20 minutes early to see if we could get a waterside table. We only waited around 20 minutes and were seated at a waterside table just a few minutes after our reservation time. We finally broke the BB curse and our dinner was really quite lovely. We went on a few more rides and were back in the area at just before 7:00 to get a spot for F! My feeling about F! is that the show is really wonderful, although we all prefer WOC. Being able to sit on the cushions is nice but after a hour (30 mins before and then the length of the show), all of us were feeling a bit still and numb in the rear! Given the choice, we will skip F! and do WOC again.

Wednesday was EMH at 9:00 in DCA and we got there right at opening. The place was almost deserted. These are some photos I took that morning:





We had a great morning in DCA and left after lunch as usual. That evening we had reservations for the Chef's Counter at Napa Rose and DS was going to Pinnochio's Workshop.

I really cannot say enough great things about our dinner at Napa Rose and even though it was rather expensive, it was absolutely worth it and we will absolutely do it again.

Thursday was back to DL for our breakfast at Carnation Cafe. We did learn that if you are trying to get into the park for EMH, do NOT use the monorail. They do not open the bag check line until EMH actually starts so by the time we got on the second monorail and got into the park, it was 9:20. We spent most of the morning in DL but popped over to DCA for a bit. The evening was spent back in DL.

Friday was our last day so we did EMH at DCA and got into the park around 7:30. By 9:00 we had done RSR, TSMM, Swings, Goofy's Sky School and California Screamin' so we popped over to DL for one final Space Mountain ride and we were back at the hotel by 10:15 in time to get changed and check out.

The plan was for this to be a trip of "firsts" and it was. I had a few goals and we achieved all of them, plus one I didn't plan on.

Our firsts:
We rode in the front of the monorail.
We piloted the Mark Twain and DS got his certificate.
We had breakfast at Carnation Cafe and met Oscar.
We ate at Napa Rose chef's counter and were lucky enough to have not only Chef Gloria but also Chef Andrew there. I totally geeked out and was a giggling fan girl.
We finally saw the Tiki Room show.
DS and I rode California Screamin'. He loved it and rode it 6 more times, I did not.
Our unplanned first was that we got to ride in the rear compartment of the monorail.

The one and only negative to the entire trip was the hotel wifi, which was terrible at best, and unusable at worst. We ended up using the Sephora free wifi most days.

As I said, all in all it was an amazing trip and now I need to figure out when we can go back!

 

[jasy]

What areas? We couldn't really find anywhere for our son except Pixie Hollow at night when no one was over there. We must not have seen that area in Toon Town. We didn't explore that much over there. It was super crowded. When you have a son who is NOT a steady walker, especially in shoes, there just aren't any safe places. At least none we could find. So if you can be more specific, that might be helpful (though we won't be back anytime soon, I am still curious.)

Most of these areas are places that I found weren't really congested with people and there was some room for moving around etc. I had no problem letting my son crawl around (he wasn't one to really put stuff in his mouth) I just brought lots of wipes for his hands, etc.

DL
To the left when you first walk into Toon Town there is the little play area with the slide.
Walkway area between Matterhorn and Finding Nemo Submarines
Walkway area as you walk towards BTMRR from Fantasy Land.
Innoventions in Tomorrowland

DCA
Animation Building
Bugsland
Area outside of Monsters Inc Ride
Redwood Creek (when open)
Area in front of Paradise Bay

DLH
Rose Court Garden
Grassy area outside Adventure Tower
Grassy area next to fitness centre

 

[ClaraOswald]

Most of these areas are places that I found weren't really congested with people and there was some room for moving around etc. I had no problem letting my son crawl around (he wasn't one to really put stuff in his mouth) I just brought lots of wipes for his hands, etc.

DL
To the left when you first walk into Toon Town there is the little play area with the slide.
Walkway area between Matterhorn and Finding Nemo Submarines
Walkway area as you walk towards BTMRR from Fantasy Land.
Innoventions in Tomorrowland

DCA
Animation Building
Bugsland
Area outside of Monsters Inc Ride
Redwood Creek (when open)
Area in front of Paradise Bay

DLH
Rose Court Garden
Grassy area outside Adventure Tower
Grassy area next to fitness centre

When were you there when you were able to use these areas? I don't know if it's because huge chunks of the parks were closed or what, but a lot of those areas were very congested during our visit. No walkways were open enough for him to safely toddle. Also, a lot of the ground is quite bumpy with the themed pavement and him not being great in his shoes = disaster waiting to happen. Even on solid ground, he falls easily. The area outside Monsters Inc was also super crowded which I think it because of the Frozen stuff. I think the Animation building has been taken over by Frozen too. That crap is just a thorn in my side. Blech. Innoventions was okay. Except the entire downstairs was closed. The upstairs had a fair amount of people but at least it was something. The area in front of Paradise Bay was closed off because of the World of Color refurbishment. Bugs Land was also always crowded. Though to be fair, we didn't spend tons of time in DCA because there just wasn't enough for us to do...and there isn't enough shade in the park, overall.

I honestly think if less rides and lands were closed, it would have made walkways and stuff much less congested. But it's over now. And I don't think we'll return with any future children until they are steady on their feet.