PlanningForTheFamily
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2013
We just got back from our first family trip to Disney with our 4 year old son and 2.5 year old daughter. I wanted to share a bit about our itinerary and opinions on things in case it's helpful for anyone else traveling with littles or planning a January/February trip.
We stayed at Bay Lake Tower in a one bedroom standard view suite on the ground floor. It was fantastic! The suite had a full kitchen, big table, a king bed in the bedroom and a pull out sofa and arm chair in the living room. It also had two full bathrooms - the master had a big spa tub (which basically acted as a small swimming pool for the kids on chilly days) and a rain shower that was glorious. The pool was nice - had a big curly slide that my 4 year old went on a million times and even my 2.5 year old braved it twice! We could walk to the Magic Kingdom and had access to all the restaurants and stores in the Contemporary by crossing over a short walkway. We rented DVC points to be able to afford the suite and that worked out really well. Definitely recommend it!
After arriving from the airport, we rested up and then headed over to Chef Mickey's for dinner. I had read quite a few negative reviews but since we were right at the Contemporary, I figured it would be a nice way to see characters and start the trip without using a park day. I am so glad that we went! The kids loved seeing the characters and my husband and I really enjoyed the food. I thought the various salads were yummy and the prime rib and eggplant parmesan were also fantastic. There was plenty of variety for the kids. I also didn't find it that noisy either. My son is sensitive to noise and didn't have any issues. So I have to say that I do not agree with the negative reviews - at least not the Saturday in late January that we went. This will definitely be our first day tradition!
We rented a stroller from Kingdom Strollers and the process was seamless. The stroller was clean and in good condition and came with the rain cover, a cooler, and the parent console. We collected it at Bell Services and dropped it off there before heading home. Just as ordered. Very easy.
We had groceries delivered by Garden Grocer. We ordered online and everything arrived right on time. We were out in the parks when the groceries arrived and bell services was able to keep everything for us until we returned. They have fridges and freezers for this purpose. Then we got back to our room, I just called down and they delivered everything right into our suite. Easy peasy!
Our first full day, we walked over to Magic Kingdom arriving at about 8:15 am. We went through security and they were letting people enter the park with ropes at the entrances to the various lands. There were photo pass photographers out and we were able to get some really nice family pictures in front of the castle. Better photos than with our pre-park opening breakfast because everyone wasn't charging into the park all at once! It was a chilly, rainy morning so crowds were low. We had fast pass pluses set up for Enchanted Tales with Belle, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, and Peter Pan.
At rope drop, we ran to the Winnie the Pooh ride. What a strange ride! I never expected that the Pooh ride would be dark and scary but it absolutely terrified my 2 year old. It was really trippy. We never rode it after this one time.
We then went to the Dumbo ride and were able to ride it twice without even getting off since there was no one in line. Same thing happened with the Tea Cups - rode it twice with no wait!
After those two, we hit the Carousel and It's a Small World before heading over to Enchanted Tales with Belle before our 9-10 am fast pass expired. Enchanted Tales with Belle was a real hit with our kids. They have parts for any kid that wants one so even my little guys got to be a picture frame and a pepper shaker. Each kid met Belle and the staff were fantastic about keeping the kids in line and making sure everyone had their chance. My husband and I and the rest of the parents were able to sit back and enjoy watching the smiles on our kids' faces.
We were then able to hit the Haunted Mansion and use our fast pass for Peter Pan (a favorite for all four of us!) all before getting to our 11 am lunch reservation at Be Our Guest. My husband and I shared the potato leek soup and the braised pork and both were delicious. My kids got the shrimp and ate a bit of that but jumped on the cupcakes that we got for dessert. Unfortunately, everything comes out at once so it was hard to get the kids to focus on the main dish when there were two yummy looking cupcakes right on the table.
After lunch, my son and I used our fast pass for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and got a rider swap pass for my husband while he took my daughter on Barnstormer. We thought Barnstormer was a pretty terrible rollercoaster, short and really jerky, but it was the only one my daughter was tall enough for and she's a real thrill-seeker so we went on it several times. Once she's tall enough for the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, we'll skip Barnstormer on future trips.
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train on the other hand was great! Probably our favorite ride at Magic Kingdom. It has fast dips and turns but is not super intense and there is adorable theming with the dwarfs in the mine. My son giggled the entire time he rode, every time. My son rode Seven Dwarfs a second time with my husband thanks to rider swap while I took my daughter on the Little Mermaid ride. I really enjoyed Little Mermaid which is a calm ride that takes you through the story of the movie with all the songs. The "Under the Sea" room was so fun and I love Ursula so seeing the giant version of her was really cool.
By this point, we had done a ton and both kids were exhausted! We packed them into the stroller and headed towards the park exit running right into the Move It Shake It Dance Party taking place in front of the castle. There were four big floats with Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy and then lots of cast members leading dancing and singing. They invited everyone into the street to dance and somehow we all found the energy to dance for a little bit. When the parade ended, we walked back to the hotel suite with the kids in the stroller for a well deserved rest!
