This last week, I took a well needed girls trip to the happiest place on earth; Walt Disney World.
We stayed 5 nights at the Holiday Inn- Disney Springs Area with 4 day park hopper passes.
Here is how our trip broke out!
Day 1: Travel Day
After a long day of work, I made the 2 hour drive to Orlando to begin our girls trip. Once we all arrive and checked-in we had a late dinner at Chef Art Smith’s Homecomin’. The fried chicken was amazing and even had some delicious cocktails. I would highly recommend trying to get a reservation as we had to wait about 45 minutes for a table. However, if you do find yourself having a long wait, we killed time shopping around Disney Springs as well as grabbing cookies at Gideon’s Bakehouse. The long lines are worth it to try these delicious ½ pound cookies.
Day 2: Hollywood Studios
Our first full day at Disney started off bright and early at Hollywood Studios. We arrived for early park hours. Great thing about staying at a Disney Property or at a partner hotel like those located in the Disney Springs area is that you get access to Early Magic Hours. The park opens about 30 minutes prior to true park opening. This is a great way to get in line for popular rides with often long wait times.
Since we were able to get to the park early we rope dropped Slinky Dog Dash and followed it up with Toy Story Mania, before heading over to Star Wars World. We had a 10:30am reservation for Oga’s Cantina. I cannot recommend this place enough. It is a Star Wars theme bar with tasty themed drinks and an immersive atmosphere. You will need a reservation so be sure to constantly check the app.
Following early morning drinks we grabbed food in Star Wars World and followed up with some iconic rides in Hollywood Studios like Rockin Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror.
Since we got to the park so early we were able to cross off our todo list pretty quickly. So we decided to head over to Animal Kingdom to check out Pandora and grab dinner. Typically rides at Pandora are really long, especially for Flight of Passage so I recommend getting there super early or ending your day there.
Day 3: Magic Kingdom
We started off with another early morning at Magic Kingdom. The most nostalgic park we spent most of the day riding our childhood favorites like Pirates of the Caribbean, Buzz Lightyear, and Space Mountain. We had lunch at one of my favorites, Casey’s Corner where they have one of the best chili dogs.
Since we wanted a nicer dinner, we made reservations at San Angel Inn at the Mexico Pavilion at Epcot. This is a unique dining experience where you are seated “under the stars” while drinking fancy margaritas and delicious Mexican food.
Before heading back to Magic Kingdom for the firework show we rode the Monorail to the Polynesian resort to have some fun cocktails outside.
After drinks we headed back to Magic Kingdom to ride some rides we missed earlier in the day and catch the firework show. Unfortunately, it started pouring. So, the fireworks show was cancelled but we made the most of the weather and rode Haunted Mansion and Mine Train. We came back to the hotel completely soaked. But I guess that is what we get for going to Disney in August.
Day 4: Epcot
Our Epcot day once again started super early since we needed to be prepared to get in the virtual queue at 7am for the brand-new Guardian of the Galaxy ride. Thankfully, we were able to get an early boarding group. While we did not have to be out the door early, we did get on the ride before 10am. And let me tell you it was worth it. We loved it so much we purchased a lighting lane to ride it again later in the day.
While we waited to ride Cosmic Rewind again, we went over to the world showcase to begin eating and drinking around the world. In between countries we rode Ratatouille and Frozen. Be prepared to wait as these are very popular rides.
One of my favorite parts of Epcot was grabbing an Ice Cream Croque in France. The ice cream shop is hidden back behind the France Pavilion and opens at noon. Plan to get there a few minutes before they open because this ice cream shop gets busy later in the day.
After riding Cosmic Rewind again, we decided to head back to the hotel to have a nice dinner at Morimoto at Disney Springs. If you like Asian food I highly recommend checking this place out. Everything from the drinks to the sushi to the dumplings was 10/10.
Day 5: Animal Kingdom
Our last day brought us a bit of a later start to the day at Animal Kingdom. Since we rode Flight of Passage earlier in the week, we were able to start a bit later in the day. We started off riding Everest, which is one of my favorite rides. We grabbed the best fried dumplings on our way to the safari which had an incredibly short wait and was by far my most favorite times riding this safari. The animals were all out and active.
We couldn’t leave Animal Kingdom without riding Flight of Passage again. So we waited the hour long wait and once again it was worth it.
Since it was our last day we wanted to check off all our favorites again. So we once again booked a lighting lane for Cosmic Rewind. So we headed back to Epcot to ride 1 ride and leave to Hollywood Studios to go to Oga’s Cantina again! Gosh I love that place!
We wrapped up our trip with drinking around Hollywood Studios and riding tower of terror.
It was such a great trip. So much walking and equally and much eating and drinking. Hopefully this gets you excited for your next Disney trip, because its not just for kids!