Disney with Some Mini Mice

My family and I went to Disney World during Presidents' Week 2025 (Feb 16-23). We were 12 people (including two 2-year-olds and a 5-year-old. We had a fantastic time, but I know that if I had put more time and energy into looking into the rides and ride locations, we could have gone on way more! To try and help my fellow Disney-travelers with small children, I've compiled a list of all the rides we went on (along with the ones I would have liked to have gone on). I also included our calendar/schedule so you have an idea of what restaurants were booked beforehand.

I recommend making reservations well over a month before your trip -- we did it about 3 weeks before and it was definitely difficult to get the reservations we wanted for our party size (12) at the restaurants we were told to try. I had to book every single dinner as multiple tables at different, but similar, times (as shown in the calendar above). We ended up enjoying all the food we had, but did have some hiccups when checking in to the restaurants because of this. (More about that later!) We were going to do the dining plan, but ended up paying as we went...and it was way better. I thought I'd be eating and drinking a lot more than I actually did, so I think I would've been grabbing snacks/drinks/sandwiches just because I felt I had paid for them!

CHOOSE A GOOD WEEK TO TRAVEL.

Like many people, we didn't have a choice when it came to the week we booked Disney World. We have two teachers and a student in our group, so we had to go during a week they were off from school. Because of a scheduling conflict for Easter break in April, we all settled on Presidents' Week, which was the second week in February. I researched the weather based on past Februarys, and we expected mid-high 70s. Unfortunately we got a pretty crappy week weather-wise. The weeks before and after were in the low 80s but we had 50s in the morning and night and 60s/low 70s in the day. We also had a couple of rain days in there. We bought ponchos from Amazon and brought a couple small umbrellas, so that didn't affect us too much.

Next time I would definitely try to go during Easter break in April for better weather -- or better yet, not during a school holiday at all. The parks were PACKED and, while Disney is always crowded, every worker we spoke to said it was out-of-control crowded during that week.

RENT A DOUBLE STROLLER BEFORE YOU GO.

We rented a double stroller from Strollerfy in Orlando about 3 days before our trip. I HIGHLY recommend this company. The stroller was great and we had zero problems with it. A man delivered it to the lobby about 10 minutes after we arrived and were checking in. He offered to show us how to use it, then left. My husband gave it back to him upon checking out. (You get to choose your times.)

BOOK A PREMIER ROOM AT ALL-STAR MUSIC RESORT.

We always opt for staying at an All-Star Resort, because it's less expensive than some of its competitors -- some of which are $1,000/night per room! When our fabulous travel agent, Kristen Sullivan, booked our rooms at All-Star Music, she priced it out for Premier rooms. Upon reviewing it, we asked her what the difference was between a Standard room & a Premier room. It turned out that a Premier room was closer to the lobby & buses and main kids' pool. We didn't think it was worth it so we asked her to downgrade our rooms. ...WRONG DECISION! DO NOT MAKE THIS MISTAKE! If you're staying at an All-Star resort make sure you spend the extra money and upgrade to a Premier room. We literally trekked what felt like miles from our room to the bus & back every single day. It was brutal!

Though it says it's a 7-minute walk, if you have a 2-year-old who insists on walking, this is more like a 20-minute walk! I also had to tell them the pool was closed constantly because we had to walk by 2 of them.

DON'T GO TO THE PARK THE FIRST DAY.

We made the mistake of paying for park tickets the first day we were there. Our flight from NJ was at 10:15am, so we had to wake up at 4:30am to make it. After a long day of airports, the plane, traveling with a 5 & 2-year-old, and having an issue with check-in (our rooms weren't ready), we ended up getting to EPCOT around 5PM and heading straight to the UK Pavilion to have dinner. We waited about 10 minutes for our reserved table (we were starving!), ordered, and were very happy with the food. We were also, however, so exhausted that none of us could make ourselves go on a single ride afterwards. We essentially paid for 5 adults & 1 child (baby was free) to enter the park just to eat dinner. In hindsight, we 100% should have just gone to Disney Springs and saved that $500+. We also never got to go to Disney Springs, so it would have been the perfect idea. Live & learn!

REST DAYS.

