Creating Magic: Your Ultimate Guide to Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios Experiences

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I was about to go on the shortest trip I had ever done to Florida, only 48 hours, from Friday evening to Sunday evening. I had an event that Friday night in Miami Beach, then my plan was to go to Orlando right away on a bus and hit my two favorite parks: Disney’s Epcot and Hollywood Studios, using a Park Hop ticket, and multiple Disney Genie+ selections and Lighting Lanes on the Walt Disney World App.

WOOF

It was the start of a marathonic journey that starts in JFK Airport in New York City after a long day of work.

1) From New York to Florida

It seemed like everyone was going to go to Miami because the flight was at full capacity, and this trip coincided with Spring Break, and that would make sense of the crowds.

After trying to take a nap at the plane, we landed and headed directly to the event in Miami Beach. I took an Uber thinking they would take me into this neighborhood but not, it was closed for cars. Only people were allowed to be on the streets.

It was a safety reason, and regardless just after I left this area, someone got shot and killed during the Spring Break celebrations. A curfew was put in place right after.

But regardless of how bad it looked outside, I still had fun in my event, and even though I stayed awake all night, I went to the Miami Airport at 4:00 AM and got on the Jet Set Express Bus that would take me to Orlando. The 4 hour ride took 6 hours due to them picking up people in many spots on the route. But at least for $53 I was able to take advantage of the times and not wasting a whole day.

2) Getting Disney Genie+ ready

I was able to sleep but I had to do some things during this ride: by 6:00 am I would have to buy Disney Genie+, which can be bought at any time after 12:00 am on the day of your visit. After this I had to secure at 7:00 am the Virtual Queue for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, and immediately, meaning right after, I had to secure the first Lighting Lane using the Disney Genie+. I could buy the Individual Selections when the park opened at 10:00 am.

This a marathonic experience but would make your life 100% especially if you are doing the park hopping in such a short amount of time.

These are some recommendations for getting ready for this stressful process of booking Virtual Queues and Lighting Lanes. Do this 10 min before the required times:

• No Disney Wifi: Do not use the WiFi of Disney Hotels or parks, use your own data, and measure your internet speed if possible.
• No save battery: Turn off Battery Saving, this option makes the internet slower sometimes.
• LTE no 5G: Turn off 5G, since this service is not available everywhere or could be very slow.
• Isolated spot: If possible, go to a spot where no one is around you. Internet in very crowded places like the parks tend to be very slow.
• Turn off wifi / Bluetooth, etc: Again, do not use WiFi, and turn off unneccessary settings on the phone like Bluetooth.
• Battery and device care optimize button: If you have an Android you can optimize your cellphone to run smoothly. You can find similar options in Iphones.
• Memory clean now: Clean the memory and cache of your cellphone, that way it will run smoothly and fast.
• Virtual Queue First, Disney Genie+ Second and Indivual Selections Third: Always follow this order since this is the perfect way to go from the most available to the public to the least available option.

The bus dropped us at the Walmart Kissimmee and from there I took an Uber to Epcot. In the cab I was able to buy the Indivual Line Selections for Guardians of The Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind and Star Wars: Rise of The Resistance. I was late for sometime but my Virtual Queue for Guardians of The Galaxy had been called so I tried to rush there.

I got a park hopper ticket, which is way more expensive than what it used to be.

3) Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind and Test Track

Epcot usually has a festival going on and this time was the Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival, and I had a Keep list and had bookmarked places to eat, but that would be after I did my favorite ride in Walt Disney World.

Guardians of The Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind at Epcot is the best ride ever in any Disney park, right after Star Wars: Rise of The Resistance. I would recommend to try to get the Virtual Queue and also the Indivual Lighting Lane Selection if you can.

My first Genie+ Lighting Lane was up and I went to Test Track. Remember to select the next Genie+ Lighting Lane 2 hours after your selection or as soon as you tap on the entrance of the ride. The 2 hour rule start after you have entered the park, but this way you can stack Lighting Lanes for later in the day. If you have a Park Hopper ticket, the Lighting Lane will allow you to select rides from that other park as long as the spots have been filled before 2 PM (Park Hopping start time). Is it confusing? Maybe, but it is doable.

4) Foods at Flower and Garden Festival

After 2 very fast rides, I was able to finally get some food, and taking advantage of my location at that time I went to The Sunshine Griddle and got some Fried Cinnamon Roll Bites with cream cheese frosting and candied bacon for $4.50. I ate a couple and saved the rest for later in a Ziploc bag (my favorite friends during a theme park day).

The one thing I ate from the same booth were the Shrimp and Grits for $7.25. OMG, it reminded me of the ones I got in Aunt Catfish’s On the River in Daytona Beach. The flavours were there, very well seasoned and delicious, 10/10.

From EPCOT Farmers Feast located very closeby, I got the Char-grilled Bison Ribeye with creamy leek fondue, red wine butter sauce, and whipped red wine goat cheese at Epcot for $8.25. I don’t remember trying bison before, but the entire plate just melted in my mouth. It was a festival of textures that was worth every penny.

