Walt Disney World Trip September 2024 Split Stay Bay Lake Tower and Kidani Village

In September our family took a two week trip to Florida that included a nine day, eight night trip to Walt Disney World! This was our third trip to Disney and we’ve been anticipating this vacation since our last one in 2022. We booked a split stay renting DVC points through David’s Vacation Club, spending three nights at Bay Lake Tower at the Contemporary Resort and five at Kidani Village at Animal Kingdom Lodge. Here is what our Disney trip looked like for a family of four with two big kids.

Day 1 Travel Day ✈️

After an uneventful flight we arrived at the Orlando airport around 12:30 PM. We used Lyft as our mode of transportation from the airport to Disney. The Lyft driver was fantastic and we were dropped off directly in front of our hotel around 1:30 PM.

During our drive we received the notification that our room was ready.

Room 7106

We were assigned room number 7106. We booked a standard view room, but 7106 was anything but standard. This room was somehow close to the pool, lobby and walkway to Magic Kingdom; yet still quiet and private with a lovey patio that faced the jogging path around the resort. We later learned that evening we had a view of the fireworks from our patio.

Exploring the Resort

After I unpacked a bit and the kids amused themselves with the rooms “Hey Disney”. We set off to explore the resort.

The first thing we decided to do was pick up our resort mugs. We purchased the Disney Dining Plan for the first part of our split stay. Four resort mugs were included in our purchase. The Contempo Cafe in the main Contemporary Building ( just a short walk across the sky bridge that connects the two buildings) was where we picked up our mugs.

We poked around the gift shops for a bit and then picked up our groceries that were delivered by Walmart. After quickly putting them away in our room we hopped on the monorail to the Polynesian.

Dinner at Ohana

We had an Ohana reservation for 4 pm. After a short monorail ride to the Polynesian we checked in and explored the resort for a bit until we received the text our table was ready. Our server was friendly and the atmosphere was lively and fun, but we found the food a bit disappointing. I don’t know if it’s because we’ve hyped it up so much in our head, but it didn’t match the hype. The bread, salad, noodles and chicken wings were good but I wasn’t a fan of anything else. I was most disappointed by the bread pudding, I much prefer the one from Bonanza! It’s a unique experience we’ve always wanted to try and are glad we did, but definitely not a place we’d return.

Bay Lake Pool

After dinner we went back to the room and changed in our swimsuits to go for a swim in the Bay Lake Pool, the pool exclusive to guests of Bay Lake Tower.  This was one of my favorite memories of the trip. Typically we come to Disney in January and it’s cold. Swimming in the pool is not a great experience and we would never swim at night. In September both the air and pool water was warm and nighttime swimming was amazing.

Surprise Fireworks View Room

After a couple of hours at the pool we headed back to our room, deciding to skip watching the fireworks from the Contemporary Sky Bridge like we had originally planned. Seconds after making this decision loud fireworks sounds went off sounding quite close to our room. Wondering why I could hear them so well, I peeked out the sliding glass doors to the patio and saw that we had a perfect view of fireworks over Space Mountain.  Everyone quickly jumped out of bed and we had our own private fireworks show from our patio. Such a cool magical moment.

Day 2 Magic Kingdom Day 🏰

We woke up bright and early, got ready and took the seven minute walking path to Magic Kingdom. Yes, it took us seven minutes to walk to Magic Kingdom from our room. I’m not exaggerating. We breezed through the private security line on this walking path and ended up in line for early entry at 8:00 am.

As we waited in line with the rest of the guests for early entry rope drop, I felt zero stress. I had this trip very well planned, especially our Magic Kingdom days. I knew our ride strategy, how we would use lighting lane and the best time to ride Seven Dwarfs Mine Train without paying for it with money or hours of our life. This was an expensive vacation, but I had optimized it and we were getting our money’s worth as much as you possibly can at Disney.

Magic Kingdom Morning

Rope drop happened, the crowd cheered (love the Disney energy) and we were off!

