Pre-Trip Baby Does Disney - a PTR!

Hello Magicians!

I had not really planned on doing a PTR.. but the more I search and search the internet for advice related to taking a baby to Disney, the more I feel I need you all instead!

If you have not read any of my reports before, what are you waiting for?! Here are some gems from the past:

You know where to find them, go read!

Anyways, here are some intros and key information!

When: February 3-11, 2023

Who: ME! Annie (mama, trip organizer, stress collector, etc.), my husband Ian, and our daughter Nora. This trip will be Nora's first! She will be 13 months old, she turns 1 on NYE

Where: Polynesian! (we are SOOOOO excited about this. we both wanted Nora's first trip to be at the Poly, as that is where Ian's first stay was. Nora is also a total water baby so there will be lots of pool time!)

(can you even?! )

Today during my down time at work I started making a list of rides and attractions that do not have height requirements. Seasoned parental professionals - can you chime in on whether or not you feel it would be good for her to do at that age?

Here is what I've got:

MK:

Dumbo

Flying Carpets

Peter Pan

Pirates

Winnie the Pooh

Small World

Little Mermaid

Buzz

Jungle Cruise

Laugh Floor

Teacups

PeopleMover

Country Bear Jamboree

Tiki Room

Haunted Mansion



Epcot:

Frozen Ever After

Spaceship Earth

Remy

Gran Fiesta Tour

Nemo

Living with the Land

Journey into Imagination



Hollywood Studios:

Mickey Minnie runaway railway (no height requirement but I'm nervous here?)

MuppetVision

Midway Mania

Beauty and the Beast stage show

Frozen sing along

Indiana Jones show



Animal Kingdom:

Festival of the Lion King

Tough to be a Bug

Kilimanjaro Safari

Na’vi River Journey

Triceratops spin


Give it to me straight - what is realistic?! Also, tips on rider swap.. please lol

Also, here are our current park reservation plans. I have not tackled dining yet because... that part with a baby gives me anxiety!

Feb 3 - Fly in, hotel time, pool, dinner at Poly probably
Feb 4 - MK
Feb 5 - AK
Feb 6 - pool day, rest, DS maybe
Feb 7 - HS
Feb 8 - Epcot
Feb 9 - pool day, rest, etc.
Feb 10 - MK
Feb 11 - sleep in, breakfast, home

Side note, Ian is a Department of Defense employee and got an amazing rate on our 5 day park hopper tickets!

I'm soooooo excited to take my baby to my favorite place in the world. Hoping to recreate this picture of baby me, without the tears!

 

[Back!Elbow!Shoulders!]

I lied, two more things.


Horizon sells whole milk in boxes that don't need to be refrigerated. I'd plan on ordering some via Instacart/Amazon Prime and tossing some in the stroller. Also, you can always find whole milk at Starbucks, but who wants to pay Starbucks prices for whole milk? Not me lol.

Also, Baby Care Centers! Know where they are, and use them! They have changing tables with liners that get changed out after every person, so much more sanitary than changing her in a restroom. The Baby Care Centers are usually located right next to First Aid. In MK, it's on Main Street, next to Crystal Palace. In Epcot, it's in the Odyssey Building, on the side closest to Mexico (they really need a second one in Epcot, but I digress). In HS, it's at the very front of the park, and you enter via Guest Services. In AK, it's next to Starbucks. No baby care center in DS.

I second the Horizons shelf stable whole milk boxes. Super convenient for being out and about- on vacation or at home.

I would recommend having her try before the trip though. Whatever they do to make it shelf stable alters the taste a little. If Nora is particular she might not care for it.

Lil BES is not picky and even she hesitated when she first tried some but then ultimately decided she’s cool with it.

 

[Spash007]

I second the Horizons shelf stable whole milk boxes. Super convenient for being out and about- on vacation or at home.

I would recommend having her try before the trip though. Whatever they do to make it shelf stable alters the taste a little. If Nora is particular she might not care for it.

Lil BES is not picky and even she hesitated when she first tried some but then ultimately decided she’s cool with it.

Second this.

My son would only drink it if it was cold, so the whole not having to be refrigerated just went out the window.

 

[MickeyPretzelEnthusiast]

What I was doing on this day last year:

Today’s view:

Countdown update - 130 days!

 

[cgersic]

Good heavens that photo is sooooo adorable!!!

