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Mrs. Midcoast

Mom Blogger - Musings from the Heart of America

Adventures

Our Epic Walt Disney World as a Family with Four Small Children Summer Adventure

June 11, 2017
family in front of cinderella's castle on main street

family in front of cinderella’s castle on empty main street

Welcome to the official Mrs. Midcoast “How to do Walt Disney World AND have fun with 4 young kids of various genders” blog post. 

While researching for our Epic Disney trip I found LOTS of information on various topics. One I did not find any info on though was doing Disney with a big family (6) that includes 4 young children of different genders and ages. There are tons of how to do Disney with a baby, how to do Disney Cheap, Disney on a Budget, etc. I had to pull info from every source I knew in order to make a decent plan for our trip.

So a few things you need to know first about this post.

  1. This is not the only way to do Disney, there really is no right or wrong way to do it. This is just our best way with FOUR young kids ages 9, 7, 4 & 1 year old with a mix of boys and girls.
  2. Disney World is not cheap, there is no cheap way to do Disney (and also have fun with 4 young kids). There is a less expensive, middle and more expensive way. We did the Middle expensive way, more on why and how we did it that way later.
  3. Priorities for families are all different.  If you just have little girls, you can stick to Princesses and be in and out in a few days. Just Teenagers, then thrill rides are where you will be. If you have a 9 year old boy, a 6 year old boy, a 4 year old girl and a 1 year old baby like us then you are all over the place, and you need a plan!  A really great plan and a decent backup plan doesn’t hurt either.  I searched and really found no dedicated info for Families of 6 which is why I am writing this.  Hopefully it will help a family or two 🙂
meet Donald Duck in Mexico at EPCOT

meet Donald Duck in Mexico at EPCOT

Disney World is a super fun place, but you have to do a few things to make it FUN! and stress free, especially with four young children.

  1. Plan your trip 1 year in advance. This may sound crazy, but seriously if you don’t plan ahead you won’t get restaurant reservations, fast passes or special event tickets and then you will have to stand in long lines and fight crazy crowds and miss lots of fun stuff, you’ll be discouraged and probably won’t ever want to go back to Disney. I cannot stress this enough, plan, plan, plan!!!
  2. Pay for convenience.  Time is money people! Convenience at Disney is going to cost you. In my opinion, it’s worth it to pay for extra things like Desert Parties, Character meals and On-site resorts. It will save you so much time walking and waiting which leads to a fun happy trip.
  3. Visit the parks First thing in the morning and leave by noon. Every day for 7 days like clockwork at noon the kids where begging to go back to the hotel pool. It gets super hot and super crowded so quit while your still ahead. With little kids you just can’t expect to do all day at the park. Heck, I needed to head back to the hotel for a nap.  3-4 hours of morning overstimulation is plenty for the kids. Head back to the hotel for a nap, pool, whatever. Then head back to the park in the evening. This is where the advantage of having an onsite resort comes in. You are leaving the park, but you aren’t leaving Disney World. You are going back to your themed pool and room to continue the fun in a relaxing less crowded environment.
  4. Relax. Realize you aren’t going to be able to do everything (not even close, actually). Disney World is HUGE there are 4 parks and it would probably take a few months to do everything. Take time to look around and enjoy just being in the park. One of my favorite things to do is just push the stroller down main street with my coffee in the morning and soak in the magic.

 

Disney's Art of Animation Lion King Suite

Disney’s Art of Animation Lion King Suite Bedroom

Disney's Art of Animation Lion King Suite bed

Disney’s Art of Animation Lion King Suite Bed

Hotel: The great debate of On-site Disney Resorts vs Off-Site Non-Disney 

Pros of On-Site with a family of 6 people:

  1. No car rental needed & no carseats to deal with. Disney Magical Express bus picks you up from the airport and drops you off at your hotel. You don’t even have to get your checked luggage, they deliver it directly to your room. For a family of 6 for a week stay at Disney this saves about $1200 in renting a Mini-Van. Plus it saves having to park at the Disney Parks which is currently $40 a day. So to rent a car and park for our family would be at least $211 a day. I’d rather spend that money on the Resort Hotel.
  2. Monorail, Boat and Bus transportation to and from the parks at any time during the day. With little kids it is necessary to take a midday break. We hit the parks right at opening and then leave by noon when the parks get jam packed and super hot. Then we head back to the parks around 5:00 when it is less crowded. Some off-site hotels have shuttles, but as of now they only operate in the morning and evening, so if you want to leave the park in the afternoon and then go back it’s not really possible. The Monorail and Boat you don’t have to fold your stroller, but for all of the busses you have to get the kids out of the stroller and fold it up. Even if you are the only ones on the bus, it’s the law. 
  3. FastPass+. When staying On-site you get to book FastPass+ 60 days in advance so you get the best pick of rides and times. Off-Site guests don’t get to book FastPass+ until 30 days in advance.
  4. Free luggage transfer for Split Stays. There are so many hotels at Disney, it’s hard to choose. More on our Disney Resort Split-Stay later, but if you change to another Disney Resort during your stay they move your bags from one hotel to the other for you while you are at the Parks having fun.
  5. Extra Magic Hours. The Early morning extra magic hour is the only one that matters with young kids. Priceless though. You can get more done in that Extra hour than you can in 2 regular hours. And you have babies so you are up early anyway. Use the Extra Magic Hours!!!!
  6. Never leaving the “Disney Bubble”.  You’re going to Disney to get away from reality and staying On-Site is the only way to never leave the fun bubble. Especially fun with themed rooms and pools. This makes such a difference in my opinion. I just never want to leave the Disney fun while I’m there.

