I was gifted tickets to the parks by Walt Disney World in exchange for coverage. This post does contain affiliate links. All opinions are my own.
Hi my loves!! Hope your 2019 is off to a great start! I am jumping off 2019 with a brand new section added to the blog… TRAVEL! I personally love to travel and get asked tons of questions about traveling while plus size. I asked over on instagram if anyone would be interested in reading a travel edit on the blog and everyone said YASSS girl! So, here I am… welcome to the travel portion of the blog! I cannot wait for you all to come along on my adventures. Starting off this new endeavor, I took a little trip down south to the most magical place on earth. In this post, I am going to tell you all about my experience being Plus Size at Disney World.
Rides- Did I fit?
I figured I would start this off with the MOST asked question about Disney, “did you fit on the rides?” YEP! I sure did, I am 5’3 and a size US20 and carry most of my weight in my lower half, belly, booty and thighs. Rides with restraints that go around the middle can be a concern.
I have ALWAYS loved roller coasters, the faster and scarier the better! When I was in my freshman in high school, a club that I was in took a trip to DollyWood. There was only a few girls and a bunch of guys on the trip, so we would break up into pairs for the rides. I was paired up with a guy friend of mine for a wooden roller coaster and when it was our turn to get on the ride the lap bar wouldn’t close over me. The worker tried to close it but it was clear that it was NOT happening, I had to get up and leave the ride in front of my entire group of friends.
I was MORTIFIED! Before that moment it had never occurred to me that this was even an issue. After that experience, I did not ride ANYTHING for the longest time for fear of that horrible feeling of having to get off that ride.
Now, I am much more confident and secure in my body than I was in high school and would not be as devastated or embarrassed as I was that day BUT not being able to ride something because of my size is still a huge bummer! Especially if you stand in a line for HOURS just to be told you cannot ride, so I am going to break down the rides that I rode with no issues by park!
Animal Kingdom
Dinosaur – Narrow seat with a lap seat belt. No issues getting the seat belt on but the seat was uncomfortable to sit in, fun ride though.
Expedition Everest – No problem fitting, super fun roller coaster with an individual lap bar that you pull down yourself. This one can be a long wait. If you are still concerned about fit, I was told that there is a very discrete test seat for this ride and if you ask a cast member they will take you to it. I would recommend doing this before standing in that LONG line.
Kali River Rapids – You will sit two to a seat and share a lap seat belt. I rode with a little kid and hard no issues on this ride. YOU WILL GET WET!
Primeval Whirl – Pull down lap bar for two guests. This ride can beat you up a little, much like a tilt-a-whirl carnival ride.
Avatar Flight of Passage – Motorcycle like seat that you straddle with restraints that slide out and lock you in at the lower back and the calves. The back restraint went in place just fine automatically but I didn’t push my feet far enough forward and the cast member had to come by and lock in my calf restraints. Think Soarin’ on steroids! Lots of Fun!
Hollywood Studios
Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster – Over head pull down restraints that lock into place. No issues fitting but this ride always beats me up. My head rattles back and forth between the shoulder restraints if I don’t keep it pushed back against the seat as hard as I can. This is a fun roller coaster though, just be aware, especially if you have earrings in.
Toy Story Midway Mania– Individual lap bar, love this ride because it is interactive. You get to shoot targets to earn points!
Twilight Zone Tower of Terror– This ride you will sit in a row and have your own seat belt. This is one of my favorite rides at Disney!
I wanted to ride the Slinky Dog but the line was a 90 minute wait and I didn’t have it in me to wait that long by that point. Toy Story land was our last stop of the day and my feet were over it.
Magic Kingdom
Space Mountain – This ride is a little hard to get in and out of, you have to step down off the platform into the seat and pull yourself out. I was able to do it with no problem but I did see a few people that needed help getting out. There is a pull down lap bar.
Splash Mountain – Bench seat with pull down lap bar. Fun ride! Try to get a FastPass, this ride is ALWAYS a long wait!
Haunted Mansion– Pull down lap bar. This ride did not live up to the hype for me, it stopped working quit a few times throughout and was just kind of boring.
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train– This was the ride I was the most uncomfortable on, The lap bar pulled down fine but you thighs are smashed together and it wasn’t pleasant. I do have large thighs so this one could be uncomfortable if you have big, beautiful thighs like me.
Under the Sea-Journey of the Little Mermaid – Pull down lap bar. Let me say this, I am an Ariel STAN! I love all things Little Mermaid and low key have read hair so I can live out my mermaid dreams. I would NOT ride this again! Perfect for little ones but adults need not apply.
Epcot
Mission Space – Over the head padded pull down restraints. I have to honest, I couldn’t tell you much about this ride other than I fit just fine. I have a friend that doesn’t do well with the simulated rides and this one also closes you into a very small space. She started having a bit of a panic attack on this ride and I was focused on making sure that she was okay until we could get off. If you get motion sick OR have issues in small spaces, hard pass on this one.
Soarin’– Individual lap seat belt. I would say this one is good to go for everyone! Also, very relaxing and enjoyable!
Test Track– Car like seat belt. Fun ride! No issues with seat belt fitting.
For a more extensive look into rides and to see pictures of each seat click here.
Clothes- What I wore?
COMFORT!!! I understand wanting to look cute in pictures but go for comfort! I only pack workout/active wear for Disney trips! If you plan to ride any of the water rides then I would go for quick drying fabrics. Walking all day in wet clothes can lead to serious chub rub issues!
