A few weeks ago we headed to warm weather! We haven’t gotten away as a family since pre-COVID during spring break so needless to say this spring getaway was much needed and something we gifted to Sofia for Christmas this year. Sofia had never been to Disney or Universal and she is at the perfect age so we thought let’s do it! She was OVER the moon and loved every second.
Flying with Rory for the first time was definitely interesting but we made it. I feel brave and empowered that I even did it with a ten month old to be honest haha. Delta was amazing with accommodating him and they let me walk him up and down the aisles when I could and gave him water and snacks to keep him occupied. If we were to do it again I would absolutely pay to have his carseat on the plane and suck it up by paying for an additional seat. It is kind of comical when airlines label any child under 2 an “infant on lap” because that is far from the reality of what it was for us. Although he didn’t cry much he wanted to get out of the seat, crawl, and play with the hair of the person in the seat in front of us.
Sofia and Andy did Disney & Universal a ton while we were in Florida and they LOVED it. They are huge Marvel, Star Wars, so they were locked in. They did roller coasters, ate at Epcot, enjoyed butter beer (which is basically a sugary butterscotch non alcoholic drink at Harry Potter (Universal), and didn’t get home each night until the parks closed. Safe to say we absolutely got our money’s worth. One thing about Orlando is anything to do with the parks is pricey. If you are looking to book a Disney vacation keep in mind everything related to the park MUST be booked online ahead of time. Here is the link to do so. I also recommend you talk to one of the Disney reps for help how to book a vacation with them because their are a lot of moving parts and I know I was feeling a bit overwhelmed trying to figure out how to do everything.
We are rookies with Disney and didn’t know anything about this until one of my friends (thank GOD) informed us. Otherwise we would have been staying in Massachusetts for spring break. Neither of us had been since childhood. They did the park hopper option which enables you to go to more than one park throughout Disney. You are able to get into the other parks after 2PM each day. So if you start in Epcot after 2PM with the park hopper you can go on over to Hollywood Studios after.
We rented a car while in Orlando and then Andy and Sofia ubered to the park during the day time. Peak hours and surge pricing with Uber definitely add up so keep an eye out for that.
Villa’s we stayed in:
While those two played at the parks Rory and I were living it up at the splash pad poolside. We stayed at the Sheraton Vistana in Orlando, Florida.
IT IS PERFECT for young families, and couples even without kids. Their are so many activities, it is such a GREAT set up and we had such a nice time! I loved being able to have our villa right across from the pool. What is awesome about the Villa’s is their was a kitchen, living area, balcony, and two bedrooms and bathrooms. Plenty of room for all of us to sleep:)
Helpful baby vaca items:
Below are the MUST HAVE items I had for Rory on this trip. I didn’t want to go crazy with baby items so I really did think practically and realistically but these I had a feeling were going to be non negotiables and I am so happy I brought them
Slumber Pod: THIS thing is unbelievable. Believe me I was VERY skeptical at first and was like NO way is this actually going to do the job. Well I am here to tell you it did the job and then some. Rory slept SO SO good in this and I am telling you it is such a lifesaver when you are traveling. Very easy to set up and it is essentially a tent for them to sleep in. How it works is you place it over a pack and play which in our case we traveled with the one we had. Then their is a zipper on it that opens up to get them in and out. It is completely black out once they are inside with a pocket at the top of the tent that has space for a baby cam. I don’t believe it works if you put it over a crib.
Portable Sound Machine: This sound machine from Amazon was so CLUTCH and for $23 such a great buy. I clipped it on the slumber pod each night and it worked so well and had a very good volume on it too
Rubber Duck for pool: We found a cute rubber duck on Amazon that was so small and simple but kept him so busy in the splash pad and pool.
Stroller: We did bring our UppaBaby but honestly after it got so damaged en route I would probably consider looking into renting one upon arrival next time to avoid having anything broken again
Loveys & Books: Bringing their favorite stuffed animal and some books for the airplane and hotel rooms are easy entertainment so bringing some of their favs they are use to from home are very helpful and keep them busy
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