(Here’s the pre-TR for anyone that would like it, otherwise I’m going to get right to it.)
I have enjoyed experiencing various “Disney firsts” on my previous trips but I don’t think I could have anticipated how different (in good and bad ways) a first Disney trip with a child would be.
I’m by no means a Disney expert but I’m certainly not a novice. I had naively assumed changing from a party of 2 to a party of 3 would be smooth given all of my past Disney experiences. I would say that wasn’t the case but that was as much due to some recent Disney changes as it was to lil BES.
Buckle up and be sure to keep your arms and legs inside the TR.
Who:
Me (BES)
DH (Magician’s assistant in training)
Lil BES (our 19mo daughter. I briefly considered giving her first initial but I think it may be too easy to guess)
When:
February 3rd-9th 2023, will also be including Feb 2nd, our pre-travel day.
Where:
AoA Family Suites
Inspired by the GotG influence on the trip (and DH being a huge music nerd) I think I’d like to include a soundtrack with the TR as well. This TR is as much for me as for you all so I think it’ll be fun to look back at our current soundtrack someday. I’ll hide them in a spoiler tag though so it won’t be too annoying.
Before lil BES was born we often referred to her as Kid A. Don’t be worried- this is probably the “weirdest” song on this playlist. But lil BES is a weird kid so it’s fitting:
I didn’t sleep well and was awake at my normal 5:30.
DH was up by 6 and lil BES by 6:30. I intended to leave hotel by 8 but we figured that it was probably better for our hotel neighbors if we left earlier.
The high temperature for the day was 8*F so luckily we just had a short indoor walk to the Delta check in area. The bag check area was slammed but moved quickly.
Patiently waiting in her first line of the trip.
TSA precheck at DTW continues to be phenomenal. Zero line. Helpful and friendly staff. We had to put Osito through the scanner and the TSA Agent did it so tactfully that lil BES didn’t mind.
I have heard mixed things about TSA and traveling with toddler drinks. I had no issues traveling with a tiny milk carton. They inspected the milk and swabbed my hands and we were good to go.
The only downside to TSA was that now that lil BES was out of her stroller she refused to go back in the stroller.
It was now 8:15am and we were done with security, looking for breakfast and had 2 hours before takeoff.
Grabbed some food and found an empty gate area to let Lil BES run around in. She hardly ate but did try some bacon (I think for the first time) and liked it.
We FaceTimed my mom. And texted with my dad who loves planes and Disney and is probably lil BES’s favorite person in the world.
A pic of our plane for “Papa”:
We moved to our actual gate and left DH with the bags. Lil BES and I rode the airport train and toddled around the terminal.
She loved the moving sidewalks.
She didn’t love me picking her up when they ended.
She also didn’t love me stopping her from trying to get back on them in the wrong direction.
Much thanks to all of the travelers who politely walked around us.
In our wandering I also did multiple diaper checks in the awesome DTW family bathrooms. Dry diapers each time.
Good in the short time but was really hoping it didn’t lead to any in-air diaper changes.
Finally it was time to board. On the jet bridge the preschooler behind us had same hairdo as lil. BES. They both noticed. It was pretty adorable.
We finally got to our seats in the 2nd to last row and installed the car seat. Ready for takeoff!
Sorry to hear that. I can’t imagine the patches. I have muscle problems with my left eye & I guess back in the mid 70’s they didn’t do anything for it.
I hate having my picture taken bc it’s so noticeable in them. My eyes are small to begin with & the more I smile the smaller they get-then throw in the droopy eye muscles.
For the longest time I wouldn’t smile in pictures but then I realized how miserable I looked.
Can’t win!!
Sorry to hear that. I can’t imagine the patches. I have muscle problems with my left eye & I guess back in the mid 70’s they didn’t do anything for it.
I hate having my picture taken bc it’s so noticeable in them. My eyes are small to begin with & the more I smile the smaller they get-then throw in the droopy eye muscles.
For the longest time I wouldn’t smile in pictures but then I realized how miserable I looked.
Can’t win!!
As we got ready for departure lil BES was greatly amused by snacks and watching Mickey’s Clubhouse on her seat screen. She was not amused when her show was paused during the various announcements
One of the announcements was our pilot, an Australian lady, just giving us a heads up that I’m sure some of the more nervous flyers didn’t want to hear.
Remember that high of 8*F? Well apparently it was so cold they had to start the plane differently. One engine at gate. Another later on.
