Summary
I visited Disneyworld in Orlando for the second time over spring break in March 2023 with my wife and kids (age 8 and 5). This ended up being a great time to go because the weather was mid-80s everyday so the parks weren’t too hot and the pool was perfect to end each day. From New York, the trip is certainly an easy flight to Orlando and given we would stay on the resort or just go point-to-point to the parks, we relied on Uber throughout the trip. We structured the trip to relax at the hotel on the first day and last day with the visiting of parks in the middle – we visited EPCOT, Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios (this last one was new for us) on this trip. We also used a wonderful VIP guide service called World Class VIP (special shoutout to our guide Kunal Malhotra) to take us through Magic Kingdom and then help us plan the other parks, dining, activities etc. We would certainly highly recommend the service to give piece of mind and peacefully optimize the few days spent in Disney – especially given the complexity around the new “FastPass” system which is now called “Genie+” and gives access to “Lightening Lanes.”
Accommodations
We stayed at the wonderful Four Seasons Resort Orlando at Walt Disney World® Resort for the second time and would reiterate our strong recommendation for anyone visiting Disney (even if you are going to Disney the place is amazing). It has the benefit of essentially being a Disney Hotel (officially an affiliate) while still being a Four Seasons – i.e. it is inside the Disney complex (and the hotel provides free transportation), early access privileges (same as a Disney-owned hotel) and the hotel has character breakfasts with Goofy and Friends (definite highlight!) a few times a week. Note for the character breakfasts that only Goofy, Mickey and Minnie come so you have to get your full character experience throughout the parks. The hotel gift shop is also a good place to get the autograph books for the kids to take with them to see the characters. The restaurants are also awesome – especially Ravello, PB&G, Plancha and of course Lickety Split for quick breakfasts and delicious gelato. Note – kids 5 and under eat free in some of the restaurants! The hotel amenities include an awesome pool and multiple water slides for the kids in addition to a lazy river, ping-pong, basketball, game room, sports courts etc. Fun Fact: You can actually see the fireworks from the rooftop of the hotel! We didn’t feel the need to spend the evening at the parks or go to a nearby restaurant to catch them. An all-around amazing experience.
Select Favorites
- General
- We really enjoyed walking around Disney Springs – a captivating, outdoor complex of shops, restaurants, shows and characters. Just a lovely place to walk around. We have enjoyed dinners at Uncle Julio’s, Maria and Enzo’s and even took in the themed Rainforest Café for the kids entertainment. Next time, we’ll give Frontera Cocina and maybe Il Mulino a try.
- EPCOT
- We had a wonderful time spending the day walking throughout EPCOT.
- Rides
- We loved Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure (Our Genie+ Pick), Frozen Ever After and Soarin’ Around the World. We also enjoyed slower, no drop, peaceful rides like Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros, The Seas with Nemo & Friends and Spaceship Earth. Next time we will be more adventurous and try Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind (Individual Lightening Lane), Mission: SPACE and Test Track
- Activities
- The kids loved the whimsical Turtle Talk With Crush show along with his accent. Our daughter loved meeting Anna and Elsa at Royal Sommerhus and both kids loved visiting Donald Duck in Mexico along with Pluto Near World Showcase Plaza
- Dining
- We always love the pizza at Via Napoli and the ice cream at Gelateria Toscana. There are a ton of options – quick, relaxing, character etc. – you can see here: Full EPCOT List
- Animal Kingdom
- We had a wonderful time in Animal Kingdom as always.
- Rides
- We loved Avatar Flight of Passage (Individual Lightening Lane) and Kilimanjaro Safaris (Our Genie+ Pick). We also enjoyed the slower Na’vi River Journey as a peaceful captivating ride. Next time, we will get to DINOSAUR, Expedition Everest – Legend of the Forbidden Mountain and maybe get soaked at the Kali River Rapids.
