First Haircut in Disney!

Confession time, my son's first haircut wasn't in Walt Disney World.  I tried and tried to wait it out but it grew shaggy long.  But I wasn't about to miss out on the experience.  He had a trim back home a few months before Disney (yes, both my kids had a full head of hair when they were born), so his official first haircut that we are counting is in Disney.

Harmony Barber Shop on Main Street in the Magic Kingdom does hair for men, women, and kids of all ages.  You can make an appointment, the way we did, through Disney Dining.  It took me a while, as not many agents are familiar with it, but it worked out fantastic for us.  We had our daughter do the Bippity Boppity Boutique in the morning, and our son had his haircut in the afternoon.  That evening we had dinner at the Royal Table in the Castle. 

Here is the Harmony Barber Shop sign.

Once you walk into Magic Kingdom, it is located on the left right after the fire station.  Right before you walk down Main Street. A wonderful stylist took us right away due to our reservation.  She covered my son in Mickey stickers and went to work.  My son was so busy with the stickers (eating them, resticking them on everything, being goofy, etc.) that he didn't even notice he was getting his haircut.  It came out super cute!  For the first haircut, he received a 1st Haircut pair of ears, a clump of his hair, and certificate.  Definitely plan on coming back to do something special for him in the future.

Pre haircut

Eating those Mickey stickers....haircut?  What haircut?

Haircut ears

Post haircut...the closest picture I can get.

Fancy dining with infants

We LOVE the Yachtsman Steakhouse  at the Yacht and Beach Club.  But it can be a little fancy for a baby.  But we have done with twice with both our children when they were younger than 1.  We are not experts but this plan has worked for us.

• Bring plenty of snacks.  Sometimes the kids will eat the fancy food...most times not!  :)  And snacks keep them busy.
• Chose an early dining time.  You will usually get more attention and the wait staff is more prepared for kids around this time.  Oh yeah, and the kids are less cranky then too.  Plus you will have time for ice cream afterwards....if everyone behaves!
• Bring surprise toys.  Little dollar store toys can keep them busy for 5-10 minutes at a time and it has worked out well for us.  Kept them busy, and us enjoying our meal. 
• We usually have a favorite TV show or DVD that we have brought to our meal to keep the kids entertained.
• Run them around before the meal, but not too much where they're exhausted and cranky.  Just enough not to want to do ring-around-the-rosey. 
• Try not to stress too much if they have a hard time.  We have had meals where one of us walks the kid(s) around and another eats.  Not ideal, but it has worked.

Overall, Disney World restaurants are usually very kid-friendly.  Relax and enjoy.  Most guests are with other children and understand. 

Cutie pie enjoying some Puffs at the Yachtsman Steakhouse.

Do your favorite thing first!!!

One of my favorite things to do in Walt Disney World is to see Cinderella's castle.  I love that one moment that makes me feel that fairy tales do come true!  One vacation we did a few other parks and Magic Kingdom, where Cinderella's castle is, one of the later days in our trip.  It feels like I rushed through those days to get to it.  On our last vacation, we waiting until our second to last day to see Mickey at Chef Mickey's for breakfast.  All vacation long, my daughter (my son was too young to talk but LOVES the big mouse) kept asking for Mickey and we kept telling her later on.  Both kids were overjoyed with seeing him, but I wish we did it earlier in the vacation.

My point is to find out what you really want to do the most, and do it...as early as you can in the vacation.  This next vacation, we booked Chef Mickey's for the afternoon we arrive in Florida so the kids can meet the main characters immediately. 

Kids at Chef Mickey's (April 2012)



Pool day!!!

Disney hotels, or any of the Orlando area hotels, have amazing pools!  My favorite is Disney's Beach and Yacht Club's Stormalong Bay with a sandy bottom and beach area.  Next March we are bringing our kids and I can't wait! 

I know tickets are expensive, so save some money and for every two days at the parks, have a "down" day of just some pool and relaxation time.  The parks can be stressful and overwhelming for everyone.  Enjoy these fantastic pools and provide a welcome break for your family.  The downtime will be worth it so you can conquer even more the next day. 

