Planning Riley's 1st Trip to WDW...and she isn't even born yet!

[CookFamilyVacation]

Hey All! This will be our first pre-trip report ever

I am 21 weeks pregnant and we are planning on taking Riley on her first WDW trip for her 1st Birthday! Unfortunately, that isn't until March of 2013 We will also be taking my sister on her first ever WDW trip, she will be 14 at the time She's already so excited and saving her pennies!

I guess the thought behind starting this PTR so early is to get feed back and ideas on alot of question I have, and since I'm the planner, it would help to know what I think I need to know

I hope you will follow along and give me some much needed advice!

 

[CookFamilyVacation]

We plan on celebrating 3 birthday's on this particular trip.

DH which is 2/5
Sister which is 1/1
Riley which is 3/12

And we plan on going inbetween DH and Riley's Bdays. How does getting a birthday pin from Disney work? Does it matter when your birthday was, or just that you are celebrating it there?

 

[Simba22]

Howdy neighbor

That's a lot of birthdays for one trip!

You can get birthday buttons from guest relations in any park. I got one for my birthday a few years ago

 

[CookFamilyVacation]

Howdy neighbor

That's a lot of birthdays for one trip!

You can get birthday buttons from guest relations in any park. I got one for my birthday a few years ago

Thanks! Do they care when ur actual birthday is?

PS I just messaged you again...Totally freaking out

 

[Simba22]

No they didn't ask me for ID or anything....they just said "Oh! Happy Birthday!" and handed over the button lol

And a lot of people wear their button for their whole trip...I just wore mine for a few days. If you make ADRs, make sure you mention that it's for birthdays both when you make the ressie AND when you check in. Crystal Palace gave me a birthday card signed by the characters and a Birthday Cupcake (which of course, I couldn't eat at 9:30 in the morning so it turned to mush in the backpack and then got tossed in the trash later that day)

And if you mention it at the check in desk when you check in at your resort, sometimes they'll put a balloon and a card from Mickey and Minnie in the room. They did it for me and my BF on our respective birthday trips, but I've read some posts from other people who didn't get anything.

 

[CookFamilyVacation]

No they didn't ask me for ID or anything....they just said "Oh! Happy Birthday!" and handed over the button lol

And a lot of people wear their button for their whole trip...I just wore mine for a few days. If you make ADRs, make sure you mention that it's for birthdays both when you make the ressie AND when you check in. Crystal Palace gave me a birthday card signed by the characters and a Birthday Cupcake (which of course, I couldn't eat at 9:30 in the morning so it turned to mush in the backpack and then got tossed in the trash later that day)

And if you mention it at the check in desk when you check in at your resort, sometimes they'll put a balloon and a card from Mickey and Minnie in the room. They did it for me and my BF on our respective birthday trips, but I've read some posts from other people who didn't get anything.

Good to know Thank you

Did you get my PM?

 

[CookFamilyVacation]

I want to make sure and also get the 1st Visit pin for Riley and my Sister. Do you pick those up at the same place you get the Birthday Pins?

Speaking of Pins, does anyone do pin trading? I've read about it but not sure exactly how it works. I think this is something my sister would LOVE to do

 

[Simba22]

I want to make sure and also get the 1st Visit pin for Riley and my Sister. Do you pick those up at the same place you get the Birthday Pins?

Speaking of Pins, does anyone do pin trading? I've read about it but not sure exactly how it works. I think this is something my sister would LOVE to do

Yes, the 1st Visit Buttons are also available at Guest Relations

Pin trading is fun but it can get really expensive, really quickly. I'm embarassed to admit to the amount of money we spent on pins last year. It starts as pin trading, then turns into just straight up pin buying. They have Limited Edition ones, and mystery sets, and limited edition boxed sets.... there are people out there who are really good at controlling how much money they spend....I'm not one of those people lol

 

[CookFamilyVacation]

Yes, the 1st Visit Buttons are also available at Guest Relations

Pin trading is fun but it can get really expensive, really quickly. I'm embarassed to admit to the amount of money we spent on pins last year. It starts as pin trading, then turns into just straight up pin buying. They have Limited Edition ones, and mystery sets, and limited edition boxed sets.... there are people out there who are really good at controlling how much money they spend....I'm not one of those people lol

Is there pin trading areas? I'm just not sure how she would go about it. I've read some people buy them on Ebay to get started. She would have such a blast.

I hear you about spending too much money, I get addicted easily and it can get out of control

 

[Simba22]

Is there pin trading areas? I'm just not sure how she would go about it. I've read some people buy them on Ebay to get started. She would have such a blast.

I hear you about spending too much money, I get addicted easily and it can get out of control

You can trade with any CM you see wearing a lanyard (or sometimes they carry them on a little cloth panel clipped to the belt loop).

