Disney Bucket List

Are you a big Disney fan? If your answer is yes, then there’s a good chance you have a Disney Bucket List. Growing up, going to Disney always meant a road trip to Disneyland. It’s only been in the last five years that we have experienced Walt Disney World (I know, right). This led to thoughts and dreams of visiting other parks and experiences around the world. Eventually I think we would all like to say we have been to every park but we all have different priorities when it comes to which park we would like to see first. Our lists include, but aren’t limited to, visiting the parks. They also include ride experiences, dining and much more! Read on for our four Disney Bucket Lists.

This post is part of a Disney Friends Blog Hop! When you’re done reading about our lists, hit the “next” button to hear about our Disney Friends Bucket Lists!

Elisia

1. Disney Parks Around the World

My number one bucket list item has always been to go to every Disney park in the world. That dream keeps feeling further and further away, but hey, that’s why they call it a bucket list right? I’d love to be able to do Tokyo, Shanghai, and Hong Kong in one incredible trip. In the current climate, it does seem like Paris may be more plausible to travel to before traveling stateside again. 

2. Disney Cruise

I’d really like to go on a cruise. As long as we’re dreaming, I’d really like to go on a Caribbean one. Castaway Cay looks incredible, and the themed nights on the ship look super fun. If we’re really dreaming, I’d love to go as a family vacation with our extended family. It seems like there would be a nice balance of hanging out and chilling by the pool! Ever since Heidi’s family experience on the cruise I want to go! Check her post out here.

3. WDW at Christmas

Going to Walt Disney World at Christmas. This one may seem silly but as a teacher, I’m limited by the amount of time I can take off. I could skip Christmas with the family in order to travel during the holiday season, but it would be hard to be away for Christmas. A close second is going to WDW for the Festival of the Arts. While I may not be artistic, I am a musician, and I did enjoy art history while in university.

4. Disney on Broadway

I absolutely adore live theatre. It would be so cool to see Disney on Broadway, and my list of shows I’d like to see keeps growing! At one point my husband’s job required him to travel to New York every three months. He showed me via video the Disney store near Broadway (On Broadway? I don’t know guys, I’ve never been!) and it looked incredible. So that is for sure on there as well. Also, can we pretend that Hamilton is Disney? Because seeing Hamilton on Broadway would blow my mind.

5. Girls Trip!

Finally, I’d love to go on a girls trip to Disneyland. I love going with my husband, my children, and my family, but how fun would it be to jet off for a week of sun and Disney? We could pop into the spa at the Grand Californian and tear up Main Street. Mama needs a break.

Heidi

I am all about traveling, which is something that has been highlighted during this pandemic! Suddenly my desire to just go has increased exponentially.

1. Disneyland Paris

Disneyland Paris is without a doubt on the top of my Disney Bucket List. Paris has been on my bucket list since I was a little girl. We were supposed to go when we were little but it unfortunately fell through. The castle looks so dreamy, I cannot wait to see it for myself one day. 

2. Tokyo Disney

Tokyo Disney was never on my radar until I watched The Imagineering Story on Disney+ (highly recommend). The more I read about it, the more interested I become. Food is a big draw for me. They have different unique flavours of popcorn! I’m a huge popcorn fan so this really piqued my interest. Some of the flavours that most interest me are: soy sauce and butter, jalapeno and cheese, coconut, curry, milk tea, Chinese spice and cappuccino to name a few. Tokyo Disney Sea is another huge draw for me. It’s completely unique from any other Disney park. The design and theming of this park look unreal!

3. Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge

This is absolutely ridiculous but I have not seen it yet!!!! Isn’t that crazy? Our last big trip to Disneyland was in 2018 and Galaxy’s Edge wasn’t open yet. Thanks to COVID-19 we had to cancel our big family trip to WDW in May 2020. Top of the must list for me is getting on Rise of the Resistance. I don’t like spoilers and prefer to experience things for myself, so I haven’t read too much about it. We had planned on grabbing a drink at Oga’s Cantina and something to eat from Docking Bay 7 Food and Cargo, so those are next on the must list.

4. The Disney Magic

Cruising on the Disney Magic. We had the fortune of being able to do a 4-day cruise to the Bahamas on the Disney Dream in 2017. It was hands down my favourite vacation of all time (you can read about that trip here). The Magic has the restaurant Rapunzel’s Royal Table. She is my fave, so naturally I would love to see the restaurant. My ultimate bucket list would include cruising on all of the Disney ships.

5. Every Epcot Festival

Going to Epcot during every festival. You may or may not already know, but Epcot has four festivals throughout the year. Festival of the Arts (Erica wrote all about her experience here), Flower & Garden, Food & Wine, and Festival of the Holidays. We were fortunate enough to be in WDW for the Flower & Garden Festival twice and loved it. I have been to the Festival of the Holidays in Disney’s California Adventure, which is similar, but I’d still like to see it in Epcot.

Danielle

1. Festival of the Arts

As the artist of the family, this festival is like a siren’s call to me. Seeing all the art exhibits, and artists, and the chalk art, and the hidden art… I have to go. Erica’s pictures from her trip just give me ALL the FOMO. (You can read about it here.) Plus, Epcot is my favourite WDW park, and all the food? Um, YES PLEASE. And the best part (for me) is that it’s during the colder months of the year. My body does NOT do well with heat, so going when it isn’t 40 degrees is a huge draw.

