My family of 4's first trip to Disney- May 17-24**completed 11/10**

[firsttimer4]

Welcome to my TR. I have been going back and forth on whether I should write a review or not. I've finally decided to do it!!

The days and months leading up to the trip.....

My name is Liza. I'm 31 and my husband and I have two wonderful kids. Lane just turned 6 and Olivia is 3. Growing up I don't remember Disney ever being a topic in my house. Of course I grew up watching Disney movies and loving the characters, but I don't remember ever wanting to go. As I grew older I wanted to go more and more. Then once I had kids I KNEW it was a must! But unfortunately Disney just wasn't in the cards financially. On December 6th I got a phone call that would forever change my life. My mom had been killed in a car accident. My whole world was flipped upside down. I thank God for the amazing support system that I have. It was the hardest thing I ever had to face. My mom didn't have a lot of money and had just started a new job, so I was shocked to find out she had a small life insurance policy. After everything settled my nanny and best friend told me I should use what was left of the money (after funeral expenses) to take my family to Disney. I fought with the idea for a while. I didn't know if it was the right decision, was it too soon, etc. They told me over and over that it was something my mom would be overjoyed knowing she was able to do for us. My kids were my mom's world and anything that made them smile made her happy. I prayed about it and asked her if it was the right thing to do to send me a sign. Well I got LOTS of signs!! Soon after I booked the trip!

I decided to go through a TA since Disney was all new to me and seemed overwhelming. My DS was in kindergarten so we decided it would be ok to let him miss the last few days of school. We wanted to beat the memorial day crowd. As soon as the trip was booked I went to work booking all of our dinner reservations. I was able to get reservations at all the places I wanted. We live in Louisiana and probably could have drove the 12 or so hours, but after much talk we decided to fly. We thought an hour and a half travel with two small kids sounded much better than 12 hours!!

We decided to keep the trip a surprise from our kids. I was so glad that I only had to keep the secret for about 2 months. I don't think I could of held it any longer!! We made this decision for a few reasons. 1.) Who doesn't love surprises?! 2.) We knew if we told them we would get.."Are we leaving yet?" about a million times.

In the months leading up the trip I did TONS of research and spent countless hours on the DIS. There is no way our trip would have been a success without the help of everyone on here. So I hope my review will help someone else.

All my photos are currently uploading to photobucket so as soon they load I will be back to post pics of the cast.

Quick links:

The cast and the reveal!

May 17th-It's Finally here!!

Day 1 Updates
Our first official day in Disney!!
First Character meeting!
Cinderella Waved at Me!!
Live Life Update

Day 2 Updates
I got to potty!
Can we go on splash mountain now?
T-rex and DTD

Sorry It's been so long

Day 3 Updates
Epcot- "I don't feel so good"
Epcot Continued....

Day 4 Updates
Hollywood Studios
Off to some shows...
Evening at Hollywood

Day 5 Updates
Animal Kingdom
Animal Kingdom Continued....
The Lion King
Art of Animation Tour
Art of Animation Tour Continued

Day 6 Updates
Typhoon Lagoon
Chef Mickey's

Day 7 Updates
Our Last Day

Final Thoughts/Things learned

 

[firsttimer4]

The cast of my TR. My daughter, Olivia, 3 years old. My son Lane who was 5 at the time of our trip. My husband, John, and myself.



We're going to Disney Today!! We left on a Friday and our flight was at 4:50. That morning I got up just like it was a normal day. I got the kids up and dressed and dropped them off at daycare and school. They had no idea what was going on. I came home finished packing, got the dog boarded, went to the bank, etc. Our plan was to pick the kids up around 1:30-2 and head to the airport since it's about an hour drive. It had been about 14 years since I had flown and the kids first time so I wanted to make sure we had plenty of time. My husband and I had time to grab some lunch and still had time to spare. I was so nervous about the reveal. My stomach was turning I called daycare about 10 minutes before we left and asked if they could wake Olivia up from her nap and have her ready. We picked her up and all she wanted to know was if we were going get her bubba. We drove the 5 minutes to Lane's school and I went in to check him out. Once we got in the car neither of them ever asked why we were picking them up early.

So here is the reveal........(I hope this link works)

The Reveal!!!

