Our girls 1st trip to WDW . . . & Pre-trip for 2nd Trip About This Page:

[Walkerfam]

We will officialy be taking our twin girls for the 2nd trip to Walt Disney World in 21 days. . . but as we prepare for this trip with the girls, I thought I would share their first trip at 8 mths. old.

Our first trip was in March of 2009. It included me (Ayden), DH (Andrew) and our girls (Emersyn & Harlow).

I hope you enjoy & I can't wait to report on the second trip

[Walkerfam]

Approximately 452 days since the girls (in utero) and I had left the fabulous Walt Disney World resort, we were finally headed back. It had been a few months longer for Andrew, but he's kind of a robot and refuses to show excitement about said trips, so I don't feel at all sorry for him. The planning for this trip had been a very different one since - if you have ever seen an infant you know - babies don't like to let you get settled. I am very much a Type A, planner sort. Again, if you've ever been around an infant you know that a "schedule" means a routine that lasts a week or two, until baby (or babies as the case may be) change things up on you. I'm proud to say that ours doesn't throw us too far off course usually, but that's at home. Familiar rooms, familiar cribs, naptimes and feeding routines, etc. That's not at WDW.

For this trip, I had "planned" to comeback to the room for one chunk of time each day. It is completely unrealistic to plan to come backfor all of our scheduled "nap times", but I also refuse to be that family in the park that has pushed their boundaries day after day. It just won't work like that for us, and I know it!

Still, planning a trip that includes children I'd never even technically met proved to be a bit hard, and didn't really get much easier until a few weeks before we left. Heck, you know I can't even figure out what size clothing to buy ever!

At 3:30am every day, I'm awake. This is one of many times throughout each night that I am, but I obviously don't get up for the day most of the time. When the alarm is set to go off at 4 though, as the case was on our departure day, I obviously was not going back to sleep. I woke Andre up and we started getting ready to head out. We were finally getting back to WDW!

At about 4:40am, we got the girls up. We changed diapers and assumed they would fall back to sleep in the car, but they were wide awake. Is it possible they were "Too excited to sleep!" at 8 months old?! Did I have some Disney junkies on my hands already?!

I'm sure not, but the fact remains that they babbled and laughed and played the entire way to the airport. This would become an issue later..

At about exit 43 (which means absolutely nothing to any of you, except that it's on the way to the airport), I looked at Andrew as When a Wish Upon a Star was playing (the Jesse McCartney version off of one of the Disneymania CDs) and said "Andrew, we are taking OUR CHILDREN to Walt Disney World. Can you believe it?" To which he replied something like, "I know... it's pretty cool. We always used to talk about it, and it's here!". (seriously, probably the most emotion he's shown ever, to date. Including during our wedding and the birth of our girls. Probably close to the last I'll ever see too, I'm sure ). It really was special though, and something we had dreamt about for quite some time!

Speaking of the aforementioned song, I had made a CD for the drive. I was bored out of my mind the day before travel day! I had tried to time it perfectly with the drive and parking, including - but not limited to - a variety of Disney soundtrack songs, park music and non-Disney stuff that was applicable, a variety of song styles (considering I got reprimanded for blaring upbeat Disney stuff "too early" on the last drive!, etc. I put a lot of work into it (mostly for the challenge itself), and then we decided to have Andrew drop me, the girls and the Stuff off while parking the car. I made him promise to listen and tell me how close I was with my timing. He loves me for who I am, which is a very good thing, and found it cute instead of obnoxious. For the record, I was about 4 minutes off. Must try harder next time...

At about 5:45am, the girls continued to be wide awake and flirting with everyone that passed by while waiting at the airport.

Holy crap, I thought to myself, this is ridiculous. I was referring to the amount of luggage we had, considering we used to travel so daggone efficiently! Not even pictured was the (awkwardly-shaped but incredibly useful) carseat bag that was a lifesaver in checking the girls' seats. Seriously though, we were a crazy mess trying to get ourselves and the girls and all of our Stuff from point A to B to C and all the other places they make you take it that we never noticed until we were in dire need of about 2983 more arms!

