Well, I just returned from my second trip ever to WDW and it was as good as my first! This time I went with just one BFF (my first was all 8 of us!) who happens to also be the Disney travel agent among us. We went to explore the Flower and Garden Festival and to create content for her business, and really just have a fun time! When I went to WDW last February for the first time, it was only 20% capacity re-opened which was honestly a dream first experience. Like, honestly, when will that ever happen again? Never. (We can only hope.)
This time was certainly a whole lot fuller even as a “lower crowd” week, and lines were well over 60-90+ minutes for the big attractions. Kristen wanted to really give Genie+ a solid strategic go, so we bought it every morning on the app and I will never ever do Disney ever again without it. I am working on a full dedicated post for Genie+ because it’s worth the time spent on learning it. I am so glad I did it for the first time with her, because I feel like I have down the strategy now and we literally didn’t stand in lines. Like, honestly, we stood in line 20 minutes the longest. We took the parks very slowly, because I am 25 weeks. But, I rode basically everything I would have wanted except for the roller coasters! Disney while pregnant is honestly not a big deal as far as the rides go. It was so hot and I am so pregnant that we took afternoon breaks each day for about 2 hours for coffee, water, snacks, and an outfit change before heading back out for dinner and night time at the parks. This was also when we caught up on the JD/AH trial… hehe. But honestly, having done a mid-day break now… I will always do this. It was so refreshing and I felt rejuvenated for the final hours at the park at the end of the day.
Where we stayed: Port Orleans Riverside, very nice moderate resort, well-themed but not cheesy, and tranquil overall setting
Our Schedule:
M: Flew out 5 AM, checked in/dropped off luggage in room for early check-in, arrived at Animal Kingdom by 10 AM
T: Epcot
W: Magic Kingdom
TH: Disney Springs, explore resorts, flew out 8 PM
**IMPORTANT DAILY NOTE** Every morning, we woke up and purchased Genie+ immediately (book before 7 AM which is when you can start booking your first lightning lane if staying in the parks!) and we booked our food order for the earliest pick up time available, and then were out the door to get our food and be at the bus stops by 8 for early entry to the parks. NO OTHER WAY TO DO IT! If you’re staying at a Disney Resort, the early access to the parks and Genie+ bookings is a game changer.
Day 1: AK/Port Orleans Resort
Okay, so to be honest, I was really sick this day and it’s kind of a blur to me. I have had horrible allergies and they hit me hard the night before which left me getting only 2 hours of sleep before we left at 3 AM for the airport. In addition to THAT, we concluded Baby C HAD to have been sitting on a nerve the first half of the day because I couldn’t walk more than a few minutes at a time before feeling I was about to pass out. It was really miserable and I felt like such a drag for feeling so crappy. There was eventually a very distinct moment I felt baby girl move and I legit could start walking again almost immediately! This changed my whole rest of the afternoon, thank goodness.
What I ate:
Satu’li Canteen: Sliced Grilled Beef Bowl with rice and beans, $15
Ice cream by Everest , $4
Sassagoula (at Port Orleans French Quarter): GF chicken tenders & fries + full add-on entreew salad, $20
Scat Cat’s Cafe (at Port Orleans French Quarter): GF beignets with strawberry and chocolate sauce *O M G y’all these were so good and if you’re not staying at Port Orleans, it’s worth the resort hop over, $7
Day 2: Epcot (Flower and Garden Festival day!)
We paid the $11 to walk onto the new Ratatouille ride at Epcot with the Genie Individual Lightning Lane … it was incredible and I would seriously do it again. If there’s a super long line for a ride not available on Genie+ that you purchased for $15 at the start of the day (not many aren’t available – just a couple really big ones), this allows you the opportunity to buy a walk-on and you do not have to purchase the $15 Genie+ to use it. It’s basically a la carte for booking a lightning lane.
What I ate:
Breakfast mobile order at resort food court (Kids GF waffles, bacon and add a side of eggs for protein), $13
Flower and Garden Booths for hours…. I was highly impressed by the clearly marked menus in front of every single booth with allergen markings. I would say I could eat at like 50+% of the booths if I wanted to, but there were many along the way that didn’t have any GF options at all. When you order from these, they’re slightly smaller portions to be able to eat around the world and are typically $4-$6 an entree!
