The New Family Tradition TR About This Page:

[KMB733]

Can't believe the trip is over with already Thank you for sharing it with us!!

[MGW]

Great update! Sorry you had to go home so early, but it is nice to have the day to recover a little bit before going back to work and stuff.

Of course our 7am flight had us home at 9:30am, so I took DS to school! It is hard missing too many days of school! But going to WDW at the less busy times is really worth.

Thanks for sharing your trip with us!

[OhToodles!]

Over already!
The last day sounded great! You can't really escape toddler meltdowns and while on vacation I think a Mickey bar is an excellent item to quiet them down.

[lexiemom]

I can't believe your trip is over already! We had an earlier flight on our past trip and it was nice to get home earlier to unwind, but I agree I am not sure it is worth it. Thank you for sharing Cam's first trip with us. It sounds like you had a very successful trip.

I also wanted to comment on how sweet it was that your family got you that purse, it is nice to get recognized for all your hard work.

[Tabitha34]

Sad to see your trip come to and end! I have very much enjoyed following you along on your first trip with Cam. He is so adorable!

[Laurast]

I enjoyed reading your TR. We were in WDW the same time as you were, as a matter of fact

[Tabitha34]

Originally Posted by Laurast

I enjoyed reading your TR. We were in WDW the same time as you were, as a matter of fact

Really! We were there too! I wonder if we all crossed paths at anytime!?

[stardust190]

Originally Posted by MayraLR

Aww, I can't believe it's over already. It's always so sad when you have to leave the bubble. I've gotten more emotional over the years and on my last trip I got all teary eyed when we left Epcot. Silly me!

An early morning flight is definitely not good. I don't like the waking up early part.

Thanks for sharing your trip with us! It was fun reading along.

You're welcome! Thanks for letting me share. It was fun to relive our trip on these boards.

Originally Posted by Colexis Mom

Sorry it's all over! Thanks for sharing your trip with us!

It was fun to share our trip. Thanks for reading along.

Originally Posted by shnewell

So sad your trip is over! The early morning flight is tough! But it's nice to be home earlier in the day.

At the Houston airport, they don't let families with small children board early for outbound flights to MCO either (at least on Continental/United) because there are so many that it would fill the majority of the plane!

I didn't add it all up, but you definitely walked more than a marathon during your trip. Thanks for sharing it with us!

I think next time I'll skip the early morning flight and opt for something mid afternoon. I don't think a late flight would be all that fun with small children either. And I haven't added up my steps for the whole trip either, but I'm sure I walked plenty.

Originally Posted by clio

I'm sorry your trip is over. Thanks for sharing it with us.
Liz

You're welcome! It was nice to share our adventure.

Originally Posted by KMB733

Can't believe the trip is over with already Thank you for sharing it with us!!

You're welcome. The trip went too fast, but there will be other trips.

Originally Posted by MGW

Great update! Sorry you had to go home so early, but it is nice to have the day to recover a little bit before going back to work and stuff.

Of course our 7am flight had us home at 9:30am, so I took DS to school! It is hard missing too many days of school! But going to WDW at the less busy times is really worth.

Thanks for sharing your trip with us!

It was nice to have that day to recover, but I think I'd prefer taking an extra day off to leaving early. It's just too hard to get my butt out of bed. Especially when I really don't want to leave.

Originally Posted by OhToodles!

Over already!
The last day sounded great! You can't really escape toddler meltdowns and while on vacation I think a Mickey bar is an excellent item to quiet them down.

Our last day was great. Well our last park day anyways. The flight day was a little to early for me. And the Mickey Bar worked wonders. Brought Cam's blood sugar levels up a bit and made him happy. Of course now that we're home he thinks he can eat "eye ceem" all the time.

Originally Posted by lexiemom

I can't believe your trip is over already! We had an earlier flight on our past trip and it was nice to get home earlier to unwind, but I agree I am not sure it is worth it. Thank you for sharing Cam's first trip with us. It sounds like you had a very successful trip.

I also wanted to comment on how sweet it was that your family got you that purse, it is nice to get recognized for all your hard work.

It was very sweet of my family to get me the purse. They really didn't need to do that. I love carrying it around and I think Cameron loves it too. He keeps saying "Mickey loons" and clapping when he sees it. Two of his favorite things: Mickey Mouse and balloons.

Originally Posted by Tabitha34

Sad to see your trip come to and end! I have very much enjoyed following you along on your first trip with Cam. He is so adorable!

Thank you for reading along. I'm glad I got the chance to write about Cameron's first trip. It was very special to get to spend time with my little boy in my favorite place.

Originally Posted by Laurast

I enjoyed reading your TR. We were in WDW the same time as you were, as a matter of fact

Thanks for reading! I thought that January/February was a great time of year to visit. Low crowds and cooler weather. There were quite a few refurbs though so that was a bit of a bummer, but we still had plenty to do.

[stardust190]

As a whole I think we had a wonderful trip. I couldn’t have asked for better weather – even though it was cooler in the evenings. We were warm enough during the daytime and put sweatshirts on when it got cool so it wasn’t a big deal. We even got to swim, which is something we wouldn’t be doing outside in Minnesota in January/February.

