Disney Bingo

Share the love!

This post may contain affiliate links, which means I’ll receive a commission if you purchase through my links, at no extra cost to you. Please read full disclosure for more information.

Hi, my name is Lori and I’m a Disney adult. My first ever vacation was at age 4 to Walt Disney World (back then it was just Magic Kingdom!) and for the past 19 years, I’ve lived in Orlando, Florida, and am an annual passholder. 

My Disney History

My first Disney trip was when I was four years old. My mom took me to Walt Disney World and back then it was just the Magic Kingdom. My second trip was sometime around the age of eight, give or take, and I got to see not only the Magic Kingdom but also EPCOT, which had opened since my last trip. Several years passed and I was in high school then next time we went to Orlando. By then Disney MGM Studios (I’ll always call it that, sorry not sorry!) was open and that trip was the start of what truly cemented Disney in my heart.

We returned a year or two later, even taking a Disney Cruise on the now-defunct Big Red Boat. We visited at Easter, we visited at Christmas, we got rained on in the heat of June. Eventually, my career gave me a job opportunity that allowed me to move to Florida and I jumped on it, fully cementing my Disney Adult (and annual passholder) status.

Taking a step back for a second, during my college years I had an internship in Los Angeles, so you know I visited Disneyland while I was there! I’ve been three times since, two of those times to participate in RunDisney events (the Disneyland Half Marathon and the Star Wars Half Marathon).

At some point in my early thirties, work brought me to Tokyo and I was supremely sad that I didn’t have the opportunity to visit Tokyo Disneyland while I was there. I promised myself I’d get there someday and in 2023 at the ripe old age of 47, I took a personal trip to Tokyo and visited Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea.

It was around that time that my castle-collecting obsession began and shortly after, I began planning my next trip—to Disneyland Paris! (Which my brain still likes to think of as Euro Disney). In January of 2025, I crossed Disneyland Paris off my Disney Bingo card. I also managed to stay at Aulani, A Disney Resort & Spa name for a few nights in 2024, effectively checking that off the list as well.

The next challenge on the horizon is Hong Kong Disney and Shanghai Disney Resort. I am nothing if not a researcher and a planner, so I started reading. And watching YouTube videos. And everything I read led me to the conclusion that it made sense to visit both parks on the same trip. This is largely due to the expense of flights from Orlando to Asia and the challenges with the Chinese visa for Shanghai.

While that trip is still in the “someday” stages, I’ve got another Disney Bucket List Bingo item coming up in 2025 and that’s a Disney Cruise. Yes, I sailed on the Big Red Boat back in the day, but I feel like it doesn’t count. And yes, these are my arbitrary rules for me made up in my head but really it’s just an excuse to take a Disney Cruise.

I also want to visit Disney’s Hilton Head Island Resort and Disney’s Vero Beach Resort to fill my bingo card, but those seem easy in comparison to Hong Kong and Shanghai! Vero Beach is less than two hours from my house, it’s just a matter of making the time to pop down there for a night or two.

How Many Disney Parks Are There?

Disney has 12 theme parks around the world.

• Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida (comprised of Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom)
• Disneyland in Anaheim, California (comprised of Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park)
• Tokyo Disney Resort in Chiba, Japan (comprised of Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea)
• Disneyland Paris in Chessy, France (comprised of Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios Park)
• Hong Kong Disneyland Resort in Lantau Island, Hong Kong (comprised of Hong Kong Disneyland)
• Shanghai Disney Resort in Pudong, Shanghai, China (comprised of Shanghai Disneyland Park)

So obviously I need to visit Hong Kong and Shanghai to complete my Disney bingo card!

Disney Bingo Card

But wait, there’s more! There are a few that I call Bonus Adventures on my Disney bingo card, some of which I’ve completed and some of which I still need to do.

• Aulani, A Disney Resort and Spa – I spent a few nights at Aulani back in 2023.
• Disney Cruise Line  – I’ve got a four-night Bahamian Cruise booked on the Magic in Spring 2025.
• Disney’s Vero Beach Resort – Vero Beach is about an hour and forty-five minutes from me, but I haven’t yet been here. I’ll probably end up doing a spontaneous getaway here at some point when I need to escape from reality.
• Disney’s Hilton Head Island Resort – I technically was at Disney’s Hilton Head Island Resort in the sense that when went to Hilton Head, I stood just outside the resort on the beach, but since I didn’t stay at the resort or even go on property (you had to be staying there), I’m not counting it. Which just means I need to plan a trip back to Hilton Head!

