Travel Diary:  Disney World in Orlando, FL

As you may have seen in my previous blog post or on Instagram, my husband and I have visited Orlando, FL for our summer trip this year.  During our visit, we went to Disney World, and Universal Studios and explored some parts of Orlando FL as well.  For our trip, I was excited about both Disney World and Universal Studios.  However, in this blog post, I will be discussing my experiences at Disney World and will discuss my experiences at Universal Studios in another blog post.

Disney World was indeed a dream come true.  As every little girl wants to see the princesses in the princess castle, I had the same feeling.  This was my first time visiting Disney World so you bet I was extremely excited.  While most might think it’s odd that a fully grown adult woman was excited about Disney World, I didn’t care what people thought and enjoyed my trip regardless.

On a side note, the best tips we got for exploring Disney World are the following:

• Get Genie + and download the app to use it
• Get to the parks during the opening time to avoid crowded lines
• Make a list of your top three attractions you want to visit and focus on just those.  Anything extra will be a cherry on top.

Without further ado, check out my Travel Diary for Disney World in Orlando, FL.

Day #1 and 2:  Disney Springs

For the first couple of days in Orlando, we wanted to be more relaxed.  Since we were visiting during the Fourth of July week/weekend, we knew it was going to be crazy busy.  Hence, we took the route of having a more relaxing time during the front end of the trip instead of the back end of the trip. 

So, mainly we stuck to eating at restaurants and doing some shopping over at Disney Springs.  If you haven’t gone to Disney Springs, then you must add it to your Disney World bucket list.  Disney Springs is a collection of stores and restaurants to hang out and enjoy inside Disney World Park.  It’s usually less crowded than the parks and so this way you can get away from the craziness of the parks as well.  I enjoyed exploring and walking around Disney Springs for the first two days of my trip.

For my dinner outfit, I wore an off-the-shoulder black top and casual shorts.  I paired the outfit with comfortable wedges, fun earrings, and a classic crossbody.  I knew it was going to be hot at night, so I wanted to be comfortable.  I also went out for brunch the next day at Disney Springs but forgot to take a picture of the outfit (epic Blogger fail, lol).  However, the same concept, I wore a cotton shirt with casual shorts.  I inserted a picture from a different event to show an example of my brunch/daytime outfit.

Day #3:  Magic Kingdom

For our first official day at Disney World, we wanted to explore the classic Magic Kingdom.  There is no better feeling than going to Disney World and seeing the magical Cinderella castle for the first time.  So, I wanted to make sure that we had Magic Kingdom planned for the first day of exploring Disney World.  This way, it felt like we were truly there from the beginning of our visit. 

Even though the heat was insane, 95+ degrees with so much humidity, the park was pleasantly crowded.  Since I’m a huge fan of amusement park rides, I wanted to make sure we got the most out of our visit.  So, we started our day at Disney World during park opening time which was 9 am EST.  Lucky for us, it wasn’t as crowded in the morning, and we got through most of the rides on our list.  Usually, there is less of a wait for rides before lunchtime.  So we had gone through at least 2-3 rides of our choice by lunchtime and I considered that a day well spent.

For my outfit, I had matching shirts for my husband and me.  However, as explained in my Orlando, FL outfits post, my husband had “forgotten” his matching shirt at home.  Regardless, I still wore my matching Disney shirt, with a classic pair of denim shorts, some comfortable walking shoes, and Mickey ears’.  I also carried a small backpack for snacks and water bottles. 

Day #4:  Hollywood Studios

On our next day, we wanted to focus on the rides.  Since Hollywood Studios is known for its rides, we choose this park as our next-day adventure.  My husband is a huge Star Wars fan, so our goal was to complete most, if not all, of the Star Wars attractions.  If we had successfully done all the Star Wars things at Hollywood Studios, then we considered it a successful day.  For this day, we got to the park during park opening as well, to avoid the crowds.

Lucky for us, we got through two of the rides by lunchtime.  However, we were disappointed that we did not get a chance to book the Rise of the Resistance ride and it was over a 3-hour wait now.  We had an early lunch at 10 am – oddly got hungry then.  And we also had a reservation at 11 am at Oga’s Cantina with a local friend.  As we were at Oga’s, I checked the Disney World app and saw that the Rise of Resistance ride had only a 45-minute wait.  We assumed because it was 11:45 am and everyone was on their way to lunch.  Either way, my husband and I ran toward the ride and got online. When I say that the Rise of Resistance ride was the best ride at Hollywood Studios, it’s an understatement.  The ride is so well done, it feels like you’re in the Star Wars universe and the wait time goes by so fast because they have a storyline throughout the waiting line that keeps you very entertained.  Overall, the Star Wars Galaxy Edge at Hollywood studios was worth the visit and I’m glad we got to complete that on our checklist.

For this day, I wanted to wear something that didn’t involve denim shorts.  So, I opted for a cotton romper, and comfortable shoes, and wore my hair in pigtails.  I also wore sunglasses and my backpack.

Day #4:  Epcot

After we completed our Star Wars adventures, we headed over to Epcot with our park-hopper pass.  In simple terms, the park hopper pass allows you to go to two parks on the same day.  However, you can only go to the other park after 2 pm.  Since we got through all the rides that we wanted to do in Hollywood Studios, we headed over to Epcot where you can enjoy eating and drinking around the world.

Since we got there by 4 pm, and the heat exhaustion was kicking in, we went from choosing to visit four countries to just visiting one country.  We decided to visit the United Kingdom (UK) since my husband has strong roots in the UK.

As any South Asian does when they visit the UK, we opted to eat the Indian food – we just couldn’t help ourselves.  The food was good and authentic so can’t complain there.  Since the inside of the restaurant was packed, we were put on the patio.  However, the breeze from the water was amazing so we couldn’t complain. 

Once we got done with the food and take pictures around the UK, we ended our day at Epcot.  I’m sad that we didn’t get to see more of Epcot.  However, the heat exhaustion and the pain from walking all day on our feet needed more attention than exploring Epcot.  We wanted to focus on our health since we Universal Studios to explore for the next two days.

Stay

For our stay, we stayed with our friends in Orlando, FL.  We had known these friends from our home in Memphis and kept in touch with them over the years.  They had moved to Orlando, FL a few years ago and had always had an open door to their guest room, for whenever we wanted to visit them in Orlando and explore the parks.  To protect their privacy, I’m not going to share pictures of their home or anything of that sort.  However, enjoy other pictures of our time in Orlando below.

Food

The food in Orlando, FL was good.  Since we had friends there, they took us to some local specialties that we enjoyed.  We had eaten at Coronado Springs one night for dinner, tried a brunch spot at Disney springs, went to a local Thai restaurant, etc.  Overall, I can’t complain about the local cuisine, it was good and up to par.

On the other side, the park food was okay – as most food at Amusement parks.  You have to go in with the mindset that you’re not going to get the best or healthiest food at the parks.  So don’t expect anything crazy good but just something to hold you over until the next meal.

Overall, I had a good time in Orlando, FL during the beginning of July.  I know next time, not to visit during the crazy summer months.  I hope you enjoyed my travel diary of Disney World in Orlando, FL.  As someone who enjoys going to Amusement/Theme parks, this was such a fun trip for me!  Are you a fan of Amusement/Theme Parks?  Let me know in the comments below!

Much Love,