Disney Delight!!!

AHHH VACATION!!! As you all know, my little family had the pleasure of vacationing in the most magical of magical places.....DISNEYLAND!!! THE ORIGINAL! The one and only, the place where I made my best friends, got married, and possibly even conceived my child...well....maybe.

I am working on some stories about the trip which I surely do hope you all enjoy out their in Internet land....but I first have to talk about the trip in general with a 15 month old and maybe drop some tips on the things that I TRULY could not have lived without this trip.

Before we left, I would cruise the Internet on the best rides to take the kids on (according to others previous experience), where we could eat for healthy fare for Hunter, tips on what to bring and yada yada yada. One of the WORST pieces of advice that everyone gave was "Don't bring your kids before they are 5 because they won't enjoy it". That's a bunch of BS right there. I got all nervous that my son would be a nervous wreck and hate the characters and run screaming and not nap and all that nonsense. That's what it was was complete nonsense and bull. All the "bad" kids I saw at the park WERE THE OLDER ONES!!! I have to say, and I may be a tad biased, but WEB and Hunter were the BEST. When they were tired, they napped in their strollers, when we went on rides, they sat on our laps and enjoyed them thoroughly (although I think the "falls" in pirates gave them all small heart attacks...then it was ok) and when we had to change the diapers, Disneyland gave us plenty of clean bathrooms and excellent tables to do so! At our character breakfast they both enjoyed Goofy, Pluto, Chip and Dale, and Mulan.....without one ounce of being scared. In fact, almost every pic Hunter didn't even care they were there he was too busy enjoying his pancakes! I ENCOURAGE you to take your children when they are young! Disneyland is SO accommodating for the babies that it's ridiculous!

One of the best things we did when we got there was asked for a room upgrade. This was KEY, and I suggest that EVERYONE do it!! It doesn't hurt to just ask....don't be scurred! Sonny asked for a room with a park view instead of the standard room (we stayed at the Paradise Pier, BTW) and they didn't have one available.....but they DID have a family suite....which was basically 2 gigantic rooms with 2 doors, so after we put Hunter down in the "living room" in his pack and play (which the hotel provided for no charge...there's one in every room....genius) we could shut his door and continue our night watching TV or such in our room. Sonny went downstairs to the cafe one night and got us coffees and pastries that we munched on in our room. It was amazing! The room also made it super easy for our friends to come up and take a break from the day. We would jut move the pack and play to the bedroom and hunter would take a nap while we enjoyed a little beer and cocktails! Since I used to have a season pass when I lived there...there wasn't any rush to do everything in one day. We could really relax and enjoy ourselves.

So...some things I couldn't live without:

Kiddopatomus universal sunshade for the stroller:

I mentioned this in an earlier post and it was amazing. It worked better than I could have imagined, hunter was always shaded, and when he fell asleep in his stroller we could pull the shade all the way down so he had privacy. Wonderful! Best $14 I ever spent!

Portable DVD player:

This was GREAT!!! If your kids like a little TV every now and then...and mine does.....this is a must for plane rides. We took a direct flight to Cali which is about 5 hours there and 6 hours back. This bought us about an hour in the beginning of the flight and about an hour at the end. And he napped about an hour and a half on both flights....and after snacking and eating lunch and what not....we really only had about 30 minutes that we had to entertain him! I don't care if they say TV is bad for them....if he'll sit still on a plane with no crying for an hour watching baby Einstein or Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.....I'm sold.

TIP -Packing full outfits for the baby (shirt, shoes, socks, shorts, and backups) in a big Ziploc bag:

I read this somewhere and it was genius. All you had to do in the morning was pull out a bag and the whole outfit was right there. Then pack the bag in your backpack or diaper bag or whatever, and you have a place to put soiled clothes, snacks, put your valuables in a water proof bag, toss all the miscellaneous wipes you use...whatever. This is a great tip!

A larger memory SD card for your digital camera:

I got one that would allow my camera to take over 1,000 pics without having to select pics to delete, or changing memory cards...something i had to do on my honeymoon. Especially cuz kids in pics are unpredictable, spend the extra dough to get a higher memory card and don't worry about snapping 50 pics of the same shot to get the right one.

These are just a few tips for my first immediate post right after vacation. The trip was SO wonderful and SO relaxing and SOOOOO memorable that I just have a ton of stories and tips to share!!! I encourage every busy family to take some time and get out....even for a quick weekend or something. And don't be afraid of taking the young kids....it will work!