- Activities
- We loved meeting Chip ’n Dale in DinoLand along with our Favorite Disney Pals at Adventurers Outpost where we saw Mickey and Minnie. Our favorite show at Animal Kingdom is the Festival of the Lion King and we also really enjoyed It’s Tough to be a Bug!. We loved taking a walk through the Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail and we always start and end our day at Animal Kingdom with a stop and picture at the Tree of Life
- Dining
- We enjoy the character lunch at Tusker House Restaurant where we saw Mickey, Donald, Daisy and Goofy. As with every park, the list of varied food options is immense here: Full Animal Kingdom List
- Magic Kingdom
- Magic Kingdom is always our favorite and it didn’t disappoint.
- Rides
- We enjoyed The Barnstormer, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (Our Genie+ Pick), Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, Peter Pan’s Flight, Pirates of the Caribbean, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (Individual Lightening Lane), Space Mountain and Tomorrowland Speedway. We also enjoy some slow rides like: “it’s a small world“, Under the Sea ~ Journey of The Little Mermaid. Next time we’ll visit Haunted Mansion and Jungle Cruise again along with trying the new TRON Lightcycle / Run
- Activities
- We loved stopping by Cinderella’s Castle for some pictures and just to appreciate where we were. The Disney Festival of Fantasy Parade is a major highlight with the many character sightings. The kids loved meeting Jasmine and Aladdin as Characters from Aladdin in Adventureland. Our daughter loved to Meet Ariel at Her Grotto, Meet Cinderella and a Visiting Princess at Princess Fairytale Hall. We strategically skipped meeting Daring Disney Pals as Circus Stars at Pete’s Silly Sideshow (Goofy & Donald), Dashing Disney Pals as Circus Stars at Pete’s Silly Sideshow (Minnie & Daisy) and Mickey at Town Square Theater. We visited these characters in other parks so we could all our time here at rides and shows
- Dining
- We enjoyed a quick but enjoyable stop Pinocchio Village Haus along with a past visit to Crystal Palace to see Winnie the Pooh and friends. Next time we’ll maybe try Be Our Guest or Cinderella’s Royal Table. See here for the Full Magic Kingdom List.
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- Hollywood Studios
- We had a wonderful time visiting Hollywood Studios for the first time.
- Rides
- We loved Slinky Dog Dash (Our Genie+ Pick), Toy Story Mania!, Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway and Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run. Next time we will check out Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance (Individual Lightening Lane) – it was broken during our visit. Not sure we will ever stomach the energy to check out The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror™
- Activities
- The kids loved to Meet Olaf at Celebrity Spotlight and Sulley at Walt Disney Presents. Given the kids love toy story, they loved meeting Buzz Lightyear and Woody when visiting Toys in Toy Story Land. The best in Hollywood Studios is For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration and Indiana Jones™ Epic Stunt Spectacular! never disappoints!!
- Dining
- We enjoyed taking a break and having lunch at ABC Commissary (we skipped the character lunch at Hollywood and Vine). See here for the Full Hollywood Studios List
- Hollywood Studios
Recommendation
We would certainly recommend this trip! – especially for a 5-6 day visit. Our plan is to take both the kids every 3-4 years while they are young / pre-teens because there is so much to do for all interests – the kids really enjoy Disney and we can increasingly focus the trip on experiences for each child. Make sure to get the Character books from any gift shop as the kids will love getting autographs and pictures with their favorite characters! Half days at the parks continue to be a good move for us (coupled with chill time outside the parks at the hotel) and getting everywhere early meant we could do some popular rides without “lightening lane” access. Like with everything popular, especially dining, make your reservations 60 days ahead of time or at the earliest chance you can because for Disney everyone is on top of it earlier then you might think (and almost everything is cancellable). A few other specific items: We found it best to see the main characters outside of magic kingdom since so much of that park should be about the rides and parades.The Disney app is amazing and should be your center of focus for planning the trip. Related to that, learn the new lightening lane system in advance of going since now everything happens on the same day of the trip vs. in the past when rides could be planned in advance. Have an amazing trip!