WDW through an 8-month-old’s eyes &10m &13m &16m...New 10/30!

[Imagineer5]

Happy belated Mother's Day to YOU! I'm sorry DH didn't have a real surprise for you. I don't like surprises to begin with (I'm a full-on Type A control freak of a planner), but I really hate when I hear that someone has a surprise planned and then it doesn't happen.

I have been to WDW in October before (late October), but it was on a Food & Wine weekend and I think we just did Epcot, so it was pretty darn crowded. The weather is certainly nice that time of year, though.

I am dying to visit in early December and also the slow part of January or February. I've done Easter week, Thanksgiving week, the summer and random weekends in the spring and fall, but I'm curious to see Disney in the winter.

*Sorry for some reason the DIS isn't letting me do multiple quotes*

I love surprises, though I'm also a crazy planner. I wouldn't have been disappointed if I didn't have it in my head that he was planning something! Grrr.

Yeah, I guess if we did go late January that'd be a new time of year for us to experience, since we HAVE been in Oct, Dec, April, July and August. I don't really remember my last April trip, so I think an April/May one would be fun next year.

Disney just can't be beat at Christmas time though!

 

[Imagineer5]

I have never bought a used car before, so I did not know you could save 20k for a one year old model. That's awesome. We've never owned three cars at once. I want to get a bigger family car as well, but DH does not want to drive a big car around. My car is only a year old, so I cannot get rid of it smartly any time soon. Three cars may be in our near future, especially if we try for another kid.

I love Disneyland too. DH thinks I am nuts when I say it is better than MK. Yes, there are things at MK that are better, like the castle, Monsters Inc Laugh Factory and others. Disneyland has more things that are better than MK though like a nicer looking Fantasyland (for now anyway), Toon Town, PotC is better, etc. Overall, I think Disneyworld is better than DLR. I really want to see Disneyworld Paris too. While it is in my list of our next six trips, I do not know exactly when we will go yet. We will just take one trip at a time, and start planning and saving for the next.

Well i'm sure it depends on the particular car, but yeah seriously the Expedition EL's must be way over priced new, because they drop in value SO FAST. We usually buy used - 2-3 years old or so, just because of the savings, thought I bought my MINI new because the difference in price was so low and I couldn't find the color I wanted used. And I just HAD to have that blue. LOL.

No I definitely agree that DL is better than MK, though overall WDW is better than the DL resort. And it's for that reason we keep going back to WDW. I lived in so. cal. for a while and have no real drive to go back. I also lived in No. Cal. (Monterey) and loved it there, so I might be able to talk DH into a trip there and then make a little (ok big) detour to DL first. We also love Napa/Sonoma so that would work too. Too bad they aren't closer!

France is on my list for upcoming trips as well, though not for a couple years. Next April we are hoping to do another 18-night trip (last time was to Italy in 2010) to Holland/Belgium/Germany. Not my first choice locale, but DH has family in Holland he'd like to visit. After that, I think France would be our next "big" trip, though I want to take another trip to Hawaii (used to vacation there every year), Costa Rica, Galapagos, Greece...the list goes on and on! And of course a yearly (!!! hopefully) trip to WDW... and...Italy REALLY captured our hearts so much that we dream of buying a vacation home there, but that would put a stop to all this other traveling so it won't be for a long long time. Ok I need to stop...lol...I just love to travel!

 

[Imagineer5]

UPDATE!! We now have a 2nd trip in 2012!!

We are booked for December 7-10 at the POR Royal Room!

I looked at the POFQ rooms, which looked really nice, but for only $18 more a night we can stay at the royal room. I like the fact that we can walk to the 1st bus stop, so hopefully that should alleviate the standing problem on the buses. DH will be joining us, so at least I won't have to worry about doing it all alone.

Southwest fares should be out early June, and we should have enough points for 3 one-way tickets, using our Capital One points for the 4th.

We'll have a tables in wonderland card from October's trip, AP's, no rental car, and hotel at only $256, I think we can easily do this trip for about $500. That's pretty darn sweeeet!

I plan to eat at Boatwright's one night, since I haven't eaten there before. Would also like to eat at WCC since we are missing it in October, and IF we miss Chefs de France (which we have a lunch ADR for in October) I'd like to visit that one. Trying to do all NEW restaurants. And all of which don't need perfect 180-day ADR's, though I'm sure I'll still make them. Not sure if there's a big ticket one we should try to get (Ohana?), but I should definitely leave a slot open for the Be Our Guest restaurant since IMO it *should* be open by THEN! Geesh! LOL.

