We Went to Disney and Didn't Go in a Park!

Hello! It's me, again, with more Disney magic! 

This past summer, my family and I took a trip to Orlando to soak up some Disney magic before going back to school. We decided that we didn't want to purchase park tickets, and we just wanted to do things that we wouldn't normally do on a busy Disney trip.

I started planning and researching what things we hadn't done or seen at Disney. That's how enormous and busy Disney property is. I have been over 10 times, and there are still things that I haven't done or seen.

What to do at Disney Springs

The first thing that I was looking forward to was Disney Springs. I have been to Disney Springs before, but I always feel rushed when we are there because I usually plan other stuff to be done on the same day. There are so many things to buy, eat, see, and experience at Disney Springs. There were so many new things at Disney Springs, since the last time that we went. My favorite new store there is Disney Style.

In Disney Style, they have so many cute clothes and accessories! My favorite part is the pictures on the walls and the props. The castle picture is so pretty, and the teacup is pretty cool. There are also Tangled lanterns hanging from the ceiling and a skyway bucket! Even if you aren't going to buy anything, you should still go in to see all the beautiful pictures and props.

The other store I was really excited about was the new World of Disney store. It was getting redone, and the new side that was done was open when we were there. It is very modern and more spread out than the old World of Disney. The whole store is supposed to have a grand reveal in the fall of 2018. I can't wait to see the whole store open!

We also went to the Lego store, Basin (bath products), Days of Christmas store (even in the middle of July), the Marketplace Co-Op (this is made up of a few different little stores), Tren-D, Uniqlo, and many more. There are so many stores to shop and window shop in. :)

We also took a picture at this cool photo spot. They were advertising right beside the AMC for the new Christopher Robin movie, which is such a cute movie! This photo spot changes out for what the new Disney movie is. 

Fun at the Disney Resorts

After our fun at Disney Springs, we headed for the buses, which are located behind town center.
These buses run to and from the different resorts that are on Disney property.
People can go to the Disney resorts for free, and there are so many different things to see and experience at different resorts.


My mom and I love the bus ride because it is somewhere to sit down, and it is air-conditioned, which is perfect for a hot, Florida day.


We went to Old Key West resort, and I thought it was such a cute resort. It was very chill; there wasn't a lot of hustle and bustle like a bigger resort.

After that, we went to Animal Kingdom Lodge. If you have never been to this resort, you have to go visit it, even if you aren't staying there. It was such a cool resort. When you walk in the front doors, the ceiling is low, and the desks are on either side of the wall. Once you walk past the desk, you enter into a large, beautiful lobby.

The window that is at the very back of the lobby overlooks the savanna. When you leave the lobby, there is an overlook place to watch the animals.

The next resorts we went to were the ones that are located on the monorail loop. They are the Polynesian, the Grand Floridian, and the Contemporary.
These resorts are my absolute favorites because they are so unique and beautiful.

We skipped the Polynesian for the time being because we would be coming back there to watch the fireworks later that night. At the Grand Floridian, we went into all the cute little shops. There is also a smaller Basin store located here, and the other shops here sell some nicer, more expensive brands, such as Lilly Pulitzer, Pandora, and Dooney and Bourke. My favorite store that we went in there was M. Mouse Mercantile. This store sells the basic gift shop items, clothes, mugs, ears, accessories, and other things. The best part of the store when we went in was the cast members working there. They were so sweet and so excited to pin trade with me and my sister.

My absolute favorite part of the Grand Floridian resort is the Wedding Pavilion. (See the beautiful picture of tourist Abby from our 2017 trip)
It is so cute and quaint! If you walk from the Polynesian to the Grand Floridian, you will walk by it, so make sure to stop by and look. If you ride the monorail from the Polynesian to the Grand Floridian, you will pass it, and if you get lucky, you might even get to see a wedding party taking pictures or going to a wedding.
The other cool thing that happens at the Grand Floridian is a cute band that plays in the lobby. The band is located on the second floor of the lobby, but they can be heard throughout the whole lobby.

