Edited to add: I would NOT do Memory Maker - we skipped it and I was so glad. Who wants to stand in more lines for sub-par, corny staged pics? You know your kids best. Take your own photos!
Disney was the trip of a lifetime -- it was just about everything I wanted it to be ... and honestly, I went through a period of feeling kinda bummed, as if I had missed the mark, for having not taken the kids earlier. I really wanted to do late 2020, but obviously, you remember how that year turned out.
And then I was hesitant to do Disney at all, if we had to be in masks or socially distanced. Like, I'm sure it was still FUN once the parks reopened, I just thought something about the pandemic took away from the magic of it all. (lol apologies for sounding like a Republican. Y'all know I'm not about that life). I just figured we'd rather wait it out, till things were a bit more normal-seeming.
ANYWAY, I'm here to report that we *absolutely* did not miss the mark, and I wouldn't have taken Robby a day younger.
In fact, there were times when James and I were like, "Just breathe, remember that he's still Robs and he's still 4." Our lil guy can be very hot and cold, so yeah, of course he was mostly happy to be on the trip! But that didn't make him exempt from like, occasional grouchiness or a quick fit over something silly. I am so relieved I didn't take him at 2.
I'm going to share some takeaways below, mostly because I consumed a lottttt of advice before the trip -- and for anyone else planning, I know it can seem like a massive undertaking! You have to think about which parks to hit, when, whether you'll buy Genie+, Park Hopper, where to stay, how to get from the airport to your hotel, where to eat; I don't at all suffer from "analysis paralysis," but if I did, I would have been FROZEN (insert Ana and Elsa joke) and not had any damn idea what I wanted to do.
Big shouts to my friends Candace and Tom especially, along with our truly fantastic planner, my former coworker Jason Woods and his wife, Julie. Jason especially helped me navigate and break down SO much. Getting a Disney planner (which was no extra money), was invaluable, and I'm not just saying that.
OK, here's a quick breakdown of our trip and my many, many opinions, none of which you asked for. 🙂
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We stayed at: Port Orleans Riverside
The verdict: 4/5 stars
The backstory here is, I originally had my eye on one of the family suites at Art of Animation, because James and I like having a lil extra space when we travel. Our fav thing is putting the kids down in another room and staying up late, just the two of us, without having to whisper in the dark or trip over suitcases because Ana and Robby are sleeping one bed away. I was warned that Art of Animation is a budget property, that can quickly escalate into a tier or two higher when you snag a suite. That was definitely the case once we started pricing out our options.
It's like, I was prepared to spend more, but when Jason showed me three quotes (which included hotel and park tickets), I was like, "meh I'm not sure I can justify spending an extra $1,000 just to have some separation from the kids." Not to mention, I planned the trip pregnant, so I knew I wouldn't be up with James too late, sharing wine and/or retelling our favorite stories from that day.
I kind of thought I'd be wiped from a full day at the park, and that turned out to be accurate af.
Just in asking around and clicking through photos, I thought Port Orleans Riverside looked beautiful, it offered waterslides and some fun kids perks, they had these "royal guest rooms" that were themed kind of princess-y (I thought Ana would love that; she did!), and with this Disney+ subscriber deal that they were running at the time, POR just ended up being a moderate-budget property that kind of stole my heart. There was a boat to Disney Springs, which we did end up taking a few times, and outside of the fact that "Mousekeeping" only came ONE TIME and didn't change our sheets -- I was warned about this but still disappointed -- everything was super nice.
The only thing to note: I think I DO half-regret not booking a budget property after all.
It's so hard to say! There are just so many strong options at Disney ... would I have that "grass is always greener" feeling no matter what? This certainly isn't intended as shade against POR.
I just thought, like, POR was super nice for us adults, and luckily, the kids had no idea what they were missing elsewhere, but theming-wise, why is it that the budget properties just do it BETTER?
I feel like the pools are larger than life, the rooms are more immersive ... if we go back (not any time soon), I'm kind of curious about Art of Animation (still) and have heard good things about Pop Century, as well.
