Just before all this craziness happened with the coronavirus pandemic, Kristen and I got to do a trip to Disney World! It had been on our bucket list to do together for a long time. I had a training for work to do in south Florida, so we decided to make the Disney trip happen!
I went and did the work training Monday, Tuesday, and half of Wednesday. Kristen dropped the kids off at my parents’ house late on Tuesday, and then she caught a flight over early on Wednesday. When the training ended around noon on Wednesday, I rented a car and drive up to Orlando from the Fort Meyers area.
Upon arriving in Orlando, I did grocery shopping for our basic food needs before turning in the rental car, and then headed to our hotel. Kristen and I arrived within about 5 minutes of each other at the hotel, which was amazing timing!
Our original plan was to do 4 days in Disney (Thursday-Sunday). We were able to add two more days on for very minimal additional cost, so we got to spend a little time in the park on Wednesday afternoon after arriving as well as on Monday morning before leaving.
Shortly after we got home, the pandemic response massively accelerated, and by the following weekend, Disney World was closed! We are so thankful that our trip happened before everything closed down.
Day 1: Magic Kingdom
Highlights: Being there! Fireworks!
Morning of Day 2: Hollywood Studios
Highlights: Star Wars land, riding the Smugglers Run ride, getting to talk to Stormtroopers in the street, riding the Rise of the Resistance ride (limited/lottery access)
Afternoon of Day 2: EPCOT
Highlights: the food from all over the world, the fun flower bush character sculptures, the fun international architecture
Morning of Day 3: Magic Kingdom
Highlights: seeing more of the Florida take on many of the classic rides we love in Disneyworld
Afternoon of Day 3: Animal Kingdom
Highlights: the Tree of Life, the animals, Pandora, a fun burger/ice cream buffet dinner, and an enjoyable water & light show
Morning of Day 4: Animal Kingdom
Highlights: Flight of Passage and Navi River journey rides in Pandora, safari animals, the Lion King show
Afternoon Day 4: EPCOT
Highlights: more fun food
Drawbacks: crowds and cold/windy weather! We headed back to the hotel and rested rather than staying to closing time.
Entire Day 5: Magic Kingdom
Highlights: early park entry for Breakfast in Beast’s castle (so no crowds), being in Magic Kingdom one last time. This was the only full day where we didn’t park hop.
Morning of Day 6: Hollywood Studios
Highlights: getting lucky with the lottery and getting to do Rise of the Resistance a second time! We also rode the recently-opened Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway
By late morning, it was time to leave and head back to the hotel, catch the shuttle to the airport, and start the trek home. We used airlines miles, so we had decided to use a few extra miles to do First Class so we could sleep some and enjoy the trip home a little more. That was very nice!
The Meyers 