I'll tell you how... we're gonna make it happen.
Everything was set. We were leveling up. Land & Sea, for the first time with the kids! Resort, transfers, cruise, the 4-Day, 4-Park Magic ticket offer that fit the bill perfectly. And then, Boo broke her wrist a week before the trip. It was heartbreaking to see her so sad and scared. Fortunately, she turned out to be relatively pain-free, so once we got her settled, my mind went haywire trying to visualize how this vacation could still be fun. Her cast was not waterproof, but could be covered, if you trust those things. The doctor did not restrict her from any rides, wet or dry, but of course I still worried. About her resting, healing, sweating, and just feeling confident in herself that she could do things. She is a very introspective soul. But very quickly, she went from "I'm not going to go swimming at all" to "Maybe I will go to the splash pad" to "I'm gonna ride the Aqua Mouse during the day AND the night!" That's my girl... nothing is going to stop her from living her best life. And if you have to wear a cast for four weeks, why not spend two of those weeks at Disney?
Let's take a ride...
Who: Me & J, and our ever growing children, Nemo & Boo (8 and 6)
What: Our first ever family of four Land & Sea!
When: August 11 - August 17 | August 17 - August 21, 2026
Where: Pop Century | Disney Wish
Why: After the kids' first cruise on the Disney Fantasy in January of 2025, we knew we had to go back. And since last summer's trip to Walt Disney World was such a success, we figured, why not combine the two for a trip of epic proportions? It would save on airfare, fill in those last weeks of summer, and, well, blow the kids' minds. And it really did. When people asked them where they were going this summer, they would say, "Land and Sea!"
I had to keep telling myself that this trip was a marathon, not a sprint. It was going to be a long one, and we would need to pace ourselves. Instead of taking the earliest flight out, we took a later one and arrived around 3pm. I was especially glad we made the choice to forgo the water park arrival day now. This would be a vibes trip.
First order of business, as requested by Nemo, was to watch TV in the lobby. Also sidenote, I can't believe I packed our entire vacations' worth of stuff in three suitcases... pretty impressive if I do say so myself. Because we are not doing laundry on vacation.
Our room was ready but we needed to eat first. J went straight for the Gouda Vibes burger he had been obsessing over via Mobile Order for the past few months. Simply put, he loved it.
I got the Citrus-Basil Salmon which was perfectly cooked and coated. Just delicious. I actually got two because I wanted the kids to split the other to go along with their Mac & Cheeses, which obviously stole the show for them. I think they ate mac & cheese every day for 11 days straight, come to think of it...
We sat at the far end of Everything Pop and breathed in the sights and sounds, enjoying the space and silence after our morning travels. J stepped out to meet our double stroller rental delivery since we didn't want to bring ours on the cruise later. The kids did not finish their salmon and J had a massive amount of fries left over so we took them and a few other items to go for later since it was... 3pm.
Our room was in our favorite location, the 50's. It was actually diagonal from our room last year. We had a view of the Skyliner which is always such a huge bonus. The kids wanted to watch the Timon and Pumbaa Safety Smart clips so we put that on for them while we unpacked like pros. There were a lot more considerations this trip due to the cruise and Boo's arm, but I felt really good about our setup. Disney rooms are just perfect. We've taken more and more non-Disney trips recently and it's just so hard to feel comfortable in other spaces. But here, I feel so relaxed. Clean, comfortable, familiar, home.
We decided to go walk over to Art of Animation. It felt like a ghost town since I guess the pool was closed due to “lightning." They enjoyed some alone time on the Righteous Reef playground.
It was hot, so we pushed them along to the Elephant Graveyard where they had a blast imprisoning J in the skeletal cages and pretended to be hyenas. I stood there watching amusedly while also welling up inside as King of Pride Rock was playing in the background and that melody gives me chills every time.
Moved on to the Little Mermaid section which J remarked, "Yeah this is far." I really don't notice, I guess because I'm so immersed in all the theming around me. The kids ran straight for the dinglehopper and tried to scale it. Then they posed in front of every other landmark in the section. I love their enthusiasm for these small things. "Now can you take a picture of us in front of the treasure chest? Statue? Sebastian?" I also love the lamposts.
We walked back to the lobby for some AC and looked around Ink and Paint, enjoying all the Halloween merchandise. Nemo has a Beanie Baby pet Bat named Swoop that he is obsessed with, so Halloween has become the most special holiday ever in our household. Swoop's birthday is October 31st, and he's literally planning a birthday party for him. They found these rubber Mickey vampire pumpkin squishable things that pop out a purple gooey bat (best description I can give) and then enjoyed playing with for a while. Such junk, but then again, I do remember liking things like that too... Boo asks to buy everything, but I told her to wait until we had a few more days to look around.
