My 24 hour trip to Disney World and drama at the airport
Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom, and Disney Springs in 24 hours
How it started
My wife asked me if I wanted to ride the new Tron ride at Magic Kingdom that hadn't opened to the public yet. I said "Absolutely!"
This was going to be my first trip going solo to Disney World also. I was not nervous at all. I was ready. Plus who could say no to an annual passholder sneak preview for Tron? Not me.
Day 1 - March 10 - Oh, let the airport drama begin!
When we booked this flight, my intention was to not miss any work, so I had to leave Friday sometime and I needed to be back home before Monday. Who is insane enough to do that kind of cross-country trip to a theme park in such a short amount of time? Me!
I arrived at the Oakland International Airport on Friday later in the day. I was originally going to land Friday night around midnight. Well, here is where the drama comes in.
Everything went smoothly getting to the gate and even boarding the plane. I was sitting down in my seat for about 10 minutes when the flight crew announced that the terminal lost power and they couldn't check anyone else in, plus the jetway was stuck up against the plane. AWESOME!
We were asked to exit the plane so we didn't have to sit there while they figured out what to do.
At this point I let my wife know that the flight was going to be delayed and possibly cancelled. I told her that if I can't make this trip, no big deal. However, she being the travel agent she is, provided me opportunities to still make it to Florida without missing any work and still making it where I wouldn't miss out on anything, especially the new Tron roller coaster.
Before she found the flight she did, I had to make my way to a completely different terminal at OAK to talk to the customer service reps to see if I can get my flight refunded since this was not my fault. The thing is, I didn't want the entire round trip to be cancelled, just the going to MCO part. That was a hassle. The first person was very helpful, trying to find alternative routes to get me to Orlando, but no luck out of Oakland. They also said I couldn't get a refund for part of the trip, ugh! I waited for another customer service representative. This one said I could get a partial credit towards another flight. Perfect! I'll use it for sure anyway.
At this point my wife found a flight that was leaving out of San Francisco International Airport 3 hours from the time I got the credit figured out in Oakland. So I said, absolutely! Thankfully I didn't have checked luggage since it was one night I was going to be in Orlando.
I booked it out of the Oakland airport and headed to the BART train to make my way around the Bay Area. Thankfully BART goes from the Oakland Airport to the San Francisco Airport without having to take additional transportation. Fast forward 1.5 hours and I'm at SFO going through security and making my way to the gate.
My plane was on-time and I finally left at 7pm from SFO to SLC. I made it to SLC and found my next gate to finally head to Orlando!
If you haven't been to Salt Lake City International Airport, it is a modern airport and looks really clean. Bonus, they have AC plugs, USB, and USB-C chargers at every seat in the terminal.
Day 2 - March 11 - Finally arrived, early entry, and Tron!
After resting on the plane all night, I landed at MCO, picked up a rental car from Hertz, and headed to Disney World (which is a short 20 minute drive from the airport). At this point it's about 6am. I feel kind of tired, so I head to my room that had been ready because it was booked for the night before. I laid down and tried to sleep...I couldn't. I got up and decided I'm going to start the day. I "rope-dropped" at Magic Kingdom. Because I was staying at a Disney Resort hotel, I was able to utilize early entry.
"Rope-drop" means that you get to the Disney Park before it opens where they have actual ropes that prevent you from going into the park guarded by cast members (employees). When the park opens they "drop" the rope and you can be the first to go in.
I jumped on the bus to Magic Kingdom and made it 10 minutes before early entry was finished and the general park guests could enter.
At this point I was strategizing about what rides I could ride before the crowds came. The Seven Dwarfs Mine Train always has a 60+ minute wait time throughout the day, so that was going to be my first ride before the lines got long.
After that I went to Mickey's Philharmagic, the Carousel of Progress, Space Mountain, and Pirates of the Caribbean.
Finally time for Tron Light Cycle Run
For the Annual Passholder event for Tron, you were assigned a time slot to experience the ride. Mine was at 1 - 2pm. It was finally time! I was excited after watching it get built over the last year, I could finally experience it.
I was like a kid at this moment getting a new toy at the toy store. My body was excited, I couldn't wait to "open it". I can see the roller coaster soaring through the tracks under the huge canopy as I made my way to the ride queue.
Hearing the screams of enjoyment as people flew through the ride on their light cycle and the roller coaster whizzing by made it even more exciting.
The ride queue is pretty short as far as ride queues go, but the experience takes me back to the day of the original Tron movie.
It was my turn to get on the ride. I was super excited. I was thinking how cool it would be to sit on this motorcycle type ride, lean forward, hold on to the handlebars and take off.
As I got in (on) it, you have to lean forward and pull the handlebars into you to make the harness lock your legs and back into place. It felt like I was in the tron movie, minus the helmet.
What would a new experience be without issues
After I got into my light cycle and strapped in, the ride temporarily broke down. I was sitting hunched over with my partner sitting next to me for about 15 minutes. That wasn't too comfortable, but it wasn't horrible. I got to know the guy sitting next to me and before we knew it, we were on our way.
This ride is very fast, but short. I hear a lot of people complain about how short it is, but I like it. We shot out of the building up and over the people below in the ride queue and heading to the ride queue before we reentered the building again. A few more turns after that and the ride ended. It is definitely thrilling, but not as thrilling as some big drop rides. This is a coaster that takes off fast and coasts through the rest of the ride.
Day 2 - March 11 - Continued
After finishing up a Tron, the park was getting packed so I headed to Hollywood Studios. Once I arrived I went to one of my favorite rides, The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror™. Right next to that ride is an indoor roller coaster called, Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith that had been closed for months, but it had just opened up again while I was there.
Next I went to Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway. I like this ride because I like the quirky animations and scenes because it kind of reminds me of the older Saturday morning cartoons.
Finally I played Toy Story Mania, a shooting game you go through and earn points by playing various games.
At this point the park was closing, so I headed out.
Day 2 - March 11 - but wait there's more!
After leaving Hollywood Studios, it was 9pm, I wasn't tired yet, despite just being on a plan for 5 hours, driving, going to Magic Kingdom and finishing up at Hollywood Studios.
So I headed to Disney Spring shopping district to browse the stores and check out what's going on over there.
I walked around, checked out the band that was playing on the stage, then decided to head back to the hotel. I was now feeling tired and ready for a shower and bed. Not only that, I had put 27,000 steps in!
Day 3 - March 11 - More parks and back to the airport
I woke up early to make it to another rope drop at Animal Kingdom park. I went on the Kilimanjaro Safari, Expedition Everest, and a few other rides before having to head back to the Orlando International Airport to catch my plane back to California.
Airplane fun
This time from MCO I was going to stop at 3 airports, but I didn't have to transfer from plane to plane. It was going to be a long trip, but it was the cheapest we could find to make this trip happen.
I went from Orlando to Kentucky to Chicago to San Francisco. Thankfully I was on a Southwest flight, so I could change seats at each stop.
I started out in the back of the plane since I knew I was going to be there for awhile and made the decision to move to the front row for the last leg from Chicago to San Francisco so I could get out faster.
I was on the plane for so long I got to know the crew! I also had a conversation with one about her and her family and had another spat with the crew about how I could make the announcements since I was on the plane for so long. I even was there to watch the crew get swapped out.
I finally made it back to SFO and drove home. I got home about 1am and started work the next morning.
It can be done
The thing I learned from this trip is you can absolutely do Walt Disney World in a day if you plan your day. However, I might not do the quick turnaround from California to Florida just because things can happen with flights.
