Walt Disney World 4 Parks in 2 Days: Hollywood Studios

After leaving EPCOT, Justin and I had one more park to visit, Hollywood Studios, and I must admit it was not a park I was looking forward to visiting. We had saved it for the end of our second night at Walt Disney World (parks), because they were offering long hours to resort guests. We also wanted to make sure we saw the Osborne Spectacle of Dancing Lights at night, the main reason we were visiting the park to begin with.

So, of course, as you do, we made a beeline for the main attraction.

It was as amazing and beautiful as you would expect it to be. Plus, it was so much fun seeing Disney staff getting into the Christmas spirit with a dance number to go with the twinkling lights. Even now, I can't watch this video without laughing!

Because I was so tired from being up and running from park to park all day, I took a minute to just sit and be, consumed with all that was going on around me. Justin went off to get a beer and I took (all of the) pictures. Or at least I took so many pictures that I filled up my SD card. Oops. (Who knew that was a possibility at Disney World!?!)

Finally, we decided to move on to the Tower of Terror.

Photo credit: Express Monorail via Visualhunt.com / CC BY-NC-ND

I remember first riding the Tower of Terror when I was ten with my grandparents. (My brother was too young, and my parents were too scared. ha!) I hated it. Not like crying/upset hated it, just as in one time was more than enough for me. BUT Justin had never ridden it, so I conceded and gave the ride a second chance. Maybe, now that I was older, I would enjoy it more?

Except no. It's a very well-designed, well-thought out ride, but still no. I'd ride it again, but it will never be my first choice.

Photo credit: meaghankelly13 via Visualhunt.com / CC BY-NC

Then, I decided to give the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster a whirl. 😀  I was deathly afraid. Upside down? In the dark? But I had given Expedition Everest (in Animal Kingdom) and Space Mountain (in Magic Kingdom) a try, so why not give this one a shot? The teen girl and her sister in front of us noticed that I was afraid and gave me a tip: keep your head back the entire time and you'll be fine. I did that, and between the amazingness that is Aerosmith and her tip, not only did I survive but I loved it! I may strongly dislike Hollywood Studios as a park, but that one ride will always have me coming back for more! (And I thought I hated roller coasters!)

Also "Walk This Way" is an amazing song! :)

Photo credit: Express Monorail via Visual hunt / CC BY-NC-ND

Before we left the park, we took in the The Great Movie Ride, which is a great "summary" ride for Hollywood Studios. It's a ride/show combination. As a tour guide shows you around and takes you on a tour of old Hollywood Studio sets, a surprise visitor interrupts the ride and makes your tour all the more exciting. It was fun, different, and one of the last rides open for the night.

Ultimately, if you are going to Hollywood Studios, I recommend arriving early to see all of the actual shows (which Hollywood Studios is known for) that they offer including the Indiana Jones Spectacular and the Muppet Show. Unfortunately, some of my favorite aspects of the park (Animation Studios, Osborne Dancing Lights) are no longer available, but luckily, they have brought in a whole new Star Wars area as a replacement that should, hopefully, make the park altogether more appealing. (It needed something.)

Hollywood Studios is where you go if you are a movie or Hollywood aficionado … and, now, if you have a love for all things Star Wars. 

Now that you've read about all four parks and Walt Disney Springs during my #4Parks2Days series, where would you go if you went to Orlando for a visit? Would you make a point to visit during a festival or holiday season?

See more of my #4Parks2Days series here:

• Part one: Animal Kingdom

• Part two: EPCOT

• Part three: Rental Car + Disney Springs

• Part four: Magic Kingdom

• Part five: EPCOT's International Food & Wine Festival

Walt Disney World 4 Parks in 2 Days: Tips for Surviving EPCOT's Food & WIne Fest

Experiencing the International Food and Wine Festival at EPCOT was a dream come true. It combined my favorite park with the amazing world-sourced decadent foods that the Disney parks are known to serve. (Though getting the above picture proved to be a challenge with all of the visitors.)

