How We Helped Our Tot Overcome His Fear of Characters at Walt Disney World

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J is my oldest.  He had just turned 3 a month before we left for Disney World.  This last trip was his 4th and aside from chewing on Minnie Mouse's nose when he was 5 months old and loving it, he HATED characters at Disney World.

Our goal was never to be pushy, but to always try.  We have two kiddos so while J was fearful of characters, our younger son E really enjoyed them (our last trip in 2012 E was 10 months and J was 2). There's just that balance in parenting.  We'd approach characters with J and talk them up, but when he showed fear we held him and didn't push him to go stand with them anyway screaming like a baby in a Santa Claus picture.  We wanted to nurture the fear and work him through it in his own time.

Going into this trip we did our best prepare him again for meeting characters.  We showed him old pictures of our family with characters, pictures of kids hugging characters in promo material, and we just discussed it a lot.  Conversations sounded something like this…

Me: "Are you going to meet Mickey Mouse at Disney World?!"
J: "Uh huh, uh huh, uh huh! I meet him!"
Me: "I'm going to give him a big hug! Do you think you want to give him a hug?"

The answer for this was often no, but one day he said he wanted to hug Mickey too and then he'd always reply…

J: "Uh huh! When I see Mickey I give him a BIIIIIIG HUG!"

Then I'd go on to explain Mickey Mouse was extra special and extra big!  He had to grow to be able to meet J and give him that special hug but because he was big, he couldn't talk.  I think the SIZE of the characters and their SILENCE is what gets toddlers the most.  It's confusing.  Their tiny in the TV and their tiny in toy form.  So when you meet Mickey and he's almost as tall as Mommy or you meet Buzz and he's taller than Daddy it's overwhelming!  My speech was a total lie, but I felt like it was a way I could translate to him the size and silence so it would make sense and so most important: HE WOULD EXPECT IT.

So we got to Disney World and didn't rush straight for the characters.  We did some of their favorite rides from the previous year and then when we saw there was a 5 minute wait to meet Goofy and Donald, we headed that way.  Meeting Goofy was first.  I decided I would approach Goofy (who is HUGE) first and give him a big hug and signal to the kids to come get a great hug too.  It kind of worked.  I think the kids saw I was conformable with Goofy but they still wanted us to each hold them to meet him and then Donald (my baby who was now almost 2 had also become nervous about characters at this point).  We all smiled, they high-fived Donald and Goofy and we moved along.  And then we didn't really seek characters out for the rest of the day.

The next morning we had a breakfast scheduled at Chef Mickey's in the Contemporary Resort.  We knew this could either go horribly if they hated the characters or help break the ice.  For J, it broke the ice.  He didn't eat his food at all because he was so excited waiting for the next friend to come by.  E was KIND of okay with the character thing until Goofy stole his Buzz Lightyear toy.  It was all in fun, but I think it may have scared him away from the characters for good for the rest of the trip.  By the time Minnie and Mickey came around J was ready for BIG hugs.  I still held him because that made him feel most comfortable, but he was willing to extend himself for the hug.

We went on to meet Mickey and Buzz in Magic Kingdom later on.  J did a good job of hugging and high-fiving those guys while we held him.  E would only give high fives and then he hid in our chests.  And that's ok!  We put him on the hip further away from the characters for pics and that was ok!  We didn't push him.

Later that day, we were in line to meet Woody and Jessie.  They ended up taking a break right before our turn so we had 5 minutes of waiting before they came back out.  This actually ended up working PERFECTLY and was like the Disney magic in commercials because when they came out my kids could run right up to them and they went straight to our kids.  To this point it had been all holding J to meet characters, but not this time!  This time he RAN to Woody and gave him the world's LONGEST hug.  Literally.  Everyone in line was laughing and awww-ing and we were too because he just never wanted to let go.  I think seeing an all time favorite in real life broke the eyes and blew his mind wide open.  E did better here too.  He gave hugs by himself and then got back into my arms.  J took our family pic here on his own standing next to Jessie.  It was a big moment!

Going forward we encouraged him to approach all characters on his own for hugs.  We carried E up but also asked him if he wanted to meet whoever.  Usually he said yes, but sometimes he said no.  For example, when we were at Hollywood Studios and had the chance to meet both Buzz and Woody in "Andy's room" J was on cloud 9 but E wanted nothing to do with it.  So my husband took him and they strolled around HS while J and I stood in line.  I hoped this visit would be exclusively J without me involved or in the pics and that's just what happened!  When he turned the corner for his turn, he bolted to Buzz and Woody.  They engaged him right away and played with him and he had SO MUCH fun!!!  He was just beaming and still talks about it months later.  I was definitely teary eyed watching the whole thing.

