Our 1st trip as a family of three!----Update 11/3 Our Favorites/Trip Wrap-Up

[LilAnn]

We’re back from Disney World and we had a fantastic time!

It wasn’t our first trip to Disney World, but it was our first family vacation that was just the 3 of us. We actually went in August with a bigger group of people. We weren’t planning on going back so soon (Disney can get a tad expensive) but I got a PIN in the mail and then the gift card promo came out….and well, before you know it, we were crunching the numbers.

I became hooked on the DIS last year when we were planning our August trip and have really enjoyed reading other people’s PTRs & TRs and always thought it looked like a great way to document the trip. So after going back and forth about it and much debate (all with myself) for two weeks I finally decided to try it out.

Here are some pictures of my little family.
The first two photos are from our May trip to WDW a few years ago. Here is a photo of my hubby – it was our first experience with Ohana. We were obviously unprepared for the amount of food that was coming our way.

Here is a photo of me waiting for Illuminations to start.

Finally, here is the star of the TR, our little princess. These photos are some of my fave from our trip in August.

Here are some of the basic details of our trip. Our dates were April 29-May 9, 2010. We decided on a split stay for our trip. We spent the first five nights at the Pop and the second half of our trip we were at the Dolphin. We took advantage of the free gift card offer with the Pop stay and decided on the basic dining plan for the first half of our trip. I’m typically an obsessive planner (you should see the Disney planner I made for our trip) but figured that traveling with a 2 and ½ year old, we would have to just go with the flow.

I’m so excited to share all the details of our trip with you all! I hope some of you will continue to read along. It was absolutely fantastic, and it’ll be a lot of fun to relive some of those magical memories.

Thank you all for reading!!

 

[PrincessCaitlin]

I'm in!

I am so glad you decided to do a TR! My mom kept telling me go on your Facebook and see the pictures from your trip and I said nope I am going to wait for the TR

Can't wait to hear all about your magical time!

 

[SRUAlmn]

Can't wait to read more. Your little one is A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E!!! Well, really your whole family, you're all beautiful

 

[LilAnn]

I'm in!

I am so glad you decided to do a TR! My mom kept telling me go on your Facebook and see the pictures from your trip and I said nope I am going to wait for the TR

Can't wait to hear all about your magical time!

Hi Caitlin! I'm so glad you could make it over! I definitely have way more pics that I will post on the TR than I put up on FB. Can't wait to write all about it!

Can't wait to read more. Your little one is A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E!!! Well, really your whole family, you're all beautiful

Aww, thank you so much! Thank you for reading along!

 

[dawnbu40]

So glad you're doing a TR! Your family is beautiful and I can't wait to hear all about your split stay!

 

[ladybugmom]

I'm here, Ann!! Can't wait to hear all about your trip!!

 

[heaven2dc]

This sounds like it's going to be a fun TR! Your family is beautiful and your daughter a doll! I can't wait to see some pics (a co-worker was there from 5/2/10-5/8/10 and he said it was hot but they still enjoyed their first visit as a family too).

 

[LilAnn]

So glad you're doing a TR! Your family is beautiful and I can't wait to hear all about your split stay!

Hi Dawn! Thanks for popping over! I hope I can make the TR somewhat interesting. You will love the location of the BW when you go!

 

[LilAnn]

I'm here, Ann!! Can't wait to hear all about your trip!!

Hi Becky! Aww, I'm so glad you stopped by since you are leaving so soon!!! I can't wait to hear all about yours when you get back!

This sounds like it's going to be a fun TR! Your family is beautiful and your daughter a doll! I can't wait to see some pics (a co-worker was there from 5/2/10-5/8/10 and he said it was hot but they still enjoyed their first visit as a family too).

Hi! Thanks for joining in! I'm trying to get the first post up since I find the traveling portion not as interesting. I always just want to get to the destination!

Oh my, it was HOT! I think we just weren't prepared for the heat, where as in August, we knew we were going to find hot weather. Do you live near DC? My family is from the NOVA area so I grew up near there. Love it!

 

[LilAnn]

Leaving for vacation is always just so exciting, don’t you think? Especially when you are headed to the happiest place on earth! I think my little munchkin was just as excited about the airplane ride as she was about going to Disney World.

Here she is at the airport in Boston looking out at the airplanes.

Here she is on the airplane, getting all settled in for the flight. Not sure if she is more excited about the plane taking off or the fact that she gets to eat gummies. I was a bit nervous that she might start kicking the seat in front of her (like she does in her car seat), but looks like her legs are still too short. Phew!

I can’t not say enough good things about traveling on JetBlue, with or without a little one. The individual TVs at each set were a life saver on our flights. We flew AirTran on the way back, which was still fine, but I kept wishing we were on JetBlue. So here is a photo of the munchkin watching Max & Ruby on the flight. Does anyone else with kids think that show is weird? It kept her occupied, so I won’t complain!

