Park Hopping

Good Morning from the Happiest Place on Earth! I'm posting from my computer today so hopefully this post is more legible!! It's pretty early but we crashed really heard last night and are up and ready to go today. 

Today I want to briefly talk about park hopping. Many times my clients ask me if getting the park hopping option is worth it.  I always say I like having it for the flexibility but should they chose not to purchase it, I can help come up with a plan to take advantage of base tickets.

But sometimes, plans change. Yesterday the Magic Kingdom was busier than expected. Couple that with rain it was a long day. We didn't get to see or do everything we wanted to. It was still a great day and our backup plan was a lot of fun but we started to rethink the next few days.

So here is our changing itinerary. In order to try avoid some of these unexpected crowds we are going to Boma for breakfast today, followed by Animal Kingdom. We still have reservations for dinner in EPCOT so we'll keep those.  Tomorrow we'll head to Cape Canaveral with dinner at Downtown Disney and then Thursday we'll spend at EPCOT.

It's a small change but here is where having the park hopper pass comes in handy. We can't change our dining reservation this last minute (for dinner anyway) so we'll need the hopper option to be able to adjust our days and keep our reservations. I'm a big fan and for the price of just $58.58 per person, it was totally worth it!

I'll leave you today with a picture!

1st day excitement!

What an amazing first day! I'll make this post short as I don't have any pictures yet. My dad has been dubbed official family photographer and took hundreds yesterday!
Our flight was great and took off right on time. The baby did amazing! She took a bottle on take off and then a short nap on landing. She slept through touchdown and everything.
We grabbed our bags and rental cars and were off to Disney! Check in was a breeze and we got the baby her 1st visit button and me a birthday button.  I had gotten a message that our garden grocery delivery had arrived too.
We had a little trouble finding our room but once we did we found it in a great location. We are in Casitas one right near the parking lot.
We got to the Christmas party a little late and we had just sat down to dinner at about 7 p.m.  Pecos Bills was a great place to have some quick burgers AND when we left there was a spot right outside to watch the parade. The parade was at 8:15 and people had been lining up on Main St since before we got there! Frontierland is my favorite place to watch parades and you don't have to wait as long.
A side note...many people made comments about our daughter being too young to go to Disney but let me say...watching her face light up with the biggest smiles during the parade was all worth it. She won't ever remember this trip but we will never forget that moment.
We headed back to Main St. to watch the Magic, the Memories and You show and the holiday version of Wishes.  That was one of the best fireworks displays I've ever seen. I love Wishes anyway but great job Disney.  Oh and the baby was so pooped she slept through all the fireworks!
I'm posting from a dark hotel room while everyone sleeps so I can't grab my pedometer but yesterdays count was over 8000!  We are getting a later start than planned due to our late night but we'll head back to the Magic Kingdom today!

She's a model...if you know what I mean!

Yesterday I talked about some of the necessities that we need to bring with us as we are traveling with a baby. Today I'd like to talk about some of the fun parts of traveling with a baby.

WARNING! Lots of cuteness ahead...if you don't like babies or baby clothes you might want to skip today's post!

We last traveled to Walt Disney World when I was pregnant. One of my favorite memories was watching Festival of the Lion King and feeling that little baby kick my belly. I'm so excited to return and have her experience all the sights and sounds of Disney.

But she needed an outfit!I decided that it would be cute for her to have a Christmas outfit for the Christmas party! I came across this at Babies R' Us.

So we kept shopping....Target will send me to the poorhouse any day!!  We started finding some really cute onesies on clearance.

Then she started outgrowing stuff...and fast! I found that some of the toddler clothes came in her size!

Mommy is obsessed with Snow White so this was perfect!

And my latest favorite? The new Disney bodysuits!! I love the Disney bodsuits to begin with and they just keep getting cuter!

Who can resit?

Then I kept seeing these adorable pictures of families with matching shirts. So the hunt began on Etsy...the other place that gets all of my money! I'm not usually crazy about the normal iron on Disney stuff on Etsy. I don't like that you have to put it on a white shirt because it's normally done on white transfer paper.  I also wasn't crazy about the rhinestone stuff and no one was going for the Tie Dye shirts.  Then I came across MissMorgan...O.M.G.