Yay for bonus trips!! And it won't be the last I'm sure. Those AP's really killed DH's chance of staying away from WDW for a while. Though, maybe our Spring trip will be with my mom instead of DH? Or just Aria. Once she's walking a bit I think she'll be easier to handle by myself...

If anyone hears about the Southwest credit card thing with 50,000 points please let me know, bc apparently DH can also sign up to get those. That'd make taking 1-2 more trips in 2013 more feasible!

 

[jenny105]

So jealous! Two trips within two months of each other? Lucky girl! And you'll get to see the new Fantasyland! Fingers crossed BoG is open for you. I'm most likely going to have to wait until 2014 to go back unless I can get work to send me to Disney World for free next year. After Scotland that might be a step backward though LOL.

 

[kmedina]

I see you really like the Expedition. When we shop for a bigger car, I will take a look at that one. The maker we love does not have any big SUVs, so we need to switch with the next car. DH is not willing to give up driving a small car to work everyday though.

I realized I called Disneyland Paris Disneyworld. Oops. We want to take a trip to Hawaii too. I really want to see Aulani. Sounds like we have similar vacation goals.

I am so excited for your trip. December 7-10 is an excellent time to go. You are getting such great deals too. Getting a good deal is the best.

 

[Leger13]

Wow another trip! How great for y'all! I'm jealous! I hope y'all are doing well I haven't been on a lot lately. Oh and you will love Boatwrights! I love it. The corn bread is to die for

 

[Leger13]

I forgot to mention (bad mommy!!!) that Aria hit a big milestone!!! She's rolling over!!! Woot! She started last Friday. I told daycare to please tell me when they see any milestones, so I know that she can do things. Christina (daycare) said she had just seen her on her side, trying to get over. So, I officially got to see her roll over for the first time!! Woot!! I even got a video of it to show DH.

Last night was the first one she rolled over and then slept on her tummy. She hasn't quite mastered tummy-to-back yet (just back to tummy) so she got stuck there. We do have one of those movement monitors, so I feel okay with letting her sleep on her tummy if that's where she ends up (I certainly am not getting up 5 times a night to flip her back over!).

She is working on mastering it. I keep hearing about babies rolling all over the living room floor, so I am wondering when that will start, bc that will be so cute! Our dogs and cats are going to be in shock that this little person can finally move herself around.

awww those milestones are so special! I forgot to say happy belated mother's day. I hope your first one was wonderful

 

[Leger13]

I LOVE all the pictures of Aria! She has gotten so big! She is absolutely precious

 

[Imagineer5]

So jealous! Two trips within two months of each other? Lucky girl! And you'll get to see the new Fantasyland! Fingers crossed BoG is open for you. I'm most likely going to have to wait until 2014 to go back unless I can get work to send me to Disney World for free next year. After Scotland that might be a step backward though LOL.

Yeah I don't know how in the world DH agreed to it. I think my disney math with upgrading to the AP costing us so little ($56 total) helped sway him. Then of course having that AP just unravels everything else...

At least in 2014 FL should be finally all done! I'm really tired of all the walls and coverings up, can't wait for it to all be down. But I'd continue to work on getting your job to send you...you can never have enough training!

I see you really like the Expedition. When we shop for a bigger car, I will take a look at that one. The maker we love does not have any big SUVs, so we need to switch with the next car. DH is not willing to give up driving a small car to work everyday though.

I realized I called Disneyland Paris Disneyworld. Oops. We want to take a trip to Hawaii too. I really want to see Aulani. Sounds like we have similar vacation goals.

I am so excited for your trip. December 7-10 is an excellent time to go. You are getting such great deals too. Getting a good deal is the best.

What car brand does your husband like? Mine is a BMW fan through and through and I really am not a fan! Their X5 is tiny though, so thankfully he won't push to get it. I drive my MINI every day for the same reason - I will not drive a huge SUV no matter what it is. We both have very long commutes which is why we have 3 cars.

I want to see Aulani but I'm so disappointed Disney chose Oahu (though not surprised). It's my least favorite island and I generally just skip it. Next trip I'll probably spend 2-3 nights at Aulani and then leave for Maui or something. Oahu is just too commercialized to feel like vacation! But, the resort looks gorgeous so I probably just wouldn't leave.

Yes I love good deals. Can't believe how cheap it's going to be to go for a 3-day weekend. That's so awesome. A spring trip unfortunately, won't be as cheap!

