Welcome back, friends! You made it through part one of the Great Big Disney Recap, now it’s time to dive into part two!!! (AKA Wedding Day, Magic Kingdom, and our final day traveling home!!) Savannah and I had SOOO much fun! I can’t wait for you to dive into today’s post!
I’m keeping today’s intro short because this post is already pretty long! CLICK HERE for part one of my Disney recap (and for some of my tried and true tips for navigating Disney with dietary restrictions)! If you’re up to speed, keep scrolling because we’re diving right in!
Monday
IT’S WEDDING DAY!!! We stopped in Pop Century’s cafeteria for breakfast and snacks. While we were there, I also asked the chef to prep me some lunch! Our sweet chef prepped me a salad with grilled chicken and veggies to keep me fueled throughout K&B’s wedding day! SOO thankful!
PS You can click the following links to Kelsey and Blaine’s engagement session and wedding blog posts!
I’ve known Kelsey since we were in the sixth grade, and since then, I knew she was DREAMING of her Disney Wedding Day! There was no other place that would be right for her wedding! When she let me know that she wanted me to photograph her wedding, goodness was I honored! We’ve spent the last two years chatting about her plans, and her day went by in the most JOYFUL blur. It was perfect!! Their wedding party was so incredibly sweet, these two didn’t stop smiling for a second all day, and it just meant so much that Savannah and I could be there to document this beautiful day! 
I graduated high school next to this sweet gal, and now, she calls shows at Epcot! She was actually just across the pavilion from us and popped in to say hello while I was shooting K&B’s reception space! So good to see you, Ashley!
Kelsey and Blaine’s reception was in the American Pavilion, so we were in Epcot well after closing. It was SO surreal to be in the park when it was SO quiet!! 
If you want a giggle: Hour 1 on the left vs. hour 16 on the right… you could say we put our all into that wedding day! (We were SO ready for bed!)
Tuesday
Magic Kingdom day!!! We started our day bright and early, hopping on as early of a bus to Magic Kingdom as we could! That meant we were running on about 4 hours of sleep, but #worthit. We decided to do a quick breakfast this day, me opting for a RX bar & Savannah opting for something quick she grabbed from the cafeteria the day before!
Because we had spent the day prior toting around our cameras and lots of gear for 15 hours, so we decided to leave our cameras in our hotel room for the day! Honestly, while it would be great to have real camera pictures from Magic Kingdom, I am THRILLED that we decided to leave our cameras behind! We had SO much fun, took enough phone pictures & saved our backs in the process.
There’s something so magical about Main Street USA!! 
Ahh!!! Savannah kept making fun of me because I was starry-eyed and SOO excited to be there, but can you blame me?! 
Literally could not contain my excitement! 
Forever on the job & organizing group pictures!
Savannah let me know that she knew the perfect view of the castle, and she was right! We stopped and stood here for a while, and I was really thankful for my sunglasses. Not saying I cried, but… ok yeah, I cried. (I’ll blame it on my exhaustion!)
Side note: we both happened to wear our Old Navy High-Waisted Elevate Powersoft 7/8-Length Side-Pocket Leggings which are basically my favorite thing on the planet! The little side thigh pockets were perfect for holding my phone while we were on rides! (and the leggings are a pretty good price too!)
The fall decorations were SO much fun!
Savannah’s OMG WE’RE IN DISNEY face. 
We road Haunted Mansion when there was literally NO line! Not sure how we got so lucky…
It’s a small world! 
We wanted a quick snack, and after asking around, I learned that I could find some fresh fruit at Liberty Square Market! I don’t know if I’ve ever been so happy to see grapes, but I sure was grateful to be able to grab and go with something I knew I could eat without asking for a chef! 
Our Jungle Cruise guide was hilarious! 
Dole Whip time— I so wish I could eat these! 
Just a quick classic from Space Mountain… not sure how Savannah looks totally cute while I look like a panicked turtle! 
We were more than ready for a real meal at this point! After some frantic Disney App/blog searching, we learned I would most likely be able to find something I could eat at Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe! The team there was SO helpful! I didn’t grab a picture of my meal because it was literally just a lettuce-wrapped burger (and I was hungry, so I didn’t wait to start eating!), but I WAS able to find something to eat! They had a special color-coded tray to indicate my allergy and took plenty of time to ensure my meal was safe! I touched on this yesterday, but just a heads up: The ketchup packets are different from the ketchup in the large bulk dispensers! I CAN eat the ketchup in the packets, but I’m not able to do the large dispensers. When in doubt, ask!
*Just a heads up: In my current grain-free adventure, I’m not strictly eating grass-fed beef! (If it is available, great… if it’s not, that’s okay too!) I know this won’t fly for some people, so DO be sure to check in on this before eating!