 

[Wicked Sisters]

That has got to be the cutest photo I have ever seen

 

[RememberWhen]

Super late, but beyond excited for you. Nora is beautiful!! You’re going to have so much fun! We took my daughter (currently 5yo) for the first time over Christmas when she was 18 months old. She had a blast. She was very nervous about the characters the first few times, but she came around and loved meeting them once she decided they were ok.
Hit those early hours if you can. Especially at MK. Stuff like Pooh, pan and small world can have weirdly long rides. DD loved dumbo and we were able to ride multiple times while other people lined up for 7DMT.
We took our youngest this summer at 13 and 14 months. She loved most things she could ride except for tsmm. she didn’t like the spinning between games. She did love mmrr and Remy.
And take tons of pictures! Can’t wait to hear all about it!

 

[MickeyPretzelEnthusiast]

Countdown update - 78 days!!!

Life has been all kinds of wild since my 130 day countdown update:

Nora turned 10 months! (on Halloween, hence the Cinderella dress)

We flew from Maine to Arizona (nonstop ) for my brother's wedding! After flying 5+ hours with a baby, the flight to Orlando from Boston in February is going to seem like a BREEZE. I really wish buying an extra seat just for Nora wasn't so expensive.. but oh well.

Some pictures!

and the beautiful bride and groom of course!

This trip made me feel so relieved that I sprung for renting DVC to stay at the Poly in February. We are going to have Nora's crib in the shower bathroom so that we can still move about the room, eat, watch TV, etc. while still having the full bathroom available. Our hotel room in AZ was just one single space and it was ROUGH. Especially when she was waking up at 3 AM because of the time change...

The days after the wedding have been filled with RSV, double ear infections, and endless teeth popping through for Nora Bea. All the while I am thinking "let's get this out of our system before Disney" In fact, Ian got sent on a work trip for two weeks directly after the wedding, leaving me alone with a very sick baby for both Halloween and my birthday!

We did manage to get a family costume photo before he left though

One major update for our trip: we reserved a nanny with Kids Nite Out for an evening halfway through our vacation! Nora goes to bed at 6 PM every night, so we decided we would treat ourselves to a night at MK to ride big kid attractions together and enjoy a date night. We know that this trip is going to be VERY different, so this evening will be one to really look forward to. If the current schedule continues, it will also be extended evening hours!

Only 18 days until dining reservations, so that will be my next update! Stay tuned!!

 

[RememberWhen]

She’s so cute! Babies at weddings are the best. And I loved the bees and beekeeper costumes. We always intend to come up with a family group costume, but never get our act together.

 

[cgersic]

LOVE the update!! You all are so cute together and I can't wait for this trip to happen!

 

[Back!Elbow!Shoulders!]

Ugh to the RSV and double ear infections. RSV has been real bad here this year so glad you all got to through it okay.

 

[MickeyPretzelEnthusiast]

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, Nora sure did!

66 days until our trip and I am having stress sweats over booking dining reservations. Why, you ask?

Well.. this Friday through Dec 9th I'm going on my first vacation sans baby girl. A cruise with one of my friends! And what falls during that cruise? My booking window!!

I have a very good friend who is also a Disney lover set to make my reservations for me since I will be out on the open seas at the time, but I'm still nervous. Send all the good vibes for getting everything we want!! (I didn't even ask my husband because this type of thing is not one of his strengths y'all lol)

Also, let me know if you want any updates from the cruise. It's not Disney (though I WISH it was.. get it?). Just Carnival, a 5 night cruise to the Eastern Caribbean. I wanted to go somehow warm and tropical and I only spent $500 even with round trip flights from Boston to Miami. With our trip to WDW coming up, that fit the budget!

 

[Swissmiss]

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, Nora sure did!

View attachment 681514

66 days until our trip and I am having stress sweats over booking dining reservations. Why, you ask?

Well.. this Friday through Dec 9th I'm going on my first vacation sans baby girl. A cruise with one of my friends! And what falls during that cruise? My booking window!!

I have a very good friend who is also a Disney lover set to make my reservations for me since I will be out on the open seas at the time, but I'm still nervous. Send all the good vibes for getting everything we want!! (I didn't even ask my husband because this type of this is not one of his strengths y'all lol)

Also, let me know if you want any updates from the cruise. It's not Disney (though I WISH it was.. get it?). Just Carnival, a 5 night cruise to the Eastern Caribbean. I wanted to go somehow warm and tropical and I only spent $500 even with round trip flights from Boston to Miami. With our trip to WDW coming up, that fit the budget!

What a gorgeous picture!

 

[Bullseye1967]

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, Nora sure did!

