We're Doing Disney Again Someday...Plus One! ~ Come Read my Trip Report!!!

[Dugette]

Such fun busy days!! Oh man! I can't wait to hear the real versions and how much dug baby loves it all!!
So excited for you guys!!

Thanks! I hope the reality is at least as good as the plan!

 

[Dugette]

"Forecast" is a high of 74, low of 58 and "sunny". I will take this! We'll see what we actually get, though..

We'll get up and get ready for our day around 7am, then hop aboard the monorail for the Magic Kingdom. We'll be admitted early, since we have a pre-park-opening ADR at the Crystal Palace.

We hope to have enough time to take some nearly-empty park pictures and cute shots of Dug Baby in front of the castle and such.

Our ADR is for 8:35am. It would be nice if I had something Pooh themed to dress Dug Baby in for this meal, but I'm pretty sure she's outgrown her Pooh outfits. And it's hard to justify buying a new one when she has more clothes than she needs for this trip already (they're just skewed towards Minnie vs. Pooh). So, instead, I'm thinking we'll dress her for Pirates , since we'll ride that later in the morning:



But back to Crystal Palace. I'm really looking forward to this. The food is great and the characters are lots of fun. I think she'll get a kick out of them and maybe even want to hug Pooh (since she loves hugging big bears). She may well recognize Tigger , since he makes our "goodnight" rounds before bed each night. Maybe Eeyore too, since she has a plush of him, but we don't play with him much, I guess. Poor Eeyore... (ETA: Dug just told me that Dug Baby brought Eeyore over to him today, then starting slamming Eeyore into the footstool and on the ground).

After our brunch, we'll make our way over to The Jingle Jungle Cruise! Super duper excited to see what they've done for the holidays! Our Fast Pass+ is 9-10am.

Next, we'll continue our boat ride theme with Pirates! I have no idea what Dug Baby will think of this, but hoping she'll have fun. I could imagine her yelling out "ghee" and "ki...ee" at the dogs and cats.

After this, maybe we'll try to do a meet and greet with Aladdin and Jasmine on our way to the Tiki Room and the Magic Carpets. Thinking Dug Baby will get a kick out of both of those attractions. She loves to dance, so hoping singing birds are a hit with her.

Next, we'll re-visit an attraction that we've avoided since our first trip together (September 2009): Country Bear Jamboree. We're doing this entirely because Dug Baby loves big bears, dancing, and singing. Seems up her alley. And I suppose it's about time we see it again after 4 years.

From 11am-Noon, we have one Fast Pass+ for Splash Mountain and one for Big Thunder, with plans to Rider Swap each. Looking forward to a couple of my favorites! I can't wait until Dug Baby is old enough to enjoy them with us.

After our mountains, we'll head over to Columbia Harbor House for lunch. I'm thinking a tuna sandwich is in my future. Yum. Should be some good options for Dug Baby here too. If possible, we'll try to sit up on the second floor, where it's quieter and the view is nice.

After lunch, we'll scurry off to Fairytale Hall to use our Noon-1pm Fast Pass+ for meeting Cinderella and a visiting princess.

Then, it's back to the monorail to return to the Poly for our naps.

Depending on when we wake up, we may also take a swim.

We'll have to get cleaned up and changed around 3:30pm, though. We need to be at the Luau Beach at 4pm for our photo shoot. Really looking forward to this. We have a mini session booked and I've heard great things about it. I was a little worried because of all the construction (DVC) happening at the Poly, but Dug thinks the beach area we're going to will be unaffected. Hope so.

For attire, I got this shirt for Dug Baby, but I'm not sure if it will fit her. Might be too big, since it's an 18-24 mo. (only option) and she's more like a 12 month size still (if even that):



The other problem is I don't know what to have her wear on the bottom. Nothing in her wardrobe really jumps out at me to go with that. Any suggestions? And, of course, we'll have to have something that looks okay with that too. I'm not real matchy-matchy, though, so as long as we look halfway decent together, I'm okay with it.

After the photo session, we'll somehow make our way to Animal Kingdom Lodge. We should have some time to check out the animal viewing areas before checking in for our 6pm ADR at Boma. We have this ADR entirely because I really wanted to have dinner here again. Like the Country Bears, the last time we did that was in 2009. We've had breakfast since, but not dinner. And I remember it being really good. And who doesn't love being at Animal Kingdom Lodge? However, it does sit really awkwardly in our plans. We come all the way out for dinner, then make our way all the way back (some sort of double-Disney-transportation will be necessary each way), and really can't do anything else with our evening. So, if we're craving more park time, there's a chance this will get cut. But, but...zebra domes!

Anyway, hoping we can get Dug Baby to bed by around 7:30pm or so this night. Not too bad. She can wear these:



After she nods off, maybe Dug will get some sushi (not sure he'll be hungry if we've just gone to Boma). Maybe we'll pick up Christmas Party tickets for the following night, if we've decided to go. Mostly just hoping to relax on the patio (maybe with a drink from the Tambu Lounge?) if the weather's warm enough. And get some decent sleep, of course. Plus, we get to "sleep in" a bit the next day.

