Last week was nothing short of magical. I was a bit nervous about going to Disney World in July. Would it be super crowded like all the books and blogs said? Would it be crazy hot? Would it pour every single day? Would my four year old be able to make it through each day? Would I???
It was, hands down, the best vacation I've ever been on. My whole family had a blast! We were so lucky in so many ways - I swear, it was like Disney magic was just following my family.
Several people have asked me for tips and suggestions. Trust me friends, I am NO EXPERT at all. Our family just got super lucky with timing. There is no way to predict the lines or amount of people in each park each day. And I've only been once with a child - and I only have one child. So again, I am not going to pretend I know everything there is to know about Disney, but I can share what we enjoyed. If you would like a true expert in my opinion, you can talk to my friend Meredith. Her family of 4 (herself, her hubby, and her two precious preschool boys) have done Disney several times and in different seasons. She was my go to girl before our trip. :)
**I'm not using our pictures (except for two) on this post. I'm not finished editing all of our pictures yet, so I'm just going to use stock photos for this post.** :)
Dining
Using the
Disney Dining Plan saved us so much money in the long run. You can take your own food into the park, but our family wanted to have some character experiences and not have to worry about packing and carting our meals around each day, so we opted for the Disney Dining Plan. The one we picked gave each of us 1 quick service meal, 1 table service meal, and 1 snack for each night we booked. Quick service is just what it sounds like - it's basically fast food. Each adult quick service includes an entree, drink, and dessert. The child quick service does not come with a dessert. Table service is sitting down and a waiter actually comes to your table. Table service includes an entree, drink, dessert, and sometimes an appetizer. Snacks included everything from water, soft drinks, ice cream, pretzels, etc.
Now, I know that it is recommended to make your dining reservations 180 days in advance, but we scored two of our favorite places the night or two nights before. I did make three (which later turned into two) reservations as soon as we booked. In fact, I reserved the dining first and our hotel second just to make sure we could eat at the places we wanted. I reserved Cinderella's Royal Table, Chef Mickey's, and Hoop Dee Do Revue. Hoop Dee Do Revue was something that my husband loved when he was a kid, but we decided mid-trip that this wouldn't be the best for our family at this time. It also counts as two table services, and so does Cinderella's Royal Table, so we would each be using 4 meals and only getting two. My daughter LOVES all the princesses so Cinderella's Royal Table was something we really wanted to do. Hoop Dee Do is a down home, country, music show and would probably not hold her interest as much as ours. Instead, we used our now two table services for the Coral Reef restaurant, and 'Ohana. When she is older we will go back and do Hoop Dee Do for her and Cody. ;)
Cinderella's Royal Table - this was amazing. K was in awe the whole time. The attention to detail in the castle is crazy and the entire building is just incredible. When you first go in you stand in line to meet Cinderella. K was literally shaking with excitement as her turn got closer. Cinderella also talks to each guest - it's not just a hug and snap a photo type meeting. She takes time with each guest and makes them feel special. Later in the meal a cast member brings a complimentary 8x10 picture of the meeting in a cute folder type thing. There are also 4 4x6 pictures in the folder as well. During the meal we had Aurora, Jasmine, Ariel, and Snow White all come out. Each one came to our table, talked with K, and took a picture. K was on Cloud Nine. There is also a wishing ceremony where each child is given a wishing star and a wand to keep(I think the boys were given a sword). K barely touched her food, but it was hard to tell if it was because she was so occupied with the princesses or if she just didn't like it. Cody and I weren't exactly big fans of our food either, but after seeing the look on our daughter's face, we would have gladly been served cardboard with pencil shavings and still have used two table services. We were there for lunch, but if we had to do it all over again we would have picked breakfast because we all probably would have enjoyed our meal a little bit more. Regardless of the just okay food, it was for sure worth the experience and something I will never forget.
