Our 1st family trip without a diaper bag! Jan 2012 PTR

[princess&her4princes]

Hi Everyone!

I'm back and ready to get a PTR started! I hope you join me these next couple of months and help with my trip planning!

For those who don't know me, my name is Kristen, I am a 38 year old Disney lover and a stay at home Mom to my 3 beautiful sons and more recently became a Disney vacation specialist, to allow me help others do what I love to do, travel to Disney! I've traveled to Disney as a child, teenager, newlywed, with infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and kids who think they are older than they are (ie, my boys!), done girls trips, and grand gatherings but this time I will be traveling with my husband, Todd, and our 3 young boys, Ethan, Lucas, & Cole. This will be our 1st family vacation without a diaper bag! And maybe even without a stroller! What will I do with myself?!

We have the basics planned- rooms, dates, air, dining but I am sure there will be some tweaking to be done. I'll get to that stuff next!

Hope you join in our fun!

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

I'm here! Yay for no diaper bags!!!!

 

[Lady Lallie]

Yay! I'm glad you started. Let the planning begin!!

 

[Lil Bo Peep]

I'm in for the ride

 

[Dancegrl624]

Yay!!! I have never traveled to Disney with a diaper bag, but that will change next year. Madison was 3 1/2 on her first trip and that was our only trip with a stroller.

 

[princess&her4princes]

I'm here! Yay for no diaper bags!!!!

Yay! I'm glad you started. Let the planning begin!!

I'm in for the ride

Yay!!! I have never traveled to Disney with a diaper bag, but that will change next year. Madison was 3 1/2 on her first trip and that was our only trip with a stroller.

Hi Girls!!!!!!! So glad you're all here!

Meg, we've done it all at Disney, Cole and I nursed around the world the 1st trip! He was only 12 weeks old! So we've always had extra bags, strollers, yes, we were *that* family getting on and off of Disney buses!

Alright, time for some details...........

 

[princess&her4princes]

Okay, here are the important details of the trip and some important people so you know who we are! Did I forget to mention, this will be a surprise for our boys. Not sure of the details on that, yet, hoping you'll help there.

THE WHO?

This is Todd & I, taken about 2 weeks ago on a cruise to the Bahamas! My parents offered to watch the boys, we had never left them before but decided it was time, so we went on a 3 day Norwegian cruise, and it was fabulous! I recommend this to every Mom & Dad! Happy 11 year (early) anniversary to us!!

And here are our boys! This was taken yesterday, the first day of school, our older two, Lucas (left) our 1st grader and Ethan (right) our 3rd grader!

And last, but not least, our "baby" Cole, he turned 4 the end of June and will start preschool in just a week or so!

THE WHEN?

January 15-21, 2012, just two days after my *gulp* 39 birthday!

THE WHERE?

This was a struggle for us! Being a family of 5, on a budget, it makes it difficult. Our last trip, we stayed at Port Orleans Riverside, we liked it, it was cozy, but to be honest, we missed the "disneyfied" feeling there. It was beautiful, don't get me wrong, just not enough in your face Disney to us! So this time, we're trying something new! We've decided on the All Star Music family suites! We are REALLY looking fowrard to the space it offers! We will all have our own beds, Todd & I will have some space away from our boys and it gives us the room to breathe and get ready in the morning without feeling like we're on top of each other. So we're excited about it. And to us, we feel like we're only really in our rooms to sleep and get a shower, anyways, we're the family that goes out first thing in the morning and doesn't return until we're beat!

THE PLAN?

I booked air about a month or so ago! For us to get a good deal on air from Boston to MCO for 5 of us, you just need to do it! Plus, I figured that I could track it anyways, in the off chance it went down, and get a credit. I love and highly recomment Yapta.com for that, if you haven't checked it out, do so!! It saved me $270 last year on our air and I ended up with a free ticket for Todd & I a few weeks ago!!

So we're flying on 1/15 out of Boston about 6 a.m! It's an EARLY flight with 3 little boys! But that being said, we're scheduled to land at MCO about 9 a.m and can start our vacation! We haven't decided if we'll just get up at some ungodly hour and head into Boston (about an hour from home) or get a room the night before, with a park and shuttle and get that extra hour of sleep being in town already.

So what do you think so far? Still to come, dining reservations, plan of attack and how do we pull off this surprise?

