What if you could experience the magic of all four Disney parks in just one day? Join us as we recount our whirlwind adventure across Disney World, from Animal Kingdom to Disney's Hollywood Studios to Epcot to Magic Kingdom. Vanessa and Kris kick off their journey with rules like riding a ride, snapping photos, and switching spirit jerseys at each park. Vanessa adds her own flair by changing ears, and we share heartwarming moments with friends Nerissa and Jared in Dinoland and Linda and Sheldon at Epcot. The day ends by attending an After Hours event at Magic Kingdom, capturing a memorable photo with Mickey.
Our day was filled with delightful encounters and tasty treats, starting with seasoned fries at Animal Kingdom and character meet-and-greets at Hollywood Studios. We savor an early dinner at Roundup Rodeo Barbecue, then hop on the Skyliner for a picturesque ride to Epcot. Creative photo sessions with festival topiaries and a Richard Marks concert add unique touches to our adventure.
Reflecting on our magical day, we emphasize the joys and challenges of park hopping, especially as annual pass holders. With over 26,000 steps taken, we discuss the importance of knowing your physical limits and planning for mobility needs. Celebrating our 150th episode, we share a special Walt Disney quote that shares the enchantment of feeling transported to another world. This episode is a testament to the blend of planning and spontaneity that makes Disney adventures unforgettable, and we can't wait for future escapades filled with even more fun and friends.
What if you could experience the magic of all four Disney parks in just one day? Join us as we recount our whirlwind adventure across Disney World, from Animal Kingdom to Disney's Hollywood Studios to Epcot to Magic Kingdom. Vanessa and Kris kick off their journey with rules like riding a ride, snapping photos, and switching spirit jerseys at each park. Vanessa adds her own flair by changing ears, and we share heartwarming moments with friends Nerissa and Jared in Dinoland and Linda and Sheldon at Epcot. The day ends by attending an After Hours event at Magic Kingdom, capturing a memorable photo with Mickey.
Our day was filled with delightful encounters and tasty treats, starting with seasoned fries at Animal Kingdom and character meet-and-greets at Hollywood Studios. We savor an early dinner at Roundup Rodeo Barbecue, then hop on the Skyliner for a picturesque ride to Epcot. Creative photo sessions with festival topiaries and a Richard Marks concert add unique touches to our adventure.
Reflecting on our magical day, we emphasize the joys and challenges of park hopping, especially as annual pass holders. With over 26,000 steps taken, we discuss the importance of knowing your physical limits and planning for mobility needs. Celebrating our 150th episode, we share a special Walt Disney quote that shares the enchantment of feeling transported to another world. This episode is a testament to the blend of planning and spontaneity that makes Disney adventures unforgettable, and we can't wait for future escapades filled with even more fun and friends.
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.
For all the latest news about our episodes follow us on Instagram @dislovewithvanessaandkris or on YouTube.
Speaker 1:
Welcome to the Diz Love Podcast with Vanessa and Chris. I'm Vanessa Ferguson.
Speaker 2:
And I'm Chris Johns.
Speaker 1:
We would like to welcome you to show 150. Wow, can you believe 150 shows.
Speaker 2:
That's a lot.
Speaker 1:
Yes, and for any listeners joining us for the first time, our show features things we love at Disney and typically in each episode we have a guest who creates Disney magic for our listeners at home or on their Disney vacations. From vacation planners to product producers, our guests can bring Disney magic into your life, and sometimes we have special episodes, which will be like today. And, as a reminder to all of our listeners, we appreciate if you can take time to leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or any other platform where you listen. We always like to give shout outs to those listeners and of course, that helps the show grow. And before we get started, chris, we have a message from our friends Kevin and Amanda with when in the Park.
Speaker 2:
What they want to do is they want to make your next Disney trip a scavenger hunt. And what they do is they have this awesome piece where they have scavenger hunt game packs and for the people who've been to Disney too many times as you can count, like Vanessa and myself, they inject new life into your everyday trip. And again, not to say that a Disney trip can be boring, but when you've done it so many times, you don't remember necessarily what year you went or which season. These scavenger hunt packs allow you to find things in the park that you've walked past a hundred times, maybe even a thousand times, and it injects new life into your piece. And what it does is it really allows you to get a great understanding of the park, all the intricate details that Disney provides to you, and you can discover it. And on top of Disney parks on both coasts, they also have packs for Universal and coming soon for Dollywood and King's Dominion.
