Vacation Recap pt. 2: Adventures in the Parks
So in addition to running a bunch way too early in the morning, there was of course a family vacation happening as well! My mom came down, as well as Von's cousin, and my sister Kyra and her wife, celebrating their anniversary.
I’ve been to Disney World numerous times before, as a kid and as an adult. Back in 2018, Von and I had Annual Passes and managed an impressive five trips to Orlando, including running the aforementioned Star Wars 5k, and getting engaged at Jiko in Animal Kingdom Lodge. The term “Disney adult” comes to mind. Now, though, this was our first visit to the parks with a tiny child. It changes the calculus a bit!
We (read: mostly Von) went deep into planning mode. We were already devotees of the content of Mammoth Club, Disney Food Blog, and AllEarsNet, but needed some new resources for guidance on going to the parks with a 6 month old. Many YouTube videos and blogs later, we had a packing list, a bunch of stuff to order from Amazon, and a building sense of “are we overpacking?!”
In the end, we were not overpacking, and the trip went swimmingly!
The Friendly Skies
I think I was most apprehensive about flying with a baby. We’ve all heard horror stories of fellow passengers freaking out at a crying baby. And in the parks, at least if he’s upset we can go somewhere like the Baby Care Centers or even back to the room to decompress. On a plane, there’s nowhere for us to escape to.
Luckily, the little one was an absolute champ. He slept through both flights, and didn’t complain on takeoff or landing. So that’s one worry dealt with!
The Land of the Mouse
For what seems like the first time since I was a kid, I was in Disney World with a car! Considering the amount of gear, the death of the Magical Express, and wanting the most flexibility possible in terms of getting to and from the parks based on the mood of the young one, we rented a minivan. Honestly, it was great. I never found driving around to be much of a hassle, and parking wasn’t bad at all; we were never more than a short walk from the car to the parks in question. I think Magic Kingdom was the most troublesome, just due to the nature of the parking lot being the Transportation and Ticket Center.
Animal Kingdom
Our first full day, we went to Animal Kingdom; little dude really likes animals—we brought him to both the Baltimore and Washington DC zoos recently and was thrilled, especially at the petting zoo portions—so this seemed like a great start to the trip.
We got to the park close to rope-drop—me speeding through the 5k meant I was back at the room at a reasonable hour to get out the door—so the park wasn’t too crowded. First on the agenda was the Kilimanjaro Safari. Traditionally it’s a great ride to do early because the animals are feeding or just having fed, and are most active. And sure enough, we saw loads of them out and about. The lad loved it; he could see the rhinos and wildebeest and flamingos and so many others. He giggled with delight at the elephants, particularly the baby elephant walking about. Definitely a success!
Now it was pretty hot the whole time we were there. Highs in the 90s and humid each day. So we had to take care not to let the little guy overheat. The stroller was decked out with a little fan, plus we had cooling towels in the bag. The safari is on a covered vehicle, thankfully, and we followed that up with a quick coffee break in the shade before the mostly-shaded walking trail nearby. He got to see birds and gorillas among others.
Meeting up with the family, we strolled through the park, enjoying the sights and sounds while making our way to Dino-Land because (a) the lad likes dinosaurs, and (b) I had a great need for a sandwich of ice cream between two giant cookies.
While in Dino-Land, we had our first character interaction with the lad, Donald in his exploration gear. One of our big wants for this trip was to get pictures of him with the characters, but this was contingent on him not panicking when faced with a giant cartoon character. We had done a dry run at the Baltimore Zoo’s Easter weekend, but one can never be truly sure, right?
By all accounts, this was a hit. He was sleepy, but perked up for Donald and was very interested in his beak. Probably because it looked good to chomp on, if we’re being honest; when teething, everything goes in the mouth.
After that, we had a little lunch in the park and decided to head on out for an easy afternoon at the hotel, some time in the pool, and make dinner in the room. Since he loves bathtime so much, we figured he might like the pool and were not disappointed. He had a blast splashing around and kicking in his floatie. Some other little girls kept trying to show him how to swim, it was very cute. He was giggling and smiling and having a great time.
Magic Kingdom
Here it is. The Big One. The original park, the icon. Obviously, bringing a 6 month old to Disney means this is a trip for us to make memories for ourselves, because he’s not going to remember anything about this. We knew we wanted to make use of the PhotoPass spots as much as possible; I had purchased Memory Maker to get my race pictures anyway, so let’s make the most of it! Our priority was letting him see and experience things, getting pictures with him, and a few select rides.