Then the pilot announced that if you were on the right side of the plane you might see a lot of black smoke and that that was perfectly normal.
I mean I’m glad they announced that because it was a lot of very black smoke.
Certainly an unusual start to the flight and a first for me despite many February MI flights.
With all of the interruptions to her show lil BES decided to review the safety info for a while instead.
There was 14 month old lap baby in row ahead. He was quite spicy before take off then quieted down. I felt so bad for the parents. There was a stranger sitting next to them and they had expressed how nervous they were about traveling with a baby. The gentleman was real cool about it. It’s a flight to MCO. There’s gonna be babies.
Lil BES fell asleep shortly after takeoff and stayed asleep despite the fair amount of turbulence.
Lil BES woke up about 30 minutes from landing. She wanted out of the seat but was quickly appeased by Biscoff cookies. (Aren’t we all )
Then I noticed on the flight tracker the time to destination jumped up. I also noticed on the flight map the plane started circling.
That’s the wrong way plane!
Pilot announced that all incoming planes were told to hold due to thunderstorms at MCO. We were given a hold time of 1hr.
There was collective sigh. So many parents that thought they had just 20 min of entertaining children and then suddenly had 80 minutes left.
Thankfully we didn’t have to circle the full hour.
As we waited to deplane I placed a Target order through Shipt. Once off the plane we somehow got Lil BES to get in her stroller. She liked her second train ride of the day.
The MCO bathrooms are not as nice as DTW’s. There was line for the one changing table at one of the restrooms I stopped in. On to next one.
In that one the regular line went right in front of the table in a way that would have been awkward for a change. On to the next one?
DH stepped up and took lil BES into the men’s room. There was a changing table and no lines of any kind.
Got the luggage and made our way to the Sunshine Flyer.
There was no line for check in and they gave lil BES a sweet paper hat. We barely had time to sit down before we were called up to board.
Our bus went to AoA, CBR, ASMo, AKL.
Spent the bus ride fielding a few questions from our Shipt shopper. I also saw we had a room-ready email and was excited to see lil BES’s reaction to our location…
Awww. Consider it a blessing in disguise. Much time was spent putting that hat on and taking it off both lil BES and her bear. It just barely survived the trip.
I just got caught up and I'm following along! I love reading TRs from all you brave parents taking your toddlers to DW - I'm leaving my 18 month old at home when we go next week But our time is coming so I'm learning a lot! Loving the soundtrack too!
Love Delta's terminal at DTW! And A+ on staying at the airport hotel!! So easy and much less stress when you have a morning flight. My adult special needs daughter has high anxiety when we travel and staying at that hotel has been really helpful.
I just got caught up and I'm following along! I love reading TRs from all you brave parents taking your toddlers to DW - I'm leaving my 18 month old at home when we go next week But our time is coming so I'm learning a lot! Loving the soundtrack too!
Love Delta's terminal at DTW! And A+ on staying at the airport hotel!! So easy and much less stress when you have a morning flight. My adult special needs daughter has high anxiety when we travel and staying at that hotel has been really helpful.
I’ve been very happy with all of my DTW experiences thus far and even more so now with lil BES. Every time I needed a family restroom there was one nearby and it was empty, spacious and clean.
As stressful as the parking fee fiasco was that hotel did take all of the stress out of the morning flight. Every time I’ve stayed there we arrive in the evening and have to get up for an early flight. One of these times I’d like to get there early and chill a bit.
I didn’t pay to choose a location at AoA so I kinda figured we would be in the Cars section. My only request was a ground floor room.
I was pleasantly surprised to see we got a ground floor room in Building 10- The Lion King section.
Lil BES loves cats and dogs- or as she calls them: “Key Keys” and “Woofs”
One of the things that got us through our eye patching time was letting lil BES watch “A Very Kitty Cocktail Party” and “Puppies Crash Christmas” on Hulu. ( on them for any parents of other lils reading. I think they’re each around 20 min long.)
Naturally I thought lil BES would be thrilled at all of the Lion King stuff. As we dragged all of our luggage to our building I pointed out some of the “Key Keys”. Lil BES gave zero bothers.
Once in our room lil BES was impressed with all of the new things to climb on. As I was spotting her I was unable to take room pics before it got umm… toddler-ified.
Here are some from later in the trip though:
Our view:
I thought the room was pretty nice. Pricey for what you got room-wise but I more so wanted it for location, separate sleeping area and the pool etc.
