Disney 2019 Vacation Recap: Part 6

May 7, 2019 by Leave a Comment

In case you missed part 5, go back and read it here.

We woke up on Thursday morning and my dad had left at about 5:00 that morning to drive back to Tampa for work. We loaded up the cars and then met a friend of mine for breakfast. This was the only day I broke my fast early for a delicious breakfast. The weather was amazing so we sat outside of the quick service restaurant at the hotel. I had bananas foster french toast and an iced smores latte. Amazing!

After saying our goodbyes to my friend, we hit up the pool for one more swim before hitting the road to my parent’s house in Tampa. We had some guests in the pool. Mama and baby ducks!

The weather was so perfect, we stayed until about 11:30 and soaked up the last few moments of vacation.

We said sad goodbyes to Disney, and got to my parent’s in the early afternoon. We just hung out and then my dad grilled burgers that night. The next day, we took Emma Kate to the pool (like we hadn’t had enough pool time!)

Bobby and I also hit up the gym which felt great after all the food we ate in Disney.

EK and my mom made bunny cupcakes, and we grilled again for dinner.

I think my mom also took Emma Kate to the library somewhere in that day. Our plan for Saturday was to stay until lunch, then get on the road and drive halfway again, then the second half Sunday morning. But, we knew we had to wear Emma Kate out before getting in the car, so Saturday morning they took her to Bob Evan’s (tradition) and we went to the pool again.

I was so proud of my plan, because homegirl was passed out before we even got to the interstate.

The drive was pretty uneventful for 6 hours, and we enjoyed a dinner at Cracker Barrel and an early bedtime before getting up and driving back home Sunday morning.

That’s it my friends! Our wild and crazy week in Florida has come to an end. We had an amazing time and I loved staying in new places and trying new things. I’m ready to plan my next trip so I can go back.

Don’t forget, I can help you plan your next trip! Email heather@travelwiththemagic.com for a free quote!

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Disney 2019 Vacation Recap: Part 5

May 3, 2019 by 2 Comments

If you missed part 4, you can check it out here first!

We left off last time with our day at Hollywood Studios and a fun evening at Splitsville. The next day was our last full day (HOW does it go by so fast?!?) and we headed to EPCOT that morning. We actually arrived before it opened and had to wait for a bit to get in, but we headed straight for Anna and Elsa and only waited about ten minutes!

Look at the concentration in her face below haha!

After the meet and greet, we roda Frozen Ever After. I needed coffee, so Bobby took EK to the play area and we all met up after getting coffee.

It was so nice to sit in the shade while she played. I love the Flower and Garden festival!

We were getting pretty hungry, and decided to see if we could walk up at Via Napoli. We stopped and looked at pretty topiaries along the way.

Trying to entertain a four year old while you wait for a table is fun.

The restaurant was able to take us, and we split a huge pizza which was delicious.

We headed back towards Future World after this, but stopped for some photos.

We then rode Soarin, and then decided to head back to the hotel to hit the pool.

This is blurry because it’s a screen grab from a video, but yes I went down the slide!

Mom and dad had dinner reservations at Citrico’s, so we decided to take Emma Kate back to Epcot. Why not? It was our last night.

We walked around World Showcase and Bobby got some snacks from some of the booths. We got to America and grabbed food. Just as we sat down outside to eat, John Michael Montgomery took the stage! So we got to listen to his concert while we ate. How fun!

We decided to go ride Soarin’ again, and then did the Nemo ride.

We were pretty wiped from all the walking and decided to head back to the hotel. I was glad we went back to EPCOT one last time though!

I would love to help you book your next Disney adventure! It costs you nothing extra for my help. Email heather@travelwiththemagic.com for details.

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Disney 2019 Vacation Recap: Part 4

April 26, 2019 by

If you missed parts 1-3 go here for the link!

After a long and fun day at Magic Kingdom, we slept well and were ready to hit up Hollywood Studios in the morning. Our plan was to go straight to Toy Story Land (just like everyone else.)

We had fastpasses for Alien Swirling Saucers, which is Emma Kate’s FAVORITE ride. So our hope was to do standby while it was short and then use the Fastpasses.

We basically walked onto the ride in standby, then rode it again with our fastpasses. I wasn’t kidding about how much she loves it. Look at that face!

We also had to show off our Toy Story Land magic bands from a media event last year before taking some wall photos.

While we were taking photos, the green army men arrived. They do an adorable show over by the bathrooms, so I highly recommend checking it out if you see them. Emma Kate got to be in it and was so proud!

