I’m finally getting around to a Disney blog post for you guys! Blake and I have been wanting to take the kids to Disney for quite some time (it was one of my dreams to take my kids when they were little) and we finally decided to go for Aria’s birthday. It was honestly such a great trip! It was our first time to go as a family and I was a little nervous that it might be chaotic with the kids still being young, but it wasn’t too bad! We invited my in-laws to come with and for reference, my daughter was turning 6 and my son just turned 3. It was so magical and will be a memory we never forget with our babies. I’m going to talk about what we did, how long we went, what we ate, and everything in between!
On the day we flew in, we checked into our hotel and then walked over to Disney Springs. I had never been to Disney Springs, but it was full of fun Disney stores and tons of different restaurants! We ate at D-Luxe Burger for a late lunch which was pretty good (but finding a table wasn’t easy) and then that afternoon just snacked until bed. There was a big stage at Disney Springs where we got to listen to tons of music and the kids danced their little hearts out LOL. I got the most hilarious video of Aria on my phone and posted it to TikTok. I’ll link it here.
Day 1 at Disney
The next day we went straight to Magic Kingdom and I’m not going to lie, seeing the castle all decked out for the 50th anniversary was so fun! I’m so happy this was the year we chose to come. The stores on main street were adorable and had tons of memorabilia for the celebrations. After watching multiple parades we got on a few rides with the kids. The lines weren’t too bad for the rides we did, but with that being said we were hitting up all of the kiddie rides. Aria loved the Under the Sea ~ Journey of The Little Mermaid ride and Archer enjoyed Prince Charming’s Regal Carousel. Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin is a MUST for all ages and the line wasn’t too bad for this one. Archer had a blast on this ride and so did Blake, haha. I can’t remember what food we got during the day but since we didn’t make reservations for our trip we just grabbed quick meals here and there.
Later that day we went to Epcot but since it was getting late we didn’t spend a ton of time at this park. Aria was dying to ride the Elsa ride but it had a 220 minute wait and we were not about that. She was pretty bummed so hopefully we can hit that up next trip. We rode The Seas with Nemo & Friends which was good but the aquarium that it leads you in afterwards was more interesting in my opinion. I packed Aria’s costume Elsa dress to change into so that was fun for her and we ate dinner at La Cantina de San Angel and the tacos were great! The kids got quesadillas I believe and for it being just a quick place to grab a bite, I was impressed with the quality. Our plan was to stay for the firework show at Epcot that night but we were all extremely tired from the day and the travel day before so we decided to head back to our hotel to catch some zzz’s for the next day.
Pro Tip!!
I decided to get us a double stroller for the trip and even though Aria is 6, I knew she would want somewhere to sit and ride during the day so this was a no-brainer. I found a stroller just under $100 and it was easy to pack up too. I’ll link it at the bottom of this post!
Day 2 at Disney
The next day we went straight to Animal Kingdom where we waited in line for the Kilimanjaro Safari. When we got in line it said 70 minutes but I think we ended up waiting over 2 hours. YIKES.. that was not fun with two squirmy children but I will say the safari lasted a good while so it wasn’t totally worthless, haha. My honest recommendation is just to skip the safari and go to a zoo closer to home. I think we would’ve had more fun exploring a bit more. We did get to see Pocahontas on a riverboat which was so fun and after the safari we went over to Avatar land! Navi’s River ride was cool and tame for the kids and then we got lunch at Yak & Yeti™ Local Food Cafes. This place was also grab-and-go and I got the chicken sandwich (pictured below) which was really yummy! After lunch, Archer and I hung out just us two in Dino land while Blake, Aria and his parents rode the ride Dinosaur. I rode this ride years ago and remember it being kind of intense. Aria came out crying because she was scared but secretly I think she had fun and it was all a show for mom, lol.