 

[firsttimer4]

Can anyone tell me why the actual link to my pic is posting, why the color and font I choose is showing up and why you can't actually click the link to the video?

 

[wiigirl]

Following along!

 

[6travel]

Following. We just came back from our first trip.

 

[firsttimer4]

So the plan for Friday evening was....Our flight would land at 7:30. We'd take the ME to POP century, get checked in, grab a bite to eat and walk over to art of animation until our luggage arrived.

The kids did great on their first flight! I found that I was a little nervous. I'm not sure why. I guess the fact that there was alot of precious cargo on that plane. The last time I flew I was 14 and didn't have anyone else to worry about but myself.



This is the only pick I got from their first flight Yes she is a little princess! One of the topics of discussion before we left was seating arrangements on the plane. I ended up sitting with the kids while my husband sat in front of us. We changed this up on the way home!

Once we landed I was having alot of trouble getting my ear to pop. It was driving me crazy and I wasn't truly able to enjoy the "we're in Disney!!" feeling. It didn't end up poping until we were at the check in counter at the hotel.

Once we got checked in and got our first visit buttons we headed to the room to drop off the few things we had on us. Then we went to the food court in POP. By this time the kids were whiney. I guess all the excitement of the day and the travel really wore them out. It was kind of a balancing act to get our food and keep up with the kids. When we sat down my DS wouldn't eat and ended up laying down in the booth and falling asleep. This is very unlike him so I felt his head and he felt warm. I was bummed that he could possibly be sick. I had packed some tylenol just in case so I was hoping that by the time we got back to the room our luggage would be there. We were not impressed with the food. We all just basically picked at our meal. When we got to the room the luggage hadn't made it yet So our first purchase at Disney was children's advil in the gift shop. I just prayed that he would be ok in the morning.

By 10:30 our luggage had still not arrived. I called and they said it would be there shortly. At midnight still no luggage. Called again and they said within an hour or they could hold it until the morning. Well my contact solution and case was in there plus our pajama's so I needed it. It was 1am by the time our luggage arrived Lessen learned for the next time....pack a better carryon.

So it didn't quite go as planned so this is when I realized that I was gonna have to be flexible with the plan I had. [/COLOR]

 

[JohnstonMandy]

First - loved the reveal video. <3


I lost my mom 5 years ago, when I was 28. Before she died she told me I would find joy again and I didn't believe her...but mom is always right. I am so glad you did this with your family. I hope you had a wonderful trip and I look forward to reading more!!

 

[firsttimer4]

First - loved the reveal video. <3


I lost my mom 5 years ago, when I was 28. Before she died she told me I would find joy again and I didn't believe her...but mom is always right. I am so glad you did this with your family. I hope you had a wonderful trip and I look forward to reading more!!

Thank you! I find myself watching it every now and then. I can't help but to have the biggest smile on my face. I love their excitement!

We had some bumps in the road but all in all we had a great vacation and I am so glad that we did it.

Thanks for following my TR

 

[FauntleroyFAN07]

great video of the kids reaction, and sorry to hear about the passing of your mom.

and that seems like a really long time for your luggage to be delayed, i wonder what there problem was with it taking so long.

 

[firsttimer4]

great video of the kids reaction, and sorry to hear about the passing of your mom.

and that seems like a really long time for your luggage to be delayed, i wonder what there problem was with it taking so long.

They never really gave us a reason for the delay. The first time I called they said that it had just arrived and they were unloading it. That was at 10:30 so I'm not sure what took so long.

 

[choppee]

your kids are such cuties! and hey, i got lots of family in louisiana--terrebonne parrish!

glad that you were able to have some joy in the midst of your sadness. i'm sure your momma would be glad that you did this. what a wonderful celebration of her life. looking forward to your trip report!

 

[firsttimer4]

The plan for today was: Magic Kingdom! I knew I wanted to go straight to Fantsy land. We have ADR at Crystal Palace for 6:25pm. We were going to play a nap/rest by ear.

I was so happy when Lane woke up feeling fine. I had placed an order from garden grocer that had been delivered before we arrived. We were on the dining plan and had decided to use our credits for lunch and dinner. My husband isn't much of a breakfast person but my DD on the other hand needs food as soon as her feet hit the floor. I ordered poptarts, powdered donuts, cereal, bananas, yogart, milk, orange juice, etc.