First, upon our return to EPCOT, Justin and I took advantage of the rides we had as of yet gotten to do: Test Track, Ellen's Energy Adventure (super dated!), Journey into Imagination with Figment (a regret), Living With the Land, and The Sea with Nemo and Friends (another regret). Clearly, it was time for us to move on beyond the rides…

Before venturing any further, we took some time to walk through the Innovations Pavilions where a Ghiradelli exhibit awaited us called From Bean to Bar.

The exhibit itself was a bit boring, but we did love seeing the amazing chocolate sculptures on display.

Isn't that detail amazing?

We ultimately decided against purchasing any Ghirardelli treats to take on the run, but we did enjoy some chocolate bars they were giving out for free!

… Then it was on to lunch. We decided to hit up all of the pavilions/countries we had missed during our last visit to EPCOT.

Just to give you an idea of what we sampled during the 2016 food and wine fest–

China:
+ Chicken Pot Stickers

Chocolate Studio:
+ Liquid Nitro Chocolate Almond Truffle with Warm Whiskey Caramel

Germany:
+ Apple Strudel with Vanilla Sauce

Ireland:
+ Irish Cheese Selection Plate: Irish Cheddar, Dubliner and Irish Porter

Italy:
+ Pennette alla Parmigiana: Baked Ziti and Chicken Parmigiana, Tomato Sauce, Mozzarella and Parmesan Cheese

Morocco:
+ Kefta Pocket: Seasoned Ground Beef in a Pita Pocket

It was so much fun exploring and tasting the different countries! Plus, EPCOT offers "extra" specialty foods and countries during the International Food and Wine Fest that they don't showcase during the rest of the year (like the Chocolate Studio).

Of course the EPCOT Food and Wine Festival is more than just pavilions though! They also offer classes taught by world-renowned chefs that include culinary demonstrations (how to make certain foods), beverage seminars and tastings, history of food classes, and much more! Then, if you still haven't reached your fill, consider participating in a specialty dining event like a Parisian breakfast or a multi-course meal. During the EPCOT International Food and Wine Festival, it is far easier to run out of money than it is to run out of things to do. Prepare and save if you intend on going.

A few more tips:
+ Arrive HUNGRY.
+ Not just kind-of sort-of hungry, but STARVING. 😉
+ Use gift cards to control your spending and make the purchase of foods/drinks quick and easy!
+ Pick up an EPCOT passport to mark the foods you try at each location.
+ Get your hands on a list of foods available during the Food and Wine Fest, so that you can mark what you want to try and have room in your stomach to try them! 😀

What types of foods would you expect or hope to find at an international festival like this? Are there certain classes you would anticipate seeing? Or specific celebrity or chef appearances that would make the EPCOT Food and Wine Festival a must-do for you? … What do you think of those very intricately designed chocolate sculptures by Ghirardelli?

See more of my #4Parks2Days series here:

• Part one: Animal Kingdom

• Part two: EPCOT

• Part three: Rental Car + Disney Springs

• Part four: Magic Kingdom

** Linking up to City Trippers Mummytravels.com and Wandermum.co.uk

Walt Disney World 4 Parks in 2 Days: 5 Hours of Magic Kingdom Bliss

Before we could begin our day, Justin and I had plans to meet up with his sister and her new husband for breakfast just outside of the Orlando area at a place called Keke's. Then, we dropped off our rental car and had the shuttle driver take us to the Contemporary Resort where we boarded the monorail for Magic Kingdom. It was my first time in the Contemporary Resort and my first time on the monorail, so the experience was a bit of a treat. :)

We finally arrived to the Magic Kingdom around 10am. The park was already crowded since it had opened as early as 8am! Our first stop – the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, which put us right in the middle of FantasyLand. As we waited the hour+ to board our ride, Justin had me mark all of the rides I wanted to go on. This ended up working out to our advantage, because there was never a question of where we were going next or what we were doing. With a combination of the map as our guide and using the estimated line times that are listed in the Disney app, we were able to form a plan and work around that. We scheduled fast passes for the Haunted Mansion and Tomorrowland Speedway, neither of which were needed … and somehow managed to get in the fastpass line for It's A Small World without realizing it? Either way, it cut down on our wait time and we were on our boat within minutes.

