Our Magical 2nd Anniversary Trip

In 2017 my cousin was getting married and I was in charge of planning her bachelorette party. In the midst of planning a weekend away with the girls, Hilton gave us a deal to get a weekend away to one of a variety of locations and we decided to take that opportunity to go down and enjoy some beautiful weather as well as explore Disney World.

So this year we ventured down to Florida and enjoyed the sun, pool, and theme parks!

Day 1 - Magic Kingdom

We started our trip flying down to Orlando, checking into our hotel and heading straight to Magic Kingdom. We spent our whole first day there taking all the photos we can of the castle and hopping on as many rides as possible.

Favorite Ride: My favorite ride was probably Big Thunder Mountain Railroad or The Seven Dwarves Mine Train! I really enjoy rollercoasters so these were worth it for me.
Favorite Food: I had a really great sandwich from The Plaza on Main Street. It was a seasonal item and we did have to make a reservation, but if you use the app it shouldn’t be that hard. I would recommend making reservations a night before though - we got lucky.

Day 2 - Pool Day

We decided to split up our trip with a rest day at the pool. We slept in and gathered our things to head down to enjoy the sun and water.

Day 3 - Hollywood Studios

This was probably our favorite part of our whole trip. We’re really big Star Wars fans, so being able to walk around and enjoy the shows and characters was such a treat. It was also the first time Stephen experienced Disney “magic” (the feeling of awe and wonder when you experience something at the parks)

We were heading to the Star Tours ride and Stephen saw the massive AT-AT in front of it. And near there were kids training to be Jedi’s and battling Kylo Ren. Stephen even got teary-eyed watching them get ready for their potential battle with the bad guy. It was awesome and precious.

Favorite Ride: I would have to either say Rock n’ Roller Coaster or Toy Story Mania! We went on the Tower of Terror and Stephen about died - hahaha whoops.
Favorite Food: We ate a bunch of snacks at Hollywood Studios, but we did get dinner at Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater Restaurant which had a really great salad.
Favorite Experience: This was the spot where Stephen really understood the “Disney Magic” of it all and it was really cool to see that. I won’t ever forget how much fun we had checking out all the Star Wars parts of the park. We can’t wait for the new Star Wars land to open!

Day 4 - Animal Kingdom

On our last park day we woke up really early and went to Animal Kingdom. Our hopes were to get there early enough that we can go on the Flight of Passage ride in Pandora. Many other people had the same idea. Despite getting to the parks an hour before the gates actually open - we still had to wait an hour to get onto the ride. But it was SO WORTH IT! We had so much fun exploring Animal Kingdom. We rode Matterhorn multiple times, ate at the cantina in Pandora multiple times as well, and ended the night with a light and water show.

Favorite Ride: By far our favorite rides were both Flight of Passage as well as Expedition Everest (which we rode multiple times)
Favorite Food: Our favorite food from the entire trip was in Animal Kingdom. We arrived really early to the park to get on the Avatar rides so we had an early “lunch” at Satu’li Canteen. I’d recommend getting the
Slow-Roasted Sliced Grilled Beef Bowl and by far our absolutely favorite dessert Blueberry Cream Cheese Mousse.
Favorite Experience: It was such an adventure walking around the park, but my favorite experience was definitely walking through Pandora and everything they built up for the Flight of Passage ride.