"Riding the Bam Tram" A Toddler's First Trip to the World! Jan. 2016 Completed 2/24

[KTwiegs]

Day 8- Magic Kingdom- Part 1

My mom had decided to fly home. Our car was pretty packed with souvenirs and other things. Of course she would have fit but I don't think she wanted to do that drive again. She found a flight for $30 so you really can't beat that.
We were planning on deciding which park we were going to at the last minute. Jason and I really want to go back to Animal Kingdom but when we asks bugs what he wanted to do he said "pooh ride" so Magic Kingdom it was!
There really was so much more for him to do there so that was the best choice anyway.

It was EMH that day so we weren't even trying for rope drop.
We decided to see Mickey first thing. I was so excited to see this new talking Mickey.

Wyatt was alittle indifferent to the whole thing. Mickey walked Wyatt around like an elephant which was really cute.

We spent most of this day doing as many rides as possible as well as shopping till our little hearts content. This was a special trip for us because we had accumulated almost $800 in gift cards from Disney Visa rewards and gifts. It pays to go to disney right after christmas. Everyone gets you Gift cards!
I dropped a large amount in the christmas store and Jason got a lot of Haunted Mansion art and other things. And of course Wyatt had been getting things all week!

I wanted to share this with any parent wanting to get the best bang for their souvenir buck.


We got this for Wyatt and he plays with it every single day. It was about $55. yes expensive but its heavy and well made. I don't regret this purchase at all.
Ok, back to the day. We headed over the tomorrowland speedway so Wyatt could drive a car! He was so excited at first.

We had never done this ride so we didn't know what to expect. Jason took him once with a FP and then I took Wyatt with my FP.
We let Wyatt sit in the driver seat so he could "drive" Well he didn't even touch the wheel and it sure is hard to steer and do the pedal from the passenger seat!
Wyatt was exhausted at this point so he was asleep a minute after he hit the stroller.
Jason and I enjoyed our stroll around the Kingdom
We had lunch again at Columbia Harbor House and relaxed.
Wyatt woke up and we explored frontierland and rode pirate again.
We decided to get a spot for the parade.

We didn't have trouble finding a spot but we messed up and pick the wrong side of the street. the sun was directly in our eyes and made it not exactly enjoyable.

Before the dragon got to us we left our spot and headed away from the parade.

I had been seeing a certain toy/souvenir all week and I knew Wyatt would absolutely go crazy for it at disney but also at home so we went off to find it.

This little mermaid bubble wand thing was probably the highlight of Wyatt's whole trip(as sad as that is) He loved this thing more then I can say. The other fun thing was as he played with it everyone young and old played with him. yelling out "bubbles" or popping them. Wyatt would laugh hysterically every time. it was a great experience.
As we waited for the ferry a large group of what seemed to be students from China gathered around to play with Wyatt and the bubbles.

he loved it so much.

He plays with this bubble wand at least 3 times a week. It was about $20 and worth every penny.

It was about 4 o'clock when we boarded the ferry. We were planning to explore animal kingdom lodge before our 5 o'clock reservation.

Next up an amazing dinner and saying to goodbye to The World.
​

 

[Kellyh123]

I just found your report and really enjoyed reading it. My family and I have been to Disney many times. I went for the first time a couple of years after it opened. My daughter did the college program and loved it. This Christmas we will all be going as a family and taking our granddaughter for her very first trip to Disney. She will be 19 months old when we go. If you have any other special tips please let me know. By the way I am a huge Haunted mansion fan myself and I too have Haunted Mansion art on my walls.!!! Your son is so cute. Glad to see how much he enjoyed the trip.

 

[SwanVT2]

Day 7- Magic Kingdom- Part 3

After dinner we jumped back on the monorail because we had FP+ for Anna and Elsa. It had started to rain pretty steady but not soaking so we just decided we would be wet and make the best of the night. I guess we had just missed a bit of a down pour because the streets were very wet but more importantly very empty!
We headed off to meet the queen and princess.
Elsa was first.


Wyatt wasn't sure about her. I think he was a little shocked. I had realized we hadn't done any face characters until today and at dinner he didn't know any of them and now he was meeting someone he knew and loved so he was confused and a bit overwhelmed.
Elsa was fine and actually spent some time getting him to warm up because I was actually rushing a bit. Its the hottest ticket in town so I felt like I had to.
Next it was Anna. Wyatt loves her.