Here are the rides I recommended to Justin:

AdventureLand –
+ Pirates of the Caribbean

FrontierLand –
+ Splash Mountain (which we ended up not doing)
+ Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

Liberty Square –
+ Haunted Mansion

FantasyLand –
+ It's A Small World
+ Seven Dwarfs Mine Train

TomorrowLand –
+ Tomorrowland Speedway
+ Space Mountain
+ Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover
+ Carousel of Progress
+ Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin (we ended up skipping)

Before we left the park, we ate a quick lunch at Cosmic Ray's Starlight Café (in TomorrowLand), stopped by the Swiss Family Treehouse (in AdventureLand to get an overhead view of the Magic Kingdom), and checked out the end of the daily Christmas parade as we followed Mr. and Mrs. Mouse to the park exit.

There were definitely a few things we didn't get to do that I would recommend to future park visitors, especially families with children.

+ Be sure to check out the night time parade. The lights and fireworks at the Magic Kingdom are amazing! And I hear they recently added snow to make "Cinderella's castle" into "Elsa's ice castle". When we were there, the park was hosting Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party, and we didn't want to pay the extra cost to see the fireworks that night. (Though staying late in the park with less crowds is always a perk!)
+ Be Our Guest in FantasyLand is a very well known and popular restaurant. If you plan to dine there, book asap before your trip to Disney World!
+ Mad Tea Party in FantasyLand is also a well-known ride. I've never been on for fear of getting sick.
+ If you can't get reservations for Be Our Guest, you might could try for Cinderella's Royal Table or the Crystal Palace. Cinderella's Royal Table (FantasyLand) offers a similar dining experience to Be Our Guest and provides the opportunity to meet Cinderella! The Crystal Palace (Main Street, USA) is another character dining experience within the park. Great fun for little ones!
+ Grab a Frozen Dole Whip (like the ones they sell in Hawaii!) from Aloha Isle in AdventureLand!
+ I hear the Princess Fairytale Hall is quite popular with young girls. If a meet and greet with Elsa is necessary, this is the place you should go.
+ For other characters, keep your eyes peeled! You never know when you might spot one out making the rounds! :)
+ There are also plenty of shows in the park that will appeal to children, none of which I can recommend since it's been so many years since I last saw one.

While it took my husband and I a good five hours to explore the park, it could easily take a family a few days to cover the same amount of territory. Do not be surprised to find rows and rows of stroller parking. And, of course, where there are strollers, there are angry, pushy parents who bite at your heels with their child's stroller pushing you along through the park, encouraging you to get out of their way. (Totally your choice. Many parents and children at Walt Disney World feel entitled, so you may have to fight for your space in line/right to walk/whatever. And the parent's will all use the excuse "But so-and-so is just a child…" Yeah, well why aren't you being a parent? Argh!)

Pro-Tip: Don't let pushy parents and kids spoil your time at Disney World. Choose your battles. And don't expect Disney Park employees to do anything.

Overall Justin and I had a great time exploring what I had deemed to be a "kid's park". The details that went in the design of the Magic Kingdom never ceases to amaze. Of course, neither do the crowds. ;)

A few more tips before you go:

+ If you want to see the Christmas parade (the one that airs "live" on tv on Christmas Day), be warned that it does not actually happen on Christmas Day. It occurs sometime in November. (I'm not sure how you would find out exactly when it will happen aside from being friendly with park staff.)

+ In the months from October to December, Magic Kingdom hosts a variety of parties, including Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party and Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. Both events, when they occur, cost extra and mean that the park will close early to non-party-guests. (My guess is that they will scan your wristband after the park closes to the public before you are allowed to ride on rides to make sure you are one of the "allowed" people.) Check the web to see when these parties occur to make sure you aren't paying too much for a shortened day at Magic Kingdom. OR buy hopper passes so that you can visit another park when Magic Kingdom closes for the night.