We got some pictures on Main Street leading up to the castle, which he slept through. Quality. So we made our way into the park, popping onto the Little Mermaid ride, since that was cool and indoors and there’d be lots of things for him to look at. He also got to experience the World Famous Jungle Cruise, which was somewhat less enthralling for him (less singing sea creatures).
The highlight was absolutely the character greeting with Mickey Mouse. He hadn’t really experienced much Mickey media, so we weren’t sure what his reaction might be, but I can hardly find the words to express the joy he showed. Laughing, smiling, squealing, just pure child joy at the sight of Mickey. He was having the best time interacting with the main mouse, to the point the other families and cast members were also going on about how happy and cute the whole thing was. Honestly, if this had been the only thing we did this entire trip, seeing his absolute ecstasy here would have made it worth it. This experience will live in my head forever.
We also got to ride the new Tron ride, and boy howdy that was a cool experience! The “seats” were weird, for sure, and I can see how they would are accessibility nightmares. The ride itself though is awesome. Is it worth shelling out for the Individual Lightning Lane? Perhaps not, especially not compared to Cosmic Rewind over in Epcot, but I wouldn’t blame anyone for doing so.
After a delicious lunch at Skipper Canteen and a ride on Pirates of the Caribbean (so chosen because the lad really was taken with the pirate flag on the ferry from Disney Springs to Old Key West. Hey, you let the whims of the baby drive!) we got a couple more pictures, this time in front of the castle. and made our way to Disney Springs for some dinner (Cookes of Dublin) and back to the hotel. Another early night for me, another early race in a few short hours!
Epcot
I love Epcot. One of the joys of the race weekend is getting three chances to run through Epcot before opening, with things lit up but no crowds. Especially with the newly redesigned World Discovery, formerly Future World, at the entrance to the park. Also, we were there during the International Flower & Garden Festival, which I remember my grandmother speaking fondly of. She was to my mind not much of a Disney person, so I had to verify I didn’t just make up this memory. I didn’t!
We got to the park slightly later than the other days, owing to the longer race and my feeling pretty rough after. Helpfully, the park opened later that day as well.
We started out hitting some of the festival booths for breakfast: Brunchcot and Citrus Blossom. Both delicious, and now full of food, we set off into the World Showcase! First up was Mexico. There’s a lot of debate over which way to start into the Showcase; it seems like the blogosphere has largely settled on go left into Mexico first. Back in the day, I remember our family always starting in Canada.
Anyway! Not feeling up for 11am margaritas (I guess this is growing up), we did see that Donald was doing a meet and greet, so we hopped into line for that. This got a much bigger reaction from our little man, and he had a blast meeting the famous duck. He was also wearing a little Donald Duck shirt and overalls, so if there was a day to meet Donald, this was it.
We continued around the World Showcase, enjoying a few festival booths, looking at the topiaries, etc. There wasn’t much for rides that we really wanted to hit with the lad; we did end up riding Journey Into Imagination with Figment, largely to get out of the midday heat for a while. There was a character greeting with Figment after the ride, which was probably his least favorite of the characters he met, but he still seemed to have fun.
Outside, there was a Chase Disney Visa cardholder exclusive character greeting, which I accidentally now am (I signed up for a Chase checking account a while back, and part of the process was selecting card art. I went with the Mickey Mouse one, naturally, not thinking this would make my debit card a Disney Chase card, and thus entitle me to some benefits). It was pretty dead inside, and the cast members inside seemed pretty happy to have someone there. Inside were Minnie and Pluto. Pluto was by far the favorite, though our man did try to eat Minnie’s nose. That was nice of him.
After that, we checked out the new Journey of Water section near The Land before calling it a day. It was neat, lots of fun little interactions with various water features. The lad liked that a lot; he really loves swimming and splashing so this was way up his alley. Definitely a good way to close out the day at Epcot.
And just like that, it was over
The last day we had brunch at Disney Springs (Homecomin’ by Art Smith, it was excellent), did some last minute shopping, and then made our way back to the airport. Despite years of having TSA PreCheck making security much less of an ordeal, even at MCO, I’m forever scarred by tremendous waits for security there, so I invariably show up hours and hours early. As a result, we were there at 4 for a 7:45 flight. Oh well.
Great Success
All in all, the trip went smoothly! Traveling with a 6 month old is a lot more involved, obviously, but we didn’t overpack nor did we underpack and have to rush to get things we neglected. The little guy was an absolute champ, enjoying the characters and rides, catching naps and eating when possible. The pictures of him and us all together are great, and I know I’ll cherish the memories from this trip for a long, long time.