I honestly don’t even know where to begin! We literally had THE BEST week at The Happiest Place On Earth last week. I grew up going to Disney and it has always held a special place in my heart! There’s just something about it that truly is magical and it has been so fun getting to take my girls and be on the parent side of the magic. This trip was originally scheduled as a surprise 6th birthday trip for our daughter, but then COVID-19 came along & we decided it was best to cancel. Well, super last minute, we decided to go out and RE-BOOK our girls’ birthday surprise! To say I am so thankful that we did is a total understatement. It was the perfect week!
Also- after going through all of my pictures, I realized I took a lot more boomerang’s and videos than I did still pictures, so for more footage, check out my Instagram (@everydayisdarling) and watch my Disney highlight!
Planning Your Trip to Disney During COVID-19
Disney can be so incredibly overwhelming when you first book your trip, so I wanted to share some must-have items when taking on Disney with kids and give you my review of the parks/ resort & Disney as a whole during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Booking Your Trip
Step one of being on your way to The Happiest Place On Earth is booking your trip! I HIGHLY recommend using a travel agent to help you make the most out of your trip. Disney travel agents are 100% free to use and 100% worth it in my opinion.
A lot goes into planning your stay and it can be easy to accidentally miss important dates or let a discount slip by you. This is where an agent comes into play. Your Disney travel agent will make sure you’re getting every discount available to you, will reserve your stay, dining reservations & fast passes, help you set up a “game plan” for each day you’re there & more!
You could even say this is where I want to stay and this is what I want to do, plan it! And they would!
Reservations, Fast Passes & Recommended Things To Do
The Disney Travel Agent will provide you with a daily itinerary of all your reservations, fast passes & recommended things to do. While I always make my own spreadsheet (because I can’t know what I want to do unless I see my week laid out in front of me, #OCDprobs) having my itinerary from my travel agent was definitely a help!
If this sounds like something that interests you, I highly recommend Michele Bowen with Magic Expeditions! Again, she is 100% FREE and was the biggest help!
Dining Reservations at Disney World
If you are wanting to snag a popular dining reservation, like Cinderella’s Royal Table where you get to dine IN the castle with the princesses, you’re going to want to take advantage of Disney’s reservation system.
Sit-down restaurants within Disney property require reservations. These restaurants are called table service restaurants. Some restaurants will always have availability to take a reservation, but some will only show availibility180 days out.
What does this mean?
Disney lets you start reserving your dining choices180 days from your arrival date. If you’re going after one of the popular restaurants, this is where you’ll really wish you had a travel agent. You will discuss your choices with your agent before the 180-day out mark and when that day comes, your agent will be logged on (I think it is by 6 am) to rapidly get on and snatch up a reservation for you!
Now, people DO cancel reservations often as plans change, so there will always be a chance that a reservation will pop up that you can grab. However, if you want to be guaranteed that spot, you’ll need to pre-plan and reserve it 180 days out.
If you are closer than 180 days out from your arrival date & there is no availability for your restaurant of choice, I suggest opening the My Disney Experience app multiple times a day and refreshing the dining availability on the desired date. A spot will open up most likely, you just have to constantly be looking. Or if you don’t want to do that, hire Michele and she will do it for you free of charge!
If you aren’t a sit-down meal kinda person, there are also many dining options that are considered quick-service meals that do not require reservations. I would call these fancy fast-food joints. With quick service, you can walk right up and order. Well, if you’re going during the pandemic you will be using the My Disney Experience app to place a mobile order and then walk in to pick it up.
After being forced to use this option, I don’t think I will ever order QS food any other way! Mobile ordering has always been an option, we have just never utilized it. It is super easy and convenient to be able to place an order while in line at a ride or while walking to the restaurant from across the park.
Speaking of the My Disney Experience app, this is what you will also use to check dining availability, grab up some fast passes & join virtual queues. Your Disney travel agent, Michele Bowen with Magic Expeditions, can tell you more!
Packing for Your Trip to Disney World
There are a lot of items to consider taking to Disney to make your long days in the park easier. Especially with kids. We always take a bookbag or a drawstring bag that is easy to carry since that is where your valuable items will be stored while in line to ride a ride, watch a show, or eat at a restaurant.
You’ll want to be able to easily toss your phones/ cameras/ chargers and any snacks or drinks you may want while in line in a bag that you can take on and off the stroller since strollers must be parked in a designated area at every attraction (you will never be able to stay with your stroller).
Park Items
When I am packing for our trip, I go ahead and pack my park items in my bag I plan on taking into the park so that it is all ready to go once we get there. In my park bag, I include:
- Portable chargers- your phone WILL die. Your phone will be your “lifeline” while on Disney property. You will reserve dining, check sit-down dining availability, place mobile food orders ( mandatory as of right now, 9/22/20, due to COVID precautions), check wait times, fast passes, Rider Swap passes, join virtual queues (Star Wars Rise Of The Resistance), view your reservations, view your Memory Maker photos and even the option to unlock your room door. This doesn’t even include all the pictures and videos you’ll be taking and the time spent scrolling social media while waiting in lines. So, yes, if you want a working phone by the end of the day, bring a portable charger– or two! 😉 Also, don’t plug it up until your phone is literally on 3 or 5% so that you are getting the optimum battery life usage. THESE are the ones I recommend!
