We did it.

We successfully pulled off the dream Disney vacation. In our minds, we thought this would be a good time to go: Eli was 7, Selah was 5, and Lily was 2 (and still FREE!) which seemed like magical ages to go to Disney. When Disney released their free dining promotion, I had done enough research to know that this deal would be our best bet. We set our trip dates for mid-September 2019! We chose to go in September hoping for fewer crowds and (slightly) cooler weather.

I’m not going to lie, we thought about cancelling the trip a hundred times. I was so nervous that it would be too hot, too crowded, too overstimulating, too exhausting, and….

WHAT IF THERE WAS A HURRICANE?! You know, the usual parental fears. But, thanks to some careful planning and research (and a little bit of luck with the weather), we had the BEST. TRIP. EVER.!

If you would like to read about our BEST tips for planning a fantastic Disney vacation (specifically geared for Disney first-timers) check out our blog post here.

To read about everything we learned about using Disney’s Dining Plan, check out this blog post here.

Weeks before our vacation started, we received magic mail from Disney- MAGIC BANDS! These bad boys keep everything organized in one space: it acts as our park admission, our room key, charge card, and it keeps track of and charges our Disney Dining credits for meals!

I was also busy weeks before our trip, ordering matching shirts and Mickey Mouse everything (as one does for a Disney trip.) I mean, is it even a trip to Disney without matching family shirts and outfits?! Check out our Amazon Storefront for a list of Disney Packing Essentials here. Okay, but my favorite find was these princess dresses I bought for the girls from Jane.com. The dresses are SO SOFT and comfortable and come in all the character styles. My girls STILL wear them long after our trip!

Also, this is a BIG tip for a packing list…make sure everyone has comfortable walking shoes! This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone, but a trip to Disney requires a LOT of walking. Check out our steps from just one day in the parks!

Inspired by our Disney Cruise, I came up with a surprise for the kids that was similar to the Fish Extenders on the ship. Every day of our vacation, “Mickey” came to our resort room and delivered presents for the kids with a little note! I purchased little things from the Dollar Store and Target and hid them in our suitcases, and pre-printed out notes from Mickey using a Disney-esque font. I thoughtfully planned the presents to coordinate with each day of the trip: a bag of shiny pennies and quarters for visiting penny press machines in all the Epcot countries, Star Wars toys for our day at Hollywood Studios, and magical “Mickey Money” to spend at the gift shop on the last day of our trip! I even laminated them for durability. These were meant to be magical little surprises for them, to purposefully avoid buying anything from the gift shop at every park.

Day 1: Arrival

The day finally arrived for our trip! This was mostly a travel day- up early to hop two flights to make it to Orlando. We arrived in Orlando around noon, and immediately boarded the Magical Express to our hotel. I was surprised with how easy this process was- we waited in a short line to board our designated bus- and a crew member handled our luggage for us. After a long day of flights with little kids, we were happy for the hour bus ride. The Magical Express had tv screens with cartoons and trivia to entertain the kids, and charging outlets for the adults! We arrived to The Yacht Club and our room was actually ready! I was very pleased at how spacious the room was, and on ground level so we didn’t have the hassle of taking the stroller in the elevator. The couch in the room converted to a twin bed! I was not expecting this, but this became Lily’s bed.

We also picked up our stroller rental from Orlando Strollers, which was delivered straight to our hotel! We opted to rent a double stroller just in case our 5 year old needed a break from walking, and there was so much storage! The stroller rental also included with a rain shield and parent console. I highly recommend renting a stroller for a Disney trip verses renting a park stroller (super uncomfortable and pricey) or lugging your own on an airplane. Rent a stroller for your next Disney trip through Orlando Stroller Rentals here.

