Making Magic at Walt Disney World

Making Magic at Walt Disney World: Where Our Disney Story Began

Some people might call it a Disney addiction. I prefer Disney enthusiasm.

Either way, our love for Walt Disney World really took off after we had our first child.

Justin grew up going to Disney with his family, so the parks were already a special part of his childhood. Me? I didn’t get to experience the magic until much later. That all changed in 2023. Our son was only seven months old when we took a family trip to Florida and decided to spend a couple of days at Walt Disney World. We stayed off property, visited Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios, and spent a day at Universal.

And oh myyy… what a vacation.

I had no idea at the time, but that trip was going to be the beginning of something much bigger for our family.

We Had Absolutely No Idea What We Were Doing, By the Way

Looking back at that first trip makes me laugh because we really didn’t know how to “do Disney.”

We didn’t really plan our park days. We didn’t understand how to navigate the parks efficiently. We didn’t know all the little things that can make visiting Disney with a baby easier. We pretty much showed up and figured things out as we went.

And somehow…

We still had an amazing time.

There was just something about experiencing Disney together as a family, and especially experiencing it through the eyes of our son, that hooked me. I remember one of the first times Jayce got to meet Mickey. His little face completely lit up, and I looked at Justin and said, “Please take my money!!”

That was it. They had me.

Jayce obviously wasn’t going to remember that trip, but we would.

I think that’s something people sometimes forget when talking about taking babies and toddlers to Disney. The memories aren’t only for them. They’re for us as parents, too.

And those memories from our first trip are something I’ll always treasure.

Then I Started Researching…

After that first trip, I wanted to learn everything. How do you successfully do Walt Disney World with small children? What should we pack in our park bag? Which rides can little kids actually go on? Where should we eat? What snacks do we HAVE to try? How early should we get to the parks? Should we stay at a Disney resort or off property? How much should we plan ahead? How do I keep a child entertained during a flight? Is the dining plan worth it? And maybe most importantly…

How do we do all of this without making our vacation feel like a military operation?

I’m not going to lie to you, I spent and continue to spend, a LOT of time researching. Especially because Disney is constantly changing. There are new attractions, new experiences, changing rules and policies, and, of course, changing prices. And the funny thing is, I actually love all the time I spend researching it.

The more trips we’ve taken and the more research I’ve done, the more we’ve learned what works for our family, what doesn’t, what we wish we had known during that first trip, and how much easier Disney can be when you have a little bit of a plan.

That’s a huge reason we decided to start The McGregor Magic.

We’ve already spent countless hours researching all of this stuff, so why not share what we’ve learned and hopefully save another family some of that time?

I Love a Good Disney List

If there’s one thing you should know about me, it’s that I love making lists. And Disney gives me plenty of reasons to make them. Before our trips, I’m making lists of restaurants we want to try, snacks I want to find, things we need to pack, attractions we don’t want to miss, and everything in between.

Honestly, I think planning is part of the fun.

There’s something exciting about counting down the days until a trip and researching something new. I love looking through restaurant menus, finding snacks we haven’t tried, planning our park days, and imagining what the trip is going to look like. For me, the vacation starts long before we actually arrive in Florida. But I’ve also learned a very important lesson…

You can’t plan everything.

Especially with little kids.

Have a Plan… But Go With the Flow

This is probably one of the biggest things we’ve learned while traveling with small children. I absolutely believe in planning ahead. But I also believe you need to know when to throw that plan out the window. Kids get tired. Someone suddenly needs a snack. Nap time becomes WAY more important than the ride you were trying to get to. Florida weather decides it has other plans for your afternoon.

And that’s okay.

Actually, sometimes those unexpected moments become some of the best memories from the entire trip. I’ve learned that, for our family, the sweet spot is somewhere in the middle:

Have a plan. Know your priorities. But leave enough room for the magic to happen.

There’s No Perfect Way to Do Disney

This is something I really want The McGregor Magic to be about. Every family is different. What works perfectly for us might not work for you, and that’s completely okay. Some families want to be at the park before it opens and stay until the very last minute.

Others want a slower morning, a few hours in the park, and an afternoon relaxing by the pool. Some people want every meal planned months ahead of time.Others decide what they’re eating when they get hungry.

I’m definitely more of a “let me make a list of everything I want to eat before we even leave home” kind of person. But if we don’t get to eat every snack or visit every restaurant on my list, that’s okay too.

There’s always next time!

Our goal isn’t to tell you exactly how your family should vacation. Instead, we want to share our experiences, our research, our mistakes, what worked for us, and what didn’t. Then you can take the pieces that make sense for your family and create your own version of the perfect trip.

And That’s How The McGregor Magic Began

It’s crazy to think that a family trip to Florida in 2023 with our seven-month-old would eventually lead to this. That trip started something for us. Since then, traveling and making memories together has become something our family truly loves. Walt Disney World may have been where this journey started, but The McGregor Magic is about so much more than Disney.

We’re going to share our experiences at Disney, Universal, cruises, resorts, restaurants, attractions, and wherever else our adventures take us. I’ll share the fun stuff, but I also want to share the things that actually help when you’re planning a trip: the packing lists, restaurants, snacks, planning strategies, things we wish we’d known, mistakes we’ve made, and the lessons we’ve learned along the way.

I’ve already done a ridiculous amount of research, and I’m definitely not going to stop anytime soon.

So I might as well share it with you!

Hopefully, we can save you some time researching and help make planning your family’s next adventure a little easier. Because if there’s one thing I’ve learned since that first trip in 2023, it’s this:

Planning is part of the fun, but the memories we make together are where the real magic happens.

Welcome to The McGregor Magic.

I can’t wait to share our adventures with you.

– Jisselly McGregor