So, can I start a baby's first trip PTR before the baby even arrives?

[CandleontheWater]

I thought I would post another picture, just to show off my round belly! The photo is of me and DH (Mark) and was taken at my baby shower 2 weekend ago, so that was 31 weeks.

I also got some great news yesterday, my crib is being delivered on Thursday! I ordered it back in July, I can't believe that baby furniture takes so long to come in. My friend ordered her furniture the same day that I did from the same store and she got hers a month ago! I even ordered a crib that was made in Canada, you would think it would get here faster than furniture made in China, but I guess not. I can't wait for the crib to be set up, then the babies room will feel like an actual nursery! We are still working on the decorations, I'm planning on ordering the rug, the clock, The pirates of the Caribbean ride poster and two photos from the ride next week.

We also have to go to Ikea to pick up some shelving for the room, but that will have to wait. DH HATES going to Ikea, you would think I was asking him to stand in front of a firing squad. The first problem is that there is always traffic, no matter when we go. I try to explain to DH that we moved to Northern Virginia, one of the biggest traffic hotspots in the country. When I point this out to him while we are sitting in the traffic it only raises his grumpy level, so I try to keep my mouth shut. He also hates that the store is laid out like a maze, which he thinks only entices me to wander around and look at stuff. Well, of course it does! It is a brilliant marketing ploy that I fall into each and every time we go! He also hates that you can't pick up the item you want to buy where you see it displayed, that you have to write down the number, go downstairs and get it out of the warehouse. He claims that there is no possible way that anyone could get in and out in under an hour, which is probably true. I try to bill the trip as an experience, but DH likes to approach shopping trips like military missions, you get in, meet your objective and get out. The faster you can do it, the better off you are. You should see the smoke that comes out of his ears when I suggest we stop at the food court for some delightful Swedish meatballs!

 

[figment41]

I was starting to get alittle nervous about our furniture also. Wouldn't it be great to spend that much money on furniture and then have them sleeping in a drawer for the first weeks they re home (That was actually in a book my MIL gave to me from when she had my DH). No worrries though it made it in time.

You both look so happy in that pic.

The best thing you can do is relax and take it as it comes. They will take great care of both of you.

 

[disneymoon_0307]

I just found your pre-trip. The title caught my eye. I have a 4 month old and we're not taking her to Disney until Sep of 2011. Although it's very difficult to try not to take her next year. I can't wait to hear more and see babypirate. Keep us updated.

 

[CandleontheWater]

Hello everyone!

Sorry I haven't been posting lately, things have definitely kicked up at notch around my house as we zoom closer to Baby Pirates arrival date. On top of all that my old job has sent me some contract work, so that has been keeping me way busy during work hours. I'm not *really* complaining, I'm happy to have the work, and happier to have the extra money but this project was supposed to be started back in April! Well they couldn't get the contract ironed out, so it got pushed back to mid-August, and then coasted through all of September, and I finally got the information the second week in Oct. When I agreed to take on the work my boss assured me that everything would be complete by Sept 30th, now it looks like I'm going to be pushing to get done before my due date

Well we went for our ultrasound on Wed and I got some good news, Baby Pirate is on the large side, but not so big that we would have to discuss an early induction or scheduled C-section. They estimated him at 6lbs 13oz and based on his weight and measurements his due date should be Nov 13th, which is only 4 days earlier than the due date I was given at the beginning of my pregnancy. I would be perfectly fine with him coming a little early, and so would my swollen ankles and sore lower back!

On the flip side my belly is now measuring at 40 weeks so I am officially the size of a small planet. I keep having to warn people to keep a good distance or they might get sucked into my gravitational pull.

In Disney news, its about time for me to start discussing ADRs! Like most of humanity I will be part of the ADR armageddon on Oct 27th. It is going to be a very crazy day! I am planning on waking up at 3 am to make my ADRs, I figure I have a better chance of beating the inevitable computer system crash and it will be good practice for when Baby Pirate arrives.

We all know the downside to making ADRs this early- we don't have park hours! For the first couple of days it is not going to be a big deal, because I pretty much know that I want to go to MK first and then spend a whole day at AK, etc. The issue comes up when the rest of the family arrives on Sunday afternoon. Since there will be 11 of us, I want to make the most efficient and simplest touring plan, that makes the most of park hours and allows us to catch spectro and fantasmic. DH's aunt, uncle, cousins and grandmother will not have park hoppers, so that makes it even more challenging. DH's parents are coming into town to visit this weekend, so hopefully we'll be able to discuss the plans a little more, but I have a lot of work to do over the next few days!