Granted, Ana and Robby would be older, so maybe they wouldn't need larger-than-life sculptures everywhere, lol. But new baby might!
Oh, and here's my backup plan: Buying DVC points and trying to find a deal at the Polynesian.
We went to the Poly for brunch and I lovvvvvvvved it ... the whole property. I could have walked around for hours! It was so so gorgeous. Being off Monorail would be convenient af on Magic Kingdom day too, but yeah, safe to say I'm probably NOT paying those prices as they currently stand.
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We flew/traveled on: Delta, Sunshine Flyer, Uber
5/5, even though it was CRAZY turbulent on our flight and Robby threw up everywhere on the plane to MCO. 🤢
Not Delta's fault, tbh!
And then we took the Sunshine Flyer (which is a themed bus) from the airport to Port Orleans. I found a super good deal and I think it was like, $40 roundtrip for all four of us. I will say, it wasn't totally ideal to wait around outside for 20-30 minutes after our flight got in, but I think it's just the luck of the draw -- the first buses in the queue weren't heading to POR, so just we had to wait. Once we finally boarded, the kids loved it. They got little hats, there was an old-timey Mickey movie playing, and the ride was fairly quick and uneventful. There were even bathrooms on board, which is important when you have a 6-year-old like Ana who pees every 20 minutes (I wish I were exaggerating).
We also Ubered to and from a ridiculous number of places, mostly because bus lines seemed long the few times we attempted -- and we didn't want to waste our time standing around when $6 Ubers were at our fingertips. I really did total it all up, and we ended up spending about $100 for an entire week of Ubers: I believe that was 14 rides (and I often threw the driver a $5 in cash at the end, because I took out hella money and wanted to use some of it up).
I just felt like, time is money, friends. I'm sure some people had better luck with the buses, but we just ... didn't feel like dealing with it.
Highly recommend the Uber situation!
We were always able to jump in one really quickly, even after the Epcot fireworks, and POR was super close to the parks -- the only exception being, I think Animal Kingdom was a few extra minutes away. I do remember thinking, "People take midday breaks and come back to their resorts? No ma'am ... once we're in, we're IN and we're knocking this thing out." We *mostly* stuck to that.
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On MONDAY, we did Animal Kingdom.
I guess I didn't realize this would be mostly shows -- which, no complaints, but maybe I needed to temper my expectations, going in.
We were a little lost on AK day, granted, it was our day one, so I'm sure that's a lot of people. Like I said, the whole thing can be semi-overwhelming!
But I just felt like, "the kids seem too little for most of this stuff ... shouldn't there be more animals out and about? ... Why was all of this set up to look like the poor streets of Africa? Is this why people go on those mission trips, to like, convert the 'sad' children to become Christian?"
Like, kidding/not kidding/I can't decide.
We did get the hang of AK eventually!
Bottom line: the safari made this whole day worth it -- truly one of the cooler things I've seen IRL. Giraffes and other animals were free-wandering, and just walked up to our "SUV," and it felt so real. I mean, it was real, lol. Even James was into it.
No one wanted to eat with me at Satu'li Canteen, so I ordered two kids meals and picked at both (they were OK). The kids ate food we had packed.
I did like the pop-up street performances and Ana lovvvvvvved the bug show -- which Robby hated and left early with Jim -- but like, overall, my baby bump hurt/felt heavy, it was one of the hottest days, we got the stroller too early (we learned later on to go pick up our rental midday, once the kids had actually walked quite a bit; this way, it gave them new life rather than serving as a crutch), but yeah, AK day was a little disjointed at times.
I think had we NOT been with kids, we would have done things completely different.
Candace was like, "get a drink at Nomad! Everest! Avatar ride!" And I was just like, ... I'm not sure we CAN.
lol, I'm not sure if my takeaways are all over the place ... I am kind of glad we started the trip with AK, like, it was pretty low-key and the kids had no idea just how cool Disney could be at this point -- so they weren't complaining!
