Well hey there! I haven't done a trip report in quite awhile. Honestly not since my honeymoon! Things have been hella busy around here since then. We went to Disney again in December 2012 and June 2013 with DH's family, we went to Aulani in June 2014 with DH's family (DH's brother is DVC), then Disney again in August 2014 by ourselves to celebrate our 2nd anniversary, although my mom joined us for a few days of the trip.
While we were at Disney last August, I started feeling "different" but ignored it. A few days after we returned home, I realized that DUH I might be pregnant.... I took a test and I was right! Babynerd had been on ALL the rides at Disney (ToT, Space Mountain, and the Mine Train etc). I even drank a margarita at the Boardwalk pool with my mom and I'm proud to say that Babynerd was born in perfect shape, even after rollercoasters, possessed elevators, and fruity alcoholic beverages in his very, very earliest stage. Of course, I gave up all that when I saw those two pink lines!
If you don't remember, we are Lauren and Chris.
Lauren: 35, French Teacher
Chris: 42, Programmer (Code Monkey)
We are huge nerds and are incredibly proud of it. We love Doctor Who, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, MST3K, Comic books, etc, etc.....and are of course HUGE Disney nerds.
The new addition to the family is our son Tristan. He was born in April and will soon be 3 months old, and will be 4 months when we take our trip.
We are so in love with this little guy and we can't wait to bring him to see the mouse! People do the typical "He's too young, he won't remember" blahbity-blah when we mention it, but we say that the trip is for us, he just happens to be coming along! The memories are going to be wonderful for US, and that's all that matters. Besides, it's not like we can leave him home alone, I can't imagine the parties he'll have while we're gone. It will be so nice to be able to spend time just the three of us in our favorite place in the world. My DH is truly a wonderful father and hates that he only gets to be with us in the evenings
ANYWHO....
We are going for 10 days in August and staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge Villas, Kidani Village in a studio. I have visited AKL several times but never actually stayed there so I'm stoked!! We reserved through David's Vacation Club rentals. This is the 3rd time we've gone through them and have been very pleased. We will go this route until we pay off SOMETHING and can then buy into DVC. Someday.....sigh.
Logistics:
We usually plan our trips with much more activity but this time are going to go Tristan's pace. He is a good-tempered baby and only really gets upset when he's hungry, exhausted, or has a tummyache. Other than that, he's becoming a very smiley, happy little guy.
-We are flying Southwest out of Pittsburgh, which is a quick 2-hour hop down to Orlando, so we decided Tristan will just be a lap child instead of bringing his carseat and our expensive travel system stroller to get beat up in transit. We also don't want to lug our big stroller on and off the Disney buses, since we have to fold it and take it up the step. We bought a 60-dollar lightweight stroller that we absolutely love, plus a summer infant stroller support insert to give him some added cushioning since he is a bit small for his age and only in the 15th percentile. He is just starting to hold up his head for extended periods, but we wanted to have a nice soft place for him to nap during the day. We also bought a stroller fan to keep him cool! I plan on making a laminated sign with our name on it and some sort of big ribbon so that we can identify our stroller quickly when it gets moved.
-We're bringing our Ergobaby carrier so that we can wear him in line for rides and in the non-stroller areas
-Tristan is breastfed so I am really looking forward to checking out the baby care centers to get out of the heat! I also pump so he will take a bottle from DH on and off during the day when we are further away from the baby care centers.
-We plan on ordering a case of diapers and wipes from Garden Grocer so we don't have to bring them. We always bring snacks in to the parks like Clif bars and crackers, so this time we will order them along with the diapers. We will also probably order bottles of water and pepsi.
-We got annual passes since there is a June or July 2016 trip already being planned with the family. There is truly something magical about being able to go into a park, buy a pretzel, and march right back out again whenever you want. LOL
Day 1- We planned a later flight than normal, which will allow us plenty of time to park the car at the Parking Spot and take the shuttle. We'll go through security and get to our gate, which we know will take longer than usual since we have a baby. We're flying Southwest out of Pittsburgh at 10AM-ish, and will arrive in Orlando at around noon. From there we'll take the ME to Kidani Village! Hopefully our room will be ready, but it more than likely it won't be, in which case we'll leave our carry-ons at the desk, get changed, and head off to Animal Kingdom. We made fastpasses for Kilamanjaro Safaris, Festival of the Lion King, and to meet whichever character happens to be at the Adventures outpost. If we don't make any of these FP's we're not worried, because the main reason for going to AK is to have dinner at Tusker House, which is something I've never done. We have a 6:15 ADR there. Afterward, we'll probably head back to the room and maybe have a swim, depending on how the little guy is doing.
