Disney World Tips & Tricks

As promised, here’s I am excited to give you the tips & tricks of traveling to Disney World, FL that I acquired over the last week. To being, the vacation was amazing and everything that I hoped it would be. We told our kids at the airport and they started jumping up and down and squealing. They couldn’t wait to get on a plane to see what it was all about.

Airport Parking at Midway

We use Park N’ Fly and we park our car there for the time we are away. You pull in, they load you into the bus and then drop you off at the airport. Seriously, it’s so simple. Coming home, you’ll give them a call and they tell you where to go for them to grab you and they bring you straight back to your car. I have found that traveling this way as a large family we tend to save some $$ vs if we were to take an Uber or Limo to the airport.

Flights

We flew Southwest due to having some points and them ultimately being cheaper since bags fly free. We took out a 7AM flight on the way there and a 8:45AM on the way home. We woke up extremely early and while we were exhausted it worked well for our family. Now the one lesson I did learn is that if we are going somehwere that we are going to purchase things to pack a small extra folded suitcase in the suitcases to balance out the weight of what you purchase.

I can magically pack my entire family today in 1 suitcase…. yes all 5 of us. I then had a stroller bag that had some extra sandals, the floaties for swimming and the 2nd stroller… because well it’s Disney World with a 5, 4 and a 3 year old. That said, each bag on the way there was super close to the 50lb weight limit. I should have known then that I should have packed another bag. Upon checking in on the way home, we were over by 5lbs on one bag. They charged us $75 even though we only checked 2 bags for 5 people (I tried asking multiple times why I had to be charged when i was flying with less bags than people and they didn’t really have an answer except it’s the policy). Therefore, next time, an extra bag will be packed and I’ll be good to go!

Rental Vehicle

As previously mentioned in the previous post, I’m a bargain shopper. So I looked into the website Turo to save some money on a car rental. I booked online through the Turo app with a company called A1 Car Rentals. Immediately after booking, I had to message them through the app to ensure that I spoke with them about getting 3 car seats for the kiddos. They responded back quickly (throughout the whole process), that they would let me know ASAP that they had 3 seats available. I had until the night before we left to cancel the car, so I figured that it should work. They didn’t’ get back to me by two days before we left, so I emailed again, communicated the types of seats I needed and they got back to me and said that I should be ok.

Getting to Midway, I realized that once we landed I didn’t have instructions on how to get the car, so I had to message again to ask. They did not get back to me while in the air, so when we landed I asked again. We ended up gathering our bags, and then having a picnic in the baggage claim area as it was after our pickup time of 11AM and I was told they were “filling the car up with gas and checking the air pressure on the tires.” I knew that we had to take a shuttle to the spot, so I asked if I could at least have that information to get started. They finally got back to me about 15 minutes after I was already supposed to have the vehicle and told me where to go.

Once we got on the shuttle (next time I’ll pay for them to drop it off to me at the door), the shuttle just dropped us in the A section of the parking lot, so we had to walk to the spot our car was at. I ended up running to get it as carrying the bags and strollers with 3 young kids through a parking lot was not my idea of fun.

Once I got into the car, I wasn’t happy with the shaking of the vehicle, and then turned around to see the incorrect car seats. That being said…. it’s Orlando two weeks before Christmas, so I wasn’t going to have any other options. I drove the car back to where my husband and kids were and asked him to drive it around. He said, yep it’s not the best but it’s good to go, we used to rent them out worse (that was supposed to make me feel better).

The car itself had bumper damage, scratches along the whole vehicle, a star chip in the wind shield and honestly wasn’t in the best condition… so you can imagine I was pretty unhappy. I messaged the company immediately on the car seat situation, as I literally couldn’t leave the parking lot with what they gave me. They were very quick and responsive and had someone to us in another 10 minutes with a new seat (that still wasn’t what I asked for, but beggars can’t be choosers, so we dealt with it). With that we were finally on the road to the grocery store and then our condo. The specific 2017 Dodge Caravan that we had the drives side window shook when you went over 40 miles an hour. It wasn’t the greatest experience, so next time I will do more due diligence in looking at the reviews and vehicles. Renting through them did save me $500 compared to renting with a company at the airport.

Lodging

After looking into prices of WDW itself and local Air BNB’s, we took the advice from a wonderful neighbor that travels often to WDW and stayed at the Windsor Hills Resort in a great 3 bedroom townhouse that was a great size for our family. It had a bunk bed with a trundle underneath upstairs, plus another master suite upstairs. We had a heated pool, plus the resort also had a huge pool, splash pad and water slide. The townhouse itself was extremely clean and well stocked. The host was very quick to respond to us the whole time as well. We would stay there again.

There were so many places to choose from and so many with amazing themed rooms. We chose not to stay at one, as with 3 kids one kid was always going to be disappointed with the themed rooms… plus I knew that all three would sleep together in the same room, so I didn’t feel it was needed. That said, if you are able to, the themed room houses look like so much fun!

