I know it probably seems crazy to most people that we decided to go to Disney World for our babymoon, but if you know me or have read this blog before you know that Ryan and I are major Disney lovers and it holds a special place in our heart. We wanted one last chance to go just the two of us before the style of trip changes with kids, we love the history of the parks and the company and just walking around for hours exploring all the hidden gems and nooks and crannies of the parks. Now I was foolish and thought it would have cooled down from the intense summer heat and humidity by the time we were there in mid September but I was way off! It was so hot and muggy, but only one day did the heat really get to me and I had to go and sit in air conditioning for an hour to cool down. It’s also tough being so pregnant in that humidity walking around for hours and hours because you’re already over heated and some of the time I would be wearing an extra layer to cover my extra large belly (like a bella band or super long tank). I am now over due in my pregnancy and wildly uncomfortable so this post probably won’t be as detailed as my normal travel posts, probably pictures and places we were – would I recommend or not. Overall we had a really fun trip, it was nice to get the time together alone in one of our favourite places and although there were lots of rides I couldn’t go on, I didn’t really notice  it that much, just a little sad to miss my favourites. We broke our camera when it fell off a rock in Maui, so these pictures were all taken with our iPhones. They are subpar to put it mildly…

Spent our first day in Magic Kingdom, we arrived in time for rope drop and before it got too busy. They had started their fall and Halloween decorations and I love Disney extra when it is holiday themed. Fall is great but nothing compares to their Christmas decor.

I tried for months to get a reservation for dinner at Be Our Guest in the new Fantasyland to no avail. In the morning they have a quick service breakfast you can go to, but really it’s more than a quick service, they do come by and serve your table and you get a plate of pastries from the “master” of the house as an extra. The breakfast was good and it was fun to see all three different rooms in the palace.

Amazing weather, a little too amazing, we took a break at the Polynesian resort to get out of the humidity, had a few “drinks” and ended up waiting out a storm. We like to explore a lot of the different resorts while we’re there, there are so many and so many different themes and details to check out. This is at the bar at Ohana.

We went back to the park after dark for fireworks and a few late night rides, we like the Tomorrowland Transit Authority at night, it’s a good way to cool down and takes you in and out of rides all through Tomorrowland, it really shows a different perspective.

The next day we spent most of our time at Hollywood Studios which was my favourite park for a long time, but it’s way too Star Wars heavy for me now. It also has more of the big thrill rides (tower of terror, rock n’ roller coaster) which I couldn’t go on this time, but I was still able to go on Toy Story Midway Mania which I love and is a blast.

Ryan coming off the Star Wars ride, looks like he’s not as bummed as me at all the Star Wars increases!

There is the a museum here “Walt Disney: One Man’s Dream” with tons of history and paraphernalia from the past, we check it out every visit to see what’s been changed or added and always enjoy it.

The Goldbergs, my favourite sitcom!

Of course we went to my favourite restaurant in the whole park, Prime Time Cafe, which I love more for the experience, ambiance and my personal memories of going there growing up than for the food but I will probably continue to go every single time and hopefully my son will create good memories from there too.

At the end of the day we went to the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular which is so fun to watch and a great way to sit and take a load off. We spent most of that night at Downtown Disney, now called Disney Springs, and it has changed sooooo much since last time we were there. There are so many more restaurants and shopping now, tons of options and things to see and do.

Next day was Epcot, our favourite park. It was nice to be able to spend a lot of time here that day because it is a lot less kid friendly than the others (especially Magic Kingdom) so we might not be able to explore and devote as much time to it on future visits.

The only thing that was a bit of a disappointment with going to this park being pregnant is that we like to do a bit of “drinking around the world” where you get different drinks from a variety of countries. I obviously couldn’t do that this time, but Ryan picked up my slack! It was so hot I was dying for a margarita or an ice cold glass of prosecco, but alas, it was not to be so I had to settle for a popsicle.

France

Japan

Germany

Italy

United Kingdom, where we also went for lunch at the Rose and Crown Pub which is really cute and themed and almost everyone orders the fish and chips!

We spent the rest of the evening on the boardwalk, had dinner at the Yacht Club Resort and took a boat ride back to the park to watch the fireworks.