Speaker 1:
Yes, and they have even more parks that you can find on their website. And one of the neat things Chris really touched on besides people who've been there a lot, it's fun for people that are new to the parks as well, because you catch some of those details that you would probably miss when you're first going. They're great for all ages. And what do they have for our listeners, chris?
Speaker 2:
Use the code DISLOVE10, D-I-S-L-O-V-E 1-0 to save 10% off your next order.
Speaker 1:
Yes, and I will put the link in the show notes along with that coupon code so you can save 10%. And on today's show we have one of those special episodes that I mentioned in the opening. We are going to talk about our experience going to all four parks in one day.
Speaker 2:
Yes, it was an experience, it was an adventure.
Speaker 1:
Yes, so we're going to talk about it. I have some questions, but before we go into the questions, and kind of a breakdown of our day do you remember what the rules were that we set for ourselves? Don't cheat. Don't look at my notes.
Speaker 2:
We had to do all four parks.
Speaker 1:
Well, that's a given, isn't it? You said the rules. Okay, that was a rule.
Speaker 2:
Yes, we had to have a snack.
Speaker 1:
Yes.
Speaker 2:
We had to get a photo.
Speaker 1:
Yes.
Speaker 2:
Ride a ride.
Speaker 1:
Yes, and have ride and have a meal.
Speaker 2:
Well, snack, we just said food, yeah, food in general. You?
Speaker 1:
missed two more. Oh, you're looking at my note. I can't.
Speaker 2:
Vanessa, my eyes are so bad, I don't know.
Speaker 1:
We changed shirts. We had different spirit jerseys at each park. Yes, oh, I forgot about that. Yeah, we had different spirit jerseys, and then not Chris, but I had different ears for each park as well. So, before we get started and talk about our breakdown of the day, if you had to just pick one quick memory that was your favorite part of the day, what would that be?
Speaker 2:
I think the shirt, because by changing the shirt, you didn't remember the shirt. Well, now that you reminded me, it was neat because by changing the shirt you were in a different park and then the photos corresponded with that. That was nice.
Speaker 1:
I will say maybe my favorite memory was when, at the very end of the night, we got our last character at one of the extra magic we went to at Magic Kingdom. We went to the After Hours event and we got Mickey to end the night. So I think that was really special to me. We ended the night by getting our photo with Mickey, which we'll talk about more and as we go through what was well, let's wait, and we'll talk about that towards the end, we'll talk about what our favorite food was for the day.
Speaker 1:
So we started out the day. We were probably not the best idea. We were switching resorts, so we were moving from Boardwalk over to Animal Kingdom Lodge that day. So what we decided to do was to start our adventures, so to speak, at Animal Kingdom, and one of the things that was awesome is our friends that we've known since we got married and they used to live in California, now they're in Florida and we got a chance.
Speaker 1:
We've met them like randomly ran into them in the parks, but we got a chance to meet up with Nerissa and Jared, our friends, and it was so much fun at Animal Kingdom. We got to spend some time with them in the morning before they were actually heading to work, because it was a Monday and we started off by meeting them and we went and did our first characters, which for the it was fun. We went to Dinoland and we went and got pictures with Donald and Daisy and one of the things that was nice is we just got to chat with them, visit and have a good time with them and, of course, donald and Daisy, they had the best outfits and they're always a lot of fun.
Speaker 2:
Definitely it was just neat to meet, you know, new folks who love Disney and were around our age group and it was just nice to have their experience and hearing, kind of. You know they were new to the Florida area recently, relatively new. It was just neat to hear their opinion on Florida as well as the park and just having a nice time.
Speaker 1:
And there are also another Disney couple that got married at Disney as well, but they got married at Disneyland. So that was fun. And then we randomly ran into some of my friends, my good friends, that I used to dance with in Michigan they now live in Florida, didn't know they were at the parks, and we ran into them right when we were leaving Daisy and we went over to ride one of Chris's favorite rides. What is one of your favorite rides?
