My Go-To Disney World Travel Guide

We had the vacation of a lifetime this past summer and I want to tell you guys all about it!! So I have put together this Disney World Travel Guide. We packed so much into our days at the parks. It’s just how we do things. We go all in. I wouldn’t change any of it! Let’s dive right in! This post contains affiliate links and are marked with an asterisk. I only recommend items I have tried and love.

First, I have put together a list of things I purchased before our trip to make the trip better. It contains things such as clothes, chargers, etc that were all meant to make the trip more fun for us and the kids. Our kids’ ages are 5, 6, and 7.

Purchases prior to trip:

• Disney theme t-shirts for our family. These were bought from Logan to Layla. We loved them!!
• Ariel dress* Reese wore this dress at Cinderella’s Royal Table at Magic Kingdom. Reese loved all the accessories it came with!
• Toys Story t-shirts* for Toy Story Land. These were great when we got to meet Buzz!
• Boys* and girl* headphones for the kids on the plane ride. I loved that these headphones easily folded to fit them into a backpack
• Pocket blanket* was great for the beach and when we were in line for rides and it started raining because we didn’t have ponchos so we just held it over the kids’ heads.
• Portable charger* was a must-have for me because in the parks I was the one constantly on the Disney app checking out ride times and our plans and my battery seemed to go pretty quickly but this charger charged my phone up quickly.
• Birnbaum’s Disney World Guide*

Day 1-Arrival to Orlando and Trip to Cocoa Beach

We arrived in Orlando around 1:30pm and rented a jeep and drove to Cocoa Beach. We swam, played in the sand, and ate right along the beach. It was definitely an eye opener when we left the beach because trying to change little kids into regular clothes when they are full of sand doesn’t make for happy kids!

It was about an hour drive from Orlando International Airport to Cocoa Beach. It was the kids’ first trip to the beach and they absolutely loved every second of it! And so did me and my husband. It was a relaxing time after spending a lot of the day traveling and we were sad when it came time to leave.

Day 2: Animal Kingdom

Animal Kingdom day was one of my favorite days! I loooved Animal Kingdom so much! The only negative thing was that it was definitely the hottest park in my opinion. Either way it was still so much fun and we managed to hop on some water rides and cool off in the air conditioning when we needed a break from the sun.

Here is how it went. First stop…

Mickey and Minnie at Adventures Outpost

Other things we did at Animal Kingdom:

• Kilimanjaro Safari
• Dinosaur (one of my favorite rides!)
• Festival of the Lion King (must-see)
• Navi River Journey
• Kali River Rapids (so fun!)
• Boneyard (play area for the kids which they had a blast in)
• Triceratop Spin
• Tree of Life Picture
• Rainforest Cafe (ate there for supper)

We really wanted to go on the Avatar Flight of Passage ride but the wait was just too long. If you get the chance, I hear it’s amazing!

 

Day 3: Magic Kingdom

The highlights of Magic Kingdom included the girls eating at Cinderella’s Royal Table for lunch while all the guys went to Chef Mickey’s, 7 Dwarfs Mine Train, and the DOLE WHIP at Aloha Isle!!!

Things we did and loved at Magic Kingdom:

• Pirates of the Caribbean (Adventureland)
• Big Thunder Mountain (Frontierland)
• Splash Mountain (Frontierland)
• Jungle Cruise (Adventureland)
• Magic Carpets of Aladdin (Adventureland)
• Lunch at Cinderella’s Royal Table (gals)
• Lunch at Chef Mickey’s (guys)
• 7 Dwarfs Mine Train (Fantasyland)
• Dumbo the Flying Elephant (Fantasyland)
• Tomorrowland Speedway (Tomorrowland)
• Dole Whip (most refreshing treat I ate the whole trip after walking what seemed like forever! (At Aloha Isle in Adventureland)

TIPS: Our trip was at the end of June and if I had it to do over I would have arranged to get a fastpass for the 7 Dwarfs Mine Train. We all thought that was one of our favorites and we waited in line more than 2 hours which was a lot for our kids.

I prepared our day by packing a lot of granola bars, fig bars, waters, and gatorade to get us through the morning hours. We walked so much that we were snacking every couple hours until lunch. Lunch was great as a way to get out of the heat and such and both places were enjoyed by all. We didn’t have any reservations for supper and we were not able to find any sit-down restaurants that we could eat at and this is where our delicious Dole Whips came in handy. We walked back to our resort (The Contemporary Bay Lake Tower) around 7pm and ordered pizza. We were exhausted but it was a great day!

Pictures from Cinderella’s Castle

 

 

Day 4: Pool Day and Visit to Disney Springs

After a couple busy days at the parks we felt we needed a day off and it was the BEST thing for us. It was so nice sleeping in a little bit, hanging out at the pool and just relaxing. It also made day 5 a lot more enjoyable for us at Hollywood Studios.

Day 5: Hollywood Studios

Hollywood Studios was a great time! Some highlights were the Slinky Dog Dash, Rock’n Roller Coaster, Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage, and Frozen Celebration.

Other things we did:

• Toy Story Mania (this ride was so much fun!)
• Met Buzz Lightyear
• Lunch at Hollywood & Vine (met so many characters)
• Voyage of the Little Mermaid (not a favorite)
• Star Tours
• Met Olaf at Celebrity Spotlight
• Frozen Sing-Along Celebration 
• Fantasmic Show at Night

 

Hope this Disney World Travel Guide provides you with some good tips for your upcoming vacation!!