Ok so this is my absolutely fav holiday to have written about to date, it was my 11th trip to Walt Disney World and my first as a mummy! This is my all time top holidays destination and doing it with a child is sooo much different than adults where you can constantly ride round on Expedition Everest and spend time dining in and around different Disney resorts without the worry of having a toddler in tow, so this holiday even though a place we know so well was really different but also the best experience we’ve had as a family!
We flew from Manchester to Orlando with Aerlingus, in the past we have flown with Virgin as we have Virgin airmiles but I think due to the USA having not long opening up to visitors we were unable to use our miles and the flights were coming out extremely expensive, so we chose Aerlingus. Again, I booked a seat for Teddy and funnily enough there were so many empty seats especially on the way out which really surprised me with it being Orlando but all I can assume that it was to do with people not being fully back to travelling after Covid.
Aerlingus were fine and we had so much space for Teddy we got a whole row of 4 for us on the way out. I really went overboard with packing for the flight as it was the longest one we had done and honestly he ate loads, had an hour’s nap and spent the entire flight playing with the seatbelt and watching the occasional episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse even though I packed new books, favourite books, play dough, stickers, books, crayons but never mind he kept himself very well amused. We broke our holiday up in to 3 parts which is what I’m going to do with this page as I think there’s just too much to fit in to one page as it was a two week holiday.
For the first 5 nights we stayed on Walt Disney World property which we usually do due to the benefits (the dining plan was suspended due to Covid when we were there, but we have always taken advantage of that in the past) we did however receive a Walt Disney World dining credit which was based on the hotel we stayed at and for how many nights. We also got the standard $200 Walt Disney World gift card which came in great for souvenirs especially with a little one! This was the first time we have visited since the free and so magical ‘Magical Express’ service was discontinued, like honestly a huge loss I think. So we booked the Mears Connect service which is basically the same service except with a $32 round trip fee for adults and $27 for children (kids under 3 are free) the cost isn’t too bad and the service is as expected and the kids for a free pair of sunglasses which Teddy still wears now.
The excitement of getting on that bus is so unreal even after all these trips. You collect your luggage at baggage collect and follow the signs to the transportations. We were dropped off at our hotel ‘Caribbean Beach’ I picked this one due to the new Skyliner service that had recently opened connecting the following hotels.
Deluxe – Rivera resort
Moderate – Caribbean beach
Value – Pop Century, Art of animation
The Sky liner is basically a cable car system that connects these hotels to Hollywood studios and EPCOT without the need to take a bus. These like the busses and boats start running 60 mins before the park opens. Whilst the complimentary busses are great you must fold all prams/strollers down whilst boarding so even sleeping babies must be woken up to board.
The beauty of the sky liner is prams can simply be wheeled on so no faffing with having to take children in and out so when Teddy fell asleep in the afternoon or evenings, we could go straight back to the hotel in quick time without having to disturb him! The gondolas can take up to 8 people but this number is reduced if there is a pram or wheelchair on board and we usually managed to get a gondola to ourselves even in the mornings when traffic was high.
This worked out fantastically especially during our first week when we were jet lagged and awake at 4am meaning we could get some breakfast and beat the Sky liners queues and get to the parks bright and early. Walt Disney World had introduced a system since we had last visited where you have to pre book your parks in advance, after you have visited your first park you can then visit a second park after 2pm, but make sure you visit your booked park first and they can be funny about allowing you in to a second not before 2pm if your pass hasn’t been activated at the first one.
You can do this online before you visit and it’s recommended to do this as soon as the booking window opens. You can modify this in the app providing there is availability.
Our general schedule was theme park in the morning have some dinner then back in the afternoon for swimming/nap times for teddy/drinks for the adults by the pool and then back to the second theme park for tea and to spend the evening there. This was how we always holidayed before Teddy to get out of the sun and crazy busy queues during the hottest part of the day and by dinner time he was exhausted and more than ready for a nap!
Other things to consider before departing for a Walt Disney World holiday is to pre book dining reservations there can be made up to 60 days in advance of your booking (it used to be 120 days pre Covid and this may return in the future) it sounds a bit extreme to be planning your meals so far in advance but it is the only way you have any chance of getting many of them. Particularly character meals, and restaurants in the parks themselves as it’s by far the most popular option save people trekking back to various hotels during the day.