Before long, we were in Orlando and checking out our rental car. Sadly, my hubby isn’t a fan of public transportation in general and really wanted to rent a car this trip, so there was no ME ride for me. Sigh, I missed that feeling of anticipation when you get on the ME bus. However, my little princess did not seem to miss it at all. She plopped herself in the driver’s seat while my hubby installed the car seat. Apparently she was going to drive us to the resort.

Since our little gal didn’t nap on the plane ride over, she passed out in the car before we even left the garage. We decided to drive around the Orlando area for a while and buy a few necessities (water, snacks for the munchkin) while she slept. Soon we were pulling into the Pop Century parking lot! We opted not to do the online check-in, figuring it wouldn’t be too crowded since it was May. There was no line so we walked right up, got our room key, our free gift card and we were off to explore! My hubby decided to drive the car around to the 50’s building where our room was and start unloading, while I walked over with the munchkin.

Of course, everything looked so fun and exciting to my little princess that it took us forever to get to the room. We got a room on the 4th floor of the 50’s building, not one of the newly refurbished rooms, but it was definitely a quiet location. I was nervous that we might disturb our neighbors during the night if we had any issues with getting our little one to sleep.

I didn’t get a chance to take too many pictures along the way, but I did manage to snap a quick shot of my little gal in front this nice doggie.

Coming up …it’s off to the parks!

 

[MiaBella05]

joining in

 

[PrincessCaitlin]

I don't think I have ever flown Jet Blue but being able to watch tv would be a definite bonus!

I have watched Max and Ruby back when I used to babysit and I also found it be a really weird kid's show

Your munchkin looks adorable in her sunglasses! I hope you all enjoyed POP!

 

[LilAnn]

joining in

Hi! Thanks for reading along!

I don't think I have ever flown Jet Blue but being able to watch tv would be a definite bonus!

I have watched Max and Ruby back when I used to babysit and I also found it be a really weird kid's show

Your munchkin looks adorable in her sunglasses! I hope you all enjoyed POP!

Yeah, the show isn't as wierd as some of the other kids shows I've seen out there. The cartoon images are cute. My little gal has so many sunglasses! I think she's a diva in the making!
We've stayed at the Pop before, just not with the little one. I am sad to say that I never got a chance to try the tie-dyed cheesecake.

 

[dawnbu40]

you've arrived at Pop! Your DD looks so tiny next to Lady! Very cute pics! Can't wait to hear more

 

[BabyEeyore]

Can't wait to read more! You have a beautiful family.

 

[PrincessFendi]

Glad you decided to write a TR. Your daughter is beautiful! We also enjoyed flying JetBlue this past December when we went to Disney.

 

[rileyroosmom]

My daughter loved Max & Ruby. She's 9 now, but if flipping through the channels she comes across it, she can't help but watch it! She still asks where their mother is!

 

[Dancegrl624]

I'm here! What a great start to your trip. It's a bummer that you didn't get to ride ME, but there's always next time! We stayed on the 4th floor of a 60's building in June and it was great. Nice and quiet.

As far as Max and Ruby goes...Maddie used to love that show! It is a bit strange sometimes and I always wondered where the parents were. They always talk about Grandma, but not Mom and Dad.

 

[jlm926]

Im joining in too! My daughter is also a huge Max and Ruby fan. We've been reading her those since she was 2. Anyway, looks like you are going to have a great report! Thanks for sharing your trip.

 

[LilAnn]

you've arrived at Pop! Your DD looks so tiny next to Lady! Very cute pics! Can't wait to hear more

I couldn't wait to get the TR into Disney. My little pumpkin was afraid of Lady once she got closer since the statue is soooo big! But she loved Lady and the Tramp from far away.

Can't wait to read more! You have a beautiful family.

Aww, thanks! Thanks for reading along!

Glad you decided to write a TR. Your daughter is beautiful! We also enjoyed flying JetBlue this past December when we went to Disney.

Thank you! I love flying Jet Blue, even loved it before we had our munchkin. The TV just makes the time go by faster.

My daughter loved Max & Ruby. She's 9 now, but if flipping through the channels she comes across it, she can't help but watch it! She still asks where their mother is!

Those were my same thoughts! How come Max & Ruby don't seem to have parents?

I'm here! What a great start to your trip. It's a bummer that you didn't get to ride ME, but there's always next time! We stayed on the 4th floor of a 60's building in June and it was great. Nice and quiet.

As far as Max and Ruby goes...Maddie used to love that show! It is a bit strange sometimes and I always wondered where the parents were. They always talk about Grandma, but not Mom and Dad.

Yay! You made it over! Max and Ruby is odd in that there aren't any parental figures. I find some other shows to be really wierd/freaky - like Yo Gabba Gabba. I think that's why most of her fave tv shows tend to be on the Disney channel (i.e. Mickey mouse Clubhouse and the Little Einsteins). My hubby thinks I'm brainwashing her, I call it preparation for our disney trips!

Im joining in too! My daughter is also a huge Max and Ruby fan. We've been reading her those since she was 2. Anyway, looks like you are going to have a great report! Thanks for sharing your trip.

Thanks for joining in and following along! I have just recently been introduced to the world of Max and Ruby. We have mostly been in Playhouse Disney world.