Wow another trip! How great for y'all! I'm jealous! I hope y'all are doing well I haven't been on a lot lately. Oh and you will love Boatwrights! I love it. The corn bread is to die for

I know!! LOL. Aw good to hear you like Boatwrights - DH loves cornbread and shipbuilding so I think he'll love it!

awww those milestones are so special! I forgot to say happy belated mother's day. I hope your first one was wonderful

Thanks!! Hope yours was great! Aria sure made mine special, but DH has some making up to do...

I LOVE all the pictures of Aria! She has gotten so big! She is absolutely precious

Yay thanks! I don't want to overdo Aria picture posts LOL but I'm glad you liked them. She is growing so fast - she's still long and "skinny". Still under 13 lbs but probably almost 26" long. I've been working on getting her "sit" because she likes to stand so much that I think it's not going to help her legs be in a sitting position.

I wish i could directly upload a pic to here - she is currently napping on a giant Eeyore stuffed animal that DH picked up on our last Disney trip. So darn cute!

 

[jenny105]

Yeah I don't know how in the world DH agreed to it. I think my disney math with upgrading to the AP costing us so little ($56 total) helped sway him. Then of course having that AP just unravels everything else...

At least in 2014 FL should be finally all done! I'm really tired of all the walls and coverings up, can't wait for it to all be down. But I'd continue to work on getting your job to send you...you can never have enough training!

The great thing about it is if work sent me to Disney & I wanted to say longer, I could just pay for a hotel for a couple nights (we get 40% off) and they'd move my airfare to a different day & they'd still pay for it! So I could get my own mini-vacation out of it. I did that last year with Disneyland and they ended up reimbursing me for the extra night! I would've loved to have done that with Scotland but the tour group handled that booking.

 

[kmedina]

What car brand does your husband like? Mine is a BMW fan through and through and I really am not a fan! Their X5 is tiny though, so thankfully he won't push to get it. I drive my MINI every day for the same reason - I will not drive a huge SUV no matter what it is. We both have very long commutes which is why we have 3 cars.

DH and I are both BMW fans. We both drive them. I am willing to switch with future cars, but he is only willing to drive BMW. The X5 has an optional third row seat, but then would have almost no trunk space. The Escalade and Range Rover are a little too boxy looking for me. My sister has a Range Rover and it is the better between those two but way too pricey for us with three cars. If DH was willing to get rid of his car and drive my SAV, we would only need two cars. He is not though. I do like the look of the Expedition and the Navigator. My cousin and a different sister have Expeditions, and they both love them. I have not looked into it yet.

 

[Maestra99]

Yay for your December trip! $500 - that is amazing!! Do you think you will get "Really, Disney AGAIN?!" from your family and friends? I know I would, but I wouldn't care - I'd go once a month if I could!

Congrats on Aria rolling over; it's so amazing to watch them learn new things! I remember it seeming to take forever for my little prince to be interested in rolling over, and now he is crawling all over the place, pulling to stand on EVERYTHING, and basically wearing me out! It's so fun though.

 

[Dugette]

Joining in! All caught up with my lurking!

Going WAY BACK, I just have to comment on your pictures of your cats trying out the baby stuff! Our cat would kill me in my sleep if I ever tried to dress her up! I think she might like napping in play yards and such, though.

Anyway, Aria is quite a cutie! I'm glad to hear you found a great daycare provider...we're still working on that one!

Sounds like we have similar future travel goals...love all the places you plan to/want to go!

GREAT deal on your December trip. We went that time of year in 2010 and it's such a nice time...lower crowds, but holiday stuff happening. I bet the royal room will make for some cute photo ops with Aria.

Looking forward to more!

 

[smile4stamps]

All caught up!! Aria is beautiful!!!

I'd vote for the December as well (even though you've already chosen it) as I'd love to see the Christmas decorations!

My Sister in Law has a Honda Pilot and they have 5 kids so there is quite a bit a room in that!!

 

[Imagineer5]

DH and I are both BMW fans. We both drive them. I am willing to switch with future cars, but he is only willing to drive BMW. The X5 has an optional third row seat, but then would have almost no trunk space. The Escalade and Range Rover are a little too boxy looking for me. My sister has a Range Rover and it is the better between those two but way too pricey for us with three cars. If DH was willing to get rid of his car and drive my SAV, we would only need two cars. He is not though. I do like the look of the Expedition and the Navigator. My cousin and a different sister have Expeditions, and they both love them. I have not looked into it yet.

