Trip Report Magic Bands, FP+ and a Baby? A January 2014 TR.

Hey guys! It's been a while since my last trip report - so sorry for long hiatus! I've only been back home from my January trip to my favorite place on the planet for less than a week and I'm ready to talk about it!
You can check out my pre trip report here:
http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/january-2014-pre-trip-report.877636/#post-5889436

This trip was different than any other trip to Walt Disney World that I've ever taken. So many new and unexpected things! First, this was our first trip with our 16 month old son, Grant. Secondly, my parents came along and they haven't been to Disney since 1989. And lastly, this was our first time using Magic Bands and FastPass+. How did Grant do? How did we like My Magic+? Stay tuned to find out!

Now for the details:
When: January 5-12, 2014
Where: Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort
Why: Because it's been WAY too long!
What: 7 Day Park Hoppers and the Disney Dining Plan
How: By car from North Carolina
Who: The cast of characters for this trip...

First you have Myself, my wife Brittany and Grant:


Brittany's sister, Brooke (with Grant):


My parents, Karl and Kay (with Grant):


And Brittany's parents, Scott and Pam (with an infant Grant):


*Next installment - Day 1...

 

[dkosdros]

Gotchya. thank you. So basically both parties end up having to wait in the FP line one after the other. Was kind of hoping we all wait once together and then just hand the kid off after the ride when one parent hops off the next hops on. But with the queue set up on several attractions this could be tricky, impossible and sometimes even dangerous. Thanks for the replies. Keep up the great TR.

 

[MEyeSeeKayEY]

Monday January 6, 2014

After a good night's sleep, we were up and out the door by 7:20am! We all loaded into Scott and Pam's Expedition and drove over to Disney's Contemporary Resort for our breakfast ADR at Chef Mickey's! Chef Mickey's is one of our favorite character meals on property and we knew when we were planning this trip that we had to take Grant there to meet all the characters!
The plan was to go to the Magic Kingdom on this day, so we just parked at the Contemporary all day. That plan worked like a charm.
It was a foggy morning in central Florida as we headed into the Contemporary...



Grant, with autograph book in hand, was excited to meet Mickey and the gang!



We headed up the escalators until we reached Chef Mickey's.



We were right on time for our ADR and they actually sat us before we even got our group picture taken. Oh well. No big deal. We were hungry and ready to meet some characters!



We all went and got our first round of food and started stuffing our faces. We had almost finished with our first plates when the first character came by our table - none other than the man himself, Mickey Mouse! Grant didn't know what to think!





Next up was Donald Duck!



Celebrate! Celebrate! Wave your napkins in the air! Grant even got into the action!



Next up was Minnie Mouse!



Grant was LOVING meeting all of the characters!





*Next installment - Monday Jan 6 continued...

 

[Laurenciaa]

Saturday January 4, 2014

Grant was LOVING meeting all of the characters!

Thumbs Up !! So sweet

 

[MEyeSeeKayEY]

Monday January 6 continued...



The next character to come by the table was Pluto! I love Grant's face in this one.



Last but not least, Goofy stopped by to say hello. Grant didn't take his eyes off of him...



After all the excitement of meeting the Fab Five, Grant was hungry and decided to enjoy a classic Mickey waffle!



Then out of nowhere, our waiter stopped by with a special surprise for Kay, Scott and Brooke. Birthday cupcakes! My mom's birthday was in late December and Scott and Brooke's birthdays are in early February. So when I made the reservations, I told them we were celebrating!
Nothing beats a Disney cupcake!



After breakfast, we were stuffed, but it was time to head to the Magic Kingdom! We headed up and boarded the Monorail. In no time we had arrived at the MK, my favorite park! I couldn't wait to see Grant's face as he experienced some of the classic Disney attractions.
I got this shot while we waited for the others to get through bag check...



I love everything about the Magic Kingdom. The train station, Main Street, the Partners Statue, the castle, the attractions, everything! I always get photo-happy as we enter...



And a family pic...



Even though it was January 6, the Christmas decorations were still up at the MK. Everything looked so festive. We had been to WDW back in December of 2010, and it was bringing back good memories and we headed down Main Street, USA towards the castle.








*Next installment - Monday Jan 6 continued...

 

[The Magical Genie 123]

Your son's looks are priceless! I love the report so far!

