Every Disney trip I try and come up with a fun countdown. I had an idea to do a sort of advent calendar but as a Disney countdown. I saw where people made an advent calendar using a muffin tin, so I decided to make something similar for Disney.
All in Vacations
December 2017 Disney Planning
So we just got back from a trip to Disney World. We have been planning this trip for almost a year. Not only was it Brad, Melody, and me, but we also went with Justin, Emily (my best friend), and Lydia. Quite a lot of planning went into this trip...a lot more than our trip back in February. February was a much smaller trip, and there wasn't as many people to plan for! Check out all of the details below!
Disney with a Baby
So we took Melody on her first trip to Walt Disney World back in February. I have been meaning to write a post about generally doing Disney with a baby, but the baby has been occupying my time and this post has fell to the bottom of the pile. Anyhow, it is quite different from all of my other Disney trips. We are actually planning another trip over the holidays, so I thought I should freshen up on Disney with a baby by finally writing this post!
Beach Happy
We recently went to the beach for a wedding. We decided to make Melody a little "happy" for the beach. It was fairly inexpensive (minus the Bitty Baby clothes), and it is super cute.
Beach 2017
In early September, we went to Destin, FL for a family beach trip with my in-laws. Brad's cousin was getting married there, so we decided to make it a full vacation. Melody's first beach trip was August 2016 when she was about 3 months old. She didn't get to spend too much time on the actual beach on that trip though. This would be the first trip where she was mobile and would get to experience the ocean and sand.
Disney's Baby Care Centers
So I have been meaning to write about the Baby Care Centers at Walt Disney World for quite a while. I mean we last visited them in February! However, it has been falling on the back burner. With us planning another trip at Christmas, I decided I probably need to look back at the Baby Care Centers for myself for some planning purposes. So why not write about them now?!
Opryland Resort - August 2017
Our summer vacation this year was a trip back to the Opryland Resort. Brad and I have been a handful of times, and we even went last year at Christmas with Melody. Our experience this visit was much different than our trip at Christmas for a number of reasons. Melody is older and mobile; she eats more than baby food now; she doesn't have a cold; it was much warmer; the resort was far less crowded; and there was construction going on at the resort. We opted to go mid-August to avoid any of the out-of-school crowds that may also use this as a vacation resort. And to also help with the crowds, we decided to go in the middle of the week (Wednesday-Friday).
Disney Monorail Countdown
On our February 2017 trip to Disney World, I wanted a cute countdown that wasn't too involved. I had just returned from a trip to Disney World with my mom. Therefore, the countdown would need to be fairly short. Since Melody was so young, she really wouldn't be involved in this countdown. So I came up with just an easy countdown that begin 12 days out from our trip. I used the monorail as inspiration and Pinterest too! See below.
Stroller Tag
On our recent trip to Disney World, we knew we would be using our stroller A LOT due to having an 8 (almost 9) month old! If you have ever been to Disney, you may have noticed the sea of strollers. You are required to park your strollers a lot. You cannot take your strollers in most lines at the park or inside of a lot of the buildings. And in that sea of strollers, they all can start to look alike. We decided to make a stroller tag that would at least give it some distinction.
What to Wear to Disney in May
I love going to Disney World during the Flower and Garden Festival. It is absolutely gorgeous at Epcot. The first time I attended was during our honeymoon in 2013. I actually did not really know what it was, but when we arrived, it was stunning. We went back for our 2nd anniversary as well. They also used to have Star Wars Weekends, but they no longer do that anymore. We have found May to be great because it isn't very crowded, but the weather can be fairly warm. I have written two previous posts regarding what to wear to Disney World in January and in September. I find May to be very similar to September. It is actually a little bit cooler in May, but not by much. The highs are usually in the mid-to-upper 80's, and the lows are usually in the high 60's. Generally I recommend shorts/skirts, short sleeve shirts, or dresses. Below are some of the specific outfits both Brad and I have worn. I hope this helps if you are planning a trip around May!
Pop Century Resort Review
In February 2017, we traveled to Disney World with Melody for her first trip. We decided to stay at a value resort because we are planning to return to Disney World later this year and stay at a nicer resort. This trip was meant to be a short trip so we didn't want to invest the same money in this one as our one later. This was Brad's first stay at a value resort. I have stayed value many times with my mom and parents. I have stayed at every All Star resort, but we most commonly stay at the All Star Sports Resort. With Brad, we have stayed at The Contemporary, Saratoga Springs, and Port Orleans Riverside. This was going to be a big change for Brad, but he was on board with it.
February 2017 Disney World Trip Report Part Five
This wraps up my trip reports for our February 2017 Disney World visit. It was Melody's first time at Disney World. You can read about all of our days here (one, two, three, four). We did not visit a park on this day. I had contemplated it since our flight wasn't until that afternoon, but seeing that we had Melody with us, I thought it would be too difficult. If it were just Brad and me, I think we could have easily visited a park on this day.
Sunshine Seasons
Our favorite part of Epcot is The Land. In Brad's words "The moment I walk into The Land, I really feel like I have arrived at Disney World!" I am not 100% sure why it feels that way for us, but it does. We do love Soarin', but we REALLY love Living with the Land. We also love the Garden Grill. And we love to just sit and relax in Sunshine Seasons. Of all the times we have just relaxed here, we have never actually had a meal here. Typically we eat all Table Service restaurants when we are at Epcot. They just have so many, it is hard not to. But on our recent trip to Disney World, we had both lunch and dinner here.
PizzeRizzo
On our recent trip to Disney World, we tried PizzeRizzo at Hollywood Studios. This wasn't pre-planned by any means (we originally planned to eat at Backlot Express). We did plan to eat somewhere at Hollywood Studios for lunch, and we preferred something quick-service to save money. While Brad was riding Star Tours around 12:30 p.m. or so, Melody and I waited in the Muppet Courtyard in some shade we found. I have no desire to ride Star Tours unless I am riding it WITH Brad, so we did not do a rider swap for this attraction. When Brad was finished and came to find me, it occurred to be to try PizzeRizzo since we were literally already right there! And pizza was the one thing we had not eaten this entire trip. Below is a quick review!
The Trolley Car Cafe
On our recent trip to Disney World, we visited The Trolley Car Cafe for a quick breakfast. We wanted something semi-filling, but we didn't have time to sit down anywhere. This was the first thing we saw as we were walking down Hollywood Boulevard. Check out my review below.
February 2017 Disney World Trip Report Part Four
Today is part four of my trip report from our February visit to Disney World. You can find Part One, Two, and Three in previous posts. Just a reminder, this was Melody's first visit to Disney World. This was our third park day, and we decided to go to Hollywood Studios that morning. Our plan was to go to Animal Kingdom that evening. The night before we did decide to skip Animal Kingdom because we wanted to go back to Epcot. We also didn't quite follow the plan down to each ride, but overall we stayed on track. Check it out below!
The Plaza Restaurant
On our trip to Disney World in February 2017, we decided to try The Plaza Restaurant. We rarely eat at table service restaurants at the Magic Kingdom. I have tried a few of them, but I haven't been super impressed. There is just so much to do there, I hate to spend a lot of time eating. But we did want to try somewhere new, so we picked here since it was so inexpensive.
February 2017 Disney World Trip Report Part Three
Today is part three of my trip report from our February visit to Disney World. You can find Part One and Two in previous posts. Just a reminder, this was Melody's first visit to Disney World. This was our second park day, and we decided to go to Magic Kingdom. You can read about what we planned in this blog post. We didn't quite follow the plan down to each ride, but overall we stayed on track. Check it out below!
