Biggest 10 Lessons Learned on Baby Bricker’s First Christmas Trip to Disney World

Baby Bricker’s first Christmas-time trip to Walt Disney World was fantastic and fun…but not flawless. This covers the mistakes we made and lessons learned along the way, along with other thoughts about the good & bad of our family vacation to WDW with a toddler and actionable advice for other parents.

Our intention was/is to do photo reports following every family trip we make to Walt Disney World, similar to our ‘parent fails’ from Baby Bricker’s first WDW trip – part 1 and part 2. We also shared ‘what went right’ during our family trip – part 1 and part 2. Those posts were well-received by readers, both as recaps of our trip and teachable moments for other new parents.

However, it’s been a busy month-plus for us, Christmas is fast-approaching, and I have a backlog of (literally) three-dozen posts. Many of those are touring field tests that have a shelf life (so the clock is ticking on writing them!) and many others have practical planning advice. So they seem more useful than my musings about our trip, especially since many of the “lessons” we “learned” were really more like nice reminders, anyway. Here goes with the list of little lessons/reminders so you can learn from our mistakes/experiences, or simply hear about some aspects of our WDW Christmas trip, as the case may be.

Life Comes at You Fast

We previously mentioned that Megatron took her first unassisted steps in the parks shortly before Thanksgiving. It was a major milestone, to be sure, but progress isn’t linear. She only did that on a couple of occasions, and when we got back home, she no longer wanted to walk without holding one of our hands.

Fast-forward to the end of a long travel day that culminated in us finally arriving in our Cabin at Fort Wilderness. After throwing our stuff in storage spots and getting the requisite room photos and videos for a forthcoming review, we crashed. Megatron had other ideas.

Instead of crawling around a bit or, you know, falling asleep after being up since 4 am, Megatron explodes in a burst of speed that would make her namesake proud.

She was zooming all over the cabin, walking without assistance. It was unlike anything we had seen before. Well, I mean, we’ve seen people walk before. But we hadn’t seen this out of her. She isn’t just taking a few tentative steps at a time, she’s running around with a slightly-misplaced sense of confidence.

Obviously, I don’t need to explain this to parents, but toddlers walking independently is a gamechanger. Throughout the rest of the trip, she oscillated between wanting to walk all by herself with zero assistance (~75% of the time) and very much wanting our hands (~25% of the time). RIP babywearing, as she went from loving that to completely rejecting it in the span of a few days.

Cast Members are the Magic

That was a pretty awesome night one surprise, but the fun didn’t end there. After Megatron closed her rings running around our Cabin at Fort Wilderness (and thoroughly dirtied her feet), we headed out for dinner at Crockett’s Tavern. She made a lot of friends with the Cast Members there and we had a shockingly good meal.

After that, we made our way over to Tri-Circle-D Ranch, which is open late this time of year thanks to the Holiday Sleigh Rides. As mentioned previously, she and I watched “A Horse’s Tale” on the in-flight relaxation video screen during a recent long-haul flight to help keep her colm. Megatron construed these creatures as the “cat-cats,” so I wanted her to see the real thing.

Well, she couldn’t see the real thing because she and Cinderella’s Ponies are both on the short side, and a taller barrier separated them from each other. So I did what any good dad would do and lifted her above my head, Lion King style. Within a minute or two, a manager appears out of nowhere. He tells us that he was on his lunch break and saw us on the camera (uh oh…?), and our daughter’s reaction to the pony was adorable, so he wanted to let her see one up close–and pet one.

When I mentioned recently that Disney has “got me…hook, line and sinker” this is exactly the type of thing I’m talking about. It’s not just walking through the castle, seeing an amazing attraction, etc. It’s the people. Time and time again on this trip, Cast Members were the difference-makers and several of our most memorable moments were either interactions or them making magic for us–or both.

I hesitate to share specific examples because I’m sensitive of being a ‘blueprint’ for others trying to exploit Cast Member generosity (a ‘no good deed goes unpunished’ kinda deal). The bottom line is that Cast Members were fantastic for us on this trip. That’s always been the case, but we’re definitely finding it more true now that we have a daughter.

It’s not really actionable advice, but our recommendation here would be the opposite of using this as a blueprint for your own trip. Don’t go in expecting anything. Cast Members don’t owe anyone “extra” magic. From what we’ve seen, entitled attitudes are counterproductive, and the best recipe for success is being kind and gracious. Basically, being anti-entitled achieves more than the other way around.

Cast Members also made our first time meeting Figment as a family every built as magical and memorable as I had built it up in my head. Suffice to say, that experience exceeded expectations, and that was a direct result of Cast Members in the Imagination pavilion.

December is Delightful

During the first half of our trip, there were lows in the 40s and highs under 70 degrees. To be clear, this is not a complaint about it being too cold. After enduring several miserable summers, Florida can never be too cold. (See also, the Biggest Lesson We Learned from Baby Bricker’s Summer Trip to Disney World.) If you feel otherwise, remember: you can always put on more layers, but there are only so many you can remove before security gets involved.

