We Took a Family Trip to Disney and Here's What We Did

Hiya friends! Welcome to the first (of hopefully many!) Disney Trip blog post. We had the incredible opportunity to take our kiddos to Disney World twice in 2024 and I really wanna share about it. I feel like there are a million different resources out there to help you navigate your trip, but if you're looking for an affordable and honest resource from a genuine mom, then this is it.

If you've even attemped to start planning a Disney trip, then you know how intricate and overwhelming it can be. Don't worry, I'll break this post up into different sections so it's easy to digest and I won't bother to bog you down with unneccesary details.

If you find that you have additional questions after reading this post, please know that I'm here to help; however, I am not a Disney travel agent or planner. We just do our own thing and I'm here to tell you what worked and what didn't!

When Did We Go

Our first trip to Disney World in 2024 was in January. Alex and I hadn't been in a really long time and it was the first time we ever took our kids so we wanted to make sure we weren't going at a super chaotic time. It was the second week in January, right after the chaos of the holidays and we got there just as the Disney Marathon was ending. If you're a family of runners, I encourage you to look into the marathon. The energy was electric and it sounded like a lot of fun- find more info here. I will say that Disney Springs (the Disney shopping plaza) was a little busier due to the crowd from the marathon, but it was managebale and still really cool to see everyone walking around with their medals. After the marathon crowd left, it was pleasant and never felt overwhelming.

The weather was really nice in January and we were able to wear shorts, short sleeve shirts, leggings, or long sleeve shirts and we were comfortable. The evenings were a little chilly and we didn't consider that when we planned our trip. This put us in a bind and we ended up having to buy a $70 Disney blanket in Magic Kingdom, but honestly- we've used it every single day since sooo . . . we count it a win. There were a few rain showers throughout the week, but we stuck it out and stayed in the park when the rain came. The rain actually cleared out A LOT of people so it felt like we had the park to ourselves! If you have a stroller, consider looking into a plastic stroller cover for rain. It would be helpful to have on hand.

Our second trip to Disney World in 2024 was at the end of September, early October. We tried to plan this trip around the time that school was starting back to avoid larger crowds; however, it was still more crowded than the trip we took in January. Major Perk: the parks were decked out for Halloween! Small Downside: Magic Kingdom closed early on specific days for Mickey's Not So Scary Party. If you want to go to the Halloween Party, I would encourage you to look into tickets sooner than later. If you do not want to go to the party, then I would encourage you to wake up a little early and get to Magic Kingdom for rope drop (when they open) so that you can spend a full day in the park with a smaller crowd - or so I've heard. Another Major Perk: Epcot was hosting their food and wine festival! They had stands set up all throughout the World Showcase to help you try different food and drinks at an affordable rate and it was really cool! Another Small Downside: it. was. HOT! We were covered in sweat every day, but I don't feel like it took away from the magic of being there. We ordered stroller fans from Amazon (find them here) and took reusable water bottles (like a Stanley, Hydroflask, or Owala) to make sure we all stayed hydrated.

Overall, my recommendation would be to try to go in January or February. The weather and crowd levels were very pleasant. Obvioulsy, if you are wanting to go during the holidays or for a specific event, like the Disney Marathon or one of the many festivals, then go for it!

Where Did We Stay

For both of our trips, we stayed off-site at one of the many local Air B and B's. For reference on where to look, consider Kissimmee. It's about 10-15 minutes from most Disney hotels, parks, and Disney Springs. We've considered staying on property at one of the many available resorts, but both of these trips were taken with family or friends that wanted to stay in a shared condo. Some condos are as small as three bedrooms and some are as big as five to six bedrooms. We opted for this because we liked the option of having our own kitchen, bedrooms, and bathrooms.

The slideshow here offers a few brief examples of what our first stay looked like. It had numbered doors to easily find the bedrooms, bunk beds for the kids, and was subtly themed for Disney.

