We’d been planning a Disney World trip for two years. You know what was also two years? A global pandemic. Hence, no trip.
We’d actually been planning it even before that. First, with my family. Either for my dad’s 70th or the following year for my mom’s 70th. They started out their married life at Disney World. My dad was part of the team to help open it in 1971. He was a manager at The Polynesian Hotel. It was his first job out of college after graduating from UNLV, who, at the time, had the top hotel/restaurant program in the country. (He went on to create and run his own restaurants.) My mom joined him the following year after they married. She worked as a Spanish translator and in guest relations. (She went on to be a preschool teacher and then a children’s programmer for Barnes & Noble.) But, I digress. Neither trip ended up happening for one reason or another. Lilly’s been twice. Once with my side of the family and once for her big sister trip. But Oliver had never been and I was dying to take him.
So Zach and I planned on taking our little brood in the spring or fall of 2020. HA. HA. HA. I wanted to wait until Covid was over so we wouldn’t have to deal with masks or a limited experience. But it doesn’t seem like will ever quite go back to normal so I started planning for this past January. We’re “off peak” Disney visitors. We try to avoid all major holidays and school breaks. Our favorite times to go are in mid-late September after school starts and in the end of January/beginning of February after New Year’s and before winter breaks. But I know not everyone’s schedules allow for that.
I wanted it to be a surprise for the kids. Like, real surprise. Wake up that morning and think you’re going to school surprise. One of my best childhood memories is Christmas morning in Philadelphia. I was 10. We’d just finished opening presents when the doorbell rang. My sister and I ran to the door and it was a limo driver set to take us to NYC for 3 days. Mind blown. We went to FAO Schwartz, Broadway shows, saw all the sights at the holidays, etc. Such a fun trip. But the most magical part was the surprise. I vowed to do something similar for my kids one day.
Back to planning. We settled on January 24th-28th and I got to work. I spent months working on everything- reservations, flights, hotels, ordering gear, communicating with teachers, coaches, friends on the down low and rearranging work commitments and clients (Zach too, of course). And then I checked the weather. It looked horrible. I continued to stalk it every few hours the week before. As of Sunday late afternoon (we were to leave Monday morning), the forecast looked BLEAK. Like, rain all day every day bad. As I was finalizing details and hitting refresh, I announced to Zach we had to push back our trip. You should’ve seen the look. We proceeded to have our worst fight in years. Thankfully, it only lasted two minutes. He stormed off and went upstairs. I was on the phone with the hotel and on the computer at the same time seeing if we could change park reservations. 5 minutes later, Zach returned with his laptop in hand, looking into switching flights. He later said, he knew better than to try and talk me out of it. Once my mind is made up, it’s happening. 15 years later and he’s finally learned!
Much to our surprise, it was so easy to switch everything. We were traveling just a week later, the same days (Mon-Fri), same times, etc. And again, it was technically off peak. Another reason it pays to go then. The weather for the following week looked so much better. But, still, it was a gamble. The bad weather the week we were supposed to go could’ve blown over and the following week could’ve ended up being bad. But since it was only a day away and it looked terrible and the whole reason for the trip was to be outside, every day, all day and waiting in lines, I knew it was worth a try. I kept saying to Zach, “If we were going to a beach house where we could spread out, play games, watch movies, go for drives, etc. it wouldn’t be so bad. But we’re going to theme parks!” I really didn’t want to be in ponchos all day. It would’ve tainted our experience. Plus, we’d been waiting for years to go, probably won’t be going back for at least several years and it’s expensive!
It turned out to be one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Not exaggerating. The weather the week we were supposed to go did, in fact, turn out to be terrible. All day, heavy rain. I was stalking people on Stories that were there to justify my craziness. And while I felt poorly for them, it redeemed my decision. That part paid off. I prayed the second would too. I’m thrilled to report it was the best weather ever. Seriously, ideal conditions. Between 60 and 80. Cool in the mornings and evenings, warm in the afternoon. Sunshine, a breeze. Not an ounce of rain. It made the experience so much better. Especially since it was 30-40 degrees at home. I’ve been to Disney World and Disneyland dozens of times in my life and I’ve never had better conditions. I’m still so thankful we were able to change it and lucked out with fantastic weather.
