In September of 2017, Roman and I went down to Orlando to Walt Disney World. I’m not going to type out everything we did because it’s Disney World and it’s the same experience for most people who visit! But I will highlight some of the things we loved about our trip.

Day 1

Since Roman had never been to Disney World, I took him to the Magic Kingdom first. It’s iconic and I feel if it’s your first time, you have to go to the Magic Kingdom first.

Magic Kingdom Highlights

The biggest surprise for me is how modern the Magic Kingdom has become. Now you can order everything off your phone, reserve seats and even choose fastpass times. This was probably the best thing about Walt Disney because there was less waiting in line and easier to plan our day.

We got to the Magic Kingdom pretty early and used the monorail to enter. They say to always arrive at the Magic Kingdom early because of how small crowds are and for us that was true. We knocked out several rides, including the ones that would be impossibly long during the day.

Fantasyland

Easily the busiest part of the park during the daytime is Fantasyland so we hightailed it over there. It has been around 10 years since I went to Disney World and since then they added the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. This is by far the most popular ride in Fantasyland at the moment and I wasn’t able to get a fastpass for the ride so we had to get there first. And that strategy worked since our wait was no more than 5 minutes for the front seat. The ride itself is well detailed but not super thrilling.

They also added the new Be Our Guest restaurant and it’s really well done. Inside you get to sit inside the ballroom from Beauty and the Beast, as well as other rooms from the movie. It’s also super hard to get into without reservation but luckily they let us book way in advance so I was able to get a table.

Of course we hit essential Fantasyland rides like It’s A Small World and Peter Pans Flight which for some reason is always busy. We had a fastpass for that ride in the afternoon or it would have been like an hour wait.

Tomorrowland

I think the highlights for us in Tomorrowland were Space Mountain and the People Mover. We actually had a fastpass for Space Mountain but had ridden the ride prior to that since it was right around the corner and had short wait times. When we used our fastpass, Space Mountain was down so we got to use a free fastpass anytime we wanted during the day!

Space Mountain can be really busy but I think we ended up riding the ride like 8 times the entire day. In the morning it was empty and at night we rode multiple times in a row before the park closed. I think this was Romans favorite ride in the Magic Kingdom.

The People Mover is always recommended by me if it’s a hot day, which it usually is at Disney World. It’s perfect because it’s always shaded and breezy and a great long ride in case your feet are tired.

Adventureland

There wasn’t much in Adventureland in terms of rides with the exception of Pirates of the Caribbean, which Roman ended up liking. The Jungle Cruise was closed due to the hurricane that moved through a week prior so we couldn’t go on. However the restaurant Jungle Navigation Skipper Canteen was open and was a great place to rest to have dinner.

Frontierland

The only disappointing thing about Frontierland was that Splash Mountain wasn’t operating! Otherwise we both loved the Haunted Mansion; which I think we rode at least 3 times. And of course Big Thunder Mountain which we had a fastpass for and rode numerous times. That ride was a lot more fun and a lot faster than I remembered in the past.

Day 2

We decided to get up early and head to the Animal Kingdom for part of the day and then end it at Epcot. Animal Kingdom can probably be done in a morning and afternoon but with the new Avatar area of the park it may be a day park.

Animal Kingdom

The Animal Kingdom is by far the most well-designed land at Walt Disney. And unlike the Magic Kingdom, the lines at Animal Kingdom are not nearly as long. We got there around 7:30 and we were able to get into the middle of the park at around 7:45. They ended up letting us all the way through to the Avatar part of the park earlier than they were supposed to open!

Pandora

We had a fastpass for one Flight of Passage for later, so instead of getting in that line we went to the Na’vi River Journey line. Because we were there early we were able to be at the front of the line within 5 minutes of entering the ride. First off this part of the park is shiny new and technologically the most advanced part of Disney World. It’s a beautiful park and I can see why it’s popular. To be honest, I actually don’t know much about Avatar!

The Na’vi River Journey is a beautiful boat ride that uses a lot of fluorescent and beautiful boats. It’s certainly a ride to do at least once. Now for another ride, Flight of Passage can be epically long. We had a fastpass so we got to do it only once but if we didn’t have a fastpass, the wait would have been over 3 hours. The ride is certainly beautiful and I would say it’s worth it but if you don’t have a fastpass, go to Flight of Passage first. The ride was fun but certainly not worth a wait over 3 hours.