We compared the price of the Disney resorts and the price for the Air B and B's that we liked. Overall, the Air B and B was a much cheaper option (by far)- especially if you are wanting to stay with family or friends that will share the cost with you. By taking this route, our stay was less than $1,000 for the week per family which was a great deal considering that some resorts start out at $700 a night. Staying off property also meant that we had to drive to the park sand pay the daily parking fee of about $30 (prices vary per year) versus taking Disney transportation.

If we would've stayed on the Disney property, we would've received special perks which include: on site dining options, constant access to Disney transportation (like the bus, skyliner, boats, etc.), the option to have our souvenirs sent to our room from the park, early park entry along with some extended hours, and so on.

If you like the idea of staying in the Disney bubble, having a fully emersive expereince, and can afford to stay at a resort- you should do it! They are really incredible and beautiful places that have a lot to offer. If you are not able to afford or don't want to pay for a Disney resort, then a local Air B and B is still a really great option and it still feels magical. There are a lot of Disney themed Air B and B's at an affordable rate- you just have to look.

What Parks Did We Visit

In case you're not familiar with Disney World or you just need a little refresher, let's chat about the parks. There are four Disney Parks in Disney World- Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom, and Epcot. Bonus Tip! If you ever need any help with your tickets, Disney App, etc. go to the customer service hut located at Disney Springs. They are super helpful and usually have minimal wait times. You can also get your celebratory buttons here too- think of "first trip," "birthday,""anniversary," etc.

Here's a quick breakdown of the Disney Parks:

Magic Kingdom-

• Popular Rides: Seven Dwarf Mine Train, Little Mermaid, Peter Pan, It's a Small World, Dumbo, Space Mountain, People Mover, Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Carribbean, etc.

• Popular Dining: Cinderlla's Table, Be Our Guest, The Crystal Palace, and more.

• Popular Attractions: Main Street USA for shopping, Cinderella's Castle, Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, character/princess meet ups, daily parade, nightly firework show, etc.

• Lots of fun and interactive shows for the whole family.

• Alcohol free park.

• My thoughts: It's a MUST! I could go to this park five times and never get tired of it. There are so many kid-friendly rides or shows and I feel like we never get to do it all. Great food options and the firework show is top tier. I recommend taking the monorail or boat to get to the park- they're so fun!

Hollywood Studios-

• Popular Rides: Slinky Dog, Rise of the Resistance, Tower of Terror, Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railroad, etc.

• Popular Dining: Andy's Lunchbox, 50's PrimeTime Cafe, Oga's Cantina, Round Up Rodeo BBQ, etc.

• Popular Attractions: Toy Story Land, Star Wars Land, Indiana Jones, shopping, etc.

• Lots of fun and interactive shows for the whole family.

• Alcohol friendly park.

• My thoughts: Another MUST! Toy Story Land is really cool and has some of the best restaurants at Disney! The Star Wars land is also incredible and that says a lot coming from someone who isn't a big Star Wars fan. There are a lot of great shows and rides available. The nightly Fantasmic Show is a huge hit too.

Animal Kingdom-

• Popular Rides: Avatar Right of Passage, Expedition Everest, Kilimanjaro Safari, etc.

• Popular Dining: Tiffins Restaurant, Rainforest Cafe, Tusker House, etc.

• Popular Attractions: Pandora, Boat Ride Parade with Characters throughout the park, Bugs Life Show in Tree of Life, Safari and lots of animals, Lion King Show, Finding Nemo Show, etc.

• Lots of fun and interactive shows and exhibits for the whole family.

• Alcohol friendly park.

• My thoughts: This might raise some feathers, but I'm not a fan of this park and I think if you're on the fence- you can skip it. There are minimal rides and the food is subpar. Personally, I feel like it is a glorified zoo and I'd rather visit one of the other parks instead. If you wanted to do it, I feel like you could easily count it as a half day park instead of a full day visit.

