Trip Report The "We've Made a Huge Mistake" Trip - Disney with a newborn (don't do it)

I figured I'd just get it out there in the trip report title - this trip sucked. Still going to report on it, but be prepared...it sucked We had a few bright spots (Like seeing @Tuvalu and @TrolleyFollower91 and Woody (can't remember his forum name...)) but overall, we were just really glad to come home yesterday. I figured I'd go ahead and get this report done as I'm going back to work on Monday!

Who: Me and R and our 11 week old, LP + My friend K.
When: March 30-April 4 (travel + 4 park days + travel)
Where: Cabins at Fort Wilderness
Why: End of my maternity leave, so wanted to take a trip without having to use vacation days

Originally it was just our family of 3 going and we were at Wilderness Lodge, but my friend K was tossing around the idea of taking a solo trip around the same time and helping out with LP, and we ended up moving to a Cabin so she could just stay with us! She went with her family (including her 8 week old and her husband's whole fam) around Thanksgiving and had really been wanting to go back and experience stuff she wasn't able to on that trip. She ended up getting the same flights as us and everything.

We left town on Saturday around 1pm and LP slept part of the drive...so did R.



They are twins.

Our flight was at 4:25pm. Our whole airport experience was a blur to me. I ended up checking the carseat and stroller at the desk instead of the gate which was a MISTAKE! The flight was empty so the carseat could have come on the plane with us and would have made for a much better experience.

So here I am carrying a 2-month old around the airport...I nursed her on some random couch outside the nursing lounge (which was occupied the whole time I was waiting). She was so cranky and tired and when she's like that even me holding her isn't helpful. I got her to nap for short stretches a couple of times, but the whole process was terrible. There was a toddler a few rows up that screamed a lot and every scream jarred LP awake She was sleeping really light!



On the descent...napping whew

I nursed her on the plane too. We'd never nursed in public before this trip, so I was figuring out the cover and holding her differently, and it was tricky.



Made it to the fonorail! That's K holding her, and she's in her Love to Dream swaddle that makes her look like a flying squirrel

We got our bags and no sign of the stroller or car seat. Finally after standing in line at the Southwest desk forever (during which time a complete stranger thought it was ok to touch my daughter...no ma'am!), we heard an announcement about oversized items being in a different spot, and sure enough there they were! Would have been nice to know that when we checked them originally. They had also zip-tied the car seat bag closed and none of the airport employees would help us get it off. Some nice man saw our plight and used a key to cut it off.

We got her in there and headed to the Magical Express line. We waited probably 15 minutes before we were on our way. LP was still so cranky, though I got her to nap a little on the bus. I also nursed her without the cover...turned toward the window where no one could see, but R was so embarrassed I just wanted to keep her quiet! Fort Wilderness was the last stop, and when we got there we realized everything was closing in like 30 minutes and we had no way of getting anywhere anyway.

It makes NO sense to me why there wouldn't be some kind of store or quick service at the Outpost where you get dropped off. I was starving. Luckily our cabin was in the closest loop, so we took off walking. It was only about a 5 minute walk and we got in there to find NO PACK AND PLAY. Apparently you have to tell them when you get there and they bring it over, so we did that. Once that was set up, I fed her and put her down for the night...whew

With that done, we had to get something to eat. I tasked R with figuring out UberEats and he placed a Q'doba order then walked to the Outpost to get it. I hadn't eaten since 10:30am and it was now 10:45pm...not good for a nursing mother! Once I finally got a burrito in me, I felt better and we all went to bed.



I didn't ever get pictures of the room, but you guys can see pictures on the internet

Up next: Will our travel day be an indication of how this trip will go? I think you already know...

 

[Doc Disney]

Aww I'm so bummed for you guys I wish I could say can't wait to hear more but I know what's coming

 

[sheriffwoody]

The title comes from the text I got from R while we were on Magical Express. It was something along those lines or "What have we done?"

LP wakes up at 7am each day, or at least that's our goal. Since we put her down so late the night before, I let her sleep until she woke naturally, which I think was around 8 (actually her wake time back home with the time difference!).

K was ready to go before us, so she headed out to MK to get her morning started. I think she almost made rope drop, but missed it by just a couple minutes. She did have good transportation luck though!