 

[MEyeSeeKayEY]

Monday January 6 continued...



It was around 9:30am and we were heading down Main Street toward Cinderella Castle trying to figure out where to go and what to do first. Of course, me being the Disney fanatic, I knew exactly what we SHOULD do, but I was going along with the crowd this week. I just wanted everyone to enjoy their vacation. I made plenty of suggestions during the week, and most of the time everyone agreed to listen to me because I knew what I was talking about.
Today, we had the standard 3 FastPass+ reservations (starting at 12:50pm) but we also had another special appointment at 10:30am. We had scheduled Grant to get his first haircut at the Harmony Barber Shop! Remember the foreshadowing comment earlier?
We had some time to kill before Grant's appointment, so we decided to walk through the castle and let Grant's first ride in the Magic Kingdom be Prince Charming's Regal Carrousel!
On the way there, I snapped pictures along the way (of course)...







Once we reached the Carrousel, we only had to wait one ride before we were able to board! I love short waits! Brittany and I rode with Grant on his first ride at the MK. Well, I actually rode WITH him and Brittany stood beside our majestic steed...





Grant LOVED it and every time we passed the Carrousel during the week, he would point at it and grunt (his way of saying, "Hey I want that!" or "I want to do that!"
After our ride, we decided to go ahead and walk back down Main Street and go ahead and check in at the barber shop.
As we walked back through the castle, I got a couple more cool shots...






When we got to the barber shop, it was packed and people were waiting outside, but we knew it would clear out. While we waited, we looked around and noticed that the "Car Barn" was open. We decided to check it out...









*Next installment - Monday Jan 6 continued...

 

[MEyeSeeKayEY]

Monday January 6 continued...



It was 10:25, so we decided to go ahead and check in at the Harmony Barber Shop. There was still several people lingering around outside, but they were all one big party and they cleared out within minutes.





After the huge group left, we basically had the place to ourselves! Everyone in the barber shop was so nice and made it such a memorable experience for Grant and all of us. Grant's "barber" was great too. She was so patient and gentle. We had no idea how Grant would act, but to our surprise, he sat there the entire time and hardly moved a muscle. I don't know what was going through his little head - probably fear! Haha. He did great!
Here are some shots of my baby boy's first haircut...



Goodbye curls!

















*Next installment - Monday Jan 6 continued...

 

[FlaggNL]

Hej, this TR is getting better and better Love the pics! Your little boy is sooooo photogenic (is this good english ???)!!! Keep on going plssss!!

 

[Betsyboo]

Following along. That 1st haircut ear hat is soooo cute!

 

[MEyeSeeKayEY]

Monday January 6 continued...



Grant's first haircut was complete! Kind of sad in a way... but hey, who can say that their first haircut was at Disney World?? Pretty cool.
With his new Mickey ears hat on, Grant was ready to ride some more attractions!



It was only 11:00am and our first FP+ reservation wasn't for another 2 hours in Tomorrowland, so we decided to head to Adventureland for the time being.
First stop was the Swiss Family Robinson Tree House. We hadn't done this in a couple of trips, and with a couple of "newbies" with us, we decided to give it another chance.
Next up was the Magic Carpets of Aladdin. My mom and dad, Brittany and Brooke wanted to take Grant this time, so I waited with Scott and Pam.





Right before they went to get in line, I had a bright idea. When we checked in at Caribbean Beach, the cast member that checked us in gave us Keys to the World cards even though we all had Magic Bands. Magic Kingdom still had legacy FastPasses in place so I collected everyone's cards and ran down to the Jungle Cruise (which was still the "JINGLE" Cruise on this day) to try and get FastPasses. My plan worked like a charm! The stand by line for the Jungle Cruise was 40 minutes, but the FastPass return time was 11:20-12:20. So, as soon as they got off the Magic Carpets, we headed into the Jungle, I mean, Jingle Cruise.
Next up was Pirates of the Caribbean, a Disney classic and one of my all time favorites!





