Quick & dirty PTR - 1st trip with a 14-month old in 2 weeks! UPDATE: Final Days

[kayemgi]

Hey there! It's been awhile since I've been over this way on the DISboards. I'm Kristen, and I've been planning our first trip with our daughter. We leave in just about two weeks, and I've been planning and reading and researching like mad for our first trip with a kid and so I thought what better to do than share what I've learned in a PTR! And of course a TR when we return, so we'll find out if everything I researched paid off.

First up: Intros

Again, I'm Kristen, and I'm an avid user of the DISboards, even though my post count isn't crazy high. I mostly lurk since even though I've done several trips to WDW as an adult, I'm still learning and most definitely not an expert. And I feel like a newbie all over again with planning this trip with a toddler. There are so many new things to think about and learn!

Anyway, I love MK, Haunted Mansion, and the Welcome Show and Celebrate the Magic make me tear up every time.

Along with me is DH, who was skeptical about Disney the first time I brought him along, when we were still dating, but he was instantly converted and while he is not quite the Disney lover I am, he enjoys it immensely. He loves Epcot, Jungle Cruise, and Goofy.

We were last in the World in November 2013, so we've experienced FP+, Magic Bands, New Fantasyland, and Be Our Guest, and thank goodness we got one last ride on Maelstrom that trip!

And for the first time, we will be bringing our daughter, Bea! I cannot wait to show her the Disney magic. I tear up just thinking about it. (I'm a pretty emotional person, if you couldn't tell already!) Here's one of my favorite shots of her from her recent birthday

She's a darling, and truly the light of our lives. Corny, I know, but it's true! This will be our first time taking a trip with her, and as much as we love her, we know there are going to be some challenging moments. I've done so much research to try to make things go as smoothly as possible — let's hope it pays off! Bea's favorite since she was a little baby has been Nemo, and since she got a little older, Minnie Mouse, so I'm hoping we have some awesome moments with the characters on this trip. She'll be 14 months old the day we leave.

I'll go over our daily plans, all the things I've bought or done to try to make things go easy with a baby, and a few other fun things! I hope you enjoy reading along!

Before I start, our trip details:
Dates: 12/1-12/6 (Yay, Christmastime!)
Resort: All-Star Music
Using all Disney transportation
ADRs at Be Our Guest, Via Napoli, and Tusker House

 

[kayemgi]

Post 1: Baby travel & vacation tips and hacks.
Post 2: Day 1 plans - Arrival day & Magic Kingdom
Post 3: Day 2 plans - AK & HS
Post 4: Day 3 plans & a Disney photoshoot
Post 5: Day 4 plans - Magic Kingdom
Post 6: Days 5 & 6

 

[jenthern]

She's pretty darned cute! I have one about the same age (October birthday) and I took my son for the first time on his first birthday. It's such a fun age to take a kiddo to Disney.

 

[kayemgi]

She's pretty darned cute! I have one about the same age (October birthday) and I took my son for the first time on his first birthday. It's such a fun age to take a kiddo to Disney.

Thanks! I think she's pretty cute too.

 

[kayemgi]

Alright, so let's get the baby stuff out of the way first, shall we? It's probably the info of the most value/the most boring to people that do/don't have kids. Here's a pretty comprehensive list of all of the things we are doing to make this trip easier, with some brief explanation where applicable and I'm happy to expound on anything if anyone is interested!

