Day 1110: Never Tell Me the Odds

I was told it couldn't be done. In fact, I think I had many more people explain to me their belief that four parks in one day couldn't happen, and even more so, that there was no way you could see all three fireworks spectaculars in one night (meaning Fantasmic, IllumiNations, and Wishes). Even more so, the world seemed to be against us and gave us pouring rain on the day that we attempted to accomplish the "impossible."

Then again, when have I ever turned up a chance to beat the odds?

Back in June 2015 I made an attempt to head to all four parks in one day and almost succeeded. In fact, I came so close that I absolutely knew that doing three attractions in all four parks in one day was completely feasible. You had to do your planning and be open to going with the flow, but it was possible, and when we made the decision to return this January we knew we had to take another shot at making it work.

Our day started out at Animal Kingdom, much like the last time I attempted this challenge, and despite the influence of rain, we did manage to hit up Kilimanjaro Safaris, It's Tough to be a Bug, and DINOSAUR for our three attractions, as well as stop for some Starbucks before the rain really set in. Usually when I attempt this challenge we head to Everest first, but because of the rain, I figured that probably wasn't the best idea (especially with a camera in hand to document our day). Regardless, we finished up at Park 1 and then headed to our second park of the day, Magic Kingdom.

By the time we got to Magic Kingdom (after a bus/monorail transfer at the Poly), the rain was finally starting to calm down. We were, of course, still soaked, but we made do as we headed to Jungle Cruise, Pirates of the Caribbean, and the Carrousel before stopping for some lunch at Cosmic Rays. The great part about the rain though? No people! For some reason, folks just didn't want to brave the pouring rain, even on a Friday, so the parks were unusually quiet all day long...perfect for a four parks, one day challenge! 

Obviously we weren't done yet though! After a stop back at Old Key West for some dry clothes and shoes, we headed back out to Epcot, where we took a quick trip on Spaceship Earth, Journey Into Imagination, and the Seas with Nemo and Friends before meeting up with a friend of mine who has a friend who works at Test Track and brought us up to the Lounge. It was an amazing experience that I'll elaborate on more later, but needless to say, we ended our time at Epcot with a line-skip ride of Test Track. 

Finally, we headed quickly to Hollywood Studios on a bus that just happened to pull up right when we needed it. While there we headed to see The Muppets, then on Toy Story Midway Mania and finally on Tower of Terror before grabbing more Starbucks and some churros amidst a beautiful sunset. 

And then started the real challenge. Since I already knew that four parks in one day was possible and, more than anything, it was almost easy, I knew we had to do something...extra...and making an attempt to see all three nighttime shows seemed like the perfect way to spice things up. We started with Fantastmic, which we waited for while eating our makeshift churro/Starbucks dinner, and then realized that if we were going to do this, we were going to do it right. In other words, we knew we couldn't just see Fantastmic...we had to see Symphony in the Stars too. After our Star Wars finale, we quickly walked back to Epcot for IllumiNations and then raced out of the park to catch the first monorail back to Magic Kingdom so we could get a spot for Wishes. Amazingly, the force was with us, and we not only got back to Magic Kingdom (I initially planned for us to watch from the beach by the Poly), but we also managed to get one of the best views for Wishes I've ever had. 

Somewhere amidst four parks, fourteen attractions, lots and lots of rain, three trips to Starbucks, and over 15 miles of walking, we managed to do all four parks in one day and see all four nighttime spectaculars at the Walt Disney World Resort. It's probably important for me to mention that this all required a lot of planning...as well as the fact that the fireworks shows all happened to be an hour apart (Fantasmic at 7, Symphony in the Stars at 8, IllumiNations at 9, and Wishes at 10) and the fact that, somehow, we never waited more than 5 minutes for a bus that got us exactly where we were going. The real question remains though - would I do it again? 