Point being, the weather was blissful. It actually felt like Christmas. When the snow fell on Main Street, there was plausible suspension of disbelief. When we retreated to Wilderness Lodge on a particularly chilly evening, it was vaguely reminiscent of warming up by the fireplace back home in Michigan after a day in the snow. (Okay, not quite.) The weather was amazing, and such a sharp contrast to the last few visits.

It was also fantastic to return together as a family for our favorite window of the year after a 2-year hiatus. We missed our favorite week by a week, but it was still a fantastic time to visit. Slightly higher crowds, but it’s not like we were lining up for TRON, Slinky Dog Dash, or really anything with a material wait time. The trip felt way too short and we were sad to be leaving so soon–we immediately started planning next year’s Christmas trip upon returning home, and I can’t remember the last time we’ve done something like that!

#SaveDinoland

I regret to inform you that it’s not just the Boneyard that I love, but also, the character meet & greets in Dinoland USA. I had always appreciated these character costumes, especially around Christmas, but was pleasantly surprised by the incredible interactions.

Two of our top three character experiences occurred back here, and we met a lot of characters this trip. It just seems like these meet & greets offer more latitude for the characters to be goofy and improvise, and meaty and meaningful interactions. We loved them, and now are sad to see them go.

The Boneyard was something that we couldn’t wait to experience “again” with Megatron, despite barely even remembering it in the first place. It was definitely better than I remember–probably in part because there’s no way I had experienced it in full previously. I was relieved that it wasn’t all a big dig site with rocks and dust. There’s also a reasonably sized area for smaller kids with big fossils and squishy ground.

The Boneyard and areas like it also took on outsized importance as Megatron needed or wanted a place to run around, unimpeded. Even with low crowds at the parks (except EPCOT), this wasn’t really possible outside of play areas. One thing that surprised us is how many adults are oblivious to their surroundings (not a huge surprise, actually) and will mow down children. I’m all for more adults-only spaces at Walt Disney World, but it’s such a shame that the kids-only spaces seem to be going extinct.

Everything Takes Longer

One of the entries on our list of the Top 10 Things We Can’t Wait To Do with Baby Bricker at Walt Disney World was “4 Parks in 1 Day” including baby’s first Early Entry and rope drop. Hahahahaha. 

The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. Or in this case, the biggest pipe dream and wishful thinking. My reasoning was that, since Megatron is now on Eastern time and wakes up between 6:30 and 7 a.m., we could easily knock out Early Entry and rope drop. From there, why not hit all 4 parks.

Suffice to say, we never made it out the before before 8:30 a.m. That was actually an improvement over last time, but still not enough for 4 parks in one day. We did manage to hit 2 parks and several resorts in one day, which honestly felt like a pretty big accomplishment in retrospect. I just wish I hadn’t gone in with unreasonable expectations–I absolutely should’ve known better. Everything takes longer with kids.

We Want to Love Port Orleans, But…

The second half of our trip was at Port Orleans French Quarter. We stayed here mostly for the sake of the new rooms (review coming soon), but also since it had been a bit and we love the vibe of the Port Orleans Resorts. They are the last of the ‘old school’ Moderate Resorts left at Walt Disney World.

I’ll start out by saying that, from a practical perspective, French Quarter has clearly moved about Riverside in our rankings. That’s always been the case for Sarah, who appreciated the more compact layout and single bus stop even in our younger and more agile days. Now that we’re a family of 3, I agree.

Another positive is that bus service was fantastic. There’s always an element of luck–good or bad–to this, but we never had to wait long for transportation. With that said, we paid over $300 per night for our room, which was after discount and for one of the “cheaper” two queen bed rooms.

For almost the same price, we could’ve done Caribbean Beach. For much less, we could’ve stayed at Pop Century. Both would’ve been better options thanks to the Skyliner. For a bit more, we could’ve done one of the lodges, Gran Destino Tower, or the Garden Wing at Contemporary, which is quickly becoming a go-to for our family. And we would have done any of these options but for the “need” to review the new rooms. As regular tourists, the decision would’ve been a no-brainer.

The well-themed environment and romantic vibe of Port Orleans is fantastic, but only does so much. Once a hotel breaks the $300 barrier (honestly, I’d feel the same way if we paid $250), it had better offer something more. As it stands, we basically got a plussed-up version of an All Star for over double the cost. With no unique transportation and relatively average amenities, it’s really difficult to justify the Port Orleans Resorts at those prices.

Always Pack a Change of Clothes

You’re probably thinking that we’re total newbies because of course every parent knows to pack a change of clothes for a baby. And so do we. If anything, the best practice is two changes–never know what life is gonna throw at you!

No, this is that we should always pack a change of clothes for us. I won’t be going into further detail pursuant to our “rule” to never write anything embarrassing. But I’m guessing any parent with even a modicum of imagination can envision a scenario (or three!) where this would apply.