For our first day of vacation, being a travel day, we planned to just have fun in the pool and try to get to bed early to rest up! We chose to stay at the Yacht Club because of it’s AWESOME sand bottom pool and shipwreck waterslide. It could be argued that the Yacht Club has the best pool in all of Disney. I had packed our own floaties for Lily but was happy to see that the resort provided their own life jackets for pool use. We ate at Hurricane Hanna’s for dinner, which is just the poolside café. The food was really good! With our dining plan, alcoholic beverages were included which made us happy. We also made great use of our drink mugs- we usually filled two mugs up with water and then others with lemonade and Dr. Pepper for the adults! The kids meals, although smaller portions, came in a cute beach bucket with shovel that the kids used to play in the pool. After learning that we didn’t have to purchase kids meals for the kids, we ordered adult meals from then on so that there were larger portions for the kids (Lily was 2 and not included on the plan, so she had to share from our plates.)

We also met up with our Ohio friends, who had just moved to Orlando and were Annual Pass Holders! Through some magic pixie dust, we were able to get their family of 6 into the hotel pool. Shhh…don’t tell anyone. Our kids are great friends so they had a blast playing in the pool while the adults relaxed and chatted!

We made sure to get to bed early so we were well rested for our big day at Hollywood Studios!

Day 2: Hollywood Studios

Chris and Eli were VERY excited about the recently opened Star Wars land in Hollywood Studios, including riding the Millenium Falcon, so they woke up SUPER early to make sure they were at Hollywood Studios when they opened for Extra Magic Hours at 6am. They were able to head straight back to the Star Wars area and only waited a few minutes to ride! The girls and I “slept in” and joined the boys around 8am at the park. With the Disney Dining Plan, we used our snack credits to get ginormous coffee’s and pastries for breakfast at the Trolley Car Café (the Starbucks location for HS!) We could order ANY size coffee/specialty coffee for one snack credit! Disney days require Venti’s, y’all.

Our friends from Ohio came back to join us for the day! Our kids have grown up together and they had so much fun hanging out at Disney together! We all hopped from one fast pass to another and then to rides with short wait times.

I just LOVE Hollywood Studios because it offers so many fun things for the little kids to enjoy: Frozen Sing-Along Celebration, Disney Junior Dance Party!, The Little Mermaid, and Toy Story Midway Mania were some of our favorites. Eli and Chris loved Slinky Dog Dash, and I had to drag Selah on (and I may have scarred her for life!)

We had signed up for the Jedi Training Academy earlier in the day when we first arrived to the park. This experience is free and for young Jedi’s 4-12 years old! We simply signed them up at the Indiana Jones Adventure Outpost and then returned during our designated time-slot later in the day. The kids dress up in costumes and are given light sabers and participate in Jedi training, and then face the ultimate challenge: a battle with the dark side! The experience lasts about 30 minutes and they are given a keepsake pin to wear.

We had lunch at the Backlot Express, a quick service restaurant. I chose our dining places based on the availability of mac and cheese for the girls to eat. No judgement, but I’m pretty sure Lily lived solely on French fries and mac and cheese all of our vacation.

After lunch, we planned to take a midday break back at the resort and said goodbye to our friends. With the heat and excitement of each day, a nap was in order for us all. This also helped to beat the afternoon heat of the day, and the contrast of entering a very air conditioned room was such a relief! Luckily, our resort was just a quick 15 minute ride aboard the Friendship boats from the park.

After naps, we headed back to Hollywood Studios for a night of fun! We had character dining reservations at Hollywood & Vine for dinner. This was our first character dining experience and it did not disappoint! We were greeted with photo’s with Minnie right away, dressed in seasonal Halloween attire. Next, our hostess explained the process of the buffet and then to expect characters to come to our table every 5-10 minutes. The buffet offerings were great for all of us (I’m always just grateful for not having to cook!), and there was something for everyone to enjoy. We didn’t even have to pay for Lily’s ginormous plate of mac and cheese or her drink! We were expecting to pay for her meals since she was not included on the Dining Plan, but Disney is magic like that!

After dinner, we visited a few of our favorite attractions again in Toy Story land- we really loved Toy Story Mania. We also walked around Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. This place is incredible, but even more so at nighttime! Using the force came in handy when we needed to ward off the paparazzi.  This was also a great time to go meet some Star Wars Characters…and we got an awesome awkward family pic shot with Darth. Lily did NOT like Chewbacca in the least bit.

