Disney Family Vacation
April 22-April 30, 2023
1 year of planning
Over 40 hours in the car
Over 2734 Miles
10 People
From Green Bay Wisconsin to Orlando Florida
I still remember my parents telling my brother and I that we were going to Disney World in 1990 and again to Disneyland in 1993. I was lucky enough to go to Disney World again in 2006. I am not much of a roller coaster person however Disney does a great job with different rides, shows and activities that everyone will love!
We rented a 12 passenger van, took 2 cars and 2 days there, it wasn't easy but totally worth the savings of trying to fly 10 people
Our first stop was Chattanooga Tennessee. We opted to stay at a Motel 6 to try and save a bit of money. We really just needed a place to sleep for a few hours. I would not ever recommend this to anyone. We knew it was a 2 star hotel, again, just needed a bed. Anything would have been better than this place.
After leaving Tennessee, we drove directly to our rental house in Kissimmee. We checked in, chose our rooms and then left directly to the store for our week of food and supplies that were needed.
We also stopped at Hooters for food, we had a great experience there.
We booked our rental through VBRO and it was in a very nice, gated community with a pool. We had 6 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms, great space for 10 people.
Monday 4/24 we woke up and headed to our first park, Magic Kingdom. Upon arrival we needed to stop for a DAS Pass. In hindsight I wish I would have gotten it for both my kids. This day was rough having to wait in lines to get on rides.
Ever since my very first visit, It's a Small World has been my favorite ride ever. It was the first Disney ride I ever rode and it will continue to be tradition that it's the first ride done in the parks when I arrive.
Ride: It's a Small World
Location: Fantasyland
Description: Gentle 10 minute Journey through all 7 continents
History: Created for the 1964-1965 New York's World's Fair
Thoughts: I love this ride, it's so cute and the song is catchy. It will continue to be one of my favorites.
Ride; Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Location: Frontierland
Description: Race through a haunted gold mine aboard a speeding train on this thrilling coaster-style ride
Thoughts: This ride is so fun! It's more of a thrill ride than some but I'd put it in the middle as this is one, I'll ride.
Ride: Haunted Mansion
Location: Liberty Square
Description: Climb aboard a gloomy Doom buggy for a grave journey through a labyrinth of haunted chambers
Thoughts: This is a classic, it's dark and was scary for me the first time but the visual effects inside this ride are amazing
Ride: Mad Tea Party
Location: Fantasyland
Description: Spin “round and 'round in a giant teacup during a madcap music-filled whirlwind
Thoughts; My oldest daughter wanted to ride this ride so bad, she literally said she wasn't leaving until she did. The two of us rode it together and it was very fun and nostalgic!
Attraction: Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor
Location; Tommorowland
Description: Participate in a hilarious gag-tastic interactive comedy show-starring Monsters, Inc and Company
Thoughts: So, I am pretty sure this was my first time seeing this. It wasn't there in the 90's and if it was there in 2006 I didn't see it. Don't skip on this. I laughed so hard I had tears. They take audience participation to the max on this. One of the members of our party was stretched out at the end of the bench, suddenly he flashed up on screen and Mike said “And this guy posing” then there was something about Mr. January. I about died
Ride: Pirates of the Caribbean
Location; Adventureland
Description: Set sail on a swashbuckling voyage to a long-forgotten time and place when pirates and privateers ruled the seas
Thoughts: Another classic. I remember the drop being steeper than it was, maybe old age has changed my perspective on that. I also feel like they changed this ride a bit too much and added too many Jack Sparrows to it. The line also wasn't as interactive as I remember.
Ride: Space Mountain
Location: Tomorrowland
Description: Blast off on a rip-roaring rocket into the furthest reaches of outer space on this roller-coaster ride in the dark.
Thoughts: I skipped this one because I thought it went upside down, I again regret not going on. Three of us stayed off and took shelter from the massive rain storm that came down
Attraction: Enchanted Tiki Room
Location: Adventureland
Description: Tropical birds, Tiki gods and colorful flowers come to life in a swinging South Seas musical extravaganza
Thoughts: Most members of my party said this was a bit creepy. I disagree with them, to me this is a classic and the song is so fun. It's a funny, colorful show
Rides we wanted to ride but couldn't.
Ride: Jungle Cruise
Location: Adventureland
Description: Chart a course for high adventure on a scenic and comedic boat tour of exotic rivers across Asia, Africa and South America
Thoughts; This is a classic and it's so funny! So many cheesy jokes and things to look at
Why we couldn't ride: One of Florida's notorious rain storms picked up and the ride was closed
Ride: Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
Location: Fantasyland
Description: Race through the diamond mine from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs on a swaying family coaster ride
Thoughts; This ride has been around forever and I honestly don't think I've ever ridden it
Why we couldn't ride; This ride is super popular and I didn't really understand scheduling rides to get on it using a shorter queue.
