Something for everyone at Walt Disney World

Whenever we go away on a family holiday, there are always the inevitable discussions about how to keep everyone happy.  In an ideal world, I would love a holiday where we all do things together…  For me, that is what holidays are all about, creating family memories that we can all look back on.

The reality can be a little different: my three youngest children are all so different and have such different tastes! One son is a true adventurer, he loves speed, excitement and wants to be constantly moving.  The other likes life in the slow lane, he likes adventure but not too much.  He likes to relax but does not like to queue.  My daughter, being younger and a little less adventurous, likes shows, singing her favourite songs and gentle rides, but  princesses are her favourite thing.

We all agreed that a holiday at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida is the dream holiday for us all, but during the trip, would I be able to keep them all happy?  That was the question that I asked myself, as I listened to them gently bickering at the airport about where to have lunch.  Would we be able to enjoy the holiday together or would we have to split up into two groups all of the time to keep each of them happy?

For the princesses

My daughter is usually happy to tag along with her brothers, as long as she doesn’t have to go on any scary rides – however, her brothers aren’t quite so understanding when it comes to doing the things she wants to do. She loves all things Disney Princess and her one requirement was to meet as many as possible while we were at Walt Disney World! That was one thing that her brothers were not prepared to do and I understand, so we did split up a few times to have some ‘girl’ time and ‘boy’ time.

My daughter certainly met a fair share of her idols and in turn, I had my own very happy little princess (all of the cast members also called her ‘princess’, which she loved!) with the widest of smiles as she got to meet and hug all of them: princesses, fairies and mermaids.  And boy, did she hug them. There are character experiences throughout the parks and we discovered that a lot of my daughter’s favourites could be found at Magic Kingdom.

We met Rapunzel, Aurora, Cinderella and Tiana in the Princess Fairytale Hall – all of the princesses were so friendly and chatty, and even though my daughter was a little awestruck, she was so excited to meet them all.  We then popped under the sea to meet Ariel in her grotto and even shrunk down to meet Tinkerbell at the Town Square Theater.  My husband was so impressed by how much time and effort all the princesses made with our daughter: they chatted, happily signed autographs, chatted more and gave big hugs, which made these moments even more special.

Sadly, we didn’t get the chance to meet Anna and Elsa in person, which was a real shame.  However, we did see them in the Festival of Fantasy Parade in Magic Kingdom. You can meet them in Epcot but instead, we chose to go on one of the newest Frozen-themed rides, “Frozen Ever After”.  Also in Epcot (in a Norway-themed area!), the ride is a magical boat trip through Arendelle featuring all our favourite songs from ‘Frozen’.  The animations and special effects are pretty spectacular, and although it was a little bit darker than my daughter liked, we both loved the ride.

Another favourite Frozen moment was singing along at “For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration” in Disney’s Hollywood Studios.  We sang along to all the songs from the movie, laughed at the hilarious storytellers and cheered when Queen Elsa appeared to sing “Let it Go” and a flurry of snow fell on the audience. A. absolutely loved the show and when she talks about the trip, she always mentions how much she enjoyed that sing-along!

As we had a mother and daughter hour together in Hollywood Studios, we also popped in to catch “Voyage of the Little Mermaid”, a puppet show version of the story which was really cleverly done. Once again, we sang along to our favourite songs from the film at the tops of our voices!

After that, we couldn’t resist a spot of shopping. Trust me when I tell you that shopping has to be done at Walt Disney World – the shops are amazing! Also, it wasn’t just the girls who loved the shops! My 12-year-old son managed to buy himself a rather impressive collection of Disney pin badges, which are a wonderful memento of our trip.

For the thrill seeking boys

So, what did the boys get up to when they had some time together? One word: rides.  My boys love rides.  Especially my 12-year-old son, and with him, it’s a case of the bigger, the faster, the better! While we were meeting princesses, the three of them were speeding around the parks on trains, rockets, boats and even a stretch limo. Yes, really! During our week, I slowly discovered that there are some amazing thrill rides in all four of the theme parks and they are all completely different.

“Magic Kingdom” is bursting with so many exciting rides in its six different ‘lands’. But for the true adventurers, you’ll need to head to “Frontierland” for “Splash Mountain” and “Big Thunder Mountain Railroad”. A log flume ride that will get you seriously soaked, followed by a runaway train ride to dry you off.  Then, you can head to “Tomorrowland” for “Space Mountain”.  This was my sons’ favourite ride at Disneyland Paris and they went on it no less than four times, as they loved it so much!