I couldn't get my family on board but I could still get the baby a few  things right?
This is where it started...this of course is the finished product. Her Iron On's are more like vinyl then the normal transfer paper.  it works great and you can put it on ANY color!

This is her Animal Kingdom outfit. I also have a matching Giraffe Bow and Giraffe Leg warmers!

But she needed something special for her first trip right?? So this one is up next:

(the V is missing on Visit due to a small user error...I'm waiting for a replacement V, lol)

But my princess still didn't have a princess outfit!!  So that was next on my list (plus tutu!)

After seeing how easy these are to apply I had to buy a few more! So these are currently on order:

Minus the candle. I did this one in Green for a bright pink onesie!

A few months back I bought these great ears! So I needed something to go with them.  A great option if your little one is too small for traditional Mickey Ears

http://www.etsy.com/shop/head2toedesigns

The bow will be light pink to match the ears!

I also couldn't resist this one for our trip to Ohana!

Of course we have a few other goodies for her, like these:

You can find MissMorgans shop on Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop/MissMorgan.  I can't recommend her enough! Her iron on's are amazing and so easy to use! Shipping was super fast too!!

We've had so much fun shopping for this trip and I can't believe it's only 2 weeks away!

You're bringing a baby??

Happy Saturday!! We have begun the countdown...15 days and counting before we head home!!

Today I wanted to talk about our decision to bring our 5 month old (she'll be 5 months 3 days before we leave). A lot of people think we are nuts and ask why don't we wait until she's older? It's not like we have other children that are older traveling with us. My philosophy is, you can't ever be too young for Disney!!

The decision was made partially for selfish reasons...my husband and I wanted to travel back to Disney as we always have and felt that having a baby didn't change that! The other part was, and call me crazy, but I really think she's going to enjoy it.  She's very aware of her surroundings and constantly interested in EVERYTHING that's going on...even if just a simple trip to the grocery store. She loves bright lights and music (what baby doesn't) and she travel really well.  Except if she's hungry, she's a very easy going baby!

On a positive note, Disney makes it very easy to travel with a baby! Before that, we have to get to Disney right?  Another reason we are taking her now is....she's FREE!!  The airline allows children 2 and under to travel for free when they are sitting in your lap.

I've mentioned before that I will be trying to order several things to make our traveling easier.  From Garden Grocer* we will be ordering diapers and I will be shipping her formula ahead of time to the resort.  I'll still be bringing a diaper bag with enough formula and diapers for the day.

We debated bringing  a small stroller and renting a car seat from Alamo but in the end decided it was just easier to bring our own travel system and check it at the gate.   Our daughter is comfortable in it and it makes the most sense.

We are booked at Coronado Springs in a standard room.  I like the benefit of having  a small mini-fridge and more space. We have also requested a Pack-n-Play, a free amenity provided by Disney. We also requested a connecting room with my parents which will offer more space and easy access to some very helpful Grandparents :)

Did you know that each park offers a baby care center? The baby care centers offer a cool and quiet place to take your baby. They offer a fully stocked kitchen so you can heat bottles, a high chair for feeding, nursing rooms and changing station. They also offer a variety of items available for purchase like diapers, baby food, infant and children’s medications, binkies, clothes, etc.  While I'm not sure we'll need to use these centers, it's definitely a nice perk to know I have somewhere to go should we need a quiet space to feed or change her away from the hustle and bustle.

I mentioned that we will be bringing our own stroller. Another reason we are doing this is to avoid renting a  Disney stroller. While these might work for older children, they definitely won't work for us.

We will more than likely keep the car seat in the car and let her ride in the front of our stroller, the busy body that she is.  It will offer us a great place for her to nap but also works while she's awake so she can scope out the "world".

While we won't be bringing food into the parks, we will be bringing in bottled water as well as formula and possibly baby food. Disney doesn't allow coolers (the large rolling kind, lol) but they do permit you to bring food into the parks.  We will of course need to bring our diaper bag and there will probably be at least 2 camera bags!!

So now that we are all packed up and ready to hit the parks, what do you do with a baby? At Walt Disney World children can go on any ride there isn't a height requirement!  There are quite a few rides and shows that I'm excited to take her to.

