Now that I’ve shared a bit of a life update, I thought I would share what my last trip to Walt Disney World looked like! It was our first trip with our son, and while it already feels like forever ago, I’m so glad we went and have these memories.
In this post, I’ll walk through what we did each day, along with some random thoughts and notes for anyone planning a trip with littles or larger groups. If there’s anything you’d like to hear more about, feel free to reply or leave a comment!
Trip Overview:
- Dates: September 21–28, 2024
- Resort: Bay Lake Tower – 2-Bedroom Theme Park View Villa
- Group: Me, my husband, our 22-month-old (Bubba!), my parents, my sister, and her support worker
Some things to note:
- My sister had DAS for her and 3 people, but there were 7 of us (including Bubba)
- Ethan and I purchased Lightning Lane Multi Pass for 1 Magic Kingdom Day, Animal Kingdom, Epcot, and Hollywood Studios. We definitely didn’t use it to the most of its ability, and the availability 7 days out was much better than ~3 days out.
- We went back to the room every day for Bubba’s nap
- I’ve never spent less time in the parks on a trip, but I’m fine with that! I know we will be back a lot.
- Mobile ordering = lifesaver!
- Restaurant reservations with a toddler- proceed with caution! We ended up canceling our lunch reservations for later in the week.
- For me the special moments were watching Bubba walk around the parks, just taking it all in.
Saturday, September 21st
- Picked up our stroller at the airport- we used Kingdom Strollers and rented The Mini GT Single™
- Lunch at Homecomin’ WAS SO GOOD
- Used a Pack N Play and highchair from the resort- we added the request and it’s subject to availability
- Watched Happily Ever After from our balcony and headed to bed early!
Sunday, September 22nd- Magic Kingdom!
- Lots of rides in Fantasyland
- Got a virtual queue for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, group 63 was called around 1:30 PM- didn’t end up riding
- Bubba got an Ariel bubble wand- he loved dancing to the music
- Dinner at Steakhouse 71 which involved taking turns walking around the lobby with Bubba. But they were great with bringing his food out quickly (we just got a side of mac and cheese that he really enjoyed!)
Monday September 23rd- Animal Kingdom
- We were on the bus by 7:12 AM lol- I looked at booking a Minnie Van but it was $50- so we took the bus!
- Capture your moment booked for 8 AM- worth the price, especially with Memory maker
- Safari, met Mickey & Minnie, spent some time wandering and Bubba played the drums (IYKYK), Festival of the Lion King
- Purchased Individual Lightning Lane for Flight of Passage for 4 of us, we switched off within the time frame
- went to the Bay Lake Tower pool and splash pad in the afternoon
Tuesday September 24th- Magic Kingdom
- Chef Mickey’s for breakfast! Definitely our best sit down meal, Bubba loved it. Try the cheesy potatoes- yum!
- Walked to Magic Kingdom, did things like Tomorrowland Speedway, the Peoplemover, Tron while Ethan took Bubba back to the room
- Took the monorail to the Poly and grabbed dinner for Bubba, then my parents watched him while Ethan and I had a date night at Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party!
- We got candy, did Tron (waited about 30 minutes)
- Got a spot for the parade in Liberty Square about an hour before it started
- Did Tiana’s Bayou Adventure (waited about 20 minutes), then met up with my sister and her support worker for Fireworks
- Grabbed a snack and headed back to the resort- I really enjoyed being able to walk back!
Wednesday September 25th- Epcot
- Got Virtual Queue for Guardians- were ready to go as soon as the park opened
- Walked over to Frozen and the line was huge- so we decided to try again later. We should have just stayed in line and done it quickly- we ended up doing it with DAS
- Did Remy’s which took a long time waiting for the wheelchair car
- Had lunch at Via Napoli which was probably our biggest regret. It took a really long time and with a toddler, it just wasn’t fun
- We debated going to the Journey of Water, but didn’t end up doing it because we didn’t want to push Bubba too far- we really wished we had done it
Thursday September 26th- Hollywood Studios
- The day Helene came to Florida- the only day we had to bring out the ponchos
- Did Toy Story Mania- the accessible car wasn’t operating yet (I don’t think it’s open during Early Morning Hours)
- Saw the Frozen show- Bubba definitely became an Elsa fan during our trip!
- Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway
- I finally got to ride Rise of the Resistance and wow!!
- Saw Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy before heading back to the resort
- We spent most of the afternoon inside- it wasn’t too rainy but it was very windy out the back of the resort
- After Bubba went to bed and everyone else was back at the room Ethan and I went to our reservation at Top of the World Lounge for “The Villains Lair”- the fireworks were canceled (and the Halloween party) because of the storm
Friday September 27th- Magic Kingdom
- Our last park day was probably our best!
- We were in the park for 7:30 AM (me, Ethan, my mom and Bubba- everyone else slept in a bit) and grabbed Starbucks and took some pictures in front of the Partners statue
- Did some Fantasyland rides, took a picture of Bubba with the sword in the stone (probably one we will re-create every trip!), met Mickey
- Ethan really wanted to do the train- so we did it! We could see and hear it from our room so Bubba was excited too!
- Met up with everyone else and then headed to get a Silhouette of Bubba done- Ethan got some waffles from Sleepy Hollow so he and Bubba ate while I waited in line (the chicken and waffles was really good!) We also showed a picture of Coco so we got her silhouette too
- Saw the new Country Bear Musical Jamboree- Bubba loved it! He sang along to the oh-oh-oh-oh-oh of “Try Everything”, it was so cute! We’ve watched it on YouTube and listened to the soundtrack since being home
- Ethan and Bubba explored Swiss Family Treehouse before heading back to the room for lunch
- The only day we ventured back into the park!
- Met Stitch- got the All-American Sundae from The Plaza Ice Cream Parlor, watched the show on the stage while Bubba ate some ice cream and fed it to Dada
- Visited the Tiki Room before heading out of the park and saying goodbye to Magic Kingdom
Saturday September 28th- Time to go home 
- Up early and back on Mears Connect
- Kingdom Strollers was picking up someone else’s stroller so they took ours too (I was originally going to have it picked up at the resort but our bus pick up was before the earliest time so I was going to drop it off at the airport)
- Headed home- Bubba was a rockstar on the plane once again!
This trip looked very different than past ones—but it was so special. Slower days, toddler-friendly plans, and a whole new kind of magic. 
Let me know if you want a packing list for toddlers, tips on using DAS with larger groups, or how we planned around naps—I’m happy to share more! I hope you’ve enjoyed this trip recap, it was definitely a trip I won’t forget!
