Trip Report--Disney with 3 kids under 7-Updated 4-25 Legoland

[Mommyof3inVA]

My first official trip report! Woohoo!! About us: Mom, Dad, DD celebrating birthday at Disney (turned 8), DS 5, DD 4. We have been to Disney 4 years in a row. We always go the same week-First week of May. The crowds are low, the weather is great and it's my oldest' birthday!

We drove 12 hours from Virginia to Orlando. We decided to split the 12 hour drive and we stayed the night in Savannah, GA. Loved Savannah. Could write a whole trip report on that lol. Such a beautiful must see city with lots of great restaurants and attractions. We stayed at the Embassy Suites in historic Savannah. We were able to walk to the river street area and we had dinner at Vic's On The River. Best dinner ever. Highly recommend. The next morning we woke up early, had breakfast (love Embassy's breakfasts!) and then we walked to the historic area to experience our first horse drawn carriage ride. The kids really enjoyed this and we were able to sit back and relax while having a scenic tour of the area. Great way to see a lot of Savannah landmarks in a short amount of time! After the horse drawn carriage ride we stopped in a few shops (Savannah Bee, Byrd Cookie Co., etc.) then we checked out of the hotel and were on our way to DISNEY!!!


This is us in Savannah on our way to dinner at Vic's on the River

We checked into the Wyndham Bonnet Creek Resort (we rented a two bedroom condo from VRBO) and we were pleasantly surprised to see that our room request was honored and we were placed in the building we had asked for!! However.....should have known it was too good to be true--that night we discovered quickly why this amazing room with such a great view of the lake/fireworks/Epcot was still available....the LOUD neighbors. The neighbors directly beside our master bedroom (literally where the bed backs up the wall) were practically yelling and being loud until 3 am each night. We complained multiple times. We even heard a DOG bark! There are supposidly no dogs allowed at Bonnet Creek (except service dogs). The security guard did knock on their door several times and request that they quiet down. However, it did not help. They were extremely loud. We woke up at 7 am each day and made sure not to be 'quiet'....#payback LOL.

Our Schedule:
Saturday: Savannah, GA
Sunday: Drive to Disney! Check in to Bonnet Creek (we had groceries delivered which saved so much time and this is such a nice luxury)
Monday: Animal Kingdom/Epcot
Tuesday: Magic Kingdom
Wednesday: Pool Day and Downtown Disney for dinner/shopping
Thursday: Magic Kingdom
Friday: Legoland, FL
Saturday: Sea World
Sunday: Head home, vacation is over

We packed the kids lunches daily in a soft sided cooler which we took to the parks. This helped save money. We cooked 2 dinner's in our condo and ate lunch one day at Bonnet Creek at the restaurant by the pool.

Restaurants: (Will review in separate post)
Epcot: dinner at Les Chefs De France
Magic Kingdom: lunch at The Plaza & dinner at Columbia Harbour House
Downtown Disney: dinner at Fulton's Crab House
Snack: Ghiradeli
Character breakfast at O'hana
Back Bay Bar and Grill at Bonnet Creek

 

[TheMaxRebo]

had to join in as we have 3 kids 7 and under (a recently turned 7 year old, a 4 year old, and a 20 mo old). We are driving down from New York this coming July so also interested to hear how the drive went. AND we are staying in a 2 bedroom in Bonnet Creek ... so I guess I should put in a request to not be next to the loud neighbors with a dog

Looking forward to reading more!

 

[Mommyof3inVA]

This is the pool that we spent most of our 'pool time' at. It was never very crowded and has beach entry and a water slide. We loved our two bedroom condo at Wyndham Bonnet Creek. We had a king size bed and two queen sized beds in the second bedroom. There was a washer/dryer, plenty of closet space and a nice jetted tub in the master bathroom plus a huge shower. I really loved the layout of the bedrooms. There were three tv's in the condo (one in each bedroom and one in the family room). We were in tower 2 directly above the playground on the second floor. Our condo faced the lake and we were able to see fireworks at night! I loved being so close to the playground so that the kids could run around and play before we would go to dinner each night. We spent most of our pool time at the pirate pool and water slide at tower 6. The water slide had a lifeguard and a height requirement. My oldest loved the waterslide! The pool is beach entry here which is nice for little one's. There was also a small bar and they served just hot dogs and chips. I did purchase lunch here one day and a few delicious frozen drinks I don't recall the pricing of the hot dogs/chips but I remember it was not cheap. We brought the kids lunch in a soft cooler and they sat on the pool chairs and ate. There was no sign about not bringing food in the pool area.

