How to Spend a Perfect Day at Disney

If you’ve been online for any amount of time you probably know that people have very strong opinions on Disney World vacations ranging from where you should stay, what you should eat, how you should structure your time and how long you should stay for.

On that last point, you might hear recommendations ranging from anywhere between four days to over a week. What you probably won’t ever hear is the suggestion you take a single whirlwind day, but that’s exactly what I did!

Yep, I flew from Chicago to Orlando, spent the day at Disney World, and then flew home that night. Here’s what I did during that wild day!

Early Morning Mission

I took a 5:41 AM flight from Chicago to Orlando on Spirit Airlines. As rough as that might sound, I upgraded to a big seat and it was actually pretty comfortable.

It still meant I had to get up early, but how else are you supposed to get the most out of your day at Disney?

I landed at Orlando International Airport and took a $45 Uber ride to the Magic Kingdom. Once I arrived I rented a locker at the front of the park for $12 so I wouldn’t have to drag all of my stuff, like a change of clothes and my laptop, everywhere.

They have a computer system that makes it really easy to grab a locker and the storage area is air conditioned so you don’t have to worry about your stuff overheating in the sun.

Once that was taken care of it was time to begin my Disney Day for real!!

Set Sail for Adventureland!

My first stop was Adventureland. I just love the theme and backstory of this part of the park. 

There’s a hidden story based on the fictional “Society of Explorers and Adventurers” and Adventureland has little hints and clues based on this story all around if you know to look for them. 

I was hungry after my morning travels and didn’t want to waste my appetite on some muffin at the airport Starbucks so I made my way straight to the Adventureland Spring Roll for the Cheeseburger Spring Rolls. 

They’re pretty much exactly what they sound like and they taste AMAZING! The texture is a dream and it comes with a little cup of Thousand Island style dressing. 

I love the Cheeseburger Spring Rolls so much I actually created my own version! My recipe uses phyllo dough to make squares since I think that’s much easier than rolling a bunch of spring rolls.

I’ll leave that to the chefs of the “Society of Explorers and Adventurers.” All I know is you’ll want to make an extra batch if you’re having guests over cause they’ll go really quickly!

Afterwards I stayed in Adventureland and headed over to the Sunshine Tree Terrace to wash down my spring rolls with one of my favorite refreshing desserts, The I Lava You Float.

Named for an adorable Disney short, the float consists of orange Dole whip with strawberry Fanta topped with red passion fruit syrup and popping candies. It tastes like heaven, especially on a hot day!

Getting in Line

Float, in hand, I headed over to the Haunted Mansion ride. I had paid for the late Genie Plus pass, so I was able to go into the lightning line. 

For those of you who don’t have PhDs in Disneyology, Genie Plus was, until recently, an extra purchase park visitors could make that allowed you to use available lightning lane spots to skip ahead. 

It’s gone now anyway, so don’t worry too much about it. It’s being replaced with a similar service that allows you to plan ahead for the rides you want to prioritize called Lightning Lane Multipass. 

There are lots of videos on Youtube that can help you learn how to use this new system. I may make a video about it myself after my next visit so you can see the ease of use. 

I did find it helpful in being able to schedule my day the last time I was there “under the new regime” and was actually able to ride 6 rides in four hours!

I wasn’t kidding when I said it may seem like you might need a PhD to understand all this stuff! There are tons of people who make entire careers out of telling people which services they need to buy to get the most out of their Disney trip. 

I highly recommend following The Tim Tracker on Youtube for helpful info on all things Disney. 

I’ll leave the strategy and app talk to the professionals and stick to what I know: food and fun!

Anyway, after the Haunted Mansion I was able to walk right on to It’s a Small World. I suppose it’s not surprising that IASW wouldn’t have the long lines of newer or “more exciting” rides, but come on, it’s a classic! 

I enjoy sitting in the air conditioning and seeing all the pretty colors and costumes on the animatronics. 

Fun fact: did you know there is a sun in every room? Each one is themed to its room. 

Make sure you take notice of this next time you ride! 

