Pre-Trip A Ho Ho Ho PTR — Let’s do WDW with a toddler...at Christmas

Hey there — for those who don’t know me, my name is Diana 👋. I’ve been a member here since 2007 and used to post TRs pretty frequently. Then, life got in the way and I kind of…stopped. Just recently, I FINALLY finished my wedding TR (from 2014!). But, if you’re a sucker for old TRs and would like to get to know me, here are some of my past TRs:

August 2011 (wow, that’s a long time ago…also, I used to host my pictures on Photobucket, so they look crummy now - sad).
Not-quite a trip TR (but actually, yes, a trip)
A 4-Day Anniversary TR (ah, to be young again)
My Disney wedding and honeymoon (yay)

My life has changed an awful lot since I first joined here 12(!) years ago. And so have my TRs 😬 Let’s get to the details:

WHO

Me: Diana, 39. Mom and stepmom, marketing consultant, and all-around nerd

DH: Todd, 45, handsome guy, super, stay-at-home dad, and late-bloomer Disney nerd (who fell in love with WDW after meeting yours truly)

DS: Brandon, 15 — the little boy from my wedding TR is growing up! He is now a high school student who is (still) obsessed with Star Wars and Spider-Man.

DD: B (now that I’m older, I’m going to skip putting her name out there, although I already posted Brandon’s for awhile, so he’s still out there!), 21 months (she’ll be 23 months by the time of our trip).

WHERE

Caribbean Beach Resort, pirate room. DH and DS really wanted to stay at a Skyliner resort and we have done POP so many times, it was time for a change. All that was left with free dining was a pirate room, so we’re going with it. Good thing we like to walk, since these are apparently the furthest rooms from anything!

WHEN

December 17 - 23, 2019

WHAT

Our first family trip with all 4 of us in WDW, and our first holiday trip since November 2016. We’ve got a few fun things planned, including:

Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party: 12/22 — the last party of the year (and our last night in WDW).
Plant based exploration: My husband, myself and my daughter are all plant based, so we’re super excited to try the new plant based offerings across the resort. We have free, quick service dining, and like the flexibility it offers. Plus, for us at least, the quick service menus have gotten MUCH better in the past few years.
Oga’s Cantina: I was able to snag an ADR here (I have been checking every day since we booked the trip, with no luck, until I found a reservation for 2 while searching the other day - woot!). Brandon and I will be checking this out on 12/19 at 9:25am 👍
Savi’s Workshop and Droid Depot: This trip (and the special stuff we’re doing) is our Christmas present, so we splurged a bit and made reservations at both Savi’s and Droid Depot for Brandon on 12/19. We’ll be chipping in a bit toward it, and he’ll be using his gift cards for the rest (we’ve let family know that we’d all like Disney gift cards for Christmas this year.)
Rose & Crown: My husband is really excited for this — they have a really delicious vegan fish and chips dish, and OUTSTANDING rice pudding, so we made a reservation here just so my husband can experience it 🤣

For visuals, here are DH and I with DD in August 2018 (don't worry, she's not burned or dehydrated -- she just gets a little pink in the heat like me! 🤣):
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And here are DH, DS and I on our last holiday trip (pre-baby weight that hasn't gone away yet, sigh!):
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I can't wait to get a shot like this with all 4 of us! Also, wait until you see DS now -- he's such a handsome young man. And my baby isn't so much a baby anymore. Time goes by so quickly! I'll leave the "where are they now" pics until the actual TR, though 🤣
 

PeoplemoverTTA

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I’m making fastpasses on Friday (!), and with a toddler, these are likely to look decidedly different than our fastpasses in the past, that’s for sure! As far as parks go, here’s what we’re thinking for a breakdown:


Tuesday, December 17

5:30am (UGH - who planned this?! Oh, right…) Flight from BUF to MCO on Southwest Airlines

Arrive at MCO around 9am, and head to CBR. I am debating whether or not to get a rental car. Can you rent them with car seats? Does anyone have experience with this?