One thing that has really “amazed” me about being a parent is how squeamish goes out the window. There have been, ahem, scenarios that would’ve made me lose my lunch in the past. Now I just roll with the punches. It’s like a dormant instinct in me was awakened a year ago, and now my superpower is tolerance towards gross stuff. That’s not even a joke. I mean, it’s kind of funny what parents take in stride, but I don’t mean it as a “haha” kind of thing.

Food is Challenging

This was our first trip to Walt Disney World during which Megatron largely ate solids. This proved more difficult than we anticipated. I guess you could say we’re “picky eaters” when it comes to her food, and Walt Disney World isn’t conducive to that. We actually found it more challenging to feed her at Walt Disney World than in Tokyo or Hong Kong, and certainly more so than Disney Cruise Line (easiest of all).

I don’t want to fixate on this too much because I know we’re a small minority who cares, but Walt Disney World food is really unhealthy. Sure, there’s a lot that’s fine, but there’s a lot that isn’t–especially at counter service restaurants. Every location has binders that list ingredients, which are usually used for food allergies. In some cases, it was a hassle to see these–or undue effort to explain that we cared about food quality and didn’t have any allergies.

Remember back when Disney’s former CFO made the comments about food costs? Most fans focused on the infamous ‘guest waistline’ part, but she also said this: “We can adjust suppliers. We can substitute products.” Suffice to say, Walt Disney World has done exactly that, and some of the stuff in the food they serve isn’t actually food. If you’ve ever wondered why you feel bloated or lethargic after some meals at Disney, that might be your answer.

Part of me hated learning this, because I love eating Walt Disney World food. Yes, I had a hunch that it’s terrible for me, over-processed, full of fillers and carcinogens, etc…but so what? All things in moderation, right? I still feel that way when it comes to what I’ll eat, but Megatron is a different story. Feeding her at the parks is going to be tricky. (This is another scenario where I wish the park executives were subject to their own decisions. I know there’s no way health-conscious Bob Iger would put this stuff into his body.)

Thankfully, this is not an insurmountable obstacle. We already do grocery delivery every trip, but now we’ll be doing a lot more of it. We’ll pack more nutrient-dense and high-protein food for the parks, and supplement with meals at restaurants that have truly healthy menu options–and plenty of them do!

Leave Early for MCO

This is probably deserving of its own post as a cautionary tale, but we came shockingly close to missing our return flight out of Orlando International Airport. This was despite having a Mears Connect pickup time almost 4 hours (!!!) before our departure and having TSA PreCheck.

A couple of things went wrong for us, but based on recent reader comments and my own observations, what we experienced wasn’t necessarily an anomaly. Just two instances of bad luck–Mears Connect delay and long lines at the Delta counter–piled up together. If we had to go through the normal line for security (25 to 35 minute wait), we might still be in Florida.

Nowhere is Like Walt Disney World

Look, we know that we give grief to Walt Disney World. But it comes from a place of love and wanting it to be the best version of itself, truly the crown jewel of the Disney Parks empire. Because it is.

As much as we love and sing the praises of other parks, nowhere is like Walt Disney World for us. We don’t pretend that they’re perfect (because they aren’t!), but they are “home” to us. This was a perfect trip (not a flawless one–see the above points about a change of clothing and best laid plans going awry), and I felt that every step of the way–from our arrival afternoon to the final night of our trip.

An essay about what makes Walt Disney World special would be interminably long, and it’s my goal to start writing more concise posts–so I’ll share one objective and one subjective point. The objective one is that WDW really is the Vacation Kingdom of the World, or Walt’s vision for a city of the future vaguely realized.

Walt Disney World might be the best city that America has to offer (or at least the most functional one), and as someone who loves the urban experience, Walt Disney World makes me feel like I’m back in a Disneyfied version of Paris, Tokyo, or Hong Kong. (Seriously.) There’s really something to be said for taking the many forms of transportation, Park Hopping from Magic Kingdom to EPCOT; from EPCOT to Disney’s Hollywood Studios; from resort to resort.

Subjectively, every time we go back to Walt Disney World together, it takes me back to 2020-2021. I have little flashbacks to tough times, joyous experiences, and mundane moments. It’s fair to say that was a difficult time for everyone, us included. Walt Disney World got us through to the other side, and I will forever be grateful to the parks and resorts for that. I could fixate on the negative or try to block it all out, but as I sit there with Sarah by my side and our daughter in our arms, I cannot help but be appreciative and thankful.

Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!

YOUR THOUGHTS

Thoughts on these little lessons learned (or ‘reminders’ of things we already knew) during Baby Bricker’s first Christmas trip to Walt Disney World? Anything else you’re interested in reading about with regard to Megatron, our holiday-time experience at WDW, or other topics touched upon here? Anecdotes of your own vacations with toddlers to the Disney parks? Any other questions? Hearing your feedback is always appreciated, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!