One Day in Disney!

One day. 24 hours. No hotel.  And I don't live in the area.  This was the idea I had when I found a $50 roundtrip Spirit flight.  How could I pass this up?  Obviously y'all know that I love the Disney and was hankering to see the parks at their Christmas best.  But I have two boys, Christmas is coming, and I really couldn't justify finding a killer flight deal…..but then blow it by spending $300 on a hotel that I would probably sleep in for 5 hours.  Soc…ould it be done?  Could I leave at 6 am on a Sunday and fly home at 6 am on a Monday?  Would I survive?  *click.* Flight booked.  Here we go!

4 am day of departure:

Text message: your flight has been delayed 1.5 hours. 

Are you kidding?  Good thing I'm excellent at rolling with the punches.  I had planned my top three things I wanted do...and technically still had time to do them all...just had to condense by a little bit.

My flight wasn't delayed any further, thank goodness, so my first stop was to Disney Springs!!!  This may seem like an odd first stop for one day in Disney....but honestly...I don't venture to Disney Springs nearly enough when I'm in Orlando.  It’s a free (to wander), fun, mecca of shopping, dining and entertainment.  Wow I sound like an ad (#sponsorme)...but the main things I wanted to do there was to try an extremely instagrammable drink, eat something delicious, and tour the Christmas tree trail.

If you are in Disneyworld this Christmas season I HIGHLY recommend the Christmas tree trail in Disney Springs.  The trees are decorated so beautifully, there is music and snow all along the way.  Tons of fun backgrounds and picture ops are along the trail too, as well as food and beverage stands serving holiday goodness!  And the best part?  At the end is SANTA!!!!  I chose not to go visit him as I was tight on time…but my kids would have loved it!

Like I said before I also wanted to try a champagne drink from Amorette’s Patisserie. I have seen these all over Instagram and felt that it was high time I had one!  I chose the Arendelle Aqua in honor of Frozen 2 being out.  Highly recommend….these are delicious and fun!  I also wanted some seasonal snacks, mainly the specialty poutine from ********.  I was really bummed at this because I stood in a huge line, only to discover that they had sold out.  They said for me to come back and try again in a little while…but again…tight on time.  So instead I went to****** and got the turkey sliders with cranberry and gravy for dipping.  Essentially thanksgiving on a plate.  It was divine!  I would highly recommend.

1:30 Lets go to Hollywood!

Off to Hollywood studios!  Grabbed a Lyft to make the most of my time.  A little extra money, but worth it when in a time crunch.  Main objective here was more food, more drink, and photos.  Give me all the photos (after all I consider myself to be an instagrammer……).  Toy Story Land was my destination.

Man I love Toy Story Land. I love the colors, the characters, and the rides.  And during Christmas…its even more beautiful!!  I love the décor and how all the characters are wearing their Christmas best!

First on the food list was the Apple Cinnamon lunch box tart and the Hot Chocolate Flight.  OH MY LANTA these were both amazing!  The tart, which is essentially a Pop-Tart but waaaaaaaay better, was flaky and delicious and the filling was an appley delight!  But the star for sure was the hot chocolate.  I knew these would be good but…WOW.  This came with three separate cups and a different spirit in each one; vanilla vodka, Baileys and cinnamon, and my personal favorite.. a cherry bourbon.  Had you asked me to try a cherry bourbon any other day I would spit on you.  It just sounds nasty.  But in the hot chocolate?  HEAVEN!!!!!!

Next was my mission to find the jingle bell sipper and the jingle bell glow cube.  While searching around I ran into my favorite chipmunks.  Love these boys.

4:30…time to head to Magic Kingdom for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party! 

By this time, it was cold.  I mean it had been cool weather all day…but it was like COLD cold. Like New Jersey cold.  But I had to take my pics in my new Lake Buena Visitors shirt.  How cute is this shirt?  They are doing designs of the castle for every season and I regret not getting the “Haunted Kingdom” shirt for Halloween, but HAD to have the Christmas one.  Now they just have to do Disneyland ones (wink wink nudge nudge, LBV).

This was my first time every at MVMCP and I plan on doing an entirely separate post about this because it’s just WAY too much to cover in here!  The party went from 6-midnight and since this was the only thing open after 9 that day, the party was a perfect way to end my 24 hour day.  I was worried I wouldn’t make it to midnight.  I’m normally in bed by 9 pm, people…I’m old. My plane did not leave until 6 am the next morning so I kinda HAD to make it to midnight though….no hotel room remember?  Good thing this party is so filled with events and food and entertainment, when midnight came I was like WHAT?  ALREADY?  Then came the best part.  As everyone was exiting the park, I saw Starbucks was open and the cutest cast member was movin’ and groovin’ to the holiday music.  I asked her what time they stay open until and she said 1:40.  I’m sorry what?  I thought the party ended at midnight??  She said it did, but the stores and Starbucks and even a few of the rides stayed open until almost 2 am.  Glory be!  I don’t have to go sleep in a chair in the airport!!!!!

I stayed at the magic kingdom unitl 2 am shopping, stopping at Casey’s Corner for a late night snack, and running around collecting last minute cookies that they give away (more on that in next post).  It was so much fun!  Finally I decided to head out, and there were still tons of people after 2 just milling around and having a grand ol’ time.

2:30 AM – time to head to the airport.

Lyft to the airport and I completely passed out in the car.  Good thing the driver was awesome and woke me up about 5 minutes before we reached the terminal.  I found my gate (security lines are a breeze at 3 am) and crashed again at the gate with my phone alarm set for and hour before my flight.  Got home safe and sound and even worked that whole next day!

Would I do this again??  ABSOLUTELY.  This was one hell of a solo trip but I can say it was so worth it and so fun!  Definitely an experience!  Few tips for anyone else wanting to try this:

1)     Plan flight taking delays into account.  I got one early enough on the first day and that small delay didn’t derail all my plans

2)     Check park hours for the day you want to travel to make sure that there is one open late!  If that party hadn’t been going I would have been done at 9.  That would stink.  Although I’d probably head to Disney Springs and had dinner and drinks and shopped….but still.

3)     Water and Vitamins!!  On a trip like this the likelihood of you getting sick is SUPER high.  I stayed hydrated all day and dropped some Emergen-C into a bottle of water in the morning, and one into some hot water early morning of my flight home.  I honestly think that’s what saved me from sickness…as well as being able to work the whole next day.

4)     Rides.  Notice I did not go on any rides this day.  I’ve been to WDW enough times now where I didn’t feel that I HAD to go on any specific ride. I rally wanted to have experiences and see shows and eat and drink.  Those were my goals.  I would have felt like I wasted a lot of time waiting in line for a ride.  That being said…if there were no shows or events….I probably would have tried to book a few fast passes and skipped Disney Springs.

5)     Need I say it?  GO WITH THE FLOW.  Plans will change.  You’re on a time crunch and you may not get to everything.  But realize that it’s an experience in itself to do something like this and just go with the flow and enjoy Disney!

Thanks for coming along with me on my 24 hour day in Disney!  My story highlights are saved on my Instagram feed @pixidusted so you can experience all the fun!  If you have any questions on being insane and planning your own 24 trip, please feel free to DM me on Instagram or email me!