When we think of dreaming big, one of the first places that comes to mind is Disney World.  With every element exuding excellence, there is no other place like it, and we knew that it would be an adventure like no other!  Disney is filled with awe, wonder, laughter, beauty, music, creativity, and celebrations at every turn.  Thousands of people visit celebrating all kinds of milestones, anniversaries, or just simply time spent together with no other objective than to have fun and enjoy life!  Capturing life’s most beautiful moments is one of our greatest passions, and experiencing Disney to the fullest was our goal for this trip.

Planning our trip was honestly half the fun, and utilizing sites such as YouTube, Undercover Tourist, WDW Passport, and Queue Times, to select low crowd dates, preview rides, and create itineraries, made this year’s vacation plan one for the books!  Our goal was to see and do as much as possible, while still keeping to a tight budget.  There are endless money saving tips out there, but a few of our favorites that served our family well included booking an AirBnB off-site at a nearby resort, skipping the Lightning Lane option (as entertaining as each queue was, we didn’t mind the lines), packing our own food for breakfast and lunch while purchasing snacks and dinner at the parks, and taking advantage of dozens of free souvenir options throughout each park. We began our 6 day vacation at Disney Springs with endless beautiful sights to see, and all for free!

We spent Monday at Hollywood Studios enjoying 14 attractions and walking 5.5 miles.

• Star Wars, Rise of the Resistance
• Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run
• Slinky Dog Dash
• Green Army Drum Line performance
• Star Tours – The Adventures Continue
• Vacation Fun show
• Snacks at Epic Eats
• For the First Time in Forever show
• Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular show
• The Voyage of the Little Mermaid (photo op only)
• Star Wars Launch Bay exhibit
• Disney Junior Dance Party
• Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage show
• Dinner at Rosie’s All American and Catalina Eddie’s
• Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway
• Fantasmic! show
• Wonderful World of Animation show

Tuesday was spent at Magic Kingdom walking 7.5 miles and experiencing 27 attractions.

• Tram ride to kick off the fun!
• Welcome Show
• Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
• Under the Sea – Journey of the Little Mermaid
• Dumbo the Flying Elephant
• The Barnstormer
• Peter Pan’s Flight
• Prince Charming Regal Carrousel
• Frontierland Shootin’ Arcade
• Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (x2)
• Walt Disney World Railroad
• Mickey’s Magical Friendship Faire show
• Snacks at Walt Disney World Popcorn Carts and Storybook Treats
• Mickey’s PhilharMagic show
• Swiss Family Treehouse
• (We missed Pirates of the Caribbean as it was closed for the day)
• Disney Festival of Fantasy Parade
• Jungle Cruise
• The Magic Carpets of Aladdin
• Space Mountain
• Meet Ariel in Her Grotto
• Dinner from Prince Eric Village Cart & Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe
• Tomorrowland Speedway
• Monster’s Inc. Laugh Floor show
• Disney Enchantment show
• Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover
• Astro Orbiter
• Space Mountain (second time)
• Enchanted Tales with Belle
• Ferry ride to end the night.

We spent Wednesday at EPCOT walking 7.8 miles to experience 32 attractions.

• International Garden Festival
• Test Track
• Mission: SPACE (orange & green)
• Soarin’ Around the World
• Living with the Land
• The Seas with Nemo & Friends
• SeaBase (Coral Reefs, Manatees, Reef Fish, Sea Turtles, Sharks & Rays)
• Bruce’s Shark World
• Turtle Talk with Crush
• JAMMitors Drum performance
• Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind
• France
• Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure
• Morocco
• Meet & Greet with Jasmine
• Japan
• Snacks from Joffrey’s Coffee & Tea Co. and Gelateria Toscana
• Italy
• Germany
• Festival Market Shop
• China
• Norway
• Frozen Ever After
• Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind (second time)
• Mission: SPACE (orange)
• Mariachi Cobre performance
• Mexico
• Dinner at La Cantina
• Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros
• Canada Far and Wide in Circle-Vision 360
• United Kingdom
• Beauty & the Beast Sing Along
• (We skipped the Disney and Pixar Short Film Festival to get seats for the fireworks)
• Harmonious Fireworks

Thursday was spent at Animal Kingdom walking 7 miles and experiencing 13 attractions.

• Avatar Flight of Passage
• Explore Pandora
• The Na’vi River Journey
• Kilimanjaro Safaris
• Festival of the Lion King show
• Feathered Friends in Flight show
• Expedition Everest – Legend of the Forbidden Mountain
• Fossil Fun Games
• TriceraTop Spin
• Finding Nemo – The Musical
• DINOSAUR
• The Boneyard
• Live music at Discovery Trading Company
• Adventurers Outpost (photo op only)
• It’s Tough to Be a Bug!
• Tree of Life (photo op)
• Dinner at Frame Tree Barbecue and Yak & Yeti Cafe
• Expedition Everest (5 additional times for the kids)
• Souvenir shopping at WDW Trading Company
• Tree of Life Awakenings show

We finished out our vacation on Friday at the Terra Verde Resort relaxing, swimming, fishing, playing games, mini golf, and enjoying a picnic lunch. Every minute of the time spent dreaming, planning, and scheduling was well worth it for one of the most incredible, intense, fun, challenging, and magical vacations ever!