For this trip, I opted for two pairs of black compression pants. One pair was from Fabletics, I LOVE their workout wear! A lot of people don’t even realize that they have plus size but they do! Super CUTE styles too! The ones I wore for my trip are the High-Waisted Solid Power Hold in a 3x. I pair them with custom t-shirts that one of my friends had made for Epcot! Drinking Around the World, umm yes please!
My last trip to Disney I carried a drawstring backpack, which worked fine, but I hated having to take it off and on to get things out and put things back. This time, I went for a FANNY PACK! Not just any fanny pack though, a mermaid fanny pack! This was the shiny, holographic, scaly fanny pack that mermaid wanna-be dreams are made of! It made things SO much easier having everything right there in front of me and it fit around my waist great!
LINKS Shirt (was custom made) | Pants (Fabletics 3x) | Shoes (Nike 8.5) | Fanny Pack
Okay, so outfit two… let’s get super real here, I was literally walking into the park on the first morning of our trip when my friend informed me that I had a big whole in the middle of the butt of my pants!! AHHHHH!! There was NO way I was going back to the hotel, I mean, Pandora was staring right at me! There was no covering with my shirt because my booty would not allow that, sooo… I took my happy self to the bathroom took them off and turned them backwards! My shirt covered the whole in the front and off to ride Avatar I went! I was shocked that this happened because I had on Livi Active pants from Lane Bryant and they are SUPER well made! But nothing was going to stop me from Animal Kingdom magic!
Although the pants were a bust, literally… I had a pretty awesome shirt. Now is where I tell you that I launched MERCH!! Yes, I now have a CCC Merch Shop you guys!! EEEEHHHH! I have been wanting to do this forever and it is officially live! Right now all that’s available is shirts but I plan to add bags and popsockets. If you want to see other CCC Merch drop me a comment and let me know!
Now is where I tell you that I launched MERCH!! Yes, I now have a CCC Merch Shop you guys!!
I am wearing the CCC Signature Tee here in a 3x. Isn’t it bomb? I also added some pretty sweet mermaid mickey ears that Ariel herself would cosign! For both looks, I rocked my Nikes. These are my go to gym shoes so I knew they would help my feet last all day in the parks!
LINKS Shirt (CCC Merch 3x) | Pants (Lane Bryant Similar 18/20) | Shoes (8.5) | Fanny Pack | Ears
Hotel- Where I Stayed?
I have never stayed at any of the Disney resorts but they all look amazing, just so expensive! For this trip, we stayed in the Disney Springs area at the Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista. This was awesome because there was a walking bridge over to Disney Springs and I love that area! Lots of shopping and SO many amazing restaurants and bars to eat at!
Since we flew in a day before we planned to go to the parks, we spent the first afternoon in Disney Springs. We walked around and had some drinks till it was time for our dinner reservation! Speaking of food… lets talk about that next!
Food- Where I ate?
Out first night we used the Disney app to make a reservation at Morimoto Asia! We ate at this restaurant on our last trip to Orlando and it was so good that we knew we had to go back this time! Not only is the place gorgeous, but it is in Disney Springs so we walked to it from our hotel! Also, Hello Iron Chef alert! Who wouldn’t want to eat at Morimoto’s restaurant?
For a sweet treat, we stopped at the Ghirardelli Store in Disney Springs and got some yummy chocolate but the only thing that was on my radar was DOLE WHIP!
I had heard about this pineapple goodness from so many Disney visitors but had never tried it myself and I was on a mission to make it happen this trip! As you can see from my picture, I FOUND IT! It is not served in all the parks, all the time so be sure to ask a cast member where you can find some. I got mine in Magic Kingdom. Y’all, it is SO good! It is a soft serve dairy-free frozen pineapple dream! You can get it with pineapple juice but I went with the soft serve only. It lived up to the hype for sure.
Now, Disney is wonderful, magical and amazing BUT it is also tiring and takes planning!
Hacks- How I Survived?
Pants: It may be hot when you go but it you have some big thighs like me I would recommend pants! The Chub Rub can be deadly! I use Chafezone from Medzone to prevent chub rub when wearing dresses but honestly I wouldn’t risk it with all the walking Disney requires!
Charger: You will want to have your phone to snap tons of pictures because the parks are beautiful! Since, you are prob going to start early in the morning and stay ALL day bring a portable charger for your phone. This is always necessary for me.
Advil: Your feet will hurt by the end of the day! Bring some kind of over the counter pain reliever and start taking it before your feet start hurting to be able to enjoy yourself all day.
Cheap Sunnies: Bring a pair of sunglasses that don’t cost a lot or mean that much to you! Sometimes you may forget to take them off during rides and you will be super sad to lose a pair of expensive glasses!
Patience: Lines are long and there are a lot of exhausted kids hyped up on Disney! Try to enjoy the surroundings while you wait in lines. Download the HeadsUp app on your phone and play it with your group while you wait your turn to ride! We started doing this while waiting in lines during black Friday shopping. Now, we use it anytime we have a long wait ahead of us.
I hope this post helped answer some of your Disney questions! If you have a chance to visit the most magical place in the world, take it! Drop ANY other travel questions in the comments!!!!
Thanks for reading and for the support!
XOXO,
Megan (Curves, Curls and Clothes)