- Sunscreen- Disney has done really well with trying to add as much coverage as possible in waiting areas, however, you are under the Florida sun and it gets HOT. I always apply sunscreen to my girls before leaving the hotel and I like to have it with us just in case we need to reapply.
- Personal fans- these are just as important as bringing a charger. If you are traveling during the warmest months of the year, fans are a must. And one fan will not work. Every person in your party needs their own fan. If your kids are in a stroller (which I highly recommend for even a 6-year-old), THESE fans have worked wonders for us. They clip right onto the stroller and rotate to whatever position is needed. The battery life never went out. For older kids or adults, I recommend THIS neck fan. It is such a help to not have to hold a fan while trying to push a stroller or drink a drink or be trying to score a fast pass on your phone.
- Power strip- We always have so many things that need charging every night so I always bring a power strip to ensure enough outlets and to keep everything as together as possible. The fans are all chargeable by cord, not battery, so it was nice to be able to plug them all in at night and not worry about stopping to buy batteries. This is the one I use because it has USB ports.
- Ponchos- This is one of those that hate to buy but hate to not have items. Being Florida, it will most likely rain at least one of the days you’re there. I definitely recommend buying one ahead of time because Disney ponchos are more expensive and they just get thrown away anyways. You can always return them when you get home if you are lucky enough to not have to use them!
- First Aid- I always pack Band-Aids, Neosporin, & Aquaphor spray. Disney has first aid centers, but they’re not always convenient to where you are at the time. It’s much easier to have them on hand right as you need it– especially with a screaming, hurt child. This Aquaphor Ointment Spray comes in handy for chafing and shoes that may be rubbing heels or parts or other parts of the foot. I sprayed the girls’ heels when their shoes started rubbing their feet after getting wet in the rain. I also added pain relievers for that stubborn headache that would be terrible to have walking through a park because that is also something you don’t want to have to buy at Disney. One dose for the price of an entire bottle.. no thanks.
- A ZipLock of extra masks- If Disney is still requiring masks when you travel, having extra masks on hand comes in handy. Masks will get damp from breathing & sweating in them & will get dropped so it’s a good idea to keep a few extra on hand.
- Mask Lanyards- These are such a help! If you have little kids, you know masks do not stay on well. As much up and down as Disney is getting in and out of strollers & rides, these were so, so helpful! Even for us, it was great to be able to just drop it down to quickly eat or drink something and not have to worry about dropping it. Find them HERE!
- Hand Sanitizer- Even before COVID, we took a lot of hand sanitizer. I always have one strapped on our bag. This trip, I also added one to each girl’s seat so that it was readily available for each of them to use after getting back in the stroller from a ride or before eating a snack. I also added a full-size pump bottle to our stroller caddy that you can find HERE, for Andrew & me to quickly sanitize if the bag was on our back and to refill the small to-go bottle with. But I will say, Disney had automatic hand sanitizer stand at the entrance & exit of every ride & restaurant.
- Wipes & alcohol wipes- the stroller caddy we have has a specific area for wipes to easily grab without having to hold the entire pack. This came in handy when the girls were covered in chocolate from their Mickey Icecream Bars! Behind the normal wipes, I also had a pack of alcohol wipes to wipe down tables before we ate and to wipe down the stroller after being folded up on the bus.
- Mommy hook- These hooks are really convenient for holding shopping bags or water bottles. We hung the bags with the things we bought in the parks and our water bottles by them. You can find them HERE.
- Hair accessories- I brought along extra hair ties & a travel-size brush to freshen up hair before dinner reservations.
- Snacks- I always try to hit up the sales at my local grocery stores in the weeks before we leave for the BOGO snack bars and chips to bring into the parks. Yes, you ARE allowed to bring in your own food & drink. We still had a lot of places we wanted to try for lunch so we didn’t take in a cooler of food, but if you are trying to save, packing a lunch is a great idea. We did bring in a cooler with drinks that sat perfectly under the stroller because $3.50 per water bottle was not happening on my dime! I also always pack a pack of gum.
Room Items
Some may say packing for your room is crazy when you’re paying to stay in a resort, but I always bring things to add to our room to make things easier. When packing specifically for our room, I include:
- A pump bottle of antibacterial soap- I hate using bar soap to wash my hands and with kids, it gets messy laying on the counter and it almost always happens to slip out of their hands so I always like to pack an actual bottle of soap for handwashing.
- Dawn dish soap- packing dish soap comes in handy to wash your water bottles every night. We like to take our insulated 24 hr cold cups for water throughout the day so keeping these clean is easy when you have a sink and some Dawn!
- Woolite- This was a new find for me this year but so glad our travel agent put me in the know about this! We used this to wash our masks in the sink and it worked so well! I also used it to go ahead and wash a shirt or two that had a bad stain.
