Do-Re-Mi Plates
A few months ago, the boys received these adorable personalized melamine Do Re Mi plates from A Drop of Golden Sun Etsy shop. The boys want to eat off of them every night for supper, and I want to order one as a gift for everyone that I know! Aren’t they adorable?
Disney Countdown
We leave for Disney World in seven days! We are so excited and the boys are getting excited, too. We’re staying at Wilderness Lodge and everything is booked and reserved. We’ll be gone for seven days. What is your best advice for traveling to Disney World with young kids?
The Good Wife
I’ve become obsessed with The Good Wife. My mom has been telling me to watch it for years and I always had other things I wanted to start on DVD. But with this lull in television (Homeland and Scandal are on hiatus, but Downton Abbey is back!), I started The Good Wife. And I’m addicted already. I love it!
Supper Time!
I’ve really loved cooking in the new house. This week I made Barefoot Contessa’s Linguine with Shrimp Scampi, Giada’s Chicken Soup with Spaghetti, Six Sisters’ Stuff Pork Carnitas. I highly recommend them all!
Valentine’s Day Sweetness
I am obsessed with this letterpress card from Sugar Paper. And it makes me want to watch one of my favorite episodes from Friends.
Love your loves!!
Erin – You will love the Wilderness Lodge. It is our favorite Disney hotel. Make sure you eat at the Whispering Canyon Cafe inside the hotel. They will give the boys “stick horses” to ride. The hotel has lots of hidden mickey’s too.
Hi Amanda! I am so happy to hear that! We are really excited about the hotel and we already have reservations at the restaurant. So happy to hear your good review!!
That restaurant is a riot!!! “Whispering” it is not LOL. The boys will have a blast! I’m so jealous you guys get to go – have SO MUCH FUN!!
oh my goodness! I wish my husband watched Friends and would get that 🙂
Wilderness Lodge is AMAZING! We’ve stayed there three times. Don’t miss the boat parade at night, make sure to take the boat to the Magic Kingdom, and try the Roast Beef sandwich the Roaring Fork (the smaller restaurant in the hotel) – it is delicious!
We LOVE Disney World – you will have the BEST time!
I LOVE DISNEY!! Wilderness Lodge is amazing! The best advice I can offer is do what you can–don’t rush through everything. if you’re there for 7 days, definitely take a break one day from the parks!!!
Plan for rest days:). When our families went we had a 1.5, 2 3 year olds and a 6 year old and the younger 3 were wiped by lunch and need some low key days between the parks. My 3 year old loved all the playground like attractions and didn’t care as much for the actual rides! Have fun:)
My dad was an Imagineer and now works as a consultant so we have been a part of the Disney family for almost 25 years. With that being said, we have been innumerable times and I have seen so many families through the years who are dragging hot, tired, crabby kids. My advice would be to rest, take time to enjoy the little moments (the yummy snacks, the playgrounds, the walks, the animals) as well as the big moments. The sweetest Disney memories with my babies (now 9,6 and 1) are the little ones I often don’t expect. Of course, they love the castle, the characters, the cruise ship and the parades too, but there is so much more than that.
Don’t forget to get them Mickey ice cream bars…they are the best and make the cutest pictures. Have fun!
You can take snacks and water/juice into the parks. Fill up a backpack and stow it under your stroller. Definitely take a mid day break/nap. I highly recommend subscribing to touringplans.com. It’s $10 for a year. This site is the best for mapping out your days in the parks. The subscription also includes an app for your smartphone to check wait times, etc. Have fun!
Oh my goodness I love me some good wife. She is awesome. Enjoy it!!
My most recent blog post is from our trip to Disney. The best advice I’ve heard regarding Disney with small kids is to choose ONE thing each day that you really want to do. One ride, one show, etc. Accomplish that, and then everything else is like icing on the cake. I personally think one thing is pretty conservative…maybe choose one thing per person? It just takes a bit of the stress off, if you aren’t trying to cram too much in. Have a blast and take a million pictures! 🙂
This is great advice! One absolute thing per person sounds very doable. You def want to have some outline of a plan for each day, and def include breaks. And this might sound crazy but don’t forget to eat! My dad is a crazy Disney planner, and the one day he had us running around to so many things that we literally forgot to eat (we were teens at that time, and surprisingly not cranky or mad when that happened! We still laugh about that today!) I would also ask to ride in the front of the Monorail, and don’t be afraid to talk to ANY of the workers down there (from the people playing the characters to the people who clean your hotel room). Every single one of them was hired for a reason, and many of them can provide that extra bit of magic to your day.
