One thing about me? I love maximizing my PTO and holidays off at work! When I noticed that Juneteenth fell on a Wednesday this year, I was bummed. A day off in the middle of a week can be such a waste if you don’t want to take other days to extend to a long weekend! But then I thought about how fun it would be to challenge myself to fit as much fun into these 24 hours that I could. Enter: Disney in a Day! I met up with one of my best friends who lives in Florida and we had the best time exploring Epcot. We wandered around the world, got sick on rides, and had quality friend time. Even though it was a long day, it was perfect and a totally doable itinerary! Here is my experience doing Disney in a Day!
Morning & Flight to Orlando
Living in Buffalo, we are pretty limited with non-stop flights. Thankfully, Orlando is one of our few destinations, and the flight times could not have been more perfect! JetBlue offered a non-stop flight that departed at 6:00 am and got into Orlando a little after 8:00 am. The night before, I packed my mini backpack with just the essentials. I brought my wallet, a water bottle, mini fan, portable phone chargers, sunglasses, and my Minnie Mouse ears. What more do you need?! When my alarm went off at 4:00 am I simply got ready, grabbed my bag, and walked out the door. I got to the airport around 5:00 am which offered just enough time to grab a quick breakfast at the lounge before boarding my flight. The flight was smooth and thankfully I was able to sneak in a little more sleep before landing!
Uber to Epcot
Once we landed, I queued up a ride on Lyft and confirmed the ride once I was off the plane making my way to the airport exit. I followed sings for Ground Transportation (specifically the Uber/Lyft pick up), which ended up being about a 10 minute walk from my gate. I forgot how big MCO airport is! My driver picked me up right outside baggage claim (which I of course breezed right past), and we were on our way to Epcot! Since it was about 8:45 am at this point, rush hour on a Wednesday morning was in full swing. We hit a little traffic, but nothing too crazy.
The ride took about 30 minutes and cost about $40. Thankfully with Epcot, ride shares can drop you off basically right at the front gate! The drop off is around here, near the Minnie Van services. It could not have been easier and I was ready to hit the ground running for my Disney in a Day!
Spaceship Earth & Journey of Water
Once I arrived, I hugged my friend so hard and we got to exploring right away! We were greeted by the giant Epcot golf ball, and a 5 minute wait to get on Spaceship Earth. We got in line for our first ride of the day and made it on only a few minutes later. In true Megan fashion, we ended up getting stuck on the ride for about 15 minutes, but it was not a big deal and we laughed a lot about it.
After, we made our way over to the Journey of Water. We had no idea what this was, but it ended up being really cool and fun! It is not a ride, but rather an interactive exhibit about water that is all Moana themed. There were different stations where you could learn about water and interact with them by doing things like lifting your arms or cheering loudly. The fountains would turn on and off and it brought out my inner child. You can get as wet as you want to here, as there are options for both wet and dry paths. Ironically, as soon as we left this area it started to downpour in true Florida fashion.
Around the World: Mexico, Norway, China, Germany
We didn’t let the rain get us down, and next made our way to the World Showcase! First stop: Mexico! We of course had to treat ourselves to margaritas at Choza de Margarita before making our way into the Mexico Pavilion. I had been to Epcot a few times before, but I had no idea you could go inside the temple! Inside, there was a ton of shopping, Mexican food, and of course: a mariachi band! I had a hard time resisting Mickey ears shaped like churros, but we did end up buying a disposable camera which was so fun to use during the day!
Next up was Norway! We first went into the Kringla Bakeri Og Kafe where we split a giant Triple Chocolate Chip Cookie. It was the perfect thing to fill up our stomach after those strong margaritas in Mexico! We were hoping to hop onto the Frozen Ever After ride but was not about to wait 70 minutes for it. Crazy!
China was next, where I started to feel a little tipsy from the margaritas (see selfie above with the statue). We loved bopping into the shops and gawking at the fun snacks. My friend got potato chips that were flavored like steak- and boy were they! Weirdly tasted like you were biting into a piece of crunchy steak. So wild! Germany followed where we grabbed some grapefruit beers and cider, admired authentic cuckoo clocks, and split a caramel butter bar from Karamell-Küche. And wow, this little treat was so delectable! It melted in your mouth and we made sure to eat every last crumb!
Around the World: Italy, USA, Japan, Morocco
Next up was Italy! My friend got a limoncello and I fought the temptation to get gelato. We really just strolled through this area and admired the spot-on replicas of famous Italian landmarks. Disney really does a great job with making these countries feel like the real thing! Next up was the USA, where we sat down for a bit to rest and recharge. I of course got a Mickey pretzel and had to wash it down with a blue slushy. It was the perfect mid-day refresher!