Pros of off-site:

  1. Good for teenagers or going to Universal Studios and other places besides Disney. Most likely in a few years when we go back with older kids it might make more sense to rent a house, which is what we normally do on our adventures. Until we are at least out of strollers we won’t consider it.  The Disney hotels are just part of the experience for us.
Disney's Art of Animation Lion King Suite table

Disney’s Art of Animation Lion King Suite Table

 

 

Where to SAVE money at Disney

Park Tickets:

  1. Parksavers.com (can usually find tickets buy 4 get 3 days free) So 7 days for the price of 4 days is a great deal. We paid $2022 total for 2 adults and 3 kids for 7 park hopper days (kids 2 and under are free). Booked Directly through Disney would have cost $2518, so thats a $496 savings. Disney raises prices each year so this price has probably already gone up. 
  2. Buying tickets direct through Disney is actually more expensive. Parksavers buys discounted lots of tickets from Disney and resells them cheaper. If you get your tickets through parksavers you can link them to your Disney Account just like if you buy them through Disney. No difference.

Hotel:

  1. Disney website:  I booked our Art of Animation suite directly through Disney and got the summer discount. I recommend booking the “Room only” through Disney since you can double discount. (Discounted park tickets through Parksavers & Discounted room through either Disney or other booking site). If you book everything through Disney you will only get one discount, either the room or the free dining plan.
  2. Other Hotel Site: I was able to save $150 a night booking the Polynesian from Expedia (the only risk with this is it’s not freely changeable so you better be sure of your dates before purchasing) Going directly through Disney you can adjust the dates much easier if needed, but I was willing to risk it to save $150 a night for this trip. The hotel still links up to your magic bands and is just like you got it through Disney. We stayed at the Poly for 3 nights so Expedia saved us $450

Planning:

  1. Touringplans.com : get a membership to this website! It’s $15 and is amazing!  You type in what you want to do each day at the parks and schedules the day for you with the best times to do everything with the least amount of walking and waiting. It was seriously well worth the money. It calculated everything perfectly and we printed out our personalized park maps for each day and we were set. Since we had so many people doing different things for their FP+ it was nice to have.
  2. Disney Authorized Travel Agent: I personally don’t recommend using them for a large family that wants to do lots of different things. There are many Disney travel agents (they are paid a commission from Disney so you don’t pay for them directly). We started working with one, but it was stressful having a middle man and I just didn’t like not having control over my whole trip so we ditched the agent and did touring plans instead.  But they are free right??? Nothing is free!!! If you are booking your hotel and tickets through another website you will loose those hotel & park ticket discounts if you use a travel agent because they will book through Disney. So in a roundabout way you are paying for them even if not directly. The agents can still get you the Disney offered discounts if they are available though. If you hate planning and don’t plan on splitting the family up for FP+ and don’t care about the discounts from other websites, then yes, totally use the travel agents in that case it would be beneficial for you. I LOVE planning so just couldn’t let go of the control, eek!

Disney Visa:

  1. If you get a Disney Visa card you get a $200 statement credit. I signed up for one and so did my husband. So we paid for our tickets and rooms with the card and saved $400. Then paid the cards in full and cancelled them when we got back from the trip. Only do this if you are good at not having debt. If you can’t pay off the card immediately then don’t do it or you will end up paying more for your trip in interest rates. Do not get into credit card debt ever!
  2. There are special character meet & greets for Disney Visa cardholders. Kinda like having an extra FP+ for certain characters.
  3. 10% off merchandise purchases over $50 at the park stores.
Disney's Art of Animation Lion King Suite kitchen

Disney’s Art of Animation Lion King Suite Kitchen

 

Dining Plan, Yes or No????………..I say No. Why?

  1. Because you loose your other discounts. If you book the dining plan you have to also book your tickets and Hotel through Disney, so you loose the Hotel & Park ticket discounts through the other websites. Sometimes there is “free dining”. I’ve priced it out and for a family of 6 people it still is less expensive to buy dining on your own and get the discount on the hotel room and tickets.
  2. Gardengrocer.com – Order all the groceries you want to your hotel room so you don’t have to make the trek to the cafeteria every time one of your kids proclaims out of nowhere that they are “starving to death”.  All Disney Hotel rooms have decent sized mini fridges. I’ll post my grocery list later on.
  3. Ugh, the Cafeteria. Dealing with kids in cafeteria style settings is just not my thing. Plus, my kids don’t eat as much when they are distracted by other kids running around. Then they would be hungry like 30 minutes later so I end up paying for food they don’t eat and then having to buy more food. I much prefer eating in the room with just our family rather than loading up the whole crew to go fight with them in the crowded cafeteria and deal with meal plans and who gets what and where to sit. Some families may like this, but it’s just not for us.
Disney's Art of Animation Lion King Suite bed

Disney’s Art of Animation Lion King Suite table turns into a bed at night

Groceries Delivered to your resort room: Convenient and less expensive, a win win!!

