For those who don't know (we had to learn as we went!) Disney recently incorporated Magic Bands into their trip experience. These bands really are magic: you wear them on your wrist and you can use them to open your room door, pay for everything (as a room charge), use your Fastpass, etc. I wish we had them for real life! Fastpass was another great thing-- you could go online before your visit and choose 3 rides and hour-long windows to get on the rides. We skipped a lot of lines because of the Fastpass! Same thing with food reservations: we got into some places that we might not have otherwise, and didn't have to wait as long at others because we made reservations.
Overall it was an incredible trip and we both really loved the feeling you get at Disney World: it really is an experience that you can't find anywhere else. When we agreed to go, we thought: ok, this will be cool we'll ride some rides, see new stuff, etc. but we never expected it to be what it was: it really was magical. I know that sounds hokey, but the experience is crafted from top to bottom, and for a week we got to completely forget about the "real world." Everything was so clean (the bathrooms all were so clean and smelled so good!), and they really thought about the whole experience. I would go back again if only to have that feeling! It was also fun to compare the experience as an adult to the experience I remembered from the last time I was there-- I was 14! It was funny how much I remembered, but how different it was now (like, Space Mountain is the coolest thing at 14, and at 27, it sort of shakes your brain a lot. haha).
We stayed at the Carribbean Beach Resort, which is a huge resort with many buildings, beaches and pools. It reminded us a lot of our honeymoon in Jamaica!
For more trip photos and recounts, read along after the jump!
Day 1: Magic Kingdom
We actually got to Magic Kingdom earlier than we anticipated on our first day in the parks, so we got to see the opening ceremonies! What a perfect way to start the trip!
Photo credit to the in-laws for this one: what a great picture!
The Bartons in front of Cinderella Castle, beginning of Day 1!
Mike and his Mickey Yoda that he bought as a souvenir!
We spent the day zooming along on rides and exploring the park. We loved the railroad rollercoaster and Splash Mountain! We hit them super early before most people got to the parks, and didn't have to wait long at all which was nice!
Splash Mountain! Poor Mike does not look happy about that drop!
Mike and I had lunch at Be Our Guest Restaurant, modelled after the castle from Beauty and the Beast. It was incredible, and there were even lights against the back "windows" that made it look like it was snowing! The food was great, and we were lucky to have gotten a fastpass link to get us in (the line was so horrendously long).
Be Our Guest ballroom where we ate. Absolutely gorgeous.
Mike waiting for his turkey sandwich!
This was one of the things that I most wanted to do, so I was so excited we got in!
The rose on display in Beast's dining room. Again, every detail is perfect.
For dinner, we went to the Liberty Tree Tavern. Their meal was a family-style, Thanksgiving-esque dinner with turkey, pork roast, stuffing, and all sorts of yumminess! Mike and I made it all the way until closing the park: We got to see the fireworks! It was a really long day, but it was the best possible start to our vacation!
Day 2: Epcot
We spent a shorter day at Epcot on Tuesday.
We hit Test Track fairly early with a Fast Pass. Mike's parents hung back because this was a pretty intense ride-- clearly we loved it! It was awesome!
Us posing for a photo in Epcot.
On the left is a picture of Norway, inspiration for "Frozen." On the right is the squirrel (completely domesticated) that we fed leftovers from our Parisian patisserie order.
About to head into World Showcase; Paris behind us!
Posing at the Epcot ball.
We had dinner that night at Raglan Road Irish Pub with my Aunt Linda and her husband Jym, her son Timmie and his wife Melonie and their son, Austin. It was nice to be able to catch up-- I had never met Jym and she had never met Mike! It was a really great dinner-- I feel badly that I didn't get any pictures!
Day 3: Disney Studios
This was one of my favorite days in the parks! We had another long day on Wednesday: got to the park just after opening and Mike and I stayed for the final show that night! Phew!
Handsome hubs in his r2d2 Mickey ears (we must confess we didn't buy them).
More mouse ears we tried on but didn't buy (they were so uncomfortable!)
One of our favorite shots of the four of us from the week. We had such a good day! Notice my Parisian Minnie shirt from Epcot! Love it!
The original Bartons posing by the Tower of Terror!
One of the first things we did was hit Rock'n'Rollercoaster. I love how Ann and Mike are making funny faces and Hugh and I are like, "this is the best thing we've ever done!" haha.
For lunch we went to the 50's Prime Time diner, where everything was set up like Grandma & Grandpa's house from way back. This was the waiting area: Grandma & Grandpa's living room!
