Dennis turned 20 October 23. We decided we would go away as a family, the three of us. Partially because we got a really good deal on priceline and partially because we love the area we went to! Well anyone that knows me knows I am obsessed with Disney! Since James is still so little we decided to not go to the parks but to the surrounding area.
Day One: Thursday
My niece had an induction into her Elementary Honor Society at 6:30pm so we weren't able to get to our hotel until about 10 that night, which was okay. We hadn't planned on doing anything Thursday anyways so we were fine with arriving late. We checked into Rosen Shingle Creek and then headed up to the room luggage and all. I had called ahead to make sure we would have a king bed instead of two doubles. The first thing we did once inside was rearrange all the furniture. We wanted to have plenty of room for James to roll around and how the room was set up just wouldn't accommodate. We moved the bed into the corner and actually put one of the end tables in the closet LOL. After we set everything up my little night owl was not ready to sleep and had a ton of fun playing on his Super Mat! We spent the rest of that night relaxing and just watching TV.
Day Two: Friday
On Friday we had a kind of crazy day. We spent the morning and afternoon at Downtown Disney and then drove an hour away to Busch Gardens so Dennis and I could go to Howl-O-Scream! We started the morning off by waking up pretty early, around 8. We headed to breakfast with James and enjoyed a quiet meal. After that we decided we would walk around Downtown Disney, where it turned out most of our trip would be spent. Let me preface this by saying I LOVE downtown disney, or anything disney really. I just love the atmosphere and everything about it. Dennis, not so much. Don't get me wrong he likes it too he just gets bored with it, which I understand. We got to Downtown Disney around 11 and it actually wasn't that busy. We were about to walk around all the shops and even picked out a Christmas present for James! James seemed to really enjoy all the action that took place there.
After we were through walking through the shops and looking at all the exciting things we again headed back our hotel. Since we were going to be out late that night we decided to just relax and once James fell asleep so did we. We began driving to the Tampa area to meet up with the rest of my family for Howl-O-Scream. We stopped on the way and ate something quick for dinner on the way. My parents were awesome enough to rent a hotel for the night so Dennis and I wouldn't have to drive all the way home for them to watch James. After we dropped off James and got him all set up we headed to the park. Howl-O-Scream was as scary as ever and we really had a great time. We got finished there around 1:30am and decided it would be a better idea for us to sleep at my parents hotel that night instead of making the drive back to our hotel that late at night. We woke up pretty early the next morning and headed to our hotel to finish our sleep.
Day Three: Saturday
Saturday we woke up around 11 after having a pretty late night out. We again headed to Downtown Disney and walked around. This time we decided to board the Disney buses and head to one of their resorts. We decided to head over to Animal Kingdom Lodge because I thought James might like looking at the animals on the Savannah. Once we got there we walked around the lobby for a while just eating up the atmosphere. James LOVED looking around at everything that was going on, he wouldn't even let us put him in his stroller. James began to get a little fussy so we actually fed him in the lobby. After he drank his bottle we headed for the boardwalk to look at the animals. James was way less interested than I thought he would be, he could honestly care less. We really enjoyed the outside area and spent a while sitting in the beach chairs by the pool. We then stopped for a quick snack at there cafe and headed back for the Disney bus. This trip was actually the first time we have successfully baby worn James. It was perfect for the crowded Disney buses. I could hold James and still have my hands to grab the handrails, and Dennis could be with the jogging stroller folded up. We only had a cheap carrier with us but after this plan on getting a nicer one! I can really see us utilizing it quite often but due to lack of back support on this one we would have to invest in a nicer one in order to be able to use a carrier for long periods of time.
That evening we decided to go to the dinner show Medieval times, which was probably a mistake. I didn't take into account just how loud it is in there and it really freaked James out. I had to get up several times and take him into the lobby to calm him down. Luckily we were able to be seated in the handicapped section so it was easier with James in his stroller. The food, however, was delicious! I would probably go again, but definitely not until James is older. And our "team" didn't even win :( After Medieval times we went back to the hotel and went to the ice cream parlor and enjoyed delicious ice cream and smoothies. We stopped at the marketplace on the way back to the room and got some snacks. That night we spent it cuddling with James and watching movies. So amazing!
Day Four: Sunday
On our last day at the hotel we decided to get up early to enjoy a breakfast at our hotel. The hotel marketplace made DELICIOUS breakfast sandwiches that they actually cooked over a wood fire oven, amazing! The three of us ate breakfast peacefully then headed back to the room to clean everything up and prepare for checkout. Once we were ready we again drove to downtown disney. We decided taking the bus to our lunch location would be easier than driving. Per recommendation from my sister we had made reservations at Whispering Canyon Cafe, which was so much fun! The cafe was at Wilderness Lodge, which was cool because I don't ever remember being at that hotel. The resort is SO PRETTY. They have it decorated like you are in a ski lodge in the mountains, complete with a smokey geyser outside by the pool! Whispering Canyon Cafe was so cool and they did a lot of silly things. If you wanted ketchup every bottle of ketchup was brought to you and then when someone else wanted it you had to walk all the bottles over to them. If you asked for too many refills, they brought you a HUGE, and I mean H U G E cup full. Finally, if you dropped something or "caused trouble" they put you in jail. The food was also delicious. I would definitely visit this spot again because of how much fun we had! They even had "horse races" for the kids.
This was also our first big trip with James and I was a little nervous. Things that I found that helped:
-Pack in a storage tote(much easier that rooting through a suitcase)
-Bring as many toys as you can possibly fit because he will get bored
-Bring 3 times as many diapers
-Bring extra clothes
-Bring any comfort items that will make baby feel at home
-Pack ahead of time
-Be prepared to go back to your hotel at any time for nap time
-Be prepared to stop and feed baby at any time
What trips have you taken with your babies that were really memorable? Share!
