Magical Blogorail: My Favorite Time to Visit Walt Disney World

Welcome to those of you joining me from A World View and those of you just hopping aboard. I am the Final stop on our Magical Blogorail.

My favorite time to visit Walt Disney World  

We'll look at this month's topic a couple of ways.

First, time of day.  I just love the parks at night when we have lingered after the fireworks.  I don't often get to stay late like this anymore since the kiddos need to get back to the room for bed but occasionally, thanks to grandparents, I am sprung from mommy duty and can play late in the parks.  Everyone else scurries for the buses but this is a fabulous time of day to capture a few pictures of the castle, pavilions, etc without anyone around.  I love to stroll toward the park exit enjoying the relative calm, listening to the music, taking in the details.  This is also a wonderful time to chat with Cast Members who aren't in a hurry either.  We've had some terrific Cast Member interactions during these late evening hours.

Favorite time of year: Fall  I'm a huge fan of the Food and Wine Festival.  World Showcase is my favorite part of Walt Disney World and it's only made better by the addition of all of the yummy food and beverage choices.  Seriously, how can you beat walking around the gorgeous promenade sampling tasty treats inspired by cultures from around the world?  This year we are catching the very end of the festival in hopes of also taking in the first part of the Christmas decorations.

Fall is also a great time to participate in a Disney race.  Over the years, I've run in a number of 5k or 10k races during this season.  RunDisney is offering two big race weekends this year.  During the first weekend of F&W will be the Tower of Terror 10 miler.  The Wine & Dine Half Marathon is the last weekend of the festival.  I was planning on running the half this year but after our May trip with the girls, I decided a night race was just a bad idea while traveling with small kids.  As much as I want to run that race, I'm not willing to kill my whole trip for it.  Traveling with little ones is tiring and running 13.1 miles in the middle of the night might not be my best plan.  I'm going to find a local goal race for this year and jump back in with RunDisney another year.

I haven't heard yet about what special foods/drinks/cuisines will be featured this year but regardless, I am really looking forward to the trip.  The weather is usually very pleasant in October and November.  But be sure to check the reports before you go.  It was unusually hot during our visit in late October/early November of 2010.  I was expecting Minnie on that trip and had to sit on the floor of "O Canada" to cool off but it's still much better than the height of summer.


When do you like to visit Disney Parks? Are you a night owl or an early bird? Does fall tickle your fancy or do you prefer another season?




Thank you for joining Magical Blogorail Red this month. We will be back in August with an all new theme. Keep checking in with our blogs in between loops to keep up to date with our Disney info, photos and stories. If you are looking for more Disney magic, you can make your way over to The Magical Blogorail website to see all our members and their blogs, as well as all our previous loops.

Here is the map of our Magical Blogorail should you happen to have to make a stop along the way and want to reboard:

1st Stop ~ My Dreams Of Disney

2nd Stop ~ Disney Donna Kay

3rd Stop ~ Colorado Mountain Mom

4th Stop ~ A World View

Final Stop ~ Growing Up Disney

Just like the World, you need more than one visit

Time for another update from Hilton Head. Since I last checked in, we had a delicious and fun lunch at Fiesta Fresh. We ended up trying all of their desserts and Andy and I were too full to go out for our early dinner date. The other three Eastmans had a nice long nap. DisneyDad, Baby Minnie and I went for a walk around the resort to take more photos and do some shopping. The evening's activity was "sweet goodnights" in Big Murggie's Den. Both of the girls enjoyed the stories read by two recreation cast members. Tink especially loved getting to sit with bigger kids and have cookies and milk. The baby seemed to enjoy story time, even if it was just a little longer than her young attention span would allow.

This morning Andy took Tink to toddler craft time and she got to make a yarn and bead necklace with her name on it. Again, she was the only child there and loved the personal attention. At noon, DisneyDad and I participated in the " Behind the Ears" tour for DVC members. This one hour tour took us around the resort to share history and hidden Mickeys. As a special treat, w were able to explore a grand villa. This is not normally a part of the tour so we lucked out.

Andy and Tink had lunch at Tide Me Over. Being creatures of habit, they again had a cheeseburger and a grilled cheese. When DisneyDad and I neared our villa, we found Andy and Tink relaxing in a hammock. Ok, well, that was Andy's idea but there is no way you're going to get a two and a half year old to sleep there. She was so excited. I joined them for a few minutes.

Well, now we are back around to another afternoon naptime. My parents are off for a late lunch and some grocery shopping. Andy and I are going to take another swing at a dinner date. We'll have to make it an early one because tonight at 7:00 is the campfire and s'mores.

Back to the title of this post. Regular Walt Disney World visitors know you can never do it all. There is always something left to explore. Believe it or not, Disney's Hilton Head Island Resort is alot like that. Without the parks, you have time to relax and enjoy the resort itself. We have participated in more activities this week than I have in almost 18 years of visits to Old Key West. The vibe here is very relaxed and with two small girls and a husband just back from a long international business trip, we've taken it easy. We haven't rented a bike or been over to the beach. We haven't gone shopping around the area. We didn't make it over to Savannah. Andy mentioned the kayak tour today but we may not do that this trip either. And all of that is ok. We've had a chance to get a little rest and fresh air and for the girls to play with their daddy and grandparents without anyone rushing off to work. All of these other activities sound like fun and we'll get around to them. Come on, we need some excuse to come back, right?

--Amy