1. CARES harness: Bea meets the weight minimum to use a CARES harness on the airplane and since we are using all Disney transport, we don't need her car seat for any other reason, so we are leaving it at home.
2. Nursery furniture rentals: Bea still needs to be rocked to sleep, even though we've tried to get her to sleep other ways, this is what works. She also wakes up sometimes in the night, and while we are in separate rooms at home we've done some sleep training and she will go back to sleep, we are expecting to possibly be bed-sharing while in the hotel room at Disney, since our budget just didn't allow for a suite so she could be in her own space. So we are renting a rocking chair and bed rails from A Baby's Best Friend. We are planning to use a pack & play from Disney for her to sleep in, and to that end, we have borrowed some p&p sheets from a friend which we are going to wash with our detergent and then sleep with for a few days so they smell like home. Hopefully this will help her sleep better at night in a strange place (like a puppy!).
3. Travel stroller: We are also planning a trip for Bea's second birthday in 2016, so given that, it made more financial sense to purchase a small, lightweight travel stroller than to rent one for both trips. Plus now we can use the stroller at the airports as well, which is a huge bonus.
4. Ring sling: We typically use an Ergo baby carrier at home, but it's bulky, hard to get on and off, and hot, so I purchased an inexpensive, lightweight linen ring sling to use at Disney. It packs light, is easy to slip her in and out of, and I can even wear it as a scarf if I need to.
5. Disposable baby crap: I don't want to deal with washing much while we are on vacation, so I picked up disposable changing mats, bibs, placemats, washcloths, wipes, and diapers (we use cloth at home). I've also parceled these items into gallon ziplock bags for each day so we can just grab a fresh one in the morning and be on our way.
6. ID bracelet: Bea is running all over the place now. She's very independent, doesn't like to have her hand held, and prefers to walk over riding in the stroller and being carried. This makes me so nervous about her getting lost at Disney. It only takes taking our eyes off her for a few seconds and she could be gone. So I got an ID bracelet from Road ID in her size with her name, allergies, and my and DH's phone numbers on it. Hopefully it never needs to be used!
7. Baby accessories & food: We've tested various sippy cups so we can bring the one with the highest success rate (SkipHop's straw bottle if anyone is interested), we got Bea a tiny backpack so the toys we bring have a home (that's not in my bag!) (we don't plan for her to wear the backpack, it's just a space that's dedicated to toys so they aren't floating about in other bags), pacifier clips so she can't toss her pacifier overboard anywhere, glow bracelets and sticks from the dollar store for dark rides or anytime that she needs to be distracted, and lots of snacks that we know she likes to save money on food and to guarantee we have something with us that she will eat at all times.
8. Stroller accessories: We've got a gate check bag so we can use the stroller in the airports and check it at the gate, and a rain cover in case of those notorious Florida showers. We also have toy leashes so nothing gets tossed out while we are walking, and a light muslin blanket with some chip clips to drape over the front of the stroller in case she needs help blocking out distractions (or the sun) to take a nap.
9. Old phone: I happened to have upgraded my iPhone recently, and instead of trading in my old one, I've loaded it up with videos and games that Bea likes so that we have something to distract her when needed (like on the airplanes). I'm not a big fan of excessive screen time for toddlers, but you gotta do what you gotta do on vacation and I'm thrilled I won't have to give up my own phone!

Well, that's a lot of text, but bam! Baby stuff, check. I hope that's helpful to someone out there planning a trip with a baby/toddler!

 

[missangelalexis]

Yay happy to see you back on here!

So exciting that you are planning a trip with the little one! She's such a doll Can't wait to hear about your plans!

 

[kayemgi]

Yay happy to see you back on here!

So exciting that you are planning a trip with the little one! She's such a doll Can't wait to hear about your plans!

Yay, glad to see a friend from my first PTR/TR! I need to catch up on your Disneyland TR. I loved seeing your IG photos!

 

[anniebean]

Your daughter looks just like a little baby doll! She is precious! Enjoy your time with her! I know everyone says this, but it goes by soooo fast! You blink and they're teenagers...

 

[kayemgi]

Day 1 plans:
This is our arrival day, and slowly but surely, our planned park time is being chipped away! When I booked our flight, it was due to get in at 11:30 am. I figured based on our last trip, worst case scenario, we'd be at ASMu by 1 and to MK by 2, at the LATEST. Now our flight has been pushed back to arriving at noon, and we've rented a rocking chair from A Baby's Best Friend and we'll have to wait for them to arrive as well, since Disney doesn't allow them to drop at bell services anymore. So now I'm not sure when we will get to MK, but MK is the plan!

