Trip Report *COMPLETED* When We're Together - December 2021

"Sure it's nice to open a gift that's tied up with a perfect bow. But the greatest present of all was given to me long ago. It's something I would never trade, it's the family that we've made. 'Cause when we're together, I have everything on my list. And when we're together, I have all I've wished. All around the Christmas tree, there'll be dreams coming true. But when we're together, then my favorite gift is you."

"When We're Together" has held a special place in my heart since the first time I watched "Olaf's Frozen Adventure." It is even more special now that we have the gift that we prayed and wished for, for so long. I am so beyond thrilled to be preparing to take our son on his very first Disney trip, and I can't wait to take you all along with us!

Who: By this point, many of you know me (Katie) and my hubby Jason

And now we have a little sidekick, our son Lincoln! He will be six months old on this trip.

We will also be meeting up with some of my extended family while we're down there! My "Disney Aunt and Uncle" - they are FL residents and DVC owners; their son (my cousin) and his wife, and their son who is 8 months older than Lincoln. Not sure if I'll be posting any pics of the family on here, but you'll here about them I'm sure, so we'll call them Aunt D, Uncle B, C (my cousin), E (his wife), and CT (their son).

When: Saturday, December 11th - Thursday, December 16th! We normally do our holiday trip the week after Thanksgiving, but we postponed it this year so that we could meet up with the fam while they're down there.

Where: Pop Century! Remember when I said that I didn't think Pop was worth the extra money over an All Star Resort?

We did enjoy the Skyliner for getting to/from HS and Epcot, although I don't know that it's really worth the price jump from the All Stars to Pop.

Yeah, I ate my words as soon as we started planning this trip. We want to be on the Skyliner route, since you can push a stroller right onto the Skyliner. I wouldn't be surprised if we drive to AK and MK to avoid lugging a stroller onto the bus!

Why: A lot of people are probably questioning why anyone in their right minds would take a six-month-old to WDW. Well, first of all, I never said we were in our right minds. In all seriousness, this is something that we had discussed long before we even got pregnant. We've known for a while that our child would grow up going to WDW at least once a year (as long as we are able to financially make that happen ), so we never saw the point in waiting until they were "old enough" to go on their first trip. We've always said that we wanted to wait until our first child was at least six months old before taking them for the first time, and Lincoln will be conveniently turning six months old on December 5th. Not to mention, he'll be essentially free! No, he won't remember this trip, but Jason and I will never forget it. Plus, that's what photos and videos are for!

We've set our expectations for this trip basically on the floor. If we get on one ride at each park, great. If we have to cancel our dining reservations and eat at the Pop food court every night, no biggie. We know we'll be spending less time in the parks than we have in the past, we're just excited to be going back! By the time we go back, it will have been a little over a year since we returned from our last trip. This is the longest we've gone between trips, so we are ready to be back in the Disney bubble!

Up next: Dining reservations and general plans

 

[k8einwdw]

Alright, let's get this party started!

Saturday, December 11th - Travel Day

My alarm went off way too early. I got myself ready, woke Jason up, and the two of us finished packing up last-minute things.

While Jason loaded up the car, I woke Lincoln up, changed him, and got him into his car seat. Jason emerged from the garage to let me know we needed a Suburban to hold everything we had packed for the trip. So I removed a couple things that we could live without, and we played trunk Tetris until we made everything fit. Funny story, I drove a Hyundai Santa Fe (mid-size SUV) for years until May of last year, when I got a newer Hyundai Tucson (compact SUV). I found out I was pregnant 4.5 months later I don't ever have an issue fitting all of Lincoln's accessories into my car, but packing the car for a 5-night trip with a baby was a whole new ball game.

Anywho, we fit 95% of our stuff into my car, got Lincoln into the car, and we were pulling out of the driveway at 5:30 am, only 30 minutes behind our usual schedule. Lincoln fell back asleep about 10 minutes down the road, and slept for an hour or so, until he woke up ready for his breakfast. I sat in the backseat with him for the first leg of the trip so that I could fit him in his car seat. We stopped for our usual breakfast at Chick-fil-a in Perry, GA around 8:00, and were surprised to find that the dining room was still closed. The dining room at our local Chick-Fil-A locations are open, so we assumed all of them were open. We assumed wrong. That put a damper on our plans to eat, take a bathroom break, and change Lincoln all in one stop, but we grabbed our breakfast from the drive-thru, ate in the car, and stopped half an hour or so down the road to take a bathroom break and change Lincoln. At this stop, I moved up to the front with Jason.

I had set Lincoln up with this car seat toy thing to entertain him while I was sitting up front, It was supposed to attach to the headrest of the back seat, but when I did it that way, it was way too far for him to reach, so I had to get creative and tie it onto his car seat.

