We got back from our trip a few weeks ago and then got slammed at work. We didn't really have any time to come down from a week in Disney...until now. This was a first for our daughter (6), first time on a plane, the longest trip she has had and her first time at Disney. This was me, my wife, and our daughter. We went from September 23-30 and stayed at a 2 bedroom villa with savanna view at Jambo House. I am a DVC member so I used 3 years worth of points to really make this big for our daughter. Here is how it all played out....
Day 1- Travel. We flew from Grand Rapids to MCO, got on a Mears bus (which was supposed to be Sunshine Flyer), and got to the hotel. We were a little tight on time. We checked in at 5 and had to get over to Sanaa for dinner. That bread service is famous in our house. So we had to start with that. The rest of the meal was fantastic. We also did Amazon Fresh and that could not have gone smoother. To end the night we swam for a bit.....then finally got to relax at the hotel
Day 2- Animal Kingdom- This was my first time there in 15 years and a first for my wife. As soon as I walked in I remembered on why I loved this park so much. We started out with A Bugs Life, and that scared our daughter pretty good. She looked at us and screamed "I'm scared get me out of here." We didn't and she powered through the rest of it. We then did Flight of Passage....sort of. We all got locked in and she wanted out. Luckily she did because that ride is amazing! Her and my wife stayed off....again luckily. We ended up walking around and soaking up the park. We say the Nemo show, and went on Kali River Rapids. After the park we went back to the hotel and had a drink at the bar. We had the best cast member ever who was really great with our daughter. Then we went Downtown to grab food. Disney Springs is a hot mess now. What a cluster and was probably the last time we go there. It was not enjoyable at all.
Day 3- Hollywood Studios- We were a little worried on how our daughter we like this park, and she ended up loving it. She couldn't love Slinky Dog Dash more. That was really a big test for us. How she would handle that one. We then did Runway railway, Toy Story Mania, met some characters, went through Galaxies Edge and ate Zuchi wraps. After that we went back to the hotel to swim and relax. We went back to see Fantasmic at the end of the night. Sadly no ToT or Rockin Roller Coaster for me this trip.
Day 4- Relax day, sort of. We ate at the mara, went to the arcade, and swam some. We then went to the Studios to get on the Skyliner and go to the Riveria for lunch, then to Art of Animation to get pics with the Lion King statues. We went to the hotel bar again hoping to have that waitress again, but she wasn't there. After a quick stop at Simba's playhouse we ate at Boma for dinner. It stormed that night so we sat on one of the patios and watched the storm for a bit.
Day 5-Magic Kingdom- We did a ton this day. Mostly the smaller rides....Space Ranger Spin, Peter Pan, Small World, Haunted Mansion, Magic Carpets, Barn Stormer, The train, Pirates, Country Bear, Little Mermaid. We met a bunch of characters and then ate at Beasts Castle. We also did Mine Train and our daughter loved it so much. Its all she talks about. We stayed for the fireworks and it rained some, but it was the only night we could see them.
Day 6- Epcot- This was a packed day. We did SSE, Moana, Soarin, Figment, Seas with Nemo. We wanted coffee and the lines were so long that we took the Monorail to the TTC and got coffee there. That was a fun trip and great to be on the monorail, finally. We came back at played in the play area of Mission Space until it was time for lunch at Space 220....that place in unreal. The food was great the atmosphere can not be better. After that we went back to the hotel and played at Simbas playhouse again and went to the arcade. We came back to Epcot for Food and Wine....which wasnt all that much fun for us.....we went on Remy, and then the rain started. We dashed our of France and wound up on Soarin again. We didn't spend much time at all in the countries, but next time we will.
Day 7- Magic Kingdom- While we were walking to the bus a cast member stopped us and gave our daughter a Mickey and Minnie stuffed animal set, and a set of the new ears. She said a woman had won a pair and wanted this cast member to give them to the next little girl she saw. Our daughters eyes lite up as she is obsessed with stuffed animals. When we got to the park we met Mickey, saw Monsters Inc, where our daughter was Boo, and finally got on the People Mover. I was able to get on Tron and that was a ton of fun. We then hit Big Thunder, Philharmoc and then walked around some. The heat was starting to get to us so we jumped on the monorail and hung our the Contempary. After about an hour we got back into MK to surprise our daughter with dinner at the castle. Another great meal. After that I was able to get us on Mine Train one last time. Then we had to leave because it was a party evening
Day 8- Be mad-We cleaned up and ate to start the day. Then hung around the lobby and took pictures of everything. Eventually Mears showed up and made us leave.
