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Welcome to our May 2014 Walt Disney World Trip Report! Click here to start reading from Day 1!

Friday

Today was the day of the 24 hour Rock Your Disney Side event at Magic Kingdom and Brett planned on being there the entire day. He woke up 4am to get ready and was standing outside waiting with a few other people to cross over from the Contemporary to the Magic Kingdom while it was still dark out.

Us? Not so much.

I woke up at about 8:30am and then Trent woke up at about 10am. It’s crazy to think that by the time Trent woke up, Brett had already been inside Magic Kingdom for over 4 hours!

Our plan was to be lazy, play by the pool, then meet Brett at Magic Kingdom later on in the day. I had thought we would make the 3:30 pm parade and even had Fastpasses for it, but it was just so hot out that we decided a littler later than that was a good idea.

 

Before I get into our day, here is a little of Brett’s day.

He was one of the first people through the “turnstiles” and watched the Opening Show.

He was shocked at how many people ran to get in line for the special event merchandise. He said that people were literally running to get there, but when he was strolling around later in the day, everything was still available for sale and nothing had sold out. All the craziness for nothing?

Of course, photographers were far more interested in something that can only happen on this very day…capturing a sunrise over Cinderella Castle! They were all lined up in the same vicinity to capture the unique event.

But I can’t blame them….it was gorgeous. Brett got some amazing photos of the castle throughout the day.

He then decided it was time for breakfast, and without me or Trent to think about or sway his decision, what do you think he got?

A Dole Whip Float, of course! Breakfast of (Disney) champions.

He then took advantage of being solo and wandered around doing whatever his heart desired. He got a locker to store some of his stuff, rode whatever ride he came across, watched the Festival of Fantasy parade twice, and took photos of things/places that he doesn’t normally get with us tagging along. Here’s a bunch of photos from his day.

Have you ever noticed that if you stand in the perfect spot, the crown sits on top of Cinderella’s head in the fountain behind the castle?

Seven Dwarfs Mine Train! Have you ridden it yet? I didn’t get to this trip…I was pregnant

Everyone’s favorite bathroom area in WDW. I prefer less crowded locations, but it sure is pretty.

Doesn’t this next photo look like it could be an official Disney photo? I think it should be!

I am amazed at how Brett gets such great photos while on rides…especially Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. He perfectly captures the castle in the distance. Me? All of my photos would be blurry beyond recognition. I’ll stick to accounting.

Brett did something we haven’t done in many years…he ventured over to Tom Sawyer Island!

He also enjoyed lunch at a place we’ve never eaten at before…the Diamond Horseshoe.

He had not one, but TWO chances to watch the Festival of Fantasy Parade! The characters are so colorful and animated during this parade…Disney did a fantastic job.

Brett’s favorite part is Maleficent…of course, it’s a fire-breathing dragon!

One thing Brett had a chance to do was sit back and watch character interactions. His favorite was watching Gaston, but others proved hilarious too.

The train conductor noticed Brett taking photos, so he let out all the steam as he pulled away from the station!

A few people were dressed in costume….do you recognize these two from Up?

There were also some famous people in attendance. These people are from the Disney Channel, but I have no idea who they are because I’m not 12 I guess.

Brett even got to see Space Mountain with the lights turned on!

It was a very eventful day for him!!!

But ok, now back to us…

We ate some breakfast in the room, then headed to the pool. Trent was ready.

It was beautiful out, but very hot.

We started out in the main pool and then we transferred over to the splash area…one of Trent’s most favorite things ever.

I played with Trent for a bit and then let him run around on his own while I sat off to the side.

Other kids would come by for a little bit and he would interact with them, then they would leave and he would have the place to himself. I think he was happy either way.

After a while, there were a few other kids there and he got bumped into and he fell backwards. When I picked him up, I took the opportunity to end our splash time and head back to the room to change. He was NOT HAPPY about this and I hope that he doesn’t associate him getting hurt with “the fun coming to an end” but picking him up from something is one of the ways we can get him to leave somewhere. The other is bribing, but you can’t bribe this kid away from a splash area.

We changed then headed over to the Contempo Café for lunch. A cheeseburger and fries for me and chicken nuggets, grapes and chocolate milk for Trent. He did pretty well and ate a few chicken nuggets, some fries and all the grapes. He even sat in stroller the entire time without trying to escape.

