Orlando, FL - Disney

DISNEY

#184 (January 31, 2023): As with almost all our stops, we have left behind many adventures undone in the Florida Keys such as the Dolphin Research Center, Dry Tortugas National Park (which requires much more advanced planning to book a boat ride to the national park since this sells out months in advanced, which is good to know), John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, Theater of the Sea, Robbie’s of Islamorada, the Truman Little White House, and of course more soft serve key lime ice cream from Rooster Treats! Nonetheless, we are thankful for the many adventures that we have enjoyed in the Keys. Now, it is time for us to head 6 hours north to what is proclaimed as the “Most Magical Place on Earth!”

We drove east along the Overseas Highway and then north on the Florida Turnpike back to Orlando, listening to Mr. Dave for the first 2 hours and saying good-bye to him near Miami, and then knocking out several hours of car school before parking at Disney’s Fort Wilderness. Once settled, we explored Fort Wilderness to get our bearings of the campground since it is so big! Bethany enjoyed SMAC Food Truck’s mac and cheese for dinner declaring it her second favorite of all time (Anthonino’s Taverna in St. Louis still holds #1). Ironically, SMAC stands for South Carolina Mac And Cheese. (We’re still in Florida, right?)

#185-191 (February 1-7, 2023): The kids have waited just about all their lives for a trip to Disney World. The last time we were here was 2013, and we had a 3, 2, and almost 1-year old! After that, we vowed we would not return until every child was potty trained, and preferably no strollers! Bethany was born the following year, so that was a bit of a set-back on the potty-training and no-stroller goal. LOL!

Well, 10 years later, here we are! (The kids are 13, almost 12, 10, and 8, which are much more manageable ages for this place! LOL!) We are thankful that we have 8 nights in Fort Wilderness and a 5-day park pass, so that we can focus on one park each day plus have a bonus day for a second day in one park, and still have a couple days of rest in between. Trying to pace ourselves!

We decided to start our Disney trip at Disney’s most iconic park, Magic Kingdom, where the favorite ride of the day was Big Thunder Mountain. We ate dinner at Liberty Tavern; the kids all loved the mac and cheese. Bethany, our mac ‘n’ cheese connoisseur, declared Liberty Tavern’s mac and cheese to be the best she had ever eaten, even better than St. Louis’s Anthonino’s Taverna, which has held a firm first place since August. Afterward, we watched the 50th Anniversary Disney Enchantment fireworks and light show on Cinderella’s Castle.

By the end of our week at Disney, we all ranked our favorite parks in different orders. Nonetheless, our family’s favorite park overall was Hollywood Studios. Neil, our Star Wars fan, absolutely loved Galaxy’s Edge in Hollywood Studios. And everyone’s favorite evening show was Hollywood Studios’ Fantasmic water and fireworks show. The stadium seating yielded the best views and made this show the most comfortable and least stressful. Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster and Rise of the Resistance were favorite rides from Hollywood Studios, while Everest was the favorite ride for Animal Kingdom (which was also voted the “most relaxing” park overall, if that’s even such a thing. Ha!).

Because the unanimous favorite ride of the entire Disney World complex was Guardians of the Galaxy, we decided to spend our fifth and final day at Epcot so that we could ride it a second time (one ride per person per day max; voucher required) and so that we could slow down and enjoy the countries around the world a little more since we had knocked out most of the rides on our first day here.

Overall, we had a nice time in Disney. Of course, we are leaving with an exhaustion that only Disney can seem to give. LOL! Nonetheless, the kids are thankful to finally mark Disney World off their bucket lists. They’ve waited a long time for this trip!