We finished off the night at Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy, and trust me, it’s worth skipping. It was pretty boring BUT I would say it would be a nice air-conditioned break in the heat of the day. The kids liked it so I guess that’s all that matters. Chris hopped on Rock N Rollercoaster for a quick thrill while the kids and I danced to music outside. Gotta let dad have some fun on this trip so he forgets about the cost! 😉 We opted to skip the light show at Hollywood Studios and beat the crowds to the exit at park closing. It looked pretty cool though as we were walking away!

Day 3: Epcot

One of the best things about staying at the Yacht Club was having Epcot within walking distance! We arrived at Epcot early during Extra Magic Hours, at the International Gateway entrance going into the World Showcase. The World Showcase doesn’t open until late morning, so we spent the morning exploring the areas in the front of the park. We hit up Test Track first, and we used Rider Swap since Selah DID NOT want to ride it at all. Lucky for Eli, he got to ride it twice! After Test Track, we filled our bellies with much needed coffee and pastries for breakfast using our snack credits (and woah, Eli had the biggest donut I’ve ever seen!)

We then we used our Fast Passes to explore (in our opinion) the few attractions in Epcot that are perfect for little kids: The Seas with Nemo & Friends and Turtle Talk with Crush. We LOVED Turtle Talk with Crush because it was so much like one of our favorite experiences on the Disney Cruise while dining at Animators Palette (where Crush talks to you by name and asks questions, it’s really cool to see the kids faces light up!) We also spent some time in the aquarium, and what kid doesn’t love looking at fish?

Around 11am, we started walking towards the World Showcase that just opened for the day. Our plan was to get halfway through the countries and then take a break back at our hotel for afternoon naps. Remember those pennies that the kids received in their Mickey Mail surprise? I thought it was an excellent way to keep the kids interested in touring the world throughout the day! We started in Mexico and decided to also participate in the Kidcot activity. Kids are given a “passport” booklet and visit each country to get a special sticker and stamp in their books. Another great activity! I would say this is geared towards ages 4-10 at the most, and after they collect so many stamps, kids can show their books and receive a postcard! Mexico, check!

We had a fast-pass for Frozen Ever After so we hurried over to Norway. Welp, the ride was shut down when we got there, ugh! A cast member was very helpful at helping us make another FP for a later time after lunch, but we were still disappointed since we had planned out the day to-a-T! We killed some time by finding another Kidcot stop in Norway, became Vikings, and took a picture with a ginormous troll!

A VERY special lunch awaited us – Storybook Dining at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall! But, it happened to be the very worst experience we had the entire trip. So, we get in line to get to the front entrance of Akershus, but something was off. There were a lot of people waiting in line. Wouldn’t you know, a fire alarm was sounded and the entire building evacuated. Then there was a wait to make sure that everything was okay from the fire marshal. Then there was a wait to get everyone back inside who were already eating, but wait! Then there was a wait because all of those people had to get their food **REMADE.** So then there was a longer wait to get all of those people finished, along with the reservations that happened before ours needed to be seated. Whew! All the while we were waiting outside in the SUN and HEAT for over an hour past our reservation. Our kids were tired, we were all cranky and hungry. People all around us with reservations started giving up and leaving. The Disney cast members did not do one magical-fairy-dust thing to relieve our misery (bottled waters or snacks would have gone a long way!)

FINALLY, we were called for our reservation. The waiter took our drink orders right away and was even thoughtful to get our kids food orders in first. The kids discovered that milkshakes counted as a drink on the dining plan, so that’s what they ordered of course! The place where we sat was in a small circular shaped room with pretty tight quarters. And, because the restaurant was trying to speed up the dining experience, the princesses that toured the restaurant all happened to bombard our section within the same 5 minutes of each other. At one point there were 3 princesses in our section at once and it was impossible to get a picture with one without being in the way of another princess. That was very frustrating!

