WDW contest win trip with Breakfast Television & WestJet

[evenstar]

My family was one of the last lucky winners of a trip to Walt Disney World with WestJet to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Breakfast Television, a morning show in Canada. We won by entering online and submitting a photo showing our Disney Side. My husband and I travelled with our 2 and 4 year old boys. My oldest who was in university writing finals at the time couldn't join us.

Our prize included the following:

• 4 return direct flights to MCO on WestJet
• 4 - 6 day Magic your way theme park tickets with park hopping and Water parks + more
• 5 nights accommodation at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge ( we got Savannah view)
• Disney gift card $600 USD
• 5 special FassPass+ per person per day, these could not be booked in advance. Just walk up to the FP entrance of the attraction and you're in. This was beyond awesome.

Our itinerary had free time to visit the parks and several special events for which we received cool lanyards.

• Reserved seating for the Jon Secada "Just Another Day" performance at the Garden Rocks theatre
• Private IllumiNations Dessert Party
• Group Sunset Safari after park closing
• Attending the live broadcast of Breakfast Television and Cityline from Epcot

Day 1: Travel day
Our morning began with a 7AM flight to MCO. We arrived at our departing airport around 5AM so it’s a good thing we’re normally early risers. Our check in was quick and the WestJet staff were friendly and helpful. The security check and U.S. Customs clearance also went smoothly and the boys enjoyed walking to the gate to stretch their legs and burn off some energy before boarding. Our boys were well behaved and kept themselves entertained throughout the flight with movies, LeapPad games and Crayola Color Wonder colouring pages. Arriving at MCO we had to collect our luggage and bring it to the Magical Express bus to take us to the resort. Normally we use the luggage tags but we didn’t receive them in time, thanks Canada Post. While it was nice not having to wait for our luggage at the resort, I definitely prefer waiting for the luggage delivery over lugging it through MCO with kids, carry ons and a stroller.

Checking in at Animal Kingdom Lodge was awesome, entering the dark soaring lobby after a busy travel morning had such a calm, relaxing effect. Our room with a view of animals grazing the savannah was more spectacular than we could have ever imagined. After a quick refresh we headed down to The Mara for some lunch. It felt great to eat outside feeling the warm breeze, but boys being boys they were more interested in chasing salamanders and bugs than eating. After a brief nap we headed out to the Magic Kingdom. The skies were dark and menacing but it was warm and felt good to be back at our happy place. Our first stop was Town Square Theatre to meet Mickey Mouse and take some fun pictures with him. Next we rode Mad Tea Party, Haunted Mansion and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train before grabbing a quick supper at Columbia Harbour House. Upon returning to the lodge for a good nights rest we discovered an unexpected surprise, some awesome swag waiting for us in our room. A truly magical first day and so lucky to be part of this awesome event.

 

[TravelE]

Wow! Congratulations. Looking forward to reading more.

 

[evenstar]

Day 2: Poly dining and date night

We had a super early 7:40AM breakfast reservation at 'Ohana in the Polynesian Village. It was up and out the door by 6:30AM and our Magic Kingdom driver was kind enough to take us straight to the Poly since there was no one else on the bus. This worked out great as arriving early allowed us to stroll around to see the DVC developments and pool/lobby refurbishments. While I miss the old water feature, I really like the fresh new look and the lobby feels more spacious. I can't wait to see the kids water playground finished. It looks cool and I'm sure the boys will love trying it out on a future stay. After a great breakfast and parade with Lilo and Stitch we took the boat to Magic Kingdom for 9AM opening. We headed straight for Peter Pan's Flight to see the new queue which was so fun and interactive. It was pretty popular with a 20-30 minute wait within minutes of park open, but totally worth the wait. Next we made it down to Splash Mountain and used the Rider Switch, Alex loved getting to ride it twice. The excited expression on his face when asking me if I would go with him again was priceless. After riding Pirates of the Caribbean and climbing Swiss Family Treehouse we had a quick lunch at Pecos Bill where we mostly picked at our meals. I think we'll stick to counter service locations with healthier options in future. Just not a fan of this place after trying it a few times. The park was getting crowded so we left for a nap at the resort since we had a big night planned.


Polynesian Village pool view from beach

Polynesian Bungalows - Bora Bora



Breakfast Feast



Splash Mountain
We returned to the Poly around 6:30 for our 'Ohana ADR for 2. Yes that's right, date night! Yippee! I was a little nervous the boys might not want to stay at Lilo's Playhouse but figured we'd take the chance. It was a good call, the boys were so excited to go to their 'party' I could not finish signing the registration papers for them fast enough. They were asking me to hurry up because they wanted to go inside already. So we parted happily and they had a fun time while hubby and I finally got to enjoy an adult meal, this was bliss! I highly recommend the Children's Activity Centers, so worth it and they feed the kids supper at 6:30 or 8pm from a varied menu which is included in the $15 hourly rate per child, plus they leave with a goody bag.