Disney is always a good idea. Who doesn’t like to be welcomed with a fairy-tale castle and people referring to you as princess? 

Back Story | Labor weekend was one of the most adrenaline rushed, random, risky, spontaneous, and perfect weekend. At the beginning it was just me and 4 “expired” tickets to Disney that a friend had passed on to me when she overheard I loveee Disney. Without much energy and honestly <1% of faith I downloaded the Disney app and scanned the barcode at the back of the tickets. Little did I know it was going to say the tickets were still valid!  

My husband and I literally only had a couple of days to use them, so we did what our twenty-something old self could. We called our awesome friend who clearly is still living up to the title “best man” of our wedding, and told him we were crashing at his place in Florida “tomorrow.” To which he repeated in a question “TO-MO-RROW?” We packed our bags, woke up insanely early that Friday morning, arranged to seguirlo de rolimpín from work, NORTH CAROLINA to FLORIDA. We were dead by the time we got there. Don’t judge, we got there at 3:00am. We acted like adults for the first 4 hours of driving. After that we wanted to stop any and every chance we had! But our eyes were on the prize, which kept us going! Did I mentioned the tickets were PARK HOPPER? Eyes on the prize…

Read the scoop below to plan your very own Disney in a Weekend Getaway! The ultimate goal is to squeeze 4 Disney Parks in 48 hours, but still make the best of each one.

Don’t Think Too Much | We take +20 decision everyday. That’s exhausting! Millennials are naturally driven by their gut, but as a millennial-ish you might spend a little more time overthinking things like this. Literally, pack your bags and say this is happening.  

What To Wear | Check the weather. I usually don’t. I never do and always get caught in the middle of something unexpected. And you know I’m talking about the FLORIDA RAIN. Just wear something light that would dry quickly and remember there are some attractions water related. Summer days law: the more skin exposed the faster you’ll dry, and probably get a cold if it rains. But it’s Disney! Who cares? Also, keep it comfy on your toes. My iPhone said we walked a total of 57,623 steps during our Disney Weekend!

FastPass+ Magic |  First thing that comes to mind when you hear fast pass is AND IT COSTS HOW MUCH? Well, Disney being the magical place it is… FastPass+ is totally FREE! Buuuuut every good thing has a limit. When you download your amazing Disney App, you will have the option to pick 3 attractions in which you can “skip the line” during specific window times. After you jump the line on your 3 selections, Disney will let you do ONE FastPass+ at a time for available attractions until the park closes. Pretty nice? Yes, and a little stressful. If you are a milksop, like myself, I suggest leaving the FastPass+ situation to whoever you are riding with and just vote yes or no from afar.

Let your FastPass+ handler know it is like a game of chess, you have to make your picks wisely.  I say this only because there are so many good options! You’ll see.

Also, if a ride gets temporarily closed and you reserved a FastPass+ for that ride, Disney will automatically turn it into an ALL pass. It basically means it’s good for ANY ride at any time. Magical!

Now, something we discovered was that you will only have the first 3 FastPass+ picks ONCE a day. Period. It does not matter if you are going to a different park using your Park Hopper Passes.  

Slicing Your Day Like a Pizza | Let’s dive into this revolú or mumbo jumbo of 2 parks a day! It’s clear that your first step is to decide which 2 parks you want to do a day. Think of Disney World as a pizza! Disney World is a general term for the 4 parks that fall under its umbrella. 

You know you will love all parks, but there must be 1 or 2 that really, really speak to your heart. Plan to spend the most of your day at THAT park. Second, consider the grand finale of each one. If you are familiar with anything Disney World, you know they go big on firework shows every night before the park closes. Research on YouTube a sample of the fireworks show and review the parks closing times, they vary.

We finished one of our days at Hollywood Studios and were not amazed at all. Their fireworks show was entirely about Star Wars, which —haters back off— we have not seen.

Third, once you choose two parks that you are really excited for and two that you are okay with, pair them up without forgetting to take their closing times into consideration. Agree on how many hours you want to spend at each and STICK TO IT. It will be hard, no joke.

This was our schedule:

If It Rains Say Hooray! | Think about it… we were at Animal Kingdom when it started pouring. We were on our way to ride Everest (for the second time) and thought ‘Oh, great! Now they will close outdoor rides.’ We got to the line and to our surprise it was empty, not only that but we heard the screaming voices of riders going down the drop of Everest. It took us less than 10 minutes for our turn.

Yes, we looked like melting popsicles with all the water dripping from our clothes but it was worth it.

On that note, get ready to have mascara running down your cheeks and indoor rides lines being as long as Pinocchio’s nose, even FastPass+ lines.

Lastly,

Park Hopper Realities & Sacrifices |

• Not finding enough time to make AVATAR ride’s long lines. We had a waiting time of 90 minutes.
• Having to do FastPass+ on attraction closest to where you are at the moment, in order to get more FastPasses.
• You’ll spend a decent amount of money on snacking, AND YOU DESERVE IT! Specially that Mickey shaped ice-cream that you keep scrolling through instagram.                          
• Pack some extra socks and shoes in case the first ones get wet. Nothing worse than hopping parks with cold feet.
• There is a Magical Bus! We did not know there was a bus that takes you from and to a different park.
• There’s so many options to eat, you might get a brain shutdown. Use the Disney app to filter your options.
• If you take a backpack or purse, be ready to make the bag check line. It might take you 8 minutes, it might take you 20 minutes.
• Disney App will be your bff! Study the map, be the map, and charge your phone.

If you could only do one park of Disney World, which one would you pick? Comment below! I want to know!

Shout out to my girlfriend with the blue shirt who asked me how was the ride supposed to go and I just smiled, and said “You’ll love it!”