Survival Guide for First timers w/babies December 2012(update 1/5))

[bellaally]

So I am back and have been for a while. The clothes are all washed, suitcases all put away. The camera pictures are downloaded and photos are edited.

Do you want to know something. I am not sad, not at all. I had such an incredible time at Disney for our very short stay and I am excited. why might you be asking yourself...... because I know this is just the beginning!


Welcome all (who care to read this) to my First ever trip report, on our First Visit to Walt Disney World. I am writing this lovely trip report will be packed full of pictures and tips as well as many magical experiences.

The reason I am writing this Survival Guide is because I would never have survived Disney if it were not for all the lovely people on the DIS. I was clueless to say the very least. But by reading PTR's and TR's I began planning the most perfect trip ever!! It wasn't perfect but it was Magical none-the-less! I wanted to share my experience because normally your reading TR's from the veterans and you see what a great time it is to be in Disney. But we are virgins to Walt Disney and on top of that have not been parents for very long. Get ready to experience missed flights, first haircuts, pushing the snooze button, pouring rain, freezing temperatures, the seven dwaves, and the best First family vacation I could ever ask for! So please sit back and keep all arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times. This is gonna be one hell of a ride.


We went during one of the most wonderful times of the year. Our trip was December 10th-15th. Oh Christmas time, its my favorite ever also its my birthday(I was actually born on December 25,1987) So we were celebrating our first visit as well as my 25th birthday!

Here are our lovely cast of characters:

Me: Alexandra or Ally
Favorite Park: Hollywood Studios
Favorite Movie: Brave, The Lion King, The Little Mermaid
Favorite Character: Mickey Mouse
Favorite Ride: Splash Mountain

Hubby: Jesse
Favorite Park: Magic Kingdom
Favorite Movie: Toy story 3,1,2 (in that order)
Favorite Character: Buzz Lightyear
Favorite Ride: Toy story Mania (duh)

Eldest son: Nicholas (22 months)
Favorite Park: Animal Kingdom
Favorite Movie: Tangled (he is in love with Rapunzel, but another princess stole his heart and his first kiss, more on that later)
Favorite Character: Donald Duck!!!
Favorite Ride: Dumbo

Last but never least!

Youngest son: Jordan (5months)
No favorites he loves it all!!!​

 

[bellaally]

Survival Guide for First Timers w/babies ​

Then There Were Four​

First Day Part 1 We overslept/ Then I Blew Up​

 

[SAT887]

Subbing! glad to hear you had a great time!

 

[luckylady]

I'm in. Can't wait for more.

 

[akhwbj1]

I can not wait to read about your trip! We leave in 13 days and it will be my son's (2 year old) first trip. I have been 2 times prior, but never had to plan a thing! So I hope to get some tips from you!

 

[clynngibson]

Here from the Dec FB group! Can't wait to start reading!!

 

[bellaally]

Subbing! glad to hear you had a great time!

Glad someone is reading and I did have the best time ever! I was kinda of scared because everyone on the DIS is in love with Disney like it is the best place on earth and I was scared I would not like it or worst I would think it was the same as any other amusement park. But thankfully I now can say it is my favorite place.

I'm in. Can't wait for more.

Hey there! Great hope I can deliver an interesting trip report.

I can not wait to read about your trip! We leave in 13 days and it will be my son's (2 year old) first trip. I have been 2 times prior, but never had to plan a thing! So I hope to get some tips from you!

Many, many tips I promise, i have learned so much like what to pack(what i forgot to pack that would have made life easier.) and nic's first flight and airport tips as well as character meet and greet, ours was a little hesitant at first, and I saw so many parents wanting there little ones to love the characters but most of them would scream or cry. Nicholas was a bit scared at first but we warmed him up to get great pictures and by the end he was high fiving and hugging them.

Here from the Dec FB group! Can't wait to start reading!!

Welcome can wait to start reading all the dec reports, we have come so far lol.

