There are so many stories I see that refer to “Disney on a Budget”. Sometimes I’ll skim through them and still I don’t understand the phrase. Everyone wants to save money as much as they can. But a Walt Disney World Vacation is going to be very expensive. It is something guests have to accept. So much of enjoying a trip to Disney World is in the attitude of the travellers. There will be crowds. It will be hot. It probably will rain. And it will be expensive. I’m not going to spend thousands of dollars to go to Disney World and then obsess over every dollar I spend in the parks.
A vacation to Walt Disney World is an entire experience unlike any other vacation. There are so many expenses like snacks, souvenirs and ride experiences. Especially now with Disney Genie and Lightning Lane, the cost can really add up. But like I said, you have to expect and accept that cost. Would you rather wait 90 minutes for Avatar: Flight of Passage, or buy a Lightning Lane reservation that might cost $100? For me, time is always greater than money.
There are a few things that really can save some money, without taking away from your vacation fun. Reusable water bottles can actually save a lot when you consider Disney sells water for about 4 or 5 dollars a bottle. We also pack snacks in our bag. We will still enjoy Disney snacks as a treat, but our own snacks to eat when we are really hungry is an easy win. We also pack food for in the hotel room before and after going to the parks. We will bring breakfast items, and then chips or some similar munchies for a late night snack .
Something truly amazing is happening at EPCOT. What Disney World is working to vastly improve the park. Without getting into too much detail here, there was a time not too long ago where I would travel to Walt Disney World and spend half a day at EPCOT. And that seemed like too much. Last year EPCOT welcomed Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure. And they followed with the opening of Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind.
Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind is an unbelievable attraction. It is described by Disney as a rotating roller coaster adventure. My spoiler free review confirms that. It is definitely a one of a kind coaster experience. It is something different than most other coasters. And the entire attraction is just that, an experience. It’s almost like Disney Imagineers dreamt of a ride that combined Rise of the Resistance with Space Mountain. Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind is more than just a ride. It is an entertaining adventure.
Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind is one of the most fun rides I’ve ever been on. Especially that first time, when everything is unexpected and guests don’t know what is happening. Disney did a wonderful job incorporating the Marvel Cinematic Universe. They created a blockbuster level movie in a theme park. I must admit that I do love the MCU and the Guardians of the Galaxy, so my experience was even that much better.
The attraction is obviously in high demand. As of right now, the only way to ride is with a virtual queue or Lightning Lane reservation. We purchased the Lightning Lane and it was well worth it. Much like Rise of the Resistance, there is more to the attraction than just the ride. The guests are pulled into the story and the experience.
The Covid19 pandemic had lasting implications throughout Walt Disney World. The park reservation system apparently is here to stay. Park Hopping still remains altered, as you can only go to your second park after 2pm. But other than that, it was a seamless process.
EPCOT
I recently enjoyed a single day trip to Walt Disney World. I’m doing so, I purchased a park hopper pass and made a reservation at Animal Kingdom. My second park was going to be EPCOT. I really wanted to buy a Lightning Lane reservation for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind. Genie+ said guests can purchase reservations for any park even without a reservation, as long as you have a park hopper ticket. I was nervous Genie+ wouldn’t allow me to or it wouldn’t work right. My concerns were put to rest early, as I was able to buy the Lightning Lane reservation just before 7am.
The My Disney Experience App showed our park reservation for Animal Kingdom. We were then able to add into Genie+ that we were going to EPCOT as well. That was a fun and intuitive feature so we could see EPCOT attractions on our Tip Board. When we eventually got to EPCOT, it no longer suggested anything at Animal Kingdom.
We left Animal Kingdom at 1:30 which was a little later than we wanted. We couldn’t find the bus initially because the bus to EPCOT was off to the side of all the other bus pickups. We missed a bus as we were walking over and then had to wait almost 15 minutes for another one. We still got to EPCOT right around 2, but I would have expected busses more frequently as park hopping began.
In any case, we got into EPCOT easily. There wasn’t any back up or delay. The International Food and Wine was happening so we were worried it might be rough getting in, but we didn’t have any issues. Disney once again showed their process works and they provide the best guest experience.
I recently did something I had never done before when visiting Walt Disney World. I went for just one day and didn’t stay on property. It was a very unusual experience to say the least. So how did it go?
I was in Orlando and decided to plan for a one day visit to Walt Disney World. Needless to say, it was difficult to pick which park to go to. So the first decision we made was to plan on park hopping. We definitely wanted to try and ride Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind. Also, the Food and Wine festival was going so we knew we wanted to end the day at EPCOT. For the morning we wanted to pick a park that had a few great rides that we would be able to do in a short time. We would begin the day at Animal Kingdom.
It was very unusual to go to Walt Disney World for just one day without planning for a long stay. We didn’t make any dining reservations and didn’t plan on using Disney Genie+. We did hope to get a Lightning Lane reservation for Guardians of the Galaxy and we were able to purchase those around 6:50 am.
We used a rideshare app to get to Animal Kingdom and it was smooth. We made it there by 8:30 am for a 9 am park opening. It wasn’t too busy yet and we got dropped off close to the entrance and didn’t have to wait in traffic.
Animal Kingdom
We started at Expedition Everest and barely waited. We rode that twice and hopped on Dinosaur, again with nearly no wait time. We then headed over to Avatar: Flight of Passage with a wait of 60 minutes. After that we made it just in time to catch Festival of the Lion King. We almost didn’t make it in, but did so after the initial seating and ended up with front row seats. We had a quick lunch at Pizzafari, watched It’s tough to be a Bug and made our way to the exit.
We got to the EPCOT bus stop just after 1:30, which was a little later than we wanted to be. As we approached, the bus was leaving. We then had to wait about 15 minutes for another bus. That seemed kind of long, as it was the beginning of the park hopping window and there were many people trying to move.
We entered EPCOT without much of a line at all. I expected there to be more of a rush at the 2pm opening of park hopping. There was a bit of a hitch, as none of our fingerprints worked on the first try.
We had our Lightning Lane reservation for 4pm to 5pm, so we didn’t want to do too much before that. We enjoyed some snacks and drinks at World Showcase. Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind is unbelievably awesome.
We then enjoyed some more dining and exploring of the Food and Wine Festival. We only made it on Soarin’ and Test Track to end the night. There was just too much to doin EPCOT for a half day. We got off Test Track just in time to watch Harmonius.
Leaving EPCOT using a rideshare was, unfortunately, not easy. Walt Disney World has seemingly not prepared enough for the rise in this technology. There were too few signs directing us where to go. We got lost at least once when we followed a sign to an area and then got there to find another sign pointing us back. There were temporary rideshare signs placed around as guides, but they were difficult to find. When we finally stumbled upon the right spot, there was no organization to the area. People were just standing around hoping to find their rides. It really was a mess. Disney World is going to have to devise a system for this emerging transportation method.