Ride: Tron Lightcycle/Run
Location: Tomorrowland
Description: Speed across a world with no horizons in a high-stakes race based on the Disney sci-fi film TRON: Legacy
Thoughts: This ride actually looks amazing! It's one of the newest rides available at MK but very hard to ride
Why we couldn't ride; This ride is virtual queue or individual Paid Lightening Lane only. I wasn't aware of the paid LL until the next day when I was finally able to figure things out on the app. We missed the 7 AM virtual queue by 3 minutes and it was already full. I was able to get in on the 2 PM queue. When it came close to the time, the party that was riding went over and even after the time was called, the line was 2 hours long!
Final Thoughts on Magic Kingdom.
Since we drove, we paid for parking and were a million miles away. I wish we would have paid for premier parking and taken the tram.
I don't like having to be glued to my phone the entire time trying to navigate the app to get on rides. I did like that the app has ride information, wait times or if the ride is down.
I didn't like the trickery of the Genie +, Lightening Lanes being paid or Virtual Queues. All 3 of these took away the magic.
I also didn't like that we saw no characters here, you had to schedule it like a ride and the lines were longer than some of the ride wait times. I miss the days were you could catch a character walking around the park.
We purposely didn't book any dining options. It's very expensive for the sit down meals. I also wish we would have had 2 days to spend here. All in all this place is just amazing and the kids had so much fun
Tuesday 4/25 we headed over to Animal Kingdom. We stopped to see if we could get another DAS pass for my son. Instead, they just updated our whole party. Without it only 5 people could use the pass while the other 5 waited in line. This made it extremely helpful.
This is a newer park that I've only been to once before. This is also the park with the most shade which is wonderful since Disney likes to just have everything open.
At one point we stopped for food, while sitting down a cast member working at the drink cart warned us that there is a very aggressive white bird that likes to swoop down and try to steal people's food. The bird made it's appearance and as everyone took off I calmly gathered everything up and moved away. The cast member pointed to the bird while saying “That's him, that's the criminal”. Only at Disney can you experience something like this.
They also had the most colorful parrots flying around, it was so pretty!
I also found my first ever popcorn bucket, it was Pumba!!
Ride; Dinosaur
Location: DinoLand USA
Description: Travel back in time on a perilous prehistoric race to rescue a dinosaur—before the meteor strikes.
Thoughts: I regret not going on this, but I wasn't feeling it. Another regret but I can't go back!
Ride: Expedition Everest – Legend of the Forbidden Mountain
Location: Asia
Description: Careen through icy Himalayan peaks on a speeding train while avoiding the clutches of the mythic Yeti
Thoughts: This has a big drop and I decided to skip it. My family went on it and loved it! Such a cool looking ride from the outside
Ride: Kali River Rapids
Location: Asia
Description: Set out on a thrilling whitewater adventure through a lush jungle in the heart of Asia
Thoughts: This is super fun, you will get wet, some will get soaked and some will just be a little wet. We got soaked, thinking we'd dry quickly, we didn't. We were wet most of the day but that's really ok
Ride: Kilimanjaro Safaris
Location: Africa
Description: Set off in an open-air vehicle for a guided tour of a lush African savanna—and spot real animals roaming free
Thoughts; I wasn't able to go last time we were here, the line was 4 hours long and we just couldn't wait. This time I made sure we all got on. I loved this. It's such an amazing experience.
Rides we wanted to ride but couldn't.
Ride; Na'Vi River Journey
Location: Pandora – The World of Avatar
Description: Take a mystical journey by boat deep into Pandora’s glowing bio-luminescent rain forest
Thoughts: This is completely new and extremely popular. I can image the visual experience of this is amazing
Why we couldn't ride; It was too busy, the wait time was over 3 hours with a DAS pass.
Ride: Avatar Flight of Passage
Location: Pandora – The World of Avatar
Description: Climb atop a winged mountain banshee for a breathtaking 3D flight over Pandora’s otherworldly landscape
Thoughts; Another ride that's new and sounds very interesting. We don't even like the Avatar movies but I'm sure we would have loved these
Why we couldn't ride; It was too busy, the wait time was over 3 hours with a DAS pass.
Attraction that we skipped.
Attraction: It's Tough to be a bug!
Location: Discovery Island
December: Discover what it’s like to be a bug during this 3D film and live show inspired by the Disney and Pixar movie A Bug’s Life.
