Disney must haves!

So like many people you may think we were nuts for taking our 20 month old to Disney World! As I have said before we live for the moments we share together on vacation! We work hard so that we can travel to new places and see new things - these are truly the memories that will last a lifetime and continue to be taked about! We plan to do a "big" vacation every other year so we can save up and splurge a litte. Last year (when max was 8 months) we when on a 7 day Caribbean cruise...kind of spoiled the little guy right out of the gates! We had a blast then visiting Nassau, Bahamas - where we spent a day at the Atlantis resort, then to St.Thomas - we took a ferry to St.John and went to trunk bay!!! This is by far my favorite place in all of the world and if you ever have the chance you need to go, followed by St.Maarten - we shopped here!!! They have the best shopping ever :) sooo as you can tell we did it up big. We flew which is pricy and knew this year we wouldn't go so "big." We knew we wanted to visit Brad's cousin before he leaves Paris to get his MBA, so we needed to stop in Georgia! We we need up driving (10 hours) to Georgia, picking up his cousin and hitting the road! It was good to break up the drive and we had some time to stretch and relax. We then drove 6 more hours to Disney!!!

Hotel- 

You must stay on Disney property!!! You get the full experience, plus get transportation to the parks and a few other perks! We stayed in a family suite at the new Art of Animation resort - it was "Cars" themed and could not have been more perfect. Max love the cars and we loved the space we had. This is the first hotel to have family suites - it had a bedroom with a queen bed and bathroom with shower, then a living room with a pullout couch, kitchenette, and table with Murphy bed. Ohhh forgot the best thing of all - a second bathroom!!! Ladies and people with families know how amazing this is!!! 

Food

We didn't do the Disney dining plan - instead I packed food for breakfast and we at in the room - I made reservations for one sit down meal a day. The sit down meals are not super expensive (some are) and reservations are key! I chose only places where we could get a reservation - mostly because I have a 2 year old and he will not have the patience to wait! We did....

-Coral Reef @ Epcot 

-Cinderella's Castle @ Magic Kingdom 

-Crystal Palace @ Magic Kingdom 

-T-Rex @ Downtown Disney 

-Be Our Guest @ Magic Kingdom 

-Raintree @ Animal Kingdom 

Transportation

So some things you may want to keep in mind I know we will!!! If you are traveling down in a car you can rent a stroller (a nice one from a stroller rental place - yeas!!! There is such a thing) or rent one from the park. It is $15 a day, so it is not too bad. This could save you some valuable space in the car. We took our BOB jogging stroller which was nice - easy to fold (important because you have to get it on and off busses) - the only thing was that it was large! Ours was orange which I actually liked becaus u have to park it in stroller parking when you ride on the rides, so it made it easier to find. Keep in mind something to mark you stroller so you can easily find it regardless of if you take your own or rent on - it will save time!!! 

Fast Pass

You have to plan...plan...plan!!! Use the my Disney experience ap for your smart phone to plan your days - makes or easy and way less stressful. You can book your fast pass rides ahead of time and hit all of your must do's on your trip!

We are already planning next years trip! It was so magical and even though Max was young we could still see his eyes light up! This is a vacation that I hope everyone can one day take with their children.


xoxo,

-g-