 

[Mommyof3inVA]

How long is the drive to Florida from New York @TheMaxRebo ?? I can not imagine having to drive any longer than 12 hours. That was pushing it with my kids. Splitting up the drive really helped, but I just don't think I could stand being in the car any longer than 12 hours. We did drive straight 12 hours one year and it was absolutely awful. My kids never slept! At all! They got so bored, ran out of snacks and my youngest was only 11 months old at the time so she did not enjoy being strapped in a car seat that long. She cried for an hour straight. It was torture. We vowed to always split the drive up after that awful experience.

We learned that in order to keep the kids happy we needed to bring tons of snacks, entertainment and more snacks! We purchased 3 new DVD's for the road trip so that the kids would have new material to watch. We also brought them Color Wonder books, new chapter books for my oldest to read and even a few new toys from the dollar section. We had a travel potty in the car (we have a Honda Odyssey) and this way whenever someone needed to pee we would stop but not have to get out of the car and I really hate yucky bathrooms off the highway so this worked out nicely. We brought t.p too of course.

 

[tortilla24]

We are driving from VA to Orlando in June and stopping on the way down in Savannah, GA for the night. Very interested to read about your road trip!

 

[Mommyof3inVA]

Our first theme park day we headed straight to Animal Kingdom. We were there when they opened. We had planned to have lunch at A.K and brought the kids food in a soft sided cooler. They are picky eaters so it is just easier to bring their food. And it saves money. We had never been to Animal Kingdom before so we were all excited to check it out. We had so much fun!! We had FP+ for the Safari, Dinosaur ride and Finding Nemo musical. My favorite ride was Expedition Everest. I rode this with my husband and my oldest child. She loved it too! The grandparents were with us and they waited with the two younger children. (Grandparents stayed at Hilton across the street from the Wyndham Bonnet Creek).

The Safari was my children's favorite ride at A.K. They enjoyed seeing the animals. After the Safari we went to the Lion King show---this was absolutely amazing! My kids loved it and wanted to watch it again! But we knew we would not be able to do that because we were on a tight schedule. We wanted to do as much as possible at A.K and leave by 4 so we could be at Epcot for dinner at 5. We were able to meet Mickey and Minnie and this was the quickest line for a character meetngreet that I had ever seen! We did not have a fp+ and the line moved so fast. We waited maybe 10 minutes tops. They look so cute in their safari gear! The adults grabbed lunch at Flametree BBQ. I would not do this again. I had read great reviews about it so I figured it would be good. In my opinion it was gross! We actually threw it away. It had an awful taste. We checked out the different shops in the Harambe Market Place. They have some really unique "African" inspired souvenirs. My youngest loves hippo's and when she spotted this huge hippo stuffed animal she just had to have it. Of course I said yes because hippo's are hard to find After shopping in the Harambe Market Place we grabbed a drink at the bar. This is such a cool area to hang out. There was a band playing live music, the kids loved it. The adults loved the happy hour going on at the bar! It was a great place to just sit back and relax and enjoy the fact that we are on VACATION! It was shaded and there were fans also. We spent about 30 minutes just relaxing here enjoying the happy hour and the live music. Then we headed to Epcot.




This is one of the drink's that I loved at the Dawa Bar located in the Harambe Market Place area. It is called "Lost on Safari" and it has: Captain Morgan Original Spiced Rum, Pink Pigeon Mauritian Rum, and our refreshing Pangani Punch. Absolutely amazing! And it was half price because it happened to be 'happy hour' when we visited! I had no idea they had drink specials or a happy hour but it was great!

In the future, I would have allowed more time at A.K because my kids really wanted to explore and we were unable to do the petting zoo area and many character meetngreets because we were on a time crunch. But my parents wanted to eat in Epcot for dinner and this was the only way to make everyone happy.



After our happy hour at the Dawa Bar we went to Epcot (Husband drove-he did not drink!). We had dinner reservations at Les Chefs De France at 5:00. This was such a great restaurant. I really loved it. It was pricey but well worth it for quality food.