And yes - we have not let ourselves get into the Vinylmation just because we can't afford to be addicted to collecting something else. Not to mention, we don't have that much room left in our apartment lol

 

[CookFamilyVacation]

Vinylmation ~ I keep reading about this. I have to look at see what it is

 

[Simba22]

Vinylmation ~ I keep reading about this. I have to look at see what it is

Basically, they are little figures in the shape of Mickey Mouse (like 3 inches tall or something) but they have different designs, and different "collections." They just came out with a Lion King set and I'm driving myself nuts over it. We bought 2 (and they're like $8 each I think) and I want them all! The problem is, they are all "mysteries". They tell you what is in the set, but you don't know which one will be in the box you buy. So you can't choose which one you get, but they do offer trading like they do for pins. If you go to the Disney Store in the Westfarms Mall, they have a little Vinylmation area and then a trading spot at the register. I might go this weekend and try my luck at the Lion King ones again....

 

[CookFamilyVacation]

Well as of Monday I am officially 23 weeks pregnant. The heart burn has kicked in full force and is kicking my butt

DH and I talk about Disney all the time. I have so many ideas going through my head. We keep talking about how much fun it will be to take our little girl on her first vacation. And we know she won't remember it, but we will and she will be going back ALOT!

My sister is also super excited and I find things about Disney every now and then and post it to her facebook page. She get's so excited and is like with me with the constant researching.

It seems like it will be so long before we go but I know once Riley is here the time will fly. So right now I'm just gonna focus on getting through Thanksgiving

Small steps, but we will get there!

 

[CookFamilyVacation]

Basically, they are little figures in the shape of Mickey Mouse (like 3 inches tall or something) but they have different designs, and different "collections." They just came out with a Lion King set and I'm driving myself nuts over it. We bought 2 (and they're like $8 each I think) and I want them all! The problem is, they are all "mysteries". They tell you what is in the set, but you don't know which one will be in the box you buy. So you can't choose which one you get, but they do offer trading like they do for pins. If you go to the Disney Store in the Westfarms Mall, they have a little Vinylmation area and then a trading spot at the register. I might go this weekend and try my luck at the Lion King ones again....

I looked at the vinylmations on Disney.com. They are adorable. I was totally drawn to the ones in the cupcake series. I don't know why those I think I need to steer clear for now

 

[CookFamilyVacation]

How do I get pictures in my posts?

 

[MK2010]

First off, Hi! Thanks for visiting me! I used to think it was silly to take babies to Disney World. Boy was I wrong!!!!! My niece is 18 months would be 2 1/2 on our trip and I sooooo wish I could talk my parents into taking her! Their little faces just light up at the characters (okay sometime's not!) But they just love all of the lights and the shows. It will be a great trip for Miss Riley!

How do I get pictures in my posts?

I upload my pictures to photobucket. You can create a free account. Then I use the button with the little mountain in it, just click on that and it walks you through.

 

[Simba22]

I know you have to have a certain number of posts before you can add photos but I don't know what that number is...I want to say 100, but I might be lying about that lol

I also use Photobucket....you can upload pics there and then edit them a little bit. I usually edit them myself on my editing program, like for red eye, and rotating, but I use Photobucket to shrink them down so they aren't enormous when I post them. I usually use the "large" setting...I think it's 600 x 800. Then you can copy and paste the tag beggining with

 

[CookFamilyVacation]

Thanks you guys. I was going to use photobucket but I think the IE at work is too outdated. I will have to try and find time to do it when I'm home

 

[Simba22]

Yeah, they block EVERYTHING here at my job. It's really frustrating, especially since I'm trying to do some Christmas shopping!

 

[Simba22]

Hey neighbor!

Just wondering how things are going! Getting close to your due date, huh?! Are you getting excited??

Completely non-Disney related, but I am so irritated with Parkview Management today! I swear, every 2 weeks it seems, they stick a stupid note on my door about people not cleaning up after their dogs and it's driving me nuts! I not only clean up after my OWN dog, I go out to the dog pen and clean up after OTHER DOGS too so that I don't step in it!

And to make matters worse, I've been complaining for MONTHS that the light in the dog pen is not working (both my boyfriend and I fell back there because it's so dark!), my stove has been broken since we moved in 3 years ago, and there is a whole in the living room ceiling that leaks when it rains a lot (which they came and SPRAY PAINTED OVER and told me it was fine!?! )

Ugh, I'm so annoyed! It's not my problem that people who don't even live here walk their dogs around on the property and don't clean up after them! I feel like taking my camcorder with me every time I take the dog out and leaving them a video of me cleaning up the crap....maybe they'll stop leaving me little notes!