We ordered milk, deli meat, bread, peanut butter, honey, jelly, cheese, yogurt, lots of fruits & veggies, granola bars, muffins, donuts, crackers, popcorn, juice, gallons of spring water (florida water is really gross and I’m NOT a water snob), snacks, lots of beer and wine. We were stocked for 7 days in our mini fridge. We packed food for the parks each day so we never bought a meal at the parks. I’m guessing this saved us a ton of money. A couple of days we did a few snacks like Mickey Pretzels and Mickey ice cream bars, but those are so cheap compared to actual meals in the park. And we probably saved a few hundred dollars on alcohol. The pool bar isn’t cheap. Beer is $8.25 and cocktails are $9.50-$18.00 each not including gratuity.

 

Where to SPEND money at Disney

I’m not a super cheap person but I don’t like to pay for stuff when I can save money.  So I don’t recommend these lightly. At Disney, time is money and when you have 4 kids in tow there are certain things that are well worth spending money on to save you time, headaches, meltdowns and your sanity.

Character Meals. you’re paying for the characters, not the food (even though most of the food is pretty good, it’s not “$60+ a person good”). I recommend doing the Breakfast for all Character meals EXCEPT “Be Our Guest” because the only time you can meet the Beast Character is at dinner.

Tips for Character meals:

  1. Split the group if you can. My boys were not at all interested in eating with princesses, which was totally fine with me! At $60+ per adult and $35+ per kid, I was totally fine with NOT paying for them. It was a fun time for just me and Eloise to chill with the princesses. The boys went souvenir shopping and did rides while we ate with the princesses at Cinderella’s Royal table and Akershus.
  2. Breakfast is better than dinner! Breakfast is less expensive than dinner. Kids are in a better mood earlier in the day. It gets you in the park before it opens to get a jump start on the crowds (for the restaurants that are actually in the parks of course)

Ohana (Polynesian Resort): My review: this is really fun. we LOVE Stitch so it was great! Characters: Stitch, Lilo, Mickey, Goofy, Pluto. As of now, this is the only place you can meet Stitch.

Ohana Character Breakfast with Stitch

Ohana Character Breakfast with Stitch

 

 

Cinderella’s Royal Table (Magic Kingdom): Characters: Cinderella, Jasmine, Ariel, Snow White, Aurora.  My review: Awesome food, fantastic setting, great overall experience. Will do this every visit. This is also the only way to see inside Cinderella’s Castle. BOOK THIS 180 DAYS IN ADVANCE!!!!!

Cinderella's Royal Table Menu

Cinderella’s Royal Table Menu

 

Akershus (Epcot): Characters: Belle, Cinderella, Ariel, Snow White, Aurora (sometimes Mulan or Jasmine). My review: for the price it’s not great food, not that cool of an atmosphere. It was fine but I wouldn’t do it again. Don’t recommend unless you can’t get into Cinderella’s Table, then just do it to meet the Princesses. Or if you don’t have a Fastpass for the Frozen ride. They start running the ride at 8:45 so if you book an early breakfast eat fast and go on the Frozen ride (at 9:05 the ride will have at least a 45 min wait).

meeting Aurora at Akershus Restaurant

meeting Aurora at Akershus Restaurant

 

Be Our Guest (Magic Kingdom) Characters: Beast.  My review: amazing food, amazing atmosphere, just the best place in all of Disney World.  Meet the Beast at Dinner only, request to sit in the West Wing, where the enchanted Rose is. Try the “Grey Stuff”, it’s delicious. As of now this is the only place you can meet The Beast and he is there for DINNER ONLY.  Do this with the whole family. There are NO princesses at this meal BELLE IS NOT THERE (she is at Akershus)!  BOOK THIS 180 DAYS IN ADVANCE!!!!!

Be Our Guest Restaurant Dinner meeting The Beast

Be Our Guest Restaurant Dinner meeting The Beast

Fireworks Dessert Party with Plaza Garden Viewing: this was hands down THE BEST MONEY WE SPENT THE WHOLE TRIP!

  1. NO WAITING FOR FIREWORKS. If you haven’t been to a Disney Park before, the fireworks (it’s more of a Castle light, projection, music fireworks extravaganza) are amazing and in my opinion the best part of the trip. However, it is a massive cluster crowd of people smashed together to watch them. People start staking claim to spots HOURS in advance. With 4 kids there is no way I was interested in staking a claim for hours just to ultimately be squished in and have someone put a kid on their shoulder right in front of me and block the view of the spot I had just staked out for 2 hours. We meandered in to the garden around 8:50 and the fireworks started at 9:00, we had plenty of space to pick a great spot away from other people.
  2. NO CROWDS! Reserved spot in the Plaza Garden with tons of space for the kids to run and play. They limit the number of people able to buy tickets for this event so there is tons on space in the garden. We had a solid ten foot circle around us of NOBODY for the whole fireworks show!
  3. Sit or stand. If you are not in a reserved spot then you have to stand because everyone stands and just pray that nobody taller than you stands in front of you. And you will be shoulder to shoulder with the crowd. In the reserved section we were able to leave the baby and 4 year old in the stroller and sit on the grass to watch the fireworks.
  4. Good Location. For the fireworks you don’t want to be too close to the castle or too far away from it. I wouldn’t go any closer than the “partner’s statue”. The garden is actually the perfect distance from the Castle to watch the fireworks. Not to close, not too far.
  5. Desserts. Meh, they were good, but who are we kidding, we booked this for the view.  But as a rundown there was all sorts of fancy deserts, an ice cream bar, make your own cupcake, drinks of every flavor, cheeses and fruits. The food is not worth $60 per adult and $35 per kid, that we paid for the show which goes on rain or shine.