Walt Disney World also offers ‘quick service’ dining which you can now order from you mobile so rather than sitting down and choosing the menu you can order on the app and turn up at your allocated time to collect your food, these don’t need to be pre booked but I would recommend ordering in the morning and choosing your time slot as the popular dinner/tea slots will all be gone early in the day especially for the more popular and newer options such as Woody’s Lunchbox.
We used to always go the dining plan so we would get one snack, one quick service meal and one counter service meal and my mistake this time was so stick to that as with a toddler it was far easier to do counter service meals especially now you can mobile order! Some of the counter service meals took a fair chunk of time out of our day and they weren’t always the quickest service due to the parks being so busy. I should note in all my times visiting I have never seen the parks so busy even when I’ve been in summer and during Christmas! I never ever thought February would be so busy and all I can put it down to was international travel opening up again and being rescheduling holidays from the last two years.
Unfortunately Walt Disney World has done away with the fast pass service since we had last been where you can reserve some of the popular rides in advance and you receive a time slot to return to the queue with minimum wait…this was definitely a bummer as you now have to pay for The lightning lane service, if you want to reserve any rides to avoid queueing, is priced at $15 a day but there is an additional fee for the bigger rides where pricing can vary on how busy the parks are.
So take the newest attraction in the new Star Wars land ‘rise of the resistance’ is $15 pp approx (will vary depending on crown levels) just to beat the queue for this own attraction. This will add up enormously if you are a family of 4 and do it for multiple rides but the odd one of isn’t terrible, the old fast pass system was much better in my opinion though! We actually managed to bypass this system a little with having a toddler. As Teddy wasn’t able to go on a large number of rides we used the baby swap system. Where you all go to the queue entrance and ask to go child swap.
The cast member will scan your my Disney app and one of you will join the standby queue and the other will go and carry on enjoying the day with some child friendly activities/ get a snack and wait until rider no1 has finished one they have the 2nd rider can go hop in the lightning lane (no cost this time due to baby/child being too small to ride) and can join the queue with minimum wait. So despite my moaning about the free fast pass system being removed it worked ok with a baby as we wouldn’t have been able to ride together with Teddy anyway.
Now finally on to our actual holiday…. I do hope the above information was useful!! We arrived at Caribbean beach late afternoon, in the past we would have dumped our bags and gone straight to a park but with Teddy we took our time to explore the hotel and get come tea and we had an early night to get ready for the next day! We had a pirates themed room in the Trinidad section of the hotel, this was a great location for the gondola but further away from the main hub Port Royale where the lobby, main pool and restaurants are located.
This was fine though as we like a walk and we had a smaller pool located in the Trinidad sections and all areas had a smaller pool, this was enough for us even though we did visit the main pool it was very busy and Teddy was too little to really enjoy the kids area as it was noisy with lots of fountains shooting water or if suddenly tip water on you which he was afraid of.
So honestly as long as you don’t mind a bit of a scenic walk you can’t really get a bad room even if some of the bigger resorts require a bit of walking around. There was also a nice little play area section on a small island in the middle of the lake called Caribbean Cay. This was a nice little shady area with plenty of trees and Teddy loved having a little run to let off some steam.
Ok so now on to the holiday it’s self… finally…. So we headed out bright and early (I was awake at 4am due to sheer excitement of being back at Walt Disney World!) we got some Mickey waffles in the hotel for breakfast and headed off to Hollywood studios, we picked this park as the Star Wars Land was still very new and I knew the crowd and queues would be really busy, as we were up early we arrived before the park opened and got in the queue to head straight over to rise of the resistance.
The queue was around an hour when we got there so Danny got in it and I headed out for a walk around the rest of the Star Wars land with Teddy which actually was relatively quiet as it was still early and everyone else had headed into the ride itself, we did the baby swap options so I could head straight on the ride once Danny was done.
Star Wars land is located next to the also new Toy Story Land so we had a lovely wander around there looking at all the rides I think a Teddy was a bit taken aback as he suddenly developed an attachment to his blanket which I purely brought in case he got a little bit cold! But in general as it was quiet he really enjoyed having a wander. We switched riders and I hopped on rise of the resistance which was a really cool ride (not as impressive as flight of passage at Animal Kingdom tho) after a quick dinner we headed to a Disney junior dance party!