- Keurig/Coffee- In the mornings we go straight to the parks and don’t want to waste time going to get coffee. There’s this thing called rope drop that I’ll talk about later and I usually am trying to make rope drop. We also prefer our own coffee so we just bring along our Keurig. We have one in storage since we don’t use this as our main coffee source at home so it works out to use it as our travel pot. I bring along a big ole thing of our favorite creamer and stick it in the mini-fridge and we are set for the week! I also buy the 20 oz. disposable coffee cups so that we can squeeze in a little extra than what the provided cups would give you.
- Food/ Drinks- We take drinks for us & the girls for a much cheaper option for having a drink once back at the resort. Again, the prices of beverages of any kind at Disney are not cool. I also pack Disney-inspired snacks so that the girls feel like they’re getting the Disney snacks. You can find all kinds of Disney-themed food and/or packaging these days.
- Cleaning products- I brought along Clorox wipes and Lysol spray just to sanitize the room upon arrival. I am sure Disney’s cleaning protocols are top-of-the-line but I just felt better giving the room a little once over with some Lysol and seeing it sanitized with my own eyes. The girls rolled on the floor all week so I’m just telling myself that my Lysol-ing killed everything on the carpet LOL
Dressing For Disney
If you don’t care about dressing to the theme of Disney, you can scroll past this section. However, I am *obsessed* with Disney outfits! I love for us to have to coordinate Disney shirts.
And I loved the tutu idea for this year! Last year, I dressed them in ruffle shorties, but I think I like the tutus better 🙂
There are endless options for Disney attire from department stores to custom-made ones. Here are some of my favorite Etsy shops that sell Disney shirts:
Tutus
Lots of messages came in throughout the week on the girls’ tutus. I had to add a little princess flair to the girls’ t-shirts so I thought these tutus were the perfect fit! They love skirts, tutus, dresses, etc. so they were not bothered by these at all.
I was worried they may complain about sitting in the stroller in them once I realized how fluffy they were but I never heard the first complaint. These came from Amazon and were surprisingly affordable. The quality is amazing and they were exactly what I was looking for. I wanted a true tutu that stuck out, not one that just hangs down. I will also note that since they are fluffy & do stand out, they require bloomers or biker shorts for coverage.
I bought THESE lace-trimmed biker shorts and they were perfect! I definitely recommend this “princess” look over wearing dress-up clothes in the park. You can save the dresses for a dinner or for having a princess procession through your hotel lobby 🙂
Masks
The BEST Disney masks can be found on Etsy at DizneyBoutique. We got compliments every single day on these. They are 100% breathable even in the Disney heat. They are very reasonably priced and have excellent customer service! Use my code EVERYDAYISDARLING10 for a discount!
Minnie Mouse Ears
I ordered our ears from MinnieCastle on Etsy. Very fast shipping and lightweight ears that don’t weigh your head down. The Anna & Elsa ears came from AppleMintHouse on Etsy.
Shoes
The BEST shoes your child can wear at Disney are Natives. Natives are breathable, all plastic shoes that will easily dry if gotten wet and will stay on their feet. They are known for not rubbing blisters, too.
I still prepped my girls’ heels with the Aquaphor Ointment Spray just in case, but they’re the only brand that has not rubbed blisters on a normal day.
The Target and Old Navy look-a-like’s have both caused blisters. Native’s are 100% worth the money and you can shop them HERE!
Andrew prefers THESE flip-flops on a normal day and he wore them all week and had no problems at all. They are heavy-duty men’s flip-flops that are meant for comfort. We walked 8-10 miles per day.
I ordered THESE for me for the trip and I never had any issues either! They are super soft the thick sole really made a difference.
I wore tennis shoes on our last Disney trip and I was MISERABLE the day it rained all day. Walking around in soaking-wet shoes was so bad. So I decided to test out flip flops this time.
Our Stay at Disney’s Riviera Resort
We initially booked this trip at Disney’s Pop Century Resort. Pop Century is considered one of Disney’s value resorts, but has recently been renovated and now offers more up-to-date rooms.
The Disney Riviera resort is also on the newly added Skyliner, which is another way of transportation on Disney grounds. Staying at one of Disney’s value resorts is definitely a good way to save money if you are more about the parks and not about where you sleep
Disney will randomly release offers for select travel dates. This year, they released the discounts a week before we left. So our trip was already booked and paid for but the dates that Disney released fell on our selected stay so we got to apply that to our visit!
Without even knowing any discounts had come out, Michele texted me that I was about to see a credit back on my card because she just hung up with Disney and had my rate adjusted! Still not wanting that travel agent? 😉
Well, the discount really had me intrigued to upgrade our vacation, I just couldn’t pull the trigger on the price tag. So when the discounts came out, I thought that was a good opportunity to stay at a nicer resort at less a price. You never know when Disney will release discounts, so it’s hard to plan to save ahead of time.
I thought about it for a little bit and then decided to just do it. I mean, it was my birthday week, too, right?! Oh yeah, side note, if you didn’t know, I birthed our first daughter on my birthday and she literally came 10 minutes after midnight. Best birthday present EVER 🙂
So, we upgraded and I have never made a better decision in my life. The Riviera Resort was AHHHHHH-MAAAAAAZING!