The last characters we met were real people… the princesses and then Peter Pan and Wendy.  J gave "Tangled" the biggest hug and got to spend about 5 minutes with her.  She just hugged him the whole time and talked about Maximus and Flynn Rider.  She was FANTASTIC.  It was fun to see him interacting with real people acting like characters.  Peter Pan was also AMAZING.  He was showing J the map of Neverland and discussing Captain Hook with him.  J loved it!  Wendy asked to rock him to sleep and he obliged.  I didn't think he'd ever want to leave her lap.  E met Wendy and Peter too but wanted nothing to do with the princesses which really surprised me!  I thought they'd be less frightening but he was just not their fan!  He was pretty terrified of them so he stayed away.  Wendy was SO sweet with him and he did a little better with her.

So at the end of the day, my advice for approaching characters with scared kids is to try.

-- Just because they were scared last time doesn't mean they won't work past the fear this time.
-- Don't force them to the characters, but go with them and hold them and let them ease their way in.
-- Be as excited and as enthusiastic about it all as a Disney cast member.  If you feel confident, they will too.
-- Take them to their hero because meeting their favorite person ever might really break the ice!
-- Ask.  If they're nervous, ask if they want to try while you hold them.  Then as they ease up ask if they want to get down.  Stay low with them so they know you're there.  Work it up slowly and easily.  Eventually it'll happen and it'll be great!  I know in January or maybe when E is 3 I might have two boys who just take off and do it all by themselves!

Disney Vacation Club

So this post has been a long time coming.  I'm sorry for not being a better blogger of late -- especially since we are post Disney World and I have so much good stuff to share!  Life has been busy lately with sick kids and a lot of other things so blogging has definitely taken a back seat to all the other things!  But for today, I'm happy to carve out time and sit down and share with you guys about Disney Vacation Club.  I have so much to say!

at Wilderness Lodge January 2012

This is an EXTREMELY basic overview... Disney Vacation Club is a program Disney started in the 90s.  They built a resort on property (now called "Old Key West") that people could buy into in exchange for points.  How many points you bought would translate to how big of a room you could stay in or how often you could stay.  Buying points is a one time expense that gives you points for about 40-50 years from the time the resort you own at opens.  Each year your points renew and you pay dues on your points.  You use your points to book your hotel room only for your upcoming Disney vacation.  You get discounts on merchandise, some restaurants, and annual passes as a DVC member.  After building Old Key West, Disney built resorts at Hilton Head Island and Vero Beach and then focused on building more on their properties.  At Disney World there are two exclusively DVC resorts: Old Key West & Saratoga Springs (we own at Saratoga Springs).  There are also many deluxe level resorts that have DVC exclusive rooms built onto them including: Boardwalk, Beach Club, Animal Kindgom Lodge, Wilderness Lodge, Contemporary (Bay Lake Tower), Grand Floridian and coming soon Polynesian. There's also a DVC resort at Disneyland called "The Grand Californian" and a Disney resort in Hawaii called Alunai.

view from our room at Wilderness Lodge

Explaining Points

Every year DVC members get a packet with charts of all the DVC resorts.  The charts are broken down into seasons which simply put are: slow season to busiest season and everything in between.  There is also a breakdown on the chart of each level of rooms within a resort: studios, 1 bedrooms, 2 bedrooms, 3 bedrooms.  In the charts are the points needed per night to stay in one of those rooms (the points will be x price Sunday-Thursday night and then a little higher for Friday and Saturday nights).  Here's what that looks like:

image taken from here

So as you can see, if you stay at the Grand Floridian in a studio with a standard view in September, you would be using 125 points for that stay.  Grand Floridian is the most expensive of all the resorts right now.  You can stay a week in Old Key West at the same time for 64 points for the week.  

You get new points each year.  We get new points every October.  If we know we aren't going to use our points that year for some reason, we can bank our points to have for the next year or if we want to take an extra trip we can borrow points from an upcoming year.

This looks like this, for example:

Banking

It's 2011.  We just had a great trip with baby J but surprise! I'm pregnant with E.  We had 40 points left in our use year and won't get to go again, so we call DVC Customer Service and bank the 40 remaining and now we have 160 points for 2012.  Yay!

Borrowing

We used up all our points in 2012 and now it's February 2013.  We want to book our September trip, but we don't get new points until October 2013 deposited into our account.  We borrow 117 points for our trip out of the 2013 use year which means we have to wait until October 2013 to book anymore trips when we can now borrow from the 2014 use year.

the beach at Wilderness Lodge

More often than not we borrow ahead because when we received our points we were behind a use year (this is because we bought through resale, not Disney, which I'll explain later).  This is fine and only catches up with us if we're booking two trips for one year (which we are in 2014) because we have to wait until October to book a trip for January and there's not much left in the way of rooms available.  Because our points are our property until 2048 at the rate we are going, we will just run out in 2047 one year earlier and be cut short that one year.  Unless we have a year we don't go to Disney which may happen! You never know.