2. Every Disney Park 

I know, super cliche. But I SO enjoyed watching The Imagineering Story on Disney+ and have to see them all for myself. Plus, I follow some accounts on TikTok that have been showing the animatronics and behind the scenes stuff and I’m so interested.

3. Childless Trip

All I want is a trip without my child. Is that terrible? I mean, I want her to know and love Disney (she went at 13 months and LOVED LIFE), but I just want to go with a pair of adult friends, or just me and my hubs. Bliss. With kids it’s so fun because you see their wonder, and their joy, and do things you wouldn’t do otherwise… but then you can’t do all the things you want to do. Plus the one and only time I did a couple’s trip with my hubby to Disney without anyone else I was pregnant and dealing with severe nausea and just couldn’t enjoy myself.

Erica

So this is a bit like opening Pandora’s Box for me. I am a list maker. I love them… AND I also have an addictive personality. My bucket list is on a Google document shared with my husband and linked to our phones. It is broken down categorically by each park. Some items are really easy and will be knocked out as soon as we can get back to the Disney Parks (for instance, “Try Disneyland’s Churro Toffee”), and others will take years to complete (stay at every single on-site resort at Walt Disney World).

Internationally I want to visit all of the parks (Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Paris and the Aulani Resort in Hawaii), and I want to cruise on each of the cruise ships (there are currently four, soon to be five). I would also love to do an Adventures by Disney (New York is the top of my list at the moment).

The section of my list that is the most fleshed out are the items I’d love to check off at Disneyland and Walt Disney World in particular. Here is my current (but ever changing) bucket list:

1. Visit Club 33:

This may never happen but I would really love it to. Who doesn’t want to go to this elusive club? I just want to order a meal, take it all in, and say I’ve done it.

2. Stay at Every Single On Site Resort:

At Disneyland there are only three, so that won’t be TOO hard (especially with a split stay where we stay at more than one on a trip). At Walt Disney World there are more than 25. We’ve stayed at one, and we had plans for two more back in May of 2020. They all just have their own magic for me! Beach Club, it’s all about the pool. Old Key West, it’s the charm. Animal Kingdom Lodge, the animals on the savanna. Thankfully, my agency became a partner with a DVC rental company (DVC is the vacation club and you can rent out points) which makes this bucket list item much more feasible (shoot me an email at erica@enchanted-vacations.ca for more info).

3. Dine at Every On Property Disney Table Service Restaurant: 

Table Service restaurants were just not something I ever did at Disneyland due to time and budget restraints. Food has become incredibly important to me, and I plan to put my money where my mouth is on my next trips. Disneyland only has about 16 table service restaurants, so I can knock those out pretty easily (maybe over a couple of trips). WDW has more than 500. We’ve already been to six (Sanaa, Ohana, STK, T-REX, Trattoria al Forno, and Be Our Guest). We had a bunch planned for our May trip (Olivia’s, Boma, Jungle Skipper Canteen, 50’s Prime Time Cafe, Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater, Via Napoli, Sebastian’s Bistro). As an off shoot of this bucket list, I’d love to do Free Dining at least once as well. To not have to worry about a food bill at the end of the trip would just be so exciting!

4. Go to Special Events: 

I didn’t always see the value in paying extra for the “special ticketed events” but the more I learn about them, the more I want to experience them. Doesn’t have to be every year; just one time is fine! Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party in WDW is top of the list for me hands down. I’m also all about the special festivals that are hosted by the parks annually. I have two more festivals at Epcot to do, and I’d love to do them both in one trip (finish out Food & Wine, start Festival of the Holidays). And I need to get to the Festival of the Holidays in DCA as well! Finally, I’d really love to do a VIP Tour. There are several that interest me, but I love the idea of all four parks in one day the most!

5. Walt Disney Studios Tour in Burbank: 

This is also a pretty easy one off, I’ve just never done it. I want to walk around and see where the magic happens. See the hallways that were walked by Walt, and where Alan Menken pitched song ideas, and where the animators work… all of it is so inspiring!

6. Visit Walt’s Apartment on Main Street in Disneyland:

You may have heard this already, but our great grandpa had the privilege of visiting Walt in his Main Street apartment; for that reason (and others) I really want to go. Just above the Fire Hall on Main Street in Disneyland, you will see a small lamp in the window that has been left on, symbolizing that Walt’s spirit is still alive in the park. It would be priceless to me to look out and see the park from this view. You can go on a VIP tour and experience this incredible moment, which is why it’s on my list!

7. Become DVC Members and Go to Moonlight Magic: 

DVC is the Vacation Club, basically Disney’s version of a time share. I want the perks (extra nights in the park for DVC members) and I want the memories. Besides renting DVC points, this is also the easiest way to try out multiple deluxe resorts.

8. runDisney: 

I’m not the most outdoorsy person. I don’t like early mornings. I don’t particularly like to run. But I’d love to be able to, just once, experience runDisney. 5k and 10k, no problem. If I could work myself up to a half marathon, I think I would be rather miserable… but I’d also really love to say I’ve done it. I sincerely hope they keep runDisney in the years to come, but the jury is out on that one.

I am fully aware that I will likely never finish all of these items, but I will certainly die trying!

What’s on YOUR Disney Bucket list? We’d love to hear from you!

Head on over to our friend at Minnie on Main for her bucket list:

The complete list of Disney Friends participating this month:

 

Have a magical day!
Erica, Heidi, Elisia and Danielle