Next we took some photos with Goofy, and Bobby had to go check out this from Galaxy’s Edge of course.

Next, my dad and Bobby used fastpasses for Star Tours while mom, EK and I went and said hey to Olaf.

We were pretty hungry after that, so we waited a few minutes until Backlot Express opened and grabbed some lunch. We were pretty tired but wanted to do one more thing, so we took Emma Kate to the Indiana Jones show for the first time. Little did we know Bobby would end up being IN the show!

He did great, and I actually have some really funny videos I need to upload. Emma Kate wasn’t a fan of the noise, but it was a fun experience for all!

We decided to go back to the hotel, take a rest, and then hit up the pool before dinner at Disney Springs.

Emma Kate was SO tired I was sure she was going to nap….NOPE! I worked while everyone else napped and she just laid in the bed NOT SLEEPING. This kid is the Energizer bunny. We got changed and went to the pool which was pretty quiet because it had just rained.

We went back up to the room to show and change again. We had a media visit lined up at Splitsville for the early evening. Last summer we got to eat and Bowl at Splitsville during the sports festival event I attended, but Emma Kate didn’t remember doing it, and my parents hadn’t been in about 5 years, so it was such a nice treat for them to invite us to come eat and bowl.

We had AMAZING food and drinks. This is not just your regular bowling alley food. Bobby said the sushi was phenomenal, and I loved all the yummy drinks and we even had a huge dessert to share.

Keep in mind while it is super fun to eat and bowl at the same time, you don’t have to bowl, you can just go there to eat!

They have bumpers for the kids and even a fun little device to help them “bowl.”

Emma Kate had an absolute blast bowling and kept trying to steal out turns.

We tried to get a family selfie at the end but it didn’t come out very well.

This was definitely one of the top highlights of the trip, and I can’t wait to go back. Thanks so much for having us Splitsville!

Our plan was to walk around after dinner, but the sky was VERY dark so we decided to go back to the parking garage, and as soon as we did, the heavens let loose and it POURED on everyone at Disney Springs, so I’m glad we opted to go back to the hotel!

We still have one more full day to go, Epcot! Check back later for more.

I would love to help you plan your next Disney adventure, email me at heather@travelwiththemagic.com

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Disney 2019 Vacation Recap: Part 3

April 23, 2019 by

If you missed part one and part two be sure to check them out then come back to this one!

We left off part two at the end of our fun day at the pool. We woke up the third day ready to go to our first park, Magic Kingdom! I knew this would be my favorite day so I was super excited. We would be checking out of our villa that day and heading over to Wilderness Lodge/Copper Creek villas that afternoon, so we went ahead and packed up our cars that morning and left them in the Grand Floridian parking lot and then hopped on the monorail to Magic Kingdom.

The weather was beautiful again, and we were able to get there for rope drop despite some monorail issues.

I hit up Starbucks with my mom while Ek, Bobby and my dad went to the rope drop and Carousel.

We were then able to knock out some rides like Dumbo, and then we saw Daisy and Pluto!

Emma Kate has been asking about cotton candy for WEEKS for some reason, so we told her she could get some at Disney World, so of course she immediately spotted it at the park so we let her get some at 9:00 in the morning.

We then had a fastpass for Enchanted Tales with Belle, and Emma kate got to be Mrs. Potts. She is such a ham. I can’t remember exactly what was next, but I know we rode, Peter Pan, The PeopleMover, Buzz lightyear, Ariel, and then we saw Princesses while Bobby and my dad rode Splash Mountain.

Oh and we also rode Winnie the Pooh.

After a quick service lunch of Mexican food, we headed to Tomorrowland for delicious chocolate milkshake desserts. Emma Kate waited so patiently at the counter for hers.

Mom and dad were worn out after that, so they took off to go back to the Grand and pick up their car then check in at the next hotel while me, Ek and Bobby rode Pirates of the Caribbean. I can’t remember what else we did, but it was getting really people-y in the park so we decided to head out as well. We ended up taking a boat (apparently the monorail was taking forever per mom and dad) and we ended up only being a few minutes behind them.

Our two bedroom villa was on the 6th floor with a pool and water view. We got all the luggage up there and took a little rest before dinner. I will do a full review of this resort in another post!

We had dinner at Trail’s End buffet to celebrate my dad’s birthday, so we took the boat over.