So, to recap, when you buy into Disney Vacation Club, you are buying points at a certain property to be used to book vacations at any of the DVC properties.

beach at Wilderness Lodge

"OWNING" property and "HOME" resorts explained

We own at Saratoga Springs.  But what does this mean?  Why does it matter.  Because we own at Saratoga it is called our "home resort."  You can book a vacation at your home resort 11 months in advance.  You can book a vacation at any other resort 7 months in advance.  You don't need a big booking window to book at Saratoga.  It usually has availability always.  But there are other resorts that book up fast.  Bay Lake Tower, for example, books fast.  They also have value rooms which are significantly less points but that space is limited.  We bought into DVC in 2010 and it wasn't until 2013 that we were able to get a studio at Bay Lake Towers when booking 7 months out because they fill up so fast.  I have two friends who own there, however, who are able to book right away 11 months out and never have problems getting a room.  

park at Wilderness Lodge

When you buy through Disney, you can only buy where their selling so your options of were to own are more limited.  When you buy through resale and can choose your home resort, you just need to keep the 11 vs 7 months booking window in mind.  If being at the same resort every time is important to you, buy there.  If you like to explore all the resorts, you have more options.

Dues

Also, because we own at Saratoga, that's where our dues go.  Dues are due each January and are different for every resort.  You pay per point on your dues and although point rates never increase (more later), dues do.  Dues go to the upkeep of resorts, etc.  Dues are more for newer resorts.  Our dues are around $4 per point each year but when we toured the DVC facility in 2009 to consider membership and they were selling Animal Kingdom Lodge property, dues were starting around $7 a point.  

Points Ending

I mentioned earlier our points are good through 2048.  Every resort is different in when your points end.  The idea is they'll last your whole life.  In 2048 Josh will be 68 and I'll be 60.  We will probably not be done with Disney World and although we don't know what options will be presented to members when their time runs out, there's rumors they will offer small extension packages which we may take or maybe when we're in our 40s we'll have more money to buy more points at a resort that's points last until 2060.  Either way, that's a great run.  We got the points when Josh was 30 so we have 30 years of only paying dues on our hotel stay at Disney World.

balcony at Animal Kindgom Lodge September 2012

balcony view

Explaining Point Value

This part is complicated and I want to do my best to explain it but I may not.  While dues increase with the economy, points do not.  Remember how I said at Old Key West you pay 64 points for a week stay but at Grand Floridian you pay 125?  OKW opened in 1995 but GF opened in 2013.  In 95 new members could buy a lot less points for their buy in rate.  I'm not sure the amount, but let's guess it was 85.  So say I'm in 1995 with my white KEDS and high jeans and I'm signing the contract on that DVC sale.  I know I can only afford 85 points and that they'll last me until 2040ish.  I also have a guarantee that with my 85 points, I'll always be able to stay at least a week on property because even though my dues will increase, points will stay pretty consistent.

park at AKL

Now fast forward to 2013.  I'm signing on to buy at Grand Floridian.  The minimum buy in is now 180 through Disney and I'm signing the contract for 180 points a year and I know I can always get a studio for about 125 or so for a week if I go in the off season.

Now fast forward to 2020 and some new resort is opening and the minimum buy in is 250 and a week is 200 points.  Again, I know I'm safe.  My 1995 self cannot afford this newest resort unless I bank and borrow or have bought more points, but I can still afford the older resorts.

I hope that makes sense!  I think it's important because you know your investment is safe.  You know 2020 won't roll around and you won't be able to afford anything without buying more points.

pool at AKL

Financial Benefits of Buying DVC

This can best be explained through example, I think so I'm going to use our trips since becoming DVC and give you the current room rates (if you were to go in January 2014 which is off season) for what we would have paid to stay here:

January 2011 - Saratoga Springs & Animal Kingdom Lodge, 6 nights $2207.28

January 2012 - Wilderness Lodge, 7 nights $2425.50

September 2012 - Animal Kingdom Lodge, 7 nights $2940

September 2013 - Bay Lake Tower (compared to Contemporary), 7 nights $3997

January 2014 - Old Key West, 6 nights $2207.28

TOTAL = $13,777.06

(or $137,770.60 over the course of 30 years if rates didn't increase!!!!!!)

That is how much we would have paid for all our resort stays only (no tickets, food, etc) since becoming DVC.  We paid less than half of that for our points so within 3 visits our investments had already paid for itself and let me remind you we have those points until 2048!

The reality is we would have NOT stayed at those resorts had we been DVC.  So what if all those trips we had stayed at the value resorts?  The CHEAPEST on property.  For the 33 nights stayed, we would have paid $3897.96.  Now that's less than what we paid for DVC, but within the 30 years we go on vacation at Disney World?  We would pay significantly more than that.  If rates didn't change, that value resort would add up to $38,979.60 over the course of 30 years and we definitely paid a LOT less than that for our points!

room time at AKL

Is it worth it for ME?

If you go to Walt Disney World every year, it's worth it.  If you go to Disney World every other year and stay at deluxe level resorts, it's worth it.  

My Dad always told me your past is the best indicator of your future.  Josh has been going to Disney World at least once a year since the early 2000s.  From 2008 to 2010 when we bought DVC we had been to WDW 4x.  We both loved Disney World and we knew even before we had a family that we wanted this to be our big family vacation every single year.  Sure, we may want to go to the Grand Canyon but THIS, this would be our family's thing.  So based on our history and our desires for our family's future, we bought into DVC.