Before we get to the photos and additional memories, a few tips…
You now have to make reservations for your park days in addition to buying tickets. I always check the specific park hours first and plan around that. For instance, for some reason one of the days the Magic Kingdom was only open till 4pm. No, thank you. And we always stay in a Disney-affiliated hotel which gets you early entry. When we went, every park had the same early entry hours (8:30am). But that’s not been the case in previous years so definitely check. And many of them have different closing hours on different days. I always plan our days to maximize the hours. And we always get park hopper tickets. A little extra money but well worth it. Then you can go back to your favorite rides and hit up a park for an hour or two and not feel bad about wasting time or money. It works out particularly well for Animal Kingdom or Epcot, in my opinion. For us, there’s not as much to do there so we’ll hit one of those in the morning and then go to Magic Kingdom in the late afternoon/evening doing just our highlights or rides we missed the first time.
We always stay at the Swan or Dolphin. They’re owned by Marriott and Westin- like (heavenly bed, hello!) so it feels like (is) a luxury hotel and isn’t Disney overkill but you still get the Disney perks like early entry and shuttle buses, etc. Mickey and Rapunzel even slipped the kids notes under our door one night! This year, we stayed at the new Swan Reserve. Highly recommend. It feels like a boutique hotel. The pool was intimate, not overwhelming. The restaurants were great and I’ve never met nicer, more accommodating staff.
While you can get the shuttle bus and take the ferry to Hollywood Studios, we Uber’d everywhere. It was at most $10, a car comes in minutes, there’s no waiting for a shuttle or it being too crowded to get on, they take you as close as possible to the entrance and you get to be on your own schedule. I’ll never do Disney another way. Unless, of course, we one day stay at the Contemporary, Polynesian or Grand Floridian, which the monorail comes right to. To be honest though, we’ve had friends that have stayed at all three recently and they weren’t that impressed. Overpriced, dated accommodations, smaller rooms… And the other hotels while fun and Disney-fied, aren’t that luxury either. But, hey, you’re in Disney, you’re not there for the hotels and they’re all pretty great in concept.
The other immediate tip I have is that Genie + is worth its weight in gold. Game changing experience. It’s light the old Fast Pass but better. It does take some getting used to, attention and skill but more on that later. In my opinion, you don’t need the magic bands. I just used my phone/app/mobile wallet. So much easier. I get for kids it might be more fun for them to wear the band but knowing my kids, they’d end up asking me to hold it anyway.
And dining reservations are now 60 days out. I was a few days late and nothing good was still available. BUT things open up all the time so keep checking back. The closer to the date (even a day before) is better as people are canceling all the time. There’s even sites, like Mouse Watcher, that you add your email to and they’ll notify you when a reservation becomes available.
While we’re on dining, this is a probably an unpopular and controversial opinion, but I say SKIP Chef Mickey’s. At least, for dinner. Breakfast is probably better. Not in food. The food is subpar but how much can you mess up pancakes and cereal? This was the reservation I stalked since it’s one of the hardest to get. I was debating between doing dinner at Disney Springs our first day (We never fly in early and do a park day. Especially in this day and age. What if your flight is delayed or canceled? We always fly in and make a day of Disney Springs, the pool, dinner…) or Chef Mickey’s. Should’ve done the former.
One of the many reasons I selected Chef Mickey’s is because the most iconic and the character experiences at the park right now are so limited so I knew this would get us some good face time with Mickey and crew. Also, since it’s in the Contemporary, which the monorail goes through, I knew Oliver would get a kick out of that. Welp, they sat us in the back with no view of the train. When I asked if we could move to the main part of the restaurant, which was only a third of the way full, the answer was no. So we sat in a carpeted back “conference room” of sorts. The characters passed by but you couldn’t go up to them (Covid) and the food was pretty bad. And ridiculously overpriced. Like $300 for a family of 4 overpriced. It was family style chicken nuggets, mac n’ cheese, turkey and gravy, etc. and we all left hungry. Okay, enough of that. Again, I’m sure breakfast is a better experience. But definitely know what you’re getting yourself into. (More tips below.)