We then headed back to the room and took a nap, then woke up and got ready to go meet Brett at Magic Kingdom.

Have I told you before how convenient staying at the Contemporary is? I’m sure plenty of times, including once already in this trip report. But seriously, so convenient. I just wish it wasn’t so darn expensive!

I hopped onto the monorail without needing to fold a stroller or anything. We arrived at MK around 5:30pm. Brett was going on 12 hours at the park…I seriously don’t know he was doing it.

We had a Fastpass for Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, one of Trent’s favorite rides, so we headed right to Tomorrowland.

Then we had a Fastpass for the Tomorrowland Speedway….Trent’s very first ride at meeting a height requirement!! We were so excited for him!

He got his driver’s license and held onto to it tightly as we walked through the line. I think he was excited, even though I’m sure he had no idea what was going on. I couldn’t stop smiling because I was so excited for him.

Trent rode with Brett and I rode by myself in front of them so I could turn around and take photos. I was probably holding up the line, but I didn’t care…I was watching my son drive a car with his dad for the first time! Too bad I couldn’t see much of Trent over the steering wheel, other than his trademark Mickey hat!

Daddy teaching son the basics.

Son looking at Daddy like he’s crazy.

After our driving adventure, we stopped for a treat at Gaston’s Tavern…LeFou’s Brew!

We headed towards Fantasyland and saw no line for the Carousel, so we jumped right on. Although Trent has ridden the carousel numerous times, he flipped out when we tried to put him on a horse. We tried 2 different sized horses, but he wasn’t having any of it, so we sat in the chairs, which definitely are not as fun.

We continued our walk towards Frontierland.

“Mooooooommm, I hate the stroller! I want to get out and ruuuuuuunnnnnn!”

We stood on the Splash Mountain bridge while Brett took photos. Every time a boat would drop and the people would scream, Trent would jump up in his stroller and scream too. He had quite a few people around him laughing, including us.

It was about time for dinner, so we went to check out the taco place in front of Pirates of the Caribbean, but it was so crowded, so we headed back to Columbia Harbour House, where Brett and I both got the chicken fingers/fish and French fries and shared with Trent. Throughout the trip, we also gave Trent plenty of snacks…applesauce pouches, fruit snacks, goldfish, grapes, apple slices…so while we didn’t always buy him his own full kid’s meal, we always split food with him and gave him his own snacks too. In fact, Trent got to enjoy his snacks in some of the best spots…

Of course, another benefit of the 24 hour event is the chance to get both sunrise AND sunset photos in the same day. Sunset certainly didn’t disappoint either.

As we finished dinner, it was time to find a spot for Wishes. Brett had a spot in mind, so we headed there only to find another photographer that he knew set up there!

Trent watched Up on the iPad while waiting. He didn’t seem interested in the fireworks either. I didn’t mind as long as he wasn’t fussing.

After the fireworks, we braved the crowds to head over towards Tomorrowland. I will be glad when the new hub construction is finished…getting anywhere after fireworks is an absolute nightmare…especially with a stroller.

The line for the Peoplemover was the longest we’d ever seen, so we took a detour to the Incredibles Dance Party. Trent danced for a few seconds, then ran up to a guy and hit his butt thinking it was Brett…he quickly got embarrassed and no longer wanted to dance or have fun, so we headed over to stand in line for Peoplemover. While the line was going pretty fast, so many people were cutting in line because they didn’t realize how far back the line started…or they knew and ignored it anyway.

After the Peoplemover, we grabbed some yummy ice cream and let Trent play with the bubble blower we bought at Epcot.

Since we had Fastpasses for The Main Street Electrical parade in a few days, I decided not to stick around for that and left Brett to walk back to the hotel. After all, he had another several hours left in Magic Kingdom! And to think, he doesn’t even drink coffee!

I got back to the Contemporary around 11pm, where Trent and I got ready for bed and relaxed with some cartoons. Brett met up with some other photographer friends and even got to ride the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train before it officially opened the next week! Here are some more photos of the rest of his day at MK.

Do you ever stop to look at all the details?

Early morning dance party!

One of Brett’s last photos before leaving the park.

Brett didn’t stay too much past 6am, since he had already gotten some great sunrise photos the prior morning, so he walked back to the hotel and got in around 7am, where he promptly took a shower and went right to sleep.

