A Toddlers First Trip, Characters, Deluxe Dining & Family Photos

[PrincessFendi]

Hi there! I've decided that I will get the "most of our recent trip" if I COMPLETE a TR! In the past, I've kinda let the TR's dwindle down and I've never completed them like I have always wanted to. Well, this time I have gone back and forth asking myself if I have the discipline to actually finish and I've made a promise to myself that I WILL! Here I go...

When: 5/13/2014 - 5/19/2014

Where: Disney's Yacht Club is where we called home for the week

Who:

Me: Grew up going to Disney my entire life. I don't remember my first visit but I love looking at the pictures from when I was little. I am a stay at home mom that focuses on Disney Travel. I planned this trip to the nines...and I think I lost sleep at times trying to get the "perfect dining reservation"



Hubby: Has a pre-owned car lot and is now starting to get the Disney obsession. He had never gone to "the World" until I (kinda) forced him to go back in 2009. Now, he talks Disney and ever wears some of his Disney shirts to the car lot. He is a trained musician, loves music and Star Wars.



DS: 17 months



I decided around the 45 day mark that we NEEDED the Deluxe Dining Plan I had made so many dining reservations that I didn't want to cancel anything and I felt that we could use the extra food as DS would be eating off of our plates. Did I make the right decision? I guess you will just have to stick around to find out. We tried to take food pics before we dug into each meal.

I also added the Memory Maker to our package and we are so happy that we did.

Back Story: DH and I were married at the World back in 2011. (See he has really taken up Disney pretty fast-remember his FIRST trip was back in December of 2009.) Fast forward to August the following year and we were back for our Babymoon. I had always wanted to take our DS to Disney for his first birthday. Well, I decided against it for a few reasons and thought that we should wait until May/June of this year. He turned one this past December. DS had a soy & milk intollerance and since I am breastfeeding, neither of us could have either of the foods/proteins in our diets. I knew that I wanted him to experience everything that he could. Mickey Waffles, Dole Whips, etc. So that was a big factor in waiting. I wasn't sure when he would outgrow the intollerance but we got lucky as he started eating soy & dairy back in February and has done fine. DH is a huge Star Wars fan and we had so much fun the last time we went for Star Wars weekend. I also wanted to hit up the International Flower and Garden Festival so I picked the weekend the two overlapped. And the rest is history...

Up next... DS first plane ride, his first haircut, first character meet and greets and his first taste of Disney food. How would it all play out? Hang on for the ride to find out! [/COLOR]

 

[PrincessFendi]

The Details

 

[francis6306]

Deluxe dining! OOH lala!

My youngest daughter's first trip was at 19 months. I love taking small kids! It's amazing to see how much they enjoy the parks and the magic of it all! Of course, it's not a typical trip and there is a LOT that you skip because of naptime or size, but I love the slower pace of taking my kids now!

And BOTH of my girls got their first hair cuts at Disney!

 

[PrincessFendi]

Deluxe dining! OOH lala! My youngest daughter's first trip was at 19 months. I love taking small kids! It's amazing to see how much they enjoy the parks and the magic of it all! Of course, it's not a typical trip and there is a LOT that you skip because of naptime or size, but I love the slower pace of taking my kids now! And BOTH of my girls got their first hair cuts at Disney!

Hi! Yes, it is definitely a different pace but a wonderful experience. DS had the best time! That's why I'm excited to post his character pics.

 

[PrincessFendi]

Leading up to the trip, I knew that I wanted to have everything packed by Sunday (not including out toiletries or what we would need the morning we left). Our flight was scheduled to leave at 7am on Tuesday morning. So for the two weeks leading up to the trip I packed everything I could. For weeks I had made a list of things that I knew we would want to take with us.

I should have taken a picture of the list because it was LONG. I also was a little over the top with packing DS's clothes. I should have taken a picture of his stuff too. I had read on another TR (I don't remember who's it was so I can't give credit...sorry!) that they packed each day's clothing in a gallon Ziploc bag and would label what day it was for. If you remember in my first post I had said something about changing dining reservations a lot and at some point I felt like I lost sleep over it. Well, I think I had to go through DS's Ziploc bags and change the dates and times about 3-4 different times. No biggie- it finally got done. I can say that his stuff was all set and ready to go by Sunday. My stuff was kinda done (just last minute things like undergarments and shoes). And for the first time in almost 8 years I really hadn't done any packing for DH. I had gathered all of his Disney shirts but that was about all. I ended up having at least one change of clothes for DS each day. I figured we would head back to the resort each afternoon for nap/pool time and then we would change his clothes for the nightly festivities.

