Discovering Disney

November 28 -December 5th, 2019

Age: 20 Months

The Seitz Family (Grandma, Papa, Aunts, Uncles & cousins) made it an extra special Thanksgiving this year, by celebrating in Disney World! Mom & Dad started getting me introduced to all these characters a few months ago, and it was so cool to meet the “big 5”  (Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald & Pluto) in person!

We headed out early on Turkey day to make it to Epcot for dinner with the Princesses! They were pretty, but I was more interested in my dinner…I mean, it was a busy travel day, and we were all eager to dive into a fabulous feast all together in Epcot’s Norway (Akershus Royal Banquet Hall). Here’s a pic of the family gathered with Belle that kindly met us at the front door. Luckily, Disney makes getting settled in nice and easy with picking up your luggage so you have one less thing to worry about when staying on property/utilizing the Magical Express. Following our meal we got to explore the park and I especially enjoyed the Frozen ride, Mexico, and time with Nemo/the Aquarium.

The rest of the week was spent hoping parks – Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Epcot (again), Universal & Disney Springs. What an adventure! I was most fascinated by all the transportation – from the famous monorail, boats, old fashioned cars/busses down Main Street, HUGE busses to jump park to park, and Disney’s newest offering – the Skyliner (gondola). It was extra exciting when we learned the various drivers/station tenants can hand out trading cards for all of these forms of transit. I successfully collected 19 of the 33 available (Skyliner cards are still in production)!

Favorite rides/attractions for me were most definitely the Carousel, Belle’s Enchanted Tales, Under the Sea, Haunted Mansion (thank you CEC Teachers for having me so well prepared to say “boo!” back to all the ghosts) & the People Mover (Magic Kingdom), The Lion King Show (Animal Kingdom), Toy Story Mania & watching Slinky Dog ride go by as I was too small for this cool ride (Hollywood Studios), and Figment (Epcot). I couldn’t ride much at Universal, but had fun checking out an old fashioned car/golf cart near the mini golf at the entrance, playing around Dr. Seuss Land, roaring with the dinosaurs in the Jurassic Park area, and of course the train and transportation throughout Harry Potter world (check me out…I’m driving Dada around)! Mom & Dad aren’t into Harry Potter, but I think I looked pretty cute in Harry’s glasses 😉 We also had a fun checking out Disney Springs (strolling the HUGE Disney store & Legoland) and dining at T-REX Cafe (including building a dinosaur at their “Build a Dino” store…meet ROAR-E!). We enjoyed selecting a couple other souvenirs – like picking out my very own pair of mouse ears and having my name embroidered on them right at the entrance of the Magic Kingdom, and my BIG mickey balloon (Mom & Dad got it for me the first night, so I could play with it back at the hotel all week)! I helped them find a girl to share it with in our hotel lobby as we departed for the airport and it seemed to make her really happy too!

Characters…were REALLY fun to wave hi to, as long as they stayed ~2 FT or further from me. I LOVED the parade we experienced during the Very Merry Mickey Christmas Party (Parents – this private ticketed event is a nice way to experience the parks with a smaller crowd) and I was sure to wave to everyone involved. However, most character meet and greets had me eagerly on my toes/waving/shouting for excitement when we were next in line; but, I admittedly was quickly spooked as we got close for photos and autographs. On our final day, we had a positive experience dining at Chef Mickey’s where I had a chance to warm up as the characters circled a few times before interacting with us (not to mention,  I had been seeing them for the past week) 🙂

In general, the food & snacks were all yummy. My favorite meals were definitely the following:

• Jiko – The Cooking Place (Animal Kingdom Lodge) –  My kids meal included a pasta/grain bowl topped with steamed shrimp, bok choy, mushrooms, warm green olives and a delicious bowl of fresh fruit! Mom & Dad also let me sample from their plates too – Dad had the South African form of Paella with a starter of scallops, while Mom opted for cauliflower soup and surf & turf on a bed of Mac and cheese with an amazing balsamic glaze. The dessert lineup was attractive, but we all simply ran out of room. Mom & Dad also said the South African wine selection was nice, and Dad enjoyed an Avatar Jasmine IPA!
• Casey’s Corner(Magic Kingdom) – While I don’t eat many hot dogs, the mini corndogs here were quite the treat! Dad even let me try a bite of his footlong chili dog, and the only milk option was chocolate (Mom & Dad have deemed this “vacation milk”) so I left this dinner a happy kiddo (although after a few sips of this milk I gave up)!
• Snacks @ the fresh carts throughout Animal Kingdom (fruit, veggies, cheese, trail mix, etc.), the GIANT turkey leg I shared with Dad (Magic Kingdom), and LeFou’s Brew, hummus & veggies at Gaston’ Tavern (Magic Kingdom) were some of our favorites. Ps. The cinnamon rolls here were the size of my head – I’ll have to save room for one next time, as they certainly caught my eye at the counter! Mom & Dad liked their chicken waffle (I was too busy quaking at the ducks in this area) from Sleepy Hallow (Magic Kingdom), as well.
• Aunt Melissa also introduced Mom & Dad to an exclusive specialty drink that was pretty fancy (I liked the Minnie Bow on top), offered the night we spent at the Very Merry Mickey Christmas Party (Magic Kingdom) – To Be Jolly Float.

