Trip Report 5 day Orlando Speedrun!

Hi everyone,

Longtime lurker of Trip Reports and these boards in general! For years I have thought about doing a Trip Report and am finally going to give it a go

A bit about me... I'm Emma, from the UK and travelled with my husband Steve. Growing up, I was very lucky to visit Disney every 2 years or so with my family, so it's always been a very special place for me. Our last trip was with a group of 10 of us back in 2017. We had trips booked for April 2020, and then April 2021, but we all know what happened then...!

I have been trying desperately to get back to Disney (5 years is the longest I've ever gone without a visit!) but as I am a teacher, I am stuck by school holidays and it's been tricky to find a time. My husband and I like to travel, and each summer we usually do a big trip- 2019, for example, we did Japan, 2018 we did New Zealand and so on. Well with COVID, we obviously hadn't been able to go too far, so decided that this summer we'd do a really big trip to make up for the lost time. The original plan was Bali, New Zealand and Australia. I jokingly kept asking about popping Orlando in there somewhere- and then, by some miracle, my husband found some flights from the UK to Orlando that would be much cheaper than the original plan. He went into full on planning mode and in the end, our entire adventure looked like this- Orlando to Tahiti to New Zealand to Australia to home!

Being from the UK, we usually visited for 2-3 weeks and did all of Orlando- Disney, Universal, SeaWorld, shopping days, International Drive, beach days, Busch Gardens- we'd do it all. So, having just 5 days was definitely a challenge I was excited for! We booked everything with literally about a month to go, and as soon as I could I got the park reservations, dining reservations sorted etc. We were mega lucky and managed to get everything we wanted, including a night at California Grill for our 8th wedding anniversary

We had the most wonderful 5 days in Orlando to kick start our holiday and I am really pleased to say, despite being a bit wary of how Disney may have changed in the 5 years since I'd last been, it really was as special as I'd hoped it would be. I hope you enjoy reading about our trip!

 

[erstwo]

I'm right there with you - Wishes and Spectromagic forever!

 

[rshell68]

I'm right there with you - Wishes and Spectromagic forever!

 

[Bullseye1967]

Great start to your TR!!!

 

[rubydoo2]

I'm right there with you - Wishes and Spectromagic forever!

Team Wishes and Spectromagic here! Love it!

Great start to your TR!!!

Thank you!

 

[rubydoo2]

Thanks everyone for reading so far! Onwards.


Day 2- Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom and Disney Springs
Jet lag was here! We both woke up before 6am, and lazed for a bit but we really were awake. I’ve never been one to rush and dedicate myself to rope drop, but due to only having 5 days, and the fact we were awake anyway, we figured we may as well get up and get going. We headed down the food court and got ourselves some breakfast- Mickey waffles of course, what else can start your first full Disney Day?- and jumped on a bus.

We walked into MK about 8.50am, caught a bit of the welcome show, and then headed over the Space Mountain. The wait time said 35 minutes, but we waited 20 minutes exactly. We had a great time with lots of laughing and it was a fair bit rougher than we remembered it being- but we think this is more just because we’re getting old!!

We decided to try and hit some of the bigger rides whilst it was still early, so we headed over the 7 Dwarves Mine Train, which had a posted wait of 45 minutes. We waited 45 minutes exactly! I have only ever been on this once before, and Steve never had been, so this was really fun- we especially liked how it rocked as it went! I do have to say, though, my hair was not coping well with the heat and the rollercoasters...

By this time I was in a mountains mood and we decided we’d troop over to Splash and Thunder to see if we could knock out all the moutains in the morning. We went to Splash first, as it was relaly hot by this time and we were more than ready for getting wet! The wait time said 35 minutes, we waited just over 40 minutes- and this queue is so hot! We were very glad to be in the front row and get a good soaking!

When we got out of Splash, we headed to Jungle Cruise and it was posted a 30 minute wait but we literally walked on- we got really lucky as when we got off the ride the wait was up to 60 minutes! Our skipper was very funny and we enjoyed all the cheesiness! We decided to have a bit of a break at this point so grabbed a dole whip and then watched the parade as it went down towards Liberty Square. It always makes me laugh when the dragon breathes fire- just what you need when it’s already 35 degrees!

We decided to finish off the mountains and headed to Thunder Mountain. It was posted 50 minutes wait but we only waited 25! We had a lunch reservation at Skipper’s Canteen and, taking into account what we’d done the night before and this morning, we were pretty happy we’d ticked most things off and decided to head there. We were a bit early but we enjoyed waiting in the air con for our time to roll around! The food was really good. We had some cheesey bread bites that were a special, and they were declicious as a starter! Then I had the chicken and my husband had the veggie option. It was really nice to have something different to chicken strips and chips (as much as I love that food in Disney!!)