So we got up and had breakfast and got dressed. You would think since it was a late night that I would have been able to sleep late. But I was the first one up every morning! I was too excited to sleep! We had rented a double stroller from apple scooters. I was kind of worried that DS would say that he was too big for a stroller and then DD wouldn't want in it either. Thank goodness that never happened! They loved it and it was a life saver.

Before we knew it we were on the bus to MK!!


Once we got there I wanted to get our photopass plus info. I went into the town center and got everything we needed. While I was in there the kids took advantage of some photo ops


Then it was off to see the castle for the first time!


It was so much more amazing in person. Olivia loved it! And of course since we had the photopass plus we took some pics.
[

We headed through the castle into fantasyland. As newby's we weren't sure exactly where we were going. So as we passed the winnie the pooh ride we noticed the line wasn't long so we jumped in it.
/



There were a couple moments of darkness where Olivia wasn't too certain about things. I leaned over and let her know that we were at Disney and that nothing here was going to hurt her. From that point on I tried to warn her as much as I could (with the great info I had from the DIS and watching youtube videos). Let me just say that even though the trip was a surprise I still tried to prepare the kids. We watched youtube videos of rides, trip reports, and I got the Disney video.

From there we headed to Dumbo. There was no wait so we skipped the inside play area.

I had this little cutie riding with me!


Then it was off to the barnstormer. We had watched the youtube video at home and I knew this was the only rollercoaster Olivia would be tall enough to ride. She loved the video and said she wanted to ride it. I think we only were in line about 5 minutes. Olivia was fine until we sat down. She instantly started crying. I told her it would be ok and we were off. I am not a huge rollercoaster person but I had made my mind up to try everything atleast once. I wanted the kids to know it was ok and that if we didn't like it we never had to do it again. This ride is quick for a kids coaster!! I think it was over in 30 seconds. We got off and I asked Olivia what she thought. She said she liked it but didn't want to do it again! LOL!!

It was time for a potty break. While standing there we heard the train and decided to take a ride. At first Olivia said NO! She was a little shaken up after the barnstormer. We explained to her that the train wouldn't do anything like that. She still was unsure about it until we took off.


I have to run for now. Lunch break is over! Up next: Our first character meeting!
COLOR][/SIZE]

 

[firsttimer4]

your kids are such cuties! and hey, i got lots of family in louisiana--terrebonne parrish!

glad that you were able to have some joy in the midst of your sadness. i'm sure your momma would be glad that you did this. what a wonderful celebration of her life. looking forward to your trip report!

Thank you!

I am originally from St. James parish, but have lived in Ascension most of my life.

 

[firsttimer4]

Once we got off the train we spotted pete's silly sideshow. We weren't sure exactly what it was but decided to head inside. We were very happy to see characters!! There were two lines. To the right was goofy and Donald and to the left was Daisy and Minnie. Neither line was very long so we decided on daisy and Minnie first. Prior to the trip I had already talked to Olivia about how big the characters were in real life, but I still wasn't sure how she would do.



It was love at first sight! The characters ended up being Olivia's favorite part of Disney. She had to give everyone of them a kiss and a hug



Next up was the beautiful Minnie!



They cut the line off after us and said Minnie needed to "get her makeup done". Olivia thought that was great and talked about it for quite some time.

Next we headed to see Goofy and Donald.



The treats on the way out looked amazing! But we decided to skip that for now and find something for lunch.


We decided to stop at Cosmic Ray's for lunch. I got the pulled pork sandwich, the kids got nuggets and DH got a burger. Mine was really good!!

After lunch we headed out to the tomorrowland speedway.


Something was wrong with the car in front of us so it was a very slooow ride. After our ride it was starting to get hot so we decided to head back to the room for a nap. We knew that it would be a late night because we wanted to catch the parade and fireworks as this would be our only opportunity to do so. On our way out we happened upon the parade!




Up next: Crystal Palace, parade and fireworks!