We absolutely adored the setup of this place-- they had you eating in Grandma & Grandpa's kitchen. Yes, I was creeping on other people, and no I'm not sorry! It was our favorite dining experience of the trip!
Us at the restaurant hungry for some comfort food.
The Bartons ready for lunch!
We enjoyed the rides, then went to the Drive-In Sci Fi cafe for an early dinner. The environment was great, but we still liked Primetime Better!
After dinner we had a Fastpass for the Tower of Terror. I love looking at everyone's faces. Yes, the little girl in front of us was 3, and was freaking out. While we were waiting, she said to her Mom (who clearly pushed her into going), "Mommy, I thought this was a happier ride!" Poor kid was terrified, but as soon as she got off, she was so proud that she did that!
Ann & Hugh called it an early night and Mike and I stayed to see the show Fantasmic. All I will say is 10,000 people in a stadium, amazing projections onto water, a live "stage" show and fireworks. Wowza!
Day 4: Animal Kingdom
This turned out to be another short day for us.. we were all so, so tired. Animal Kingdom was really cool though-- this was my first time to the park, since last time I was at Disney (in 2000) this park wasn't open yet!
Sunset over Epcot as we wandered over to the fireworks viewing area.
I will leave you with sunrise at our resort on our way to breakfast the day we left. All in all, it was an amazing vacation. Disney sunk their claws into us pretty deep and we're already looking forward to going back!
The first thing we did when we got to the park was go on the River Rapids-- we got soaked! But it was nice to be drying off throughout the rest of the day, as it was hot by this point in our trip. It was just us and one other couple on our raft! (Contrary to my first thought, that is not actually us in the picture- you can just sort of barely see us).
From there, we went to the Expedition Everest rollercoaster-- OH MY GOODNESS. This was the best roller coaster across all the parks, and boy did it really get us! There's a twist in the middle-- I won't tell you what it is-- and it really took us by surprise. Mike instantly wanted to do it again, but it made me feel a little sick, so we never got to do it again. But man, what an incredible ride!
From there we did the safari across the wildlife preserve. It was really awesome to see, and we got to see a lot of different animals!
Mike and his ladies enjoying Animal Kingdom.
Really amazing picture by the inlaws of the Tree of Life before we went to Yak & Yeti for lunch! MMM!
I laugh every time I see this picture-- this is probably my favorite picture from all the ride pictures. This was on the Dinosaur ride, and it was actually really scary-- and rough-- this was the ride I left and felt bruised. I love looking at everyone's faces. Oh, and everyone told me that because we were in the back a dinosaur would probably breathe down our necks, so I spent the WHOLE ride like that. lol.
We headed back to the resort early, went to the pool and just laid low. Mike and I were going to have a nice anniversary dinner just us, but we were too tired so we just went to the food court and went to bed early.
Day 5: Our last day
I have to say, I think we picked the right amount of time to be there. We got to see everything that we wanted to, we spent exactly as much money as we saved, and we were tired by the end. We went back to Epcot to explore the World Showcase more for our last day.
The first thing we did was go to our lunch reservation at Via Napoli in Italy. I wish I had taken a picture-- it was so gorgeous, and the food was amazing. It got me thinking that maybe I do want to go to Italy someday, after all! :)
Last day: Group pic at Epcot. Look how tan we all are!
Ready to enjoy our last day!
Momma & Son! Love Mike's shirt from the Rock'n'Rollercoaster!
Ann spent most of the trip looking for hidden Mickeys.. here she is with one she found!
Morocco!
Paris! Oui Oui!
Goofing around in the UK.
For dinner, Mike's parents treated us to hibachi at Tappan Edo. It was Mike's dad's first hibachi experience, and our chef was awesome. Everything was delicious, except for the Plum Wine that Mike had me try that taste like Cepacol!
Sunset over Epcot as we wandered over to the fireworks viewing area.
I love this picture. This is of World Showcase from our spot to see the fireworks. Again, thank you Fastpass! We literally had a front row seat.
Ending our trip with fireworks at Epcot. Amazing-- and one of the things I remember most from my previous trip.
Random picture of the Epcot ball I took as we were leaving. Not too shabby, iPhone!
I will leave you with sunrise at our resort on our way to breakfast the day we left. All in all, it was an amazing vacation. Disney sunk their claws into us pretty deep and we're already looking forward to going back!
Hidden mickeys! I love all of their special hidden details.
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