I just felt like we were missing something, as in, should the Detroit Zoo offer cooler animals than AK?
It was an experience, and I'm not sure I'd do AK again with a 6- and a 4-year-old, but when they get older, I think it'd be a different rodeo.
Oh, our order was:
Bugs Life show
Festival of the Lion King
Quick-service lunch
Kilimanjaro safari
Explored, tried to see animals
Nemo musical
Back to the resort
We were there ... at least 6-8 hours, I think. It was fine! Robby cried when I wouldn't get him a very specific Simba popcorn bucket. 🤨 LIFE.
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On TUESDAY, we did Epcot.
Especially coming off Animal Kingdom, my expectations for Epcot, for whatever reason, were pretty low. I remember it being "the boring park" as a kid, but I did kind of want to eat fun things around the world -- especially considering Food and Wine Fest was going on! -- and for Ana to interact with the actual German people in Germany. (Joke was on us - no one was really out!) Or we didn't try hard enough.
Anyway, Epcot was so fun! We lovvvvvved it. This is a can't-miss park.
Here's what we did -- in this order:
Arrived, went straight on Spaceship Earth
The Seas With Nemo and Friends
The Crush show (he's the turtle from Nemo) ... this was super cool; it was interactive and Ana got "called on!"
Soarin'
Living With the Land
Lunch at Coral Reef
Walked around the countries, joke was on me because it was 96 and humid, and like, filet and beer cheese soup doesn't sound as good when your body is DUMPING sweat.
Stood in line to meet characters -- I feel like we did so many at Epcot! Goofy, Pluto, Aurora, Anna and Elsa, etc.
*THIS is when the kids started to hit their wall. But just as we were about to Uber back for a few hours of pool time or call it quits entirely, we realized Jen and Adam were just getting in! Jen is my freshman year college roommate, and she and her husband actually live about an hour from us these days -- and their kids are semi close in age to Ana and Robby (just slightly older). This gave the kids new life! All of them, I think. We shared snacks and caught up with them for a bit, and it was just what the doctor ordered.
We then realized Minnie was in the area, and stood in line for about 15 min to meet her. One of my fav pics of the trip! Robby shouted at the end, "Bye, Minnie Mouse! I love you!" and warmed hearts across Florida. 🥰
After a quick break (yes, I wanted to see what "a break" would actually look like!), we came back to Epcot for Spaceship Earth (again), Frozen Ever After, more "country" hopping and then the fireworks show, Harmonious.
Needless to say, we were spent!
Some notes: I never realized how much the Nemo area is like, a full-ass aquarium. I have a shark-obsessed little boy who kinda loves all things OCEAN, so this was great. We stayed there way too long, lol. And almost didn't need Coral Reef! (Plus, the food was meh).
I did buy Genie+ this day ... we were able to walk on to quite a few rides with no wait/or minimal wait, but I think late morning hours, I was like, "EH, even if we only use it a handful of times, it'll be worth it." There was a slight learning curve as to how exactly to navigate Genie+ on the app, but yeah, it was $15/person/day -- and you basically book reservations. It's the old FastPass. The only real misses were:
-- By the time I got the memo to book Ratatouille, all Genie+/Individual Lightning Lanes were sold out for the day. And wait times were just too long. Because we opted out of Park Hopper, we were kinda like, one park a day, if we miss a ride, whatever.
*In hindsight, maybe on our last day, it would have been fun to Park Hop. Jen and Adam had the option every day, which did seem like a fun perk. And it takes some stress off you, like, you can just swing back for an experience another day, if you happen to miss something, and if you're there for a week or so, like both our families were.
-- Oh and motion-sick Robs did NOT do well on Soarin'. I mean, he hung in there, but at the end, he got a little whimpery, and I was just like, "shut your eyes, boo!" And he had to tough it out. I felt bad for thinking he could handle it. Even James had a hard time sitting next to him, watching him squirm. Luckily, it was short! 😕 He bounced back quickly.
