Last October, my college best friend and I treated ourselves to our first “big girl” vacation and made our way to sunny Florida to visit the most magical place on earth! I’m sharing my highs, lows, and 20-something-with-no-kids tips on our day in Magic Kingdom at Disney World!

After a late flight into Orlando, I boarded Disney’s complementary airport to resort shuttle and got to see Callie for the first time since March! We stayed up way too late catching up, finally going to bed sometime around 3 a.m. After a 3 hour nap, we were up again at 6 to get ready for the day.

I know you will read this on every post somewhat Disney related, but you really do need to get to the parks as close to opening as possible to maximize your day. For this day, we had access to extra magic hours so for us, the park opened at 8 a.m. It’s a good thing we did that too! After getting in the park we discovered that “Mickey’s not so Scary Halloween Party” was taking place that night and required a separate $119 ticket! So we were going to have to leave the park around 6 .

With only 10 hours in the park, here are my favorite moments, not so favorite moments, and words of advice from someone taking their 4th trip to Disney World. 

Favorites:

-Jungle Cruise: This is such a classic ride, we knew we had to do it. Callie and I managed to snag some fast passes for this ride online about a week before we went. In addition to being a classic, it is also a little hokey and they know it. Our boat’s captain kept the jokes coming all ride long. He was hilarious and dedicated, at one point was leaning over the rail, yelling into the mic, at a plastic elephant.

-Space Mountain: Another ride we had a fast pass for. Good thing, too, the line for Space Mountain can get forever long and this time was no exception. But it is such a fun coaster, I wish we could have gone more than once!

-Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin: One of Callie’s all time favorites, not to mention some friendly competition can add a boost to your midday slump. Peep me totally in the game and not realizing it’s photo time lol.

Citrus Swirl: I know everyone goes crazy for the dole whip, but Florida is known for oranges so I really think its citrus cousin deserves more love. Here you can enjoy a snap from insta-stories!

-Main Street Starbucks: We overslept a touch and decided to skip the hotel’s breakfast in favor of a pick-me-up in the park. Thank goodness for those extra magic hours because we were able to get in and out with our coffees and bacon, egg, and cheese biscuits faster than a regular Starbucks!

-Meeting Characters: I LOVE the Little Mermaid, always have, always will. I knew that even though the wait time may be a while, I wanted to take the time to see Ariel. Do I know that this is a girl close to my own age in a costume? Yes. Will that stop me from low-key freaking out and fan-girling? No.

Callie’s big character moment was Gaston. I was so on board with this because of all the fabulous and funny guest interactions I have seen videos of. However, when faced with his narcissism first hand, I was having none of it. (Again, I know it’s just a person playing a character, but let me live in the magic!) Callie on the other hand was having a wonderful time, which led to some pretty funny photos.

Me: “Oh, you’ve got an EGO, ego problem”. Callie: “This is the best moment of the day and what I have been waiting for”.

-THE MAGIC:  The reason people keep coming back to Disney World. The reason two twenty somethings with no kids pay money to come here. It’s in the rides, the cast members’ service, the AIR. Something about Disney World really makes you feel like a kid again with all the wonder that comes with that. Like the character experiences I just mentioned. Lol.

Not so Favorite

I hate to be a Debbie-downer, but I want to give y’all as much information as possible, so I have to touch on the not so great things too.

-Technical Difficulties: With early entry to the park, and knowing ahead what was not important to us (Seven Dwarf’s Mine Train) we knew exactly what rides we needed to get to early to have the best chance at riding them with as little of a wait time as possible. This plan was put to a halt by some unforeseen technical difficulties. Big thunder mountain railroad and Pirates of the Caribbean were both closed a good portion of the morning. By the time we got back around to them the lines were crazy.

-Heat, but then cool: I know, it’s Florida, but it was also the middle of October. I was expecting warmth but not so much sweating. And then once the sun went down, it got chilly, way to pull a switch up Florida.

-Leaving the park at 6. This clearly was an oversight by us, but still a bit of a bummer to leave the park so early.

TIPS mostly for the other 20 somethings with no kids

-Stay on property. It’s more expensive up front, but with perks like an airport shuttle, park to park transportation, and extra magic hours, it just takes a lot of headache away.

-Invest in Memory Maker. Another cost, but so important. No one gets stuck having to take the picture at the major spots or experiences, you aren’t limited to selfies, you get to have several of the photos from rides. AND you get 30 days to download all the pictures that were taken of you and your party. Not to mention no stress of carrying around your nice personal camera.

-Get there early, and stay all day. When I was younger, my family would get to the parks early, leave at about 1p.m. eat lunch, swim in the pool, and nap, then head back to the parks around 5 or 6. As 20 somethings with no kids. You can take advantage of people leaving the parks and stay with less crowds (although truth be told, it might not always be noticeable).

-Skip the long line for breakfast at the hotel. The food isn’t great and it’s expensive. You can opt to get some pick-up items in the park like I mentioned earlier or honestly, go to Waffle House. There is one really close to property that wouldn’t be expensive to Uber to. The food tastes better, and is cheaper.

-Get a fanny pack. The once shunned accessory has made a comeback. And as I learned on this trip, the hands free life is the best life.

Do you love Disney? What are some of your top tips?  And if you want to follow our adventures as they were happening real time (with a fair amount of shrieking) you can check out my Disney highlight on Insta!

Thank you so much for reading! Stay fab!

Xoxo,