Celebrating 25 Magical Years: Family, Friends, and lots of Food! (LIVE)

[lindsayx14]

Hello fellow WDW geeks! My name is Lindsay, and I am in Walt Disney World right now!

This year, my family is celebrating my parent's 25th wedding anniversary, which took place May 20th. Our vacation is in honor of them and the wonderful family they've created and nurtured over the years. Here's to you, Mom & Dad, and to many happy years to come!


THE TRIP
We started planning in the fall of last year, and booked our 2 bedroom lake view villa at the BLT. I think I can safely say that the BLT is my family’s favorite resort at WDW. Being only a monorail ride away from some of our favorite restaurants and having that walkway to the Magic Kingdom is the absolute best! I love the Epcot resort area too for similar reasons, but there’s just something magical about BLT’s location.

Our vacation will last 8 days, and I have the whole trip planned out as I usually do. Here’s an example from my agenda, which is of course flexible depending on how the day works out. I try to have all of the important times written out so I won’t forget anything.

Tuesday, June 3rd
8:00 AM - Epcot (EMH)
9:25 - 10:25 AM - FP+ Soarin'
10:25 - 11:25 AM - FP+ Spaceship Earth
11:25 - 12:25 PM - FP+ Mission: SPACE
6:00 PM - Dining Reservations: tune in to find out...
10:00 PM - Wishes

FOOD
We have six ADRs planned as well as some counter service spots we’d like to hit, some old favorites and a couple of new places. We love to eat, especially in WDW, so expect lots of pictures of yummy, beautiful Disney Dishes and snacks. You can see in my preview above that I blocked out the restaurant name. I will leave it as a surprise, so check in every day!

CAST
We have a cast of 8 going on this special trip!

Me - Hi! I am a 20 year old college student from Connecticut. I have been going to Disney with my family since I was 8 years old, and although I have been quite a few times the magic has no sign of wearing off! I am working towards my degree in Computer Science, though my first love will always be musical theatre. In my spare time, I enjoy watching all sorts of movies (some of my favorites are The Lord of the Rings, Inglorious B..., and Across the Universe) and TV series (I’m currently in love with Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, and Hannibal), as well as singing, puppetry, and watching all sorts of educational youtube videos (I particularly enjoy SciShow and CrashCourse). My whole family loves animals as well, and currently I live with 3 dogs, 3 cats, 7 hermit crabs, 2 guinea pigs, and a betta fish.

Favorite Park: Epcot
Favorite WDW Attractions:
Magic Kingdom: The Haunted Mansion
Epcot: Journey into Imagination with Figment
Hollywood Studios: Tower of Terror
Animal Kingdom: Dinosaur
Favorite of the Fab Five: Donald
Favorite Movie Character: Mulan
Favorite Disney Movie: Tangled
Favorite WDW Restaurant: The Flying Fish

THE STARS!

Curtis - My Dad! He is a long-time Disney geek and amazing father. He works so hard all year round for our family as a systems analyst. He will also have a report for our trip, and you should definitely go see what he’s up to- his perspective is different from mine (and honestly he takes better pictures!).

Favorite Park: EPCOT
Favorite WDW Attractions:
Magic Kingdom: Splash Mountain
Epcot: Mexican Pavilion
Hollywood Studios: Tower of Terror
Animal Kingdom: Flights of Wonder
Favorite of the Fab Five: Mickey
Favorite Movie Character: Baloo
Favorite Disney Movie: Jungle Book
Favorite WDW Restaurant: Ohana

Margita - My Mom! If I had to choose which member of my family is the most Disney-crazy, it would have to be my mom. She is always the first person to tell me about what’s going down in WDW, or anything Disney related for that matter. She has a big heart with lots of love to give to our family.

Favorite Park: Tossup between Magic Kingdom and Epcot
Favorite WDW Attractions:
Magic Kingdom: Peter Pan's Flight
Epcot: Soarin'
Hollywood Studios: Tower of Terror
Animal Kingdom: Dinosaur
Favorite of the Fab Five: Pluto
Favorite Movie Character: Tinkerbell
Favorite Disney Movie: Toy Story movies
Favorite WDW Restaurant: Crystal Palace

ENSEMBLE

Renate - My Aunt!
Favorite WDW Attractions:
Magic Kingdom: Space Mountain
Epcot: Soarin’
Hollywood Studios: Tower of Terror
Animal Kingdom: Kilimanjaro Safari
Favorite of the Fab Five: Pluto
Favorite Movie Character: Herbie the Love Bug
Favorite Disney Movie: Mary Poppins
Favorite WDW Restaurant: Chefs de France

Ben & Sheila - My younger brother and his lovely girlfriend.

