We decided to give it to the girls for their Christmas present, and I figured we needed to go while baby John was at a relatively easy age for traveling- not mobile, still sleeping a lot during the day, and not eating real food yet. So we planned it for the week before he turned 4 months old {most of that decision was based on crowd calendars}. I was a little anxious not knowing how he would be sleeping at night at that point, but figured I'd be going on adrenaline anyway. :)
I picked a week I'm January based on low crowd predictions and mild temps {it ended up being warmer than average and felt pretty crowded}. We were looking to stay at a value resort or the same moderate we stayed at on our first trip. But then I found a really good deal on a deluxe resort that normally wouldn't be in our budget. So we got a preferred studio at the Boardwalk! It was in the Villas section which meant it had a kitchenette, which was so nice to have with the baby in tow. I'll write more about our resort in another post.
Normally I don't like the Christmas season to rush by, but in this case I COULD NOT WAIT for Christmas morning! :)
We used Southwest points to fly for basically free {we had to pay $25 for John's ticket} and took the early morning flight out of Birmingham on MLK Day. It's hard to get moving that early, but we love having the whole day to spend there! We have never gone to the parks on our first day because we like to explore the report and enjoy the pool.
The only snafu that morning {besides BJ's blow out before we went through security that got all over him, me, and Big John} was that we didn't have his birth certificate. I have always had my kids' birth certificates when flying and have never needed them, so honestly this time it did not even cross my mind! Thankfully the Southwest employees were super understanding and put a note that we needed to show an electronic copy of it on our return flight. {We had an electronic copy on John's computer but they just said to show it on our way home- which we never had to do.} But once we were on the plane, it was smooth sailing. The flight attendants were SO nice and, well, attentive. They loaded us up with tons of snacks to take with us when we left, and they checked on us a bunch. Baby John did great on his first flight. My plan was to nurse him during take off and landing to help with his ears, but I misjudged the timing, and he was done eating before we took off. But he had his paci and fell asleep in my arms as we were taking off. He slept almost the entire flight {it was only 1 hr 5 min} and woke up right before we landed.
Normally I don't like the Christmas season to rush by, but in this case I COULD NOT WAIT for Christmas morning! :)
I wrote a cute poem {if I do say so myself}, and put it with their Mickey and Minnie dolls.
Your mom and dad wrote to say
That you talk about Disney World every day!
So instead of the gifts you wrote on your list,
They told me that they really must insist
That for your Christmas gift this year,
You go to a place you hold so dear.
So I asked Mickey and Minnie to come by your house,
To bring some trip essentials from your favorite mouse.
The countdown is on; it's just three weeks away!
On January 16th, you'll be on your way
To Walt Disney World!
{never mind that mouse should've been 'mice'- rhyming was needed :) }
They each got a new suitcase, because with Baby John's arrival we didn't have enough suitcases for everyone. I also laid out the clothes I had made and ordered for them, they each got an Elena doll, a princess dress, new slippers, and a cheap camera. I wanted them to have some kind of toy to play with on Christmas morning, and thought it would be fun for them to have their own camera at Disney World. The quality of the pictures was pretty terrible {as you would expect with a $30 camera}, but they didn't care and had lots of fun with them.
Baby John got some new duds as well {even though I originally said I wasn't going to get him anything}, and a backpack I had already planned on getting him anyway. I used that to carry his baby care items in the park.
Santa {and Mickey and Minnie} came!
Curran reading the note. I had a typo she would not let slide. :)
Wish I could've gotten a better picture, but C had a great reaction and followed it with a big hug for Sal!
Curran quickly put BJ's new shoes on him. I could not resist those crocheted booties when I saw them on Etsy!
We're going to Disney World!
We used Southwest points to fly for basically free {we had to pay $25 for John's ticket} and took the early morning flight out of Birmingham on MLK Day. It's hard to get moving that early, but we love having the whole day to spend there! We have never gone to the parks on our first day because we like to explore the report and enjoy the pool.
The only snafu that morning {besides BJ's blow out before we went through security that got all over him, me, and Big John} was that we didn't have his birth certificate. I have always had my kids' birth certificates when flying and have never needed them, so honestly this time it did not even cross my mind! Thankfully the Southwest employees were super understanding and put a note that we needed to show an electronic copy of it on our return flight. {We had an electronic copy on John's computer but they just said to show it on our way home- which we never had to do.} But once we were on the plane, it was smooth sailing. The flight attendants were SO nice and, well, attentive. They loaded us up with tons of snacks to take with us when we left, and they checked on us a bunch. Baby John did great on his first flight. My plan was to nurse him during take off and landing to help with his ears, but I misjudged the timing, and he was done eating before we took off. But he had his paci and fell asleep in my arms as we were taking off. He slept almost the entire flight {it was only 1 hr 5 min} and woke up right before we landed.