It's A Small World

Snow Whites Scary Adventure

Peter Pans Flight

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh

Journey into Imagination

The Seas with Nemo and Friends

The Great Movie Ride

The Voyage of the Little Mermaid

Beauty and The Beast on Stage

Disney Junior Live on Stage

Muppet Vision 3-D

Festival of the Lion King

Kilmanjaro Safari

Finding Nemo the Musical

So what about the big kid rides? Hubby and I don't want to miss out either!  Since we are traveling with my parents we will have the opportunity to see everything!! Here are our two options:

1) If someone isn't interested in riding (like my dad) then that person can stay with the baby while the rest of us ride

or

2) We take advantage of Baby Swap

What is baby swap?  Baby swap is a great service Disney offers for those traveling with children too small to ride but everyone else can!  Ask a Cast Member at each attraction for more details but usually  how it works is EVERYONE gets in line for the ride. When it comes time to actually board the ride, in our case 2 people will stay back with the baby. Once the first 2 return we will "swap" the baby and the 2 waiting now get to ride. This allows us to stay together and not spend ALL day in line.

After all, our last trip was while I was pregnant and I have several things in mind that I just don't want to miss!!  Overall this trip might be a little slower paced and more relaxed than past trips because we are bringing her along but it works for us and we are so excited to share our favorite place and continue the magic!

*NOTE: I no longer recommend Garden Grocer. We stopped using their services back in 2012 and only use WeGoShop.com now.

It's time to pack!

Ok, so maybe it's not quite time to pack yet, but let's talk about what is important to bring to Disney. This question is asked a lot by my clients so I thought we'd go into a bit of detail today.

Before we talk about what to pack, I'd like to talk about Disney's Magical Express. This is a FREE service offered by Walt Disney World to take you to and from the airport. We are going to be renting a car, but that is for a few reason:

1) We are traveling for the first time with a baby
2) I lived in Orlando and know my way around fairly well
3) I have control issues
4) My husband is the worlds biggest baby and I have spoiled him by renting a car EVERY trip.

Honestly, Magical Express is an awesome service and works really well so don't hesitate to save yourself some money and use this free service!!  If you haven't been to Orlando before, once your plane arrives you'll get to experience your first bit of magic.

The airport monorail...OOHHHH!! AAAAHHH!!

This will take you to the main terminal where you will skip baggage claim proceed to the Disney's Magical Express Welcome Center in the Main Terminal Building, B side, Level 1.


They will then direct you to one of the many Motorcoaches waiting outside.  Disney's Magical Express service will collect your luggage and deliver it directly to your Walt Disney World hotel room within 3 hours after you check in at the resort.

Since you won't be getting your luggage for a few hours, be sure to pack anything you will need in a carry-on bag. This includes:

-Sunscreen
-Any medications
-Swim Suits
-Resort and dining confirmations
-Formula or baby food if you are traveling with infants

If you decide to drive, don't forget quarters for the toll road that takes you to Disney!!!

Now let's move on to general packing. You can google packing lists and find dozens of variations. I think a lot of it is kind of excessive so I'm trying to break down the must have items.

Check the weather before you go. I like to look at accuweather.com...mostly because I can scope out the forecast a month in advance. 

CLOTHES
If you are traveling during the cooler months be sure to pack at least a pair of jeans/pants and a sweatshirt or light jacket. It can get down right chilly during certain times of the year. Of course bring t-shirts, tank tops, shorts, cropped pants...etc. Whatever you bring, be comfy!!

SHOES
Did you know that on average you can walk up to 10 miles per day while at Walt Disney World...yes 10 MILES!!  During our upcoming trip I will be wearing a pedometer and posting my results to give you an idea of how much walking you will be doing.  A comfy pair of shoes is a must. Personally I bring two pairs of shoes.  One pair of Crocs sandals and one pair of sneakers.  Now it might be obvious but this is NOT the time to bring new shoes. Bring at least one pair of shoes that are well broken in and have good support. I personally love my Crocs but I also need the support of a good sneaker.