 

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Welcome to our May trip report! Otherwise known as the last trip as a family of 3….how exciting and scary at the same time!

So, just like most of our Disney trip reports, it appears that it took us about 3 months to start sharing the trip report after returning from the trip. I guess that means we’re right on time then, right?

Leave it to us to never have any set ritual as far as when we leave, which park we visit first, etc. It’s always random and always changed at the last minute, but it’s always fun for sure.

As I said in our pre-trip report, there were a few reasons for this trip:

-Rock Your Disney Side 24 hour event at Magic Kingdom. Brett had the ambitious goal of staying in MK the entire 24 hours. Me, I planned to be lazy and show up a bit later. You’ll have to stay tuned to see if he made it (those of you that follow us on Facebook and Instagram may already know the answer!)

-Star Wars Weekend

-Last trip before our annual passes expire and we don’t go back until December (maybe). Usually that doesn’t mean anything because we always just renew in a few months anyway, but with Baby #2 on the way and the hot summer months, we’ll be taking a bit of a break and then going back to celebrate the retirement of our friend Carl (over at Dad’s Guide to WDW and WDW Magazine) in December.

 

Where we stayed:

Contemporary Resort for the first 2 nights, Pop Century for the remainder of the trip. The Contemporary was booked last minute so we could get to MK faster and more easily for the 24 hour event. I just posted a review of the Contemporary Resort with a bunch of photos and a video, go check it out!

 

We chose to leave on a Thursday. One of my coworkers was out of the office all week, so I had to push it later in the month, but this also allowed me to take advantage of a 3 day weekend and us to attend 2 special events at the parks.

Another note: Since I had my new camera with me, many of these photos will be from my camera or phone, with a few of Brett’s sprinkled in. Trust me, you’ll be able to tell whose photos came from whom. If you want to see more of Brett’s photos from this trip (there are a TON!) and every other trip we’ve taken, he shares at least one photo a day over on his Disney Photo Snapper Facebook page…go give him a like to see an amazing Disney photo in your feed every day! He also has an amazing giveaway going on now to win a large canvas print of one of his photos

 

So without further ado, let’s start with Day 1 - Thursday!

 

We woke up at 4am. And by we I mean I woke at 4 and then Brett and Trent woke up about 20 minutes later. Yes, Trent woke up just after 4 am after falling asleep at 11:30 the night before. It wasn’t even a cranky wake up either…he popped up and was happy and running around on the bed. We were confused too, but at least we didn’t have to tip-toe around to get ready and we had hoped this would translate to a nap in the car.

We left the driveway at 5:28…not bad.

We skipped getting breakfast right away since Trent had his chocolate milk (aka Ovaltine) and we weren’t that hungry yet. Instead, we stopped at Krystal’s about an hour into the drive. Nothing fancy here, just a place we normally stop at since we don’t have one at home and it’s different.

We arrived at Animal Kingdom around 9:45am and we got a pretty decent parking spot.

After entering, we took the train to Rafiki’s Planet Watch so Trent could see and pet the goats.

As soon as we got off the train, Trent already started complaining because he wanted to walk instead of being held or sitting in his stroller, so we let him walk, which led to many “This way, Trent” or “Follow Daddy, Trent” phrases being said….those were said many times throughout the trip because he wanted to be Mr. Independent and walk on his own…both a good and bad thing at the same time.

Near the entrance, Chip and Dale were taking photos with hardly anyone in line, so we got in line, but when it was our turn, Trent got super shy all of a sudden. Then, after us, Chip and Dale left and Trent looked sad….that’s kind of how it happened the entire trip: he would be shy for most of the interaction, then he would be sad when they left.

Also, note to WDW: this is a terrible spot for character photos…look at the awful lighting!

Once inside, we handed Trent a brush to use on the goats and he thought that was great! He stayed in this one little area where there were about 4-5 goats laying down in the shade and he would walk around and brush each one for a few minutes then go to the next one.

Hidden Mickey!

When he handed me the brush after a while, we took the opportunity to leave and head back to the train. Of course, with Trent walking on his own, we made plenty of stops along the way!

Next up was the Pangani walking trail in Africa…and look who finally sat in the stroller! I think he was hot!

