Our Disney World Family Vacation was four days jam-packed with fun, so after the first 24 hours that we shared about here, the extravaganza continued with each day more action!
I really couldn’t tell you what we loved best, because there was soo much to enjoy, and each activity on its own was something spectacular. An entire family vacation of activities and shows and games and rides that are memorable makes it necessary to recall it all in bits and pieces, because each thing was an experience on its own.
So we present to you Part II of our family fun at Walt Disney World!
A date with a princess
We met Princess Elena of Avalor during a Meet & Greet at Princess Fairytale Hall, the first time we visited the palace. It was stunning, and what a gracious princess! The boys were charmed by her beauty and friendliness, and now insist we watch all her shows and movie.
The palace itself was amazing, and we walked along the Hall of Princesses where grand portraits of beloved Disney Princesses lined the walls. This part may have been more fun for me because I think many gals feel like we have a little princess inside us.
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
One of the first rides we went on was the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train in the Magic Kingdom, a twisty roller coaster ride through diamond mines that actually terrified the boys. Our time in Disney was their first experience with park rides that elevate you, carry you around twists and turns, and sometimes defy gravity, and the expressions on their faces was priceless.
It looks like even my husband was dealing with a somersaulting tummy, because the pictures don’t lie! We used FastPass for most of the rides, which I’m grateful for because the more popular rides sometimes have waits of longer than an hour during busy times of the years (holiday, summer, when children have vacation from school, etc). I really recommend it, as well as the free Disney app that lets you know the wait times for rides in real time so you can plan your route.
Photo Memory Maker is the third thing every family should get, because it allows you to enjoy Walt Disney World hands-free. As you walk around, WDW photographers will snap you in action, then snap your band to send your photos to your account, and you can download them to share and use as you’d like, or order souvenirs with your photos. The images of us above on the Seven Dwarves Mine Train were taken by Disney cameras and sent to our account for us.
Festival of Fantasy Parade
Disney parades are pretty magical, a chance for us to cheer on favorite characters amidst great fanfare and incredible parade cars that bring the illusion of the story to our world … and it was one fairytale after the next, a true parade of classic Disney tales come to life with colorful grandeur, swinging swords and catapults, twirling fairies, and a dragon breathing actual flames.
The Disney Festival of Fantasy Parade takes place on Main Street, U.S.A. in the Magic Kingdom and should not be missed!
Breakfast with a few friends
Character breakfast at Cape May Cafe was beyond fun, a chance for the boys to get more autographs and hug their new friends, Minnie, Donald, and Goofy.
(yes, we have since bought them all so they can continue to play with them at home… I’m guessing this happens to all parents, but I got a real kick out of my younger son insisting we need Minnie because she is married to Mickey and he is lonely without her)
We dined on delicious breakfast foods, including Mickey shaped waffles. This is one of the events that our sons still talk about often, particularly during breakfast, and their autographs books have been passed around to friends to show the famous autographs within.
As promised, a video! Here is a small compilation of our adventure that encompasses a bit of this and that (but not everything! there was soo much more!). Forgive the frizzy hair and squinty eyes, I was having too much fun to fuss with Frizz-Ease and sunglasses:
Penelope Guzman at Disney World
And stay tuned for the final day of our Walt Disney World family adventure!