 

[bellaally]

I began planning this trip in June, right after Jordan was born. Our logical thinking for doing an adults only trip was so we can experience a carefree first vacation to Disney World. Plus there so young they won't remember mom and dad not taking them. Jordan Alexander had something cooking up his little baby newborn sleeves. I had successfully breastfeed with Jordan which I am very proud of, because despite trying so hard to BF with Nicholas it was a no-go. But with this triumph came the bittersweet realization (hello dummy now you can't leave him for a week, he depends on you for nourishment). Well we win some and lose some. Thus our trip-members multiplied to four.

Regardless I was super excited but I had to slow it down. If DIS boards had taught me anything it's. If you push a kid to much on a vacation, it will end horrible and everyone will be miserable. So I cut down what I wanted to do in half. I added in stops and actually made myself aware that I need to slow down the speed on this trip and make the most of it for the kids.

We changed our flights super easy, we just couldn't sit together on the plan, because to lap infants cant be sitting in the same row (Not enough oxygen mask).

I will not bore you with all the pre planning details, as I am super excited to get on with this trip so you can read up on here, my ongoing pre trip report. The Year of The Disney Trips
​

 

[bellaally]

It was December 10th and it was 12:30 am, the kids had really just gotten to sleep, they were acting crazy earlier like they knew we were going to Disney. So I took this chance to repack our bags and make sure we were not forgetting something.

I made sure and packed a special backpack for Nicholas to take on the plane. It had somethings to distract him on this flight, this was their first plane ride so how they would act was up in the air(get it!!!). I had found ton of things really cheap at stores back home. Always pack the kids two extra shirts and another pair of pants just in case something happens

My husband works the mid shift for SEPTA in Philadelphia, he is a mechanic so he basically is just getting home from work at 12:30 am. I had finished packing at about 1 am. Problem was we had to get up around 4 am and travel to NYC. Our plane were departing at 8:10 from JFK.(We scheduled this flight originally when we were going to leave the kids with my sister who lives in NYC) My plan was to leave at 4:30 and that would give us 3 hours and 20 minutes to driving the 90 plus miles and check in for our flight.

You can tell where this is heading right....
So I am a normal person(i.e I still think some DISsers are out of this world) and I was very excited about Disney but when I tell you I turned off the lights, hit that bed and was out like a light, that's what happened.

Next thing my husband is in the room, lights are on he is digging in his drawer saying its 4:46 am; we overslept we need to hurry up. No problem everything was set clothes put aside, bags were packaged and put into the car early that morning. We dressed both kids packed everything we need for the airport and car ride and where out at 4:57. That is a miracle ladies and gentlemen but we would need a couple to get on our flight.

We drove down at super high speed and where actually in the city by 6:00 am. But that's when all crap hits the fan. My sister calls me and asks if we are at the airport yet, I tell her nope still in the car she lets me know there are like two major accidents in the direction we are heading. Just as I get off the phone with her, I feel the car come to a complete stop. I also feel my heart slide down to my feet. I knew we were not going to make it.

We were in a standstill for 40 minutes! Nothing to do but wait. It cleared up and after we passed the disabled vehicles we were racing trying to make it. We got to a long term parking called Smart JFK parking(15.95 per day)There were people waiting the shuttle was right there I threw open the doors like our plane leaves in 30 minutes. They were so nice grabbed the bags jotted down information handed us our slip and we were in the shuttle going towards the airport in 5 minutes.

We got there to JFK looked at my watch 7:48 am, looked at the check in line about 10 people ahead of us but I looked over at T.S.A and there was no one EMPTY! So I pulled over a lady and let her know we are going to miss our flight she moves the ropes and lets me cut to the front of the line, we had 20 minutes left, we can do this (Only time folks this was a Disney or death situation).I am up next the lady looks at me smiles, looks at our tickets, looks at my check on bag and tells me( and I will remember her face and her tone and the way the words just spat out and hit me like daggers to the chest);"Oh no, you missed your flight ,please step back in line". WHAT!!!

Then I blew up into a million pieces!!!

​

 

[SAT887]

Oh geez! Doesn't sound like a good start to vacation! At least I know you got there!!

 

[bellaally]

Oh geez! Doesn't sound like a good start to vacation! At least I know you got there!!