All in all, the food was great! I didn’t think the salad bar (i.e. Taste of Norway) was good at all, but the food we ordered was very yummy! I ordered the roasted chicken and Chris had the Norwegian meatballs. Again, Lily (who was not on the dining plan) was given a free kids plate of mac and cheese (and they didn’t skimp on the portions!) The shared dessert tray was just okay, nothing was special.

Near the end of our meal, we were invited to take a picture with THE princess Belle! The girls were dressed for the occasion in their Belle dresses that I bought from Jane (mentioned above), you can find them here.

So, that Fast Pass for Frozen Ever After? Well, we were late and totally missed the window because of the dining mishap, but we were escorted right to the front of the ride! And Selah did NOT like the ride at all because she felt it was scary. She didn’t even make the ride photo because she was hunched over in fear. Ha! I’m sure it had a little to do with being tired…. so back to our hotel we went for afternoon naps!

I don’t think it’s a bad thing to repeat myself here, so I’ll say it again. If you are going on a Disney vacation with little kids, trust me on this….SCHEDULE NAP/QUIET TIME back at the hotel if you can. Game changer for us all. Even Chris and I also gladly participated in nap time daily!

We hopped on over to Magic Kingdom for the evening (the beauty of having park hopper tickets!) with just enough time to ride a few rides and attractions and enjoy an evening of fireworks. The boys did the Laugh Floor (Selah had a potty emergency and we had to skip out of line and missed the whole thing) and Space Mountain, and everyone was able to do the Buzz Lightyear Spin! It was great to be able to check off some of these rides on this night, allowing us more time to do other things at Magic Kingdom on another day. We were too busy getting dinner for the kiddos to snag a good spot for the first fireworks show, but we had front row seats for the second show. We made it to park close and everyone was happy and tired, and ready for bed! Even though it was late, we knew we had a day to SLEEP IN the next day, since we planned a free fun day at the resort.

Day 4: Free day!

Just kidding! Our kids don’t sleep in, ha! Besides, we had character dining reservations early in the morning at Minnie’s Beach Bash Breakfast at the Beach Club. The girls dressed the part, of course, and I had found this awesome red and white polka dot romper at TJ Maxx!

Y’all. This may be a hidden gem of the character dining selections.

IT. WAS. THE. BEST.

All around the best. The service. The interaction with all the characters. THE FOOD.

Oh my gosh, the food. I didn’t take any pictures of the food (so sorry) because it went from buffet to plate to my belly way too quickly.

Maybe I’m biased because breakfast food is my favorite food. Thankfully my romper had plenty of stretch in the waist area because I did not hold back. The entire offerings are buffet style, but the buffet literally has everything you could ever hope to eat. I had everything from steak and potatoes to French toast and pancakes on my plate. Three words: homemade whipped cream! How can they even feed that many people and whip up fresh whipped cream?! Word of warning: don’t expect to see Mickey…he seems to let Minnie and friends run the show here!

After feeling like I needed to be rolled out of the restaurant, we were on to our next activity- a surprise for the kids! I researched what kind of extra special experiences we could do for the kids for this trip, and a pirate adventure cruise sounded exciting! The Alcatraz Adventure Cruise is a 2 hour excursion for kids ages 4-12 and sets sail right from the Yacht Club pier! The cost was $38 per child, and included plenty of snacks, entertainment, and goodies to take home. AND let’s not fail to mention we got to DROP THEM OFF. Literally, someone else took care of our kids, at Disney, for two whole hours!

The adventure started off with the kids getting fitted with their pirate bandanas and pirate safety suits (aka lifejackets) and they boarded the boat with about eight other kids. We watched them sail away and Chris, Lily and I had two blissful hours to ourselves! When we walked back to pick them up, we watched their boat sail into port. They had been chasing Pirate Stinky Feet all around the Disney waterways in search of the buried treasure. Back on land, the kids found a treasure chest filled with goodies to take home. This was one of their favorite activities from the trip, we highly recommend!