I was also planning for DH and I to eat a late lunch at MK, but now I suspect we will grab something at the airport to eat on the Magical Express or we will eat at ASMu while we wait for our delivery. We will definitely be feeding Bea at the airport or on the ME, she won't be able to wait.

Once we arrive at MK and scan our bands to use a ticket, we will be doing the most exciting thing of our trip: Heading to Guest Services to upgrade to Annual Passes! It's actually not that exciting since we won't be doing any "extra" trips, but with this one and our longer trip next fall for Bea's birthday falling within 12 months of each other, it made sense for us to get APs, especially now that they include Memory Maker. It will only save us about $60 on DH's tickets, but it will save quite a bit more for mine, since I was planning to get MM for both trips. Almost $400 I believe. Yay! We just love saving some money, especially at Disney!

If we are doing well on timing, next we'll grab something to eat at Casey's Corner and then head to Jungle Cruise for our first ride. I have FP+ for us for 3:05-4:05. I suspect we will have eaten already and hopefully we'll arrive to MK in time to get our APs and then see the Festival of Fantasy parade before we do JC, but everything is up in the air of course. Today's plan is extremely rough. Well, every day's plan with a baby is going to be rough! I just wanted to have a guideline for us for the ideal days, and whatever happens, happens.

After Jungle Cruise, we'll head to Haunted Mansion for a 4:10-5:10 FP+ window, then Dumbo for a 5:10-6:10 FP+ window. JC and HM are my and DH's highest priorities, and we definitely want to do Dumbo with Bea (she loves spinning, so I think she's going to love it!), so that's why we chose those for our FPs. I originally had Peter Pan instead of Dumbo, but I decided to change it and do the rope drop run later on our trip because I really want to see the new interactive queue. Don't you just love how Disney is the only place in the world where you might opt NOT to skip the line because the line itself is so cool? We have a full day at MK planned later in the trip though, so if none of this ends up working out, it's ok. I'll be happy just to be in the Magic Kingdom, soaking up all the Disney I can on our first day.

Finally, dinner at Pinocchio's Village Haus. I want to go there because we really enjoyed it last time and they have pasta with marinara, which is one of Bea's favorites. If we are doing well on energy, we'll hop a bus to Hollywood Studios to see the Osborne Lights, but I suspect we will be exhausted after a long day of traveling and we'll just head home to ASMu instead. Perhaps instead of HS we will take some more time in MK to wander about and maybe do some shopping. I need to get the MK and HS Starbucks mugs, plus the new holiday Starbucks mug! Might as well get that done. We won't have much time at MK though, as it's a party night, so we might just be done after dinner. It will all depend on how everything goes earlier in the day! If our flight is delayed or our delivery is delayed, all bets are off.

Up next: Our first full day!

 

[kayemgi]

Your daughter looks just like a little baby doll! She is precious! Enjoy your time with her! I know everyone says this, but it goes by soooo fast! You blink and they're teenagers...

Everyone says it because it's true! I can't believe she's one already. She was a little potato just yesterday!

 

[missangelalexis]

It sounds like a good first day! I hope you are able to make it to MK at the time you want to! I think it's perfect that you have structure to the day but at the same time know that things may not go exactly according to plan!

 

[kayemgi]

Day 2 Plans:
On our first full Disney day, we plan to start at Animal Kingdom, my second favorite park (after MK), and then hop to Hollywood. Here's our rough plan:

• Breakfast at ASMu
• Bus to AK for rope drop
• 9 am - Meet Mickey & Minnie @ Adventurer's Outpost
• Ride Everest with Rider Switch
• 10 am Festival of the Lion King
• 11 am Finding Nemo: The Musical (skip if Bea hated FOTLK, though my heart will break a little)
• Ride Triceratop Spin (if time)
• Lunch @ Yak & Yeti Cafe (QS)

*Bus to Hollywood*

• 12:55-1:55 Tower of Terror FP+ (just for me, DH will hang with DD as he doesn't like TOT)
• 2:10 Voyage of the Little Mermaid (if time and if Bea liked other shows)
• 2:30 - One Man's Dream
• 3:05-4:05 Star Tours FP+ with Rider Switch
• MuppetVision (if Bea liked other shows)
• 4:35-5:35 Toy Story FP+
• Dinner at Pizza Planet
• Meet Santa Goofy
• Osborne Lights