I did the same thing with The Good Wife! I signed up for a Free Trial of Hulu Plus and watched all 4 seasons in a week…it was THAT good. My husband wasn’t too excited that I was glued to my laptop all week, but it was free? Haha!
Have I missed the new house pics post?!? Can’t wait to see this new place you’ve been talking about!!
We went to the evening campfire singalong and marshmallow roast with Chip and Dale and Ft Wilderness campground and it was so much fun-and FREE! You can buy s’more kits there and roast them by the fire. They show a movie afterward. It was a lot of fun. I think most hotels have the evening movies now, but this one has characters and songs. We really enjoyed it.
We usually just bring one bottle of water in to the park and refill it, so we don’t have to lug heavy bottles around. But, the water is not very good, so you may want to bring crystal light or water flavoring packets or drops.
Use the photo pass! It’s a great way to get a few pictures of your whole family-take a picture of the card as soon as you get it. If you lose it, you can still look up your pictures. And if you forget yours, you can combine cards. If you think you may want to have all of the pics, there are groups on facebook that coordinate dates and prepay for a photopass that includes all of the pics. At the end of the trip, you e-mail your card numbers to the coordinator and she sends your pics to you. I know a girl who was able to take advantage of this for around $25!
(I love The Good Wife, too! I don’t know many people who watch it, but it’s really good.)
If you are driving take bottled water, Capri suns, etc. We found Disney pretty flexible in terms of carrying drinksin. We also brought wine and beer for happy hour! Definitely take rests and naps midday and then go back later in the afternoon. Don’t try to see everything – the whole thing is magical to kids so don’t sweat it is you miss something. We liked the pirates’ league experience for boys at magic kingdom.
Take two umbrella strollers instead of a larger, double stroller. MUCH easier to get through the busy sidewalks, easier to fold as you get on and off the buses, and you can split up (restroom break, etc.) if needed.
We did Disney years ago. The best thing we did for our young ones was to head back to the hotel after lunch for an hour of relax time. Everyday our kids ages 3 & 8 napped. It made the evenings much more bearable.
I cannot wait to hear about your Disney Trip! Wilderness Lodge is a favorite of our family. You cannot beat the convince of staying at a Disney resort.
I’m going to have to check out The Good Wife. I have several friends who have good things to say about it as well.
Hope y’all are having a great weekend!!
This blog site I also follow recently had the greatest tips (many utilizing technology/apps while there). They have 18 month old twins and she is pregnant. Worth reading what she had to say. http://jayandanni.blogspot.com/
Looking forward to your pictures/posts when you’re back from Disney!! I’ll be taking notes. 🙂 Have a blast!
I interned at the wilderness lodge in college about 15 years ago. Still the best Disney hotel in my opinion. *ask the front desk person this. “I had a friend who worked the College Program. Do you still have the character pictures that you guys autograph? If so can you leave one in our room? This is our first time here. ”
They are free and a cool souvenir. The college program still exists- and I would guess those pictures still are available.
Have fun. Take the boat to majic kingdom first time- but the bus is faster.
Order groceries from http://www.gardengrocer.com and they will deliver to your resort on the day of your arrival! Your resort will keep them cold until you check in to your room. We ordered everything from diapers, wipes and toiletries to milk, water, breakfast foods, snacks, etc. It saved me lots of space in my suitcase and made hotel-living so much easier while we were there!
I also second the other commenters that said to make time for the smaller attractions like playgrounds. There are some really awesome ones there, and my kids LOVED playing on them in between the big rides, lines, long walks, etc. In Animal Kingdom there is the dinosaur playground, in Hollywood Studios there’s the “Honey I Shrunk the Kids” one, and I think there’s a good playground in EPCOT, too. Plus, the new indoor playground while you wait for to ride Dumbo. All are perfect for toddlers & preschoolers!
Your boys may enjoy the Pirates League experience (basically, a boy version of the Bippity Boppity Boutique!) — they get to dress up as pirates, get pirate names, have their photo taken, etc.
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/events-tours/magic-kingdom/pirates-league/
Have SO much fun!!!
WE LOVE Disney! We have been every year since my daughter was 2! The best advice I can give is to use the magic hours! You will be able to accomplish so much in those hours before the masses of non-resort guests can get in to the park! Also, remember that you will never be able to accomplish everything in one visit but you can accomplish the things that are most important to your family!! And if you haven’t already downloaded the my disney experience app make sure you get it! https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/plan/my-disney-experience/mobile-apps/
We don’t leave for Disney until mid August, but I’m loving all of the tips from everyone. Can’t wait to hear your review when you get back. I hope you and your sweet family have a great time!