Our Disney Trip (Pics & Tips)

Hello Friends ~

I thought I would share some photos and ideas and tips from our (Annie & I) recent Disney World trip. We went to FL to visit Aaron going to college down there. But he had busy class time some of the week and encouraged us to keep busy at Disney then (he didn't care about going to the parks). We flew to FL and I didn't need to rent a car, which was nice. Aaron was able to drive us to and from the airport and for all the times we spent with him. We only needed to take an uber to and from the Disney resort to get to Aaron's. We stayed at the Wilderness Lodge Resort for 3 full days (a M - Th). It was nice because they have buses that can take you to whichever park you wanted. And a boat to go back and forth form the Magic Kingdom. 

I had been to Disney World before, but it had been a LONG time. Annie had never been there. We had both been to Disneyland several times before. I personally love Disneyland because one of my best friends works for Disney and she has lived out in CA for about 20 years now. When we visit her and do Disneyland she gets us an amazing discount at the resort and gets us into the parks FREE! So ya, amazing perks. Lol But what Annie and I both loved about Disneyland and California Adventure over Disney World parks is that it's smaller, much more walkable, and there are more overall rides. However, Disney World has this:

The Magic Band. We each had one (you can personalize how you want) and it was so wonderful and convenient in so many ways. The Walt Disney World parks are equipped with the electronics for this. Disneyland is not. This band was comfortable. And it got us into our room, got us on rides (fast pass), got us souvenirs, food etc all with one quick swipe of the top part. Scarily convenient! Lol 

I won't go into a million details about everything here. The truth is if you look up Disney world online - youtube, pinterest etc you can find tons of info and probably explained better than I could. This is just me sharing our experiences and tips while we were there. I did research. I got the Disney World app which I highly recommend doing and it made everything much easier for when we were there. There is a fast pass culture to the whole trip. And if you want to do any of the really cool rides without having to wait 2 to 3 hours I recommend doing them. If you do even a little research and get the app - it's amazingly easy to do. So when you get your tickets for the park you can do fast passes up to 30 days in advance for rides. If you stay at a Disney resort you can book them up to 60 days in advance! I won't go into big detail how it works. If you get serious enough to book a trip you will,  I'm sure, research and set it up. The basics of a fast pass is they allow you to get on a ride in a matter of often minutes, instead of hours. 

If you have any questions that I may be able to answer feel free to email me anytime! 

As I said, we stayed at the Wilderness Lodge where the theme was obviously woodsy so we northwoods gals felt right at home. Lol It was beautiful and so nice because it had restaurants, a large pool area, spa, arcade, shops, - all right on the lodge campus.  When we first got to FL  it was the weekend and we stayed in Winter Park and hung out with Aaron. We took an uber out to the Wilderness Lodge very early on Monday morning. So here's another tip. Don't worry about showing up to your resort before check in. It wasn't until 3 PM, but they stored our luggage, got us checked in and gave us our magic bands all before the parks even opened! We were able to go off to Epcot (our plan for that day) and enjoy the full day there. And later in the afternoon they texted me when our room was ready. And when we decided to head back to the hotel we just called the number from our room and they brought all of our luggage right up to us.

Beyond the pool area there was a lake too and they would do a cute light up and music show that we could watch right from our deck. If you click on my "follow me on instagram" at the top of my blog, then click on the "vacation" bubble you can see clips of the show.

We both especially loved France

And the wonderful macaron ice cream sandwiches there!

Epcot is really neat. It has 11 "countries" all set around a large lake, where you can explore some of their culture (food, music, architecture, shows). We got there when the gates opened and went right towards the back of the park to Norway. There are only a few rides in Epcot and the newer FRozen ride is one of them. We weren't able to get a fast pass for it so we headed right to that ride so we only had to wait in line a little over an hour.  Another tip I would recommend is head to the parks early....especially if you have a mission like we did that day. And then take a break in the afternoon when it's really hot. Go back to your room and chill a bit and then go back later in the day. That worked really well for us. It's so much walking and it got into the upper 80's for temp each day. Another tip is I recommend bringing a water bottle with you in whichever bag or purse you take. We had a collapsible one and they have water fountain filling areas all over the parks often by the restrooms. Stay hydrated and you'll be less crabby waiting in long lines. Also, when it's hot like that go on some of the less exciting rides. Many of them are still pretty cool, some even informational, and they have shorter lines and are a nice air conditioned break.

Next up  - The Magic Kingdom

The day we spent here was our hottest day. We did a few rides, but many were long waits in the heat. So we did our fast pass rides that were scheduled early and then went to cool off and rest at the resort. We had some yummy food here including The Peter Pan which was a lime dole whip float with sprite and a chocolate feather.  We went back to the park later in the day and caught some parades too. One of the rides we had a fast pass for was big thunder mountain railroad roller coaster. It was broke down, so they issued us a flex fast pass that was good for any ride, other then a select few, that we wanted and that we could use anytime that day. Fast passes typically are scheduled. So Annie talked me into going on space mountain. Basically a roller coaster in the dark other then you can see a few stars as you fly along. Annie thought all of my screaming was hilarious. 😂 

Animal Kingdom

One of the last tips I'll share is to do what we did on our last full day. We were going to Animal Kingdom park that day, but our fast passes were all for later in the day. We had gotten up early the other mornings to get into the check in lines at the parks right away. But we decided to take it slower and enjoy more of the resort that day. We slept in a bit. Ordered breakfast which was so yummy - bananas fosters french toast with bacon and breakfast potatoes. We then went down to enjoy the resort pool, hot tub and some pool side sunshine. Then we went back and got showered and ready and enjoyed the rest of the day at Animal Kingdom.

We went on some fun rides here, but the rides this park is most known for are the Avatar pandora rides. We didn't book soon enough to get fast passes for these and the lines were too insane to want to wait. So I can't give any feedback, but you can see what most of the rides are like if you look them up on youtube. Our last fast pass was for the Everest expedition ride. I was excited about that one but Annie didn't feel well so we went back to the room without getting to try that one. 

But I got to end with a fun sweet treat. This orange cupcake with sweet honey cream icing and candy bees (I had already picked off and ate the candy honeycomb that was on there too - Lol). 

A final tip I'll share is that I noticed a lot of young moms with little kids having snacks on hand for their crew. And when you go through security at each park they check your bags, but your own snacks are not discouraged. I see that as a great way to save money, as well as keep kids happy when waiting in line for rides. One mom I saw even had cool play-doh she had saved up for her kids while they were waiting in line at the Frozen ride. So if you have little kiddos this might be helpful info as well. 

All and all we had a wonderful experience at all the parks we visited. The stay at the resort was excellent. And I would highly recommend getting magic bands and the app if you ever visit. 

It was truly a magical trip. 🌟