"Cars, Buzz Lightyear, and the Mommyrail" Caden's first trip to Disney World UPDATE 6-20

[Jackiemarie21]

So happy you updated! I totally get what you are saying about your experience, we had moments like that too! In fact, Charlotte sat on my lap for every meal the first three days. Not ideal, but I would still take the trip again!

I'm still so excited you guys got a cars room, what a fun surprise! You all got a lot done that first night, I'm so jealous of people who get to go during low crowd times!

 

[SouthernLady15]

Following along. My son is an April 2012 baby too! His first trip will be this November. Really enjoying your report and congratulations on the new addition!!!

 

[I_Luv_Stitch]

Loved the updates!
What amazing pixie dust with being upgraded for a night, and love the pictures of Caden enjoying the room later on...and how fitting that he had a lightening McQueen pj top on!!
Wow you did get a lot done in your evening of MK!
Can't wait to read more!!

 

[dancergirl4704]

Caden is so adorable!! Every time I have been there I have never seen such large lines for security!!!

I don't have an IPad but I usually love to watch Wreck It Ralph!!!

Your family is the perfect disney family

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

Following along! We took our almost 3 year old last October and I think we only got away with POTC because it was a Halloween party night so I prepped him for the spooky stuff way in advance, showed him YouTube videos etc. He was surprised by the drop though!

How awesome that you guys got the cars room! My DS just saw it for the first time he would love that!

 

[Dugette]

I'm basically dying while waiting to know...lol My type A personality wants to PLAN!!!!!

I was the same way. Can't wait to find out what you're having!

we enjoyed that little boy's magical moment.

Aw, that's sweet!

My sweet cars obsessed little boy was going to get to stay in a Cars room??? Best start ever!!

Such an awesome bit of pixie dust! Still makes me tear up a bit too just thinking of how perfect that was!

The cost to upgrade was WAY higher than anything we were willing to shell out so we threw out that idea and decided to just enjoy our 1 special night.

Bummer that there wasn't more pixie dust there like I was hoping for you! At least you got the one night and it didn't hurt to ask, I guess.

only wanted to sit in my lap

I very much understand this! It gets very hard to eat with someone constantly in your lap.

THAT'S the face I was hoping to see on my boy!

So cute!

Caden is so chill and go with the flow at home (or had been...he's a threenager now so go with the flow is not exactly how i'd describe him anymore) but we were pretty surprised with how crabby and ridged he was at disney.

Totally relate to this from our recent trip. Ugh, threenagers!

Caden loved it! Can't tell from this but he was a huge fan of all Dumbo-like rides!!

He and Izzy would get along well. She feels the same way on the rides, loves Cars, and loves Buzz and all the Toy Story characters.

OMG!! I can't believe we took him on that ride! We're lucky he didn't have nightmares or refuse to ride anything else!

Funny, Izzy keeps telling us that Pirates was scary for her too. I didn't think it would be an issue, since she's ridden it on several past trips, but I guess they're at the age that they start getting scared.

You really got a lot done that night!

 

[STLMickeyMom]

what a great update! I love all the fireworks and parade pictures. i'm so glad Caden warmed up to everything and found some kiddos to watch the parade with. the pictures of him exploring the hotel and being so excited about the room are great!

 

[jandlinz]

Joining in! So glad you got so many things done at MK. The Cars room is really cool. There isn't a little boy who wouldn't love it! That was so nice to get some pixie dust right at check in. Sorry to hear things didn't go as planned. I think he is doing great so far.
-Lindsey

 

[anniebabymu]

Loving all the updates!!! Looks like you guys, overall, had a good first night at the Magic Kingdom. How nice he made a little friend during the Electrical Parade to keep him company! And I'm glad he finally warmed up to the Cars room... what an awesome dose of Pixie Dust! Amazing!!! Can't wait to read more!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

ack - totally had fallen behind and thus have not yet wished you congratulations ... so, congratulations! Very exciting!

I have ideas for both but until I know for sure I can do NOTHING!! So I guess I'll update my trip report lol

I love how it is because you don't know the gender of the baby yet that it pushing you back to updating this TR

"How would you guys like to stay the night in a Cars suite instead?" *cue mommy tears* I did manage to say yes we would love that, and thank her profusely, and then as soon as she was gone I burst into tears. My sweet cars obsessed little boy was going to get to stay in a Cars room??? Best start ever!!

oh gosh that would be so exciting - love moments like that, especially as you just arrive and are still kind of in the pixie dust haze

"OMG!! Andrew look it's Mater!! I can't believe he's sleeping thru this!"