Thanks for reading!!

 

[kokotg]

Oh, I'm definitely in! I have three boys, too, and we're about to take our first totally strollerless trip (mine are 10, 8, and 5). And I used to live in Boston!

We usually get 2 rooms at Pop, but I'm always tempted by the family suites. We're thinking of trying one at Art of Animation next year.

 

[princess&her4princes]

Oh, I'm definitely in! I have three boys, too, and we're about to take our first totally strollerless trip (mine are 10, 8, and 5). And I used to live in Boston!

We usually get 2 rooms at Pop, but I'm always tempted by the family suites. We're thinking of trying one at Art of Animation next year.

Hi there!
Thanks for joining me!!

We have lots in common!! Where near Boston did you live? We are South of the city on the South shore.

When is your trip? So exciting! I'm going back and forth about the stroller...Cole is only 4 and loves to be carried by Daddy and completely takes advantage of that from time to time. But obviously Todd can't carry our 40 lb. "baby" through Disney all week. Do you think your 5 year old will do okay without one? The last couple of trips we've used our sit and stand, but I got rid of it, since last trip no one really used it. So all I have is my Maclaren umbrella type stroller...it's lightweight but has no cup holders or storage. SO not sure yet about that one....

LOVE Pop! So sad we outgrew it! But I guess we could do the two rooms, like you guys. Someday I'd love to try Art of Animation, too!!

Hope you stick around!!

 

[kokotg]

Hi there!
Thanks for joining me!!

We have lots in common!! Where near Boston did you live? We are South of the city on the South shore.

When is your trip? So exciting! I'm going back and forth about the stroller...Cole is only 4 and loves to be carried by Daddy and completely takes advantage of that from time to time. But obviously Todd can't carry our 40 lb. "baby" through Disney all week. Do you think your 5 year old will do okay without one? The last couple of trips we've used our sit and stand, but I got rid of it, since last trip no one really used it. So all I have is my Maclaren umbrella type stroller...it's lightweight but has no cup holders or storage. SO not sure yet about that one....

LOVE Pop! So sad we outgrew it! But I guess we could do the two rooms, like you guys. Someday I'd love to try Art of Animation, too!!

Hope you stick around!!

We lived in Somerville for a year (right after DH graduated from college; he worked at the Museum of Science and I was in grad school at Brandeis) and then bought a house in Dorchester and lived there for another 4 years or so. We both grew up in GA, but DH's mom is from Worcester so he has a lot of family up there still. We go to the Cape every summer to visit everyone.

My 5 year old THINKS he's much older than 5 (like, as old as his brothers), so it doesn't really matter how he does without a stroller; he refuses to ride in one . He wouldn't let us rent one for him last year, either (but we were with friends who had strollers, and he occasionally hitched a ride), so I'm not even going to try to talk him into it this year.

We leave two weeks from today!

Looking forward to reading more of your plans

 

[snoobydi]

Ok so I am kind of the opposite. been going to disney since I was a kid and now at the age of 43 I am taking my 2 year old daughter with me...since you all have been through it...I would love your best suggestions and tips on going with a two year old ..Thanks.

 

[princess&her4princes]

Ok so I am kind of the opposite. been going to disney since I was a kid and now at the age of 43 I am taking my 2 year old daughter with me...since you all have been through it...I would love your best suggestions and tips on going with a two year old ..Thanks.

Hi!!
How exciting to be planning a trip with your 2 year old daughter!! My biggest suggestion is let her lead! Take breaks, plan sit down meals at lunchtime so you can take a break, and not run her ragged. I always found with my boys, that if they had a sit down meal at lunch, they ate better, took time in the air conditioning, let me know what they wanted to do again or next and we had some quiet time. Unless you plan to take breaks mid day and nap her? I was lucky the my boys would nap in the stroller when they were that age if they were tired. Try not to overschedule and just enjoy seeing it through her eyes! If you're anything like me, I cried the 1st time seeing my boys on Main Street seeing the castle for the first time, seeing their favorite characters for the first time, seeing it through the eyes of your children makes it's that much more magical!!!! Have fun! Let's us know your plans!!

