We went to Disney World to celebrate my 40th birthday. Five days at my happy place with my sweet family was the best birthday present I could ask for! We had considered taking this trip the week before my actual birthday which is Thanksgiving week. I really did not want to be at the parks during the peak season AND I did not want to be at work on my birthday! We really struggled with this decision because it would mean taking the kids out of school but looking back I do not regret it for one second! We rode more rides in one day than we would have likely rode in one week by going the week after Thanksgiving. If you can go to Walt Disney World during an off peak week – DO IT! Magical Moment Tip: My favorite website to use for trip planning to Walt Disney World is The Undercover Tourist. This site is great for showing you when it will the most crowded and which parks you should visit during your stay. We have always followed this guide and have never been disappointed. Not to mention we take advantage of the early/late hours when at all possible!
Packing for this time of year in Florida was much different than I was used to, compared to our previous trips to Disney in August! I literally had to pack for Fall AND Summer. We wore our coats on the plane but packing layers definitely takes up more space than shorts and tees! I have to say I am so happy that I did pack this way because the beginning of our trip started out very chilly and by the end we were at the pool enjoying 80 degree weather.
Travel Day
We flew to Orlando, FL on Black Friday. It was not a bad day to travel at all – I had anticipated some Thanksgiving holiday craziness! Our flight left on time and it wasn’t too many hours later we were on the Magic Express on our way to our resort, The Disney’s Beach Club Villas. We had already checked in online for our room the day before so we were able to just go straight there! How nice. We reserved a studio for this trip. In the past we had always reserved a one bedroom villa but now that the kids were older we decided the studio would be perfect. We had plenty of room and still had a kitchenette which was a must for us! Magical Moment Tip: I order groceries from the Garden Grocer which are delivered to the property. It is so convenient! We quickly unpacked and headed back out for dinner! We were starving! Magical Moment Tip: Stop by the Concierge’s desk to pick up buttons if you are celebrating a birthday, anniversary, etc. OR if it is your first trip to Disney! These buttons just might bring you some love during your stay! I can’t tell you how many Cast Members wished me a Happy Birthday the week we were there! Just so special! We walked over to the Boardwalk Inn Resort which was a short stroll. We instantly loved the location with being able to walk to the Boardwalk and saw immediately how close Epcot was! Hooray! The Boardwalk had amazing entertainment that we all enjoyed! The vibe here was electric! After checking out the entertainers we headed over to Trattoria al Forno for a great Italian dinner. No one had recommended this restaurant to us so I was a little apprehensive to try it but the online reviews seemed to be good. I liked the ambiance of the restaurant; very warm and inviting. The service was great and the food was very good. I had the Polpetta Gigante which was pasta with a giant meatball. After a day of traveling it hit the spot! My husband enjoyed the Parmigiana di Pollo. Both kids enjoyed the spaghetti and meatballs. After dinner we headed back to our resort. On our way back the firework show at Epcot had begun so we saw our first fireworks display for the week. What an amazing welcome and ending to our travel day! I just knew it was going to be a great week!