Speaker 2:
Everest.
Speaker 1:
Yes. So we went and did Everest and of course there's always a longer line there, so we did single rider. It didn't bother us to not ride right next to each other, that was okay for us. We did single rider. And then we went and got our snack. Do you remember what our snack was at Animal Kingdom?
Speaker 2:
No.
Speaker 1:
It was Mr Kamal's seasoned fries and they were pretty good. We never had them before. Chris loves fries. He likes to try different fries, so we tried those out. They had nice seasoning, had a little special ketchup that you could have with them, and then we had to go switch our hotel room. So what we did is we had a rental car, we left the park, we got our photos in front of the Tree of Life and some other Photo Pass photos and then we headed out and we had went to Animal Kingdom. We didn't go super early because we knew we were going to have a late night. So we went over to take our car to Animal Kingdom Lodge, checked in and the nice thing was our room was ready, which was a miracle. That never happens.
Speaker 2:
We're very thankful for that.
Speaker 1:
Yes. So we were able to get rid of our first shirt my first years, and then we changed into our second shirts, we charged up our stuff for a little while and then we headed out. At this point we left our vehicle and we took disney transportation on from here on out, because we know for a lot of people that might be your only option. So we took our bus over to hollywood studios. And what characters did we see at Hollywood Studios? It was kind of deja vu.
Speaker 2:
Donald and Daisy.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, we saw Donald and Daisy again because we had asked Nerissa and Jared because they go to the parks quite a bit where was a great place to see some characters? And they said to go over by 50s Primetime Cafe and there's usually characters right by the I guess lagoon thing there with the Jersey the Dinosaur. So we waited there and we got pictures with Donald and Daisy again kind of in their classic outfits and from there we opened the app and we just looked for the shortest line to find a ride to do and we went over to Alien Flying Saucers in Toy Story Land, which worked out great because we were going to be eating there a little bit later, and we saw some of the worst line behavior I've ever seen.
Speaker 2:
Oh my gosh, it was horrible.
Speaker 1:
Yes, a small child was going to the bathroom in the middle of the line.
Speaker 2:
And the parents were encouraging it.
Speaker 1:
Yes, and as a parent of a younger child, I feel like it's okay for me to say that is not good behavior. People will let you out, get out of the line, take them to the bathroom, come back in. We would all happily let you through. And so, anyways, we rode alien flying saucers and the nice thing was it almost timed up perfectly. We had a early, early dinner, like a three o'clock dinner, at Roundup Rodeo Barbecue, and so we were able to go over there and wait not too long, and we were able to get right in to eat, and we were in the very back corner at that restaurant.
Speaker 2:
Yes, we were.
Speaker 1:
So I think if you were there with little ones or people that were super into Toy Story, there are some bad seats in that restaurant. For us it wasn't such a big deal because it was more we wanted to try the restaurant. We got some great photos in there and then of course, it gave us a chance to get in the AC for a little while and I really enjoyed the food Like I would go back.
Speaker 2:
Very good food, excellent service.
Speaker 1:
Yes, we had great service there and I like that you get little options, like with the dessert where you got to pick the mini dessert. I love the bread there. The bread was the biscuit cheddar. Things were really good. Just lots of great options there. I know they've changed the menu some of the side dishes and different things but we really enjoyed it. This was our first time there, so we headed out, we got a couple more pictures in the park and we didn't get a snack there because we figured a whole meal could count instead of having to eat a snack on top of that. That was kind of our thought.
Speaker 2:
Exactly.
Speaker 1:
And then we headed over and we took the Skyliner over to Epcot. So at this point we'd already driven a car, taken a bus, and now we were on the Skyliner. And the downside of this is that we arrived at Epcot at 5.15. And the downside of this is that we arrived at Epcot at 5.15. And I don't know if Chris remembers this, but what ended at 5 that we could not find anywhere?
Speaker 2:
I don't know.
