After months of planning, endless revisions of our fast passes, restaurant bookings and weather updates I call our trip to Disney World a success! From visiting Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Mickey and Minnie, all the Disney Princesses, endless rides, memorable shows and fireworks it was an amazing experience that we will cherish forever. I am no expert but below I will give a review of our experience that can help you and your families next Disney vacation.
Flight & Accommodations:
After looking into various options, I decided the best option for our family would be a bundle deal that included flight and hotel. We booked our hotel at the Disney Springs resort which I highly recommend especially if you don’t have a car. We stayed at the Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista – Disney Springs which is now an official Walt Disney World hotel! This hotel is fantastic because guests can enjoy access to Disney FastPass service, Disney Extra Magic Hours, complimentary shuttle transportation to Disney Parks, walking distance to Disney Springs by the Pedestrian Skybridge. And for a truly magical experience, every Sunday you can join breakfast with your favorite Disney character! You get ALL of these perks and pay 3 times less than if you were to stay at a Disney Resort.
FastPasses:
Book FastPasses in advance to have a plan and a much better experience at Disney World. You are only allowed 3 FastPasses per day but with that being said just know that once you use up your FIRST 3 FastPasses you can go into your Disney app and add more FastPasses as the day goes on. These FastPasses are awesome because on our trip the longest we ever waited for a line was maybe 10 to 15 minutes versus the standby line that could take anywhere between 30 to 90 minutes.
Magic Bands:
Be sure to invest in a $12 magic band to make your Disney experience much more enjoyable. A magic band is like a bracelet that you can link your ticket, fast passes and pictures to. It makes life so much easier because all you do is swipe your band instead of having to dig into your bag or pockets for a card that can easily be lost.
Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique:
If you have a “princess” or even a little “prince” I highly recommend this experience. We were able to book BBB at Disney Springs because the BBB at Magic Kingdom was booked. My daughter truly felt like a little Princess and was pampered from the moment we walked in to the moment we walked out. Once you arrive you check in and choose 1 out of 3 options of what type of experience you want your child to receive and the updo you want them to do. You are then taken to the back and Cinderella’s fairy godmother talks to your child to put a magical spell to turn them into a princess or prince (I was told Disney Springs is the only location that offers the fairy godmother experience). After that you wait for a bit until you are taken into the boutique area and your child gets dolled up! They did her hair, applied very little blush, lipgloss, nail polish, fairy dust (glitter) and the important tiara she was ready to see herself. When she looked into that mirror and saw herself for the first time she was amazed!! I’ll never forget that look and as pricey as it was that smile made it all worth it!
Disney Parks:
To get to any of the parks from the Hilton or Disney Springs be sure to take advantage of their FREE shuttles. Keep in mind that it can take about 30 to 50 minutes to get to your first park so if you have an early reservation maybe an Uber would be a better option. The Hilton shuttle is affiliated with 3 other hotels (Hilton is the first stop so you are always guaranteed a seat) and make the rounds before heading to your first destination.
Magic Kingdom – When you arrive at Magic Kingdom you have 2 options, take a ferry or ride the monorail. Once you get to the grounds all bags are checked and then you stand in another line to scan your ticket to get into the park. All of this can take anywhere between 10 to 20 minutes so give yourselves plenty of time especially if you have an early reservation. Once you get inside the park be sure to have the cast members (Disney employees) take as many pictures as possible of you and your family because at the end of your entire trip you have the option of buying all the photos for $200. Our first FastPass was breakfast at Be Our Guest and I highly recommend it! We ate in the ballroom but you have 2 other options, the Rose Gallery or the West Wing. The food was good and the experience was worth every penny! Next FastPass was for the Jungle Cruise. This was a comical ride that made you feel like you were in a jungle with fake animals. There always seems to be a long wait for this one so be sure to get a FastPass. Don’t forget to ride the iconic rides like It’s a Small World, the teacups and dumbo! The parade starts at 3pm and it should not be missed. This was a very magical experience for my daughter! We found a spot at about 2pm on Main Street and grabbed some hotdogs and popcorn to enjoy the show. I promise you the time goes by so fast it did not feel like an hour wait and then you have the cast members walking down the street taking pictures of families to buy some time. After a few more rides and some unexpected rain it was time to check in at the Fireworks Dessert Party at Tomorrowland Terrace! We had front row seats to the fireworks show and it was AMAZING!!! If you don’t like huge crowds and all that hustle and bustle I highly recommend this. They have an assortment of dessert, fruit, cheese, ice cream, non-alcoholic drinks and coffee. The food was great and the view was spectacular! A very memorable way to end our day at Magic Kingdom!!