Before we left, I shared my calendar with friends and on Facebook. MANY people who love Disney said, "Wait, you guys aren't allocating for any rest days?" ...to which I said, "NO! We'll be fine!" Surprise, surprise, we were wrong. Again. We were not fine. Next time I will 100% do 1 park, 1 rest day, etc. I was looking at it as a "waste" of a day, but I didn't take into account how physically & mentally exhausting it is being at Disney. Our group ranged from under 2 to 70, some go to the gym and some don't (I don't lol) and I think we all felt the strain of the all the walking. My husband's Apple Watch told him that he did 19,000 steps one of the days, to give you an idea of what you're in for.

There's a very big difference between reading about all the walking you'll be doing, and actually living through it. I remember one day we were walking into Animal Kingdom (it was Day 3.5) and my dad said to me, "I am so tired I feel like we're walking out of the park, not into it." And I agreed wholeheartedly. The kids were okay because they were in their stroller when they wanted to rest, but we were not lol. I also don't recommend buying a Park Hopper because it's a lot of money and is exhausted to park hop with kids! It will take you a full day (if not more) to see an entire park, so just stay at the one you chose for that day. On the rest days I'd recommend going to Disney Springs for dinner. (Or doing what we did, which was UberEats 2 of the nights. It was cheap, the kids loved it, and we got to have a relaxed "TV" dinner.

If I had to do it again, I think I'd:

Get there on a Saturday (around 4PM like this time), eat in the hotel restaurant that evening
Make Sunday a pool day,
Monday a park day,
Tuesday a pool day,
Wednesday a park day,
Thursday a pool day,
Friday a park day,
Saturday a park day,
Go home Sunday (leaving the hotel around 3PM like this time).

We'd touch down around in NJ 10PM EST like we did this time and give ourselves off from work and school the next day (Monday) as a recover day.

LIGHTNING LANE IS A MUST-HAVE.

I cannot describe to you how much you will regret not splurging on Lightning Lane passes. Ride times went as high as 150 minutes for some of the bigger rides. I was in literal shock seeing how many thousands of people waited in the standby queue. My kids would literally never ever ever do this, and there would be no point going to Disney World if my family didn't buy lightning passes and we didn't use the DAS pass. Think of it this way: you're already going bankrupt, may as well go a little more bankrupt and actually get to enjoy your time.

As far as booking your Lightning Lanes, you can do it 7 days before your vacation begins (as long as you're staying at a Disney resort, otherwise it's 3 days). I booked mine based on Disney blogs that I read -- but these were written by true Disney fanatics. Think: If you wake up at 5AM and rope drop at 8AM. That is NOT us. I wish I would have spoken to a mom of little kids (preferably an Autism mom) who recently went to Disney to find out what they were able to accomplish with two little ones.

RIDER SWITCH IS AMAZING FOR PARENTS.

Utilize Rider Switch if you're traveling with little kids. This allows one parent to stay with the kids (preferably with a snack & a water!) while the other parents goes on a (usually scary) ride. When that parent comes out, the other swaps places with them. Con: You have to go on a ride alone. Pro: YOU GET TO GO ON A RIDE ALONE.

RIDES

My family (7 adults) had lightning lane passes, while my husband, daughter (5), son (2) and I used a DAS pass (my daughter has Autism). Since the pass belonged to my daughter, my husband and I could only go on rides that weren't scary, because she had to be on the ride with us. While that limited the type of rides we could go on, it didn't bother us because we're not huge thrill-seekers anyway!

If you’re going with a large group (like we did) I recommend all sitting down ahead of time and discussing which rides are important to everyone so that you go on more rides together. We did not do this, and had to separate a lot. This stunk for two reasons: (1) We just wanted to be together. & (2) It was a nightmare trying to find each other afterwards because the parks are so big and you're constantly heading to your own next ride.

Below is a list of rides we go to (some more than once) and what we did not get to. (Some were on purpose, some I was really bummed about missing.)