Yeah the 3rd row is pretty silly in the X5. DH loves the Range Rover but again it's pretty small when you factor in the dogs getting the whole back of the car. It's smaller than the Audi we have.

I've peeked over at your cruise TR and noticed you have an update but won't be posting any more this week, so I'll try and read & respond soon!

Yay for your December trip! $500 - that is amazing!! Do you think you will get "Really, Disney AGAIN?!" from your family and friends? I know I would, but I wouldn't care - I'd go once a month if I could!

Congrats on Aria rolling over; it's so amazing to watch them learn new things! I remember it seeming to take forever for my little prince to be interested in rolling over, and now he is crawling all over the place, pulling to stand on EVERYTHING, and basically wearing me out! It's so fun though.

I know! Isn't it crazy! LOL OMG I am scared to tell anyone. THat's why I love the DIS. I think it'll be more like we just go and not really tell anyone, esp since it's just a weekend.

Aria has no interest in sitting - that's my current frustration. Every time I try to get her to sit, she straightens out bc she just wants to stand all the time. Apparently standing too much (from what I've read) can make their hips/legs stiffen, which might be what's happening to Aria... since we've been letting her stand since she was basically born. Oops. So now we're working on that. It's so funny how Aria will spend hours on her tummy now, now that she rolls over onto it herself. She won't turn back over though!

Joining in! All caught up with my lurking!

Going WAY BACK, I just have to comment on your pictures of your cats trying out the baby stuff! Our cat would kill me in my sleep if I ever tried to dress her up! I think she might like napping in play yards and such, though.

Anyway, Aria is quite a cutie! I'm glad to hear you found a great daycare provider...we're still working on that one!

Sounds like we have similar future travel goals...love all the places you plan to/want to go!

GREAT deal on your December trip. We went that time of year in 2010 and it's such a nice time...lower crowds, but holiday stuff happening. I bet the royal room will make for some cute photo ops with Aria.

Looking forward to more!

Hi!!! Thanks for coming over!! I love the early pics from the TR, when I was still preggo and was having fun getting all the gear and such. It's funny, so many ppl told me my cats would not want to be in her stuff (crib, pack n play, bouncy seats, etc) once she's here and her scent is in them. NOPE!! They are soooo irritating - I'm tired of trying to get cat hair out of everything!! Grrr. LOL. And yes my grey cat Max is a sweetie pie, I was pretty surprised he let us buckle him in the car seat...LOL. Jake isn't that docile.

Good luck finding daycare! It was a scary time, until we found one that we loved and just stuck with her. Met her a couple times, talked to the other parents, and just had a fantastic feeling about her. Never had that feeling about anyone else, and so far she's been fantastic! So happy that she'll use cloth diapers (which is a HUGE savings for us!), she's great abount making bottles, working with us on any silly requests we have, etc. I'm sure you'll find someone wonderful too. How long do you plan to stay home? Can you go back part time? I am LOVING being back only 3 days/week. It's so nice having 4-day weekends EVERY WEEK!

I have so many travel plans it's ridiculous. I've already made itineraries and looked up hotels and vacation rentals and such for a bunch of them. LOL. Let's see, currently I have Holland/Belgium/Germany, France, Greece, another trip to Italy bc we loved it so much, Australia, a road trip from LA-Seattle, Galapagos & Amazon...hmmm that might be it so far. I hope to do one *BIG* trip every 2 years, and then do smaller trips once a year (like Disney or other US destinations). We'll see if that turns out to be feasible, but I can dream!

All caught up!! Aria is beautiful!!!

I'd vote for the December as well (even though you've already chosen it) as I'd love to see the Christmas decorations!

My Sister in Law has a Honda Pilot and they have 5 kids so there is quite a bit a room in that!!

Yay happy to see you're back, I'll have to go revisit your PTR to hear about what you've been up to. Thanks for looking at her pics!!

Wowee 5 kids in a Pilot!! I guess that'd work. We just have the 2 dogs in the way back, which takes up ALL of our luggage space. Which means we have to bring only what can fit on the 2 seats next to Aria- hence getting a mUCH bigger vehicle. Thanks for the tip though!

 

[Leger13]

I know!! LOL. Aw good to hear you like Boatwrights - DH loves cornbread and shipbuilding so I think he'll love it!



Thanks!! Hope yours was great! Aria sure made mine special, but DH has some making up to do...