 

[princess&her4princes]

We lived in Somerville for a year (right after DH graduated from college; he worked at the Museum of Science and I was in grad school at Brandeis) and then bought a house in Dorchester and lived there for another 4 years or so. We both grew up in GA, but DH's mom is from Worcester so he has a lot of family up there still. We go to the Cape every summer to visit everyone.

My 5 year old THINKS he's much older than 5 (like, as old as his brothers), so it doesn't really matter how he does without a stroller; he refuses to ride in one . He wouldn't let us rent one for him last year, either (but we were with friends who had strollers, and he occasionally hitched a ride), so I'm not even going to try to talk him into it this year.

We leave two weeks from today!

Looking forward to reading more of your plans

Too funny, I just wrote on your PTR, too! Small world!!

I hear you, Cole thinks he's bigger than he is, too. I guess we'll play it by ear on the stroller, hate to push one around if he's not going to go in it! But hate to spend the money to rent one, too!

Yay for two more weeks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Belle_princess]

Yea, Kristen!!!!!!! Another PTR!!!!!!! I'm here!!!! Maybe your next PTR will be a trip with me!

 

[princess&her4princes]

Yea, Kristen!!!!!!! Another PTR!!!!!!! I'm here!!!! Maybe your next PTR will be a trip with me!

I'm SO excited!!! I still can't believe I get to go again! SOO lucky!!

 

[gallmcduck]

Hi, we too are a family of five and are planning our land/sea trip for October 2012, with no diapers (we call them nappies in uk). Your plans so far sound great, joining in for what sounds a fun ptr

Oh there is me, dh, ds (8), dd (5) and dd (2).

 

[princess&her4princes]

Onto Day 1 travel plans!

We land at MCO about 9 a.m. after getting up about 3-4 a.m. and taking off from Boston at 6 a.m. I'm thinking we should be to our resort about 11, what do you think?

By the time we check out the resort and probably grab a CS at the food court, our plan is to head to MK! I'm thinking we'll get there by 2 or so and I think we're just going to wander. Let's face it, we'll be tired, but running on adrenaline for sure! So Todd and I think we'll just let the boys lead us...we'll do whatever they want! I think they'll love that and we'll all just be happy to be there, at that point!

After much deliberation, I did go ahead and make a dinner reservation at Tony's that night about 5 p.m. I figured we'd have a few hours at MK, go for an early dinner, and then take off back to the resort to settle ourselves in and unpack back at the resort. Maybe Todd will take the kids for a quick swim, while I unpack and then get to bed early as we are off to Epcot the next day!

Here are some questions for my DIS friends, we've been to Disney in early December, but never in mid January. I'm thinking layers? Anyone have a good feel on the weather that time of year? Will we be swimming? Remember, we're coming from Boston, so it will be warm to us in January, we are New Englanders! Any thoughts? Thanks!!

 

[princess&her4princes]

Hi, we too are a family of five and are planning our land/sea trip for October 2012, with no diapers (we call them nappies in uk). Your plans so far sound great, joining in for what sounds a fun ptr

Oh there is me, dh, ds (8), dd (5) and dd (2).

Hi there! Thanks for joining in!! What a freeing feeling to be going with no diapers (nappies!), isn't it? After of years of it with the kids! Now the question is, what kind of bad do I carry?! Have you given any thought for yourself? My DH will carry a backpack, with essentials, sweatshirts, ponchos, etc.

Thanks for joining me! Are doing a PTR for your land/sea trip? How exciting for you!!!

 

[Lady Lallie]

I've been in January twice now (favorite time of year) and layers are the way to go. It's gets downright chilly at night, especially in Epcot around World Showcase.

During the day, I usually wear jeans, teva mush flip flops, a tshirt and a hoodie or long sleeve tee during the day. The hoodie/long sleeve tee comes off usually by lunch. At night, I wear my sneakers or flip flops with those cute little toe socks cause my toesies get chilly, some nights I had a very lightweight scarf especially if I'm watching fireworks or a parade. Of course I have my hoodie on and sometimes my long sleeve tee as well.

I have been known to wear capris on somedays because the afternoons can get warm.

 

[Lil Bo Peep]

When we went this past Feb it was down right cold in the evening. We didn't swim at all and as you know I'm Canadian. Mind you I still wore my flip flops but did have a jacket on. Some days it was warm then cooled off considerably in the evening.

Tony's is one of my favourites. You can't go wrong there thats for sure.