This is a wonderful kids show with live performers, fav songs for kids and appearances by Mickey Mouse to top it off! You take a seat on a sloping floor and all the little ones had the best time dancing along to Mickey and their fav songs it really was such a special moment to see him so absorbed in what was going on!
We headed back to the hotel for a quick nap and then headed out to what is now my favourite theme park Animal Kingdom! We ate tea at Satuuli Canteen, which do amazing dishes where you pick your meat and then you choose rice, beans, noodles etc and the sauce and they are really delicious it is also situated in the Pandora section, the avatar land which in my opinion is the best themed area especially at night it’s beautiful. Teddy was getting tired by this point with the jet lag so we just did a few rides including the Naavi river ride which is a nice family friendly boat ride and then stopped to watch the evening show which lights up the Tree of Life.
Next morning we again set off bright and early (thanks jet lag) we got the gondola to EPCOT and as we were too early to enter the park we had a walk around Disney’s Boardwalk which is one of my favourite places it’s so lovely and relaxing to walk around especially in the mornings when it wasn’t too hot. We were one of the first in the queue to enter EPCOT and a teddy received a special sticker from one of the cast members.
EPCOT is divided into two sections World Showcase which features pavilions and attractions from 11 countries and future world where you are immersed in new technology. This area was undergoing quite a big make over whilst we were there so there was a lot of construction taking place and I imagine it looking a lot different by the end of this year.
Our first port of call was for Remis Ratatouille-adventure situation in the France pavilion of World Showcase, this was new since we had last been there and has been having massive queues, Teddy was mildly terrified on this ride as Remi is chased through the restaurant and I can see why parts were quite scary for him at some point is even though it has no height restriction use your own judgement to see if you little one will cope.
He mainly enjoyed all the rides but there were a couple he was quite scared on. One of the best parts of EPCOT with a child is the seas pavilion, there is an omnimover ride called the seas with Nemo and friends, an interactive show ‘Turtle talk With Crush’ and a huge aquarium which we probably spent around an hour whilst Teddy sat transfixed starting at all the fish and other sea life they had there. It really was brilliant for children without being a headline attraction with large queues and a welcome break in summer from the heat.
The afternoon was spent by the pool and this time the weather was so lovely we just went to our smaller pool which is nice and quiet in fact we were the only ones in there, on Walt Disney World property the pools are heated so in February even though the weather was very changeable we were always able to have a dip in the pool. That evening we visited our last park to head to which was Magic Kingdom, in the past one of my favourite parks…… no longer…. I assumed teddy would have the best time here as the selection of rides for small children is so so much better here than any other park.
Despite in being February the queues for even the smaller attractions were as I have never ever seen them before, we made it on to Dumbo which is not only a great ride for kids but also they have an interesting and very clever queue system where you are given a buzzer on entry and your children can go crazy in the amazingly themed play area located inside of the ride queue. Riding Dumbo at night is an absolute joy especially with you young children! The only downside was we were buzzed quite soon after letting Teddy loose in the play area so he was mildly devastated to have to leave to get on the ride!
We stayed for the fireworks show and called it a night as it was getting uncomfortably busy but that point.
We headed back to Magic Kingdom the next morning as we had our park reservation already made for there and tried to beat the queues, now Disney parks open an hour earlier on certain days for hotel quests, every other park the entire park opens an hour earlier, and you can go where ever you want and start queuing however in Magic Kingdom this isn’t the case. You have to go towards Tomorrowland and are only allowed to go as far as the haunted mansion before they rope it off and Frontierland and Adventure Land remain closed until official park opening, the reason for this I am not sure but my main aim was to run to big Thunder Mountain, ride on my own and then spend the rest of the day doing smaller rides with Teddy, alas I ended up waiting for over an hour whilst half the park was already running the rides so error on our part and a complete waste of early morning riding!
I did however get on big thunder whilst Danny took teddy to Mickey’s Philharmagic, a 3D show featuring Donald Duck, whilst we love this again it made a 20 month old very upset and he had to leave the attraction. The nightlight of this morning though was that Teddy got to meet his absolute hero…. Mickey Mouse! We didn’t have to queue for too long and he was completely starstruck by him!