I know many people think Crocs are ugly, but I don't mind mine! They are one of the comfiest pairs of shoes I own! I also bring a good pair of walking/running shoes and alternate every day.

Toiletries

Of course with toiletries there are the obvious, shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, etc.  Don't forget to pack both the sunscreen and aloe (just in case!).  I would also recommend bringing things like Tylenol, allergy medicine, cold medicine or similar items can be extremely pricey in any of the gift shops on property.

Bandaids are another must have but I also like to bring the bandaids made especially for blisters.  There is also a glide on product out now that is supposed to help prevent blisters. For the warmer months,  you might also consider packing some type of talcum powder.

I would also recommend brining hand sanitizer or wipes.  Shout wipes or a Tide pen are always a good idea too!  Baby wipes or moist toilettes are also good to have while you are out touring the parks!

Other

We always chose to bring some type of backpack with us.  We don't bring anything too large, but just something that will fit our park maps, bottled water, camera and other item. For those traveling with infants, obviously a diaper bag will probably be necessary.

Don't forget that all the parks have a security check point where all bags must be inspected. If you are on your way to a dining reservation, please allow time. Usually they are pretty quick to get through but during the busier months it could delay you by a few minutes.

Of course everyone always hopes it doesn't rain on their vacation but in Florida it's a possibility. Be sure to pack rain ponchos and umbrellas...also very pricey items to buy at the last minute!

Batteries, Batteries and more batteries!  Enough said, lol!

If you have a smart phone there are a variety of apps you can download before your trip. I am using the touringplans.com app as well as the Mobile Magic app through Verizon. They can be great tools to help with line wait times as well as fast pass times!

If you are interested in purchasing the Photopass CD (don't forget you can put your own digital images on this as well as Disney's photopass images) you can pre-purchase this at a savings right now.  Visit http://www.disneyphotopass.com/ for more details.  I know this isn't something you can pack, but I wanted to remind you to do it ahead of time!

Of course don't forget to bring all your confirmations and dining reservations with you too!

Tomorrow I'm going to talk about a local business that can help you save a bit of money!

I need a vacation from my vacation!

The biggest complaint I always here from people traveling to Disney is, I need a Vacation from my Vacation!! It's important that if you are traveling to Walt Disney World that you understand the type of destination that it is (and what it can be!).  I don't want this to be you...

Let's talk a little about size...it really does matter!!  First, we will take a little trip back in time. The year was 1955 and Disneyland had just opened it's gate.  Disneyland consisted of just the Magic Kingdom and while it wasn't an instant success, it caught on fairly quickly.  Not only that but area "entrepreneurs"  decided they could make a pretty penny off Walt's dream too!  Very quickly lots of tourist trap type business started popping up and Walt had no where to go!! If you've ever visited Disneyland you will notice that the two theme parks are closely surrounded by local business, hotels and restaurants.

Walt need more space! He starting purchasing plots of land in Florida under various pseudonyms like Reedy Creek Ranch Corporation.  He wanted space and he got it! Walt Disney World totals 47 square miles or roughly the size of San Fransisco or TWICE the size of Manhattan. Nearly one third of that is set aside for Environmental Protection and can't be developed on.

My point is...it's big. It's HUGE!!  There are 25 Disney resorts, one residential area, 10 non-Disney resort, 4 theme parks, 2 water parks, 5 golf courses, 2 miniature golf courses, a shopping district and much, much more!

This old photo comes from ideal4disney.com but is a great view of how large the Walt Disney World resort really is!

So let's talk about the game plan.  We are traveling do Walt Disney World for 7 nights, 8 days with one day set aside for a trip to Cape Canaveral.  Here is our general plan:

Arrival Day- Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party

Day 2-Magic Kingdom

Day 3-EPCOT

Day 4-Animal Kingdom

Day 5-Cape Canaveral

Day 6-Hollywood Studios

Day 7-Magic Kingdom

Day 8- Depart :(

So how did I come up with this schedule? I take a few things into consideration when planning our itinerary:

-Even thought we purchased Park Hoppers we are planning one park per day. I know our group though and things tend to change so we like the flexibility.

-Park Hours. Even though we are traveling with a baby we like to be in the parks as long as possible.  We have a schedule but the baby can sleep pretty much anywhere.

