Friday 16 March 2018

Disney World itinerary 5 days 4 nights with 2 young kids

Disney World itinerary 5 days 4 nights with 2 young kids.

(This is part 2 of this Disney blog)
In case you missed part 1 where I shared our tips and advice for conquering Disney World with 2 young kidsclick here!

5 days 4 nights Disney World itinerary
24-28th Feb 2018

Before trip~
Do ask your kids to pack a few of their favorite candies (we reserve lollipops for long car road trips n flights), toys, storybook, paper, pencil, eraser, crayon, homework (yes, Sienna has homework and classwork that we requested for the days that she will miss school)...
I gave them each a notebook to write n draw about their Disney trip! 
Starting them young at blogging perhaps??? ... Lols!!!
These came in handy throughout the trip.
(Pic 1 and 2 by Skyler, Pic 3,4 and 5 by Sienna)









Day 1 
4am~We drove from Waxhaw, North Carolina to Orlando, Florida. 
Google map says it will take us 8 hrs, and we did it in 9 hrs! 
Not bad at all...we only stopped once for toilet break n twice for gas breaks!



This momma made Indian lemon rice (mother in law's recipe) and we ate in the car! 
My MIL will be proud of me, lols...



1pm ~ grocery shopping (banana, bread, milk)
2pm ~ checked into hotel, SiennaSkyler got their "surprise" presents from Mickey and friends, chillax n rested...




3pm ~ Art of animation resort. 
Cars theme on the right side of the resort and Ariel theme on the left side. 
Perfect for our family as both kids had a ball admiring these work of arts!
       (Sienna & Skyler photobombing mommy's Bollywood moment :P )



5pm ~ Animal Kingdom Lodge ~ change of pace and took the kids to see real life animals (giraffe, pelicans, gazelle, etc.) right at the backyard of the lodge! The kids enjoyed some free campfire roasted marshmallows. There are some kids activities going on throughout the day, be sure to check with the check in counter of the lodge. We chit chat with the staff working there and were intrigued to find that they are from different countries like Australia, south Africa, etc. They came to Disney on an exchange program.

7pm~ yummy dinner at Thai Thani, which is in the cute little picturesque town of Celebration, FL.  It has a nice feel to it and an area to take a stroll next to the lake. Check it out if you get a chance.
9pm~ early night to prepare to conquer Disney World the next day!

Day 2 Magic Kingdom (Disney world)
8am~ hotel shuttle
9am~ Arrived at Ticketing n transportation center (heavy traffic due to Disney marathon event). Collected our physical tickets (which acts as your fast passes too) and our 1st time + birthday buttons. Took the monorail to Magic Kingdom.







9.30am-9.30pm ~ super HIGH at the happiest place on earth!
Note: I will only share our highlights n lowlights (if any) and will NOT share in detail as it will spoil the fun coz we ourselves didn't research in detail as we wanted to leave some element of surprises.

Highlights:

Buzz LightYear

Tomorrowland Speedway (went twice)


Enchanted tales with Belle (kids get to be on "stage" and act with Belle!)




Monster Inc. Laugh Floor.

Under the Sea ~ Journey of the Little Mermaid

Mickey's PhilharMagic. (3D show and half way Skyler got scared at objects "flying" right at him)


Disney Festival of Fantasy parade,


Happily Ever After fireworks,


Once Upon a A time Cinderella castle show

Lowlights: None!

10.20pm~hotel shuttle back to hotel.

Day 3 (break day from Disney)
I'm so so glad we scheduled a break day in between... our legs n sanity thanked us for it!

Disney boardwalk (only go in the evenings).
~magic shows, street performers (jugglers, comedians, fire-eaters, jazz ensembles, etc.) performing.
We didn't have time so we went in the afternoon instead and it was pretty quiet and nothing much was going on.


Disney springs 
~Outdoor shops and restaurants.

~Free ferry ride... 


~Water fountains where everyone especially kids can enjoy playing and cool down from the heat!

~Free yummy Chocolate sample at the Ghirardelli Soda Fountain & Chocolate Shop.


~Played with LEGOS at The Lego Imagination Center which has a FREE 3,000-square-foot outdoor play area filled with thousands of LEGO blocks, plus some absolutely amazing and huge Lego sculptures for you to admire and take pictures.


~Built our own light saber sword.

Applebees at hotel lobby for dinner!

Day 4  Hollywood Studios (Disney world)

8am~ hotel shuttle
8.30am~ Arrived at Ticketing n transportation center. Took another bus to Hollywood Studios




9am-8.30pm ~ super HIGH at the happiest place on earth!

Highlights:

Beauty and the beast~ Live on Stage (highly recommended)


Voyage of The Little Mermaid

For the First Time in Forever: A "Frozen" Sing-Along celebration


Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular!


March of the First Order  


Rock n Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith (For the adults... we, the parents took turns to ride it. 
P/s: I lost my hair clip while riding this fast n crazy ride...)




Lowlights:
Fantasmic! (laser light n water show)
(Sienna said the villain characters could give her nightmares, Skyler fell asleep, we the parents didn't understand the story line). It's quite a unique experience for those that haven't seen it before, but we've seen similar ones in Singapore.

Do NOTE n do NOT make the same mistake like I did. 
So I wanted to end my Disney trip on a grand finale note by devouring a turkey leg! Yes, I had it when I was 10? Yrs old at Disneyland N it was so yummylicious that I could still remember it till this day. Here's the thing, they DIDN'T have any at Hollywood Studios!!! ***Boohooo*** n yes, I saw it at Magic Kingdom!!! N I can't turn back time. Looks like Mr. Hubby will need to plan another Disney trip, perhaps to Disney Japan/Paris/HongKong? Lols...

8.30pm ~ bus back to Magic Kingdom (no direct bus back to Ticketing n transportation center.
9pm ~ Rode the Monorail to Ticketing n transportation center.
If you have extra time to kill (which most wouldn't, but we did as we had to wait for our last shuttle to take us back to our hotel), take the “inner” Monorail that circles the three Monorail resorts (Contemporary, Polynesian and Grand Floridian). This is a great way to orient yourself and get a look at the resorts and an overview of the Magic Kingdom. You can get off and explore each resort or just enjoy the ride and the view. While riding, we were greeted by fireworks all over Disney. We stopped to check out Polynesian resort.
10.20pm~hotel shuttle back to hotel.

Day 5 (last day)
Took it easy. Slept in.

9am heavy breakfast / brunch at hotel. R&R in our hotel room.
12noon checked out.
12.30 premium outlet mall (they have a Disney outlet store here)
1.30 drove back to Waxhaw, NC.  (Standstill traffic from a car crash)
5pm ~ stopped for chinese dinner
11pm ~ reached home!
Back to R.E.A.L.I.T.Y.
Next day, Sienna back to school, Mr. Hubby back to work from home, mommy n Skyler back to home school.

Places we Skipped
~ Disney Character Breakfast.
~ Wilderness lodge to look for hidden mickeys.