If you’ve followed along on my blog, you might have noticed that we travel a lot. I used to travel a ton for my career (over a million miles on American Airlines to be exact), and my husband and I both love exploring new places and just stepping away from reality occasionally.
Back in the fall, we were looking into an early December trip to a beach, maybe Southern California, or even heading to Park City again. We were looking at some of the costs associated with these locations and my husband jokingly said “we might as well go to Disney World if we’re going to spend that much …” Fast forward two months and here we are on our plane to Orlando.
He learned his lesson not to tempt me. 🙂
I have SO much to share with you about our trip and can’t possibly fit everything in one post. So, I’ll start today with a few planning tips, our first day at Magic Kingdom, Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party and the first resort we stayed at, Animal Kingdom Lodge. I’ll touch on our days at Hollywood Studios, Epcot, and Animal Kingdom in my next posts as well as tell you all about the other resort we stayed on property. Finally, I’ll be sure to give you lots of tips and recommendations so you are well-informed before you head there next.
Big Announcement – I can help you!
While I was planning our trip back in the fall so many of my friends mentioned how overwhelmed they felt when they had looked into a trip to Disney World or Disneyland. Some mentioned that they used travel agents because they knew there were so many moving parts and they wanted to make sure they had the best experience possible. I started looking into what a Disney Travel planner does and immediately my wheels started turning.
I’ve been booking between 5 and 20 trips a year for work and for fun for over a decade now, and I’m the one who family and friends routinely turn to for travel advice and recommendations. It’s something I’m passionate about and something I love doing. When I was a traveling legal consultant, I relished comparing airfare and hotel options for upcoming client trips. My colleagues dreaded this small aspect of our jobs and I jumped to plan for our group and even other groups. Anytime we plan a family vacation, I will spend hours reading reviews, comparing room options, and scouting out local restaurants and activities.
This is why I’m thrilled to announce that I’m turning this passion into a career. I am now a travel planner specializing in Disney Destinations!
I’ve been hired to join an incredible travel agency and cannot wait to begin helping others plan their Disney or other fun vacations. Although I’m going to focus on Disney, I will also be able to help you with other types of travel … Hawaii, Mexico, Caribbean, ski trips, cruises, Universal, and more.
What I love about this work is that my clients don’t pay me anything! I can find you the best discounts available and I can save you the time doing so. Just yesterday I was comparing prices I can get through the agency with websites I used to use in my travel searches and I was pleasantly surprised at the deeper discounts I could find.
Email me if you want to learn more about how I can help you and your family and friends plan a trip you won’t forget!
Two Tidbits
Before I jump into the details of our trip, I want to emphasize a few things.
- We had an amazing vacation! As parents, we could not have hoped for a more incredible experience and we have countless memories I’ll cherish forever. That being said, I’m going to be honest and will let you know about some of the “not so great” aspects of my trip because if I were planning a first trip to Disney with my family I’d want to know the good and the bad!
- Planning this trip took WAY more time than I thought it would. I had no idea what was involved when we somewhat haphazardly booked the trip on a lazy September Sunday. I spent countless hours researching blogs, following Facebook groups, watching YouTube videos, creating spreadsheets (yep, I’m that girl who made spreadsheets for her Disney World trip), etc … I’m so thankful I put in the time, though, because otherwise I would have missed FastPass opportunities, not eaten at iconic restaurants, spent more money on food, and so on.
The Disney Planning Process
FastPasses
We booked our trip 64 days before we would be checking in on our first night. When you stay on property, you can book FastPasses 60 days in advance on Disney’s website and app. I won’t go into too much detail, but FastPasses give you the opportunity to show up at a ride, show, or character greeting between a designated one-hour window and skip the line. Since many of the popular rides and attractions consistently have a one- or even two-hour wait, FastPasses can save you HOURS of precious time at the parks (not too mention your sanity).
On the first day I could access the FastPass system, I was sitting at my computer with my coffee and lists of preferred rides and times at 6 am Central. I lucked out and was able to get most of the rides we wanted.
Dining Reservations and Dining Plans
This is the one area that I was least informed about when initially booking our trip. I knew that booking a meal with Disney characters is extremely popular and that those reservations would be hard to come by, but I had no idea how quickly many of the table-service restaurants book up!
Dining reservations become available 120 days in advance of your first night at the resort. By the time we booked, most of the preferred times at popular restaurants (with and without characters weren’t available. However, I used unofficial services (Mouse Dining and Touring Plans) to send me updates when availabilities arise. I was able to score some great dining reservations as the trip drew nearer.
The biggest dining reservation “win” was breakfast at Cinderella’s Royal Table (CRT) in Magic Kingdom. Here we were able to have a delicious breakfast in the castle with many of Parker’s favorite princesses (Ariel, Snow White, Aurora, Jasmine, and of course Cinderella).
