Day 1: Traveling to Orlando My biggest tip is to pack light. I brought multi-use products and bare minimum-type things to keep as much space as possible for souvenirs, dirty clothes, etc. For clothes, I packed the essentials (camisoles, underpants, etc.), no-show socks, a shirt for every day, and three pairs of pants plus the leggings I wore on the plane both ways. (Pants are multi-wear items if you ask me.) I also brought a light zip-up hoodie, a light jacket (mainly for the home traveling), two pairs of pajamas, extra socks, a pair of black tennis shoes, and a pair of nicer flat shoes. For toiletries, I packed travel shampoo, conditioner, and shower gel, razors and a toothbrush I could throw away at the end of the trip, toothpaste, travel hairspray (shared with my mom), minimal makeup, deodorant, a brush and comb, facial cleanser, moisturizer, and micellar water to take off makeup. I also packed minimal jewelry, some hair accessories, and a flat iron (also shared with my mom, and can be used to curl hair too.) I was also sure to pack sunscreen and an umbrella, as well as my "park bag" - an Adidas drawstring bag where I kept the umbrella, sunscreen, hand sanitizer, tissues, Band-Aids, a camera and batteries, etc. Another tip is to dress light for the airport. I wore no jewelry, no belt, easy shoes, and minimal layers for security. For entertainment, I cracked open a new book and had my Disney and Christmas playlists on full blast.
When we arrived in the afternoon, we were able to check into our hotel early. After figuring out a game plan, we decided to walk over to Disney Springs, which was five minutes away from the hotel. Disney Springs is like an outdoor Disney mall, so we walked around the shops and saw the decorations up for Christmas. We went for dinner at the Rainforest Café, which looks like a giant volcano from the outside and is very cool at night (out hotel look out onto Disney Springs). What we did not plan for, however, was after dinner. We decided to find ice cream or a bakery before we went back to the hotel, and as it turned out, it was the premiere night for Star Wars. And because Star Wars is now owned by Disney, and Disney has a movie theater in Disney Springs, there was a red carpet, security with light sabers. etc. It was crazy. So we made our way back through the mob, got some Ghirardelli ice cream (highly recommend), and went back to the hotel, where I fell asleep immediately.
Day 2: Universal Studios Day 1 Let me just say, I was extremely impressed with Universal. I had never been, so I had no idea what to expect. When we walked in (arriving earlier is better, trust me), we went through security and then we were on the City Walk, which I had no idea existed, but was super cool. It's like an outdoor mall, similar to Disney Springs, with a few shops and lots of places to eat, and is open to the public, no tickets required. We entered the actual park, and our plan was to the right side of the park up until Harry Potter world on the first day. We stopped in the Dr. Seuss park, which was favorite because I'm an absolute baby and can't handle any rides beyond kiddie rides, which is all that was there. I loved it. We kept going around, and there's sort of a mythology/Mt. Olympus-type park, so we saw a show there, and then we went to the Jurassic Park park, where my mom and brother went on a roller coaster, and then, the promised land, the whole reason for the trip: Harry Potter World. The first thing we did was see the show at Olivander's, where the cast pulls someone from the audience to essentially be Harry Potter in the Olivander's scene from the first movie. Now, I hate being chosen for those kind of things. So naturally, they chose me. It was all fine, and then we went back outside, where it was pouring. So we took the opportunity to try the infamous butterbeer. If you like ridiculously sweet things, then that's the drink for you. After the rain, we made our way over to the main ride, the one inside the Hogwarts castle, which is a mix of roller coaster, 4D show, and animatronics. I was so sick after, as was my dad. So we sat out the other roller coaster, and when my mom and brother came back, we headed for the Hogwarts express, which takes you from the main park to the Islands of Adventure park, granted you have a park hopper ticket. This train is the coolest thing. It looks like the train from the movie, and when you get into your booth, a video plays that looks like you're going from Hogwarts to London, with character and chocolate frogs and everything. When you get off in the next park, you're in Diagon Alley, which is also very cool. Again, more rides that I did not go on, and a fire-breathing dragon that scared the living daylights out of me. At this point, we decided to scout out the rest of the park for the next day, and then we took the train back and walked to the City Walk for dinner. Word of advice: do not go to Margaritaville. The service was so bad (nonexistent, actually) that we left. We went over to the NBC Sports Bar, which was delicious. And then we all exhausted, so we went back to the hotel.
