Orlando 2022: A Perfect Day at Disney World

Tommy

Just a Millennial living in the real world...

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Catching up on blog posts from 2022 as it has been a very busy year with a new job.

If you couldn’t already tell with my writing, then you probably already know that I am a huge Star Wars nerd. I grew up playing with Star Wars action figures and the X-Wing and Tie Fighter PC games back in the early 90s. And that is the reason why I am a huge fan of the space battles and Star Wars.

Ever since Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge opened, I’ve been wanting to visit. Galaxy’s Edge is located in Hollywood Studios at Disney World and it opened in August 2019. Galaxy’s Edge is 14+ acres in a Galaxy far far away. They also opened one in Disneyland as well.

A few of my friends signed up to run the 2022 Dopey Challenge in early January so I figured it would be a good time to escape the cold weather in Chicago and cheer them on. My itinerary included a trip to Orlando from January 7-10:

Friday Night: Fly to Orlando.
Saturday: Go to Hollywood Studios.
Sunday: Watch my friends run the marathon. Free time at Universal Studios Loews Portofino Bay Hotel. Celebrate at Disney Springs.
Monday: Fly back to Chicago.

I used to live in Florida so I have been able to visit the parks a few times, but the parks have changed drastically over time. My most recent visit was back in 2018 when I ran the Disney World Half-Marathon.

Before You Go

I purchased a ticket for Hollywood Studios online for $109 and prices have risen significantly recently. Have you seen Disney’s stock price lately? During my visit, they still had COVID-19 guidance in place so you had to pick a day for your reservation and the parks had limited capacity. Masks were required to be worn indoors, but they weren’t required outdoors. The COVID restrictions have now lifted and it’s optional to wear masks indoors.

Tips:

Purchase tickets well in advance so they won’t sell out. Using a travel agent may help you save money as they tend to have connections to get tickets at a cheaper price.
Download the Disney World App early and get used to it: This is what you will use to view the park map, make dinner reservations, set up fast passes, see current wait times for rides, etc.
Make reservations and fast passes well in advance: Dinner reservations can be made 60 days in advance of your trip. Fastpass reservations can be made 30 days in advance of your trip. I didn’t do any of these, but if there are certain things you want to do, make sure you reserve them as they will fill up quickly.
Park Hopper is a good option if you want to visit multiple parks in the same day.

Hilton Orlando

For accommodations, I decided to stay at the Hilton Orlando, which is a 4 star hotel. I chose this hotel as rates were relatively cheap ($150/night) and I was able to use the $250 resort credit using my American Express Hilton Honors Aspire credit card, which I could use the credit towards the price of the room and it helps me reduce the $550 annual fee. The Hilton Orlando Resort was one of the best Hilton hotels that I have stayed at within the US so I had to mention it on my blog.

The location is hands down the best part of the hotel. It’s a 15 minute drive to Disney World and a 15-minute drive to Universal Studios. The hotel was pretty big and it had an updated lobby. The property has 3 restaurants, a marketplace with coffee shop, a big lobby bar, spa, gym, 3 pools, a waterslide & lazy river, poolside cabanas to rent, and firepits. The Scratch Market is open 24 hours and it had very good coffee. Also, I thought the employees provided a very high level of hospitality.

The American Express Hilton Honors Aspire credit card includes Hilton Honors Diamond Status and I was upgraded to a 1-bedroom suite, which was great.

The room was very big and spacious. It had a King-sized bed, fridge, 2 TVs, queen sized sofa bed, and a big desk. The shower was a little small, but it was fine. The bed was comfy.

Breakfast was served at David’s Club Bar & Grill, which was a breakfast buffet. They had a wide selection ranging from create your own omelette to a Belgian waffle maker. Overall, I thought the food was really good and better than a lot of options at other Hilton brands!

Hollywood Studios

I parked over at Disney Springs so I could go grab a quick bite to eat around noon and then I met with my fraternity brother in Sarasota Springs for the Purdue basketball game at noon, which we won. After the game, I took the bus from Sarasota Springs to Hollywood Studios to meet up with another fraternity brother, who was also running the Dopey Challenge and he ran the Half-Marathon earlier. I think I waited about 30 minutes for the bus as Hollywood Studios isn’t as popular as the Magic Kingdom, but the bus system is one of the best ways to get around Disney World as it’s free (Also the monorail).

Pro Tip: Parking is free at Disney Springs, but the buses to Disney Springs cutoff at 4pm. So I ended up taking a Lyft back to Disney Springs, which only costed about $10-$15. Standard parking at the parks is $25-$30 so you can save some money if you do the same thing as I did.