Epcot-

• Popular Rides: Ratatouille, Test Track, Spaceship Earth, Frozen Ever After, Guardians of the Galaxy, Living with the Land, and more.

• Popular Dining: San Angel Inn, Space 220, World Showcase, etc.

• Popular Attractions: Moana, World Showcase, Turtle Talk, shopping, and lots of character/princess meet ups!

• Lots of fun and interactive shows or exhibits for the whole family.

• Alcohol friendly park.

• My thoughts: I underestimated this park by a long shot! There was so much to do for the whole family and I hate that we only gave it half a day. Next time, I would definitely reserve a full day for Epcot!

Now let's get to the nitty gritty of what we did on our trips!

First Trip: Magic Kingdom (twice), Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom.

Second Trip: Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and Epcot.

Overall thoughts: I would opt for the schedule of the second trip! We did not have parkhopper tickets and only did solo park day tickets. Moving forward, I would consider a fourth ticket, but as a parkhopper so that we could go to Magic Kingdom and Epcot one last time.

Since we stayed off property for both of these trips, we decided to drive to each park and pay the daily parking fee. It was easy to manage and honestly, it was really nice to just walk to our car at the end of a long day versus trying to catch a form of Disney transportation. The quiet feel of our car as we drove back was so refreshing after the stimulation of the parks.

What Did We Eat

Ahhh, my favorite topic and I am so glad you asked! Personally, we didn't sign up for the dining plan because we knew we had access to a full kitchen since we were staying off property. We were not going to have every meal with Disney so it didn't make sense for us. If you are staying on property or plan to eat a good deal of your meals with Disney, I would look into it!

Another thing to consider- you can take a backpack with snacks or food into the park. To help save money we took in a bunch of snacks, cut up fruit or veggies, PBJ sandwiches, and refillable water bottles.

That being said, Disney is known for great food and dining experiences and there were some options that we just couldn't pass up so here are our recommendations:

Breakfast:

• Ohana Character Breakfast at the Polynesian Resort. Incredible food and atmosphere, plus you get to meet Mickey, Stitch, Lilo, and Pluto. If you schedule in the morning, you are allowed to park at the resort all day for free so we did breakfast and then rode the monorail to Epcot.

• Mickey Waffles! Find them at Sleepy Hollow in Magic Kingdom or Hollywood Scoops in Hollywood Studios.

• The Roaring Fork at Wilderness Lodge. We went there for breakfast on our final day right before we got on the road to drive home. It was a great way to end the trip and the food was 10/10!

Lunch:

• Andy's Lunchbox in Hollywood Studios. They have a great grilled cheese and homemade poptart!

• Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe in Magic Kingdom. They have really great cheeseburgers and options for salad.

• Casey's Corner in Magic Kingdom. We get loaded fries and a HUGE hot dog to snack on while we wait for the parade. It's located on Main Street so it's super easy to order real quick!

Dinner:

• Round-Up Rodeo BBQ in Hollywood Studios. This is the BEST meal we have at Disney and I highly encourage you to make a reservation. It's a family style BBQ spot that is out of this world and is a totally interactive themed restaurant for Toy Story Land! I would suggest going for dinner because it's a heavier meal.

• The Roaring Fork at Wilderness Lodge. Can you tell we like this spot? Their dinner was also really good, especially after a day at the parks.

Snacks:

• Dole Whip at Magic Kingdom

• Mickey Shaped Ice Cream (anywhere)

• Jeoffrey's Coffee (anywhere) is SO good!

• Mickey Waffles

• Churros in Magic Kingdom (I've heard good things, but haven't tried myself)

What Did We Wear

If you're going to Disney, a big thing to consider is what you're going to wear! Everyone goes all out for these trips and you'll see themed clothing everywhere you turn. It just adds to the magic of the trip and we learned a few tips along the way.

