Disney World!!!

We’ve made it back to the snowy white up north and phew, was that a shock coming from 80-degree sunny weather! Also, the post Disney blues are REAL. I am still feeling them a few days later and I may or may not be playing the Disney station on Pandora right now. I will say our trip was nothing short of magical! The past few years Ryan and I have gone back on forth on “the year” and we decided it was time to finally pull the trigger. I am so glad we did! It will be a vacation that will stay in our hearts forever.

In our early planning stages, we thought we would combine Universal and Disney and do two parks at each. We booked our tickets through my sister, Tiffany Petrie, Magical Moments. She’s amazing by the way, highly recommend! We decided to make this a Disney only trip for many reasons. First, cost. The more days you book, the less admission cost is. It would not have made sense to do two parks each financially. Second, Owen is not tall enough to ride many of the rides at Universal. Last, it’s less overwhelming to learn and operate one theme park app versus two. I am very happy we went this way! The plan is to do Universal in a few years. Although, Disney has sucked me in so we shall see!

Overall Tips/Reflections

Park Order: I don’t think I would change doing Magic Kingdom first. It is the park that has the most magic and feels the most “Disney”. However, I will say it is the most overwhelming and overstimulating park. We had lots of learning curves that first day. With that said, I would have added another day of Magic Kingdom at the end. It really is a two-day park, so much to see and do! I will get more into it below. I also highly recommend a rest day in-between! We definitely benefited from having a chill, pool day in the middle of our week.

Accommodations: We stayed on Disney property but not at an actual Disney resort, Club Wyndam Bonnet Creek. This resort did not have Disney theming or transportation but was not lacking at all in space and amenities! It was very well kept with beautiful landscaping, multiple pools and lazy rivers, and very spacious accommodations. We were less than 15 minutes away from each park. Our condo was 1200 sq feet with two bedrooms, two bathrooms, full kitchen, and washer/dryer. That was so nice! If you want that space at a Disney resort, you will definitely pay top dollar for it. We thought it was worth saving the money. However, I can totally get wanting to be fully immersed in the Disney magic your whole trip. You can also book Lightning Lanes 7 days in advance if you are at a Disney resort rather than 3 if you’re not. This didn’t really affect us though since we had the DAS pass.

Transportation: We opted to rent a car, a Jeep Wrangler. We have this made-up family game about Jeep Wranglers so just had to get one! Also, red was a great choice for the park parking lots! We flew into Orlando Sanford, which is about an hour away from Disney. We also drove to Cocoa Beach on one of our “off” days which we wouldn’t do again to be honest. Driving and parking at the parks is pretty easy. The only park that includes some extra steps is Magic Kingdom, but the boys enjoyed a chance to ride on the monorail.

Lightning Lanes: Like I mentioned above, we were able to get the DAS (Disability Access Service) pass for Drew, which is basically free lightning lanes for unlimited rides. Obviously, this was pretty awesome for our family. I will say that lines can get pretty long so in my opinion it would be totally worth purchasing the Lightning Lanes. However, I do not have any personal experience in how that works as we used the DAS our whole trip.

Eating/Dining: Disney World has both sit down and quick service dining options. You are also allowed to bring in your own food. We definitely should have packed an extra backpack with a built-in cooler to take more advantage of that. The small backpack I had did not cut it. We reserved a sit-down restaurant once a day at each park. While it’s nice to get a break to sit down in the air conditioning, these meals are EXPENSIVE. We ended up cancelling our last dining reservation at Animal Kingdom because of this. I will say Disney is awesome with food allergies, and we never had to worry about Drew who has Celiac. The quick service places offer mobile ordering which I would definitely recommend taking advantage of. Next time, we will for sure bring in more of our own food to save some money.

Memory Maker: This is 100% worth it in my opinion! It was such a relief to not have to worry about constantly asking strangers to take family pictures of us. They are high quality photos with cute poses, and the extra effects are so fun. The lines usually aren’t too long either!

Must Bring: Portable phone charger is a definite must, baby wipes came in handy, snacks/bottled water (the park water tastes funny), we never used ponchos but probably a good idea if any chance of rain, sunscreen, and I loved my belt bag for easy access to my phone. We did not use the Magic Bands-they would have made entering queues easier, but just not worth the money in my opinion.

Now I will recap each park including what went well and what I would do differently next time.

Magic Kingdom

Like I said above, this is the most busy, overwhelming, and overstimulating park. Ironically, it is also the most magical! You can easily spend two full days here. We didn’t even make it to Adventureland, which was a bummer. But a reason to go back!

What we did right: Having a good idea of what rides and attractions we wanted to experience in each land before, arriving early to allow for the extra time to get into this park, getting our castle picture first thing, we pretty much rode everything we wanted to (except Pirates of the Caribbean), figured out how to do mobile ordering for quick service, taking advantage of Photo Pass when we could, going in with somewhat low expectations and letting the boys make certain choices about the itinerary (like spending a lot of time trying to pull the sword from the stone).

