Holiday Adventures in Walt Disney World: A Day at 3 Parks

Intro

As part of my trifecta of trips in December, I was now in Orlando, and after spending a day with Express Pass for the first time in Universal, me and my friend were ready to go to explore Disney Springs. The parks had closed at 7 PM, and Disney Springs was closing at 11:30 PM. We took an Uber to Disney Springs and went to get my friend’s ticket for tomorrow’s day at WDW. After that we started exploring.

Disney Springs Christmas Tree Stroll

The Disney Springs Christmas Tree Stroll is a free, annual holiday tradition at Disney Springs that features a collection of elaborately decorated Christmas trees spread throughout the shopping and dining district. Each tree is uniquely themed after beloved Disney characters, films, and theme park attractions.

We were not planning to see them all, but I got to see some, like for example the Villains Tree:

But the Town Center Tree is definitely the most impressive one. Huge and gorgeous. All that while we saw some Holiday entertainment in this side of Disney Springs.

One of the last trees we saw was the Encanto one, because of course, it is my favorite Disney movie after all.

Leaving Disney Springs

I showed the entire mall to my friend. We walked it all around, and even had time to go into the World of Disney store, the biggest one in the world.

We were hungry, despite all of what we had eaten during the day at the Universal parks, and I really wanted to try the Holiday Sandwich from Earl of Sandwich. The sweetness and savory of the sandwich was amazing. I would definitely recommend it.

We sat down for a second to see some of the Live Entertainment at the Waterside Stage, before we took an Uber back to Hard Rock Hotel.

A morning at Disney’s Hollywood Studios

We got ready for a full day of park Hopping at Walt Disney World. The goal was mostly to go to the heavy hitters including the ones in Hollywood Studios and Epcot, and end the day at Magic Kingdom with the Happily Ever After fireworks. In order to do that, since we did not stay in property, 3 days before today, we had the chance to buy the Lighting Lanes for 3 attractions in Hollywood Studios, and the Single Pass for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind in Epcot, and Tron in Magic Kingdom.

For the Multi Pass attractions, I was able to snatch Lighting Lanes for Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror™ and Star Tours. We were ready for a full day of fun.

We were also excited to see all the Christmas decorations in the parks. It was my friend’s first time in Walt Disney World, and I think this was the perfect time for him to get a best impression.

Galaxy’s Edge

First thing we did was to go to use the Star Tours Lighting Lane, so we could unlock being able to pick LL in the other parks. Having done that I picked Soarin’ in Epcot for later. Then, we went to the Single Rider line at Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. And even though we went into this line, we were never separated. This is at discretion of the cast member by the way.

The most impressive ride in Orlando left my friend speechless, but the drop at the very end of the ride scared him to death lol. If he even knew what was coming later lol.

Sunset Boulevard

And by that I was referring to The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror™. I had told him that this was probably the most thrilling ride of the day, surpassing all the roller coasters. It seemed like he did not understand but when we were sat at the elevator, I told him to grab the bars, and he was just so scared for this life haha. I literally told him this one was going to be difficult.

Regardless, we had an amazing time, and this was LL #2 which allowed me to unlock another Lighting Lane, this time the Space Mountain in Magic Kingdom.

Just next door, we went to Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith. The only roller coaster that puts you upside down in the entire WDW is always so much fun. My friend liked it but was also scared for this life the entire time. We had done The Mummy the previous day, and this one was pretty similar.

We had done all of the attractions with Lighting Lanes in this park, but it was time to do one last one with just the Single Rider. For that, we had to go back into Galaxy’s Edge, not without stopping by Pixar Pier, and a rare view of Buzz Lightyear with his Santa hat.

Once again in Galaxy’s Edge

Of course we had to come back, and this time, we did Smuggler’s Run with Single Rider. Once again, we were never separated, and the group we were with let us pick our positions. I decided to be one of the pilots, and the whole thing was really fun. That group was laughing and yelling the entire time. Amazing.

