Disney World Magic!

Dan, Corey and I met up at the airport early, early this morning to fly to Orlando.

Dan and Corey were meeting Nick (flying in from Senior Trip) at the 

Daytona Speedway to start prepping for their race on Saturday.

I met Courtney & Michael at Animal Kingdom (they flew in last night) to spend two days at Disney World. It was my first time and it's always seemed a little overwhelming -- so many parks, so many Disney hotel options, and nothing within walking distance, or so it seemed.

But I was thrilled to tag along with Courtney & Michael -- they planned the whole thing, I paid.
I think I got the better end of the deal!

The planners getting us hooked up for our next ride and day planning.

I'd sent my clothes with Courtney so I could take an Uber straight to the park.

It was easy to find a small locker at the park entrance to store my small travel bag when I arrived.

I didn't arrive until 11:00 so I missed the safari which they said was amazing,

but now I have something to look forward to on a future visit. 

Disney and Animal Kingdom takeaways:

*You must make your park reservation ahead of time, a separate process from buying tickets.

*Park hopper tickets allow you to change parks at 2:00 p.m.

*C & M chose to spend our last day in the parks closest to our hotel for an easy exit (Hollywood Studios & Epcot). Those two were also walking distance from our hotel and each other. 

*Stay in a park hotel so you can take advantage of early entry.

*Buy the Genie pass for approx. $23 which lets you get Lightning passes so you don't have to wait in long lines for rides. (20-30 min. seemed about average for Lightning Lanes and didn't feel too long.)

*Use Genie to stack your afternoon (every two hours -- M & C set alarms so they were ready -- you can choose another ride, OR, you can choose another when you've checked into a previous ride.)

*Be at park at rope drop (opening) so you can get to the best rides before anyone else.

"Run! Run to Space Mountain, Kids!"

*For a separate fee, Disney allows you to buy entry to up to two rides that don't accept Genie.

(Yes, a lot of extra fees here, but if you can swing, it makes for a much easier day!)

*Each of the four main parks (Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Hollywood Studios) have a few must-do rides -- many familiar from Disneyland/California Adventure. Some rides were the same as in California, some were a bit different (they still have Tower of Terror and Swiss Family Robinson Tree), and some were entirely different. I thought the mix of same and different made it really fun and a great selling point to try both places.

*Animal Kingdom Ride Report: 

C&M: The Safari -- amazing, Avatar: top tier (if you don't mind simulators)

It's Tough To Be a Bug -- entertaining 4-D

Dinosaur -- the storyline left a lot to be desired but fun ride (like Indiana Jones)

At noon we had lunch (during the rain, so perfect timing) and by 1:00 we were ready to go to the next park. Plenty of time with the above strategies to see and do all we wanted to do in Animal Kingdom between 7:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. (arrive early so you can be towards front of line!)

We had to take a Lyft to Magic Kingdom -- about 6 miles away.

Disney provides shuttles, but the wait times can be much longer and Lyft arrived right away.

Driving over I said I was a little sad to be so old that the excitement of simply seeing Disney was gone. 

I didn't get butterflies upon entering Animal Kingdom, even though I was excited to be there.

But. 

Entering Magic Kingdom, which looked just like Disneyland, 

surprised me with all the tingly feels and giddy thrills of being in the Happiest Place on Earth.

The magic was back!

Ride Report:

Peter Pan--cute as always.

Seven Dwarves--fun for kids new to "big" roller coasters.

Haunted Mansion looked different on the outside but was the same on the inside.

Small World, Jungle Cruise and Pirates of the Caribbean were great for calming down 

and cooling off when your brain and stomach needs a break from G-forces.

Monsters Inc. show was especially funny because it was interactive, 

using people from the audience with on-the-spot jokes.

(Can't go wrong with Mickey ice cream!)

Space Mountain was fun but I missed the music they have at Disneyland.

Tron was AWESOME!

Dinner at a place in the Western Town all-you-can-eat was soooo delicious.

Michael loved Buzz Space Rangers... but I say, wait until Toy Story Midway Mania!

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad was a blast and the perfect finale.

By 9:00 we'd done everything we wanted and watched the fireworks as 

we made our way out of the park to the shuttle home.

(Which took half the time as predicted -- about 20 minutes.)

We were dreading the heat and humidity, and I had fears of heat like France last summer,

 so I bought flowy garments and flowy clothes and with all the shade and air conditioned rides,

I was perfectly comfortable. (87*)

But we are VERY tired, happy to be going to bed, pumping ourselves up for an early start,

and excited to make the most of tomorrow.