Recently, I traveled with my extended family to Walt Disney World in Orlando, FL. If you’ve never been to Disney World, first, let me familiarize you with some of the out-of-the-ordinary vacation feelings you may experience here: overwhelmed, exhausted, and at times, stressed. This was my sixth (I think?) time visiting Disney World. This was my first time doing all four theme parks (might I include, in FOUR days). My parents took my sister and me as little girls, when everything is very real and magical. I remember visiting Minnie’s house and hugging Woody the Woodpecker, thinking I had to be the luckiest girl in the world, getting to meet such a popular and well-known member of the bird species.
More recently, when Gregory and Brianna (if you’re new here, these are my younger cousins that are a lot more like siblings to me) were born, my sister and I visited Disney World with them. Visiting Disney World with a young person makes it magical all over again. Now, Brianna is going to 7th grade and Gregory to 11th grade. We no longer have to do the “kiddie rides” and those portions of the parks, but can all enjoy the same rides and attractions and that makes this experience magical yet again.
This Disney experience was a new one to me. We didn’t have tickets and we didn’t have to run around the park getting Fast Passes for rides at the kiosks, but instead, we had Magic Bands. These were our park tickets, fast passes, room keys, and credit cards. 60 days prior to our vacation, my aunt and I sat down at the computer and claimed our fast passes and made reservations via My Disney Experience. Our Magic Bands arrived a few weeks prior to our trip. You customize them on the website with your name and color of choice.
We stayed at Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa, a Disney property that has villas that accommodated the 8 of us in one condo-style room. This was our second time staying here. Previously, we have stayed at other Disney properties including The Grand Floridian, The Polynesian, and The Contemporary. These properties have monorail access to Magic Kingdom and Epcot. All Disney properties have bus services, which makes a rental car unnecessary. They’re all very nice, depending which atmosphere you prefer. We arrived early Saturday morning at Saratoga Springs (the first day of summer break for those of us that are teachers and students) and spent the day relaxing at the pool. Upon arrival, a special surprise package awaited Brianna. GoldAndArrows via Etsy shipped my order of sparkly Minnie ears directly to the resort so I would get them in time for the magic. Brianna’s favorite color is blue so I customized them special, along with a matching pair for Kaitlyn and me so we could all wear them together for the perfect pics (more of those pics on Day 3).
Sunday was our first full day. We visited Disney’s Hollywood Studios (previously known as MGM). We definitely used fast passes on the Rock’n’Roller Coaster (the Aerosmith ride). This fast roller coaster simulates a stretch limousine ride to Aerosmith’s concert. The Tower of Terror was next on our fast pass list, a drop from the highest floor of the Hollywood Tower via the Twilight Zone. Much to my delight, Stormtroopers patrolled the streets of Hollywood Studios, marching by ever so intimidatingly. The Star Wars Launch Bay is located at this park—allowing me to meet my favorite Star Wars character, BB-8 (Of course, I have the Sphero BB-8 from back when the Force Awakens premiered—even though my husband deemed this an “unnecessary purchase.” Totally necessary.) Other characters you can meet at the Launch Bay are Kylo Ren and Chewbacca (I had previously gotten photos with these two at Disney Land last Spring in California with my friend Ally.)
If you have any Frozen fans in the fam, you definitely must attend the Frozen Sing Along (For the First Time in Forever) located centrally in Hollywood Studios. We attended with Brianna (who knew every word to every song), but ended up enjoying the corny humor (well, I did anyway.) Kaitlyn and her boyfriend, Justin, went to the Indiana Jones show during this time. We had fun doing one of Gregory’s favorite rides from when he was little, Toy Story Mania, a ride that is also a game (I love this one too). We also did Star Tours, which was recently changed a little (this one made me a little sick in my old age). Kaitlyn and the rest of my family went to see the Cars 3 preview while I went to get a photo with Baby Groot and Star Lord. They said that Cars 3 looks fantastic! We didn’t make it to see the Beauty and the Beast show this year because it only takes place in the early hours of the day, but it’s one of my favorite shows at Disney. If you’ve never seen this tale as old as time live– go. We ate dinner that evening at Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano on property.
Kaitlyn is wearing a pair of the Ray Ban Mirrored aviator dupes I talked about here.
Got Gregory a pair of the dupes for guys for Easter– same brand in blue! He loves them!
Some changes at Hollywood Studios would be the blue Mickey Fantasia landmark hat is gone from the center of the park (there’s a good spot for a photo close by where it used to be though—see above), American Idol is now Frozen Sing-Along, and Indiana Jones and Tower of Terror are rumored to be replaced soon, but are currently operational. While there, I saw that Toy Story Land and Star Wars Land are currently being built– super excited, especially about the latter!
We ended the night watching Fantasmic on the water. It began raining right before the show. We forgot our Steelers ponchos at home and had to buy 8 of them at the park—totaling $80! So, if you’re headed to Disney in the near future, Florida rain can hit fast—BYOP! The show must go on and we enjoyed it, despite the rain. This is a great show to see if you have kids because it features pretty much all of the Disney characters and princesses. Another show available in the evenings at Hollywood Studios is the Star Wars Galactic Night fireworks show. I am kinda bummed I didn’t get to see this, but maybe next time! Some other rides at Hollywood Studios we didn’t do are the Great Movie Ride (did it in the past and it’s kind of boring—decided to skip), Muppet Vision 3D (didn’t make it to this one, but did this one many times in the past), and Walt Disney: One Man’s Dream (did this one in the past too).
Oh, and I got the cutest BB-8 cup—another necessary purchase. 😉 More posts soon on the rest of our days at the “most magical place on earth.” Though you may be overwhelmed, exhausted, and stressed at times, I promise you this– it’s worth it. Despite being closer to my thirties than my teens, I guess I’ll never be too old for Disney. <3
xo,
Ashley
SHOP MY DISNEY LOOK
(Similar shorts and tank, same bralette still in stock!)
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