Magic Kingdom

Man. Was this just one of the most amazing days ever. So to begin with, some absolutely amazing and wonderful family friends met us at Magic Kingdom to surprise our kids. We were so thankful that they were there and we literally couldn’t have done this park without them do to some of the heigh restrictions with our youngest (who is just about 37.5” tall in shoes).

We used a service called Mimo Trips to help us work our way around the park. The day before the experience, you get a text from your guide and they ask you if there are specific things you want to do. I gave them very little guidance as I wasn’t sure what to expect from my kids… told them the heights of the kids, that we wanted to try roller coasters and then let them take it from there. We met them by the Walt Disney statue at 9AM and to my surprise 3 people showed up.

They immediately introduced themselves and asked to push the strollers with the kids. They ask if you want any food, coffee, etc throughout the time and will grab it for you while you are on rides. They then book your lighting pass and get you on anything you’d like. We chose to focus more on rides than shows and no joke…. we made it onto 13 rides with a few stops for snacks along the way. They would book us onto one and then would be booking the next experience while we were on the ride. They dropped us off at the entrance of each ride, took both strollers, then met us at the exit. We literally chugged through the day, as the kids just wanted to go on as many rides as they could! The best part was I didn’t have to think through anything. They just took us where we were going next. No planning, standing in long lines and worrying the whole time. It was magic.

When the time came for us to leave them around 3PM, they also continued to book us rides into the early evening to ensure that our fun didn’t stop. It was honestly wonderful as a mom to have the mental break and to be able to be fully present with my kids.

I haven’t laughed that hard and smiled so much in such a long time. My cheeks hurt at the end of the day.

Plus, we got to spend it with two amazing family friends that literally made the experience so much more wonderful. Not only for their company, but also for the help with the kids and alternating people for rides that my youngest wasn’t big enough for. Plus my youngest also had the best time with their daughter, who she calls her best friend (even though she’s 10 and mine is 3). I asked her hey is mama chop liver because they are here and I got an adamant “YES MAMA” in return. I of course laughed pretty hard, because well what else can you do.

Each moment of this day will be remembered as one of my best ever on vacation. For the company, for the magical world of seeing my kids faces on roller coasters, and for the overall experience. I would happily go back, rehire Mimo Trips and do it again.

Animal Kingdom

We again hired Mimo Trips for this excursion into Animal Kingdom. I chose to do a different park on day 2 so that we could see something new and I thought my kids would love the safari ride, which they did. The thing about the other Disney parks except for Magic Kingdom is that they all don’t have a tremendous amount of rides for the little people, so this one made the most sense due to the other activities we could do.

The guide (this time only one) met us in front of the Tree of Life and shortly after the Birds show began. We were watching the Kangaroos by the tree (which tend to only be out first thing in the morning we learned), and next thing you know these beautiful Parrots come flying all around us. Seriously there had to be 20-30 of them. It was such a magical sight to see. The show was Winged Encounters and it was completely unexpected for us, so if you do get to the park first thing in the morning, I do suggest staying to watch this short show.

From there, we went on the Pandora Navi River ride. This was honestly a beautiful journey. The colors from the movie that you see look just as beautiful in person. It is a slow and calm ride which was a nice way to start the day. From there, we headed on the journey towards the Safari ride and made a stop to see the Lion King Show. I wasn’t sure how my kids would react to it. The boys hadn’t been super fans of meeting characters quite yet, but all three were mesmerized. They loved watching the acrobats, they loved the singing and they honestly thought it was cool. I was happy that we stopped to do it. It was again a good way to get started in the morning. From there we journeyed towards the safari ride. I remember this one from being there 5 years ago and it was just as amazing. We saw elephants, giraffes, wildebeests, hippos, a cheetah family, zebras and so many more animals that we wanted to go on the ride again.

We had again packed food for this trip to Animal Kingdom so we ate along the way. This time, we dropped off the strollers (typically at the exit) and the guide would then meet us there. She booked the Pandora Flight of Passage for my oldest son, my husband and myself. My son got to go on it twice while we waited with the other two kiddos. He literally said it was the coolest thing every.

We met Mickey & Minnie, Daisy and saw the Chipmunks. We played the carnival games while my sons went and did a few roller coasters and we enjoyed the time outside. I love Animal Kingdom, but there are not as many rides, there are more shows and more site seeing of the animals, but it’s still a magical experience.

Crayola Experience

On Thursday it rained pretty heavily, so we did a last minute trip to the Crayola Experience. It is closer to the airport, so about a 30 minute drive from our townhouse. I found a Groupon for tickets that saved us about $50, which was nice. When you walk in, you get coins/tickets for items throughout which included free Name printed crayons, clay in the color that you chose, and a Scrubbie Pet.

Inside, you can color at many different stations. You can take your picture to be printed and then color your picture. They had a scavenger hunt too. They had a section where you could melt crayons and make a crayon into a smiley face or a car which was exciting. They also had a section where you get a paper plate and it spins in a machine that you can control how fast it spins to melt the crayon and make a design (this was a favorite for me). One of the kids favorite sections was when you could color a car or a person and then scan it and it came to life on a big projector screen of what you drew. That was pretty exciting… so much to the point that the said this was the best part of the trip. There was the Scrubbie station where they colored the owl that was given to us and then washed it off. Plus they had a whole play zone with slides and tubes and such for them to play in. We spent about 2-3 hours there and the kids loved it. It was a great activity to still do something on a dreary day.