The Lion King theming wasn’t subtle but it also wasn’t garish. There were no Key Keys in the room but the bugs on the table were a topic of high interest every single morning.
We settled in a bit and then started to explore AoA.
Lil BES was really interested in Rafiki’s feet.
We paused at a map to find the playgrounds. A lifeguard CM asked us what we were looking for, gave us directions and an enthusiast recommendation for The Boneyard one.
We ended up going to the Finding Nemo playground. We figured since the other one was close to our room we’d go there eventually. (spoiler alert: we never did)
Lil BES liked the playground and all of its various slides. Somehow we convinced her to leave and got dinner at Landscape of Flavors.
Lil BES, DH and I got the Mac and cheese kids meal, Impossible burger and grilled chicken sandwich respectively. We also decided on getting one refillable mug for coffee.
DH wasn’t impressed with his meal but I liked mine.
Back at the room DH read to lil BES while I snuck out to get crib and Target order.
I really underestimated the size of the things I was getting. In retrospect I should have taken two trips. But I am stubborn so I started to push and pull these back to room. (To this day I reckon this all was still easier than it would have been if I had brought DH and lil BES. Probably.)
I was doing pretty good until I had to cross over a road and then immediately turn 90* on a sidewalk. The two things started going in different directions.
A kindly CM (who I think was done with her shift and walking to her car or the bus etc) took pity on me. She pushed the crib the rest of the way to my building while I got the flatbed. I thanked her profusely and tried to get her name but she didn’t reveal it. (Her coat covered her name tag). I don’t know if perhaps she wasn’t supposed to be doing this or doing this off the clock etc that she didn’t want recognition.
Nameless sweet CM- you’re the MVP of the trip.
Soon after I got back to the room it was
time for stroller pick up. Lil BES wouldn’t let me leave again so we all went. Pickup was easy. Kingdom Strollers was super easy to work with. I would definitely rent through them again.
The crib, also from Kingdom Strollers, fully set up:
We rented a City Mini GT which is what we have a home. This was a slightly different and thankfully lighter model.
Back at the room we got lil BES ready for bed and she was out cold before 7.
I fully expected to hear this playing in the Lion King section but didn’t all week.
I'm v late, but enjoying this! I may have missed how old Lil BES is, but we stayed in a Lion King suite when LP was 2 and loved it! The separate sleeping space is so nice. We're doing our first trip with her in the same room with us in May and I'm...nervous
Lil BES loves cats and dogs- or as she calls them: “Key Keys” and “Woofs”
One of the things that got us through our eye patching time was letting lil BES watch “A Very Kitty Cocktail Party” and “Puppies Crash Christmas” on Hulu. ( on them for any parents of other lils reading. I think they’re each around 20 min long.)
Naturally I thought lil BES would be thrilled at all of the Lion King stuff. As we dragged all of our luggage to our building I pointed out some of the “Key Keys”. Lil BES gave zero bothers.
Once in our room lil BES was impressed with all of the new things to climb on. As I was spotting her I was unable to take room pics before it got umm… toddler-ified.
I thought the room was pretty nice. Pricey for what you got room-wise but I more so wanted it for location, separate sleeping area and the pool etc.
The Lion King theming wasn’t subtle but it also wasn’t garish. There were no Key Keys in the room but the bugs on the table were a topic of high interest every single morning.
We settled in a bit and then started to explore AoA.
We paused at a map to find the playgrounds. A lifeguard CM asked us what we were looking for, gave us directions and an enthusiast recommendation for The Boneyard one.
We ended up going to the Finding Nemo playground. We figured since the other one was close to our room we’d go there eventually. (spoiler alert: we never did)
Lil BES liked the playground and all of its various slides. Somehow we convinced her to leave and got dinner at Landscape of Flavors.
Lil BES, DH and I got the Mac and cheese kids meal, Impossible burger and grilled chicken sandwich respectively. We also decided on getting one refillable mug for coffee.
DH wasn’t impressed with his meal but I liked mine.
Back at the room DH read to lil BES while I snuck out to get crib and Target order.
I really underestimated the size of the things I was getting. In retrospect I should have taken two trips. But I am stubborn so I started to push and pull these back to room. (To this day I reckon this all was still easier than it would have been if I had brought DH and lil BES. Probably.)
I was doing pretty good until I had to cross over a road and then immediately turn 90* on a sidewalk. The two things started going in different directions.