Speaker 1:
The characters. The character meet and greets had ended at 5 o'clock so we were kind of out of luck. So we had to improvise about our character pictures only at Epcot we decided because they were still the Flower and Garden Festival topiaries. We took photos with several of the topiaries and I think that counts as characters.
Speaker 2:
Definitely.
Speaker 1:
And one of the neat things was is we had met them earlier in the weekend but our good friends Linda and Sheldon were at Epcot to check out one of the concerts and we text them and we went over and met them and we sat and watched a concert with them. So we watched the Richard Marks concert and I will say like the day was not so busy, like we got chance to visit with friends at two parks. We had a nice sit down meal, we went and listened to a concert, so it was very nice to catch up with them. And from there we still had two more things to do at the park. We had to ride a ride and we had to get a snack. So we went over to again. We looked at the app.
Speaker 1:
What was short Grand Fiesta Tour starring the three Caballeros was a short ride. We got on there, we did that and then we walked towards the front because we were going to take the monorail On our way up there. We were thirsty so we kind of did a cheat. We went to Starbucks and we got ice. I got an iced chai and we had some other drinks, so that way that counted as our snack and of course we got some cool photos in front of Spaceship Earth, so we were trying to get all the icons at all the parks when we were getting our photos and at that point it was almost close to park closing time at Epcot and so we took the monorail over because we had tickets for the after hours event which was going until 2am, and so really we had all of the transportation that day, which was kind of neat because we had done the Skyliner, we did monorail. The only thing we missed that day was a boat, but technically I guess the boat for the three Caballeros would count.
Speaker 2:
It sure does.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, so we headed over to Magic Kingdom. We got there right before. I think we got there about 930 or so, and the one nice thing going to the after hours event is that gave us a little bit of a buffer. We got extra time that you normally wouldn't have if you were doing a four park in one day. So for our snacks it was super easy with after hours because you already get free snacks. So we had popcorn and ice cream and pop. Yes, so that was perfect. We didn't have to worry about that. And I will say, because we were there for an after hours event, we got a lot of rides in. I was able to do the virtual queue for Tron and I know I think this is becoming one of Chris's favorite rides.
Speaker 2:
The movie. I couldn't tell you what happens. I never seen it?
Speaker 1:
Have you saw the second one? No, I don't want to see them.
Speaker 2:
But the ride itself is very good, very smooth.
Speaker 1:
Yeah. So we rode Tron, which was awesome. Our virtual queue was perfect timing when we had gotten there and from there we rode quite a few things. We rode it's a Small World. We rode Peter Pan's flight, we got to watch the fireworks because they had a late firework show. We rode Jungle Cruise and a couple other smaller rides and then, as I mentioned, we went and met Mickey a little after 1 am I think it was like 1.15, 1.20 in the morning. We went and got our picture with Mickey and that like solidified the last goal that we had for the day and then we headed back to the resort and we just really crashed. It was just such a busy day. I think by the fourth part Chris was running low on steam because I was pulled you along for the ride.
Speaker 2:
Well, the other problem was is I had a new pair of shoes and I had a pair of inserts that were comfortable, but I tied my shoes way too tight. My feet hurt so bad the day before so I took the inserts out. It was my fault, but I tried to be cute about because I knew I was going to walk a lot and my feet ended up just being so painful. That's the worst, and that was my fault.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, so that is the worst. So that rounded out the end of our day, and before we get into some questions about some more things, we're going to interrupt and we have a message from some more of our friends. Eric and Alexa have a message for us as well.
Speaker 2:
They want to take care of your family, eric and Alexa. They are baby quip independent quality providers that service the Orlando area, and what's awesome is that they have a family and they take care of families. On a number of occasions we have had the opportunity to rent strollers from them, car seat it's been brand new equipment, literally fresh out of the plastic, well-maintained, delivered by gentlemen who are very friendly and helpful, and what's great is that they save you. For us to have to take any of this on the plane would have been way too much. You know you're going to pay fees. They make it super easy. They're wonderful, and what's nice is that they serve the entire Orlando area. And so, with that, please visit the show notes for a link to make your reservation today.