As I had mentioned, I had every possible scenario covered with regards to our carry-on luggage and things we had to "declare" to security. I'm a former member of the "diamond" group of travelers (on the TSA sign.. never mind :P) that had everything ready and caused no trouble, so "breaking all the rules" (albeit legally) was something new for me. As predicted since I was so well-prepared, the TSA was outstanding throughout this whole trip. They have an entire lane for "Families and Liquids" and we were treated so well, put through so efficiently (with just a quick "pat down" because of the stuff we were carrying), etc. Everyone was so friendly, loved on the girls a bit (helpful, I'm sure, to have them with us!) and we were through in no additional time at all.

The girls ate breakfast while waiting for the plane, and sat and played for a while. They would be due for a nap as soon as we were on the plan, which should have been perfect!

Should have, of course, except that they didn't nap. Why would they?! They were fine on the plane in that being on the plane didn't bother them, but lack of sleep was certainly evident as they tried to squirm out of our arms repeatedly, laughed and squealed deliriously, and fussed just a little. Honestly, it could have been much worse. They didn't scream, they didn't really cry... they just didn't sleep! Harlow slept about 20 minutes, Emmersyn probably an hour (in chunks). Bear this in mind as you keep a running total of sleep since 4:30am....

As we always do on this particular flight (yes, we try and fly on the same flight every trip - it just works out well for our schedule! ), we were at the gate in Orlando about 25 minutes ahead of schedule. We waited 7 or 8 minutes for the previous plane to leave, and then it took a while to get off the plane (we're used to sitting in the front, but because of errors with seating assignments (FYI - two infants can't sit in the same row!), we were towards the back.

Still, we were at MCO, ready to run a few errands (seriously, kids throw things for a loop, don't they?! ) and then FINALLY be Home!

I waited for the luggage and fed the girls while Andrew went to get the car. I stuffed them silly so that they'd be ready for a good, long nap. Now it was just mama who was starving!

Andrew returned with a Dodge Avenger, which is hands-down the smallest car we've ever rented, especially considering it's classified as a "mid-size". We BARELY fit our luggage and the carseats in... almost not cool! The girls couldn't see a thing except seat backs and doors, but it got us to our destination and didn't have any weird shifting that Andrew couldn't figure out so I didn't really complain.

We sat for ages at toll booths that had only 1 lane open (?!), ran into the most crazy, crowded Walmart I have ever seen (ugh!) and I was finally REALLY excited. Emmie and Harlow were both asleep, and I realized that I hadn't even been all that excited on the plane because I was so consumed with keeping them quiet.

Finally, FINALLY, at about noon, as the girls were fast asleep, we made our first trip through the gates of the Walt Disney World resort as a family.

[bsblady01]

more please

[B.M.]

Oh my! What a rough start! I hope it gets better! Anxiously awaiting day 2..........

[Cam22]

Sounds and looks like you managed to finally make the girls a bit happier! for the rocky start!

[Colexis Mom]

Great updates! Sorry for the rough start! I hope things smooth out from here on!

[vfair]

Definitely a rough start. Looking forward to hearing about the rest with improvements in store.

[T-I-double F-ER]

Great update... can't wait to read more!

Loved the girls in their cute little minnie outfits.

[mcc0313]

What a start to your vacation. I am sure that a lot had to do with lack of sleep but I felt so bad for the both of you....I hope the girls got a bit of sleep and that day 2 got somewhat better for all of you. The girls are adorable, love the pictures especially all dressed up for dinner at Chef Mickey's.

Can't wait to hear more.

[Walkerfam]

The girls wake up every morning around 5am and chatter at the ceiling and their crib toys for about 20 minutes. It's fairly harmless, and they usually go back to sleep fairly quickly for another hour and a half or so. Not in WDW! The close proximity of their cribs had them both standing and bouncing and reaching for one another like crazy kids in a matter of seconds, so this mama hopped out of bed to replace The Sheets. (Did you see the pictures from Day 1 to know what I'm talking about? ) We obviously didn't leave these on overnight, but they clearly needed them in order to get any more sleep... which I thought was absolutely necessary! So, I got up and showered to keep an eye on things while they quickly fell back asleep.


