We hit four parks in five days. Two of those days we were also traveling. It should be a recipe for disaster with a tour group of more than 75 band kids, parents, directors, and families. But while there was some chaos, it was mostly…magical.
Day One:
2:30am alarm. 4:00am airport arrival. 6:30am flight. While it would have been nice to have the plane(s) to ourselves, this was the first of the completely full flights we took on our way to and from Florida.
We actually arrived in Tampa, not Orlando. Our tour group loaded two charter busses at the airport, and ate a boxed lunch on our way to Universal.
After breaking into smaller groups, we had the afternoon and evening to ourselves. It was just me, my mom, and my youngest, with the graduate off with another group of students. No rides other than the Hogwarts Express, but we had a good time exploring Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley.
We stopped at the Leaky Cauldron for dinner. Everyone ordered fish & chips, and a few of the band directors were at the table next to us. It was a Tuesday evening, so the line was quick, service was friendly, and the food was excellent!
The rest of the evening moved pretty slow for us, just wandering the parks and fan-girling over the movie-themed scenery. As the day came to an end, we met back up with the full tour group and headed over to the hotel.
Day Two:
The band kids had a music workshop in the morning, and Mom tagged along to that. So it was just me and #3 until lunchtime. Our priority: Galaxy’s Edge.
There were speeders and pod-racers. Rey and Chewbacca. Kylo Ren and Storm Troopers. Space ships and droids. Let’s not forget the best of them all – the Millennium Falcon!
Mom joined back up with us, and we had another amazing meal at PizzaRizzos before stepping into MuppetVision 3D. Then we scooted back to Galaxy’s Edge for Smuggler’s Run while the line was (relatively) short. We got rained on a bit before heading to the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular, which we expected and were prepared for.
More Star Wars immersion at Docking Bay 7 for dinner. Service was great. The food…not so much. We spent the rest of the evening wandering, shopping, and diffusing a minor crisis or two before calling it a night.
Day Three:
Park three: The Magic Kingdom. This was the morning where all of the new graduates traveling with us got their Senior Surprise – a side trip to Tree Trek Adventure Park. The rest of us got a full day – a LONG day – in the Disney park.
Pirates of the Caribbean was the first stop. #1 out of my three “must rides” for the day. We probably spent an hour in the gift shop afterwards, too. I wanted to buy ALL the things, but settled for a t-shirt, pirate hat Mickey ears, and a collectible pin. Following that, we explored the Swiss Family Treehouse to get out of the rising heat and away from the growing crowds.
Next we checked in with our returning seniors, and had a good lunch at Pecos Bill’s. Friendly service and good food, but they were busy and it took a while to get our meals.
They say don’t go on thrill rides after you eat, but when you’re in line for 45 minutes, it doesn’t really matter at that point. So, Splash Mountain it was! This was my must-do #2. Way back in high school, my family missed the opening of this ride at Disneyland by less than a week. I was NOT going to miss it on this trip!
#3 for me was Haunted Mansion. Because…Haunted Mansion. It’s cool, dark, spooky, and a pretty chill good time. Plus, the queue is just as fun as the ride itself.
We were wearing pretty thin, so we hopped on a raft to Tom Sawyer Island looking for some shade and a spot to sit away from the crowd. A lot of other people had the same idea, though, so we only spent about 20 minutes parked on a rock, watching the riverboat sail around the island.
Off to Small World! Not a must-do, but good for when you need a nice, cool ride to just sit and zone out for a few minutes. Bonus – the animatronics have been upgraded recently. They’re super cute!
Dinner time…again. Pizza…again. This time at Pinocchio’s. All around awesome. 10 of 10 would recommend.
The rest of the evening was a bit of a blur. We wandered a bit through the central hub in front of the castle, shopped a little on Main Street, then just plopped down near the entrance until the fireworks started. The full group met up after that, we endured the insanity of leaving the Magic Kingdom at closing time, and fell into oblivion after returning to the hotel.
Day Four:
Back to Universal. Everyone is tired, sore, and cranky. This was my breakdown day. We didn’t do much because, honestly, we just didn’t want to.
Transformers 3D was our first ride. It’s a fun alternative to the rollercoasters for those of us who aren’t too crazy about rollercoasters. Plus…hello!…Transformers!
Next was the Hollywood Horror Makeup Show. It was my youngest’s main “to do” for the day. A fun comedy stage show that highlights the history of horror film special effects.
We popped back over to Diagon Alley to explore and shop a little more before hopping in line at King’s Cross for lunch in Hogsmeade. That’s when the day took a turn.
A 25-minute wait for the Hogwarts Express stretched to over an hour because the ride was glitching. We were already tired, our legs and feet hurt, and by that time we were hungry. When we finally got to Three Broomsticks, the line to order was an hour long. So, we decided to try Dinosaur Digs in Jurassic Park. It still had a line, but shorter… Or so we thought. After 30 minutes of barely moving and seeing at least a half dozen people jump the line ahead of us, I jumped out and decided to just order on the app. Except that we couldn’t use our dining cards for mobile ordering. So, I’m tired, everything hurts, and I am dangerously hungry with my blood sugar dropping rapidly.
I. Lost. My. Shit.
Like, completely lost it. Toddler tantrum and everything. It wasn’t pretty. We did, eventually, get some (really amazing) burgers at Wimpy’s, but after that I was just done. We went back to Citywalk and people-watched until dinnertime.
The entire band tour group met up for supper at Hard Rock Cafe. A perfect way to spend our last night in Florida together. Service, food, music, and atmosphere were amazing, and just what I needed after the afternoon breakdown.
Spirits were much higher as we left Universal and returned to the hotel. There was even enough energy to start packing up and getting ready to head back home.
Day Five:
This is it. We’ve reached the end. The last park. The last hurrah. We finished packing, loaded the busses, and made our way for a morning at Animal Kingdom.
I only had one thing on my “to do” list: Kilimanjaro Safari. It was rainy, cool, and beautiful. Most of the animals were out and about, and I am super-impressed with the park design to accommodate them all.
We followed up with the Dinosaur ride, and lunch at the restaurant nearby. A little more shopping, a bit of sitting and people-watching. Then it was time to go.
I think everyone on the bus snoozed for part (or all) of the trip to the airport back in Tampa. A little more chaos to deal with at check-in and security, then we were in the air and aimed for home sweet home.
The furbabies had a lot to say when we walked in the door at 10pm. There’s still an explosion of graduation decor in the kitchen and living room. But I slept in my own bed, drank coffee out of my own mug, and I’m staring at a suitcase full of dirty clothes that need to be washed.
We survived Florida. And I already want to go back.