But, first, some swag and stories…
I ordered lots of new gear for the kids to add to the big reveal. I made them custom backpacks and filled them with fun surprises (custom embroidered Mickey ear t-shirt, Mickey ear sweatshirt, Toy Story cars). And I decorated them with patches (Minnie ears patch. Mickey ears rainbow patch, initial patch) and key chains (confetti Mickey key chain, Mickey ice cream key chain, Minnie ears key chain).
More treats: doll t-shirt, Mickey pop its, Minnie notebook, Disney Never Girls chapter book
Mickey balloons shirt, knot bow headband, pajamas and sweatshirts (below).
I had a banner on the bulletin board and when they came downstairs for breakfast on a Monday morning, thinking they were going to school that day (and for the full week), I had them close their eyes. Zach led them to the dining room, facing the banner and with their surprises splayed out on the table in front of them. They opened their eyes, surveyed the clothes and backpacks, looked confused for a minute and then Lilly blurted out, “Are we going to Disney World?” At that moment, her gaze drifted upward to the bulletin board. “We ARE going to Disney World!” Oliver followed up with, “When?” The answer: One hour! (See the video here.)
It was, honestly, one of my favorite moments ever as a mother. We were all SO excited. It felt like Christmas morning. We served (burned) Mickey pancakes on Mickey plates. The kids were too excited to eat anyway. (Cheerios for the road!) Lilly said, “we have to pack!” I answered, “You’re already packed!” and wheeled out their (previously owned) Disney suitcases stuffed with themed clothing. Mom fail though- I’d packed them the week before and was saving their toiletries for the morning. In the excitement, I forgot their toothbrushes. We meant to buy them all week but kept forgetting so fingers it was! Don’t judge.
Moments later, we were on our way to the airport. It was one of my favorite days on earth. We pulled off the surprise, were finally going, to one of my happy places, it was Oliver’s first time and he’s really into Disney right now (we binged the classics before going) and the first day of vacation is always the best because it’s all ahead of us. The kids are at a really good travel age now (I actually watched a full movie down and back without interruption! Parents of littles- it gets better. I promise!). We are notorious for having terrible travel luck. Like, comically bad. But this trip went off without a hitch! Easiest ever. Which just added to the magic.
In her new Minnie journal: “How I’m feeling… happy x 1,000000 = me.” Pretty much sums it up. And made me so happy. Still does.
They couldn’t believe they were getting to swim outside in January!
Thrilled to be in shorts and done with travel.
That day, we checked in, changed into shorts, t-shirts, flip flops (!), went to lunch at the hotel and were planning to head to Disney Springs to walk around, hit up the gift shops, get some dessert… But the pool was empty and looked so inviting. The kids were begging to go. We usually don’t pack suits for Disney because we plan on parking it the whole time and it’s often too cool. But, at the last minute, I threw the kids suits in. Zach and I didn’t bring any. We worried that Oliver might need us in there and weren’t sure how it was going to go. But they wanted to swim so badly and it was freezing at home so we decided to abandon our previous plans and head to the pool. Well, the swim lessons paid off because Oliver and Lilly swam for hours while Zach and I sat in a cabana and chilled with spritzers. Best kickoff to a trip ever! (That night we went to Chef Mickey’s for dinner, where our buzz was slightly killed, but we’ve covered that.)
The next morning we had room service breakfast early (so we didn’t waste time eating in the park) and hit up the Magic Kingdom. We used to do a character breakfast but we’d done dinner and, honestly, it’s such a difference experience now “post” Covid. One of Lilly’s favorite parts last time (and mine too, as a kid) was buying an autograph book and getting all of her favorite characters to sign while they exchanged hugs and posed for pictures. We didn’t even bother with the character experiences this time (after dinner). We did the obligatory Mickey visit at Town Hall right when you walk in the park. But even that was a buzz kill. Last time we were there, Mickey spent ample time with us and it’s the only animal character that actually talked to you. There was someone behind the booth speaking for Mickey. So “Mickey” talked about Lilly’s shirt and shoes, hugged and kissed her bunny, asked its name… No longer. Makes me sad. Damn you, Covid.