+ The daytime parades and nighttime firework shows attract a lot of Disney visitors. If you want to see either, find a spot for watching at least an hour before start time. (The earlier the better!) If you aren't interested in seeing the parade/fireworks, make a beeline for the busiest rides, where you'll find shorter lines. This is how you can turn a two hour wait time for Pirates of the Caribbean into a 15 minute wait time!

If you've been to the Magic Kingdom, are there any tips I'm forgetting? If you haven't been, would you consider making your first visit during the holiday season?

See more of my #4Parks2Days series here:

• Part one: Animal Kingdom

• Part two: EPCOT

• Part three: Rental Car + Disney Springs

** Linking up to City Trippers Mummytravels.com and Wandermum.co.uk

Walt Disney World 4 Parks in 2 Days: Disney Springs + Wedding

Following our fantastic and busy first day in the parks, Justin and I slept in on Saturday morning. We had brought back delicious croissants from EPCOT's France the night before, for breakfast, so that we wouldn't have to eat at the too-expensive hotel dining hall and we could take the morning slow. Our plan: pick up our rental car, explore Disney Springs, and attend our friend's wedding.

The way rental car pick-up works on Disney World property is this:
• You call in to your chosen rental car company and let them know you will need a ride to their office. They tell you when shuttles will depart your hotel for their pick-up location.
• At said time, you board the shuttle. (Don't be late!)
• They drop you off at the rental office where you sign paperwork and smile when they tell you that you've been upgraded. :)
• You check out the car, note any dings bigger than a nickle (or all dings, just in case) and proceed with rental-stuff.
• Get keys and GO! :)

Needless to say, with the process being very time-specific, the husband and I had a little bit of time to roam our hotel property before leaving to get our car…

our hotel buidling

River nearby.
Fall comes late to Florida.

hotel lobby and boat dock

Finally, it was time to board the shuttle and get our rental car.

Quite comfortable and super-fancy, our rental car drove like a dream. (Speeding? What's that?!?! ☺️) Although there is something to be said for getting stuck at a toll without coins wearing a suit (or dress, in my case) and not being able to pay with credit card because no one is around to take said-card! ☺️ We had to talk to the people in line behind us, who kindly covered our fee. (Construction workers who clearly needed us out of their way so they could get to work!)

Pro-Tip: ALWAYS carry quarters with you when traveling in Florida. You do not want to get stuck at a toll with no way to pay it! (Of course, some rental companies offer the Sun pass or cover tolls for you up to a certain amount a day. Be sure to speak with your rental company when you are renting though. They may need to tack on an extra charge.)

The idea behind getting the rental car so early in the day was not for the purposes of driving it around Disney Springs though… Rather, Justin and I drove it back to the hotel, parked, and fully intended on taking Disney transportation (via boat) to Disney Springs.

But line.

1) The boat doesn't start running until later in the day. Don't think you can hop on at 7AM.

2) The line builds fast. And the boat is small.

3) With the boat being so small, and coming so infrequently, you could easily lose up to an hour or more to get to where you are going.

Justin and I didn't have that kind of time to waste. After 30 minutes of waiting in line with only one boat having come and the expectation that we would be waiting another hour or more before it would be our turn, we decided to just drive over to Disney Springs. We were already losing enough time to a wedding (sorry friends! ❤️ you!) and we wanted to make sure we got more than just that done on our one Saturday in Orlando.

First on our agenda: lunch…

Photo credit: Joe Shlabotnik via Visual Hunt / CC BY

at the iconic Planet Hollywood in downtown Disney Springs. 

We ordered an expensive bacon cheeseburger entrée with a strawberry milkshake all the while being mesmerized by the constant movie ads showing on the big screen and exploring the mostly empty restaurant for props and costumes from well-known movies.

Photo credit: carobe via Visual hunt / CC BY-NC-ND

Then Justin and I went walking.

I pulled out my phone to google "What else is there to do in Disney Springs?" Surely there had to be something to entertain us! I mean – this is Disney we're talking about right?