 

fireworks dessert party viewing location. so much space to stretch out and watch the Disney Fireworks!

fireworks dessert party viewing location. so much space to stretch out and watch the Disney Fireworks!

fireworks plaza garden viewing

fireworks plaza garden viewing

 

Daily Park Visiting Schedule:

  1. Arrive before the park opens. It’s less crowded, lower temperatures, better lighting, etc. You will have to wait in a security checkpoint line, then a line to get into the park. The lines can get long in the morning. Be through them by 15 min prior to park opening if not earlier. Depending on the Hotel you are staying at and the Park you are going to it can take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour to go from your hotel room to the inside of the park.
  2. Go start riding, meandering or doing whatever you want to do before the park gets it’s second wave of guests (late sleepers) around 10:00.  From 9-10 am most rides except the usuals that always have a long wait (mine train, princesses, splash, space, thunder, etc.) should have a 0-15 minute wait.
  3. At 10:00 longer lines will start to form so schedule your Fastpass+ windows to start at 9:30, 10:30 & 11:30. Then you will actually use your Fastpass+ rides at 10:30, 11:00 and 11:30.
  4. At 12:00 all the really late sleeper guests will arrive at the park, it will get really crowded and really HOT, the kids will start complaining or falling asleep and you will want to get the heck out of there! After your last Fastpass+ is used schedule another one for the evening at whatever park you want to visit that night.
  5. Back to Hotel to eat, chill, nap, pool, etc.
  6. Head back to the park in the evening for another Fastpass+ night rides & Fireworks.
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train Photopass

Seven Dwarfs Mine Train Photopass

Disney's Polynesian Village Resort Niue Longhouse

Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort Niue Longhouse

 

 

Ok, so now that we’ve gotten the basics out of the way, here are some other general tips to make your trip way “funner”.

Spend at least 7 Days at the Parks: it seems like a long time when you say it out loud, but if you plan on only spending the mornings in the parks and a few evenings then it’s not really. There are 4 different parks: Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom. So one day at each park is already 4 days.

Room request: request a room on the first floor closest to transportation to minimize walking. Disney resorts are extremely large and spread out. You will be walking all day at the parks, the last thing you want is a 15 minute walk from the bus to your hotel room on your way back. Check Touringplans.com  for all hotel maps and room views so you know which room to request for your resort. This is seriously an AMAZING planning tool. If you pick the right room it saves so much time and walking.

Photopass: We did buy the PhotoPass (it was $150 at the time) and glad that we did it. I didn’t want to deal with my fancy-pants camera in the parks because I wanted to just concentrate on having fun and being with the family for our first trip. I did take my iPhone so that’s what most of my pictures are taken with. I do recommend it if you are there for 5-7 days and plan on meeting lots of Characters. If you are only there for 3 or so days it probably isn’t worth it since the price is still the same, but you don’t get as many pictures. We had over like 780 pictures from PhotoPass at the end of the trip so that was worth it. The photographers did a decent job, not perfect or amazing, but good enough. Lots of the Character meets have really wonky lighting and the PhotoPass photographers have their cameras already set up for that lighting. I would have been messing with camera settings too much and would have missed out on the fun.

Clothing: Have fun with your outfits!!! Honestly, this is one of my favorite parts of vacation planning. I know we are going to be taking lots of pictures so I don’t want everyone in t-shirts and gym shorts. I’ll do a whole blog post on how I plan vacation attire for the family that coordinates. The quick rundown though is to coordinate, not “match” the whole family. Have a theme for each day depending on the Characters you will be seeing and the park you are going to and go from there. My favorite places to get coordinating clothes for the kids are Target, Old Navy & Gap. Mostly shopping online for more options and better coupon codes.  Clothing for the hubby is usually Banana Republic, JCrew and Target character t-shirts. My clothing is usually from various places like Bloomingdales, Nordstrom, ASOS, and Target.

Dressing kids in the same clothing: Not just for fun, but also good for spotting kids in a crowded park. It is way easier to spot your kids if you know exactly what they are wearing. Super easy if you dress them the same. My boys pretty much always wore the same outfit. They are too young to care still thank goodness. It was nice to be able to immediately pick them out of the crowd if they wanted to walk ahead  or behind a few steps.

Waiting: don’t ever wait in a line longer than 30 minutes. We didn’t, and we skipped a lot of rides, but we had way more fun than if we would have waited in line for 45 minutes for a 5 minute ride. When we were there the Frozen ride had a 3 hour wait!!!! that’s insane. We had a Fastpass+ for it so we walked right on, and it’s a neat ride, but there is no way in heck I would wait longer than 30 minutes for it. No ride at Disney or anywhere in my opinion is worth more than 30 minutes of my time to wait, so we just didn’t.

Touringplans.com : get a membership to this website! It’s $15  for a year and is amazing!  You type in what you want to do each day at the parks and schedules the day for you with the best times to do everything with the least amount of walking and waiting. It was seriously well worth the money. It calculated everything perfectly and we printed out our personalized park maps for each day and you are set. Since we had so many people doing different things for their FP+ it was nice to have. There are lots of free Disney travel agents out there (they are paid a commission from Disney so you don’t pay for them directly,) we started working with one, but it was stressful having a middle man and I just didn’t like not having control over my whole trip so we ditched the agent and did touring plans instead.  Again, you will probably loose your discounts if you use one of these travel agents so yes, in a roundabout way you are paying for them even if not directly.

Character Autographs: we got a photo mat board and had the characters sign in different colors. The characters thought it was funny and now we can frame a family picture from the trip and have it on the wall. The Characters are hilarious and amazing actors.