We purposely stayed away from Seven Dwarfs Mine Train first thing that morning and instead headed over to rope drop Peter Pan’s Flight. Our first ride of the trip this time!

Here’s how the rest of our morning went after we got off Peter Pan’s Flight:

We rode the following rides with zero waiting in line. The Lighting Lane Pass system was fantastic. We were able to get lighting lanes for the times we wanted at every single ride in every single park. Jamie was a Lighting Lane master and used the Mammoth’s Club “fiddle faddle” method like a boss.

Under the Sea – Journey of The Little Mermaid🧜‍♀️

Mad Tea Party ☕️

Dumbo the Flying Elephant (first lighting lane of the day)🐘

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad 🎢

The Haunted Mansion 👻

Pirates of the Caribbean 🏴‍☠️

We took a quick snack break to have a Cinnamon roll and Le Fou’s brew from Gaston’s Tavern

After we refueled we went on Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin. Jamie figured out a secret to score a bunch of points and both he and Anika got perfect scores of 999,999. They took a photo and showed it to the gift shop where they got official buttons for being Galactic Heroes.

After this Jamie and Jake went on Space Mountain and Anika and I went on “it’s a small world”.

We met back up at The Lunching Pad for a Mickey Pretzel, then all headed to Tomorrowland Speedway. At this point it was HOT. We decided to take the Walt Disney World Railroad from Fantasyland to the entrance of the park and head back to the hotel room for an afternoon break. 

Afternoon Break

In our hotel room we ate a snack, filled up our resort mug and chilled for a couple of hours…literally…I sat on our patio and mediated outside, the rest of my crew had our hotel room so cold I couldn’t take it!

Three of us ordered dinner from The Contempo Cafe at the Contemporary for dinner, Jake held out for corndogs from Casey’s Corner when we returned to Magic Kingdom. The Kale Power Greens Salad is 10 out of 10 for me and I’m so sad I can’t get it anywhere local. I’ve tried to recreate it myself and it’s just not the same.

Magic Kingdom Evening

We headed back to Magic Kingdom where we got to ride Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. Anika only agreed to ride this if she could wear her poncho. 🤣

Casey’s Corner

After the ride Jake got his corn dog nuggets, fries and a mint julep icy from Casey’s corner. We hung out on the hub grass as he ate.

We spent the evening riding some more rides. First we went on Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover where we got to see Space Mountain with the lights on! Unsure what we were looking at initially we didn’t think to take a picture.

Next we went on The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh . The kids choose to ride together in front of us and it was adorable. Anika later on said one of her favorite memories of the trip was getting to ride next to Jake on some rides.

Pineapple Lanai

After that we headed to The Magic Carpets of Aladdin and then stopped right next door for some DOLE Whip from Pineapple Lanai. I tried the coconut and pineapple swirl. It’s not on the menu but you can ask for it and it was delicious.

Around 8 PM we headed back to Fantasy Land stopping along the way for a pressed penny of Jafar for Jake. We hopped in line for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. It was a posted 50 minute wait, but from what I learned thanks to Disney Tourist Blog, we didn’t anticipate this to be accurate. We ended up with only a 20 minute wait. The cue was super fun and we managed to spin all seven of the barrels and make Snow White appear. While we rode the fireworks started and we could watch them from the ride. At one point the ride paused and we had a perfect view of the fireworks for a good sixty seconds.

After getting off we stopped and watched the rest of the fireworks in the middle of Fantasy Land. They were going off in every direction and it was hard to even know where to look it was so pretty. We were surrounded. Our magic bands lit up all throughout the show which Anika loved. This was one of my absolute favorite moments of the trip. I would watch them here instead of in front of the crowded castle any day. We ended our very full first day at Magic Kingdom with a couple of rides on Prince Charming Regal Carrousel.

Day 3 Epcot 🪐

Today we woke up, quickly got ready and took the monorail to Epcot. At 7 AM Jamie went on the Disney App and joined the virtual queue for Guardians of the Galaxy.

We rope dropped Frozen Ever After ( one of my favorite rides of all time) and then headed to France for our Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure Lighting Lane.