I over pack. I don’t think it’s something I will ever stop doing. We used a lot of what we brought, but there was a lot that we didn’t use as well. I also think we brought too much with us into the parks. I think I’ll try to just bring money/cards, sunscreen, water, sweatshirts and necessary baby stuff in the future. That’s still a lot, but less than what we lugged around on this trip.

We ordered too much food from the grocery service. Particularly bottled water. The last time we were there we drank a TON of water. I think that has more to do with the fact that we went in August and it was so HOT. I also think I’ve learned that the Disney Dining Plan is just not for us. We ate too much and still had left over credits. Had it not been free I would have been mad that we purchased it. It was free though so it wasn’t that bad. I just don’t think we fit into the dining plan very well. We don’t like sit down meals every day because they take time and you have to have reservations so the Table Service plan isn’t for us. And we like to do some table serve so the Quick Service plan isn’t for us either. Plus we NEVER get dessert with every meal and would sometimes prefer to share a meal and snack on various things. So next time no dining plan. I’ll try to get a room discount instead of free dining any day.

I was not a fan of Pop Century resort. I know some people love it, but I was not a fan. I didn’t care for the loud décor and the rooms were so tiny. I think if it had just been Nate and I we would have done OK, but we had Cameron and the pack and play. Plus the giant stroller taking up room. It was just so crowded in that room. And the bathroom was awful. No door to the vanity area. Just a curtain that doesn’t block all the light. I was always afraid that us getting ready would wake Cameron up. And then the toilet/shower/tub area was ridiculously small. I couldn’t even shut the bathroom door unless I got in and maneuvered around the toilet and stood in just the right spot. No thank you. I don’t think we’ll be trying another value resort anytime soon. Well maybe a family suite at the new Art of Animation resort, but no standard value rooms!

I think that the Magic Kingdom and Epcot will always be at least 2 day parks for me. But I think that I’m still missing a lot of Animal Kingdom too. Maybe we’ll have to factor in some more time there. And we didn’t even make it to Hollywood Studios. Maybe we’ll have to go for a week and a half next time.

I just don’t understand why a lot of the food courts have different stations. It’s such a pain for families with small children. If I wanted something from one station and Nate wanted something from the other we had to split up meaning one of us would have to handle the toddler and our food or we’d have to wait until the other person already had their food and a seat to sit with the toddler. It just wasn’t easy for us to deal with.


We ate at two table service restaurants this trip. Le Cellier and Chef Mickey’s. We had eaten at Le Cellier in 2009 and loved it then. It didn’t disappoint this time either. We had lunch there and I’m glad we went for lunch. As much as I love this restaurant I’m not sure it’s a “signature” experience as it is for dinner. Chef Mickey’s was definitely delicious. And it was fun dining with the characters – something we have never done before. I did feel it was quite over priced for a breakfast buffet. I know you pay for the character interaction and all, but I still thought it was a little bit much for what you got. That being said we’ll probably go back if Cameron wants to.

No more early morning flights! I really liked getting back home in the early afternoon, but I think in the future I’ll pass on the early flights. A late afternoon flight would be better. We’d still get home before bedtime and not have to rush in the morning to get ready to leave.

It was definitely challenging bringing a toddler to Disney World. He didn’t like waiting in lines and wanted me to hold him more than normal. And only me most of the time. He didn’t want to sit still on the bus or the plane. So that was kind of challenging. Maybe next time it will be better to just rent a car and bring the car seat.

It was great having extra people along to help with Cameron. I think when we go in 2014 if we don’t have anyone else with us we’ll have to factor in more than 1 rest day. We had a great time on the day that we didn’t hit up a park and we all needed the rest.

And since this trip report is titled The New Family Tradition I thought I would highlight what I hope become traditions for our family on future trips.

Tradition #1 – The trip of course! We agreed that we can go to Disney every other year so our trek down to the world is a tradition I definitely hope we keep.

Tradition #2 – I hope we’ll make a point to make it to the Magic Kingdom morning show at least once per trip. I really loved that show and want to make it a priority each year. Plus it gives us a reason to have breakfast in the park!

Tradition #3 – Taking a rest day or two. Nate and I were very commando in 2009 and didn’t rest at all. This trip we did and we all needed it. And it was really fun just playing around at the resort and swimming.

Tradition #4 – Trying new things. Yes I want to keep doing our favorites, but I also want to make sure we make time to try new things as well. This trip we tried a new restaurants (Chef Mickey’s), made time for the parade and character meets and slowed down and enjoyed the scenery.

Tradition #5 – Catching all the nighttime shows. This is a little harder with small children, but going in January/February meant that the Magic Kingdom show was earlier than normal. We love the nighttime shows in Disney world and really hope we’ll be able to enjoy these with our family for years to come.

I’m sure there are more things that I hope become traditions over the years, but I can’t seem to think of them right now. I guess our next few trips will flush out what will become tradition and what won’t, but at least we’ll go again and share the magic with our children for years to come.

I loved watching Cameron experience Disney World for the first time. And I’m glad he got to do it at a young age when magic is still real. I’m looking forward to all the stages in his life and seeing what things he likes and doesn’t like.

I’ve really enjoyed sharing our trip with all of you. It has kept the magic of the trip alive just a little longer for me. I’m trying not to start planning our next trip just yet as it won’t happen until 2014, but I will admit to thinking about it often. I’m kind of torn between two options: a cruise at any time of year or Disney World in September/October to catch MNSSHP. Our newest addition will be almost 2 in October 2014 so I’m not sure what route will be easiest or make the most sense for us in 2014. Either way we’ll do one of those trips in 2014 and the other in 2016.

Thanks to all of you who have read along!

[honeybee723]

I guess that's a Delta thing not allowing families to pre-board, because SW allowed us to do that when we left MCO. Strange. You're not the only one who isn't a fan of Pop. I've stayed at a few of the All-Star resorts, and never had a complaint, but then I stayed at Pop and thought the rooms were too small and you could hear every little sound coming from outside. I guess I can say I stayed there once.

We usually do an early flight down to Orlando and a later flight back, but in May we have to do early both ways and I'm not looking forward to it, especially since ME picks you up 3 hours early! Not happy to hear the airport is still crazy busy at those early times though.

Anyway, glad you had a good trip overall, and sad that it's come to an end.

[Colexis Mom]

Great finish! We loved having the extra space in the deluxes when we had the strollers and pack n plays! Not fans of the dining plan either! Thanks for taking us along for the ride!

[shnewell]

Great wrap up! It will be interesting for you to see how your vacation habits and preferences change over time as the family dynamics change with 2 kids and as the children reach different stages of their lives. I know that has certainly been the case for us. And what's wonderful is that Disney can accommodate it all!!

But even with all those changes over time, I think you can keep up those traditions you've established, and I think your kids will come to cherish those.

Also, we've never gone to Disney with our kids unless we had grandparents along for the ride, and that won't change anytime soon! We took DH's parents on our first trip with the kids (who were 2 and 4 at the time), and we realized what a blessing it was to have extra eyes, ears, and hands to help out and to give us some "couple" time to go grab a glass of wine or have a meal on our own. Plus it gives the grandparents the opportunity to make magical memories with their grandchildren!! (or at least, that's how we sell it to them...)

[MayraLR]

Originally Posted by stardust190

Our newest addition will be almost 2 in October 2014

Did I miss something?

[stardust190]

Originally Posted by honeybee723

I guess that's a Delta thing not allowing families to pre-board, because SW allowed us to do that when we left MCO. Strange. You're not the only one who isn't a fan of Pop. I've stayed at a few of the All-Star resorts, and never had a complaint, but then I stayed at Pop and thought the rooms were too small and you could hear every little sound coming from outside. I guess I can say I stayed there once.

We usually do an early flight down to Orlando and a later flight back, but in May we have to do early both ways and I'm not looking forward to it, especially since ME picks you up 3 hours early! Not happy to hear the airport is still crazy busy at those early times though.

Anyway, glad you had a good trip overall, and sad that it's come to an end.

Good to know I'm not the only one who wasn't a fan of Pop. I hope your early flights work out for you in May. Maybe you'll get lucky and MCO won't be busy for you in the morning. We flew home on a Saturday so that could have been why it was busy.

Originally Posted by Colexis Mom

Great finish! We loved having the extra space in the deluxes when we had the strollers and pack n plays! Not fans of the dining plan either! Thanks for taking us along for the ride!

We'll at least stay at a moderate next time. If not a moderate then a deluxe. No more value resorts. Unless it's a family suite. We'll try sans dining plan too.

Originally Posted by shnewell

Great wrap up! It will be interesting for you to see how your vacation habits and preferences change over time as the family dynamics change with 2 kids and as the children reach different stages of their lives. I know that has certainly been the case for us. And what's wonderful is that Disney can accommodate it all!!

But even with all those changes over time, I think you can keep up those traditions you've established, and I think your kids will come to cherish those.

Also, we've never gone to Disney with our kids unless we had grandparents along for the ride, and that won't change anytime soon! We took DH's parents on our first trip with the kids (who were 2 and 4 at the time), and we realized what a blessing it was to have extra eyes, ears, and hands to help out and to give us some "couple" time to go grab a glass of wine or have a meal on our own. Plus it gives the grandparents the opportunity to make magical memories with their grandchildren!! (or at least, that's how we sell it to them...)

I'm sure our vacation habits will change over the years, but there are some things I'm sure we'll be able to keep as tradition. I liked having my in-laws with, but I think I might like a trip with just us too. Plus I don't think my in-laws will want to go again. My mom on the other hand has already mentioned interest in joining us for our next trip.

Originally Posted by MayraLR

Did I miss something?

I think maybe you did. We brought home a little souvenir from our trip. Due in October!

[isabelalvarez]

Loved your TR, we will be there in June with our 2 yrs old so hope Aiden behaves as well as Cameron....Congrats on the new addition.