DH and I were married back in 2011 at WDW and we love our wedding photographers. David and Vicki Ardnt-we cannot say enough great things about them! We knew that we wanted them to capture our first family of three trip to the World while we were there. We were all set and ready for pictures...we just needed clothes. So for the last three or so weeks leading up to the trip I was on a mission...I had to find the perfect clothes for us to wear. In the past we have had pictures taken here at home but it was usually last minute-especially with DH to find the "perfect" outfit. And I KNEW I didn't want this to happen...again. I ended up with two dresses, three outfits for DS and DH had about two/three things too. I will post pics of our clothes the day I talk about pictures. I don't want to spoil that.

So with DS's stuff, a majority of my stuff and half of DH's stuff packed, did I meet my goal of Sunday? NOPE! I was up (with DH) Monday night until about 12 getting everything together. He wanted to pack the mini van the night before. I told him just to wait that we would do a quick double check the next morning before we left. Se he headed off to bed. I finished up some cleaning and dishes. I wanted to come home to a clean house and not a mess. So that kept me up until about 1:45am. I had the clock set for 4:15am and needed to shower. I decided I would just get completely ready the next morning and not the night prior. So off to bed I went.

Was it hard to wake up at 4:15-no way, of course not! I got showered and dressed and got DH up around 4:30. He got in the shower and I ran around the house getting some last minute stuff together. He packed the car and I was getting DS out of his crib around 4:55am and we went straight to the car. We were thinking he would stay asleep and that we would just change him once we got to the airport. Nope, not the case. He slept until he was just about strapped in his carseat and then he woke up like, wait a minute, what are we doing? It was okay-he was not upset just awake. I hopped in the back with DS and DH drove us to meet his dad. His dad was going to drop us off at the airport that morning and keep the van while we were gone so he could pick us back up once we returned. My father-in-law had only gone to WDW for our wedding and he was so excited for us that morning. It made the morning that much better. DS was so happy to see him too. So we were officialy on our way to the airport and it was about 5:30am!

My father-in-law dropped us off and made sure we had everything. We hugged him by and headed on into the airport to check-in. I had been nervous as this was the first time flying with a lap infant. I didn't know if we would have a problem or not. It was way super easy! The attendant at the counter explained everything to us and we were on our way in about 5 minutes.

We went through security-another worry but one of my last for the morning. I didn't want DS to go through the scanner. We it was our turn to show our boarding passes and ID's they sent it over to the side line. They didn't put us in the scanner line because DS was with us so worry gone! YAY! We were through security in about 10-15 minutes and ready to get some food. I had bought some doughnuts (we were officially on vacation) for DH and me. Well when I asked where they were put, DH said he left them on the kitchen table. Oh well. DH went and got in line to get him some coffee and breakfast for all three of us. He got oatmeal for DS, I forgot what he got and a croissant for me. DS and I got water. While DH was in line for food, I took DS with me and changed him into his clothes for the flight. He was ready to roll. We got back to the gate and they were already calling for the gate-checked items. So we gave them the stroller (I put it in a red gate check bag) and off it went. Then they were calling for us so we headed back to the gate to board.

We left a few minutes early and were on our way before we knew it. I gave DS his wub (pacifier) and he did FANTASTIC!





We flew JetBlue down and really like watching where we are and how high and fast we are going. It is always really neat to see.



DS ended up nursing since we just got him and we left the house so early that morning. He fell asleep and woke up right before we landed. He woke up in a great mood and was excited. It's like he knew where he was about to go!

Here he is sleeping.



This was our plane.



DH stopped and posed with the astronaut on his first trip. So he had to stop and take a pic with DS and the astronaut.



We then headed over to the airports monorail and were whisked away. We got to the Magical Express area and I proudly scanned my Magic Band. They told us "welcome" and the cast member asked us about our return flight to confirm and told us where to go. We were sent to line 4.