You know it’s hot when you see this…

It was about lunch time, but we weren’t too hungry yet but knew Trent should eat too, so we decided to split a meal at the Yak & Yeti counter service.

We got the Honey Chicken and a chicken tenders kids meal. Trent ate the grapes and some tenders, and that was it, so we took the extra chicken from the kids meal and mixed it in with the honey chicken and it turned out to be a good enough amount to split…something Brett and I never do because we always want to eat something different (and we’re both fatties at Disney World).

We had found a nice shaded table in the back corner. It was a good place to relax and enjoy our food.

We then did the Maharajah Jungle Trek.

Oooooh yeah…so up until this point in my pregnancy, I had zero swelling, but the running around the house like crazy to get ready combined with the 3.5 hour car ride must have caused some serious swelling. Wanna see?

Whoa there! Luckily, it went down the next day and then was completely gone for the rest of the trip, but wow. Looks lovely, huh?

When we noticed that the regular line for Expedition Everest was only 10 minutes, Brett jumped into the single rider line while Trent and I went to Dinoland to ride Triceratop Spin.

Triceratop Spin had no wait, so we rode it twice. Trent did really well waiting in line for the next ride. I was very proud of him.

Unfortunately, it’s in complete direct sun, so we were twice as hot and sweaty after riding it than we were before! But at least we got one ride in at the park before leaving…

Trent = Selfie-hater

At this point, it was a good time to escape the heat and go check in at the Contemporary.

Check in took quite long with them using gift cards for the balance and then checking to make sure our Passholder Magic Bands were valid and could be used. Even though I requested 1^st floor (since I wanted to not have to walk or use the elevator as much – you know, being pregnant and all), we got the 3^rd floor AND the main elevator was broken. I also requested late check out on Saturday so Brett could sleep a couple extra hours after being at the 24 hour event until 6am, but they denied that request. I guess you have to be concierge or a celebrity to have your requests granted at the Deluxe resorts…

Now that I’ve gotten that rant out of the way, since Trent slept while I checked in, he awoke as soon as I took him out of the car to go walk into the room, which I was kind of disappointed at because after waking up at 4am, I was kind of hoping for a nap too. The plan was to go to Epcot later in the evening, so I laid down with Trent to try to force him to go back to sleep and Brett hopped on the monorail over to Magic Kingdom, where he caught the Festival of Fantasy parade! Unfortunately, I never got to see this parade, but Brett saw it three times and absolutely loved it. So many colors and all the expressions from the characters make for fantastic photos.

Brett also strolled back to the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train to see if they were letting people ride it. They were, but it wasn’t long before they had to stop for an extremely long time…all because someone’s hat flew off and landed directly on their sensors!

Trent ended up not sleeping, and after an hour or so, Brett texted to say he was on his way back, so I started getting us ready. I looked up the available dining reservations at Epcot and snagged a Garden Grill reservation.

We jumped on the monorail to the TTC and then the Epcot monorail…so convenient!

This lady is either really smart…or not so much. Sure, she is in a nice relaxing position, but she is directly in the sun! Maybe she was in the shade when she first got there and moved away from her. Have you ever wished someone would push you around in a stroller? I have!

Our first stop was the Character Meeting Spot – which we had Fastpasses for, but they weren’t needed at all, as there was almost no line. Trent got excited when he saw each character, but then got shy when it was his turn. If you’ve never been in the character meeting spot, it’s really neat how you can jump from one character to the next in line…Mickey, Goofy, Minnie and Donald too sometimes (I think).

Kisses from Mickey.

I think Trent prefers high-fives over kisses.

Hugs from Goofy.

But thumbs-up are much better too!

We had a Fastpass for The Seas with Nemo & Friends for later on, but there was no wait when we walked by, so we decided just to do that since we had some time until our Garden Grill reservation.

We spent a few minutes looking at fish, but Trent was more interested in running around, so we let him run right out and to Garden Grill. But not before failing miserably at getting a photo in Bruce.

As a reminder, here is our adorably cute 1 year old Trent in Bruce during our trip last June…a little blurry, but still cute.

And now here is our stubborn 2 year old!

He was trying to get down so bad that I couldn’t even move out of the way for the photo! But wait, maybe a glimpse of a smile?

Nope, that’s all we got this time. Maybe next time.

