My first visit was at 28 years old (almost 29) in 2002. It was sort of a graduation present from college to myself (yep, in only 10 years I got a bachelor's!). I went with my then boyfriend, now husband, who had been there twice before. It was only a month after graduation and three months after my father's death. Maybe that's why I finally understood people's obsession with the place, because it was a very welcomed distraction from an extremely difficult time in my life.
Fast forward seven years. We now have a niece who is 8, a nephew turning 7, a 3 year old daughter and a 17 month old son. We had been waiting and waiting for everyone to get "old enough" to go. I think I was the one who grew most tired of waiting. I knew my niece was outgrowing girly stuff and had a maturity about her that went far beyond her years. It felt like reason would get to her sooner rather than later if we didn't go while she still had a childlike bewilderment about her.
So despite the 1,000s of nasty comments about how my son (17 months) will never remember his first trip to Disney and what a horrible nightmare it sounded like to take two toddlers, we were off. Mommy, Daddy, 3yo girl, 17mo boy. We were joined by my sis and my mom with my sister's two "older" children".
I did a TON of research. And because we thought we were taking this trip 2 or 3 years before (darn, I just kept getting pregnant and postponing it for my poor niece and nephew) we were able to save up. These things, coupled with traveling at an off season period, and a free dining offer, allowed us the opportunity to stay at the Grand Floridian. It was also my mom's first trip and boy, did we spoil her there! Everyone loved our connecting rooms and the gorgeous decor of the resort. The pools were excellent, food was great, we could see fireworks on the lagoon at night as well as the electrical water pageant but the greatest contributing factor for us in choosing GF was that it was on the monorail. And because we were there in September the crowds and weather were much more tolerable as well.
Having the two toddlers meant having two umbrella strollers and two backpacks. It also meant adhering to our regularly scheduled programming as far as potty breaks, snack times, meals and naps. The older kids loved sticking to my two little guys' schedule because it meant guaranteed pool time back at the resort! But there were occasions when my little guys (and Grandma!) were a little tuckered out and just needed a break with their toys back at the room. Because we were on the monorail Grandma felt confident in taking them back to rest by herself so we could continue on playing with the others.
So for us Grandma, the spacious room, being on the monorail - these were all luxuries that made our trip with the two, three and under, not just doable but down right magical.
As I said, I am a bit of a type-A research specialist when it comes to vacation planning. Having 8 people at different ages and levels of ability would have forced me to be for this trip anyway, even if I weren't naturally so. I knew the rules about giving kids the expectations of their behaviors and laying out consequences so they would realize Disney was still reality and they still had to keep their minds about them. I knew to stick with the schedule and to make sure everyone eats, hydrates, and rests. We were also fortunate enough to get to spend 9 days and 8 nights there the first time so we chose to skip the parks a day or two, one of those days we just rested and enjoyed Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party in the evening.
The first day we explored our surroundings and scheduled dinner at our resort for 1900 Park Fare. Every, single one of us LOVED this experience so much that each subsequent visit this has been our arrival night reservation. Our little guy slept through much of it but somehow managed to awaken when the very last character, The Fairy Godmother, came to our table. Since this was his favorite character from the Cinderella story (unless Jac and Gus were hiding out somewhere to be seen later), he went straight to her with a big hug and smile. Truly a special moment.
Because I was as excited as one of the kids to get to the parks the next day, I made sure we were there for rope drop our first day at Magic Kingdom. Our 17 month old son was getting his first haircut at the Harmony Barber Shop on Main St. and I had heard the line can get long quick so head straight there. There were 3 ahead of us so we had a short wait. Unfortunately this meant that I missed the other three kiddos' faces when they walked down Main St. for the first time ever. But luckily Chip 'n Dale were hanging out to distract my son from any melt downs. Mary was quick with his hair cut, offering an endless supply of Mickey stickers to keep him occupied while she worked. When it was finished she gave him a certificate and ears which said, "First Haircut". Gone was the flopsy near baby I had brought to Florida with me, I was now traveling with a handsome little man.
After I put him back in his stroller to work our way down to catch up with the rest of our family, I knelt down next to him and asked him what he thought. In doing so I was able to see the hub and castle exactly from his vantage point as he would see it. My eyes filled with tears because I saw how bright and big and magical it must have looked to my baby. Before I could get too sentimental he finally broke the silence and spoke, "Buzz", he said pointing, "Buzz, Mommy!". So off to Space Ranger Spin in Tomorrowland we went.
I have to mention that moment stuck with me and every time we've gone back I have always tried to see things from both of my children's vantage points for that visit by getting down to their eye level. And I must share that it is amazing while they are growing so much how greatly that can change from visit to visit. It also disproves the theory that a toddler is too young to enjoy Disney. While there may be truth to them not remembering their trip in great detail, parents will. We parents will remember their eyes lighting up when they meet that special character for the first time or their first glance at the parade that is going by. And trust me, there was not a wasted moment from that vacation for my young son.
My prep work lead me to have very organized backpacks filled with things like diapers and wipes, hand sanitizers, juices, snacks, aspirin, ponchos, sippy cups. These things all ended up being super convenient and my husband was quite grateful I took the time to arrange all of this before we ever set foot at a park. Another thing I took care of before we ever even left home was shipping some of those items to us at the Grand Floridian to save us suitcase space. It was an ok idea, one we never repeated. Unfortunately for us the GF staff didn't ever deliver it so my husband got a note asking him to come to the Business Center to pick up a package. Kind of defeated the purpose but it did save us space. I had been cautious and brought overnight pull ups for our three year old just in case plus my son's diapers and swim diapers. I also sent bowls and cereals, dry snacks, and items along those lines so we would have food for whatever meal our free dining plan didn't cover.
Many days we scheduled two character or table meals. This was kind of overkill and did crush us on time. But we had decided to upgrade our dining plan because we were doing it up right. And having the smaller kids we thought the air and rest might be welcomed. And although we were grateful for the respite character meals can take a long time to be seated and to get through so sometimes you shoot yourself in the foot there. I think 1 character meal and 1 sit down meal a day seems to be the best bet for our family on all fronts.
The following year we returned to WDW as a family of four. We stayed in the moderate Port Orleans French Quarter. The kids loved it and we were able to attend MNSSHP again. We have been back two more times since then. Every time Disney changes, the kids have grown and their perspective or desires change, and we learn how to navigate 'the World' more successfully for our family.