Day 3: Universal Studios Day 2 Because day 1 was just wandering and figuring out what we had to see day 2, we knew exactly what we were doing. We started at the Marvel park, made our way through the comic park, which was very cool but all water rides, and then my family wanted to do some of the Harry Potter rides again. We took the train over to the other park, and that's where most of the shows are. We saw The Terminator, Shrek, Minions, ET... some other ones I can't remember... and had lunch at the Simpsons food trucks. Universal also has very cool themed gift shops for almost everything, so we spent a lot of time in those, as well. There was a Christmas parade this day, so we walked back to beat the crowds, and ended up spending the rest of the day on the City Walk, and had dinner at NBC again. Yes, it really is that good.
Day 4: Hollywood Studios The Disney magic begins! We went to Hollywood Studios first, and I was very impressed. The last time I was there, there wasn't much to do. They've built it up a lot, but I will caution you: if you're travelling with little kids, this is not the park for you. It's really all shows, except three rides. We saw a ton of shows, and went on the Star Wars simulator ride. The highlight of this day was the light show. Every year for Christmas, they decorate an entire block of the park entirely in Christmas lights, and when it gets dark, they have a light show, where the lights are synced up to Christmas music and they have fake snow fall, and it was great.
Day 5: Magic Kingdom Day 1 Oh Magic Kingdom... to be honest, I was pretty disappointed. I still love the idea and the magic of it, but there were just to many people to enjoy any of it. We went early this day, and we really didn't see much. I think all we did was the Tiki Room (ancient, but good for nostalgia), the Country Bear Jamboree (also ancient, and don't see it; it's the creepiest thing there and is very sexual... not what I'd expect in Disney), and then we took the train over to Tomorrowland, where we drove the racecars and rode the teacups. We were starting to get cranky but still weren't willing to give in, so we went back to the other side of the park for the Hall of Presidents show. By this time, we were all so done that we took the Monorail to the Contemporary for lunch. We spent the rest of the day hotel hopping and at Disney Springs. Top tip: do not go to Disney the week before Christmas. It's insane.
Day 6: Magic Kingdom Day 2 But if you do, PLEASE do yourself a favor and go at nap time. We were smart about it this day; we had a big lunch at Disney Springs and then went to Magic Kingdom in the afternoon, when all the little munchkins were headed back to the hotels for nap time. This gave us a better shot at seeing more because the lines, albeit still ridiculous, were shorter. We had fast passes for a few things, so we saw shows and made it in time for our fast pass rides, and we were pretty lucky with what was available around where we were waiting. My favorite by far was Tomorrowland. I refuse to go on Space Mountain, but there are so many fun shows (and The Carousel of Progress- I love it, but it's probably the most boring thing at Disney), and the People Mover is also very fun and fast-moving, so it's a great time killer. Because we started the day late, it was around sunset at this point, so we walked over to Frontierland and found a table outside a little waffle stand (Nutella waffles: life changing). We stayed there and watched the Frozen show, where the characters come out and freeze the castle for Christmas, and the laser light show, which was amazing; they project different movie scenes onto the castle, and it's actually magical. After that was the fireworks show, which was also magical. After that, we had done everything we wanted to do, so we took the Monorail to the Disney bus station and headed back for bed.
Day 7: Traveling Home Our flight was in the morning so this day was really just traveling. I made sure I was as packed as possible the night before, and stuck by the same minimal rules for the flight home. I was able to finish my book, and even though leaving the Happiest Place on Earth is always sad, the fact that it was CHRISTMAS made it okay. As soon as we landed, we rushed home to bake cookies out the wazoo and get ready for
Christmas Eve.
I wish you all the best,
Erin
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