CRT is probably the most popular dining reservation and was booked solid by the time we started looking into reservations. I set up a notification through Mouse Dining and Touring Plans, and I received a handful of notifications of openings but could never get to the website to book it in time to grab them. About a week before our trip I succeeded. Yay!
Also, I want to point out how impressed I was with Disney World’s dining plan options. Dining plans allow you to pre-pay for much of your meals and snacks, often resulting in a significant savings over paying for them piece by piece in the park. We debated whether to use one and I eventually decided to try it out. I’m so glad we did! I thought most of the snack and food options throughout the park are quite over-priced (as to be expected within any theme park), and the dining plan allowed us to take advantage of pre-paid snacks that I otherwise would have passed up (“what? $8 for a cookie? no way!”). At the end of our trip, we decided that we indeed saved money based on our meal and snack selections. Plus, although we were initially skeptical that we’d find many items not included in the plan, that was not the case.
If you have questions or experiences with the dining plans, I’d love to hear them in the comments below!
Magic Kingdom
We planned a full day at Magic Kingdom, planning to get to the park by 7:30. Before leaving, though, I met with a representative from Kingdom Strollers in our lobby to pick up the double stroller I rented for the trip. Renting a stroller was an awesome decision and I highly recommend you do it even if you think your kids won’t need it. Some of the reasons to rent include:
- It’s crowded in many areas of the parks and you can move around more quickly without losing your kids.
- The days are long and even your “big” kids will enjoy a ride occasionally.
- You can stash all your stuff underneath the stroller. We were there for the evening Christmas festivities and I was relieved we didn’t have to carry around in a backpack the light-up necklaces, blankets, extra coats, and snacks.
Seriously, all week my husband and I both kept saying how relieved we were to have the stroller. Yes, it’s a pain boarding the busses and it can be difficult to maneuver a big double stroller through crowds but we thought it was worth those hassles.
Transportation Options – Minnie Van, Uber, Busses, etc …
We stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge where the only free transportation to Magic Kingdom is via bus. Since we were in a hurry that morning and weren’t sure about how long the bus wait and drive would take, we decided to use a ride share.
Disney recently partnered with Lyft to provide “Minnie Vans.” These are luxury-esque SUVs or vans with carseats. You book them through the Lyft app but they are pricey. When you’re staying at a Disney Resort that doesn’t have monorail or boat access to Magic Kingdom, Disney buses and Minnie Vans are the only way you can get dropped off directly at Magic Kingdom. Otherwise, Uber, other Lyft vehicles, and taxis will take you to the Transportation Center where you will have to get on the monorail. Uber offers vehicles with carseats, though, so unless you’re headed to Magic Kingdom I recommend you take one of those if you need a carseat since they were significantly cheaper for us.
Let The Magic Begin
As I mentioned earlier, we had an early morning reservation at Cinderella’s Royal Table. Our breakfast there was a wonderful experience and an easy way for Foster and Parker to meet and get autographs from so many princesses.
Going in, I knew this breakfast was going to be very VERY expensive. We used two of our table-service credits for it and if we had paid out-of-pocket it would have been close to $200. Yikes. However, I do think it’s worth putting on the “do it once” list if your budget allows.
Before the princesses walk out, an announcement is made during which the kids are encouraged to make a wish and use the toys the kids received when we sat down. It was super cute and the kids loved it.
The food was really good at CRT and really most places in Disney World.
At the table-service locations we ate during our trip the kids always received a truly top-notch Disney-themed kids menu with activities. This was a perfect way to start our day at Magic Kingdom!
Magic Kingdom Rides
As I mentioned earlier, we got most of the FastPasses we wanted but we didn’t snag one for the most popular rides, 7 Dwarves Mine Train. Our plan was to rope drop it. Rope dropping is a Disney trick that can help you get to the ride as soon as you can in the morning. Did you know the Disney theme parks can sometimes actually allow you into a certain area of the park at least an hour before the official opening time? Once you’re in, you’re able to get all the way to a point where Disney cast members stand with a rope blocking off the rest of the park. Then, they’ll drop the ropes and you can get to the rest of the park. Sometimes the rope drop happens well before official opening time. If you showed up at the main entrance at opening time, you could easily be about 20 minutes behind everyone who arrived to “rope drop” a popular ride. The most popular rides can easily have a 45-minute lineup at the official opening time.
Our breakfast ran a little late so our rope drop plan didn’t work out and we ended up joining the line just after 9. The wait was already 70 minutes. Then the ride needed maintenance … an hour later and we finally gave up and moved on. While in line, though, we took turns taking the kids to Under the Sea and the Teacups.
