THE BACKGROUND
Our first child was born back in February and, being one of the biggest Disney World fans you will find (along with most of my family), I have been scheming to figure out how to make this trip happen since I first found out my wife was pregnant. While she loves Disney stuff - the movies, the music, etc - she has never spent any real time in Disney World aside from a couple of very brief trips staying offsite when she was younger; she doesn't even really remember the parks.
I, on the other hand, went on my first trip when I was about eight weeks old in 1984 and continued pretty much every year throughout my childhood, plus a few more times as an adult. My whole family is made up of die-hard Disney World fanatics, as my grandparents started going with my mom and uncles when Magic Kingdom first opened and we've never really stopped through the generations; my grandparents used to take me and my brothers once or twice a year growing up, so it's really like a second home for us.
Now, my parents, grandparents, and two of my brothers all live in or in close proximity to Orlando, while I live in Texas, so this trip not only gets us to Disney but also gives everyone an opportunity to spend time with the baby. It's a win-win, as it gave me an extra reason to book the trip while also ensuring that we will have a full family of people with us throughout the days at the parks to help take care of and watch our son. If we want to do the rider switch thing or just go on a ride that my parents or grandparents don't want to go on, they will be more than happy to walk around with him, buy him a snack, etc.
That said, the primary focus of this trip is, of course, to do as much as possible with our son while not overdoing it and wiping him out. It just gives us more flexibility when we inevitably want to go on something like Space Mountain or Splash Mountain and he's asleep in the stroller (he has no issues sleeping in a stroller, so we'll see if that continues).
Note on taking a baby: I am fully aware that my son will not remember any of this trip but, for me, there is so much more to it than that. While I will be focused on giving him fun experiences, the memories and pictures my wife and I will have of this trip - along with any family members who meet us there - are just as important to me as the experience itself. And while I certainly don't remember the trips I went on when I was an infant or toddler, man, do I love looking at the pictures of me with my parents and grandparents from those early trips; I'm hopeful that one day my son will appreciate having pictures from this trip to look at and, without a doubt, know my wife and I will love having them when we're older. This type of trip may not be for everyone but I'm 100% for it!
THE TRIP DETAILS
The Crew: Staying on-site will be me, my wife, our son, my wife's brother, and his wife (his aunt and uncle are coming down from the Northeast!). Meeting us there each day could be any combination of my mom, my dad, one of my three brothers, a second of my three brothers, my grandmother, and my grandfather.
Flights and Dates: His first birthday is Friday February 8, 2019, so I booked the trip around that based on the cheapest flights: we'll arrive Wednesday morning February 6th at Orlando airport and leave Tuesday afternoon February 12th out of Orlando airport (both direct on Southwest). It's full five days and six nights total but really five and a half including the arrival day since our flight is scheduled to land around 9:30am. I went with that length of a trip because I wanted enough time to hit Magic Kingdom twice, Epcot once, a possible split day at Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios, and an extra day in the middle (all depending on a lot of variables but more on the day to day plans later in the post...). I also like that it's early enough in February that we should avoid most of the February vacation and Presidents week crowds.
Hotel: One important thing to me about this trip was to make it a "real" Disney World trip for his first one, so even though we have family living close by who we could stay with and will be driving in to meet us at the parks, we are staying on-site (this was non-negotiable on my end haha). There's just something about arriving at the airport, getting on the Magical Express and being whisked straight to your Disney hotel, then never leaving WDW until it's time to go home that makes it an all-in kind of trip for me. I love never leaving the magic and even prefer taking the buses, monorails, and other Disney transportation over driving myself; to me, it's all part of the experience, as I have such fond memories of the excitement of waiting for the Disney bus to pick us up at the hotel and the anticipation of waiting on them to get to the parks. I know some people hate that part of it but that's just how my brain works. And since we can make it work financially this time staying on-site and that's not likely to happen much in the future, I went for it.
We'll be staying in a Finding Nemo Family Suite at Art of Animation. My wife's brother and his wife will be staying with us, which is why we opted for the family suite. Since I probably won't do this type of trip again any time soon where family flies in and offers to split a room with us, I figured this was our chance to justify the cost to check out the family suites. Having a separate master bedroom and bathroom, plus the kitchenette and larger living room area, will be a huge bonus with four adults and a baby, not to mention any other family that decides to relax at the room with us if we want to take a break during the day.
