| On the monorail, after dinner with Mickey Mouse, my four-year-old son and a little girl were bonding. She didn't speak English, and he didn't speak Portuguese, but they were having the most amazing time. And here's the thing: nearly everyone at Disney World is having the most amazing time. It's hot, the lines are long, bodies are abundant and still, smiles, properly formed queues and manners abound. Disney World in Orlando, Florida, is a universe unto itself. There is a culture (everyone is welcome), mythology (Mickey is a god and pixie dust makes everything better), there is fashion (wear your fave Disney brand loud and proud and don't forget your mouse ears) and social norms (stand in line, have fun, be kind), and once you enter under that arched sign, you're part of it too. The cast members (all people who work for Disney) call little humans "your highness" or "captain" or whatever suits their clothing or costume. Everyone is helpful and ready to answer your questions. And the guests rise to the occasion, taking on the ethos because they want to. It feels good to believe in magic for as long as you can, because at the end of the day, everyone speaks Disney. | | | Raised in Silverthorne, Colorado, I live in Nashville with my partner, two kids, a dog named Wyatt and a cat named Friday. I love far-flung adventures, and my favorite place is always the last place I went and awe is my favorite feeling. | | | Bring extra shoes, Disney-themed shirts and clothes that stand up to sweat. | This was the quickest trip to Disney World I would ever take, and it was an action-packed blast. Am I shocked we were all still standing at the end? Yes. Did we have an inordinate amount of fun? Also yes.
| | | We arrived in Orlando about 10am and made our way directly to the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Usually, check-in is at 3pm but we managed to get into our room, drop our bags and head out to Magic Kingdom. We checked the Disney World app (which you should familiarize yourself with well before your trip) for the best wait times and were not disappointed. We rode Pirates of the Caribbean in Adventureland and then wandered up to Frontierland for Thunder Mountain Rail Road before tackling Tomorrowland (Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin and Tomorrowland Speedway). We grabbed some frozen lemonade because, phew, it was hot! We enjoyed our treats while we waited in line for The Little Mermaid ride in Fantasyland. Tired and happy with our half day at the Park, we returned to Animal Kingdom Lodge. | The evening was all about the pool. We splashed around, cooled down and enjoyed the awesome slides at Animal Kingdom Lodge. I would like to spare a minute to talk about this resort that we simply loved. Giraffes wander past the balcony at all times during the day, zebras graze and antelope munch their way around. It is so fun. I also love how calm the resort is. The soft yellow lighting made me feel like I was constantly hanging out on the savannah at golden hour. It's the perfect balm to the very stimulating Disney World theme parks. | We took the bus everywhere. It's easy to hop on right at Animal Kingdom Lodge. The bus depot is well-marked and stops at every park. We just jumped on when we were tired and headed back to the resort. | Other than the aforementioned frozen lemonades, we hit up The Mara at Animal Kingdom Lodge twice. For lunch, the adults got the chemoula-spiced shrimp bowls (shockingly delicious), and the kids had pizza. For dinner, we all had cheeseburgers and fries. It is a theme park after all. | | | We got an early start, and after throwing open the balcony curtains to the sound of birdsong and watching the daily parade of giraffes like true Disney Princesses, we headed straight to Animal Kingdom. We had a hot tip that riding the Kilimanjaro Safari first thing in the morning is the best time because the animals are all really active. It did not disappoint, and my animal-loving daughter had her bucket very filled up. We wandered around all the many animal enclosures and particularly enjoyed the gorilla, who jumped up on the rock and pounded his chest.
We made our way to Pandora to ride the Avatar rides, and I was so stunned. It is a beautifully designed part of the park where the music changes and the sound effects place you right in Pandora. Waterfalls and incredible vegetation add to the wonder, and the Na'vi River Cruise is gorgeous.
My kids really loved the Wilderness Explorer program, where they received a pamphlet and could stop at educational kiosks all around the park to learn about different aspects of the animal world and earn stickers to fill up their books. It was so fun to get to know these very engaging cast members, who would give them funny messages to send to a different kiosk and even remembered the kids' names as they wandered around the park. | We had a fast pass for Tiana's Bayou Adventure, so we hightailed it to Magic Kingdom in the late afternoon. We jumped off the bus, speed-walked through the park, jumped on the ride and enjoyed it immensely. The animatronics are so fun and mix really well with the incredible music. My kids loved the part of the story where Mama Odie turned us into fireflies, and we got to see the world from the firefly's perspective.
After dinner (see below), we found a spot on the lawn, settled back with some chocolate popcorn and enjoyed the best firework show known to humankind - okay that's hyperbolic, but I challenge anyone to do a fireworks show better than Magic Kingdom. When Tinker Bell flew out of Cinderella's castle at the end, there was an audible gasp, and more than a few tears were shed. Totally worth the late night. And we weren't even finished. After dark, Haunted Mansion, followed by It's a Small World and Peter Pan's Flight, were a chef's kiss ending on a perfect Disney day. | Ice cream (it's necessary in that heat), popcorn and more popcorn, which was refillable for $2.99 in a bucket that we bought for $14.99. We hopped the monorail for dinner with Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and Pluto at Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary Resort. The buffet was great. I had a tofu curry that I was particularly pleased with, and mostly we just loved cutting a rug with the fab five. | Make friends with the Disney app. It really has everything you need right in it, but it's not always easy to navigate. | What I would do next time: | Stay at least one extra day. Three days is barely enough time. | | | Photography credits: Sarah Stocking/Lonely Planet | This email was sent to you by: | Lonely Planet Publications Ltd. | 1101 Red Ventures Drive, Fort Mill, SC 29707 | | | |
