I can finally say I have been to Disney!!! It only took (almost) 40-years, but I made it! Since it was a first for everyone in our family (my husband, son, and I) we decided to go all out. One of the big debates for my husband and I was when would be the most ideal time to take our son. We knew we would be spending a lot of time and money so we wanted to make sure we maximized all we could. First discussion was at what age to take him. We knew we wanted him to remember as much as possible, but still have it as "magical" for him as we could. So this year felt perfect because he was close to 8-years old. The second discussion was what time of year to plan our trip. We knew we didn't want to pull him out of school, we didn't want to go in the summer where the weather is hot and in hurricane season (rainy season), and so that just really left Thanksgiving and Christmas break. We ultimately chose Thanksgiving break because it is supposed to be not AS crowded as Christmas (still one of the busiest times to go though), but still have all the magic of Christmas. The last big discussion was which Disney Park did we want to go to. We were told by several people Disney World is not cheap and it was going to be a hard pill for Amos and I to swallow to spend that kind of money and stay in the country so we debated going to Tokyo Disneyland and knock two birds with one stone by going to a place that has been on our bucket list and going to Disney at the same time. We decided since it was our first time for all of us and our son has been out of the country only once (to Canada) that we didn't want anything to dampen his first experience and we might as well go to the biggest Disney park of them all in Orlando, Florida - Disney World!
Once all of those choices were finalized we used a Disney trip planner recommended by a close friend, Abbey Shafer. I cannot recommend her enough. We really didn't have to lift a finger and she planned and booked everything (see our full itinerary below). Also because it was our first time she had great recommendations and really made sure we were taken care of. For example, she arranged a car for pick up and drop off from the airport and resort, which also included a stop at the grocery store to pick up snacks so we didn't spend a fortune in the park for our kid. She reserved our stroller for us, this was recommended since there is a ton of walking at all the parks (this would probably be the first and last time we do this just due to our child's age and size), but it was really helpful. She even booked all of our dinner reservations and any other bookings like the droid making experience for us. On top of using a planner Amos and I each did a ton of research; my notes app was full with tips and park breakdowns. One of my favorite parts was finding cool Disney apparel, mickey ears, bags, etc. to coordinate with each park we were visiting; my favorite outfit probably being my Star Wars look.
We did all the parks within Disney and even did a day a Universal Studios. We bought lightening lane and single passes for each park and our most desired rides we wanted to go on at the Disney Parks; however, we did not do this for Universal so we waited in long lines there. We were nervous that they would have too many "big" rides and that it would be a waste on us and our son since we are not big roller-coaster riders; we were correct in our assumptions. I would wait until our son is older before we go back to Universal and get him an express pass, but I loved that we went this year for the "magical" experience of the wand selection at Harry Potter. We were jammed packed and did not have any rest days (which I don't recommend), but like I mentioned before we really wanted to do and see it all for our very first time.
We had an absolute blast and we made memories that will last us a lifetime. I would love to go back one day, but I would love to see the other Disney Parks around the world first and maybe plan "mini" trips to the smaller parks (not a full week). Check out our itinerary below and which rides/attractions we did and which ones were part of our lighting lane passes vs. single rider passes (not included with lighting lane).
Disney 2024 Schedule
Sunday (24th)
- 3:00 PM - Check Into Grand Floridian
- 4:00 PM - Mickey’s Very Merry Xmas Party at Magic Kingdom
- Rides/Attractions We Did
- Jungle cruise
- Magic carpet ride
- Tiana’s bayou adventure
- It’s a small world
- Seven dwarf mine train
- Space mountain
- Firework Show
Monday (25th)
- Animal Kingdom (7:30 AM - 8:00 PM) and the Rides/Attractions We Did
- TriceraTop Spin
- 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM - LLP DINOSAUR Ride
- 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM - LLP Kilimanjaro Safaris
- Tough to be a bug
- Lunch at Tiffins
- 2:30 PM - 3:30 PM - LL Single Pass Avatar Flight of Passage
- 3:30 PM - 4:30 PM. - LLP Na’vi River Journey
- Kali River Rapids
- 7:45 PM - Narcoossee’s Dinner - with Fireworks (they pump in the music from the park and you get an amazing view with no crowds and I got to sip on my wine and enjoy the full show) This is the way to go!
Tuesday (26th)
- Universal Park (9:00 AM - 9:00 PM) and the Rides/Attractions We Did
- Illumination Villain - ConMinion Blast
- Wand Selection and Wand Store
- Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts
- Lunch at Leaky Cauldron
- Hogwarts Express
- Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journeys - coolest ride here
- Flight of the Hippogriff
- Jurassic Park River Adventure
- 8:15 PM - T-Rex Dinner @ Disney Springs
Wednesday (27th)
- Hollywood Studios (8:30 AM - 9:00 PM) and the Rides/Attractions We Did
- 9:35 AM - 10:35 AM - LL Single Pass Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run
- Lunch at the Hollywood Brown Derby
- 11:45 AM - 12:45 PM - LLP The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
- Meet Chewbacca and Vader
- Beauty and the Beast Show
- 2:25 PM - 3:25 PM - LLP Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance
- Star Wars Tours
- Docking Bay 7 Food and Cargo - Late Lunch
- 3:25 PM - 4:25 PM - LLP Toy Story Mania! - closed broke down
- Frozen Live Action Show
- 6:25 PM - Star Wars: Edge Savi’s Workshop - Hand-built Lightsaber
- 7:00 PM - Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge Custom Astromech Units
- 7:40 PM - Star Wars: Oga’s Cantina Dinner - get Yub Nub drink
Thursday (28th) and the Rides/Attractions We Did
- Magic Kingdom (7:30 AM - 11:00 PM)
- 8:50 AM - 9:50 AM - LLP Pirates of the Caribbean
- Hall of Presidents
- Mad Tea Party
- 9:50 AM - 10:50 AM - LL Single Pass (1) TRON Light-cycle/Run
- 11:00 AM - Be Our Guest Lunch
- 12:30 PM - 1:30 PM - LLP Tiana’s Bayou Adventure
- People Mover
- Tomorrowland Speedway
- 2:25 PM - 3:25 PM - LLP Haunted Mansion
- Little break back at our resort and some hot tub time before we headed back for our dinner reservations and more rides
- Prince Charming Regal Carousel
- Fireworks Show by the Castle
- 8:40 PM - Fairytale Dining Cinderella’s Castle Dinner
- Cocktails at Enchanted Rose Lounge at the Grand Floridian
Friday (29th) and the Rides/Attractions We Did
- EPCOT (8:30 AM - 9:30 PM)
- 9:40 AM - 10:40 AM - LLP Remi’s Ratatouille Adventure
- 10:40 AM - 11:40 AM - LLP Spaceship Earth
- 11:40 AM - 12:40 PM - LL Single Pass Guardians of Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind
- The Three Caballeros
- 7:20 PM Space 220 Dinner
- Amos did the drink around the world and Harrison and I each got stamps/stickers/etc. in our passports around the world, which was really cute and more customized than I thought. For example, in Japan they wrote our names in our passports in Japanese.
- The shops at each country were amazing to explore and shop at.
Saturday (30th)
- 9:05 AM - Topolino’s Terrace - Character Breakfast
- Fly Home :)
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