The Riviera Resort
The Riviera Resort was absolutely breathtaking. From the waterfalls to the chandeliers, this place was incredible. The staff was top-notch, the views from the balcony were beautiful, the cafe downstairs was excellent, the amenities were freaking awesome, the Skyliner was super convenient & the rooms were perfectly designed.
There is so much detail within the walls of this hotel. One of my favorite parts about this hotel was the massive painting of the castle right outside of the main elevators. It was one of those make you want to cry pieces. I mean, it’s THE castle, and being hand-painted was just so, so beautiful. Such a classic, timeless piece!
Upon arriving, they will make you put on your mask. This is one thing that I will say, they are very adamant about keeping that mask on. This is one of the main ways they are able to open their doors back up and stay open.
So, if you have a big problem with wearing a mask, this may not be the trip for you & you might want to wait until the masks are not a requirement. However, for us, it was totally worth it.
I initially said I could never go to Disney and take on the parks and the heat in a mask, but it really wasn’t that bad. It wasn’t great, but it wasn’t as much of an inconvenience as I thought it would be. Now, we did remove our masks for a few pictures (they come over the loudspeakers and say that this is not allowed) but we weren’t near anyone.
My three-year-old actually kept her mask on very well but did have times when it was hanging on her neck. My six-year-old has always been a rule follower and is always wanting to do the right thing and definitely doesn’t like to be called out if she is doing the wrong thing so her first time of being called out by a cast member telling her to put her mask on she never took it off again LOL She was even telling us that we needed to put our masks on!
So as for the masks, they are strictly enforced but overall weren’t that bad and the kids did perfectly fine with them.
The Room
We stayed in a Deluxe Studio Preferred View room. This room was so perfect! Walking into this room the crystal chandeliers were what my eyes went to first. The little details in this hotel were really well thought through.
We overlooked one of the pools and had great views of the Skyliner and The Tower of Terror over at Hollywood Studios.
This room features a queen bed, an additional pull-down queen bed & a single pull-down bed. I loved this layout because we could push the second queen bed up during the day and we had a nice little living area. (This area came in handy for our little birthday party celebration!) The single pull-down was super cute and the girls loved playing and resting on it.
The room also has a really great bathroom setup. There are TWO showers, one tile shower with a glass door with two heads (one is a waterfall-style head) & one regular tub/ shower combo.
The kitchenette features a microwave, a mini fridge, a coffee pot, and a sink with lots of cabinet space.
There’s a great little space by the front door to park your stroller and a nice-sized closet to store your clothes & suitcases.
One of the things that I loved most about this resort was the balconies. It was so nice to tuck the girls into bed after a long day and go sit out on the balcony with Andrew and unwind.
The Riviera Resort & the Pools
Another thing that drew me to The Riviera Resort was the pools. There are two pools here, one beach entry with a large water slide & one regular swimming pool.
The beach entry pool was so much fun for my girls. This pool is where more of the action was while the regular pool was more of the “calm” area.
There are a ton of lifeguards on duty & there are also cast members that set up a little stand and play games with you while you’re hanging out in the pool. Most games were trivia-like games and it was so fun taking guesses and answering Disney questions while splashing around in the pool. It really took our pool day up a notch!
There is also a poolside bar to order drinks and apps at and also a quick service cafe to order meals.
Outside of these pool areas, there is also a kiddie splash zone with two baby water slides and lots of fun water features. Kind of like a super amped-up splash pad. Our three-year-old had SO much fun in there.
It is gated off so there’s no way a small child can escape and enter the main pool area. It was nice to be able to relax in a lounge chair while she played without worrying that she could get away. Even our six-year-old had a blast in this area.
Restaurant Options
We dined at both restaurant options available at The Riviera Resort, Topolino’s Terrace (TS), and Primo Piatto (QS).
Topolino’s Terrace
I will say, I was slightly disappointed with the breakfast at Topolino’s Terrace. The food was good, but it wasn’t great.
The girls both ordered the Mickey Waffle Dippers and the presentation was super cute. The waffles are served on an artist’s palette with the “paint colors” being the assorted sauces to dip your waffles in. You get a chocolate sauce, a raspberry sauce & a caramel sauce.
I ordered the smoked salmon & Andrew ordered eggs, potatoes & bacon. It honestly didn’t taste any different than any other breakfast food we’ve had on Disney grounds. I think the preferred meal would be dinner here with their signature pasta.
We booked breakfast as this is the only time the characters are present. Mickey, Minnie, Donald & Daisy paraded through the restaurant multiple times while we ate. Unfortunately, they were not able to stop at each table because of the pandemic, but it was still super fun for the girls to be able to see them closer than they would in a parade during these times. They stopped six feet away from the table for a split second for us to grab a picture, but that’s all they were able to do.
So, overall, you have to choose if the food or the characters are more important to you since the characters are not at lunch or dinner. I would say to wait until the COVID-19 restrictions are lifted before paying for this breakfast experience so that you get the most out of it.
