Disney Vacation Tips & Fun

How I miss the most MAGICAL place on earth!

It's been about a month since our trip to Orlando and I'm just finally getting around to sharing all the fun we had and tips for Disney Vacation. Before our trip I do have to say that I researched everything Disney on pinterest and other fellow bloggers blog post. I want to say I took advice from a bunch of different places and then went along with what worked for our family. So remember I am not a Disney planning expert but I did want to share what worked for us on this

Magical

trip.

Resort

When we booked our trip we knew that we didn't want to spend a lot of money on a resort. So when we saw the price packages for the

Disney's

All Stars Sports Resort

we were sold. We actually loved what the resort had to offer and although it is one of Disney's cheapest resorts we were happy with it. The boys were absolutely excited and loved the style of the resort. They loved the theme and thought it was super cool. The rooms were not that big but honestly we didn't need anything bigger. We literally only slept in the rooms so it was perfect for us. We loved that the resort had different activities for the kids to participate in through out the day and evening.

What I also loved about our resort was that my husband asked for some tape at the front so I can decorate the room for my sons birthday so he would be surprise in the morning and they asked if I needed balloons sent to the room. The next morning I went to the front desk and they kindly said they would deliver some balloons to the room when house keeping went in. When we came back from Magic Kingdom there were balloons and a card from Mickey and pals. I did not pay for this it was complimentary. So if your celebrating a birthday make sure to ask the front desk.

Disney Gear & Souvenirs

Once I knew we were heading to Disney I knew we needed some Disney gear for the family. The kids already had a few new shirts so I just needed to grab a few for myself and the hubs. I also decided to order personalized shirts for the family along with personalized vinyl sticker for the autograph books I bought for the boys as a souvenir. To save on cost I picked up some in expensive souvenirs for the kids to give them on each day we were there. I picked up some Disney lanyards and pins, reusable sticker books, new water bottles, & Mickey hats.

Magic Bands & Fast Pass

 When you stay in a Disney Resort you automatically receive a complimentary Magic Band for each of the family members traveling. These Magic Bands will act as your room key, dinning card (when you purchase a dining plan), photo pass, entrance to the parks you select, fast pass & more. They are super cool and make it less stressful. Now if you are not staying in one of the Disney Resorts but have purchased tickets to visit the parks you can definitely purchase a magic band for $12.99 and then link up your tickets to the magic band. The Bands work with the My Experience App. The My Experience App is where you can select your fast passes, check the wait time on rides, reserve dining reservations and more.

When staying in the resorts you get to select your fast passes 60 days prior to your visit and 30 days before for anyone who is not staying in a resort. Fast Passes are great for those popular rides or meet & greets with crazy long wait times. I advise you to take advantage of the Fast Passes.

I basically mapped out what was important for us to see as a family and we basically did everything we wanted except for one thing. And that included us taking a break from the park to rest, freshen up, and have dinner.

Fun at the Parks

When planning this trip I wanted to make sure that I had a plan for each day. I didn't want to not know what to do first or waste any time trying to figure it out. Stalking my Disney App was a must. I wanted to see the wait on the rides and what was the age requirements for some of the attractions. Keeping in mind that the boys are 4 & 9 years old. I wanted to make sure we did everything together as it was our first time experiencing this trip as a family of 4. We did each section of the park according to how I booked the fast passes. So we were able to do a lot in each section. We also tried to rotate between indoor and outdoor rides to get out of the heat because it was super hot when we went in August.

My husband was so happy that I had things on check and that we were able to enjoy so much through out the day and with not waiting in crazy long lines.

Dining with Food Allergies

As most of you know my oldest has Food Allergies so when we booked our dining reservations I also mad sure to call to inform them about my sons allergies. They noted my sons allergies and reminded me that to inform our waiter upon being seated about the allergies once again so that the Chef can personally come out and talk with us. We had booked dinner at the T-Rex Restaurant in Disney Springs and breakfast at Chef Mickeys at the Contempory Resort.

Both restaurants were very accommodating to our son. The Chefs at both restaurants came to our table to speak with us and made our son's experience very easy and less stressful. They noted his allergens and went over the menu. They also made sure that his Birthday desert was safe for him to eat.  I can't say enough good things about dining in Disney!

Chef Mickey's

was a

Meet and Greet

breakfast and it was so worth it. Being able to enjoy breakfast with our favorite gang and not stand in line was all so worth it. So if you rather skip some of the meet and greets at the park this may be a good alternative.

Best Rides at Night

So when I was researching what to do on our trip I came across a few post about riding certain rides in the evening. So as I planned I knew I wanted to at least do a few rides in the evening to see for my self if it was true about what other Disney goers were talking about. When I say they were right I'm not even exaggerating. The magic comes a live at night. Seeing everything lit up was just so Magical!

|Here is my must do rides at night in Magic Kingdom|

Astro Orbiter

Dumbo the Flying Elephant

The Magic Carpets of Aladdin

Jungle Cruise

Swiss Family Treehouse

Also make sure you catch one of the day time parades and also you can not leave the Magic Kingdom without seeing the castle show and fireworks

.

Although I made a plan and tried to follow it sometimes plans can change. Make sure to take breaks from the park to freshen up and rest. The parks can be super draining so make sure you take a break so the kids won't be cranky as well as you. It's important to take it all in and live in the moment.

We absolutely had an amazing time on this vacation and can't wait to come back.

Hope you enjoyed this post!