Disney World!

Two weeks ago, my best friend and I decided to be ultra spontaneous and go to Disney World. We literally planned the trip two days before leaving. It was so fun! I had never been to Disney World in my life and neither had Morgan, even though you know we are Disneyland FREAKS. (By the way, anyone want to accompany me to Disneyland soon? ;) )

Morgan had a free flight on Southwest and two park hoppers. We found a 3-star for $28 a night. It had a free shuttle to the parks. We found a shuttle to take us from the airport to the hotel for fairly cheap. We bought another 2 day park hopper and split the price. It was all set!

Morgan took this awesome shot of our flight to Orlando. :)



Our $28 hotel. The one directly above is me studying the Magic Kingdom map. Gotta be prepared!


We walked to Walgreen's so I could buy some Dr. Pepper. You know me, can't live without the Dr. Pepper!



Tired, but excited to go to Disney World. This is us waiting for the hotel shuttle to Animal Kingdom.

The first day, we went to the Animal Kingdom. It is so beautiful! We were only there for about three hours since the plan was to do all four parks in only two short days. The park really is beautiful and I hope I get to spend more time there some time in the future!


The Tree of Life. This is Animal Kingdom's "central hub." I loved how they kept a version of the hub at each park. It's just so Disney!

I'm so excited to be at Disney World!

One really awesome thing about Disney World is that there is water EVERYWHERE. It is so pretty!

Our first ride of the trip was DINOSAUR It is the same exact ride as Indiana Jones (which they don't have in Florida), but themed more like Jurassic Park. It was kind of hilarious, slightly cheesy, and super fun.

A quick side note: A ton of people have asked me "Which is better Disneyland or Disney World?" I think it's impossible to answer that question for several reasons. I've been to Disneyland probably at least 100 times. I've been to Disney World once. For two days. Disneyland and Disney World are very different. There are definite pros and cons of each establishment. So in order to compare the two, I'll take a second to compare similar rides.

DINOSAUR vs. Indy: In my opinion, Indiana wins this one. DINOSAUR was fun, especially since it was completely new to me. But Indy is faster, has a better storyline, and is such a classic!

Leaving Dinoland, U.S.A. This bridge made us laugh. It's the "Olden Gate Bridge," of course. :)

Our next ride was the Kilimanjaro Safaris. I am not really an animal person. I don't find zoos all that exciting and animals just kind of frighten me usually. That being said, this "ride" was incredible! It was definitely about as close to Africa as I'll ever get. I got to see so many cool animals in such a short amount of time. And they all get so close! It was totally awesome!

So cool! After the Safari ride, we explored the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail which was a little more like what you might do at a cool zoo. We saw some gorillas. :)

There is nothing comparable to either of these things at Disneyland, so I guess Disney World wins this match? :)

Next, we hiked on over to Asia to ride Expedition Everest. We had gotten Fastpasses earlier in the morning. I think it was the very first thing we did!

Expedition Everest is most similar to Matterhorn, although the two are like night and day in comparison. Matterhorn is a bobsled ride through the mountain. It's queue and music are Swiss-inspired. You sit single file, in some one's lap (unless you request otherwise). It's a fun, if somewhat painful ride. The Abominable Snowman makes a few appearances and unless you are under the age of 5, he's really not that scary. Everest, on the other hand, is a train ride through the mountain. You encounter a Yeti, who's much more realistic-looking than our lovable Snowman in Disneyland. You sit side by side, which personally, I find preferable. The queue is inspired by ancient China. So which mountain do I prefer? This is a toughie. Matterhorn is a classic. It reminds me of my childhood and the fact that they don't even have a Matterhorn at the Magic Kingdom in WDW is sad. However, Everest is going to have to win this match. It was SO fun. It was definitely one of my favorite rides at Disney World.

There are so many things we didn't get to do at this park that we would have liked to. Next time! On my list is:

• The Wildlife Express Train
• The Maharajah Jungle Trek
• Kali River Rapids (we planned on doing this but the line was insane)

After we visited the Animal Kingdom, we made our way over to Epcot. Stay tuned for more pictures, Disneyland comparisons, and stories of my adventures in Florida!