Primo Piatto
Primo Piatto exceeded my expectations. The food here was so, so good. Being a quick-service cafe, I was prepared for ” meh” food but was very impressed.
I first ordered the Croque Monsieur and WOW, was this good! It was huge and very filling. I ordered the tomato soup with focaccia croutons as my side and this was as equally amazing.
Andrew ordered the Grilled Chicken Sandwich with sundried tomato relish & spinach-artichoke spread and said it was one of the best sandwiches he’s ever had.
We split a cold-cut sandwich one day and it was great as well. Also, you cannot stay here and not order the Lemon- Blueberry pancakes for breakfast. Seriously, one of the best pancakes I’ve ever had. If you’re staying at Caribbean Beach, I would say Primo Piatto is worth popping over to one day if you have time to make the walkover.
It is very walkable if you’re staying in an area of Caribbean Beach that is near the main lobby. It may be too far if not. The Caribbean beach is SUPER spread out. So much so that they have multiple internal bus stops!
Overall, I would stay at The Riviera Resort 100 more times! It was so welcoming and you just felt the Disney magic all throughout the walls. Make sure you take a quick stroll over to Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort if you have any downtime. When you’re within walking distance of other resorts, it’s a nice way to check out other Disney properties for future visits! We even ordered a pizza from a quick service restaurant at Caribbean Beach one night and enjoyed walking through the lobby & smelling the sunscreen and air fresheners they have to go pick up our order.
Magic Kingdom
Magic Kingdom is my favorite park & has so much to offer! If you’re spending a week at Disney, I would recommend two days at Magic Kingdom.
Two days is really the only way you’re going to get every single thing there done. Even with the short wait times going during COVID-19, we still didn’t finish everything we wanted to do in one day.
Parades
There are no scheduled parades right now, but they ARE running them. We ended up seeing five or six pop-up parades. If you’re in the park all day, you will most likely catch at least one of them!
We noticed that they start down by Splash Mountain & Pecos Bill so keep an eye out if you’re in that area. They will travel down and go in front of the castle, down the main street and then exit to the right.
Listen out for loud music. Several times we heard the music get loud and followed the sound. Parades are the only places we were able to see characters other than the reservation- only character dining.
There were no characters at regular meet-and-greet spots or just walking around. The only other place we saw characters was right at the park entrance.
On our second Magic Kingdom day, every single princess was standing on the balcony of the building to your left as soon as you enter the gates. They were very high up but they were in waving distance and this was super special for my girls!
Crowds at Magic Kingdom
As far as crowds, we went on a Sunday and a Thursday and I would say that the crowds were the same on both days. We rode almost every single ride on our first MK day and hopped on the few we couldn’t fit in on our second MK day. Then we rode almost all of them over again.
The Haunted Mansion was the longest line we waited in on both days. We waited almost an hour for that and about 45 minutes for Pirates Of The Caribbean. All of the rest of them were 25 minutes or less with some even being walk-ons.
I think it is also important to note that we are all day park goers. I don’t see how people find the time to go back to the resort for naps. We get there a few minutes before the park opens and leave when it closes.
So, being at Magic Kingdom from park open to park close even with pandemic wait times is STILL not enough time to accomplish the entire park. This is why I say give yourself two MK days so you don’t feel rushed to do & see it all.
Rider Swap!
Another tip to get the most out of your park days is to utilize Rider Swap! If you are a family of four with one kid that meets riding requirements and one kid that does not ask a cast member for a Rider Swap pass.
This allows mom and an eligible kid to ride while dad and non-eligible kid wait and then dad and an eligible kid to ride again without having to wait in line again while mom stays with the non-eligible kid. This way both parents get to ride and the eligible kid gets to ride twice! The parent that goes second just walks through the fast pass lane all the way to the front of the line bypassing any wait the ride may have.
Remember to use your My Disney Experience app wait time map to click each ride and view the height requirements.
Food
I recommend Pecos Bill (QS), Cinderella’s Royal Table (TS), Be Our Guest LUNCH (QS)/ DINNER (TS), Gastons’s Tavern (QS), Sleepy Hollow Refreshments (QS) & Aloha Isle (QS). You cannot leave Disney without getting a Dole Whip from Aloha Isle.
I would pick between Cinderella’s Royal Table & Be Our Guest and do one of those per trip. They are the priciest options in the park but also the best experiences. I would choose one based on your child’s character of choice.
If they are super obsessed with princesses as a whole, I would definitely choose CRT. If they are big Beauty & The Beast fans, I would choose to Be Our Guest. However, keep in mind that Be Our Guest has NO princesses and the Beast is there for dinner reservations ONLY.
Also, if you choose to dine at either of these options, I would suggest getting the latest reservation possible so that it puts you IN the park after park closing. During our trip, Magic Kingdom closed at 6 pm, nightly. I was able to get a 6:05 pm dinner reservation at Be Our Guest so that put us walking out of the park after closing which meant we practically had the park to ourselves!
Obviously, we couldn’t ride anything, but it was fun to experience the emptiness and take pictures. The cast members let you take your time leaving and don’t mind photo ops.