Speaker 1:
Yes, and one of the nice things, too, is that you can as Chris mentioned, you can get stuff delivered anywhere, and a lot of times you'll have Alexa comes and picks them up, or either one of them will be there, which is super nice. It adds that personal touch, for sure. So, thinking about if you're taking your little one on an all-day adventure at the parks, hit them up and get some great baby gear or gear for your little one to make that day even easier. Now rounding back to our experiences, and one of the things that I think is important to discuss is number one Chris, would you ever do this again?
Speaker 2:
Definitely.
Speaker 1:
You would. It's nice to see your thoughts have changed, since there's been a little bit of time since it happened.
Speaker 2:
Well, I have forgotten a bit about the trip, about the day. I don't remember all the details. I just do know that my feet hurt very, very badly and I had been walking. I mean, it wasn't a case of being cause I had done a half marathon for my birthday a little more than a month after this, and so I was walking and training. So it wasn't a case of you have people who don't walk a mile and now all of a sudden they're trying to do 13 or more, you know a very long time. It wasn't, that wasn't the issue. It just I would wear the correct shoes and I would go all day.
Speaker 1:
So, and I would do it again Now, the second part to that question is saying yes, that we would. What would you do differently besides your shoes? We all know your shoes would be different. What else would you do differently?
Speaker 2:
Nothing.
Speaker 1:
Nothing.
Speaker 2:
I think you like. Even in our home during holidays, you add so much unique magic.
Speaker 1:
Oh, that's so sweet.
Speaker 2:
Yes, and so like having the shirts and doing the photos and a ride, because it's very easy to just like. For example, people go oh, I've been to all 50 states. Well, where were you in this state? Well, I went to the airport. That really doesn't count. So, just to go into a park and then turn around and leave, that doesn't count. So for us we like to make things difficult and as part of it.
Speaker 2:
I think that was just nice, because then you have the mementos of the photos and the ride, and now again I don't remember everything we did, but I remember that we did it.
Speaker 1:
Well, and I think you could do it different ways, like how we had our rules for this time. But I think it would even be fun to do like you could do a progressive dinner, like you could. Okay, we're going to go to this park and we're going to have drinks, and then we're going to go to this park and we're going to have appetizers, and then we're going to go to this park and an entree and then a dessert or picking I we were talking about. It would be cool to see how many characters you could get across all of the parks that you visited in a day if you just took that time to go to every park and just did characters for so long, or whatever it might be.
Speaker 1:
I think it would be neat to do different themes and I think it'd be fun to do it with other people as well. I think that would be a fun thing. I think it would have been way too much for our daughter. Our daughter was not with us on that particular trip. So I think, depending on the endurance of your kids, our daughter is a pretty good trooper, but I just think it would have been a lot of walking for her.
Speaker 2:
No, and that's just not right. I mean, you can't expect a little kid, as nice as they are, to go all day long, because it was hard for adults and I think and there's adults that struggle to go to one park all day, let alone going to four, and so, yeah, not ideal for kids. I mean, even I would say anything less than high school would be very hard, because at the end of the day, you want to do it all, and so, unless you're really willing to park your kid and leave them behind, which I don't think many parents are, this is more of an not even just adult, but an adult who is able to do the all day.
Speaker 1:
And I think it would be fun. We have quite a few of our great Disney friends that would be up for the challenge that I think it would be fun to do with them, and we got a chance to meet some of our friends along the way. I think our friends Shane and Charlie would be up for it.
Speaker 2:
I think they would.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, for sure. Now, looking back at the whole day, what is your favorite memory from the day? I know we kind of talked a little bit at the beginning, like you mentioned, about just some of the general things, but what's one thing that stood out for you from the whole day?
Speaker 2:
I think just meeting people, I mean having the chance to meet our friends, nerissa and her husband, having the chance to meet your friends that were in the Lyndon Sheldon Well, lyndon Sheldon I didn't get that far, but your dance friends and then Lyndon Sheldon. So I think that's just.