Grocery Delivery to your room: I’m mentioning this again because it was a lifesaver. Having lots of food in the room was great. Super convenient and saved tons of $$$.

Rider Switch Passes: If you have a baby take advantage of the Rider swap at Disney. We were wangle to get 4 Fastpasses for the Seven Dwarves Mine Train because we used Rider Switch.

How to do Rider Switch Example:

  1. Book a FP+ for Dad & 2 Boys for Mine Train at 11am
  2. book FP+ for mom, daughter and baby for Ariel Meet and Greet at 11am (same time)
  3. At 11:00 the whole family goes to Mine Train FP+ lane and ask for a “Rider Switch Pass” (they have to see the baby that cannot go on the ride, they won’t just hand it out).
  4. Boys go on Mine Train, Girls & Baby go meet Ariel.
  5. At the end of the Mine Train ride they will give the Dad a FP+ that is good for 3 people to ride again anytime during your stay.
  6. So even if Mom doesn’t want to go on the ride, Dad can take the boys back in the FP+ lane again that day or any other day of your vacation.

starbucks ariel little mermaid coffee cup

 

 

 

Our 7 Day Disney World Itinerary 

Day #0 Travel Schedule

10:00 Flight from Kansas City to Orlando

2:00 take magic Express to Resort

3:00 Check in to Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort Chill, eat, visit the pool

9:00 watch fireworks from Polynesian

flying with kids

Off like a herd of turtles

flying with kids

we love southwest airlines

what did people do on flights before iPads?

what did people do with kids on flights before iPads?

flying with kids and babies

peekaboo baby liam

Disney's Magical Express Bus

Disney’s Magical Express Bus

Disney's Magical Express Bus

Disney's Magical Express Bus

disney's polynesian village room

We were welcomed by a few of Donald Ducks friends 🙂

disney's polynesian village pool

poolside at the Polynesian

polynesian village resort patio balcony room

loved sitting on the patio watching the kids run around the grounds

disney's polynesian village room

 

Day #1 Epcot Schedule

9:30 Late morning – arrive at Epcot ride Living with the Land meander and take pictures get coffee

10:00 FP+ Finding Nemo ride

10:30 FP+ Turtle Talk with Crush show

11:00 walk through the aquarium

11:30 FP+ Test Track (Dad, 9 year boy, 7 year boy)**get second FP+ via Rider Switch***

12:00 it’s hot and crowded, leave park

1-4pm Polynesian Pool, rest

5:00 use Rider Switch FP+ to ride Test Track again (Dad, 9 year boy, 7 year boy)

5:30 FP+ Frozen Ride (Mom, girl) No rider switch with FP+ only with standby, which is odd, but whatever.

6-7pm meander around Epcot world showcase. get some beers and ice cream. Meet Donald Duck in Mexico, Meet Pluto.

Back to Polynesian Resort to watch the Electrical Water Parade Fireworks from the Poly Beach starts at 8:50

monorail to Epcot

monorail to Epcot

Nemo Aquarium at Epcot

Nemo Aquarium at Epcot

The boys acting goofy at EPCOT

The boys acting goofy at EPCOT

hugs from Pluto at EPCOT

hugs from Pluto at EPCOT

meeting princess Anna from Frozen in Norway at EPCOT

meeting princess Anna from Frozen in Norway at EPCOT

meet Queen Elsa in Norway at EPCOT

meet Queen Elsa in Norway at EPCOT

Meet Donald Duck in Mexico at EPCOT

Meet Donald Duck in Mexico at EPCOT

Donald the Number One Duck at EPCOT

Donald the Number One Duck at EPCOT

watching Rowan go down the Volcano Water Slide 100 times from our patio at Disney's Polynesian Village Resort

watching Rowan go down the Volcano Water Slide 100 times from our patio at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort

chilling on our patio at Disney's Polynesian Village Resort

chilling on our patio at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort

the view from our patio at Disney's Polynesian Village Resort

the view from our patio at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort

watching Eloise run around the grounds from our patio at Disney's Polynesian Village Resort

watching Eloise run around the grounds from our patio at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort

watching Magic Kingdom Fireworks from the beach at Disney's Polynesian Village Resort

watching Magic Kingdom Fireworks from the beach at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort

fireworks from the beach at the Polynesian Resort

fireworks from the beach at the Polynesian Resort

Day #2 Schedule for Magic Kingdom. 

8:00-9:00 Cinderella’s Royal Table Breakfast

9:00-10:30 am: Ride Winnie the Pooh, ride Small world, Meet Gaston, ride teacups, ride carousel

10:30 FP+ Space Mountain (Dad, 9 year boy, 7 year boy)**get second FP+ via Rider Switch***

10:30 FP+ Meet Ariel (Mom, girl, baby)

11:00 FP+Peter Pan

11:30 FP+Mine Train (Dad, 9 year boy, 7 year boy)**get second FP+ via Rider Switch***

11:30 FP+Under the Sea ride (Mom, girl, baby)

12:00 meander back up main street look in a few shops and leave the park

1-4pm Polynesian Pool, rest time

Quinn sitting on Walt Disney's Lap at Magic Kingdom at 7:45 am

Quinn sitting on Walt Disney’s Lap at Magic Kingdom at 7:45 am

the boys loved looking in all the cool shops on Main Street USA and insisted I take their picture in front of each one

the boys loved looking in all the cool shops on Main Street USA and insisted I take their picture in front of each one

cinderella castle empty main street

Me & Brendan in front of Cinderella’s Castle photo credit Rowan, he actually has come in handy taking pictures of us 🙂

family picture in front of cinderella castle

Cinderella’s Castle again. I could just chill by this castle all day long!