LegoLand

So if you didn’t know, my kids are super into legos. They love building legos, they love seeing legos and they play with legos all day long. Therefore going to Legoland was a must. I read a ton of reviews online that said it wasn’t worth it to buy the Fastpass as Legoland is not very busy, so we chose not to use MimoTrips and we chose not to get the Fast Pass. I also looked up coupon codes for Legoland and was able to find a buy one get one child free for $144 instead of the $99/ticket.

This would have gotten us into the park and the water park, but it was a bit chilly for the water park and mom and dad were exhausted so we chose to avoid that area. That said, the BOGO still saved us some money, so I highly suggest looking up coupons if you plan to head here. The best part of this park is that it is small and the rides are meant for little people. My boys rode roller coasters over and over because the lines were so short. My daughter loved looking at all of the different rides and she even did a few coasters too! The kids got their faces painted which they loved and the park had great recreations of cities in legos too that were cool to see. Legoland is about an hour drive from Disney, but for my family it was well worth it. Don’t get the fastpass, it’s not worth the money and make sure to look up coupon codes for tickets.

Dining

We did a few Disney experiences for eating throughout our trip. Some were worth the cost and others not so much.

1. Snacks / Lunch in the Parks - So we had stopped at the grocery store upon arrival and I purchased snacks for both the adults and kids for each day at the parks. I packed fresh fruit and veggies and a few sandwiches so that everyone could eat and make it to our scheduled lunch. I figured that a few days of park food wouldn’t leave us feeling the best, so I thought that this was a good solution for my family. Now, that said, I had bought this folding cooler a few years ago for a beach vacation that has now come with us on every vacation since. It holds so much food. We also got lucky on this vacation that there were ice packs in the freezer as I choose not to bring mine with.

2. Cinderella’s Castle - Magic Kingdom - This experience was 100% worth it. It was in Magic Kingdom and we had the reservation booked for 2:45 PM due to the experience we had with our guides. I didn’t expect any characters to be there, but as we walked in we immediately saw Cinderella. Now not only was my daughter shocked to see a princess, my two boys hid behind me while I filmed her (and then not realizing it, our wonderful friend (Amy), filmed all three kids, including the boys hiding behind me). My daughter was so excited to meet Cinderella and give her a hug and wear a fancy dress. The boys, when asked why they wouldn’t say hi to her answered “She’s too pretty.” I mean how silly is that! They then went and hid again when I asked them to take a pic with her. Moving onto our lunch though, it’s a pre-fixed menu that both adults and kids get to choose from. The food was very good and the concept of dining in a castle was wonderful. My kids said multiple times that it was their favorite meal.

3. T-Rex Cafe - Disney Springs - We had a scheduled lunch reservation for here the day after Magic Kingdom, as we needed a down and easy day. The kids were amazed walking in at the huge dinos. They thought the ice age area was very cool and also liked the meteor shower that occurs every 20 minutes. The food was decent (think burgers and fries), but this one was all about the experience for the kids. Lunch wasn’t that expensive for a family of 5 (I think about $80), which was also nice. The bonus was it’s right across from the Lego Store that has an outdoor lego playing area that we literally spent maybe 2-3 hours at.

4. Boma - Animal Kingdom Lodge - We booked this one last minute as something fun to do on a rainy day. We walked outside to look for the animals, and while we didn’t see any, my kids enjoyed the experience. The food was a buffet style and everything was to be expected. The atmosphere was also a typical buffet, but in the Animal Kingdom Lodge, my kiddos asked a bunch of questions about the different things they saw, so we took it as a learning experience. I did feel that for a buffet the price of the meal with tip was much more expensive than what I would have wished to spend. I likely would’t do this one again.

5. Ohana - Polynesian Village - I was so excited that I was able to get this reservation. From everything I read it is a great restaurant. We ended up going at the end of the day for dinner, which was a push a little too far for all of us due to how tired we were. That said, I was also astonished at how much food they bring you as a family style dining. You can order anything that you want and extra of it… but for a family of 5 with three small kids, they brought out so much that we wouldn’t have ever been able to get through even 1/4 of it. There were dishes that were really good and others that were so-so. The server was a little annoyed as we didn’t give (my forget-fullness, as they are all new) all of my husbands allergies, which turned out to be in most of the food. She then didn’t offer us to order chicken tenders and fries for the kids until they were refusing to eat and melting down a bit. It wasn’t the best experience and I left feeling a bit angry as to how much food goes to waste, because as I looked around they bring the same amount of food to all the tables. Throwing that much food away made me upset, which wasn’t the best feeling. So although some of the dishes were good, the price was really expensive and… I likely wouldn’t go back to dinner here.

If you have any specific questions on our trip, I’m an open book and would be happy to share with you! Just reach out via text/call at 630-251-0382 or email me by clicking below. If you are planning a trip, have a magical time!