First Family Trip to Disneyworld!

[tehniqi]

Obviously this is my first pre-trip report, but hopefully will not be my last. I had been tentatively planning a trip for February of 2017 before my son hit the 3-year-old mark, but after getting a job after being a SAHM, getting another even better job, and just life being life... it did not happen. So yes, I have been planning a Disneyworld trip for my kid since he was in utero.

After lurking and reading a ton I decided to go ahead and do a pre-trip report because I find them and post trip reports to be so helpful, more so than abbreviated blog posts or general podcasts/vlogs that may not be tailored to my particular family situation. Also, I am a huge planner by nature. Probably why I love my job so much, haha.

Table of Contents (will be updated as I add things)

Some Introductions are in Order​

 

[tehniqi]

Some Introductions are in Order

Hello! My name is Nikki. I do not have a Disney picture to give you but here's a gym selfie of me training to defeat the Huns. I do not have a Disney picture of myself because this is.. drum roll..

My first trip to Disneyworld!

I should probably explain though because I am not a Disney newbie. I visited Disneyland about 5 times during my childhood of living on the west coast. I've visited once as an adult.
We don't have pictures in my family because the focus was always riding every single ride, do not slow down, do not pass go. We did not do FastPass and the idea of doing character meet and greets was unheard of. We did buy souvenir photos on one visit, but they've never been scanned. I don't even know that someone still has them. Also as I got older since I am the baby of the family, we tended to ride the bigger rides over and over by all of us getting in the single rider lane so even souvenir photos were out. I'm sure there's a picture of me somewhere but it's a hardcopy! But I digress...

Nowadays, I am a 30-year-old living in Western MA, ex-professional pastry chef, and working as an administrative assistant to a group of a couple hundred hardware engineers.

Favorite Disney Movie: I can't really pick one, Tangled and Maleficent are probably tied for the top spot because their themes of surviving abuse really touch me on a deeper level. I also have a special spot for Lilo and Stitch, I have the quote about family never being left behind at my desk even!
Favorite Rides: Space Mountain, POTC, and Peter Pan's Flight (Disneyland)
Favorite Disney Restaurant: Blue Bayou. Dat gumbo haunts my dreams in a very good way.​

These are my boys! The big kid is my husband, Mike, and the little kid is our son, Pauly.

Mike is in his 30's and works as a software engineer and manager. He has been to Disneyworld a couple of times but his parents apparently had a miserable time (so hot, long lines, big crowds, etc) and he never really felt the desire to go back as an adult, until we had our son.

Pauly will be 4 at the time of our trip. If I had to describe him in just a few words I'd say active, curious, stubborn, and generous. This will be his first ever trip to Disneyworld (or any Disney park)! He has Sensory Processing Disorder and his speech is not super clear, but he works hard and we do all we can to support him in making life as smooth as possible even with the limitations. Like his daddy, he is a little introvert and needs a decent amount of down time away from people and overly stimulating things to recharge his batteries. His favorite Disney movie is Big Hero 6 so I am definitely carving out a significant chunk of time in our Epcot plans so he can meet Baymax! Another consideration about him is that "generous" part of his personality... whenever we go ANYWHERE Pauly insists that we get souvenirs for his classmates and friends, so that will be a part of our planning.

And here we all are this past Halloween! The hubs and I have been accused of spoiling our son and to some extent those accusations are correct. Something we both love about being parents is the ability to make experiences truly magical for our kiddo, and when it comes to an "experience" we're willing to shell out quite a bit. We are not Disney fanatics, but we're both SO FREAKING EXCITED to throw ourselves 100 percent into having our little man experience the Disney magic and re-live the magic ourselves. ​

 

[Tenacious K]

Can’t wait to hear about your plans!

 

[Skippyboo]

Falcons fans living in Western MA- man last year had to bad for a Falcons fan. I live in Atlanta and it was bad here but to be surrounded by Patriots fans would be awful.

When do you plan on going to WDW?

 

[tehniqi]

Falcons fans living in Western MA- man last year had to bad for a Falcons fan. I live in Atlanta and it was bad here but to be surrounded by Patriots fans would be awful.

It was fun around the office, that's for sure I'm actually a Seahawks fan (grew up in Seattle after all) but I support the Falcons when I can. I think it helped my husband that I had the previous year's defeat against my team so the hubs knew his misery had lots of good company in me. That being said I was a very happy lady at the outcome of this year's game, hahaha.

When do you plan on going to WDW?