In the shower, I felt optimistic. It's a new day, let's start a good vacation from here forward! I thought. When the girls got up at about 6:30am, I told them the same thing. They drank their breakfast and played on the floor, and everyone was full of smiles. Much better so far!


Kyle woke at about 7 and made the trek for mug refills. Just as we were getting ready to leave, the girls seemed tired. We had a park to see, but I wasn't about to argue with a nap if they'd take one, even if it didn't make any "sense" to me! :-P They ended up napping from about 8:15-9:15, so we were already making significant improvement in the sleep department for the day!


Finally, after stopping in the lobby to talk to some of our new "friends" (the fabulous Cast Members at the Boardwalk Inn/Villas) and take a few pictures, we were on our way to the Animal Kingdom!


We got there just in time to snag the last AAA Diamond Parking Spot (that we could see anyway), which was fabulous. We set up the stroller (fighting the girls, of course) and headed in! Our first stop was to get a FASTPASS for Expedition Everest, because it was the one grown-up thing we wanted to ride here. It was then almost time for the girls' lunch, so we headed to the Flame Tree BBQ to order our own and start them with theirs. I know for a fact that most of the counter service restaurants in the parks used to open at 10:30am, because we ALWAYS used to eat then. We're usually up so early at home anyway that it's not a stretch for us to eat lunch then (especially if we don't eat breakfast), and that way we beat the crowds. Blame it on a recession or whatever you'd like, but none of them do anymore. Flame Tree opened at 11, but several of them didn't even open until 11:30! It was about 10:40 at that point anyway, so we just headed to the seating area (one of our favorite places to chill in the AK) and fed the Emmie and Harlow first while we waited for the restaurant to open.

Let me correct myself. This USED to be one of our favorite places to chill in the AK. I never minded the birds that would hang out nearby, but there were horrible problems with them this time. Ducks literally nipped at Andrew's feet. What is UP with birds these days?! Recall, if you will, the stupid sparrow incident. Seriously, they're all losing their minds. But I digress....

After lunch, we headed back to EE. The ride is always a decent one, and you can't argue with using a fastpass and the rider swap program! While we rode, the girls napped in the stroller in the shade, right outside the exit. When we finished, we thought it was probably time to head to the Expo (for the Princess 1/2 and Family 5K) and back to the hotel room for a bit. Since the girls were still sleeping, we walked the Discovery Island trails a bit so as not to wake them when transferring them to the car. We were learning!

After just a quick little nap (15 minutes or so), we were on our way to the Wide World of Sports to pick up our race packet.

[Walkerfam]

I must say, they did the Expo right with the Princess event. I'm not sure if it's just the fact that the theme lent itself to better merchandising or if it was the fact that it was a much smaller enrollment, but the packet pick-up was much more enjoyable, even with two tired girls in tow. It was much more organized, much easier to get through (as in physically getting around), and the stuff was SO cute! Had we been running in a timed race that we had trained for, I would have been all over so much of it!

After the incredibly long walk back to our car (what with Braves spring training and the Expo going on at the same time that afternoon), we headed back to the room to let the girls play and nap. Harlow only slept about 30 minutes and was rarin' to go again, but Emmie slept over an hour. These days, that's a decent nap at home!

As Emmie and Harlow were taking their afternoon bottles and I was enjoying a soda with the balcony doors open, I couldn't help but notice the day had already been so much nicer! The babies were still thrown for a loop, crying any time we disappeared around a corner or tried to put them down on the hotel floor (bed and couches and cribs were fine, but the floor took an adjustment each and every time ), but overall it at least felt like the pendulum was swinging in the right direction!

We headed back to Animal Kingdom at about 4 for our dinner reservation. Odd how nobody at all is entering then! We missed Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade by a few minutes, but we knew the naps were infinitely more important, however short! We were a bit early for our Tusker House reservation so we kept walking to see what the line for Kilimanjaro Safaris looked like. The stand-by sign said 20 minutes, but I ventured a guess that it was incorrect. The park was totally clearing out, and I assumed they might have just not updated it toward the end of the day. I was right! We literally walked on to what was almost our own vehicle at about 4:30pm. The animal viewing was decent, and the girls seemed to enjoy actually being able to ride something!

