Trip Report - Jan 14-22 Cruise/WDW: A Disney Trip Full of Hope! COMPLETED!! 7/15 About This Page:

[honeybee723]

So finally, the actually trip report is about to begin. If anyone new joins in and you need to catch up…here’s the ptr.

Before I get started with all of the important details, I’d like to point out a couple of things I noticed along the way:

1) There will be a ton of baby pictures, and I do mean a TON. As a new parent, I took way too many pictures of my child. So when I say this is a trip full of Hope…trust me when I say FULL!
2) You will notice that I tend to pose the same way for most photo ops. I didn’t know I was doing it, but when I’m holding Hope I apparently tend to lean on one leg and put my hip out, so I’m making that my signature pose…what can I say.
3) Hope slept a lot during this vacation!!! So, what did I do? I took a bunch of pictures of her …sleeping babies are cute right?

So, with that little disclaimer out of the way, let this trip report begin

Thursday, January 14th - Part One: Just Get Me Through Security

The alarm was set for 4am, and for the first time ever before a trip to Disney I right up until it went off. Usually I’m way to excited to sleep, but I’m going to blame this one on having a baby. Ever since she was born I’ve been able to sleep anytime anywhere…I welcome sleep! Soon as we woke up, Chad and I started getting ready, but I hadn’t planned on waking Hope up until 4:30. She usually doesn’t wake up until 5:30am to get her first bottle, so I wasn’t sure if she was going to cooperate or not.

At 4:30 I slowly walked into her room, planning on waking her gently, but to my surprise this is what I found when I opened the door.





I’m very lucky to have a happy baby, and morning is her best time of the day…even early early morning apparently. She must have known she was getting ready to go on a very special trip.

We continued getting ready, with me packing up the rest of our necessities as we went along. This was the first time that I had ever packed so much. As soon as I zipped up the first suitcase and tried to lift it I realized that it was too heavy. I stumbled over to the scale in our bathroom and tried to place it on there just right to get a good reading…52 pounds!!! I obviously had to take some stuff out of that suitcase and transfer it to the other one. I stumbled to the scale again…48 pounds. That’s a little too close, but at least it still wasn’t over 50 pounds. I took the other suitcase to the scale and this one read 47 pounds!!! I was just going to keep my fingers crossed that my scale was accurate…at least I hoped it was anyway because I like what it says when I stand on it!

I also never take a carry on, but this time my first carry on consisted of diapers, bibs, disposable washcloths, and other baby goodies, plus I now had an overly stuffed diaper bag to worry about. Thank goodness my parents were going with us, because all I kept thinking about was how I was going to get into the airport with 2 large suitcases, a baby in a stroller, a carry on and a diaper bag.

Speaking of parents, they pulled up to our house exactly at 5:30am, and after loading up the car and saying our good-byes to our cat, we were off. We had to follow them in our car since it had the infant seat. Hope fell back to sleep in the car, and was quiet the whole way to the airport…so far so good.

Chad and my father dropped my mom and me off so we could wait for them while they went and parked the cars. My mom took care of all the suitcases for me, making a couple of trips to do so, and all I had to do was worry about getting Hope inside the warm airport since we weren’t really dressed for winter. Once inside I was able to relax a little bit since the worst was almost over…



...I still needed to make it through security with a baby!!!

Chad and my father weren’t gone very long so once we all got situated we headed off to check-in at the Southwest counter. As soon as the girl took our suitcases to weigh them I took a deep breath…apparently my scale was correct because they were both under 50 pounds. Because I was traveling with a lap baby, I had to get a new boarding pass printed, and as we were waiting I watched as the line for security quickly grow longer and longer. The girl who checked us in told us about another security line that was a little further up, so we decided to take her advice instead of waiting in the long line that was right next to us.

My stomach started to get that nervous feeling, but since this line was a little bit shorter I didn’t feel the need to try to rush. Somehow in the process of showing the first security guard our boarding passes, Chad and my father got separated from my mom and I. At first I started to worry about Chad because of his tremors and the fact that he would need to remove his shoes and everything from his pockets, but those worries quickly left my mind as I now had to worry about getting all of my stuff along with my daughter through security. My mom was my saving grace…she heaved that stroller on the conveyer belt like it was nothing as I put all of our stuff in the little bins. The security guards were so nice and kept ooohing and aaahing over Hope, which made my nerves subside a little. In the end, we made it through without any problems, and as we were exiting the security area we saw Chad and my father had made it through as well.

From there we decided to grab breakfast and wait until we were called to load the plane. We had about an hour to wait so it was nice to be able to sit and have somewhat of a relaxing meal…I mean all I had was a glazed doughnut with a vanilla latte ...but it was relaxing all the same.

By the time we finished eating, I thought I had plenty of time to take her to the restroom and change her before the flight, but as we were slowly walking back to the boarding area everyone with “A” passes had been called to line up already. We quickly had to gather all of our stuff and find our spot to board the plane...it happened so fast and I started to get that feeling like something just wasn’t right.

Up Next: I forgot what???

[BeckiO5]

Great start Melissa. Glad to hear Hope was wide awake for your trip, and she looked very excited too. The picture of you and Hope in the airport is all too cute. Glad to hear you had extra sets of hands to help you with suitcases and at security with your stroller(so much easier than traveling alone with an infant). Glad everything went smoothly at Check in and at Security. Were you actually able to change Hope before your flight? Oh no about thinking you
forgot something. Looking foward to more please.

[debrabrown]

Hooray you started! Bring those sweet baby pictures on!!!

Sounds like you started off great with Hope all smiley but your tease of forgot what is making me queasy! Don't leave me hanging for long now missy!

[Cam22]

The picture of Hope already up at 4:30 AM is priceless! She's ready for Disney!! Glad you made it through security with minimal stress, but I'll a little worried over what you have forgotten.

[B.M.]

Great start! Love the pic of Hope ready in waiting in her crib!
Hurry back with more......

[islandgirl]

You started your TR!!! Great start so far....& trust me, I won't get tired of looking at your pictures of Hope. My boys are 14 & 21, and I'm still taking tons of pictures of them (as you'll see from my TR). Can't wait for more!!!

[Colexis Mom]

Great start!

[DawnK]

What a face!!! How precious is she!!! I can't wait to see all her pictures!! Great start so far!

[SARAHROO42]

The pictures are too cute! Can't wait to read more!!!

[chezp]

Great start and such cute photos!

[TheMadonna3]

woohoo! Bring on the pics!

I know how nervous you were doing this trip so I can't wait to see how it turned out.

[lazanya]

Great start! I just the picture of Hope being awake already at 4:30 a.m.!

[MickeyMAC]

Great start.

[BeckiO5]

Melissa, just out of curiosity, is Hope's Crib & Nursery theme Pooh? Skyler's was and still is Classic Pooh(Which made me think to ask you after seeing pooh on the side of her crib).

[KMB733]

Great Start!