A Rival Weekend in Walt Disney World

Travel is one of the truest tests of a relationship. Lucky for me and Norris, we started out doing the whole “long distance” thing, so we’ve been traveling together since the day we met and have literally traveled the world together. Back and forth between Colorado and Minnesota, several trips to New York, California and Florida, multiple cruises, we even survived a few extremely long trips across the ocean to London and Japan. Sure, we’ve had our fair share of travel bumps in the road, who hasn’t?! But to be honest, we travel really well together and for that, I’m extremely grateful. So as I packed my bags and prepared to meet him in Orlando for the tail end of his spring break, I was genuinely excited. Not only would I get to see him soon, but it would be in our favorite place …. Walt Disney World! And being the sweet guy he is, he’d arranged for us to stay at a new resort for me, Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge complete with a view of the nearby savannah. Yass, queen!

DAY ONE: Arrival

A flight from Minnesota to Orlando is only a few hours, but it’s usually crawling with over-sugared children and their high strung parents. So mentally preparing for these flights can often be its own special adventure. Imagine my surprise and delight when I took my seat in the COMPLETELY EMPTY exit row! I could check that off the list of travel stressors. The plane eventually took off and like clockwork, a few hours later we arrived in “The City Beautiful” (Orlando’s nickname) and all my travel stress immediately began to fade. You know the ones, “will my flight be on-time” or “how is this plane even flying in the air” or “will I get some weird driver when I arrive.” If you don’t have those thoughts while traveling, bless your heart because every single time I get on a plane the famous scene from Final Destination floods my brain and I spend the first few minutes secretly deciding if I should type up a quick will and testament in the notes application on my phone and send it up to the cloud before I die. But guess what?! I didn’t die.

Vacations, in general, can be stressful. And Disney vacations can be extremely stressful, but one of the advantages you have when staying on property is using Disney’s Magical Express. For those of you that don’t know, it’s a complimentary transportation service that gives you a ride to and from the airport. And while some people in the family refer to it as the “Tragical Express” … a free ride is a free ride! As I boarded the bus, I tossed my weekend backpack in the seat beside me, threw my cares to the wind and sat back to enjoy the ride!

It was late when I arrived, but to say Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge is “beautiful” would be a severe understatement. Upon entering the lobby there are really no words to describe my immediate feeling. I was overcome with joy and immediately knew this was my favorite Disney resort! I hurried up to the room, pleased to see that despite the time, there were still a few animals within eyesight of our savannah view and as I went to sleep that first evening, I crossed my fingers hoping my morning view would be something straight from the opening scene in The Lion King! SPOILER ALERT: It was not but it was close enough that I was still VERY happy!

DAY TWO: Epcot and Disney Springs

For our first day in the parks, we ventured over to Epcot, which is my second favorite park and Norris’ absolute favorite park! We started the day tooling around, lightly snacking and taking in all the attractions. Since the park wasn’t too busy we were in absolutely no hurry. A leisurely trip inside Spaceship Earth, a speedy lap around Test Track, and a high-intensity ride on Mission: SPACE later it was time for our lunch reservation at Rose & Crown “across the pond” in Great Britain!

As many times as I’ve “run” by Rose & Crown, I’d never actually been inside. The menu features a wide selection of booze and classic British bites. To be honest, the menu was a bit underwhelming being that when it comes to Disney sit down meals, I’m always a HUGE fan of the buffets. It’s easily more bang and more bites for your buck, but nonetheless, I opted for the corned beef and cabbage — a meal I absolutely can’t make at home. Norris’ did the same and went with the Shepherd’s Pie. Both items were delicious, but the true star of the meal was the sticky toffee pudding Norris begrudgingly shared with me after I politely declined dessert only a few moments earlier! #ThatsLove <3

When visiting Disney, Norris and I are always perfectly content treating and eating ourselves into food comas and taking our time through the parks. It might sound “first world” of us, but we’ve seen it all and at this point, we just like to enjoy the experience. Realizing we’d had our fill at Epcot, we snapped into a new mission. Why not head over to Disney Springs and check out Guy Fieri’s new restaurant Chicken Guy, comfortably nested only a hop, skip and a jump from where the Disney transportation buses drop you off. Now, when given the option between tried and true park favorites and exploring new food options … new food wins! Why not? HOLY MOLY! The first bite of our juicy, white meat chicken tenders dipped in “Nashville Hot Honey” sauce (only one of 22 different sauces), proved we’d made the right decision! Not only was the meal absolutely delicious, but it was also totally affordable!

