A day in Walt Disney World in Florida
I wanted to visit the Walt Disney World since I was a little kid. And a few days ago, my wish finally came true. Well, I am not a little kid anymore. I am twenty five years old, and I loooooved it! Yes, even despite the terrible crowds, the whole experience was still incredibly magical. Feel free to read more about my first (but definitely not last) visit to the Walt Disney World below.
When to go and how to get there?
Walt Disney World is situated in Orlando, Florida, and since it is a popular vacation destination with millions and millions of visitors every year, the park is going to be crowded regardless on the time of the year you are visiting, but the crowds will be especially big on major holidays and weekends. I visited the park during Christmas break and the crowds were extremely overwhelming. And I am not talking just about crowds in lines for different rides - I am talking about crowds all the way through the park that prevent you from going where you want to go. In all seriousness, the crowd while I was there, felt like a human river, and it was impossible to get from one side of the street to another without a hassle. But, as everybody says, it is all a part of the Disney experience.
Getting to the park is just a little bit complicated if it is your first time there. Long story short - you cannot park at the entrance, like in most other amusement parks. You park in a parking lot, then take the train to either the ferry or the monorail, and these two will take you to the Walt Disney World entrance. Sounds complicated? Like I said, it is, but there are park employees everywhere, and you can ask them for directions, or you can simply follow the crowd of people. They usually know where they are going.
My suggestion would be: take the ferry on the way to the park, simply because it offers much better views, and on the way home, simply take the monorail.
The view of Walt Disney World from the ferry. You can see the trademark Cinderella castle in the background. As you can see, it was still fairly dark when I took this picture, but, like I said, I wanted to arrive to the park early.
Admission and fast passes
Prepare for spending a lot of money on basically everything in the Walt Disney World. Especially the admission price. The one - day admission to Walt Disney World will cost you a whooping hundred dollars. For a basic ticket, that is. A few years ago, I would never spend that much money on a theme park entrance fee, but I must say that it was definitely worth it. After all, we all own a visit to Walt Disney World to our inner child.
I would strongly suggest you to get a fast pass, even if it almost doubles the price of the ticket. The fast pass allows you to pick five attractions that you do not have to wait in regular line for. You pick a desired time slot and most rides will be a walk - on with the fast pass. I felt really good when I arrived to the rides I got the fast pass for and seeing that the regular wait time is two hours, and I only had to wait about ten minutes with a fast pass.
Rides, parades and attractions and must - try food and drinks
Before I start describing all the rides that Walt Disney World has to offer, I would like to point out the most famous attractions in Walt Disney World - the Cinderella castle. This iconic building is actually a restaurant, where you can dine with your favourite Disney characters. It is incredibly expensive and it is booked months in advance. But you can walk through the castle without having to eat in that expensive restaurant - when exiting the park, you will see a path that leads to the castle, and this is where you can go if you would like to walk through. The experience of walking through is nothing special, other than spectacular mosaics on the walls with different Disney characters. And your visit to Walt Disney world was not completed if you do not have a picture in front of the Cinderella castle!
The Cinderella castle is enormous. Also, notice how many peopel are there already, and this picture was taken more than thirty minutes before the park opened!
In this chapter, I will describe the rides that I did. Of course, there is many more of them, but I was too tired to do them all. But the ones I described should give you a brief idea of the park and its rides. At this point, I would like to mention that Walt Disney World is targeted towards little kids, so do not expect extremely thrilling rides. Although, some of the roller coasters do give you that nice stomach feeling. None of the roller coasters have loops, though, but that is understandable.
Space mountain was my first ride that day. And it was amazing. It is an indoor roller coaster and most of the ride will be in complete darkness. Do not expect a very thrilling experience because this is a ride for children, but it does have some pretty steep drops, and the seats are super comfortable. The ride is a little rough, but a lot of fun, and if you look up, the ceiling is full of stars. They also take a picture of you on the ride. I had no idea about it, and the picture happens just a second after a big drop in the dark. And since I had no idea the drop was there because it was dark, my mouth on the picture was wide open in surprise. And I still regret not buying that picture.
The futuristic - looking area of Walt Disney World, where you will find Space Mountain, along with some other rides.
Dwarf mine ride is the newest ride in Walt Disney world, and that is why the waiting time is always longer than one hour. This is a pretty cool kiddie roller coaster with a cool landscape and attention to details. If you are a tall person, you might have some trouble being comfortable inside the train, but short people have no such problems.
