Disney Vacation 2018

How has it been two months since our magical 10 day Disney trip? Time flies by-cliche, but true, because it's already June and before we know we'll be singing "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas".

I decided to do this post a little differently. Rather than recap every single day I'm going to break it down into  sections and tell you a little bit about each. I'll provide pictures at the bottom of the section. This way I can fit everything about our trip into one blog post.


Resort - Disney's Coronado Springs

This is our second time staying at Coronado Springs. We have stayed at Caribbean Beach, Port Orleans Riverside and Coronado Springs and our favorite between the three is Port Orleans Riverside. When we originally booked this trip we had Port Orleans Riverside booked but once the spring discounts were released we could save $700 by switching to Coronado Springs so that's just what we did! Not that Coronado Springs is bad, because it's not, it's beautiful. The pool is amazing and out of the three resorts that I just named Coronado Springs pool is my favorite, however Port Orleans Riverside is just a small walk to French Quarter and their beignets - yum!

We checked in and it only took about 15 minutes. Apparently 15 minutes in Disney time is too long because we were treated with a free set of Mickey Ears of our choosing at the gift shop ($25). Cadence chose sparkly, silver Mickey Ears. It was a great way to start our vacation. They asked us if we liked having our room cleaned daily and we said no - we just never really care for it because we don't get the room that dirty since we're not there a majority of the time and since we packed for 10 days we had tons of stuff in our room - not that I don't trust the cleaning service but it's just not something that was necessary for us. Since we declined we received a $75 gift card to spend at the parks. It truly was a great way to start the trip.

Coronado Springs is currently building a 15 story addition to their resort. I knew this when I booked because they stated that you would only hear construction between the hours of 8am - 5pm, Monday - Friday. I said it was no issue and it wasn't. The construction was far from our side of the resort and we never once heard any construction crews. Disney still treated us with an adorable pin gift set because of the construction that was going on. I've said it before and I'll say it again, no one does it like Disney!

Dining at Disney

We really mixed it up this time with our dining options. Some restaurants we couldn't give up but we added a lot of new ones to our itinerary this time around. As you know if you've read here before we always get the Disney Dining plan. There are three dining plan options that you can get when you purchase a Disney Vacation Package - (1) Quick Service (2) Disney Dining Plan (3) Disney Deluxe Dining Plan. We always get the one right in the middle. The Quick Service are the walk up restaurants where you quickly order, find a seat wherever and eat. The Disney Dining gives you one quick service per day, two snack credits per day and one table service per day-which is where you get seated, order off the menu and it's a little bit more upscale. The Disney Deluxe gives you the option to choose what you want, whether it be quick service or table service for whichever meal you choose. I will never go to Disney without a dining plan. We've done the math and it saves our family tons! Plus it's so convenient not having to take your credit card or cash with you everywhere - it's all stored on your magicband.

Wahlburgers - Downtown Orlando - This is not on Disney property. In fact, it's about 40 minutes outside of Disney gates and in Downtown Orlando but it's a must do for us every trip, it's tradition! We always eat here at the start of our Disney vacation. Tarl has a huge guy crush on Mark Wahlberg and I just have a huge crush on Mark Wahlberg. We love Donnie and love watching the show. Cadence loves their gluten free burgers and fries and I've tried three different items from there and have yet to be disappointed! The food is just great!

Kona Cafe Breakfast - Disney's Polynesian Resort - this is a must do for Cadence and Tarl for breakfast. Personally, I've never been much of a breakfast eater. Give me a cup of coffee and a croissant and I'm good to go but they love it so we do it. Huge pancakes and treats along with your typical bacon and eggs. Try the tonga toast!

Sanaa - Disneys Animal Kingdom Lodge - YUCK! This is the worst meal I've ever ate in my life. I love Disney and love trying new things but y'all, I'm not going to lie to you, this meal was just awful. Cadence got the shrimp and veggies. I got a meat trio with pork roast and some other concoctions I'm not even sure of what they were and Tarl got the steak and potatoes. Mine and Tarls has some sort of sauce over top of it and this sauce was not for us. Tarl is the most un-picky person I know and even he disliked it. I've read countless reviews of how people adored this restaurant and either they all lied or we're the minority as it pertains to Sanaa because it's not something I'd ever do again. Cadences shrimp were plain. I mean like they boiled them in water and then tossed them on the plate, no salt, no pepper, nothing. Same with the veggies, no seasoning.  The views were pretty cool though. You got to see all of the safari animals outside your window while eating - this is the only good thing I will say about Sanaa.

Snacks! 

We didn't eat one bad snack while at Disney. They were all delicious in their own way. 

Sprinkles Cupcakes - Downtown Disney - Gluten free red velvet cupcake

L'Artisan des Glaces - Epcot/France - caramel and vanilla ice cream

Port Orleans French Quarter Resort - gluten free beignets

Flower and Garden Festival - Epcot - Fruishi (fruit sushi)

L'Artisan des Glaces - Epcot/Paris - macaron ice cream sandwich

Gluten free churros - Animal Kingdom - we wish we would've ordered 3 orders, one wasn't enough!

Ohanas - Disneys Polynesian Resort - a must for us every trip, if not twice every trip. This time we did Ohana's twice and honestly, we could have done it a third. It never disappoints and I cannot describe to you how delicious every thing is. Crispy chicken wings, tossed noodles, starter salad with their house made honey dressing, fried dumplings, and of course, the large skewers of chicken, steak and shrimp. Then to finish they give you this caramel glazed bread pudding topped with vanilla ice cream. It's not gluten free but they made Cadence her very own dessert which she raved about; cinnamon donut topped with vanilla ice cream, chocolate sauce and fruits.