Day 1 – Animal Kingdom & Epcot
We arrived for the early magic hours but not at 7AM…our travel day had been long and I could not possibly see us all getting up at 5:30AM/6AM to get there at 7AM! I mean I needed some beauty rest! We got there closer to 7:30AM and found that the Avatar – Flight of Passage ride was already a three hour wait. No fast passes had been available when we had our opportunity to reserve them so we knew that would have to be a ride we would try out on a another trip. A three hour wait with a nine and six year old was not happening! We did have fast passes for the Na’vi River Journey ride later in the afternoon so we headed away from the crowds going to Pandora and made our way to Dino Land. While my daughter and I rode the Dinosaur ride my husband and son were off to ride some others more his speed! The park was practically empty which was good for us! No lines! We had an amazing experience on the safari. Since it was so early there was a lot of fog! Seeing the giraffes walking towards us out of the fog was just beautiful. The animals were very active first thing in the morning which of course makes it more interesting for everyone, especially the kids. Even the lions were playing! We rode almost everything we had hoped to before lunch time with and without fast passes. We always have lunch at the quick service restaurant Flame Tree Barbecue. This year we were able to order via the app on our phone and bypass the line. It was so fast! We always get a great meal here. After lunch we were off to Pandora. It was simply amazing albeit crowded! The floating trees, the sounds, the smells! It really was MAGICAL! We saw a great show with singing, dancing and drums. The Na’vi River Journey was a beautiful ride. After exploring we went back to the main area and met some characters and saw our two favorite shows Festival of the Lion King and Finding Nemo – The Musical. Magical Moment Tip: We have found that if you head to the Festival of the Lion King show just before show time you may be approached by a Cast Member to follow them into the show! This has happened to us two times before! When they do lead you in they take you to primo seats on the FLOOR! This usually leads to an opportunity to participate in the show for your children. While my daughter LOVES this, my son does not like being so close to the action so we got in line this last time to guarantee we would be further back in the stands where he could enjoy the show! Which he did! What a great day we had in the Animal Kingdom. We left no stone unturned (that we could anyway — we will be back for Flight of Passage!).
After arriving back to the Beach Club we freshened up and headed back out for dinner at Epcot. We found the walk to Epcot to be so easy to access and there was really never a line in or out the entire week. It is like a secret back way! We loved it. We were off to a restaurant we had not eaten at before; Teppan Edo a hibachi style restaurant. My children are big fans of this type of restaurant so we figured that Disney would not disappoint…and they did not! The service was great and the food delicious. I was surprised with a Birthday dessert, song and chef’s hat! A special ending to our first full day at Disney! Magical Moment Tip: When making your dining reservations be sure to let Disney know if you will be celebrating a birthday, anniversary, etc. on your trip. They will note this on all of your dining reservations and you just might receive some love as a result! We did not stay in Epcot for rides after dinner. We were all so tired! When we did get back to the room we heard the fireworks and rushed to our balcony to see if we would have a view. I could not believe my eyes but we DID! It was MAGICAL and the smiles on the kids faces was the best. I know everyone had sweet dreams that night!
Day 2 – The Magic Kingdom & Epcot
The Magic Kingdom is my HAPPY PLACE! There is just something about walking down Main Street that makes me feel like a kid! I love it. We always try to get to the Magic Kingdom before it opens to see the train come to the station with Mickey and his friends. Unfortunately, this time we did not make it as we got held up at the bus stop at the Beach Club. Not the end of the world of course but a bummer. We did get there by 8:30am and headed straight to the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train but it was closed! Ahh! It was going to reopen so on to Plan B! We went and met some characters the kids had wanted to meet since there were no lines and just started riding any rides the kids wanted to ride (which was all of them)! We used our first fast pass at Peter Pan and then headed over to Winnie the Pooh! Of course I told everyone we had to ride It’s a Small World. I always get lots of eye rolls but it’s a classic!! Are you singing that song in your head now?! Sorry! We had never gone to the attraction Enchanted Tales with Belle before so we knew we wanted to check it out this trip! My daughter was selected to play Mrs. Potts. My son opted out. It was a lot of fun and I am so glad we took the time to do this! Our favorite lunch spot at the Magic Kingdom is The Plaza Restaurant. We always make a reservation for 12pm. You never know what you might experience while dining here! The mayor has stopped by before as well as other cast members. I love the club or tuna sandwich. The kids love the dessert that comes with their meal! This trip we tended to make most fast pass reservations for the afternoon (when available – it’s fine to have a strategy but it also depends on what’s available when you can make your selections). We would ride everything we really wanted to first thing in the morning when the lines were minimal and then rode them again in the afternoon with our fast passes! It worked out well for us this trip! We just had a perfect day at the Magic Kingdom! We rode everything we wanted to, sometimes more than once and saw lots of great entertainment and met some characters too! A magical day for sure!
