Another great trip Alan! That really was one full fun packed day. I have also never eaten in Mexico but have wanted too. Epcot is a great way to end the day. Test track is one of my favorites and while I do like designing the car I could live without it. That McDonald's does look very large and not really like a typical McDonald's at all. Leaving is always the worst part even though it good to get home. Can't wait to hear about your cruise and stay at WDW! I will also be at WDW in January but for marathon weekend. I plan on running my first half marathon.
Thanks very much my friend! Going into that weekend, I had no intentions of doing a trip report...but as the trip progressed, I thought it would be a fun quick report!
Yeah, for the last few times we've been to Epcot, we always see the diners at San Angel Inn and think, "why have we not eaten here?" It is very high right now on our radar for our next trip in January!
We LOVE Test Track! I'm sort of sentimental about the old version...I always enjoyed the 'hot' and 'cold' rooms as well as the 'toxic' room. But designing the cars is fun too.
Good for you on the half marathon! I hope to do that half marathon one day. I'm a 5K and 10K participant, but haven't worked my way up to 13.1 miles. In our own way, this 4-parks-in-1-day experience was like our own personal marathon for the day! lol! I wish I had clipped on my pedometer to see exactly how much walking we did that day. I definitely think we burned more calories than consumed!
I am impressed! I didn't think you would get nearly that much done! It looked like a lot of fun too!
We were surprised also. We ended up doing much more that we had planned. This is what we hoped to accomplish: AK= Everest, Primeval whirl, DHS= RnRC, MK= the three mountains and Philharmagic, Epcot= Test Track and Mission Space. We did ALL of those, plus did Everest twice, Primeval Whirl twice, Tower of Terror, Astro Orbiter, BTMRR twice, Jungle Cruise, Gran Fiesta Tour and TT twice. I am now convinced that early February may be the very best time to visit for trying to accomplish four parks in one day.
What a perfect day!!! Isn't it cool when things just work out...part of the Disney magic! I'm surprised you didn't hop back over to Magic Kingdom! San Angel Inn is my wife's favorite restaurant...we eat there every trip and she LOVES, LOVES, LOVES the Gran Fiesta, as do I, since I went bananas for The Three Caballeros when I was a kid...my dad ALWAYS showed it to us, yup, he was a "shiddypa". LOL!
Yep, perfect is exactly the way I would describe it! In fact, each and every hour we kept thinking, "wow...this is a perfect day!" We thought about going back to MK, since it was open until midnight, but we had a 9-hour drive first thing the next morning...so we felt satisfied that we had plenty of fun for one day. And we were tired.
Great to hear that your wife's favorite restaurant is San Angel! I'm 99% sure we will be eating there in January. I just love that atmosphere! Yeah, I love Gran Fiesta Tour also. Donald is one of my favorite Disney characters. If you tour the World Showcase counterclockwise, Mexico is the last country and by that time you're ready for a nice, easy pace with no wait. I miss Maelstrom in Norway, but I'm curious about the new Frozen ride. I'll bet once it opens, the lines will be worse than 7 Dwarfs right now.
WOW I really enjoyed that!! We have been to DL twice now but never WDW (even though it is closer for us) we are doing a short weekend trip in October for
MNSSHP so we are doing the party one day and the next day spending a day in MK, I am COMPLETELY lost at what I need to do to prepare!!! So I am trying to read reports to get a grip on it!!
Thank you very much for reading! You are VERY smart to be doing your research. My advice on touring MK in one day: try to get your Fastpasses scheduled for afternoon and, depending on your priority, try to get Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain. (unless you're wanting to meet Elsa & Anna, in which case I'd drop the Splash Mt.) Get to the MK parking lot an hour before opening, take the ferry or monorail over, and check out the opening show...which is amazing! The Walt Disney World Railroad comes around with all the Disney characters on it! It's a magical way to start the day! Then, once the park is open, (if you have FP for 7D, Space & Splash,) you can head directly to some of the most popular Fantasyland rides, like Peter Pan OR go ride Big Thunder Mountain. The trick is to catch the rides with the longest waits either on Fastpass or at the best times (early or late in the day.) I actually feel sorry for families who just show up at the Magic Kingdom for the first time and have no plan...they seem miserable and disappointed.
You have inspired me to go to three parks on our second day! (First day is MK, and we only have two park days). Do you think it helped with all of that hopping that you were driving? I keep going back and forth between taking the bus (we are staying at Coronado Springs) or driving our rental car. As you know, time is of the essence and it seemed to work out great for you. we will be there in busy times though (July). I had talked myself out of EMH'ing to AK just for Everest, but now you have me thinking "why not"?
It DEFINITELY helped that we were driving. If you have a rental car, I would take advantage of that on your park hopping day. (You'll lose precious time waiting on buses. Buses are the best option for MK, but if you're doing the other three, I would definitely plan to drive.) If there is an EMH morning at AK, I would plan to be there early and proceed straight to Everest. (Because of the EMH, it is going to be one of the most crowded parks on that day....so do Everest or whatever your favorite is...and leave by 9-10am. Make a list of your priorities at each of the three parks. Sounds like your best bet might be do to Hollywood Studios mid-day and schedule your three afternoon fastpasses there.
Really enjoyed reading this trip report. Glad you were able to pack so much in. So, did someone else take your student group back from the conference? Do you already have a restaurant chosen for your 50th birthday at WDW?
Thank you very much! I really enjoyed putting this report together and responding to readers. I was hoping we weren't being too "pie in the sky" when we made our bold plans, but as it turns out we ended up doing MORE than we expected...which was awesome! No, we took the student group back on Sunday. (The conference had an awards banquet and dance for them on Saturday....so they were occupied.)
Great question about my 50th birthday dinner restaurant. I haven't definitively decided...but right now I'm thinking either Flying Fish or Ohana. I also know I would like to try to get a dinner at San Angel Inn and at Fulton's, because we've never been to either of those and always wanted to.
Wow!! What a trip. Well you sure got more done in a day and a half than I did in 2 days with my 9 year old lol...but I can't even blame her...I'm exhausted just reading about your 4 parks in one day extravaganza!!! But it helps that there were just a few select rides you wanted to get in and you knew you'd be going back before too long. You managed to get in some great food and other non ride things too. Congrats
Hi KathyM2!
I think the main reason we got so much done was because my wife and I were on the same page as to what our plan would be...and we pretty much stuck to it. I thought I would feel rushed all day, but I really didn't. The only time we got frustrated was the unexpected hour long wait at Jungle Cruise, but we made that time up nicely. On past trips, we've been on the deluxe dining plan and we weren't on any dining plan for this trip...so we really got to experience a lot of places that were new for us...and they were great! My wife and I have decided that we will probably never do a dining plan again, unless it is free dining. Paying out of pocket comes with a lot of freedoms and that's a good thing.
Thank you very much for reading along! This was a day I will remember for the rest of my life.