Since we’ll be exhausted, we’ll probably head over to MK today. They’re only open until 6 due to MVMCP, but that’s okay, since we will probably want to take it slow. We may take a nap in the afternoon and head over to DS or Epcot that night, though. I try not to uber plan, especially now with a toddler, so we’ll see how this goes!

Wednesday, December 18

This is EPCOT day from park open. Our Rose & Crown reservation is for 5:05, and we’ll probably head back for DD’s nap around 1ish so that we make it back for dinner in plenty of time.

EPCOT Forever fireworks are at 9:30 tonight, and I definitely want to see those, so we’ll be sure to stake out a spot 👍

Thursday, December 19

This is our DHS day. Hopefully ROTR opens on time — if that’s the case and they’re doing early morning, 6am ADRs again, DS and I will head there to be ready at 6am, while DH and DD sleep. They can meet up with us, since Oga’s Cantina is at 9:25.

I had to take what I can get for the other reservations, so Droid Depot is at 6:30 and Savi’s Workshop is at 4:25. Depending on where we are and how that works, myself or DH may run back over to SW:GE with DS to do these.

Friday, December 20

Now, on our previous holiday trips (Thanksgiving and Veteran’s Day weekends), we are in “go” mode. But that’s just not realistic with a soon-to-be 2-year old (she’ll be 2 in 15 days at this point). So, we’re planning a down day today. We’ll explore the hotel, depending on the weather, DS may go in the pool, and we’ll head over to Disney Springs. Depending on how we feel, we may head over to Epcot that night to walk around WS.

Either today, Saturday or Sunday, DH may run over to DHS with DS so that he can ride ROTR too. Then once they get back, we’ll head to our designated park or whatever!

Saturday, December 21

Animal Kingdom has morning EMH that day, so we’ll head here and explore.

Sunday, December 22

Our last day! Today is MVMCP day, and we’ll be at the Magic Kingdom all day to close it out.

This trip will be so much different than our trips of the past, and that's okay. We all have realistic expectations. We know DD will probably have some tantrums and get a little fried, so we're going to do our best to give her plenty of time to blow off steam, take naps, etc. We're just happy to be going to WDW at the merriest time of the year!
 

PeoplemoverTTA

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Welcome back! Looking forward to hearing about your trip.

Thank you!! I made our FASTPASSES this morning so I am going to write a post once I’m done with work 👍

Why does my phone autocorrect FASTPASSES to all caps?! 😂

Found your wedding trip report when you finished it recently, and really enjoyed it! Looking forward to following along on this trip. You will have so much fun!

Thank you! It was so much fun to relive that trip 😍 We are so excited for December!
 

PeoplemoverTTA

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Woo hoo - so, our FASTPASSES are now completed (still can't find out why autocorrect is putting that in all caps...).

I woke up at 6:55 (okay, rolled out of bed 🛌) to log in right at 7. When I kept refreshing and it didn't kick in right away, I got nervous that there was a glitch! Thankfully, it finally updated at 7:01 (at least, according to my Mac it was 7:01...apparently it was 7am Disney time).

We are very much "go with the flow" people, and I'm sure that some of these will change, but here's what I went with -- SPOILER ALERT: The only FP I wanted but couldn't get was Slinky Dog Dash. B isn't tall enough to ride, so we would've done a child swap anyway, but I'm a little bummed. I know Brandon probably doesn't care, but I wanted to ride it (although we can still try standby if there are extra early EMH for RotR).

Here's the rundown:

December 17 -- arrival day/Magic Kingdom
Our flight arrives at 9am. We're going to be SO tired, but there's no way we'll be able to check in and rest, so we might as well go to MK. We're going to cut it early this day, and maybe head to DS at night, then hit the hay early.

Our FASTPASSES are for:

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad -- This is one of Todd's favorites, and he hasn't been able to ride for a few years (I'll explain in the next post), so I wanted to grab this one for him.

Enchanted Tales with Belle - This one is of course for B. With it being Christmas week, I'm not taking anything for granted, and I'm not expecting any walk-ons, so we wanted to make a FP for this one. B has a Disney princess castle that talks when you put the Little People princesses on it, and she loves her Belle. We think she'll love this!