I def teared up during the fireworks show. Both kids were leaning on me, or on my lap, and I just love them so much. It's been really bittersweet, thinking about adding an extra baby over here. I don't love transitions, or like, right when you're on the precipice of something big. I cuddled them extra close and remember thinking there was something magical about Harmonious. 🥺
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On WEDNESDAY, we rested.
Was I crazy to plan this trip and go on it, 33 weeks pregnant? Probably.
But like, 10/10 would do a rest day again, baby in utero or no baby in utero.
James woke up at the crack of dawn to golf, and I wasssss just going to let that be his thing, the kids and I would sleep, whatever -- and then I managed to snag a brunch reservation at Ohana, inside the Polynesian. I had been on the fence about Ohana, but when I saw a 10:55 opening looking back at me from my Disney app, I knew I had to go for it.
IT WAS SO GOOD/my favorite meal from the trip! The breakfast bread alone, OKKKKKK delish. And the fluffiest scrambled eggs. I almost lost my mind and tried to transfer our hotel reservation to the Poly. And then I remembered I'm about to go out on unpaid maternity leave and it probably wouldn't have been wise financially, lol.
Anyway, the kids were adorable, it was kind of fun just to resort-hop and wander the grounds, and by the time we got back to our own hotel, James was just returning from golf. We all did a round two at the POR pool (round one came pre-breakfast), and then we did a semi-bougie thing and actually got a resort babysitter through Once Upon A Nanny. I pre-paid months ago, so it really didn't feel like some dreaded, added expense. Sure, it was slightly more than we would have paid our local babysitter for just four hours, but I really wanted to go grab a bite or do something solely with Jim. Was worth the price tag!
I've gotten quite a few questions about this, so I'll just say:
The sitter herself was excellent. The kids LOVED her.
They can do whatever it is that you're envisioning. If you want extra hands at the parks, they can come with you -- if you want them to just stick around while the kids sleep, they can do that, too. I specifically asked for "resort sitting," meaning they'd explore Port Orleans but not go in the pools. (Our kids are not strong swimmers yet; Ana definitely wouldn't drown, but I didn't feel comfortable tasking a stranger with all that). It was like, s'mores and a movie night at POR, we left them money for food court and the arcade, our girl Lauren was like, taking them to fun areas we hadn't explored just yet, she had them all ready for bed by the time we got back ... they loved it, we loved it, it was pretty great.
James and I had first planned to go to California Grill at the Contemporary, then pivoted to Disney Springs (Boatworks), and THEN got stuck in some wild rain that made us about 10 minutes late getting back ... and instead of sneaking into the room, appreciating our sitter for having the kids all snuggly and jammied up -- he *actually said* "Who wants to go to the pool?"
Lil out of character for him, but I'll take it! The kids absolutely lit up. They were so excited. One of my favorite memories from the trip! We were laughing and soaking in every minute.
And we all stayed up till 11 p.m. at the "good" pool, watching the kids do the waterslide 48,000 times.
Our kids are used to going to bed at like, 7:30 in Milwaukee.
It was the BEST night.
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On THURSDAY, we Magic Kingdom'd.
But first -- I booked kind of a "freelance" Bippity Boppity Boutique hair/makeup artist. And she could only squeeze us in at like, 6:45 in the morning. So, you know pool night? That went crazy late?
Joke was on us! Those alarms went off at 6:30 and I was like, "phewwww, what did I sign us up for?"
lol, the kids were so excited for MK; it was all totally fine. Ana was groggy for about 10 seconds until she realized there was a NEW FRIEND in our hotel room for the sole purpose of doing her hair/makeup/nails/and she could pick any look she wanted in the whole entire world.
Ana was like, inviting this woman to her birthday party, 10 minutes after rising. Also, we don't even have a birthday party being set up/in the works.
Our BBB artist's name was Christine and she was awesome! I thought James and Robby would sleep through the whole thing, and we did try to be quiet, but our hotel room was still kinda small -- so naturally, Robby heard the commotion and SHARKEY was attacking Christine in no time at all. 🤣
OK, and did Ana end up looking a little like a My Little Pony, rather than a Disney princess?