The original ride in Disneyland also has a cool backstory. On opening day, Walt Disney invited children from every country that is represented in IASW and had them bring water from a body of water in their country to add to the ride. 

Even today, when they clean the ride, they always save some of the water to ensure a little bit of the original is there. How cool is that?

Plus you kind of have to ride it at least once per trip, or else you might forget the relative size of the world!

Into the Movies

My next ride was The Little Mermaid Ride, which wins my award for most underrated ride at Disney World. 

I love the colors and the theming. The queue is also beautiful. 

You get to relive the story and music of The Little Mermaid while you move through beautiful underwater scenes with dancing animatronics. 

My favorite part of this ride is Ursula. I can relate to her LOL.

While it can’t replace the VHS tape in your attic, it does have one thing over the movie: air conditioning! I can’t tell you how nice that is on a scorching Florida day!

Sticking with the themes of living in the classic animated movies and cooling off, I headed to Gaston’s Tavern for cold brewed coffee.

You can’t have a coffee without pastries (at least in Chicago, I’m not sure about the Florida laws) so I also got a warm cinnamon roll and delicious ham and cheese sandwich on a pretzel bun. 

The menu was recently changed and I am looking forward to trying the new creme brûlée croissant and a new ham and cheese tart.

After I had my baked goodies I went to the upper balcony of Pinochio’s Village House in Fantasy Land to finish my cold brew. It’s a great place to hang out and one of my favorite hidden gems in the Magic Kingdom.

Pirates and Cowboys

I was able to get on the lightning lane for the classic Pirates of the Caribbean ride. It may not have the same production values as the movies but it does have those wonderful pirate smells!

Did you know you can buy candles online that smell like the ride? 

The ARRRRRRR conditioning in the Pirates ride was a relief but then it was back into the Florida sun so I mobile ordered a crisp, refreshing Diet Coke (I promise this post isn’t sponsored lol) and made my way to the porch at Pecos Bill’s to watch the Festival of Fantasy Parade, since that is its origin point.

Tiki Room with a View

For my next blissfully air conditioned stop, I lined up for the Enchanted Tiki Room. This is one of those classic Disney attractions that has been around since the beginning of the Magic Kingdom. 

It’s a show featuring singing birds and the original version at Disneyland featured some of the earliest animatronics. The songs were written by The Sherman Brothers who are famous for creating some of the most iconic tunes for Disney films like Mary Poppins and The Jungle Book. 

You can even bring your Dole Whip in with you to eat while you enjoy the show assuming it doesn’t melt while you’re waiting in line!

Getting a Move On…

Next I rode the People Mover and then walked over to the Storybook Circus area, which is themed after Dumbo. It’s where you can ride those Dumbos that go around in circles, though not if you’re me on that day!

Instead I opted for an attraction known as “a cookie.” The cookies from Big Top Treats in the circus area are better than the ones from Main Street, if you can believe it!

Cookie in hand, I hopped the train and rode it around the park to Frontierland where I used a lightning lane to get on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.

It’s a roller coaster that is still pretty thrilling without having the wild drops or upside down loops sending you into space.

While I waited I had a kid’s taco from Pecos Bill Cafe. It came with water and orange and apple slices so it was a nice affordable and healthy snack as I started to wind down my day.

If you want to try not to overeat at Magic Kingdom or save money, ordering from the kid’s menu is a great option. What are they going to do, ask for your ID?

…and moving on out.

After my railroad ride it was time for me to be getting back to Chicago. I grabbed an iced coffee from Main Street and went to the locker to get the stuff I left there.

With my Disney Day complete, I took the resort ferry to The Grand Floridian where I changed my clothes and had a drink at the hotel lobby bar before calling an Uber to take me to the airport.

Would I recommend only spending one day at Disney? No, there’s way too much to do for that!

If you can fit in at least a second day, consider seeing and eating at the Hoop Dee Doo Revue at Fort Wilderness.

But if you do only have one day, I can highly recommend spending it the way I did. I had a great time, even though I was running from place to place a lot. 

But you know what? There are worse ways to get exercise, LOL.