Chef Mickey's - Wow! Wow! Wow! We had a blast here for breakfast! This was a buffet style and located in the Contemporary Resort. It was really good and had your basic waffles (Mickey shaped of course!), bacon, eggs, fruit, etc. Again, you take a picture before your meal, but this time the picture is not free. Of course it's going to be adorable and they already print it for you and bring it to your table. If you have the will power to say no, then you are better than me. ;) The classic characters also come to your table - Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, and Pluto. You also dance and wave your napkin around for a celebration. So. Much. Fun. It's only uses one table service and is so very worth it!
Coral Reef - This gem is in Epcot and we picked to go to it because it was by all the Nemo things in Epcot and K LOVES Nemo. It was really the first Disney movie she truly was interested in, and she still loves it. So the night before (after the Hoop Dee Do cancelling) we booked a table at Coral Reef. It's not a Nemo themed place, but you sit right by the aquarium and watch the ocean life while you eat. We even saw two divers that waved to us during the meal, which is what I remember from when we ate there when I was little. I'm not a seafood girl, so I ordered a steak and it was awesome. K and Cody devoured their food as well. My dessert here was one of my favorites from the whole trip.
'Ohana - AWESOME!!! This was another last minute booking. I'm telling you - just keep looking up reservations while you're there! This is another one of restaurants at a hotel. 'Ohana is at Disney's Polynesian Resort and it feels like you're in Hawaii as soon as you walk into the hotel. We were seated right by the window, so it looked tropical outside with a breathtaking view of Cinderella's castle in the distance. It was perfect. The food and service is much like Texas de Brazil and it was really yummy! K loved the chicken wing appetizers. During dinner the kids get called from the table and have coconut races, hula lessons, and a conga line around the place. They are also told to pick someone they love to share a dance with, which ended up with me watching the sweetest daddy/daughter dance moment ever.
One of the places I really wanted to go to was Be Our Guest. It's the new Beauty and the Beast themed restaurant that has three dining rooms - the ballroom, the West wing, and the library. Dinner was booked through the end of August when I first tried to make reservations, but there were actually several times that came up while I was looking at night during our trip. However, the amazing thing about this place is that it is available for a quick service lunch! You still get to eat there and you don't have to use your table service credit! It was awesome!!! We went through the line, picked what we wanted on a computer screen, paid with our Key to the World card and were given an electronic rose and told we could pick anywhere to sit. Of course I just HAD to sit in the ballroom. Y'all - I wanted to put on a yellow dress and spin around that place! It looked just like the movie! In just a few minutes, a cast member came out with the cutest cart that had our meals. Oh. My. Yum. This was, hands down, the best quick service meal I had the whole trip. Before we left we went and took pictures in each room. This was one of the best places we ate at, and we actually ended up going there for a second time on our last day. So, if you really want dinner and can't book it, keep looking during your trip. If you can't do that or just want to do lunch - DO IT!!! It's amazing!!!
My tip for snacks - DOLE WHIP!!!! Enough people know about this so I don't need to go into too much detail, but for all that is good in the world - get yourself to Adventureland and get yourself a Dole Whip. Don't get one to share - it will just make you sad. Get one for yourself and enjoy the greatness. Also, if you are craving something sweet, go to the Main Street Confectionery. They have the best snacks that count towards your snack credit. Plus, you get to watch them making some of the goodies!
We did bring in Cheez-Its for when K was just a little bit hungry between meals. And if you have room to pack bottled water do it. I know some people say use the water fountains at the park and just fill up, but to us the water tasted really funky and we ended up buying water. We also packed several breakfast type foods that would keep easily and ate those in our hotel each morning (except for the day we ate at Chef Mickey's!). That way we could save our snacks or quick service meals for later. Cody and I also split two quick service meals because they were big enough to do so. We split a chili dog, fries, and cotton candy at Casey's Corner (the baseball themed place on Main Street) and we split a salad, pizza, and huge cupcake at Pizza Planet (the Toy Story themed place in Hollywood Studios).