My kids had the chicken strips and pasta $8.50 each. They loved it.

I think everyone at the table chose to do the Price Fix Menu which was a great deal in my opinion. $39.99 and you are able to chose 3 courses--appetizer, entree and dessert. I chose the french onion soup, Gratin de macaroni (very cheesey!) and a chocolate mousse and pound cake for dessert. The dessert was wonderful! I shared it with my children because I was full. My parents both chose the Feilt de saumon aux lentilles and loved it. Hubby had the roasted chicken with rissole potatoes and broccoli. He said it was delicious. We were celebrating my youngest birthday (she turned 4!) and the server brought her a complimentary cookie dessert and they sang Happy Birthday to her in French! So cute! Photo's below:



My chocolate mousse and pound cake was yummy! Very rich and I was full so I ended up sharing this with my kiddies.



Overall I would say that Les Chefs De France is a wonderful restaurant. The service was impeccable, the food was excellent and we just had a great time. After dinner we grabbed FP+ for Spaceship Earth. The kids love this one! We also did Under the Seas with Nemo and Friends. Then we rode Living With The Land. We were unable to get FP+ for Soarin and the wait time was too long. Bummer. The kids loved Soarin the year before and were sad we didn't get to ride it. We walked around the countries and my parents decided to get a cab back to their hotel. We planned to stay later than they wanted and since we had driven they had to get a cab. They said it cost about $15 to get back to Bonnet Creek Hilton. We stayed at watched Illuminations for the first time! We loved it! So beautiful!! The kids usually go to bed by 8 pm but we decided since they had been so good all day long that they could stay up late and watch it. We made it back to the condo by 10 pm. They had been up since 7 am and skipped nap (my youngest usually naps daily still!) but they were full of energy. Next up, Magic Kingdom!

 

[Mommyof3inVA]

Some more Animal Kingdom photos:

 

[Mommyof3inVA]

Magic Kingdom day 2! We arrived at the park at rope drop This was a first for us! We are never able to get the kids up, fed and in the car this early! This year I was determined to make it Magic Kingdom for rope drop!! We had FP+ for: Space Mountain, Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain! We headed to Fantasyland when we arrived. We had hoped to ride the Mine Train but the line was already ridiculously long and we did not want to wait. We headed to meet Ariel, ride the Under The Seas With Little Mermaid ride and then we did Enchanted Tales With Belle. I really loved Enchanted Tales with Belle!! We had never done this before. The kids were all able to participate in the 'show' and they thought this was so much fun. Totally worth the wait. Next time I would hope to have a FP+ for this. There weren't any available prior.


We had lunch at The Plaza on Main Street. We had reservations for noon. This worked out perfectly because it was getting hot and the kids needed to cool off. We had a great table beside a window and we had a view of the Castle!


This was my club sandwich from The Plaza--it was delicious! Highly recommend! The chips were great too!

My Mom had a a grilled chicken sandwich with tomato and cheese. She said it was really good.

My husband had the grilled reuben with fries. He said it was awesome.

For dessert we shared the brownie sundae--so yummy! Two big brownies, two scoops of ice cream and chocolate syrup!

The kiddies had ice cream cones for dessert!

After lunch at The Plaza we headed to the Tomorrowland People Mover, Buzz Lightyear spin, Carousel of Progress and Astro Orbiter. Then we used our FP+ for Space Mountain! Always a blast! My all time favorite Disney ride! Then we headed to Splash Mountain!! So much fun! My parents stayed with my youngest who was afraid to ride.

Then we went to the Haunted Mansion (the line moved quickly) and we watched the afternoon parade. I decided to do some shopping on Main Street while the kids were meeting some characters. I purchased the Pandora Disney charms that are only available at Disney World.

I chose the charm that says I <3 Mickey (mouse ears) and the charm that says Walt Disney World. I hope to purchase the Aulani charm next year! Don't tell my husband how much they are!