After that, we park hopped to Hollywood Studios. Park hopping was kind of nice because it gave everyone a little break from walking. Every time we park hopped I felt like I got to recoup a bit. When we got to Hollywood studios we went straight to the show: For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration. This was well worth it if you have Frozen fans in the family because it was quite funny. I’m glad this was an option since we skipped the Elsa ride at Epcot… this definitely made up for it in Aria’s eyes. Then we did the Disney Junior Dance party which the kids loved and the parents got to sit down for a bit so that was a win in my book, haha. We stood in a 30 minute line to see Mickey & Minnie and the kids loved that- I think it’s worth it to see the characters if it’s your first time and especially if your kids are young! That night we ate at ABC Commissary where Blake got the Buffalo Chicken grilled cheese and said it was good. I ordered the Chicken club and it wasn’t my favorite compared to the other chicken sandwiches I had already gotten on the trip. We didn’t do a great job planning food ahead of time and I think there were much better options at Hollywood Studios than the ABC Commissary… but it’s easy to get in and get out so it did the trick if that’s what you’re looking for!
Day 3 at Disney
The last day of our trip was also Aria’s birthday and it was my favorite day at Disney. We started at Hollywood Studios again and explored Star Wars land, which was pretty awesome. I’m not a Star Wars fan in any way but what they built there was really cool to see. We went into one store that had robots you could make yourself and then we took pictures in front of the millennium falcon! Later we explored Toy Story land which was one of my favorite places we went the whole trip. I believe it’s a newer part of Hollywood Studios but it was really awesome. We had Fast Passed the Toy Story Mania ride but they ended up cancelling our fast passes due to a technical issue and closed the ride for an hour. Unfortunately you don’t get a chance to get your fast pass back so we didn’t get to ride that one but we did do the Alien Swirling Saucers. It was fun but only last a couple of minutes. By this time it was very hot and we were ready for a break which meant it was time to hop parks. We wanted to end our trip at Magic Kingdom so we could see the firework show that night and I’m so glad we planned it that way because it was perfect.
Once we got over to Magic Kingdom, we changed Aria into this beautiful polka dot princess dress that I got from a shop on Etsy! Here is the link to her shop. I wanted something special for her to wear on her birthday and I felt like this was perfect. The MOMENT she put this dress on she started walking around the park like a princess telling every person she saw to “have a magical day!” It was the funniest thing I’ve ever seen LOL. She was soaking up every single birthday moment that day and people were eating it up. She was even bowing to the disney workers and characters in the parades. I’m so glad I was able to find the perfect dress for her to wear that day. Scroll down for the best Castle shot of her being the princess she knows she is!
That night we got to eat at an ACTUAL restaurant for the first time the entire trip. We could only get a reservation for 4 so my in-laws went and ate on their own but I think we got really lucky that they had an open table for us because we spent hours looking for a place to have a good birthday dinner for Aria. We at Jungle Navigation Co. LTD Skipper Canteen and it as great! I had a glass of wine and we finally got to eat somewhere with air conditioning haha. Once we finished dinner we went back to the middle of the park to grab a spot for the fireworks. We waited for almost an hour while the park prepared the crowd and more people came to get in their spots. The show was so worth it. Both of the kids got to sit on our shoulders and they were in a great mood (it didn’t hurt that Archer took an 1.5 hour nap earlier that day in the stroller…thank goodness). The show consisted of all of the classical Disney songs plus new ones too. The fireworks were top notch and I highly recommend staying to see this show at least one night of your trip!
My final tips are below:
- Get on 30-45 before your trip and start making reservations for food if you want to eat in nice restaurants!
- Fast Passes are worth it. They are only an extra $15 per person and you’re already at Disney spending money you might as well get to ride some of the rides without always having to wait an hour. You will need to get on right at 7am every morning to book a time for your favorite attraction before the time slots are gone.
- Get a good stroller for your kids! I promise you will need it.
- Everyone says to get there early but I found that when we were running behind, the lines to get into the parks in the morning weren’t as bad as I’d seen in videos from other people.
- Take a polaroid camera! Okay, this isn’t a must but I just love all of the photos we got from the trip. I’ll link my favorite camera below with the cute album you can put them in after.
- The Disney World app will be your best friend. Download it and plan out your days. You can even select certain attractions you want to make sure you do. You can also order meals through this app.
- Set up Apple Pay on your phone if you don’t already have it. It’s much more convenient.
- Take water bottles and snacks!
- Take sunscreen!
- Pack raincoats just in case it rains because you don’t always have time to wait out the storm!
- Wear comfy shoes!
- If it’s your first time going to Disney, check into guest services when you get to the parks so you can claim your free buttons!
I hope you guys enjoyed this post because it took me so long to write, LOL! You can always send me a direct message on Instagram if you have any questions for your upcoming trip!