Classic Disney rides just can’t be beat. Then we ran into an old friend …
When you’re at Disney World, you’ll have a variety of character interactions. Some characters, like Pluto above, walk around high-fiving and hugging kids. They don’t usually sign autographs but some might. Other characters are at a specified location for certain times. You can wait in line or sometimes use a FastPass to get their autograph. Before our trip I bought the kids these autograph books and they were a huge hit! I remember getting characters to sign mine as a child and I loved getting to see the joy in my kids’ faces doing the same thing.
We then left to ride Dumbo and Barnstormer. Neither had crazy lines and both were great for my kids.
I want to point out that I was happily shocked when planning the trip to learn that both Parker and Foster could ride on most rides. Parker is about 41 inches tall and I initially assumed we’d have to sit out for most rides. At Magic Kingdom she could ride every ride with us except for Space Mountain. We had a 10 am FastPass for three of us at Space Mountain so we booked a FastPass for Parker at the same time to Meet Ariel at her Grotto. It worked perfectly!
And, yes, she already met Ariel that morning but, hello, she didn’t have her tail on then. ;). Side note – Rider Switch is an amazing service offered at Disney World in which you can make sure one adult stays with a child that’s too short and then skip the line to go back in with the taller child for his/her second time. We planned for this at Space Mountain but Foster didn’t want to do it a second time so they let me go in afterwards without him.
Then we rode Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin and the People Mover. Both were great, but I was shocked at how slowly the Buzz Lightyear line moved.
This brings me to one of my words of caution from our trip. FastPasses are amazing and when you don’t have one just know that most lines move quickly. However, some rides seemed to provide way too many FastPasses and the standard line crawled. The two that come to mind are this Buzz Lightyear line and the Jungle Cruise. Waiting for Jungle Cruise was the one hour I’d like to get back from our trip. I wouldn’t do it again unless the line is short and I personally wouldn’t use a FastPass for it.
Next, we went to Big Thunder Mountain for our 11:55 am FastPass and it did not disappoint. This was a definite favorite ride for the whole family and we even came back that night to ride it again. Afterwards we grabbed lunch at Columbia Harbour House. It provided quick-service meals which means you can walk up and order. They also had online ordering available in the app which we tried. There were a few glitches with it that afternoon but eventually it went through and even with the glitches we saved time over waiting in the long line for it.
This brings me to a Tip – download the My Disney Experience App! It’s truly incredible! You can view available Fastpasses, book dining reservations and order food, and even check wait times around the park. Plus, there’s an interactive map which I heavily relied on to find restrooms, snacks, and such.
After eating we headed over to It’s A Small World because we couldn’t leave without doing so and I do have to admit the kids weren’t that impressed. Ha. Oh well – it had to be done. We then caught our FastPass for Peter Pan’s Flight.
This is right about when started losing our energy and wondering if we would make it through the night. We almost chose to head to the hotel and nap, but we decided to power through.
We rode Barnstormer again and decided to head go pick up the Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom cards. I meant to stop in and do this at the beginning of our day but we were running a bit late. I was kicking myself later because the kids absolutely loved the game. It reminds me a bit of Pokemon cards with a scavenger hunt twist. The kids get cards and follow a map around the park trying to interactively face-off with villains. The kids (and to be honest the grown-ups too) enjoyed looking for the hidden portals around the park. When we go back, we will stop in here first thing so they can play it all day.
We then went to ride Jungle Cruise and waited well over an hour for a supposed 40-minute wait. By the time we got on the boat, it was dark and the experience just wasn’t what we hoped.
We did not get the chance to do a few rides and shows we hoped (like Pirates of the Caribbean, Tom Sawyer Island, Swiss Family Treehouse, and the Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor). And we had a packed day of fun! Next time we’ll add on a day or two and probably even upgrade our tickets to Park Hoppers so we can pop in and out of the various parks as we please.
Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party
When we initially booked our trip, I wanted to make sure we went to Magic Kingdom on a day when they had the Christmas party and fireworks. Only later did I realize that this evening event required separate tickets. If you didn’t have a separate ticket for the event, you had to leave the park by 6 pm. We splurged on the tickets and I’m so glad we got to experience the beauty of Magic Kingdom during Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party.
Here’s a quick word of caution, though. The park was incredibly busy during the few hours that the day ticketholders and party ticketholders were both allowed in the park. It made me thankful that we weren’t there during a school holiday break or the summer because I can only imagine the crowds during those times.
The party includes several special shows and events as well as free treats and drinks. Okay, they label them free but the ticket price considerably covered them … just sayin’.
As the crowds grew, we decided to pull out our ponchos (Florida weather is highly unpredictable so be sure to grab a pack of cheap ponchos like these) and head down Splash Mountain. You guys, this was one of our best memories from the entire trip! We got to ride it two times in a row because on that chilly night nobody wanted to get wet. We were laughing so hard because this is the photo that was saved to our MagicBands.
We’re invisible! 😉
That’s when we back to Thunder Mountain and rode it twice with hardly any line.