---

Walt Disney World, Orlando, Florida

---

Disneyland Paris, France

---

Tokyo Disneyland, Japan

---

Disneyland California

---

Shanghai Disney Resort

---

Hong Kong Disneyland Resort

---

Aulani, A Disney Resort and Spa

---

Disney Cruise Line

In a weird sort of way, I’ve been on a Disney Cruise. But not really. Back in the 90s, I sailed on Premier Cruise Line’s Big Red Boat Disney Cruise. The cruise line was licensed as the official Disney Cruise Line from 1985 to 1993, before what we now know as Disney Cruise Line existed. But I’m going to go ahead and say that doesn’t count for Disney Bingo but I’ve got a plan to remedy that! I’ll be sailing on the Magic in Spring of 2025 to check off that bingo square! So stay tuned for an update on that adventure!

---

Disney’s Vero Beach Resort

---

Disney’s Hilton Head Island Resort

---

Disney Park Awards

I thought it would be fun to share some favorites and some tips and tricks from the parks I have been to so far.

Favorite Castle – Le Château de la Belle au Bois Dormant (aka Sleeping Beauty Castle) in Disneyland Paris. The exterior pink is what Magic Kingdom’s castle should look like! I love that you can actually spend more time in the castle. The Sleeping Beauty stained glass exhibit is beautiful and the sleeping dragon down in the dungeon is a fun touch!

Favorite Non-Castle Icon – I’ve always been nostalgic for the Disney MGM Studios Earffel Tower, so seeing it at Parc Walt Disney Studios in Paris brought it to the top of the list for non-castle park icons.

Favorite Castle Park – Call it nostalgia, call it the home field advantage, Disney World’s Magic Kingdom takes top honors for my favorite castle park.

Favorite Non-Castle Park – EPCOT The food festivals, hanging out and eating and drinking around the world, Guardians of the Galaxy.

Least Favorite Park – Parc Walt Disney Studios with a big caveat. I was there while they were doing massive construction, so I feel like it really didn’t get a fair shot. Guess I’ll just have to go back! That said, Animal Kingdom is my least-visited park in Orlando, so make of that what you will.

Best Food – EPCOT, hands down. I love a food festival, what can I say?

Best Tower of Terror – Tokyo DisneySea. Joe Rohde as Harrison Hightower III and the whole storyline was just unique and fun! Plus it incorporates SEA (the Society of Adventurers and Explorers) references, so what’s not to like?

Best Pirates of the Caribbean – Disneyland California gets my vote for having two drops and the Blue Bayou Restaurant incorporation.

Best Haunted Mansion –  I’m a sucker for the Magic Kingdom version!

Favorite Parade/Fireworks – It’s a tie between Disneyland Paris’ Electric Sky Parade drone show and Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade Dreamlights. (Neither of these are still showing, but they were when I visited). I grew up with the original Main Street Electrical Parade, so these will forever have my heart!

Unexpected Magic Moment – Getting snowed on at Disneyland Paris!

Most fun character meet and greet – Cinderella’s Step Sisters at Magic Kingdom will always be a favorite, but it was a lot of fun to meet Phantom Manor (aka Haunted Mansion) Mickey at DLP.

Favorite Snack – Dole Whip at Magic Kingdom. Cliche, but it’s popular for a reason!

Favorite Hotel – I’ve stayed at the Disney Hotel New York – The Art of Marvel in Paris, Tokyo Disney Resort Toy Story Hotel, Disneyland Hotel in California, and a host of Walt Disney World hotels (Contemporary, Polynesia, All Stars, Coronado, Port Orleans, Boardwalk, Caribbean Beach) and by far my favorite is Tokyo Disney Resort’s Toy Story Hotel. The theming is top-notch and so much fun! I can’t wait to stay at the Toy Story Hotel at Shanghai Disney Resort to see how it compares!

Favorite Mode of Transportation – The Tokyo Disney Resort monorail! Yes, you have to pay to ride it. But the theming is adorable! And so clean and far more efficient than the WDW monorail.

So that’s my Disney bingo card story as it stands! Stick around if you want to see the happily ever ending!

If you like it, put a pin on it!

Share the love!