What we would have done differently: Finding a shaded spot for the 3:00 Festival of Fantasy parade-it’s an awesome parade, but we were SO hot! We did have a good viewing spot in front of the castle, but the sun was just beating down on us. Also, I would have packed more drinks/snacks in a cooler. Finally, I would have gotten a better viewing spot for the Happily Ever After night show. We did have an awesome view of Tinker Bell but could not see the animations on the castle very well. Looking back, I also would have tried to spend less time in Fantasyland and Tomorrowland so we could have made it over to Adventureland. It’s hard to do it all in one day though, so trying to give myself a little grace there! This was also our first park day so lots of learning curves.

Favorite Rides: 7 Dwarves Mine Train, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure and Tron (extra cool at night!) Owen also really loved Space Mountain!

Other Rides We Rode: Peter Pan’s Flight, Barnstormer, It’s a Small World, The Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin, Haunted Mansion

We ate dinner at The Plaza. This a more “affordable” sit down option, it was good but not great. We also met Mickey Mouse at the Town Square Theater. There was no wait at the end of the night!

I think with Magic Kingdom different families will have completely different experiences! We obviously didn’t do princess related activities which may be a must for families with little girls. Meeting characters wasn’t a priority for the boys either, they were all about the rides! They did have autograph books though-Owen probably enjoyed that the most. I also went in knowing we weren’t going to do everything and at the end of the day, we made so many special memories from the little moments to the big. It’s a lot to take in and plan for, but totally worth it!!!

Hollywood Studios

After a full day of Magic Kingdom, we felt much more prepared for Hollywood Studios. We got the swing of using the app and the DAS pass and I feel we really slayed this park! We especially looked forward to this park for one reason: Toy Story Land! Drew has been obsessed with Toy Story for years and we knew this part would be extra magical. However, we also went in knowing there was a chance it would flop (ha-ha) but I think for the most part he loved it! The parks were pretty stimulating for Drew and in many of the photo pass pictures you can see it in his face, but there were also many moments not caught on camera (and some we managed!) of pure joy. When we were walking up to this area, he was smiling, pointing, and naming all the characters. I do have a video of this:)

Drew was also very excited to meet Woody and Jessie! The Memory Maker was worth it alone to capture all those moments.

We ate at Roundup Rodeo BBQ in Toy Story Land. The theming was amazing! The boys got to ride a horse to their table which was cute, and we were seated right in front of Little Bo Peep. It was also nice to get an hour break sitting in the air conditioning. It definitely wasn’t cheap but worth it since we’re such big Toy Story fans. It was a lot of food so the only big meal we had that day.

Another awesome area of this park is Star Wars: Galaxy Edge. If you are a Star Wars fan, you will not be disappointed! The theming and attention to detail is excellent. It also has one of the best rides in the park, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. You could spend most of your day in this part alone!

What we did right: I think we planned out the day perfectly: Toy Story Land in the morning/early afternoon followed by lunch at Roundup Rodeo BBQ, Star Wars: Galaxy Edge (rode two rides there), Frozen show, Indiana Jones show, ride swap Aerosmith roller coaster (Owen not tall enough), Tower of Terror, rode Rise of the Resistance a second time, then headed to Fantastmic!

What we would have done differently: There honestly isn’t much I would change about our day here; it was pretty much a slam dunk! It would have been fun to ride Slinky Dog dash again, but we just ran out of time. One big bummer for me was missing the Beauty and the Beast-Live on Stage, but I was outvoted and Indiana Jones won. I kind of wish I would have just taken Drew to that while Ryan, Lucas, and Owen watched Indiana Jones. That would have been the one thing I would have done differently looking back now.

Favorite Rides/Attractions: So many! Slinky Dog dash, Toy Story Mania, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, Frozen sing a long show (funny for adults, I laughed out loud a lot!), Lucas and Ryan really liked Indiana Jones, just okay for me, Tower of Terror, and the nighttime show, Fantasmic, is a must!

Other Rides We Rode: Alien Swirling Saucers, Millennium Falcon-Smugglers Run, Star Wars Tours, Aerosmith Rock-n- Roll Roller Coaster

Pool Day/Disney Springs

I think I mentioned above that I highly recommend building in a rest day. It also gives you the opportunity to enjoy your resort pool! My boys loved the pool day, and it was just the refresh we needed before heading back to the parks.

In the evening, we decided to check out Disney Springs. You do not have to pay to park or pay to get in. Disney Springs mostly consists of shopping and dining. We listened to live music which Drew especially enjoyed. It’s also a great place to souvenir shop so you don’t have to carry them around the park. The World of Disney store is HUGE! Lucas and Owen also had fun in the Lego store. We didn’t dine there, but there are so many options (although you probably need a reservation).

Epcot

We had two main goals for visiting Epcot: Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind and touring the countries (which included riding Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure in France). We did accomplish all of those! Ryan and I really enjoy the World Showcase. Important: Guardians is a virtual queue at 7am and 1pm. I was totally bummed when we didn’t get in at 7am but a cast member assured us 1pm was a lot easier and we secured a spot just fine. I was refreshing constantly at 12:55 so be warned it is a little stressful! You should also know Tiana’s is a virtual queue at Magic Kingdom, but a lot easier to get in.