Though that would also give me mixed emotions knowing he was missing the excitement and probably would debate myself if we should wake him up or not

he's a threenager now so go with the flow is not exactly how i'd describe him anymore

We totally use that "threenager" term as well with my son - just a tough age in some aspects. Little things make him flip out - and then on a dime he can flip back to being the sweetest thing ever.

That's a cute story of the little boy who, at 5 years, was able to impart his wisdom and show your son the ropes. Glad he enjoyed the parade - just all those lights and the sounds and the characters must feel like such a fantasy to young kids

IMG_357

Well that is just a spectacular pictures.

That's cool you got on so many rides! And you were still able to head out not too late / tired.

Love the Carsland area of AOA - we spent some time walking around that resort and my kids wanted to pose in front of every Cars car they had. Glad he was more excited about the room when you got back

 

[AprilRenee]

So happy you updated! I totally get what you are saying about your experience, we had moments like that too! In fact, Charlotte sat on my lap for every meal the first three days. Not ideal, but I would still take the trip again!

I'm still so excited you guys got a cars room, what a fun surprise! You all got a lot done that first night, I'm so jealous of people who get to go during low crowd times!

Yes...didn't ruin the trip but it was still annoying lol
And yes! We had a fabulous first night once we got going! And that Cars room was just amazing!!

Following along. My son is an April 2012 baby too! His first trip will be this November. Really enjoying your report and congratulations on the new addition!!!

Thanks! And I bet you guys have a wonderful time! I can already tell that my son would have even more fun now, just 6 months later. By 3.5 it'll be awesome!

Loved the updates!
What amazing pixie dust with being upgraded for a night, and love the pictures of Caden enjoying the room later on...and how fitting that he had a lightening McQueen pj top on!!
Wow you did get a lot done in your evening of MK!
Can't wait to read more!!

Haha! Well of course we had a mcqueen pj shirt! ;-) He IS a 3 yr old boy after all haha. But I definitely pulled that out that night cause it was so fitting!

Caden is so adorable!! Every time I have been there I have never seen such large lines for security!!!

I don't have an IPad but I usually love to watch Wreck It Ralph!!!

Your family is the perfect disney family

Thanks!

Following along! We took our almost 3 year old last October and I think we only got away with POTC because it was a Halloween party night so I prepped him for the spooky stuff way in advance, showed him YouTube videos etc. He was surprised by the drop though!

How awesome that you guys got the cars room! My DS just saw it for the first time he would love that!

He honestly did really well during PotC, didn't cry or anything. Just buried his head in my side. I just felt terrible for not better preparing him for that one!

I was the same way. Can't wait to find out what you're having!
Aw, that's sweet!

Such an awesome bit of pixie dust! Still makes me tear up a bit too just thinking of how perfect that was!

Bummer that there wasn't more pixie dust there like I was hoping for you! At least you got the one night and it didn't hurt to ask, I guess.

I very much understand this! It gets very hard to eat with someone constantly in your lap.

So cute!

Totally relate to this from our recent trip. Ugh, threenagers!

He and Izzy would get along well. She feels the same way on the rides, loves Cars, and loves Buzz and all the Toy Story characters.

Funny, Izzy keeps telling us that Pirates was scary for her too. I didn't think it would be an issue, since she's ridden it on several past trips, but I guess they're at the age that they start getting scared.

You really got a lot done that night!

I totally think Izzy and Caden would have a blast together! They're so similar sometimes! lol Maybe one day we'll have trips that line up and can meet up for a while! That would be super fun!

And I tell ya! He wasn't quite 3 at that point but he DEFINITELY had a threenager week. Now I'm more used to it and have methods for getting him to do what I want lol. I hadn't figured it out yet by that trip! Instead I started using bribes lol...you'll see!

what a great update! I love all the fireworks and parade pictures. i'm so glad Caden warmed up to everything and found some kiddos to watch the parade with. the pictures of him exploring the hotel and being so excited about the room are great!

Yes, once he warmed up (and woke up) he really had a fun night!

Joining in! So glad you got so many things done at MK. The Cars room is really cool. There isn't a little boy who wouldn't love it! That was so nice to get some pixie dust right at check in. Sorry to hear things didn't go as planned. I think he is doing great so far.
-Lindsey

Thanks And welcome!!

Loving all the updates!!! Looks like you guys, overall, had a good first night at the Magic Kingdom. How nice he made a little friend during the Electrical Parade to keep him company! And I'm glad he finally warmed up to the Cars room... what an awesome dose of Pixie Dust! Amazing!!! Can't wait to read more!