Then we may consider heading to MK for their nighttime stuff, since the only other day that's not a party day is Saturday, which I'm sure will be super crowded. But I doubt it. Bea will probably be tired and cranky at this point (and so may we be!) and we should just head back to the resort for bedtime. It's so hard to not want to do everything. Even when I know we are coming back next year, it's still hard to get it into my brain that we don't have to do everything! I'm so used to that rope-drop-to-park-close touring mentality.

AK notes: It's going to be so hard to not ride Safari or see Flights of Wonder, but I just don't think Bea will enjoy either of those. Today is kind of our test day to see if she likes meeting characters and if she will sit through any shows. I'm hoping for a yes to both, but expecting a no on the shows. She's just too busy to sit still, even for shows with fun lights and music! So if my prediction comes true, we will skip shows and focus more on meeting characters. If she hates both, we'll just hang out, checking out the animals and atmosphere.

HS notes: I'm hoping to make it for the tail end of my FP+ time at TOT, which would still get us to VOTLM on time if we think Bea will enjoy it. Then I need to see One Man's Dream one last time in case it is gone next year! I wish we could see the film at the end too, but it's not coming back until Saturday of our trip and I'm not sure we'll make it to HS that day. Santa Goofy is a priority, so one of us may wait in line while the other feeds Bea if the line is super long. And I can't wait to see the Osborne Lights, especially if we didn't make it to HS the night before, as I suspect we won't.

Up next: Epcot and a special outing!

 

[missangelalexis]

Day 2 plans sound great! Again, I'm really impressed with the go with the flow attitude. I completely get what you mean about finding it hard to shake the "rope drop to closing" mentality! But it's nice to be able to have those moments where you can sit back and appreciate what you are doing rather than running from one thing to another!

 

[kayemgi]

Day 3 Plans:
First, single digits countdown dance! And can I mention that I had a mini panic attack this weekend about our daily plans? I kept thinking: We're trying to do too much with a baby...we aren't doing enough, the baby is going to nap after all...no nothing feels right I'm changing everything...no leave it alone, you'll never get fast passes for Toy Story and 7 Dwarfs now... It was a little crazy. In the end I left everything alone because of the FPs, and decided if we want to change on the fly and skip a FP+, that's ok. Planning is hard guys.

So, anyway, on to day 3 and our very exciting special activity! Background: I really regret that I didn't hire a photographer to get newborn photos of Bea. We obviously took about a million, but it's just not the same as what a professional can do. So I decided I wanted to do family photos for her first birthday, and then I was reading a @Dugette TR and I saw they did a mini shoot with their toddler at the Poly and the photos looked really cute. I looked up the details for the mini photoshoots, called to see if they had availability, and we're going to do one at the Beach Club! I'm so excited. It's expensive, but I wanted to do a photoshoot anyway, and I'm glad we'll have photos that will remind us of our first Disney vacation with Bea without screaming "Disney!" in something I hope to hang on the wall in our house.

An example I found of a Disney photoshoot at the Boardwalk Inn, ©Portrayable Photography; full shoot link:

Gorgeous, right?

Also since I mentioned newborn Bea I feel the need to share her sweet, squishy little face:

I booked us a super early time so as not to lose too much park time, so we'll be getting up super early to get an Uber over to Beach Club from ASMu by 7:30 am! Bea rarely sleeps past 6 am anyway though, so I'm thinking it won't be too big of a deal. With my luck though, she'll be super tired and I'll have to wake her up -- that will not be fun! I was told when I booked the shoot that we'll meet our photographer, do the mini shoot (20 minutes) and then the photographer will take about 30 minutes to go over the photos with us and transfer them to a USB for us to take with us right then and there. Pretty great! With that timing in mind, I'm hoping we will be finished and able to hop on a boat over to Epcot around 8:30. They have AM EMH that day, so they'll be open. We won't get to take much advantage of the EMH, but that's ok. Depending on how long the line has built up, we might go down and do Soarin', but I suspect we will end up on Living with the Land instead. Here's our rough schedule:

