To begin, this trip came to be with rather short notice, I found out like a week or so before it happened! The college was doing a trip to Disney’s Animal Kingdom, which meant with this being the first Disney trip we do for the academic year, I decided to take on all four parks in one-day with a 8-9 hour time limit. Did just that!
We got to Animal Kingdom at around 11:19 AM, 15 minutes behind schedule but that didn’t matter at this point! There was some rain (on and off that day) as well. Took the bus from AK to MK, arrived close to noon, went through security and made a beeline for Frontierland and in turn for BTMRR. MK was pretty busy that day, more like somewhat slammed! Arrived to BTMRR 21 minutes after my FP window closed but they let me in! Started searching for FastPasses at Epcot, but found none! I did POTC next, had no problems (farewell Redhead scene...), and then decided to grab a Dole Whip (and this is where I love using mobile order because of the line)!
My next park was Epcot, the express monorail was having issues so it took longer than normal to get to Epcot. We were holding for them to switch trains (I should’ve taken the ferry or resort monorail), and our monorail had to reset. The Epcot Monorail ran fine though.
Once I got to Epcot, Future World wasn’t too packed so I decided to go with my gut at this point and do Mission Space (Green Team) and Test Track. MS had a walk on wait time for the Green Team, and so did the Singles line for Test Track. Had some luck and picked up a TSMM FP while in line for Test Track. World Showcase on the other hand was a different story, it was SLAMMED thanks to Food & Wine Fest. I visited two kiosks (chocolate and Wine & Dine).
Got the Friendship Boat from Epcot to Hollywood Studios, and that was easy because there was one there by the time I reached the dock at International Gateway!
My next stop was Hollywood Studios, the plan there was to clear out Star Tours and TSMM. Star Tours had a 40 minute wait once I got there, but it did feel like 35 mins or so. Did TSMM immediately after, with the FP I had from earlier! Crowds at Hollywood Studios were manageable, the park wasn’t too busy. Picked up an Olaf cake pop before heading out.
The last park on this trip was Animal Kingdom, and by this time crowds had slowed down significantly! My plan was to see the Tree of Life Awakening and do FOP and Kali. What I did was I saw the FIRST Tree of Life show at night, then got in the standby line for FOP (was posted at 150, ended up waiting 90 mins). I knew I was going to be short on time, they wanted us to meet back at the Tree of Life by 7:40 PM, but I was at Flight of Passage. I texted my friend once I got off the ride, told him I was on my way to the park exit, one of the RAs doing this activity meet me where we dropped off and he lead me to the bus! Thus this challenge was completed in about 8 hours!
Overall review:
We got to Animal Kingdom at around 11:19 AM, 15 minutes behind schedule but that didn’t matter at this point! There was some rain (on and off that day) as well. Took the bus from AK to MK, arrived close to noon, went through security and made a beeline for Frontierland and in turn for BTMRR. MK was pretty busy that day, more like somewhat slammed! Arrived to BTMRR 21 minutes after my FP window closed but they let me in! Started searching for FastPasses at Epcot, but found none! I did POTC next, had no problems (farewell Redhead scene...), and then decided to grab a Dole Whip (and this is where I love using mobile order because of the line)!
My next park was Epcot, the express monorail was having issues so it took longer than normal to get to Epcot. We were holding for them to switch trains (I should’ve taken the ferry or resort monorail), and our monorail had to reset. The Epcot Monorail ran fine though.
Once I got to Epcot, Future World wasn’t too packed so I decided to go with my gut at this point and do Mission Space (Green Team) and Test Track. MS had a walk on wait time for the Green Team, and so did the Singles line for Test Track. Had some luck and picked up a TSMM FP while in line for Test Track. World Showcase on the other hand was a different story, it was SLAMMED thanks to Food & Wine Fest. I visited two kiosks (chocolate and Wine & Dine).
Got the Friendship Boat from Epcot to Hollywood Studios, and that was easy because there was one there by the time I reached the dock at International Gateway!
My next stop was Hollywood Studios, the plan there was to clear out Star Tours and TSMM. Star Tours had a 40 minute wait once I got there, but it did feel like 35 mins or so. Did TSMM immediately after, with the FP I had from earlier! Crowds at Hollywood Studios were manageable, the park wasn’t too busy. Picked up an Olaf cake pop before heading out.
The last park on this trip was Animal Kingdom, and by this time crowds had slowed down significantly! My plan was to see the Tree of Life Awakening and do FOP and Kali. What I did was I saw the FIRST Tree of Life show at night, then got in the standby line for FOP (was posted at 150, ended up waiting 90 mins). I knew I was going to be short on time, they wanted us to meet back at the Tree of Life by 7:40 PM, but I was at Flight of Passage. I texted my friend once I got off the ride, told him I was on my way to the park exit, one of the RAs doing this activity meet me where we dropped off and he lead me to the bus! Thus this challenge was completed in about 8 hours!
Overall review:
- Crowds: Mostly manageable at Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom, but Magic Kingdom & Epcot were busy.
- Mobile Ordering at Aloha Isle: Loved it, never had to stand in line.
- Transportation: Had little issues, other than the issues I described with the Express Monorail to the TTC.
- Food & Wine Kiosks:
- Chocolate Studio - Had the Sweet Dark Chocolate Raspberry Torte with Whipped Cream and Raspberry Dust. Pretty Decent!
- Wine & Dine - Had Artist Palette of Cheese and Wine. Not a wine person, but I loved the cheeses. Toasted Baguettes though on the other hand were tough to eat.
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