This was supposed to be a loose Daisy Duck disneybound outfit. I had aspirations of getting cute pictures of her in the parks in her bounds...ELL OH ELL. Glad I at least took this photo before we left.



We took the internal bus to Settlement Depot to catch the boat to MK.

Quick note: I tried to get a golf cart, but each time I called the phone number, it just had me on hold for over 10 minutes and no one ever picked up. I did that at least 5 times and never got through. When we arrived the night before, there were signs that all carts were booked. Busses it is!



Wish we could have done Hoop-Dee-Doo!



I personally like the atmosphere of the resort, but not for a Disney vacation. It would be a really cool vacation destination on it's own, but for a Disney trip, I much prefer a traditional resort. R hated it...he just said it was like staying at our local state park. Plus everything is so inconvenient. No running down to the store for a snack or coffee.



It was a beautiful morning!




The boats seem so slow to me, but the rides sure are pleasant. LP fussed this morning, but finally fell asleep while we waited for the boat.



We used our milksnob cover just this morning. It got way too hot later. Honestly I think a lot of her fussiness this day was because she was hot, then because she was over-tired. I had a stroller fan and just completely forgot to bring it to the park! New mom fail...



Wore my passholder slider even though we technically weren't at this point! Don't tell...



Hello, beautiful! Wish the train had been running.




Walked down Main Street and off to Frontierland to meet K.







This is where we met K. I got a few pictures in my shirt. I hadn't gotten any pictures of this color yet for my Etsy shop, so I'm glad we were able to get some.



K wearing one of my shirts.



I was sad not to get to ride Big Thunder

Up next: More MK

 

[sheriffwoody]

Next we headed to Haunted Mansion. R and I had a FP and since LP was sleeping, K was going to walk her around for us.





Ran into a bear! Too bad I didn't have my Country Bears shirt on.





We JUST missed the new on-ride photos...by 1 day I think.




LP was still asleep, but it was time to feed her, so K and I arranged to meet at the baby care station. She has a 6 month old at home and needed to pump too.



This basically sums up her opinion of traveling



This one too...



That's a little better. She's SO DANG CUTE when she's happy. Thankfully she's happy a lot more often now at home. The first 7.5ish weeks were very very fussy, but since then it's gotten so much better. She just really did not take well to being away from home.

The baby care station was pretty cool. There was a changing area, and they use butcher paper, so you can easily have a fresh surface for each baby. The nursing room had rocking recliners and was pretty comfortable. There was also a cooler to fill up my water bottle.

R had ventured out and gotten us a snack. He saved me half a pretzel and half a churro, which I happily devoured.



This was much better than the last churro I got at MK.



Being sweet for a bit.

We had a FP for Pirates now, so we headed that way. LP doesn't really like her carrier, but I had to put her in it to ride. She cried some while we walked through the line, but she was pretty quiet during the ride. She was staring in awe at all the pirates! I'm glad her first ride happened to be R's favorite. That's a sweet memory, and I made sure to document it, even though she was crying back out in the heat.




After that, we popped her back in the carseat and decided to head to Epcot for some lunch. K stayed behind in MK.

Up Next: Epcot

 

[youngdeb]

So sorry to hear your trip didn't go well. It's tough when they are that age!

 

[ELeigh]

Sorry to hear that your trip wasn't the best, I promise once they turn one littles are so much more fun to take to Disney so you will have to take her back

 

[sheriffwoody]

I accurately guessed the monorail color, which always makes me proud So LP's first monorail ride was on Red!

She napped some on the monorail, but was SCREAMING going through security...good grief. The guy checking my backpack said "Your baby is crying" like I didn't know.... People say really weird things when you have a baby.



She eventually quieted down a bit as we walked.



Love this topiary! I didn't end up seeing all of them, but of course this one is front and center.



Number 1!




These guys are TOO CUTE!

We stopped at the Trowel & Trellis booth first, which is new this year.