To be continued...
We stayed at Bay Lake Tower in a one bedroom standard view suite on the ground floor. It was fantastic! The suite had a full kitchen, big table, a king bed in the bedroom and a pull out sofa and arm chair in the living room. It also had two full bathrooms - the master had a big spa tub (which basically acted as a small swimming pool for the kids on chilly days) and a rain shower that was glorious. The pool was nice - had a big curly slide that my 4 year old went on a million times and even my 2.5 year old braved it twice! We could walk to the Magic Kingdom and had access to all the restaurants and stores in the Contemporary by crossing over a short walkway. We rented DVC points to be able to afford the suite and that worked out really well. Definitely recommend it!
After arriving from the airport, we rested up and then headed over to Chef Mickey's for dinner. I had read quite a few negative reviews but since we were right at the Contemporary, I figured it would be a nice way to see characters and start the trip without using a park day. I am so glad that we went! The kids loved seeing the characters and my husband and I really enjoyed the food. I thought the various salads were yummy and the prime rib and eggplant parmesan were also fantastic. There was plenty of variety for the kids. I also didn't find it that noisy either. My son is sensitive to noise and didn't have any issues. So I have to say that I do not agree with the negative reviews - at least not the Saturday in late January that we went. This will definitely be our first day tradition!
We rented a stroller from Kingdom Strollers and the process was seamless. The stroller was clean and in good condition and came with the rain cover, a cooler, and the parent console. We collected it at Bell Services and dropped it off there before heading home. Just as ordered. Very easy.
We had groceries delivered by Garden Grocer. We ordered online and everything arrived right on time. We were out in the parks when the groceries arrived and bell services was able to keep everything for us until we returned. They have fridges and freezers for this purpose. Then we got back to our room, I just called down and they delivered everything right into our suite. Easy peasy!
Our first full day, we walked over to Magic Kingdom arriving at about 8:15 am. We went through security and they were letting people enter the park with ropes at the entrances to the various lands. There were photo pass photographers out and we were able to get some really nice family pictures in front of the castle. Better photos than with our pre-park opening breakfast because everyone wasn't charging into the park all at once! It was a chilly, rainy morning so crowds were low. We had fast pass pluses set up for Enchanted Tales with Belle, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, and Peter Pan.
At rope drop, we ran to the Winnie the Pooh ride. What a strange ride! I never expected that the Pooh ride would be dark and scary but it absolutely terrified my 2 year old. It was really trippy. We never rode it after this one time.
We then went to the Dumbo ride and were able to ride it twice without even getting off since there was no one in line. Same thing happened with the Tea Cups - rode it twice with no wait!
After those two, we hit the Carousel and It's a Small World before heading over to Enchanted Tales with Belle before our 9-10 am fast pass expired. Enchanted Tales with Belle was a real hit with our kids. They have parts for any kid that wants one so even my little guys got to be a picture frame and a pepper shaker. Each kid met Belle and the staff were fantastic about keeping the kids in line and making sure everyone had their chance. My husband and I and the rest of the parents were able to sit back and enjoy watching the smiles on our kids' faces.
We were then able to hit the Haunted Mansion and use our fast pass for Peter Pan (a favorite for all four of us!) all before getting to our 11 am lunch reservation at Be Our Guest. My husband and I shared the potato leek soup and the braised pork and both were delicious. My kids got the shrimp and ate a bit of that but jumped on the cupcakes that we got for dessert. Unfortunately, everything comes out at once so it was hard to get the kids to focus on the main dish when there were two yummy looking cupcakes right on the table.
After lunch, my son and I used our fast pass for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and got a rider swap pass for my husband while he took my daughter on Barnstormer. We thought Barnstormer was a pretty terrible rollercoaster, short and really jerky, but it was the only one my daughter was tall enough for and she's a real thrill-seeker so we went on it several times. Once she's tall enough for the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, we'll skip Barnstormer on future trips.
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train on the other hand was great! Probably our favorite ride at Magic Kingdom. It has fast dips and turns but is not super intense and there is adorable theming with the dwarfs in the mine. My son giggled the entire time he rode, every time. My son rode Seven Dwarfs a second time with my husband thanks to rider swap while I took my daughter on the Little Mermaid ride. I really enjoyed Little Mermaid which is a calm ride that takes you through the story of the movie with all the songs. The "Under the Sea" room was so fun and I love Ursula so seeing the giant version of her was really cool.
By this point, we had done a ton and both kids were exhausted! We packed them into the stroller and headed towards the park exit running right into the Move It Shake It Dance Party taking place in front of the castle. There were four big floats with Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy and then lots of cast members leading dancing and singing. They invited everyone into the street to dance and somehow we all found the energy to dance for a little bit. When the parade ended, we walked back to the hotel suite with the kids in the stroller for a well deserved rest!
To be continued...
and if you do rider swap, the pass puts you in the FP line, so you don't need to book it, and it's good for 3 people so you could take the older kids to ride it again.