PARKS AND PASSES
Note: Everything from this point on is all tentative. With a baby, you never know how well they'll do each day, the types of experiences they'll end up enjoying or hating, how tired they'll be, etc. I love the planning aspect of it but realize it will go right out the window when we get there. That said, I have plenty of time to let the excitement and anticipation build and there's no better way to spend it than doing some research and planning! In the end, I just want to have an idea of some of the priorities we'll have as far as experiences, rides, and meals go. There are only a few key things that I absolutely want to make sure we do with him - such as meeting Mickey and a few of the rides - and the rest is all just ideas.
Passes: We'll have park hopper passes for all days, probably including the day we arrive. So the only real limitations will be how our baby does each day.
Magic Kingdom: I want to spend two days here, as this park has the most stuff we'll be able to do with him and the most priorities for the trip. I'd like it to be our first and last full days, since the only way I like to do Disney trips is by starting at Magic Kingdom on the first full day. The issue this time is I wanted to be here on his first birthday but his birthday is Friday and our first full day is Thursday, so something has to give. Haven't made a decision yet on whether I want to sacrifice the first day thing or his birthday in MK yet. I'd say it's an easy decision to just go on Friday so we're there on his first birthday, as that would be really special, but I also want to make sure my wife experiences the magic right off the bat our first full day, especially seeing him experience the magic. And I don't think Epcot, AK, or DHS will give that same impression; it could set the wrong mood for the trip if she's not feeling the magic or seeing him experience the magic. Remember, the long-term plan here is to make it enjoyable enough for her, as well as my son, so that she wants us all to go again as he gets older. This decision will take some serious consideration.
As far as rides/experiences in MK, so far the must-dos for the three of us are meeting Mickey at Town Square Theater (absolute top priority for the trip), then some specific rides, including Pirates of the Caribbean, Small World, Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Haunted Mansion (we'll see how the baby does haha), Little Mermaid, WDW Railroad, Dumbo, Peter Pan's Flight, Prince Charming Regal Carrousel, and the PeopleMover. There are plenty more rides and experiences that are good for a one year old that I'd like to do with him but we'll hit those as time allows; the previous list is the priorities. I don't believe we'll have any issues hitting them all with two days at MK as long as we're smart with Fastpasses, though.
If my wife and I are able to do a few adult-oriented rides while family watches the baby, the top priorities would be Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, and Big Thunder Mountain, in that order.
Epcot: I plan on us doing one full day here and don't have nearly as many priorities for the three of us. The only ones I can really come up with are Spaceship Earth, The Seas with Nemo and Friends (including some time in the aquarium), and the Gran Fiesta Tour in Mexico. Frozen would be nice but with how long the line usually is and the difficulty of obtaining Fastpasses, I just don't want to count on it. I guess other than that, the only real thing I'm hoping for is that we can also make it all the way around the World Showcase and see a lot of what Epcot has to offer without the baby getting too bored. I view Epcot as a much more adult-oriented park (or at least older than toddler-oriented park), so we'll just take it as it happens here.
If we have time and family allows, I'd like to get on Test Track and Soarin with my wife, and maybe Living with the Land. I could definitely see us making this happen, as my family loves Epcot and quite a few of them might be there. Also, a must-eat will be the fish and chips in England. We both love seafood and, shockingly, I enjoy this fish and chips more than pretty much any other one I've found elsewhere.
Hollywood Studios: There isn't really too much here I feel like we have to do with the baby, so the current plan is to do a split day with Animal Kingdom, possibly with a break in between. He's too small for all of the rides I'd like to go on with my wife (Tower of Terror, Rockin Rollercoaster, Slinky Dog Dash, Toy Story Mania, Star Tours), so I don't plan on spending too much time here. I'd like to see his reaction walking around Toy Story Land and I definitely want to see it myself but there aren't any rides he can go on, so we'll probably just walk through unless she and I can get on SDD or TSM without too much of a wait. There are a couple shows I'll probably try with him to gauge his reaction (Frozen and Voyage of the Little Mermaid) but he may or may not care. The only things I definitely want to do if we can make it happen are Tower of Terror and Rockin Rollercoaster, as these are totally my wife's and my kind of rides. She also remembers loving Tower of Terror from her last trip a while back, so even if we just walk around Toy Story Land, try a show or two, and hit those two rides if family is with us, that's really all we need before heading out.