We had a great dinner and dad was thoroughly embarrassed for his birthday, and we got back on the boat with full bellies. Unfortunately a huge storm came up while on the boat, and we were all dumped off at the Contemporary because they closed the boats down. We ended up just taking a cab to Wilderness Lodge since it was so close and much more convenient then trying to take the monorail to the Magic Kingdom then a bus. Emma Kate was dying to go swimming, but with lightning in the area the pools were closed.

We were finally given the all clear, and Emma Kate had a late night swim/play time in the splash pad.

We had an awesome day and were worn out by the end of it. Up next we have Hollywood Studios!

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January 2014 Disney Trip: Part 2

February 20, 2014 by

I left off part one of the recap with us roasting marsh mellows before going to sleep for the half marathon the next day!

We got up at 2:45 to run the half marathon, then ate breakfast and took a nap. This day was pretty boring, but we really enjoyed all the relaxing! I found a newspaper and saw that my picture was on the front page of the sports section of the Orlando Sentinel!

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Very, very weird to me, but also really cool. We ate lunch at the resort, and spent some time sitting outside in the rocking chairs enjoying our beautiful surroundings.

That afternoon, the Saints Playoff game was on, so we lounged in the room and watched that while we ate dinner. We called it an early night, we only had one more day of waking up at 2:45 wahoo!

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The next day we completed the Dopey Challenge, and earned our 4th, 5th, and 6th medals.

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While we were on the course, I heard a girl talking about wanting a cheeseburger, and I could not get it out of my head. After we showered, I told Bobby I must have one, so we headed down to Roaring Forks at our hotel and I enjoyed a huge cheeseburger, a coke, and a mickey straw given to me by the cast member at the register as a congrats on Dopey!

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All we wanted was a nap, so that’s what we did! I woke up from my nap not feeling so hot. I just felt…icky and blah and had a headache. We rested in the room until our dinner reservations at Trail’s End. I really wasn’t feeling up to going, but didn’t want to lose money for canceling and knew I needed to eat, so we hopped on the boat and made our way to the campgrounds. I am so glad we went, because we ran into these two!

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Jenn, Danielle, and me

The next day was our last full day in Disney, so we spent the whole day at the magic Kingdom. I couldn’t wait to get this photo opp, I had been thinking about it for months!

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Don’t worry, I just wore the Dopey medal around the parks and the others only came out of my bookbag for the photo. That would have been insanely heavy!

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We stayed in the park all day, which isn’t very typical for us, but we were having a great time. We had lunch at Be our Guest.

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hung out with some friends

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had Dole Whip floats

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and told Dopey his challenge was a piece of cake (haha)

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Dopey’s on the Peoplemover! Our legs thanked us.

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We went back about 4:45, we needed to get changed for dinner at Chef Mickey’s! Can you believe I had never eaten there? There were some people at the table next to us that had the BEST idea and I am so bummed I didn’t think of it! They brought all their medals and took photos with each character and it’s corresponding medal (ex. Minnie with the 10k medal) then had each character sign their medal with a sharpie!

Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, and Pluto were there. Would have been perfect!

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The food was actually really, really good! We were impressed. Oh! I had this cute ornament made for us Monday while we were at the Magic Kingdom.

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We drove home the next morning, and it all seemed like a blur. I can’t believe the race we planned on for so many months had come and gone in the blink of an eye. We feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to go and run, and can’t wait for our next adventure!

QOTD: Do you buy ornaments to commemorate special occasions?

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January 2014 Disney Trip: Part 1

February 18, 2014 by

Now that I am caught up with my race recaps (whew!) I wanted to share a little about or January trips when we WEREN’T running! Our first day in Disney in January for Dopey, we went to the expo Wednesday then had dinner that night at California grill. I was a good girl and wore flats, but totally forgot I had only brought a dress…and I got taped at the KT Tape booth that afternoon. Whoops! I got some strange looks.

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We love the newly remolded California Grill, and got to eat there for the second time since the re-opening.

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Bobby was a happy boy with his sushi

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We went to bed early, and got up to run the Family Fun Run 5k the next morning. After the race and breakfast, we headed to EPCOT for the morning.

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Where I somehow got roped into being part of a “play” in the UK.

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We rode Soarin’ and Space Ship Earth, and grabbed some lunch.

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We were pretty tired and headed back to the room for a nap. As soon as we got there, I got a call about shooting some video and still shots for an article in the Orlando Sentinel about Dopey, so we grabbed my costumes, hopped back in the car and headed to the Sports Complex…where we filmed in the pouring rain!

