Niki and her boyfriend took a babymoon camping trip to Walt Disney World. They are experienced campers but this was their first time camping at Disney.
These are notes from this episode. There’s much more info included in the audio so be sure to listen to the episode for a better explanation.
The Basics
Niki and her boyfriend drove about 10 hours from their home to Fort Wilderness. Niki was 19 weeks pregnant during their trip.
Their trip was from February 20-27. Originally Niki planned a girls trip but it was postponed due to covid. This was her boyfriend’s first trip to Disney but she is a veteran.
Initially her boyfriend wasn’t interested in going to Disney World but she got him interested with the camping element. They purchased a larger tent, air mattress, and Kong cooler in preparation for their trip.
Niki and her boyfriend visited all 4 Disney parks as well as Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios.
Arrival Day (February 20)
Niki and her boyfriend left at 5:30 a.m. central time, leaving the snow and ice. They stopped a few times on their drive, but they arrived around 5 p.m. Disney time!
The campsite had a drive-thru check-in and their campsite was in the 2000 loop. Their location was fine but they were a bit of a walk to the comfort station. It was about 5-6 campsites away, which was difficult when you’re pregnant!
They were also far from a bus stop and they opted to not have a golf cart. The price just wasn’t worth it for them. If they’d spent more time at the resort, it might have been worth it for them.
They had a reservation at 7:50 p.m. for Whispering Canyon and they went over there as soon as they got their campsite set up. They explored the resort and checked in at 7:30 p.m. for their reservation.
The restaurant was very crowded and they weren’t called until 8:10 p.m. They were very hungry! They each got a skillet, but got different ones so that they could try different things. Niki got the traditional skillet and her boyfriend got the land and sea skillet. They really enjoyed their dinner.
After dinner they drove back to their campsite and went to bed.
Animal Kingdom (February 21)
Animal Kingdom opened at 8 a.m. and Niki and her boyfriend arrived around 9 a.m. They drove and that was easy.
Their first stop was Kilimanjaro Safaris and it was perfect. The animals were very active. They went to Flight of Passage next and only waited about 20 minutes.
They walked over to Expedition Everest next and it was a walk-on. Niki waited in the queue with her boyfriend and then he rode alone. They went to the Maharaja Jungle Trek next before stopping for lunch.
They went to lunch at Satuli Canteen and really enjoyed it. They were able to eat inside to get a break from the sun.
The did It’s Tough to be a Bug and DINOSAUR next. Niki’s boyfriend did DINOSAUR alone and said it was very loud. He wasn’t a fan.
They did Gorilla Falls next and spent a great deal of time in there. They really enjoyed it there because the gorillas were very active.
They saw the Feathered Friends in Flight show at 3:30 p.m. They got in line for Na’vi River Journey and waited an hour! They didn’t get out of the park until 5:50 p.m. and went straight to Animal Kingdom Lodge for their 6:05 p.m. dinner reservation at Sanaa.
They had a good meal but were sad to be seated at the bar and not near the windows. The bread service was incredible! They were able to get Zebra domes at the Kidani gift shop on their way out.
They enjoyed their zebra domes in their tent before bed.
Epcot (February 22)
Niki and her boyfriend woke up and they had breakfast at their campsite. Epcot didn’t open until 11 a.m. this morning so they had some time in the morning.
They drove over to Epcot a little after 11 a.m. and it wasn’t very crowded. They went to Soarin’ first and it was a walk-on. They did Living with the Land next.
Their next stop was Festival of the Arts. They painted the murals and got some food from the booths. It was the last day fo the festival.
They walked over to American Adventure and Niki’s boyfriend slept through the whole thing. It was getting hot out so it was nice to be inside.
They were also able to catch some cavalcades before waiting to get into the Mexico pavilion. They rode Gran Fiesta Tour and got some more snacks from the booths.
They left Epcot around 6 p.m. and had dinner back at their campsite. Niki and her husband brought a cooler with all of their food. They brought a cast iron skillet to cook their food over the fire.
Universal Studios (February 23)
They woke up and got breakfast from Roaring Fork. Niki had mobile ordered breakfast and got some Mickey waffles. They ate their breakfast outside.
They drove to Universal Studios first and went straight to Diagon Alley. Niki went through the queue with her boyfriend at Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts first. From there they went to the Hogwarts Express.
They went to Three Broomsticks for lunch around noon. They really enjoyed everything they got.
Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure and Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey were both down. They were able to walk through the castle, but that’s it. It was very disappointing.
They still had a good time and rode Skull Island: Reign of Kong, E.T. Adventure and the Cat in the Hat ride. They ended up just walking around.
They shopped around and look at things for the rest of the day. When they wanted to switch parks, the line for Hogwarts Express was over an hour, so they ended up walking around instead. Everything was very crowded.
