Our Disney Trip Recap

Earlier this summer, we visited Disney for Milly Kate’s 5th Birthday! We had planned this Disney trip back in 2020 but had to cancel. So we were excited when we rescheduled – even if we were trying to fit a week’s worth of activities into two days! We jam-packed our itinerary and had Jamie, a travel agent, help outline the entire trip. She was fabulous! I would not have been able to do it without her! She scheduled everything down to our meals and even what rides we had to ride on. You can check out her services here if you’re planning a trip in the future.

While Eric and I were exhausted at the end of the trip, it really was all about making sure the kids had a fun time. Let me tell you, MK was in her element! From meeting Cinderella, to wearing all her princess dresses, and riding the Little Mermaid ride more times than I can count, she LOVED this trip. Ryder really loved the Pirates of the Caribbean ride and ended up having fun too! He really enjoyed Disney Springs where we checked out the Lego store.

Would we visit again?

Well, to be honest, it was not my cup of tea (I will always opt in for a vacation that includes the beach and a resort), I’m happy we took this trip as a family. It may be a one and done trip for us, but I totally understand why so many people love visiting. Below I’ve outlined where to stay, what to do, and where to eat.

My biggest tip for your Disney trip is to invest in the Genie Lightning Lane. A trip to Disney is going to cost an arm and a leg regardless so you may as well pay a bit more to skip the lines. There were rides that had a 75-minute wait that we probably waited a total of 15 minutes for. It’s worth it! I wouldn’t do Disney without that. It was great being able to bypass lines.

Where To Stay

We stayed at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa on property. The reason we chose this hotel was purely for the monorail. If that was not one of the perks, we probably would not have chosen to stay there. While the room was truthfully not that great (super tiny), the pool was awesome and the kids loved the waterslide!

Where To Eat

I swear there were some good parts of this Disney trip, I just want to be so transparent with you! We did BOG (Be Our Guest) and would not recommend it. Belle did not make an appearance! The meal consisted of the Beast walking by the tables and MK was terrified of him! If your littles are spooked by costumed creatures, maybe skip this one! He was kind of scary, haha!

We also did lunch at Cinderella’s Castle! This was way more worth it than BOG! There were less people, the meal was more intimate in a smaller space, and you got 1-on-1 time with Cinderella. Milly Kate was literally over the moon excited and loved every second of this day. We also had planned to do a character breakfast but we changed our flight last minute and weren’t able to swing it. Neither one of the kids seemed too upset to have missed it.

I will say Disney does an exceptional job of being VERY allergy friendly. They had great alternatives for any dietary restrictions which was so nice!

What To Do

There is so much to do at Disney! You would truly have to stay for quite a bit of time to hit it all. A couple of stand out moments/ things to do are:

• Getting hair and makeup done to meet Cinderella (MK is the makeup and hair queen! We all know how hard being a princess is!) If you have a daughter that is as Disney obsessed as MK then I highly recommend you check out Selina for the princess makeover! She came to our room and that was, hands down, the highlight of MK’s birthday!
• All the rides! We loved the Pirates of Caribbean, Little Mermaid, Dumbo and any ride that got us soaked! Sometimes it’s a nice little refresher when you know you’ll be walking around in heat all day!
• Lunch at Cinderella’s Castle – I went into the details above!
• Watch the fireworks over the castle! This was such a special moment of the trip! Eric and I couldn’t stop laughing watching Milly Kate watch the fireworks. We didn’t know if she would be scared of them but she was obsessed! Head over to my Instagram highlight “Disney” to check out her reaction for yourself! I promise it will make you smile!
• Magic Kingdom
• Animal Kingdom
• Disney Springs for the Lego Store

Please feel free to reach out or drop any questions you may have in the comments below. Again, I do have a highlight linked here if you’d like to see more FAQs and to do’s for Disney. All in all, to reiterate, I am happy we did it for the kids however I don’t think it was quite worth it for the money we spent. I’d love to hear from you! If you’ve been to Disney, did you have a good time? Did you find it to be affordable? Let me know over on Instagram! And don’t forget to follow along for other trip recaps!