Well, we made it through Disney World, and though we had an extremely magical time, it was nice to finally lay in OUR bed when we got home last Thursday night.
While I’ve been to Disney World a few times in my lifetime, it was Marisa and the kids’ first time, and I like to think it was a memorable first experience to say the least.
Our vacation went by way to fast, but it was definitely one for the ages. Seeing the kids’ expressions and excitement when meeting the characters throughout the parks and our character dining experiences, were some memories that I will cherish forever.
If you are thinking about making this trip and aren’t sure whether to drop the money or not, let me help you out, and tell you to do it. Don’t rush it, because believe me it’s definitely one of those trips you want to save up for, for a year or two before you go, but I promise you it will be worth it.
I’m going to take you through our experiences and what we did and didn’t do, what we liked and didn’t like.
BOOKING YOUR TRIP
So, we booked this trip as soon as the window opened up, which is about a year in advance...we started saving months before that, but to book you only need a $200 deposit, and they you can pay out the trip over the next 10 months, with it having to be paid off 60 days before you embark on your Disney Journey.
I would recommend staying on property at a Disney Resort, especially if you have never been before. Yes, it is expensive, but there are sooooo many perks, it really makes it worth it. We stayed at the Art of Animation Resort, which has themed rooms such as Finding Nemo, Cars, Little Mermaid and Lion King, which is the room we stayed in.
The only transportation you have to pay for is too and from the airport. We used Mears, which made everything super easy. After you book, be on the lookout for deals that come up and do not be shy, if you’re not sure if something will work for you or be in your benefit call Disney and ask, the worst they can say is, No.
We ended up finding a deal, where we had to add the Park Hopper, which we didn’t end up using, but it allowed us to get a free dining plan, which we were able to upgrade for a slight fee to add table service meals. So in the end all but two of our meals were paid for in advance, which helped out a ton.
You can reserve dining and experiences such as Bippity Boppity Boutique 10 days from the first day of your trip, for your whole trip. Just to explain the Park Hopper, which I mentioned before, it just allows you to jump back and forth between parks on a same day.
With staying at a resort, each guest, including the kids, who you paid for a ticket for get a refillable mug that can be refilled at any Disney resort during your stay, which helped save a ton on drinks.
Reservations/Experiences
Again without the dining plan, we would not have been able to eat at all of the places we did, but with that being said, we were able to do four different character dining experiences, and four other restaurants within the parks and Disney Springs.
Also by doing these character dining, we knocked out 17 Character pictures and autographs, which is a huge time saver in the parks.
I’ll start with the Character Dining experiences. For one they were awesome, all of the characters were very interactive when they came to our table and really gave the kids a great experience. The first one we did on our first full day there was Ohana’s, which is located at the Polynesian Resort. There, you get to meet Lilo and Stitch, as well as Pluto and Mickey Mouse.
This is what made me realize that it was going to be OK and no amount of money was worth more than the memories my kids were about to make. Seeing the looks on their faces as I looked back through the pictures we took, when Stitch came up to our table almost made me tear up. Seeing so much happiness on Jaden and Natalia’s faces made it all worth it.
The food was good, each one offered something a little bit different, but I don’t think out of all the meals, that we had a bad meal. Everyone found something they liked at each experience. Ohana’s is a family style type meal, so if you need more of something you just let them know and they bring it right out.
Our next character dining, was on Saturday at Magic Kingdom where we ate at Crystal Palace and got to meet Pooh Bear, Eyore, Tigger and Pigglet. This one was a buffet style, and we got lucky, because of what time our reservation was we got a little bit of breakfast and lunch, both of which were good. This meal Marisa unlocked her inner child and took pictures by herself with Eyore and Pigglet, two of her favorite characters and I took one with Tigger by myself, because he’s my favorite.
Our next Character dining experience came on Monday at Epcot, where we ate at Akershus, which is where we got to meet five different Princesses, while it is kind of a random draw of which princesses you will meet, we got to meet Belle, Ariel, Tianna, Aurora and Snow White. Again, this one is another family style serving, so they bring everything right to your table. The Princesses were great, they stayed and talked with the kids a few minutes after taking pics, before they had to move on to the next table, it was a great experience and the food, again, was delicious.
Our last character dining experience came on our last full day in Florida when we ate at Tusker House in Animal Kingdom. Here we met Safari Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Daisy Duck, Donald Duck and Goofy. The food was great, the characters at this one actually came by twice and the atmosphere, like the others was awesome.
Now to our non-character dining experiences, we ate at Woody’s Roundup BBQ at Hollywood Studios, The Boathouse, House of Blues Rain Forest Cafe and T-Rex, all at Disney Springs.
Woody’s Round up BBQ, may have been the best meal of the whole trip. The food was delicious, it’s hard to beat all you can eat BBQ. And the atmosphere is so cool. You’re in Andy’s room, and every so often, one of the character’s voices from Toy Story will come over the speaker and yell “Andy is coming”. And you have to freeze, and you hear Andy come it on the speaker and find whatever he was looking for and then leave, and then you can move again. It’s just a fun interactive atmosphere.
The Boathouse takes up two table service credits, but you legitimately get to order anything on the menu, so I was able to get a 16 or 17oz Lobster, which is something I wouldn’t even dream of looking at on a menu, if I was paying for it. The food there was excellent and fresh, and our waiter there was easily the best waiter I’ve ever had at any restaurant.
T-Rex we all went to and Rain Forest Cafe, my parents took the kids to so we could go out for anniversary, but T-Rex is basically the dinosaur version of Rain Forest Cafe. Still a very cool atmosphere and the food and drinks were solid there as well. Again, we had another great waitress at T-Rex, who explained how the dining plan worked, because it was our first night there, and was just very patient and all around excellent.
Lastly, Marisa and I went to House of Blues for our Anniversary and it was really good as well. She got a steak and I got a shrimp Po’ Boy, which was really good. It was a cool atmosphere, and definitely somewhere I would go back to, even without the dining plan.
We also ate at Planet Hollywood and Morimoto’s, both also at Disney Springs. We learned that that Planet Hollywood location is the biggest of all of their locations.
We also had great service at each one of our meals that made it all that much more enjoyable. The only thing you have to pay for out of pocket with the dining plan is the tips.
BIPPITY BOPPITY BOUTIQUE
One last thing I’m going to talk about is our experience with Bippity Boppity Boutique. We were on the fence with doing the package we did, or doing the cheapest one, and let me tell you, I’m glad we went with the package we did, which came with a little Crown/Tiara a nice dress, a jewelry set to match the princess she picked, hair and make-up, a necklace that her hair and make-up person presents her after she’s done and then a little photo session with props and effects to match the princess she picked.
Of course, Natalia picked Elsa, it wasn’t even a question, but they can choose from any of the princesses and they have a person, what they call a, “Fairy Godmother in Training,” who walked Nat into the first room to pick out a princess dress and accessories and a hair style and stuff. Then a hair and make-up person comes to get them after they put their dress on and walks them across to “The Castle,” where you get to watch them get their hair and make-up done and they get their nails painted. This is also where they put on all of their accessories that they picked out.
It was emotional watching her get all “Princess-ified.” She looked so grown and beautiful, it was definitely a memory that I will cherish forever. She was so proud of her dress too, a lot of kids changed into something lighter a few hours after their makeover, but Natalia wore that Elsa dress ALL DAY. We tried to talk her into changing, but she said, “No, this is my princess dress.” She even wanted to sleep in it, but luckily we were able to fight her out of it at the end of the day.
I will talk about our experiences at each of the Parks in my next edition of the D.L. with Derek Lopez.