View attachment 681514

66 days until our trip and I am having stress sweats over booking dining reservations. Why, you ask?

Well.. this Friday through Dec 9th I'm going on my first vacation sans baby girl. A cruise with one of my friends! And what falls during that cruise? My booking window!!

I have a very good friend who is also a Disney lover set to make my reservations for me since I will be out on the open seas at the time, but I'm still nervous. Send all the good vibes for getting everything we want!! (I didn't even ask my husband because this type of thing is not one of his strengths y'all lol)

Also, let me know if you want any updates from the cruise. It's not Disney (though I WISH it was.. get it?). Just Carnival, a 5 night cruise to the Eastern Caribbean. I wanted to go somehow warm and tropical and I only spent $500 even with round trip flights from Boston to Miami. With our trip to WDW coming up, that fit the budget!

Would love to see cruise updates!!

 

[MickeyCB]

Nora is tooooo cute! And yes I would like to see cruise info/pics etc.

 

[mpaulam]

Just got all caught up! Nora is adorable!! Hope she is feeling better now.
Enjoy your cruise

 

[RememberWhen]

1) She’s sooooo cute!!
2) your cruise sounds awesome! Definite yes to updates.
3) OMG! I’m not sure I could hand over ADR booking to someone else! Sending very positive vibes. Where are you hoping to get?

 

[cgersic]

Oh sweet Nora!!! Love her shirt too

 

[RememberWhen]

How did the dining reservations go? Hope your cruise was awesome!

 

[MickeyPretzelEnthusiast]

I logged on here on the one month mark of our countdown and immediately got distracted by a crying babe when I went to write a post so...

Welcome to 27 day countdown update!!

We received these on exactly the one month mark:

I sprung for the $10 band for Nora because we are having a date night in the middle of our trip and the sitter will need a band for the door in case of emergencies

I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays. We sure did!

How did the dining reservations go? Hope your cruise was awesome!

Much better than expected! I ended up getting premium WiFi on my cruise to FaceTime Nora (and my husband lol) every day, and I was able to book everything on my own!

We have:

Crystal Palace breakfast (Ian's number one request)
Ohana breakfast (I mean.. why not? close by and our girl loves breakfast!)
Prime Time early dinner
GF Cafe early dinner

We may end up snagging last minute reservations if we want to do more sit downs, but we wanted to be conservative with it and keep our expectations LOW with a one year old. (though, there is nothing she loves more than a meal, and also loves restaurants so... we shall see!)

We asked everyone for Disney gift cards for Christmas and they all actually listened!! So we are feeling super excited about all the good food and possible merchandise we can purchase!

Before I give a little side quest cruise TR.. Nora Bea turned ONE on NYE!

That is it for updates right now! I'll put my mini cruise TR in the next few posts in case you're not interested. It wasn't a Disney cruise after all, but still super fun!

 

[MickeyPretzelEnthusiast]

Girls Trip Cruise!

This trip was a redo of my birthday, as my last big one fell during my pregnancy

Luckily I had a close girlfriend willing to go, so Nora stayed home with dad and we went off on an adventure.

We flew from Boston nonstop to Miami on a Friday morning. Pretty uneventful trip, but the flight felt longer than it was.. even without a baby on my lap like usual!

We went on the Carnival cruise line for one reason and one reason only - BUDGET. I wanted to go somewhere tropical and spend the least amount of money possible. Done and done. We went on the Carnival Sunrise and I thought it was a good ship!

If you are not familiar, Carnival has a Faster to the Fun option, allowing priority embarkation and other perks. We were the 3rd and 4th guests to board the ship, did our quick muster, and went off in search of food.

The tacos on the ship deck were probably my favorite item of the whole cruise. I got them EVERY DAY.

This was my 4th cruise, and no matter who I travel with I always insist that we spend our sunshine time on the adults only deck (called the Serenity Deck). That is where my friend and I headed after eating lunch. It was really quiet so we read our books and enjoyed the hot tub.

Once we were ready to shower up for dinner we went in search of our room (we were on the 1st deck). We were excited that the boat was decked out for the holidays.

Room photo!

While we were at dinner our room steward separated our beds into two twins. We found we had plenty of space!

After a few failed attempts at finding our restaurant, we enjoyed our meal! We did Anytime Dining and checked in on the Carnival Hub app. It was never more than a 5 minute wait.

I took food photos every night like the good trip reporter I am!

Caesar salad

Shrimp cocktail

Chicken parm

Chocolate lava cake

I kept it pretty simple but it was delicious and filling!