While Garden Grill isn’t a place you’ve heard us rave about, they have consistently good food that Brett and I both enjoy. Plus, we tend to choose buffets or family-style places with Trent now since he can eat free. Their honey butter and warm rolls are delicious and I really like the beef and mashed potatoes.

Trent got his own special plate with sweet potato fries, macaroni and cheese, broccoli and a chicken leg.

He ate some sweet potato fries and actually took a few bites of macaroni and cheese. We were absolutely shocked, as he has never wanted mac and cheese. It was probably because there were goldfish on top lol.

Dessert.

Trent also gets his own special dessert, which he is definitely a fan of…a chocolate cupcake cone!

This night, the restaurant wasn’t spinning, so here was our view the entire time.

More particularly, here was MY view.

Phones everywhere!

Another plus of Garden Grill is the character interaction. The restaurant was basically empty, so each character ended up passing by us at least 3 times!

We originally planned on watching Illuminations that night, but decided the smarter choice would be to go back to the hotel so Brett could get to sleep a bit earlier. After all, he had an early EARLY wake up the next morning for the 24 hour Rock Your Disney Side Event!

One of the best things about Disney is that Disney Junior is on 24/7, so no matter what time it is, Trent can watch Disney Junior shows. We got back to the hotel, did the whole bath routine and then relaxed while watching Disney Junior. We all fell asleep about 11-11:30.

I hope you enjoyed reading Day 1 of our trip report. Sorry it took so long to get up…life has been quite hectic over here preparing for baby #2!

 

Click here to continue reading to Day 2!

 

You can read more of our Disney posts here:

• Disney Trip Reports

• Disney Reviews

• Disney Crafts, Recipes & More!

 

I’ve been waiting to finish a craft for the nursery in order to make our little girl’s name announcement. Our nursery is finished for the most part, but we are waiting for the baby shower for the last few things to put in there and then we will share some photos, of course! But, I did finish her name over the crib, and since I’m about 36 weeks along, it’s about time I share her name with you…

And along with that fun announcement, I also want to share our maternity photos we took while in Disney in May (Trip report will be starting next week!!). We kind of almost forgot about doing them, but were lucky enough to snag an early reservation at Crystal Palace in the Magic Kingdom in order for us to enter the park early and get some empty park photos in front of the castle.

This session was much different than the ones we took when I was pregnant with Trent. This time, we had a crazy toddler running around and it was super humid already….at 8am!! We quickly took what we could and then ran for the wonderful air-conditioning in the Crystal Palace. I am glad we got some photos, since I’ve been really bad about taking progress photos this time around!

Brett wasn’t really expecting to get into any of the photos, but a security guard cast member kept insisting she take a photo of all of us. At first, we thought she was just being nice like most cast members, but then we had wondered if she was trying to determine whether Brett was actually part of the family, or if I was paying him to take my professional photos…which isn’t technically allowed. So…here is our one family maternity photo with a bunch of people in the background and Brett wearing a backwards baseball hat. Oh, and Trent looking the other way. I guess I’ll take what I can get.

This next photo wasn’t meant to be artistic or anything, we just said to hell with it and let Trent run while we took some more photos. Notice that he’s looking at us…he wants us to chase him. I think it captures the moment perfectly, crazy toddler running around and mommy ignoring him because she’s tired of running after him.

You can see our last set of Disney maternity photos (and others) in this post, and the trip report from that trip in this post.

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Just 4 weeks left!

 

We have stayed at Disney’s Contemporary Resort three times now, but unfortunately have not eaten at every restaurant, stayed in every room or experienced everything that the resort has to offer. However, I have lots of photos to share and even a video of some of the areas around and in the resort. I already did a little bit of a run-through of our room during our June Trip Report from last year, but I wanted to share a separate full review of the resort itself.

The Contemporary Resort is located right next to the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World in Florida. It is a Deluxe Resort and is on the monorail loop and is known for how the monorail travels directly through the center of the main building!

The Magic Kingdom is within walking distance, and there is a nice trail to take between the two. The walk takes about 10-15 minutes at a normal pace. The check-in area is moderately large, but nothing compared to the Value resorts. However, I have never seen it very busy and there is also a little waiting area with a tv.