Seasons: GF Chicken and Pineapple Stir Fry + Powerade (very good!), $17
L’artisan des Glaces: Seasonal raspberry and vanilla macaron ice cream sandwich (WOW, so yummy), $7
Day 3: Magic Kingdom
We got to MK so early that we were able to stand at the ropes into the rides for the early entry access for resort guests. We basically walked onto Peter Pan!
What I ate:
Breakfast mobile order at resort food court (Kids GF waffles, bacon and add a side of eggs for protein), $13
Pecos Bill’s: Kid’s Chicken and Rice bowl with guac, $10
Aloha Isle: Raspberry Dole Whip twist, $7
Columbia Harbour House: Grilled shrimp skewers with fries and green beans + extra side of green beans, $20 **We sat here a long time while it rained hard and we were very impressed with this quick service spot!**
Scat Cat’s Cafe: GF Beignets… ooops, we did it again, $7
**I seriously didn’t even get good pictures of these because it was always super late at night after the parks closed and I devoured them.
Day 4: Disney Springs and Fly Home
We booked a late evening flight home to utilize our 4th day as much as possible! I am so glad we did, because we ended up wrapping up our shopping adventures at Disney Springs around 2 and took the bus to The Riviera for lunch and to explore it because I have been wanting to book a stay there with my family. It was more than I even dreamt it would be and 1000000% where I wanna stay when we bring the kids!
Boma Buffet: Y’all, I shared about this the most of my whole trip while there. Boma is a hot spot for breakfast at Animal Kingdom Lodge and now we get why. As far as allergies go, honestly 80% of the menu as-is was gluten free. It’s a buffet set up with stations, majority of which are African flavors and fare. When we were sat, our waiter gave us a guide to the entire buffet that let us know which foods at every single station were gluten free. I was truly blown away by the entire experience. We couldn’t stop flipping out over the food. Our favorites (though we genuinely had a hard time deciding) were the Goat Cheese and Chive Eggs, Oak Grilled Asparagus and Tomatoes, and the grits with the stewed tomatoes on top. But again… I honestly didn’t want to have to decide what was my favorite when Kristen asked me. I also ate salmon deviled eggs, sausage, mint pistachio watermelon, grapefruit and papaya with avocado, bacon…. muffins, donuts… haha. I ate real good. We ordered a coffee carafe for the table and they bring out a tray of pastries to every table as part of the buffet. They delivered an incredible GF only tray for us that included muffins, Mickey waffles, and donuts. 10/10 say DO THIS spot for a special breakfast. I love that we did it our final, slower day because we definitely felt full and a little sleepy from it the rest of the day, $37 (after generous tip and add on for coffee carafe and juice)
The Riviera’s Primi Piatto: GF Grilled Chicken Sandwich with salad and Romano Herbed Fries, $16
**After a very late lunch, we grabbed a coffee from their adorable coffee shop at The Riviera and rode the sky liner for a mini rest before heading to our resort to check out and head to the airport!**
I will for sure be doing a full review of the Genie+ strategy Kristen nailed for our trip, because it truly is the only way to do it. When you weren’t headed to your next lightning lane, you could just stroll, shop, drink coffee or grab a snack and make your way to wherever your next lightning lane was. Kristen mapped it out for us well to also avoid, for the most part, having to run clear across the park from one thing to the next. Aside from the general pains of walking 20k steps in a day, particularly at 6 months pregnant, I was so relaxed this entire trip at every park. It was just so chill and mostly because of the Genie+ strategy. And with that said, if you’re ever looking to take a trip to Disney, BOOK KRISTEN OMILION. So many of you have booked your trips with her since my first Disney World trip recap and it makes us both giddy. She truly is like a fairy God Mother and is the most intentional travel agent you could ever ask for. She knows the parks like the back of her hand and takes her job so seriously. Also… her services are free to use her. She is contracted through her agency to be paid by the park itself. You don’t pay a dime extra for her amazing services. IG: itskristenrenae
