Hey loves. I am starting our vacation recap for 2025. We spent a wonderful week down in Orlando, Florida at Disney World. This trip was extra special because it was my 40th birthday trip and we went with another family.
If you have been around for a while we are a huge Disney family. We usually go to Disney World in Florida every other year. Brian and I have also went on three adults only Disney vacations. Yes I am a Disney adult, yes I love it. I also love the excitement and sparkle I see in my kids eyes while at Disney and all the magic. No I will never get tired of going to Disney. Each trip is different from where we stay, to the parks we go to, if we leave Disney property, my kids ages and heights of what they can ride, and Disney World changes so much with new rides every year.
Let's start the recap. The plan is to go day by day, but some days maybe broken into two parts depending on how long they are. We had a busy 8 days with 6 days of parks with park hoping, resort hopping, and more.
Wednesday July 30th
Bright and early start to our day. Alarm was set for 3:30, woke kids up at 3:45, our driver (aka Brian's brother) arrived at 415 and we hit the road for the airport, we live about 15 minutes from Cleveland Hopkins Airport. We got TSA pre-check and were through security, got our order ahead coffee from Starbucks and walked to our gate by 4:41am.
* This was our first time using TSA pre-check. It was so smooth. Not having to take anything out of our bags or take our shoes off was wonderful. I did get randomly selected for a hand swap. I feel like I always get randomly selected.
** Side note- even with a teenager who I have told the TSA guidelines to I always check the kids bags to make sure there is nothing is packed that shouldn't be. The one time I did get flagged for a brand new container of baby wipes (Target brand) that set off the sensors for liquid and potential explosive material. That was not a fun experience.
We found a space to wait and the girls pulled out their Barbies to play with. The dads went and grabbed donuts and bagels from Dunkin while we waited. The boys played on tablets.
I took the girls to the bathroom before our flight. A bathroom selfie is a must. (We made sure no one else was in our photo and/or bathroom).
Our first flight left Cleveland at 6am and landed in Atlanta at 7:51am.
Our first flight was smooth. Anna sat next to the window, Ella was in the middle, and I was at the aisle. Infront of us was Austin at the window and Brian in the middle. Austin watched Star Wars on the screen on the seat without noise. He doesn't like earbuds and his headphones were Bluetooth and I didn't bring the wires not realizing he would need them for the airline, but he did have his tablet he could watch too. Anna watched some on her tablet and played with Ella while I dosed on and off.
Atlanta airport is busy. We found a space on the floor away from people for the kids to stretch, relax, play, and eat. The kids had muffins and bagels. I had a protein bar and a gross burnt coffee.
Our flight from Atlanta to Orlando left at 925am and arrived at 11am.
As soon as we got on our second flight I realize I left my kindle in the back pocket of our first flight. I hopped on their lost and found and submitted a report. Thankfully Ella remembered what stickers were on the back of my kindle. My sister also recommended that I wipe my kindle clean. It didn't have a password blocking it and anyone who got ahold of it would be able to order off my Amazon account. (spoiler they found it and I paid to have it mailed home)
Our second flight was smooth also. Anna sat with Brian and Austin. She slept most of the flight hugging her ice cream squishy.
Ella and I sat together, she got the window. This is my attempt to get a picture with a teenager. (I attempt this a lot and get the same look)
To get from the airport to our resort, Disney Saratoga Springs, we booked the Mears Connect bus. We waited less than 5 minutes in line, then hopped on the bus. We grabbed our luggage, got on the bus and were headed to the resorts by 11:40.
The boys got to sit together on the bus
The girls got to sit together.
Our neighbors... I think we are all excited, even with lack of sleep.
All the Disney buses.
We have arrived at our hotel after dropping off other guests on the bus at 2 other hotels first. We got to our hotel at 12:40.
Disney Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa is themed after Saratoga, New York with horses. Throughout the lobby is different Disney horses murals.
While the dads checked in the kids watched little Disney shorts and ate some snacks.
I hate to say this was the longest check in ever. The front desk agent had to go over a lot of things with them, link our magic bands to our credit cards, only the adults magic bands could be used to open the hotel door, and more. Thankfully they had a room ready though.
* We did not do the online check in because it was recommended if you want an early check in (regular check in is 4pm) to go to the front desk to check in and see if they can get you a room quicker.
I love all the Mickey Mouse head details.
We got a two bedroom suite that sleeps 9 with a full kitchen. I will do a full hotel room review soon.
We had strollers delivered from Kingdom Stroller, groceries delivered from Kroger using their app, and grabbed lunch at the quick service store at our hotel. Then headed off to our first park.
*We were at Disney before they started their Halloween parties, my girls just decided to steal my Halloween Mickey ears and wear them all the time even though we have over 20 pairs of different ears.
First stop was Disney Animal Kingdom. We got there at 5:30 and they closed at 6. But since we were staying at a deluxe resort we had extra deluxe magic hours from 6 to 8 to ride thew few rides that were open:
- Avatar Flight of Passage
- Dinosaur
- Expedition Everest
- Na'vi River Journey
First up was grabbing an ice cream snack. It was hot, and not much food was open. It was a big temperature different at home was in the upper 60s and we got to Disney and temps were closer to 115.
We got in line for Dinosaur. It originally had a 20 minute wait, then it kept getting longer and longer.
At one point they announced the ride was temporarily closed, but they weren't kicking anyone out of line yet. We ended up waiting close to an hour for the ride but eventually got to ride it
*Ella and the girls played a lot of hand clapping games on this trip.
Next we headed to Pandora. We had to use rider swap because the girl were not tall enough. The dads and boys got in line to wait, while the girls and moms went and rode Navi River. I have never seen the Pandora movies but I love the rides.
After the Navi river we walked around and just looked at the gorgeous scenery. The guys got off just in time for us to use our rider swap for Flight of Passage. It is one of my favorites.
By the time we got off the ride it was after 8 and the park was technically closed. There were no food places or anything open. We headed to the bus and back to the hotel. It had been a very long day. Back at the hotel we made some snacky dinner and called it an early night.
That is just day 1 so much more to come.
Thank you for stopping by!!!!! If you are new here,
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XOXO
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