Disney World for Fall Break 2022

 Back in January 2022 we booked a trip to Disney World for fall break!

10 months flew by and we found ourselves packing for Orlando! Side note: when we went to Disneyland last October, I noticed people young and old wearing super cute themed Loungefly backpacks! I hopped all on that fun train and picked some up over the course of the year including a few Halloween-themed ones and a few of sparkly ones :) They made great padding for my She Loves Color suitcase since I taught the weekend before.

I flew straight from Milwaukee while Chris and the kids took a 6am flight from Denver. As my plane was descending into Orlando I saw Universal Studios!

Then I saw EPCOT!

Then I saw the Magic Kingdom and all the resorts around the lake including the Contemporary, Polynesian, and Grand Floridian! It was so fun to spot these landmarks from the air for the first time.

Ready!

45 minutes later Chris, Fox, and Jane landed - perfect timing!

We took an Uber to the Polynesian Village Resort and the cast member gave each of us a lei to kick off the festivities when we checked in. 

We made it!

Our building at the resort.

We dropped off our luggage in our room and got into the spirit of Halloween with matching backpacks and mouse ears.

Chris took full advantage of the food offered in the lounge lol.

We arrived to the hotel in the early afternoon and didn't have park tickets for the day so we spent the remainder of our first day wandering around the resort and taking in all the beauty.

Flowers still in full bloom in warm & sunny Florida.

So happy!

Love the tropical vibes.

Of course Fox and Jane wanted to go swimming so off we went!

Fancy & delicious tropical drinks.

We changed up our backpacks and ears every time we went to a park. It was definitely a highlight for me and Jane :)

We took the monorail over to the Grand Floridian to check it out. Jane is doing her "fancy" pose.

Spooktacular decorations!

No one in our family has stayed here before - it's super pretty! But we want to try the Animal Kingdom Lodge next :) 

All aboard the monorail!

For dinner we ate at Captain Cook's back at the Polynesian and I got meatballs over coconut rice - so yummy!

Sunset views.

Looking out across the lagoon to Cinderella's castle.

We went back to the main building to do a little shopping. I didn't get this sweatshirt/sweatpants combo but now I wish I had!

Oooh tempty tempty!!

The next morning we were up before the sun to take advantage of half hour early entry.

It was just a quick monorail ride to the park.

Let's do this!

We made it to the Magic Kingdom!

Walk faster kids! Lol.

Squeeee!

Even at 7 in the morning, it was already packed. We're used to the crowds by now.

First ride after the rope drop: Peter Pan. The kids are old enough to go on the rides together without an adult so Chris and I got to sit together a lot more.

Next: It's A Small World.

Tangled is up there as one of my favorite animated Disney movies.

Even the bathroom is so cute.

Over to the Haunted Mansion, the perfect ride at Halloween time.

First treats: Mickey ice cream sandwich and ice cream bar.

Fantasyland.

In line at Ariel's Grotto.

They rode in separate shells and when I turned around to see what they were doing I caught them like this. So cute.

First Lightning Lane ride: Big Thunder Mountain. This is a favorite of the kids so we had to make sure to get it in early!

Hands in the air!

We attempted to ride Splash Mountain but the line was too long so we bailed and got a LL pass for later in the day.

The Enchanted Tiki Room.

For lunch we ate at the Jungle Navigation Co. LTD Skipper Canteen, a new restaurant by the Jungle Cruise ride.

Fun booth! The waitress had punny jokes throughout the meal just like the guides do on the ride.

Orange drink.

I got something chicken and it was yummy.

Fox got this fun lava dessert with his kids meal.

Cute Jane in the restaurant. It was a great break before heading back out into the hubbub. 

Next, Pirates of the Caribbean! Always a family favorite.

We meandered through the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse.

The views from the top are always stellar.

Me!

We bought tickets to ride Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. I love new roller coasters because they're smooth like butter instead of lumpy and bumpy. I'm getting old hahaha.

Weeeee!

We were pretty tired at this point and Jane really wanted to go back to the hotel for some chill time so despite me really wanting to stay and ride more rides, we decided to make our way back to our room.

Ta ta for now!

We took the boat ride back to the hotel.

No more than 30 minutes after we got back to our room, a torrential storm blew in. I literally watched it arrive right before my eyes.

As Chris and I were standing out on the balcony, a bolt of lightning struck no more than 100 yards away from us over the water. It was the loudest sound I've ever heard and scared the beejeezies out of us. We booked it back into the safety of our room. Holy crap.

An hour later, the storm blew over, and rainbows appeared.

Rainbow coming right out of Space Mountain!

We took the boat back to the Magic Kingdom since the monorail was down after the storm.

Thank goodness we listened to Jane and went back to the hotel! I can't imagine being in the park during that storm! You'd never even know it happened, look at those blue skies!

Yippee!

Round two!

It was dinner time so we went to Pinocchio Village Haus.

We lucked out and got a table right at the window overlooking It's A Small World.

Pizza, tomato soup, and fries, all delish.

Pretty lighting.

We walked about 10 miles per day.

Our lightning lane time was up for Splash Mountain!

Before.

Peeking out at the top drop.

During.

After.

Our last time riding it with this theme, soon they're changing it to Princess and the Frog.

Christmas store? Yes please!