There are 3 restaurants and 1 counter service location. The California Grill is located on the 15th floor. We’ve never eaten there, but the menu looks fantastic and the views of the Magic Kingdom and fireworks even more so. There is a viewing deck located outside for anyone eating at the restaurant to step out onto and enjoy the view.

The Wave is located next to the check-in desks on the main floor. We haven’t eat here yet either.

Rounding out the trio of restaurants is Chef Mickey’s. It is a character buffet for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We have eaten here twice and while we think the food is pretty standard, the character interaction is always fun and is a great way to meet the Big 4 characters: Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Donald.

The quick service location is called Contempo Cafe. It is located to the right just before you reach the Chef Mickey check-in counter on the 4th floor. There are several ordering stations equipped with a touch screen and photos of all the menu items. You order on the screen and receive a number. There are beverages and dessert cases for you to choose from. Once you order and pick up any additional items, you check out with the cashier and either wait for your food, or you can get a number to have them bring it out to your table. You can also get your items to-go. The small seating area can get pretty full during peak hours. The Refillable Mug stations are located in this area, as well.

This area also contains a few shops and an arcade. I love that there are windows everywhere you look so you can have a nice view everywhere you turn. Also on this floor is a fireworks viewing deck. There are a few rows of benches and the music from Wishes will play during the show. The view is a bit off-center, but it’s definitely a great way to relax and see Wishes without the park crowds.

All three times we’ve stayed here, we had a room in a parking lot/main building view in the Garden Wing. The location may not have been great compared to a Theme Park view in the main tower, but the price was decent (the first time was free from a work conference and the other two times there were nice Florida Resident or AP discounts). In fact, depending on where your room is, you may even be able to catch a bit of Wishes and the Castle…a fireworks view for 1/3rd of the price!

We definitely enjoyed the extra space compared to our usual Value rooms…as did Trent!

When you first enter the room, there are two closets on the left with a little bar area in the middle…this is where the coffee machine, refrigerator and some extra drawers are.

There is a couch, cushioned chair, side table and dresser. There will either be one King bed or two Queen beds.

The TV area has a small ledge that wraps around and is great for setting small items on.

There is a large desk on one side of the room…which always turned into our “command center” with cameras, laptops, tablets and plenty of wires!

The bathroom has two nice large sinks, but they are very shallow. They look nice, but don’t leave much room for counter space to set your stuff on. We used the space below the sinks and then even put stuff in the one sink and kept the other one for both of us to use.

This may be totally random, but every time we use the shower or bath, the water is so fickle. You spend a minute getting the right temperature, then a minute later it’s too cold, then 2 minutes later it’s too hot…I spend half the shower adjusting the water temperature!

The toilet is located in a separate room with a sliding door. There is extra space in this room where we placed our hamper for dirty clothes.

Our view was also nice, as we were able to see the monorail zipping by throughout the day. Twice we were able to see parts of Wishes from our window! I’ll definitely take a fireworks view without having to pay for one!

As far as activities go, there definitely is no shortage. There is one pool with a water slide and a small “splash” zone. This splash zone is laughable compared to the one at Art of Animation, but at least they offer one. In that same area is the Sand Bar, where you can grab a bite to eat or a frosty drink.

There is a small beach located directly behind the pool that goes into Bay Lake. Next to that is the boat dock that has some seats at the end. There is a motor launch that runs in Bay Lake and services the Contemporary, Wilderness Lodge and Fort Wilderness to and from the Magic Kingdom. You can also see the nightly Electrical Water Pageant on Bay Lake.

With the monorail, we have enjoyed numerous days of not even using our car (we drive to WDW and use our car instead of the buses). Not only can you take the monorail to the Magic Kingdom, which saves a ton of time, but you can also go to the other resorts on the loop (great for meal reservations) and hop over to the EPCOT monorail. Since we are still in the stroller phase (and about to go to the double-stroller stage - yikes!) the convenience of being able to hop on and off the monorail without folding/unfolding a stroller was phenomenal…especially when I was by myself and Brett was already at a park. Dealing with the stroller can be a pain on trams. I also like the convenience of being able to walk, which is always helpful when you see the astronomically long line for the monorail to leave after the fireworks and you can choose to avoid it.

With all that being said, perhaps my favorite part of the Contemporary is being so close to the action. From the fireworks viewing decks to the monorail access to the short walking distance, being so close to the Magic Kingdom definitely makes the vacation a bit more magical. While the resort isn’t overly Disney-themed, which many, including me at first, might think takes away from the Disney feel, the close proximity to the park of all parks more than makes up for it.