I arrived at the park around 3pm on a Saturday during the marathon weekend and my fraternity brother wasn’t going to be able to meet me until around 4pm. It was crowded, but I didn’t think it was overly crowded as it was later in the day and because of limited capacity with COVID-19. So I entered the park and I went on Star Tours as it was only like a 10 minute wait, and the ride was very nostalgic for me as I loved that ride as a kid. They actually changed up the tour a little bit and it included some bits from the latest trilogy, Age of the Resistance. I’d rate the ride 2 out of 5 as it definitely showed it’s age.

My fraternity brother was able to meet up with me in like 45 minutes after Star Tours so I walked through Toy Story Land and then I headed over to Galaxy’s Edge to explore. I decided to grab a quick bite to eat at Docking Bay 7 and their menu changes regularly. I had the sausage, which was a big portion size and decent. The Gold Squadron beer was actually pretty good, which was a golden lager.

Star Wars is in a galaxy far far away and they have their own language, which is very neat. See below for some basic terms/phrases:

Bright Suns = Good Morning.
Rising Moons = Good Afternoon or Good Evening.
Ignite the Spark = Greeting for the Resistance. Light the fire is the response.
Til the Spire!: Goodbye or until we meet again.
Padawans or Younglings: Little children.
Refreshers: Restrooms.

Once my fraternity brother met up with me, we went over to Millennium Falcon Smuggler’s Run. The regular queue was estimated to be 1.5 hours; however, we went to the single rider queue, and the wait was literally 10 minutes. A nice gentleman in front of us even let us go in front of him so we could both could ride in the same cockpit (limited to 4 riders: Pilot, gunner, and 2 engineers). We both rode as engineers, but it was a lot of fun as it was an interactive game. I would rate Smuggler’s Run a 5 out of 5 as long as you don’t have to wait over 2 hours.

After Smuggler’s Run, we checked out Star Wars Rise of the Resistance on the app and the ride actually shut down for maintenance so we went over to the Tower of Terror, which was about a 20 minute wait. The Tower of Terror is a haunted hotel experience and ends with a freefall so it’s thrill ride. It’s fairly high up and the ride is a little creepy so you have to like thrill rides and horror, but it isn’t overly scary. The wait time ended up being about an hour wait as I think they had a problem, but we were able to get on eventually and it’s still awesome! I have gone on the ride before so the Tower of Terror was more of a nostalgic ride for me, but I was very happy that I went on it. I would rate the Tower of Terror a 5 out of 5 and is one of the few thrill rides at Disney World.

Immediately after the ride, we checked the app again and it showed that Star Wars Rise of the Resistance was up and running again so we ran over. It was only about an 1.5 hour wait, which is a very short wait time as this ride is consistently a 2-3.5 hour wait time. It took a good 1.5 hours, but we were able to get on eventually. The ride was so unique and it literally felt like you were a part of Star Wars! It was more of a tour/experience than a ride as you walked through many different areas and then at the end there was ride. I won’t spoil anything as it was fantastic and definitely worth the wait! The Rise of the Resistance is definitely a 10 out of 5 and unlike any ride you will ever experience.

After Rise of the Resistance, my fraternity brother went home as he was running the marathon the next day and it was about 6:30pm by that time. I ran over to the Slinky Dog roller coaster and it ended up being about an 1.5 hour wait. The roller coaster was very tame and more for smaller children. It was definitely not as scary as the Tower of Terror, but it was a fun ride and I love Toy Story. I would rate Slinky Dog a 3 out of 5.

After Slinky Dog ride, it was about time to head over to Oga’s Cantina for my 8:20pm reservation.

I arrived to Oga’s Cantina within about 15 minutes before my reservation to check in. Oga’s Cantina is a bar within Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge and it is VERY HARD to get a reservation as you need to book reservations days in advance. However, I was extremely lucky. Me and my fraternity brother were watching the Purdue basketball game earlier that day and he told me to keep checking the Disney World App to see if a reservation opened up. Lo and behold, a reservation opened up for 1 person at 8:20pm right before closing at 9pm. So I ended up booking it!

The cantina was extremely cool, clean, and lively. It literally felt like you were in a cantina on Mos Eisley. Cocktail prices ranged from $17-$46, but most of them were $17-$21. I think the $46 cocktail is priced for a group. I ordered the Jet Juice since I love bourbon. It has Maker’s Mark bourbon, Ancho Reyes Chile Liqueur, Stirrings Pomegranate Liqueur, White Grape Juice, and Lemon Juice. I thought the cocktail had a lot of flavor and I was impressed! I also ordered the Blue Bantha, which is the non-alcoholic blue milk that Luke Skywalker drinks in the movies. I thought it was amazing! It was very sweet and just fun to drink. It was served with a Vanilla Butter Sugar Cookie, which was very dry, but then I dipped it into the milk, which was a great choice!