After Remy’s we got a three dollar baguette from Les Halles Boulangerie-Patisserie in France that all four of us thoroughly enjoyed. There was a long line that it took awhile to get through, but the kids enjoyed looking around the gift shop with Jamie.

We rode Soarin’ Around the World and followed that up with our first experience with Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind. We got the song we wanted, Everybody wants to Rule the World and although this was an incredible ride, not one I’ll be partaking again. It checked all the motion sickness boxes for me. Glad I tried it, but never again.

After we finished at Guardians we stopped and sampled the soda from around the world for free at Club Cool.

We had lunch at La Cantina San Angel. The Taco Trio was so yummy and the kids didn’t like the Cantina Slushy that came with their meals, but I enjoyed it.

After lunch we rode Journey Into Imagination With Figment and then looked around the ImageWorks gift shop for a bit before taking the monorail back to the resort for an afternoon break. We filled up our mugs and relaxed in our room for a bit.

Steak House 71

We had a dinner reservation at 5 PM for Steak House 71 at the Contemporary. Of the three sit down restaurants we went to this trip this is the only one we would go back to. It was so good. My Filet was cooked perfectly and mashed potatoes were equally amazing. They give you a sauce to put on your steak but it didn’t need it. Anika didn’t like her kids meal steak (honestly couldn’t blame her, not quite sure what the cut was) so Jamie gave her most of his filet medallions and ate hers. She very much enjoyed those 🤣. He enjoyed the au gratin potatoes. The kids make your own ice cream sundaes were a big hit. 

Evening at Epcot

After dinner we headed back to Epcot. It was a whirlwind of an evening that was a bit of blur that included: failed attempt at using a Lighting Lane for Frozen due to the ride being shut down, stinky cheese for Jamie from Germany, shaved ice from Kabuki Cafe in Japan, Tiffany (yes that Tiffany) performing, a visit to the Treasures of Xandar gift store, a ride on Spaceship Earth and sort of watching Luminous The Symphony of Us.

We took the monorail back to the resort and crashed!

Day 4 Resort Transfer Day 🚍

We started our morning with Mickey waffles for breakfast from the Contempo Cafe. Trying a Mickey waffle has been on Anika’s Disney bucket list.

Bellies full of waffles we first looked around the Bay Lake Gift shops (they have three) for a bit then headed back to the room to pack up and give our bags to bell services 10:30 AM. When doing a split stay Disney will transfer your luggage to the next resort. I was a little concerned about how this would work out but everything arrived at Kidani for us by the time we were ready to check in. We had zero issues.

The Community Hall

Next up we visited the Bay Lake Tower Community Hall where we made our own buttons (only a dollar each!) such a great souvenir and activity to do when you have some down time. Community halls are one our favorite things at Disney! They have super friendly cast members, a movie playing and multiple crafts you can do for free or very low cost.

Bay Lake Pool

We spent the rest of the afternoon swimming at the Bay Lake Pool. Jamie grabbed us lunch from the Contempo Cafe and brought it down for us to eat by the pool. Then we swam some more. Doing Disney in the heat does have some perks, and the amount of pool time we got this trip was one of them. A Disney cast member ran some pool games, one of which was “Mickey Says”, like Simon Says and Anika won!

Transfer to Kidani Village

We took the monorail to Magic Kingdom and then a bus to Kidani. We checked in, got our groceries and bags from bell services, unpacked everything and then relaxed in our room for a bit. 

Room 7623

We were in room 7623 this time and once again felt very lucky with our assigned room. I had called in advance to ask for a room close to the lobby but still some privacy on our balcony. We’ve stayed at Kidani Village before in a Savanna room, and it was great, but it was also, with no exaggeration a ten minute walk to the lobby. This trip we decided the savanna room was not worth the additional cost (there are many public areas to view the animals) and we just aren’t in our room that much. The room we were given was fantastic. It was a minute walk to the lobby but far enough away that it was still quiet.