During one of our trips, I took a stroll around the resort and filmed a bit of it to create a video for y’all. Enjoy!

While I won’t give The Contemporary Resort an overall rating, I will say that whether you like it depends on your preferences. Honestly, before we ever stayed here, Brett and I used to say we probably wouldn’t ever stay at this resort because it looked too plain…it lacked the Disney ambience. But then we stayed here once and have been hooked mostly because of one thing…convenience. So if you like being close to the Magic Kingdom and on the monorail loop, but want a bit of a better price than other monorail loop resorts, then choose the Contemporary.

Check out and enjoy our other Disney posts:

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Brett and I have been going to Walt Disney World Together for over 10 years. In that time, his camera bag and its contents have changed numerous times. New cameras, new lenses, replacing outdated items with new ones, different bags…it really is just a constantly evolving art.

Even in a single day the contents will change, as certain things are used during the day, some only at night, some only for fireworks, etc.

Brett gets lots of questions on his camera equipment, both online and in person. I thought I’d share a post about what is inside his Disney World Camera Bag. Brett included descriptions of each item and additional info in the photos themselves, but after the photos you’ll also find the items listed with links to where you can find them to purchase for yourself.

Canon 5d Mark III

This is my main camera and I absolutely love it!

Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS

A top quality zoom lens, fantastic for portraits and used heavily in Animal Kingdom for animal pictures. Great for action shots. It’s heavy, so I may swap it out for something else depending on what park I’m headed to.

Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L

My workhorse lense…I use this lens for 70% of my work. It’s a great quality lens, is good with fairly low light, and has a decent zoom range.

Sigma 15mm 2.8 Fisheye

Super fun lens to use, very wide 180 degree field of view. Great for unique shots in close quarters. Excellent in low light. Very sharp, too light not to bring everywhere! (Note from Lynn: This is also great for capturing selfies and is sometimes the only way we can get photos of our family without handing the camera to someone else!) *Designed for full frame cameras only. Sigma has a 10mm twin of this lens for crop sensor cameras.

Canon 50mm f/1.4

Fantastic in low light, used on dark rides constantly, great for portraits. Super lightweight, always carried! *If using a crop sensor camera, you may want to shop for the 35mm version of this lens.

Canon 580ex II

Only used when doing portrait work around the park as a fill flash for shadows. When not carried, this slot holds the GoPro.

Neewer Shutter Release

Remote shutter release/timer is a must have for fireworks! Also good for bracketed shots so you don’t shake the camera.

B+W Filters (be sure to get the correct size for your lens)

-3 Stop Neutral Density: Darkens the lens to allow for longer shutter durations. A favorite for fireworks.

-10 Stop Neutral Density: Extremely dark filter for long exposures in broad daylight or VERY long firework exposures.

-Circular Polarizer: Directs the sun’s rays properly into the lens for those beautiful blue skies.

Plenty of Memory!

Lowepro Pro Runner 200 AW DSLR Backpack

Fantastic bag! Has lumbar support, built-in rain cover (a must have for Florida!) and holds a ton! Has built-in tripod straps. Fits on every ride in one way or another.

Benro Travel Angel Carbon Fiber Tripod

Great sturdy tripod that I carry at night for long exposures and fireworks. A tripod is a MUST for photographing the parks at night!

Joby DSLR Gorillapod with Ball Head

A great alternative to a large tripod when you just need something for family pictures or the occasional night shot. The legs will wrap around anything…railings, light poles, etc. I have even used it wrapped around the large tripod to mount the camcorder or GoPro on to record the fireworks at the same time I am taking pictures!

Not pictured:

GoPro Hero 3+

We use the GoPro Hero 3+ for video recording, unique-angle photos, and anything near water. The quality is amazing and there’s so many fun uses for it.

Camera Extender

We put the GoPro on this extender pole and we can get video/photo from high up, walking level, places a normal camera won’t reach, etc.

To see some of Brett’s amazing Disney photos that he took with this equipment, go visit and like his Disney Photography Facebook Page: Disney Photo Snapper

To read our past trip reports and see many Disney photos too, chef out our Disney Trip report page: Disney World Trip Reports