Teppan Edo - Epcot

Cadence has not had Japanese cuisine since her celiac diagnosis because hibachi style Japanese is covered in soy sauce which is full of gluten. Disney changed that for her because she tore up some Japanese, as did we. It is definitely a must-do for our next trip. 

50s Prime Time Cafe - Hollywood Studios

This may have been one of my new favorites. The ambiance looks just like your grandmothers 80s style home and you better have your manners while eating (no elbows on the table!). It was so fun and the pot roast and fried chicken I had here was incredible and tender. They were even able to make gluten free fried chicken which was another winner in Cadence's book. My cheesecake was so yummy and Cadence had no complaints about her caramel sundae! Tarl had an apple pie and loved it!

Bon Voyage Character Breakfast-Trattoria Al Forno-Disney's Boardwalk Resort

This is a brand new character dining experience so we were pretty excited about it. You are able to meet Flynn Ryder and Rapunzel along with Prince Eric and Ariel. The breakfast was your typical bacon, eggs and pancake but the pastries they serve to begin with were amazing and themed perfectly for Rapunzel. We wouldn't necessarily do it again because it wasn't anything special but it's definitely a must-do at least once. 

Whispering Canyon Cafe - Disney's Wilderness Lodge

Big ole plates of BBQ in an "outdoorsy" setting. Sounds just like home so we had to try it and it didn't disappoint! Tarl said he could eat here again and again!

Cape May Cafe - Disney's Beach Club Resort

I have no pictures from here, unfortunately. It is an all you can eat seafood buffet with crab legs. This should explain why I have no pictures. This is a must-do for us. The setting at the Beach Club is beautiful like you're on the cape of Massachusetts. The food is just as good as the scenery!

Liberty Tree Tavern - Magic Kingdom

Liberty Tree Tavern is located in Magic Kingdom Theme Park. It is an authentic Thanksgiving style feast served on a large platter, similar to the way Whispering Canyon Cafe was. Big thick slices of turkey and pot roast, cranberry dressing, side salad with a honey balsamic, warm rolls, macaroni and cheese, and more. The food was delicious and I am so glad we booked this for this trip. 

Be Our Guest Breakfast - Magic Kingdom

Be Our Guest has always been a must do for us. Not only is it centered around Beauty and the Beast, Cadence's favorite movie and favorite princess, but it's also located in Beasts and Belle's castle. The ambiance is probably our most favorite of any restaurant, second to Cinderella's castle that is. We were able to snag a table in the "west wing" for breakfast. The food is good, not excellent, but you're paying for the experience and theme here. We've tried all three meals here, our favorite is dinner, but breakfast is great because the earlier the reservation, the earlier you can get into Magic Kingdom before anyone else does. 

Memory Maker 

The memory maker is the picture package that you can add on to your vacation package. Anywhere on Disney property that you see a designated photographer you can ask him or her to take your picture and it goes straight to your account. It's SO WORTH the money spent. We got hundreds of pictures and it's great memories that will last a lifetime.

There were so many more pictures that we got taken but I'm not going to bombard y'all with all of them. Just get the memory maker if you're planning a trip, you won't regret it!

Theme Parks

There are four main theme parks that Disney has, Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Epcot and Hollywood Studios. They also have two water parks. We get the park hopper option when we book our vacation. This allows us to go into any of the four theme parks as often as we want to during our stay. This way if we're in Epcot all day but want to pop over to Magic Kingdom to see the fireworks that evening, we can do just that. It's so worth the extra money to have this option. If you're going for a small weekend trip I wouldn't add the park hopper, but if you're staying for over 3 days I'd definitely pay the additional and get it. 

Animal Kingdom has been the theme park with the most recent addition of Pandora. Y'all, it didn't disappoint! The fun during the day was awesome but visiting at night was amazing - everything glowed, even our outfits!

AK is my second favorite park next to Magic Kingdom. MK is just the classic park with all of the well known rides and of course, Cinderella's castle front and center. Not that Epcot and Hollywood Studios aren't great, because they are. I'm a lover of animals though and AK has that theme park combined with a large zoo, so it comes in second! HS isn't very big yet but it's growing and rapidly. Beginning June 30th this year they are officially opening up Toy Story Land in HS and Star Wars land is set to open Fall 2019. I imagine this is going to grow HS tremendously and we can't wait to see it all finished!

Epcot is beautiful in it's own right. We usually go during the flower and garden festival and the foliage is not to be missed. I have provided some pictures I took down below and I promise you they are completely un-edited, it's just how truly gorgeous it is in real life.

To say this trip was magical is an understatement. It's crazy the transition we've taken with all of our Disney trips. Our very first one Cadence was young and scared of some rides. Our last one she was braver and into more rides but SO into princesses and meet & greets of all the characters and character meals. This trip she has grown into such a beautiful young lady. She wasn't as into the characters this time but boy was she into all the big scary rides, with her hands high in the air. She loved them and it's such a bittersweet thing. We loved seeing her interact with the princesses but now that she's older and understand they're just hired employees some of the magic is gone but it's found in other things, like seeing her face as we spin in the tea cups or the glimmer in her eye as we're about to go down splash mountain. We loved that we could ride some of those bigger rides as a family now, in the past Tarl and I had to take turns, now we all ride them!

Disney is truly for everyone and we cannot wait until we have the opportunity to book our next trip!

XOXO