Thoughts: This is super cute and interactive. There's crawling bugs, stink bugs and it's all around fun
Reason we skipped it: We just didn't think our older kids would be interested in this. We decided to spend more time shipping and looking at the animals
Final Thoughts on Animal Kingdom
This is the smallest park with the shortest hours. The hours are short because of all the animals, but this park is not to be skipped. It's beautiful, the music shows they have around the park are wonderful and the rides they have available don't disappoint
I found the navigation of this park super easy, they have signs everywhere that point you to the different lands, different rides and I didn't have to spend as much time on the app as I did at MK
Wednesday 4/26 we got up early to head to Hollywood Studios. We had lightsaber and droid building scheduled for the afternoon and we wanted to ride the ever popular Star Wars rides
This park is awesome, I remember it being MGM studios and then again being there in 2006. This is full of amazing looking building and rides. It's defiantly the park geared towards older kids, although since 2006 they did add Toy Story land, which is such a great piece of the park!
Character Experience; Green Army Drum Corps
Location: Toy Story Land
Description: Throughout the day, be on the lookout for the Green Army Drum Corps in Toy Story Land! This talented band of drummers is sure to entertain Guests of all ages with their high-energy performances and awe-inspiring drum sequences.
Thoughts; We accidentally ran into these guys twice and they are simply amazing! They get the crowd involved and are really good at what they do!
Character Experience; Meet Olaf
Location: Echo Lake
Description: See Olaf the snowman from Disney’s Frozen—who’s finally doing what frozen things do in summer.
Thoughts; My kids ran into to meet him. There is no photographer, only an auto camera so it was harder to get good pictures
Ride: Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway
Location: Hollywood Boulevard
Description: Zip away on a zany adventure through a cartoon universe crammed with surprises
Thoughts; I was very surprised at how cute and fun this ride was! We choose it because the pregnant person in our party was able to ride it. It was a blast
Ride: Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run
Location: Galaxy's Edge
Description: Fly the Millennium Falcon on a thrilling interactive smuggling mission
Thoughts: This was on our must do list. It's super fun and very interactive. These rides have amazing effects and this one you both fly and shoot. It leaves nothing to the imagination, and it really feels real.
Ride: Slinky Dog Dash
Location; Toy Story Land
Description: Take off on a family-friendly coaster that twists and turns past giant toys and springs across Andy’s oversized backyard!
Thoughts: This was a ride I heard nothing but good things about, we all wanted to ride it so we jumped on it. It feels like it should be faster than it is, it was super fun
Ride: Star Tours – The Adventures Continue
Location: Echo Lake
Description: Make the jump to hyperspace on a thrilling 3D space flight to legendary destinations from the Star Wars saga
Thoughts: This is very similar to Smuggler's Run. This ride isn't as interactive and it's 3d but was still super fun. It was like one of those machines they used to have in the mall but with much better effects
Ride: Star Wars; Rise of the Resistance
Location: Galaxy's Edge
Description: Join the Resistance in an unforgettable battle against the First Order on this exciting ride
Thoughts: Just going through to get on this ride is an experience! Disney spared no expense when it came to this one! This was truly awesome and I'm not a star wars fan
Ride; The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
Location; Sunset Boulevard
Description: Hurtle up and down aboard a haunted elevator-style lift. You’re about to enter… The Twilight Zone!
Thoughts: I was so scared but regret not doing this in 2006! It wasn't that bad and it was actually pretty amazing! The creepy factor is there with this one. Those doors open and you know what's about to happen. I was shocked that I enjoyed this
Ride: Alien Swirling Saucers
Location: Toy Story Land
Description: Take an intergalactic spin with the adorable aliens from Toy Story.
Thoughts; This looked like a cute fun ride, so we hopped on. I thought it would spin more but it didn't, super cool how you keep switching lanes
Enchanting Extra's; Savi's Workshop – Hand built Lightsabers
Location: Galaxy Edge
Description: Build your own custom lightsaber at this secret workshop and continue the way of the Force
Thoughts; This was truly hidden and we actually got very frustrated trying to find it. You need reservations inorder to build your own. You can spend the same at surrounding stores and get a pre-built lifesaber, however this is the only spot you can build one. This was super fun and very neat because it's a whole process with a story
Enchanting Extra's; Droid Depot
Location: Galaxy's Edge
Description: Build your own droid at Black Spire Outpost’s industrial depot
Thoughts; This was located next to Savi's. This was interesting and I don't feel it's the same experience as lightsaber's. You can purchase a droid for the same price at the store, however it's not customized. Wow, these things are super cool though
Final Thoughts on Hollywood Studios
We couldn't ride the Rockin' Roller-coaster because it was closed. All good, I rode that one once and I don't need to do it again lol.
Galaxy's Edge is truly amazing, no expense was spared on this area. It truly looks out of the movies.