Maybe someday something will happen and we'll stop going.  Maybe our kids will hate it or we'll get tired of it or medically we won't be able to go.  If that happens, we can always sell our points.  Actually, because of inflation and the great deal we got, right now we could sell our points for more money than we paid for them.  People love Disney.  People have always loved and will always love Disney and so any investment will hold it's value.

Talking about the cost

If you buy points through Disney right now, say for Animal Kingdom Lodge (they're still selling ownership there), you have a buy in of 180 points (I think) and the points are about $150 per point.  That's $27,000.  You will definitely recoup the cost several times over in time, but it's a huge investment up front.  In 2014, you could stay at AKL in a Savannah view studio room for 102 points for a week.  You could stay at a standard view room that is a one bedroom (kitchen, dining area, living room with roll out bed, 1 bedroom with king sized bed, washer/dryer, jet tub, stand alone shower) for 160 points.  So that's an idea of what that investment gets you.

If you buy Animal Kingdom through resale right now, you can buy 180 points at $79 a point for a total of $14,220.  That is a SIGNIFICANT savings.

Buying resale points

We bought points through resale.  We could have never afforded to buy through Disney even with the payment plans they offer.  We bought through www.dvc-resales.com and had the BEST experience with this company and all the agents we worked with.  Their reputable and have a good relationship with Disney.  They did all the work for us and worked well with us.  (And they're not paying me to say any of this, by the way!)

When we bought our resale points, Disney didn't have anything against it.  We were no different than someone who bought through Disney because we bought through resale and because we bought before any changes, we'll always be that way.

Since then, Disney has caught on to the savings through buying resale and they've changed the rules.  If you buy resale, those points are only valid at Disney properties (WDW, Hilton Head, Hawaii and Vero Beach).  Those points CANNOT be used for the other perks DVC membership offers like Adventures by Disney (international travel) or used at hotels around the nation partnered with Disney.

The other factors of points and where you can use them

On that note, let me talk about those things.  You can do "Adventures by Disney" as a DVC member which looks INCREDIBLE.  Basically you go with a small group of DVC members to another country.  Let's say it's Scotland.  You get there and Disney covers transportation and you have an incredible tour guide and unique experiences including staying the night in a castle.  It sounds amazing and if I ever traveled internationally I'd want to do it, but you know what?  Those trips cost at least 600 points per person.  PER PERSON.  I'll NEVER EVER have that many points and you probably won't either (unless you're just really, really rich and reading this!).  If you COULD afford this and you want to do it, don't buy resale.  Buy through Disney.  If you buy through resale, your points won't work for this.

As for using points at partner hotels...  Say you're going to NYC.  Disney has hotels there they're partnered with and you can use some points for a stay at those hotels.  I've looked at this one time and thought "WHY in the world would I exchange points for THAT?"  The rates are high.  Maybe I would some day if our family vacation was less Disney and more NYC, but honestly it doesn't seem like a good value to me.

beach outside Bay Lake Tower

Being a DVC Member

I'm going to wrap up this novel of a post now and just talk about membership for me.  I love being a DVC member.  I love that I get to stay at deluxe level resorts when I go to Disney World I couldn't afford otherwise.  I love being around other members because we all love Disney and the community is awesome.  I love the extra amenities I get while on property like free access to laundry (which wouldn't matter as much if we ever save up and stay in a one bedroom!), community hall (a DVC member area in each resort where you can rent movies for free, have activities and crafts for the kids, check out board games, hang out...), free wifi, discounts on annual passes, parks at the resorts, outdoor movies.... Just so much great stuff!  I love Disney and being a member of DVC was a dream for Josh and me.  It's exciting to be there now and we just really enjoy the amplified Disney experience.

kitchenette at Bay Lake Tower (there's one in every Studio!)

Downside of being a DVC Member

The ONLY negative has been not getting "promo" packages.  Before DVC we'd go to Disney under their promos (YOU SHOULD ALWAYS DO THIS!!!) so we'd have free dining or something neat.  We'd also have our whole trip wrapped up in an easy package.  Now we're responsible for saving money for food and buying our own dining plan (never discounted) if we want it.  We also have to take care of our own park tickets.  DVC Customer Service is EXTREMELY accommodating to help with these things, but we're independent and we do it ourselves.  ON THE PLUS SIDE though, we now buy annual passes basically at the same rate a Florida resident would pay so this year we bought annual passes for 3 people for about $1400 and we will use them for 3 trips.  So for this January trip we have annual passes, room taken care of and our only cost will be travel and food.  So while we may miss promos and the ease of packages, I can't tell you how nice it is to be able to just go in January and not have to spend much money at all because things are already taken care of!

If you're really considering DVC, I'd recommend you do the DVC tour on your next trip to WDW.  We did it and it takes about 2-3 hours but you get free ice cream at the end and sometimes they have other promos (a good friend did it and got a $50 gift card for their families time).  You don't have to commit, but you get to tour models of the rooms, you get any question you have answered, you learn more about dues and points and just get a great understanding of the whole thing.  You should DEFINITELY do it.  It's really fun and I promise the sales people aren't too pushy!  If you want, you can always ask for Jim McCoy.  He worked with us and was fantastic.  He is actually still our agent even though we bought through resale and gives us a call every time we check in to wish us a great vacation.  Can't say enough good things about him!