Animal Kingdom: I'm gonna be honest and admit I don't remember Animal Kingdom very well. It opened a couple years before my trips really slowed down and then there were quite a few years before I went again, and then quite a few years since then (I haven't been to AK the last couple of times I went, as they were all really short trips where I only got to go to MK, Epcot, and a short time as DHS). I know all of my family loves it there but I can't make decisions for what will work with a baby based on personal experience. I'll be relying heavily on their input. I do know that we'll definitely do Navi River Journey and, if it happens to work out by some miracle, I need to try Flight of Passage. Other than that, the Safari is a must-do with the baby and I'm open to whatever after that with what time we have.
That EXTRA Day: As you may have noticed, we have one extra full day based on my plan for the Disney parks. This will likely be Saturday or Sunday and will possibly end up being a Universal day for me, my wife, her brother, and his wife (not sure if my brothers will make it). My parents and grandparents are excited at the idea of getting to spend a day with the baby and my wife wants more than anything to go to Universal, since she's been before and loves it (we're big roller coaster and thrill ride people). If it works out that way, we'll spend some or most of the day at Universal hitting as many thrill rides as we can and my parents will be thrilled to spend a day with the baby. If we end up at Universal, my wife is a Harry Potter fan and those rides will be must-dos. If we can't make Universal happen for some reason, it will likely be a relaxing hotel and/or Disney Springs kind of day. Who knows, maybe we'll even get a warm streak with the weather and check out that Nemo pool since it's heated and our son already loves everything to do with water (pools, baths, etc).
DINING
I have until August 10th to make decisions on dining, as that's the earliest I can book reservations. I know I shouldn't go overboard, though, as plans might have to change being with a baby. I haven't had time to do much planning in this area yet anyways, other than to know that we'll want one or two character meals. The only one I'm focused on so far is a Crystal Palace breakfast since he already has some Winnie the Pooh stuffed animals, toys, and theming going on here at home, so he may recognize those characters (I believe that's an age where they may or may not start recognizing stuff like that, other would know better than I). More to come on dining.
Our first child was born back in February and, being one of the biggest Disney World fans you will find (along with most of my family), I have been scheming to figure out how to make this trip happen since I first found out my wife was pregnant. While she loves Disney stuff - the movies, the music, etc - she has never spent any real time in Disney World aside from a couple of very brief trips staying offsite when she was younger; she doesn't even really remember the parks.
I, on the other hand, went on my first trip when I was about eight weeks old in 1984 and continued pretty much every year throughout my childhood, plus a few more times as an adult. My whole family is made up of die-hard Disney World fanatics, as my grandparents started going with my mom and uncles when Magic Kingdom first opened and we've never really stopped through the generations; my grandparents used to take me and my brothers once or twice a year growing up, so it's really like a second home for us.
Now, my parents, grandparents, and two of my brothers all live in or in close proximity to Orlando, while I live in Texas, so this trip not only gets us to Disney but also gives everyone an opportunity to spend time with the baby. It's a win-win, as it gave me an extra reason to book the trip while also ensuring that we will have a full family of people with us throughout the days at the parks to help take care of and watch our son. If we want to do the rider switch thing or just go on a ride that my parents or grandparents don't want to go on, they will be more than happy to walk around with him, buy him a snack, etc.
That said, the primary focus of this trip is, of course, to do as much as possible with our son while not overdoing it and wiping him out. It just gives us more flexibility when we inevitably want to go on something like Space Mountain or Splash Mountain and he's asleep in the stroller (he has no issues sleeping in a stroller, so we'll see if that continues).
Note on taking a baby: I am fully aware that my son will not remember any of this trip but, for me, there is so much more to it than that. While I will be focused on giving him fun experiences, the memories and pictures my wife and I will have of this trip - along with any family members who meet us there - are just as important to me as the experience itself. And while I certainly don't remember the trips I went on when I was an infant or toddler, man, do I love looking at the pictures of me with my parents and grandparents from those early trips; I'm hopeful that one day my son will appreciate having pictures from this trip to look at and, without a doubt, know my wife and I will love having them when we're older. This type of trip may not be for everyone but I'm 100% for it!
