I can't believe I'm actually starting a new pre-trip thread this year. After our last trip in December 2018 (trip report here), we swore our next trip wouldn't be until 2021. Many reasons for that decision, but a lot had to do with this little guy, who is now 10 months:
Going with a baby was going to be tough in a lot of ways, especially when also going with his 5 year old sister. Different nap schedules, unknown eating schedules, stroller decisions (the thought of a double stroller terrifies me), babies being fussy etc, all coupled with the fact that this is the one year we have both in daycare/pre-school/private school whatever you want to call it (but is still very much not cheap). So what changed?
K's grandmother lives in Naples, about 3-3.5 hours from Disney, and we've been wanting to visit for awhile. We last visited her when C was 2, and had a great time. Recently she was diagnosed with alzheimers, and after having two grandparents of mine go through that battle, we knew visiting her became much more timely. When I was looking at flights, I happened to compare the flights to Ft Myers to those to/from Orlando, and noticed that the flights from Orlando back to DC especially were quite a bit cheaper.... I actually checked this multiple times to make sure I wasn't just lying to myself.
Not gonna lie, we still have our concerns. A lot of this trip will be up in the air until we are there, and even then, we will just have to go with the flow quite the bit, which is not in our nature. We're planners - I like to look at projected wait times, figure out how to max out FPs, and color code spread sheets. I may have already started some spread sheets, but the focus this trip will be just trying to let the kids experience Disney together. With that said, it's going to be a short trip. Going for a full week, trying to experience everything is just not in the cards right now and honestly sounds exhausting. A short trip to experience the magic sounds just about right.
One other thing helps with this trip - L is the most laid back baby, who smiles at everyone, and is just overly curious and observant. C is the best big sister to him - they always make each other laugh, and even when she goes through the "I thought I had until she was a teenager" attitudes, the second he's around, she brightens right back up.
To make this even more fun in the not planning, yet actually planning game, is we are going in 3 months! We just booked last night so plans are still very rough, but here's what we got:
Who: Me (Frank), wife K, daughter C and baby L
When: April 25-28 in Naples, April 28 - May 1 at All Star Music
We stayed at ASM back for C's first trip in 2017, and overall really enjoyed it.
We would've preferred AS Movies, but booking 3 months before means you can't be too choosy. If Movies opens, we'll probably switch, but any of the values I think will be fun with L at this age, as I'm pretty sure he'll love all the big icons.
I'll follow-up with the rough day by day plans in another post later!
Going with a baby was going to be tough in a lot of ways, especially when also going with his 5 year old sister. Different nap schedules, unknown eating schedules, stroller decisions (the thought of a double stroller terrifies me), babies being fussy etc, all coupled with the fact that this is the one year we have both in daycare/pre-school/private school whatever you want to call it (but is still very much not cheap). So what changed?
K's grandmother lives in Naples, about 3-3.5 hours from Disney, and we've been wanting to visit for awhile. We last visited her when C was 2, and had a great time. Recently she was diagnosed with alzheimers, and after having two grandparents of mine go through that battle, we knew visiting her became much more timely. When I was looking at flights, I happened to compare the flights to Ft Myers to those to/from Orlando, and noticed that the flights from Orlando back to DC especially were quite a bit cheaper.... I actually checked this multiple times to make sure I wasn't just lying to myself.
Not gonna lie, we still have our concerns. A lot of this trip will be up in the air until we are there, and even then, we will just have to go with the flow quite the bit, which is not in our nature. We're planners - I like to look at projected wait times, figure out how to max out FPs, and color code spread sheets. I may have already started some spread sheets, but the focus this trip will be just trying to let the kids experience Disney together. With that said, it's going to be a short trip. Going for a full week, trying to experience everything is just not in the cards right now and honestly sounds exhausting. A short trip to experience the magic sounds just about right.
One other thing helps with this trip - L is the most laid back baby, who smiles at everyone, and is just overly curious and observant. C is the best big sister to him - they always make each other laugh, and even when she goes through the "I thought I had until she was a teenager" attitudes, the second he's around, she brightens right back up.
To make this even more fun in the not planning, yet actually planning game, is we are going in 3 months! We just booked last night so plans are still very rough, but here's what we got:
Who: Me (Frank), wife K, daughter C and baby L
When: April 25-28 in Naples, April 28 - May 1 at All Star Music
We stayed at ASM back for C's first trip in 2017, and overall really enjoyed it.
We would've preferred AS Movies, but booking 3 months before means you can't be too choosy. If Movies opens, we'll probably switch, but any of the values I think will be fun with L at this age, as I'm pretty sure he'll love all the big icons.
I'll follow-up with the rough day by day plans in another post later!
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