Disney 2013, Day 3: 4 Parks in One Day!! Made It….Barely!!

WE DID IT!!!  Hannah and Mommy visited all 4 parks in 1 day.  Wheee!!!  Normally I do not purchase Park Hoppers for us but as we’re on the tail end of our Annual Passes we currently have the option of hopping between parks on the same day.  A few months back I asked Hannah if she would like to have a day during this year’s visit and we would visit all 4 parks.  She was all over it and our ‘CRAZY DAY’ was born!  Hannah was in on the planning and together we decided what we’d like to do.  Some things worked out perfectly and other plans had to be changed due to ride wait times or the availability of activities.  The crowds are bigger this week than we’re normally used to (6-8’s/10 on touringplans.com) but they are more manageable that I thought they might be.  Yes, there are things we have chosen to skip due to the wait time but so far it’s always when we’ve been attempting a 2nd or 3rd visit to a particular ride.

Mode of transportation number one:  bus!

Park number 1 was Disney’s Hollywood Studios!  8:55am  (Yes!  Our pink MagicBands have arrived!  More about that in another post.)

The original plan was to ride the ‘Pop Pop Ride’ but even at 9:00am when the park officially opened the line was already out the door and the wait time was showing 65 mins.  Really?!  Wow!  We quickly changed up our plans and headed to our breakfast reservation.    Our Free Dining plan had kicked in this morning so character meals and more have begun.  Yay!

On the way to Disney’s Play ‘n Dine we stopped for an autograph and visit with Stitch.

Breakfast was a delicious buffet while some of Hannah’s favourite Disney Junior friends popped by.

June

Handy Manny

Secret Agent Oso

and Jake.

This is so sweet!  Jake was visiting with Hannah when it was time to do their dace so he took her .

After breakfast we hopped on our 2nd mode of transportation for the day – boat and enjoyed a leisurely ride to Epcot arriving there around 11am.

Epcot was the park where I had chosen to book our FastPass+ (FP+) reservations for the day so we were all set to experience 3 great attractions within a short amount of time.  Booking the FastPass+ reservations weeks ago allows us to arrive at the park mid-day and still enjoy the headliner rides with NO wait!  Wheee!!!  Lurvin’ the MagicBands that will be rolling out to all SOON!!!  Right now they’re just in test phase but we’re super excited to be part of that testing and have been able to provide some helpful feedback.

Park number 2:  Epcot!  11:00am

After riding the Figment ride our first FP+ reservation was for the new character spot.  The good part of the renovated location is that it’s less visible and therefore less busy but it also only has 3 characters now rather than 5.  Oh well…we enjoyed those who were there!

Mickey

Pluto

and Minnie.

Next was a ride on ‘Ellen’s Universe of Energy’ then…Test Track!!  Hannah was tall enough for this ride last year but it was closed for refurbishment so this was the first time she had an opportunity to ride it and she was SO excited!  Measuring up to see if she’s tall enough.  Last year she was barely above the yellow bar and this year she’s towering above it by a couple of inches…or more!

Next time we’re going to have to ask to sit in the front row.  LOL!

It’s safe to say Test Track was a hit and the good thing is that we have FP+ reservations 2 other days this week!  Yay!

Our final ride is probably Mommy’s favourite ride at WDW, tied with Toy Story Mania.  Soarin’!  Amazing!

Goofy was greeting visitors as they entered and exited the park so since he is Hannah’s favourite character it was easy to stop for a visit and to say ‘hi!’

It was time to travel to Magic Kingdom (MK) which also meant it was time for transportation number 3:  Monorail.

Park number 3:  Magic Kingdom!  4:45pm

By this point it was almost 5pm as we’d enjoyed a number of rides and lunch when we were at Epcot.  We decided to try and ride Goofy’s Roller Coaster so took the train from the park entrance to Fantasyland.

Once again due to long lines and our tight time frame to reach Animal Kingdom before it closed at 7, it required us to change on the fly.  Hannah was happy to skip Goofy for today and trade it for a ride on The Mad Tea Party Ride.

You can tell by these pics that it’s a normal hot August week in Orlando with daily thunderstorms that pour buckets of rain within minutes.  We’re just used to keeping hydrated with the free glasses of ice water that are available for at the asking and whatever else is needed.  You can tell how hot it is when Mommy offered to buy Hannah a Disney Mister Fan.  She had asked for one a couple of times and I quickly realized it would be a wise investment.

Transportation to Animal Kingdom was monorail and then bus.  Still so much energy!!

Park number 4:  Animal Kingdom (AK)  6:35pm

Phew….we made it although it was tight!  unfortunately by the time we entered AK everything was shutting down and the characters were on their way home to sleep for the night.  We made our way into the park to have our picture taken and then since we wanted to say we accomplished something in the park – we bought a snack!  Mmmm…Mickey Bar!

I have to laugh at how rough we look like by this time of the day!  We’d been rained on more than once, endured almost 100o temps with 100% humidity and walked more steps that I want to know.

But….we’d had a BLAST together and can now add ‘4 Parks in 1 Day’ to our list of Disney accomplishments!!  Wheee!!!

When we arrived back at our resort we were excited to see Nana, Tor, Josh and Daniel and know that they had arrived safely!  Yay!!  We’ll be spending time together each day this coming week while also spending lots of Mommy and Hannah time alone too.  This is an important part of our trips and yet we both love having family and friends here too (Hi Auntie Norma!!) that we can visit with.  All together there are 15 of us here this week and more family arriving Sunday!  (C’mon Bridget…we’re waiting for you!)

I’m sure you can understand why this was the beautiful little face that I was soon gazing at!

The big question is….when will we be brave enough to try a bi-coastal trip? 

The Ultimate Disney Day:  Six Parks, Two Coasts!!!

You know it’s only a matter of time when it comes to Hannah and I and our Disney adventures!!!

Tomorrow:  Disney’s Hollywood Studios as a family of 6!