• Grilled Street Corn on the Cob with Savory Garlic Spread (GF) (V) (KA) – $5.50
• Farmhouse Meatball with Lentil Bread, Spinach, Marinated Vegetables, Creamy Herb Dressing (V) – $5.50

I'm glad we tried this booth since it's new, but neither of these offerings were stellar. The corn was good, but it's nothing super special. R also grabbed a drink

• Playalinda Brewing Company Tropical Wonderland Wheat Ale, Titusville, FL – $4.50

LP woke up around this time, so we headed toward the baby care station for feeding and changing. She was so hot when we got her out, poor baby. She needed air flow in there. I got her taken care of while R got a beer flight at Arbor at the Gardener's Terrace

• Karbach Brewing Lemon and Ginger Radler Houston, TX – $4.50
• Seadog Brewing Company Sunfish Ale, Clearwater, FL – $4.50
• Shipyard Brewing Company Grind the Rind Watermelon IPA, Portland, ME – $4.50

He really liked the Radler.

I met him in there and had to get a shot of this...



Next we hit up Jardin de Fiestas

• Tlacoyo: Blue Corn Masa topped with Black Bean Spread, Ground Chorizo, Queso Fresco and Mexican Cream — $6.50
• Beef Torta: Braised Beef served on a Crispy Sourdough Roll with Queso Oaxaca, Avocado, Pickled Onions and Jalapeños in a Spicy Habanero Sauce — $6.50

Both of these were frickin' fantastic!!!




So good, and the Tlocoyo was HUGE.

Next was Lotus House

• Szechuan Spicy Red-braised Beef Shank over Rice — $8.00

This was just ok to me. The sauce was good.

Meanwhile K sent me a picture at the purple wall.



We got another radler, this one from Baeurnmarkt.

• Stiegl Brewery Radler Zitrone, Salzburg, Austria – $4.50

As we were walking, these trees stood out.



Have they always looked like this?

I think LP was fussing again, so we didn't stop much more. We were also full-ish.



I did have to stop and get an orange bird sipper since they were back in stock!



Unfortunately the mousekeeper put it in the dishwasher and now the top is warped

 

[sheriffwoody]

We decided LP needed a real nap, so we headed back.





Had to put the cover over her legs cause the sun was shining on them. I was so scared of her getting burned!



Bye, Goof!



Sweet Pluto



Little snooze on the bus

Back at the room, I fed LP and then she took a good nap. We arranged with K for her to come back to the room for a break while we went to dinner so she could watch LP for us. I got her up and fed her and as soon as K got back, we booked it to the Outpost for a Lyft to Disney Springs. Unfortunately this Lyft took forever, but we were only 5 minutes late for our reservation.




I'd been wanting to try this since it opened!




This is probably too small to read, sorry...



I love the interior here.



This is a Honey Lavender - Fresh strawberries and raspberries muddled with rosemary lavender vodka, lemon juice, honey syrup, and garnished with rosemary and a lemon twist.

It was VERY good!



R got the fried chicken and I got the pulled pork, but the main thing I wanted was macaroni. It was so good! I only ate half of mine and boxed the rest up. R was just meh on this place. Being Southern, this food is super familiar to us. I think he just prefers to get something a little more out of our normal fare when we're on vacation. He wasn't as impressed with the fried chicken as a lot of folks are.
I thought it was very good, but honestly he's made fried chicken at home that was equally good. If you put the work in, you can totally pull it off at home.

Dinner went quickly, so we got back just in time to feed LP and get her to bed. K headed back to Magic Kingdom for the night. Oh yeah and we even had time to stop in Uniqlo. R bought two Gundam shirts, I got myself a steamboat willie shirt and got K a Mickey donut shirt as a thanks for watching LP. The store was surprisingly sparse! It's usually slammed.




Walking back to the cabin.



Cute Mickey in the grass.

Up next: Things go South.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Sorry to hear that your vacation didn't go as well as you had hoped. LP sure is a cutie though! And I loved your Thunder Mt. ears.

 

[NessNewt]

I'm sorry the trip was so disappointing but I appreciate you sharing it with us anyways! Your daughter is beautiful and it looks like you have some good memories mixed in with the rough stuff.

 

[lostpro9het]

and our 11 week old, LP

The kiddo is cute but...Yikes!

 

[myhappyplace]

LP is the spitting image of R! Sorry it was such a rough go, but glad you could introduce her to WDW at such a young age, start her off right

We felt the same about Homecomin'...loved all the other food (and some I really really loved) but the chicken-which he's known for- was just meh for us.