 

[AprilRenee]

Sounds great! And boma is worth the extra trip!! Lol For pics I'd suggest doing cream and navy for you guys. Like navy top/polo with khakis or cream blouse and jeans/navy slacks. Stick to that navy/cream color scheme. OR go with solid colors in the same tones as the navy. So like a dark red and/or green. I love when the mom and dad match but opposite. So his shirt is a similar color to your pants. It's less matchy-matchy and more just "coordinated" Her blouse is super cute so let her be the focus and you guys should both do solid colors. And I bet she could just wear leggings under it. If it's a little big it'll just fit like a short dress. Navy leggings and cute shoes would be perfect! (Source: I used to work at a photo studio )

 

[Imagineer5]

I love the Minnie shirts from Target! We had the bottom one, paired it with a cute pair of Matilda Jane shorties lol. But I do agree she should be in a Minnie dress for meeting Minnie haha! I was looking at someone’s photos from a trip in Oct. (on my Facebook closet page) and she had spent all this time making adorable Sofia, Jake and the Neverland Pirates, Monsters Inc, Buzz & Woody, and some other ellie tops/dresses. And EVERY time her DD met a character she was in the wrong character dress!! It drove me nuts LOL! Of course, I bought them from her so Aria can rectify that at some point lol

FP for Test Track DOES let you build your own car. Even Single Rider let us, though not every time. I wouldn’t wait in line for 45min (or more!!) just to build a car though – it isn’t THAT exciting. Just my opinion though. The end where the cars are has lots of fun places to take photos, and it’s a great place for an AC’d nap time, so a good place to meet up with the other person.

Sounds like Spice Road should be opening “soon” according to Allears, hoping it is open for us too!

I don’t think we had to fold the stroller on the Friendship Boats, but pretty packed and I remember it waking Aria up just getting on.

The playground at DHS is GREAT just be prepared with extra clothes/diaper bc of the water features that are fun for them to play with. Also there is a slide there that looks like fun for the toddler age range, but it is AWFUL. It’s a leaf – I took Aria there by myself in August and lukily there was a CM at the bottom of the slide (strategically placed since apparently they KNOW this slide is terrible) and he caught Aria rolling sideways down the leaf all freaked out. (I was at the top encouraging her to go down, bad mommy). Anyway, stay away from that stupid thing lol.

I can’t wait to get some pics at Osborne Lights – it’s the one reason I am thinking about taking you up on your offer lol. We will see if we get any though, last time the lines were so crazy long (and poorly controlled so no one knew who was next). Hopefully this time isn’t so bad.

Aria always wears animal themed stuff at AK! Why not right! Love the giraffe shirt. YUM for Kona!

FP+ for EE will be good though the single rider line is all we use now for that. The lion king show should be fun. Sanaa will be amazing, they may be able to seat you early if you decide to head over early. Nice idea to plan dinner and the evening at your resort! LOVE those Marie jammies, I want some for aria!! Are they warm/flannel or cotton?

The Minnie pirate shirt is SO cute!! Cute outfit, she may need a little sweater for the morning.

Good luck at Country Bear Jamboree. I took Aria there in August. Yep, I’m good to skip that until Aria is old enough to research her Disney trips and tells me she wants to see the show ahahhaha.

Good idea to do the Splash/Big Thunder FP+ thing. Maybe I’ll try to configure our FP+ to do that - I was focusing on the FP+ for the princess meets which requires TWO FP+ each boo

AWww I bet your photo session will be GREAT!! Can’t wait to see the pictures! Have you tried the top on her? 12m and 18-24m is a huge difference. Maybe navy leggings, navy skirt?


Looks like an awesome few days! Can't wait to read the rest - starting 3 weeks from today we overlap!! I might just copy you and do a day by day for my trip starting today. It will help me finally plan my days too which I haven't really done at all.

 

[TMGosizk]

Hey there! I came over from my TR to read all about your upcoming trip!! Which is SO soon! I am so excited for you and your adorable family!!

I did realize as I was reading through some of your PTR that I had been reading along last year before my long absence from the boards!! I just knew you seemed familiar!

Anyway, I loved reading all your plans so far and the outfits you have picked out for Dug Baby are just adorable!!!! I haven't read all of them yet, but wanted to make a quick comment and let you know I was reading along

 

[Leshaface]

Thanks! I never would have thought of it either, but I've read a few pre-trip reports where they did these, so it's always been in the back of my mind. Here's a giant thread of ideas, most much more elaborate than what I did: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1707141 And I found the enchilada recipe online too: http://www.letsdishrecipes.com/2011...iladas-with-green-chile-sour-cream-sauce.html Pretty easy to make and so good! This time, I actually cooked the chicken and put the chicken and cheese in the tortillas after Dug Baby's bedtime, left in the fridge overnight, then just made the sauce while she played the next night (i.e. hung off my legs) and put it in the oven for dinner. Worked out great! So hard to cook with a 1-year-old underfoot!

Thanks for the recipe! We're having Mexican food out tonight, so i'll have to try this in the next couple weeks. And since Thanksgiving is coming up, I'm forecasting leftovers for days and no cooking!

I'll need to check that link out. Thanks for that!

You can certainly say that! We've slowly accumulated clothes, largely from clearance racks, since before she was born! I've found quite a bit at Target and on target.com, but I've found some things at Old Navy (like that Tangled shirt) and some things at Babies 'R' Us (I think the swimwear was there), and some at Buy Buy Baby (which I think the Star Wars shirt came from...though I know Old Navy had some Star Wars attire too - but more boy-ish). We also got some things handed down and from consignment sales and clothing swaps. It's a hodgepodge, I guess. Surprisingly, I don't believe anything actually came from the Disney Store. Go figure.