Discovering that there was a boat, we decided to take it across to the other side of the lake … and then follow the lake around back toward our car hitting up anything interesting that we saw…

First we made our way to the Disney Store. Y'know the biggest Disney store in the world! I begged Justin to let me get some small souvenir, a pin or coffee mug, but he wisely said no. Apparently getting souvenirs for souvenirs sake is a bad idea. 😕

Pro-tip: Purchase Disney goodies outside the perimeter of Walt Disney World for better prices. Plus kids, can get a handful of pins to trade with Disney characters if you purchase a "lot" of them on ebay for far cheaper than you will ever pay in the parks!

Photo credit: Kolin Toney via Visual Hunt / CC BY-SA

As a consolation "prize" Justin took me to the Ghirardelli Ice Cream Shop. (One of the few days that we were on a health kick. 😜)

We ordered a brownie sundae with caramel.

While my image looks tiny, I can assure you that our dessert was huge. Easily enough for two hungry people to share! Maybe even three! (But why are you eating dessert when you are hungry? Get real food!) We ended up trashing most of it. The combination of LARGE dessert + not hungry + Florida heat = wasted (expensive) deliciousness. But it was a fun experience and totally worth doing once!

Pro-tip: Lines at Ghiradelli get long. Be prepared to wait. And then, once you have ordered, know that you will probably end up sitting outside. And there are bees. And your ice cream will melt fast!

At about this time, we had to start heading toward the car. We had been exploring Disney Springs for well over three hours. But as we walked, I took pictures along the way…

We drove back to the hotel, changed, and got ready for the wedding.

While I can't say there was a lot to do in Disney Springs, I do think it was nice having an off-day during our 4 Parks in 2 Days Grand Adventure.

What would you do with an off-day at Walt Disney World? Go shopping? (There were far more Disney and mall-like stores than I listed in today's post!) Eat yummy food? Visit a club? Admire lego statues? Eat chocolate?

P.S. Better images to come in next week's post. When we were exploring Disney Springs I was shooting mainly with an android. Check out our time at Animal Kingdom here and our first day visiting EPCOT here.

** Linking up to City Trippers Mummytravels.com and Wandermum.co.uk

Walt Disney World 4 Parks in 2 Days: EPCOT Day 1

Filled with glee, I happily asked Justin "where do you want to eat?"

Despite the fact that it had taken us over an hour to get from one park to another via Disney transit (the buses), I was excited to be back at my favorite park for the first time in over 15 years. With the EPCOT Food and Wine Festival going on, I had no idea what to expect aside from good food. It's hard outside of, say NYC and the actual places (countries, cities within those countries) themselves, to get regional food. EPCOT is one of the few places (specifically in Orlando) that offers food specific to different regions throughout the world all in one place, and I was ready to share that delicious knowledge with my husband, a tried and true foodie.

But I'm jumping ahead of myself. Let's back up and talk a little bit about EPCOT and give you some background before I share what the husband and I did during the rest of our day one epic Disney adventure.

EPCOT (Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow) is made up of two sections, the first of which is future world where the focus is on science, agriculture and sea-life. It's where you will find rides like Spaceship Earth (looking at technology, specifically communication, as it has evolved over time), Ellen's Energy Adventure (outdated movie about energy), Test Track (create your own "race car" and then test it on a track), Journey Into Imagination (another outdated ride geared toward children looking at the human imagination), Living with the Land take a look at how food is produced, where it comes from, and how Disney is working to change and improve the production of it), and The Sea with Nemo and Friends (learn about fish found underwater on another children's ride). If you are especially intrigued by any one type of thing studied in EPCOT (like the sea or agriculture, you can always take a behind the seas tour with Disney.)