I know it sounds like the worst but I got over it pretty quickly!

 

[bellaally]

Good News, no I was telling the truth we did miss our flight, but I didn't blow up.

Honestly we waited for about 5 people to get checked in. The same lovely lady named veronica;explained that had we not had to check in a bag that she would have let us thorough but they stopped checking bags for the flight 30 minutes before a flight departs. Our bag would not have made it.

She then explained that the next available flight to MCO via Delta was at 3:40 pm. Yes terrible news! We agreed she changed everything free of charge. We were giving our boarding pass and off to TSA checkpoint we went.

It took us a long 3 minutes to get through TSA. After we cleared we went to the first group of chairs we saw and I sat down. I honestly was devastated. I felt like I was going to burst into tears. Nevertheless I had to keep it inside, why you might be asking. When any normal person would have every right to be upset. We were all together my husband my sons, This was the start of our vacation and no matter what I was determined to make the most of it. To show my husband what a great time we were going to have even if we do have some misfires. Plus I still need him to be willing to let me buy annual passes so we can come back. If I had flipped out or gotten moody that would be the end of that!!

So I swollen back tears and told him lets get some breakfast. WE got Burger King. I got the french toast sticks which were fresh and really good.

Then we just killed time waiting it was the slowest hours of my life.

We colored in our mickey coloring books!

We charged our electronics!

We ate more burger king!

WE put on our ears!

We watched movies



After what felt like forever we were boarded first and the ride was smooth all the way to florida!​

 

[ronnmel]

My baby was born in June too! We are leaving for her first Disney trip in 10 days. It's going to be fun comparing your trip to mine.

 

[bellaally]

So I promised after this post its nothing but fun(it actually was nothing but fun).

We landed at 7:10 pm. We had rented a vehicle from Budget but it was an economy car. Which would not hold all of us and a double stroller we had rented so when I was looking up prices three months later they were ridiculous. Eventually we looked into off airport rental companies. I found Sixt. They are relatively new, the shuttle picked us up immediately as soon as we departed the terminal(by chance) There was a guy that said he had been waiting 10 minutes and he was the one that called them.

Why it took us just around the corner it seemed and we were there. It took us about 15 minutes to wait in line be processed then about another 5 minutes to receive our car. This was excellent service, the car was brand new only about 70 miles and it was a full size car for about 11 dollars a day you can't beat that. " Having a rental car while having kids with you is a must have, in my opinion. We don't have to take Disney transportation and when you want to just get out of the parks and go and relax in your rooms its easy. Not to mention when you need a double stroller"

We got the car packed everything in and were off to our first stop BabiesRUs. We had rented a double stroller from them which I never knew they rented out. You can choose to have it delivered but I need to pick up a few things for the babies anyway. If your getting a rental car and you have small babies "I recommend that you buy supplies when you get there I only packed enough diapers for the car/plane ride, to save on weight and space in my luggage" It took us 7 minutes from the car rental space to Where we picked up our stoller.

We stopped at a Walmart on the way to our resort. I picked up some essentials for the kids. Some water bottles, juices, baby food, squeeze pouch foods, and some snacks. " I highly recommend getting the squeeze pouch foods, there basically like apple sauce or yogurt blends to go, the beauty in these products is. Your child doesn't have to touch the food. No body wants to worry about there kids getting sick on vacation. My oldest son Nicholas loves these. They even have Disney ones now". I did buy other snacks but those were only eaten in the room.

Then finally it was around 9:10 pm and we saw this thought the rainy windshield.

Then we saw this

Then Finally

We are here!!!

Sorry for the crappy photos I don't know why I would try and take picture while moving, we wanted to hurry up and get there!

 

[scottny]

Hi,
Just found your report. You were off to a great start till that road bump. So sorry you missed the flight. Seems like you were making the best of it.

Looking forward to more.

 

[holleypie]

Oh my goodness. I would have cried. I'm glad they got you on another flight without much trouble.

Your boys are too cute. I never would have guessed your youngest was only five months. So much hair!