Pirates was great, as usual, but next up was a trip back to Frontierland! Knowing that Splash Mountain was closed, we wanted to check out the wait for Big Thunder. We didn't have a tremendous amount of time before our first FP+ for the day, but if BTMRR didn't have a long wait, we could ride it before heading across the park.
When we got to Big Thunder, the stand by was 50 minutes. Nope, not doing that. So, off to Tomorrowland we went to hit our first FP+ attraction of the day - Space Mountain!
Space Mountain is definitely my favorite attraction at the Magic Kingdom and probably my favorite in all of Walt Disney World. Everyone rode except for Scott, Pam and Grant and then Brittany and I got to ride again by using their Magic Bands. Shhhhh, don't tell anyone...
Next up, we had FP+ reservations for Peter Pan's Flight. I booked this one because it ALWAYS has huge wait times, even during slow times of the year and I thought Grant would like it. It turned out to be a good choice. The stand by was 55 minutes and Grant loved it! It is a pretty neat ride.
By now it was getting close to 2:00, and we wanted to try out the Be Our Guest Restaurant for lunch! So, over to New Fantasyland we went...











Be Our Guest was great and an incredible value for a counter service credit! You got a lot of food and the actually brought it to your table. We will definitely be going back on future visits!



*Next installment - Monday Jan 6 continued...

 

[MEyeSeeKayEY]

Following along. That 1st haircut ear hat is soooo cute!

Yeah, we were planning on buying Grant his very own ear hat, but they gave us one at the barber shop! Disney magic at it's best!

 

[MEyeSeeKayEY]

Monday January 6 continued...

After lunch at Be Our Guest, we decided to check out New Fantasyland! It was a really crowded day at the Magic Kingdom, so we just peaked into Gaston's Tavern and headed down toward the new Little Mermaid ride - Under the Sea!
The line was pretty long (the stand by time said 25 minutes), but I knew it was an omni mover attraction so I knew it probably wouldn't be that long of a wait. The queue was actually very cool. All the rock work, detail and little animated scenes throughout the queue made the wait seem even shorter.
Grant liked playing and climbing on the rock work...



We only waited 10-15 minutes before boarding and before we knew it, we were going under the sea!
It was a good ride with a lot of great audio animatronics, but this ride alone will not draw people back to New Fantasyland. That being said, I have very high hopes for the Seven Dwarfs Mine Coaster...
Next up, it was time for our FP+ reservation at Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin! Off to Tomorrowland we went...
Grant looked at me, like "Say what?"



We arrived in Tomorrowland and got the FP+ queue for Buzz and zoomed right through to the loading area!



Grant loved the Buzz Lightyear animatronic in the queue, he must have thought he was the real Buzz!



I rode by myself on this mission, while mom and dad rode together, Pam and Brittany rode together and Grant rode with Scott and Brooke! He had a blast (pardon the pun)!





After Buzz, we wanted to ride a few more things in Tomorrowland. First up was Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress! It's one of our all time favorites! "There's a great, big, beautiful tomorrow, shining at the end of every day..."



After CoP, it was on to the Tomorrowland Transit Authority Peoplemover (or TTA to me)! Always a favorite and plus we needed to kill a little time before we rode Space Mountain again. Yes, we used our Keys to the World Cards again to get regular FastPasses for Space. Sorry, I'm not sorry. This was probably the last trip before they take away regular FastPass forever, so I was going to take advantage of it!



The TTA was great as always. There's not much to this attraction, but I love it anyway. It's so relaxing and I just love looking at the park from this perspective.
After our grand circle tour of Tomorrowland, it was time to ride Space Mountain again (and once again Brittany, Brooke and I rode twice! Crazy thing is, at check in, they gave Grant a Key to the World card too and it worked in the FastPass machines! Score!
After a couple of rides on Space, it was starting to get really cold and windy. Being pretty worn out from non stop touring these first couple of days, we decided to call it a day and head back to Caribbean Beach.
On the way out, I suggested that we stop at the Main Street Bakery and try out the new Starbucks. Being that it was so cold, nobody objected.
As we entered the bakery, it was obvious that everyone else in the park had the same idea I did. Our longest wait of the day was for coffee, but boy, was it worth it!



We headed toward the exit and back to our resort.
Once we got back, we all went over to Old Port Royale (Caribbean Beach's food court and shopping area) to grab a quick service dinner. They had several different options to choose from, so everyone was able to find something that appealed to their taste buds. We would end up doing this a few times during the week.
After we ate and topped off our refillable resort mugs, we decided to head back to the rooms and call it a night. We wanted to get an early start in the morning. Our destination for tomorrow: Rope drop at Disney's Animal Kingdom!


*Next installment - Tuesday Jan 7...