Africa

North of Pandora is the Africa land which resembles a traditional African village. It’s beautifully decorated and although there aren’t many rides here there is a lot of shopping. Certainly the top ride to do is the African Safaris, which we did without a fastpass and were able to easily sweep through the lines. It’s actually a pretty cool ride, and they use real trucks with real African animals.

Asia

Our favorite part was the Asia land. Like the rest of the park the Asia land is beautiful and its centerpiece is Expedition Everest. We had a fastpass for Everest Expedition but it really wasn’t needed. Because Avatar was so popular we were able to go on this ride at least 8 times throughout the day. In the morning, the ride was especially empty. Everest Expedition is easily one of the best well-designed rides and probably the most fun in the Magic Kingdom.

Epcot

Getting from Animal Kingdom to Epcot is super easy and relatively straight forward. From leaving the Animal Kingdom and getting into the gates of Epcot, it probably only took around 30 minutes by car. Walking is what kills you since the parks are so large to walk. And Epcot is super big so it really does take a while to get there.

We stuck with a shorter day at Epcot and only did the front part of the park, including rides like Test Track, Spaceship Earth, and Mission Space.

Day 3

For our last day at Walt Disney World we decided to split our time between 3 different parks. Start at Hollywood Studios, head over to Animal Kingdom to ride Everest Expedition and then end our day at Epcot.

Hollywood Studios

Hollywood Studios is the smallest park at Walt Disney World, and although there is actually a lot to do, we only needed the morning to the afternoon. We arrived early, around 7:3o or 7:45 in the morning and were one of the first few in the park. We chose to head over to the Tower of Terror before stopping to drink our morning coffee of course. It was a good idea, too, because it is perhaps the most popular ride at Hollywood Studios. We rode that ride about 2 or 3 times and afterwards Roman bought a Tower of Tower Clue game.

Right next door we then used our fast pass for Rock ‘n’ Rollercoaster. This ride is also very popular and even by the time we used our fastpass it was already packed. This is an awesome ride and one of the only rides at Disney World that goes upside down. We rode this a couple of times, going into a single rider line once just to make our time go further.

We then had to stand in line for the Star Tours ride, and although the line is cute this ride is really not my thing. I’m just not a huge Star Wars fan and I think this ride is a little outdated.

At the center of Hollywood Studios there is Echo Lake and 50’s Prime Time Cafe. We needed to eat some early lunch and we really didn’t have many options. Hollywood Studios is not really known for the best restaurants in Disney World.

We ended our time at Hollywood Studios by using our fast pass for Toy Story Mania. This ride is such a long wait so we only got to do it once with a fastpass but so much fun and well worth the use! If you’re not familiar with it, you go around and play different 3d games and compete with your cart. This area has since turned into Toy Story Land and I can’t wait to go back and see it!

Animal Kingdom

After leaving Hollywood Studios we quickly jetted off to Animal Kingdom and we were back in the park within 30 minutes. We had just been to Animal Kingdom the day prior and the only reason we were here was to drink more Kungaloosh beer and then ride Everest Expedition. So although it was a short visit we still enjoyed our time in the Animal Kingdom.

Epcot

We ended our time at Walt Disney at Epcot and unlike the day before we did all the major rides with the help of fastpass and some waiting. First of all, Epcot is big so we really focused on the first half where rides like Test Track, Spaceship Earth, and Mission Earth. We didn’t bother with some of the rides that we normally wouldn’t consider anyway, like Figment or Innovations.

Now, if you’re not familiar with Epcot, the land is divided by country pavilion and each has their own drinks and food to try. At first it was somewhat overwhelming and we didn’t get to try most of the food or drinks offered. However some do have rides like Norway’s Frozen, and Mexico’s River Boat Ride. We only really had time for Norway’s Frozen ride before our dinner reservation at the France pavilion.

We decided to eat our final last meal over at the France pavilions, Chefs de France. It was a pretty good meal, although it was heavy and hard to move around after that!

One of our last rides was Sourin’ Around the World. It’s a huge ride, and it’s relatively easy to get into.

Thoughts on Disney World

Disney World is really fun and I think it’s actually more fun as an adult. For me it’s nostalgic but the rides are still just as fun. I can’t wait to return to Disney World as they open up more worlds.