Dinner at Boma

We had a late reservation at Boma – Flavors of Africa for dinner. We took the walking path from Kidani to Animal Kingdom Lodge. It took about 8 minutes.

Boma was good, but crowded! This was another restaurant we were glad we tried but wouldn’t return to. The cost is so high for what you get, and I honestly preferred Animal Kingdom Lodge’s quick service restaurant, The Mara to this. It wasn’t because Boma wasn’t good, but Mara was so good for a fraction of the price.

We decided to wait for the shuttle instead of walking back. It definitely would have been quicker to walk, but we were tired!

Our dining plan was going to expire today at midnight so we used our last two snack credits to get the kids Mickey bars at Johari Treasures to store in the freezer in our hotel room for a different night. The freezers in the mini fridges of Kidani’s DVC rooms work well. They kept those Mickey bars rock solid for a couple of days.

Day 5 Rest Day 😴

Today we slept in, had bagels in our room for breakfast (DVC rooms have toasters!) then started some laundry. DVC resort guest can do their laundry for free in their 24 hour self service laundry rooms!

There was also tons of free stuff in the laundry room that people checking out were leaving behind including; swords and wands from Cinderellas Castle, a popcorn bucket and laundry detergent.

Next we went for a morning swim at the Samawati Springs Pool. I’ve said it before but this was definitely a perk of visiting Disney when its hot. You can swim anytime of the day, morning and evening!

Universal City Walk

After our swim we got changed and Jamie’s co-worker and her husband picked us up and brought us to Universal City Walk for the afternoon.

We walked around, they took us to lunch at Cow Fish and then we got Voodoo Doo Doughnut to take back to the hotel for desert.

When we got back to Kidani Jamie and Jake went to the pool for a couple of more hours and Anika and I checked out the Kidani Village Community Hall. The one at Kidani was just as good, if not better then the one at Bay Lake. The cast member working there was so sweet with Anika. They bonded over their love of the Descendants Movies and she encouraged Anika to read the books, which Anika immediately started when we got home.

Day 6 Hollywood Studios 🎬

We woke up bright and early again and took the bus to Hollywood Studios for rope drop!

Morning at Hollywood Studios

During rope drop we were able to ride Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, Toy Story Mania and Alien Swirling Saucers.

We walked around Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and tried the Blue Milk!

We wandered around for a bit, there is so much to look at here, until our lighting lane for Toy Story Mania at 10. Back in Toy Story Land we watched The Army Men, Jessie and Woody walk through.

After this we headed back to Galaxy’s Edge to ride Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run.

Anika and Jake were the pilots and Jamie and I were the gunners. Another favorite memory of this trip. The two of them giggled the entire time.

We filled up our newly acquired free popcorn bucket at Kat Saka’s Kettle. The kids said their Buttered Blue Grains popcorn was the best popcorn of the trip. Maybe it was the blue food coloring that made it better? 🤣

After a snack break it was time for our Lighting Lane for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance.

Anika and Jamie finished the trifecta and went on Star Tours – The Adventures Continue while Jake and I looked around the Star Tours gift shop.

We meet back up and got Woodys Lunch Box for lunch, our favorite place to eat at Hollywood Studios. Jamie and I split the Brisket Grilled Cheese and Tots. YUM.

Afternoon at Hollywood Studios

After lunch we watched Indiana Jones™ Epic Stunt Spectacular!

We decided to split up for a bit after the show, Anika and I went to Beauty and the Beast – Live on Stage and Jamie and Jake went on The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror™.

When we were done we met up briefly and learned that Slinky Dog Dash was working again. We had scored a 9 AM Lighting Lane for it but unfortunately it was down at that time. They gave us a multi experience pass (which really is a blessing in disguise) to use on Slinky or whatever ride we choose later on it they day. Jamie and Jake booked it over to Slinky Dog, but Anika wasn’t up for any more rollercoasters so we sat, ate popcorn in the shade (the sun was out and blazing and it was so so so hot) and talked to my dad on the phone for a bit.

