Spending my first Mother's Day in Disney Baby's First Trip! May 2013 PTR Updated 5/18

[dtr_angel]

It's a BOY!

So tiny and perfect, what a miracle!

 

[amandaluvsgoofy]

Congratulations!!!

I'm so happy that he's healthy and wonderful! You guys be sure to get some rest when you can!

 

[khertz]

Congratulations on baby Gavin! Being a mother is wonderful work. Enjoy your time with little man!

 

[pinkxray]

Aw, it's a boy I knew you were going to have a boy!

Congratulations!!! I am so excited for you and your DH

 

[dtr_angel]

So who knew having a newborn would be so time consuming Sorry it has taken me so long to update! Baby boy is now 6 weeks old, where does the time go?

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I can't believe how soon our trip is - we have been planning this family trip in our minds for years! We're at under 4 months until check in time. I am VERY excited about this trip, but I don't want to wish the next 100 and some days away because I am enjoying my tiny baby. He is growing so fast already!

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[CandleontheWater]

You little man is very cute, congrats on the little boy! Boys are so much fun.

I think your plans sound great! A good balance of planning and flexibility.

I think you guys are making a good decision about the dining plan, it can be really tough to do sit down meals with an infant, that was the roughest part of our trip when DS was 4 months. Some of my favorite CS are Tangerine Cafe in Epcot, Columbia Harbor House in MK, Starring roles in DHS, and Flame tree at AK.

As for breastfeeding at DTD, I agree there is no really quiet place. I would just find a bench and go for it! I remember when I first started nursing in public it was a little strange, but after a few times, it really just seemed normal. I breastfed all over WDW and around Washington DC (where I lived), and I never once got a sidelong glance or nasty comment. More often I had other women coming over to tell me what an awesome job I was doing! I would suggest trying it out a few times before the trip, maybe going to the local mall or something. Get a good nursing cover and you'll be good to go!

Also, I'm not sure if you are aware of this, but they make travel nursing pillows. I have the travel My breast friend, which is inflatable, and they now make a travel boppy which sort of zips up. They may be really helpful for your vacation.

Good luck and great job!

 

[dtr_angel]

You little man is very cute, congrats on the little boy! Boys are so much fun.

I think your plans sound great! A good balance of planning and flexibility.

I think you guys are making a good decision about the dining plan, it can be really tough to do sit down meals with an infant, that was the roughest part of our trip when DS was 4 months. Some of my favorite CS are Tangerine Cafe in Epcot, Columbia Harbor House in MK, Starring roles in DHS, and Flame tree at AK.

As for breastfeeding at DTD, I agree there is no really quiet place. I would just find a bench and go for it! I remember when I first started nursing in public it was a little strange, but after a few times, it really just seemed normal. I breastfed all over WDW and around Washington DC (where I lived), and I never once got a sidelong glance or nasty comment. More often I had other women coming over to tell me what an awesome job I was doing! I would suggest trying it out a few times before the trip, maybe going to the local mall or something. Get a good nursing cover and you'll be good to go!

Also, I'm not sure if you are aware of this, but they make travel nursing pillows. I have the travel My breast friend, which is inflatable, and they now make a travel boppy which sort of zips up. They may be really helpful for your vacation.

Good luck and great job!

We are planning to be flexible, LOL. It's just so hard to really plan because we don't know what he is going to be like at 5.5 months. DH and I had talked about taking turns each night to go back to the room early with baby boy so he's not out late, but I just realized that is not going to be possible since I'm his only food source and I can't take the chance of not getting back to him fast enough if he needs fed (end of night waiting for a bus from a park, etc) so it will have to be me (which I don't mind) but we're hoping maybe he will sleep in his stroller.. again we just don't know! We just bought an Ergo and plan to use that. I'm hoping that I can figure out how to nurse him in that so I won't always have to take off to the BCC if it's not handy. I also ordered a nursing cover too to at least try out and get him used to. We've only ever nursed at home and he's never been covered so I don't know how he is going to like that. Or me for that matter. I haven't nursed in public yet so hopefully I'll get comfortable with that in the coming months as well. Right now it's like we haven't taken him out many places since he's still so little and we just hurry and get home before it's time for him to eat again. Anyway, probably more than anyone wanted to know about me breastfeeding my son LOL. I've read a lot on the Dis about breastfeeding at WDW and it seems pretty friendly but I have been there 5 times and honestly don't remember seeing anyone breastfeeding... but then again if they were good at it I probably just didn't realize it! I didn't know they made travel nursing pillows! I have a boppy that I used a lot in the beginning but hardly at all now but that might be nice to have, thanks!

All the CS places you mentioned we have eaten at and are definite possibilities. I know our DHS meal will be at Pizza Planet, but there will definitely be a stop at Starring Rolls for a cupcake

I just noticed your ticker - Congratulations!!! I take it you're having a December baby? That's awesome... I happen to be a December baby

 

[dtr_angel]

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[khertz]

So you'd think I would have already thought about this, but today it REALLY hit me how much this trip is going to cost us

Our vacation package (6 nights at AoA, 6 day park hoppers for 4 adults) just under $3200
flights we're looking at $2000-2100 for all 5 of us
I came up with about $1000 for food for all 4 of (that's all CS/QS and one ADR at Biergarten - of course free QSDP would save us the most money as I doubt there will be a January discount for AoA)

yeah...

we cannot do anything about the flights, it is what it is. Hoping for free dining to help with the cost of food. Seriously considering renting points and staying in a one bedroom villa at AKL, it would save us around $800. That just makes me nervous though so we'll see.

Trip is definitely going to happen, just kinda freaking out right now!