We rode a ton of rides in the afternoon when the crowds seemed to be really low. Then we had a snack----drum roll----DOLE WHIP TIME!
The kiddies had a dole whip and I had a dole whip float. After snack time we headed to meet some characters and ride the kids favorite's: Dumbo, Barnstormer and Magic Carpets! They could seriously ride these three rides all day long over and over again. After 4 times on Dumbo I had to say no more today! We go to Disney for the kids and we have really learned to love it too, however, one can only take but so much DUMBO! LOL

 

[TheMaxRebo]

How long is the drive to Florida from New York @TheMaxRebo ?? I can not imagine having to drive any longer than 12 hours. That was pushing it with my kids. Splitting up the drive really helped, but I just don't think I could stand being in the car any longer than 12 hours. We did drive straight 12 hours one year and it was absolutely awful. My kids never slept! At all! They got so bored, ran out of snacks and my youngest was only 11 months old at the time so she did not enjoy being strapped in a car seat that long. She cried for an hour straight. It was torture. We vowed to always split the drive up after that awful experience.

We learned that in order to keep the kids happy we needed to bring tons of snacks, entertainment and more snacks! We purchased 3 new DVD's for the road trip so that the kids would have new material to watch. We also brought them Color Wonder books, new chapter books for my oldest to read and even a few new toys from the dollar section. We had a travel potty in the car (we have a Honda Odyssey) and this way whenever someone needed to pee we would stop but not have to get out of the car and I really hate yucky bathrooms off the highway so this worked out nicely. We brought t.p too of course.

So our plan is to take several days to go down and back with stops strategically placed around breweries I want to stop at but also to see different parts of the country that we haven't seen yet. I think currently the most driving we have planned for any one day is 10, but most are 8 or less.

We've learned in the past to take lots of snacks so good to hear that isn't just us. We will drive a Toyota Sienna and will have a travel potty - though are willing to stop as well if it doesn't look too bad (generally you can even find reviews of stops on the internet at this point)

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I think my kids would love that pool! And they really like the beach entry style. Good to know about the playground by Tower 2. That seems to be my big internal debate about which tower to request, but seems like there isn't necessarily a "bad" tower to be in (I see people have different reasons for requesting different towers)

Looks like a great day at Animal Kingdom - I am excited for this to become a full day park with the evening hours and entertainment being added. I had no idea they did happy hour at the bar! I will have to check that out!

Bummer about Soarin' - that sandby line is always so long! And I am sure it will be even crazier once the new version is open (plus I suspect both that and the new Frozen ride will be Tier 1 meaning you will have to ride one of them standby if you want to do both in the same day)

glad you had a nice dinner and that is cute they sane Happy Birthday in French!

Seems like a really productive time in MK, other than not getting on the Mind Train - too bad as I think the kids would have loved that one!

The Dole Whip Float is my favorite snack in all of WDW!

I am fairly happy that my wife isn't into Pandora, but I must say the charms you got look really nice!

 

[Mommyof3inVA]

Your plan of taking several days to get to Orlando sounds like a good one @TheMaxRebo We found that giving the kids a break to stretch and move around every 3 hours or so is good. We packed a few things for them to play with outside during pit stops such as a ball, bubbles and jump ropes.

 

[Mommyof3inVA]

Cirque Du Soleil at Downtown Disney was a lot of fun! We purchased seats online months in advance but the show was not sold out and tickets were still available the same day as the show. We parked and arrived about an hour early. They have tons of drinks (and alcohol) and popcorn available for purchase.


I had the frozen strawberry margartia-it was delicious!

These are the souveneir popcorn buckets and drinks

after the show we headed to Ghirardelli for some ice cream!

 

[Mommyof3inVA]

We had a fabulous dinner at Kona located at the Polynesian Resort. Loved the Lapu Lapu served in a pineapple!

My husband chose the pork and mashed potatoes. He said it was the best pork he has ever had!

I chose the teriyaki filet mignon with broccolini and mashed potatoes. So delicious! I could eat this every night!

Our server surprised us with these cute cupcakes because we were celebrating our anniversary!

 

[Mommyof3inVA]

We spent the next day at Magic Kingdom We arrived at 9:30 am and the lines were not bad to enter the park. The crowds were very low (first week of May) and we were able to ride most of our favorite rides by noon. We had FP+ for Anna & Elsa meetngreet, Space Mountain and Splash Mountain.


We brought the children lunchables in our cooler and juice boxes. My husband and I grabbed hot dogs at Casey's. My husband had the bbq and coleslaw hot dog. He loved it! My hot dog was plain but I added cheese. I honestly don't see what the hype is all about Casey's. It was just an average hot dog. Nothing super special.