I was really grateful to that little boy. He kinda got the night going on the right track.

ack - totally had fallen behind and thus have not yet wished you congratulations ... so, congratulations! Very exciting!

I love how it is because you don't know the gender of the baby yet that it pushing you back to updating this TR

Thanks. LOL ya know, whatever it takes! haha

oh gosh that would be so exciting - love moments like that, especially as you just arrive and are still kind of in the pixie dust haze

It was pretty much the best POSSIBLE surprise!! Amazing!!

Though that would also give me mixed emotions knowing he was missing the excitement and probably would debate myself if we should wake him up or not

I don't think I even considered it lol I needed that child to nap so he could function the rest of the day. I was just sad that he hadn't napped on the plane or something. Now, 6 months later, I'd probably wake him up. But back then, he needed that nap more than anything else and NOTHING was worth waking him up haha

We totally use that "threenager" term as well with my son - just a tough age in some aspects. Little things make him flip out - and then on a dime he can flip back to being the sweetest thing ever.

That's a cute story of the little boy who, at 5 years, was able to impart his wisdom and show your son the ropes. Glad he enjoyed the parade - just all those lights and the sounds and the characters must feel like such a fantasy to young kids

Well that is just a spectacular pictures.

That's cool you got on so many rides! And you were still able to head out not too late / tired.

Love the Carsland area of AOA - we spent some time walking around that resort and my kids wanted to pose in front of every Cars car they had. Glad he was more excited about the room when you got back

We had a great night! And yes, I was glad we were able to get a lot done and still head out before anyone melted down (that was all DH...I would have just kept going and going lol)

 

[AprilRenee]

Day 2! Epcot and Chef Mickey's day

This morning we "slept in" but I'm a mom and wake up with my child so basically we got up at the normal time haha But we didn't rush to get out of the hotel (in hind sight...wish we had and hit rope drop since this was the only morning I felt 100%...but we had no idea)

We were switching to Pop today so I needed to run over and check in. We decided that I'd walk over to Pop and Andrew would get Caden ready for the day as well as pack up our bags and have them ready to go.

So I wandered over to Pop (really nice walk) and took a few pics on my way.

IMG_3621 by April McCandless, on Flickr

Mr RAY!!!!!
IMG_3623 by April McCandless, on Flickr

I think I also checked with bag services before I headed back to the room, they reassured me that they could move our luggage over to Pop so I gave them the info and headed back to the room.

Caden was ready to go!
IMG_3624 by April McCandless, on Flickr

Made him take one more room pic
IMG_3626 by April McCandless, on Flickr

And then I snapped a pic of our luggage. If you've read my "Lost my Soul in ATL" TR you'd understand why lol I'm now pretty terrified to leave my luggage..ummm...EVER haha

IMG_3627 by April McCandless, on Flickr

Then we headed out for Car pics!! These are some of my absolute favorite pics from the whole trip!
IMG_3629 by April McCandless, on Flickr

OMG I mean really??? How cute is this??
IMG_3630 by April McCandless, on Flickr

IMG_3631 by April McCandless, on Flickr

Philmore (caden was trying to do the peace sign)
IMG_3633 by April McCandless, on Flickr

Sarge
IMG_3634 by April McCandless, on Flickr

Daddy with Mater cause Caden had a toddler moment (possibly star struck lol). He may have also been upset cause we couldn't go up by McQueen and Sally cause some guy was power washing them and had ropes around them so no one could go up there...meant to go back but didn't end up doing it. Sad)
IMG_3636 by April McCandless, on Flickr

Ramone
IMG_3638 by April McCandless, on Flickr

Doc (one of his favorites at the time)
IMG_3639 by April McCandless, on Flickr

And then the random DeLorean out in front as we walked to the busses...lol Andrew wanted a picture haha
IMG_3641 by April McCandless, on Flickr

And then we were OFF!!! Heading to Epcot today! On the bus ride I pointed out the Epcot ball and talked to him about what we'd do at Epcot.

We're here!! Someone didn't like getting out of the stroller for pics lol
IMG_3642 by April McCandless, on Flickr

As we wandered in I texted my friend that we were there and to find out when they'd like to meet up. A mom friend of mine and her family was there the same day. The 2 girls are some of my students and some of Caden's babysitters. The younger of the two is also basically his best friend. He adores her. Andrew also gets along well with the dad, so I knew we'd have a fun time with them.