 

[rubydoo2]

Day 2 continued...

We decided at this point to park hop over to Animal Kingdom. In the spirit of the whole “only having 5 days” thing, we had decided we would just do the things we really wanted to do- and I was desperate for Steve to experience Avatar as he never had. I had only been on it once but remembered it as one of the best rides I’d ever experienced! We jumped on a bus over to AK and headed over to Pandora, deciding that we’d just wait regardless of the queue time. It was posted as 70 minutes, which was nice and different from the 4-5 hours I remembered it being on our last trip in 2017! I am very pleased to say it was just as brilliant as I remembered, and Steve loved it too. We sat and had a night blossom and looked around Pandora a bit, I wish we could've seen it in the dark as I remember it was absolutely beautiful at night.

We then headed over to Expedition Everest. It posted a 5 minute wait tie and we waited about 8 minutes! The photo really makes me laugh because I look like I’m having the time of my life and Steve looks bored out of his brain

My hair definitely struggling at this point...

After Everest, Steve felt a bit sick- a combination of motion sickness from all the rides today and jet lag. We sat in the Rivers of Light stadium bit and decided we’d head back to the hotel. It was about 6pm and we had been on the go all day!

We headed back to the hotel and Steve had a nap and I decided to head to Disney Springs. I knew there wouldn’t be another time when I’d be able to visit over these few days, and I just wanted to go and be there and have a browse. I jumped on a bus and wow- it was SO BUSY in Disney Springs. I was so surprised! Looking back I now realise it was Saturday night, but at the time I think I’d lost all track of the days I thought I might grab myself something to eat whist I was there but everything had a really big queue. The Gideon’s queue was as impressive as I’d expected- I didn’t even attempt it! I walked around the entire place once before deciding to head back to the hotel. I saw so many things in World of Disney I liked, but I had to keep in mind that we were travelling around the world after the trip so I coulnd’t weigh my suitcase down with too much Disney tatt.

My parents still have an original one of these in their house- it really tickled me to see them for sale!

I headed back to the hotel and picked up a pizza for Steve and I to share in our room. We ended up only eating about 3 slices from it I think we were exhausted from the very long day! We went to bed and I was really pleased with all that we'd achieved- 2 parks down, 2 to go!

 

[Spash007]

I still have that back scratcher from the 90s!

Following along, and enjoying it all so far!

 

[rubydoo2]

Day 3- Hollywood Studios and Epcot

Now this was a day I was really excited for- Hollywood Studios has always been my favourite park, but I'm not particularly sure why I just really like the atmosphere in this park, I always think if I was a local Hollywood Studios would be where I'd just hang out in the evenings. I was aware it had changed A LOT since our last visit so I was really looking forward to seeing all the new things!

We woke up early and decided to try out Genie+ today. We hadn't used it so far, but I knew that today was the day with the most "big rides" that we wanted to hit. I got on Genie+ as soon as I could and got a Slinky return time for 1.45pm. We ended up doing the "stacking" strategy but more by luck than intent! We were the bus to the park by 7.30am and I had intentions of Rope Dropping Rise of the Resistance. Well we got to the park and... to the surprise of probably noone, Rise was down so went went over to Smuggler's Run. I LOVED this ride! It was so much fun! We were in the the ride with 2 teenagers and their grandparents and they were having such a great time together, it was so nice to see. There was a lot of laughing and screeching from all 6 of us!

In the queue for Smuggler's Run! The wait time posted was 35 minutes but we only waited only 15.

We went back to Rise after and hoped it would be back up, but no luck. We lingered for a few minutes but decided to eat the loss and changed our entire plan- we'd come back to Rise as late as possible to try and avoid the longest queue!

We decided to head over to Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway- I was lucky enough to ride the Great Movie Ride on it's last day in 2017 and I was excited to see the new ride, but definitely missing the Great Movie Ride! I had watched and read absolutely nothing about Mickey and Minnie's and I have to say- it was nothing like what I expected. I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't that Steve and I laughed A LOT! It was slightly mad! I did like it but it was a funny experience! This queue was posted as a 15 minute wait and we waited 15 minutes exactly.

After that, we headed over to Star Tours. The wait was posted as 30 minutes but again, we only waited 15 minutes. I love Star Tours- when I was younger it was one of the first "thrill rides" I ever went on, I've always really enjoyed it.