Whenever we follow this 2 days of parks/1 day pool, our trip is much more enjoyable.  Even do most of the day at the pool doing some of the many Disney events also offered (trivia contests, belly flop contest on the cruises, etc.), and maybe a park at night. 

Yacht and Beach Club pool - from our room when we got engaged (2004)

Bay Lake Towers pool - Taylor (18 months) running around the splash area (2009)

Goofy Pool on the Disney Magic (2011) - Taylor and Daddy are the only ones in the pool, and yes that is Pluto making an appearance and Tinkerbell on the TV big screen!  It was around 10am and we were docked at Grand Cayman and the water was fairly cold...that's why no one is there! :)

Sheraton Vistana Villages

In the past 4 years, we have visited the Sheraton Vistana Villages, located on International Drive twice.  We had a one bedroom and two bedroom suite in the St. Augustine section and had a fantastic experience both times.  The rooms were very nicely decorated and clean.  Housekeeping was wonderful.  Any requests were handled promptly and courteously.  There are many buildings in this hotel, but we prefer the "newer" areas, specfically the St. Augustine area.  This is where the pirate ship pool is.  We never even made it to the main pool both trips (guess we should book another for research right? ;)).  The pirate ship pool is huge and a ton of fun!  A tiki bar next to it and very family friendly. 

The rooms are HUGE!  The kitchens had huge islands that I wish my own kitchen had.  Utensils and basic kitchen items (soap, towels, pots, bakeware etc.) were included.  Dining area to fit 8 people.  A screened in porch that was a joy to sit in when the kids went to sleep.  Comfy couches.  DVD player.  The master bathroom had a huge jacuzzi tub.  Almost too big shower stall as it got cold it was so spacious!  Separate toilet room.  Shared bathroom was standard with double sink.  Beds were really comfortable.  Washer and dryer was great.

The only thing we did not like about this hotel was we asked for a crib. I called almost a half dozen times before our trip to confirm it was a full size crib.  We had an almost 2-year-old who would not sleep in a pack and play.  The crib arrived and it was one of the junior cribs.  This was all they had we were informed.  It took a couple days of searching but we found a wonderful crib rental company that helped us.

Definitely one of our favorite off-site hotels.  Highly recommend. Note this is also a timeshare property and they will call to provide you with a "complimentary welcome package" but it is supposedly a timeshare sales talk.  We skipped it each time and never heard back from them.  You can go through a timeshare presentation and I think they give you Disney tickets or whatever the promotion is.  Time is money but it may be worth it if you have a few hours to spare and may be interested in the resort.

Here are some pictures. 

Our building.

Picture of the one bedroom with Taylor's crib in the living room.  Sorry for the mess...it was taken in the middle of the trip.  The crib we rented outside of the hotel.



Kitchen area

Big tub in the master bathroom.

Where to stay? Onsite vs. Offsite

One of the biggest decisions you will make on your Disney vacation is where to stay.  Overall, we prefer to stay on Disney property but we have done both and found pros and cons to both.  A later post will address hotels specifically.  Here is our overview. 

On Disney Property
Pros:

• You are right in the "action".  You are still on Disney property and feel like it 24/7.  Each resort is located a "hop, skip and a jump" from one of the parks or Downtown Disney.
• Disney transportation is fantastic.  Forget about your rental car...take a bus, boat or monorail where ever you want to go at Disney World. 
• Hotels are available in various price levels. 
• Hotels are themed so while you left the parks, you're still surrounded by Mickey and friends.
• Kids programs are amazing.  I'm talking about pool activities, craft events, trivia nights, etc. not a drop off program.
• There is some sort of food option available at all hotels.  In the Value resorts there are food courts.  Every other resort (except for a couple Moderates) has a restaurant and usually another quick serve option.
• Disney's Magical Express (transportation to and from the airport) is included and eliminates the need for any type of transportation.  Plus you check your bags at the airport (for most airlines), and they arrive at your hotel that evening...check them and forget them!  Great convenience!