DAY THREE: Animal Kingdom Lodge and Trader Sam’s

Instead of waking up SUPER early and racing to one of the parks, we opted for something slightly different this trip. We decided to spend a day outside the parks and actually take advantage of our beautiful resort. And holy moly, it was so worth it!

For breakfast, we decided to try one of the restaurants inside the resort, Boma - Flavors of Africa. Boma is my ideal type of buffet. It’s inside our resort, has amazing decor and ambiance, and features a nice mix of foods that you will most likely never make at home on your own. It was perfect. So much so that I found myself slightly overeating because I wanted to try EVERYTHING!

Eventually, we stopped shoveling food down our throats to pay and head to over to the pre-race expo at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex! This is always my least favorite part of any RunDisney weekend. Why? Because it’s a bit time-consuming. In order to pick up your race packet, you have to option to either take a free bus to and from the expo which takes at least an hour OR you can suck it up and pay for a rideshare app which is roughly $30-$40 bucks. The only reason it wasn’t such a pain in my ass this time was because we’d already resolved to spend that poking around the resort and not going to a park, which I highly recommend! It took the time and stress out of going to the expo.

With the Expo behind us and nothing but time, we went back to Animal Kingdom Lodge to lounge poolside for a couple hours … something we RARELY do. I read a book. Norris listened to a podcast. And eventually, we actually took a dip in the pool. It was a great way to spend a few sunny hours of the day, but before we knew it was time to prepare for our early dinner reservation, Storybook Dining at Artist Point with Snow White!

And when it came time to dine, Snow and her crew certainly delivered. Storybook Dining was so much fun. Not only do you automatically get one of everything on the menu, making ordering a breeze. It’s a character meal that allows you to meet Snow White, Dopey, Grumpy, and Evil Queen. So if you’re going to take the time to dine, why not meet a few rare characters in the process. The only downfall to Storybook is the location. Being nestled inside a deluxe resort is great for people staying there, but somewhat of a pain for people traveling there specifically to dine. Just my own thought.

DAY THREE: Race Day and Magic Kingdom

As the sound of the alarm clock flooded our hotel room at 3AM the morning of the race, I experienced a feeling I’m all too familiar with … it’s the “why did do this? I could just not go” feeling. But after a more than a couple snoozes it was up and at em, as Norris and I choked down our bagels, slammed some orange juice, laced up our sneakers and hopped on a bus to the start line for Star Wars Rival Run 10K! Full disclosure: As much as truly enjoy RunDisney events, the super early start times make for an extremely long day whether you’re running 3.1 miles or 26.2 miles.

Lucky for us, we were only running 6.2 miles of fun, and by the time we finished, it was even still dark outside. During our race day adventure, we managed to encounter eight characters, stay together and finish under an hour, which is 100 percent a win in my book!

With time to spare before the parks opened, we hurried back to the resort to shower and change for our final full day. As we strolled through Magic Kingdom that last day, medals around our necks and feeling proud, I realized just how much I loved Walt Disney World. It’s a place where I can truly allow myself to be a kid again. Sure, the planning and the overall cost can be expensive, but concert tickets these days are about the same price as a park ticket and those only last a few hours. A park ticket is like a golden ticket and provides a full day of entertainment.

Still going but maybe a little tired from two FULL days, 6.2 miles of magic and a few thousand steps, we decided to venture toward Disney Springs one more time to visit our new FAVORITE restaurant, Chicken Guy. Seriously, we loved it. That “Nashville Hot Honey” sauce was and is DELICIOUS!

DAY FOUR: Departure

As the sun rose on our final morning, I gathered my belongings, checked in for the Magical Express to the airport, and mentally set my sights back on the Twin Cities. The ride to the MCO was sweet and simple since there were only a few of us on board. Initially, I thought about rushing through security so I could find a comfortable spot on the other side near my gate, but before I could fully say goodbye, there would be just one more stop — the Disney Store in the Orlando airport. I wasn’t planning on buying anything — I just wanted to be surrounded by items that brought me joy. I wanted to feel like Ariel swimming around her collection. Even though the weekend was fast and furious, I didn’t regret a single second. I knew our Star Wars Rival Run weekend was not just a good idea. It was the best idea!

- Noah Lee Jordan (#WNN)

SONG OF THE BLOG (#SOTB): “It’s a Good Time” - Mickey Mouse