What we did right: We used the DAS for Soarin’ first which we all enjoyed, it’s really cool! We spent the rest of the morning in the front of the park and pretty much did it all. This included the Nemo ride (just okay, would never wait long for that ride), the Moana Journey through Water, Living with the Land, and Turtle Talk with Crush. Then we headed to the World Showcase starting with Canada and stopping at France to ride Ratatouille. This ride is super cute and probably my second favorite Epcot ride after Guardians. Also, making sure we got in the virtual queue for Guardians because it was awesome!

What we would have done differently: We wished we would have continued the World Showcase after Ratatouille instead of heading back to the front of the park to catch the last Encanto show. It was fun and Drew liked it so maybe worth it, but it made for extra walking and not experiencing the whole World Showcase during the daylight hours. We then had extra time to kill before our group was called for Guardians and rode Journey into Imagination with Figment and Spaceship Earth. Both were ones we wouldn’t do again. Spaceship Earth is the ride in the big Epcot ball, which is cool, but it is desperately needing an update in my opinion! Ryan fell asleep on it lol. We also would have canceled our reservation at the Mexican restaurant, San Angel Inn. It was just too expensive for what you got. We would have preferred to just get small snacks at a few different countries.

Favorite Rides: Guardians of the Galaxy is probably the best roller coaster I have ever been on! SO, SO FUN! We all loved this ride. Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure was also a favorite! Keep in mind Epcot does not have a whole lot of rides making lines very long if you don’t have Lightning Lane. We also rode Frozen Ever After. This is another one I wouldn’t wait a long time for (but my boys aren’t obsessed with Frozen). It was cute though and worth riding with our DAS pass. We really enjoyed Soarin’ too!

Also, worth nothing: Epcot has an indoor character meet (at Communicore Hall) where you can meet three characters at once. There are no crowds or glaring sun, and Drew did much better with this photo pass than some of the others.

We did stay for the Luminous night show, but it wasn’t anything super special (we also didn’t secure a viewing spot since we were at dinner). We actually left toward the end while it was still going to beat the crowds to the exit.

Epcot does have many options for eating and drinking! We had dole whip, a beef wellington croissant, fish and chips in the UK, and a very tasty snack in Germany but I didn’t take a pic or remember what it was, sorry! The frozen Rose in Germany was delicious too!

Animal Kingdom

Animal Kingdom is definitely the shortest park day as they don’t have a night show, and they close early. We did everything we wanted and were done by 4pm. This park feels the least like Disney to me but does have some really cool things going for it. The new Pandora section is incredible! We were blown away with the theming which included one of our favorite rides, Flight of Passage. Also know you don’t have to be an Avatar fan to appreciate it all! Animal Kingdom also has two of the best shows in Disney World: Festival of the Lion King and the Finding Nemo musical show.

What we did right: I read a tip to do the safari first before it gets too hot, and the animals aren’t as active. It was actually a cool morning, so we saw most of the animals up and moving around. This was the first ride I used the DAS pass for. After that, our day flowed really smoothly and everything timed out perfectly. We did the gorilla trail and the 11am Lion King show. I loved this show so much! Drew loves the Lion King music, so this was a favorite for him too. We then headed to Pandora for Flight of Passage and ate lunch at Satu’li Canteen which was very delicious. It’s not your typical quick service fried food which we appreciated. We had a character lunch scheduled at Tusker House, but ending up canceling. We were just kind of done paying over a hundred dollars for a meal at that point lol. After lunch, we did the It’s Tough to be a Bug attraction (closing very soon) and then headed to Asia to see more animals (including the new baby tiger!) and ride Expedition Everest. After that, we were off to Dinoland to ride Dinosaur (also closing soon), and we finished with the Finding Nemo show. Nothing I would change about our itinerary!

What we would have done differently: I truly can’t think of anything! I don’t regret missing a character dining, it’s just not worth it for our family, but I can see why it may be worth the splurge for others!

Favorite Rides/Attractions: Flight of Passage and Festival of the Lion King were the top two at this park. Runners up included the Kilimanjaro Safari, Expedition Everest, and the Finding Nemo musical show. The Na’vi River Journey was okay, but not worth waiting in a long line.

I will say if you have an early morning departure flight, this is a good park to save for last. It gives you time to enjoy the pool once more and get packed up and ready to go. However, it would also be ideal to park hop this park and do Magic Kingdom one more time for half a day!! I will definitely consider that for next time (just make sure we have a later flight the next day).

I really hope this blog post is helpful for anyone considering a trip to Walt Disney World or in the planning stages! I was very intimidated at first but with the help of Tiffany Petrie, Magical Moments, it was the most amazing, magical week. We went into it thinking it was a one-time thing, but the Disney magic completely sucked me in, and I dream we can go back one day! Feel free to ask me any questions! I am no Disney expert, but don’t mind answering the best I can as I surely didn’t cover everything. We loved this week so much and will remember it forever.