I completely forgot about Old Navy! They do have the cutest Disney things when they have them. We don't have a Buy Buy Baby near us (about 45 mins) so i'll have to check online. I'm shocked that you don't shop at the Disney store. Although, they can be expensive unless they're having a sale.

Dug Baby will absolutely LOVE the Character spot! DS was so happy the entire time we were there, it was so amazing and i'm so glad we did it! We had a FP+ for it and there was no one in there when we got in line! It was wonderful!

 

[Dugette]

Sounds great! And boma is worth the extra trip!! Lol For pics I'd suggest doing cream and navy for you guys. Like navy top/polo with khakis or cream blouse and jeans/navy slacks. Stick to that navy/cream color scheme. OR go with solid colors in the same tones as the navy. So like a dark red and/or green. I love when the mom and dad match but opposite. So his shirt is a similar color to your pants. It's less matchy-matchy and more just "coordinated" Her blouse is super cute so let her be the focus and you guys should both do solid colors. And I bet she could just wear leggings under it. If it's a little big it'll just fit like a short dress. Navy leggings and cute shoes would be perfect! (Source: I used to work at a photo studio )

This is the kind of advice I need! So, I hadn't thought of navy leggings for some reason, but I went through her closet and found she does have a pair. However, it's a darker color than the shirt. I also found she has a pair of jeggings that's about that same shade too. Leggings better? Or keep looking? Here they are:



My other thought is that I have a pair of khaki pants and khaki shorts that, I think, both still fit her. Not sure if one of those might work??

Also, shoes! I totally forgot about that. And she doesn't have anything that will fit her and match that outfit. So, either I'm looking for shoes or maybe she can go with bare feet or white socks?? I'm so clueless on this sort of thing.

For us, I have a pair of dark navy jeans and can maybe find a cream/white shirt. Dug has khakis and some various blue-ish shirts, I think. We'll have to look what he has. Or else I have khakis and some solid blue shirts that are about the shade of hers. And Dug has some navy jeans. Ah, I don't know. My head hurts!

I love the Minnie shirts from Target! We had the bottom one, paired it with a cute pair of Matilda Jane shorties lol. But I do agree she should be in a Minnie dress for meeting Minnie haha! I was looking at someone’s photos from a trip in Oct. (on my Facebook closet page) and she had spent all this time making adorable Sofia, Jake and the Neverland Pirates, Monsters Inc, Buzz & Woody, and some other ellie tops/dresses. And EVERY time her DD met a character she was in the wrong character dress!! It drove me nuts LOL! Of course, I bought them from her so Aria can rectify that at some point lol

Thanks! I like that bottom one the best! I hope Aria can get those character outfits paired with the right characters!

FP for Test Track DOES let you build your own car. Even Single Rider let us, though not every time. I wouldn’t wait in line for 45min (or more!!) just to build a car though – it isn’t THAT exciting. Just my opinion though. The end where the cars are has lots of fun places to take photos, and it’s a great place for an AC’d nap time, so a good place to meet up with the other person.

Great input! FP should be good then! And good call on waiting in the after-area. Dug Baby likes sitting in cars too, so she'd be good with that plan.

Sounds like Spice Road should be opening “soon” according to Allears, hoping it is open for us too!

I hope soon is before 12/14!

I don’t think we had to fold the stroller on the Friendship Boats, but pretty packed and I remember it waking Aria up just getting on.

Okay, good to know.

The playground at DHS is GREAT just be prepared with extra clothes/diaper bc of the water features that are fun for them to play with. Also there is a slide there that looks like fun for the toddler age range, but it is AWFUL. It’s a leaf – I took Aria there by myself in August and lukily there was a CM at the bottom of the slide (strategically placed since apparently they KNOW this slide is terrible) and he caught Aria rolling sideways down the leaf all freaked out. (I was at the top encouraging her to go down, bad mommy). Anyway, stay away from that stupid thing lol.

Thanks for this! I wouldn't have known that about that slide. I don't remember there being a water feature! Also good to know. Is there any slide there that would be okay for her? She's not real slide-stable yet.

I can’t wait to get some pics at Osborne Lights – it’s the one reason I am thinking about taking you up on your offer lol. We will see if we get any though, last time the lines were so crazy long (and poorly controlled so no one knew who was next). Hopefully this time isn’t so bad.

Ha, just let me know. Yeah, I'm hoping we can get some reasonable lines and nice photopass pics there.

Aria always wears animal themed stuff at AK! Why not right! Love the giraffe shirt. YUM for Kona!

Thanks. I think I'll try to pack her zebra outfit as the spare for AK.

FP+ for EE will be good though the single rider line is all we use now for that. The lion king show should be fun. Sanaa will be amazing, they may be able to seat you early if you decide to head over early. Nice idea to plan dinner and the evening at your resort! LOVE those Marie jammies, I want some for aria!! Are they warm/flannel or cotton?

I just checked tonight and the Marie jammies are very thin polyester. She hasn't worn them yet, as they're 18 months, but I think they'll be okay for her. If I remember right, I think I got them on clearance on target.com several months back.