I think we are going to upgrade our tickets (Daniel & I) at the end of our trip to AP! We were planning on taking Gavin back in 2013 again around Sept/Oct (depends on what bid he gets) so it would be like free tickets, but we'll have to do a budget trip since our January trip is so expensive... we're either going to rent DVC points and stay in a studio (possibly club level at AKV!) or eep! stay offsite and rent a car. Depends on what Disney comes out with too. Then we'll do the same for a hopeful trip the beginning of January 2014 to use those AP!​

Yes, Disney is so expensive, even when one in your party is free! We are milking it for all we can and taking DS next year right before he turns 3 because we know our already expensive vacations will be a LOT more expensive once we are buying him tickets too.

I might make one suggestion for your ticket upgrade, and that would be to upgrade to AP's at the beginning of your trip instead. That way for this vacation you can use the merchandise discount and purchase a TiW card if you are doing a lot of TS meals to get the discounts there. That way you get two trips at least with the benefits of an AP instead of just one!

 

[dtr_angel]

Yes, Disney is so expensive, even when one in your party is free! We are milking it for all we can and taking DS next year right before he turns 3 because we know our already expensive vacations will be a LOT more expensive once we are buying him tickets too.

I might make one suggestion for your ticket upgrade, and that would be to upgrade to AP's at the beginning of your trip instead. That way for this vacation you can use the merchandise discount and purchase a TiW card if you are doing a lot of TS meals to get the discounts there. That way you get two trips at least with the benefits of an AP instead of just one!

That is also why we are trying to take Gavin as much as possible before he turns 3. The only problem about upgrading to AP at the beginning (January 4th) is that we wouldn't get to squeeze a 2nd trip out of the AP for January 2014. If we upgrade at the end then DH could possibly get his first 2014 vacation at the same time again. The way his job is, the only time off he can possibly get is his 2 scheduled vacations (bids go in the November before) and they go from Saturday-Saturday so we could potentially go Jan 4-12 2014. Our AP would expire on the 9th, so I guess we'd just go until the 9th. I don't think we'd save much by buying the TiW this trip since we are only doing one TS meal, the rest CS and I don't think all CS is included? I'll have to look. I can see how those discounts would be nice, but being able to squeeze a second trip in before the AP expires would save us more I believe (plus we'd have the option to stay off site and rent a car and save on parking)

 

[dtr_angel]

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[khertz]

That is also why we are trying to take Gavin as much as possible before he turns 3. The only problem about upgrading to AP at the beginning (January 4th) is that we wouldn't get to squeeze a 2nd trip out of the AP for January 2014. If we upgrade at the end then DH could possibly get his first 2014 vacation at the same time again. The way his job is, the only time off he can possibly get is his 2 scheduled vacations (bids go in the November before) and they go from Saturday-Saturday so we could potentially go Jan 4-12 2014. Our AP would expire on the 9th, so I guess we'd just go until the 9th. I don't think we'd save much by buying the TiW this trip since we are only doing one TS meal, the rest CS and I don't think all CS is included? I'll have to look. I can see how those discounts would be nice, but being able to squeeze a second trip in before the AP expires would save us more I believe (plus we'd have the option to stay off site and rent a car and save on parking)

Your AP will expire the same day whether you upgrade at the beginning or the end. Your year starts from the first day you use the ticket, not from the day you upgrade to AP.

The TiW card does not work for us either because we don't do many sit down meals. Congrats on finding ways to save money though, that is always a good thing!!

 

[dtr_angel]

Your AP will expire the same day whether you upgrade at the beginning or the end. Your year starts from the first day you use the ticket, not from the day you upgrade to AP.

The TiW card does not work for us either because we don't do many sit down meals. Congrats on finding ways to save money though, that is always a good thing!!

Unfortunately the AP isn't going to work for us, boo.

 

[dtr_angel]

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[KTgE]

I'm here and joining in. Congrats on your little man! Little boys are so much fun. Our son's first Disney experience was at 13months old and our daughter turned 9 months old on her first trip. We are also like khertz in that we are doing as many trips as we can when they are young just because of the cost. Plus, we just really love seeing Disney through our kids' eyes.

Looking forward to reading more about your plans.

 

[KTgE]

Oh, and as far as the Vera bags go...you can use them as carry-ons! I have all of the luggage pieces but my hands down favorite bag to travel with is the Carry Away tote. (I think you posted a pic of it.) It has great pockets, you can easily access it/close it, the straps have an extra pad on them that slides...great for toting it around in the airport, etc. I've carried Vera bags for a decade but that is easily my favorite travel bag.

I also use the Vera book bags as my diaper bag because I like having my hands free or if I lean to pick something up the bag doesn't fall off my shoulder. Anyways, enough of my two cents.

 

[dtr_angel]

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[dtr_angel]

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[dtr_angel]

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[CandleontheWater]

I'm back and caught up!

First of all, I wouldn't feel too guilty about moving to the All Stars. I actually think you guys will like having two different rooms, it will give you more space to spread out and more privacy. I also think that the sound proofing is better between actually rooms than parts of the suite, so now you don't have to worry about the noise.

Oh and something else, I would ask your pediatrician about the sunscreen. We took DS when he was just shy of 4 months and I asked before we left, and our Dr told us to go ahead and put it on him. We had to be sure to wear a natural type without hormone disruptors (we use California baby). I know that every doctor is different and they all have different advice, but it might be worth it to ask. I had always heard no sunscreen until six months also. It really was peace of mind for me, I was really worried about keeping DS totally covered and out of the sun, which is pretty much impossible in Florida.