Drinking coffee on a Disney bus, headed to Magic Kingdom. That’s what I’m doing right now.
Yesterday was 22,000 steps of BUSY. We hit ALL 4 PARKS (a first for me), and had a really great day.
We started the day at Animal Kingdom. I woke up the tiniest bit late, at 7:04, and we had to be at the bus stop by 7:30. Whoops. Luckily for me, it takes me about 2 minutes to roll out of bed and get ready, so that’s what I did. I had time to grab coffee and a granola bar and make it down to the bus stop with plenty of time. (Spoiler alert, I ended up regretting not getting a bigger meal by lunchtime 😬😂)
We got to Animal Kingdom at 8:30 and rode Kilamanjaro Safari, Expedition Everest, saw the show Festival of the Lion King, and rode Dinosaur. We finished up at AK by around 12:00 and headed back to our hotel for lunch and a quick rest. We got back just before 1.
I barely had any time to do anything other than eat and grab (another) cup of coffee before we had to meet back down in the lobby for our VERY awesome and exclusive VIP tour!
We had 2 amazing tour guides, Meagan and Whitney. They picked us up in the lobby of our resort and drove us (backstage) straight to the back of Hollywood Studios. We went straight into Tower of Terror, which most of us rode. Then we went into Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway, Rise of the Resistance, and then into the Toy Story are where we rode Slinky Dog Dash and Toy Story Mania (I won this time!) and then back to the back of the park to ride Rockin Roller Coaster.
After that, the tour guides drove us to Epcot. They handed us cold water bottles and snacks QUITE often. It was lovely. We only rode 1 ride there, but it was the highlight of my day I think.
It was a new ride, and since I haven’t been here in 2 years, I haven’t ridden it yet! We rode Guardians of the Galaxy (and got the song Conga) and it was AMAZING. I have so much to say about it, but I won’t. Just know that I had a stupid ass smile on my face the entire time and I probably looked ridiculous 😂. It was a magical moment for me though.
Even though we didn’t ride any other rides at Epcot, what happened next was also magical.
It was a simple moment, but it felt so good. I was really starting to get in my head and be a little bit just…quiet.
The tour guides got us all Mickey pretzels and cold waters as a snack, and we just sat around, some on benches, some on the curb (me) and ate them. For me, it was a quiet of reflection where I could be inside my head, people watch, and just exist quietly in a moment of peace.
It was such a good vibe and just…ugh. It was a good moment. It’s silly to think that out of all the parts of my amazing day, THAT was a highlight…but it came at just the right moment. I do think it helped me get out of my head a little bit too.
After that we drove to Magic Kingdom, where we would spend the rest of the night. We rode Tron, another new to me ride. It was good, but I already knew that NOTHING would stand up to Guardians. After that we went to 7 Dwarves Mine Train, and then we all broke off to get some food. I didn’t, because…I don’t know. I was in my head and I don’t typically eat when I’m in my head. Also when I’m thirsty I can’t eat and I was super thirsty at that point, despite having tons of water from our amazing guides.
It was nearing firework time at this point, so we headed to the private VIP area for a special fireworks a viewing. This was another highlight of my night for sure. They gave us Mickey bars and it was just a magical moment.
After fireworks, which were beautiful and perfect, we took some pictures with the photographer that’s been following us around all weekend, and were driven back to our resort by our tour guides, which meant that we DIDN’T have to do the mad bus dash at the end of the night.
I pretty much crashed at the end of the night after I got back to the room and took a quick shower. One funny moment from last night was when I heard some of the girls in our group out in the hallway talking (all of our roomed were on the same hallway) and I was just about to brush my teeth, so I went out to ask what they were doing. But I was literally holding my toothbrush and they all made fun of me and told me to put my toothbrush down and hang out with them!
I wanted to, but I knew that would be a decision I’d regret in the morning. So off to bed I went.
Overall, it was the perfect Disney day. The VIP tour was never something I’d have been able to do otherwise, and it had some truly INCREDIBLE moments.
It has taken me literally all day to write this, and it’s now 5:20pm. It’s been another crazy busy day, and I am doing better at NOT being quite so in my head. Even though it’s late, I still did want to get this post out today.
It has been an amazing trip so far.