I mean, yeah, she did.
But really, I booked it as a little surprise for her, and I didn't want to micromanage her choices. Christine did want to twist the pink extension into a little "rose" on the top of Ana's head, and I wanted Ana to agree to that SO BAD. But girlfriend has her own style. Even if it's debatably awful.
So she looked like this!
Anz is as cute as a button, duh, so whatever.
We then Ubered over to the Monorail station -- MK is the only park where you can't just get dropped off at the entrance; you have to boat or Monorail in, and I do think the train was down for maybe like, 20-40 min? There was some waiting around in the sun, which didn't get us off to the best start. I applied sunscreen on everyone and tried to keep the mood light, but man, Robs can turn on you in a heartbeat -- at Disney or anywhere in life. I was just like, "hold it together hold it together hold it together!"
And well, he did.
We finally boarded the Monorail, zipped on over to MK, and as we were exiting the train, Robby shouted out, "THAT WAS SO FUN, MOMMY! CAN WE DO THAT RIDE AGAIN?"
Everyone around us cracked up.
It kinda helped break some of the tension amongst the people, who were also running later into the parks than we had all intended, I'm sure!
Really though -- this was the ONE day we could have potentially "rope-dropped" (been ready, waiting at the gates before the park even opened), we were all ready to go early af, thanks to Ana's appointment, and still ... nope. Didn't quite get there! But really, this day was excellent. I was able to line up a million Genie+ reservations, and we got into our groove, hard. At one point, I was like, "We have Pirates at 11, Small World at 11:30, so-and-so ride at 11:45, LEGGO" and that we did.
BTW, sometimes Genie+ would make me wait two hours before booking another line, and sometimes it just like ... wouldn't? So this was kind of nice. Jason explained Genie+ to me as kind of like, "insurance," and it's true -- you're spending SO much to be at Disney, period. Might as well spring for extra perk of Genie+ and ensure you don't spend a full day at the parks waiting in line.
Here was our order of events:
Arrived, tried to get to the back of the park, toward like, Fantasyland/Frontierland
Noticed Aladdin's flying carpets had 0 wait time, hopped on that (Robby was obsessed; could have ridden this all day)
Enchanted Tiki Room (strange, but also 0 wait time and it was short - oddly enough, James loved it)
Pirates of the Caribbean
It's A Small World
Met two princesses (Cinderella and Elena of Avalon)
Stumbled upon a lunchtime parade
Dumbo ride (this was basically just the flying carpets again; Robby was elated)
Cosmic Ray's for lunch*
*Don't snark on me - I would have rather found the eggroll cart and a Dole Whip, but it was getting HOT and we were able to snag the perfect table at CR's. It was actually just the re-charge we needed.
Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin
Jungle Cruise
Oh look, another parade! (I think the same one we saw earlier, but this did NOT faze the kids)
Snagged a stroller
Robby fell asleep, and just as we were heading toward Tomorrowland, we came upon a live show, hosted by Mickey and Minnie, on the stage in front of Cinderella's Castle -- one of Ana's highlights of the trip ... she jumped up and down and loved every second. I tried not to die of heat exhaustion.
Peter Pan ride
Winnie the Pooh ride
Dinner at Be Our Guest
Little Mermaid ride
Spinning teacups
I really didn't think I'd be hungry for like, steak and mashed potatoes at BOG, but surprisingly enough, the food was better than I'd read about! (And you kind of have to order -- it's all off a price-fixed menu). You get a LOT of mixed reviews with most Disney restaurants, I found. Anyway, the kids didn't do as well, eating-wise, but the dessert was adorable, the restaurant was a nice break from the hustle and bustle of the park, and the building itself was just so immersive and cool. 10/10, would recommend this to anyone who loves Beauty and the Beast!
Ana had ditched her fancy hair by lunchtime, lol.