Breakfast with the Princesses at Cinderella's Castle

The ONE, the ONLY Princess Cinderella at her Castle! (actually we met 3 different Cinderellas during our trip and they were all different people) Eloise didn’t seem to notice 🙂

cinderella royal table menu

cinderella royal table menu

looking out the window of Cinderella's Castle

looking out the window of Cinderella’s Castle

inside Cinderella's Castle

inside Cinderella’s Castle

it's a small world ride

Rowan on it’s a small world ride

it's a small world ride

Quinn on it’s a small world ride

it's a small world ride

Liam on it’s a small world ride

meeting Gaston at Disney World

Eloise smitten by Gaston (he is one of the BEST characters at Disney)

 

meeting Ariel with the tail at her Grotto

meeting Ariel with the tail at her Grotto was pretty cool.

souvenir shopping at Magic Kingdom

souvenir shopping at Magic Kingdom

stitch stuffed animal

Rowan and his Stitch

taking a break for some Mickey Ice Cream Bars

taking a break for some Mickey Ice Cream Bars

Liam's First Mickey Bar

Liam’s First Mickey Bar

checking out the parade on our way out of Magic Kingdom

checking out the parade on our way out of Magic Kingdom

 

polynesian resort kids pool playground

Disney’s polynesian resort kids pool playground

 

Disney's Polynesian Resort Room

Disney’s Polynesian Resort Room

Patio at Disney's Polynesian Resort Room

Patio at Disney’s Polynesian Resort Room

Polynesian resort volcano slide

Disney’s Polynesian resort volcano slide

Disney's Polynesian resort kids water playground

Disney’s Polynesian resort kids water playground

volcano pool disney's polynesian resort

volcano pool disney’s polynesian resort

Day #3 Schedule for Animal Kingdom

7:45 Bell service picks up bags to move to new hotel

8:00 Character Breakfast at Ohana (at the Polynesian Hotel)

9:00 leave for Animal Kingdom via bus

9:45 FP+ Kilimanjaro Safari

10:30 FP+ Navi River journey

11:00 Festival of the Lion King Show

11:45 FP+Kali River Rapids (Dad, 9 year boy, 4 year old girl)**get second FP+ via Rider Switch***

12:00 Get Ice cream at the Anandapur Ice Cream Truck

12:30 Meet Pocahontas

12:50 FP+Dinosaur (Mom, 7 year old boy)**get second FP+ via Rider Switch***

1-2:00 Use Rider Switch FP+ to ride Kali River & Dinosaur again

3:00 leave park to check into new hotel Art of Animation

Evening- Chill at new hotel

meet Mickey Mouse at Ohana Character Breakfast

Quinn is super excited to meet Mickey Mouse at Ohana Character Breakfast

meeting Lilo at Ohana Character breakfast

and now Quinn is mad that I made him take a picture next to Lilo, a GIRL Character…..oh the horror!

Liam meeting Pluto at Ohana Character breakfast

Liam meeting Pluto at Ohana Character breakfast

 

Family Meeting Stitch at Ohana Character Breakfast

Family Meeting Stitch at Ohana Character Breakfast

Kids on Killamanjaro Safari at Animal Kingdom

Kids on Killamanjaro Safari at Animal Kingdom

kids on the Kilimanjaro Safari

kids on the Kilimanjaro Safari

Family Selfie on the Kilimanjaro Safari

Family Selfie on the Kilimanjaro Safari

Anandapur Ice Cream Truck at Animal Kingdom

Anandapur Ice Cream Truck at Animal Kingdom

Quinn got a little wet on the Kali River Rapids Ride

Quinn got a little wet on the Kali River Rapids Ride

Me and Rowan in front of Expedition Everest

Me and Rowan in front of Expedition Everest

Meeting Baloo and King Louie at Animal Kingdom

Meeting Baloo and King Louie at Animal Kingdom

 

meeting Pocahontas at Animal Kingdom

meeting Pocahontas at Animal Kingdom

The grounds at the Art of Animation Resort

Quinn is pointing up at the giant Timone, Pumba and Simba, just in case you didn’t see them. The grounds at the Art of Animation Resort were pretty fun.

Nemo pool splash pad at the Art of Animation Resort

Nemo pool splash pad at the Art of Animation Resort

Nemo pool at the Art of Animation Resort

Nemo pool at the Art of Animation Resort

Nemo pool at the Art of Animation Resort

Eloise being Ariel at the Nemo pool at the Art of Animation Resort

seahorse at the Nemo pool splash pad at the Art of Animation Resort

Quinn battling the seahorse at the Nemo pool splash pad at the Art of Animation Resort

Day #4 Schedule for Hollywood Studios (AM) and Magic Kingdom (PM)

9:00 Chill morning (with NO FP+)walk around and look at star wars stuff

9:30 meet Chewbacca

9:45 meet BB-8

10:00 watch March of the First Order

10:30 Meet Goofy

10:45 meet Chip n Dale

11:00 we planned to see the Beauty and The Beast Live Show, but the baby was asleep in the stroller. (taking an upset baby into a live play is a REALLY BAD IDEA. Just FYI, nobody will have fun and the show will be ruined for you and everyone around you. This is a situation of rolling with the punches. Anytime the baby falls asleep in the stroller a great “backup plan” is to go get in line to meet a character. Most character lines you can keep your baby in the stroller. ALL Shows, Character Dining and Rides will have “stroller parking” and you will have to carry your baby through the lines. 

