There’s a great big beautiful tomorrow, shining at the end of everyday, was all we sang anticipating our staycation with Disney Parks Blog to all of the Walt Disney World Resort Parks. I’ll be sharing a bit about our experience below - some tips, musts, Disney Fashion, and so much more.
*Disclaimer - we visited the parks in June 2021 (certain guidelines have changed since then). If you have not heard effective July 30th, 2021 face coverings will be required (guest 2 and up) while indoors and riding on transportation services, regardless of vaccination status, you can read more here.
Know before you go - theme park reservations are still required with a valid ticket admission.
Tip - you can check the MyDisneyExperience App for a day of reservation at 12:00PM EST.
If you have a park hopper pass, you can switch over to another park starting at 2:00PM.
Day 1: EPCOT
I’ve always said this park is very under-rated and with the festivals/seasonal events taking place there is always extras for kids to do here. During our visit, the Flower and Garden was taking place, currently you can visit Food and Wine until November 20, 2021.
Highlights:
- The girls love the seasonal scavenger hunts that take you around the 11 countries and park; it’s usually the cutest keepsake map with stickers and comes with a neat prize for under $10.
- Kidcot Fun Stop provided by Ziploc was really neat - the girls were given complimentary travel suitcases and collected passports in each country.
- Riding Test Track with two first time riders (Charlotte and Caroline), and they LOVED it.
- Interacting with Mary Poppins.
- Sipping on many lavender lemonades.
Day 2: Hollywood Studios
Arrived at park opening and headed straight to Mickey & Minnies Runaway Railway, we were completely blown away. Waiting for this ride was so worth it. At the time of our visit most of the indoor shows were still temporarily closed, but recently Disney has made announcements about their reopenings.
Highlights:
- Riding Slinky Dog in the rain, in the front row. Due to the weather this ride went from being temporarily closed for hours to us walking up to its reopening and riding 2x in a row with a less than 5 minute wait (prior it was at approximately 75 minutes). Believe it or not these waits go by rather quickly, we entertained ourselves in the longer lines with a Mickey Pretzel and playing Heads Up on our iPhones.
- Finally getting to experience Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railroad, yes it is more than a ride, its an experience like no other. Highly recommend, so much so we rode at least 4x during our visit.
- Seeing the character parade, waving to Mickey/Minnie.
- Toy Story Land is the girls fave, unpopular opinion they are not fans of Star Wars Land, but they do think baby Yoda is adorable.
Coming Soon - Beacons of Magic and expansions to Toy Story Land.
Day 3: Animal Kingdom
Usually the plan is to go straight to Pandora Land or to the Kilimanjaro Safari, we went for option 2. What I look forward to most on this ride is you never know what to expect in nature or with the animals. It’s always a different experience, saw a baby zebra, elephant and giraffe. Then headed through the exploration trails, sightseeing, stopped for quick service lunch (must be ordered through the app for pickup), rode some rides in Dino Land, went to Pandora Land to ride the Navi and ended with some shopping and seeing some animal stops.
Highlights:
- Wilderness Explorer Booklet - finding the stops and collecting the 20+ stickers
- Walking through Pandora
- Seeing Donald/Daisy and Pocahontas
- Trying the Raya ice cream dessert
Coming Soon - Disney KiteTails
Day 4: Magic Kingdom
This was the most anticipated park visit, we have always loved Magic Kingdom, its near and dear to our heart. For the first time ever we were one of the first guests in the park and walked straight down Main Street to the castle, the girls cried they were so excited. The Castle, she is even more beautiful than i could have imagined, and depending on how the sun shines on her looks different hues of pink which sang to our heart. Then we were invited to a private breakfast and visit with Stitch, which was so neat. It was Experiment 6/26 day on our visit. Lots of firsts on this visit - the girls got a private viewing of the cavalcade parades, Rapunzel even interacted with both the girls from her float and it made their day that she recognized them in their outfits. We did a lot of walking from ride to ride (planning our way to shortest wait times), eating all the snacks and shopping for souvenirs before leaving the park at closing.
You read that correctly we stayed from park open to park closed, that was a FIRST EVER for us.
Highlights:
- Snacks - Mickey Pretzels, Dole Whip, Mickey Bar Ice Cream etc.
- The girls riding Snow White Mine Train and Thunder Mountain Rail Road for the first time.
- Riding as many rides that we could in under an hour - Teacups, Winnie the Pooh, The Carousel, Speedway, Goofy Roller coaster and Dumbo.
- Taking in the beauty of the castle at sunrise and sunset.
Coming Soon - 50th Anniversary Celebration, Mickey Not So Scary Halloween Party, Disney Enchantment, TRON Rollercoaster, Reimagining the Jungle Cruise, Princess and the Frog update to Splash Mountain and Disney Very Merriest After Hours.
Day 5: Blizzard Beach Water Park
This was just what we needed to relax after full days at the theme parks, lots of fun splashing, racing down slides and just taking it all in. I love the spin on a winter wonderland, but make it Summer with water. If you want to take a break from the slides, grab a tube and float around the lazy river.
Highlights:
- Ski Patrol Training obstacle
- Toboggan Racing
- Riding the Ski Lift (many times)
- Fave ride was Team boat Springs
- Order the pizza, it was amazing and perfect for feeding families.
Musts for Disney with your family (especially in the Summer).
- Be prepared for the weather (check the forecast in advance), plan accordingly.
- Invest in portable neck fans, these were lifesavers.
- Bring a stroller if your littles will get tired, it is a lot of walking.
- The three S’s - sunscreen, snacks and smiles on your faces, come on your at Disney.
- The night before make a plan of must rides, etc.
If your traveling from out of town the Disney Transportation System is an amazing amenity to utilize, buses from resort to resort/parks and Disney Springs. Plus the sky liner, monorail and ferry options as well. I’d be more than happy to answer any questions y’all may have, comment below or send me an email to laurenpaglia2@aol.com.
As they say at Walt Disney World, “see ya real soon!’
xo, Lauren
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