My senior year of college, I wanted to do a big trip for spring break – because it was my last one! I’ll never have another spring break again! This is my last chance! Right?!
A lot of my close friends at school were a year younger than me, and I figured they might not want the kind of spring break I was looking for. So, Jake and I decided we would do something just the two of us. And being, well, us, we decided Disney World would be the perfect place. AND IT WAS!
We stayed at the Pop Century Resort on Disney Property, which was significantly more affordable than the other resorts, and really just perfect for our needs. It included a gift shop, cafeteria, and multiple pools. For those of you who haven’t been to Disney in a while (or ever!), they now have magic bands that you wear essentially your entire trip – and they make things so easy! The magic bands act as your key to your hotel room, tickets into the park, flash passes for rides, AND you can even attach your credit card to them in order to make purchases in any of Disney’s stores…which is actually kinda dangerous for a spontaneous shopper, so I avoided that. So, naturally, I chose a pink one and Jake chose blue.
We spent three days in the park (along with one magical day in Harry Potter World), and decided on Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Hollywood Studios. Looking back, I think I would probably choose Animal Kingdom over Hollywood Studios, only because I think I’m less about the live action shows and more into seeing wild animals up close. Regardless, we had an incredible time. I got to meet my all time favorite Disney princess, Rapunzel, along with Mickey and friends! I took countless polaroids, which has become one of my favorite hobbies. AND we saw enchanting fireworks EVERY. SINGLE. NIGHT.
We also ate at some pretty amazing restaurants. Being the planner that I am, I set up the majority of our meals ahead of time with reservations. Some of our favorite places we went to were the 50’s Prime Time Cafe in Hollywood Studios, The Crystal Palace in the Magic Kingdom, and The Garden Grill in Epcot. If you go to the 50’s Prime Time Cafe, and you like chicken pot pie, I highly recommend it. It was one of the best meals I had on the entire trip! The Garden Grill was also exceptional – but make sure you take a tour through the gardens first where you see all the food they grow for the restaurant. They use natural fertilizers, such as bugs, and it’s really nice seeing where your food is coming from. Lastly, the Crystal Palace had great food, but I really recommend it if you have kids or a larger group, as it’s buffet style and not the ideal date spot.
One of my absolute favorite memories from the trip was when we went on Mission Space in Epcot. If you get any sort of motion sickness DEFINITELY don’t go on this – but Jake and I had a blast. If you have never been on it, it is basically a motion simulator that allows you to experience what it’s like to be an astronaut flying to and landing on Mars. We got the ride all to ourselves, and literally pretended we were astronauts on a SERIOUSLY STRESSFUL space mission. I mean, for all the actors our there, we were full on in that scene. Yelling directions to each other, pressing random buttons, bracing for impact – and it made it all the more fun. We truly allowed ourselves to really experience it! There was one button on the ship that said “Yaw.” I have no idea how this relates to space or what it is supposed to stand for, but Jake just kept hitting the button and screaming “YAW, YAW, YAW” whenever we would brace for any sort of impact – and I laughed so hard until I cried. If you’re looking for memories like this – get yourself to Disney World for your senior year spring break. 🙂