At 7am, I was on the app ready to roll with Genie + to book our first Lightning Lane. (More on that later.) We took an Uber at 7:45, got to the Magic Kingdom at 8 to be there in plenty of time for the early hour entry. To our surprise, they were letting people in already. I thought I got the time wrong and was mad at myself. But it turns out they now open the gates at 8 (but you can’t get to any of the rides yet). There’s a “rope drop” at 8:30 for hotel guests to enter Fantasy and Tomorrowland. You have to make a choice, go straight to the rope drop line to be one of the first or do the castle thing, get photos with no one in the background and then wait a little ways back in rope drop. Honestly, it’s just depends on what’s most important to you. Do you want to be the first on a ride? Are you going to the most popular, rollercoaster rides? Or do you want a good family photo? Because we weren’t doing the rollercoasters and wanted some uncrowded photos, we did that. In reality, you’re still like the 100th person in the park. The most we waited was 5 minutes.
Our little car enthusiast was OBSESSED with the Speedway. I’m so glad I got to ride with him. It was one of my favorite moments. One of my only regrets of the trip was that we didn’t go back to this ride either night we went back. It made him so happy. (The other regret is that we didn’t catch a show while in the Magic Kingdom. We were too busy with rides, gift shops, meals, snacks, treats, friends, fireworks… Next time!)
Here’s where strategy comes into play. When I grew up, we just went to the park, grabbed a map and moseyed around. No more. You can do that, of course, but you will get crushed with wait times. Now, it’s all about skill. I kind of geeked out on it. I love a good game, even more so when I feel like I’m winning. I knew ahead of time what was a priority for us, checked the average wait times, mapped it out in accordance with that, the shows we wanted to see, where and when we wanted to eat, what we were hitting later in the day, etc. We beelined straight to Fantasyland and hit up all the hot spots that tend to have longer wait times later in the day– It’s a Small World, Dumbo, Aladdin, The Speedway, Teacups…
Then we hit up Cosmic Ray’s Cafe, a Thomas family tradition. Nothing special but burgers and dogs you can depend on. And it’s right in Tomorrowland where we were headed next (We hit up Buzz Lightyear- Genie + for that ride as it gets long waits). One of the greatest things that Disney has implemented is the ability to mobile order your food. Genius and game changing. Now, when you’re in line for a ride, you can order. They give you a 30-minute window, when you arrive you let them know you’re there and they text you when it’s ready. We never waited longer than 10 mins for our food. Without it? You can wait up to 30 or so. You must do this for every meal. It helps you maximize your time in the park. It always helps to go at off hours too. Get a big snack and wait to eat lunch till 2 or 2:30. Or eat at 11 or 11:30 and then do a big snack later. You’re at Disney- there’s no lack of snacks! Our top favs- Mickey ice cream bar, Mickey cake pop, fudge on Main Street and, of course, freshly popped popcorn throughout the park. I also got candied nuts this time which were… chef’s kiss! 
A perk of switching our trip to the following week? We overlapped with our best friends! Disney is such a personal thing and everyone has their own itinerary. We didn’t want to infringe on each other’s plans so we just made a date to meet for a snack in the afternoon. It was perfect. Everyone gets to do what they want to do, there’s no pressure to go somewhere you don’t want to, wait in a line, compromise… But it was another surprise we kept from the kids. To see their faces when they discovered their friends were standing in front of them, in Florida, at Disney World… Ah, it was so good. Parker ran up and tackled Lilly and Lilly just stood there stunned like, “Mom, who is this girl grabbing me?” That’ll be a moment we all remember forever.
We always, always go back to the hotel for a break mid-late afternoon. We typically take off from 1ish-4ish. We’ve been doing it since I was a kid. You avoid the park at the most crowded and hottest time. You get off your feet, into air conditioning, perhaps take a nap (we made Oliver- it was necessary!)… And then you’re refreshed and ready to go back for the evening when the weather is cooler and there’s less crowds.