Tower of Terror was up next. Posted wait time of 50 minutes, we waited about 40.

Thumbs up for the photo as Tower of Terror is my Mum's favourite ride, and she always does thumbs up in photos- so a little homage to her!

We went back (a lot of walking back and forth across the park!) to Muppets 3D and it was genuinely the busiest I've ever seen it! It is so dated now but still really enjoyable. Unless you're Steve, who fell asleep straight away

At some point we booked another Lightning Lane, we booked Toy Story Midway Mania for 12.30. We had lunch at Ronto Ranchers first and I was pleasantly surprised- I think the choices for food in Disney have really improved since 2017 and our last trip! We then headed over to Toy Story for Midway Mania. We LOVE this ride, it's so much fun! I won and was best in vehicle- very pleased!

After that we had an awkward amount of time until our Slinky LL, so I dragged Steve to the Frozen singalong. He enjoyed it more than he thought he would (though I'm not sure he'd ever admit it!)- we particularly liked the male historian we had, he was hilarious! Photo evidence that Steve did enjoy the show...!

We popped back over to Slinky dog for our LL and waited literally about 4 minutes. Another new ride, and another one we liked- it was quicker than we expected!

At this point we felt a bit lost on what to do. The Rise queue was massive and we felt like we'd done a lot of what we wanted to do in Hollywood Studios. So... we decided to head to Epcot on the skyliner!

 

[rubydoo2]

Day 3 continued

Now I hadn't really planned to go on the Skyliner during this trip. I wasn't sure how I felt about the Skyliner- I thought I'd be quite nervous and also, I was worried about the heat! However once we got on it- I was instantly converted. It made travelling to Epcot SO easy and I really enjoyed the ride. We had a car to ourselves and it was a nice rest!

Once we got to Epcot, we made full use of Genie+. We got an immediate return time for Soarin, so headed straight there. Again, a new version of a ride for us- I liked the update, but did miss some of the classic scenes from before. After Soarin, we got another immediate return time for Spaceship Earth, walked straight on. Tried to take everything in as this is probably the last time we'd go on this version of Spaceship Earth- or maybe not, if the update doesn't happen? Who knows!

We popped into Connections Cafe for a drink and a rest at this point. We had been going full on since 7.30am and we were flagging! At this point I found one of the limitations of Genie+- I was checking return times and there were loads for Toy Story, so I thought we could go on it again. However I quickly found out that you can't book a ride more than once a day. This was slightly frustrating as there were plenty available! At this point Rock and Rollercoaster and Rise were BOTH down again and it felt quite annoying to not be able to go back and redo Toy Story.

We had been given an anytime pass for Rock and Rollercoaster being down, but decided to wait and redeem it on it when it came back up. We jumped back on the Skyliner and headed back to Hollywood Studios. We waited not very long and soon RRC was back so we headed over. Even with a LL, we waited about 35 mintues- I find this queue SO slow!

We then stopped for donuts- we thought these donuts were HUGE! Bigger than my hand!

At this point we decided to just head to Rise and take whatever the wait time was. The posted time was 60 minutes, but the app said 120 minutes, and the cast member at the start of queue said 75 minutes so we figured we'd just go for it! In total... we actually only waited 45 minutes until we got to the first pre-show with BB8 and Rey. Now, I like Star Wars a normal amount- not a massive fan by any means- but WOW. This ride was incredible! Even Steve, who quite actively dislikes Star Wars, admitted it was one of the best ride experiences he'd ever had. We also quickly realised why it goes down so often haha- all those different elements and working parts, if one thing goes out I imagine the whole thing is messed up. I really was blown away by it. Obligatory Stormtrooper photo!

After Rise, we sat down and had a bit of a regroup and decided to call it a day. We had been up and out for over 12 hours at this point, and 3 days into our non-stop trip- we were tired!

We got the bus back to All Stars and got a snack from the foodcourt and very quickly fell asleep. This photo makes me smile- we look exhausted but happy!

 

[Zipadeelady]

 

[MagicalMaci]

Just getting caught up here!
1) Your whole trip sounds amazing and I'd love to hear all about it! We were going to do Australia and Fiji for our honeymoon but covid had other plans - so still trying to find a time to get back to that part of the world!
2) I love all your laughing and smiling photos! Y'all just look so genuinely happy to be there!
3) I can't believe how much you accomplished so quick, jet lag knocks me on my little booty.
Bonus - we were also flying from the UK to US on July 21st! But we were a casualty of the flight issues because we were supposed to fly home on the 20th! We were stuck in London for just under 24 hours on our way back from Prague!

