Our Vacation to Disney World! (The Travel)

Last Saturday we left for our family vacation to Disney World. It went so well! There is of course some anxiety associated with traveling with a toddler and a 10 week old, but it went pretty much as I expected it.
I did a ton of research before leaving, and I write this to maybe help others out if they are planning a trip to Disney with their little ones.

We drove to Chicago to fly to save a couple bucks and I still don't think it's worth it. The ride there is always fine, but when you get back, all you want is to be home as soon as possible. Driving 3 hours in the middle of the night is no way to end a vacation. The drive there went great, Lena slept almost the whole time, and Charlotte was happy for the first two hours, and then I popped in an Elmo DVD and she was content for the rest of the trip.

We were sort of disappointed upon airport check in that they wouldn't let us take our stroller through the airport because it was too heavy to gate check. This is one of the things I went back and forth over and over on, but we ended up taking it, just to have to check it. It wasn't a big deal, but if you have a Baby Jogger City Select and you fly out of Chicago, you will have to check it with your luggage. I was thankful we picked up a travel bag the day of our trip!

Charlotte and Lena both did great during the flight. Charlotte was really excited to "fly in the sky" and said it over and over (and over and over), and as soon as we were above the clouds, she immediately crashed (bad choice of words) and slept the rest of the flight.

Proof that Lena was there. The only pictures we have are of her in a carrier or in her car seat.
Poor second child. 

She slept this way the whole time! 

Airplane head

Once we landed, we made our way to Disney's Magical Express, where we boarded a motorcoach to take us to our resort. It was around 11:00-11:30 when we got on, and Charlotte was wound up!! She never stays up that late, and she basically got a 2.5 hour nap, so she was ready to party. We waited forever to get moving, and since she's never been on a bus either, she was pretty psyched about that too. "a bus! a bus! a bus! OH TOODLES! a bus! toodles! toodles! oh toodles! a bus!" Anything that has Mickey ears is "oh toodles" even if it's Mickey Mouse. Sometimes she'll say "mouse" but it's usually toodles. She wasn't bothering anyone, but she was so slap happy. Lena was doing alright, as far as little babies go. It's good to be a portable milk machine sometimes. We were all so ready to get to our resort.

We stayed at Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort and it was really nice. We arrived at about 12:30am and were so, so ready to just go to bed. But this resort is enormous and sprawling and after we checked in, we had to get on a golf cart shuttle to our room. So we had to fold up the giant stroller again and watch as the bellman hung it precariously on some dolly thing attached the cart. (seriously...consider renting a stroller if you have two little ones), then after our cold cart ride, we arrived at our room and finally got settled in for the night.

I'll post about our resort later, as this post is about the travel. Saratoga Springs is very close to Downtown Disney, and they have ferry shuttles to take you back and forth, or you can walk. We did a lot of both.

Staring at strangers. 

We traveled to and from the parks by the complimentary shuttle service, which is great, but there is some waiting involved. For the most part it wasn't too bad, but it was sort of a pain folding up the big double stroller each time we got on and off. Our stroller specifically is a challenge because it doesn't fold up nicely when it has both seats on. It is the perfect stroller while in use, but it is a little bit of a beast when you're trying to fold it up quickly. So that's something to consider if you have one and plan on traveling with it. The bus drivers were usually very helpful and quick to remind me (if I seemed frazzled by trying to hurry) that "you're on vacation, take your time, we're here to make it easier for you." and I thought that was very sweet.

I would say if there was any challenging part of the trip, it was getting to and from our destinations. That being said, it was a very small challenge.

This post has been like 3 days in the making as coming home from vacation usually leaves you busier than you care to be.

Have you traveled with your babies or toddlers or do you say NO WAY until they get a little older?