If you do visit the Grand Floridian and it looks familiar to you, it might be because you have seen it on a television show. The Grand Floridian lobby is where DJ Tanner saw the real Steve when the Tanner family were on their Disney vacation. I love Full House, so I had to take a picture on the stairs where DJ saw the real Steve.

When we were done at the Grand Floridian, we headed back to the monorail to go to the Contemporary! We had to make a stop at the Magic Kingdom first to pick up and drop off some people.

When we arrived at the Contemporary, we went into the gift shops because who doesn't like to look at cute Disney stuff? They have two gift shops on the Fantasia and Bayview Gifts. In Fantasia, they sell mostly kids stuff (toys, plushes, and games), magicbands, and pins. In Bayview gifts, they have a dessert counter with cupcakes, candy apples, cookies, and such, adults' clothing, accessories, and home goods. My favorite thing about the 4th floor is the big window that overlooks towards the Magic Kingdom. It is also the window that the monorail comes through.

After we went into the gift shops, we stopped by Contempo Cafe. They are just a quick-service restaurant located next to Chef Mickey's. We got two super awesome cupcakes. The one in the top picture was a confetti cupcake with strawberry in the middle with vanilla icing, and it is topped with these super cute iridescent Minnie ears! The one in the bottom picture was cookies and cream cake and frosting with a white chocolate monorail coming out of the frosting on the top. 

If you didn't know, there is a craze that has been happening at Disney for a while. It is taking pictures in front of walls, and they can be found all around Disney property. The one located at the Contemporary resort is the neon Mickey wall. It is located right past the entrance of Bayview Gifts.






When we were done at the Contemporary, we headed back to our hotel, had dinner, and took a break.

We arrived back on Disney property and headed to the Polynesian resort for shopping, fun, and fireworks!

We went shopping in the BouTiki and Moana Mercantile. My sister and I did some pin trading with cast members and some nice girls. After we were done shopping, we headed straight for the Dole Whip!

You can find Dole Whip at many places around the Walt Disney World resort, but we got ours from Pineapple Lanai which is located when you walk out of the lobby towards the pool, and it is on the left when you leave the lobby. We enjoyed our Dole Whip floats, which are the famous pineapple soft-serve served with pineapple juice.
When we finished our Dole Whip floats, we headed to the sand, in order to get a good spot for the fireworks show. In order to get to the best viewing area at the Polynesian, you head out of the lobby, past the pool, and you'll reach the sand. In order to make sure that you see the fireworks, you need to make sure that you can see the castle.


Before the fireworks start, there is a special treat. It is the electric water pageant.

The floats are located on Seven Sea's Lagoon, and they also have music that goes with them. My sister and I had never seen the water pageant, so I'm so glad we got to watch it before the fireworks.







Then, it was time for Happily Ever After! The Polynesian even pipes in the music to the beach, and it makes it even better!

Disney's Character Warehouse

If you have never heard of the Disney's character warehouse, then you are missing out. There are 2 that are located in Orlando, FL, and they aren't that far from Disney property.

One of them is located at Orlando International Premium Outlets, and the other is located at Orlando Vineland Premium Outlets.
At the character warehouse, they have authentic Disney Parks merchandise and other Disney merchandise for sale at a discounted rate. They do have some things at the warehouse that aren't for sale, just look out for those.
We went to both of the outlets while we were in Orlando on this trip, and I got all of these goodies at the two warehouses.

 I got these light-up Mickey ears, the Little Mermaid Mickey ears, Mary Poppins birthstone pin, Big Al pin, 2 Star Wars pins, Space Mountain pin, and the mystery Frozen pins. I also got a 2017 Flower and Garden Tervis Tumblr for about $8. All of the merchandise is discounted, and it is the perfect place to find cool Disney merchandise.

You don't have to go to a Disney Park in order to get some Disney magic in your life! Disney magic is all around the Disney property, you just have to look for it!