Disney World 2021
I can’t believe that we were able to keep this trip a secret for so long. We started the day super early and headed to the airport.
Has anyone even gone through TSA with a 5 year old, 3 year old, 10 month old with no stroller?! Yeah. I would never recommend it to anyone, ever.
Once we got on the place, we had a great flight to Orlando. Nash did well and watched videos on the iPad. LeeAnn hated keeping her mask on but the iPad helped her focus. Sweet William slept for 75% of the flight, which was such a blessing!
We arrived and waited in a SUPER long transportation line to get to our Disney resort. The kids were begging to get on “those Disney buses” but they didn’t know where they were taking them. When we arrived at the resort the first thing they saw was 101 Dalamation hotels. I think it finally clicked! Nash was frozen in his tracks. He couldn’t believe we came to Disney World. He didn’t think this was the real Disney world because there wasn't a giant castle. We had to explain the resort vs the parks.
We unpacked and headed straight for Magic Kingdom. We were able to jump on Buzz Lightyear and snap a few pictures in front of Cinderella’s castle. Then it was time for our dinner reservations at Tony’s Town Square Restaurant. Nash got pepperoni pizza, LeeAnn got macaroni and cheese, and William filled up on “complimentary bread!” Thanks Disney for the treat.
Our goal was to get as many rides in before fireworks! We rode the carousel twice because Nash had to go to the bathroom while in line, the tea cups (I literally almost barfed. Nathan thought it would be so hilarious to spin them as fast as possible…age has changed my balance and it took me quite a while to recover).Next was William’s favorite - he rode Dumbo with Nathan and LOVED it! He had so much fun being a “big boy.” Then we went on Goofy’s Rail Road! So fun! Next was The Little Mermaid. This was SO fun and one of our favorites (again, William thought he was a big boy). I definitely forgot how long (and a bit boring) It’s a Small World is. We had to cap the night of rides with one of our favorites - Thunder Mountain Railroad! We finished the night with the amazing fireworks and a huge downpour of rain!
Tuesday July 6
Today was our Animal Kingdom day. We all slept so hard after a day filled with travel and arrival at Disney! The morning came quickly but we drug ourselves out of bed to get to the park right when it opened! We started by getting on the safari. We were able to see some great animals. I will say, having the lion habitat closed was a major bummer. Next we went to the Cali River Rapids ride and had so much fun! We did the ride swap so Nash and LeeAnn were able to ride twice! We then headed to Dino Land for the kids! We rode a DINOSAUR - it was way scarier than I thought. Nash and LeeAnn were terrified. Our last stop was at the Tree of Life. We did “it’s tough to be a bug.” William was just a little unsettled to put it lightly.
Our lunch reservations were at Rainforest Cafe! Such a good experience and awesome food! So glad we had lunch there.
We were headed back to our bus when it started DOWN POURING! Thankfully we were under a covering to keep us dry. We timed it perfectly. We decided that Animal Kingdom would be a good ½ day park. We saw all that we wanted to see so we didn’t need to go back in the evening.
Everyone came back to the resort. We took MUCH needed naps. Everyone seemed so much happier and well rested. We went to Disney Springs in the evening. We had an amazing pretzel and frozen lemonade from Wetzel’s Pretzels! The kids walked through the Disney store. I’ve never seen anything like it - it was incredible. We went into the Disney Christmas shop. LeeAnn was mesmerized by all the ornaments. Nash got to get a new lego set at the Lego store. He takes the age recommendations on lego sets very seriously. He was excited to be able to purchase a 5+ set.
Nathan lost his hat which put a damper on the evening, but we headed back to the resort and got to bed at a more decent time!