Don’t stop using Genie+ though during your time off. Every two hours, book another Lightning Lane. Set a reminder. Have a game plan about what you want to hit next. The middle day, when we did Hollywood Studios and felt like we had covered most of what we wanted to do and were going to spend the evening at the pool, we pushed it to 3 and then went back to the hotel.
The first night we went back to the Magic Kingdom and hit up rides we hadn’t before like Peter Pan (Lightning Lane only, otherwise it’s 75-90 minutes), etc. And we, of course, stayed for the fireworks. The fireworks at Magic Kingdom at least once are a MUST. We don’t line up for them though. We take advantage of everyone else doing that and hit up as many rides as possible in that time without the wait. Then, we walk out as the fireworks are beginning. We stand on Main Street, with a perfectly good view of the castle and the fireworks, and watch and then bust out a minute before they end to beat the crowd. You get the best of both that way. Otherwise, you’re camping out and trying to hold your spot for 30/60/90 minutes, watch the show and then have to shuffle with everyone else, move slowly, wait in loooong monorail lines…
Even though we Uber’d, we still took the monorail in and out of the Magic Kingdom and had the Uber meet us at the parking lot outside of there. You have to ride the Monorail, it’s iconic and a Disney must. When we were kids, we used to try to guess the color that was coming. My dad got it right every time and we thought he had special powers. Turns out, he could just see it coming from far away and we hadn’t caught on yet. We, of course, continued that tradition with Lilly and Oliver.
We bought Oliver a Monorail toy at the gift shop and then rode the monorail with his monorail. He thought it was very cool!
Disney buttons are also a must. They have one for every occasion, write the kids names on them and they’re free!
The other mode of transportation that’s a must is the new Skyliner, Disney’s own gondolas. Much like a ski resort, these cars travel through the air, making stops at Hollywood Studios, Epcot, etc. Each car has different characters on it, which is even more exciting than guessing the colors. We rode this twice and the kids loved it!
They both loved navigating the parks and being in charge of the map. It’s the little things.
The second day we went to Hollywood Studios. We’re not a Star Wars family so we skipped that entire section. Maybe next time, when Oliver is a little older, we’ll hit it up. We went straight to Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway, which was really cute. It’s new (to us) and was Lilly’s favorite ride out of any park. Long lines for that one too so go first thing (we waited 20 minutes and it’s only because the park wasn’t open yet) or get a Lightening Lane for it.
Then we headed straight to Toy Story Land and were some of the first there. No lines! They’re just waiting for the guy to actually turn on the ride for the day.
Toy Story Land was the huge draw for us. We were kind of disappointed with the Cars show, sadly. The kids, Oliver especially, LOVED Indiana Jones and Beauty and the Beast. The Monster’s Inc. show was cute/funny. The other thing that’s kind of a bummer, “post” Covid are the parades. They no longer have one, big grand parade. They now have “cavalcades” where a few characters ride in a car, on part of a float or walk. It’s still fun for the kids to see their favorite characters but it’s a little hit or miss and lacks some of the luster it once had.
As I mentioned earlier, we stayed till about 2:30 and then went back to the hotel for the rest of the afternoon and evening. Since the kids had so much fun at the pool our first day there and weren’t able to swim back home (too cold), we gave them the option of going back to a park or staying at the hotel and swimming. The pool, it was! Zach and I ended up loving that decision too. Much more relaxing. The swam until dark, last ones in the pool (they pretty much had the entire thing to themselves anyway) and then we had dinner outside, played games and sat by the fire pit. It was such a night night. I think that’s the thing I loved most about this trip- just the four of us spending time together. No screens. No other people. Just us four and some old school family bonding. It turns out, we really like each other (when away from it all)!
The third and last park day, we went to Animal Kingdom in the morning and Magic Kingdom at night after a break at the hotel.
I know this is an unpopular opinion, but we skipped the safari. We have two really cool, excellent drive-through safaris near us and incredible zoos all around us. We wanted to spend our limited time on things we don’t have access too. An Animal Kingdom must for us is The Lion King show. I cry every time. It’s like a mini version of the Broadway show. They used to invite the kids to be in it at the end. Lilly made me go with her when she was 2 so we were both in it. But, of course… Covid. So it’s no longer allowed. Still, an incredible show.