 

[rubydoo2]

Just getting caught up here!
1) Your whole trip sounds amazing and I'd love to hear all about it! We were going to do Australia and Fiji for our honeymoon but covid had other plans - so still trying to find a time to get back to that part of the world!
2) I love all your laughing and smiling photos! Y'all just look so genuinely happy to be there!
3) I can't believe how much you accomplished so quick, jet lag knocks me on my little booty.
Bonus - we were also flying from the UK to US on July 21st! But we were a casualty of the flight issues because we were supposed to fly home on the 20th! We were stuck in London for just under 24 hours on our way back from Prague!

Thank you! We were very happy to be back- me in particular, my husband was just being a very good sport A surprise 24 hours in London sounds fun but maybe slightly stressful! We were so lucky on our trip- we had 11 flights in total and not one of them was delayed or cancelled. Our luggage even made it everywhere! We were shocked as airports in the UK have been in complete disarray this summer so far!

 

[rubydoo2]

Sorry for the slight pause on these, real life update...

We added a new member to our family on Saturday!

Meet Ruby

My parents always had dogs when I was growing up, but we've never had a dog ourselves, so we're on a very steep learning curve (and very little sleep!) but we couldn't be happier to have her with us!

 

[Zipadeelady]

Ruby, I have just met you and I love you!

 

[cgersic]

Welcome home Ruby!!! She is just precious!

 

[Swissmiss]

Sorry for the slight pause on these, real life update...

We added a new member to our family on Saturday!

View attachment 663361
Meet Ruby

My parents always had dogs when I was growing up, but we've never had a dog ourselves, so we're on a very steep learning curve (and very little sleep!) but we couldn't be happier to have her with us!

 

[Wicked Sisters]

Oh my word Ruby is absolutely adorable

 

[rubydoo2]

Ruby, I have just met you and I love you!

Welcome home Ruby!!! She is just precious!

Oh my word Ruby is absolutely adorable

She is like a fluffy teddy and she's also currently asleep, so on with the trip report!

 

[rubydoo2]

Day 4- Universal Studios

This was our only day to venture out of the "Disney bubble" and I was really looking forward to it, I love Universal. Being a 33 year old Brit I obviously love Harry Potter so was really excited to get back to the two parks for that, and experience Velocicoaster too. We knew we wouldn't be able to do both parks in 1 day, so we decided to just focus on the things we really wanted and accept that we wouldn't see everything!

We got to the parking lot around 9am, and walked straight through into Universal. We headed for Diagon Alley as I wanted to get on Gringotts early. My Dad is obsessed with London and the London Underground, so I sent him this picture- I am doing all I can to convince him to return to Orlando with me next year! I have to say as a Brit, they really have done a great job themeing the train stations etc- they even have the same fonts as at home.

I have a notoriously terrible memory and this came in really handy here; I have ridden Escape from Gringotts once before but I genuinely couldn't remember anything about it, so it was like I was experiencing the ride for the first time It was posted a 50 minute wait but we only waited 30minutes or so. It really is an excellent ride!

After Gringotts, we explored Diagon Alley for a bit. Fred Weasley is my favourite so of course I had to get a photo of his workplace...

We headed out of Diagon alley and I stopped for a chat with the Knightbus Conductor on my way out!

From here, we headed over towards the Simpsons area. We are unashamed fans of The Simpsons! We were slightly worried about getting motion sickness on this ride, and I'm always a bit wary as I remember my Mum really hurt her back when this was Back to The Future (way back when!) from the jolting. There were a few points where I had to close my eyes for a moment to keep the motion sickness at bay but mostly, it was great fun! The posted wait time was 20 minutes and we waited 20 minutes exactly.

We headed out to explore the land further...

I sent this to multiple friends back home saying "My son is also named Bort"

And had to get a picture of this t-shirt; this is me and my best friend's most regularly used quotes, we say it all the time!

At this point once again, we had started to flag a bit. We were 4 days into this non-stop speed run and we were tired! We wondered up through the park and decided to get an early snack at Mel's. We had a lunch reservation at 3pm which made snacking a slightly awkward time. We love Mel's though- again talking about my Dad, but he's huge lover of the 60s and even has a converted room in our garden that is themed like a 60s bar diner, so Mel's feels very at home!