Magic Kingdom

Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin
Dumbo the Flying Elephant
Haunted Mansion (not scary)
It’s a Small World
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor
Peter Pan’s Flight (2x)
Pirates of the Caribbean (2x)
Prince Charming Regal Carousel
Space Mountain (adults)
Tomorrowland Speedway
Under the Sea - Journey of the Little Mermaid (2x)

M.K. (Didn't Get To)

Jungle Cruise
The Barnstormer
Country Bear Musical Jamboree
Disney Festival of Fantasy Parade
Liberty Square Riverboat
Mad Tea Party (I couldn't ride this one because I get too dizzy!)
The Magic Carpets of Aladdin
Mickey’s PhilharMagic
A Pirate’s Adventure ~ Treasures of the Seven Seas (Not sure what this is, but the picture looks cute)
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (I would have liked to have gone on this one!)
Tiana’s Bayou Adventure (I think this is the old Splash Mt)
TRON Lightcycle/Run
Carousel of Progress (I said I missed this one!)
Enchanted Tiki Room (Not sure what this is, but the picture looks cute)
Cinderella’s Castle (Roped Off)
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (Closed)
The Hall of Presidents (Closed)

Animal Kingdom

DINOSAUR
Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail
Na’vi River Journey

A. K. (Didn't Get To)

Affection Section (Petting Zoo) (I'm bummed we missed this -- my kids love animals!)
Disney Animals (Same!)
Avatar Flight of Passage (I was sad we missed this, but my best friend told me it made her feel really sick!)
The BoneYard (Playground) (This was huge and cool, but we didn't have time & I was afraid I'd lose the kids, haha)
Conservation Station
Expedition Everest
Festival of the Lion King (Show)
Finding Nemo (Show)
It’s Tough to be a Bug (Show)
Kilimanjaro Safaris (I'm bummed we missed this -- we would have loved to see safari animals!)
Maharajah Jungle Trek
Wildlife Express Train
Kali River Rapids (Closed)

Hollywood Studios

Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway
Toy Story Mania! x2
Journey of Water, Inspired by Moana
Fantasmic! (Show) (Everyone loved this, but I was a little disappointed. It seemed to be a lot of water shooting and VERY loud music. The last 10 minutes were the best, because prince/princess couples came out, along with Mulan and Elsa.)

H. S. (Didn't Get To)

Alien Swirling Saucers (Too dizzy)
Beauty & the Beast (Show)
Disney Jr. Play & Dance (This was adorable 5 years ago!)
For the First Time in Forever – A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration (Show)
Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular! (Bummed we missed this one because I remember loving it!)
Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run (Heard this was great!)
Muppet*Vision 3D (Bummed we missed this one because I remember loving it!)
Rock ‘n’ Rollercoaster (Too chicken!)
Slinky Dog Dash (Bummed we missed this one!)
Star Tours – The Adventures Continue
Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance
Star Wars (Not a S.W. fan but I remember liking this one 5 years ago!)
Tower of Terror (Too chicken!)
Wonderful World of Animation

EPCOT

The Seas with Nemo & Friends (My kids loved this!)
Aquarium: Sharks & Rays (Same -- plus scuba-divers were waving to them!)
Journey of Water, Inspired by Moana (This was literally my kids favorite. It was so cool - I'm going to try & attach a video!)

*We missed a LOT in EPCOT, but this was due to poor planning. We mostly wandered around tired and confused, unsure what to do. I think if I had mapped out our rides here, we could've made the most of this park.

E. (Didn't Get To)

Soarin’ Around the World (My family got to go on this & loved it)
Beauty & the Beast Sing-Along
DuckTales World Showcase Adventure
Frozen Ever After
Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind
ImageWorks: The “What-If” Labs
Journey into the Imagination with Figment
Living with the Land
Luminous: The Symphony of Us
Mission: SPACE
Project Tomorrow (My parents got to go on this & liked it)
Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure
Turtle Talk with Crush
Test Track (closed)

RESTAURANTS

Dinner at Rose & Crown Pub & Dining Room in EPCOT (2 tables/ 3 + 4 Guests at 6:20 PM)

Dinner at 50's Prime Time Cafe Diner in Hollywood Studios (3 tables/3 + 4 + 5 Guests at 4/ 4:15/ 4:25 PM)
*This included tickets for Fantasmic 1st Show
Lunch at Princess Storybook Dining Lunch at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall in EPCOT (3 tables/3 + 4 + 5 Guests at 1:55PM/2:05PM/2:10PM)
Breakfast at Donald's Dining Safari at Tusker House Restaurant in Animal Kingdom (Africa) (2 tables of 6/10:10 AM)
Breakfast at Chef Mickey at Contemporary Hotel (3 tables of 4 at 10:45AM / 10:50AM)