Day 192: 4 Parks in 1 Day, or The Day We Cried Our Eyes Out

Today was my last day in Orlando. We were determined to make the most of it by visiting all four parks in one day so we could properly say goodbye. We had been planning this day for about a week to make sure that we could make the most of it. Because Tess worked at Epcot, we were able to get on a few rides through her. Because I worked at Magic Kingdom, we were able to get on a few rides through me. We decided to make our fast passes at Hollywood Studios, so we would go to Animal Kingdom first to beat the lines. We woke up bright and early to get to Animal Kingdom. Our goal was to go on three of the most popular attractions in every park, meet one character, and take a picture with the park icon.

We got to Animal Kingdom before the park opened, so we waited at the gates and headed right to Expedition: Everest when the park opened. The line was kind of long so we did the single rider line and got on right away. After that we headed to Dinosaur to go save the iguanadons. We then headed to Festival of the Lion King and we got really good seats. We even sat in the lion section! On our way back towards the exit, we went on the Discovery Island Trail to go meet Tarzan. Instead of Tarzan though, it was Turk! That was awesome because I've never met her.

After that we went to Creature Comforts to get some Starbucks and energy and then took a picture with the Tree of Life.

Park One Done.

We drove right to Epcot and got a good parking spot. The park was pretty empty when we got there! Since we were going to have to wait for the characters, we decided to head there first and get it out of the way. We went to the Character Spot so we could go meet Minnie, Mickey, and Goofy. It was super fun- probably the best character interaction I've had in a while, outside of Gaston. Mickey was super cute and so was Goofy. Minnie handed us a piece of paper to simulate us graduating from the College Program.

After that, we headed to Soarin' which I hadn't done since probably the third week of my program. It took a while to get through the line but it wasn't anything too bad. After that, we went on Figment- my favorite. Tess really wanted to go on it and we had fast passes, so we went. On our way to Test Track, we stopped at Club Cool so Chelsea could get some of her favorite soda from around the world. We then went on Test Track- it was super exciting and really fun. I'm definitely going to miss this ride. After that, we headed to Spaceship Earth so Tess could say goodbye to some coworkers and ride her ride one last time. We took our picture with the big round ball and said goodbye to Epcot.

Park Two Done.

Then we headed to Hollywood Studios where we had made fast passes. First, Chelsea had to get her ears embroidered so we went to a shop to do that. Up first was Tower of Terror. We had a really good drop sequence so it was a fun way to end. After that, we headed to Rock n' Roller Coaster where we did the single rider line because the regular line was over two hours. After that we went on Toy Story- my actual favorite ride. I won of course. Since we hadn't really eaten at all, we went too the Commissary to get food, and I went to the 50s Primetime Cafe to get a milkshake. Once we were recharged, we still had to meet one more character. We wanted to meet Buzz and Woody but the line was super long and we were running low on time, so instead we met Mater and Lightning McQueen from Cars.

After that we took our picture with the Hollywood Tower Hotel and headed out to Magic Kingdom.

Park Three Done.

Our last park of the day- Magic Kingdom. It couldn't end any other way. We took our park picture first thing after getting there, since we wanted one in the daylight.

Since we only had about two hours before the fireworks, we went right for Space Mountain. Unfortunately, the fast pass line still took half an hour. One of my coworkers from Thunder was in line behind us which was a strange coincidence. After Space Mountain, we cut through Fantasyland and headed towards Frontierland. Chelsea took a picture with Columbia Harbor House and I took a picture with the Indian in Frontierland.

We then headed to Thunder Mountain for my last ride. I had to say goodbye to a few more people while we were going through the line. After that, we headed to Splash Mountain to finish the mountains. We were very close on time- the parade was already going through Frontierland so we had to do a crossing. We were practically running through Adventureland to make sure that we got good viewing for the fireworks. We ended up right next to the Partner's Statue in the Hub and we were surrounded by fellow CPs. There were a lot of tears around us since all the summer extenders were done today. Good thing Chelsea brought tissues. After Wishes, I found Ashley from Thunder and we hugged and said goodbye. Even though our eyes were super puffy, Tess, Chelsea and I still had to meet one more character- Mickey Mouse, the boss man himself. 

Park Four Done.

Since we had to be out of our apartment by 11am the next morning, we decided to head out after that to go to sleep. I practically finished up packing, but my plan is to be up early-ish tomorrow to get everything in my car.

Y'all I can't believe it's over. It doesn't feel like it's over, yet when I left Magic Kingdom tonight, I knew it would be a long time before I got to see it again. I tried to take in all the sights and smells one last time- all the kids with their glow wands, all the happy people taking pictures, the smell of cookies on Main Street. I don't know when it will hit me that I don't get to live here anymore, but when it does, it'll be ugly.

'Til next time!