Toy Story Land is the same, the colors of the buildings to even the cartoon fence. SOO many fun things to see and do in this park. This is another one that I wish we would have had more time to get through. Another day maybe to check everything out.
We did find many characters hanging out and were able to meet quite a few. This was our 3rd park and so far the best for character meet and greets. There were also many photo ops available here.
Thursday 4/27 we slept in and went shopping at Downtown Disney AKA Disney Springs
We didn't buy much but were able to get some fun Orlando themed items. We ate some Chicken Place that we almost walked out of because the person at the door was super rude. The food was ok and this was also the hottest day!
The temperature reached 90 and there is zero shad here.
We didn't stay too long, we left and just hung out at the house. This was a great day to just chill out without doing much
Friday 4/28 was our last park day and the last day before we left for the 2 day drive home.
Epcot was last on our list and it didn't disappoint!
Ride; Frozen Ever After
Location: Norway in the World Showcase
Description: Voyage to Arendelle aboard an ancient Nordic vessel as you take a musical tour of the wintery world of Frozen.
Thoughts; They took the old Norway ride that was awesome and a bit scary and turned it into this ride. This was cute and you get a little wet.
Ride: Gran Fiesta Tour starring the Three Caballeros
Location: Mexico in the World Showcase
Description: Take in the sights of Mexico and the antics of 3 feathered amigos on this gentle boat ride through the Mexico Pavilion
Thoughts: I don't remember this one. I remember the inside of the pavilion. This ride was cute!!!
Ride: Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind
Location; Epcot
Description: Take off on an intergalactic chase through space and time with the Guardians of the Galaxy
Thoughts: We paid extra to ride this. I knew by this time that we needed to buy the LL if we wanted to ride it. This ride is freakin' awesome! It's visually impressive and a wild ride with a cool story in the beginning
Ride: Journey Into the Imagination with Figment
Location: World Celebration
Description: Figment the playful dragon is your guide on this delightful ride through the sensory labs of Imagination Institute
Thoughts: I love figment so much! I never really cared much for the ride, although I appreciated it more this time and thought it was super cute.
Ride; Mission: Space
Location: World Discovery
Description: Blast off on a thrilling simulated NASA-style mission to Mars—or orbit the Earth on a gentler ride through space.
Thoughts: I skipped this one since the 5G doesn't soot me well. The group had a blast going on this one
Ride: Remy's Ratatouille Adventure
Location: France in World Showcase
Description: Feel like you’ve shrunk down to Chef Remy’s size for a 4D culinary adventure based on the Disney and Pixar film Ratatouille. When you’re small, life is a big adventure!
Thoughts: This was so much better than I expected, and I didn't really know what to expect! This was such a fun adventure ride.
Ride: The Seas with Nemo & Friends
Location: World Nature
Description: Go under the sea—without getting wet—on this gentle ride based on Disney and Pixar's Finding Nemo, which finds Nemo lost again
Thoughts: This is such a cute ride. It takes place below a real aquarium that's filled with so many fish
Ride: Test Track
Location: World Discovery
Description: Design a virtual concept car and put it to the test on this thrilling, high-octane attraction
Thoughts: This is always a fun one. Each time a different car is seen in the queue. The real thrill is when it opens up outside you speed off
Rides we wanted to ride but couldn't.
Ride: Spaceship Earth
Location: World Celebration
Description: Travel through time and explore the remarkable history of human communication from the Stone Age to the computer age
Thoughts: This is a classic Epcot ride that's such a neat experience.
Why we couldn't ride: It was broken down!
Epcot Final Thoughts
This is such a great park. The World Showcase is an adventure in itself. With the added rides and shops plus food from everywhere!
Epcot is a visual park with a few rides.
Ending Vacation Thoughts:
It was 15 years too long since the last time I was here. I feel like some of the magic is gone but the rides make it worth it.
The character meet and greets are harder to either find or get in. The ride queues on some of the rides are also extremely hard. The having to be on the app the entire day drives me crazy. The entire time.
We got the photopass and half the ride photo's are missing. Rather disappointed with that aspect. I contacted customer service but it can take months to get our photos
We didn't stay on site so we drove and paid for parking at each park. I ended up having to rent a scooter or EV while at Epcot but I'm glad I did.
We had a few hiccups, with 10 people we were bound to. Some of the people couldn't roll with the punches, they didn't like last minute switches
We left Florida on Saturday 4/29 and drove to Henderson, KY. We picked up Tynne's friend Jay and spent the night at the Ramada Inn. We ate at an amazing restaurant and had some good laughs.
We left Sunday 4/30 for home and made it home by 5 PM. The car ride wasn't bad and we had an amazing time!
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