Goodness I wrote a lot about dining! :) This is easily where you can spend an arm and a leg, so if you're not planning to bring food for your most or all of your meals, it would benefit you to get one of the dining plans! Another bonus was that with a dining plan, everyone gets a mug that you can fill up over and over at your resort with whatever drink you want at the soda fountain. That was perfect for us at night!
Okay - now to the real fun in the parks! Again, I AM NOT AN EXPERT!!! I will just share what we did and enjoyed! I will also add that
everyone is the expert on their child. What K did and did not enjoy will of course vary for your kiddos. I even had one mother tell me before we got in line for the Dinosaur ride at Animal Kingdom that she "would NEVER let her small child get on that ride. It's too scary!" Yeah...don't even get me started about the responses that were going through my head. Somehow I just smiled and said, "I guess we'll see!" By the way - K giggled pretty much the whole time and actually loved it! :) Yep - I know my kid. Thanks for the input random mom who thought she knew better, but we were good.
I think the easiest thing to do is break it down by park. We could not do everything, so we just picked the things we thought K would enjoy the most and followed her lead. I'm sure there are more things she would have loved, but we were only there 6 days. I know that sounds like a lot, but I honestly think to see every show, ride every ride, and meet every character, you would have to stay a minimum of two weeks....and that still might be pushing it. ;)
So I'm just going to go through my guide book that I used (I picked
this one and loved it!) and let you know what we thought. :)
Magic Kingdom - Main Street
**I LOVE LOVE LOVE Main Street - especially at night! Cody and I had actually thought about taking K to another park the first day we were there, because we got there around lunch time and we thought we wouldn't be able to ride anything that time of day. But we both decided we wanted K to walk down Main Street and see Cinderella's Castle first because...well....there's just so much magic in that moment. It also ended up being the best day for riding rides for us there too! So after we checked into our hotel we headed to Magic Kingdom and I am so glad we did! We also ended up going back to Magic Kingdom every single day at some point. It was just that awesome! (We had the Park Hopper option on our tickets - so worth it!)**
Walt Disney World Railroad - This was actually our very last ride before heading home and I'm glad it was. We got on at Main Street and went around the whole park. It was the perfect end to the trip as we saw and heard about all the things we had done. Bittersweet. :)
Town Square Theater - This is where you can see Mickey, Minnie, and some of the other classics as well as some of the princesses. The wait for this was long and it's actually two lines. You pick either classic characters or princesses. We knew we would see the classic ones at Chef Mickey's and we thought we would see all the princesses at Cinderella's Royal Table, but apparently this was the only place we could see Rapunzel....and K loves Rapunzel....as in her 4th birthday party was Rapunzel themed and she can quote the whole dad gum movie. So my awesome husband grabbed a fastpass (More on this later) and instead of waiting 85 minutes (Yep...85 minutes) we ended up waiting 10 minutes. It was well worth it because Rapunzel spent about 5 minutes with K...and we have the awesome video to prove it! Apparently our fastpasses would have worked for both sides, but we already had some great pictures with the classic characters from Epcot and as I said, we were going to see them again at breakfast.
The Chapeau - This was our first stop when we got to the park (after gazing at the castle of course). This is the place where you can get any kind of Disney hat you can imagine! This is also where they embroider the names on the back of the hats. We opted for the classic Mickey one with pink thread for K. :)
The Emporium - My favorite store from when I was little and I still love it! You can find lots of Disney souvenirs here, but my favorite thing is the windows outside with movie scenes. I think the windows look extra magical at night. :)
Magic Kingdom - Adventureland
Swiss Family Treehouse - I HATED this. Cody LOVED it. You choose. It was a lot of climbing up staircases in a tree. K had no clue who the Swiss Family Robinson was so she could have cared less. Apparently my husband loved it as a kid, so we did it.