First of all, I absolutely love the Disney Jersey shirts (seen here in pink). This is my souvenir every trip we take and it's worth every penny. That being said, I usually take my jersey shirts to wear throughout the week and they pair really well with leggings or biker shorts.

For the kiddos, I would encourage you to look for Disney themed clothing at Target, Walmart, or Amazon (find some of our faves here).

Another great tip is to look on Etsy for Disney themed shops. There are a lot of shops that specialize in creating shirts for your whole Disney group and that may be something to consider as well. We did that for our second trip and it was really cute. "Ohh My Disney" is a fun shop on Etsy and she has a lot of cute, affordable tees (linked here). "Magical Little Babes" is another really great online shop for all things Disney, but the price point may be a little higher than Etsy (linked here).

Daily Schedules

When it comes to our daily schedules, I'm going to be very honest in saying that we are not strict or rigid people. Going into the day, we knew the park we were visiting and at least 1-2 things on everyone's "must see or do" list. I think it's really important to level your expectations when traveling with toddlers and we didn't know how things would go so we were in the mindset that we would go with the flow.

Since we didn't stay on the property, we weren't too keen on leaving the park and going back for naptime. It felt like more of a struggle than a success for us, especially considering that our kiddos would probably zonk out in the car on the way back. Our motto was that if the kids were good, we were good and we would stay.

This ended up working well for us! Our youngest (Graham) usually fell asleep in the stroller for a little bit in the afternoon and we would just take turns going with our oldest (Aspen) on rides etc. and by the end of the day, they were both asleep in the stroller. Sometimes, we would walk around the park for a little bit while they slept and then we would head back to our place. With our park days being full and long, we definitely made sure to incorporate plenty of rest time throughout the week.

Obviously, I encourage you to do what works well for your family! If you feel like staying in the park the whole day with no breaks would be too much for you or your kids, then I highly encourage you to take those breaks where it's needed.

One Last Tip!

If you are planning a Disney trip and have the super fun opportunity to go with family or friends, I want to encourage you to plan out a little section of time for just you! This can look like time for the guys, time for the girls, special one on one time with one kiddo, or a date with your spouse. Here's how it looked for us.

On our trip in January, we went with our friends. We're really close with them and wanted to work in some time for the adults to have fun! Our hubbies love to play golf, so months in advance they made a morning tee time for Lake Buena Vista Golf Course, which is one of Disney's courses (linked here). Their tee time was early in the morning and they had a great time, they even loved seeing the Mickey shaped sand bunkers. The moms hung back at the Air B and B with the kiddos and had a slow morning. The guys got back around lunch and then it was our turn to get out for a little bit. We started out at Disney Springs where we got matching jersey shirts and then we took a bus to the Polynesian Resort for a drink and appetizers.

Next, we took the monorail to the Grand Floridian Resort and had a drink at the Enchanted Rose - HIGHLY RECOMMEND! It was a really special time where we each got to enjoy different aspects of Disney and have time for ourselves. We ended the night by meeting our families back at Disney Springs for an evening of shopping and ice cream.

That's All Folks!

I feel like there are a million more things that I could share about our time in Disney and I'm sure there will be more Disney posts in the future. We've got the Disney bug now and Alex and I yearn to go back

just as much as the kiddos do. It really is a very special place and something I am so happy we were able to do last year.

I'll leave you with two final tips before I sign off.

One, purchase Disney giftcards here or there in the months leading up to your trip. This will help you stay on budget and space out your spending. You can use these on souvenirs, dining, etc. almost anything in the parks or Disney Springs.

Two, be sure to follow lots of Disney accounts on social media to get all of the best tips and tricks before you go. This was super helpful for us!

Okay, I could carry on about this all day so I better end this before I think of another thing.

I hope this was helpful and be sure to check my LTK for our "Disney Must Haves" (linked here). I hope you have the most magical trip!

Now, GO SHINE YOUR LIGHT!

SAB

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