Due to the unfortunate fact that I have a full-time job now I have been unable to travel like I used to. (On the positive side, i really enjoy it and my co-workers) My family had planned a trip to Orlando, Florida for a few days for Spring Break and my Cousin’s birthday, they arrived a day before I did and left a day after I did, so I spent four days in Orlando, but I just want to prove the point that you can visit Orlando within a weekend-time-span and still see all that you need to see.
In two days I managed to visit: Animal Kingdom, Epcott, Hollywood Studios, AND Magic Kingdom! My sister visited Universal Studios the following day (after I had left) but I had visited Universal only a few months ago so I did not need to go again.
I arrived early Wednesday morning in Orlando, and had breakfast at KeKe’s breakfast restaurant, I would definitely recommend the omelets if one is looking for a good breakfast place. My family had rented a house for the week for a fair price, I would recommend one doing this as opposed to splurging on a hotel room. We spent a majority of the first day settling in, for dinner we went to Disney Springs and had dinner at Splitsville Bowling Alley. I had this really really amazing salad with Ahi Tuna and Avocado, it was delicious! Disney Springs also has this cool hot air balloon ride and a car that turns into a boat. We didn’t ride either but I thought it was cool.
A few Tips:
Definitely try and purchase the FAST-passes, they’re so worth it, especially if you don’t have much time to wait in 30+ minute lines every day! However the new fast passes are all digital and you can only request three rides at a time… it’s a huge drag, the old paper passes were better.
Try to eat outside of the parks not only to save money but because the food really isn’t that good most of the time – unless you have reservations for an actual restaurant
** Epcot is an exception the food is good here
Alcohol is now available in all of the parks, yay!
Bring water bottles or a refillable one.. or else pay 3$ every time you want a water bottle…
BRING a poncho! Learn from my mistakes!!!
Unfortunately the theme parks really aren’t my thing.. with the exception of the Harry Potter and Jurassic Park exhibit in Universal and Epcot in general because it is travel themed
Day 1: Animal Kingdom: We rode the Safari ride first, I haven’t been to most of the theme parks since I was really young so it was interesting to see how much things have changed. I was surprised by the number of animals on the safari, there were living hippos, lions, rhinos and even elephants. My cousin really likes acting and musicals so we went and saw this Nemo puppet show type thing, it was cute. My cousin’s rode some Mount Everest Exhibit ride and then we fast-passed the river rapids ride. I had a beer and french fries, which for all of us ended up being 40$ so, yeah.
Epcot: When we arrived at Epcot in started to rain SADLY so we rode the Planet Earth ride or whatever they renamed the ride that is located in the big globe. This ride used to be all about Philosophy and the past, Plato, Socrates, etc. but they changed it around a bit and it seems to be more focused on history and parts of the world – I’m sad to see the change. We were able to see the fireworks before leaving, we then left the park to go for dinner at this really delicious Mexican restaurant that i would HIGHLY recommend, Tacos Express Florida. The name is deceiving, I had the best guacamole of my life here.
Day 2:
The following day we returned to Epcot and walked around through the different “countries” England, France, Japan, Morrocco, Italy and Germany. My sister had a frozen vodka drink from Italy and bought a pearl to make into a ring in Japan. I had a bratwurst and a beer in Germany. All of the workers in each individual “country” are actually from that country! I had a great time talking with a few guys from Frankfurt, Germany about Munich and my love of Europe. The shops in each of the separate countries are adorable but highly expensive. I wish I had more time and room in my stomach for some macaroons from France and Fish n’ Chips from England! We did not get to ride the two rides in Mexico and Norway, but I wish we had done that too 😦
Hollywood Studios: We arrived in Hollywood Studios and it was raining AGAIN. This time it was a bit frightening, there were tornado warnings but that didn’t stop us, we rode the great movie ride, my dad’s favorite, and when we had gotten off the rain had stopped thankfully. We walked around a bit and saw a few shows. Personally, this may be my least favorite park… sorry!
Magic Kingdom: Lastly, we drove over to Magic Kingdom, the park is so far away though we had to take a tram and a ferry to finally reach the park. I needed a coffee before we hopped on the boat. We fast passed the pirates of the Caribbean ride and it chose our other passes for us.. which was annoying. So we had to take pictures with Mickey Mouse, which actually proved to be quite entertaining because he accidentally bitch slapped my sister. We then rode Small World, Pirates of the Caribbean, the Little Mermaid and the Buzz Lightyear ride. We had reservations for the Be Our Guest restaurant so my sister and I were able to squeeze in the Peter Pan Ride before running to the restaurant. Our parents and us split the cheese plate and we had a beer before ordering dessert. The waitstaff was phenomenal and very entertaining. Even though I am not the biggest Disney Fan, I had a really good time.
The following day we had dinner at BJ’s Brewery & Resturant, which was really good too – I would recommend this place not only for food but for a good beer selection as well. I left the following morning so I did not attend Universal with my family, but if one is interested in Universal Studios I have posted about it a few months back. It is an amazing experience! HIGHLY recommend visiting the Wizarding World of Harry Potter!
Runaway Blond 