Day 12 Four Parks One Day? Can we do it?

As we wake up this morning it is a bit of a sad day. Today would be our last day of our vacation. Tomorrow we wake up and make the 16 hour drive back home.

However, we are not going to worry about that right now. That is a problem for future me and present me can’t wait to get this day started. But before we can get moving for the day we need to get some coffee from the intermission food court at All Star Music Resort.

Today the coffee wasn’t bad. I guess it was just that first day that the coffee was pretty crappy. Every other time we had it, it was decent.

Now we weren’t going to get any breakfast here today. We would be heading right to EPCOT this morning and going to France to get something for breakfast. The park opens for resort guest at 8am but we wouldn’t be going till around 0830 or 9.

I got on the app a couple of minutes before 7 to try and get a Lightning Lane for Remy. I did the same thing I’ve done the past two times. However, once 7 hit I was showing no available times. I quickly closed out and reloaded but the next available wasn’t until 1515 and we would be in another park by than. By 0743 there was no available times for Remy for the rest of the day. I am not sure what time they “sold out” but I am sure it was well before that time.

Today we would be trying to accomplish doing all four parks in one day. The plan was to start at EPCOT and around 1330 go to Hollywood Studios. From there it would be Animal Kingdom and to finish off the night at Magic Kingdom. Who knows if we will be able to do it.

Once we arrived at the park we went on Spaceship Earth one last time. After Spaceship Earth we went on Soarin’. This time we got lucky and got section B. The ride is so much better when you get the middle section.

From here we went back to the France Pavilion to grab breakfast at Les Halles Boulangerie-Patisserie. The line was coming out of the gift shop and towards the Ice Cream Shop so we decided to skip it and find something else.

EPCOT in my opinion really lacks any good breakfast options other than Les Halles Boulangerie-Patisserie. It was a bit of a pain to try and find something but we ended up getting something at one of the food booths for Flower and Garden. I can’t remember the name of it but it had egg with a cornmeal “biscuit”.

It wasn’t bad and it was definitely different. My daughter and I just needed something to hold us over till lunch time. We have a reservation for Space 220 which we both are really looking forward too. Not so much for the food but for the atmosphere.

Now we just needed to kill some time before our lunch reservation at noon. We walked around World Showcase looking at the different shops and went on a couple of rides like Living with the Land, Nemo, and Three Cabelleros. I tried to get another LL for Test Track when we were in line for Soarin’ but had no luck so I looked at something available in Hollywood Studios.

Again I couldn’t find anything with an early enough time. Most of the LL available at Hollywood Studios was after 5. That wouldn’t work if I was sticking to my plan of doing all four parks. I ended up booking Jungle Cruise at Magic Kingdom starting at 1800. After lunch I would be able to book another LL so I wasn’t too worried about it since I couldn’t find anything at Hollywood Studios.

We checked out every country while we were walking around and didn’t skip any. So many interesting things to see and buy. Surprisingly my daughter didn’t really want much. I think she was just waiting for lunch.

Good thing since it was getting close to lunch time. My mother wasn’t joining us today for lunch. She was afraid of getting motion sickness from the restaurant. That was a common complaint from guests who ate there. She ended up getting something from a food booth.

My daughter and I checked into the restaurant and were quickly taken into the space elevator. Going “up” to the restaurant was my favorite part of the whole experience. Lifting off away from EPCOT and seeing it get smaller and smaller until you can only make out the state of Florida was really cool.

The food at Space 220 was good however, I feel it was way overpriced. I ended up getting the tuna tartar and steak. My daughter got the wedge salad and burger. Both meals cost the same amount of money. Lunch will run you $55 per adult. It is a fixed menu and you can choose an appetizer and main course. Dinner is $79 per person and also includes a dessert.

Not once while I was in the restaurant did I feel like I was moving. Things do go by the window that over looks the earth but I never felt like I was spinning. You see the same point on Earth the whole time up there.

It definitely was a neat place to check out. However, I don’t think I will be returning. I think I would only return if they change the menu and don’t do the fixed menu. Like I said the food was good just a little overpriced in my opinion.

After lunch we meet back up with my mom. From here we just had a little time to kill before we headed over to Hollywood Studios. Park Hopping doesn’t start till 2 but they normally let you start going in 5 to 10 minutes early.

Since we drove to EPCOT I had to drive over to Hollywood Studios. I had my daughter and mother take the Skyliner from EPCOT over to Hollywood Studios. I wanted to do the same but it just didn’t make sense for me to do it and have to back track back to EPCOT.

A couple minutes before 2 we scanned our bands to Hollywood Studios and made our way through the park. I was really hopping to do a ride here but all the lines were very long and I ended up getting a 1515 LL for the Safari over at Animal Kingdom. I figured we would stay here for about an hour and check out the shops we missed on our first visit.

