He won't remember, but we will! - Our 2.5 month old's first trip to Disney UPDATE! Day 1.1

[BabyPiglet]

Hey all!

My name is Jenn, and I just got back! We landed, so the fog of Disney and vacation is just now starting to wear off -- especially as I realize the only thing I have to eat for breakfast is sun chips. I decided to start this trip report mainly for myself. I wanted to document our fun, but I needed something to keep myself accountable. I hope baby will be able to read this one day!

Details: Thursday, November 26 - Tuesday, December 1. All Star Music. No dining plan. 5 day park hoppers. Reservations at Via Napoli, Mama Melrose, Ohana, Rainforest Cafe, and Be Our Guest.

Cast of Characters:

Me - I have been immersed in all things Disney since I was a baby. My parents took me to DLR when I was 18 months old, and we began going to WDW almost yearly starting in 2000. When I was 18 I participated in the college program and worked merchandise in Tomorrowland. I love Magic Kingdom the most and all the classic attractions like Carousel of Progress and Haunted Mansion.

Nick - I took him to Disney for the first time in 2012 and he fell (almost) just as hard in love as I am! He loves to help me plan our days and is already better at memorizing where everything is. We have been married for 2.5 years and together for 5. He is my gentle, loving, outgoing, generous, amazing best friend.



Parker - The star of the show! Our rainbow baby born on September 22nd and currently 12 pounds of squishy love. His favorite things are bath time, nursing, and any kind of music. I am confident he will learn to add Disney to that list soon enough. We lost our first son, Sawyer, last year to an unexpected heart defect a day after he was born. We got pregnant with Parker a few months later, and I truly believe he watched out for him and made sure he was born healthy. We were planning on taking Sawyer to Disney in September (and almost had it booked right before he died) of this year, so this trip without him was certainly bittersweet.



Grandma - My mom. Born in California and grew up going to DLR. She loves to plan out things, change them, and change them back. She and I planned the trip basically on our own.

Grandpa - My dad. A true kid at heart. He is retired now, so he comes over and helps me with the baby. He loves to talk about Disney and look at old pictures and videos of our trips.



Also making an appearance will be Robin and Hansel who just got married and were on their honeymoon.



The trip began by being an 30th anniversary trip for my parents. Then, Robin signed on and it ended up that Hansel and she planned to get married a few weeks before the trip, so it became their honeymoon. We didn't plan on going because we had already had two vacations this year, and (sad moment) it's hard to plan something when you're pregnant and you've already lost a child. We were scared to plan another trip and then have something bad happen. Well, Parker was born healthy! So last minute my parent's gifted us flights and tickets for a short Thanksgiving trip. The rest of the cast are having more time at Disney and also a cruise, but Nick had just started a new job, so we wouldn't go longer.

Baby is waking up...I'll get to the good stuff later!

 

[wed100105]

I'm here to read along. Congratulations on your rainbow baby; he is precious. I'm sure that happy memories were incredibly important to your family at this time. I can't wait to see how your trip turned out and to read all about the fun you had!

 

[Savikins]

I remember you from waaay back when I used to post on the Teen Board under my old username! I'm so glad to see that you're doing well! I'm also here to read along.

 

[BabyPiglet]

Day 1 - Thursday, November 26th (Thanksgiving)

The night before I tried to get Parker into bed a little early, so that we could finish packing things up. It was a little chaotic, but with some direction it all got done. Parker only woke up once that night, so we got about as much sleep is as expected for a 7 am flight with an infant. Side note: right before the trip, DS magically started sleeping better and actually slept through the night most nights at Disney. Such progress from waking up 3-4 times!

I set the alarm for 4:45 and got up before the boys to get ready and pack a few things. I wanted to be at the airport by 5:30. Thankfully, everyone else woke up easily, and Parker didn't even seem too unhappy about it. Nick got himself and the baby dressed (in his cute Thanksgiving outfit!), then put everything in the car while I fed him. I do breastfeed Parker, so this report will include plenty of discussion about nursing at Disney and what came along with it. At 5:30 we were all packed up and out the door!



Nick's parents were supposed to meet us and bring our car back home, so we didn't have to pay parking fees at the airport. We don't live far from the airport, so we arrived a few minutes past 5:30 and got the car unloaded. I did check in online the night before and pay for our one checked bag, so all we had to do was show our IDs and get the boarding passes. Then we waited and waited for his parents to show up. Right before I started to freak out, they arrived to take our keys and wish us goodbye.



Parker had been happily smiling and cooing away in his stroller, but decided right before we got in the line for security to start getting fussy. We usually put him in the car seat and then the stroller (but obviously didn't want to carry that heavy thing on to the busses), so I wasn't sure how this whole stroller thing was doing to work out. Thankfully we brought the Ergo and we transferred him into that after security. I was taking some frozen breast milk in my carry on and was nervous about how that would go, but everything was smooth. The TSA woman initially said she had to test it, but once she saw it was frozen she told me she wasn't going to bother. I think it helped that our airport is tiny!





Nick walked around with the baby in the Ergo and got him to sleep before they started boarding. The flight attendant said that we would have to take him out of it before take off, but then she never said anything again once we were on board. They called for passengers with babies first (which I didn't know would happen and was so thankful for!) and we gate checked the stroller and got right on. Parker woke up right before take off, so I started to nurse him, which I read would help with potential ear problems. My ears always pop and hurt on flights, so I was worried, but like with everything else, it turned out to be a non-problem.



The flight to Atlanta was great, and Parker had some great awake time between takeoff and landing to really ham it up for the other passengers. The flight attendant even gave him some wings for his first flight!



We found our next gate and put Parker back in the Ergo while we found some breakfast/lunch. We decided on a sandwich from Boar's Head to split. I hadn't been feeling great the past few days, so I wanted to stick with something small and light. The sandwich was plenty to share and you got to pick from a variety of toppings and sauces. I would definitely eat there again if I was at a nearby gate!





After that we grabbed some iced coffee to keep us awake and waited a short time to board the next flight. The flight to MCO was even shorter (1 hour), and again, Parker did amazing. We were seated next to an Air Force pilot who was headed home to his wife, and he was great with the baby and fun to talk to.



We arrived at MCO at about 1:30 and were on the Magical Express bus by 2:30. Parker had gotten fussy again in the time that it took us, so I fed him on the bus all the way to the resort. I started to worry that these changes to his routine were going to be too much for him to handle. It took around another hour to get to our resort with stops at CBR and ASSP. I enjoyed looking at the palm trees and purple street signs much more than the new ME movie. Sorry, I'm a sucker for the classics!



Again, I did the online check in and we had received a text right as we landed that our room was ready, so we headed straight there to drop our bags off. I changed into shorts because it was much warmer than I had expected. I packed mostly sweater and pants...uh oh! I started to worry that we wouldn't make it to our first FP+ at Spaceship Earth at 4:10, so we quickly bought some mugs and headed to the Epcot bus stop. Fortunately, one pulled right up and there was plenty of room -- this trend would follow us the whole trip!

Would we make it to our first experience with a FP+? Would we be met with wall to wall crowds?

I'll update again as soon as I can! Life is crazy with a baby and grad school and adult life. Take me back to Disney!

 

[BabyPiglet]

I remember you from waaay back when I used to post on the Teen Board under my old username! I'm so glad to see that you're doing well! I'm also here to read along.

Great! What was your username?

 

[HomeSweetDisney]

First of all, I am so sorry for the loss of your firstborn baby boy Parker is so adorable!! I am looking forward to reading more about your trip and how his first trip to the mouse went!