We have been taking family vacations to Disney World for over ten years. We have made amazing memories! There are stories we tell over and over again…you know the ones you know you will laugh about in the future, but you (well…my husband) swore there is no way those events would ever seem funny.
Here are some of the aspects of Disney World that we love the most! All of them represent some of the memories we have been able to make as a family!
10-FOOD AND SNACKS
There is SO MUCH FOOD everywhere at Disney World! Pretzels, ice cream, churros, burgers, steaks, popcorn….you name it and it’s probably there somewhere!
We always enjoy family favorites and trying new things each trip!
Some of our family favorites include the family-style meal at Whispering Canyon Cafe in Disney’s Wilderness Lodge Resort with their bottomless milkshakes!
We also enjoy trying new things! We have tried recently including Tonga Toast! It was great but too large for me to finish by myself. It’s available at both Kona Cafe and Captain Cook’s inside the Polynesian Resort. However, if you are looking to save money, it’s less expensive at Captain Cook’s and since Captain Cook’s is a quick service there is no tipping involved!
Another new favorite for us is getting a popcorn bucket! Yes…it took me ten years…and now I have no idea why I did not do it sooner!! Not only is the regular popcorn a great snack, but the maple popcorn in the Canada section of EPCOT is also AMAZING!!
Plus, let’s not forget other timeless snacks, like those Mickey-shaped pretzels!
9-RIDES
For many people, rides are the first things they think about when they imagine going to an amusement park, even Disney World!
Disney has plenty of rides for little kids like It’s a Small World and Dumbo!
but they also have many rides for big kids and grown-ups too, like Splash Mountain!!
And there are even some rides that are good for those looking for a little more adventure in life! Both Everest (a roller coaster) and the Kilimanjaro Safari ride are at Disney’s Animal Kingdom!
We have favorite rides in each park and always find it difficult to name THE favorite ride!!
8-PICTURE SPOTS
I love pictures! I love taking pictures and Disney World pictures seem to be the only pictures I am actually in with my family!
We love stumbling across new places to take fun pictures, such as the Cars section at the Art of Animation.
The PhotoPass spot outside of the Haunted Mansion in Magic Kingdom is also a fun place to get pictures because they have a ghost hitch-hiker to add to the picture with you!! I love all the Magic Shots they have throughout the parks!
We also have the favorite spots where we take the kids’ pictures every time we go. I love being able to look back and watch them grow and change with each trip.
Like the two pictures below that are ten years apart!
7-DVC
Disney Vacation Club (DVC) is one of the best purchases we have ever made! It has allowed us to visit Disney more frequently than we did in the past (that’s a plus for me), have nicer accommodations, and not have to spend any money when we go.
Not that DVC is free or inexpensive, but we have basically pre-paid for 50 years worth of Disney vacations. It also does save us money in the long run. I recently ran the numbers (because I like to make sure I get the best deals) and we can stay at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge for one week for ten years for the same price we paid for 50 years worth of DVC with more than enough points to stay at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge for one week for fifty years!
Plus, every once in a while Disney offers a few perks for DVC members. We were able to see Frozen II the weekend before it opened for free, with free popcorn and free drinks.
6-THEMED RESTAURANTS
Like I said earlier, there are many different options for food all throughout Disney World. We enjoy both quick service and table service restaurants. However, we really enjoy the themed experiences!
The Spirit of Aloha dinner show at the Polynesian is one of our favorite shows and meals. We typically do this once every trip or once every-other trip. The food is great, the atmosphere is fun, and the show is amazing!
Other themed restaurants we enjoy are located throughout other Disney Resort hotels.
Sanaa at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge Kidanni Village is beautiful. They have a wide variety of food on their menu to choose from that allow both picky eaters and those desiring adventure to enjoy the meal.
Additionally, the view is amazing! You are able to see the animals that live at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge while you dine! When my son and I went there for dinner a bird came to join us, as you can see in the picture below. There is a glass window between the bird and our dinner, but the bird was very interested in us and even more interested in keeping away from its keeper who was trying to get it to go inside for the evening!
5-MATCHING SHIRTS
I laugh about the idea of matching shirts because I was making my kids wear matching shirts before it was the thing to do!