The Minnie pirate shirt is SO cute!! Cute outfit, she may need a little sweater for the morning.

Yeah, I love that shirt. I think that was one I actually paid full price for! We might just throw her little jacket on her for the morning. Although, I should look, she might have a sweater that we haven't pulled out yet. Note to self...check for a sweater!

Good luck at Country Bear Jamboree. I took Aria there in August. Yep, I’m good to skip that until Aria is old enough to research her Disney trips and tells me she wants to see the show ahahhaha.

Ha, we thought we were good to skip it for a long time, but if there's ever a time where we should go, when she loves bears and music is probably it!

Good idea to do the Splash/Big Thunder FP+ thing. Maybe I’ll try to configure our FP+ to do that - I was focusing on the FP+ for the princess meets which requires TWO FP+ each boo

Yeah, we tried to max out our Fast Pass+. Even though we're not even sure that we'll do those rides. Can't hurt, right?

AWww I bet your photo session will be GREAT!! Can’t wait to see the pictures! Have you tried the top on her? 12m and 18-24m is a huge difference. Maybe navy leggings, navy skirt?

I hope it goes well! We have not tried the top on her, so I should do that soon. She has worn some 18 month things and they've been okay and this doesn't LOOK any bigger than those, but don't know until you try it, I guess. She's still on the small side for 14 months and even some of her 9 month clothes still fit her. She's about 21 pounds, by the way. So, yeah, I need to try that on her.

Looks like an awesome few days! Can't wait to read the rest - starting 3 weeks from today we overlap!! I might just copy you and do a day by day for my trip starting today. It will help me finally plan my days too which I haven't really done at all.

I saw you copied me! That's why I'm doing it too...need to solidify what we're doing in my mind. And it's definitely helping me to work through things in more detail. We'll have to see if there's any overlapping point in our schedules where we can say hello!

Hey there! I came over from my TR to read all about your upcoming trip!! Which is SO soon! I am so excited for you and your adorable family!!

and thank you!

I did realize as I was reading through some of your PTR that I had been reading along last year before my long absence from the boards!! I just knew you seemed familiar!

Ha ha, that happens to me sometimes too. No worries. I've had this thing going for a LONG time.

Anyway, I loved reading all your plans so far and the outfits you have picked out for Dug Baby are just adorable!!!! I haven't read all of them yet, but wanted to make a quick comment and let you know I was reading along

Thank you!

Thanks for the recipe! We're having Mexican food out tonight, so i'll have to try this in the next couple weeks. And since Thanksgiving is coming up, I'm forecasting leftovers for days and no cooking!

You're welcome and hope you like it. It's simple but tasty. And fairly easy.

I'll need to check that link out. Thanks for that!

No problem. It's chock full of good ideas!

I completely forgot about Old Navy! They do have the cutest Disney things when they have them. We don't have a Buy Buy Baby near us (about 45 mins) so i'll have to check online. I'm shocked that you don't shop at the Disney store. Although, they can be expensive unless they're having a sale.

Yeah, I don't go to Old Navy much, but they do have some cute Disney things that catch my eye sometimes. I think the Star Wars shirt at Buy Buy Baby was maybe a limited time thing, as I don't see it on their website. But I've found some good stuff there. Yeah, Disney store is too $$$ for my cheapness. Actually, I did see a swimsuit for Dug Baby on their clearance rack once, but we were in a hurry and I didn't have a chance to buy it and it wasn't on their website when I checked later.

Dug Baby will absolutely LOVE the Character spot! DS was so happy the entire time we were there, it was so amazing and i'm so glad we did it! We had a FP+ for it and there was no one in there when we got in line! It was wonderful!

Yay, sounds so fun! I hope she loves it as much as he did!

 

[Dugette]

"Forecast": high of 76 and low of 60 with "increasing cloudiness."

This is our "sleep in" day, woo hoo! Instead of getting up around 7am, it's hopefully going to be more like 8am. Dug Baby is generally pretty good about sleeping a little extra on weekends at home and she'll probably need it by this point in the trip!

Once we get up, we'll dress her in this:



Then, we'll catch a bus to Downtown Disney for breakfast at Wolfgang Puck Express. I'm thinking one of those amazing breakfast pizzas we once had. Soooo good!

While we're at Downtown Disney, there are a couple of possible um, non-DIS-meets (?) we may have. My former boss/current Disney planning buddy will be there during our week and will likely be in Downtown Disney sometime during this day. And a couple that Dug is friends with will be in Florida and may be coming in to meet up with us at Downtown Disney while they're there.

Our other plans are to hit several stores we like.

Probably pick out an ornament to commemorate Dug Baby's first trip from the Christmas Store.

Stock up on spices at Mickey's Pantry.

Play at the Lego Store, World of Disney, and Once Upon a Toy.

We're planning lunch at Earl of Sandwich. Not sure what I'll have, but my money's on Dug having the Holiday Sandwich.

We'll have to stop into Ghirardelli, at least for a chocolate sample, if not a sundae.

After all that fun, we'll catch a bus back to the Poly for naptime.

Our plans after that nap are VERY up in the air right now. Originally, we had thought it would be nice to go back to Artist Point (which we loved on our last trip), at the Wilderness Lodge, for dinner and then go to the Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. However, dinner seatings there would be too late (5:30pm at the earliest) to eat and get to the party on time. So, then we thought that maybe we'd just go to the Wilderness Lodge anyway and get some nice pictures with their awesome Christmas tree and grab some food from either the Territory Lounge or Roaring Fork. But we're having second thoughts about that. It seems silly to go to WL for such a short visit. I don't know.