 

[tor29c]

Excellent report! As good as your photos are, Grant is clearly the star of this TR! He should be the poster child for new parents wondering when is the right time to take the baby! Keep going!

 

[MerMom1981]

Oh my goodness! What a little cutie you have!

Really enjoying your report, and that pic of Grant grinning through the Mickey fluorescents is priceless!

 

[Billy6]

Great report! Awesome to have your son there for the first time, aye? How old is he?
My son is on the way(May) and we'll take him for the first time next summer.

 

[MEyeSeeKayEY]

Thanks, everyone!

Great report! Awesome to have your son there for the first time, aye? How old is he?
My son is on the way(May) and we'll take him for the first time next summer.

Grant was 16 months old at the time of our trip.

 

[Laurenciaa]

Gaahh that picture @ Buzz .. Soo cute ! Very nice TR

 

[MEyeSeeKayEY]

Tuesday January 7, 2014



By keeping a close eye on the weather forecast, we knew it was going to be a cold day in central Florida today. The high was only going to get into the 50's! We had packed our cold weather clothes, but still didn't want to be out in the elements all day long. Thanks to having to make dining and FastPass+ reservations so far in advance, it just so happened that today was our Animal Kingdom day. Looking back, we should have done another park with more indoor attractions, but hey, you can't change everything last minute (believe me, I tired), so we decided to roll with it.
The night before, we all agreed that we would sleep in a little today and just get to DAK in time for our first FP+ attraction at Kilimangaro Safaris (11:00-12:00). So that's exactly what we did. Everybody was up and well rested and out the door by 10:30am. We had to wait about 15 minutes on the bus today (of course), but then we were off to Animal Kingdom!
DAK is a pretty short bus ride from Caribbean Beach, and it wasn't long until we pulled into the park's bus drop off/ pick up area.
It might be just me, but I LOVE the entrance to Animal Kingdom!



We were all bundled up and ready to go! It was right at 11:00 so we headed right for Africa and to our first attraction on the day - Kilimangaro Safari's!



Grant was excited to see some animals he had only seen in some of his books at home! HIGH FIVE!



We had FP+, so no waiting for us!
We were ready to get on our two week safari!















Grant loved seeing all the animals! He would point and make animal sounds! It was so cute! Our only wish is that it would have been a little warmer on our ride because a lot of the animals weren't out (namely the giraffes and the elephants). This would become a theme for the day. Not to worry though, we planned to come back to DAK later in the week when it was supposed to be warmer.



*Next installment - Tuesday Jan 7 continued...

 

[MEyeSeeKayEY]

Tuesday January 7 continued...

After our ride on Kilimangaro Safaris, even though it was frigid, we decided to check out the Pangani Trail to see if the gorillas were out. Like many of the animals, the gorillas and the bats were not out - the cast member told us it was too cold for them to be out today. Disappointed, we left Africa and headed toward Asia because we had our second FP+ reservations of the day at Expedition Everest from 12:05-1:05.
Animal Kingdom is beautiful to walk through. So much detail around every turn.
Here are a couple of shots I got as we walked toward Expedition Everest...







Unfortunately, when we got to EE, cast members were standing out front turning people away. I went up to talk to them and they told me the ride was down but that it would be open later today. Great. Today was not going as planned so far... They did say they would honor any FP+ when the ride reopened, so we left Asia and planned to come back after lunch.
We had lunch ADRs at the Rainforest Cafe at 1:15, but it was only 12:20, so we decided to go watch one of our favorite shows at DAK - It's Tough to Be a Bug!
I absolutely LOVE all of the detail in and around the Tree of Life. I could spend hours just looking and taking pictures of it. One day, maybe I'll be able to...





Classic "bug eye" shot...



It's Tough to Be a Bug was a good show, but we were getting hungry! It was time for our lunch ADR, so we headed to the Rainforest Cafe! It was going to be nice to fill our stomachs and sit inside where it was warm!
Grant and I stopped for a photo before we went in to eat.





The Rainforest Cafe was great! Excellent food and you can't beat the atmosphere. It was perfect for our Animal Kingdom day! Not to mention Grant loved it, especially when the thunder went off and all the animals started going crazy...








*Next installment - Tuesday Jan 7 continued...

 

[FlaggNL]

Still love the report! Great pics! And love the Carhartt beanie for the little one