Mommy and Me Trip Recap (Part 1)

We are back from our first annual, ever Mommy and Me trip! I needed to digest this trip for a few days before writing this post. We had a lot of great moments...and a lot of moments that made me realize why everyone thought I was crazy for bringing them.  Let's start at the beginning though!
For this trip it was just myself, and my 2 girls. Kennedy is now 4 and a half and Finley  just turned 19 months.  Our plan was to visit Walt Disney World for 3 nights with 2 full park days. This trip was a TOTAL surprise for Kennedy also!

Arrival We opted to fly and use Disney's Magical Express. I'm usually not a fan of this service but as I was traveling alone with 2 kids I couldn't handle more than just them and their stroller. This option was the best one so we didn't have to deal with car seats.  We arrived to the airport, parked and were inside in record time...and fairly painlessly...that's where things started to go wrong. Let's just say 2 toddlers in a busy airport, WAITING...is never a good idea. I tried keeping them occupied without pulling out the snacks or things I bought for the flight but it wasn't easy. Thank goodness for family boarding.
The first half of the flight was awesome. They snacked, played games, colored, watched movies...then something happened. It was dinner/nap time and Finley became overtired..in combination with the plane descending...it wasn't pretty. She screamed, and kicked...and screamed some more. She was OVER tired so she didn't want her pacifier (even though it would have helped). Thank goodness for a sympathetic mother in the row next to ours!! She gave Fin a Dum Dum lollipop and all was well...until the lollipop ran out and we were stuck on the plane waiting for our gate to open up! More screaming...so here is my official apology to the Southwest flight from DCA to MCO! After we landed, and took a quick potty break, we headed for Magical Express. Check-in was super easy and before too long we were on our bus...where we sat. This was my first indication Finley wasn't great at waiting. She wanted to climb, and run...and do anything except sit with me. I think we were on the bus for close to 30 minutes before we left.  Not 5 minutes into the drive and Kennedy PASSED out! Luckily we were the first stop and a nice family helped me get Finley and Kennedy off the bus (since I couldn't carry both). 

A quick check-in and then a late dinner and we were in our room. 

The girls were exhausted but none of our stuff had arrived.  At 9:30 I called luggage services only to be told that Magical Express luggage takes FOUR TO SIX HOURS from the time you ARRIVE at the resort!! Our suitcase was still at the airport! This is NEVER what we are told as Travel Agents and I wasn't happy. I put the girls to bed in their clothes and tried to stay awake when our luggage finally arrived at 11 p.m.

Highs and Lows of Day 1

Highs

• The patient people on the flight and bus! THANK YOU! I know some of you were very annoyed and I did my best to control my over tired toddler
• Dinner and Check-in...I'm not usually and All Star fan, and I'll do a full report in another post but everything was really great!

Lows

• Finley was not as patient as I hoped and the timing of the flight made things worse
• Magical Express...waiting for the bus to  leave in combination of waiting for our bags was a huge low!

Tips

• Pack PRE-FLIGHT things to do. I didn't want to use our DVD player and drain it but I wish I had coloring or games or something
• Don't board Magical Express before you have to if you have toddlers in tow...better yet if the kids are old enough, use a Town Car service like Charlie and Park Ave Limos
• Pack PJ's in your carryon OR grab your own luggage if you are coming in around dinner time or later! I still think Magical Express typically takes 3 hours but it clearly can take more!

Next up...our first FULL day at Disney!