We have seven kids and I required everyone to wear matching shirts our very first day in Disney World just so it was easier to keep track of everyone!
And we have continued the joy of matching shirts every trip since that time!
We even wore “Thing” shirts to Disney World once because I had been looking for Thing 1-5 shirts for a very long time and Disney World happened to be the first vacation we took after I found them.
We have some shirts like the ones below we have used for several trips
And we have other shirts that only seem to have made it for one trip!
But no matter how many times the shirts make it to Disney…I LOVE my matching shirts! Personally, I think they make for the best pictures!!
4-SPECIAL EVENTS
We have been lucky enough to be able to participate in a few different special events at Disney World!
We have been able to go to Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party twice! It’s a great evening of low crowds, free snacks, and special characters and entertainment!
We have also attended special events offered by Disney Vacation Club (DVC), such as Moonlight Magic! They also offer limited crowds, fun characters, and free snacks, but this event is free for DVC members and often includes a free meal!
Additionally, one of my sons and I have been able to do the Keys to the Kingdom tour offered at the Magic Kingdom! The picture below is not during the tour since pictures are not allowed to be taken during the tour. However, this picture is from just before the tour was supposed to have started! (Magic Kingdom in the rain is still possible…no matter what the event!)
3-CHARACTERS
I really enjoy meeting the characters and getting pictures taken with the characters!
We have done this since our very first trip to Disney World and will continue to do it as long as they have characters available to take pictures with!
I love the big group pictures
and the amazing interactions the characters have with your family.
One time, Chip and Dale were giving my husband a hard time because Donald Duck was on his shirt. If you notice, one of them is actually covering up Donald’s picture on my husband’s shirt so Donald is not in the picture!!
And the characters are always good with little kids, but I love seeing them interact with my big kids as well! Chewy was checking out my son’s shirt!!
You can also find characters at restaurants inside Disney parks, like Hollywood and Vine in Disney’s Hollywood Studios, as well as in Disney Resort restaurants!
2-PIN TRADING
I absolutely LOVE pin trading! There are more designs than anyone could imagine and I love finding new ones to collect.
You can purchase pins at shopdisney.com, at Disney World or Disneyland once you arrive, or you can get them in bulk from eBay. We usually purchase ours in bulk from eBay or Amazon because they are less expensive.
1-FAMILY TIME
Family Time…enough said.
If you are like me, it’s difficult to get everyone together, on the same schedule, enjoying the same things, on a regular basis. This is one of the reasons I love Disney World so much!
There are endless things to do, see, eat, and ride and there is something for EVERYONE! From my hard-to-please husband to my teens to my toddler grandchildren…there is something they enjoy!
I love the memories we are able to make, the pictures we are able to take (ones I am actually in with my family), and the adventures we are able to have together!
I have some of the best memories from the trip I was able to take with my wild-child son who has grown into an amazing teen and young adult! We were able to be goofy and do whatever we wanted for five days! It was amazing!
I also love finding those special places, pictures, events, whatever that we have to redo every trip! Below is one of my favorite pictures that I take any time we travel! I take a picture of my kids from the back walking to our next adventure. It’s simple, but now I have almost two decades of pictures where I can watch my kids grow up going from adventure to adventure! (My kids are the ones in the royal blue shirts…you know…those matching shirts I like so much!)
The memories are endless and I can’t wait to make more!!
Disney World…we can’t wait to see you soon!!
If you are looking for ways to make your next Disney World vacation a little less expensive, check out what hotel deals Expedia has to offer, as well as Undercover Tourist. I know that you can save money on park tickets through Undercover Tourist, but they also offer good hotel deals!
Check out some of our favorite things in Magic Kingdom!
PLUS…
Check out my Disney World Fun Facts downloads! These are a great addition to the fun of planning a Disney trip! We usually have a pre-trip party before our Disney trips and this is a fun addition to our pre-trip adventures!
Oh wow! EVERY year with 7 kids! I need to learn from you. We are currently saving up for us to go on a Disney Cruise. I’m very curious to know what a Tonga Toast is. I’m pretty sure it’s not from Tonga. lol. I have never been to Disney World yet but my sister used to dance the hula there, I’m not sure what show it was. I also LOVE the idea of matching shirts! Maybe my kids and I can already start designing a shirt for our next family trip!