If you don’t do anything, get the Nutella Waffle Sandwich from Sleepy Hollow and THANK ME LATER. Wow, it was kind of life-changing. So yummy.
Also, a stop by the Main Street Confectionary is recommended to grab some yummy Disney treats to take back home.
Rides
If you are reading this during the pandemic, there are no fast passes running (as of 9/22/2020) so you will have to use your time wisely when going into the parks. I would go straight to Seven Dwarfs Mine Train as this is one of the longest waits. My three-year-old LOVED this ride. It is definitely fast, but on this trip, we learned she loves the thrills LOL. If you want to test your child’s ability to make it on a rollercoaster, you can start off with the Barnstormer. This ride never had over a 5-minute wait while we were there. It’s fast but it’s super short. Some of our favorite rides were: Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, Peter Pan’s Flight, Under the Sea, The Barnstormer, Pirates Of The Caribbean, Splash Mountain & The Jungle Cruise. If you have time to fit it in, Mickey’s Phillhar Magic is the cutest little show! The kids LOVE it and it’s a great opportunity to rest & cool down.
Hollywood Studios
Hollywood Studios is an amazing park for all of the shows it offers & now becoming even more popular for its Toy Story Land & Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.
The top attraction there right now is Star Wars Rise Of The Resistance. This ride requires a boarding pass that you will obtain by joining a virtual queue via the My Disney Experience app. At 10 am and 2 pm, Disney releases the boarding passes.
Due to the extreme popularity of this ride, the boarding passes are gone within seconds of being released. So, there is a method to trying to grab your spot on ROR.
Unfortunately, the shows are not performing right now (as of 9/22/2020). If they resume during your selected trip dates, the Frozen show is a MUST!
Also, Indiana Jones Stunt Show & Beauty & The Beast are two of my absolute favorites.
We took the Skyliner from Riviera to Hollywood Studios. To get to HS from Riviera, you have to change gondolas at Caribbean Beach.
It’s been said that the line can get long once getting to Caribbean Beach, so we left an hour before the park opening to ensure enough time to get to the park by 10 am because to get a boarding pass for ROR, you MUST be inside of the park.
We were through security and in the park by 9:30 am and right now, they are letting everyone in the park as they arrive so that a big group doesn’t gather at the gate. We got in line for Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway and started refreshing the virtual queue page around 9:55 am and right at 10 am, it let us join, and surprisingly we got it!
We got boarding group 19 and got called around 1:30 pm. You have one hour from the time you’re called to get to the ride entrance. The people in line behind us were doing the exact same thing we were doing and they didn’t get one.
We used our cell phone data over the park WiFi because I assumed the park WiFi was probably super bogged down. Anyways, we got it on the first try and got excited!
As far as wait times, the longest line we waited in was Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway which was one hour long for our SECOND go around.
Our first time riding it as soon as we got to the park was around 35 minutes. So, the ultimate game plan for your HS day would be going straight to Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway & trying for your boarding pass for ROR while in line there.
There’s no reason to stand around in the park trying to get a boarding pass. Even at 50% capacity, it is still important to use your time wisely. So make sure you’re in a line at all times.
You can join the ROR queue, order food, and search for dining all while in a line. Slinky Dog Dash always had about a 30-45 minute line, but we walked onto Toy Story Mania three or four times. Slinky Dog Dash generally 1.5-2 hour wait, so the 30-45 minutes was still considered a great wait time.
My Review of ROR
Sooooo I have to disclose the fact that I have never seen Star Wars before you read what I thought. I know, I know. I was super excited to ride this due to all the hype around it but come to realize I am not a fan LOL
If you have seen Star Wars, are a Star Wars fan, or are a male, this ride is awesome. However, if you’re a mom taking your six-year-old on it not having a single clue what you’re walking into, I would assume it would not be for you.
I think our experience was intensified with COVID-19 precautions in place because we were literally by ourselves the entire time. This ride is more of a whole experience over “just a ride”. There are multip parts to it and let’s just say once we were in I was silently searching for an emergency exit LOL.
So, you first get on a transport ship that takes you to outer space. You feel the forces of truly flying off to space but you’re not seated, you’re freestanding and holding onto a rail. There are screens and windows you can look out which simulate like you’re truly there.
Your ship is captured by the First Order and you walk off into a huge room FILLED with Storm Troopers. Like real people. Not robots. And they’re ALL in character.
I tried to ask a cast member (dressed as a First Order officer) a question like SHOULD I REMOVE MY CHILD FROM THIS and they would not break character. Panic has now set in.
You’re then put in a line to be put into an interrogation cell. So there we go, me and my little girl with glittery Minnie ears and a tutu is thrown into this room ALONE.
All of a sudden, someone scary (I’m sorry, I have no idea what the names of these people are) appears above us ( I still can’t figure out if that was a real person or a robot– it was all so real!) and I’m frantically chanting “It’s okay, it’s all fake!” to a cute little tune while FREAKING out myself.
Again, if it weren’t for the pandemic guidelines, we wouldn’t have been alone and I think that would have made it a little less intense.