 

[firsttimer4]

So after our rest we headed back to MK. Our dinner reservations were at 6:25. We were there a little early and decided to see if we could check in. There were Lots of people sitting on the porch waiting. But I think we only waited about 10 minutes or so. We were seated and some of the characters were already close so we waited to go get something to eat. First up was....



And soon after Piglet left Tigger made his way to us.

I wish this pic had turned out better.


There was a break so we went to grab some food. I have to say that I was not really impressed with the food or the amount of choices. But the staff and character interaction definitely made up for that. During one of our trips to the buffet Lane actually dropped his plate and the castmembers were great! They swept everything up very quickly and gave him another plate.




And out of all the Pooh characters Eeyore is my favorite so I had to take a pic with him.

And of course Olivia had to give everyone of them a giant hug!

As soon as we got the bill I was extremely excited that we had decided to do the dining plan. If we hadn't I'm one of those people that would have stressed over how much each meal cost. Our bill was around $120.00

After dinner we didn't really have a plan so we just wondering through the castle and saw Mickey's Philharmagic. The show was about to start and there wasn't any wait so we went in. I wasn't really sure what to expect.

The show was great!!! We all loved it!
From there we walked over to a small world. There was a pretty long wait but the kids were enjoying seeing the boats go by.



It was cute but I think this is one of those rides that you do once and never have to do again.
We had grabbed fast passes for the little mermaid before we went to philharmagic so we headed there next.



I have quite a few pics in this exact same spot because we came to a complete stop. A voice came over and said they were having technical difficulty and would get us moving again as soon as possible. It seemed like we sat there forever but I'm sure it was only 5 minutes or so.



Everything in this ride is beautiful!
We knew the parade would be starting soon but we weren't sure where exactly to go. They had the entrance to the castle blocked off so a Castmember told us where to head. We got lucky and got great seats. I'm sorry to say I'm not even sure where exactly we were. But the kids and I were able to sit right behind the ropes and John stood a little ways behind us. Unfortunately my camera wouldn't take good pics.


I tried to take pics with my phone, but they weren't much better.

Cinderella was waving and looked right at Olivia and waved to her. She started hollering "cinderella waved to me!!" It was so cute!
Once the parade ended we headed over to find a spot for the fireworks. Of course as soon as they started Olivia had to potty. So her and I had to run all the way up to where crystal palace is to find a bathroom. Once we made it back Lane was pouting. I asked him what was wrong and he said he was tired. We decided to make our way out before the fireworks ended. Do to all of this I didn't get any pics.
We did decide to stop at the Main street bakery. Lane got cotton candy, Olivia got a marshmellow mickey and John and I split a chocolate covered pineapple.


I took this while we were waiting for the bus. As you can tell Lane is not a happy camper. As soon as the bus started moving he was asleep. I actually think every kid on the bus was asleep except Olivia. She didn't stop talking long enough to let herself fall asleep!

Up next: Magic Kingdom Day 2 and DTD

 

[choppee]

what a wonderful first day you guys had! it looks like the kids really enjoyed themselves and had a great time....gonna stay with you and read on!

 

[scholastica]

Your trip report is great so far. It is fun to see it through the eyes of an adult first timer. Your daughter looks like she LOVED the character meets, she has the biggest smile! I also love your son's expression in the last picture, I've so been there.

 

[firsttimer4]

Your trip report is great so far. It is fun to see it through the eyes of an adult first timer. Your daughter looks like she LOVED the character meets, she has the biggest smile! I also love your son's expression in the last picture, I've so been there.

Thanks for following along! I was actually starting to wonder if anyone was. lol!!

She absolutely loved the characters! She still talks about Disney everyday! And if she see's a character on TV that we didn't meet she wants to know why.

 

[firsttimer4]

what a wonderful first day you guys had! it looks like the kids really enjoyed themselves and had a great time....gonna stay with you and read on!

Thanks for following along with me.

It was a great first day!! I have to thank the DIS and my Disney FB group for all the help. I don't think our trip would have been as smooth without all the great advice I got.

 

[annie170]

Your kids are just adorable! Those are some priceless photos with the characters!

I agree with you regarding Crystal Palace's food. We never saw all the characters and waited entirely too long for our bill. I'm not sure I'll return there considering there are better options in character meals.