I love doing matching shirts for our trips….my kids have learned not to complain about them. lol. I’ve not done a Disney Cruise yet, but it is definitely on my to-do list for the next couple of years!
Love Disney world! That Tonga Toast is crazy!
Wonderful list! It’s been a while since I’ve visited a Disney Park but I surely will again someday. I hope they are able to open this year.
Looks like you have lots of fun at Disney World. Your matching shirts are so fun & cool.
Thanks! I just love doing matching shirts!!
My favorite is family time! So very important!
Fun! I love the matching t-shirts. 🙂
Thanks! We have been doing them for years and I love them! I think they make the best pictures!!
I’ve never been to Disney World, but it looks and sounds fantastic!
It is fantastic! I love it!
Soft pretzels are my go to!
I love vacations at Disney! The food is amazing and I love finding the characters. It’ll be interesting to see how things open back up. I’m planning to go back in February, but we’ll see…
It will be interesting to see the changes. We are supposed to go June 1…hopefully they are open!
I love the masks! I love everything about this post plus it makes me want to get a DVC membership
Thanks! We definitely love our DVC membership. My only regret is that we did not do it sooner!
I was so excitied when I saw your post. We just booked a family reunion – 16 of us – for next Spring and my granddaughter will be 3 and 1/2 – let the magic begin!
That is amazing! She will definitely have a blast!!
Disney World is almost overwhelming, but this is a great list of things to look forward to and to make sure happen while you’re there!
There is so much to do! It’s one of those vacations that you need to take time to enjoy and don’t worry about seeing and doing everything.
Great list! We went to Disney for the first time in December 2018 and fell in love. We had plans to go to Disneyland Paris next week, but had to cancel due to Covid-19. We loved pin trading, and plan to do that again the next time we visit a Disney park. One thing we didn’t know about before we went were all of the neat places for photo-ops (like you mentioned) and the special photopass options, like the lantern photos. We will definitely be utilizing that the next time we go.
We love it! I love the amazing pictures and actually getting to be in some of the pictures with my family (rather than behind the camera)!
Love your son’s photos ten years apart! Makes me want to go back to Disney World.
I love taking photos at the same spot on each trip. My son was actually telling his girlfriend about that particular picture today and it was neat to hear him explain it and why we use the same spot every time.
It took until I was an adult to make it to Disney. I have since taken my 9-year-old daughter, but I now need to take my 4-year-old (we went before she was born). It truly is such a magical place.
I am the same way. I didn’t go until I was an adult, but my kids have grown up going there.
Our first time to Disney world was this past December! We loved it but also so overwhelmed. It was definitely a learning curve but can’t wait to go back and feel a little more relaxed and enjoy and see all the things we missed the first time!
We have been several times and there is still plenty we have not seen or done yet. We have gotten to the point we are ok with that, knowing we will see it next time or another time.
Not going to lie, the Tonga Toast totally has my attention. I’ve never really had a desire to visit Disney, but the toast may change my mind. How sad is that? LOL!
It’s was great! We love trying all of the new things. Even if the parks are not your thing, there is PLENTY to do on the property besides the parks.
I am a HUGE DVC fan! We love it and have already recouped any costs on the three visits we have had since we bought in 2014! We have another one planned for the fall and hoping we pull it off!
That’s fantastic! We love it. We have had to reschedule several times this spring, but are hoping to go in June and September. We shall see!!
I’ve never have been to Disney world..Disneyland yes many times! It’s hard for multigenerational families to travel so far living in Arizona Disneyworld is a long expensive trip before ever getting to the park!
I understand that completely!! We are just starting the multigenerational trips. I’ve already decided once my last kiddo is in college I’m going to go down for two weeks a year and let the kids pick times to come and go and I will happily stay there the whole time!
Yep, this pretty much sums it up! Great post!
I agree with your whole list! You are definitely a dedicated Disney fan!
We have the best memories from there!!
Maybe with grands one day!
Tonga Toast is amazing!
I can’t wait for my grandchildren to be old enough to take. My boys didn’t particularly like Disneyland so I only got to go 2xs. I love it and hope to make it to Disneyworld one day. It’s just so magical.
it’s so much fun! They will have a great time! (It’s also good for adults only too!)