Wyatt warmed up to her quickly and started tell her this big story in his baby gibberish. He was very into telling stories on the trip. Most times you can only understand a few words here and there but it is so cute.
I love this picture of Anna reacting to his tale.

so anna and so cute.

After we were finished we decided to head to Fantasyland because we wanted to finally ride the pooh ride.
It was like a ghost town. We walked on to the pooh ride and wyatt loooovvveeeddd it! not sure if he like the ride or the fun things in the line more. We rode it 3 times because buggy just kept saying "pooh ride more"
Bugs officially got disney and rides this night. He wanted to go on everything. He was saying "neigh" for the carousel and then it was "jack boat" for pirates. So because of the extremely low crowds we just jumped from ride to ride making the baby happy!

This was a great night. Everyone was in such a great mood and we were doing so much.
Even though I had the FP for the fireworks we only stayed to watch the show on the castle and then we headed out. we were exhausted and getting out of Magic Kingdom after fireworks is probably my least favorite thing about Disney World.

Next up Bam heads home and its just the 3 of us for one last day ​

Thanks for sharing. We leave with our DD who is 3 1/2 on Tuesday and this is getting us very excited for the trip!

 

[Disney9.9.10]

Wow I had a ton of updates to catch up on!

I love your HP souvenirs, and I get the appeal of having something that only a true fan would understand

I'm glad that Wyatt seemed to do well with napping, it's always a scary thing before going on a trip with a toddler isn't it?

His little vans (?) shoes are so adorable!

My parents bought E one of those play sets, and I agree with you that they are awesome. She also has that exact same Mermaid bubble wand and she plays it allllll the time lol I wish it came with a sound setting because it is so loud!

I love the cake you got for your mom, such a great way to surprise her

 

[KTwiegs]

I just found your report and really enjoyed reading it. My family and I have been to Disney many times. I went for the first time a couple of years after it opened. My daughter did the college program and loved it. This Christmas we will all be going as a family and taking our granddaughter for her very first trip to Disney. She will be 19 months old when we go. If you have any other special tips please let me know. By the way I am a huge Haunted mansion fan myself and I too have Haunted Mansion art on my walls.!!! Your son is so cute. Glad to see how much he enjoyed the trip.

Thanks so much for reading and joining in! I really am enjoying writing this and hoping people are learning from my experience too! I plan to do a what I learned/tips on trip with a toddler at the end of the TR!

 

[KTwiegs]

Wow I had a ton of updates to catch up on!

I love your HP souvenirs, and I get the appeal of having something that only a true fan would understand

I'm glad that Wyatt seemed to do well with napping, it's always a scary thing before going on a trip with a toddler isn't it?

His little vans (?) shoes are so adorable!

My parents bought E one of those play sets, and I agree with you that they are awesome. She also has that exact same Mermaid bubble wand and she plays it allllll the time lol I wish it came with a sound setting because it is so loud!

I love the cake you got for your mom, such a great way to surprise her

Gosh do I agree on the sound setting but we sure did we get our money's worth on that purchase!
Thanks for joining in!

 

[KTwiegs]

Thanks for sharing. We leave with our DD who is 3 1/2 on Tuesday and this is getting us very excited for the trip!

Gosh how exciting!
I can't wait to go back with Wyatt when he is a bit older. Hopefully around 4 years old. Have an amazing trip!

 

[KTwiegs]

Day 8- Magic Kingdom- Part 2

We were having dinner tonight at Sanaa at Animal Kingdom Lodge. We checked in at the restaurant and given a buzzer. We explored the hotel and the outside animal watching area.

Wyatt was loving life. He could have stayed out there all day. When our buzzer went off we headed back in and Wyatt was very very sad about that. He actually started to cry. We met up with the women who was seating us and she asked why bugs was so upset and we told her he wasn't happy to be leaving the animals. She looked down at our seat number and asked the hostess for a different number. We were confused but then we were walked to one of the table directly in front of the big giant windows with a gorgeous view of the animals. I almost started to cry. I couldn't believe this wonderful woman went out of her way to make wyatt happy again. We thanked her over and over.

We had one happy boy on our hands! This was amazing too because it kept him pretty busy looking out the window through the dinner which means mama gets to eat her food a little less then light speed! Our server was wonderful. We started with the bread service.

(sorry half eaten) I don't remember all the sauces but my favorite was the tamarin sauce.
Yummy Yummy Yummy! We already love naan bread so I knew we would love it. Wyatt ate a whole piece on his own!
main course. Jason had the special, some kind of fish, he loved it.
And I got the the pick 2 thing. butter chicken and braised beef.


