Disney World With My Toddler (Part I)

It's been about two months since we got back from our 6 day trip to Disney World and let me tell you, I already have a trip back planned for September! It was without a doubt the best trip to Disney World I have ever taken!

Meeting the Mouse himself for the first time! 

Seeing Disney World through Noah's eyes for the first time was nothing short of absolutely magical! My then 16 month old couldn't get enough of the place! As soon as we would wake up in the morning....at 6am....he was already crying and whining to get out the door and go to the parks! I was not prepared for that but I wouldn't trade it for anything else! My son absolutely loved Disney World from the minute we got there and I am so thankful I planned our trip out to the teensy tiniest of details, found soooo many tips and tricks to help me, and was able to make the trip easy peasy!

Sharing my plan with other mothers and families is something I am so excited about doing because of all the research I put into it and now being back from the trip, I know what works and didn't work for us and what I plan on doing next time. So.... here we go!

The very first part of planning of course is to find the best times of year to go. Having gone most times of the year, I cannot stress enough the absolutely perfect crowd levels and weather we experienced while being there the last week of January. The weather during the day was sunny and gorgeous, the temperatures were in the low 70's all week and at night it cooled off enough for us to put a jacket on. Absolutely perfect! The crowd levels were super low. We never waited in a single line because we were able to get fast passes to everything each time we finished a ride, but had we chosen to wait in line the stand by lines were never any longer than 20 minutes! If late January to mid February isn't an option the next best time of the year to go would be September. The weather is still pretty hot but the crowds are very low as most kids are back in school around this time.

Next once you've chosen the time of year you would like to go there is deciding whether or not to stay on Walt Disney World Property or off and which resort you'd like to stay at. For parents of toddlers I suggest staying on property. There's many perks to staying on property but the great ones for parents of toddlers include, busses to and from your resort, the parks, and all disney dining, the disney dining plan and I also suggest planning downtime in the middle of the day to head back to the resort for a nap for the toddler and to get out of the parks around the hottest and most crowded time of the day. Being so close to the park and just a short bus ride away from your resort room makes nap time easily accessible. We would have gone crazy without that down time. Disney is tiring on everyone! So assuming you've decided to stay on property...which resort would be best for your family? There are many resort options. Disney groups there resorts in three categories...values, moderate, and deluxe. I dream of the day we can spend a week in one of the deluxe resorts but being that we are a young family of college students, that won't be for some time! So we choose to go with the moderate resorts. The value resorts are absolutely fine and are a great way to save money, however since we were planning on spending an average amount of time in the room we went with one with a little more space and comfort. There are 4 moderate resorts, we stayed at Coronado Springs during our most recent stay. It is a latin themed resort that has the most beautiful layout, the bus stops to reach the parks were all within a 2-3 minute walk and the quick service meals we had there were absolutely great! Coronado Springs is considered a convention resort so it does have a little more of an adult feel to it but it was unbelievably quiet and that was a major plus! The other three are also great options for families with toddlers, it's really just a preference.

Third! How many days to spend at Disney World??? If you want my truthful answer at least 10 because seriously it's impossible to get enough! But that's not in everyone budget or vacation time frame. So a more reasonable amount of days is closer to 6 with a 5 night stay. There are 4 Disney Parks in Orlando, you could certainly take more than one day at each but one day at each is definitely a good amount of time to explore each park. It's also usually a good idea to have an arrival day and a departure day, where no time at the parks is spent, but a day to relax from the drive or flight and explore your resort and a day to pack back up and not leave in a hurry....I do however usually spend my last day at Magic Kingdom anyways because I just can't resist it and we want one last view of that gorgeous castle! I also feel like at the end of the four days the adults will feel exhausted, I can only imagine how tiring this trip is on a toddler. We came back and Noah slept for atleast 2 days straight!

Next in the planning process is the Disney Dining Plan option. To be completely truthful I haven't done a lot of research on the amount of money the plan saves you or not but we did it for the convenience. I was able to pay for all our food ahead of time and all I had to worry about paying for while at Disney World was the tip. We went with the standard dining plan which comes with 1 quick service credit, 1 table service credit, and 1 snack per day. Your meals include a non alcoholic drink, an entree, and a desert. You can use these credits at most of the dining places throughout Disney World and they work for anything on the menu. Children under three do not require the plan because they eat for free off your plate and at all buffets...major plus! The dining plan is great when you have toddlers because it allows for lots of character dining. Some toddlers would be scared straight if Mickey Mouse came up behind them... in that case character dining is definitely not for them however for the ones who can't get enough of the characters, character dining is a great way to save you some time in the parks. The characters come around to your table while you eat and each spend a little bit of time with you! This was one of Noah's favorite parts! He just could not get enough of the characters! This also means you don't have to spend time in the parks in the long lines waiting to greet the characters.

Ohana Breakfast w/ Lilo & Stich





..............to be continued.........

Tackling Disney World with a One Year Old

Our trip to Disney World is now officially ONE day away. To say we are excited is beyond an understatement. I have been dreaming of this day since the day Noah was born. If you read my last blog you understand why.

