Our Disney Itinerary with Park Hopper Tickets

We just got back from a full week at Disney World, and while we definitely had a few hiccups along the way, the kids had the absolute BEST time. We stayed at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort, used Park Hopper tickets, and packed as much as we possibly could into our week!

Here’s our full itinerary, including where we ate, what rides we did, and what I would do again on our next trip.

Getting to Disney

We drove down in a rented Mercedes Sprinter 12-passenger van, and honestly, this was the best way to travel, especially with our group. There was plenty of room for everyone and all of our luggage, and the kids thought riding in the giant van was so cool.

We arrived at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort around 2 p.m. We grabbed a snack, changed, and headed over to Disney Springs.

We took the bus from the resort to Disney Springs and had dinner reservations at Rainforest Cafe. It was a fun way to ease into the trip without immediately jumping into a full park day.

Day 1: Hollywood Studios

Hollywood Studios was our first Disney park!

We started the morning with a character breakfast at Hollywood & Vine with Minnie and Friends. It is buffet-style, which was perfect for our group. The food was really good and they had a lot of variety. We got to see several characters while we ate. I think this was the kids favorite part.

We skipped a traditional lunch and instead snacked throughout the morning since we had a late lunch/dinner reservation at Roundup Rodeo BBQ around 3 p.m. Roundup Rodeo BBQ was such a cute spot, and the kids loved it. The food is served family-style and was pretty good. It was also nice to sit down and take a break in the middle of a busy park day.

The kiddos absolutely loved watching and dancing along to the Disney Junior Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Live show. We also watched Beauty and the Beast, which Bradley loved since he watched the movie with me.

Rides We Rode With the Kids

• Toy Story Mania

• Alien Swirling Saucers

• Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway

• Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run — 38" or taller

  
  

Day 2: Magic Kingdom

On Monday, we headed to Magic Kingdom on the Monorail with our Premier Lightning Lane passes, and they were worth every cent for us! Since we were staying on Disney property, we were able to enter the park 30 minutes before the official opening time.

One thing to know: there aren't a ton of breakfast options available that early. We ended up grabbing a Starbucks sandwich on Main Street to start the day.

We spent most of the day riding attractions, watching shows, and exploring the different lands.

Rather than type out every single thing we did, I put together a breakdown below. I also included the height requirements for the rides that have them.

Shows & Attractions

Frontierland

• Country Bear Musical Jamboree

Adventureland

• Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room

Tomorrowland

• Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor

• Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress

  
  

Any-Height Rides & Attractions

Main Street, U.S.A.

• Walt Disney World Railroad

Fantasyland

• The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh

• Prince Charming Regal Carrousel

• Peter Pan’s Flight

• “it’s a small world”

• Mad Tea Party

• Under the Sea, Journey of the Little Mermaid

• Dumbo the Flying Elephant

• Casey Jr. Splash ’N’ Soak Station

Liberty Square

• Haunted Mansion

Adventureland

• Pirates of the Caribbean

• The Magic Carpets of Aladdin

• Jungle Cruise

Tomorrowland

• Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin

• Astro Orbiter

• Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover

  
  

Height-Restricted Rides

Fantasyland

• Seven Dwarfs Mine Train — 38"+

• The Barnstormer — 35"+

Frontierland

• Big Thunder Mountain Railroad — 38"+

• Tiana’s Bayou Adventure — 40"+

Tomorrowland

• Space Mountain — 44"+

• Tomorrowland Speedway — 32"+

• TRON Lightcycle / Run — 48"+

  
  

Food at Magic Kingdom

We had lunch at Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Café, which is very fast-food-ish — burgers, chicken fingers, fries, etc. My sister and I also grabbed Cheshire Cat Tails and the White Rabbit Iced Coffee. They were the perfect little dessert and afternoon pick-me-up!

We continued riding rides and watching shows throughout the day until we were hit with a huge thunderstorm. We ended up hiding out from the rain for about an hour. Once we realized there weren't many restaurant options available without a reservation, and there were a TON of people also trying to escape the rain, we decided to head back to the hotel for dinner.