While he was busy playing, he was babbling away, and said his first word!!! "Dada", of course. We knew he was getting close, because he had been saying "da" and "nnnda" for a few days, but we never could have guessed that he would say his first word on the way to Disney! Of course, the rest of the ride and the rest of the trip, he got in plenty of practice saying it over and over and over!

After a while, we stopped at our usual gas station in Jasper, FL for gas, another bathroom break and diaper change, and I changed Lincoln out of his pajamas and into his outfit for the day. We usually make it to this stop around 9:30, but it was already 10:30 by the time we got there, so we were an hour behind our usual schedule by this point. When we left, I hopped back into the backseat with L and gave him his next bottle. The rest of the ride was fairly uneventful, until we got about an hour out from WDW. Lincoln had done great in the car up to this point, but after 7 hours, he was done. He cried for a bit, and nothing I did could calm him down. Eventually, he fell asleep, and stayed that way until we got to Disney.

We had decided on the ride down to head to Disney Springs first, since our room was not yet ready at Pop, and Jason wanted to get on the virtual waitlist for Gideon's. We made it to the Lime Garage around 1:30, did a quick diaper change, and headed out into Disney Springs. This was our first experience bringing a stroller through security (side note - when did they start doing bag check at Disney Springs?). Once we figured out what needed to come out of the stroller, it went a lot more quickly for the rest of the trip. Once we made it out of the parking garage, we made a bee line for Gideon's, and Jason got his name on the list. The estimated wait time was 5 hours. No big deal, we said, we would grab lunch and then head over to Pop. We'd be back later for dinner, and hopefully Jason would be called by then.

We decided to hit up Cooke's of Dublin for lunch. It is one of our favorites in Disney Springs, and highly underrated, so there is rarely a long line. Jason got the fish and chips, I got the chicken and chips, and we split an order of the Dubliner cheese and bacon dip to dip our chips in. Lincoln had another bottle.

After our lunch, we headed back to the car and went over to Pop. It was after 3:00 by this point, and I had requested 12:00 pm check in, so surely our room would be ready, right? Wrong. We parked in Check-In parking and headed into the lobby to see what the deal was. We were told that our room was not quite ready. It was 3:30 by this point, so I politely informed them that I am a breastfeeding mother and I needed to pump (which was true). It's amazing how quickly a room was ready after that conversation. We had paid for a Preferred room, and I had asked for a first floor room. We ended up on the third floor of Building 10 in the 70s section. I thought for sure we would at least get the 60s section, but I decided not to complain, since they got us into a room so quickly.

On our way to the room, I stopped by Bell Services to grab an InstaCart order I had made on the drive down. I forget something every single trip, and this time, I had forgotten the brush and bottle soap to clean Lincoln's bottles and my pump parts. It had supposedly been delivered while we were at lunch, but it was nowhere to be found. Great. I ended up contacting InstaCart, and they sent a replacement order free of charge, and gave us a free month's premium membership. After we finally got to our room, I took care of my business, while Lincoln happily played on one of the beds, and Jason borrowed a luggage cart to go grab our stuff from the car. By the time we had unloaded everything, it was already time to head back to Disney Springs for dinner!

Up next: You have a baby...in a bar...

 

[k8einwdw]

Many well wishes and kudos to your pediatrician for identifying this for you guys early.

I thank God for the hospital pediatrician for catching it so early. I believe everything happens for a reason. I had chosen to go to an OB/GYN closer to my office than to my home, which means that I gave birth at the hospital 25 minutes away, instead of the one 10 minutes away. I was fine with this anyway, since the hospital where Lincoln was born opened in 2017, and has a top-of-the-line Women's Center. Not to mention, every single person we encountered there was wonderful. Anyway, I truly believe that I was drawn to that OB/GYN and that hospital because of Lincoln's condition. With all due disrespect to my local Podunk hospital, I don't think it would have been caught there.

 

[k8einwdw]

Saturday, December 11th - Travel Day - Continued

By the time we had unloaded everything from the car into the room, it was already 4:30, and time for us to head back to Disney Springs for our 5:15 pm reservation at Wine Bar George. It took a good bit longer to find a spot in the garage this time around, and we ended up being about 5 minutes late for our reservation. Not a huge deal, they seated us right away, but I hate being late. After we were seated, Jason ordered The Hoot cocktail, and I ordered the Froscato. I also set Lincoln up in his high chair with some toys to keep him busy.

We decided to split some small plates for our meal. We wanted to try the Iberico Pork Pluma, but they were out. We ended up getting the House-Made meatballs, the Crispy Mac-and-Cheese bites, and the Saganaki on Fire.

