Welcome back to one of my favorite guest bloggers, Rebecca @RMZFarrell, who just visited the world with her new little man for his first trip!
It finally
happened…I had my baby. On October 23, 2013, Ronan Lorenzo Farrell joined the
world and our lives haven’t been the same since.
I always
knew that the day would come when Ronan would have his first trip to Walt
Disney World, I just didn’t think it would come when he was only five months
old. But we had an opportunity to join some family members on a trip in March,
and couldn’t pass it up. I had my doubts about how the wee man would handle the
heat, crowds, loud noises and unfamiliar places (see previous blog post “If I Had a Crystal Ball”)…so I decided to take it one day at a
time and roll with the punches.
Upon
arriving at the world, we checked into Bay Lake Tower. Staying in a 1-bedroom
suite was ideal for our party. Ronan and I had the living room – me on the pull
out sofa and him in a pack and play. Having the full kitchen and washer and
dryer, not to mention being within walking distance of the Magic Kingdom, was
amazing.
On our first
day, we spent the afternoon at Magic Kingdom, arriving just as the new Festival
of Fantasy parade was ending. The park was PACKED, as we knew it would be based
on TouringPlans.com crowd level predictor and the timing with Spring Break.
Frankly, I was ill prepared for just HOW nuts the parks would be and it really
wore me down after a while.
I was SO
ready to get out of there – and dinner at Chef Mickey’s (my first visit) didn’t
disappoint. The characters made the rounds quickly and the food was fantastic.
Our second
day was an early start, heading over to Animal Kingdom (7am opening for Extra
Magic Hours). We had hoped to ride Kilimanjaro Safaris before our breakfast at
Tusker House, but the ride wasn’t yet open. So we went back to Tusker House about
30 minutes ahead of our reservation and were seated right away – skipping the
photo line as Donald was not outside for pictures. The food was great, but
Ronan was missing his nap and cried until I took him back outside, put him in
his stroller and pushed him until he fell asleep. Once he was out, I took him
back inside and was able to watch my nieces enjoy the character greetings and
conga line around the restaurant.
It was a
chilly day at AK, but that didn’t mean the crowds were lower. In fact, it was
the most crowded I’ve ever seen the park. Our group did get in our safari,
checked out Finding Nemo: The Musical and I rode Expedition Everest with my
older niece (highly recommend the first seat – really cool experience). All
three of the kiddos in our party LOVED Nemo, and my son was especially enraptured.
I never thought he’d be able to sit still for 40 straight minutes, but I was
amazed by just how much he enjoyed himself. Go figure.
That night, we once again enjoyed dinner at Chef Mickey’s. Even though our table was essentially under the Monorail track, the windows offered commanding views of the Magic Kingdom and we had great character interactions and delicious food.
Getting OUT
of the park that night after the Main Street Electrical Parade was an exercise
in extreme patience. They opened up the backstage bypass exit, but the crowds
were so thick that it took us about 15 minutes to get from the castle to the
Plaza cut through. I was never so glad to get out of a theme park.
Saturday
morning I had a not so magical experience with the Magical Express. It wasn’t
anyone’s fault, but a word to the wise, if you’re travelling with an infant in
arms as I was, YOU CANNOT CHECK IN FOR YOUR FLIGHT AT YOUR RESORT. I had to
take my own bag through the line at the airport and check in there. It was a
pain in the neck, but we made it work…getting to the airport two hours before
our scheduled departure gave us the peace of mind (and time) we needed to check
in, eat, use the facilities, get through security and be the second family to
board the plane.
Lessons
learned
- I could have skipped buying the $25 infant noise cancelling headphones. He didn’t need them.
- It would have made sense to pack a more user-friendly diaper bag; I used a hiking backpack with five different compartments and was constantly hunting for stuff.
- I should have purchased two gallons of spring water to fill bottles and drink.
- Pack at least one change of warm clothes and a sweatshirt or rain jacket with a hood for everyone in your party – the central Florida weather is unpredictable at best.
- The baby care center at Magic Kingdom is small and can be quite crowded – plus you can’t take your stroller inside. Not much in the way of comfy seating to feed baby, either. It was nice to have a changing area, but the whole place just plain smelled bad, was noisy and not enjoyable.
**In sharp contrast, the Animal Kingdom
baby care center is bright, clean and has much less traffic. I enjoyed in
tremendously, especially having a place to sit in a rocking chair and feed my
baby.**
Tips
- Be sure to include your infant in the number of people in your dining reservations so that they make room for the baby.
- Many restaurants have ‘slings’ where you can put your car infant’s car seat/carrier, but strollers are not allowed.
- Try to stay close to the parks so that you’re not far from your room should a meltdown occur
- Keep your dining reservations as close as possible to your child’s regular meal times or dinner may include overtired kiddos (and adults)
- In peak periods, take advantage of Fast Pass Plus to visit the most popular attractions and be sure to get in as early as possible to hit others
-
-
Rides and
Attractions (enjoyed with the baby in his Ergo carrier)
-
Magic
Kingdom
o Dumbo (FP+)
o Jungle Cruise (FP+)
o Pirates of the Caribbean
o Haunted Mansion
o Peter Pan (FP+)
o it’s a small world
o Under the Sea – Journey of the Little
Mermaid (FP+)
o Princess Fairytale Hall (Snow White and
Rapunzel)
o Prince Charming’s Regal Carousel
o Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
o Tomorrowland Transit Authority
-
Animal
Kingdom
o Kilimanjaro Safaris
o Finding Nemo: The Musical
I should also mention that nearly everyone I saw 'carrying' a baby was using an Ergo carrier. In my experience, these are pretty darn comfy for large babies (14 pounds is the minimum unless you have the infant insert). If you don't already have one, consider borrowing one from a friend or family member, or check secondhand children's stores in your area as new ones are quite expensive.
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