Then, I was looking at Art of Animation pictures tonight and thinking about how much I wish we could fit a visit there into our trip. And they have a good food court. It would be so fun to walk around. But Dug was not sold on that idea.

Plus, the whole idea of MVMCP is up in the air still. We don't know if it will be a wise idea to spend the money on a hard ticket event with Dug Baby. If we can't stay out late, we're not going to get our money's worth. And we just don't know if she'll be okay going to bed in the stroller. We'll probably have to see how she's doing throughout our trip and make the call while we're there.

If we do go to MVMCP, she can wear this outfit (I'm also going to put her in this to meet Santa this weekend, I think):



And I can finally wear the shirt I bought off the clearance rack after Christmas for like $2 a couple years ago (thinking, "never know when you're going to need a shirt for MVMCP!"):



If we go, we won't get in any long character lines. It will be more about seeing some of the shows and enjoying the holiday spirit. Dug Baby will likely enjoy the dance party type things. And we'll want to see one of the parades and the fireworks. And get some nice Photopass pictures. Oh, and I want to get there in time to see the castle lighting, if possible. Oh, and we'll want to see the castle projection show too! I keep remembering cool things...

If we decide NOT to go to the party, we are thinking we'll head to Epcot. In case we go that direction, we made some Fast Pass+ reservations there.

We split up the Rider Swaps and have one FP+ for Soarin' at 3:25-4:25pm and one for Test Track at 4-5pm. We both have Spaceship Earth FP+ from 5-6pm. Then Turtle Talk with Crush from 6:40-7:40pm. I know they are likely not needed, but there aren't a lot of good options, especially since we just thought to reserve these and they've implemented the "tiered" FP+ now (only one headliner allowed!)

At some point, we'll leave whatever park we're in and head back to the Poly for bedtime:



We've got to rest up for a big, yummy breakfast!

 

[AprilRenee]

This is the kind of advice I need! So, I hadn't thought of navy leggings for some reason, but I went through her closet and found she does have a pair. However, it's a darker color than the shirt. I also found she has a pair of jeggings that's about that same shade too. Leggings better? Or keep looking? Here they are: http://s1188.photobucket.com/user/LoungingAround/media/Baby PTR/photo1_zps2d51b192.jpg.html My other thought is that I have a pair of khaki pants and khaki shorts that, I think, both still fit her. Not sure if one of those might work?? Also, shoes! I totally forgot about that. And she doesn't have anything that will fit her and match that outfit. So, either I'm looking for shoes or maybe she can go with bare feet or white socks?? I'm so clueless on this sort of thing. For us, I have a pair of dark navy jeans and can maybe find a cream/white shirt. Dug has khakis and some various blue-ish shirts, I think. We'll have to look what he has. Or else I have khakis and some solid blue shirts that are about the shade of hers. And Dug has some navy jeans. Ah, I don't know. My head hurts!

Lol I think either of those pants options work totally fine!! I think khaki would work too. And I'd just go with bare feet for her. Or white sandals if she has some from summer that still fit.

Here's my suggestion. Pull out the options you have and lay them out on your bed in different combos and take a pic of each combo then see what looks the best. (So like shirt with jeaggings, your dark jeans and cream/white top, dug's blue shirt and khakis then take a pic. Then try it with your dark shirt and khakis and his light shirt and dark jeans and take a pic.) And just try different options and see what looks the best in the pic.

 

[AprilRenee]

Oh and I think you should see how dressy you guys' outfits are. If you decide to go dressier, go with leggings for dug baby. If you guys are more casual with jeans, go with the jeaggings.

 

[Imagineer5]

The DHS playground has a great toddler slide & area past the water features all the way to the left when you first walk in (hence why she always gets wet). The slide is only about 4' high or so and you can go up there with her. That and these musical stool things they can climb are always a hit, you'll see what I'm talking about when you're there LOL.

Sorry for copying you LOL but I really needed to get into that mindset. This is such a busy time of year and it was hard to really sit down and think about the trip!

Have you guys tried to get a FP+ for Wishes or the parade yet?? I still don't see it available as an option and SO SO SO want it for 12/14!!

 

[Dugette]

Lol I think either of those pants options work totally fine!! I think khaki would work too. And I'd just go with bare feet for her. Or white sandals if she has some from summer that still fit.

She wasn't a shoe-wearer yet in the summer. There was one pair we put on her for pictures at 7 months, but those are a size 1 and she's a size 4 now, so I'm thinking that's a no-go.

Here's my suggestion. Pull out the options you have and lay them out on your bed in different combos and take a pic of each combo then see what looks the best. (So like shirt with jeaggings, your dark jeans and cream/white top, dug's blue shirt and khakis then take a pic. Then try it with your dark shirt and khakis and his light shirt and dark jeans and take a pic.) And just try different options and see what looks the best in the pic.

Thanks, I should do this!

Oh and I think you should see how dressy you guys' outfits are. If you decide to go dressier, go with leggings for dug baby. If you guys are more casual with jeans, go with the jeaggings.

Makes sense, thanks!