Another restaurant we tried on this trip was Chefs de France. I liked the idea of going to a brassiere and ordering steaks frites (which I did). While the restaurant’s ambiance was what I had pictured the overall experience was just ok. We had reservations and waited a good 30 minutes which we had never experienced before even during peak weeks! We get later reservations to begin with so when we arrive to a restaurant we are ready to eat…especially the kids. We hung in there and after we were finally seated and served no one was overly impressed with their meal. I would not go out of my to eat here again. After dinner we were so tired we headed back to the room to rest up for our next day but not before watching the fireworks from our balcony in our PJs! The best!
Day 3 – Hollywood Studios & Epcot
We took a boat from the Beach Club to Hollywood Studios. We got there for opening and we were immediately emerged into the Star Wars ‘world’ with Storm Troopers and Captain Phasma marching down the main street. My son, a Star Wars fan, loved the shows in the main square. They were awesome! We went straight to our favorite ride, Toy Story. We had a fast pass! We all had so much fun. Afterwards my husband and daughter left for the Tower of Terror my son and I went and survived the Frozen sing along. Ha! It is a cute show… We then met back up and did some character greetings and found ourselves heading for lunch! This trip we tried a new spot and we were so happy we did! The Sci-Fi Dine In Theater was FUN! The kids had milkshakes with their lunch and we had great burgers! It was fun to experience and I would recommend. Make sure you wait for the car vs the picnic tables in the back! Those were readily available and initially we did not realize the difference. Once we did we changed our preference immediately. It would not have been the same experience for the kids! We went to the Indiana Stunt Show for the first time this visit and everyone loved it! One thing we love about Disney is that there always seems like there is something else to see or do on each trip! Of course we do not mind repeating rides and shows but ‘new’ ones are fun too! We enjoyed the Star Wars Jedi training show. Our kids were not interested in signing up for the training so I do not have any tips to offer but know there are plenty out there! Hollywood Studios does not take a full day (for now)…we can not wait to return when the Toy Story World and Star Wars World open!
After taking the boat back to the Beach Club we went in to freshen up for dinner and were off to one of our ALL time favorite restaurants at Epcot the San Angel Inn Restaurante. If you love Mexican food I promise you will love this place! You dine in the twilight here and eat the best food to include the chips and salsas! The Carne Asada Tampiquena, Tacos de Carne and Carnitas de Puerco are all favs of ours. A special touch this trip was the Birthday song and dessert they brought to me at the end of our meal. After dinner we always head over to the boat ride located next to the restaurant. There is rarely a line and it’s just a fun thing to do before leaving. The kids really look forward to this part (yes, we love it too!). We always look forward to our night at the Mexican Pavillon! After enjoying our amazing meal I was on the Disney World App trying to get Fast Passes for Soarin’! Well I did — three times in a row! The kids love their Fast Passes! After three great trips around the world I was looking for available Fast Passes and couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the Frozen ride appear as available. There was still a 90 minute wait at 8:30pm! Off we went! It was a lot of fun but I am certainly glad we did not have to wait. My kids are just past the Frozen phase but I told them we still had to experience the ride! They did like it! We headed back ‘home’ after this and watched the Epcot Fireworks show half in person and the rest from our balcony. Another full day, another wonderful day!
Day 4 – Magic Kingdom & Very Merry Christmas Party!