Yum yum yum. I was able to share with bugs too. We got him his own bowl of rice.
Dessert I have to say was a pretty big disappointment.
it was the sampler.

We will skip dessert next time and get a treat back at the park.

We will go to this restaurant again many times! the food was wonderful and the restaurant and experience is amazing. If you are thinking of Sanaa try for an early reservation. 5pm I think is their first dinner reservation. It is still light out so you can see the animals.
We (well jason) was thinking we should just jump in the car and head home but we decided to head back to MK and get Wyatt good and tired and really why not just go out with a bang!
Back at Magic Kingdom we headed straight for dumbo.

I know its a terrible quality picture but I love it to remember our day at disney just the 3 of us.
We rode dumbo and a few other rides and all of a sudden in was 9 o'clock
Wyatt had been running around playing with his magical bubble wand so we knew he had gotten his fill so we started to make our way out...
It is always sad to leave Disney. But as we loaded ourselves into our car preparing for the long trip home I felt completely content and fulfilled. We really felt like we had gotten all that we could out of this trip.

Next up final thoughts and what I learned ..
​

 

[KTwiegs]

Final Thoughts & What I Learned/Tips for trips with a Toddler

All we heard from people (mostly people who don't "understand" Disney) was
"why are you taking him so young" "you know he won't even remember it" blah blah blah
It got old fast. BUT since we have gotten back everyone keeps tell us how happy Wyatt looked in all the pictures and it seemed like we had a great trip. Because we did!

It was a magical trip. From watching bugs become absolutely star struck when he met buzz lightyear, to holding my son's and husband's hands as we road Pirates of the Caribbean, or when Wyatt woke up from his nap on our drive home and he told us all about his trip ("pooh ride" "castle big!" "jack boat" "mickey buggies")

Ok on to the what I learned/Tips
Stroller
This is the stroller we brought to Disney

Its the Zobo Stroller from Babies R us. It was about $80 onsale. it is a great stroller for disney! Great size, easy to maneuver, lays down so the little one can nap, lots of storage underneath, and you see very few of them so easy to find in the sea of strollers.
We use this exclusively now so totally worth the investment.

Stuff to Bring
Before the trip I spent a lot of time at the dollar store/target stocking up on "toddler supplies" here is my list.
**stickers, stickers, and more stickers **I made a sticker book out a pocket photo album **bubbles **spinny light toy things **glow sticks **small flashlight **crayons and cheap coloring books **fruit snacks **lolly pops **battery powered string of lights to decorate your stroller

These things came in handy mostly for sit down dinners but we all know toddlers need some redirecting at other strange times.

Character Meets
When it came to character meets I had no idea how Wyatt would react so I was kind of shooting blind which all parents with a first time trip will be.
My only tips would be to get your child to hold hands with the characters. This helped Wyatt so much and got him to let me go so we could get a solo picture of him.
I know some might hate what I am about to say but skip the autograph book... at least for when they are so little. It takes up so much time and I think it would be pain in the butt to deal with. Also I worried Wyatt might obsess over it and not concentrate on the meet.
I secretly hope we will never do them, they seriously must double the wait time for character meets.
Memory Maker
I went back and forth on if we should get it or not. We have never gotten it before. I was worried I would pay the money and then Wyatt would want nothing to do with character meets.
Well, when we got home I checked out our photos and we got so many great ones but the best part was we had one day in MK where we got a ton of character meets and great family shots.
You can buy just one day of your photos for $59. If you don't know how your child will be don't put out the money and then be disappointed. Maybe do what we did, spend one day taking as many pictures as you can and buy that set of pictures.

Fast Pass+
I was totally new to this system for this trip. I booked our FP mostly back to back in the morning. This totally backfired for us. We could make the first one but not the 2nd and sometimes not even the 3rd. With a toddler you are on a different schedule. Wyatt would see something he wanted to see or he wanted to ride the ride again so we always missed our future FPs. I would space them out a bit more next time.
And YES, I think it is worth "wasting" a FP for parades and fireworks. The fact that you don't have to fight for a good spot or wait an hour is a huge plus for me.

If you were thinking of possibly bringing a grandparent(s) along for the fun I recommend it. Having my mom with us was great for her, us, and Wyatt. I can't say we went off alone without Wyatt much unless he was sleeping but with my mom watching the sleeping baby Jason and I could ride thrill rides together. I did love that we had that one day just the 3 of us though. Maybe leave a day later to do Disney as just the family.