THE TRIP DETAILS
The Crew: Staying on-site will be me, my wife, our son, my wife's brother, and his wife (his aunt and uncle are coming down from the Northeast!). Meeting us there each day could be any combination of my mom, my dad, one of my three brothers, a second of my three brothers, my grandmother, and my grandfather.
Flights and Dates: His first birthday is Friday February 8, 2019, so I booked the trip around that based on the cheapest flights: we'll arrive Wednesday morning February 6th at Orlando airport and leave Tuesday afternoon February 12th out of Orlando airport (both direct on Southwest). It's full five days and six nights total but really five and a half including the arrival day since our flight is scheduled to land around 9:30am. I went with that length of a trip because I wanted enough time to hit Magic Kingdom twice, Epcot once, a possible split day at Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios, and an extra day in the middle (all depending on a lot of variables but more on the day to day plans later in the post...). I also like that it's early enough in February that we should avoid most of the February vacation and Presidents week crowds.
Hotel: One important thing to me about this trip was to make it a "real" Disney World trip for his first one, so even though we have family living close by who we could stay with and will be driving in to meet us at the parks, we are staying on-site (this was non-negotiable on my end haha). There's just something about arriving at the airport, getting on the Magical Express and being whisked straight to your Disney hotel, then never leaving WDW until it's time to go home that makes it an all-in kind of trip for me. I love never leaving the magic and even prefer taking the buses, monorails, and other Disney transportation over driving myself; to me, it's all part of the experience, as I have such fond memories of the excitement of waiting for the Disney bus to pick us up at the hotel and the anticipation of waiting on them to get to the parks. I know some people hate that part of it but that's just how my brain works. And since we can make it work financially this time staying on-site and that's not likely to happen much in the future, I went for it.
We'll be staying in a Finding Nemo Family Suite at Art of Animation. My wife's brother and his wife will be staying with us, which is why we opted for the family suite. Since I probably won't do this type of trip again any time soon where family flies in and offers to split a room with us, I figured this was our chance to justify the cost to check out the family suites. Having a separate master bedroom and bathroom, plus the kitchenette and larger living room area, will be a huge bonus with four adults and a baby, not to mention any other family that decides to relax at the room with us if we want to take a break during the day.
PARKS AND PASSES
Note: Everything from this point on is all tentative. With a baby, you never know how well they'll do each day, the types of experiences they'll end up enjoying or hating, how tired they'll be, etc. I love the planning aspect of it but realize it will go right out the window when we get there. That said, I have plenty of time to let the excitement and anticipation build and there's no better way to spend it than doing some research and planning! In the end, I just want to have an idea of some of the priorities we'll have as far as experiences, rides, and meals go. There are only a few key things that I absolutely want to make sure we do with him - such as meeting Mickey and a few of the rides - and the rest is all just ideas.
Passes: We'll have park hopper passes for all days, probably including the day we arrive. So the only real limitations will be how our baby does each day.
Magic Kingdom: I want to spend two days here, as this park has the most stuff we'll be able to do with him and the most priorities for the trip. I'd like it to be our first and last full days, since the only way I like to do Disney trips is by starting at Magic Kingdom on the first full day. The issue this time is I wanted to be here on his first birthday but his birthday is Friday and our first full day is Thursday, so something has to give. Haven't made a decision yet on whether I want to sacrifice the first day thing or his birthday in MK yet. I'd say it's an easy decision to just go on Friday so we're there on his first birthday, as that would be really special, but I also want to make sure my wife experiences the magic right off the bat our first full day, especially seeing him experience the magic. And I don't think Epcot, AK, or DHS will give that same impression; it could set the wrong mood for the trip if she's not feeling the magic or seeing him experience the magic. Remember, the long-term plan here is to make it enjoyable enough for her, as well as my son, so that she wants us all to go again as he gets older. This decision will take some serious consideration.
As far as rides/experiences in MK, so far the must-dos for the three of us are meeting Mickey at Town Square Theater (absolute top priority for the trip), then some specific rides, including Pirates of the Caribbean, Small World, Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Haunted Mansion (we'll see how the baby does haha), Little Mermaid, WDW Railroad, Dumbo, Peter Pan's Flight, Prince Charming Regal Carrousel, and the PeopleMover. There are plenty more rides and experiences that are good for a one year old that I'd like to do with him but we'll hit those as time allows; the previous list is the priorities. I don't believe we'll have any issues hitting them all with two days at MK as long as we're smart with Fastpasses, though.
