While my heart is always in traveling the world and being introduced to new places and way of life, I also enjoy nostalgia. Growing up, our vacations usually consisted of the beach and Disney. I have so many fond memories. So a few weeks ago when I found out I had a work event down in Orlando on a Saturday, I decided to take my 4 year old daughter along. We did Disney late last year as a family. Since then, she has become obsessed with princesses. I've become more relaxed with life. And, oh yeah, she likes to take selfless.
The old me would freak out at the thought of planning a Disney trip in under 3 weeks. New me, booked flights. Quickly found the cheapest Disney resort (All Star) so we could get Fastpass and started booking.
I've never paid to stay on property. While the rooms weren't anything nicer than an old holiday inn, at $100/night it was perfect for us. Easy to get around. Free parking at all the parks. Our magic bands were sent to us before we left. While our top fast pass choices weren't available when I first booked, I eventually got them my checking back on the app.
TIP: All of our restaurant reservations and highly coveted fast passes were obtained by checking back on the MDE app. When I saw them pop up I grabbed them. This honestly made the trip so easy. I'm sure it was a low crowd day but the longest we waited for anything was maybe 10 minutes?
SATURDAY
3pm
We checked into the All Stars Movies (actually a bit earlier) and got our bands activated. They were super nice and showed us how to peel the backing off my daughters so it fit smaller. We then made our way up to the bellhop desk outside where our stroller from Kingdom Strollers was already dropped off and waiting. We rented the Baby Jogger Citi Elite. I can't say enough good things about this stroller. It was so easy to push. My daughter could relax in it. With one whip up I could close it. I took it on the bus by myself and had no problems. Thank goodness I rented this!
3:30pm
We decided to test out the "loud" pool and learned that means lots of kids activities with cast members announcing the progress via a PA system. My little fishie got some swimming in and even played a game of musical hoops before we headed to get cleaned up for dinner.
4:45pm
I stumbled into a dinner reservation at 1900 at the Grand Floridian. I actually had no clue there was a Cinderella dinner. Since we did the princess breakfast at Cinderellas Royal Table last trip, I thought this would be a good new option. Wow. While, I'm not blown away by any Disney food, the character interactions were quite great. Unlike CRT, no one rushed us. We actually left before seeing the last stepsister because she was taking too long. We met Prince Charming, Cinderella, Lady Tremaine and the two stepsisters. Lady Tremaine was pretty funny. Telling my daughter she was much more a princess with a tiara than Cinderelka and her headband. With tax and tip our dinner for 2 was $70. Much cheaper than the castle.
SUNDAY
6:45am
I'd say the only stressful part of the day was when I was trying to decide how best to get to the park. I really don't like being trapped by transportation so I chose to drive. When we arrived at the transportation center at 7:15, we were the fourth car. Yes fourth. The ferries and monorail weren't running yet so we jumped on the bus and were quickly at the front gate.
The Day
I had gotten us an early breakfast reservation at Crystal Palace again. The reason mainly being that we can get into the park early. I was worried that I didn't get an early enough one but it was perfect. When they let us in we took our time and most people headed directly to breakfast. We had the front of the castle all to ourselves.
The best thing I did was be relentless with those fast passes. I had the new 7 Dwarves ride, meet and greet with Anna and Elsa and Peter Pan. All were over an hour wait all day. None of the other rides had waits more than 10 minutes. So in addition to those three we met Rapunzel and Sleeping Beauty, Winnie the Pooh, Enchanted Tales with Belle, met Ariel, it's a small world, jungle cruise, Thunder Road, Splash Mountain, Monsters Inc and Haunted Mansion. It's possible we did more.
The other good planning move was that I got a FP for lunch at Be Our Guest. You get a reservation separate and can preorder your food. I really think that place is a great lunch option. I was surprised with the healthy options, reasonable price and ease. If you want to eat in the castle (very cool) but not spend a month's wages on dinner, this is a great idea.
The park was closing at 7 that night and I must say we accomplished way more than I expected in 11 hours. We had a blast and it was wonderful to have that girl time.
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