A kindly CM (who I think was done with her shift and walking to her car or the bus etc) took pity on me. She pushed the crib the rest of the way to my building while I got the flatbed. I thanked her profusely and tried to get her name but she didn’t reveal it. (Her coat covered her name tag). I don’t know if perhaps she wasn’t supposed to be doing this or doing this off the clock etc that she didn’t want recognition.
Nameless sweet CM- you’re the MVP of the trip.
Soon after I got back to the room it was
time for stroller pick up. Lil BES wouldn’t let me leave again so we all went. Pickup was easy. Kingdom Strollers was super easy to work with. I would definitely rent through them again.
The crib, also from Kingdom Strollers, fully set up:
That's so sweet of the CM!! I've had a couple of experiences with CMs doing things they aren't technically supposed to be doing, and then I do a cast compliment for them, but I'm vague about what they did. Like when we were visiting the Poly but weren't staying there, and my phone was about to die and the CM charged my phone for me, even though he wasn't supposed to do that unless the person was staying there. I just said he went above and beyond to give me good service.
The one I feel bad about was before I knew about cast compliments, and when we checked in, I had a massive headache that I'd had for HOURS that wouldn't go away, and she noticed and slipped me a couple of aspirin or something...I don't remember what. She told me not to tell anyone she gave them to me, because she wasn't supposed to. I would have given her a cast compliment if I'd known they existed.
But it's sad the CM didn't want to give you her name. There are ways around revealing the service if they aren't supposed to do that. And really, that's what makes CMs so amazing. They do whatever they can to make your trip great, and sometimes that means fudging on a rule that won't hurt anyone if it's broken. It would be nice to get them recognition for being awesome!
Lil BES slept pretty well. She woke up once but I think only because the sound machine must have got shifted to being on a timer. It had turned off and the neighbors were making noise.
Our across-the-hall neighbors had a “The Party is Here!” sign on their door which is never a good sign.
They weren’t terrible neighbors but I think they were split between multiple suites and were constantly going between rooms and slamming doors.
We were all up by 630am. (That’s sleeping in for me and just a little early for DH and lil BES.)
Lil BES had a banana, cheerios and milk.
I assumed DH would go get our breakfast but DH announced that all he needed was a granola bar.
I put DH on stroller duty for all of the bus trips. I think he was relieved to not have to restrain and entertain lil BES.
Lil BES did really well on the bus though. You could tell she was just taking it all in.
We got to AK a little after 8am. DH did the regular security with our bags and I took lil BES through the stroller line.
The security person asked if I could take her out. I said “ok” with my mouth but perhaps not with the rest of my face as the process of getting her back in the stroller isn’t magical.
The security person quickly said that they have to ask but that could decline. Which I then did very politely. Never got asked to take her out at another park though.
We did the Safari first. Posted 30 min wait but it was far less. Lil BES really liked it. She was very still but would point and make comments. No pictures as I was focused on holding lil BES.
We didn’t see any giraffes. Zero. We did make up for it with a good deal of Woofs and KeyKeys. Lil BES and I were on the left so we could easily see the African wild dogs. The cheetah and out and easy to see too.
The coolest thing on this particular Safari was that one of the lionesses was standing on a rock and making a lot of noise.
Did Gorilla Falls next. Lil BES loved all the fish and birds.
We attempted to wait to get up to the glass to see the baby gorilla. Lil BES wanted food instead but didn’t want it bad enough to hurry. She walked the rest of the way through Gorilla Falls. Very very slowly.
We grabbed coffee, a breakfast sandwich and croissant from Kusafiri bakery and ate in that seating area between the bathrooms and Tamu Tamu.
We didn’t want to put our real name on the stroller placard so we picked the name of our favorite fictional family, the Bluth Family. Here’s the only pic seemed to have gotten of it:
And we attached a yellow bow tie on it for identification.
I'm v late, but enjoying this! I may have missed how old Lil BES is, but we stayed in a Lion King suite when LP was 2 and loved it! The separate sleeping space is so nice. We're doing our first trip with her in the same room with us in May and I'm...nervous
We had to put eye patches on her 2-3 hours a day.
)
Reading and listening and enjoying your report. Thank you!
We did make up for it with a good deal of Woofs and KeyKeys. Lil BES and I were on the left so we could easily see the African wild dogs. The cheetah and out and easy to see too.