Written by The Strategy
Adulting is hard. Work, bills, taxes…it’s all stuff no one tells you about when you’re a kid. Thankfully though, a place called Orlando, Florida exists, and within it two of my favourite places: Walt Disney World and Universal Studios. Two places that are guaranteed to make you feel like a kid again…with some adult benefits.
In the name of research, we visited Disney’s Epcot and Universal Studies on a weekend jaunt to Orlando. Only this time, going as twenty-somethings, we decided to make our visit to these kid-friendly places, a little bit more adult.
Disney
The unofficial tagline says it all: “The happiest place on earth”. Once on Disney property, we practically squealed every time we saw a Mikey Mouse logo.
We had one main goal when visiting Disney’s Epcot: Have a drink in every country. We hate to sound so cliché, but it’s basically the thing to do when you go to Epcot as an adult. Starting off in Mexico with margarita’s, we wound our way through the likes of Canada, Japan, Paris, ending where we started just in time to catch the IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth fireworks show. A stroke of luck in America has us in front of the America Garden’s Theatre for Garden Rocks’ Gin Blossoms concert. If the name doesn’t ring a bell, let us tell you that they were an awesome 90s band that brought back so many memories of Dawson’s Creek.
We got back to our hotel in Disney Springs sweaty, tired, mouse-earred, and with smiles we couldn’t wipe off our faces. M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E all the way!
Disney Springs
Technically, this isn’t a park, but Disney Springs is the new Downtown Disney. It’s packed with great restaurants, bars and shopping. There’s also an array of hotels on the Disney Springs Resort property that offers shuttle service to and from the various Disney parks.
We chose to stay at one of those hotels, making it super convenient to walk to Disney Springs every evening. After you finish at the parks, we suggest you check out Morimoto Asia, Paddlefish and Frontera Cocina for some noms.
Universal
If you don’t visit The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, then you aren’t doing Universal Studios and Islands of Adventures right. We bought the one day Park to Park pass for Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure so that we could enjoy the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in both parks, using the Hogwarts Express. Universal Studios is home to Diagon Alley, while Islands of Adventure is the home to Hogsmeade.
We started in Diagon Alley, where we wish we rode Escape from Gringotts not once, but at least twice more. From there, we hoped on the Hogwart’s Express at King’s Cross Station (through Platform 9 ¾ no less), and arrived in Hogsmeade.
Try the butter beer. Initially, the thought of butter beer grossed us out, but it’s actually a delicious cream soda-esque non-alcoholic beverage. But, be excited when you notice that even the water sold in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is thematic. You’re not drinking Dasani here. No you’re drinking Gilly Water.
Each ride and attraction outdoes itself and every detail is exactly like the movie.
Our other favourite attractions from the two parks included the Revenge of the Mummy ride, and of course, the Jurassic Park River Adventure.
Our visit to Orlando was exactly what we needed. A quick break to forget about our responsibilities, and enjoy being a kid again. If you want more on Disney and other theme parks, we highly suggest you follow TS Alum Carlye Wisel‘s Instagram adventures as a Theme Park Journalist. And yeah, we’re now thinking about a career change…