Sheila:
Favorite WDW Attractions:
Magic Kingdom: Haunted Mansion
Epcot: Soarin’
Hollywood Studios: Star Tours
Animal Kingdom: Expedition Everest
Favorite of the Fab Five: Minnie
Favorite Movie Character: Sulley
Favorite Disney Movie: Tangled
Favorite WDW Restaurant: Kona

Ben:
Favorite WDW Attractions:
Magic Kingdom: Haunted Mansion
Epcot: Test Track
Hollywood Studios: Star Tours
Animal Kingdom: Expedition Everest
Favorite of the Fab Five: Goofy
Favorite Movie Character: Stitch
Favorite Disney Movie: Hercules
Favorite WDW Restaurant: Ohana

(photo soon!)
Harry & Katelyn - My older brother and his lovely girlfriend.

Harry:
Favorite WDW Attractions:
Magic Kingdom: Haunted Mansion
Epcot: Test Track
Hollywood Studios: Tower of Terror
Animal Kingdom: Dinosaur
Favorite of the Fab Five: Pluto
Favorite Movie Character: Maleficent
Favorite Disney Movie: The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Favorite WDW Restaurant: O’Hana

Katelyn:
Favorite WDW Attractions:
Magic Kingdom: Haunted Mansion
Epcot: Maelstrom
Hollywood Studios: Rockin’ Roller Coaster
Animal Kingdom: TBD
Favorite of the Fab Five: Pluto
Favorite Movie Character: TBD
Favorite Disney Movie: The Lion King
Favorite WDW Restaurant: TBD

UP NEXT... DAY 1!​

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[lindsayx14]

DAY ONE: Arrival and Magic Kingdom!
We left home around 4AM, and after a nice, peaceful flight we arrived at the Contemporary to check in, around 11AM. Everything was running smoothly, like a dream! Especially since we were all exhausted.

After donning our Magic Bands we walked to the Magic Kingdom. My Mom, Dad, and I waited in line at guest services outside of the park to activate our annual passes. Since we ended up spending a lot of time there waiting, our helpful cast member gave out entire party a “use anywhere” Fastpass. We quickly decided to go ride the Seven Dwarves Mine Train!


We stopped by Casey’s Corner for some water and a little bite (corn dog poppers and a polish hot dog for my dad and Harry!) and ran over to the highly anticipated Mine Train. My parents and I are not exactly tiny people, and we had read that the seats at the Mine Train were a squeeze. I quickly noticed, sitting next to my dad, that it wasn’t the seats that were the problem- my hips fit fine, but my lower thighs/knees were crammed together so tight between the lap bar that every movement of the cart was painful. I will definitely try to lock the lap bar at its highest position next time around. I felt extremely rushed by the cast members (I don’t blame them, the line was stretching to 70+ minutes) and I guess I pulled it down too far. Besides the pain in my legs, the ride was adorable.

After the Mine Train, we visited Tomorrowland, and did the Carosel of Progress and the Tomorrowland Transit Authority. The TTA is going to be under refurbishment starting June 2 (tomorrow), so we knew we had to get it in our first day. It was fun and relaxing as usual, I know I will miss it later in the week!

Next, we headed over to Be Our Guest for lunch. We had a Fastpass+ reservation, and although I was excited to see the interior of Beast’s castle again (we ate dinner there on our last trip), I did not have high expectations.

I remember the main dining room being loud and crowded, and the food at dinner was fine but nothing to speak of. I was very impressed by how quickly we were directed to a kiosk to order our lunch! I really love the dining kiosks, they make ordering much less stressful and simple.

However, after we ordered, our experience quickly declined. We ended up wandering the 3 dining rooms searching for a table for 15 minutes, and I am not exaggerating when I say that there were more empty tables full of trash than tables filled with people eating. The bussers were few in number, which is probably what caused the delay. We ended up sitting at a dirty table to wait for our food.

(Not our food... yuck!)
When one of the bussers finally got the chance to clear the table, my brother Harry happily helped him clear up. I felt bad for the hardworking cast member, there definitely were not enough cast members working the tables today, but I’ve heard this is actually common at BOG.
The food was, thankfully, wonderful. I ended up with the veggie quiche and a “grey stuff” cupcake, which is a chocolate cupcake with Oreo frosting.

After lunch, we rode the Haunted Mansion (FP+), The Country Bear Jamboree, Pirates of the Carribean, and Splash Mountain. My dad, Ben, Sheila, and I rode in the front row of Pirates and got completely SOAKED (like squishy-squash shoes and totally wet bottoms) from the little drop. I don’t think it had anything to do with the height of the front of the boat, because I feel like the old one was lower. I believe the new boats are heavier, and cause a bigger splash.

We got caught in a 1/2 hour thunderstorm just before we rode splash, and ended up having to wait that long in the FP+ lane before riding. The recently refurbished attraction is absolutely incredible, especially the Laughing Place!

After Splash, we took the WDW Railroad back to Main Street, and walked back to the Bay Lake to relax. I will post pictures of our room tomorrow, because we are only in the suite we are in tonight for this evening, because tomorrow we will be moving up a floor to a corner room.

Come back tomorrow for DAY TWO! - Animal Kingdom!​