Our quick family Disney trip - June 2014

This year we were not able to do a big family vacation, but we were blessed to be invited to visit my sister-in-law in Fl.  We had a blast with her and her family!  Thanks for letting us invade :)  Of course since we were going to be an hour from Disney World I could not pass up a chance to visit.  After all 1 day at Disney is better than none!

We took off with our 5 year old for 2 nights at the All Star Sports resort.  My sister-in-law was kind enough to keep the baby.  (Since it was such a short trip we decided to make her first trip next year when we wouldn't be so rushed.)  We usually stay at Pop Century, but decided to try a new place this time.  My son LOVED the giant football field.  He ran around and had a great time.  I personally prefer the theming at Pop, but it was fun to visit someplace new. There were not that many differences from Pop, but I think the transportation at Pop was a little better. It's still my favorite value resort.  I'm saving to try a moderate next time though.

 

After arriving we had a dinner reservation at our favorite Disney restaurant - 'Ohana.  YUM!  We cannot make a trip to Disney without having wings, steak, shrimp and pineapple bread pudding from 'Ohana.  It was excellent as always.  We stuffed ourselves as proved by these before and after pics.

 

 

We went back to our room for early bedtime.  The next day we had a breakfast reservation at the Crystal Palace before the Magic Kingdom opened.  That is the absolute best time to go!  You get to walk down Main St in the MK before the crowds are there.  It is a perfect time to have your picture made infront of the castle.  It is one of my favorite things to do.  Plus, they have custom made omelets that are great too.   My son enjoyed Mickey Waffles and puffed French toast as well as meeting the Winnie the Pooh characters.  I'm glad he still loves them, but even when he thinks he is too old to meet Pooh we will still have to go here for early entry to the park and omelets.

 





After breakfast it was off to tackle the park!  This was my very first trip using Fast Pass +, magic bands and the My Disney Experience App.  I have been a Disney World fanatic for 24 years and I was nervous about these changes.  I've always loved using fast passes, but the thought of planning them in advance did not appeal to me at all.  Right now you are allowed to reserve 3 per day in advance.  I was lucky enough to get us FPs for Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, and the new 7 Dwarves Mine Train.  The hardest thing about these advance passes was explaining to my 5 year old that we couldn't just jump on every ride we saw because we had scheduled times for these rides.  I have to admit that I liked the new system much more than I expected.  I think I'll always prefer the old way of getting Fast passes as we go, so we don't have to plan so much in advance.  BUT I did enjoy having 3 passes already in hand when we arrived.   The new system also lets you get more FPs after you use the first 3.  You can only get 1 at a time after this, but that is no different than the old system.  We were able to get 3 more passes during the day including one for the 9pm electrical parade. 
This is one of my new favorite tips!!  If you plan to see the parade this is the way to do it!  The area in front of the castle is roped off for these FP holders.  You are allowed to enter 20 min before the parade to claim your spot.  It give you an uncrowned, prime spot to view the parade without having to sit and save your spot an hour or more before. 

I loved the magic bands and the My Disney Experience App.  They are both great additions.   My 5 year old did not want to leave his band on all day, but we had no problem with ours.  As I mentioned we were very lucky to get a FP for the new ride that just opened: The Seven Dwarves Mine Train.  I was really excited for this new coaster.  The animatronics in it were fantastic.  I loved what they did with it, but I wanted more!  I was hoping for more movie scenes, but what is there is very well done - as most Disney things are. 

After 12 hours in the park we were worn out.  My son even asked to go to bed and fell asleep before we got to the room.  Those are 2 things that are unheard of for him.  Needless to say, we all slept well at All Star Sports that night.  We made a quick visit to Downtown Disney then next morning.  We could not miss a visit to the Lego store to spend my son's life savings on the biggest lego set he could find.  I'm not sure how long it will take him to complete the set he bought, but I think he may still be working on it when we make it back to Disney next year.