In Disney’s Hollywood Studios, a brief discussion took place between my husband and I about who should escort our eldest son on “The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror”.  My husband felt that as he had been on this ride in Disneyland Paris, it was my turn.  I, however, felt differently.  Needless to say, I did not go on but my son assured me it was amazing…  My husband couldn’t (and wouldn’t) speak for a while after having taken a trip into the Twilight Zone and plunged down thirteen floors in a lift – I can’t blame him, but I think I made the right choice! ‘Let it go…’

They did all agree that the “Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith” was an amazing roller-coaster and my youngest son was really pleased with himself, as it was the fastest ride he had ever been on.  Always having to go one better, my eldest son went on a second time and quite frankly, both ride photos show everyone else screaming and him smiling.  He really is a serial thrill-seeker!

Family Time

The really lovely thing about the six different parks at Walt Disney World is that there are so many opportunities to do things together as a family, and many of our happiest memories of the trip are exactly during those times together.

“Animal Kingdom” was our first full day in Orlando, and we quickly found our feet and made the most of the day.  Thanks to FastPass+ and My Disney Experience, we had made reservations for the day and booked some amazing rides: an exciting raft ride on the Kali River Rapids was the perfect first family ride, followed by a fascinating tour of the African Savannah with Kilimanjaro Safaris.  We saw so many wild animals and learnt some interesting facts about them and their surroundings.  My children were particularly fascinated by the huge termite hills, disgustingly created from soil, dung and termite saliva. Nice.

A cool off in the air-conditioned “Tusker House” restaurant was our venue for lunch and the first of our character dining experiences.  With a really fun, family-friendly feel, we chose food from an African-inspired buffet whilst being entertained by Mickey and friends, and it was a lovely chance to relax and talk about our experiences so far.

Another lovely thing we got to do as a family was to enjoy one of the many shows at Walt Disney World.  Our first evening in “Animal Kingdom”, we did just that and sat by the lake to enjoy an outdoor performance of “The Jungle Book: Alive with Magic”. The show uses the recent version of the film as a backdrop, with Indian performers singing and dancing to the classic Jungle Book songs.  With music, dancing, light shows and special effects, it is a stunning and captivating show and we all absolutely loved it.  The perfect end to our first full day in the park.

On the whole, all of the theme parks offer a similar level of experiences, with a good balance of family rides and attractions which are good for everyone. What most don’t know, is that you can have a personalised VIP tour of the parks, which will make your family experience even better!

We were lucky enough to have a personal VIP Tour guide for our first full day in “Magic Kingdom”.  The lovely Michelle, who picked us up from our hotel and drove us into the park and onto every ride we wanted to go on (as she was also our very own FastPass+!).  She even looked after my daughter (who loved her) while we went on a few rides together.  It was such an amazing experience and by lunchtime, we had been on pretty much all the rides we wanted to go on. No arguments, no bickering (take that, Supernanny!). Also, hardly any queues. She was a real Disney expert, and it was so interesting talking to her about Walt Disney World Resort – she knew everything! I would really recommend the VIP Tour guide, even for just a few hours, as they can be on the expensive side. We all agreed that our “Magic Kingdom” day was the highlight of the week, and that was certainly thanks to Michelle.

Walt Disney World Resort also has two water parks: “Blizzard Beach” and “Typhoon Lagoon”, which are designed with family fun in mind. We had the best time there, lounging in plastic rings floating around the lazy river, but also conquering the tallest, craziest water rides and surfing an 8 foot wave. We spent two days in the water parks but we could have easily stayed for two weeks, they were fantastic!

When it comes to family time, I cannot fail to also mention the resort. We stayed in the beautiful “Port Orleans Riverside”, a Louisiana-themed resort set on the banks of the wonderfully-named Sassagoula River. It has a delightfully laid-back feel to it, but there is plenty of family fun to be had. We did manage to spend quite a lot of time exploring the resort, and our favourite experiences were (in no particular order!) relaxing in the five pools, playing in the bigger Ol’ Man Island pool, watching a movie under the stars, toasting marshmallows at the evening campfire and gaming in the arcade.  We even hired a four-man Surrey bike, which was very entertaining, especially trying to get it up the hills!

I have to say, this was our third Disney holiday as a family and it was by far the best. One of the things we really loved about this holiday was that not only was there something for all of us to enjoy at Walt Disney World, but there are lots of things suitable for everyone together, and that is such an important factor when choosing a family holiday. If you want princesses and castles, there are lots of those. Likewise, if you want thrill rides, there are plenty. If you prefer gentler family rides, they have them. If you want to sing-along to your favourite Disney songs, there are plenty of shows where you can do just that.

We knew the opportunities are endless, but what we did find at Walt Disney World Resort were also plenty of attractions and experiences for the whole family. We made a conscious decision that if we were going to split into boys and girls, it would be for the shortest of times and that worked well. Most of the holiday was spent together as a family and that is when we are at our happiest.  Walt Disney World Resort really is a place where you can make happy family memories, doing things together and that is exactly how it should be.

Come back next week for the next post in my Walt Disney World series all about destressing a stressy mummy.

This post is in partnership with Walt Disney World. All opinions here are my own

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