The DHS playground has a great toddler slide & area past the water features all the way to the left when you first walk in (hence why she always gets wet). The slide is only about 4' high or so and you can go up there with her. That and these musical stool things they can climb are always a hit, you'll see what I'm talking about when you're there LOL.

Oh, great, thank you for the info! The only time I was in this playground was when I was chasing around a friend's 6-year-old in December 2010. I'm pretty sure he avoided the toddler areas in favor of, well, danger.

Sorry for copying you LOL but I really needed to get into that mindset. This is such a busy time of year and it was hard to really sit down and think about the trip!

No worries, I don't mind at all! And, at some point, I will manage to get over to your report and comment!

Have you guys tried to get a FP+ for Wishes or the parade yet?? I still don't see it available as an option and SO SO SO want it for 12/14!!

Haven't tried. And not sure we will. I don't know if we have any good time in our schedule to do it (and I'm doubting you can do it during the Christmas Party?) Good luck, though!

 

[Dugette]

Uh, oh...it's a Friday the 13th on our trip! I hope it's one of the lucky ones!

Anybody else feel like this trip is going by really fast? And it will only be faster when we are really there, no doubt!

But, on with the show. "Forecast" for this day is a high of 71, low of 57 and "partly sunny." On a side note, it's crazy how much the forecasts for the previous days of this trip change each day. They are totally just making things up at this point. I just hope the reality is something good.

We're back to getting up and getting ready by about 7am this day. Dug Baby will start the day in this (birthday gift from her aunt & uncle):



We've got breakfast at 'Ohana slated for 7:30am! I'm excited for this. I've heard good things about it and we love 'Ohana, but have never been there for breakfast. Plus, the family-style will be easier to deal with than a buffet with a toddler. Hoping we have a good time meeting the characters!

After breakfast, we'll head to the bus stop to make our way to Hollywood Studios for the morning. I'm really looking forward to being able to ride Toy Story Mania right away without having to participate in the mad dash! Instead, we have Fast Pass+ for it from 9-10am.

Oh, we can also change Dug Baby into the bottom shirt here:



After setting some records on TSM rotfl, we'll maybe try Muppets and/or the Little Mermaid show. Not really sure what Dug Baby would like better (if any).

Our next Fast Pass+ is a split one for Rider Swap from 10-11am. One Tower of Terror and one Star Tours.

Next up, I think we'll have to take our first venture into the Disney Junior show. Dug Baby doesn't watch TV, so she's not going to recognize most of the characters, but I think she'll enjoy it nonetheless. If there are other kids and singing and dancing, she's in!

11am-Noon is our next Rider Swap Fast Pass+, this time for Rock 'n' Roller Coaster and Star Tours.

After riding those, we'll see what characters are out in the animation building. Hoping to have some fun character interactions!

Lunch ADR is at noon at the Brown Derby. We added this purely to have that yummy Cobb Salad again! Hope Dug Baby does okay here too.

When we finish lunch, we'll head back to the Poly for naptime.

Hoping, after nap, that we'll have a little time to start packing up for our impending departure too. Boo...

Around 4pm, we'll walk to the TTC and take the monorail to Epcot. Our first destination is the Disney Visa meet & greet. I hope we can do this without too much of a line! We've had bad luck with that before.

After we finish there, we'll head into World Showcase. We'll try to catch some of the storytellers on our way through. Then ride Maelstrom.

Around 6pm, we're hoping to grab a light dinner at Tutto Gusto. We at least want to check the place out and sample something. However, Dug said they've made some menu changes and don't have the small plates anymore, so we may not be able to sample a lot of different items. Hope it's good anyway.

This last part of the evening is highly dependent upon Dug Baby's status. If she's either 1.) happy or 2.) sleeping in her stroller, we'll stay at Epcot. If she's a mess, one of us will head back with her for bedtime.

So, the next thing on our list is to catch some entertainment. Maybe a bit of the Candlelight Processional, viewed from way in back by the American Pavilion. We also had wanted to hear the Voices of Liberty, but my memory is that they'll be part of the Candlelight Processional at that time, so I guess that's a two-in-one for us.

We'll make our way over to Mexico at some point and wander the pyramid. And, of course, after our theme night, do the Gran Fiesta Tour boat ride. Hoping Dug Baby can stay awake to enjoy this one!

Of course, being right there, we might be forced to stop into La Cava. Mmmm, avocado margarita! I think we may only do this if we are on our way out of the park to bring Dug Baby back to the resort, though. Otherwise, we have an 8:45pm ADR at Hacienda. And there are margaritas there to be enjoyed! Illuminations (with special holiday tag) should be at 9:30pm this night. Hoping to watch it from a window seat in the restaurant, as we have done a couple of times previously. What we order will depend on what we had at Tutto Gusto earlier. May just be drinks and an appetizer and/or dessert. Of course, if Dug Baby is sleeping at this point, we may be allowed to bring her in with the stroller, as I know that often is the case at WDW, but we can't count on it. That would be awfully nice, though!

After Illuminations, we'll again defer to Dug Baby's status. If she's still awake, I'll probably head back to the Poly with her for bedtime and let Dug stick around Epcot, since it's open until 11:30pm with Extra Magic Hours. If she's passed out in the stroller in her jammies, maybe we'll both stay and wander around the countries. That would be really nice! At this point in the trip, she may well be so exhausted that she can go to bed in her stroller. Here's hoping!