The answer? Definitely. Aside from the fact that by the end of the day we felt like our legs were going to fall off, there was an absolute sense of accomplishment in the fact that we did it. We did what everyone claimed to be impossible, and we had a lot of great adventures along the way. But more than anything, it's almost a metaphor for how I want to live my life. I want to defy the impossible and live up to the dreams I've had, because one thing is always for certain...never tell me the odds. 

Have a magical day! 

(Note: This blog post was written on January 24 due to travel).

Day 609: They Came!

When I asked one of my friends for blog post ideas she came up with a crazy total of two. Yes, two blog post ideas for me to write about when I have about 20 blog posts I need to actually write. Super helpful, right? Then again, she did come up with the topic for this blog post, at least half of the way. She told me to write about how park tickets came for her and Megan for our trip in January, which is super exciting considering it's just the next phase of "I'm actually going to Disney World again."

That's not what we're here to talk about though. Nope, in fact I figured that since I can't really just write a bog post about how their tickets came. That's exciting for us but not really for all of you. However, it is still a bit of Disney in my everyday life and deserves to be talked about.

After much consideration, when it came to our January trip, we decided on Basic 9-Day tickets without the parkhopper option. It really doesn't matter for my family since we all have (or will have) annual passes, but for my two friends who are spending a good deal of money on this trip, we had some decisions to make. My Mom was shocked by my recommendation for basic tickets in trade for the parkhoppers, since I honestly can't remember a trip where we didn't parkhop at least once (unless it was a super super short trip before a cruise or back in the day when it was only one park a day no matter what). So here are the reasons as to why we decided on those basic tickets:

1. Parkhoppers are more expensive. 

I figure this one is pretty self explanatory, but it's still worth mentioning. When deciding which ticket is right for you, cost is definitely one of the things you have to think about. Based on what you like to do, parkhoppers might be worth the extra money, but they're not for everyone. You have to factor in the time it takes to get from one park to another and whether or not you're staying on property and if you have a rental car. All those things matter!

2. Park Hours

A big one for us in January is if it's even worth it to park hop. We're going during the off season, which to be honest is kind of weird for me now. When I was younger we traveled during the off season all the time, but in the past couple of years we've gone more in the summer, simply because it works better time wise. Summertime means longer park hours, and it also means that Magic Kingdom closing at 8 in January is a huge shock. This is a park I regularly visit at midnight or one in the morning, simply because I can, so having it close at 8 (although it's open until later a few nights each week) is crazy. That being said, with the parks only open for those shortened hours, it's way less worth it to parkhop.

3. Everything Else

Because of those reduced hours, it gives us a lot of time to spend outside of the four main parks. There's still Mini Golf and Downtown Disney and a whole world of resorts to visit, so there's enough to do outside of Epcot and Hollywood Studios that parkhopping seems almost ridiculous. You can spend that time doing other valuable things!

4. Personal Preference

This is a new addition to my list of "Do you want a parkhopper." I'm so used to Walt Disney World that it really doesn't matter to me HOW much I experience rather than how I experience it. For the seasoned Disney goer, parkhopping is kind of fun. It's an adventure to see how many parks you can make it to in one day, and seriously the next time I'm there in the summer I'm going to attempt a run at seeing all the fireworks in one night (yes, Fantasmic, then Illuminations and finally Wishes). It's gonna happen. But for someone who hasn't been to Disney World as often as I have, it's sort of nice to stay in one place each day and just sort of take things in. When we went in June the only park we had a full day in was Magic Kingdom, and both Megan and Ashley commented on the fact that they enjoyed being in one place the whole day, simply because they felt like they got to see way more. I definitely took that into account when planning this next trip, and I agree with them. As much as I love parkhopping, it's kind of nice to just go to Magic Kingdom for a day. A chance of pace for the constantly moving Disnerd.

And so, we ended up with basic tickets. No matter which ones they had though, I'm just happy they get to go with me. Honestly, after June I don't think Walt Disney World will ever feel quite right without them by my side, and I'm extremely lucky to be able to share it all with them on a much grander scale.

We may have a few months to wait yet, but we'll figure some way to pass the time, right?

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on September 30).