Also I thought spinning teacups would be a disaster with motion-sick Bob, but he did fine, and this was one of my favorite memories of the trip. All four of us were just laughing and laughing, and although I would say we missed out on PhilHarmagic (breaking Candace's heart), Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor and Tomorrowland Speedway ... we fit a lot into one day!
We skipped the fireworks but like, it was fine, we were so beat. I think this might have been our longest park day -- like, 12-14 hours?
We definitely broke our "no alarms on vacation" rule with that wake-up time, but it was truly my fav park when it came to like, the kids could ride SO much, and it was pretty perfect for their current ages.
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On FRIDAY, we hit up Hollywood Studios.
It's kinda funny; I had the lowest expectations when it came to this park (maybe tied with Epcot?), but there were so many highlights! I can't imagine skipping it.
We didn't have as many "must-rides" at HS, but here's how we filled our day:
Walked in, immediately stood in line to meet Olaf
Watched some Minnie/Mickey shorts (like, old movies - super cute actually!)
Rode Toy Story Mania
Did the spinning aliens (this was just like the teacups at MK)
Met Fancy Nancy and some other Disney Jr. characters, much to Ana's delight
Went to Disney Jr. Play and Dance - I could write a side-blog about how much my kids *adored* this; it was a huuuuuge hit! Even James was like, "OK, that made this whole trip worth it." 🥺 THE DANCING WAS ELITE
Frozen singalong (adorable!)
Absolute DOWNPOUR, waited it out under an awning, ate Mickey bars :)
Ate kind of a snacky lunch with things we'd brought from the hotel/our Instacart order
Tried to attend the Beauty and the Beast live show, but they canceled the rest of the day :( and we even had a Genie+ slot! Little bit of a bummer here
3D Muppets show, Ana lovvvved
Another pop-up parade, this time with Pixar characters
I ate a quick buffalo chicken grilled cheese from ABC Commissary and we headed out
Also, that grilled cheese was, surprisingly enough, one of my fav things I ate on the trip. 9/10; recommend!
From there ... this is when we went a little wild. We had told the kids, since it was our last full day, we could do one more pool adventure. So that's what we hit up next; just the smaller pool by our room (kids didn't care), then we: changed, took the boat over to Disney Springs, shopped, Ana danced her heart out at a pop-up concert, we did Build-A-Dino as a little surprise for Robby at the restaurant T-Rex, and we included Ana too, we meant to eat an actual dinner but just kept getting sidetracked (also, I probably should have made a reservation. Disney Springs didn't have a lot of quick-service-type options). I think we got sandwiches toward the end? But this was one of those days we just kinda lived off food I had packed in our backpack.
I have a very cute memory of James literally skipping through Disney Springs with a kid on each hand. Everyone was just so happy!
Quick aside, and I know I'm getting rambly, but re: food, which I know I just touched on, that's the other good part about Disney.
Sure, it is expensive, like everyone says, but you can totally offset meal costs. Be Our Guest might have been in the $250 ballpark, but we saved a LOT with the refillable popcorn bucket, bringing in our own PBJs and bottled waters, trail mix; one night we were so burned out that we made Easy Mac for the kids at the resort dining hall ... you don't have to eat every meal at a restaurant or make every day a Magic Kingdom day.
We honestly did a thick balance of dirt cheap/borderline bougie.
We also all wore MagicBands; just the cheap $10-15 versions because I happened to spot a sale online. I think it was because Disney was about to upgrade to the MagicBand+? At first, I was like, "noooo, I should have gotten us the upgraded version! I wish I'd known!" But all you need are the most basic. You don't have to charge them or really do anything -- they came pre-loaded with our reservation info, you could buzz into your hotel room with them, there was a PIN included so that James and I could charge things, but the kids couldn't, they really did end up being convenient as hell.
ANYWAY.
Final night! We were going to aim to be back at the hotel at a reasonable hour, but we were just like, F it, it's the last day of vacation!