Cons:

• Disney transportation can take a while.  At some hotels and during some times (especially after park closing or fireworks), you may need to wait multiple buses before getting on one.
• Disney's Magical Express can take a while as well.  We've waited almost an hour to get on a bus to our resort.  Had to wait to fill up the bus and then drop off everyone at different hotels.  Depends on how old your children are and their personalities, but this can be a pain.
• Sometimes you need a break from Mickey and the theming can get too much for those that aren't so crazy about the mouse.
• The rooms can be small.  Smaller than some of the rooms you can get off-site for the same price.

Off-site Hotels
Pros:

• A lot more room for your money.  You can get some fantastic deals on a number of hotels on International Drive that will be suites larger than my first apartment for the cost of a Value resort. 
• A break from the Disney madness!
• Some hotels offer transportation to the parks.

Cons:

• You will need to drive or take a shuttle everywhere.  "Right outside Disney gate" will still equal a good 45 minutes of driving to the gate, around Disney property, finding parking which is usually much farther than where Disney transportation can go.  We estimated an hour of transportation for our hotel less than 5 miles from the gate when we stayed off-site to our dining reservation anywhere.  On site, we would only estimate a half hour prior to our reservation we would need to leave our room.  Time = money
• Those shuttles to the parks usually come only 4 or 5 times a day. If your child has a meltdown between then, you either wait or get a cab.  Disney transportation is every 20 minutes.  Never waited more than 45 minutes and that was during a peak time.

For us, honestly it comes down to what you want to pay and can live with in terms of size of the room.  When the kids were little, the bigger room size or getting an additional bedroom off-site outweighed our decision to stay on-site.  If we had a larger budget or found a great deal, we stayed on Disney property.  But if we could deal with a regular hotel room, our preference was always a Disney hotel as there are several hotels at all price points to consider.

Skinned knees, bee stings, night terrors and more...

Maybe you've been in this situation before...
"Taylor, slow down....don't run....DON'T RUN!!!" (Insert fall)  "Waaaahhhhh!"

When my kids get excited, they run/skip/etc. everywhere!  I love seeing that enthusiasum and carefree nature.  But every so often this results in skinned knees.  Usually I have a small first aid kit on me (bandaids, first aid spray and Tylenol), but rest assured, there is a First Aid Center in every park. 

The First Aid Center is invaluable for any type of emergency at Disney World.  Bee stings, stomach bug, skinned knees, you name it!  They gave us a number for the pharmacy I posted about HERE when my daughter wasn't feeling good.  Keep this in the back of your mind...but hopefully you will never need it.

We had the (unfortunate) experience to use the Medical Center onboard the Disney Magic in January 2011.  It was the very last night of our cruise and we had a ton of fun the entire week.  Our almost 3-year-old, Taylor was fantastic the entire vacation and would stay up later to experience all the fun the boat had to offer.  Her last night she got invited to a special event with the characters at 10pm(!).  Her bedtime is normally 7:30pm.  We kept her up, but the heat from Castaway Cay and excitement from the event (around 10 kids were invited to meet EVERY character) got to her.  Around 2am she woke up screaming.  Screaming on the top of her lungs and her eyes were rolling back in her head.  I tried to get her to look at me but she wouldn't.  We never saw her like this and were very worried she was having a seizure.  We called the Medical Center and the doctor met us there. We walked in and he helped us immediately.  He was super nice and helpful.  By this point, Taylor fell back asleep and it was confirmed she did not have a seizure from his tests.  While I stayed awake to make sure it didn't happen again (and my poor husband attempted to sleep in Taylor's bed!), I was very comforted that if something was wrong, they were more than capable to handle it.  The Medical Center looked like a small ER with everything you can imagine!  I was very impressed.  And we were comforted that while it looks like Taylor just had a "night terror", they were compassionate and understanding the entire time.  I hope we never have to use them again (although with my daredevil baby boy I'm not too sure!), but if we do I know we will be getting excellent care!