If I were to go back, I would love to try some other cocktails. The Bespin Fizz was their fancy cocktail where it had fizzy bubbles, which was really cool to see as the person next to me ordered it. I think the Jedi Mind Trick cocktail would also be good. Overall, I was very impressed with their cocktails and I thought Oga’s Cantina was very cool to visit!

Loews Portofino Bay Hotel

So I actually ended up switching hotels during my Orlando Trip. The reason was I was able to use the $200 credit for the American Express Platinum Card Fine Hotels + Resorts collection at the Lowes Portofino Bay hotel. Rates were going for about $350-$400/night so I would essentially get a night half off.

The property was massive and Italian themed. It has 3 pools, 8 restaurants, shops, spa, gym, and more. Booking hotels through the Fine Hotels + Resorts collection also provides a $100 experience credit, which I used at Splendito Bar & Grill located at the main pool. The Bar & Grill was island themed, the drinks were strong, and the food was very mediocre. Late at night, I also had a few drinks at the Thirsty Fish and the next morning I had some coffee at Starbucks.

I don’t have any photos of the room, but it was ok and a little dated. The hallways were extremely dated, but the lobby, restaurants, and shops were all renovated nicely. I didn’t experience their flagship restaurant and I would have if I wasn’t meeting my friends for dinner that night, but I would expect it to be decent or at least a lot better food than the island bar. In my opinion, this hotel was not nearly as nice as the Hilton Orlando, but it has a good location and this hotel includes free Universal Express Unlimited, which allows you to skip the regular lines at Universal’s most popular attraction. I believe this perk is worth about $129/person so that is why the nightly rates are more expensive, but that is a great perk.

Disney Springs

Disney Springs is the shopping and restaurant megaplex of Disney World. There are a ton of shops and restaurants, and it even has an AMC theaters, bowling, House of Blues, and more. I’ve been here multiple times and it’s very nice and a great place to shop and eat. Parking is free, but will fill up quickly during prime hours.

I have been to the following in Disney Springs over the years:

House of Blues: Great cajun food & music venue.
D-Luxe Burger: Decent burgers and a good place for a quick bite. Think similar to Shake Shack, but not as good.
Mac n Cheese Food Truck: Pretty good mac n cheese for a cheaper price as it’s a food truck.
The Edison: Didn’t have food here, but it looked good. They have a big whiskey selection and had a good Old Fashioned. This is a sit-down restaurant with American fare.
Jock Lindsay’s Hanger Bar: Laid back bar with an island and aircraft theme. We came here for drinks after dinner, which had decent cocktails and a decent beer selection.
Raglan Road Irish Pub & Restaurant: A great Irish pub with live music and dancing. Decent food.
Wetzel’s Pretzels: Very good pretzels!
Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill: This is where we ate dinner after my friends completed the Dopey Challenge. Wolfgang Puck is a fine/signature dining restaurant serving pizzas, pastas, fish, etc. and it was great! I ordered the Rigatoni, which was excellent! We didn’t order their pizzas, but they smelled amazing. Everyone loved their entrees! Reservations are recommended in advance as it was packed on a Sunday night.

Overall:

My Disney World trip was a ton of fun and it was perfect! I’m a huge Star Wars nerd so Galaxy’s Edge was on my bucket list. I must say, Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge was amazing! I was able to go on every single ride that I wanted to within my time there. The only thing I didn’t do was Savi’s Workshop, where you build your own lightsabers, but that was a little time consuming and very expensive ($250). Everywhere I have read though, I heard Savi’s Workshop was an incredible experience, which I definitely believe with how good everything is at Disney World. If you are a Star Wars fan, then you have to visit Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge!

Since I am older, my favorite Disney parks are Epcot and Hollywood Studios because of the rides and things to do. Back in 2018, I visited the Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, and Epcot as an adult (first time I visited Disney World since I was a kid). The Animal Kingdom was actually very cool and I loved the Expedition Everest. The Magic Kingdom was great when I was a little kid, but there aren’t enough thrill rides for me, although Space Mountain is still amazing! Epcot is great for drinks around the world/food, exhibits, and Soarin Around the World! Orlando is a lot of fun with good weather and the next time I go back, I will have to visit Universal Studios as I want to visit Harry Potter World.