Day 2- We have breakfast ADR's at Boma. I love the Jungle Juice there!!!!
I desperately want to get to the World of Disney store to get some baby outfits!!! We are going to head to Downtown Disney for the afternoon, and have lunch ADR's at Rainforest Cafe. Evening poolside!
Day 3-
My DH stayed at Coronado Springs once a long time ago, and he loved it there so we are going to visit and have breakfast/lunch at Pepper Market, then explore. This will just be a chill day.
Day 4- Possibly Hollywood Studios? We shall see. Since it's the closest park to AKL, we might go early, go back and have a nap and a swim, then return later. We'll go baby's pace!
Day 5-
Our 3rd wedding anniversary! We have breakfast ADR's at Crystal Palace. Baby's room is Winnie-the-Pooh themed and Pooh has always been my favorite character, so we need pics!
We are meeting Mickey at Town Square between 10 and 11- this is also something I've never done! We've never been in the character-meeting crowd before...we'd stop if there was a relatively short line and it was someone we liked or we are passing the Disney Character Spot in Epcot for Disney credit card holders, but now that we're parents we need to get this kid's picture with everyone before he gets to the age where he could be scared of them!
We also made fastpasses for Peter Pan, and then lastly Mine Train, which we will use rider switch for. I absolutely loved that ride last year so I want to get on it at least once. I'm sure we will do pretty much everything we can ride with a baby, which is a pretty extensive list for the Magic Kingdom.
Day 6 and up...
We don't have concrete plans yet. I am sure we will be at Epcot at least 2 partial days, and Magic Kingdom at least once more. This is honestly the least amount of planning we've ever done. I'm kind of enjoying this flying-by-the-seat-of-my-pants thing! We do plan on resting a lot more on this trip and enjoying our savannah view at AKL, and just enjoying the resort in general.
So what do you think? Comments? Suggestions? Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
While we were at Disney last August, I started feeling "different" but ignored it. A few days after we returned home, I realized that DUH I might be pregnant.... I took a test and I was right! Babynerd had been on ALL the rides at Disney (ToT, Space Mountain, and the Mine Train etc). I even drank a margarita at the Boardwalk pool with my mom and I'm proud to say that Babynerd was born in perfect shape, even after rollercoasters, possessed elevators, and fruity alcoholic beverages in his very, very earliest stage. Of course, I gave up all that when I saw those two pink lines!
If you don't remember, we are Lauren and Chris.
Lauren: 35, French Teacher
Chris: 42, Programmer (Code Monkey)
We are huge nerds and are incredibly proud of it. We love Doctor Who, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, MST3K, Comic books, etc, etc.....and are of course HUGE Disney nerds.
The new addition to the family is our son Tristan. He was born in April and will soon be 3 months old, and will be 4 months when we take our trip.
We are so in love with this little guy and we can't wait to bring him to see the mouse! People do the typical "He's too young, he won't remember" blahbity-blah when we mention it, but we say that the trip is for us, he just happens to be coming along! The memories are going to be wonderful for US, and that's all that matters. Besides, it's not like we can leave him home alone, I can't imagine the parties he'll have while we're gone. It will be so nice to be able to spend time just the three of us in our favorite place in the world. My DH is truly a wonderful father and hates that he only gets to be with us in the evenings
ANYWHO....
We are going for 10 days in August and staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge Villas, Kidani Village in a studio. I have visited AKL several times but never actually stayed there so I'm stoked!! We reserved through David's Vacation Club rentals. This is the 3rd time we've gone through them and have been very pleased. We will go this route until we pay off SOMETHING and can then buy into DVC. Someday.....sigh.
Logistics:
We usually plan our trips with much more activity but this time are going to go Tristan's pace. He is a good-tempered baby and only really gets upset when he's hungry, exhausted, or has a tummyache. Other than that, he's becoming a very smiley, happy little guy.