First up, NEMO ride! I thought Caden would like this one (cause umm...it's Nemo) and sure enough he did!
Another favorite pic Also, like our shirts? I made them *puffs up chest in pride*
IMG_3644 by April McCandless, on Flickr

IMG_3645 by April McCandless, on Flickr

Checked out the Aquarium afterward
IMG_3646 by April McCandless, on Flickr

IMG_3647 by April McCandless, on Flickr

Then we had to convince Caden to believe us when we said we'd come back and look some more, cause we needed to get over in time for Andrew's Soarin' FP.

But first...a pic with Nemo
IMG_3651 by April McCandless, on Flickr

We headed over to Soarin' Tried to get Caden to stand up under the measuring stick and he just was having none of it. He was fighting us then giggling and running and we finally just gave up. Even if he was tall enough, he OBVIOUSLY wasn't mature enough lol

So Andrew headed onto Soarin and I took the rider swap pass and Caden and I headed over to Living with the Land. And here is where he decided to be a butt. Probably didn't help that I was annoyed with him for not standing still and checking height (cause I'm pretty sure he would have passed. He was 39ish inches with no shoes and his shoes were pretty thick. If the darn kid had just stood up straight we could have gone as a family UGHHHH Anyway, living with the land with crabby pants
IMG_3653 by April McCandless, on Flickr

He's so thrilled lol
IMG_3654 by April McCandless, on Flickr

He did like that he got to ride a boat! (And wow unflattering photo! lol)
IMG_3657 by April McCandless, on Flickr

Then he decided "momma. I tIIIIIerd" so he took a "nap"
IMG_3658 by April McCandless, on Flickr

Then as we were in the greenhouse area with the bananas he decided to see how far he could go before I cracked. The answer is, the 3rd time you put your foot on the edge of the boat and pretend like you're going to get out...that's when mommy cracks. I warned him after time 2 that if he did it again I'd spank him. He stared right at me and stuck his foot out there again. I had to pull him on my lap and swat his butt while riding on that dang boat! (don't call CPS, it was one swat and probably didn't even hurt that much)

So then he cried and I held him while wishing the darn ride was over already. Thankfully next we had some fish to look at (I think) and he thought those were pretty cool and we moved on.

Finally the ride ended, daddy came out of Soarin', I handed over the child (who BTW got super mommy-clingy during the trip so he probably was crying about being handed over to daddy), and took a little mental break for a moment. We decided to go do something else instead of me riding soarin right away because Caden needed some entertainment.

So off we headed to Turtle Talk with Crush. As we were waiting we got a text from our friends and made plans to meet for lunch at sunshine seasons at X time (Can't remember what time...it was about an hour away). Caden enjoyed the aquariums and the kids there.
IMG_3660 by April McCandless, on Flickr

He was kinda starting to bounce off the walls and I could see him cracking but I didn't know what to do to fix it. Thankfully a little girl played "run up and down the railing" with him for a while and he seemed to perk up a little.
IMG_3661 by April McCandless, on Flickr

Turtle Talk lasted about as long as it took me to take this picture. Then he was DONE!!!! I had let him sit up with the kids and it wasn't going well. He wanted to get up and run around. Finally I had to go get him from up there, gave andrew "The look" and we bailed! lol
IMG_3666 by April McCandless, on Flickr

So before we headed out on our trip I made some super awesome snack packs for each day of our trip.


Guess what I forgot to grab today? The snack pack. Guess how many times we needed it? A LOT!!!!! This was one of those times! We discovered a few months before our trip that when our child gets crabby and falls apart that a quick snack can usually help. So we got a mickey pretzel and a bottle of water.
IMG_3667 by April McCandless, on Flickr

That got him back up and running and we headed to the next ride on the plan, Figment!
IMG_3668 by April McCandless, on Flickr

Apparently he was apprehensive about it lol

Afterward we headed over to the Mickey and Friends meet and greet. I feel like we moved this FP from a later time. I can't remember for sure. Pretty sure our lunch meet up was going to overlap our FP time so we decided to bump it up and get it done before lunch so we would be free to do whatever our friends wanted after lunch. (Also, kinda annoyed that my photos aren't showing me info about time taken...cause it seems like we couldn't possibly have done all this in the time we've been in the park...but that's what they're telling me!)

UP NEXT...meeting the big guy himself...does Caden love it or have yet another toddler moment? Stay tuned!

 

[STLMickeyMom]

I love your AoA pics and the ones from nemo--so cute!