We decided to take a mid-day break after all of the non-stop fun from the morning! We all took naps in the room, and afterwards were uninvited guests at a wedding! Our room faced a courtyard where there was a wedding taking place in the gazebo, so we quietly watched from our chairs. The couple was pronounced husband and wife, and everyone (including other uninvited guests) clapped! Afterwards, we were ready to hit the pool for a few hours. Then, we headed over to the Boardwalk Pizza Window to grab some pizza for dinner (included on the Disney Dining Plan!) and then finished off with ice cream at the Ample Hills Creamery. The best value for a snack credit has to be this ginormous ice cream cookie sandwich, it was huge! The Boardwalk area is a must visit- especially at night time! There are performers and acrobats for entertainment, romantic lights and great dining options.

Back at the Yacht Club, there was an outdoor movie night airing Cars. We grabbed some front row lounge chairs and the free popcorn bags and watched the movie under the stars! The entire evening was laid back and relaxing, full of family time together and just what we needed!

Day 5 : Animal Kingdom

We set out early for the extra magic hour at Animal Kingdom. From the Yacht Club, we had to take the bus transportation. We arrived and set out straight for Flight of Passage so the boys could ride that ride without much of a wait time. Even with getting there super early, they still waited 30 minutes to ride! The girls and I decided to go on Na’vi River Journey, which had a very short wait and had no height restrictions for the girls. In my opinion, the ride was just okay and seriously boring for me. The entire world of Avatar area was pretty cool though! Definitely felt like we were in a tropical rainforest or jungle. Peep those awesome homemade animal print Mickey shirts I made for under $4 each!

Next up: breakfast! We used snack credits to get ginormous Starbucks drinks and pastries from Creature Comforts. Another award for an AMAZING use of a snack credit goes to the Colossal Cinnamon Roll. I mean, look at that thing! And I’ve heard that calories don’t count at all while on a Disney vacation, so don’t worry about it!

After breakfast, we picked up our Wilderness Explorer handbooks for adventuring around the park! Our kids really loved this free activity too, where they completed different challenges at various stations around the park and earned their Wilderness Explorer badges. The challenges and activities included learning some interesting facts about wildlife and habitats, so it is educational too! Next, we had a Fast Pass for Killamanjaro Safaris and this was one of our favorite experiences at Animal Kingdom! We boarded an open aired bus and took a safari ride to see lions, hippos, giraffes and more. I know we were in the middle of Florida, but it almost felt like a real African Safari!

After the Safari, we walked the Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail for awhile which is basically like being at a zoo. Nothing too special. What I was really excited about and looked forward to was lunch at Yak & Yeti! This was our only table-service dining that wasn’t character dining, and also the only table service restaurant that did not give Lily a free plate of food. That was fine because there was plenty to eat from the other two kids, and Lily was pretty much asleep throughout the meal anyways. I ordered the coconut shrimp (delicious!) and Chris got the honey chicken, and I especially enjoyed the fried wontons for dessert! The dining experience was good, but it was nothing spectacular so we wouldn’t visit again.

Next up, the Festival of the Lion King! Now THIS was awesome and a must see! The Festival of the Lion King is a 30 minute broadway-quality production that has singing, dancing, and acrobatics that the whole family will love. The indoor theater was air conditioned so you KNOW us parents really loved it! Another way to see some entertainment without a line or Fast Pass is at the Harambe Village- the acrobats, drummers and performers are so much fun to watch. I was even summoned to the front of the stage to shimmy and shake to the drummers!

We had a set of Fast Passes with Rider Switch close together between Expedition Everest and Kali River Rapids, as Lily was too little for either of these rides. Selah DID NOT like the Rapids at all (she doesn’t like thrill rides in the least bit) but I believe Eli enjoyed them both. After these rides, it was about 3pm and the park was SO CROWDED (it was a Saturday) so we decided to leave with no regrets! Animal Kingdom seems to have a problem with pathways that are too narrow to accommodate the crowds, and definitely has a stroller parking problem! It was a headache to walk around like heavy rush hour traffic with maneuvering a stroller around with really tired kids. We headed back to the hotel for a quick nap and relaxation!

