For a year we have been planning and saving for Disney. We knew that after YL75 was a great time to go, so for an entire year for everyone's birthdays and Christmas we gave money and gift cards towards Disney. It was hard for the kids and took some vision and sharing, but they did well and were super excited to go. So on the last day of YL75, my mom flew down to Florida with the kids.
We crammed into our hotel room at the Mariott and got a bright and early start on Sunday morning.
We moved from the Marriot over to the All Sports Resort.
We did 4 days of parks - Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. We took one day off in the middle - Tuesday. It was perfect. The kids did so well and we had a great time together as a family. My expectations were high as far as the fun we would have, good behavior and the sheer stamina to do it. We did it! I realize that people go to Disney often, but this was definitely a trip for us that we may not do again. It was worth every penny and we made some seriously fun memories.
As to not bore you to tears, there are links below to our days that have pictures and highlights:
And a few things I learned:
- #1 Tip: You should totally go when your birthday is at the end of the trip (my birthday was our last day!). That way, on the last day when everyone is tired and whiny and cranky and just kind of worn out, you can play the "you're ruining my birthday with your whining and crying" card and everyone whips themselves back into shape. Works like a charm.
- Stay at a Disney Resort. We stayed the All Star Sports Resort and it was a great price. With that you get transportation anywhere on Disney you want to go, transportation to and from the airport and your bags checked when you get on the bus to leave. Aside from a quick trip to the grocery store (which you should totally use Uber for) you can get where you need to go around Disney for free.
- Things to take with you/helpful hints:
- backpack: We used our backpack to carry water bottles, snacks and an extra layer of clothing. It weighed less as the day went on which was helpful.
- lunchbox: we used one of the kids lunchboxes to pack pb&j sandwhiches, crackers and cereal bars. That way they didn't get crushed in the backpack with the waters and stuff. It was awesome to have a snack while we waited in line or just need a quick break. Snacks are what saved us a lot of money.
- portable phone charger: By the time I used the Disney App all day plus used my phone as a camera, my battery was dead by the middle of the afternoon. I would charge it with one of those portable chargers for about 30 minutes and would be back in business. This was a huge bonus.
- fast passes: because of the way we got our tickets, we couldn't do fast passes ahead of time. BUT we got what we could when we entered the park. Even if it wasn't exactly what we were looking for, it was still nice to fast pass through a couple of rides and move on.
- go in the off season: seriously, the longest we waited in line for anything was 45 minutes and that was not a regular wait time. Average wait time was 30 minutes or less. We even rode some roller coasters twice and did the Animal Kingdom safari 3 different times during the day.
- wireless internet: The parks and resorts have free wireless internet. It's super helpful to the old data plan.
- uber: We ubered (instead of taking a taxi) all week while we were at YL75 and twice while we were at Disney. It's fast, easy and awesome. Do it!
- food money: I went back and forth a lot on the meal plan. I ended up not getting it. So I budgeted the same amount daily that it would've cost to use the meal plan. It gave us some flexibility about where we could eat. I got yogurt, bagels and apples for the mornings. We ate lunch at a quick service spot and then had a good dinner in the evening. Two of our dinners were character dinners which were super expensive. But the other nights were mostly normal take-a-family-of-4 to a decent dinner. It all seemed to balance out in the end and I didn't break the bank at all on food.
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