Wednesday 7/7
We were finally able to sleep-in today. The major rain event of hurricane Elsa was ending by 8. We headed to Disney’s Hollywood studios so that we could be there early for Slinky Dog! Everyone got on the Slinky Dog while I waited with William. We got a rider swap pass and then the kids jumped back in line with me. We were next in the ride when it broke down! 🙈 I could not believe it. We decided to ride the alien ride and the Toy Story Mania ride! Thankfully after waiting so long for the Slinky Dog ride was fixed and we jumped in the front of the line! We then headed to Disney Jr. dance party. This was certainly a highlight for LeeAnn. While we took a break for an ice cream treat and pretzel, Nash and Nathan headed to the Tower of Terror. Nash was totally a big boy for doing this!
We then went to the Lightning McQueen driving school. Next was Muppets 3D and Frozen!
Our dinner reservations for today were at PrimeTime. I had been looking forward to this for SO long. Unfortunately, it was a very lackluster experience. I will say, I have been before and been blown away. It was just an “off” experience with our waitress. The food was still delicious though.
Thursday 7/8
Today was a different day than the others. We let everybody sleep in and we ate breakfast at the resort. Everyone was very excited about the Mickey Mouse waffles. Then we had some time at the pool before it got closed due to a storm. After William woke up from his nap we headed to Epcot. It was raining and the first time that we really needed to use our ponchos. The good thing is that the crowds were not as large. As soon as we got there, we went into the ride inside the Epcot ball then headed to the FInding Nemo ride. I decided to sit outside with William while everyone else did the Living with the Land attraction. We noticed there was a ride called Soarin’ nearby. There was a lot of caution about heights and motion sickness. This had me very nervous but I decided to do it anyway. My mom, Nash and I waited in line for quite a while….but it was WORTH it! This was my favorite ride of the entire trip! We took my sister back for a second ride!
Next was our dinner reservations. This was a major splurge for us. It was a family dinner at Garden Grill. Chip, Dale, Mickey, and Pluto were all there and the kids loved it! I knew Nash would be a picky eater. Let’s just say the one dinner roll that he ate cost us $36 🙄 .
After we finished dinner we needed to keep ourselves busy until the fireworks. Frozen is one of LeeAnns current favorites so waiting in the 65 minute line was something we were willing to do for her. It was a lot of fun and she LOVED it. We had to pull her out of the gift shop afterwards kicking and screaming.
Then we decided to just hang out on a bench until the fireworks. The last time I was at Epcot (15 years ago…yikes!) I remembered these fireworks to be the best I’d ever seen. Again, these did not disappoint. It was such a late night for us that both big kids fell asleep on the bus ride back to the resort and William was punch drunk laughing and yelling the whole way home.
Friday 7/9
Today is our last day on our trip. We woke up pretty early to pack up our belongings because we have to head to the airport at 2 o’clock. We got to Magic Kingdom right when everything opened up and we were able to get some more rides again and ride some things for the first time. Magic Kingdom is definitely the kids favorite place. We were able to try one of the famous Dole Whip soft serves and let me tell you, it was 100% worth the wait! We headed back to the resort to grab lunch and catch our Disney Magical Express back to the airport. Going through TSA was no easier the second go around but we made it, thankfully.
We had a wonderful vacation full of memories that will last a lifetime.
A few thoughts:
You can tell Disney is phasing out the Magical Express Airport Service. We waited over an hour for our first pick up. On the day we left, the bus was an hour late picking us up. They were encouraging people to get Ubers.
Animal Kingdom is definitely a ½ day park.
The crowds were still very manageable!
Get a travel agent! We had the best one. They take care of everything and THEY are the experts. It costs NOTHING to you! I highly recommend Skyes The Limit
Have yourself some expert friends that you can text at a moment's notice for advice and help! Thank you Stacy and Anna!
Kingdom Strollers was one of the best things we did! (Our travel agent is the one that told us about it!) We rented a double Bob stroller picked up and dropped off at the airport! So convenient.
Strollers are a must with no walkers but a PAIN getting on and off of transportation.
If you can go when you don’t have an infant, I highly recommend it. It made things take extra long and again the stroller.
A character dining experience is a must. It will cost you an arm and a leg, but do it!
We didn’t tell the kids we were going until we arrived at Disney! I loved that we did this.
Everything can fit in carry ons! You need far less than you think!