If my wife and I are able to do a few adult-oriented rides while family watches the baby, the top priorities would be Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, and Big Thunder Mountain, in that order.
Epcot: I plan on us doing one full day here and don't have nearly as many priorities for the three of us. The only ones I can really come up with are Spaceship Earth, The Seas with Nemo and Friends (including some time in the aquarium), and the Gran Fiesta Tour in Mexico. Frozen would be nice but with how long the line usually is and the difficulty of obtaining Fastpasses, I just don't want to count on it. I guess other than that, the only real thing I'm hoping for is that we can also make it all the way around the World Showcase and see a lot of what Epcot has to offer without the baby getting too bored. I view Epcot as a much more adult-oriented park (or at least older than toddler-oriented park), so we'll just take it as it happens here.
If we have time and family allows, I'd like to get on Test Track and Soarin with my wife, and maybe Living with the Land. I could definitely see us making this happen, as my family loves Epcot and quite a few of them might be there. Also, a must-eat will be the fish and chips in England. We both love seafood and, shockingly, I enjoy this fish and chips more than pretty much any other one I've found elsewhere.
Hollywood Studios: There isn't really too much here I feel like we have to do with the baby, so the current plan is to do a split day with Animal Kingdom, possibly with a break in between. He's too small for all of the rides I'd like to go on with my wife (Tower of Terror, Rockin Rollercoaster, Slinky Dog Dash, Toy Story Mania, Star Tours), so I don't plan on spending too much time here. I'd like to see his reaction walking around Toy Story Land and I definitely want to see it myself but there aren't any rides he can go on, so we'll probably just walk through unless she and I can get on SDD or TSM without too much of a wait. There are a couple shows I'll probably try with him to gauge his reaction (Frozen and Voyage of the Little Mermaid) but he may or may not care. The only things I definitely want to do if we can make it happen are Tower of Terror and Rockin Rollercoaster, as these are totally my wife's and my kind of rides. She also remembers loving Tower of Terror from her last trip a while back, so even if we just walk around Toy Story Land, try a show or two, and hit those two rides if family is with us, that's really all we need before heading out.
Animal Kingdom: I'm gonna be honest and admit I don't remember Animal Kingdom very well. It opened a couple years before my trips really slowed down and then there were quite a few years before I went again, and then quite a few years since then (I haven't been to AK the last couple of times I went, as they were all really short trips where I only got to go to MK, Epcot, and a short time as DHS). I know all of my family loves it there but I can't make decisions for what will work with a baby based on personal experience. I'll be relying heavily on their input. I do know that we'll definitely do Navi River Journey and, if it happens to work out by some miracle, I need to try Flight of Passage. Other than that, the Safari is a must-do with the baby and I'm open to whatever after that with what time we have.
That EXTRA Day: As you may have noticed, we have one extra full day based on my plan for the Disney parks. This will likely be Saturday or Sunday and will possibly end up being a Universal day for me, my wife, her brother, and his wife (not sure if my brothers will make it). My parents and grandparents are excited at the idea of getting to spend a day with the baby and my wife wants more than anything to go to Universal, since she's been before and loves it (we're big roller coaster and thrill ride people). If it works out that way, we'll spend some or most of the day at Universal hitting as many thrill rides as we can and my parents will be thrilled to spend a day with the baby. If we end up at Universal, my wife is a Harry Potter fan and those rides will be must-dos. If we can't make Universal happen for some reason, it will likely be a relaxing hotel and/or Disney Springs kind of day. Who knows, maybe we'll even get a warm streak with the weather and check out that Nemo pool since it's heated and our son already loves everything to do with water (pools, baths, etc).
DINING
I have until August 10th to make decisions on dining, as that's the earliest I can book reservations. I know I shouldn't go overboard, though, as plans might have to change being with a baby. I haven't had time to do much planning in this area yet anyways, other than to know that we'll want one or two character meals. The only one I'm focused on so far is a Crystal Palace breakfast since he already has some Winnie the Pooh stuffed animals, toys, and theming going on here at home, so he may recognize those characters (I believe that's an age where they may or may not start recognizing stuff like that, other would know better than I). More to come on dining.