So I hope this post helped you and answered any questions you had about Disney Vacation Club!  I'm off to ice my fingers now.  ;)

This is all my own opinions and research, by the way, Disney did not pay me to share any of this.

Bay Lake Tower Resort Review

Thank you all for your questions! I can't wait to get to some of these posts about Walt Disney World and our latest trip!  One topic that came up a lot was questions about our Disney Vacation Club membership.  I am super excited to write about that and am planning on putting out that post next week.  

For today, I wanted to "review" our experience at Walt Disney's Bay Lake Tower which is the Disney Vacation Club part of the Contemporary Resort shown below.

The Contemporary is an iconic Disney hotel.  It's often seen in commercials and a toy replica of it is even sold in gift shops as part of the Monorail play set (the monorail runs through this resort that can take you to Magic Kingdom or to the Ticket Center which is a connecting monorail to Epcot).  We were really excited to stay here and experience it.

Before becoming DVC members we did a tour with Disney (which I recommend!).  One of the model rooms was Bay Lake and I remember telling Josh I did not like it.  Other resorts' rooms were so themed... Animal Kingdom, Old Key West, Wilderness Lodge... they were exciting and beautiful and so detailed!  BL, however, was just modern.  I'm not a fan of modern design but Josh is so he liked it.  We walked away from that room thinking the most appealing thing was monorail access and the 10 minute walk into Magic Kingdom.

Because this was our 4th trip as parents, we knew Magic Kingdom was king and we knew how difficult and stressful it can be to unpack tots, fold strollers, and load on and off buses.  Because of this we wanted to try Bay Lake so we could walk to MK (where we knew we'd spend the most time) and monorail to Epcot (where we knew we'd spend the next longest amount of time).

I have to say, the walking to Magic Kingdom was as wonderful as I thought it'd be!  I was spoiled to that walk very, very quickly and after one day of being back on buses I was ready to have another MK day just to avoid bus transportation (which isn't bad at all, but walking is a piece of cake!).  One thing we could do we never have done was stay late at MK that first night for Extra Magic Hours.  J & E were awake for the Electrical Parade and J held strong through Wishes and then we walked around the park with the boys asleep in the stroller and had a little "date" eating cinnamon rolls, croissants, shopping and talking.  It was wonderful!  Had we gotten on a bus, we would have had to wake up a kid and it would have been really difficult 1) dealing with them at 11:45pm 2) getting them back to sleep 3) enduring the ride home if they were cranky while also feeling bad for causing a ruckus for others.  Instead of the stress, we simply left at 11:45 and walked home and slipped both boys into bed.  Easy peasy and WONDERFUL.

So what about monorail access?  The monorail wasn't as dreamy as I thought it'd be but it was still better than buses.  Getting the monorail was kind of tricky.  There's only one elevator and it's packed with strollers so when it's crowded (and keep in mind that in September it's really not that crowded) you'd have to wait a few rounds for an elevator.  Getting on and off the monorail was easy and again, not having to fold up our stroller was great!  We got to the TTC and switched to the Epcot monorail.  From there it was easy!  The real trouble came going home from Epcot.  We waited for a monorail as long as we would have waited for a bus, but bright side: our kids had guaranteed seats and the stroller didn't have to be folded.  There were a lot of delays on the way back and then we switched monorails to go back to the resort.  More delays while they moved tracks for another monorail (including being stalled over Bay Lake which left me horrified - weird phobia, I know) and then we found out the Contemporary was not the first stop.  Our second night coming back Josh figured out it would be smarter to switch at the TTC from Epcot monorail to MK monorail and walk home instead of the the resort monorail.  This might have not saved us time, but it was less stressful.  If you do this, be aware of MK hours.  If it's EMH at Epcot, MK may be closed and the monorail may not be running.

Also a note regarding travel... we hated buses so much we decided that our afternoon in Hollywood Studios would come after a morning in Epcot so we monorailed to Epcot and then walked past Boardwalk/Beachclub and took the 1.3 mile trail to Hollywood Studios.  That night we left around 8 to be back in plenty of time for Epcot closing and walked back to Epcot to monorail back to MK and walk to BL.  Dramatic?  Maybe.  But buses at night are the worst.  If you're looking to escape buses, I really recommend this plan.  ;)

So enough about transportation! Let's talk resort!  We stayed in a studio with a Bay Lake view.  We had a queen sized bed for us and our love seat pulled out into a full sized bed for the kiddos.  All DVC studios have kitchenettes, but this was our first experience with a kitchenette that had 3 walls around it thus making it like it's own little true kitchen.  I really liked that.  I also liked the lighting in the kitchen and used the mirror there for getting ready while Josh used the bathroom.  