We had about a three minute wait and then we were told to head over to the bus! We gave the driver all of our carry-on's and stroller. I kept the diaper bag and we boarded the bus! I forgot to get a pic of the bus but did take pics once we sat down. We waited about 5 minutes and off we went. There is a new video and personally it was informative but I missed the "old version". It got me more excited about where we were going. This video was information that I felt was something people should have already knew. There was some stuff that we found interesting.

Before we knew it we were about to go under...





It was the best I could do.

Where were we headed first? How long until we arrive at our resort? What stop were we? We had an ADR at 1:30 at Via Napoli and I didn't want to be late! It was about 10:30 once we went under the best sign in the World.

 

[SparkleMommy]

I'm in! I'm taking my soon to be not a toddler next summer!
You have a beautiful family!

 

[ebradley23]

Joining in! We're taking our DS on his first trip in Sept. He'll be a little older (a few months shy of 3). We are doing the DxDDP, because DS will also be sharing our plates. Plus I have 5 character meals scheduled. I would never schedule that many if we were paying OOP, because I become some weird cheapskate on vacation. It's a known flaw, and I accept it.

 

[ClendeninHouse]

I'm in. I can't wait to read more. By the way, your DS is adorable.

 

[BStew]

In!
We go in Nov. with my DD(4) and DS(2) and can't wait! Can't wait to hear more about your triP!

 

[PrincessFendi]

I'm in! I'm taking my soon to be not a toddler next summer!
You have a beautiful family!

How exciting! It will be here before you know it! Thank you!

Joining in! We're taking our DS on his first trip in Sept. He'll be a little older (a few months shy of 3). We are doing the DxDDP, because DS will also be sharing our plates. Plus I have 5 character meals scheduled. I would never schedule that many if we were paying OOP, because I become some weird cheapskate on vacation. It's a known flaw, and I accept it.

I feel ya on the character meals! I don't want to give too much away but we had at least one character meal everyday. The DxDDP was the way to go for us on this trip.

I'm in. I can't wait to read more. By the way, your DS is adorable.

Thanks!

In!
We go in Nov. with my DD(4) and DS(2) and can't wait! Can't wait to hear more about your triP!

Thank you! I'm excited to share!

 

[livsmom04]

I'm in for this one! I love getting the deluxe dining plan. Only because my hubby loves to eat!! and well I guess so do I and our daughter does too. But she eats like a bird at home. Hmm... Can't wait to read more!

 

[RachelNinja]

Just letting you know I'm following along! So happy you had a smooth flight!

 

[tinkgurl]

Can't wait to read more! We will be going with a toddler next year, so this will be a helpful TR for me!

 

[PrincessFendi]

I'm in for this one! I love getting the deluxe dining plan. Only because my hubby loves to eat!! and well I guess so do I and our daughter does too. But she eats like a bird at home. Hmm... Can't wait to read more!

I think we all three ate more that week in Disney than we do at home. Your daughter is smart! Nothing like Mickey Waffles! And I was so happy I didn't have to do the dishes!

Just letting you know I'm following along! So happy you had a smooth flight!

Welcome and thanks for following along!

Can't wait to read more! We will be going with a toddler next year, so this will be a helpful TR for me!

YAY! I'm guessing this will be the toddler's first trip to Disney. How exciting. I sure hope this TR will be helpful!

 

[PrincessFendi]

I'm not sure how long I have until DS wakes up from his nap so I will get as much done as possible. Here I go...

So I last left off just as we were headed under the BEST SIGN IN THE WORLD!!!!!

Where were we headed first?



We did a quick drop off at CBR and then headed off towards the EPCOT resorts. Our bus driver had said there were four stops in the following order:

1) Caribbean Beach Resort
2) Boardwalk
3) Beach Club
4) Yacht Club

Wait, what did he just say??? Yep, we were to be the LAST STOP! UGH. I really wanted to be able to check-in, find out if our room was ready (if it was great, if not no biggie. We would just check our carry-ons at bell services) and head to our ADR in Epcot. I was also wondering if our Magic Bands would work without any problems.