Then there is World Showcase, the second section, which is where Justin and I focused most of our attention upon arrival to the park. This is where you can travel to multiple countries located around a lagoon tasting delicious food, checking out rides and movies that help to explain the culture a bit more, and giving you the chance to buy products that are typically found within those locales. (Being able to speak the language and/or talk to people that are actually from those countries is, of course, yet another perk!) The countries you can discover in World Showcase include: Mexico, Norway, China, Germany, Italy, America (of course), Japan, Morocco, France, the UK, and Canada. Originally, Walt Disney World creator Walt Disney had hopes and dreams of various countries renting out spots within the park and providing exhibits for their country; however, this never came to fruition. Instead, you have Disney (the company) doing the best they can to imitate and give you the closest cultural experience they know how to (or can) of the country … outside of the country. So, if you travel to the US from one of those other countries, no judgement! 😧 Americans can only do so well at imitating your country. If we even get somewhat close, we can call it good. 😀 (Plus, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, amiright?!?!)

Justin and I booked it to World Showcase when we arrived at EPCOT; the restaurants and entertainment had just opened at noon, and we were hopeful to beat the crowd. Of course we stopped at a beer stand located just as you get to the lagoon for a flight of beers before making our way from left to right around the lagoon hitting up Mexico, and Norway first. As we circled the lagoon, we sampled food from all over the world savering hard-to-find favorites and seeking out new foods of which to try

** Pro-tip: Purchase Disney gift cards from a gift shop within the park before shopping or dining anywhere. For one, during the Food and Wine fest, this will give you a band to wear around your wrist making check-out seamless; you don't even have to reach for your wallet! And two, having gift cards will make you more fully aware of how much money you've spent while exploring the theme parks. Once you get through your first $25 or $50 gift card after only a few "snacks" or purchasing just a few gifts, you will think twice before purchasing anymore.

Things to do within World Showcase:
• the Gran Fiesta Tour starring the three Caballeros in Mexico (a boat tour)
• Viking Boat Voyage in Norway (a movie)
• Reflections of China (movie)
• look for a miniature train in Germany
• The American Adventure (theater performance)
• Bijutsu-kan Gallery in Japan
• Impressions de France (a movie)
• listen to buskers in the UK
• O' Canada (a movie)
• visit with Disney characters (Belle in France, Elsa in Norway, etc…)

and most importantly EAT!! :)

During the EPCOT Food and Wine Festival, there are "pop-up" vendors featuring food and entertainment from countries not typically present at the World Showcase.

** Pro-tip: Chase offers a room in the American Adventure building where you can get free sodas and water if you have a Chase credit card. It is worth knowing, however, the lines are long and it may not be worth your time… even at the "free" cost.

German wine flight + cheese, meat, & pickles
** Try the Württemberg Lemberger wine! It was my favorite! 😀

China

This guy is actually about the size of someone's fist.

Greek baklava

Morocco

pastries in "France"

At the end of the night, we watched Sister Hazel at the Eat to the Beat stage. There were several opportunities to see the band at various times throughout the night, and you could come and go as you pleased without having to pay any extra to see the band. Even with all of the extra expenses that go with visiting a Disney park, it was nice to feel like we were getting some form of unique entertainment (not unlike the rides) without having to pay for it just by going during the right time of year.

Of course, there were also fireworks held over the lagoon. I didn't get any shots of the fireworks, but seeing them was definitely a fun way to end the night!

** Pro-Tip: Find a spot around the lagoon to watch the fireworks early if you want a good view. Even the spots you can get via the fast pass system fill up quickly.

And just like that our first day at the Disney theme parks was over.

I think I was successful at introducing the magic of Walt Disney World to my husband, and I feel like we accomplished so much in the 14 hours we spent at the parks that day. :)

Given that I still have only divulged a very small amount of the tips I have for you regarding Walt Disney World, be sure to come back next week to learn even more about the Disney parks, see more suggestions, and admire my images, as I continue my series – Walt Disney World: 4 Parks in 2 Days. 😀

(See part 1 here.)

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Would the EPCOT Food and Wine Festival entice you to visit the EPCOT park? Did you know that along with offering unique food choices and wine pairings during the festival, Disney also entertains with "free" concerts?

** Linking up to City Trippers Mummytravels.com and Wandermum.co.uk

* Wanderful Wednesday hosts: Lauren of Lauren on Location, Van of Snow in Tromso, Isabel of The Sunny Side of This  and Marcella of What a Wonderful World