For jammies, we can do whichever of these that she hasn't worn yet:



Maybe the Marie the Cat, as we may see her in Epcot! (Dug Baby also has a little Marie plush that makes the bedtime rounds with us, so she may be excited to meet Marie, if we run across her).

I'm feeling like she should have a wardrobe change between DHS and Epcot. Not sure what, though. Maybe just put a jacket on, I suppose.

I can't believe we're almost to the last day! We'll probably get the awful Magical Express "eviction notice" this day. No, I don't wanna leave the Poly!

At least we've got one more morning in the Magic Kingdom left to enjoy.

 

[AprilRenee]

This sounds like a fun day with a nice laid back evening. I predict it'll be your favorite day if dug baby cooperates and goes to bed in the stroller!! *fingers crossed*

 

[Dugette]

This sounds like a fun day with a nice laid back evening. I predict it'll be your favorite day if dug baby cooperates and goes to bed in the stroller!! *fingers crossed*

I hope it works out that way! It would be really nice! We did discover tonight that she doesn't mind fireworks at all, so Illuminations should be okay with her if she happens to still be awake (local holiday fireworks tonight).

 

[Dugette]

"Forecast": high of 71, low of 58, and "mostly sunny." Sounds perfect!

Our last day!

Once again, we'll be getting up and ready around 7am. Dug Baby will start the day in the Rapunzel shirt at the bottom of this picture, probably with some jeans:



We'll finish up packing the last-minute items and say goodbye to our wonderful Poly room (or be dragged out kicking and screaming?). We'll bring our luggage down to the airline check-in and get things taken care of. Leave the carry-ons will bell services until we return for Magical Express.

After we're all squared away, we'll catch the monorail to the Magic Kingdom. We'll start by using our 9-10am Fast Pass+ to meet Mickey at Town Square Theater. So, since I'm so behind on my Disney news, is this the talking Mickey? Is it just Mickey or is Minnie there too?

After that, we'll grab some breakfast somewhere - maybe the former Main Street Bakery/current Starbucks. Do they still have the bakery things? Like croissant sandwiches and such? I'm sure Dug will get some coffee.

After breakfast, we'll head to Fairytale Hall to meet Rapunzel and a visiting princess. The Fast Pass+ for this is from 10-11am. We'll want to catch this right at the beginning of our window, because we have Dug Baby's first haircut booked at 10:30am at the Main Street Barbershop.

Hoping the haircut goes well. Dug has had his hair cut there a couple of times previously, so it's not all new to us. But it is new to Dug Baby. And she still does not have a lot of hair. However, some of it is hanging down over her ears and looking a bit wild, so I'm sure they can neaten it up a bit or something. She's finally getting more okay with wearing things on her head lately, so maybe she'll even wear her souvenir mouse ears. And I believe I read that they will give us a lock of her hair (if there is any! ha) to take home?

I'm debating asking my totally weird question, but...why not? So, you know how everyone has some strange thing that bothers them that nobody else is bothered by? Well, I hope everyone has something like that, I guess. Either that or I'm just an oddball. Either way, point is that I really do not like stickers. I can tolerate them if I have to, but I generally find them gross. I know, I know, weird, right? The reason I bring this up is because I know that the barbershop often uses lots of stickers to amuse the kiddos. And I don't doubt that Dug Baby would be amused by eating them, which will make it even grosser for me. And I don't want them stuck all over her. Yuck. But, I don't want to deprive her of some great childhood joy. So, I guess two questions - 1.) Do they come off things (like strollers) easily or not? and 2.) Is there something else they can amuse her with instead, if I ask? I know, totally weird questions...

So, let's get back to the schedule. We're going to Tomorrowland to use our 11am-Noon Fast Pass+ for Space Mountain. We could do Rider Swap if we really want to ride twice, I suppose. There's not really another option for splitting our Fast Pass+ with Rider Swap.

Maybe during Space Mountain, the other person and Dug Baby can ride the PeopleMover. Ah, sounds nice!

After that, we can take a spin on Buzz Lightyear and save the world!

Also, at some point in the morning, we NEED to ride It's a Small World. It is planned to be closed for refurbishment through the 12th, so this is really our only chance to introduce Dug Baby to it. I'm not sure exactly where to squeeze it in, but it's a must-do.

Around noon we'll head back to the monorail and return to the Poly for lunch at Captain Cook's. We're expecting to board the Magical Express around 1pm or so. Our flight is at 3:55pm. We're thinking that maybe Dug Baby will take a stroller nap during that wait time at the airport. We'll see.

For travel, I think we should change her into something warmer:



(ETA: Oh, I guess I already used this outfit earlier in the trip! Oops!)

Hoping for an uneventful flight home. It's not really during a nap time, so we may have to amuse her the whole time. Unless she's so wiped out from the trip that she sleeps anyway. Maybe.

We're scheduled to arrive home at 6:26pm. We'll collect our luggage and Dug's sister will pick us up and bring us back to their place to drop her back off.

We'll head home and eat some quick dinner at home. Hmmmm...I should freeze something ahead of time for us to have then....

We'll unpack her bedtime-necessary items and get her to bed right after dinner. We'll probably be close behind. And the next day is our "recovery day" before going back to work on Monday. We should get a chance to unpack and get back to normal, I hope.

