My Favorite Vacation Spots

Over spring break, I visited probably one of my favorite places in the world: Disney World in Orlando, Florida. This trip was pretty much the last big vacation for my family, as I will be going to college in the fall and won’t really be around to go on big vacations in the future. 

Now you might be wondering, “Kennedy, you’re 18, why are you so obsessed with Disney World?” Well, that’s a great question, and the answer is that my family has always loved the Disney franchise and I’ve just grown up with that love practically ingrained in my DNA. To make a long story short, if you’re a member of the Jones family, you love Disney. 

It’s hard to classify this trip as a vacation because this was my fifth time going to Disney World with my family, so we have it down to a science. My dad was in charge of booking our Genie Plus passes (which are basically the new version of a fast pass where you can skip the lines of your favorite rides). Every morning at seven, we try to get passes to the big rides at each park we went to. And every morning, my family and I were out the door by 6:30am to get to the parks right when they opened.

On Monday, we went to EPCOT. We got there super early and walked on to the newest ride, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, in France. If you’re not familiar with EPCOT, half of it is designed to be modern and “sciencey” and the other half is made up of different countries with their own rides or restaurants. The Remy ride was super fun and a great way to start our trip. However, one thing that we did not consider was that the Food and Garden Festival was going on while we were there, which meant that there were a ton of beautiful flowers and topiaries all over EPCOT. While they were gorgeous and super cool to look at, the pollen got the best of my dad and me. We both have bad seasonal allergies, so by the end of the day, I couldn’t breathe through my nose and my dad’s eyes were swollen. Other than that, it was a super fun day!

On Tuesday, we went to the iconic Magic Kingdom and rushed onto Space Mountain promptly at 7:30 in the morning. Then, we basically spent the rest of the day going on the many other iconic rides in the park. It was also super fun to see the parades come and go on Main Street. But the real fun began when we rode the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train in the pouring rain at night. The weather was insane, but we were determined to ride it. Magic Kingdom also has some great quick service restaurants. I recommend going to Gaston’s Tavern to get the best ham and cheese sandwich and cinnamon roll you’ll ever have. Another hidden gem we found were cheeseburger spring rolls at the cart right outside of Adventureland. Needless to say, our day at Magic Kingdom was truly magical. 

On Wednesday, we went to Universal Studios and Island of Adventure, but you’ll have to come back because I’m saving that story for another time. 

Thursday we hit Hollywood Studios bright and early to ride the new Star Wars ride, Rise of the Resistance, and all I’ll say is that it truly lived up to the hype. Hollywood Studios is arguably my favorite park just because the rides are insane. If you’re fan of adrenaline, then you’ll love the park’s two thrilling rides, Rock and Roll Rollercoaster and Tower of Terror, just as much as me. However, we were just inches away from getting onto Tower of Terror when the ride broke! So we waited for maybe 15 minutes and the ride was back up and it was a great way to end our day at Hollywood Studios.

On Friday, we ended our trip at Animal Kingdom. We started out with the Kilimanjaro Safari and saw some amazing animals up close. Then, we walked through the several  nature trails throughout the park to see even more animals. We watched the Festival of the Lion King show which was so cool and updated since the last time we saw it. Unfortunately the park's big roller coaster, Expedition Everest, was closed for remodeling, but we were still able to ride the somewhat new Pandora Flight of Passage ride, which is one of my personal favorites. Animal Kingdom also has great restaurants and quick-service places. We ate lunch at Rainforest Café which literally transports you into a jungle. One of my favorite quick-service places to eat in all of Disney World is the Yak and Yeti quick-service restaurant in Asia in Animal Kingdom. You have to try it because the food is so amazing. 

And that was it for our trip to Disney World. The entire trip was so fun, and I was so sad to leave. Stay tuned for a post about all the tips and tricks we used to make our vacation the most fun and memorable!