WDW 2025

We started our summer with another trip to Disney World, leaving town the day after my contract ended in May. Woohoo! One of the reasons we keep going back is that they're always making changes, and we enjoyed seeing what's new since 2023. We also got to experience a few things that will close permanently soon (another part of that cycle of always updating). The other thing I love: a total escape from reality...it's magical!

This trip, instead of staying at our usual hotel, Pop Century, we booked a discounted room that our travel agent found at Caribbean Beach. This hotel is super spread out, and one corner of it is right next to another resort, The Riviera, so we actually used their amenities a lot (transportation and dining). This was strategic: it saved us some walking and internal bus stops, plus we'd previously had some good meals at the quick service restaurant, so we looked forward to trying breakfast there, too. We got a room right in the area we'd requested, which worked out perfectly. The other appealing thing about these hotels is that they have Coke Freestyle machines, so we both got hotel refillable mugs this year and took full advantage of all those fun flavors. 

We'll also remember the weather on this trip: record-breaking heat, no rain! That was a bit tough to cope with, but we took afternoon breaks and tried to stay out of the sun as much as we could. And Mark got a cold partway through, but he barely slowed down. (Thankfully, somehow, I managed not to get sick!). 

Here are some of the highlights in photos. 

Hotel: Caribbean Beach

a view across the water from a bridge at the resort

a pretty pathway

selfie with Mark, beach, palm trees, and the lake

nighttime view of the beach

Mark walking toward the Skyliner station

hotel pool (we don't swim, though!)

fountain with mosaic

Caribbean Beach food court (with Freestyles!)

panorama view of the beach
(The Riviera Resort is on the left side)

water view at dusk

pretty hibiscus and other flowers 

The Parks

Magic Kingdom

colorful building at Tiana's Bayou Adventure,
one of the new-to-us rides (replaced Splash Mountain)

Tiana's Bayou Adventure sign

we saw SO MANY characters just
walking around, out and about.
Here's Jasmine & Aladdin. 

Rapunzel

selfie w/Mark & Cinderella Castle

selfie w/Mark on It's a Small World

impromptu line dancing with characters in Frontierland

updated Country Bear Jamboree show

the mermaid scene in Peter Pan's Flight

the final scene in Under the Sea

an Encanto mural on some doors

Tron at night, from the PeopleMover

fireworks, while riding Seven Dwarves Mine Train

confectionary window display

Mickey Mouse!
Here, he was leading a kid over to the sword in the stone

Captain Hook & Smee

our Jungle Cruise skipper

Peter Pan & Wendy

Taking a ride in one of the Main Street
Vehicles with a fun driver

selfie in the car (a 1903 Franklin called “Yellow”)

selfie w/Mark in front of the railroad station

Tangled bathroom area at night

Tiana's Bayou Adventure at night

on Main Street with Mark,
the castle in the background

Micky & Minnie during the welcome show

Epcot (and the Flower & Garden Festival)

Huey, Dewey, and Louie

Moana themed decorations in Living with the Land

more Moana decorations

topiary from the movie Wish

new attraction: Journey of Water with Moana

selfie in the Journey of Water, with Spaceship Earth

Te Fiti and a pond in the Journey of Water

new Moana topiary

new Maui topiary

Goofy topiary

Encanto topiary

Japan Pavilion (we were there so early,
I got a bunch of pictures without crowds!

Germany Pavilion

Mexico Pavilion

Miguel & Dante topiary
(I think this was my favorite this trip)

Tinkerbell topiary

fashion topiary in France

towel duckling in one of the bathrooms

Flower & Garden Festival banner

Bonsai tree garden in Japan Pavilion 

the department store in the Japan Pavilion

musical water feature in Japanese garden

Mark with the Tiana topiary

Lady & the Tramp topiary

Flower & Garden Festival 30 years banner

new Gnome topiaries

murals on the closed doors of these shops
(which we normally don't see when they're open!)

Mark testing out the kids' marimba in the Africa Outpost

panda topiaries in the China Pavilion

Mulan

Ana & Elsa topiaries

close up of part of the Encanto topiary
(I love this kid's hair!)

Figment topiary, with Spaceship Earth

Mickey & Minnie topiary

Mickey & Pluto topiary

Mark controlling the water in the Moana walk-thru

selfie w/Mark on the Monorail

selfie with Mark and the new Walt Disney statue

me with the Moana topiary and Spaceship Earth

new fireworks show at Epcot: Luminous

more fireworks: we liked this show,
but only got to see it once

Winnie the Pooh topiary

me with an elephant topiary

me with the dragon topiary

selfie with Mark & Spaceship Earth

selfie w/Mark, the water, flowers, 
Monorail track, and Spaceship Earth

Hollywood Studios

Kylo Ren, Storm Trooper, and a crowd

selfie w/Mark and the Chinese Theater

Rock n' Roller Coaster,
which is closing soon to be re-themed

Donald & Daisy

Muppet-Vision, which is also closing soon

a big crowd waiting to see Muppet Vision

selfie w/Mark inside the Muppet Vision
theater with our 3-D glasses on

the "Bowling Green" sign in the line
for Tower of Terror

projection show on the Chinese Theater

selfie w/Mark and the Tower of Terror
(we LOVE this ride!)

us with the Tower of Terror at dusk

Animal Kingdom

an Encanto photo-op at Animal Kingdom

Mark & me with the Tree of Life

here, the photographer had him hold 
up 2 fingers and me hold up 1 finger,
for our 21st anniversary

an empty line at Kilimanjaro Safaris near park close

uncrowded Africa 

me with the sign for Dinosaur,
another ride closing permanently soon

Food

You know that the food is one of the things we enjoy most, but I've tried to pick out only our favorites or most interesting meals and snacks here. Details in the captions!

from our "car" at the Sci-Fi drive in

my favorite breakfast this trip: the breakfast
pizza at the Riviera (we had it several times)

theme park pizza at Pizzafari in the Animal Kingdom
(with side salads and cheese toast)

my waffle bowl sundae at Magic Kingdom
(Mark had a milkshake)

the San Angel Inn restaurant inside the 
Mexico Pavilion 

queso fundido

chicken tacos (build your own)

selfie w/Mark in the restaurant,
with the Gran Fiesta Tour ride in the background

I've wanted to try this buffalo chicken
grilled cheese and side salad for a while!
(it was good, but not a new must-do)

we do keep going back for this Oreo funnel cake!

Mark is laughing about how gigantic
these fried mozzarella sticks are!

we also split this pasta

and got some cute cupcakes!

salad & Italian sandwich at the Riviera

PB and PB&J soft serve at Epcot

conch fritters from a festival booth (these were good!)

returning festival favorites: shrimp & grits and 
maple bacon fried cinnamon bites

a classic: ice cream cookie sandwich
(we always get these at a place in the Animal
Kingdom...but it was closed! Happily,
we found this one is in the Magic Kingdom)

Mark at Narcoossee's with the bread basket

calamari appetizer

gnocchi main dish

photo of us together at Narcoossee's,
our favorite fancy restaurant

the amazing almond cheesecake and some
chocolate caramels for our anniversary

Wow, what a trip! We always have fun here, and we're already looking forward to some of the new things that should be open by the time we go back (maybe in two years?). Meanwhile, we have plenty of summer still to enjoy!