Epcot – When you arrive at Epcot, bags are checked and depending on the crowd this can be short or a little lengthy. We waited for about 10 minutes and then proceeded to the ticket line and got in. Again you’ll have plenty of cast members with camera willing and able to take pictures of you and your family so take advantage especially at all of the iconic spots. This is the park where you visit some of the countries of the world. Each country looks and feels like you are visiting their actual country from their cast members attires, foods and even beers. We had lunch with the Princesses at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall where we got to meet Belle, Cinderella, Aurora, Snow White and Ariel! My daughter was in awe and her sweet smile and happiness made it all worth it. After lunch we rode the Frozen Ever After and thankfully we had a fastpass because the line at this particular ride can be incredibly long. Next we visited Mulan in China, had ice cream in France while mommy had some champagne, visited Morocco, rode Living with the Land, Turtle Talk with Crush, and Spaceship Earth. So many rides so little time. We ended the evening watching the Fireworks!
Animal Kingdom – After bag and ticket checks you enter the park with lots of nature surrounding you. This is the park where you absolutely must watch the Festival of the Lion King. The music, props, actors, acrobats and story line of the Lion King is fantastic! My 3 year old was chosen with a few other children to walk down into the middle and pretend to be little lions as they walked in a circle and back to the parents. At this park, adults can purchase a Pineapple Dole Whip with rum, very tasty! Be sure to use your FastPasses at most of the here rides here like Kilimanjaro Safaris, Na’vi River Journey, Dino Land and the Tree of Life! Again so many attractions to visit and not nearly enough time. The most popular ride here is Pandora’s Avatar Flight of Passage. We did not ride this one because I would have been completely terrified and we had our toddler but the ride was always around a 2.5 hour wait. Once again take as many pics as possible with the cast members especially at the Tree of Life so you can purchase all pictures at the end of your trip!
Hollywood Studios – First, bag and ticket checks and once you enter the park you are taken back to the 1920’s Hollywood, California! Rain or shine, the parks will go on, LOL (especially after all the money you put into it)! This is a great park to see with a ton of shows for a rainy day. We were only able to spend a half day here but we were able to watch Disney Junior Live (highly recommend for parents with little children), Beauty and the Beast and Frozen Sing Along Celebration. Each show is unique and spectacular in its own way but we absolutely loved the Frozen show the best! At the end of the show Elsa makes snow (more like bubbles/foam) fall from the sky (the ceiling) my daughter was in bliss!!! Her smile and laughter just melted our hearts and was a perfect way to end her Disney World experience. After only 3 shows, we grabbed a quick bite to eat and then headed off to the airport. There are so many more shows to see, rides to ride and character photo ops to take advantage of so be sure to make a whole day of this park too.
I hope this quick review gives you an idea of what to expect and how to plan your Disney World adventure. After all the planning we were not exhausted at all. A few things to keep in mind: when planning your trip be sure to include breaks, lunches and dinners, start our your days around 10am because you will be there ALL day so no need to rush and watch the fireworks. Take it easy and if things go astray just go with the flow, it will make everyone happy at the most magical place on earth! If you have any questions or comments please let me know.