Yay thanks! I don't want to overdo Aria picture posts LOL but I'm glad you liked them. She is growing so fast - she's still long and "skinny". Still under 13 lbs but probably almost 26" long. I've been working on getting her "sit" because she likes to stand so much that I think it's not going to help her legs be in a sitting position.

I wish i could directly upload a pic to here - she is currently napping on a giant Eeyore stuffed animal that DH picked up on our last Disney trip. So darn cute!

I'm sure y'all will love it then! Yum!!

Mine was ok I guess. My DH had some making up to do from last year but he didn't really live up to it. Shopping while Alex and I are in the car waiting ON mother's day. Ugh

Haha yeah I try not to photo bomb DIS but I do all the time on my FB! That's great that she's still long and thin. Alex is chunking out haha. It's so cute when they try to stand and sit at that age. I'm sure she will get the hang of it really fast. I think Alex was about 5 months when he started sitting on his own. It creeped me out because one morning I just walked in on him sitting up in his crib haha!

Awww that's so cute! I bet it's super comfy. While I don't miss newborn stage I still love seeing itty bitty baby pictures. And thinking of how itty bitty they are and all their shoes and clothes. Alex seems like a giant now lol

 

[Imagineer5]

The great thing about it is if work sent me to Disney & I wanted to say longer, I could just pay for a hotel for a couple nights (we get 40% off) and they'd move my airfare to a different day & they'd still pay for it! So I could get my own mini-vacation out of it. I did that last year with Disneyland and they ended up reimbursing me for the extra night! I would've loved to have done that with Scotland but the tour group handled that booking.

Yeah, that's awesome!! I did that in 2008 with my last trip to DL (wow it's been 4 years since I was there!!). Free flights was the biggest thing, and then I just paid for the hotel while there. Then a week in San Diego fully on my employer's dime was pretty sweet too, though I was by myself.

Definitely too bad you oculdn't extend Scotland like that! But at least you got to go!

 

[Imagineer5]

I'm sure y'all will love it then! Yum!!

Mine was ok I guess. My DH had some making up to do from last year but he didn't really live up to it. Shopping while Alex and I are in the car waiting ON mother's day. Ugh

Haha yeah I try not to photo bomb DIS but I do all the time on my FB! That's great that she's still long and thin. Alex is chunking out haha. It's so cute when they try to stand and sit at that age. I'm sure she will get the hang of it really fast. I think Alex was about 5 months when he started sitting on his own. It creeped me out because one morning I just walked in on him sitting up in his crib haha!

Awww that's so cute! I bet it's super comfy. While I don't miss newborn stage I still love seeing itty bitty baby pictures. And thinking of how itty bitty they are and all their shoes and clothes. Alex seems like a giant now lol

Aww LOL I'd be so mad if DH shopped for me while I waited in the car. Not cool!! I hate when no thought is put into anything. IDK what to do about Father's Day. I want to make it special for him, but I'm still mad about no plans for me for Mother's Day that I sort of want to get back at him too...

That is too cute about Alex just sitting up in his crib!

Ok gotta go actually do some work today!

 

[Leger13]

Aww LOL I'd be so mad if DH shopped for me while I waited in the car. Not cool!! I hate when no thought is put into anything. IDK what to do about Father's Day. I want to make it special for him, but I'm still mad about no plans for me for Mother's Day that I sort of want to get back at him too...

That is too cute about Alex just sitting up in his crib!

Ok gotta go actually do some work today!

Yeah I was peeved but I figured it wasn't worth fighting over or staying mad about it. I felt that way about Father's day last year and this year but last year I made him a cute picture thing with Alex holding the letters "D A D" in each picture and put them together. He loved it. This year I made him a photo book filled with pictures of him and Alex and little sayings about fathers and sons. I already gave it to him since he's a stinker and just HAD to open it early. He got teary eyed.

 

[Imagineer5]

Yeah I was peeved but I figured it wasn't worth fighting over or staying mad about it. I felt that way about Father's day last year and this year but last year I made him a cute picture thing with Alex holding the letters "D A D" in each picture and put them together. He loved it. This year I made him a photo book filled with pictures of him and Alex and little sayings about fathers and sons. I already gave it to him since he's a stinker and just HAD to open it early. He got teary eyed.

You're much nicer than me. IDK. Maybe I'll do something nice like that. He always makes breakfast so I'm thinking of doing that for him, and he's already requested to NOT have any plans that weekend.