I’ve always wanted to be a reporter and I’ve always loved the Disney Parks. Combine the two and some awesome kind of dream job would be to be a Disney Parks reporter. Like if Walt Disney World® Resort had a news team, I’d be the lead reporter giving the scoop on all of the fun rides and restaurants to hit up with your family when visiting the parks.

Well a couple of months ago that dream was basically realized when Disney flew my family and me to Orlando and gave us a free Walt Disney World® Resort vacation to capture our Disney do-list in a four-part series for Essence.com showcasing some of the Disney Parks magic we know and love.

Now for you, my blog readers, I can give you some of the behind-the-scenes scoop. For one, my husband who you know is as camera shy as they get, – was a big trooper. Lil’ J has had a camera in her face since birth so she was a gem, and little man was something else. I mean we were at Walt Disney World® Resort, he was ready to play, and the crew just had to capture his joy.

We stayed at the beautiful Disney’s Art of Animation Resort which is easily our favorite right now purely for the Cars cast. Every evening when we came back to the hotel we had to make a trip around Radiator Springs to say hi to all of his friends.

In the end we knocked out all of our favorites:

Meeting Tiana
Turtle Talk with Crush
Chatting with Elsa and Anna
Dumbo the Flying Elephant® Attraction
Toy Story Mania® Attraction
… Actually this list can get pretty long fast. You can watch our videos to see what we enjoyed.

And I’ll narrow down a few of our favorite NEW things we experienced:

1. Met Moana – She’s currently at Disney’s Hollywood Studios®.
2. The new Frozen Ever After ride – One of my new favorite rides for sure. We all loved it. The atmosphere was beautiful and we were singing the whole way through. There were some backwards riding and a little drop, and the kids both had a blast.
3. We hitched a ride on some Main Street, U.S.A.® transportation and my kids sent a trail of bubbles all the way down. Their huge smiles were contagious.
4. Met Gaston outside of his tavern– He is HILARIOUS! He asked my husband if he wanted to feel his biceps too and my husband politely declined.

5. Show Mickey Mouse a cool toy– My kids lost their minds when we saw Mickey and Minnie in Disney’s Animal Kingdom® Theme Park. But the cutest part was when my son ran for his Mack truck (from the Cars movie) he had with us the entire trip and ran back to show it to Mickey. I almost cried. He still talks about that today and can’t wait to go see him again.

We’ve taken four trips to Walt Disney World® Resort (plus two to Disneyland ® Resort and two Disney Cruise Line vacation) in two years and we STILL haven’t seen it all.

With each trip the magic never fades. Walt Disney World® Resort has endless magic.

Enter to win

Essence Communications Inc. is sponsoring The Endless Magic Sweepstakes so you and your family can experience it as well! Visit www.Essence.com/EndlessMagic to enter for a chance to win a 4-night/5-day Walt Disney World® Resort vacation for four.

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Purchasing does not improve your chances of winning. The Endless Magic Sweepstakes is open to legal residents of the 50 U.S. and D.C., age 21 or older. Void outside the U.S., in Puerto Rico, and wherever prohibited by law. Sweepstakes begins at 12:00:01 AM ET on 01/13/17 and ends at 11:59:59 PM ET on 03/30/17. Click here for Sweeps Facts and Official Rules. Sponsor: Essence Communications, Inc., 225 Liberty St., New York, NY 10281.

Tags: disney, Disney World, family travel