Congratulations on your success with breastfeeding, and happy early birthday! Can't wait to read more about your trip.

 

[bellaally]

A quick update hope all of you are enjoying your holidays with your family. I am in the process of getting my photopass pictures. I will be posting those as soon as I can. The kids are sick and I am starting to feel under the weather but I am typing up the rest of the trip in word and posting it as soon as I get a chance.

 

[wiigirl]

A quick update hope all of you are enjoying your holidays with your family. I am in the process of getting my photopass pictures. I will be posting those shortly.

Can't wait to see them!

 

[bellaally]

We are approaching the POP century Check-in; it was so colorful and decorated beautifully for Christmas.

I love the POP Century Christmas tree, we went over and saw the Art of Animations tree and not really impressed then again I HATE white Christmas trees.

So we check-in and get out packet which is full of goodies, we also received our 1st visit buttons and my birthday button YAY!

We are in room 3267, I like this room it was right behind the pin shaped pool, it was a quick two minute walk to the main and Everything POP, as well as close to the laundry.

Our room was standard size; it was plenty of room for my family and I. We requested a playard and it was in the room. It was your average size playard. You dont even need to bring sheets they had adorable Mickey Mouse sheets on already.

Now time to go to sleep, we had an early day in the morning.

 

[bellaally]

I woke up nice and early, it was our first full day at Disney. We were going to the Animal Kingdom today.

I made sure to pack everything we needed the night before. That was a saver many times during the trip.

I wanted to make rope drop but never happened it takes longer to park and walk to the park and get our bags checked then I originally thought.

The Animal Kingdom tree outside the entrance is amazing and if I could replicate any tree and have it shrunk to fit in our living room it would be this one; So many details and beautiful wooden ornaments.
I would just like to tell everybody that we were overwhelmed when we entered I mean I planned for this trip six months and read books, blogs, maps. I knew where I wanted to go Kilimanjaro Safari but didn’t know how to get there or where we were for that matter lol.

I eventually stopped to ask in what direction to go. We got there, by 9:30 the stand by line was 30 minutes. I didn’t want to wait in line or waste any time. So I decided to pick up fast passes for this and had a return time of an hour which was fine with us. We then proceeded to venture down into the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail.

We had lots of fun looking at the different animals; I loved the huge fish tank with all those colorful fishes. I guess Nicholas loved them too. He kept saying” Nemo, Nemo mommy”.

The Go-RI-LLas were very active this morning walking around. But it seemed like every time I would try to get a snap shot of this one gorilla he would moon me. Quite funny!!

Now we had about 10 minutes so we went to find a shady spot to feed the kid’s breakfast before going on our Adventure.

There were many animals and most were active. I was a little upset when you got to “pride rock” the lions were lazy and hiding. The tour was good and long enough it was bumpy which was fine for us but someone with back problems would be hurting after this one. I really thought it was scary when you went over the broken bridge part. I love this ride it was good, Nicholas enjoyed it.

So next we wanted to hit up Expedition Everest. I was very interested in this ride. It looks great from a far. We got there and the Single rider line was 5 minutes so we decided that was the quickest way for us to go, fast passes has us returning way too late and we had a reservation for tusker house.

5285

Let me tell you I loved the detail and everything leading up to the ride, even the fact that you can see it from everywhere in the park but it wasn’t that great. I was expecting a roller coaster like steep fast falls, but it was a good experience and I can see why little kids love to ride the roller coasters at Disney.( Just to clarify I have been on many roller coasters The Hulk, Nitro, Superman, Medusa, Disney doesn’t do scary oh my gosh what did I get into type of rides. It much more for all ages and family oriented). After the boys were getting very cranky it was so humid it felt like 90degrees and sticky and it was time to head to the baby care center and change there clothes and get them out of the heat before we went to eat at tusker house.

On our way there we ran into Devine. She was a little more then friendly with the men lol.

Off to the Baby care center it is right near the Africa Entrance to the left. This place is a god send. It was so cool in there and they were playing The Lion King. So I went to breast feed Jordan, while Nicholas and Jesse cooled down and watched samba.

<3