With all that being said I have some ideas and the family has weighted in also about where they would like to eat. The first night we arrive in Orlando in the afternoon, and I don't think I'm going to make an ADR for that evening. What I would ideally like to do is to go over to DTD and just spend some time walking around and soaking in the atmosphere (and of course, pin trading!). I figure we could eat a quick dinner at Earle of Sandwich, because DH and I both like it, and I would really like to peak into Paradiso 37 and maybe try one of their margaritas. Of course, The night would not be complete without a stop at Ghirardelli's for a hot fudge sundae!

The second day (Friday) I am contemplating one ADR, for lunch at the San Angel Inn. I figure we'd start at MK, ride a few rides, and then hop over to Epcot. I was hoping that since it is dark and cool inside the San Angel Inn, that it might induce napping (but that might be wishful thinking). At that point it might be nice to take a little break and get off our feet and that restaurant has always been special to us since it is where we ate right before DH proposed.

On Saturday I would really like to get a breakfast ADR at Chef Mickey's. My first character dining experience was at the contemporary and I would like the same for DS. I also think this would be a great way for DS to meet the characters without having to stand in line, plus the food is pretty decent. I can't wait for those priceless pictures!

On Sunday I am planning on another breakfast ADR, this time at my absolute favorite place, Kona Cafe. I cannot go to Disney without eating Tonga Toast or I might explode. Tonga toast is my favorite food on earth, I swear it is mana from the gods! In my mind heaven looks a lot like an early breakfast at the Kona Cafe, with delicious Tonga Toast sitting in front of me and the promise of a whole Disney day spread out before me.

Well this is getting pretty long, so I'll save the family dining for the next post! What restaurants do 11 people all agree on, you'll just have to wait and see!

 

[Gabes_mommy]

I think all your ADRs sound great!

I'm sure everything will go fine with Baby Pirate. Enjoy these last weeks as your life is about to change forever. Try to get as much sleep as you can (between working on that big project ) and enjoy your alone time with your DH.

I hope Baby Pirate comes early for you! That would be great! Those last few weeks can be rough.

 

[lala3291]

Hi Marissa! Thought I'd join in! Congratulations on your upcoming Baby Pirate! Disney is so exciting going with a baby...your trip will be magical! Looking forward to reading more!
~Lauren

 

[Lovemy3babes]

I'm jumping in here too. What a fun PTR. I can't wait to read more about your trip and your baby Pirate.

 

[belle8306]

Congratulations! I just found your PTR and I am really enjoying it. My DH and I love POR too! We stayed there on our honeymoon and we have been hooked ever since. I think your ADR's sound great. Kona is one of my favorites. We are also doing a Grand Gathering event in June. I am looking forward to reading more.

 

[LKD]

Aaaw! I can't wait to hear more about your baby Pirate!

 

[the4princesses]

Congrat's I bet you had your baby?? Can't wait for updates!! Pray everything went well.

 

[CandleontheWater]

Hello everyone! Thank you to those that are keeping up and welcome to all the new comers! I have not had my baby yet, little Pirate is still snuggled up inside, but I haven't had time to update because I've been frantically trying to finish up one last work project. I now have everything done and it is such a weight off my shoulders! It is a little like that feeling I used to get at the end of every college semester when all the finals finished and I could just relax until school started up again. Well this time around "school" starts in approximately two weeks, and I think its going to be my most challenging course load ever!

I did want to pop in and give everyone an update on ADR Armageddon! So like many of us, my ADR window opened on Oct 27th, and I was determined to get my reservations so that Baby's Pirate's first trip would be perfect!

I also was in charge of making the ADRs for the 2nd portion of the trip, when the rest of DH's family joins us in WDW. This was a little more challenging. My in-laws are great people, they are DVC members and have some knowledge of Disney under their belt, however I was having a hard time convincing them of the urgency of needing to make reservations ASAP, especially when traveling with a group of 13 people. They had come down to visit the weekend before Oct 27th, and I thought this would be a great time to talk about dining. Unfortunately when I brought the subject up they were a little evasive and not so interested in making concrete plans. This is where it gets a little tricky, because they can be sensitive and I don't want to push too hard and make they upset and have them think I am trying to take over the vacation, but at the same time I want to make sure it is a success, not just for them, but for DH and I as well.

