A 48 Hour Trip to Disney World

I rarely make impulsive travel decisions. I like to plan my trips – it’s part of the fun. However, due to a great deal of work-related stress (and being forced to cancel my planned October trip) – two weeks ago on Sunday I just needed to go somewhere, anywhere. A quick check on Skyscanner along with some Googling and 45 minutes later I had tickets to go to Orlando, Florida to go to Disney World the next weekend. I left on the first flight out on Saturday morning, and returned on a 6am flight Monday morning, allowing me to show up at work before 10am.

 The was my first trip to Disney World that I can remember – apparently I went as a baby – but I’ve been meaning to go for several years now, given how much I loved Disneyland growing up. Since I had limited time, I stayed in a hotel on the Disney World Resort Area and did two parks out of four – Magic Kingdom on Saturday and Epcot on Sunday

The Great

Disney Magic
Disney is a place where you can have magical moments. For me, it was riding on a roller coaster while the fireworks were going off. Something about being on the ride, hurtling around while the fireworks went off above me felt magical. For other people, it’s the parade or meeting a character. Or just going on a super fun ride. Yes, Disney World can be crowded and expensive and overwhelming. But if you take your time and open yourself up to the experience (especially if you’re at Magic Kingdom at night) the magic is there.

The Roller Coasters
Despite being afraid of heights, I do enjoy roller coasters. Not hard-core ones, but what I would call moderate coasters – particularly ones where I can’t see how high up I am. As a result, Disney World’s roller coasters are great for someone like me. There are some more high-octane ones that I didn’t go on but Space Mountain and the Seven Dwarves Mine Train in Magic Kingdom and the Guardians of the Galaxy Ride in EPCOT were super fun. Highly recommen

The Overrated

EPCOT
I chose EPCOT as my second park for this trip because it is iconic, and because everyone seems to enjoy the world showcase section of the park. And honestly, while some parts of the park were very fun – Soaring Over the World and the Guardian’s of the Galaxy ride – otherwise it was just kind of boring to me. The world showcase had some good food and drinks, but I don’t like to overindulge in alcohol (especially when it’s hot out!) and the world showcase is basically designed for eating and drinking too much. I’m glad other people like it but, it’s just not my thing.

Things to Keep in Mind
The Size
Disney World is HUGE. Not the individual parks themselves, but the giant Disney World Resort Area. Parks are literally miles away from each other, and for Magic Kingdom, you need to take a tram to get to the park from the parking lot. You cannot walk from park to park, or even to a park – everything has to be reached by car or bus. And there are plenty of buses, particularly if you are staying in one of the official (and expensive) Disney resort hotels. I ended up take a lot of Ubers to get between the parks and my hotel. As a result of how spread out everything is, some planning is needed for a given day. That said, you can park hop or take a break in the day – you aren’t stuck in the parks or anything. But you do need to keep the spread-out nature of the parks in mind when going to Disney World.

The App is Your Frien
There is a Disney app specific to Disney World, and it is your friend for the trip. The app has interactive maps, tells you wait times for each ride or experience, shows you the menus for all the restaurants, and you can even plan your day on it. It is very, very helpful, particularly being able to monitor the wait time for a ride in close to real time.

Conclusion
I had a fantastic weekend at Disney World. Magic Kingdom is a lot of fun – particularly at night which is beautiful and there are fireworks. And I’m glad I checked out EPCOT. It helped a lot that I didn’t put any real pressure on the weekend since for me it was about getting away rather than about having the more efficient and maximized trip to Disney World. That would have been exhausting. That said, I have no intention of going back. It’s too big and unwieldly and difficult to get between things. I am very glad I went though and do recommend going at least once you like Disney or amusement parks in general.