You’re then let out of the cell & put into the actual ride part. You’re strapped in and sent off immediately. On a normal day, eight people are supposed to occupy a car. But as you might have guessed, it was just me & my mini.
I’m not even sure what all we went through but it was a mix of an actual moving ride and a simulator. You physically move through a building but then at one point your car clicks into a compartment and a door shuts behind you and it turns into a simulator where you’re not actually moving but the screen tilts making the car make it feel like you are.
After this, you experience a sudden drop where I’m pretty sure the floor comes out from under you. The ride FINALLY ended after what seemed like an eternity and we NEVER looked back.
I think we both actually ran off of it straight to Andrew where our daughter promptly told her daddy she would NOT be riding with him. We did the rider swap (absolutely take advantage of this) so she had the option to ride again with him.
But again, if you love Star Wars, this ride will probably be amazing to you because of how real it has been designed.
Rides
Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway is my new favorite ride. It was SO fun and so cute! I love how it takes you through the ride.
You’re not on a track, your car is just sliding and driving around on the ground. Slinky Dog Dash & Toy Story Mania are two really, really great rides as well. Our three-year-old LOVED Slinky Dog and rode it three times. The height requirement for this coaster is 38″ and she passed the test!
Alien Spinning Saucers is a fun ride, too, but if you’re in a situation where you’re having to pick, definitely pick Toy Story Mania or Slinky Dog Dash. If you’re able to take turns with another adult you’re with, the Rock ‘n’ Rollercoaster & Tower of Terror are great older child/adult thrills!
Our oldest daughter rode the Tower of Terror (40″ height requirement) last year at five years old but chose to not ride it this year.
I wouldn’t put a 6-year-old on Rock ‘n’ Rollercoaster unless he/she is a seasoned rollercoaster rider and of course meets the 48″ height requirement. The initial take-off is a bit intense.
Food
I recommended the Disney Jr. Play & Dine at Hollywood & Vine (TS) (during non-COVID-19 times), Sci-Fi Drive-In (TS), & Mama Melrose (TS).
We have never had any QS food from here other than a Mickey Pretzel and frozen lemonade that can be found at any of the little pop-up stands.
The Disney Jr. Play & Dine breakfast was really good and the character experience with all of the Disney Jr. characters was so much fun for my girls because if the TV is on in our house, it is always on Disney Jr. However if you’re going during the pandemic, this will not be an option.
The Sci-Fi Drive-In is really cute as every single “table” is an old car and you’re seated under the stars in front of a huge screen just like you’re at a drive-in movie. It’s pretty dark, but there’s enough light to eat. If you don’t like eating in the dark, I would pass on this experience.
Mama Melrose has no Disney theming but the food was excellent.
Epcot
Epcot is more of an “adult” park but there are still plenty of options for the kids. This park is a must for my family because it is home to the Frozen ride. If your kids love the movie Frozen, this is a must-do attraction.
t is super cute and has a fun little drop in it. The line is usually long, so I would go straight to this upon arrival. It is located in Germany.
Rides
Our favorite rides here are Frozen, Soarin’ & Test Track. Our three-year-old was only able to ride Frozen due to the height requirements (both 40″ or taller- our three-year-old is 38″), but our six-year-old LOVED Soarin’ & Test Track.
We walked onto Soarin’ (after riding Frozen upon entry to the park) multiple times which is generally unheard of. More options for smaller riders are The Seas with Nemo & Friends, Spaceship Earth & Gran Fiesta Tour.
You may notice our oldest is in a different outfit by dinner time. We had an accident in line to ride Soarin’ for the fourth time. I was mortified.
This was my child that has not had a single accident since the day she was potty trained by two years old. The bad part was that where we were in line was on an incline and we were at the top. You can imagine how things “flowed”. Uggghhhhhhhhh.
However, I wanted to mention this because I wanted to brag about how amazing Disney handled the situation. They very nicely & calmly excused us from the line and led us through a secret side door where we were met with a manager that handed us a pass that would purchase us a new set of clothes.
This is what the saying “sprinkled with pixie dust” can mean. You’ve probably seen it on a Disney board or somewhere that someone got “sprinkled with pixie dust”. It’s just little things Disney does that are not standard.
It doesn’t happen to everyone and doesn’t happen every time but things like this can happen when you least expect it.
Food
Akershus is an amazing princess dining experience, however, this is not available as of now (9/22/20). If this reopens during your stay, I highly recommend it! Otherwise, Garden Grill (TS) & La Hacienda de San Angel(TS) are other favorites.
We got the nachos from the La Cantina de San Angel which is the (QS) version. Garden Grill is a family-style character meal that the characters ARE at during the pandemic. You cannot touch them, but they do come behind your table. The characters include Chip, Dale, Mickey & Goofy.
The restaurant also slowly spins in a circle and you eventually get around to where you look over the Living with the Land ride. You don’t realize you’re moving until you look up and you’re not where you started!
There are all kinds of QS meal options in all of the different countries but I have not tried many to review. We did have the nachos in Mexico and they were good but not something I would be anxious to go back for.