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We made it back to the hotel just in time to grab drinks from the concierge lounge and change before heading to dinner at Ohana. I had to leave to go meet some friends for drinks, so I left Bobby at dinner (no kidding, and he was fine with it!) I met my friends, and came back and picked Bobby up at the Poly. Don’t feel too bad for him, he had a book and my iPad! It was off to bed after that, we had the 10k to run the next day.

We were up at 2:45 for the 10k, and we came back to the hotel to shower and eat before driving to Hollywood Studios.

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Not going to lie, we didn’t last long. With no nap the day before and two early wake up calls, we were spent. We rode a couple rides, grabbed some lunch at Toy Story Pizza Planet, and then went back to the hotel for a glorious nap. That night, we just hung out around the hotel relaxing and enjoying the weather. No dinner plans, just sitting. Aaaahhh

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We also roasted some marsh mellows with the kiddos!

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I really love the Wilderness Lodge, it’s such a beautiful and peaceful resort. We found some chairs to sit in and listen to the waterfalls before heading upstairs for some dinner.

Again it was early to bed. We had a half marathon in the morning!

QOTD: When you go to Disney do you ever take time to relax or are you just go go go the whole trip?

*I would LOVE to help plan your family vacation to Disney World, Disneyland, on any cruise line, to Universal, you name it! It costs you nothing extra and I do all the work. heather@travelwiththemagic.com

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Disney Vacation Recap November 2013

December 5, 2013 by

You may have already read my race recap from my time in Disney, but I have yet to post what we did when we weren’t running.  We checked into the gorgeous Wilderness Lodge on Thursday. I haven’t stayed here in a few years and forgot how much I love it. We had a standard club level room but lucked out and had a beautiful Courtyard vied.

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We hung out in the lounge and some with Jen and her family, then Bobby and I had dinner at the Captain’s Grille before going to EPCOT for the runDisney meet up.

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We slept in a bit then headed to Magic Kingdom for a couple hours. I love taking the boat over!

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The park was all dressed up for Christmas. I love it!

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Bobby discovered Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom, and we spent a lot of time on the trip playing.

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We took Jen over to the expo with us and picked up our race bibs.

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That night we ate with Jen and family at Trails End at Fort Wilderness. It was an early dinner, so we had some time that night and decided to just wander around the resort, which is one of my favorite Disney past times. We went over to the villas and sat by the fire. There was NO ONE in there, and it was so nice to just sit and hang out.

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The next day we met Jen, Jeff, and Wyatt at Downtown Disney after Wyatt’s kids race. We had lunch at Earl of Sandwich then Bobby and I saw a Disney Infinity tent set up. If you tested the game you got a free t-shirt, so we figured…why not? We waited in line about 15 minutes, played the game and got our shirts.

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On our way out of Downtown Disney, we ran into my Healthy Living Summit roomie Amanda, and local pal Larissa and chatted for a few minutes before Bobby and I headed back to the resort for a nap. We had a long night ahead of us!

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We had a blast running Wine and Dine, and didn’t go to sleep until almost 4:00 in the morning. We got up around ten for breakfast and to say goodbye to our friends before heading to EPCOT.

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In the parking lot I ran into more bloggers!

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It was our last day to enjoy food and wine at the festival and it was HOT outside. Don’t worry, I cooled off with some frozen adult beverages.

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That night, we met some friends at the Polynesian for a few minutes then headed over to ESPN to watch the Saints play on Monday Night Football. We someone got lucky and snagged the two amazing lounge chairs front and center. We were so excited we couldn’t stop smiling. The game was great, and we had a blast.

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It was another late night, about 1:00 by time we got to bed, and the next day was our last day. We went to Hollywood Studios and did some of our favorite things.

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That evening we had dinner at Citricos at the Grand Floridian, then changed clothes and headed over to the Magic Kingdom for Mickey’s Very merry Christmas Party! (Recap to come!) I wanted to eat the huge gingerbread house. It’s amazing.

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The party was a blast, and it even “snowed” on Main Street.

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We walked around the new Grand Floridian Villas after the party and took some pictures of the gorgeous lobby.

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After another late night, we slept in then drove home. We had a great trip and made lots of new memories!

QOTD: Do you stay up late on vacation? Do you nap on vacation? We did every day!

*I would love to help you plan your magical vacation! email me at heather@travelwiththemagic.com or go here and request a quote. Be sure to put my name on it!

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