Sunrise from the sky
On the tram at the airport heading towards the Magical Express!
We made it!
The airport is almost as much fun as Disney World. :)
We headed to the Magical Express loading area {after getting turned around and going to the wrong end of the terminal- swear we've done this before :) }. My girls get ridiculously excited to watch the Disney promotional/informational video on the bus!
I checked us in to the resort online prior to leaving, but I always like to stop by the front desk just to see if our room is ready, make sure our Magic Bands are synced up and working, double check my pin number, and make sure they have my cell number. {The front desk will send a text to your phone when it's ready, but I like to double check because on our first trip we never got the text.} It wasn't, so we left our carry on bags with the bell man and hopped on a bus for Disney Springs to eat lunch and do a little shopping. Nana and Pop had given the girls a Disney gift card for Christmas, and they wanted to buy a princess dress. We ate lunch at the Boathouse {we didn't have a reservation but there wasn't a wait}, and we enjoyed it. It had a cute nautical theme, and we enjoyed the food!
The new area of Disney Springs is so pretty! It was too sunny for the girls to cooperate for a good pic.
They colored nicely while we waited on our food and ate well!
And BJ was inadvertently dressed appropriately for the restaurant. I love a good themed outfit, and ever better when it's not planned. :)
After lunch, we hit up World of Disney so the girls could buy their dresses. We had to go to a second store to find the dress SC wanted in her size, but thank goodness for the Shop Disney Parks app. You can scan the barcode on the item you want, and you can search by size to see what other store may carry it. So we were able to quickly see that another store at Disney Springs had just what she wanted! After shopping, we walked to the bus stop and ended up having to wait for a while on our bus. We were hot and tired so that wasn't super fun. By the time we got back to the resort, our room was ready, so we got settled in and unpacked, and John took the girls to the pool. Baby John and I joined them for a few minutes, and then he took a quick nap in the crib {his only crib nap of the trip, but he wasn't sad about it}.
Of course Sal had to try on her "Elena ball gown" right away. She had been talking about getting this dress for three weeks! And BJ was trying on his new Babyators from Uncle Craig.
I couldn't believe how happy and content he was. He just hung out on the bed while I got us unpacked and organized.
I'll talk about the resort in another post, but the pool was the one thing I wasn't crazy about. Huge creepy clown face? Umm no thanks. But the girls were crazy about that slide! That's C coming out of the clown's mouth.
We had a 6:40 dinner reservation at 'Ohana which is one of John's favorite places. It was like pulling teeth to get the girls out of the pool because they were having so much fun. Once we were ready, we headed to the bus stop to catch the bus to Magic kingdom.
The front of our hotel at dusk.
Once at MK, we hopped on the monorail to head towards the Polynesian. While in route on the monorail {which takes just a few minutes}, Sallie Cate fell fast asleep in the stroller. We got to 'Ohana right at 6:40 and had to wait for our table. John ordered us some drinks at the bar, and by the time they brought them, our table was ready. Normally they make you park the strollers outside the restaurant, but they saw that Sallie Cate was asleep and very sweetly found us a table where we could pull the stroller right up to it without having to take her out. I was so thankful. We had a delicious dinner and Sal slept through the whole thing. John and I laughed because we overheard the hostess sitting a group, and a lady in the party said "I'm a vegetarian." Ummm, this is a place that brings three different kinds of all you can eat meat on a skewer to your table. There are a couple of vegetarian sides/veggies brought, but I would not pay all that money for some noodles and broccoli! :)
On the bus to dinner. I did not want her to wear that getup but at that point, it was not a battle I was willing to take on.
Princess out
The lighting was terrible but I had to get one post-dinner shot with their leis.
We took the monorail back to Magic Kingdom and headed toward the bus stop. When you ride the buses, you have to fold the strollers up, so Sallie Cate woke up when John carried her onto the bus but kind of dozed back to sleep for the ride back to the resort. Of course she fully woke up when we got back, but thankfully it didn't take her too long to fall back asleep again. Baby John went down easily and slept great in his little hotel crib!
I found this panorama photo on John's phone that kind of shoes the room layout.
Next up, Magic Kingdom!
No comments:
Post a Comment