Its like walking a very fine line when planning a vacation with DH's family. Since they are DVC members, they will pick up the cost of our accommodations, which is very nice of them and for which I am very thankful. Because they are paying for the hotel, my DH thinks that we should pretty much let them take the reigns in planning and go with the flow. This worked fine when we lived in Florida, and if we missed attractions or didn't get dining reservations, it was no big deal because we pretty much went to Disney every month, so we could always do the things that we missed. Now that we are living in Virginia and we have a baby on the way, we are only going to be able to get to Disney maybe once or twice a year, so I feel like I have a much more vested interest in making sure we are able to hit our favorites. At the same time I don't want to step on anyone's toes or make anyone upset!

Anyway, the fateful day of Oct 27th rolled around and I still hadn't heard for DH's parents about where they wanted to eat! Since I knew what ADRs I wanted for the first part of the trip, I jumped right in, and I figured I could always call back later for the rest of the ADRs. I decided against trying to wake up at 3am (I figure I have plenty of that ahead of me to look forward too ), and instead try the on-line system at 6am when it is "officially" supposed to roll over. Well I got out of bed to find out that the entire on-line system was down! Thankfully I had the Disboards, and the entire thread devoted to people trying to make Oct 27th ADRs. It definitely helped that I was not alone in my frustration!

At promptly 7 am I began calling the Disney dining line with thousands of other hungry individuals. I seriously think avid Disney dining fans may have crashed the cell phone grid in Orlando, because I kept getting the message that all circuits were busy! I dialed and dialed and dialed, and considered it progress when I got a busy signal! I called from 7am to 8:30 straight with no luck and at that point I had to give up for a while and do some real work. I don't know why I even bothered, I was really unproductive between picking up the cell to try "just once more" and obsessively checking the checking the chatter on the Disboards.

Based on the suggestion of some of our fellow Disers, I decided to try my luck with DVC member services to see if they could make my ADRs. I got on the phone shortly after 9, sat on hold for about a half an hour, only to be told that the entire dining reservation system was down and that no one could make ADRs. Now I knew from the disboards that some people were having success, so I kept trying back, but every CM was telling me the same thing!

I decided to really give up for a while and get some work done on my project, but by 11am I was antsy and ready to give it another shot. I must have run into some pixie dust, because when I got through to member services the very nice CM told me that the dining system just came back up and that she would be able to make my ADRs! I was so happy I could have reached through the phone and hugged her! It look a while because the system, although working, was sluggish, but I was able to make the following ADRs

April 9th- San Angel Inn @1:00 pm
April 10th- Chef Mickeys @9:00 am
April 11th- Kona Cafe @9:15 am



Our vacation was off to a wonderful and delicious start! In my next installment I'll get into the meat of potatoes of where my in-laws decided they wanted to eat and the nitty-gritty of making ADRs for 13!

 

[belle8306]

Your ADR's look great Good luck getting everything done before the baby arrives.

 

[Lovemy3babes]

What ADR drama!! I would have been out of my mind. LOL! I'm so glad you were able to make a few. I feel your pain about the ILs. That would be a fine line to walk for sure. But I'm a planner like you and love to have things all ready to go. I hope it works out okay.

 

[lbuzz52]

I had the same ADR issue withmy group. I decided to just make them at a variety of places- steakhouse, Chinese, buffet, etc. Once I finally got feedback I had a couple to change but much less weight on my shoulders you know what I mean.
I have just started my tr but I know it will soon get crazy for you so here's a few baby thoughts.
The baby was the easiest in our group. Plenty of places to nurse. If we were using formula we got a cup of hot water and a cup of cold water from countrer service and made a bottle.
Take binder clips and blankets and cover the front of a stroller for less distractions at nap time. We took his lovie, sippy cups, and small toys and attached them to the stroller with those cup tethers. Didn't need any big toys at the hotel- he was happy for floor time after a day at the park.
His favorites were spectromagic and iasw, although anything with music and lights amused him.
We used babyswap on the few rides he couldn't go on. Bonus- 3 extra fastpasses!
We watched the parades across from cbj in frontierland. Not sure if it was the baby or the spot but we got tons of attention from those in the parade. The characters at meals were 50/50 as to if they paid any attention to the baby but we also had small children dining with us. He was barely big enough for the standard high chairs. I read somewhere they gave infant high chairs but we never saw them. Maybe a special request? We also used a baby wrap at times.
I'd take a baby again in a heartbeat!