I'm sorry Caden was pushing your buttons on living with the land, but I totally had to laugh at your breaking down on time 3 if sticking his foot on the edge of the boat. It's good to know your limits, right?

Oh turtle talk. Love it--gives me a heart attack after we lost Hannah the first time.

You really do seem to be getting a lot done this morning!

 

[luvpooh]

I just found your report and am simultaneously loving and hating it. You see, we will be bringing our son in October, who will be a few weeks shy of 3 at the time. So I can see everything that's been happening to you, happening to us. I'm taking notes though, you have some good tips.

And congrats on your upcoming arrival!

 

[Meeko5]

Following!

Your kid makes the cutest expressions! That snack pack is genius, taking notes for our trip!

 

[AprilRenee]

I love your AoA pics and the ones from nemo--so cute!

I'm sorry Caden was pushing your buttons on living with the land, but I totally had to laugh at your breaking down on time 3 if sticking his foot on the edge of the boat. It's good to know your limits, right?

Oh turtle talk. Love it--gives me a heart attack after we lost Hannah the first time.

You really do seem to be getting a lot done this morning!

Lol dude! I was so done with him by then lol

I just found your report and am simultaneously loving and hating it. You see, we will be bringing our son in October, who will be a few weeks shy of 3 at the time. So I can see everything that's been happening to you, happening to us. I'm taking notes though, you have some good tips.

And congrats on your upcoming arrival!

Lol! Sorry! Honestly, a few more months may have made a difference. He was 33 months at the time. So 3 extra months is 3 months more mature. And he would have been talking better by then too.

Just be prepared to throw out every single thing on your plan. Choose 1 must do each day and let everything else be gravy. I thought my docile child would go with the flow and do what I had planned like he does at home. Not so much.

Next trip I'm planning NOTHING! We'll show up and have fun and I won't be disappointed cause I won't have any plans. Lol (I have this meltdown later in the trip lol)

Also, we regretted doing dinner ADRs. By the time dinner was done he was fried and we were exhausted. We almost never made it back to the parks at night. Next trip with a 3 yr old will be CS only. But some have very different opinions on this. For us, it was a mistake.

Following!

Your kid makes the cutest expressions! That snack pack is genius, taking notes for our trip!

Aww thanks! He learned the word "selfie" on this trip and would yell it out when we took pics. Haha. Too funny!!

And that snack pack totally saved our lives!! I was so glad to have it (every other day!) lol we also had a bottle of water in there. Just wasn't in the pic.

 

[AprilRenee]

Just be prepared to throw out every single thing on your plan. Choose 1 must do each day and let everything else be gravy. I thought my docile child would go with the flow and do what I had planned like he does at home. Not so much.

I should clarify, he did what we wanted, he just wasn't happy about it many times and made it known. It wasn't the "oh boy! Yes let's do THAT fun thing now mom" response I had been imagining.

His answer to everything was "no"

Do you wanna see Mickey?
No

Do you wanna ride this ride?
No

Do you wanna eat at this cool place?
No

It was really upsetting to me. I realize he's 3 but for a mommy who was imagining how much fun he would have and how much he would love every minute, it was kinda crushing.

Thankfully it eventually turned around.

 

[jandlinz]

I love the pictures at AoA. Caden is super cute. So sorry he was pushing your buttons. I always say it should be called the thundering threes. I hope after his snack he turns around for you.
-Lindsey

 

[luvpooh]

We're already getting the 'no's for every question, like when I show him a picture of something, one of those commercials come on Disney Jr, etc. So that's not promising!

I've definitely set our expectations to be go with the flow. We only have one dinner ADR, and we will add more, or not, while we are there. My son is a lot like yours, easygoing at home, likes to go out places, etc, but I think he likes his routine.

 

[AprilRenee]

We're already getting the 'no's for every question, like when I show him a picture of something, one of those commercials come on Disney Jr, etc. So that's not promising!

I've definitely set our expectations to be go with the flow. We only have one dinner ADR, and we will add more, or not, while we are there. My son is a lot like yours, easygoing at home, likes to go out places, etc, but I think he likes his routine.

Lol oh dear!

Well it sounds like you are a little better prepared mentally than I was. I pretended I was going to be ok with plans changing (and honestly I was). I was not ok with him being a miserable stinker.
I'd maybe start talking to him about the routine at Disney. I think maybe that would have helped Caden. "We'll get up and get dressed right away, then eat in our hotel, then get on the bus and go to a park and ride some rides, then eat some lunch... Etc.
cause once he figured that part out and that each day was pretty much the same, that's when he started enjoying himself and not saying no to everything.