I also had to go get my one photo I get every single time I visit Disney and Hollywood Studios. Ever since the first time I visited on my senior class trip I get this one photo. It is just me standing next to the USMC Poster.

I forgot to do this on Saturday so I am glad I remembered today. It is just my little tradition for myself. I just wish my mom could take better pictures. Guess next time I will have my daughter do it.

A little after three we started heading out to the car. The sun was really beating down on us all and it would have been really nice to go and jump in the pool. However, we had a goal to meet. Two parks are already done. Two more to go.

Once we arrived at Animal Kingdom we headed straight back to Kilimanjaro Safari. Once in line I started looking for our next ride to get a LL for. Much to my surprise I was able to get a LL for Everest. I quickly booked it before it went away.

We would be able to ride it once we got done the safari. Now this ride on Kilimanjaro Safari wasn’t as good as the first time on this trip. We didn’t see anywhere close to the numbers we saw the first time.

Plus most of the animals were not very active. However, the giraffes did get pretty close to the trucks. We even had to stop once for them to cross in front of us.

The rest of the ride was pretty standard and not much else happened. The lions were still sleeping on the rocks. The driver told us about the bees and how elephants don’t like them. You know, all the normal stuff you see and hear while on the safari at Animal Kingdom.

Once we exited the trucks we went over to Everest. My daughter was a little nervous. She has ridden this ride a couple of times with my brother but she was more nervous for me. She was worried about my heart.

Since a few days ago I went on Ripsaw Falls I knew this would be fine for me. I have ridden Everest before but it was many, many years ago. We got in line and got ready for our wild ride.

Everest really is a fun ride. My daughter was screaming the whole time. Not really sure why she started doing this. In the past she would never scream but now she does. Will we ever find out? Probably not.

Afterwards, it was time for my mother and daughter to grab a bite to eat. They both wanted what they had the first day we were here. My daughter got two orders of Mac and Cheese and my mom got her pulled pork jelly donut. I decided to hold off and get something from Magic Kingdom.

After all, we would be heading over there soon. At this point I wasn’t sure if we would make it to our LL for Jungle Cruise. We would be cutting it a little short.

Once they were finished eating we heading back out of the park and to the parking lot. While looking around I noticed the sky getting a little darker but didn’t hear any thunder and the rain looked like it was well to the north of us on the weather app. I figured we would have nothing to worry about.

Now the trek to the car from the front of Animal Kingdom was a long one. The sidewalk ended before we even hit the row we parked at. We didn’t get a closer spot at the Ticket and Transportation center either. I have never taken the tram at the TTC till today.

It would have been a very long walk to the monorail if we didn’t hop on the tram. It is a nice ride but I can usually make it to the car before the tram gets there. I’d much rather keep moving than stand in line waiting for the tram.

Once we got through security we headed towards the monorail. Only thing was the monorail wasn’t working. It was down due to weather so we had to take the ferry boat across Seven Seas Lagoon. I like the ferry boat ride but we were trying to make it to our LL reservation.

Than it hit me. If the monorail is down due to weather maybe Jungle Cruise is too. Sure enough it was delayed and we would still be able to use our LL once it got back up.

Luckily, the storm never hit Magic Kingdom. It was close to us but not over top of us. We never even heard any thunder and definitely didn’t see any lightning. We really lucked out the last couple of days. Universal was getting hammered each afternoon. WDW was barely getting anything.

The down time for the rides was only about a half hour. After that they were all up and running. We looked at the wait time for Splash Mountain but it was back up over an hour. Neither of us wanted to wait that long so we just went over to get on Jungle Cruise.

Jungle Cruise is such a classic ride. No matter what the ride is very fun and enjoyable. However, if you get an amazing Skipper. The ride is that much better.

Our Skipper today was awesome. He was funny and interacted with all the different guests. Sometimes you get a funny Skipper who doesn’t interact. Other times you get one that isn’t very funny and uses the same types of jokes but is very interactive with the guests. Our Skipper today was both.

After we got off the boat I went to grab my citrus swirl one last time. I ended up completely forgetting to eat dinner today. I really wanted to go to Pecos Bill. Guess I will just have to go next time.

We ended up doing a little more shopping and picking up some last minute items before we left the park for the night. Tomorrow morning we would be waking up early to hit the road to go home. It was a fun trip but it was time to get back to work and reality.

There were somethings we didn’t get to do that we wish we did. Other things we forgot about and it didn’t really matter. Overall it was a great trip. Plus we got to visit all four parks in one day.

I always wanted to try and do that and today we finally did. As much as I am not a fan of Disney Genie +. Without it we wouldn’t have never been able to go on as many rides as we did today. Maybe on my next visit I will just purchase it for the day I want to do all four parks again. And I will be trying to do that again.