Speaking of which, I did not photograph the bathroom, but in other DVC resorts we've stayed at (Saratoga Springs, Wilderness Lodge, Animal Kingdom -- Kadanai and Jambo Houses), the bathroom sinks have been outside the shower/toilet room and have had a lot of counter space.  This bathroom was a standard shower/toilet/sink room with a very minimal amount of sink space.  I really didn't like this.

The rooms were nice enough, but BL seemed less "kempt" than other resorts we've stayed at.  The shower had some rust in it and our toilet paper holder was broken.  I know this sounds like little nit-picky things and it really is, but when you're a DVC member you buy into a property.  We own at Saratoga Springs and so every year we pay dues that go into the upkeep of the resort.  When we stay there I like to see things pristine because this is my "property" and knowing it's well-kempt makes me proud to be an owner.  I don't own at BL, but knew I would have been annoyed with the quality of our room if I did especially considering it is the most recent DVC property build (that's opened) and should still be in really good shape.

Our Bay Lake view was great! So was our balcony.  Very roomy and the kids and I played their one morning.  We were on the second floor so we had a clear view of the beach and the lake.  The first night Josh and I watched the water pageant go by and as you can see in the above photo, we had a great view.

Overall the room was comfortable and met our needs.  I did find that BL had more storage than other resorts and since I unpack and move in, I liked that.  And like I said, I loved the kitchen and the walking is AMAZING.  We also had a great experience with the Community Hall in the resort and enjoyed spending time coloring there and playing with toys.  The cast member there was also super friendly!

And the pool at Bay Lake is great!  There is a Mickey shaped splash pad.  My kids were neutral on that, but LOVED the pool!  We took a morning (after eating at Chef Mickey's) to just swim and relax.  The pool is 0-entry which is perfect for independent toddlers.  The pool also has a handicapped water slide my boys enjoyed using and a BIG water slide they loved!  The big slide is about 3 stories tall.  My oldest and I went up.  He is 3 and is a great swimmer when in a life jacket.  The life guard told me I could go down first and catch him so that was the plan.  I was disappointed BL didn't have a life guard stationed at the top of the slide because when we got up there I had no idea how to go first and guarantee he'd get down and I didn't want to send him first because I didn't know how fast he'd go.  Fortunately a Dad came up with his daughters who were older and they offered to send J down after me.  He LOVED the slide and did great.  Going forward we knew both parents would have to be involved in the slide process so one would hold E and let him go down the handicap slide and then the other would give the signal and send J down.  Finally E lost his patience and we decided to let him go too.  He is FEARLESS in the water and is determined to swim even though he can't.  He did great with it!  We spent almost an hour taking turns going up with them and sending them down that slide.  I was really happy with the BL pool.

(We did not visit the Contemporary pool.)

In the photo above you see a bridge behind me.  The bridge connects floor 5 of BLT to floor 4 of the Contemporary.  It was a short walk from our room to floor 4 which is were all the "action" happens at the Contemporary.  About 5 minutes.

At floor 4 you have Chef Mickeys, Contempo Cafe, monorail elevator access, and 2 gift shops (1 toy, 1 everything else) and a small "market" shop.  The toy store runs through the middle of the giant floor and I didn't like that.  While it looks neat, it's difficult to see around and of course it's the first thing your kids see and they want to go in every single time.  I just wished it all would have been more open.

Contempo Cafe was pretty delicious!  We had their flatbread pizzas, sandwiches, and some pasta.  The flatbread pizzas were our favorite and the sandwiches we got were our least favorite.

We did eat at Chef Mickeys and I wasn't as impressed as I thought I'd be.  Our meal was $100 (2 adults, 1 child, 1 free infant + tip) and the food was not good.  I felt excited to have biscuits and gravy but the gravy was just greasy.  The eggs tasted powdered.  The bacon was bland.  Minnie's pizza was yummy, but the Pinterest copy cat recipe I've made was just as good!  Overall I was disappointed in the food.  We weren't there for the food though; we were there for Mickey!  We've eaten at Crystal Palace, Hollywood & Vine and Garden Grille and I felt like the characters spent more time with us at those places than here.  They blazed through.  I know they were busy, but because we've had better character dining experiences, this one left us feeling very "meh."  Also our kids didn't eat ANYTHING because they were too preoccupied with watching characters.  At other places you don't see them while you eat all the time but because Chef Mickey's is so small, they're constantly in your line of sight.  Food for thought.

My last thought on the Contemporary is regarding the cast members.  We actually talked about this later in the week and were glad the other noticed so we didn't feel crazy.  At ALL the resorts we've stayed at while at Disney (including non-DVC) the cast has been incredible.  They're friendly, outgoing, interested in you, and overly helpful.  At Contemporary they came off more like hotel staff.  Josh went looking for the airport check in one night and they could not have been less helpful if they tried.  We had to call the front desk twice for various reasons and the cast was not warm.  We also discussed this with the DVC cast member in Community Hall at BL who said she had noticed this about BL too and had worked at other resorts (Wilderness for example) where it was not this way.