Pooh - B LOVES Pooh! My MIL made her a Pooh cross stitch when she was born and it hangs in her room. She also has several Pooh books. It was the cutest thing when she realized that Pooh in her books was the same Pooh on the wall. Then, my sister got her a little blanket with Pooh on it -- her little mind was BLOWN away! It's probably a sure thing that she'll love this one 😍

And, to go with that even further, we went ahead and scheduled a late breakfast at Crystal Palace so that B can meet Pooh and the gang in person. Our plane is the first one out for the day (5:30am -- ugh), so even though we live in Buffalo and it snows in December, typically there aren't delays for the first flights of the day due to weather. We expect to land between 8-8:30 (including time for them to de-ice the plane -- any folks who live in snowy climates will get that reference), and we'll either drop off our bags at the hotel, or maybe we'll check a bag and just bring our backpacks with us...I haven't decided yet. The CP reservation is at 10:30. I may get too nervous and cancel this one, though 🤣 What do you guys think? Am I cutting it too close?
 

PeoplemoverTTA

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Fastpass Rundown -- Continued!

December 18 - EPCOT

We're going to get to the park when they open for sure. Hopefully, the Skyliner is working great and all set so that we can take this from Caribbean Beach for a low-stress morning.

Our FASTPASSES are for:

Spaceship Earth: Again, not taking anything for granted. Todd knows that this is my second-favorite attraction in all of WDW, and that this is our last trip to experience this version of it (although the Irons version is still my all-time favorite). I am hoping to ride it at least 3 times this trip!

Nemo: B is going to love this one too -- she has cute little Nemo and Dory books that are like 6 pages long and are adorable. I'm hoping she recognizes them (she especially loves Dory).

Frozen Ever After: My MIL recently bought B a Little People Frozen sled with Kristoff, Anna and Sven and she of course loves them, so I'm confident she'll love this ride as well.

We also have our dinner reservation at Rose & Crown today -- woo hoo!

December 19 - DHS

While there's no guarantee, I'm really hoping that they have extra morning EMH from 6 to 9 since RotR opens two weeks prior. If so, Brandon and I will get up at the crack of dawn and get there at 6am to experience RotR and MF.

Here's our FASTPASSES, though:

Toy Story Mania: I'm curious how B will like this, since she can ride it. She won't keep her glasses on, I'm sure, but she'll probably like pulling the string!

Voyage of the Little Mermaid: B loves her Ariel Little People figure, and we listen to the track for the MK ride at home, so I think she'll like this show. Plus, there's so much to look at -- she'll be entranced 😍

Star Tours - We'll do a child swap so that Todd and I can both ride with Brandon -- he's going to make out really well with child swap stuff 🤣
 

PeoplemoverTTA

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Fastpass Rundown -- Continued!

December 20 - Off Day
By design, this day is kind of a rest day. We like to pack light and do laundry halfway, and we know that B will need some down time. So at a minimum, we're planning on resting during the day, maybe going to DS again (we're doing all our Christmas shopping in WDW, so we'll have plenty to buy!).

We're thinking that we'll head back to EPCOT that night, though, so I booked some FPs, including:

Spaceship Earth: Round two!

Figment: Todd and I both adore Figment from childhood, so while it's not the same, we definitely want B to know Figment too.

Test Track: Todd's favorite (if you read my wedding TR, you knew this already 🤣), and Brandon loves it too. He's never been on at night, and I grabbed this one for 7. We almost always do Future World in the AM and World Showcase in the evening, so it'll be fun to do Future World at night!

December 21 - Animal Kingdom

There are EMH this morning, and Todd can't do FoP (he is really skinny now, and his spine kind of sticks out -- no fat there! When we rode this last year, the CM slammed the back into him so hard he had bruising around his spine and cried out in pain. He won't ride it again, and I understand why), so we'll get there at 8 and Brandon and I will ride it right away.

That being said, we went with these choices for FASTPASSES:

Na'vi River Journey: We've never been on this, and I'm sure B will love looking at everything in there.

Everest: Todd hasn't been able to ride this in years (I'll explain in another post after finishing with the FPs) so he's excited for this one. We'll do a child swap again. Brandon and I rode twice in a row during morning EMH three years ago, so I know he loves it.