Jungle Cruise - a classic and awesome! We did it at night during the parade so there was literally no wait. (TIP - plan on seeing the parade just once and all the other times go ride rides because most everyone else will be watching the parade!) It's so great at night. It adds a little more mystery. I will say, when they tell you to keep your hands in the boat, make sure to watch your kiddos! We saw this poor little boy break his pinky because he had his hand outside the boat when the boat was docking at the end. I can't get that image out of my head - it was horrible!
Pirates of the Caribbean - K loved this, but she loves pirates and boats. This is another classic, but it's funny to see how "scandalous" it actually is when you view it as a mama. ;)
DOLE WHIP...sorry. Just had to throw that out again. :)
Magic Kingdom - Frontierland
Splash Mountain - Cody and K loved this. Me? Well...
So that one is our picture. It was worth it to have K squeal and giggle, but I'm not the biggest fans of big drops into water. We were also on the front row so it was extra "awesome."
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad - One of my sweet students wrote K a note about this being her favorite ride, so K really wanted to ride it. She was not a fan, but we did it at night and I think that not being able to really see where she was going freaked her out. Cody and I loved it! :)
Frontierland is also where you can meet Woody and Jessie from Toy Story. Woody was also in Hollywood Studios, but Jessie was never there when we were. So this was great for K's autograph book. :)
Magic Kingdom - Liberty Square
The Hall of Presidents - This was great! I cried. K for some reason was really interested when they studied presidents and elections at school, so she was pumped about seeing Washington, Lincoln, and Obama. As we were leaving the theater she hugged Cody's leg and thanked him for taking her. Some of the kids in there were bored to tears...literally. Again, know your kid.
The Haunted Mansion - another Disney classic. K was a bit creeped out at first, but giggled when the hitch hiker ghost got on our seat. :)
Liberty Square is where we met Tiana and Prince Naveen. They were so funny! Make sure to check the Disney app and line up before they actually come out, because they cut the line off after so many guests.
Magic Kingdom - "New" Fantasyland...AKA K's dream come true!
Cinderella's Castle - this is a no brainer, but be sure to take time to check out the inside details of the mosaics. I could be just a little bias since Cinderella is my favorite, but it's amazing. We also got to meet the fairy godmother outside by Cinderella's wishing well.
Prince Charming Regal Carrousel - K loved it. I appreciated it (and so many other things) more after I read
this book. This is NOT a vacation planning book. It's one that one of Cody's coworkers let me borrow after he did a business presentation and I was curious about the business side of Disney. :)
Mickey's Philharmagic - LOVE! It's a 3D show that takes Donald into some of the newer Disney movies. K giggling when Ariel kissed Donald made my heart smile. :)
Peter Pan's Flight - one of my favorites from when I was little. K loved it too which made me so happy! We rode it twice during our trip - both times with fastpasses.
It's a Small World - Can anyone go to Disney World and not ride this one?? Such a beautiful message! K enjoyed it so much and on the last day when we asked her what things she wanted to do again she said, "I want to go on the boat ride where all the children sing!"
Dumbo the Flying Elephant - so simple, but so great! K loved being in control of whether Dumbo was going up or down. The wait time was always super quick too - at least when we were there.
Mad Tea Party - K ADORED this! I wasn't sure if she was going to like it, but she loved when Cody spun it super fast. We rode that thing three times during the trip. :)
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh - I've never been the biggest fan of Pooh...no real reason...just never was. So K isn't a huge fan either, but some pretty awesome cast members gave us fastpasses for it and another ride one night "Just because" so we went and rode it. It was fine - I'm sure it's great for fans of Pooh.
Under the Sea - Journey of the Little Mermaid - This one was one of K's favorites! I was very impressed with it. It takes you through most of the story of The Little Mermaid. When the ride takes you down into the ocean it's really cool! We rode this one twice too - both times with fastpasses. Once with ones we got and once when those two awesome cast members gave them to us.
Gaston is apparently in New Fantasyland sometimes, but each time he was scheduled and we went he was "on an extended hunting trip". Not sure why he kept cancelling, but it would say he was coming on the app, we would go to find him, get the same answer from a cast member, and then the scheduled time went off the app. Weird.