After dinner, Brenna, Bobby, and I went back to the park to hit some of the rides we had missed.

We wanted to make sure we got the most out of our Premier Lightning Lane passes.

Day 3: Resort Day + Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party

Tuesday morning, I grabbed an iced coffee from Kona Cafe and ordered our breakfast through the app for pickup. We ate breakfast in our room, put on our bathing suits, and headed down to enjoy the resort pools and slides.

And honestly? I think the kids would have been perfectly happy doing that all day.

After having a resort day on this trip, I think we will always build one into our Disney vacations from now on. It gave us a chance to slow down, relax, and actually enjoy the resort instead of feeling like we had to be at a park every single minute.

Around lunchtime, we grabbed some food and slowly started getting ready to head back to Magic Kingdom for Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party.

The weather was sunny and HOT while we rode some rides and started looking for a spot for the parade. And then it started pouring. Long story short, the rain led to what was probably the shortest and most disappointing parade experience I have ever had.

We had arrived hours early and were prepared to wait for the parade, but because of the rain, the parade was drastically changed. We ended up heading home after watching the Halloween stage show, which was also affected by the weather, even though the rain had stopped hours earlier.

Thankfully, the kids had the best attitudes and were still happy just to be there.

Day 4: Animal Kingdom

The next day, we headed to Animal Kingdom. We went straight toward Africa for the safari but stopped for breakfast first. We found a stuffed pancake breakfast sandwich that was surprisingly SO good. I was not expecting much, but I would absolutely get it again!

Then we headed over to Kilimanjaro Safaris. We saw so many cool animals, and Bradley kept saying: “This is the coolest ride ever!” I would say the best time to do the safari ride is first thing because you want to be the crowd but also its cool out so the animals will most likely be out.

For lunch, we ate at Yak & Yeti, which was one of our favorite meals of the trip. I had sweet and sour chicken with fried rice, and honestly, I wish I could have it right now. We had a shorter day at Animal Kingdom because we needed to get back to the resort and get ready for Halloween Horror Nights.

Animal Kingdom Attractions

Shows & Experiences

• Finding Nemo

• Animal sightings

Any-Height Rides

• Kilimanjaro Safaris

• Na’vi River Journey

Height-Restricted Rides

• Expedition Everest — 44" +

• Kali River Rapids — 38"+

• Avatar Flight of Passage — 44" +

  
  

Day 5: Epcot

Epcot started with one of my favorite breakfasts of the entire trip at Les Halles Boulangerie-Patisserie. Everything looked SO good, especially all of the pastries and sweets. It was basically impossible to choose! After breakfast, we headed out to ride some attractions and ran into a few characters along the way.

The kids always love character interactions, so those little moments were some of my favorites.

For lunch, we ate in Mexico at San Angel Inn Restaurante. The kids started getting antsy while we were eating, so I took them over to the playground while everyone else finished their meals. I loved that Epcot had little places where the kids could run around and get some energy out.

After lunch and the playground, we rode more rides and walked around the park before eventually making our way over to Japan. We had hibachi at Teppan Edo, and it ended up being one of the best meals we had all week.

Epcot Attractions

Shows & Experiences

• Turtle Talk with Crush

Any-Height Rides & Attractions

• Spaceship Earth

• The Seas with Nemo & Friends

• Journey of Water

• Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure

• Frozen Ever After

• Journey Into Imagination with Figment

Height-Restricted Rides

• Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind — 42"+

• Test Track — 40"+

  
  

Final Thoughts

I truly could not have asked for a better Disney trip. We definitely had some hiccups along the way, the rain, the parade situation, getting caught in thunderstorms, and a few moments of complete chaos, but looking back, those things feel so small compared to everything else. The kids had the best time. Hearing them laugh, watching their faces light up when they saw their favorite characters, listening to Bradley tell me how cool everything was, and watching them experience Disney together brought me so much joy. At the end of the day, that's what made the whole trip worth it. It wasn't perfect, but it was ours, and I wouldn't trade those memories for anything.