After that, we went to get a Breakfast Ronto Wrap from Ronto Roasters, using the Order Food selection on the My Disney Experience App. This wrap is just amazing. Taste amazing, and the texture is just perfect.

I had gotten coffee today, but of course I needed to order another one Black Caf from Kat Saka’s Kettle. The creaminess of this cold brew is unattainable.

We saw some characters including Kylo Ren, before heading out of the land. In my schedule we had to head out by 1:00 PM to go to Epcot, so the time was quickly approaching.

Before we left, my friend wanted to see the infamous Slinky Dog Dash. The standing line was looong, and we could not get a Lighting Lane 3 days in advance, they were already sold out. Maybe in another opportunity. I feel like this should be the Fancy Ride of this park and not Rise of the Resistance. I would definitely pay to ride it.

Getting to Magic Kingdom

After a nice afternoon in Epcot, we were reaching Magic Kingdom using the monorail. You will see all of Epcot in an upcoming post, since it has a lot of material, including the Festival of the Holidays.

But for now, we were excited to finish the day in the OG park: Magic Kingdom, trying to eat some Holiday food, riding some rides, but also of course seeing the Nighttime Spectacular: Happily Ever After.

The Christmas decorations were amazing. It felt so festive.

We got to the Cinderella Castle, and my friend was not impressed lol. He said that it looks way bigger in pictures, but he had the same complaint for literally any iconic building in Orlando and New York.

Tomorrowland

Our first Lighting Lane was the iconic Space Mountain, and thank God we had it because the regular stand by line was very very long. It felt unreal bypassing all the people next to us. This being another interior roller coaster was fun for my friend, but since he’s very tall, the sitting is very very odd. He also joked he would need a chiropractor after this trip because of this ride.

But with that it was time to get my first Holiday treat in this park. Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party was not happening today, and it was one of the reasons we had picked this day to come to Disney, but some of the treats are available to day guests, like for example the Cherry Cordial Cold Brew from Auntie Gravity’s Galactic Goodies at Tomorrowland.

The Thunderstorm

It had already started raining. But it became a thunderstorm soon enough. I still had some plans for the night, but was afraid that they would cancel the fireworks. For now, we quickly went to get the Mickey Whoopie Pie from Liberty Square Market at Liberty Square. The texture and sweetness was amazing, we needed a pick me up for this late.

The castle was all lit up, but the storm continued.

To cover ourselves from the storm, we went back to Tomorrowland to ride the Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover. We were able to see the Christmas decorations on the Tomorrowland Speedway, and Tron, to which we still had the Single Pass for later.

Frontierland

We had the Lighting Lane for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, and I really wanted my friend to experience it, since he did not want to do River Adventure in Islands of Adventures the previous day. It had stopped raining a little bit, so we headed towards this ride.

We wore our ponchos and journeyed into Tiana’s.

The ride as always amazing. I think my friend expected a bigger drop, but in person it does not feel as long. We were feeling a little bit hungry for real food, so we went next door to Pecos Bill. I got a Rice Bowl, and my friend got a burger.

Last Lighting Lane Multi Pass of the day was Pirates of the Caribbean, mostly to pass time and the rain. Last snack of the night to get in place for HEA was the Float from Sunshine Tree Terrace at Adventureland.

Happily Ever After

The amazing Nighttime Spectacular started. Happily Ever after will always be that show that always gets you. We were wondering if there were going to be any modifications due to the weather, but no, it went the same as always.

The only thing was there were a few seconds were due to the fog and smoke the castle disappeared in front of our eyes.

But the show ended and it was so emotional. Really love this show.

Bye Magic Kingdom

A lot of guests tend to finish the night at this park by going to get in line for Tron: Lightcycle / Run, but we had our Single Pass Lighting Lane. We were not going to get on a 2 hour line for sure lol.

Impressive ride as always. My friend loved it, more than anything in the 3 parks that we went today. I was shock, cause I think Guardians is way better lol.

And with this we finished a long day in 3 Disney Parks. But I will cover Epcot in the next blog post. See ya there.