My Birthday Eve! We were back to my favorite park! I was so excited for today because not only were we going to spend all day at the Magic Kingdom we would be spending all night celebrating my favorite holiday…Christmas! We had gotten tickets for the Very Merry Christmas Party (more on that later!). We arrived via bus from the Beach Club and off we went straight to the Mine Train. We were able to ride it without having to wait very long! Hooray! It is definitely the kids favorite ride. Today we had a few things that we ‘had’ to do! I really wanted to get silhouettes made of the kids! I always see these and think I want to do it but do not because I don’t want to take our time shopping when we can be riding! Well this time we just decided we would do it. Can you believe it only took 10 minutes total for both kids?! They were amazing and they were so affordable! They are now hanging in our bedroom where I am not only reminded of our amazing trip but it also it captures my babies in time! We really wanted to catch the Captain Jack Sparrow show. My son is really into pirates and Pirates of the Caribbean so this show was right up his alley! Well! We got a great spot more on the side than the center and the kids had a front row view. Perfect! I am here to tell you Captain Jak Sparrow looked like Johnny Depp himself. So impressive! Here we were standing there minding our own business when Jack Sparrow comes over to our side of the stage puts his foot on the barrel and looks right at me (or my Birthday button) and says Wellll hellooo there Amy! Happy Birthday! I see that you have brought your brother with you today. LOL Both kids then turn around and ask me why he thinks Daddy is my brother! It was the best! My daughter went on stage for the Pirate pledge. My son is much more cautious so pledged from the sideline. We were then off to the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. We stopped for our favorite dessert and realized it was lunch time so we declared it was an ice cream for lunch kinda day! When in Disney, Dole Whips for lunch or a treat are a must! We caught the afternoon parade with great seats with our backs to the sun facing the castle. We had a few visitors including Happy Birthday wishes from Alice in Wonderland. We just love the parade.
After a full day of riding we were off to the Contemporary Resort for dinner at the California Grill. We had dined here once before on our first trip to Disney together. At that time we had a wonderful meal and loved our experience. The second trip it was closed for renovations. So we decided it would be a good opportunity to go before returning for the Very Merry Christmas party. Well, I have to tell you we did not have the best evening here. While we had great seats for dinner with amazing views of the Magic Kingdom and sunset…our food took forever to come to the table. When it did arrive my dish was SO salty it was hard to eat (scallops). My husbands chicken was just ok. Ugh! So disappointed. We have decided we are not going to return to this restaurant again. So enough about that!
We returned for the Very Merry Christmas Party and all of the magic! Upon entry it was snowing on Main Street, there was holiday music playing, the smells of gingerbread in the air, it was all just so awesome! We noticed a lot of people were already sitting for the parade that didn’t start for another two hours! Goodness. We talked to some cast members who assured us it was not necessary to line up so early. They also suggested if we could hang in there we should stay for the last parade of the evening (to avoid the crowds). That was not an option for us though. We were off to find some life-size candy canes which marked the location for holiday treats. They loved spotting these! We got hot chocolate, Christmas cookies, egg nog, cider, etc. throughout the night. We made our way towards Frontier Land for the parade. It starts there so we would be able to head to rides before most of the park would as they would still be waiting for the parade! This strategy worked! Not only did we get front row ‘seats’ we were able to go back to the Mine Train for another ride in the dark! This was our favorite. There was still a bit of a wait – maybe 30 minutes – but it went by quickly and of course it was worth it! We loved it. We did not wait for any character lines that evening because the waits were 2+ hours. Ugh! The party was sold out so this contributed to the long wait times. We did see Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and the folks waiting hours to meet them all! We found a good spot for the firework show which we all loved. It was truly amazing. After the firework display we headed back to the Beach Club. We had two very tired kids and we were exhausted too but in the best way! It was such a FUN day and night. Magical Moment Tips: Everyone wears the blinking Christmas lights necklaces. We bought ours on Amazon for a fraction of the price the Mickey lights sell for at the parks. Buy and bring with you! We also wore our favorite Santa hats that eve that I purchase from PotteryBarnKids. They are the BEST Santa hats and are only $7 when on sale! The size large fits an adult and the small is perfect for the kids. When we were there it was warm enough for short sleeves/shorts. We did bring jeans to change into just incase and kept them in a locker we had rented for the day. A lot of people had some great ugly Christmas sweaters too! Be festive!
