Tina's Orlando Adventure

This July, I went to spend a week with my cousins in Orlando. I had such a great time and a short break from reality. I wanted to share with you the new things I tried and updates on food and rides in Disney. 

Just a little background information. I have been a Disney annual passholder for eight years and have been visiting Disney and the surrounding Orlando area for 32 years. I am a HUGE Disney fan. The kind that loves repeatedly watching the movies and singing along to all the songs. I also never get tired of visiting the parks. Well, enough about me, let me tell you about the trip. 

You can also hear me discuss everything in this blog post on episode 2 of our podcast. I started my trip in Disney. My cousins and I spent a Tuesday in Magic Kingdom (MK)and Wednesday in Epcot and Animal Kingdom (AK). We purchased the Genie+ service that included the lighting lane (LL) passes. Honestly, it was all worth it. It gave us a chance to ride what we really wanted, have a good lunch, and take our time. We didn’t really have to wait in lines; however, we did wait at most 10 minutes in a couple lighting lanes. Keep in mind that starting July 24, 2024, there will be changes made that may replace Genie+.

In MK, we rode Pirates of the Caribbean, Tomorrowland Speedway, The Little Mermaid, It’s a Small World, TRON, and the new Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. We did need to enter a queue for TRON and Tiana because they are two new and popular rides. I woke up at 7am and checked the queue for Tiana and ended up getting a call back time from 11:30-12:30pm.

We entered the park a little before 12 and made our way to Tiana. The ride was too cute. It was the same as Splash Mountain, except now you see everything from the movie Princess and the Frog. I never liked Splash Mountain, but I needed to check out the new adventure. Before boarding the Bayou Adventure, we booked our first LL pass for Pirates of the Caribbean. The best part about LL is that you could book your next one as soon as you scan for the current one. Sometimes, it allows you to book two different ones at a time.

We had a lunch reservation at the Jungle Skipper Canteen. While sitting at the restaurant, I had the Disney app open by 12:58pm. I would consistently click “Refresh” in hopes of joining the queue for TRON. Remember that the second chance to join any queue is at 1pm. Fortunately for us, we got into the queue. They gave us a group number which gave us a chance to do whatever else we wanted while we waited. Disclaimer, it did help that we went on a weekday. The parks were emptier and wait times were shorter. 

The food at the Canteen was delicious. We had their Cachapas, the Brazilian cheese bread they had on special that week, and their falafel. Fun fact, this is one of the only places in MK that serves alcohol. Moreover, we needed something sweet. We went to the Dole Whip station next door and tried their orange Dole whip float, the “I Lava You” Float. It was orange Dole whip with Fanta orange soda, and strawberry and red passion fruit syrups. To top it all off, they sprinkle pop rocks on top. One of my favorite things to try in MK was the Creme Brulee stuffed croissant at Gaston’s Tavern; Definitely a 10/10.

For the next day, we purchased the LL with the multi park option. It allowed us to eat around Epcot while riding a few things: Spaceship Earth, Soaring, Frozen, and walked through the Moana experience. I love to make my way deep into France and eat from their bakery, but first, I get my Orange Grand Marnier Slushie as you enter France. This time around, my cousin and I shared their BLT sandwich and their homemade raspberry macaroon. SO GOOD! If you want something sweet, you could also go to the ice cream shop next door, L’artisan Des Glaces. We created our own ice cream sandwich. We got chocolate ice cream with caramel sauce. The ice cream was amazing but we wish we would have gotten a different syrup because you couldn’t taste it as much. I did get the chocolate ice cream with raspberry syrup on my last visit to Epcot and that was AMAZING! The sweet yet tart taste of the raspberry with the chocolate was enough to want to get another one. 

After riding a bit, my cousin was craving some empanadas. We made our way to Mexico and ended up having some delicious meat empanadas. They had a great sauce dripped all over them and a side of elote corn; we were not complaining. We then found ourselves in AK. We rode Dinosaur, The Na’vi River, and Mount Everest. If I am being honest, I will never ride Everest again. Unfortunately, I am prone to motion sickness and cannot ride a few things, however, I am a person who will try something at least once before saying I do not like it. I quickly learned why everyone told me not to ride it. The moment the ride went backwards, I thought I was going to let loose of everything I ate that day. I was so dizzy getting off the ride. I had to sit to take a minute to breathe. Luckily, I am always prepared and had my peppermint oil in my bag. It comes in handy when I feel nauseous. 

Let’s move on to the shopping part of this trip. My cousin and I went to the Vineland Premium Outlets. Those are some of my favorite outlets because they have a large variety of stores. Another fun fact, you could drink while you shop there. We visited Nike, Adidas, Tory Burch, Marc Jacobs, Pacsun, American Eagle, Disney Outlet, and so many more. After that we grabbed a quick lunch and went to Winter Garden Village. There, we visited some of the same shops in addition to Marshalls and Target; we cannot forget about Target.

There were some also some great teacher discounts sales in some of the shops including the outlets; 10% off at Old Navy, 10% off at Under Armor, 10% off at Vera Bradley, and for the next few weeks, Target is offering a 20% off your purchase for students and educators (you need to register online). This came in handy since most of what I bought in Target were classroom supplies. We did do some damage, but it was great because I got some work pants, a couple new tops, a pair of sneakers (I am a sneakerhead), and a new purse. We enjoyed spending the day together. 

One of our favorite parts was visiting the World Food Trucks in Kissimmee. For as long as I have been visiting Orlando, I have never heard of this. There was a large variety of food trucks to choose from: Italian, Chinese, Cuban, Mexican, Salvadorian, Puerto Rican, Japanese, desserts, ice cream, acai bowls, smoothies, and so much more. We went twice to be able to try a good amount of food. 

We tried the Birria Tacos (9/10) and Elote Corn (8/10) from Blessed Belly, Acai Bowl (10/10) and Green Apple Smoothie (8/10) from Fruit and Shakes, Kibbeh (8/10) and Hummus (8/10) from Beirut, the tostones with pork (9/10) from Sabor Latino- Puerto Rico, and the chicken stuffed arepa (6/10) from Arepas. This is a great place to grab a bite before or after visiting theme parks or after work, or maybe after a long day of shopping. Fun fact, they are open until 2am on Friday and Saturday, 12am Sunday-Wednesday, and 1am on Thursdays. 

The last thing I wanted to mention was Kavas Tacos and Tequila Bar. We had dinner there on that Friday. We had steak and chicken fajitas (9/10), taco salad (8/10), Birria Tacos (7/10), and I had a Mexican Mule (9/10). The restaurant is in an area surrounded with other shops and restaurants for your choosing. 

All in all, the trip was fabulous and much needed. I got to spend time with family, visit Disney, shop, and most importantly eat! 

Tostones and pork