Next we all met back up to see the hand prints in front of of Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railroad (I was on the hunt for Audrey Hepburn) and went and watched Muppet*Vision 3D.

We finished our day at Hollywood Studios by walking through Walt Disney Presents. We are doing a unit study about Walt Disney so this was a perfect way to end our day at Hollywood Studios.

The Skyliner

We left the park and hopped on the skyliner to ride it from Hollywood Studios to Caribbean Beach. Anika has always wanted to ride the skyliner. As someone who doesn’t love heights, I wasn’t a huge fan of this experience, but was impressed by how quickly and efficiently it transported people back and forth. So much faster then the monorail.

After checking ride the skyliner off our Disney Bucket List we took the bus back to our resort.

Jamie picked up food from The Mara for us for dinner while the kids and I filled up our resort mugs. We ate dinner in our room and then went for an evening swim before bed.

Day 7 Magic Kingdom Round 2 🏰

We woke up early because Jake had a Knight Package reservations at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. Anika wasn’t interested in the princess makeover this trip. We got on a super early bus to Magic Kingdom that we had all to ourselves. One thing we learned this trip is that whatever time the front desk tells you is the first bus, there always seems to be one earlier then that. We left Kidani promptly at 7 AM, when the first bus was scheduled to leave at 7:30.

Because of Jake’s reservation we were allowed into Fantasy Land super early, and it was EMPTY. So cool to see it like this.

Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique

Jake was first in line for the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique and went in right at 8 AM. The whole experience there was 10 out of 10 and so worth the 19.95 plus tax that it cost. Jake was greeted by his Fairy Godmother Apprentice. She brought him to a dressing room to change into the shirt we brought. A fairy Godmother magically appeared in the mirror and talked to him.

He was brought into the salon in Cinderella’s Castle where his Fairy Godmother Apprentice styled his hair with gel, put some pixie dust in it, gave him a speech about being a knight, had him take an oath, gave him a sword and shield (that he got to keep). He loved the whole experience and as his mom I loved watching it. One of my favorite parts was how excited Anika was for Jake. She looked so happy and proud of him the whole time.

Magic Kingdom Rope Drop Round 2

We were in at 8 AM (stay up late or set your alarm for midnight to get the early reservation, its worth it!) and out by 8:20 AM. It gave us enough time to take some pictures in the very empty Fantasy Land and then be the first people to get on Peter Pan!

This was our second day at Magic Kingdom. Today’s goal was to go on any rides or attractions we didn’t make it on our first day at Magic Kingdom and also to just simply enjoy being in the park without feeling like we had to rush around everywhere.

After Peter Pan we all went on “it’s a small world” as a family. This was part of a deal Jamie made with Anika to get her to ride Guardians of the Galaxy.

We followed this with a stop by Sir Mickeys. A staff member was currently working on the pressed penny machine, testing to see if all the pennies were working properly. She gave the kids all of the ones she created to test to share! Anika did not want to have a princess makeover this trip, but did want to get pixie dusted (free at Sir Mickey’s). They say a cool little speech to the kids and make a whole thing of it before they use their wands to sprinkle pixie dust in your hair.

We also used their photo studio and had some pictures of the kids taken.

After out time at Sir Mickeys we had a lighting lane for Haunted Mansion, then headed over to the Golden Oak Outpost in Frontier Land to try the beignets.

After our snack we rode Pirates of the Caribbean and Thunder Mountain. The boys also rode Tiana’s Bayou adventure again while Anika and I opted to get a popcorn bucket refill with freshly popped popcorn and enjoy it while we hung out and enjoyed the Frontier Land vibes.

We met back up and took a raft Tom Sawyer’s island. We’ve always wanted to check it out and it will be closing soon to make way for Cars land.

We returned from the island and we grabbed some cheeseburger spring rolls from the Adventure Land Spring Roll Cart. Unlike a lot of the popular food items we’ve tried at Disney they 100 percent lived up to the hype. They were too good to even take a photo!

