Trip Report #
There was a bit of pressure leading up to this trip. Our previous trip, in December, hadn’t exactly gone according to plan. I left feeling less happy than I wanted to feel, and I felt concerned that that Disney magic was fading for me. Was I still capable of feeling it? Was I getting tired of Disney? If there’s such a thing as a Disney mid-life crisis, this would’ve been it.
But, fortunately, this trip did anything but disappoint.
My father-in-law (FIL) and stepmother-in-law (SMIL) actually encouraged us to add an extra night on this trip at the very last minute. They said it would help us to be fully rested; we could go straight into the park on what had become our first full day. So, we tried not to question if they genuinely meant it too much, and booked a cheap night at All-Star Movies resort on a 40% Annual Pass discount, since we were out of points.
This was a game-changer. From now on, on solo trips without the kids, we will be flying down the Thursday night before, staying as cheap as we can, and starting fresh the next day. It creates a bit of a split stay, but I don’t mind it when there’s no nap time to worry about. We were able to move over to the Grand Flo, eat a ton of Gasparilla Burgers, and have a great time, just as regularly scheduled.
We achieved several of my life-long Disney nerd dreams on this trip. Primarily, this whittles down to two things: The Keys to the Kingdom Tour and experiencing a Moonlight Magic event at Epcot.
The Keys to the Kingdom tour is not for the faint at heart. It is advertised as a lot of walking, and they aren’t kidding, but it was worth every penny and every minute, in my opinion. A particular favorite of mine is that they provide earbuds so that you never miss a word of what your tour guide is saying. As someone who’s hard-of-hearing, this was invaluable, and allowed me to feel very valued as a member of the tour group.
When we finished the Keys to the Kingdom tour, I felt literally numb with happiness.
I was so overwhelmed emotionally that we just went back to our Resort Studio and crashed with a Gasparilla Burger, and it was one of my happiest Disney memories ever.
For Moonlight Magic, this event was just…cool. It felt so nice to be at home with other Disney nerds. There was a DJ playing amazing 2000s hits—“This is What Dreams are Made of” blasting through World Discovery while waiting in line to meet Peter Quill and Gamora is just peak Disney Adult aesthetic—clearly indicating that we, Disney Millennials, were the intended audience for such an event.
It kicked off with blasting the DVC theme song; if you’re a member, and you haven’t heard the song, drop everything you’re doing—including reading this blog—and go listen to it. The memory of hearing it blaring through the park and seeing all the other DVC members surrounding us, some partying with their older children, still warms my heart to this day.
In Review #
Food #
We got a meal at Columbia Harbor House as part of our Keys to the Kingdom tour, and it was a game-changer. We have eaten there every time we’ve gone back to MK since. It isn’t cheap, but it’s one of the best meals in MK—not that there’s a lot of competition in that category.
Highlights #
THE KEYS TO THE KINGDOM!!! This has been a dream of mine since I lived in FL, so I felt so happy to get to do it. All Stars Movies was actually really awesome. We stayed there for one night during our honeymoon half a decade earlier, so it had nostalgic vibes for us for sure. As for Moonlight Magic at Epcot, we got to meet Peter Quill and Gamora, so there was a lot to love.
Lessions learned #
We have more of a capacity for doing late night events without the kids, and we wondered how long it would be until they could join us on cool things like Moonlight Magic.