We also popped into the arcade where they still enjoy just mashing buttons without playing. I came across a rubber duck and gave it to Boo, who was real happy. Then Nemo got really excited about it and was convinced he was going to find one too, and lo and behold, he did! Later, I noticed they were sitting in the photobooth cheesing together and then a photo strip picture fell out of the slot. The booth they were in apparently had credit in it still and they just happened to stumble upon it. Not too shabby of an arcade visit.
The Disney bedtime stories were playing on the TV in the lobby but the volume was not quite right, so I had to narrate the whole Frozen bedtime story to them, but they truly enjoyed it and I was happy to provide that for them. In the bathroom I said to Boo, "I love being at Disney with you" and she said, "Thank you for planning this vacation." Little girls are so sweet.
We journeyed back out to visit the last (and our favorite) section. Nemo read each sign for us as we walked, and they posed with each of their Cars friends, as is tradition.
It seemed that pools had reopened and they wanted to go, so we went back to don all our gear, and see how it would go. My dad bought Boo a $40 waterproof cast protector that we had tested at home in the shower and had no issues. But we held our breaths as she fully submerged in a pool. It worked wonderfully. She was swimming with one arm, doing one-armed handstands, and even offered to try picking me up in the water. She did actually. She was just SO happy to be in the water. She is a water baby. My heart was happy for her. As for Nemo, J had been doing swimming bootcamp with him before the trip and his swimming was much improved... I was amazed. He discovered his duck shot out water and found that highly entertaining. The sun was setting, everyone around us was enjoying themselves, it made me happy. We only swam for about half an hour because we did want to catch the Campfire and roast some marshmallows (Boo's other love: sweets). She ate four out of the six while Nemo tried to make a getaway in the unmanned stroller.
While heading back to the room, we admired all the decorated doors. While I still think it's tacky, it has grown on me, especially when my kids get a kick out of pixie dust. We found one with 3D printed Mickey waffle keychains, which I suggested they put on their backpacks, but Nemo said he wanted to feed his to Swoop. We were showered and in bed before 8pm. I overdid it on the snack packing, but our evening snack menu would consist of Goldfish and mandarin oranges every night. Boo also drank one of the leftover strawberry Danimal yogurts and Nemo ate the rest of his room temp Mac & Cheese and a PB & J I brought for the airplane that he previously rejected. I ate the leftover salmon that was cold from the fridge. I thought it'd be weird, but it actually hit the spot. I also obsessed over the little things that bring me joy: organizing our next day outfits on the wall hanger, smelling the sea salt shampoo, admiring how white the bathtub is and the design of the wall tile. We watched our nostalgic bedtime stories and turned off the lights. I would be sleeping with Boo since we were worried that the kids would roll onto each other and hurt her arm in the night. After they fell asleep, J came and joined me on our bed and ate the rest of his fries. We just sat and decompressed together. Gratitude. We were here in one piece, everyone was happy, things were looking good. It's time to enjoy.
Everything was set. We were leveling up. Land & Sea, for the first time with the kids! Resort, transfers, cruise, the 4-Day, 4-Park Magic ticket offer that fit the bill perfectly. And then, Boo broke her wrist a week before the trip. It was heartbreaking to see her so sad and scared. Fortunately, she turned out to be relatively pain-free, so once we got her settled, my mind went haywire trying to visualize how this vacation could still be fun. Her cast was not waterproof, but could be covered, if you trust those things. The doctor did not restrict her from any rides, wet or dry, but of course I still worried. About her resting, healing, sweating, and just feeling confident in herself that she could do things. She is a very introspective soul. But very quickly, she went from "I'm not going to go swimming at all" to "Maybe I will go to the splash pad" to "I'm gonna ride the Aqua Mouse during the day AND the night!" That's my girl... nothing is going to stop her from living her best life. And if you have to wear a cast for four weeks, why not spend two of those weeks at Disney?
Let's take a ride...
Who: Me & J, and our ever growing children, Nemo & Boo (8 and 6)
What: Our first ever family of four Land & Sea!
When: August 11 - August 17 | August 17 - August 21, 2026
Where: Pop Century | Disney Wish
Why: After the kids' first cruise on the Disney Fantasy in January of 2025, we knew we had to go back. And since last summer's trip to Walt Disney World was such a success, we figured, why not combine the two for a trip of epic proportions? It would save on airfare, fill in those last weeks of summer, and, well, blow the kids' minds. And it really did. When people asked them where they were going this summer, they would say, "Land and Sea!"
I had to keep telling myself that this trip was a marathon, not a sprint. It was going to be a long one, and we would need to pace ourselves. Instead of taking the earliest flight out, we took a later one and arrived around 3pm. I was especially glad we made the choice to forgo the water park arrival day now. This would be a vibes trip.