We're still finalizing an exact date but we're hoping for Sept 21-Sept 27. Unfortunately, it's the end of the fiscal year then so my husband's workload as a manager may make it tough for him to commit, I had hoped to put in for our room reservations today but he's a bit skittish without triple checking. I'll know soon though, worst case is we have to push it back or bump it forward a bit. We're hoping to stay at the AKL!

 

[Skippyboo]

AKL is super nice. There are lots activities for the kids but it’s also has a lot of quiet areas. You can see animals all throughout the public areas so it’s not like if you have to spend the money on the savanna view to see the animals. The bus ride to AK Park is super if you’re going to spend a lot of time there.

End of September will put you in Food and Wine at Epcot and Not So Scary Halloween party time at MK.

 

[tehniqi]

Hello Disney friends! I am working on a post of my when/where/why but I thought this would be suitable to put here.. after I got off work I had some time to spare before I had to go pick the kiddo up from preschool so I did some shopping. I thought you fine folks would enjoy seeing my haul!

Ta da!

I apologize for the potato quality, right now I am using a very cheap pay as you go phone because the nearest Sprint store is an hour away (where I live is a shopping wasteland) and I need to go to one in person in order to upgrade my iphone. This was the fruits of about 20 minutes of browsing, and I was very happy at all that I found.. the crazy part is I went to a dollar store, so all that you see above came to a whopping $29. This is one of my husband and my weird dichotomies, we'll shell out for expensive stuff and trips but can't help but love a great deal, haha (you will see this when I detail our food plans, we're not doing a dining plan and are going to make full use of our room's kitchenette, ha). This is stuff that will be used just before or on the trip so I'd rather it be cheap so if it gets ruined I'm not freaking out (not that I am the "freaking out" type, mind you) about how much we paid for it. As y'all know, stuff straight from Disney (either in their parks or stores or online) can cost a pretty penny even if it seems basic.

So, here's what I got!

1. 24 Piece Puzzle
2. Cup
3. Bubbles
4. Star Wars themed playing cards (my little guy loves War and Go Fish, can't wait to teach him Rummy!)
5. Pre-School workbooks. We do these for fun when he's restless, I'm not militant about it and he likes the physical accomplishment of completed pages
6. Dry-erase board
7. Wash clothes! There's a Lightning McQueen, Mickey, and Donald.
8. Yo-yo
9. Figurines! Cruz Ramirez, Goofy, and Donald
10. Flash cards! See my comment on 5.
11. Finding Dory collectible dogtags
12. Stickers! Tsum-Tsum Disney and Star Wars
13. Lightning McQueen paint your own poster
14. Giant Mickey Pen
15. Smaller Mickey Pen with holographic spinner top
16. Coloring books

I am planning on putting together a "package from Mickey" for my son to open with a letter and some stuff for the plane and trip, and then use the rest as in-room surprises during the trip to help keep him occupied and excited to go back to the hotel at the end of the day. So the more of this stuff I can find, the better! I wish the gender neutral stuff was as popular as the princess stuff, though. I found about three times the cool stuff I found here that was princess, and even though I've raised my son to like what he likes and gender norms be darned, he is a boy's boy all the way through. He DID tell me though that he would like to meet the Princesses because "They are very pretty". He also asked me if we could bring flowers to bring them, hahaha. I guess we'll cross that bridge as the time approaches!

 

[Skippyboo]

You may want to pick up some glow in the dark bracelets or sticks at the Dollar Store for MK at night

 

[tehniqi]

You may want to pick up some glow in the dark bracelets or sticks at the Dollar Store for MK at night

How do you recommend I use them? I didn't buy them this trip because he tends to find them or they're sacrificed for the rest of the haul, lol

 

[Skippyboo]

The MK gets kind of dark at night so you can bring out the glow in the dark stuff especially useful waiting for the fireworks

 

[SmallMama]

I am following. I am going on my first big trip and First Disney trip with my 4, almost 5 year old in May. We can only squeeze a day at MK, but it still should be fun.

 

[SueandPooh24]

Following your trip. We just booked our first trip. Also, from MA.

 

[cajunfan]

Love your Dollar Tree haul! Yep, it is a girls world when is comes to merchandise, period. Has been (my son is 24 now...) since mine was little. Anywho, if you want to find more cool Disney stuff, check out your local Target Dollar Spot...I have had good luck there. Walmart will sometimes have a decent selection too, although my local one seems to be hit or miss. I too always buy lots of glow sticks (I am an adult and usually love sharing with those around me while waiting for parades and things.

Where are you all staying? Hopefully on property, as that would make it so much easier since your son has sensory issue. Also are you driving or flying....having a car might be helpful depending on how your son would do on buses and other transportation.