We had decided that, with our last park day, we wanted to: ride Flight of Passage again, spend more time at Epcot to explore the Festival of the Arts and eat snacks, ride favorite Hollywood Studios rides one more time, and watch Fantasmic. So that's what we did!
We again rocked Early Entry to walk on to Flight of Passage and Navi River Journey. We also made time to ride Expedition Everest again.
We caught the Winged Encounters birds, which was another thing I've never done at Disney and always wanted to. We also rope dropped the Yak and Yeti toilets, which is something else I've never done at Disney. So many firsts!!
We got to meet lots of favorite characters at Animal Kingdom.
Since Dinoland was closing right after our trip, we were some of the last people to meet these characters in their Dinoland costumes.
They were all really fun...
but Chip and Dale might have been our favorites!
We grabbed coffees and some breakfast treats (guava danish, anyone??) before saying good-bye to AK and making our way over to Epcot. We accomplished so much, and it was still only mid-morning.
We were really excited to just wander around Epcot and enjoy the festival. We played in the water...
drank sodas from around the world (again, a first that has been on my Disney list)...
painted...
wandered through the countries...
and snacked!
We rode Remy's again, Soarin' again, and Living with the Land. That rounded out all our personal favorite slow boat rides as mine is Small World, Melissa's is 3 Caballeros, and Emily's is Living with the Land.
My magical Epcot moment was getting the golden ticket for the bar at Space 220 without having to wait on the waitlist.
Space 220 had been on my list to experience, but I didn't want to pay restaurant prices. Scoring a walk up spot at the bar was the perfect magical Epcot moment!!
We finished off our final day back at Hollywood Studios. We used Lightning Lanes to ride a few of our favorite rides again: Tower of Terror, Slinky Dog, Runaway Railroad, and Toy Story Mania.
We rounded out our ride roster with Swirling Saucers, enjoyed the new Little Mermaid show, had some dinner, and grabbed snacks to eat during the Fantasmic show.
Watching the Fantasmic show was a fun way to end our last day at the parks.
Well, we actually ended our last day at the parks hiking out to our lonely car way out in the parking lot. Gotta hit those steps goals!
Day 3 by the numbers: 3 parks, 11 rides, 5 characters, 13 unique food places, 3 shows, 36,410 steps.
We finished off our final morning by having a scrumptious meal at Ale and Compass, walking around Crescent Lake, and then heading to the airport for our flights home.
I knew I would enjoy a mom's only Disney trip, but I didn't realize quite how much.
The mental load of having to account for everyone's wants and needs and preferences and plans was lifted by having super compatible Disney companions. We easily agreed on plans, took care of our own stuff, never argued or complained or whined (except maybe Melissa about riding It's a Small World), and meshed so well throughout the whole trip. They even liked to nest and organize in a hotel room like I do!
We leveraged Early Entry and savvy strategy and Lightning Lanes and single rider lines (and a bit of luck) to ride and do everything we wanted with minimal wait times our entire trip.
It never felt rushed as we explored the parks, snacked our way around, happened upon characters and experiences, and took oh-so-many pictures...that everyone was totally on board with!
Sometimes you don't realize the daily load of life until it is lifted. No schedules to organize. No things to keep track of. No errands to do. No to-do list hanging over your head. No decisions to make.
When I say it was magical, it truly was. We had so much fun! It wasn't just the rides or the shows or the food, although that was all great.
It was the laughter and the silliness and the little moments where things just worked out so perfectly that you felt like there must be a bit of pixie dust in the air.
Walking onto a ride without a wait or happening upon some fun entertainment or finding a great new treat to try just added little moments of joy throughout each day.
We had so many fun character interactions! I hadn't really had character meet and greets on my radar before this trip when I was thinking about priorities, but those were some of my favorite memories.
And yes, there were things we knew our families would have enjoyed about the trip. And, of course, we love them and missed them.
But this trip filled my cup so much that I'm sure I came back better for my family.
Our trip by the numbers:
8 parks
38 rides
15 characters
10 shows
25 unique food/drink places
324 pictures (after editing)
105,451 steps
Magical memories: too many to count
Did we win Disney?
I think so!