We both really liked the mac-and-cheese bites. The meatballs were also good, but not great. Unfortunately, we were both disappointed with the Saganaki on Fire. The presentation was really cool, but the dish itself was not all that impressive. The texture made it hard to spread onto the bread, and it was a little too salty for me. We had been waffling between this and the buratta, and we both wish we had gotten the buratta. I know Wine Bar George is a favorite for many, but it probably won’t be a repeat for us.

Lincoln enjoyed some blueberries and rice rusks.

By the time we had finished eating, it was around 6:30, and time for us to head back to Pop to start getting L bathed and ready for bed. It had been almost five hours since Jason had joined the virtual queue for Gideon's, and still no text. Of course, they texted right as we got back to the hotel. I told him to go ahead and go, we had been waiting a year to try these cookies, and I was more than capable of getting Lincoln down to bed by myself.

Before he left, I went back to Bell Services to get my InstaCart replacement order that had come in while we were at dinner, and Jason went up to the front desk to let them know that the pack-n-play that we had requested for the room was not in there. A CM brought one up to the room in no time, and it was quite the challenge to figure out how we were going to fit it in the bathroom area so that we could close off the bathroom door while L was asleep. I ended up making it work, but there was only about six inches to squeeze past if one of us needed to get to the potty in the middle of the night.

While I bathed and fed Lincoln and got him down to bed, Jason drove back over to Disney Springs (that makes three times he'd parked there in one day) and headed to Gideon's. He sent me some pictures while he was there...

He ended up getting us four cookies - the Original Chocolate Chip, the Dark Coffee Cake, the Krampus, and the Kringle. He also got a Peanut Butter Cold Brew coffee. He made it back to the room right as I was putting Lincoln down, and he and I split the Kringle cookie for a late-night dessert. It was good, but SO SWEET. I love white chocolate, but the white chocolate chips were a little overpowering on this one.

After our cookie, we hung out and watched tv for a little bit before calling it a night around 9:30 pm.

Up next: Lincoln's first Disney park!

 

[Zipadeelady]

Just now catching up. I'll be praying for all three of you and looking forward to reading your report.

I also believe that things happen for a reason. You were meant to be at that hospital. I just gave myself goose bumps.

 

[LeighM]

Following along! We were lucky to try Gideon's on our last day (haven't gotten there yet in my trip report lol) and I thought it was really sweet too. My husband and I agreed that there were too many chocolate chips for our preference But glad to have tried it!

 

[mpaulam]

Sounds like Lincoln is a pretty good traveler!

 

[k8einwdw]

Just now catching up. I'll be praying for all three of you and looking forward to reading your report.

I also believe that things happen for a reason. You were meant to be at that hospital. I just gave myself goose bumps.

Thank you!

Following along! We were lucky to try Gideon's on our last day (haven't gotten there yet in my trip report lol) and I thought it was really sweet too. My husband and I agreed that there were too many chocolate chips for our preference But glad to have tried it!

At $6/cookie, I expected to like them more than we did

Sounds like Lincoln is a pretty good traveler!

He is, most of the time. We were not so lucky on the ride home!

 

[k8einwdw]

Sunday, December 12th - Animal Kingdom Day

Lincoln woke up bright and early at 5:30 am..."Dada...Dada...Dada..." "Honey, he's asking for you," I joked to Jason. It didn't work. So up Mom got, starting the day way too early as usual. L slept surprisingly well. He was used to sleeping in a Pack n Play, as he slept in one in our room after he outgrew his bassinet, before we moved him to his nursery. He had also gotten used to sleeping in his own space, since we transitioned him to sleeping in his nursery around Thanksgiving. But I fully expected him to wake up in the middle of the night, freaking out because he was in an unfamiliar place. Nope, the kid slept from 8:30 pm to 5:30 am, no issues. I fed him his first bottle of the day and let him play for a while before he went down for his first nap.

One of the more challenging aspects of bringing an infant to WDW is scheduling. With L only being six months old at the time of the trip, he typically stayed awake for 2 hours between naps, and he takes a bottle every 3-3.5 hours. With him waking up so early in the morning, that meant he had two bottles and a nap before we left the hotel room in the mornings. We knew we wouldn't make rope drop, but I was surprised at just how long it took us from the time we got up in the mornings until the time we got to our park for the day. Anywho, after he woke up from his nap, he got his second bottle of the day, and everyone got dressed so we could head out the door around 9:30.

Lincoln 'fit check...

We decided to drive to AK rather than take a bus, and we got there and got parked around 9:45-9:50. With us getting there so far past park opening, we had to park alllll the way in Giraffe. We made the trek up to the park entrance (man, I really miss the parking lot trams), and were walking into the park shortly after 10:00.