Simple pleasures but I ordered a milkshake here and it was genuinely just a cup of soft serve icecream. I was not complaining! It was delicious...

and I may have come back later in the day for another one...

After this we decided to head over to Islands of Adventure via the Hogwarts Express.

Again, the theming is SO good. The bit in here where you can "see" people disappear behind the wall for Platform 9 and 3/4 blew my mind when I first saw it and it continued to blow my mind today. It's such a cool effect! We were really lucky and as we walked onto the platform a train arrived, we walked straight on and off we went to Islands of Adventure!

 

[rubydoo2]

Day 4 continued

I still think the Hogwarts Express is really well done- it feels really real with the screens and effects! We headed into Hogsmeade and realised how busy the park was. We decided we come back to Forbidden Journey later in the day as we really wanted to get to Velocicoaster! But first, on the way past, had to get a snap with Hogwarts..

We walked over to Jurassic Park and jumped in the queue for Velocicoaster. The wait time was posted as 60 minutes and we had decided earlier in the day that we'd just lump it and put up with long queues as long as we got to ride what we wanted to ride. 60 minutes didn't seem too bad. Little did we know...!!

We'd been in the queue about 15 minutes when the messages about inclement weather started. We decided we'd wait- if inclement weather was shutting down rides, we assumed all the other indoor rides would have longer queues anyway, so we might as well just wait. We got in the queue at 12.10 and at 1.30pm (!) they sent a few trains out. Huzzah! Everyone stood up and got excited but... then nothing happened. The ride eventually started back up properly at 2.10pm. So, out 60 minute wait was actually about 2 and half hours BUT we have to say, it was worth the wait. The ride was AMAZING. It was so smooth! We both loved it and said we would ride again... but probably not after waiting 2 and a half hours

By this time it was time for us to head to our lunch reservation. We had booked this very normal looking place...

We had seen pictures and had heard from friends who had been here about the great food, so we were excited. I'm not a massive dessert person but Steve loves anything sweet, so I was excited for him to find something he'd love!

Whilst waited for our table to become available we looked in their shop etc. We have to say... guys... what on earth is this?! Bacon covered in frozen chocolate?! Has anyone had this and it's been good?!

We got seated upstairs and had a really friendly server. I went for the Teriyaki burger and it was delicious!

I can't actually remember what Steve had and I don't seem to have a photo of it, but he enjoyed it too. Infact he enjoyed it so much... he had no room for dessert! Typical! We did buy some goodies back downstairs to take away (not the bacon...) and enjoyed them that night when we got back to our hotel.

Lots of rides were still down due to the weather, so we decided we'd head to Forbidden Journey and go for it. It was posted a 120 minute wait but I was feeling hopeful that perhaps that was an inflated number... I knew it was a continual loading ride so at least we'd be moving in the queue. Which was what happened until... the ride went down. We sat for a long while but it did eventually come up again. This queue felt painfully slow when we were waiting, I think because the last time I rode I pretty much walked on 5 years ago and I felt hard done by we eventually got on the ride after a 70 minute wait, which was much less than the 120 minutes, but I think because we'd been sat still for ages it felt longer!

The first time I rode this back in 2012, I had a camcorder (very of its time!) and I filmed all inside Hogwarts to discover when I got home that none of the holograms etc showed up on film. I was pleased to get photos this time that actually worked!

It was getting towards 6pm at this time and we decided to go for Hagrids. This had been something we were waiting until later in the day to ride in the hope the queue wouldn't be too bad. When we got to the queue, the cast member said the wait was 90 minute which, in her words, "is amazing for us!" so we jumped in line! I have friends who rode this a few years ago who told me how amazing it was so I was really looking forward to it. I loved the pre-show bits with Hagrid and Arthur!

So after being told it was a 90 minute wait, we ended up on the ride after waiting just 55 minutes! I thought Velocicoaster was going to be my favourite ride of the day but, I have to say, Hagrid's beat it! It was SO much fun. I genuinely just had the biggest smile on my face the entire time! We were in the very back car, and I had my arms up the whole time and just really, really loved it. Our post ride photo shows that too, I think! (Another bad hair day for me!)

It was getting towards 8pm and we decided to head out of the parks. We'd done all the things we'd hoped to do before the day started. We decided to take the Hogwarts Express back to Universal to see the return journey, then head home. We had a Dad and his son in the carriage with us and it was lovely to see the little boy get so excited by the screens!

We took a photo whilst we had a bit of a rest before heading out to get an uber back to All Stars. All in all, the day had been a great success and I was really pleased with everything we'd managed to do!