Orlando Trip 2023

Dear Kiddos, 

This is the post where I will jot down what I can remember from our Orlando trip. We had this planned for a long time and when it was finally here, everything went exactly as planned and overall, we had a great time! 

Day 1: Animal Kingdom 

I thought we would start with Animal Kingdom because it was the smallest and least crazy of the parks. We ended up leaving before the park closed because we had done everything we wanted for the day and wanted to be fresh for the next day. 

Kilimanjaro Safari 

Enjoying our Dole Whips at the Cantina
(Dole Whips can be dairy free, so Hailey was able to enjoy them too) 

The Lion King show was amazing! There was not a bad seat in the house! 

Pandora land was pretty amazing! 

The 4D Flight of Passage ride was amazing and literally out of this world. 

 

Hailey's favorite type of ride. We got on all of these we could find.
Luckily the lines for these were always short.

Day 2: Magic Kingdom 

We were also able to do everything that we wanted to do at Magic Kingdom except for the Mine Train. We took a bad obligatory castle picture and seriously, this was the best one we got that morning. We snapped a much better one at night.  

The Barnstormer: Hailey's first roller coaster.
This is also the ride where Nathan lost his hat. 

 

 

Nathan not impressed with "It's a Small World" 

  

We saw a parade, we saw the fireworks and it was okayish magical. I think it would've been way more magical if we saw more random character sightings. Standing in line to see a character is definitely a magic sucker. 

Lots of standing around in lines. 

Haunted Mansion was a bit scary for Hailey, but the big kids appreciated the humor. 

The Bigs and I went on Space Mountain. Steve and Hailey rode the People Mover

Afterwards, we rode Big Thunder mountain as a family. Hailey, we weren't quite sure if we were going to go the ride switch route or for you to ride it. But as we approached the gate, you suddenly announced that you needed to go to the bathroom. So, I asked if you would be ok to ride the coaster with us and you agreed. I sat with you and this was your first big kid roller coaster. I remember you hugging my arm so tightly as we were making the initial ascent. At the peak everyone in front of us threw their hands up and you followed suit. We then zoom down and immediately you hug my arm again. This happened again 3 times with you putting your hands up each time.  Afterwards, you told me that it was super scary and that you didn't like it...but later that night, when Grandpa asked you what your favorite ride was, you said it was the big thunder roller coaster. After we got off the roller coaster, we made a beeline to the bathrooms and then we got on Aladdin's carpet ride...which made things all better. 

Day 3: Rest day at the resort. 

The cousins came over and we spent the morning at the resort pool. 

Then we went over to the cousin's house for dinner and then some time at the playground. 

Day 4: Universal Studios 

The cousins have season tickets so this was a day that they met up with us at Universal studios. One of the first things we did as a group was the MIB ride. 

We then did the ET ride, which was cool, but meant nothing to you kids because you had never seen E.T. before...we need to change that. 

We spotted a random sighting of penguins, so we decided to take a picture. Disney, see? That was magical! 

And the girls got really excited to see the trolls! 

The line for Escape from Gringots wasn't bad, so we stood in line and got to do that in the morning. 

After lunch, we hung  around Diagon Alley and explored all the air-conditioned stores and we tried our spell casting skills at the various interactive spots around the area. 

And of course, we had to get some butter beer, which can also be made dairy free! 

The Transformers ride broke down when we were on it, so we got another opportunity to ride it later. 

At night, we all mustered up the courage to ride Rip, Ride, Rock it. (Nathan and Hailey sat out on the experience) It was super fun and Hannah, I'm so proud of you for being brave. 

Day 5: Hollywood Studios 

On day 5 we went back to Hollywood studios and again, we were able to do everything we wanted to do except for 1 ride. Uncle Timmy, grandma and grandpa joined us that day too. 

Millennium Falcon Ride

Micky and Minnie's Runaway Train

We were wanted to get on slinky dog all day, but the lines were too long. Even though the line was still long at the end of the day, we  decided to go and wait anyway. Good thing we did, because that was a fun coaster. Hailey even liked it too. 

We watched the car show. 

We also got to ride Rise of the Resistance. 

When we got in line for it, it was day time. By the time we got out, it was already night. 

We had dinner and afterwards, got on a few rides and did Millennium Falcon again. 

Day 6: Disney Springs and Flight Home. 

We probably could've squeezed in another day of parks and maybe visit Epcot, but you guys had been doing so good and we didn't want to ruin it by pushing you guys too far, so we spent some time at the pool in the morning and then we visited Disney Springs for lunch. We got home super late that night and everyone went to school/work the next day! 

Well, we made lots of memories on this trip and I look forward to all the others we will make together. 

Love, 

Mom