Just as we were leaving CBR our driver came on the mic and said there would be a change of plans. We would be going to Yacht Club next! YAHOOOOO! I was sure we would have enough time and not feel rushed. I started thinking we might actually be way ahead of our ADR time.

Here is a picture of the Yacht Club sign. I tired.



I promise the other pictures we took over the week were a lot better than the past few sign pics.

We pulled up and DH and I gathers DS and his diaper bag and off the bus we went. The driver had pulled almost all of our stored belongs from under the bus once we walked off. There was a really sweet CM by the bus and asked if we needed any help. I told her thank you, but I think we have it. DH was carrying DS and I threw everything into the stroller and we headed towards the front entrance.

So a little back story as to why we booked at YC over anywhere else. I had mentioned that DH and I were married at Disney a couple of years back. Well, I was persistent on having a planning session at Disney six months prior to the wedding. He finally agreed and we went the end of May/beginning of June in 2011. (Star Wars Weekend too.) Anyway, I wanted to have engagement pictures taken at Epcot. So we had our planner help set it up and we needed to be at the International Gateway before park opening the morning of our pictures. We were staying at Coronado Springs and took a taxi over to the Beach Club. I thought that was the best way to get there. DH had never been to the BC or YC up until that point. As I led us through he lobby of the BC he commented on how "I want to stay here". Well, he didn't have to say that twice! I might not remember everything he says, but I usually don't forget much that he says about Disney. Originally we had a room at BC for the end of May/beginning of June. I ended up changing the reservation and moved us up a couple of weeks and then to YC.

Okay back to the trip...sorry about that!

We headed through the doors into the lobby where a super nice CM met us with an iPad. She welcomed us, and asked if we had done the online check-in. I told her that we had and said that she could check us in right there. We moved over to the couch area and I handed her my ID. She said our room was actually ready! . I asked her what floor and she said the first floor! YES!!!! That was what he had requested!!! We finished up with her and she gave us all kinds of info and a few maps and off we went to find our room! We found our room and I scanned my Magic Band (Mickey to Mickey), the Mickey icon turned green and in we went. As soon as the three of us walked in, we could smell something kinda stinky. So I turned the A/C on to make it cooler thinking that might help. We dropped our carry-ons and got what we would need for the next couple of hours and headed out. We stopped by the concierge desk before going to Epcot. I asked if they would be able to help us move our ADR up until 11:30. He said that the reservation that I had just seen on my Disney Experience app had been taken. The CM said that we could just walk up and ask if they could seat us earlier that they are really good to accommodate. I figured it wouldn't hurt to try. So off we went to EPCOT!!!!

I was SO excited for DS to enter his first Disney park. Our Magic Bands worked without any problems and we were off to Italy. We walked around through France and continued on. DH and I talked about all of the stuff we saw along the way that reminded us of our previous trips. This is one of the things I LOVE about going to Disney with him! He now has memories and we can laugh and talk about them together. This to me is one of the reasons why I love going to Disney over and over again.

Here are a few pics I took along the way.









Here is one of DS in his stroller and DH:









DH checking on DS.



I had bought the Hippo shield before we left for the trip. I wanted a shade over DS like his BOB Stroller shade. I knew the Chicco stroller visor would not completely cover him like I wanted it to. Well this was a GREAT purchase! It was fantastic all week. Whenever we didn't need it, we just tucked it under itself.

We are getting closer...



We finally arrived...and it was almost 11:30!

 

[PrincessFendi]

I went inside to check about us getting an earlier reservation. I left DH and DS to hangout in the shade. The CM at the check-in podium said that she would be able to work us in no problem! I didn't know exactly when, I was just happy we would be eating earlier. While she was looking for our name I noticed that the wait staff was having their daily meeting before the restaurant opened up for the day. I had snacks for DS (we had been giving him snacks along the way) but I didn't want him to fill-up on them. I knew he would want some "real food". I motioned for DH to come in. I completely had "a moment" and didn't even think about having DH park the stroller OUTSIDE of the restaurant. DUH! So we got DS out of his stroller-he was awake but we could tell he was getting sleepy. I left DH and DS inside to wait for our name to be called and I left with the stroller looking for our first stroller parking spot of the trip. I parked us right in front of the windows in the shade. As I was walking back in, they called our name. DH is Italian so it was fun to hear our name being called by someone we didn't know in her Italian accent. It was right at 11:30. We were quickly seated and I put DS's highchair cover over his highchair and put him in it. We quickly looked the menu over and were greeted by our waitress, Jessica.