11:00 “Backup Plan” meet Olaf

11:30 “Backup Plan” meet Daisy

12:00 out of park back to hotel

12-3:00 pool/nap at hotel

3:00 leave for Magic Kingdom

4:00 Dinner Reservation at “Be Our Guest” restaurant (requested the West Wing)

5:30 Meet the Beast after dinner

5:45 FP+ Enchanted Tales with Belle

6:30 FP+ Mine Train (Dad, 9 year boy, 7 year boy)**get second FP+ via Rider Switch***

6:45 Meet Winnie the Pooh & Tigger

7:00 Use Rider Switch FP+ to ride Mine Train again, this time with Mom & 2 boys

7:30 FP+ Splash Mountain (Mom, 9 year boy, 7 year boy)**get second FP+ via Rider Switch***

7:45 Use Rider Switch FP+ to ride Splash Mountain again, this time with Dad & 2 boys

8:00 Teacups

8:20 Dessert Party at Tomorrowland Terrace

8:45 head to reserved Plaza Viewing for Fireworks

9:00 Fireworks

10:00 back to hotel

 

Disney world storm troopers

Quinn cheering as some Storm Troopers randomly come around the corner

disney storm trooper characters

Quinn in deep conversation with a Storm Trooper

Jawa at Disney World

Liam contemplating if the Jawa is friend or foe

BB8 at Disney World

Quinn hugging BB8 at Hollywood Studios. He successfully hugged every single character at Disney World!

Family picture with Chewbacca at Hollywood Studios

Family picture with Chewbacca at Hollywood Studios

Chewbacca at hollywood studios

Eloise LOVED Chewbacca. I have to admit he was pretty awesome!

Boys watching March of the First Order

Boys watching March of the First Order

Boys at Hollywood Tower of Terror

Rowan proud that he rode the Hollywood Tower of Terror all by himself (cause Quinn chickened out at the last minute).

meeting goofy at hollywood studios

Eloise dancing with Goofy

warm hugs from Olaf at Hollywood Studios

warm hugs from Olaf at Hollywood Studios

chip n dale at hollywood studios

The Boys asked who was Chip and who was Dale 🙂

posing with Daisy Duck at Hollywood Studios

posing with Daisy Duck at Hollywood Studios

be our guest restaurant menu

be our guest restaurant menu

Enchanted Rose at Be our Guest restaurant

Enchanted Rose at Be our Guest restaurant

Dinner in the West Wing at Be our Guest restaurant

Dinner in the West Wing at Be our Guest restaurant

The Main Ballroom at Be our Guest restaurant. It snows outside the windows.

The Main Ballroom at Be our Guest restaurant. It snows outside the windows.

Beast's Castle at Be our Guest restaurant.

Eloise in awe of the magic at Beast’s Castle at Be our Guest restaurant.

Enchanted Tales with Belle

Dinner by the fireplace in the West Wing at Be Our Guest Restaurant

Dinner by the fireplace in the West Wing at Be Our Guest Restaurant

Beast's Castle at Magic Kingdom

Beast’s Castle at Magic Kingdom

Inside Beast's Castle at Magic Kingdom

Inside Beast’s Castle at Magic Kingdom

Inside Beast's Castle at Magic Kingdom

Inside Beast’s Castle at Magic Kingdom

Enchanted Tales with Belle

Enchanted Tales with Belle

enchanted tales with belle

enchanted tales with belle

enchanted tales with belle

mommy and Liam at enchanted tales with belle

 

waiting for the Fireworks to start at Magic Kingdom

waiting for the Fireworks to start at Magic Kingdom

waiting for the Fireworks to start at Magic Kingdom

waiting for the Fireworks to start at Magic Kingdom

Day #5 Schedule for Magic Kingdom with Morning EMH (Extra Magic Hours)

7:15 at bus stop to leave for park

8:00 meet Tinkerbell, get coffee, take pictures in front of Cinderella’s Castle, meet Merida, meet Alice, ride Teacups, ride Dumbo, ride Small World, meander around

10:00 FP+ Pirates of the Caribbean

10:30 FP+ Jungle Cruise

11:30 FP+ Splash Mountain (Mom, 9 year boy, 7 year boy)**get second FP+ via Rider Switch***

11:30 Dad takes 4 year old girl and baby to meet Aladin & Jasmine

12:00 FP+ Mine Train (Dad, 9 year boy, 7 year boy)**get second FP+ via Rider Switch***

1:00 back to hotel

Tinkerbell in front of Cinderella's Castle at Magic Kingdom

Tinkerbell in front of Cinderella’s Castle at Magic Kingdom

meeting Tinkerbell at Magic Kingdom

meeting Tinkerbell at Magic Kingdom

Pixie Hollow at Magic Kingdom

Pixie Hollow at Magic Kingdom

riding the teacups at walt disney world

Rowan riding the teacups by himself for the 10th time in a row!