• 8:45 am - arrive at Epcot
• Soarin' or Living with the Land
• Ride Nemo, check out the aquariums (Bea loves aquariums), see the manatees
• 9:10-10:10 - Spaceship Earth FP+
• 10:30-11:30 - Character Spot FP+
• Take a Friendship Boat to Germany and walk over to Italy for:
• 11:30 am lunch ADR at Via Napoli!
• 12:35-1:35 - Ride Soarin' with FP+ if we feel like walking back down to Future World
• Spend afternoon in World Showcase; priorities include various Holidays Around the World shows, Voices of Liberty, meeting Pooh, seeing the Lumberjacks show in Canada
• 6:45 - be at the American Adventure pavilion to listen in on a bit of Candlelight Processional with Neil Patrick Harris. I know NPH's CP is incredible popular, so we aren't even going to try to be close/see anything, but I'd love to hear a little bit if we can.
• 7:30 - home to ASMu

Up next: Magic Kingdom, I missed you so!

 

[missangelalexis]

I think doing the photoshoot is such a great idea!! Can't wait to see how it turns out

Your Epcot plans sound great!

Don't stress too much. Just make the plans you feel best about and if they have to be changed on the fly, then so be it!

 

[Dugette]

Hi, saw the tag of me and decided to check out the report! I hope you have an incredible first-trip-with-kid! I think you have the right idea - have some plans, but be willing to change them at a moment's notice. Also smart to try out different things (shows, character meets, etc.) to see how she likes them. For us at that age, we found that Izzy didn't have the patience to sit through shows, but was mesmerized by dark rides. But every kid is different and I read other reports that were the opposite. Sounds like you've done some good planning and research, so I'm sure that will help things go well. But, just know that things will still go wrong - but you'll still have great memories, no matter what - seeing Bea light up at special moments will make any difficult moments fade away.

Bea is adorable, by the way!

I hope the photo shoot goes well for you. We've done it twice now and had very good experiences both times. I haven't gotten to it in the current TR yet, but we did a shoot at the Beach Club this past May. Here's a link to the highlights: http://s1188.photobucket.com/user/L...May 2015 Photo Shoot Highlights?sort=3&page=1 For what it's worth, we were all in bad moods (rough day) with an uncooperative toddler, but she still got some decent shots and we were happy with the results.

Hope you have a magical trip!

 

[kayemgi]

Hi, saw the tag of me and decided to check out the report! I hope you have an incredible first-trip-with-kid! I think you have the right idea - have some plans, but be willing to change them at a moment's notice. Also smart to try out different things (shows, character meets, etc.) to see how she likes them. For us at that age, we found that Izzy didn't have the patience to sit through shows, but was mesmerized by dark rides. But every kid is different and I read other reports that were the opposite. Sounds like you've done some good planning and research, so I'm sure that will help things go well. But, just know that things will still go wrong - but you'll still have great memories, no matter what - seeing Bea light up at special moments will make any difficult moments fade away.

Bea is adorable, by the way!

I hope the photo shoot goes well for you. We've done it twice now and had very good experiences both times. I haven't gotten to it in the current TR yet, but we did a shoot at the Beach Club this past May. Here's a link to the highlights: http://s1188.photobucket.com/user/LoungingAround/library/May 2015 Photo Shoot Highlights?sort=3&page=1 For what it's worth, we were all in bad moods (rough day) with an uncooperative toddler, but she still got some decent shots and we were happy with the results.

Hope you have a magical trip!

Thank you! I learned a lot from your TRs. I think Bea is going to be very similar to Izzy at this age -- she can't sit still for anything but she loves music and colorful lights, so I think dark rides will be a hit and shows will be a no-go.

Thank you so much for sharing your Beach Club photos! It's so nice to see another shoot there, and your photos look gorgeous!