Here is a pic of DS. You can kinda see how long his hair was in this pic.



Snacking.



And the back of his hair...remember he had an appointment later that afternoon for his first haircut in MK at Harmony Barbershop.



DH and I decided we would share the Fritto Misto.



SOOOO GOOD!!!!

DS is just now waking up...I will finish later.

 

[cstorm65]

Great update. Can't wait to hear about the rest of your meal. I also just saved that shade device for the stroller on my amazon account. We are just taking an umbrella stroller this time and it doesn't have a very big sun shade. I think this would be a good deal for us.

 

[PrincessFendi]

Great update. Can't wait to hear about the rest of your meal. I also just saved that shade device for the stroller on my amazon account. We are just taking an umbrella stroller this time and it doesn't have a very big sun shade. I think this would be a good deal for us.

YAY! Hopefully you all will love the sunshade as much as we do! It really is a great baby product. Let me know what you think once you get it from Amazon. I will finish our meal update soon!

 

[PrincessFendi]

I last left off in the middle of our meal at Via Napoli! DS loved the appetizer just as much as DH and I did. Here are pics of our main courses:

I had the pepperoni pizza. Just looking at it makes me wish I was back eating it again. It was SO good-one of the best pizza's I have ever had. And I've had a lot of pizza!



DH decided to go with the Linguini allo Scoglio. It was shrimp, clams, mussels and squid. He said it was delicious. He tried my pizza pie and said it was one of the best he'd ever had too! DH is Italian so I'll take his word for it.



We ordered a child's spaghetti with meatballs for the DS.



I've looked and can't seem to find any pictures of our dessert. I'm thinking we just ended up digging in as DS was full by this point and ready for a nap. Our dessert came and we ate it super fast. It was SO yummy!
DH ordered the Tiramisu and I ordered the Zeppole di Caterina. Oh my! DH decided to take DS outside for some fresh air while I finished up at the table. I needed to settle the check- we ended up charging all of our tips back to the room.

On a side note- as you know we went with the Deluxe Dining Plan. Tips are not included. So you end up getting a big amount of food for lunch and dinners: appetizers, entree, dessert and one non-alcoholic beverage. Well that adds up for two people. So our waitress and waiters really made out with us using the DDLX DP! We wouldn't have normally ordered so much food and our normal bill would have been a lot less. Oh well-this meal was totally worth it! Back to the trip.

I gathered all of our belongs: the highchair cover, DS cup, DS fork/spoon and the diaper bag and met the boys outside. They had wondered off in front of the restaurant and DS was "walking".





We stopped and had our picture taken in the middle of Italy.



Some of the toparies we passed on the way out:





I can hardly believe that the Lion King is celebrating it's 20th anniversary!





Duffy passed in front of us and DH and I knew that we couldn't stop as DS had fallen asleep in his stroller. We were ahead of schedule but we kept on moving.







DH and I were enjoying the stroll out of EPCOT.





I'm getting close to my picture limit for this post so I will continue in the next post.

 

[PrincessFendi]

DH and I stopped with a precious sleeping "baby" for a couple of pictures.



This is one of my favorites pictures from our Memory Maker:



He was out! I scanned my MB and we went straigth to the Monorail. DS slept for a majority of the ride. He woke up just as we were about to get off and switch monorails at the TTC. There was a really nice couple that we ended up talking to for the ride over to MK. DS was kinda in and out.



We didn't have any problems scanning our MB to get in MK. I was SO excited to FINALLY have DS at Disney and inside of the MK!!!! I had waited for a very long time to have a child and take him or her (him ) to Disney! I wanted to cherish this moment!

DS's first haircut was not as I had imagined it would be. I will leave it at that and not post any pictures from the barbershop. We ended up having to get the Spa/Salon at the Yacht Club to fix the bad cut that he got at the barbershop. We ended up leaving right after DS got his 1st haircut so we didn't do any MK that day. I will finish the rest of the day in my next post.

I am going to end here. DS is waking up from his nap.

Actually I will end with this: