Yes We're Taking the Baby & No, We're Not Crazy! PTR - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Yes We're Taking the Baby & No, We're Not Crazy! PTR
With only 43 days to go, I decided it was time to start the PTR. For those of you who aren’t familiar, I’ll give you a brief rundown of our cast of characters:
Chris – hubby; didn’t take his first trip until he was an adult. He loves Disney, but would rather I do the planning (believe me, this works out best for everyone!)
Jenny or Jen – that’s me. I went for the first time when I was 7 and then didn’t go back until I was 21. I loved it so much, I bought DVC before getting on the plane to go back home.
Sean – age 4, soon to be 5 shortly after our trip. This is his 4th trip to “the World”. He has also been on one Disney cruise and can’t decide what he loves more, Disney or dinosaurs. Lucky for him Animal Kingdom has DinoLand U.S.A.
Owen – age 7 months at the time of our trip, soon to be 8 months shortly after. This is his first trip, unless you count our last visit when I was pregnant with him. I’m sure he’ll get the Disney bug like the rest of us; he already has Pooh as his favorite toy.
When: May 23-31 Where: Old Key West Why: Sean is graduating preschool and starting kindergarten in the fall. This is our last chance to go outside of the summer season without taking him out of school. Excuse me while I go cry my eyes out….
This trip has been semi-planned at the last minute. If you remember after our trip last year, I mentioned I had no idea when we’d go back. I was pregnant and Chris wasn’t overly excited about the idea of taking the baby to Disney World, so it looked like we’d have to take maybe 2 years off. Well anyone that knows me also knows I couldn’t just accept that as an answer. Thanks to some mild peer pressure (ahem, Amy, Stefani, and Melissa) I started bringing up the idea to Chris about going back sooner rather than later. Finally around January Chris was getting the “homesick” bug too and decided we definitely needed to go back. It helped that I reminded him how amazing the Baby Care Centers are in all the parks. They really were so convenient and clean (and air conditioned!) when Sean was in diapers that it takes away some of the frustration and anxiety of having to worry about stopping to change and feed the baby. Yes, other bathrooms there have the changing tables, but seriously the BCC is just phenomenal!
Anyway, when and where were the next questions we obviously had to figure out? I had just come back to work after taking 3 months off with Owen, so my vacation time was a bit slim. We were looking at Spring or Fall. Fall was our preferred choice because of the F&WF, but we didn’t know for certain what our family’s schedule would be like at that time. I looked on the DVC member site and there was actually quite a bit of availability at most of the DVC resorts for Memorial Day week. I’m fortunate in my job that I have a lot of flexibility in my work schedule and hours (which helps tremendously with small kids). Because of this, I usually put in 44 hours one week and 36 hours the following so I can take every other Friday off. My Friday off happened to fall on the one right before Memorial Day weekend this year. This meant that I would have a total of 9 days off and would only need to use 4 days of vacation. Can anyone say, WINNER?!
Ok so we had the “when” figured out and just needed to decide on “where”. Our last few trips we had been staying at BWV, which we absolutely love. However, we were in the mood for a change in scenery. OKW had a 1 bedroom available for the whole week checking in May 24-31. I did a tentative reservation there, basically booked it with the thought that we would cancel it and rebook somewhere else for the fall if we found out we could escape for a week in October. It’s been probably close to a decade since I’ve stayed at that resort, plus Chris wasn’t along on that trip so he’s never been there. I’ve always thought that OKW is beautiful and I’ve enjoyed how quiet it is as well. I’m looking forward going to back. We’re going to miss walking into Epcot from our resort, but I told Chris that if we wanted a change of scenery, we have to give up BWV to do that (yes, Beach Club was booked up). The downside was that the location preference of being near the Hospitality House needed to be wait listed.
The biggest discussion (err…debate) Chris & I had was how we were going to get there. I am a fan of flying, the long car rides – not so much. I just want to get there and not spend all of that time on the road. Chris didn’t like the idea of putting Owen on a plane. When Sean was in diapers he had a dirty one we couldn’t ignore (if you catch my drift) flying down and back. Trying to change a diaper in an airplane bathroom is not the easiest thing to do, so Chris has sworn off airplane rides if our children are in diapers. I decided that I really needed to pick my battles and I had already gotten him to agree to the trip, I shouldn’t push my luck with the airplane (although I still casually bring it up, just to receive the “you are out of your mind” stare).
I must say I am getting used to that “out of your ever loving mind” look from people lately. Whenever I mention to someone we are going to Disney, the same conversation seems to happen:
Where are you going on vacation? Disney World. Are your parents or in laws keeping the baby? He is coming with us. ((Insert blank stare)) immediately followed by, “are you crazy?”
This scenario seems to occur with anyone (including major Disney addicts) that has never taken a baby with them before. Chris and I immediately jump into talking about how convenient the Baby Care Centers are (seriously, I could write a TR probably just on how much we loved them), the family rides we can all get on together, child swap, etc. This doesn’t usually take the crazy look away, but it does at least shut them up and they move on with their business.
Not much happened from mid-January till the end of March. I did make some “just in case we really do go in May” ADRs, but I didn’t do any real planning as we were still up in the air about whether or not we would be able to go in October. Finally at the end of March, we knew for sure what was happening later this year and decided May was the best time for us to travel. Wow, ok so now I had approximately 2 months to really plan this trip out It was at this moment that I was kicking myself for not really making more “serious” plans the past few months. I hadn’t thought about which parks to visit on each day, parade/show/fireworks times, park hours, or even really caring what time we had dinner. It was definitely time to remedy that and see what ADRs I would need to change around. It was during this that the “Disney Math” started to kick in full speed. If we were driving, were we going to leave Friday night or Saturday morning? Somehow (and I honestly don’t remember how – maybe one of the girls can tell you) I came up with the idea that it would be better to check in on Friday instead of Saturday. The DVC Member site showed a 1 BR available near the Hospitality House for Friday night, but the rest of the week still wasn’t open. I called Member Services and asked if it was better to book the one night near HH and check out/check in again on Saturday, or book it in a regular view and then re-wait list the entire reservation again for HH? The AWESOME CM put me on hold, came back and said it was my lucky day. We got all 8 nights near the Hospitality House!
Ok, it was time to figure out what we would do all day. Lucky for me, my good friend Stefani (TuffyCo) highly recommended Touring Plans. She uses them for her family and has had some great results. I’m not someone who likes to plan every detail of our day, I do enjoy having flexibility to do what we want. Some may remember that last year we pretty much played bus roulette and let that decide where we were going each day, and then left our 3 year old to pick the rides. While that was fun, I decided this trip we need a mix of flexibility and structure. Having the baby with us is going to deliver its own element of surprise and I’ll be naive to think we’ll be able to consistently maintain any type of regime with him around. Because of this, I’ve been using Touring Plans to help give me a general guide for the day. I like that I can enter our park, preferred attractions, and FastPass+ reservations, and then it gives me the recommended touring order. I haven’t created one for an entire day; at this point I’ve just toyed with half days. I figure if we can get the main things we want taken care of early, then if we have to go back to the resort or make any extra unplanned breaks, it isn’t going to really disrupt our day much.
Next update, I’ll cover where we’re eating and more of our plans.
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Nice plans so far. who cares abut the stares that other people give you - it is not their child, or vacation or money. When my son was little I wanted to take him so many times but could never really afford it. I know he would have had a great time but he can have a great time at place closer to home and cheaper. It just boils down to are you taking this vacation as a family - of corse you are and I'm sure your older son will love it. It is just more "work" bringing a baby along.
Great start, Jenny! Thank you to the PPers who used their powers of persuasion on you. I know you'll miss being able to walk to Epcot, but the villas are so nice and so big at OKW it'll take the sting away! I can't wait to see the photos of the two boys and hope Sean will enjoy showing his little brother all his favorite things.
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Nice plans so far. who cares abut the stares that other people give you - it is not their child, or vacation or money. When my son was little I wanted to take him so many times but could never really afford it. I know he would have had a great time but he can have a great time at place closer to home and cheaper. It just boils down to are you taking this vacation as a family - of corse you are and I'm sure your older son will love it. It is just more "work" bringing a baby along.
We're just excited to be going. If we don't get to everything, there is always next time. I'm not worried about all the crazy looks from back home.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lauriep
Great start, Jenny! Thank you to the PPers who used their powers of persuasion on you. I know you'll miss being able to walk to Epcot, but the villas are so nice and so big at OKW it'll take the sting away! I can't wait to see the photos of the two boys and hope Sean will enjoy showing his little brother all his favorite things.
I do remember the OKW villas being bigger. Who wouldn't love more space? You are going to be surprised at the pics of the boys. Owen has turned into quite the chunky monkey!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
So glad you've got a trip much earlier than you expected! Great start!
Thanks! I'm still in a bit of shock we're going!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Russi01
Signing in to follow along. Glad that you were able to book your trip alot sooner than you expected.
Me too! Now I just need to get things squared away on the planning stage.
Hey! I am mentioned in your PTR! I feel so honored! I am always glad to help when it comes to encourage someone who shares my passion of Disney. As far as how the genius moment came to have you go sooner and score that room, I don't remember. But I do remember calling you a genius and really excited that it worked out. I know where you are eating, but I am anxious to see if Coral Reef got cut. I can't wait to hear about the baby centers, even if I have no intention if using them. I love that you started this! Not that I pressured you or anything....
I'm glad you and Chris gave in to that PP peer pressure! You are going to have a fabulous trip! Can't wait to hear all about it
Thanks, Jenn! I'm looking forward to restarting little traditions with our family of four
Quote:
Originally Posted by dutchdisneyfamily
Hey! I am mentioned in your PTR! I feel so honored! I am always glad to help when it comes to encourage someone who shares my passion of Disney. As far as how the genius moment came to have you go sooner and score that room, I don't remember. But I do remember calling you a genius and really excited that it worked out. I know where you are eating, but I am anxious to see if Coral Reef got cut. I can't wait to hear about the baby centers, even if I have no intention if using them. I love that you started this! Not that I pressured you or anything....
Hmmmm... well maybe we can just say I'm a genius and leave it at that
Coral Reef... For now I'll say one person is happy, another person isn't thrilled. I'll let you guess who's who.
I needed that text message the other day to kick me in gear. The past week was just too busy, I needed this to keep my sanity. Thank you!
I'm in your PTR! How exciting! I think the half-day plans on touring plans is a good way to go. That is what we did a lot this last trip and it worked really well. I won't give you crazy stares about taking a baby either. We drove from Denver to Florida (my cousin and I, hubby was in Pensacola for training) with a 3-year-old and a 6-month-old and we had such a great time. Disney is actually well suited for babies, if you know what you are doing. I can't wait to hear more!
I'm in your PTR! How exciting! I think the half-day plans on touring plans is a good way to go. That is what we did a lot this last trip and it worked really well. I won't give you crazy stares about taking a baby either. We drove from Denver to Florida (my cousin and I, hubby was in Pensacola for training) with a 3-year-old and a 6-month-old and we had such a great time. Disney is actually well suited for babies, if you know what you are doing. I can't wait to hear more!
I remember you telling me that story. I figure we've been enough times we can handle this!
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Originally Posted by MayraLR
Glad you're able to go back this year! I haven't gone since 2012 and I'm getting very anxious for our vacation. BTW, I arrive 2 days after you leave.
Oh darn! It would have been fun to meet you. I hope you have a great time!
[B]I hope everyone is having a great Easter holiday. I plan to have a substantial update soon, but right now we are about to head to my in laws for an egg hunt. Sean and his cousins always compete to see who can find the golden egg, which has the biggest prize inside. One day they'll catch on that there is actually a golden egg for each of them The poor golden egg has gotten smaller over the years as the family has grown. It started out with $50 inside, but now that there are 4 grand kids, I believe now each golden egg has been reduced to a $5 cash prize. I can't say I blame them!
The reason for my quick post is to let you know my iPhone has invented time travel! When I started this PTR on Friday, the little bubble outside my countdown icon said 43 days. I noticed this morning it still said 43, and that suddenly gave me flashbacks of Bill Murray in Groundhog Day. How horrible would that be, just getting stuck in a loop and not making it any closer to the trip? Well after a quick reboot of the phone, I now see this: [/URL]
The wait time on this trip just sped up quite a bit! I'm freaking out a little as I still have a ton to do and I just lost a week of prep time!/B]
About This Page: 
I had just come back to work after taking 3 months off with Owen, so my vacation time was a bit slim. We were looking at Spring or Fall. Fall was our preferred choice because of the F&WF, but we didn’t know for certain what our family’s schedule would be like at that time. I looked on the DVC member site and there was actually quite a bit of availability at most of the DVC resorts for Memorial Day week. I’m fortunate in my job that I have a lot of flexibility in my work schedule and hours (which helps tremendously with small kids). 
Because of this, I usually put in 44 hours one week and 36 hours the following so I can take every other Friday off. My Friday off happened to fall on the one right before Memorial Day weekend this year. This meant that I would have a total of 9 days off and would only need to use 4 days of vacation. Can anyone say, WINNER?! 
However, we were in the mood for a change in scenery. OKW had a 1 bedroom available for the whole week checking in May 24-31. I did a tentative reservation there, basically booked it with the thought that we would cancel it and rebook somewhere else for the fall if we found out we could escape for a week in October. It’s been probably close to a decade since I’ve stayed at that resort, plus Chris wasn’t along on that trip so he’s never been there. I’ve always thought that OKW is beautiful and I’ve enjoyed how quiet it is as well. I’m looking forward going to back. We’re going to miss walking into Epcot from our resort, but I told Chris that if we wanted a change of scenery, we have to give up BWV to do that (yes, Beach Club was booked up). The downside was that the location preference of being near the Hospitality House needed to be wait listed. 
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Deb
You are going to be surprised at the pics of the boys. Owen has turned into quite the chunky monkey! 
You are going to have a fabulous trip! Can't wait to hear all about it 
The poor golden egg has gotten smaller over the years as the family has grown. It started out with $50 inside, but now that there are 4 grand kids, I believe now each golden egg has been reduced to a $5 cash prize. I can't say I blame them!
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