It was nice to get home though. This was a big fun trip and our daughter was champ through it all. We didn't know how she would handle it and we couldn't have been prouder. I did buy Genie Plus most days and it was really easy and useful, although I have a big problem paying more on top of the regular admission. This one will live down as the best trip we have ever had. We are planning a 2026 trip and plan on staying at BLT
Day 1- Travel. We flew from Grand Rapids to MCO, got on a Mears bus (which was supposed to be Sunshine Flyer), and got to the hotel. We were a little tight on time. We checked in at 5 and had to get over to Sanaa for dinner. That bread service is famous in our house. So we had to start with that. The rest of the meal was fantastic. We also did Amazon Fresh and that could not have gone smoother. To end the night we swam for a bit.....then finally got to relax at the hotel
Day 2- Animal Kingdom- This was my first time there in 15 years and a first for my wife. As soon as I walked in I remembered on why I loved this park so much. We started out with A Bugs Life, and that scared our daughter pretty good. She looked at us and screamed "I'm scared get me out of here." We didn't and she powered through the rest of it. We then did Flight of Passage....sort of. We all got locked in and she wanted out. Luckily she did because that ride is amazing! Her and my wife stayed off....again luckily. We ended up walking around and soaking up the park. We say the Nemo show, and went on Kali River Rapids. After the park we went back to the hotel and had a drink at the bar. We had the best cast member ever who was really great with our daughter. Then we went Downtown to grab food. Disney Springs is a hot mess now. What a cluster and was probably the last time we go there. It was not enjoyable at all.
Day 3- Hollywood Studios- We were a little worried on how our daughter we like this park, and she ended up loving it. She couldn't love Slinky Dog Dash more. That was really a big test for us. How she would handle that one. We then did Runway railway, Toy Story Mania, met some characters, went through Galaxies Edge and ate Zuchi wraps. After that we went back to the hotel to swim and relax. We went back to see Fantasmic at the end of the night. Sadly no ToT or Rockin Roller Coaster for me this trip.
Day 4- Relax day, sort of. We ate at the mara, went to the arcade, and swam some. We then went to the Studios to get on the Skyliner and go to the Riveria for lunch, then to Art of Animation to get pics with the Lion King statues. We went to the hotel bar again hoping to have that waitress again, but she wasn't there. After a quick stop at Simba's playhouse we ate at Boma for dinner. It stormed that night so we sat on one of the patios and watched the storm for a bit.
Day 5-Magic Kingdom- We did a ton this day. Mostly the smaller rides....Space Ranger Spin, Peter Pan, Small World, Haunted Mansion, Magic Carpets, Barn Stormer, The train, Pirates, Country Bear, Little Mermaid. We met a bunch of characters and then ate at Beasts Castle. We also did Mine Train and our daughter loved it so much. Its all she talks about. We stayed for the fireworks and it rained some, but it was the only night we could see them.
Day 6- Epcot- This was a packed day. We did SSE, Moana, Soarin, Figment, Seas with Nemo. We wanted coffee and the lines were so long that we took the Monorail to the TTC and got coffee there. That was a fun trip and great to be on the monorail, finally. We came back at played in the play area of Mission Space until it was time for lunch at Space 220....that place in unreal. The food was great the atmosphere can not be better. After that we went back to the hotel and played at Simbas playhouse again and went to the arcade. We came back to Epcot for Food and Wine....which wasnt all that much fun for us.....we went on Remy, and then the rain started. We dashed our of France and wound up on Soarin again. We didn't spend much time at all in the countries, but next time we will.
Day 7- Magic Kingdom- While we were walking to the bus a cast member stopped us and gave our daughter a Mickey and Minnie stuffed animal set, and a set of the new ears. She said a woman had won a pair and wanted this cast member to give them to the next little girl she saw. Our daughters eyes lite up as she is obsessed with stuffed animals. When we got to the park we met Mickey, saw Monsters Inc, where our daughter was Boo, and finally got on the People Mover. I was able to get on Tron and that was a ton of fun. We then hit Big Thunder, Philharmoc and then walked around some. The heat was starting to get to us so we jumped on the monorail and hung our the Contempary. After about an hour we got back into MK to surprise our daughter with dinner at the castle. Another great meal. After that I was able to get us on Mine Train one last time. Then we had to leave because it was a party evening
Day 8- Be mad-We cleaned up and ate to start the day. Then hung around the lobby and took pictures of everything. Eventually Mears showed up and made us leave.
It was nice to get home though. This was a big fun trip and our daughter was champ through it all. We didn't know how she would handle it and we couldn't have been prouder. I did buy Genie Plus most days and it was really easy and useful, although I have a big problem paying more on top of the regular admission. This one will live down as the best trip we have ever had. We are planning a 2026 trip and plan on staying at BLT