{How ridiculous is it that most of the way through our second day of the trip we were averaging 0.5 attractions per day?! Who cares, though, we were enjoying ourselves and actually calling it a vacation!}

We signed in for our ADR at Tusker House a few minutes early, while Harlow hung out with her new buddy Fernando. I was shocked at how quickly she reached out for him, given her usual stranger anxiety!

The staff outside was remarkable, and our server Joe was even better! The food was excellent and the girls enjoyed lots of new things there as well. I hadn't intentionally booked multiple buffets in a row, but it ended up being perfect for babies of this particular age! :-P

Since our dinner was scheduled at park close, we thoroughly enjoyed our quiet walk out, savoring the empty park along the way. I wondered if the CMs would rush us out at all, but they didn't even come close. There were a few out at various junctions to make sure we were at least headed in the right direction, but nobody cared whether or not we were in a hurry, and many even encouraged us (and those leaving with us) to stop and take pictures.

It was an absolutely gorgeous evening with a slight breeze, the girls were very playful, and I was the happiest walking through there that I had been the whole trip.

[Walkerfam]

We decided to make a quick trip to Downtown Disney that evening. I love spending time (and money!) there anyway, but there were a few things in particular we were looking for. First, I needed to replace a necklace. On my solo trip in December 2007, I had purchased a beautiful Minnie necklace from the Arribas Brothers shop in the Mexico Pavilion. The pendant fell off at some point though, and I think it got lost forever during a party we had. The point was, I needed a new one. I found a gorgeous classic Mickey one that night, and I was thrilled! There isn't a clasp, per se, on this one, so I'm hoping it holds up a bit better.

The second thing we were looking for, which we wouldn't find the entire trip, was new Disney Bears for the girls that I got when I was pregnant with the girls. They went to the hospital with us when the girls were born, and they LOVE them now. The only problem is that the shed. A lot. I would find my newborn girls with a mouth full of fur, and it hasn't gotten much better even after being washed a few times! I was looking for the cute cloth ones they used to carry, but we saw none.

Anyway, DTD was hopping that night. All of the parking lots except one full. No surprise though, as the night remained absolutely beautiful. We watched a CM teaching High School Musical dance moves to a crowd of adorable kids while we fed the babies. We hit a few stores, but weren't really there long. I picked up a 2009 DVC pin and a few toy sets for the girls, and we were "home" by about 7:45pm.

The girls played for a little while and went down to sleep like saints. You can bet we were knocking on wood until our hands were sore, but they did!

While they were sleeping, Andrew and I settled into the room a bit more and got things ready for the early race morning to follow. We reminisced a bit about our half marathon trip (January 2007) and all the things surrounding it, as well as everything that had happened since. I heard fireworks going on, but couldn't for the life of me figure out what they would be at 8pm. I knew they weren't Illuminations, so I didn't even really pay attention to how long they lasted, hear the blasting finale, etc. After all, Epcot ALWAYS closes at 9pm, 9:30 sometimes in the summer.

Except now.

Now, when Future World has EMH in the evening, the World Showcase closes at 8pm and Illuminations happens at that time as well. What in the world?! Something so major (to a crazy person like myself), and I was completely clueless. I think that Andrew secretly enjoyed it....

So there we were, sitting on our balcony at 9pm wondering where the fireworks were. No joke. We debated what day it was and whether Disney would do something so confusing as to have the event early for Daylight Savings, even though it didn't happen until 2am. We remembered that it wasn't even the right day for DST and confused ourselves more. Yes, my friends, we were that senile the first few days into this "vacation". :-P

We laughed that we would have actually been able to watch and enjoy them, prayed that the girls would stay asleep after starting off so well, and headed to bed shortly thereafter. It was shaping up to be a different kind of trip than we had ever taken, but not really a different one than I was expecting.... 0.5 attraction per day average and all.

2nd Day (Picture Album)

WDW Day 2 - 1st Trip

[B.M.]

Glad the second day went better! Glad you enjoyed the Safari and Everest! Looking forward to day 3.....

[Colexis Mom]

Great update!!

[Cam22]

Great update and pictures!