Not an incredible show? A Bug’s Life. Lilly and I walked out. Zach and Oliver stayed. If you like gross bugs coming at you in 3-D, it’s for you! If not, sit it out.
We also didn’t go on a lot of the rides because they were either too scary or Lilly and Oliver just weren’t interested. We definitely did an Animal Kingdom- lite experience. Next time we go back, when they’re older, I think we’ll try some of them and maybe hit up Epcot too. But I like that we didn’t try to do everything on this trip. That way, it didn’t feel rushed, crammed or overwhelming. It was a much more peaceful experience to just listen to them, go with the flow, enjoy what we were doing and not feel pressured about what we had to do, where we had to be, what we were missing.
Lilly loved dancing with the street performers and, instead of a parade, the Animal Kingdom characters go down the river in a floatilla. It was really cute. Those were two of our highlights.
But the most fun part for the kids was Dino Land. We went there first and were the only ones there for a bit! That made it even more special.
We got to stay on the ride, Triceratop Spin, and go three times in a row. We were the only ones on it and they thought that was so cool.
Even cooler? The games. We were the only ones there which means one of them won ever time. Talk about a kid’s dream!
They also liked The Boneyard playground there too. And, of course, the Mickey ice cream bar. Oliver was on a steady diet of those all week.
After our morning at Animal Kingdom, we headed over to Disney Springs for lunch and shopping before taking a break back at the hotel. In my opinion, they have the best gift shops. The biggest, the best selection, not as crowded as the park ones. So we always go there to shop. They also have a ton of amazing restaurants. There’s a new hot air balloon ride there and a Cirque du Solei show but we didn’t have time for either of those. The kids loved the carousel (skip the one at the Magic Kingdom if you’re going to Disney Springs. Use your time on other rides there). And Goofy’s Candy Company. There’s also a LEGO store including large LEGO structures. There’s a massive dinosaur, outside in the lake, made of all LEGOS. And, of course, lots of Disney characters made out of them as well. There’s also fun interactions and installations. Worth a trip if you don’t have a LEGO store near you.
That night, we went back to The Magic Kingdom one last time. We honestly didn’t do much. We hadn’t been to Pirates or the Haunted Mansion yet so we did those. The kids loved them. But then we got popcorn, walked around, did some more shopping and watched the fireworks for a final time. It’s so much fun to just be in the park at dark without racing to a ride or standing forever in line somewhere. I recommend it, if you can do it. Just chill for a bit there, even better if it’s your last night.
One last show!
We then went back to the hotel and had dinner at 9:30. The kids thought it was so fun to be eating so late. And it was nice for Zach and I to eat something other than park food. We ended the night with another rousing round of Mickey Uno before tucking in too late. But it was worth it.
I hope you know by now, I’m not one to sugar coat. I tell it like it is and make a point to not over-glamorize anything on social or this blog. I think it’s a disservice to all of us. Because when things in our life don’t look as or go as perfectly, we start to wonder what’s wrong with us or feel bad about ourselves. But it’s also important to be honest about the wins too. To celebrate and appreciate those victories and moments. So with that said, I feel so fortunate to be able to say that this was, no exaggeration, the MOST magical trip. It was one of the best weeks of my life. Truly. Even with all of the Covid limitations.
It had long been a dream of mine to take both of my children to Disney and we’d been waiting to go for two years. The weather couldn’t have been more perfect (thanks to our last minute switch), the park wasn’t too crowded, we navigated it really well, we barely had to wait in lines, everyone was so excited and well behaved, there was so much joy, wonder, excitement, discovery and laughter. Seeing it all again through Lilly and Oliver’s eyes was amazing. And the surprise element of it all just upped the ante. We bonded so much as a family of four during that trip and made memories to last a lifetime. Having said that, we want to go back already and make more! Going down, we said we’d probably go back again in four years. After leaving, we’re thinking about two. Even Zach! You know the magic is real when Scrooge is on board!