Well thats it. I'm all finished. I really loved writing this and I hope it has helped, or inspired, or just plain entertained some people out there.
Thank you so much reading! I wish you all many Disney vacations filled with pixie dust!




bye bye from Wyatt too!

​

 

[Cleaverdisney]

This was an awesome report. Thanks so much for sharing. We are doing a very similar trip in April. Driving from NJ with DS(6) and DS(2) and your report has made me feel a little better. We are still nervous about the drive but you gave us a little more confidence!!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Obviously I am joining very late but wanted to say that I enjoyed your report and you did a great job with it! Seems like you had such a great trip!

Although I am jealous you got to see FoF parade even though it was raining - our last trip (which was our first since that parade started) it wasn't even raining by the time it got to parade time and they still cancelled it

Glad you checked out Sanaa - that is one of our favorites and an often overlooked restaurant. It also can be a great break for lunch on an Animal Kingdom day

Thanks for writing up the report!

 

[Minniemoo15]

What a wonderful report, thank you ! So many great tips. I absolutely adore those shoes. If you ever open an etsy shop, let me know! Disney and Shoes, my DD's two favourite things

We are two weeks away from our trip, this has got me really excited! I actually just booked an early lunch ADR for Sanaa on our departure day...glad to see you enjoyed it so much. I think it will be a great way to cap off our vacation.

 

[KTwiegs]

This was an awesome report. Thanks so much for sharing. We are doing a very similar trip in April. Driving from NJ with DS(6) and DS(2) and your report has made me feel a little better. We are still nervous about the drive but you gave us a little more confidence!!

good luck on your drive. its not exactly fun but its doable. If you end up needing a break for your kids there is a great children's museum in Richmond Virginia at the mall in Short Pump. (I'm sure you can google it and get a better idea of where it is) Not too far off 95.
It was awesome! my son ran around for 1.5 hours and we were able to get back in the car and he napped for 2+ hours. its $8 a person but worth I think.
good luck and have an amazing trip!

 

[KTwiegs]

What a wonderful report, thank you ! So many great tips. I absolutely adore those shoes. If you ever open an etsy shop, let me know! Disney and Shoes, my DD's two favourite things

We are two weeks away from our trip, this has got me really excited! I actually just booked an early lunch ADR for Sanaa on our departure day...glad to see you enjoyed it so much. I think it will be a great way to cap off our vacation.

thanks! Sanaa for lunch sounds great, so much animal time! Our server was Veronica, hopefully you get her, she was the best server from our whole trip.

 

[KTwiegs]

Obviously I am joining very late but wanted to say that I enjoyed your report and you did a great job with it! Seems like you had such a great trip!

Although I am jealous you got to see FoF parade even though it was raining - our last trip (which was our first since that parade started) it wasn't even raining by the time it got to parade time and they still cancelled it

Glad you checked out Sanaa - that is one of our favorites and an often overlooked restaurant. It also can be a great break for lunch on an Animal Kingdom day

Thanks for writing up the report!

thank you for reading it! That stinks about your parade being canceled. I can't believe they had it. When we saw the parade again the next day we saw how much stuff didn't come out during the rain so it was like a new parade to us. Hopefully you get to see it again soon.

 

[KTwiegs]

I just wanted to put in a quick update for parents who are on the fence about taking small children who
"won't even remember it anyway"

My son talks about our disney trip every day. If it seeing buzz or merida and telling us he hugged them or that there were fireworks over the castle to the ghost ride and pirate ride recounts over and over!
I understand that at 10 years old he might not really remember it but it is really fun reliving our trip with him everyday.

Take that toddler! you will not regret it!​

 

[OasterP]

Fantastic report! We are going again in November/December, and my daughter will be 2. We've taken my son at 3 turning 4 (and every year since) and the last time my daughter went she was 8 months. I am a little nervous about this trip because 2 is different than 3 nearly 4, and she is a much "busier" child than her brother was. Thankfully we are pretty much go with the flow people at the parks other than table service meals. I think it will be fun and it will be our first time going during the "Christmas" holiday.

 

[buddha112]

great report and sounds like a great trip. They are never too young for Disney. We took our DS at 10 months and are taking him back about 2 months before he turns three. Of course the DW and I are going in between to get our fix at F & W lol