Day 5 – Epcot, Beach Club Pool, Hoop-Dee-Doo-Musical-Revue
The BIG 4-0 had finally arrived! I was so excited to celebrate my birthday with my family on vacation! Not only was I so happy to be at Disney I was SO happy the weather had taken a turn and was headed to 80 degrees! I told my husband that after we rode our fast passes at Epcot I wanted to return to the Beach Club for lunch poolside and swimming! We were all tired from the night before and a day of relaxing sounded perfect! So we did just that. We went to Epcot and headed to see Crush at Turtle Talk. This is one of my favorite attractions. My kids sat up front and my son was picked to ask a question. He asked Crush when his birthday was. Crush gave a response that had the entire room laughing. After our fun with Crush and Nemo we headed over to the Test Track. This was our first time ever riding this one and we LOVED it! My husband and daughter paired up and my son and I built a car. They beat us by one point! I still can’t believe how fast it was! After Test Track we headed back to the Beach Club where we changed into our suits and headed to the pool! We found a table for lunch and my husband was off to get our order while we took a dip! The pool was heated but still a little chilly. It was not going to stop us! We made our way to the lazy river which the kids had a blast on! After lunch we explored the water falls, lazy river again and the pirate ship slide. You could spend an entire week by this pool and never run out of fun things to do. Not to mention the Disney activities poolside! Once our fun in the sun was over we headed back to the room to shower/change for our big night out at the Hoop-Dee-Doo-Musical-Revue!
For my actual birthday ‘day’ I wanted to go to the Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue because it was a blast when we went on a past trip and the FOOD! It is a night of all of my favorites and it just seemed like the perfect place for my Birthday dinner! Given the logistics to get to Pioneer Hall from the Beach Club we decided it would be the perfect evening to try the new Minnie Van service! So. Much. Fun! Just download the Lyft app and head to the Concierge to add the Disney’s transportation portion! We made reservations for this dinner show 180 days out in the first minute we could and were seated in the second row of tables front and center (last trip we did the same and had front row, center). Hooray! Magic Moment Tip: So, if you are planning to go here on your trip make reservations here first for great seats! When you sit down, the cornbread and butter is already waiting for you along with the salad. Dig in! Once the show begins it is so entertaining. I love the cast members. They do such a great job engaging with the audience. You find out where a lot of guests are visiting from. They recognize the audiences’ birthdays and anniversaries! They came to our table to wish me a Happy Day! A Magical Moment! After the intros, dinner is served! Here comes the cast iron buckets of RIBS! FRIED CHICKEN! CORN! MASHED POTATOES! BAKED BEANS! Happy Birthday to me! I love good southern cooking y’all and this hit the spot! Oh and did I mention this reservation includes unlimited (adult) beverages?!? The cast returns after you have had time to eat most of your meal and the show continues. It was during this time that the cast once again mingles with the audience to invite some guests onstage for a portion of the show. Well….guess who showed up at my table?! Johnny Ringo himself, who asked me to report backstage! I was scared to death! Once backstage I was told that I would be the can can dancer. I was given my two lines and my costume. They told me to go in the back corner and memorize my lines! Yikes (remember that part about unlimited adult beverages?!)! Ha! I thought how on earth am I ever going to remember?! Well…I did! I went out with my ‘fancy’ dress and did everything just like they said. The best were the smiles on my sweet kids faces watching their ole Momma on stage being silly! It was the best 40th Birthday celebration I could have asked for! We LOVE the Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue!
Afterwards we got a bus to Epcot because we wanted one more ride on Test Track! We had just enough time before closing. Once back at the Beach Club we had to pack. It is always the worst part of the trip because we never want to leave!
Travel Day
We were picked up by the Magical Express and headed to the airport. We had a smooth flight home and brought back so many special memories. We all can’t wait to go back!