Dinosaur: Todd and I rode this on our first anniversary trip in 2015, but Brandon was too chicken. Now that he's 15 (almost 16 by the trip), I'm hoping he'll go for it! Another child swap opportunity.

December 22 - Our last day! Magic Kingdom

We are doing the final MVMCP that night and we know the park will be super packed, so we are going with the flow today!

FASTPASSES include:

Haunted Mansion: With Christmas crowds, I'm not taking anything for granted -- definitely FP worthy. Todd's favorite ride in WDW (that and TT).

7DMT: Brandon especially loves this one. I tried getting a FP for our first day with no luck, so I was happy to snag one today! We'll do a child swap here too.

Little Mermaid: B will love this one.

One cool thing about this, and all our trips, really, is that we've traveled to WDW during the busiest times of the year. Our first trip back with Brandon after the wedding was Thanksgiving weekend, so we made it clear that the only "guarantees" were our FPs, and anything else was a bonus -- we were just happy to be there. He agreed, and we take that approach every trip now. Anything above our FASTPASSES is "extra." We don't stress if we don't get to ride everything and try to go with the flow. So even though it'll be super busy, we will be in WDW the week before Christmas -- how awesome is that?!?
 

PeoplemoverTTA

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I thought I'd share a little update on my family, and yes, some pictures!

First, I'll fill you in on B a bit. I already shared about Pooh, but of course, she is obsessed with Mickey and especially, Minnie. We have Google devices (and an Apple HomePod, more recently) in our home, and since B was a tiny baby, we have music on constantly. In particular, Google would play a bunch of Disney Junior and especially Mickey Mouse Clubhouse music. She has her favorite songs, and loves to dance to all of them.

She also has Mickey and Minnie stuffed animals, and LOTS of Disney baby books. Last month, the doctor said it was okay to start showing her short clips of things on TV, so we will show her a Mickey or Minnie "short" once or twice a week.

The first time we did, she immediately realized that the Mickey and Minnie on TV were the same Mickey and Minnie from her favorite songs (her absolute favorite is the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse theme song, and we showed her that first, so she FLIPPED, she was so excited!).

The next time, we showed her a Minnie's Bow-Toon (have you seen these? They are ADORABLE and actually very funny!). That's another favorite song, and she was SO excited! Now, whenever the song comes on (Minnie's Bow-tique -- so darn cute) Google or the HomePod, she runs to her room and grabs her Minnie stuffed animal. Then she dances with her and showers her with kisses. It is so adorable 😍 I took this picture of her with Minnie the other day after the song came on:

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She is in a big "see" phase -- she'll point at everything and go "See! See!" 😍 You can also see her Minnie couch and her Disney Princess castle (plus some of her Little People princesses, lol). My baby has gotten so big!!

A little note about my husband. If you saw my wedding TR and the picture of us from last year, you may have noticed that my husband has lost a LOT of weight the past few years. (Unfortunately, after a difficult pregnancy where I was on bed rest for quite some time, then suffered from postpartum depression, I have gained a lot of weight that hasn't come off -- the irony!). That's because in 2015, after having some strange symptoms (tightness in his throat), we discovered that Todd had a 99% blockage in his right coronary artery. We adopted a whole food, plant based diet to reverse his heart disease, and he subsequently lost 60 pounds.

He was also on blood thinners for several years due to his stent, which meant he could no longer ride anything that jostled him too much (per his cardiologist), since it could in theory result in internal bleeding. BTMRR is one of Todd's favorites, and he couldn't ride it. He could do ToT, since it isn't a rough ride at all, but that was really it as far as thrill rides.

Now, he has officially reversed his heart disease and because of his diet, could go off his blood thinners (and all medications), so Todd can ride EVERYTHING now without restrictions. He is SOOOO excited!!

Here's an updated picture of Brandon as well, from our camping trip this summer (note the Magic Bands -- he wears them as bracelets, lol):

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That cute little boy from our wedding trip has grown into a handsome young man -- we are very proud!!
 

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