After lunch we rode the kids favorite's-Dumbo, Barnstormer and Magic Carpets. We had dinner reservations at Fulton's Crab House. We left the park by 3:00 to return to our condo to relax before dinner. We had dinner reservations at 5:30. We drove to downtown Disney at 5 and parked. The parking there is awful. They were in the process of building parking garages so hopefully next time we are there it will be much smoother.

Dinner at Fulton's Crab House was great!

Husband ordered the Jambalaya and loved it! My Mom ordered the Salmon and said it was great. My children had chicken tenders and I must say that Fulton's has a great children's menu. So many great choices.

I am not a big seafood lover so I ordered the fettucini with red sauce minus the clams. It was great!

Overall LOVED Fulton's Crab House. I would love to return again.

 

[Mommyof3inVA]

Next stop--Legoland! We have visited Legoland twice and had a lot of fun each day. The only issue was that the park was only open from 10 am until 6 pm during May. I think in the summer they are open longer hours. But we felt like 10-6 was not enough time to really ride all of the rides and see the shows. We felt a little rushed. However, my kids absolutely loved it! We were able to score free children's tickets using a coupon in the Lego magazine!!

Legoland is about a 45 minute drive from the Orlando area. There are several fast food restaurants along the way, so we stopped by McDonald's and grabbed coffee and breakfast.


We enjoyed lunch at the Market Restaurant (located near the entrance to the park). There are a lot of restaurant options at Legoland but my kids are picky and this one offered items that I knew they would love (chicken nuggets, mac n cheese).

Fresh fruit, mac n cheese and chips for my oldest (most picky eater)

Be sure to try the famous apple fries with icing dip! These are supposidly low calorie and really delicious!


After lunch the kids wanted to play on the huge playground--there is a huge climbing net (on the left) and a huge tunnel slide along with lots of other slides. There is a nice shaded areas for parents to sit and relax. The kids spent about 30 minutes playing here.

Legoland has so many great rides for children of all ages. There is a whole area devoted to rides for younger children (4 and under) called Duplo Valley. There is even a cute little sprayground that is a soft padded ground and water sprayers. The kids did not play here because they were not in their swim suits. I need to add--there is a whole water park but it was not open when we went in May. I think it is only in the summer. My kids favorite rides include the Safari Trek (they were able to drive their own cars) and they love the two story carousel. They also love the roller coaster called Coastersaurus! It is a wooden coaster and it is really fun! My kids also love the Quest For Chi---it is a water ride--you will get soaked! But there is a drying machine located at the exit

The Heartlake City area was under construction when we visited, my 8 year old was disappointed it was not open yet, she was really hoping to check it out. She loves Lego Friends and the Heartlake City tv show, books, sets, etc.

My kids loved the Ford Driving School and the Boat School where kids can drive a boat in the water! At the Ford Driving School they will even give your child a drivers license! These are located in the Lego City area of the park.

 

[heaven2dc]

Enjoying your food trip report! Am getting lots of pointers for our next trip esp traveling with children this time Do you have another trip report in another thread without the food reviews? I couldn't find one if you did and would love to read all about your trip. Thanks!

 

[Mommyof3inVA]

Enjoying your food trip report! Am getting lots of pointers for our next trip esp traveling with children this time Do you have another trip report in another thread without the food reviews? I couldn't find one if you did and would love to read all about your trip. Thanks!

No other trip reports--it seems like a food report doesn't it!? HA. I take so many food pics!! Thanks for following along. I will continue posting more about Legoland and Sea World soon.

 

[heaven2dc]

No other trip reports--it seems like a food report doesn't it!? HA. I take so many food pics!! Thanks for following along. I will continue posting more about Legoland and Sea World soon.

No problem! I love food so am enjoying all of the pics and reviews

 

[Mommyof3inVA]

No problem! I love food so am enjoying all of the pics and reviews

Thank you!!

 

[Mommyof3inVA]

Here is my dh and dd on the Quest for Chi at Legoland. You can squirt a water canon at people waiting in line and watching It was pretty funny watching people who had no clue they were about to get soaked standing there waiting on the boat to go by! lol