After naps, we were refreshed and headed back to Epcot for the evening. The International Food and Wine Festival was happening, and we planned to use a ton of snack credits for dinner “around the world.” However, I didn’t realize just how crowded Epcot can get during these festivals…and on a Saturday night…oh my word. We hit up a few places that I had researched in advance that I knew I needed to try. My selections: Kāalua pork sliders in Hawaii, cheddar and bacon soup (with a pretzel roll) in Germany, black pepper Boursin Soufflé with fig marmalade at the Cheese Studio (I had this twice because it was that good!), and the liquid nitro chocolate-almond truffle with whiskey-caramel at The Chocolate Studio.

We planned to meet up with another family that we met on Instagram that evening too, and I was so excited! We walked around for awhile and our kids played together while we chatted. We thought we would spend the whole night eating and traveling the world, but honestly, the kids were NOT interested and it was way too crowded! So, we decided to head back to the hotel for an early evening. Tomorrow was going to be a BIG DAY!

Day 6: Magic Kingdom!

We were up ridiculously early for extra magic hour at Magic Kingdom. Magic Kingdom is THE park for our kids ages, and we had tons of things planned! We didn’t even plan a break in the day for naps, this was going to be a long day! The girls wore these awesome matching Snow White dresses I found on Amazon here. Snow White is one of Selah’s favorite princesses!

First things first, we had to go meet the big guy himself! Usually the Mickey and Minnie meet and greet has a long wait, so we made sure to do this right upon entering the park. We only had to wait a few minutes!

Selah had an extra special appointment at Bibbity Bobbity Boutique to get the ultimate princess treatment! I had spent months trying to snag a reservation, with no luck. Two days prior I happened to check availability on the Disney App and some fairy-dust must have worked because we got the appointment time we needed! I was really surprised at the price of the basic “Crown Package”- about $75 for hair, makeup, and nails (plus a bag of goodies to keep!) The entire experience was well done by Disney, I felt like it was a pretty good value for the time and money spent. When we arrived at the studio, we were given our own special fairy godmother in training! We were given a book of hairstyles to chose from. I’m not going to lie, I kind of envisioned a cute princess bun and crown on her head, but Selah chose a colorful hairstyle with flower headband instead! There was a Photopass photographer there to capture the transformation as well. Judging by the look on Selah’s face, I think she loved it!

Another special surprise: breakfast reservations at Cinderella’s Royal Table! I was probably THE MOST excited of anyone about eating in the castle. When we entered, we had our picture taken with Cinderella herself (great to have photos before breakfast and the pending food stains!) Coming up the stairs and into the dining room, we were formally presented and announced that we were entering the room! At our table, there were magic wands and pirate swords for us all, as well as wishing stars! I personally wished for a lifetime of churros. The kids ordered waffles and cereal, and I will never forget that amazing caramel-apple French toast we ate! The princesses came around to our table every 5-10 minutes which was perfect! Overall, we enjoyed the excitement of dining in Cinderella’s Castle, and the food was pretty good too. This character dining counts as two table service credits on the Disney Dining Plan, but had we not had a FREE dining plan, I don’t think we would’ve spent the money for this special experience.

After breakfast, we went over to Sir Mickey’s to get some photo’s taken at their photo studio (which was free!) with the Photopass photographer. I figured they could capture some nicer photos of the kids than I could capture on my phone, and best to do it early before the kids melted down!

Also, right by Sir Mickey’s is the iconic Sword in the Stone in front of the carousel. Our kiddos loved testing their strength to see if they were the chosen ones. Spoiler alert: none of us are the chosen ones.

I researched months in advance on how to strategize our Fast Pass Selections for Magic Kingdom. Here are some of the rides/experiences that were a MUST for our family based on what we know our kids would enjoy: Dumbo, Enchanted Tales with Belle, 7 Dwarfs Mine Train, Barnstormer, Splash Mountain, and meeting some princesses! The best way to conquer Magic Kingdom was to book Fast Passes and do attractions by section of the park, so we weren’t walking all over the freaking kingdom going from ride to ride. And my best tip is knowing that you can’t do it all, so pick the top attractions you know everyone will enjoy and BOOK FAST PASSES! Don’t wait in line for more than 30 minutes for anything with young kids, it just won’t go well.