Afterwards, we headed over to 7 Dwarves Mine Train and waited for about 40 minutes to finally see what all the fuss is about.
It was awesome! Definitely worth the wait (although it would have been nice to ride it that morning but once that night was good too).
We then ran over to see Elsa light up the castle in Frozen Holiday Wish. For all of the Frozen fans, this was a perfect short show. Right afterwards we caught Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime Parade.
I’ll be perfectly honest with you – we are not big parade people. In making our plans, I didn’t even think we would catch a single parade because I didn’t think my kids (or my husband and I) would think it’s worth it to find a spot an hour in advance. But you guys, this parade blew my socks off!
We stumbled upon the best spot (ask me for details and I’ll share) and we were able to enjoy the snow from Main Street, get to see the exciting floats for an extended time as they drove around the circle, and were among the first out the exit afterwards.
Disney truly knows how to throw a great party! By the time the parade finished, we were exhausted and left without catching the fireworks show. Here’s another tip for you: when your kids don’t know what’s coming up in the schedule they don’t know what they’re missing. 🙂
Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge – Jambo House
By the time we booked our trip in September, we could not find a resort with availability our entire stay, so we booked the first three nights at one and the final two nights at another. Although it was slightly inconvenient to move rooms in the middle of our trip, we ended up being happy with the change for a few reasons (which I’ll explain later).
We started out at Animal Kingdom Resort – Jambo House (AKL). The biggest selling feature of AKL is that you can see exotic animals roaming around outside the upgraded safari view rooms. Here was the view our first night.
Walt Disney World on-site resorts are divided into three categories: budget, moderate, and deluxe. AKL is considered a deluxe resort and has a beautiful on-site pool area, multiple dining options, an arcade, a playground, and more. The main lobby is quite impressive with a large open area for families to lounge and enjoy the beautiful African-themed ambiance.
We stayed in a one-bedroom villa which allowed us to have a full-size kitchen, dining table and seating, living area with a pull-out couch, bedroom with a king-sized bed, washer/ dryer, and a large bathroom. Our room was very spacious and was the perfect configuration for our family of four. We mostly saw animals that my kids just considered deer (ha) like kudus, impalas, and gazelles. However, we did see a few giraffes and zebras which was neat.
What did we like about AKL?
The pool area truly is fantastic. On our last morning at AKL we decided to take advantage of the beautiful pool and enjoy a morning at the resort. We were the only people (other than lifeguards) in the entire pool area. The kids played on the slide and we spent some time in the hot tub. Plus, all pools at Disney I believe are heated year-round so if you travel in the winter like we did don’t let cooler temperatures scare you away. The pool was a bit too cold for me but the kids loved it.
Seeing the animals out our window was really cool, but we honestly didn’t feel like we were in our room enough to take advantage of the unique atmosphere. Well, let me clarify. We don’t know that the novelty of seeing them occasionally justified the difference in price paid for the room with a safari view. In the end, we’re glad we experienced it this one time.
What did we not love about AKL?
AKL is the furthest resort from Magic Kingdom (and arguably Epcot) and the only “free” transportation option to any park from AKL is via bus. The Disney bus system truly is incredible, but as with any transportation system there are going to be times when your schedule and its schedule don’t match up well and you end up waiting half an hour for a bus. And for us it was either super early in the morning when we were trying to get to the park before rope drop (which I’ll explain later) or at the end of a 12-hour day when you’re just wanting to get to your room so you can shower and pass out. Then you have a 20 – 25 minute bus ride during which you might be in a crowded bus and potentially standing the whole way. Again, this is free and a lovely service provided to Disney Resorts. When we go back, though, I want to stay somewhere that has other options like walking or using the Skyliner, boat, or monorail.
Our room (and the resort in general) was outdated and in need of an update. When we booked, I read that they were in the process of updating AKL rooms and all rooms should be updated by the time we travelled. Ours wasn’t. It was perfectly fine and clean, though. It just didn’t feel like a “deluxe” property and room.
Our room was nearly a half-mile from the lobby and it took a solid 8 minutes to speed-walk from our room to get there. Add that to the time it takes to get to the parks.
We ate dinner at The Mara, the main quick service restaurant on property, and it might have been our least favorite meal during our trip. The quick service restaurant at the next resort we stayed at was amazing, though.
And, finally, the atmosphere and crowds just didn’t have the Disney spirit I remembered from my previous trips. We were one of the few families we saw with young children and it seemed like AKL attracts an older (and I might add less energetic) crowd.
Stay Tuned for Part 2
Alright, you guys, that’s it for today! I’ll fill you in on the rest of our trip next week.
Again, don’t hesitate to reach out with any Disney or other travel planning questions. I’d love to help you out! And let me know your favorite memories or advice related to Disney World. Share the wealth. 😉