We were off to Universal Studios the next morning because we wanted to experience the whole Harry Potter exhibit, including going between the two parks from London to Hogwarts on the train and the new Diagon Alley. I’m not really a big fan of Universal, I much prefer Disney but the Wizarding World of Harry Potter is awesome. It’s really well done. Universal is so heavy with thrill rides that I wasn’t able to go on a single ride all day, at least Ryan could get on as a single rider which made his waits really short for the most part.

Hogwarts

In Diagon Alley with Gringotts in the background, there is a big ride inside of Gringotts with an excellent themed queue and Ryan reports that the ride is really good.

The Knight Bus!

“London”

The Hogwarts Express between London and Hogwarts is awesome, there are scenes directly from the movie out the “window” and the characters walk by your door in silhouette ordering chocolate frogs and every flavour beans off the treat cart, you also see Hermione, Harry and Ron fighting off dementors in the hallway of the train.

Now that I have experienced the whole Wizarding World  I wouldn’t go again for a long time. It is really expensive to go for one day with a park hopper that lets you travel between the two parks and I don’t really love Universal enough to enjoy the rest of the park, it’s a lot of the same kind of “dark rides” where you are in a car of some kind and moving around in one spot watching a screen so it feels like you are moving.

That night after a late afternoon nap we went back to Epcot to have dinner at the Coral Reef Restaurant. It’s pretty neat, you’re basically eating in the middle of an aquarium full of sharks and stingrays and a variety of fish.

In the morning we were off to Animal Kingdom Lodge for breakfast at Boma, we’ve now been there twice – for breakfast and dinner – I prefer the dinner buffet. We spent a little time walking the grounds of the resort and seeing some of the animals that are right on site, I think we will try to stay here on our next trip. It must be pretty amazing to wake up in the morning and go out onto your balcony to be face to face with a giraffe while enjoying your morning coffee. This is the day I felt really over heated and not well for some of the time, so we really took it slow but holy mother it was hot. One of my top rated rides in all of Walt Disney World is Expedition Everest at this park, it was probably the ride I was most disappointed about not being able to go on.

I love all the conservation and preservation they do and promote at this park, I wish all zoos were exactly like this.

I guess we didn’t take many pictures this day, we went back to the hotel midday for a swim which was such a welcome reprieve. That night we went back to Magic Kingdom because I wanted to see the electrical parade and we really wanted to try to stay late at the park to experience it quiet so late at night and get some pictures without the busy hustle and bustle. After the last of the parade and fireworks they slowly start closing out the different lands but we stayed on main street pretty late and no-one tried to usher us out at all.

We were excited for the Peter Pan float because our nursery is Neverland themed!

Until next time Magic Kingdom!

We spent our last full day dividing our time between Epcot and Animal Kingdom,  Epcot there are just endless things to see and do and our Animal Kingdom experience was cut short the previous day and we wanted to see the new additions they’ve added at night.

There is so much to experience at Epcot between future world and world showcase that  you could easily fill more than 2 or 3 days with just being at this one park. We went to La Hacienda de San Angel for lunch at the Mexico pavilion and it was really tasty, I might be biased though because I love Mexican food! Ryan making the most of those margaritas in Mexico!

We also spent a little time in China, Japan and Norway. Japan is definitely on my bucket list to visit for real.

We also went on some of our favourite attractions for a second time, like Soarin’ and Living with the Land.

Then after a mid day break it was back to Animal Kingdom for the evening. We spent a little time in the Maharaja Jungle Trek and watched the new Tree of Life Awakenings which is stories and images projected on the Tree of Life at night, it’s really sweet and pretty. I would recommend sticking around for it on one of your evenings.

Next time I go I want to eat at Yak and Yeti for dinner, we had a reservation but missed it and it’s supposed to be really good.

We’ll be experiencing a very different trip in a few years with our little boy and although the heat and humidity was pretty intense at some points during this trip I’m so glad we went and had the last experience just the two of us and got to get away before our lives change drastically! Praying this baby comes any minute now because I’m now a week overdue and it seems the more comfortable he gets in there the more uncomfortable I get!