Our theory is this... There are a TON of conference rooms at BLT.  We saw a TON of business men while there.  This is a business hotel on Disney property and while it's still Disney, it's much more like a normal hotel than any other place we've stayed.  Some people might like that, but we did not.  We didn't hate it, we just felt like we missed out on some of that extra Disney magic we love.

So all in all, Bay Lake Tower had it's appeal.  The walk to MK makes me want to stay there every time... But that's about it.  Despite how appealing that is, I don't think we'll stay at Bay Lake again.  Our favorite is still Wilderness Lodge (review coming) and even though you can't walk to MK from WL, you can boat and that's not too shabby!

So there you have it!  I hope this helps!  Feel free to ask any questions!

We're Home!

Well, we're home from the most magical place on earth!  We flew back Saturday and I still have a whole bag that's yet to be unpacked.  What can I say?  Reentry has been difficult!  Where's my magic pixie dust that does everything for me?

This Disney World trip was amazing!  It was our fourth as parents and definitely the best yet!  J is 3 and he was just so alive the whole time and absorbing everything and having SO MUCH FUN!  E is almost 2 and he loved, loved, loved rides but wasn't a fan of meeting characters any more!  He also got a little sick in our trip, but overall he had a great time and just like his big brother has asked me to go back many times each day since being home! 

So now that I'm home I have lots and lots of ideas for posts about Walt Disney World, but I wanted to ask you guys... what do you want to know?  I get a lot of questions from people about taking toddlers, which parks are best, information about Disney Vacation Club... so if you have a question, please ask me and I'll work it into a post for an answer!  Because I'd LOVE to stretch this vacation out even longer by posting about it.

Posts I'm already planning for the next couple of weeks...

• Bay Lake Tower resort review
• How traveling went for us (to follow up on my airplane bags post)
• How we got J excited for meeting characters after him being scared in the past
• Weight and diet in relation to Walt Disney World (more of a personal journey post)
• Updated parks review with a 2 and 3 year old in mind
• Post Disney World detox

So if you have other ideas or questions, just ask!  I'll be happy to answer any Disney questions you may have!  Although I'm not a bonafide expert, this was my 8th trip in 5 years and my 4th as a parent so I like to think I have a little knowledge.  And passion too, of course!  I'll get to all these posts over the next couple of weeks so you have plenty of time to ask!

In the meantime, here's to a 3rd cup of coffee and figuring out how to procrastinate laundry and cleaning some more.

Airport Bags

Y'all know our Disney trip is right around the corner and we are flying once again (because we drove to California this Summer and that was pretty intense... too intense to repeat for awhile).  Our flights aren't bad; they're each about 1.5 hours.  But still.  When you have an almost 2 year old and a 3 year old you need to keep in their seat and entertained for 1.5 hours?  Things can get ugly.

Josh and I have been collecting this and that when we've been out and about for the last month or so.  This last weekend I took my last trip to the dollar store pre WDW to finish off the loot for the bags so I could check that off my list.

Each of my boys has a backpack.  J who's 3 has a Mickey Mouse full size bag and E who is almost 2 has a small Buzz Light year bag.  They'll each wear them like big boys through the airport.  They'll also be unaware of the bags contents until we're on the plane.

In addition to having our iPad stocked with their favorite shows and movies, the bags will contain the following:

Coloring pad (Dollar Tree)

Pack of Minnie Mouse crayons (Dollar Tree)

A Pez dispenser (Toys R Us)

A new Fisher Price "robot" toy (Target)

Stickers (Dollar Tree)

Bubble gum (Dollar Tree)

Play Doh (Target dollar bins)

Not too much, but enough to give them little surprises and treats and keep them occupied when they get bored with the TV.  All in all filling these bags cost me about $15 combined, but buying them ANYTHING like that in the airport or at WDW would have been way more money.  ;)

Also going along with us?  Take N Toss cup, bags of goldfish, Teddy Grahams, and peanut butter crackers (these things will be great to have in parks too.)

What are your must haves when traveling with tots and preschoolers?

Preparing Yourself to Take Toddlers to Disney World

With our next Disney trip less than a month away, I'm busy making preparations.  These kinds of preparations are always my favorites.  Lists, lists, lists!  I wrote last week about how to prepare toddlers for Disney World, but equally important is preparing yourself for taking toddlers to Disney World!  It's an undertaking, but it's so worth it!

Safety

In the past I've had at least one baby on the hip, in a stroller or in my Moby for each trip.  Now that I'm taking an-almost-two-year-old and a 3 year old, I know my kids will be walking more and in strollers less.  I know when they're walking they'll want independence and will sometimes run ahead of us a bit. I know in the airport we're actually planning on taking no strollers.  While I'm confident my husband and I can keep up with our kids just fine and that they will obey us and come back if they start running off, you can never be too careful!  I've noticed in our past trips kids wearing bracelets with their parent's phone numbers or even tattoos with this kind of information.  This year I knew our kids needed something JUST IN CASE.  I doubt anything will happen but what if it does?  I want to know if they wonder off out of our line of site they have something to identify a way to get them back to us.  I knew they wouldn't wear bracelets or necklaces (which is a great, cheap idea I'd recommend for sure), so I took to the Disney Mom's Forum and found out about safetytats.com.  I just ordered their stick on tattoos that come with a marker for the first time.  I ordered 18 for our 2 boys.  They say they last up to 2 weeks, but I wanted to be sure to have one for each of them including our travel days.  I ordered the stick ons because they sounded like they were the most water proof, most easily (and quickly) applied, and easiest to take off.