I have been to Disney World a few more times than I can count or keep track of and my lovely beau went for his first time with me 2 years ago when it was just the two of us. Although I'm pretty familiar with Disney World and pretty much know what I love, I've never been with a toddler nor remember going as a toddler, so this trip is a whole new experience! Planning has been the absolute most fun part thus far. I read blog + blogs + blogs on things about taking your toddler to Disney World and what rides they could get on. I think i finally got it down!

My list of 4 essentials while traveling with a toddler to Disney World!

#1 TULA TULA TULA! and incase you read that wrong TULA! okay number one on my list is most definitely my Tula! I just got mine a little over a week ago but oh my goodness! There aren't enough words in the dictionary for me to explain to you how amazing that baby carrier is and how useful it is on long walks! Disney World is probably one of the longest walks you will ever take because by the end of the day if you haven't walked miles and miles well then the lines just must have been super packed that day! This is where the Tula comes in handy. I have built into our plans every day around lunchtime a break in the day for a quick trip back to the resort and a small nap for my little babe however I know that that does not mean that that's enough rest for all the walking we will be doing and he is going to want to squeeze another nap in there if not just some rest time. Either way this thing will come in handy! Trust me! Not to mention it is one of the comfiest things I have ever worn. A stroller would work perfectly fine, I am just a baby wearing mama and we don't have room to pack the stroller for our road trip along with all our luggage and would like to save the money and not rent a stroller.

#2 My Disney Experience website + app
I like to call this, my trip in an app. On every other trip I've ever been on to Disney World it's always very unplanned and we seem to spend alot of time wandering around asking the same question... "what do we do next?" While that wasn't so bad when it was just me, I don't think that's such a great idea when traveling with a toddler. THIS app is the best thing ever. I planned our whole trip on this app. Down to when and where we will be meeting each character! I was a little hesitant when I started planning this trip to Disney World because I wasn't sure how much a one year old could do or handle in the park. Turns out there is more than enough things for them to do. ESPECIALLY at this age! 68 attractions for toddlers ! I was able to put everyone of these on our itinerary with this app, I was also able to get all our dinner reservations including our character dining with Mickey and friends! We customized our magic bands and so much more! Planning is so important and this app make it a million times easier!

#3 Toddler Safety Tattoos!!
We got these cute ones from a little etsy shop. My crazy thing just learned how to walk 2 months ago so taking this 16 month old who is just discovering everything at his level for the first time is going to be fun! I don't ever plan to lose my child of course but with his wandering soul, better safe than sorry is right! So here we are with these adorable "if lost call ..." temporary tattoos perfect for days out in big crowds!

#4 Homemade Autograph book!

I wish I had longer to plan our trip but we just couldn't wait so I wasn't able to make this for Noah this time but that's ok! It's on my list for the next time! There is a great Disney Characters book on amazon for a little over $10 that has an updated version of each of the characters with a short little description of them and a perfect spot for each of them to sign their signature! You can buy this book take it to staples, have them cut out each page, spiral bind them, add a few extra pieces of card stock just incase you meet any extra characters and BAM! Perfect autograph book and such a great keepsake!

A few other things I plan on bringing to help along this trip are my Freshly Picked carryall. The perfect purse and diaper bag all in one! The harness/leash monkey. I am telling you my child is an explorer, he could walk around for ages if i let him but at Disney World that's not always your safest option so I figured I'd bring this along in the event that we need it. We went with the Disney Dining Plan on this trip so we each have free refillable mugs but if we didn't I'd be bringing along filtered water bottles, and a cooler to carry snacks. 

Other than that! Our trip is tomorrow!!! I will let you know how well my plans went once we get back!! 

to many more memories and life changing moments,

                  xoxo Sebi 

   

Noah's First Magical Mickey Vacation!

If you know me... or know anything about me, you know that I am one Disney obsessed girl. The same goes for Joel and we totally intend to ingulf Noah in all the Disney we can! 

My love for Disney started a long time ago. I have been blessed with a truly amazing family who just can't shake the travel bug. We have been traveling around America for all of my life that I can remember. One trip my family has always made whether it was every year or every other year was the trip to Disney World in Orlando, Florida. In fact my family is so in love with Disney as well that my first trip to Disney World was at the age of two months!! along with all my other family of course. I don't remember that trip at all because I was so little and there were probably about two more trips after that I can no longer recall. But there are absolutely beautiful pictures I love to look at when my dad pulls them out. It makes my love for Disney grow even more because I feel like it's something I've been a part of for my whole life. THIS is what I want to do for Noah. Everyone continually asks me why I would want to take a toddler so young to Disney World. I get lots of things like "it's too expensive to take someone who won't remember" or "he's too little, he's not even going to remember, what's the point?" Well the point is, I've been there. I went 3 times at such a young age that I don't remember, but I do have pictures. Those are memories. I appreciate my family for involving me in such amazing trips at such a young age and knowing and understanding that it's about how happy I was then, not about whether or not I remember it. 

As a mom, my number one priority is my sons overall happiness. He may not remember his first trip to Disney World years from now, but I know that in that moment, there at Disney World, he was having the time of his life. That's what I can't wait for. To know we provided our son with such happiness and joy (not that Disney World is the only way to achieve that.) I think when it comes down to it, I want Noah to know that his happiness, what he would love, what he does love, all that he does, has always been supported and loved by us. Not only when he was old enough to remember but for his whole life.