 

[kayemgi]

Day 4 Plans:
In exactly one week we will be transferring planes in Cincinnati and heading to Orlando! I'm so excited! And nervous about flying with a baby! I've been having nightmares about it. I'm just glad Disney is at the end of the journey.

On Day 4, we plan to start the day at Magic Kingdom! I want to be sure we make it for the Welcome Show, as that's one of my favorite things to see in the World.

Then we will head right to Peter Pan, as I haven't done this ride since I was a little kid and I really want to experience the new interactive queue. The videos I've seen look so amazing!

We'll hang around Fantasyland in the morning, perhaps riding it's a small world, Pooh, and the Little Mermaid. I hope to meet the Tremaines and then it will be time for our FP+ at the Mine Train! It's one of the few rides that we are will to do Rider Switch for, since neither of us has ridden it yet. I can't wait!

Then we have another FP+ to meet Rapunzel and Cinderella, which honestly, we may just skip depending on how we feel/what we want to do. I don't think Bea is going to care about face characters at all, DH definitely doesn't care, and I may have other face character priorities (like Tiana!).

We also have an ADR for a late lunch at Be Our Guest, but we are thinking we might cancel! I know, I know, but we did it on our last trip, and we loved it, but I think we'd like to keep this day super flexible. We are also coming back next year with our families, and I really want them to experience BOG, so I think we might save it for that trip. Then we have a FP+ for Buzz Lightyear. I've been watching the how-to videos, and while I don't think I'll be able to score Galactic Hero, I hope to at least get my score into six digits. I'm truly terrible at that ride.

In the afternoon we will just do what has low waits. Like I mentioned, I want to meet Tiana, DH wants to do the Laugh Floor, the PeopleMover is always a must-do, I'd love to do the Tiki Room if Bea has been tolerant of shows. The Dapper Dans are a must-see, and I want to have Bea's silhouette done on Main Street.

We plan to eat dinner at Pecos Bill's and stay long enough to see the Castle Lighting and then head home to ASMu for an early night (it's another party night at MK, so we'll have to be out by 7 anyway).

On the off chance that we are feeling great, awake, and full of energy, we miiiight consider hopping to Epcot, but I highly doubt it. After three full days, I'm sure we will all be quite tired!

Up next: Mystery day!

 

[missangelalexis]

One more week!

Sounds like such a great day at Magic Kingdom (but any day at MK is usually a great one, right?)

 

[kayemgi]

Day 5 & Day 6:
I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving!

Just trying to get these in because we leave in three days and I'm not sure I'm going to have time to do another update. Having a toddler around AND trying to pack and prepare for a vacation sucks up a lot of time! These will be quick anyway, because for Day 5, it's our free day! We have no plans for this day, we'll just go wherever we feel like we want to go. We do have an ADR for breakfast at Tusker House, but if AK is not where we want to go, we'll just cancel it. It's not a must-do. I suspect we will want to head back to Epcot to do more holiday stuff, or maybe MK because who can have enough MK? Not me!

And then on our last day, we will have only a very brief time at Magic Kingdom. I insisted that we start and end our trip at MK this time because I just don't feel like we are at Disney until we get to MK and I need Main Street to be the last thing I see before we leave. We have morning FP+ scheduled for the Mine Train, then Buzz, and then to meet Mickey. We might actually do Mickey at rope drop because I suspect our FP time will be too late. We are probably going to have to leave around noon, or maybe even earlier, to get back to ASMu for the Magical Express. I hate that you have to catch it so early, but it's going to be good to be forced to leave at a certain time with Bea too. It will be better to have more time at the airport, plenty of time to check in and get through security.

I feel like it's going to be a whirlwind trip. Hopefully it's more relaxed than I think it will be! I always wish we were doing one more day on these five-and-a-half day trips. When we go for Bea's birthday we plan to do eight or nine days. It's going to feel like such a luxury, I can't wait!

Well, that's probably all for now, but I will be back with a hopefully a much more interesting TR! I mostly wanted to do this PTR because I like looking back on it when I'm planning our next trip, like a little journal. And for once I know when the next trip will be!