Between Epcot and Magic Kingdom, I found that MK had a lot more affordable and fast options for gals with dietary restrictions. Savannah and I will just have to go back to try taking on Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios too! (We didn’t have time to go to those parks!)
We did a few more rides and then tried to ride Splash Mountain. We learned that the ride was down for maintenance and while Savannah was bummed, I was feeling hopeful that I wouldn’t have to ride the ride that literally terrifies me! (More on this soon…) At this point though, we were exhausted and needed a little breather, so the temporary ride closure wasn’t the end of the world. We both love the Polynesian, so we decided to take the Monorail over for a visit & drink!
A walk around the beautiful property and a quick cider was just what we needed! 
After that, we headed back over to Magic Kingdom where we hoped that Splash Mountain was back up and running! But first… I made us stand on Main Street in the rain, just for the view of the castle! We got a little wet, but worth it! 
Now, I can’t even believe I’m going to share these… BUT it is just too funny to keep to myself! I’ve had a lifelong fear of Splash Mountain/log flumes, and Savannah let me know that I absolutely was not allowed to leave Disney without riding Splash Mountain with her. So… when we came back and realized that the ride was open and our Fast Passes would work, we hopped in line, and I DID IT. It was actually a lot of fun! Below, you’ll see my pre-ride panic and during-the-ride panic… and after that, well, I’ll just let that be a surprise!
Take me back!
Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party kicked off in the evening, and because we didn’t have tickets for the party, we had to leave by 6pm! This was actually perfect timing because we were pretty tired at this point! We did a quick walk through the shops on Main Street and admired alllll the Halloween decorations! These pumpkins reminded me of Halloweentown! 
After Magic Kingdom, we headed straight over to Animal Kingdom Lodge where we had dinner reservations at Boma! I’ve always wanted to visit Animal Kingdom Lodge for some reason, so this was such a treat! 
We LOVED seeing the animals while we waited for our reservation, but truly, the best part of our time at Animal Kingdom Lodge was the sweet guide we met at the exhibit! We talked all about her experience with Disney, the animals & their snacking habits, her love for dogs, future plans, and so much more. She was just the sweetest! 
Then it was time for DINNER!! Boma was definitely a treat yoself move for both of us, but it was WORTH IT, y’all. Right away, they handed me an allergen guide and then had their awesome Chef Eugine come out to walk me through the buffet line! We found that, while the smaller and cheaper dining options can accommodate food restrictions, the more expensive sit-down options were a lot easier for me to do! (Figures!) 
We originally chose Boma because we thought that I would be able to eat a lot of the things on the menu without any special prep, and we were right! There were SO many good options for me, and I ate like a literal queen. Chef Eugine insisted on bringing out a baked potato for me because I couldn’t do their mashed potatoes and then tried his hardest to find a dessert that I could do too! I was SO happy to see fresh fruit that I wasn’t even a bit mad about not being able to do a sweet treat! 
Magic Kingdom Ride Roundup: Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, Tiki Room, Jungle Cruise, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, It’s a Small World, Mickey’s PhilharMagic, The Little Mermaid, Space Mountain (x2)
Wednesday
Our Disney adventure was coming to a close! Our flight out was early in the afternoon, so we decided to take the morning to walk around our resort and to work on processing through some of our images! The colors of Pop Century are just so much fun! 
Savannah: What are you doing?
Me: See… I’m the player, and now I’m the ball!
Savannah: OK…. enough of that, let’s go.
You could say I reeeeally needed a good night sleep at this point in the trip!
Finally found a guy taller than me!
Blend right in, yeah?
Savannah: QUICK… go look like you’re playing Twister.
Me: Huh…? OMG THAT’S SO FUN! (where I then proceeded to play Twister by myself for a good 5 minutes)
Despite our crazy schedule, we did manage to make our way to the pool! We went for a quick swim on Saturday night after dinner!
Our building— we stayed in the ’90s! 
Waiting for the Magical Express to come pick us up… you could say we packed SUPER light. (In my defense, my light stands only fit in that giant purple bag!!)
Don’t make us leave!! 
And because I haven’t already embarrassed myself enough… I present to you: Caity sleeping in literally any place possible! Savannah had a running series on her Instagram story where she shared all my craziest nap spots. I’ve mastered the 10-20 minute nap in regular life, and it turns out this skill also translates to napping your way through a work trip to Disney where sleep is light and the hustle is real. We flew from MCO to BWI on Southwest!! 
After flying home, I went to pick up my car at my sister’s in Baltimore and snuck in some more puppy snuggles with sweet Luna! We also snapped a few cute photos of Luna with my sister and her boyfriend, Sean! After that, I drove home to DC and hopped right into bed! 
If you’ve made it to this point in my Disney recap mini-series, you should most definitely reward yourself with a Dole Whip! Thanks for tuning in, friends! Any questions? Let me know!
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