Our Disney World Trip

A couple weeks ago, I crashed my family’s Disney trip, and seriously had THE best time. By crash, I mean, my parents were already planning on taking the grandkids (my 3 kids and my niece), but I literally decided the night before to jump in and go with them. Continue reading for some of our memories there, and some of my fave spots & tips if you are taking a Disney World trip!

Day 1: Animal Kingdom

The major attraction for us at AK is the Avatar ride: Flight of Passage. This is a virtual reality ride that feels like you are soaring through the movie, and is so very fun to experience. We woke up early, knowing that this line would get long, and we caught the first bus from our resort to make it there in time. We shuffled our way into the park, along with everyone else who had the same idea as us, haha! The wait was not too bad, and worth it!

Some other must sees for us at AK are the Safari ride, (you will ride in a jeep style vehicle through actual acreage of animals). We love the Lion King show, and of course no trip to AK is complete without a ride on Expedition Everest! The kids have so much fun on this high speed roller coaster, so do I.

We ate lunch at Yak & Yeti restaurant, which is indoors (read — COOL), and the food is delicious too. Although there are no character autographs happening, I honestly feel like you see the characters MORE because they make a point to ride through the park on parade or in this park on a boat. We finished up the day pretty early in the evening and headed back to our room to get ready for Day 2.

Day 2: Hollywood Studios

This park has become the family favorite over the past few years. The kids are all at a great age to enjoy so many attractions, and if you love the hollywood/movie vibes, this is your place! We were up bright and early again for this park. One of the parks newest rides/experiences has a VIRTUAL queue in place to reserve a spot on the ride. You have to logon literally right at 7 AM, and request to join the queue. It fills up within a matter of minutes. If you miss the queue at 7, you can try again later at 1 PM. With my Dad watching the world clock countdown and my mom ready with her speedy fingers, we were able to snag a spot for the day. After taking care of the queue, we headed to the park early!

Upon arrival this time, we raced to our first ride of the day – the Tower of Terror. This ride has a free fall drop, which then takes you back up, then drops you again. Multiple times. If you love the thrill of your stomach falling out, this ride is for you, ha! The kids always want to go multiple times on this one.

Another favorite ride is the Aerosmith rock’n roller coaster! This ride goes from 0-60 mph in under 3 seconds. And with twists, turns, and loops, it’s a fast paced thrill. Plus you get to jam out to some Aerosmith, who doesn’t love that? We packed lunch for this day, sandwiches, fruits, and chips. The kids also hit up a snack cart for a Mickey shaped pretzel & frozen lemonade!

We stopped in to a few shows at this park, one being the live Frozen show. This one was hands down incredible. Especially for my little Elsa loving princess. We also went into the Disney Jr. Live dance along, which was also a lot of fun. Cheyenne just could not get over seeing her fave characters up on the stage.

We had dinner reservations at Hollywood & Vine, which is a fun character dining experience with a retro diner vibe. We got to see Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, & Goofy. They made their rounds around the restaurant multiple times, and even though we could not get close and hug them, the experience was still so fun and magical. We left the park at close, and had the BEST day.

Day 3: Magic Kingdom

The BIG one. This park is a MUST see for anyone of any age. This is considered the main park of Disney World, the one that holds Main Street, the castle, and most of your princesses and mickey characters. I mentioned a little earlier that even though we did not get to get autographs from the characters, I saw MORE Disney princesses than I have ever seen in any of my trips there. They did character parades probably every 30 minutes throughout the park. You would know something was happening by the loud music that would start up throughout the speakers. We saw ALL of the princesses, including Brave riding her horse. That was literally the coolest thing I have ever seen.

We visited a few smaller rides with Cheyenne. Under the Sea adventure with Ariel, Toy Story, It’s a Small World, & Pooh Bear. There are not as many “bigger” rides for the big kids, although they do like Splash Mountain, and Thunder Mountain Railroad. We spent a lot of time strolling Main Street, and shopping through all of the fun boutiques. It was a VERY hot and humid day, so the indoor shops were a welcome relief. We had dinner reservations at Cinderella Castle that evening so decided to head home mid afternoon to take a little rest, and get ready and freshen up for dinner.

If you can plan it in your budget the castle dinner is AMAZING. Disney’s attention to detail is top notch, and the food is out of this world. Plus, you get to see just how amazing the inside of the castle is. Usually, they have 4-5 princesses walking around signing autographs and visiting. Only Cinderella made an appearance this time, but it was SO great to see her! We love to get dressed up and a little fancy for this dinner.

After it gets dark, the fireworks at the Disney Castle are a MUST SEE. It’s truly one of the most amazing shows, and the kids always look forward to it.

Staying At A Disney Resort

So now that I have shared about the parks we visited this go around, I wanted to talk about lodging! We have stayed both “off campus” and AT a Disney Resort, and hands down staying on a resort is THE best experience in my opinion. We have stayed at Art of Animation, Port Orleans Riverside, and this time around Animal Kingdom Lodge. They are family friendly, have great pools, and also staying at the resorts allows you extra perks like bus transportation around the clock, and bonus entry time at the park. When they bring back the dining plans, these are also an amazing bonus. If you have any questions at all, feel free to reach out to me! I would love to chat with you!

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Have a wonderful day! ❤️