As the queues had built up substantially by this point, we headed out to Disney Springs which is a shopping and entertainment complex. Great for dining especially in the evenings and has the largest Walt Disney World store it’s honestly unreal how large it is! This is where our $200 gift card all went! It is also where you have to go to redeem it. We have a lovely pretzel with dipping cheese for dinner in the sunshine then back to cool off at the hotel.
Another great fact about this hotel is that at the shop along with other essential items you found buy cans of lager and other alcohol to save paying huge prices at the hotel bars and restaurants, we just kept them in the fridge and enjoyed one by the pool whilst teddy napped in the shade! The evening was spent over in EPCOT where Teddy’s highlight was dragging his small plastic cars across the carpet in the land pavilion… we did however get on Soarin with baby swap and we all went on Living with the Land which is one of my highlights at Walt Disney World a gentle boat ride through the enormous green houses where they grown their own fruit/veg and many more items to be eaten in their restaurant, I just love it! It was very relaxing for a tired Teddy.
We walked around World Showcase with Teddy asleep in his pram and stopped to watch the new show Harmonius which was fantastic, a really enjoyable show and the music was spectacular. Easy way home as we left the park via international gateway soon as the show had ended and straight on the gondola.
Our next morning started in Animal Kingdom which is when we would traditionally visit in the past before it really became an all day park with the added night-time activities. Kilimanjaro Safaris was our first destination which is always best done early whilst the animals are more active in the cooler temperatures. This safari takes 22 mins so make sure your little one can sit still for that amount of time but Teddy was absolutely engrossed in the animals and was pointing out what he could see which was lovely, despite all the amazing animals on show the ducks swimming in the hippo enclosure was his personal highlight!
We caught the train over to Rafiki’s Conservation Section which is a lovely little train ride and probably not a part of the park we would visit if it hadn’t been for Teddy. They have a game section where children can pet and learn more about the animals and there is lots of cool areas and shade about for those hotter days.
Teddy crashed after all this excitement so we had a drink overlooking the lake and then headed to Yak and Yeti restaurant located in the Asia section of the park, I have wanted to try this restaurant in the past and not got a reservation so we were really pleased to have got in this time and the food was really good! They have some brilliant food options in Animal Kingdom and it’s certainly some of the most unique and tasty options in WDW!
Our day at the park concluded with a walk round Dinoland (parts of this area were under construction at the time and finding Nemo the musical was still closed due to Covid but Teddy had a whirl on Triceratop spin and we baby swapped dinosaur! A dark ride where you are being chased by a T.Rex! It’s a bit dated…. But brilliant!!
Once again we spent a relaxing afternoon by the small pool in the Trinidad section and after a quick shower off to Hollywood studios, one of our favourite rides is Rock n Rollercoaster… obviously not teddy appropriate but next to this are characters from cars that you can stand with and have photos taken. For a child that loves cars this was amazing! And even better there is now a shoe featuring lightning McQueen with an unbelievably large animatronic Lightning – brilliant for kids!! It was incredible and Teddy sat easily for the duration he was so engrossed. There was music playing all outside the section so we spent a good hour chatting to all the cars characters based outside Teddy was in his element!
Ok so one of the things I was most looking forward to was breakfast with Mickey and pals, I got a reservation at Chef Mickey’s easily one of the hardest reservations to get and headed over early to Magic Kingdom on the bus so we could then walk to the Contemporary hotel, I was honestly so so so excited for this as me and Danny had eaten there in the past but to take out 20 month old Mickey obsessed son!! How good would this be!? He is also very much food obsessed and as that arrived before the characters came round to our table he carried on stuffing his face and was completely unaware that Mickey, Minnie, Donald were all waving/dancing/you name in round his table…. I was thrilled and I’m sure the majority of children would be in awe! the breakfast is absolutely massive, though is by far one of the most expensive breakfasts and you can dine with Mickey and other characters for far far less.
It really wasn’t worth it for us but I’m sure if Teddy was a bit older and less of a little piggy he would have appreciated it more…. I still had a brilliant morning thought! This was the last part of our first week at Walt Disney World and we checked out and got a taxi over to Universal Studios where I will continue on the next page!