You can also see Rapunzel's tower in the distance and there is an area that looks like her kingdom, but there's really nothing to do there other than go to the bathroom and snap a few pictures. K still thought it was the coolest thing ever though because she loves all things Rapunzel.
Enchanted Tales with Belle - This was an interactive story time and was great from start to finish. The kiddos in the audience get picked to play different parts and even two dads were picked to be knights. It was so sweet!
At
Pete's Silly Sideshow you can see Minnie, Daisy, Goofy, and Donald. Again, there are two lines. You choose to either go see the girls or the boys. We stayed in line for about 15 minutes to see Daisy and Minnie because we had not seen Daisy anywhere else and K was on a mission to get all the characters in her autograph book. By the way, I ordered the cutest autograph book on Etsy before our trip and I was stopped so many times and asked where I got it. There are LOTS on Etsy, but I went with one of
these.
Right between Fantasyland and Tomorrowland, there is a spot to see Merida from Brave. If you don't catch this line just right you will be in it for quite a while. We walked by several times the first few days and chose not to wait. Then one day we caught it just right and only ended up in line for about 20 minutes. It was very much worth it! After talking with Merida, getting her signature, taking pictures, and getting a video message on Cody's phone (So fun!!!!), K then got to shoot an arrow at a target. It was greatness.
Magic Kingdom - Tomorrowland
Stitch's Great Escape - I'm surprised that K didn't have nightmares after this one. We should have known better as parents, but this one was by far the most traumatic for K. It was completely dark at times and VERY scary for her. I wish more than anything we would not have taken her on it. I literally had to hold her hand as she cried and cried during one part. Parent fail.
Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin - so cool and really fun! Just be careful as you exit because it seems like a good idea to go right across the street to the no line for Stitch's Great Escape....
Monster's, Inc. Laugh Floor - this was a fantastic interactive show. I knew K would love it because she loves Monster's Inc. and Monster's University, but I didn't realize I would think the thing was so funny. We were even part of the show! :)
K wasn't tall enough this time to ride Space Mountain, but if your kiddos are tall enough be sure to catch this classic one! I LOVED it as a kid. :)
Of course in Magic Kingdom there are the Dapper Dans and a few other street shows. There was also a great show several times a day at the castle called Dream Along With Mickey. We parked ourselves behind the chain at the front about 20 minutes prior to one of the shows and it was worth the wait. The seats were perfect! We did put our bag in front of us so that we were scooted back a bit to see everything. Right against the chain would have been hard to see everything, but we didn't want anyone to step in front of K. There are fireworks each night too as well, but if you ever get to see the 4th of July fireworks you are in for a treat! The first night we were there was the last night of them and man, they were incredible! A cast member told us exactly where to sit (y'all - don't be afraid to ask those kinds of questions) and we had the best view of the fireworks that were all around the park! There is also a parade during the day and one at night.
Epcot
The Seas with Nemo and Friends - This is a really cool area with the real creatures that are featured in Finding Nemo. Think a very interactive and hands on aquarium. Inside there is also Turtle Talk with Crush which was so fun!!! Do not miss this if you are a fan of the movie!! Just make sure to sit close to the carpet area where the kiddos sit or be ready to get up quickly because once the show was over the cast member said, "Kids wait until your parents come to you," and it quickly because a mess of kids and parents. I'm so thankful we had spots on the front row and could get to K quickly. I might have panicked otherwise. The Nemo ride that is there too is very neat!
Soarin' - SO SO SO cool! You feel like you're flying over different parts of California - complete with the smells that go along. If you don't get there first thing like we did, be sure to grab a fastpass because the wait can get long. We went right away and only waited 5 minutes.
Character Connection - When we went there was no wait and we got to see (in air conditioning) Mickey, Minnie, and Pluto. Later when we walked by the wait was over an hour.
