We had the most magical vacation at Disney World! I’m sad it’s over, but I love looking through our pictures from the trip and reliving the memories over and over. I learned so much, and even though not everything went according to plan, I still loved every minute of it. Here’s how our travel days went, as well as our hotel experience. (I’ll be posting about each park at Disney we visited individually with pictures, our experience, and advice on going!)
(This was at our resort. The All Star Sports Resort was of course, sports themed. Our room was in the football area.)
Flight to Orlando, Sunday December 17:
We left for the airport at 4:00am. Our flight was at 6:05am. It was exhausting, but my hope was that Braxton would be so tired from being woken up early that he would sleep when we got on the flight. (This didn’t happen.) It was a full flight which meant that Braxton had to sit on our laps. I think this was the reason he didn’t sleep. He did really well all things considered! No crying, and the only problem being that he wanted to walk around instead of sitting the whole flight. We did let him stand and play at our feet when the fasten seatbelt sign was off. (I don’t recommend this though, because he decided to go under our seats and we thought we had lost him for a minute…)
(Sleeping as soon as we get to the hotel…)
Flight to Austin, Saturday December 23:
Our flight to Austin was scheduled at 10:15am. Our shuttle from the hotel to the airport left at 6:15am. So it was a very long travel day. Braxton was fussy from waking up early and not getting his normal breakfast and nap. He got even more fussy when our flight was delayed an hour. When we finally did board, our flight was full again, which meant he had to sit in our laps the whole flight and not nap at all. It was a rougher flight then the first one, but understandable considering we just finished a week’s vacation.
All in all, it was a good experience. Traveling and flying is rough and tiring by yourself. Doing it with a toddler is a million times harder. But you just have to be ready for it and expect that it will be rough.
(Bye Disney! We’ll see ya real soon!)
Travel Tips:
- Movies: Either have movies already downloaded (that don’t need WiFi) or have a laptop or dvd player available!
- Toys: Check out the dollar store (or the dollar spot at Target) and load up on new toys and activities that your child hasn’t seen before. A new toy holds their attention better! Coloring books and stickers are great for older toddlers.
- Snacks: Snacks and drinks are not only a great distraction, they also help pop a kid’s ear during take off and landings.
- Water & Milk: In case you didn’t know, you CAN bring water, formula and milk through security if it’s for a baby/toddler. They will need to test it, but they don’t even need to open it to test it.
- Strollers: You can gate check your stroller on any flight. This way you can use it through the airport if your child is like mine and won’t let you carry them.
All Star Sports Resort, Dec.17-23:
We stayed at Disney for about a week. When we first checked in, we had a room on the second floor. It was far from an elevator, and it had 2 full size beds instead of one king bed. We tried our luck with asking if they had any rooms available with a King bed. (We knew that Braxton would more then likely want to sleep with us, and it’s safer to co-sleep in a King bed then a Full bed.) They told us it would take about an hour, but that we could switch rooms. I HIGHLY recommend always asking for what you want, because it was definitely worth it for us. Not only did we get a king bed, but we got a room on the first floor, with a larger bathroom, and the room was closer to the food court/main resort area! And on top of all that, it somehow gave us a $98 credit back. (They told us this wasn’t the “preferred” room we had booked and therefore got some money back.)
(He LOVED our hotel room!)
Hotel Tips:
- Amazon Prime Now: My top travel tip for saving money! A bottle of water at Disney cost about $4. Not even kidding. On Amazon, I was able to get a 24 case of water for $5. There also wasn’t any lactose free milk available anywhere at the resort. So I was able to get 2 half gallon cartons from Amazon Prime. It only takes 2 hours for delivery, and that was free if you ordered over $30 worth of food. (Otherwise delivery is $4.99, which still is cheaper then getting a taxi/uber!) So we not only got water and milk, we also got snacks for Braxton and breakfast for the week. Saved us so much money and was delivered right to us. (And you are allowed to bring your own food and water into the parks!)
- Crib/Pack N Play: Ask your hotel/resort if they are able to provide a crib or pack n play. Almost all of them can and will do this. (Ours also provided the sheets for it.) This will save you so much travel stress! (Not all will provide sheets though, so I recommend you taking your own just in case.)
- Stay at a Disney Resort: This is specifically if you are going to Disney. There are so many benefits to staying on property at Disney. The “Magical Express Bus” will pick you up from the airport and take you to the resort and back. (Free of charge.) There are buses and shuttles to take you to each of the Disney parks (and Disney Springs) all free of charge and leaving every 10-20 minutes. And certain parks have extra hours open for people staying at a Disney resort! (We flew to Orlando and never rented a car or had to get an uber/taxi the whole week we were there!)
(I only wish I had ordered TWO cases of water. You have to stay hydrated walking all day!)
**Biggest Pro Tip Learned about Disney**
We met a family while waiting for a restaurant who taught me something that I WISH I knew before I booked our trip. While at Disney, the thing that cost us the most money was food. Drinks cost anywhere from $4-20. Food can cost anywhere from $10-50 a meal, and going to a buffet STARTS at $35 a person. (The one we went to cost $45 a person and that wasn’t even the most expensive one.)
So if you are planning a trip to Disney anytime soon, listen up. There is a week in May or June, where if you book during this time, you get FREE DISNEY DINING!! I was told that you book the trip sometime in May, and you actually go to Disney during November or December. I haven’t actually done this myself, but if you have, then let me know if this timeline is correct! It is definitely how we will book our next trip!
What the free Disney dining plan includes is 2 meals per person and 2 snacks per person per day. The meals are HUGE, and it’s more then enough food for each person per day. (Blair and I actually shared a meal each time we went somewhere.) Again, I haven’t done this myself, I just learned about it while we were there, but this would save you SO MUCH money to plan a trip this way. Let me know if you have done this in the past or plan to try it in the future!