 

[krisri18]

In a few years, you'll be able to look back and laugh at this trip. You braved the parks with an infant, you deserve a medal!

 

[Tuvalu]

Count me in as “meh” on Homecomin’ fried chicken.

 

[sheriffwoody]

Text only! You've been warned

At about 1:45am, I woke up to a weird sound that I thought was coming from LP. It wasn't her, and I realized it was K in the bathroom...uh oh.

Sure enough, I checked my phone and she had texted me that she was sick. She ended up being up all night in and out of the bathroom, and after I talked to her, I started feeling sick. I assumed I was just psyching myself out, but I did end up being sick. I didn't sleep the rest of the night. When R woke up the next morning, I had to tell him the news and he was freaking out.

When LP got up, I just fed her and stayed in the bedroom with her until she was ready for her morning nap. I didn't feel like death quite yet, so I thought I should try to go get us some saltines or something. K had brought Gatorade thankfully, so she had that to try to keep her hydrated. I took the bus to Meadows because the Settlement store wasn't open yet. All I got there was some saltines and $5 Powerades . I wanted grape juice because my mom swears drinking grape juice can help you not get sick. I thought I might still have hope. Since they didn't have it, I placed a Prime Now order for a case of water and grape juice when I got back to the room.

I got back and tried to nap until LP was ready to eat again. Not long after she was up, our Prime Now order was delivered. R and I decided to take LP with us to get it and hoped the water would fit under the stroller. It worked out well, and we ended up upgrading our tickets to APs while we were there (they can do it at the resorts now!). K woke up (she had finally slept some) while we were gone and we talked a bit when we got back. She was feeling much better after sleeping.

R decided to go to Epcot to do some more stuff at the festival, which I was fine with. I hated for him to miss a whole day when he felt fine. While he was gone, I got sick but honestly felt better after that. I was able to get LP down for another nap and slept for a good 45 minutes in there with her, which felt so nice.

K and I tried walking around outside the cabins later and it was good to get some air, but neither of us had the energy to do anything else, so we were in for the night! This was the universe's April Fools Joke on us

R and I napped when he got back, then he got up and went to Geyser Point for some food and to watch the Braves game, which I think ended up not being on there. He kept saying he wasn't feeling good, but I think he was just worrying about it at this point. Plus he tends to not feel good when he eats greasy food anyway.

So that was our wonderful day! At least R and I have APs, so I don't feel like I lost $100...but poor K missed an entire day on her ticket. I felt so bad! Also, I am so thankful LP took some naps that day because I couldn't have made it if she'd been super fussy. I'm telling you, she's a homebody. Give her some white noise and a dark room and she's a happy girl.

Up next: Can we rescue this trip?

 

[BuckyMom]

Beautiful, beautiful baby girl. Congrats. She has a lot of her Daddy in her for sure. 16 years ago I had this kind of trip. Heat that she wasn't used to + strollers/gear + buses + being off schedule = stress for Mom. It took me 5 years before I could get her Dad to go back....live and learn.

 

[Kiwiduck]

I love the Homecomin fried chicken but it sounds like @sheriffwoody house is the place to go for fried chicken. I have officially invited myself around next time i'm in the US

 

[krause]

I ended up checking the carseat and stroller at the desk instead of the gate which was a MISTAKE!

Aaackkkk!!! I have made many a mistake, and yes you HAVE to gate check at least the stroller so you have it later.

People say really weird things when you have a baby

Yup.

Sad that your trip wasn’t fantastic. It is very different with a baby (and the youngest I’ve done is 5 months!). I have to add that it’s absolutely crazy to me you moms that have to go back to work after a couple months. I’ve had 2 kids and we get a year of mat leave in canada (now we can actually take 18 months... the same amount of money as 12 months but spread over 18 months instead - but I did 12 months with both of mine) and the thought of going back to work after just a few weeks or months blows my mind. So good for you as a first time mom to go on this trip AND then go back to work! You’re amazing!

 

[fractal]

She's beautiful and you are blessed no matter how bad the trip was!

 

[Megbutnotmegan]

I’m so sorry your trip was rough. The youngest I’ve done is 10 months but he loved the carrier and it was February so much cooler. I feel like without those two things I probably wouldn’t have made it! Thanks for taking the time to share with the forum anyway.