Woody’s blasters is a fun indoor arcade shooting game. You basically sit in a car with a laser gun and try to shoot as many targets as you can. Your goal is to always get more points than the person sitting next to you. And the best part? The ride spins, and you are the one who controls the spin. For me, spinning was more interesting than shooting targets, so I was holding the spin button most of the time. And I still managed to get more points than the person next to me!
Goofy’s barnstormer is another kiddie roller coaster. It is themed around Goofy, building a plane in his barn, and then flying (well, crashing) through that same barn. Just like any other ride in Walt Disney world, this ride is not an exception in terms of theming - I noticed that every single attraction in that park pays a lot of attention to details. Also, try closing your eyes during the ride - it is more fun if you do not expect the drops!
Dumbo is one of those rides that spin in a circle on the end of a metallic arm, and you can make them go up and down. I rode a few such rides at local fairs when I was a kid, and they allowed you to go up and down with just a tough of that handle. But not this one - you actually have to push the handle up (or down) for like five seconds if you want it to move. I had no idea about it, and I simply thought my elephant was broken. Only at the very end of the ride, I pushed the handle up for long enough to figure out what I needed to do. Well, it was too late, and I did not feel like riding the same ride twice.
Laugh floor is a stand up show, performed by characters from a famous movie Monsters Inc. Basically, the louder you laugh, the sooner you will fill up the ‘laughter container’, which is the goal of the show. What is so funny about that show is that it features characters from the audience. So you might easily end up on the big screen! And another funny thing - you can text your own joke to the producers, and they might use it in a show. Pretty cool, huh?
Ariel the little mermaid is one of those rides where you sit down and just admire all the visuals. And, just like the name suggests, the main theme is the little mermaid. Everything inside is extremely well made, and you will feel like you are actually underwater!
Thunder mountain railroad is another roller coaster, themed around a mining town. This ride usually has long waits, but it is worth it, and the theming when you are standing in line, will distract you, so you will not even feel like you are actually waiting. There are several things you can do, such as spin a handle fast enough to generate power, and a shadow cartoon will appear on the screen. The ride itself is a little bumpy, but cool, and it has quite a few steep drops.
This was the line for the Thunder mountain railroad. From here, it looks like the ride starts once you enter the building at the top of the hill, but you actually have to walk through two floors of thet building to get to the train. Pretty tricky, but it does the job - I am sure that if most people knew how long the line actually is, they would not be waiting there.
Splash mountain is situated right next to the Thunder Mountain Railroad and prepare to get soaking wet on it! Me and my friends were literally the only people that went on it at that time, and we soon figured out why. First of all, you will get soaked after the first drop, regardless on where in the canoe you sit. And the, there will be people (employees, of course) who will spray you with a hose, just in case you did not get one hundred percent wet on that first drop. Do not worry, there are dryers, situated after the ride exit, but, first of all, you have to pay to use them, and secondly, they are not effective at all. Well, if you go on this ride in summer, you will appreciate getting wet and you will definitely not need to use the dryer.
Tom Sawyer island is a cool place to explore. You have to take a boat to get there, and there are several houses, forts and caves that you can explore. When I was a kid, I really did not like the story of Tom Sawyer (and I still don’t), but I still really enjoyed exploring that island.
Pirates of the Caribbean is one of my favourite rides in the entire park. Just like Ariel, this is one of those rides where you just sit down and admire what is going on around you. You will even see Jack Sparrow quite a few times during the ride. The song that plays all the time during the ride, is also pretty catchy.
It’s a small world is supposedly the most iconic ride in the park, and one of the oldest ones as well. And to be honest, I hated it. This is basically a boat ride that takes you on a long (and annoying) journey through different world cultures and nations. The dolls are super creepy, and the few verses of the song they play, quickly get annoying. And the worst part - we got stuck on the ride just before the end, and we had to wait almost half an hour to be rescued, and that annoying song was playing all the time while we were waiting. But still, I can say that I went on one of the most famous rides in Walt Disney world. And survived it.
Haunted mansion is a great, and a little scary, ride. The dead owner of the mansion basically gives you a tour of his mansion, and there is a lot of flashing lights, spider webs and ghosts. And when you wait in line to get into the haunted mansion, there is a graveyard in front of it, and one of the tombstones has a stone ‘portrait’ on it that opens and closes its eyes and it is pretty creepy.
Parades are also a fun way to see all of your favourite Disney characters in one place. Except for the part that you cannot move anywhere once the parade starts because there is just so many people in one spot. The characters in parades look just like they look in movies. I once read an article how hard it is to become a Disney character - you have to have certain body type and facial features, and now I understand why. Also, watch for your belongings during these parades. A day in Walt Disney world is not nearly as fun after somebody stole something from you.