In addition to plastering our phone numbers to their arms, I've also started talking with my 3 year old about "strangers."  I know there's a lot of suggestions now to talk about "bad guys" instead of "strangers" but I'm trying to keep it so simply with him.  We just talk about how he needs to always stick by Mommy and Daddy and if he ever gets lost from Mommy and Daddy he needs to tell another Mommy and Daddy he's lost.  We also have a lot of talks about not letting people touch him and yelling, "Hey! You're not my Mom/Dad!"  Who knows how much he retains, but I hope having this information in his head helps him.

Fitness

It sounds funny to say you need to prepare for your WDW trip by getting fit, but in my opinion you really do!  You'll be walking hours a day and can also end up carrying around a cranky toddler.  We also carry backpacks all day and our SLR camera.  Even in our before kid trips my husband and I would make sure we started walking every day before our trip to build up our stamina, but now with kids it's even more important especially when you think about safety and "what if they run off?"  This trip I'll be in the best shape of my life but I'm still trying to prepare.  Before we go I'll be trying to go to the zoo or a museum every week just so I get practice chasing them, wearing a backpack, pushing the stroller, carrying cranky tots, etc.  Even though I'm a runner and fairly fit, I still get sore after carrying a kid around for awhile because I'm working different muscles.  You might think, "I won't do that," but you never know.  Walking around a park for 6 hours effects everyone differently and your kids who love their stroller might get over stimulated and really want to be held.  It never hurts to practice!

Study

Sounds lame, right?  Well I LOVE studying up for our trip because I'm a nerd like that.  But really, it is exciting and fun to think it all through, get tips, and have a better knowledge of things!  Especially when you have tots and your brain often feels broken because you're tired or frazzled.

There are so many great bloggers who write tips like this and you can find so much on Pinterest now about Disney World.

You can also look up information and ask questions on the Disney Moms Forum.

We love the Birnbaum's Walt Disney World books, but they are "sponsored" by Disney.  If you want more cut and dry, non-biased information I can't recommend "The Unofficial Guide to WDW" enough!  It's a HUGE read but it's so informative and you can always look up what you need to!

Get familiar with the "fast pass" concept.  Fast passes and "rider swap" are your key to having a successful trip especially with little ones! (I should post about these things some time, for sure!)

Plan

Just like studying, it helps to make a plan!  You want to make any kind of reservations in advance, especially character dining reservations (the only sit down dining we do right now is the kind with characters).  Before we book dining we consult the Internet for what parks are and aren't recommended each day of our trip and any other kind of "perks" that are in that park that day (like extra magic hours for people staying on Disney property).

So, for example, on the Tuesday of our trip Epcot is the recommended park.  They also have early magic hours so they open at 8 instead of 9.  We are headed there for the 8am opening and will ride rides through lunch and then head back to Bay Lake Tower for naps.  That evening we have a very early reservation (4ish) for Garden Grille back in Epcot we'll head back up for after our kids nap.  Garden Grille is delicious and scenic.  The food is endless and family style and you meet farmer Mickey, Pluto, Chip & Dale during this dining experience.  After dinner we'll have the evening to hang out of head back to the hotel if the kids are grumpy but it's nice knowing crowds will be low if they're up for sticking around long enough for fireworks!

It also helps to look at quick service menus before you go.  Most have menu items your kids will love but some might not.  When we went when J was 17 months we were in World Showcase when he woke up from a nap and he was hungry!  Our options nearby were Mexico, China, Norway & Germany quick service.  We didn't know what each had and ended up at Norway thinking he might eat an Uncrustable PB&J (their only kids option) but he didn't.  If we had known better what each place had we would have known to just pick him up and carry him to America and get him chicken nuggets and grapes which we knew he'd eat.  It was a waste of money and time trying to get him to eat that sandwich (which he'd gladly eat now!).

BATHROOMS!

Grab maps at your resort for each park so you know where bathrooms are the second you get to the park.  You never know... the second you get to the park you might have a little one begging to go!  This knowledge is something you will not regret memorizing!  ;)

So there you have it!  My tips for preparing yourself to take toddlers to Disney World!  Wondering what my check list looks like now that we're several weeks out?  Well, I'll show you!

Order safety tats
Start buying treats for backpacks for the plane ride (Disney pez, coloring books, small new toy...)
Assess clothing combos & ensure kiddos have enough clothes
Buy snacks for the parks
Buy Camelback water bottles for everyone
Buy Take n Toss cups (or bring your own, but I hate having to do dishes on vacation!)
Ensure E is a lap baby on our plane tickets
Get shot records from Pediatrician for flying

...And so much more! :)