A Last Minute Trip to Disney World
Planned in Less Than 2 Weeks
Trip Recap
A few days before Christmas, a friend of mine called with a seemingly crazy question: “Do you and your daughter want to go to Disney World in TEN days?!” Ummm…. YES! So, we did it! We planned a 4-day trip to Disney World in less than two weeks and had the best time. Here’s a recap.
The Surprise
Since this would be a trip for just my daughter and me, I decided it would be fun to keep the whole thing a surprise. As she went to bed the night before, I told her that I had a special girls’ day planned for us, so I would wake her up early to get started with some fun activities. She excitedly started rattling off a list of things for us to do, I just smiled and nodded.
When my alarm when off at 5:00 the next morning, I crept into her room and asked if she was ready to get started on our girls’ day. When I told her where we were headed, she said, “yeah right,” and rolled back over. That’s when I held up the Minnie Mouse shirt I bought for her to wear on the plane. She shot up in bed, and her jaw practically hit the floor!
After we both got ready, we grabbed our suitcases and were out the door to meet my friend and her son at the airport.
Day 1- Animal Kingdom Lodge
Our flight arrived in Orlando around 10:30 and we grabbed an Uber for transfer to our hotel. Visiting a park on arrival day would have been too much for our crew, so we selected a hotel with plenty of amenities to keep us busy. Animal Kingdom Lodge was perfect for us! And because the Animal Kingdom Park was not one that we were going to visit, we still got to enjoy the animal vibes.
From thatch roofs and animal prints to tribal masks and music, you feel like you’re in Africa from the moment you open the door. As a bonus, we were there during the holidays, and a three-story Christmas tree stood watch over the lobby. It was so beautiful. And to see the smiles on the faces of our two nine-year-olds was magic.
Animal Walk
After we got settled in our room and grabbed a bite to eat, we decided to check out the “Animal Walk,” listed on the resort map. As it turned out, the “backyard” of the resort was like a miniature zoo. As we followed the sidewalk around, we passed wildebeests, zebras, giraffes, gazelles and ostriches. We had so much fun winding through the resort playing i-spy as we searched for various animals.
The Pool
Even though it was the first week of January and only about 75 degrees outside, the kids had to check out the swimming pool. It was heated after all! After several handstand competitions and approximately 27 turns down the waterslide, we walked past the adjacent flamingo habitat and made our way to one of 4 hot tubs on the resort. Surrounded by palm trees and other tropical plants, I could have stayed there all day…. But we had to move on to ping pong, playground, and other fun games dotting the pool area.
Smores and Movie Night
After we cleaned up and grabbed some dinner, we ended the day with smores and movie night. Every night, the resort sets up a large fire pit in the animal walk and provides complimentary marshmallows. Of course, we couldn’t pass those up! Then we made our way back to the pool area where the kids fell asleep watching Zootopia under the stars.
Day 2- Magic Kingdom
The kids were SO excited to visit Magic Kingdom! The day was going to be a new experience for both of them and they were pumped!
One of the perks of staying in a Disney property is that you get early entry into the parks. We didn’t splurge on fast passes, so these 30 minutes were especially beneficial. Because we knew the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train typically has a very long wait time, we headed straight there and got in line before the park even opened. It wasn’t long before we were on the train and having the best time!
We spent all day making our way around the park, using the Disney app to strategically go where the shorter lines were. Luckily, our kids had no interest in riding the most popular thrill rides, so we got to skip those 90-minute waits. But we rode all the rides and saw all the shows that we wanted to. We got character signatures and were delighted by parades.
We left the park 11 hours after we arrived. It was a long day! But the kids had a great time and my friend and I enjoyed being kids again! We needed a good night’s sleep, and we’d be ready for Day 3!
Day 3- Hollywood Studios
Again, we hit the ground running early for another jam-packed park day, this time at Hollywood Studios. Using a similar strategy to the day before, we took advantage of our early admission ticket and ran to one of the Star Wars rides first thing. We were glad we did! The ride posted a 90+ minute wait in no time. Now, I’m not much of a Star Wars fan, but all of the Star Wars rides are awesome! If you plan a trip to Disney World, these are definitely worth the wait.
From there we moved on to Toy Story Land. This section of the park may be my very favorite part of all Disney because it oozes creativity. Toy soldier drum lines, fences made of tinker toys, and a rides made of life size Jenga blocks. It is colorful, playful, and happy. The Slinky Dog Dash is the most iconic ride in this part of the park, and it yields a ridiculously long wait time (frequently close to 2 hours) but it was worth it. You have to ride The Slinky Dog!
We finished the day with Fantasmic, Hollywood Studio’s grand finale and firework show. It takes place of a small lake on the property, surrounded by a gigantic amphitheater. It was an impressive display of lights, water and animation. Everyone’s favorite part was the character boat parade at the end while fireworks exploded overhead. When they say “Magic of Disney,” this is what they mean. It was the perfect ending to a perfect day!
Day 4- Home
We woke up the next day sad to leave. We had ridden the rides, watched the shows, chatted with characters, and marveled at the fireworks. We were exhausted, but in the best way.
Final Thoughts on a Last-Minute Trip to Disney World
While you might not have the chance to have the exact character lunch you’d prefer or be able to make an appointment at the Bippity-Boppity-Boutique (these typically require reservations far in advance), it is absolutely possible to plan a last-minute trip to Disney World and have a great time. So, if you get the opportunity to go, do it! Even if you have less than 2 weeks to plan, you won’t be sorry!