The margarita stand is fun in Mexico & has good frozen margaritas.
Animal Kingdom
We had a lot of fun at Animal Kingdom this year. It is probably my least favorite park, but we really enjoyed it. We went straight to Flight of Passage as that is the longest wait time ride in Animal Kingdom.
We got to the entrance and the wait time said 20 minutes. It was maybe 10 minutes, and the majority of the time we never quit moving. The queue for this ride is long, so most of the 10 minutes were spent slowly walking through the queue.
Since every line requires a six-foot distance from each party (as of 9/22/20), the lines can look longer than they actually are.
Rides
My favorite rides are Flight of Passage, Everest, Dinosaur & Kali River Rapids.
I’ve never seen Avatar and I really enjoyed this ride. You don’t have to have seen the movie to enjoy the ride. This ride is very comparable to Soarin’, just on a much larger scale. You have to be a little taller to ride as well.
My six-year-old LOVED this ride and we utilized our rider swap for her to be able to ride it a second time with no wait with Andrew.
Everest is super intense, but a lot of fun. Our six-year-old rode it with each of us but didn’t love it. You can tell she wanted to, but both times after getting off of it she said she didn’t like it.
Dinosaur is not a track ride so it’s fun to really get that feel of off-roading in the wild but can be a little intense for small riders. Our six-year-old did not choose to ride this a second time.
Kali River Rapids is a slow rafting ride with one hill. Both of our girls were like “Is that it?”, so I definitely recommend it for all ages that pass the height requirement.
Food
I initially booked Rainforest Cafe for lunch. The food there is not great, but I wanted that fun experience for the girls. I opened up the app the day before and just took a glance over dining availability and noticed a lunch reservation opened up for Yak & Yeti.
I went ahead and reserved a table because our lunch reservation for Rainforest Cafe was two hours apart. You’re able to book two lunch or dinner spots as long as they are two hours apart. If they’re not, you will have to cancel your existing reservation to book another. This is not ideal, but it worked out great for us for this specific trip.
I knew the girls would not like the cuisine at Yak & Yeti, so Andrew and I ate lunch there at 11:30 and let the girls color, cool off, and have a snack then at 1:30, the girls had their lunch at Rainforest Cafe and Andrew and I cooled off with a drink.
I recommend Yak & Yet if you like Asian/ Chinese cuisine. We both agreed that it was very good. Again, Rainforest Cafe food is not good in our opinion, but if you want that experience, that is what you’ll be paying for. I have really good childhood memories of eating at Rainforest Cafe while at Disney, so I just wanted my girls to have the same.
I also recommend stopping at Pongu Pongu in Pandora outside of Flight of Passage. The Night Blossom beverage is a non-alcoholic frozen beverage with layers of apple and desert pear limeade topped with passion fruit boba balls. SO GOOD! We also grabbed a Pongo Lumpia- a warm pineapple cream cheese spring roll dusted with sugar. Again, so yummy.
Disney Springs
If you plan on a full-week stay, I definitely recommend one resort day. A break from the parks where you can enjoy your resort amenities and head to Disney Springs for multiple dining options and shopping. It was nice to not have a schedule for a day, lounge by the pool, and then explore Disney Springs.
Disney Springs is not a theme park & does not have a ticketed entrance, however, they do have a hot air balloon ride as well as a Cirque du Soleil show. We’ve not done either one, but I would LOVE to see this show one day. These experiences do require a ticket.
A trip to the World of Disney store inside Disney Springs has become a tradition for us. It is a massive store with all the Disney merch you could ever imagine. This is where we let the girls buy their toys/souvenirs from the trip. Anything you see in the actual parks, this store has.
We also love making a stop by Goofy’s Candy Company. Allllll the candy and sweets, you can think of. It’s another fun stop for the kids!
Andrew & I also loved browsing the high-end retailers that are a part of Disney Springs. If you bring along a sitter or a nanny on your trips, this would be a great parents’ night out option. One day, Andrew & I will be taking an adult-only Disney vacation 😉
On this day, you can also take advantage of checking out our other Disney resort properties. On this trip, we booked a dinner at Beaches & Cream Soda Shop at Disney’s Beach Club Resort. It was fun getting to walk the grounds of this resort and view the amenities.
I specifically booked this dinner for dessert. Beaches & Cream has a famous Kitchen Sink Sundae that has over 20 different ingredients! This was definitely an experience thing and we won’t be getting this every time LOL. But the girls LOVED it and it was so worth it. It felt like we were in an old-time ice cream parlor, too!
Go See Disney World
So, overall, I HIGHLY recommend heading to Disney during a pandemic! That sounds terrible. Ok, let me rephrase. If you are healthy and not in a bracket of increased risk of contracting COVID-19, I recommend going to Disney while they are still at 50% capacity.
We rode every single ride we wanted to ride multiple times a day and accomplished everything had our hearts on doing.
Was it still crowded? Yes.
Was it miserably packed like a pre- COVID-19 Disney day? No.
Was it worth wearing masks for? YES!
I cannot wait to get back and make more magical memories <3