Jamie and Jake’s Magic Kingdom Afternoon

The boys decided they wanted a lively afternoon and there plan was to wait in line for Tron and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. They also got a Mickey ice cream sandwich at some point. It was a Not So Scary Party Day with the park closing at 6 PM for non party going guests. Because of this Magic Kingdom on these days tend to be less busy with much shorter waits because people don’t want to “waste their ticket” when they can’t spend the whole day at the park. Totally makes sense, but wow can you get a lot done in those hours that you do get at this park. The crowds were significantly lower and it just made for an overall much more enjoyable experience.

They waited only 50 minutes for Tron (seems like a lot but definitely shorter then the average 85-115 minutes) and 35 minutes for Seven Dwarfs (80-120 minute average wait).

The Ladies Afternoon

Anika and I decided we wanted a chiller afternoon. We slowly made our way to Fantasy Land where she bought a Rapunzel pressed penny (this was the only one that didn’t come out when the kids were given the free ones earlier. We watched Mickey’s PhilharMagic and rode the Carousel again. Anika got the horse she wanted and we found Cinderellas horse. It has a gold ribbon on its tail and is about three rows up from the sleigh.

After that we went to Gaston’s Tavern and Anika bought herself a Lefou’s brew with some of her Disney money. We sat and luxuriated just taking in the vibe of Fantasy Land and it was wonderful. One of my favorite moments of the trip.

After we finished our drinks we went on The Little Mermaid and then wandered around Big Top Souvenirs. We headed over towards Tomorrowland and decided to stop and ride the Tomorrowland Speedway one more time. The boys met us in Tomorrowland and went on the People Mover together.

Feeling lucky we opted for another go at Buzzlightyear. This time Jake got the galactic hero score! After that we we went on Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress.

At this point it was 4 PM and the Not So Scary Party goers were allowed to enter the park. Things got significantly busier as the day and evening guest mixed. The perfect way to wrap things up at Magic Kingdom was an Orange Cream Soft-serve Cup (DOLE Whip® Orange and Vanilla Swirl) from Sunshine Tree Terrace.

We slowly left the park stopping at a couple of shops on main street and making sure to stop and say goodbye to the castle.

Relaxing Evening at the Resort

We took the bus back to Kidani. Jamie picked up takeout from the Mara for dinner.  We skipped the pool tonight and enjoyed having an early night in and ate some Mickey Bars for dessert.

Day 8 Animal Kingdom 🦁

Animal Kingdom Morning

Today we took an early bus to Animal Kingdom. After this trip Animal Kingdom has become one of my favorite of the four parks. I wouldn’t say its first place for me but it may be tied for second…maybe even second. I think it’s one of the most under rated parks at Disney and one of the best values you can get out of a park ticket. It may not be the park with the most rides but; they offer broadway quality shows like Festival of the Lion King, basically a zoo with a ride that takes you through a Savanna where you can hear a lion roar, multiple nature trails filled with animals as well as cast members whose job is to solely educate guests about them.

Animal Kingdom Ropedrop

Anika and I walked the boys to Expedition Everest – Legend of the Forbidden Mountain so they could rope drop it, then we slowly wandered the path from Asia to Dinoland. There was no one else around and it was so quiet and nice. One of my favorite moments of the trip.

Once we got to Dinoland (which was also completely empty) She rode TriceraTop Spin where the kind cast member proceeded to let her ride it over and over again without getting off. I’m pretty sure she rode that ride 10 times in a row. There was no one else in this area of the park, I’m guessing not a lot of people choose to rope drop Dinoland and especially not TriceraTop Spin, but she had a blast. Anytime you can be in a Disney Park when there is no one else around is a pretty magical experience.

Jamie and Jake got there after riding Everest 2 times in a row. Jake hopped on and rode it once with us and then Jamie and Jake took off again to try and ride on DINOSAUR before rope drop ended.

Anika and I continued to enjoy a very empty Animal Kingdom. We walked around, checked out a gift shop, took some photos, went to the DINOSAUR cue to see the real fossils. Yes, they have real dinosaur fossils at this park! So cool.