As we were walking toward the Tree of Life, we noticed that the Merry Menagerie was out, so we went to check it out. Lincoln was 100% unimpressed by this polar bear. Jason and I thought it was really cute, and we're glad they've added more holiday offerings at AK.

After this, we headed back to the Baby Care Center for a diaper change. Then, it was time to get on a ride! At 7:00, I had logged onto the MDE app to book our first Lightning Lanes. We decided to purchase Flight of Passage, since it is my favorite attraction, and we booked Na'Vi River Journey for shortly after. I got on FoP first, while J pushed L around in his stroller. I was in and out fairly quickly. Jason did not have the same luck I did. It took nearly 40 minutes from the time I tagged him in to the time he was off the ride. By the time he got off, we only had 25 minutes until our lunch reservation at Tusker House. We walked over to the Lightning Lane line for Na'Vi River Journey, and found it to be loooooooong. My guess is it had been down earlier in the day, and now everyone was there to ride. We decided to just head back to Africa to check in for lunch.

We arrived at Tusker House about 15 minutes before our reservation time, and waited in the HOT sun for about 15-20 minutes before we were called back. L didn't mind though, he had it made in the shade!

Up next: Baby's first character meal!

 

[LeighM]

At $6/cookie, I expected to like them more than we did

Is that how much I paid?! I didn't even notice LOL. Glad I just bought one cookie!

 

[Back!Elbow!Shoulders!]

Me reading all this with a now 6 month old baby:

From the fitting mostly everything in the car to solid overnight sleep in a new place- bravo!

I don’t think we could do this now but for 2023.

 

[ferbtones]

Ah the joys of Disneying with a baby.

We hit up Disneyland Paris when our DS was 3 years and DD was 4 months. We learned to take each moment as it came.
Must have liked it as we did it again when DS was 4 years and DD was just shy of 1 year .

Wow so long ago though, DS is now 18 and DD is 14.

Time flies. Enjoy making precious memories.

And sending special thoughts for your beautiful boy for his surgery. Coming to him all the way from England so I will make them extra strong.

 

[Katiekitten]

I'm sending thoughts to you, Jason and Lincoln for his surgery!

I can't wait to hear more about your trip and see all the pictures that I'm sure will come with it.

 

[KellBelle]

I am so very sorry to hear about Lincoln's upcoming surgery. All my good thoughts and vibes are headed your way.

We ate for the first time at Wine Bar George our last visit in November. We also wanted the pork, but they told us they did not have any due to supply issues. We also got the mac and cheese bites and meatballs. I did not love the meatballs. Something was just off about them for me.

Looking forward to the rest of your trip!

 

[MEyeSeeKayEY]

We were down there the Dec 11-19! Probably saw you guys and had no idea!
Prayers for your little man for sure... He's so darn cute!

 

[EllieBadge]

I'm mostly a lurker here, but I've been around a long time and followed your other reports. When you posted about Lincoln and his surgery, my heart ached for your family, and you all have been in my thoughts ever since that post. I hope everything went well yesterday and wish Lincoln the speediest of recoveries.

 

[Wicked Sisters]

We just wanted to send our best wishes to Lincoln and his mummy & Daddy. We wish him a speedy recovery and we hope the operation was successful.

 

[Back!Elbow!Shoulders!]

Thinking about you and Lincoln. Hope everything went well.

 

[Katiekitten]

I'm thinking about you all, I hope everything went as planned!

 

[k8einwdw]

Hi everyone! I certainly didn't mean to go so long without updating, but as you all know, life happens! Work has been so hectic, but thankfully, management has finally hired us the additional employee we've been desperately needing for two years, so I'm finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, and hoping I'll have more time to hop on here more often.

Mostly, I feel awful for not updating everyone on Lincoln's surgery. I am so thankful for the community here, and those of you that were thinking of and praying for us last month. Lincoln's surgery went great! We were told it would take 4-6 hours, and it took about 5.5 hours - longest 5.5 hours EVER. His neurosurgeon said that the suture was very tight around his brain, so they have given him plenty of room to grow. I will be thankful for his medical team for the rest of my life - they have truly given our son a chance to have a normal, healthy life. I will spare you the really sad pics with all of the tubes and wires hanging out of every limb, but here are some photos from before and after surgery...

Lincoln's eyes were swollen shut for about 48 hours, but as soon as he could open his eyes and see everyone, he was on his way back to his usual wild self. His nurses absolutely adored him (who wouldn't?), and they let us go home a day early because he was doing so well! Since we've been home, he's been absolutely thriving. Growing way too big, starting to stand (supported), and trying really hard to crawl - right now he's doing an inchworm-army crawl combo that is hilarious, but it gets him around. Thank you again to everyone that has sent their well wishes. I truly cherish the friendships I've made here.

 

[cgersic]

Oh you sweet sweet boy! So glad everything went well!