First order of business, as requested by Nemo, was to watch TV in the lobby. Also sidenote, I can't believe I packed our entire vacations' worth of stuff in three suitcases... pretty impressive if I do say so myself. Because we are not doing laundry on vacation.
Our room was ready but we needed to eat first. J went straight for the Gouda Vibes burger he had been obsessing over via Mobile Order for the past few months. Simply put, he loved it.
I got the Citrus-Basil Salmon which was perfectly cooked and coated. Just delicious. I actually got two because I wanted the kids to split the other to go along with their Mac & Cheeses, which obviously stole the show for them. I think they ate mac & cheese every day for 11 days straight, come to think of it...
We sat at the far end of Everything Pop and breathed in the sights and sounds, enjoying the space and silence after our morning travels. J stepped out to meet our double stroller rental delivery since we didn't want to bring ours on the cruise later. The kids did not finish their salmon and J had a massive amount of fries left over so we took them and a few other items to go for later since it was... 3pm.
We decided to go walk over to Art of Animation. It felt like a ghost town since I guess the pool was closed due to “lightning." They enjoyed some alone time on the Righteous Reef playground.
We walked back to the lobby for some AC and looked around Ink and Paint, enjoying all the Halloween merchandise. Nemo has a Beanie Baby pet Bat named Swoop that he is obsessed with, so Halloween has become the most special holiday ever in our household. Swoop's birthday is October 31st, and he's literally planning a birthday party for him. They found these rubber Mickey vampire pumpkin squishable things that pop out a purple gooey bat (best description I can give) and then enjoyed playing with for a while. Such junk, but then again, I do remember liking things like that too... Boo asks to buy everything, but I told her to wait until we had a few more days to look around.
We also popped into the arcade where they still enjoy just mashing buttons without playing. I came across a rubber duck and gave it to Boo, who was real happy. Then Nemo got really excited about it and was convinced he was going to find one too, and lo and behold, he did! Later, I noticed they were sitting in the photobooth cheesing together and then a photo strip picture fell out of the slot. The booth they were in apparently had credit in it still and they just happened to stumble upon it. Not too shabby of an arcade visit.
The Disney bedtime stories were playing on the TV in the lobby but the volume was not quite right, so I had to narrate the whole Frozen bedtime story to them, but they truly enjoyed it and I was happy to provide that for them. In the bathroom I said to Boo, "I love being at Disney with you" and she said, "Thank you for planning this vacation." Little girls are so sweet.
We journeyed back out to visit the last (and our favorite) section. Nemo read each sign for us as we walked, and they posed with each of their Cars friends, as is tradition.
It seemed that pools had reopened and they wanted to go, so we went back to don all our gear, and see how it would go. My dad bought Boo a $40 waterproof cast protector that we had tested at home in the shower and had no issues. But we held our breaths as she fully submerged in a pool. It worked wonderfully. She was swimming with one arm, doing one-armed handstands, and even offered to try picking me up in the water. She did actually. She was just SO happy to be in the water. She is a water baby. My heart was happy for her. As for Nemo, J had been doing swimming bootcamp with him before the trip and his swimming was much improved... I was amazed. He discovered his duck shot out water and found that highly entertaining. The sun was setting, everyone around us was enjoying themselves, it made me happy. We only swam for about half an hour because we did want to catch the Campfire and roast some marshmallows (Boo's other love: sweets). She ate four out of the six while Nemo tried to make a getaway in the unmanned stroller.
While heading back to the room, we admired all the decorated doors. While I still think it's tacky, it has grown on me, especially when my kids get a kick out of pixie dust. We found one with 3D printed Mickey waffle keychains, which I suggested they put on their backpacks, but Nemo said he wanted to feed his to Swoop. We were showered and in bed before 8pm. I overdid it on the snack packing, but our evening snack menu would consist of Goldfish and mandarin oranges every night. Boo also drank one of the leftover strawberry Danimal yogurts and Nemo ate the rest of his room temp Mac & Cheese and a PB & J I brought for the airplane that he previously rejected. I ate the leftover salmon that was cold from the fridge. I thought it'd be weird, but it actually hit the spot. I also obsessed over the little things that bring me joy: organizing our next day outfits on the wall hanger, smelling the sea salt shampoo, admiring how white the bathtub is and the design of the wall tile. We watched our nostalgic bedtime stories and turned off the lights. I would be sleeping with Boo since we were worried that the kids would roll onto each other and hurt her arm in the night. After they fell asleep, J came and joined me on our bed and ate the rest of his fries. We just sat and decompressed together. Gratitude. We were here in one piece, everyone was happy, things were looking good. It's time to enjoy.
Breakfast service really was the best, and could only have been improved if French onion soup were offered as an option 
thank you!
Thank you so much for reading, I’m glad you are enjoying!