Making the Internet My Accountability Partner

My roommate and I had planned a vacation for ourselves to Disney World. We both separately grew up going to Disney World at least occasionally and gave very fond memories. As adults, our relationship with Disney as a corporation is much more complicated, but the Florida theme park is a fun experience. We flew into Orlando on a Monday and left the following Monday, so that gave us six whole days in the parks. We bought a 6-day park pass because we both thought there were 5 parks we wanted to see and we both knew that Magic Kingdom would warrant a second day. Turns out there were only 4 parks we wanted to see, neither of us was very interested in the waterparks. So we planned to double up on Magic Kingdom and left the other one open to whichever park captured our attention. Our predictions leaned towards Hollywood Studios since there are more rides and my roommate loves the Star Wars land. Surprisingly, we did Epcot twice, primarily because we both loved the Guardians of the Galaxy ride. The other thing that contributed to this decision was the fact that we spent our whole day in Hollywood Studios but the Florida heat beat us and we left Epcot early our first time around. We still put in a good 6 hours at least and saw pretty much everything we wanted, but of course we missed a couple things including the evening fireworks.

From the comfort of my bedroom it is easy to leave a glowing review. We did have fun and I am glad we went. However, our last two days in the parks especially towards the latter half of the afternoon I started noticing that my feet hurt the most when standing still and with most rides having anywhere from a 45-75min wait unless you’re really lucky we did a lot of standing. It got to the point I felt myself on the verge of tears and only the promise that the pain was temporary kept the tears at bay. Part of what helped was that our very last day was our second day in Magic Kingdom and my roommate decided she wanted to see the 3pm parade so we got lunch and found our spot for the parade early so we could sit on the curb. We wound up sitting down for a good 2.5 hours through the hottest part of the day which was a significant relief. Otherwise, what helped was that I advocated for myself. There were a few times when I suggested that we walk to a different ride with a shorter wait time or that we separate so she can do and see all that she wants but I can sit and recover some stamina to finish our evening. All in all, my smart watch recorded 159,403 steps over the course of the week which according to my watch totalled about 70 miles and averaged to over 8.5 miles a day. 

I know I’ve alluded to it but I do want to state very clearly if you are doing multiple days in the Walt Disney World parks I highly suggest having a plan. My primary concerns were the heat and the pain of how much walking and standing we did. But other things like sun exposure, dehydration, and technology/entertainment also need a plan. With lines being up to 115 minutes at the longest we saw a visitor to WDW really needs to have someway of keeping themselves occupied for a significant portion of the day. My roommate and I are both readers, so we brought books/ebooks for our time in lines, but we are also living in the era of social media and we spent some time on our phones as well and we both needed a charging boost to make it through to the end of the day. While WDW has some outlets, they are hard to find (most I saw were in quick service restaurants but not all quick service spots had outlets) and they are often in use. Having a battery pack is essential, especially if you’re using the WDW app, which helps you manage Genie+, Lightning Lanes, your reservations, and gives you information on current wait times.

Not surprising to anyone who knows anything about Florida it is hot like year round. Going in April meant we went from 60 degrees being our warm yay summer is coming days in Boston to regularly getting into the mid to high 80s and often times being in direct sunlight. I am very prone to burning and have concerning family history regarding the risk for skin cancer. So I was pretty diligent about reapplying my sunscreen. I also typically drink lots of water so hydration was pretty steady for me. Thankfully the Disney parks have a plethora of water fountains and anytime you stop to grad a snack or a meal you can ask for a cup of ice water for free. 

I remember when I was little and visiting WDW, Florida would pretty consistently rain for 10-20 minutes in the afternoon, usually it was just a light shower, but it hid the sun for a little and helped cool things down. So both my roommate and I bought rain ponchos specifically expecting it’s going to rain at some point during our trip. But it didn’t and while it is entirely possible that we just happened to visit on a week without rain those do happen, I can’t help thinking about the possibility of changing climates affecting rainfall. I know here in Boston everyone who has lived here longer than me has commented on the lack of snow we’ve been getting and I can’t help but wonder what the future holds and how do you plan for travel when you can no longer have expectations of what the weather will be.