Japan was next where we spent time bopping into the stores and admiring all of the fun stuff they had! We loved pointing out all the fun flavors of snacks and candies and fighting the temptation to buy all of them. The stores in Japan is really where it’s at! Our next stop was Morocco, where we didn’t do much other than walk around and rest on the signature fountain that sits proudly in the center. Aladdin and Jasmine were doing meet and greets here, but the lines were too long for us!
Around the World: France, UK, Canada
The next three countries were pretty rushed, as we were close to our boarding time for the new Guardians of the Galaxy ride! We wandered through a bit of France, popping through the chic stores and smelling the fresh bread and macarons. I had heard amazing things about the Ratatouille ride, but it was another queue over an hour! We weren’t going to spend that much time in line when my time was already so limited!
We breezed through the United Kingdom, but not before stopping to snap some pics with the famous telephone booths. Canada was next, and it was then that the skies opened back up and it started pouring (again, typical Florida!). We caught a few minutes of their lumberjack show while we fought with our ponchos trying to get them back on. Unfortunately no time for maple syrup or poutine, as we had to haul it over to Guardians of the Galaxy for our boarding time!
Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind
While neither of us are big ride girls, this was top of our “must-do” list for Disney in a Day! Disney has really gotten more complicated in the last few years, and the only way to get on this ride is to have a “boarding group”. To get into one, you have to be on the app the morning of your visit EXACTLY at 7:00 am to join the Virtual Queue (thankfully the plane had wifi so I could do this!). I joined the queue no more than 7:00:05 and we got boarding group 88 – which gave us entry around 2:00 pm.
The app notifies you once your group has been called and you have one hour to enter the line. My assumption was once you enter the line, you’d be close to getting on the ride since we “virtually queued” all day. Nope! Once your boarding group is called, you still have to wait in a line inside, which for us was about an hour. Annoying, but it felt like it went by fast. While you’re waiting, you’re actually brought into two rooms where videos and movies are shown, that help pass the time while you are waiting.
The ride itself was insanely cool – but I am 32 years old and of course we both felt very sick after, LOL (see pic above)! The cars spin and rotate as you go around the track. There is even a point where you go backwards (not my favorite) and spin around a giant moon about three times (also not my favorite). If I was about 10 years younger, I know I would have loved it a lot more, but this 32 year old had to sit down for a little while after and focus on not throwing up.
(More) Food, The Land, and Soarin’
After we let our stomachs settle, we realized that we hadn’t had a proper meal all day! We grabbed a quick coffee from Joffrey’s to give our bodes a little pick-me-up after that ride took every ounce of life out of us. Then, made our way into the Connections Eatery to get some more fuel. As with everything at Disney, food is definitely pricy, but I found the ultimate hack: order off the kid’s menu! For only $8, I got two large chicken fingers, a side of fries, and a drink. The cup was small, but the machines were self-serve so you can go back as many times as you’d like. A super easy way to save some money!
Next up, we made our way over to The Land for my absolute favorite ride of any theme park ever: Soarin’! The line was only abotu a 40 minute wait, but honestly, I would have waited longer. This ride was the top of my list! I love how it takes you around the world in such an immersive way. My favorite part though is the scents! Smelling the fresh grass when you’re in the African savanna, the jasmine in India, and the salty sea air in Fiji. The best!
Snacks & Shopping
After Soarin’, my Disney in a Day was coming to an end. We grabbed a Mickey ice cream bar and had a quick photo shoot near the Epcot ball to commemorate our day! Finally, we made our way over to Creations, the main gift shop at Epcot. The store was huge and had everything! I loved it all, but had to be very careful with my purchases as I could feel myself toeing the line into “Disney Adult”. I landed on a blue Mickey crew neck sweatshirt, which was (in my opinion) pretty reasonably priced compared to other things in the store!
Return to MCO Airport
My flight back to Buffalo took off from MCO at 9:15 so we left Epcot around 7:45 pm. While I was bummed to be leaving and miss the famous fireworks, it was a jam-packed 10 hours at Disney! My friend drove me to the airport, which was only about 20 minutes away (very little traffic this time of night!). After drop off, I walked right into the TSA Precheck line and was through security in less than 2 minutes. Very few flights are leaving this time of night, so everything was really easy! I got to my gate around 8:30 pm which was just enough time to take a quick bathroom break and change into my new cozy Mickey sweatshirt for the flight home.
Back in Buffalo!
The flight out of Orlando was perfectly on time and incredibly smooth! I was pooped after a full day walking around Disney, so sitting on a plane for 2 hours was a welcome treat. Thankfully, I was able to sneak in a little bit of sleep before we landing in Buffalo around 11:30 pm. I walked off the plane and straight out to my car (which was parked so conveniently, as I was able to use the Day Use Only spots!). I walked into my apartment exactly at midnight and was back in my bed a cool 5 minutes later. Doing Disney in a Day was crazy, but absolutely doable and so worth it!
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