This year, for my 30th birthday, I went to one of my favorite places in the world - a place that in itself is it’s own world, Walt Disney World!
I actually spent my 23rd birthday in Disneyland, that has been my first time going to any Disney in my conscious memory (I had only went once to DisneyWorld in like 1996 and I don’t remember much!) and it was the best day ever filled with so much fun and so many laughs.
After that, the next couple years I’d always wind up in some Disney around my birthday with different sets of friends who wanted to go, but I hadn’t actually spent my exact birthday in the iconic Disney World.
Truth is, for my 30th I always envisioned spending it in France … but with the world in the state it is, international travel didn’t feel great to me, so instead I figured the next best thing was France, EPCOT😆
My boyfriend - who is a lifelong super fan of Disney Parks - and I had spent the entire last year watching Disney Parks Live Streams on Youtube (mainly from ResortTv1 and LBVTV, our two favorites!), so it really hyped us up even more. We dreamed and wished we were there every day during 2020 and 2021. And then it finally arrived.
There’s nothing more magical then that feeling of stepping on Disney Resort Property and then eventually stepping into the Magic Kingdom itself. It just made me so happy. After watching it on livestreams for over a year straight, it felt like the feeling you get when you see a celebrity in real life. It was such a joy.
We stayed at the Grand Floridian, because of course! 😆 The chandeliers, the Cinderella and Alice in Wonderland nods, the piano player, that beautiful scent of green clover & aloe - it’s aesthetic matches my mine.
Last time we went, in March 2020, we were able to do the Afternoon Tea at the Grand Floridian, I was hoping to be able to do that on my birthday, however it was still closed due, so hoping next time!
Either way, the hotel itself is perfection, the room is so nice and clean (they even had staff come to make me a birthday cake towel fit with a balloon and a special happy birthday note) and the view from our room, with that gorgeous Florida Sky and palm trees, made me so happy.
The first night we went to Disney Springs - the non-park area thats filled with shopping and restaurants , we ate at the Rainforest Cafe 😆, honestly just because it’s nostalgic and I loved it so much when I was little. There are definitely better food options out there, but I guess you go for the aesthetic anyway! It was a Saturday night so the rest of Disney Springs was packed. Unfortunately all the lines for the dessert places were like over 20 minutes, including the new Gideon’s and Everglazed, so we weren’t able to get anything.
The next morning was my actual birthday, so of course had to go straight to the Magic Kingdom! I really love staying at the Grand Floridian too because the Magic Kingdom is less than a 5 minute monorail ride away.
We met up with two of my best friends from college, Tami and Paige, who I hadn’t seen in over a year, so I was so happy to be reunited with them.
The first thing we did was a special photo pass package Disney offers “Capture Your Moment”, where you get a private half hour session with a Disney photo pass photographer and you get to take pictures wherever you want with your whole crew in order to literally capture your special moment.
We booked it for 8:45, so while they were letting guests into the park on Main Street, the areas outside the hub were still blocked off as the park had not officially opened yet.
So, with our photographer, (who was amazing and so funny and kind!) we went to the castle, through the castle, on the other side of the castle, and got so many great pics (both solo and group). We were able to get such amazing shots with no crowds in the background. It was the perfect Erica-esq way to start off my birthday!
After that, of course we had to do my favorite ride: Space Mountain!
We rode a few more rides (it’s always great to base it off of wait times - see what’s lowest and head there. The lines weren’t too bad this time! It was Labor Day weekend though so they weren’t as empty as the week before, but we found that most ride times were posted higher than they actually were!) and then it was finally time to chomp down on my favorite Chicken Fingers in my beloved Cosmic Ray’s
I’m sure all Disney chicken fingers are rah same but for some reason they just seem to taste better in Cosmic Ray’s. 😆 They also have a lot of seating options available, so that’s why it’s always a good bet. Of course, trying to go a little off of that noon prime lunch time will help significantly.
After some more time in Magic Kingdom, we headed over to EPCOT, specifically so I could get my favorite Ice Cream in France. Les Aristans des Glaces - best chocolate ice cream. It’s so good, and if you get the waffle cone they give you a lot!
Now, I know there’s a Disney thing where people say you have to start World Showcase in Mexico, but I always start in Canada and end in Mexico. Mainly, because I always just want to get to France and Canada is the fastest way.
We also ate dinner in Italy. My boyfriend and I are picky eaters - so most cool looking restaurants (including Cinderella’s Castle in MK) actually don’t have anything we’d like on the menu. So when in doubt, go Italian because Italian is the only thing where there’s multiple options we like.