-Extra Magic Hours. There are several schools of thought on Extra Magic Hours

Avoid them as everyone else goes so the other parks will be less crowded

OR
Take advantage of them as they are less busy and you can see and do a lot of things before regular guests are allowed in.

We subscribe to the latter.  I highly enjoy early Extra Magic Hours at both Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom and evening Extra Magic hours..well just about anywhere!!!

-Crowd levels. Personally I love using touringplans.com BUT I don't follow their advice to a T. Sometimes it's not correct...after all it's not a perfect science!  It does give a  good idea of how the parks were historically.

Bottom line is that itinerary planning is not a specific science but more of an art!

Let's take a look at that schedule again shall we?

Arrival Day- Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party

Day 2-Magic Kingdom

Day 3-EPCOT

Day 4-Animal Kingdom

Day 5-Cape Canaveral

Day 6-Hollywood Studios

Day 7-Magic Kingdom

Day 8- Depart :(

Currently we have 6-day park hopper passes. So for Day 1 we are covered with our Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party Tickets (remember, you can access the parks starting at 4 p.m.!) Today is scheduled as the SECOND busiest day of our trip!

Day 2- We always like to start our trip at the Magic Kingdom (and end it!) Plus the park is open until 11 p.m.! Rather low crowds and because of the Christmas party the night before, it should be relatively quiet.

Day 3-EPCOT has early extra magic hours so we are going to take advantage of this.  Today is supposed to be extremely quiet! Plus another Christmas party is scheduled at the Magic Kingdom.

Day 4- You guessed it...Animal Kingdom has early Extra Magic Hours.  We'll end our day either at the resort, the Boardwalk or Downtown Disney

Day 5-Cape Canaveral with dinner at EPCOT

Day 6-Hollywood Studios. Touring plans recommends Animal Kingdom plus there is extra magic hours at EPCOT so we are hoping it will be slow here today

Day 7-One last day at Magic Kingdom.

So there it is!  That's "the plan"...I'm really the only one who would be willing to stick with it. It will be interesting on how it plays out!  Next up we'll talk about our dining reservations and then we'll talk about each park individually and touring plans.  

Don't forget the LIVE chat tomorrow night at 8 p.m. eastern time!  Also, I have a special guest post coming up!

Tickets and Dining

Since our annual passes expired and we opted to go with Free Dining, it's kind of obvious where this post is going to go, but let's talk about it anyway.

Let's take it a step further. How do you decide how long to take a Walt Disney World Vacation for? 3 days? 4 days? A week? Longer?

The answer could be different for each family.  Let's talk about first time visitors. Personally I think 6 or 7 nights is a good time for first time visitors. This gives you the chance to take your time with each park and not feel rushed. The number one complaint I used to hear before becoming a travel agent was, I need a Vacation from my Vacation!  My goal with my clients is to make sure they come back rested and that they had a magical time.  Just doing 3 or 4 nights will barely give you the right amount of time to see each park.

Wait what? You don't wan to visit each park? That's preposterous!!!  All joking aside, and I'll touch on this more later, there really is something for everyone regardless of your family makeup. Young kids, older kids, no kids...each park has a little something that appeals to everyone.

For us, we visit quite often and have gotten our routine down. We know where we like to spend the most amount of time. This trip was a little different as we weren't only traveling with my dad, but with our beautiful baby girl who will only be 5 months old.  We needed enough time to take our time but still see all of our favorite attractions. PLUS we needed to squeeze in time to spend a day at Cape Canaveral for my Dad.   In the end we decided one week would be perfect, or rather 7 nights.

Did you know that once you reach 4-day tickets, each additional day is just $8.52!  What a steal!!  We have opted to go for 6 day park hopper tickets as our first night we are doing something special (more to come later!)  and we will have to leave for the airport on our last day around 1 p.m.  We like the flexibility in a park hopper pass but it's not a necessity if you chose to forgo it.