Social Distancing and mask compliance at Universal wasn’t nearly as good as at Disney. They did have a good day.
On their way back to their campsite, they stopped for Thai food. They got some delicious good and went back to their campsite.
Magic Kingdom (February 24)
They got up early on Niki’s birthday to go to Circle B Bar Reserve. They had a wonderful time hiking alligator alley. They saw so many alligators!
They left around 12 p.m. to head to the Magic Kingdom. They knew it would be crowded and it was.
Their first stop was a 15 minute wait at Journey of the Little Mermaid. Their next stop was Haunted Mansion and it was a walk-on. Everything else was very crowded.
They stopped for lunch at Peco’s Bills and got a Dole Whip. They waited in line for Jungle Cruise and Pirates of the Caribbean.
They went to Space Mountain next and Niki went through the queues with her boyfriend. He loved Space Mountain!
They did Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin and Peter Pan’s Flight. The wait for Peter Pan’s Flight was almost an hour. Then they did Carousel of Progress and it’s a small world before the park closed at 7 p.m.
They had a 7:30 p.m. dinner at Be Our Guest. The atmosphere was wonderful but the food was just mediocre. There wasn’t very much food and it wasn’t good, especially for how expensive it was.
The beast did come around twice while they were eating and that was fun. They were encouraged to walk around the restaurant and see everything.
The park was empty when they were leaving because the park was already closed. They did have some areas closed but they weren’t rushed out of the park.
Hollywood Studios (February 25)
They woke up at 6:45 a.m. to get ready for their Rise of the Resistance boarding group. They both tried and her boyfriend got them boarding group 13!
This was great, but their breakfast was at 9:05 a.m. at Topolino’s Terrace. They arrived to breakfast early and they were seated by 8:30 a.m.
They loved the meal and Niki says this was one of the best meals of the trip. Everything was very good. The characters were so cute and came around twice while they were eating.
Their boarding group was already called so they took the skyliner over to Hollywood Studios and went right to Rise of the Resistance. Niki had her receipt ready to go because the app said that their time had closed, but they were allowed to ride without issue.
Niki and her boyfriend both really loved Rise of the Resistance. He ended up riding alone, but Niki stayed with him through the queue, which is so much on that ride!
When they got off of Rise of the Resistance, Galaxy’s Edge was very busy. It was uncomfortable for them to walk around. They decided to leave and go to Disney Springs.
They took the skyliner back to the Riviera and drove over to Disney Springs. They got in the virtual queue for Gideon’s Bakehouse. They did some shopping and then drove back over to Hollywood Studios.
They were back to Hollywood Studios by mid-afternoon. Their first stop was Toy Story Mania with very little wait. It was wonderful. Niki really loves that ride.
They mobile ordered lunch from ABC Commissary. After lunch they waited about 45 minutes for Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway. The line looked a lot longer than it was. It was so good! Niki wishes she’d been able to see it again.
They were about 90 minutes away from park closing and they wanted to do Tower of Terror and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster. The line for Tower of Terror was over 90 minutes so they didn’t think they could do it.
They waited for Tower of Terror and only waited for 45 minutes. Niki was able to go all the way to the elevators with her boyfriend. They had time to get in line for Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster before the park closed. He loved that too!
Magic Kingdom (February 26)
Niki and her boyfriend got up and made it to the Magic Kingdom just after park opening. They went right to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and waited about 30 minutes. Niki’s boyfriend really enjoyed this.
They saw some characters and a cavalcade before going to Country Bears Jamboree. At 11:10 a.m. they checked in for their 11:30 a.m. lunch at Skipper Canteen.
Niki hadn’t been there before but she really liked it! After lunch they did The Many Adventures Winnie the Pooh and Splash Mountain. Niki really wishes she’d been able to ride Splash Mountain because it might be different the next time she’s there.
Around 3:30 p.m. they decided that they wanted to eat dinner at Geyser Point. They hadn’t been over there yet so they decided to take a boat over to Fort Wilderness.
They took the boat over and did some shopping. They took the bus over to Wilderness Lodge and checked in at Geyser Point. They were glad that they got their early – it only took about 20 minutes to get a table.
They enjoyed the dinner and then took the boat back to the Magic Kingdom. It was a full moon and it was just beautiful over the water.
When they arrived they learned that Pirates of the Caribbean was down and wouldn’t be back up that night. They were able to ride Haunted Mansion and then Niki’s boyfriend rode Space Mountain one last time.
They shopped their way out of the park and had to wait in line to get into the Emporium. That’s how they ended their trip.
Key Takeaways
- Niki highly recommends the Kong cooler. It kept their food cold the whole week!
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