-We are flying Southwest out of Pittsburgh, which is a quick 2-hour hop down to Orlando, so we decided Tristan will just be a lap child instead of bringing his carseat and our expensive travel system stroller to get beat up in transit. We also don't want to lug our big stroller on and off the Disney buses, since we have to fold it and take it up the step. We bought a 60-dollar lightweight stroller that we absolutely love, plus a summer infant stroller support insert to give him some added cushioning since he is a bit small for his age and only in the 15th percentile. He is just starting to hold up his head for extended periods, but we wanted to have a nice soft place for him to nap during the day. We also bought a stroller fan to keep him cool! I plan on making a laminated sign with our name on it and some sort of big ribbon so that we can identify our stroller quickly when it gets moved.
-We're bringing our Ergobaby carrier so that we can wear him in line for rides and in the non-stroller areas
-Tristan is breastfed so I am really looking forward to checking out the baby care centers to get out of the heat! I also pump so he will take a bottle from DH on and off during the day when we are further away from the baby care centers.
-We plan on ordering a case of diapers and wipes from Garden Grocer so we don't have to bring them. We always bring snacks in to the parks like Clif bars and crackers, so this time we will order them along with the diapers. We will also probably order bottles of water and pepsi.
-We got annual passes since there is a June or July 2016 trip already being planned with the family. There is truly something magical about being able to go into a park, buy a pretzel, and march right back out again whenever you want. LOL
Day 1- We planned a later flight than normal, which will allow us plenty of time to park the car at the Parking Spot and take the shuttle. We'll go through security and get to our gate, which we know will take longer than usual since we have a baby. We're flying Southwest out of Pittsburgh at 10AM-ish, and will arrive in Orlando at around noon. From there we'll take the ME to Kidani Village! Hopefully our room will be ready, but it more than likely it won't be, in which case we'll leave our carry-ons at the desk, get changed, and head off to Animal Kingdom. We made fastpasses for Kilamanjaro Safaris, Festival of the Lion King, and to meet whichever character happens to be at the Adventures outpost. If we don't make any of these FP's we're not worried, because the main reason for going to AK is to have dinner at Tusker House, which is something I've never done. We have a 6:15 ADR there. Afterward, we'll probably head back to the room and maybe have a swim, depending on how the little guy is doing.
Day 2- We have breakfast ADR's at Boma. I love the Jungle Juice there!!!!
I desperately want to get to the World of Disney store to get some baby outfits!!! We are going to head to Downtown Disney for the afternoon, and have lunch ADR's at Rainforest Cafe. Evening poolside!
Day 3-
My DH stayed at Coronado Springs once a long time ago, and he loved it there so we are going to visit and have breakfast/lunch at Pepper Market, then explore. This will just be a chill day.
Day 4- Possibly Hollywood Studios? We shall see. Since it's the closest park to AKL, we might go early, go back and have a nap and a swim, then return later. We'll go baby's pace!
Day 5-
Our 3rd wedding anniversary! We have breakfast ADR's at Crystal Palace. Baby's room is Winnie-the-Pooh themed and Pooh has always been my favorite character, so we need pics!
We are meeting Mickey at Town Square between 10 and 11- this is also something I've never done! We've never been in the character-meeting crowd before...we'd stop if there was a relatively short line and it was someone we liked or we are passing the Disney Character Spot in Epcot for Disney credit card holders, but now that we're parents we need to get this kid's picture with everyone before he gets to the age where he could be scared of them!
We also made fastpasses for Peter Pan, and then lastly Mine Train, which we will use rider switch for. I absolutely loved that ride last year so I want to get on it at least once. I'm sure we will do pretty much everything we can ride with a baby, which is a pretty extensive list for the Magic Kingdom.
Day 6 and up...
We don't have concrete plans yet. I am sure we will be at Epcot at least 2 partial days, and Magic Kingdom at least once more. This is honestly the least amount of planning we've ever done. I'm kind of enjoying this flying-by-the-seat-of-my-pants thing! We do plan on resting a lot more on this trip and enjoying our savannah view at AKL, and just enjoying the resort in general.
So what do you think? Comments? Suggestions? Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
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