First Animal Kingdom Lighting Lane

Then we met up and went on my favorite ride in Animal Kingdom, Kilimanjaro Safaris. We heard the lions roar this time!

We headed out of Africa, stopping to pin trade. Jake found a Jafar that he had been looking for!

After that we headed to Pandora – The World of Avatar and walked around for a bit checking out the scenery. At this point it was time for our Lighting Lane for Avatar Flight of Passage. The kids loved this ride.

We had a quick snack break after Flight of Passage, going to both Pongu Pongu for the Night Blossom drink as well as Satu’li Canteen for the cheeseburger pods.

Our snack was followed by riding Na’vi River Journey. We also stopped for every possible photo opportunity we could. We bought PhotoPass this trip and were determined to get our moneys worth!

Having done everything we possily could in Pandora we left and headed to Asia to go on our lighting lane for Kali River Rapids. After that we walked on the Maharajah Jungle Trek. It was mid day and the cast members told us it was too hot for the tigers so we didn’t see them, but we saw a bunch of other cool animals and the kids earned a couple of more badges for their Wilderness Explorers book.

After leaving the trail we filed up our popcorn bucket and then headed to watch The Festival of the Lion King. This was the first time we’ve done this show and we all loved it.

Animal Kingdom Afternoon

After the show we got lunch at our favorite quick service restaurant at Animal Kingdom, The Flame Tree Barbecue. The Mac and Cheese Pulled Pork is my favorite. Jake got a hot dog and Anika ate some popcorn. Nothing was of interest of her on the menu so we picked up chicken tenders from Restaurantosaurus for her to have later when we headed back to Dinoland.

After lunch Jake and I went to Discovery Trading Company where he used some of his Disney money to buy a Groot Shoulder Stuffed animal. He had been contemplating purchasing this the entire trip. As funny as this sounds this was one of my favorite moments of the trip. He picked out the one he wanted, purchased it and then as we were walking out excitedly looked at me and loudly said, “I can’t believe I did it! I’m so excited!” This made multiple cast members around us chuckle.

We headed to Dinoland after this where Anika ate some chicken tenders and then the kids played in the The Boneyard play area for a bit.

After this Jake decided to use some more of his Disney money to buy a Dino ice cream sandwich that was literally the size of his head. He happily shared a lot of it with the rest of us.

We finished our day at Animal Kingdom by watching It’s Tough to be a Bug.

Day 9 Leave the Disney Bubble 😢

The Community Hall

We did laundry again (for free!), packed up the room and left our stuff with bell services. Jamie went to pick up our rental car for the second week of this trip from the airport. The kids and I waited in the community room. Anika and I made African inspired bracelets. Jake worked on a scratch mask. We refilled our resort mugs one last time too and sadly left Disney.

Disney Springs

Not completely done with Disney yet we headed over to Disney Springs for the afternoon. We went to World of Disney and bought a Disney Magnet. Our tradition is to get a magnet from every state we visit. Since we consider Disney to be it’s own entity within itself it definitely needed it’s own magnet separate from Florida 🤣.

We checked out the Lego Store for a bit.

The line for Gideon’s Bakehouse was surprisingly low (15 minute wait) so we hopped in it. None of us were expecting to get to try these cookies this trip so it was a very unexpected treat. We tried the Chocolate chip, Peanut butter, Double Chocolate and Turtle. They 100 percent lived up to the hype and were worth the price. The cookies were giant and took the four of us multiple days to get through them.

We went to The Polite Pig for lunch. It was ok but not a place we would return to.

For dessert (we were saving our cookies for later) we went to Swirls on the Water and tried a flight of DOLE whip. The flavors were vanilla pineapple swirl, pistachio cheesecake swirl and pumpkin marshmallow swirl. None of us liked the pistachio cheesecake but the pumpkin marshmallow was amazing.

At this point it was about three and the heat was at its maximum. We decided it was time to head to our hotel in Orlando and prepare for the second half of this Florida trip!