Test Track - SO AWESOME!!! You get to design your own car and then test it. We let K do whatever she wanted and her car actually beat the other family's car that tested with us. ;) It got a whole lot faster than I thought it would, but we all enjoyed it! If I had it all to do over again I would have been sure to pull my hair back before the ride! :) We also did this one with a fastpass and went right in.
K was not tall enough for Mission Space, but I do remember this one from when Cody and I went almost seven years ago. It was intense (they even have bags for you in case you get sick) but so much fun! I was sort of sad not to ride this one this time, but we'll be going back for sure!
World Showcase - this is easily my favorite part of Epcot and I can't wait to go back with K when she's older and super interested in it too (fingers crossed!) It was so neat to hear her in places like China and Japan say, "Hey! We prayed for them at church!" (Thanks Mission Friends!) We stopped at each country and took some sort of picture to document it though. We also rode the boat rides in Mexico and Norway. The Norway one did kind of scare K at times. DO NOT MISS VOICES OF LIBERTY in the American Adventure. Amazing isn't even a strong enough word for this group. So great! There are also lots of food choices along the way to suit whatever mood you are in! We found Donald Duck in Mexico. We also got to meet Captain Hook in the United Kingdom, and Belle in France. This Belle was so very sweet! We had already seen Snow White at Cinderella's castle so we didn't wait for her in Germany. K didn't know who Mary Poppins or Alice was (we haven't watched those yet) so we didn't wait on them. Mulan's line in China was too long for us. There were so many characters all over Epcot, especially in the World Showcase!
Hollywood Studios
I will start this one saying that Cody and I love The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror and the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, but K was not tall enough to ride the roller coaster and I chose not to take her on Tower of Terror even though she told us she wanted to go on it. I just used my best mama judgement in thinking she would actually hate it and I know once it starts you're on there is no getting off. Next time. :) Cody did get to ride both of these when I took K to a show and one afternoon when K and I went back to for a nap.
Disney Junior Live on Stage - SO GREAT!!! It had all of K's favorites from Disney Junior. It featured Mickey's Clubhouse, Princess Sofia, Doc McStuffins, and Jake and the Neverland Pirates. The kiddos got to dance and were showered with snow and even gold coins. Outside of the theater is where K was able to meet Jake.
Toy Story Mania - this was the best ride (in my opinion) at Hollywood Studios. We did not get a fastpass for this one (they were all out when we got there because we did not start our day here) so we ended up waiting about an hour in line for this one. This was the only really long wait we had the entire trip, so I was okay with it. Plus all the waiting was inside (air!) and you're waiting in Andy's toy box which was so cute! There is even a Mr. Potato Head that talks to guests. K was fine in line and danced, sang, and read her autograph book. I swear she was better than we were with waiting and we have the video to prove it! ;) This ride was so very cool! It's a 3D ride where you shoot at different carnival type targets. The only downfall was that you sit two to a side, so one of us had to not experience it with K. :( Cody was such a great hubby and let me ride with her. He totally killed us with his crazy high score, so I don't think he was too sad sitting alone on the other side of our car. ;) If we were to start a day at Hollywood Studios I would have run to that ride, got a fastpass and then stayed in line so we could do it twice. It was that good!
We waited in line to see Buzz and Woody. This was an inside wait too and there were several photo opts along the wait. We also stood by the sweetest little family from Georgia and the mom happened to be a first grade teacher as well, so we had great conversations. We even saw K's new friend Logan and his parents again later when we went to take pictures with Lightning McQueen and Tow Mater. :) Buzz also kissed my kid twice and she was totally smitten for a good hour after that. We were also able to see Mike and Sulley from Monster's Inc. Hugging Mike was a true highlight for K. :)
Now, there is SO MUCH more you can do at Hollywood Studios, but K was begging for us not to go to another show. So we didn't go to Beauty and the Beast, which made me sad, but I had to keep telling myself three things.