Our feet (my fat feet) were a lil sore, but we forged on. Robs passed out in James' arms at some point and we hopped on one of the last boats of the night, back to our resort.
We had Chef Mickey's in the morning (character breakfast!), which was at the Contemporary, and it was kind of cool to watch the Monorail whiz by from the inside. The kids loved seeing the characters, even Robs, who could be quite reserved at times when it came to anyone in full costume -- at one point, Mickey picked up SHARKEY and was "attacking" Robs back, the same way Robs does to other people. I was like, cracking up, telling James how that might have been my favorite part of the whole trip.
The kids were kinda too hyped up to eat at Chef Mickey's, so we did feel a little guilty about the food waste situation, but what can you do?
We Ubered back to Port Orleans, bought some final things at the gift shop (am I 85 or what? I got a Christmas ornament), and then the Sunshine Flyer pulled up promptly and it was time to head to the airport.
I read a lot of warnings online, saying the airport could get crazy on the weekends ... it was truly fine. We breezed through security, hung out at our gate, we did have to lay over in Atlanta, but it was super quick this time. Robby didn't throw up, we barely had any turbulence, and we were back in Milwaukee by 6:30p or so. When I tell you the kids went STRAIGHT to bed ... it takes a lot for them to say, "no stories tonight, mommy!" (We're big book people). But yeah, they honestly climbed right into their beds and James and I were able to unpack, start laundry -- we are those people -- and we followed suit a short time later.
It was kind of nice, we then had all day Sunday to kinda re-acclimate to the real world. Ana and I did two homework packets, which took FOREVER, we grocery shopped and made dinner, and at one point, Robs goes, "It feels like a dream! Did we really miss school for an entire week and go to DISNEY WORLD?!"
Sure did, Bob!
Here are my final takeaways, and things I didn't mention already:
-- The stroller! I touched on it, but I did NOT end up renting from a third-party. I was super torn; like, I knew my kids were borderline too big for a stroller, but I *also* knew it would give them fresh energy if James and I were wanting to hang at a park and they were crashing. They'd never use a stroller at home; but all the Disney FB groups were like, "if you're on the fence even a LITTLE bit, just get one!" My mom sent me a Disney gift card, and day one, I went to Animal Kingdom, and reserved a 4-day rental. Thanks, ma! It was just about $100 total.
Going through a third-party was a few bucks cheaper, and they'll deliver it right to your room, but I just kinda ... didn't want all that? I wanted to be able to pick and choose -- and that, to me, was kind of a perk of renting through Disney. Want it for an hour, and then it's driving you nuts? Just turn it in, and then show your receipt later, and you're able to swap in and out as many times as you'd like. And there's no loading it into the buses or your Uber -- Disney's strollers stay at the parks. The only thing I will say, that I wasn't prepared for, was that it was kind of a shitty stroller. I thought there'd be a basket underneath to store our backpack; more of like, a real stroller. It was a janky mall stroller, at best. And the kids would like, drag an arm or a leg outside it, driving us crazy, or they'd bicker in there, because it was also just kinda SMALL. I guess that's our fault, with a 4- and 6-year-old. But yeah, no regrets overall. There should be more buzz about renting through the parks. Endorse!
-- We did pick a historically "good time to go." After Labor Day, y'all! I recommend.
It truly only FELT busy a few instances. Like, when we couldn't get on Ratatouille, I was surprised. But I felt like that would have been the norm a few more times (or I would have needed to plan better), if we'd done the same trip during a peak Disney window.
It definitely was never slow, but a lot of the wait times were just like, 15 minutes, and by the time you zipped through the queue and boarded, it hadn't even been that long. So yeah, if you're thinking about a Disney trip, mid-September, yo! We were between mid-September and right after the Christmas/New Year holidays, but I'm kind of happy we picked when we picked. I wanted it to be hot (oh, and it was).