The topiaries are definitely one of the best parts of the festivals, they are cute and you can find them sprinkled in the entire park.

For $6.75 my next treat was the Chicken and Waffles at The Honey Bee-stro in Epcot. This reminded me of the one in Chef Art Smith’s Homecomin’ in Disney Springs.

5) Exploring the pavilions

Time to go for a walk and check the other pavilions in the Epcot Wold Showcase, starting with England.

And one of my favorite ones, FRANCE!!!

It is just so beautiful. Makes me excited for Paris 2024 hehe.

6) Getting to Disney’s Hollywood Studios

And right after Mexico and going around the World Showcase, I did Guardians of The Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind again, just in time to jump to my next park: Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

I exited the park through the International Gateway by the France pavilion, and jumped to the Disney Skyliner to go to Disney’s Hollywood Studios. There is the possibility of taking a boat or just walk between the two parks. Last year when I stayed in Swan and Dolphin Hotel I had the chance to walk to both parks.

Finally made it on time almost at 3 PM, and I had stacked a couple of Disney Genie+ Lighting Lanes selections.

7) Fantasmic! Dining Package

I had a 3:10 PM reservation at Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano. Why? Because this was the only reservation available to book a Fantasmic! Dining Package. One of the main goals of this trip was to finally see Fantasmic! It was always canceled or not available in previous trips and I had to whatever it would be necessary to see it.

So I bought the Dining Package for Fantasmic! for 54 USD that includes any entree and any appetizer. I picked the most expensive of both options.

For the appetizer I picked the Margherita Flatbread (usually costs $16).

And for the entree I picked the Charred Strip Steak (Four-Cheese Macaroni with Pancetta, Aged Balsamic-Shallot Butter, and Chianti Wine Reduction) which usually costs $36. Meaning it is like I spent $52 on this meal and almost broke even with the Dining Package. I saved the pizza for later and ate the steak and macaroni.

8) More Genie+ and Indivual Selection rides

After finishing I walked to my next Disney Genie+, The Tower of Terror. I do not recommend to do this ride after eating, but I promise I did not feel full lol.

I had stacked a couple of rides here in Hollywood Studios and the next one after Tower of Terror was Star Tours, which I always enjoy, and for the first I had one of the new scenes! I do not know why I always got the prequels or original sequences.

Time for my last Indivual Selection: Star Wars: Rise of The Resistance. To think that when it debuted I was always unlucky with the virtual queues and was never able to ride it until a few tries, and when the Indivual Selections came to the parks, it was my opportunity to ALWAYS ride. After all, like I said before, this is my favorite WDW ride.

It is just so immersive.

9) Oga’s Cantina

At 6:45 PM I had a reservation for Oga’s Cantina. I know I know. Busy day full of food and reservation, but I needed to squeeze all the things I wanted to do in both parks in mere few hours. But I could not skip Oga’s Cantina.

It is just a lot of fun in here.

Remember to do your restaurant reservations on the Disney World website or app 60 days in advance starting at around 5:45 AM Eastern Time. Set an alarm if necessary because these reservations go very fast.

And the reason to always return: The Fuzzy Tauntaun for $18. Includes Ketel One Botanical Peach & Orange Vodka, Bols Peach Schnapps Liqueur, Orange Juice with Tangerine, Pure Cane Sugar, and ‘Buzz Button Tingling’ Foam. The sensation in the mouth and tongue is just nice.

10) More of Galaxy’s Edge

Just as the genius I am (lol) I booked another Genie+ right after Oga’s Cantina and right next door: Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

And when I got out I was able to see Rey and Chew just walking around.

It had been a couple of minutes since my last “eating”, so I of course had to stop in Ronto Roasters using the Order Food selection in the app, and getting the very famous Ronto Wrap for $12.99. Is this considered a hot dog? It is, right?

The night was falling and Galaxy’s Edge looked more beautiful than ever. Now, the only thing I had to wait for was Fantasmic! at 8:00 PM, so started walking in that direction.

But later that day I would see the other night show of Hollywood Studios: Wonderful World of Animation projections in the Chinese Theater.

11) Fantasmic!

Since I got the Fantasmic! Dining Package, I was guided to a central and special area to see the show.

From the Fantasmic! Website:

The show was really great, and now I was happy I finally was able to see it.

What surprised me the most were the special effects, with fire even. A few weeks later, the one in Anaheim would get in fire, and would put this whole show in jeopardy.

After the show, the park was still open and I had one more ride stacked in the Disney Genie+.

12) The End of The Day

I was able to ride Slinky Dog Dash very late at night.

And to finish the day I finally saw Wonderful World of Animation at Hollywood Studios, which is cute, but only worth seeing it once in my opinion.

I was exhausted having only slept a few hours earlier, I took an Uber, and went to my hotel. This story continues here.