A cool thing to do is also a character meet and greet. You basically wait in line for about an hour to take a picture with your favourite Disney characters. There is plenty of characters to choose from, and I did not feel like waiting in line for all of them, so I just did the must - see two characters - Mickey Mouse and Minnie. Once you get to the character, you pose for a picture. There is a professional photographer there and you can buy a picture from them, but there is no need for that, since you can bring your own camera. And what is even better - if there is no one to take a picture of you, you can ask that same professional photographer to take a picture with your camera. For free.
One of many cool things that you can do at Walt Disney World, other than riding rides and watching shows and parades, is collecting (or just looking at) the pins. Some of them represent different Disney characters, some represent the rides and attractions and so on. And not only most of the pins look cool, they also make great souvenirs and they will also not take a lot of space in your luggage.
You can buy pins at virtually every store in the Disney parks, and also at the Disney Springs. You can also trade the pins with other park visitors and/or park employees. Every park employee has a little collection of pins and you can ask them to trade a pin with you. You are only allowed to trade one pin with park employees, but sometimes they have some of the more rare pins and it is worth asking them if you are looking for a specific pin.
Well, the only downside of these pins is their price. They are divided into four price ranges, depending on how fancy they are, and the most expensive one will cost you almost fifteen dollars! But it is true that they are still cheaper than most souvenirs at Disney, if you are looking to get just one or two. I saw people with over twenty pins on them, and that cost them quite some money. But hey, to each their own.
Dole whip Is the only food that I would recommend you to try. It is a famous Walt Disney World dessert, and it is basically a pineapple flavoured soft serve ice cream, and you also have an option to do the vanilla and pineapple swirl or a dole whip float, which is a soft serve ice cream with pineapple juice on the bottom. Of course I tried all the variations (It was a hot day, do not judge me!) and my favourite one was the swirl.
Walt Disney World pays a lot of attention to decoration and details. Oh, and there were also some random weird birds roaming around the park.
A few tips for surviving the day
Even if I have only been to Walt Disney world once, I have learned some things that I would like to share with you in case you decide to ever visit the park.
Navigating around: It can be a little complicated to find certain attractions, because sometimes, and this is especially a problem with a smaller attractions, they are hidden among bigger attractions, and if you do not know what exactly you are looking for, you will most definitely walk past it without realizing it. So the best strategy in my case was definitely just wandering around without a set goal in mind, and riding the rides that seemed interesting. I usually never do that in other amusement parks, but Walt Disney world was an exception, since I went there more for the sake of experiencing it than actually enjoying the rides.
Crowds: Walt Disney world will always be crowded. You will enjoy the experience much more if you prepare yourself to wait for everything, even food. And, like I heard a person in line behind me say: Crowds are a part of the Walt Disney World experience.
Heat: Florida can be terribly hot in summer. Make sure you bring (and use!) sunblock, a hat and drink plenty of fluids. Water fountains are located throughout the park, so you do not have to pay five dollars for a bottle of water.
Expensive food: Food is expensive in most amusement parks. But I figured out something that will lower the price of the food. Simply order something from kid’s menu. Nobody will know you are ordering for yourself, the food will be almost half cheaper, the portions are big enough to feed an adult, and there are a lot of different items on the menu.
Whining kids: there will be thousands of kids in Walt Disney world, and some of them will make your experience quite unpleasant. Do not get me wrong, I have nothing against kids, and I even work with kids, but waiting in line for over an hour with a screaming kid next to you is just not something I enjoy. So next time I am going to Walt Disney world, I will bring earplugs.
Strollers: Prepare to be run over by strollers more than once during your visit to Walt Disney world. Parents with five or more kids will try to keep an eye on all their kids while also trying to navigate enormous strollers through the crowds. And, as you probably already guessed, this almost always results in disaster. I understand, it happens, but at least say sorry if you run over my foot. When I was walking towards the park exit, a dad with two kids in a stroller was talking on the phone while pushing the stroller, and he hit the back of my foot three times, and his two kids were laughing at it. The part where he hit me was actually bleeding, and when I turned around, he actually looked annoyed when I mouthed ‘What the...’ at him.
A few words for the end…
People that have visited Walt Disney World before me, said they have a love - hate relationship with the park. I can understand that, but in my opinion, the positive aspects of visiting the park far outweigh the negative aspects. So if you are thinking whether to visit the park or not, my advice is go for it. After all, this is one of the must - see places that should be on everybody’s bucket list.