As for the dining, whether it's free or not, we ALWAYS opt for the Plus Dining package.  On our last trip to Disney in February we skipped it and experimented with purchasing food on our own. I was SHOCKED at how much we spent and we only did on table service restaurant.  A good estimate when you are calculating if it's a good option for your family  is, $11-$13 per adult for counter service and close to $40 per adult for table service.  A great way to look at the situation is a typical character meal could cost almost $30 for a child where as the Plus Dining is only $15.02 per night...and you would get  counter service and a snack in addition!!!

There will be more posts later about which restaurants we chose but choosing the Dining Plan was a no brainer for us!!

How do you decide?

I meant to post this last night but the day kind of got away from me.

Let's talk a little about the different resort categories and what they offer.  This isn't mean to be an in depth look a the resorts, but more of a general overview highlighting the differences in each category. The pictures are  again from www.allearsnet.com

Value Resorts
The value resorts are the least expensive option on property. These rooms are roughly 260 square feet and offer 2 double beds. There are some King Rooms available as well but many are handicapped accessible.


Disney's All Star Music and Disney's Art of Animation also offers a family suite that will accommodate up to 6 people plus includes 2 bathrooms and a kitchenette.

Value resorts off a motel style feel where you will access your room from the exterior.  There will be multiple pools but keep in mind the Value resorts do not offer a slide at any pool.  There is a main food court that offers quick service but no table service restaurant.  The themeing is bright and very obviously Disney.  Many of the resorts have large Disney characters or some other type of icon.

Moderate Resorts

When visiting a moderate resort the first thing you will notice is that the themeing is turned way down.  It's much more subtle and you no longer have the extreme bright colors.  You still access your room from the exterior but once inside the rooms are a little larger at roughly 320 square feet.

At Disney's Coronado Springs, Port Orleans Riverside and Port Orleans French Quarter you will see 2 Queen beds in the the room but still 2 double beds at Caribbean Beach.

One thing to note is that while the normal occupancy is 4 (plus one under the age of 3) some rooms at Disney's Port Orleans Riverside offer a trundle bed and can accommodate 5 people (trundle should be used for children 9 and under).

 These resorts offer not just a food court but a Table Service restaurant as well.  At the moderate resorts there will be multiple pools with one large themed pool (with a slide) and usually a few other quiet pools. These quiet pools are not in the main area with a bar, playground, slide, etc, but off in other areas.  So if you are looking to swim in a bit more piece and quiet, head to one them.

Deluxe Resorts
While the amenities offered at the Deluxe resorts can vary, typically we are now jumping up in room size. These rooms can vary from anywhere around 344 sq. ft. up to 444 sq ft. (not including suite).  There are several room types available. At resorts like the Grand Floridian, Beach Club, Polynesian and Contemporary you can get a room that includes 2 Queen Beds plus a Day Bed which can acommodate 5 people.  At Disney's Wilderness Lodge and Animal Kingdom Lodge, rooms with one Queen bed and bunk beds are available, acommodating 4 people.  Of course there are also varying levels of suites available. An added perk at the Deluxe resorts include Club level, or concierge.  These rooms will offer a concierge lounge that will have food and drink available periodically throughout the day.  There is also a separate check in desk for anything that you might need as well as a variety of other amenities.

The Deluxe resorts offer beautiful grandiose lobbies and the rooms you will access from the inside vs. the motel style feel of Value and Moderate resorts.

These resorts will still have on main themed pool as well as a few quiet pools (in most cases).  Some of these pools are large and include some unique features like the Clown pool at Disney's Boardwalk Inn or the sandy bottom pool at Disney's Yacht and Beach Club.  These resorts will also offer a food court and a table service restaurant, but many will also off a signature or fine dining restaurant as well.

Disney's Deluxe Villas
These resorts can be on their own, like Old Key West or Saratoga Springs or they can be part of another resort like the Boardwalk or Contemporary. Disney's Villa's are part of the Disney Vacation Club a unique timeshare that works on a system of points, not "weeks".  The villas are offered in a range of sizes that include a Studio with a Queen bed, pull out sofa and kitchenette, to a One-Bedroom complete with full size Kitchen, separate Living Room and separate baths that include a jacuzzi tub (in most).

The Villa's also offer 2 and 3 bedroom units and over at Saratoga Springs a unique offering, the Treehouse Villa's that accommodate 9 people.