Speaker 1:
The magic of disney is that these folks didn't were not with us every step, but we got to see them as part of the journey and that was really nice yeah, and I think along the way, if you could look for those little extras that were happening like we didn't plan to go to a concert but we ended up going to a concert there was little things like that that I think added some fun to the day and just catching things that I think that you might miss otherwise, because if you're just kind of racing through the park to do everything, we just had a chance to do the different transportation, which was fun, and just little things like that. I think those all stood out for me and I think, just like Chris mentioned the people that we got to talk to and meet along the way, and I think, just like Chris mentioned the people that we got to talk to and meet along the way, and I think, if you do it, you definitely have to pick something that is fun for you. So photos are important to us and all of our listeners know food's important to us, so we added those things into the day. And then Chris has a good collection of spirit jerseys, so that was part of our day as well. So finding those things that are important to you, that you enjoy about Disney and including them, I think, is a really great idea as well, but overall I think it was an awesome experience. I'm sure we will do it again.
Speaker 1:
It definitely wasn't a one and done. It's not going to be an every trip thing, that's for sure, but it's definitely something we would do again in the future. So definitely we'll share lots of photos from our day and hopefully all of you can share with us some of your experiences, if you've done that as well, I know. For a lot of us, even just park hopping to one park is an experience, and we were, I should add, at this time. We're annual pass holders as well, so that made it easier to do it this trip, because you're not having to add the park hopper feature, which that can add some cost. So if you were going for a very short trip, adding on the park hopper to do all those can add quite a bit of cost. So, thinking about that and taking that into consideration, we were fortunate to both be annual pass holders at the time or we still are, so it was able to make that a little bit more affordable as well. But overall I think it was a great experience and something that we would both do again.
Speaker 2:
Yes.
Speaker 1:
Now we're going to, because we are doing this special episode, we're going to go straight into our two minute trivia and our wisdom from Walt quote. So, chris, you are up with trivia, our two-minute trivia and our wisdom.
Speaker 2:
From Walt quote. So, chris, you are up with trivia. Okay, so I have a Garmin smartwatch that I have used to track and it was charged up and it allows me to keep track of all the steps we took that day, and this was Monday, march 4th. Yes, how many steps did we take? And I'll give you so just roughly 2,000 steps to a mile.
Speaker 1:
Okay, I think I'm going to go. I think we were over 25, I'm going to say 26,000.
Speaker 2:
Holy cow, you're dead on.
Speaker 1:
I am. Oh, I was just guessing, because I knew we were over 25.
Speaker 2:
26,330 steps in that day.
Speaker 1:
Wow. So how many miles does that equal?
Speaker 2:
Roughly 13. Now again, were we past midnight, potentially.
Speaker 1:
We were. We were at 1.15 AM.
Speaker 2:
Okay, well then we went longer than that. Wow, I just have the day.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, but that counts, that's so. Wow, that's awesome.
Speaker 2:
Yes, we did so. Based on this, we were actually close to 30,000 steps.
Speaker 1:
Oh, when you add in that time.
Speaker 2:
Wow, the extra time.
Speaker 1:
Wow, that's crazy, and that, I think, goes into what Chris said Knowing your physical limitations too. If you're someone that walking is difficult, or like we have some friends that use scooters, making sure that you can time in things for like charging and all that kind of stuff so that you're able to get around as best as possible, so that is really awesome. Yeah, I couldn't remember, and one of the reasons why if you're curious, why we waited to have this episode is we really thought it would be great to have it for our 150th episode, wanted to have something special for all of you, so that's why we held this out till then. And when we were looking at all this, I thought it would be great to find a quote from Walt Disney that talks about the parks and what those mean, meant to him, and what those, of course, mean to all of us, and so I thought this was a great quote.
Speaker 1:
I don't want the public to see the world they live in while they're in the park. I want to feel. I want them to feel like they're in another world, and I will say, for the entire day, I did not feel like I was living through my regular everyday life. You just enjoy the moment and all those experiences you get to have, and it's just such a special thing to do and I think for any real big Disney fan you definitely need to add it to your Disney bucket list for sure. So thank you so much for joining us on this special episode of the Dislove podcast with Vanessa and Chris. I'm Vanessa.
Speaker 2:
And I'm Chris. This podcast is not affiliated with the Walt Disney company or its holdings, and it is intended for entertainment purposes only.
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