1. This trip was for her, not us.
2. I've seen it before.
3. We WILL come back.
I also love The Great Movie Ride, but K wouldn't have known half of the movies in there, so for us it made more since to leave Hollywood Studios after we did all the Toy Story and Disney Junior things and head back to Magic Kingdom per K's request.
Animal Kingdom
K was not very impressed with looking at most of the animals that were along the paths here. I think I've spoiled her with too many trips to the Fort Worth Zoo. She did really enjoy talking to one of the cast members who had a skull of a macaw and they chatted for quite some time about how macaws eat. My kid knows what she likes. :) The only animal she really cared to stop and look at for a long time was a crocodile. If your kid is really into monkeys and gorillas, there will be lots of fun stops for you.
The Tree of Life - one of Cody's favorites. This tree is carved with any kind of animal you can imagine. It's neat to really look at the detail. Cody and I thought it was so cool, K really could have cared less.
It's Tough to Be A Bug - K HATED this. It's a 3D show with lots of interactions (spraying, wind, smells, etc.) My guide book did say that even kids who enjoyed the movie might be "terrified" and it was pretty spot on. Parent fail number two.
Kilimanjaro Safari - Cody went and got us a fastpass for this first thing (more on this later) and it was well worth it. After riding the Dinosaur ride we went right up to a jeep for this one and it was amazing!!! The actual ride is much longer than you would think (20 minutes) and we saw so many animals! A giraffe even came super close to our jeep! Our guide was super funny too.
Dinosaur - this is a very neat ride with a mission - to travel back in time and bring back an iguanodon. K loves a good mission and dinosaurs so I knew she would like this...despite that random mother telling me otherwise. We rode this one first before the lines got long and only waited 5 minutes.
Finding Nemo the Musical - YOU MUST GO SEE THIS! It was sooooo good and I still have two of the songs in my head. It's a musical that is done with theatrical puppetry and is just amazing. I know they change the cast out in a rotational way (one of our friends from high school is in it, but she wasn't there that day) but I hope more than anything you get the same guy who played Crush when we were there. Wow. His voice. Wow. We sat down close to the front in the "bubble zone" and K loved being "bubbled" at the end of the show. Seriously - don't miss this show.
Festival of The Lion King - another great show. K wanted to see more of Simba and was a tad bit disappointed, but this show was still fun. The singers were so talented!
Again, there is more to do in Animal Kingdom, but K was either not tall enough or just not interested. If you have the park hopper option on your ticket I would for sure go on a safari and see the Nemo show.
Downtown Disney
This place gets super crowded at night! But The World of Disney store is so cool! There is also a Lego store and the "sculptures" there are worth checking out. Ghirardelli Soda Fountain and Chocolate Shop is there too. Frozen White Chocolate Mocha - you're welcome. There is a great Christmas shop there too called Disney's Days of Christmas. Cody and I get an ornament from every trip we go on for our souvenir so this was for sure one of our stops. There is a smaller Christmas shop in Magic Kingdom's Liberty Square called Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe if you don't make it to Downtown Disney.
Our Hotel
I've stayed at The Contemporary (with my parents), Coronado Springs (with Cody), and Pop Music (with high school choir), and have enjoyed all of them in different ways. This time we booked the new hotel Art of Animation. We booked a Little Mermaid room because it was one of the least expensive and because K loves The Little Mermaid. When we arrived to check in our cast member said, "Would you guys mind if we gave you a complimentary upgrade to a Lion King suite?" Are you kidding me??? Mind? No, please don't give me a bigger room for the price of a smaller one. So our room was so great! Cody and I had our own room with our own bathroom. K slept in a pull down bed that could be lifted up to a dining table during the day. There was also a couch in the living room area that could be pulled out into a bed, but we didn't use it as a bed. We had two dressers so we easily unpacked all our stuff and had room to spare. There was a tv in our room and in the living room, so Cody could watch his sports while K watch Mickey or Princess Sofia. I could give K a bath at night while Cody was showering. It even had a small bar/kitchen area with a microwave, dishes, and fridge. Oh and our view was out to the lake at our hotel.