Our first Fast Pass was for meeting some princesses, because we learned our lesson from the last time we went to Disney- get the photos earlier in the day so the kids don’t look like sweaty, tired zombies! Selah’s all-time favorite princess is Alaina- so we made sure to get a fast pass with her and Tiana (who she also loves!) I forgot to mention that we brought along two picture frame mats for the characters to sign throughout our day at Magic Kingdom. Many people bring autograph books to sign, but I liked the photo mat idea so that we can display it with their favorite picture from our trip!

Next up was the Dumbo ride, because do you even go to Disney without going on the Dumbo ride?! I just love the awesome indoor play area that the Dumbo ride has for the kiddos, but we didn’t need to stay and play since we didn’t wait very long to ride! The Barnstormer was closed, but we used rider switch for the 7 Dwarfs Mine Train. Again, Eli was able to ride twice because Selah chickened out and didn’t want to go. Enchanted Tales with Belle was really enjoyable because A) It was inside and air conditioned B) It was engaging and interactive for the whole family and C) It gives an opportunity to have photo-ops with Belle! Now that our third Fast Pass was used, we booked a few more rides on the west side of the Kingdom for later in the day- Splash Mountain and Ariel’s Grotto.

At this point we needed a little break so we grabbed some snacks and got in place for watching a parade. We ended up getting a pretty great spot for the Festival of Fantasy Parade, right by the castle! I made sure I had plenty of churros while we waited for it to start. The kids LOVED waving to the characters. The most magical moment happened when Snow White herself noticed the girls in their Snow White dresses and came over to hug them! I mean, just look at Snow White’s face!

At the very end of the day (I think the park had technically closed for regular park guests and opened up to Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween guests) we let the kids shop at the gift shop. Remember that Mickey Money I made to put in the Mickey Mail to the kids? They each had $30 to spend on WHATEVER they wanted to buy! As parents, we rarely ever buy toys or let the kids get gift shop items, so this was a big deal for them! Eli chose to buy two light sabers, and the girls bought some mini princess figurines and playsets. We also picked out a Disney Christmas ornament to commemorate our special trip! Tip: Christmas ornaments can be overpriced because of their specific title. We usually find a magnet or keychain and turn it into an ornament by drilling a hole and attaching thread to it for hanging! We usually save $10-$15 dollars this way (which means more churros for me!)

Since this was our last night at the hotel, we let the kids stay up and have fun in the pool for the rest of the evening. I love the Yacht Club pool at night since it’s not crowded at all, it kind of feels like you have the place to yourself!

Day 7: Time to go home!

It’s so depressing to have to leave vacation, especially a magical one where there’s food and snacks (ie churros) and drinks everywhere. As I packed up everyone’s suitcases, Chris went with the kids to get pastries and coffee for breakfast. We had enough time to take ONE LAST dip in the pool before heading out to the airport….which we were secretly just wearing the kids out further so they would sleep the entire flight home. Returning our stroller rental was also very simple, I just dropped it off at the bell hop and done!

We had 3 snack credits left on our account, so we bought the kids some Mickey Bars to eat while we waited for the Magical Express to the airport.

We left Disney with full hearts and happy memories. We LOVED our trip to Disney and I believe we planned and pulled it off as perfect as it could have gone! We do not plan on taking many trips to Disney, so we made this a special one. We’ll hopefully come back in a few years when Lily is around six, and hopefully Eli and Selah will appreciate the big kid rides a little more when they’re older! I never thought I would actually ENJOY a Disney trip, but this one was spectacular!

Although I write this section of our blog as stories from our trips more for our memories, I hope you enjoy reading them too. Perhaps the information will help you plan your Disney trip and is insightful on how much we were able to see and do on a 7 day trip to Disney World!

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