We ate personal pizza’s at Via Napoli. Now, I know it’s a weird thing to be a New Yorker to leave NY and eat pizza because WHY hahaha, but Via Napoli passes the test. It’s probably the only place in America I will accept non-New York pizza from.
We spent more time at Epcot, walking around, and then finally called it a night - but on the way back to our hotel, literally as we arrived at the Grand Floridian, we were able to see the fireworks from MK from the monorail. So, we hurried downstairs and if you stand by the Gasaprilla Island Grill you have a great view of the fireworks - and you can even see Tinkerbelle when she flies by!!
My birthday day itself was fabulous! I felt super grateful for turning 30 (not a lot of people make it that far) and I know so many amazing things are still on their way.
I could probably write a novel itself about the rest of our trip, so I’ll just give some highlights!
So, we went to Boo Bash - Disney’s after hours halloween party, where you can dress up! I Dressed up as Alice, obvs haha.
It was so fun, you can trick or treat for a lot of candy, the rides all have absolutely no lines, all walk ons (so to me alone that’s worth it!). They have special Photo Pass stations, cool lightning everywhere, and even some characters out (My boyfriend had a long convo with the Haunted Mansion ghosts outside the Haunted Mansion who were sassing him and he loved every second of it).
Also, worth noting my friend Tami dressed up as Zenon, Girl of the 21st century (remember that DCOM?) and literally every cast member we passed was so excited and told her how much they loved her costume and at the end someone gave her a button that said “best costume!” So yes we definitely had a great time!
Honestly, the highlight of my entire trip was building my lightsaber in Savi’s workshop. I’ve always loved Star Wars, but throughout this past year, I went even deeper with Star Wars - I watched all of Clone Wars and Rebels twice, obviously excitedly watched the new Bad Batch, rewatched all of the movies several times, and even watched a YouTube walkthrough of Fallen Order the video game. My Star Wars knowledge and love has increased a lot. So, building my light saber was the coolest. Our guide was so great in his presentation, and they play the emotional Star Wars music and give you guidance🥺 It was perfection, more than I ever could’ve hoped for.
For building the light saber, you get 4 options (Elemental, Power, Protection,Peace) - I chose the Elemental! And I chose a Blue Blade, mainly because blue is my favorite color, but also a lot of the Jedi I love best had blue, like Kanan Jarrus, Anakin, and Obi-Wan (briefly Ahsoka too when Anakin makes her lightsabers “better” in season 7!)
I didn’t build the droid this time, I actually had done it in 2019 in Disneyland. Building the droid is super fun and cute, but I definitely didn’t need more than one. Doing it once was good enough.
Also, if you get your lightsaber, at night, they’ll have Photo Pass set up around the Millennium Falcon. The park was pretty empty so it was easy to get really cool pictures - definitely some of my favorite pics of the trip!
The Star Wars Rides are always the best, too - Rise of the Resistance is the most amazing ride. Smuggler’s Run I’ve been on a total of 3 times in my life now and I’ve only ever been a pilot, and let me tell you sitting in Han’s seat is so much easier than sitting in Chewie’s seat!
Also, last thing for Star Wars - the Mantel Mix (as featured now in the Bad Batch) was so good. I heard people say it tasted like Trix cereal, and I agree, it’s really sweet and tasty. The Blue Milk is always a good choice. Personally, the Green Milk is kinda eh - I thought I’d like that one better because it sounds like that better option but it’s not that great, Blue is delightful though!
So, yes in our time we managed to go to all the parks multiple times. Animal Kingdom Safari is always my fav - especially getting to see my beloved elephants. Love Toy Story Midway Mania at Hollywood Studios, and Buzz Lightyear at Magic Kingdom. We even got to try the new Ratatouille Ride at EPCOT! It was cute but definitely made me really dizzy. Unfortunately with wearing the 3d glasses with your mask, the glasses fog up so you have to keep cleaning them to see properly.
We didn’t have enough time to properly do the EPCOT food and wine festival that was going on - but that’s okay because we’re honestly not foodies at all. The booths set up looked really cute though!
On our last night, we also got to watch the MK fireworks from our balcony on the Grand Floridian, which was really great.
Overall, it’s always the best time when you go to Disney. It may be hot and tiring, we may have walked like 50 miles in one week, but the second you leave, you always wish you were right back there :)