The hotel grounds were full of HUGE figures from The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, Finding Nemo, and Cars. It was so fun for K to see the huge Crush, who is her favorite character from Finding Nemo.
Our room was also very close to the bus stop where we took the buses to the parks each day. It was also close to the main hotel lobby and restaurant which made for a very short walk to fill up our mugs each evening.
It was such an awesome hotel and the cast members there were some of the nicest we talked to! I was very impressed.
So this last picture is one from my phone...it was just too precious not to include. :)
General Tips
Download the
My Disney Experience Mobile App!!! This thing was awesome! It tells the wait times for each ride, if fastpasses are still available, and even when and where to meet the characters. Awesome, awesome, awesome!
Okay - the fastpass thing I said I would come back to. Here's what we did each time and it worked great for us. Once we got into the park (except for the first day) Cody took all our Key to the World cards and made a crazy dash to whatever ride we really wanted to ride that would eventually have a really long wait. K and I would head to another one that we knew would eventually have a long wait and Cody would meet us there. We never did get in line, because I didn't want to be that family with the line cutter, but by the time Cody got back to us we were in line with no longer than a five minute wait. Turns out a 6 foot 4 guy can walk pretty darn fast! ;) We would also get a fastpass to something in Magic Kingdom at various times during the day and go ride the shorter rides until our fastpass time. Worked out beautifully for us. You can only have one fastpass a person at a time, so you can't have a fastpass for both Soarin' and Test Track at the same time...unless you just happen to meet a really cool cast member that is giving them out to unsuspecting guests. ;)
We also took advantage of the Magical Express service. This was so helpful, and saved us so much time both times at the Orlando airport! Read more about it
here.
Here's my other tidbit of info. A trip to Disney is the perfect time to talk to your child about how to treat people. You will see all kinds of rudeness there and quite frankly it's sad. Some people will push or cut and it will frustrate you, but remember your child is watching you and your reaction. Cody and I just kept saying things like, "We will get our turn, but we aren't going to be unkind doing it," to K. Another thing that bugged the heck out of me was when we were riding the buses or the Monorail to different parks. I saw way too many men and young people sitting down. Call me old fashioned, but when there is a lady of any age standing up, men should give up their seats. If there are elderly guests standing up, young people should give up their seats. I even saw a pregnant woman having to stand up on the bus, and an elderly couple of which the husband had on a retired veteran hat. If we had not already been standing we would have given up our seats. I was so proud of my husband who several times gave up his seat for a mom. I love that guy. :)
You will also see people from all over the world here. We talked a lot with K about how not everyone acts the same way or talks the same. She was very confused by all the South American groups that would shout at each other. It was all in fun, but to K it was still yelling and it bothered her.
This was also the perfect age for Kaitlyn. She thought all of the characters were real and had a blast. We did have to explain that some of them, like Mickey, Minnie, Buzz, etc. didn't talk because if they did EVERYONE would want to talk to them for a long time because they were so popular. :) She bought it 100% and never once mentioned that the princesses were able to talk. Dodged that one. ;) We also knew K would not need to stop and go back to the room to nap. She hasn't been napping for almost two years now...not by anything we did. That's just how she chose to be. She keeps regular sleeping hours, so we're okay with it. We did go back one afternoon though to rest for about an hour, but not by her request - by mine! I was so tired and needed a quick power nap! :) Everyone will have a different perfect time for their kid - each child is different and again, you are the expert about what your child will have fun doing.
So there you have it. My not so brief Disney debrief. ;) Again, I'm not an expert and don't pretend to be. There is probably so much I left out. My best advice is to accept the fact that you can't do it all and just enjoy what you are doing to the fullest. If you're taking your kids for the first time keep reminding yourself you are there for them and follow their lead. Don't waste time being grumpy or complaining - enjoy the magic of Disney World with your family!
We can't wait until our next Disney vacation!!! (Which according to my husband will be sooner than later!) ;)