Wallpaper inside the Christmas store.

Picture perfect.

Tomorrowland Speedway (aka Autopia at Disneyland).

Buds.

The floor inside Space Mountain is covered in plastic balls.

That concluded our first day at the parks!

The next morning we once again woke up at the crack of dawn to be at the half hour early entry rope drop at Animal Kingdom along with every other human in the world it seemed lol.

We headed straight to Pandora to ride the Avatar rides.

The decor is out of this world.

Flight of Passage! Our efforts waking up early were worth it and we walked right on this ride.

After that, it was over the other Avatar ride, the Na'vi River Journey.

We skipped breakfast to get on those rides before the crowds came, so afterward we got some food at Pongu Pongu including this funky drink. 

Pretty lily pads.

Sporting my new Haunted Mansion/Jack Skellington shirt and light pink sequined ears/backpack.

Next we walked over to Africa.

We had a few minutes before our Lightning Lane time at the Kilimanjaro Safaris, so we walked through the zoo section nearby. Fish feeding off a hippo.

Baby gorilla on its mama's back.

Amazing flower.

Then it was our time at the Kilimanjaro Safari and we saw tons of animals.

Lazy lions. Cats gonna nap.

While walking over to Asia, we passed by a bird show we'd never seen before that was about to start to we dropped in. It was super fun! Lots of birds flying low over the audience and doing amazing feats. Jane was in heaven.

Somehow we talked the kids into going on Everest.Fox was NOT happy about the whole situation. Sorry, Fox. Too late now! :)

Here we go!

View from the top.

Faces say it all. Chris thinks he's funny ;)

We survived to tell the tale!

Fox feigned nausea but really, he realized he'd been scared all these years for no reason. It's just another fun roller coaster!

Can't wait to go on this again someday without bribery lol.

Next up: Dinosaur.

This ride has a similar mechanism to the awesome Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland which is a favorite.

Scary!

Along the Maharajah Jungle Trek.

Painted lockers, just because it's pretty.

We finally had a moment to breathe after checking off all the big rides so we got pics in front of the Tree of Life.

They are expert jumpers.

We headed back to our hotel and got lunch at Captain Cook's again. This time I got fancy nachos, they were delicious. 

On the monorail back to the Magic Kingdom!

First stop? The Haunted Mansion of course, it's Halloween season!

We went on our honeymoon to Disney World over 15 years ago. Still in love :)

We bit the bullet and waited in line for an hour to ride The Jungle Cruise.

Then we walked over to Tomorrowland.

It's Buzz!

Lol. I don't even know what's happening.

We saw the roller coaster inside the new Tron ride they've been building! It's going! Why not let people on?!! I wanna ride it noooow!

A fun mini coaster, the Barn Stormer.

Dumbo. Checking all the rides off, one by one :)

Next: the spinning tea cups.

I suffered through lol.

Will stop for flower pics.

And that was the end of our second full day at Disney World!

Back to the monorail to cruise back to the resort.

I sound like a broken record, but, the next morning we once again woke up at the crack of dawn to be at the half hour early entry rope drop at EPCOT! Strategy people, it's all strategy. The early bird gets the worm. The early risers get to ride rides without ginormous lines.

The Evans family at EPCOT on Wednesday October 19th 2022.

Rope drop ride: Test Track.

I was astounded by Fox and Jane and how quickly they navigated through this digital "game". I guess I shouldn't be surprised, this is how kids these days are programmed lol.Their little fingers moved faster than I could even comprehend what was happening on the screen. Beep boop beep beep boop.

Woot woot!

It goes so fast, it's so fun.

Messy hair don't care!

We ran over to Frozen.

Makes me want to watch the movie.

Just like the stave church we saw in Norway.

Always looking out for flowers.

A funky bathroom mural.

Then we got to go on the new Guardians of the Galaxy ride!

Almost there!

Duuuuuuude!!!! IT WAS SOOOO FUN!!!!!! Hard to describe, but it was such a fun, unique ride.

Inside the EPCOT ball is a ride called Spaceship Earth.

Our graphics lol.

Nemo!

Silly manatee.

Throughout EPCOT we kept finding pumpkins painted as characters. Fun little Easter eggs!

Next we went on Soarin'.

Followed by the boat ride through Living with the Land.

Next we made a lap around the World Showcase.

France.

Morocco.

Jane eating a pretzel in Germany. If only!

We ate lunch at the San Angel Inn Restaurante inside the pyramid of Mexico.

The food here was probably my favorite of everything we ate!

We got LL passes for the new Ratatouille ride for the late afternoon so after taking a nap back at the hotel we came back to EPCOT and walked back to France.

Feels like we're really in Paris!

Such a fun and interactive ride!

We made another lap and paused in front of Germany to reminisce about the good ol' days.

We missed going on the boat ride at lunch so we stopped again at Mexico.

We were just there eating lunch!

Love this fun boat ride.

Mmmmm assortment of fries.

Back at the hotel, we got our pics taken to commemorate the fun week at the Polynesian!

We got to watch the fireworks show one last time from our balcony.

Amazing amazing!

Until next time!!

Special thanks to Lyndsey Wells of ConciEARS for booking and planning our trip! Reach out to her for ANY of your Disney travel needs, she can do it all: lwells@ConciEARS.com