Teacups at walt disney world

Teacups at walt disney world

meeting Merida at walt disney world

meeting Merida at walt disney world

Alice in Wonderland at walt disney world

telling secrets with Alice in Wonderland at walt disney world

Riding the teacups at walt disney world

Best day Ever! Riding the teacups AGAIN!

mickey and minnie ears at magic kingdom

mickey and minnie ears at magic kingdom

Aladin at walt disney world

Eloise smitten by Aladin

Aladin and Jasmine at walt disney world

Aladin and Jasmine at walt disney world

waiting to ride Dumbo the Flying Elephant

waiting to ride Dumbo the Flying Elephant

first pair of Mickey ears

Liam in his first pair of Mickey ears

Eloise riding Dumbo at magic kingdom

Eloise riding Dumbo at magic kingdom

mickey ears

look at that face and tummy on Liam

Day #6 Schedule for EPCOT & Hollywood Studios

8:05 Akershus Breakfast (I wouldn’t do this again) Good if you want to get in the park early to ride Frozen without a FP+ (eat fast)

8:50 ride Frozen (no wait if you are in the park early for Breakfast) At 9:05 when they opened the park gates there was already an hour wait…..eeeek

9:15 bus to Hollywood Studios

9:45 sign up for Jedi Training, watch March of the First Order

10:30 FP+ Toy Story (Dad, 9 year boy, 7 year boy)**get second FP+ via Rider Switch***

11:00 meet Minnie and Mickey (magician’s hat) in Red Carpet Dreams

11:30 look at more Star Wars Stuff

12:00 back to hotel (lunch, pool)

5:00 FP+ Frozen Sing Along

6:00 Indiana Jones Show

6:30 Use Rider Switch FP+ to ride Toy Story again (mom and 3 older kids)

7:00 sit and eat Mickey Pretzel on curb and people watch

7:30 FP+ Tower of Terror (Dad, 9 year boy, 7 year boy)**get second FP+ via Rider Switch***

7:45 Use Rider Switch FP+ to ride Tower of Terror again (mom and 9 year old boy)

8:00 too tired for Fantasmic, back to hotel

Breakfast at Akershus

Breakfast at Akershus

accretes breakfast with the princesses

already tired sucking her fingers and twirling her hair

Breakfast at Akershus meeting Aurora

Breakfast at Akershus meeting Aurora

meeting Minnie at Hollywood Studios

meeting Minnie at Hollywood Studios

meeting Mickey Mouse in Hollywood Studios

Liam was obsessed with all of the character’s noses, especially Mickey Mouse.

Star Wars Jedi Training

Quinn fighting the Dark Side at Star Wars Jedi Training

Star Wars Jedi Training

Eloise using the Force agains Darth Vader at Star Wars Jedi Training

Star Wars Jedi Training at hollywood studios

Eloise fighting at Star Wars Jedi Training

Video of Eloise at the Frozen Sing Along. The first 30 minutes of the show were pretty boring for her as Anna appears like once then you are told a “story” by the “village storytellers”. The Storytellers are kind of funny (Rowan, our 9 year old thought it was hilarious). Eloise was asking where Elsa was for 30 minutes, ugh. Elsa finally makes an appearance for the last 5 minutes to sing “Let it Go” and it snows in the theater which was cool. I really want to see the Frozen show at DisneyLand which is a full on theater production, maybe next year 😉

mickey pretzel

Mickey Pretzels are so yummy!!!

chilling in the stroller while the big kids ride the Tower of Terror

chilling in the stroller while the big kids ride the Tower of Terror!!!!

Day #7 Last Day – Magic Kingdom

9:00 coffee and meander main street, Tomorrowland Speedway,

10:00 FP+ Barnstormer (Dad, 9 year boy, 7 year boy)

10:30 FP+ meet Rapunzel & Tiana (mom and 4 year old girl)

10:45 ride teacups again

11:00 FP+ Haunted Mansion (mom, 9 year boy, 7 year boy)

11:30 FP+ ride Peter Pan

12:00 meet Peter Pan character

12:15 Use Rider Switch FP+ (from day 5) to ride Mine Train agiain

12:30 Use Rider Switch FP+ (from day 5) to ride Splash Mountain again

1:00 family picture on Main Street, buy last souvenir, stand on train station platform and say goodbye to Disney World

2:00 Drive to the BEACH!

ride on the Teacups in Wonderland

LAST ride on the Teacups in Wonderland

 

Meeting Peter Pan in Fantasyland

Meeting Peter Pan in Fantasyland. We will never grow up!

peter pan ride at walt disney world

peter pan ride at walt disney world

meeting Rapunzel at disney world

Eloise making wishes with Rapunzel

 

meeting Rapunzel

meeting Rapunzel

Meeting Tiana at Disney World Magic Kingdom

Meeting Tiana at Disney World Magic Kingdom

splash mountain at disney world

Our last ride on Splash Mountain

empty main street family photo

Magic Bands at Disney World

Rally with the Magic Bands at Disney World

one last stop for cotton candy as we leave Disney World

one last stop for cotton candy as we leave Disney World

kids on the Main Street train station platform

kids on the Main Street train station platform just as the fireworks go off!

kids saying goodbye to Magic Kingdom on main street railroad platform

kids saying goodbye to Magic Kingdom, what a fun trip!

main street train station view of cinderella's castle disney world

And that’s a wrap to our Epic Walt Disney World Adventure

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Hi! I'm Sarah, mom of four, living the dream in the MidCoast. This is my journey of moming, crafting, traveling, shoping, saving, living, loving, learning, etc. I'm really good at run-on sentences. I don't have time to proofread and I assume if you are here you are a busy mom as well, so you don't care. Thanks for stopping by!
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Mrs. Midcoast

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