-- Meals I didn't really touch on: Boatwright's, night one (this is the restaurant at our resort). The menu looked delish but the food was just OK. Boathouse at Disney Springs, mid-week, was decent. It was odd, there were just so many times where the weather was affecting my appetite and I wasn't that hungry. I'm not sure if it was the heat, the humidity, all the walking, the pregnancy, or what. My fish tacos were pretty good! I was kind of underwhelmed with the menu, to be totally honest. And various Disney snacks - the ice cream sammy slapped when I was hot and cranky and needed a pick-me-up. Oh, and the kids wasted about 14 pounds of chicken tenders, just overall.
-- I kinda thought James would wanna take Ana on a few lil kid/intro rollercoaster-ish things (Slinky Dog, Barnstormer, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway), especially because she was super into this idea of being "brave." And I'm pregz, so I'm not trying to push my limits or get judged by strangers, PLUS, we got pukey and not-tall-enough Bobz on my right ... but every time I suggested like, "go take Ana!" James was kinda reluctant to split up the fam or wait without us or really deal with it. I couldn't blame him for that. So if you're wondering WHY Slinky Dog or something wasn't on the list, we just kinda stuck to the calm/easy stuff!
-- Finally, I think I would have added Park Hopper onto like, maybe just the final day, if I could have done it all over again. I think I touched on this earlier too, but our friends had it ... every day, if I'm remembering correctly? And it did feel convenient for them just to be like, "oh we missed Epcot fireworks, we'll come back just for those, at night!" We were definitely like, one park a day and done. So that was a bit of a limitation. It would have been neat to tie up some loose ends on the very last day. Something to consider for next time!
--SkyLiner looked like a fun option to me, but James was like, "F that." So, if you're considering a resort with access, huge perk! But you can't be scared of heights or a gondola. Because SkyLiner involves both.
-- Like I said, use a Disney planner. I linked Jason, who we used, above, but like ... you can consult with these people on your daily schedule, they'll wake up early and make your dining reservations once you're 60 days out, help you compare packages -- I was so glad we did this. And I did a fair amount of tweaking the schedule as well (restaurant swaps and such), but I was relieved to always feel like I had someone in my corner.
-- If you're doing coordinating outfits ... as in, I'm not down with matching family shit, but I did have cute things ready to go for the kids each day -- don't just check the Disney stores and sites. Ana and Robby's Lion King outfits were actually H&M, Mickey/Minnie shirt and dress were from Macy's, Robby had two Target Ts (found on the app), the Cinderella dress was Etsy and all these ears were ordered probably from China at like, $1/piece. They're like, $40/set in the parks, so stock up before you go!
-- Bring at least 2-3 pairs of shoes for each person, if you're going to be there more than a few days (James and I each ruined an old pair in the rain; also we walked 8-13 miles a day, no exaggeration), portable phone chargers are a MUST, I kept forgetting about our cooling towels, so these were a take-it-or-leave-it item for us, and a few ponchos were nice, but I didn't need the monster pack of like, 20, from Amazon. 🤣 And *for the love of God, mobile-order your food.* There would be people standing in lines that rivaled like, some of the more popular rides, and James and I would just put in orders 15 minutes in advance, everything would be ready, and we'd just swing up to the counter and grab our food. It was so convenient and easy. I heard Disney workers trying to encourage everyone to do it, but like, YES, mobile-order your lunch! Do not hesitate.
-- I don't know what kind of parents suggest or encourage the whole AUTOGRAPHS thing -- lol I know Jen kind of stumbled into it, and her kids are older, so they wanted to get their signatures, and it was trickier to talk them out of it ... but I was able to largely convince our kids that pics are the new autographs, and what were they gonna do with some dumb book after the trip? Do not get suckered into this shit, if you can help it. That's my advice, at least.
In other/more recent news, Robby came up to me the other morning, it's been like, a month? And he had just woken up, he was kinda bleary-eyed, and he says, "Mommy, was it all a dream? I loved Disney World. Thank you for taking me there! It's what I always wanted."
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| Robby at Be Our Guest |
Just the sweetest.
OK, if you read till the end, you deserve a medal!
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