Mom & Dad expressed that it was very helpful to stay on a Disney property for easy access to the transportation which saved us a lot of time traveling to the parks, etc. We also visited one of the Baby Care Centers (one located in each park), which was an extra nice spot for a diaper change in Epcot. We had a private area and all the facilities were exceptionally clean. However, that was true for all areas we visited throughout Disney/Disney Springs.

Disney’s Memory Maker/various photo ops make it so simple to collect many fun family photos throughout all the parks (hence all the photos you see here); but, we were also very pleased with the results of a family photo shoot we scheduled on site at our hotel, The Grand Floridian (which, was inspired by the Hotel del Coronado that I visited when I was 3 months old…thought it looked familiar)! I also had a blast running around the GIANT Christmas tree and Gingerbread House in our hotel lobby – especially the night my cousins and I dressed up in our custom Disney jammies all together for more photos!

We were constantly wow-ed by the extra friendly cast members who went out of their way to make our experience wonderful – this was especially true at the Magic King

dom. I managed to wiggle out of my diaper during a ride and when hunting for a new pair of pants in my size the only option was for little girls (some extra cute Minnie leggings with bright red bows at the ankle). The team swiftly checked the inventory of all stores within the Magic Kingdom and deemed there wasn’t any male garments in my size, and generously gifted us the leggings (check me out!)…thankful they helped us resolve the new pants issue and are beyond grateful for this gesture.

It was amazing to see all the holiday decorations throughout the parks and resort properties, and a very fun way to kick off the holiday season! Looking forward to returning to conquer Space Mountain (I got to see this with the lights on while riding the People Mover) and the new TRON ride that was being built during this visit (Magic Kingdom), Slinky Dog & Star Wars (Hollywood Studios), Soarin’ (Epcot), and Everest (Animal Kingdom) one day! By the way, this Walt Disney guy seems like a pretty cool man…must be the name!

Most helpful products for this trip:

• Stroller Flare: It’s required to park strollers in designated areas, so it was helpful to have some specific ways to more easily locate when returning to the crowded stroller parking areas.
  • Flag: We crafted our own “stroller flags” marked with our last name and Mickey antenna cover for a simple visual check (see in photo below). The elevated height really made a difference.
    • Tile: A bluetooth tracker was our other backup plan. While only using a handful of times, this more high tech option gave Mom & Dad the peace of mind they could locate my carriage at any time 😉
• Magic Band Slider: Disney’s Magic Bands make it extra easy to charge what you need on the go, simply access your room, etc.; but, as a family that already wears smartwatches we didn’t want to add more to our wrist. These 3D printed sliders (by Luke3DP) were the perfect way to add the token from the Disney Magic Band to our Apple Watch bands.
  

  

  
  

  

  
• BYOActivities & Snacks/Refillable Cups: Of course important to always refer to Disney’s guidelines prior to visiting, but Mom & Dad were impressed by how welcoming Disney was to bringing in our own food and drinks. Mom packed an entire “Mary Poppins” like bag that was refilled daily of veggie chips, Mickey Goldfish, pretzels, applesauce, etc. We all also brought our own cups to fill up with water. We used Amazon to ship a case of water to the room and refilled at the parks throughout the day (we estimate this was equivalent to at least ~$100 savings in buying water from the parks). Additionally, Mom stocked up on some activity/color kits from Target/Dollar Store which were helpful for me and my 2 year old cousin to stay busy while waiting for the adults on rides we were too small for (the same applies for other fun accessories (themed slap bracelets & Harry Potter glasses @ Universal and glow in the dark goodies…Mom & Grandma brought us glow necklaces which made each night fun))! Ps. Don’t forget to check out “Ride Swap” if you have any young ones in your party when visiting the parks.
• Create Your Own Swag: We also had fun putting Mom’s Cricut to good use, and made some of our own Disney gear to sport throughout the parks (shirts, labels, drinking cup decor, etc.). The ladies enjoyed getting creative and making their own festive Mickey ears for our evening at the Christmas party at Magic Kingdom.
  

  

  

  

  

  
  

  

  

  

  

  
• Stroller Storage: We use the Ethan & Emma Baby Stroller Organizer on our stroller when needing some extra space (extra cup holders, storage compartments, etc.); but, whatever works for your family is what’s important…simply think about how you plan to use your “home base” AKA the stroller to function best for your family and consider adding capacity in whichever way possible for the extras (snacks, stickers collected from employees, easily storing an autograph book, sliding a phone away, etc.).

Miles Logged to Date:

By Car: 3,507

By Plane: 22,525

By Train: 104