And that's the end of our wonderful trip! 3 weeks from today. And now we leave 2 weeks from today!

Oh, also, there are a couple of outfits that I guess will be spares on the trip, as I couldn't work them into the plans:

 

[AprilRenee]

I've enjoyed this "pre trip trip report" lol! Fun times!! Can't wait to hear the real one!

Ok. I'm a "bad mom". But Mickey on the iphone is my main distraction technique. But I'd think that just handing her your iphone will be enough to let them cut her hair without stickers. Also there's no need for the stickers to leave the hair chair with her if she does end up needing them for distraction. They won't stick to her / her clothes in the short time she'd be playing with them (like they'll come off without leaving any sticky residue unless you leave them on for a long time, like days) And just toss them when you get out of the barber shop.

 

[Dugette]

I've enjoyed this "pre trip trip report" lol! Fun times!! Can't wait to hear the real one!

Ok. I'm a "bad mom". But Mickey on the iphone is my main distraction technique. But I'd think that just handing her your iphone will be enough to let them cut her hair without stickers. Also there's no need for the stickers to leave the hair chair with her if she does end up needing them for distraction. They won't stick to her / her clothes in the short time she'd be playing with them (like they'll come off without leaving any sticky residue unless you leave them on for a long time, like days) And just toss them when you get out of the barber shop.

I hope the real one is even better!

You're not a "bad mom"! I must ask, though, what specifically do you have for "Mickey on the iphone"? An app? A video?

Thank you for the thoughts on the stickers. That helps. Dug says we should just ask them not to use them. We'll see, I guess.

I was looking at her hair today and still second-guessing the whole thing. I don't know that she even has a sufficient amount of hair to get a souvenir "lock" of. Maybe a couple pieces. I don't know. She really doesn't have very much. If I knew we were going to be back at WDW at a certain point, I'd be tempted to put this off until then. But I don't know when we'll return, so might as well do it while we can, I guess.

 

[Dugette]

I was looking back at the early days of this has-gone-on-forever PTR last night. It still feels like yesterday, looking back at the things going on during pregnancy and the newborn days. I can't believe she is already 14 months and this trip is almost upon us. I'm really glad I have this nice little record of her life so far, though. Not to mention all the super-helpful advice and support from those of you who have been along for the ride. Some of you have even been there from the very beginning, which is pretty cool! Thank you!

Also, with the holiday season upon us, we're doing some of our new "traditions" for the second time. And it's pretty amazing to see how far we've come. Yesterday was one of those days. We went to visit Santa (at the Mall of America). Same as last year. But she was so little and helpless then and so active and toddler-ish now.

She was the most well-behaved kid in line, though. Yay for well-timed snacking! (Note to self: Disney=lines=cheerios and goldfish):





Here's the comparisons between last year and this year:

By the way, she also got her first lollipop. Santa gave her one on the way out. While we were picking out our photos to print, I put her on my shoulders, still holding the wrapped lollipop. After we picked our prints, I asked Dug what she was doing up there. He informed me that she'd unwrapped the lollipop and was working on eating it! We're not super-picky parents, but we don't normally give her much in the way of sweet treats, so I wasn't going to give her the lollipop, but so much for that! I had no interest in wrestling her cherished treat away from her, so we let her enjoy it:



She ate the whole thing by the time we got to the car. I took the empty stick from her and it broke her little heart! I guess she likes sweets!

Anyway, back to the nostalgia. For another comparison, last year this is what she was like at the Disney Store:

That was when we got her the Three Caballeros, by the way:

This year, she held tightly to a large and a medium Duffy bear and would not accept the small one that I was actually willing to buy her. So, yeah, she might need to meet Duffy at Epcot. But she may not be willing to let go of him. He may just have to come along with us... It took some distraction and some screaming (on her part) to get Duffy back on the shelf and her out of there! (Note to self: always have spare coveted stuffed animal that we already own on hand at WDW gift shops).

After our MOA outing, we rushed back closer to home, since a mall (an outdoor mall) near us was welcoming the holiday season by shooting off fireworks to Christmas music. It was a ridiculously cold night (like, in the teens), so we bundled Dug Baby up, went out just for the fireworks, then retreated immediately to the car. Oh, but first, she got to meet a character. She met Rudolph last year like this:

And this year:



It was a decent fireworks show. More than I thought it would be. Not Disney, obviously, but nice:



Dug Baby didn't mind them at all! The noise didn't concern her and she just seemed somewhat fascinated by what she saw:



Great news for Disney! I told her that, the next time she sees fireworks, it would be A LOT warmer!

Anyway, one more thing, since I'm a dork. In looking back at the olden days of this PTR, I noticed that there were a lot of folks that popped up right before/after she was born that I haven't heard from since. I'm not sure if I've scared them away or if they're still lurking around. But, if they are here, I just wanted to throw out a big HOWDY! to all the lurkers! Feel free to pop in anytime, if you're out there....I don't bite...but I can't promise the same from Dug Baby!

Okay, clearly I was up way too late last night, but I had to say that.

Dug Baby is ready to go to WDW, by the way:

 

[Backstage_Gal]

OK, I confess, I am a lurker
I have been around since before your wet and full report, I think and followed along with all the dug baby news.
Really enjoying your reports and I hope you have a great trip!