DAY 2: JUST KEEPING SWIMMING 🐠 AND STROLLING 🚶🏻‍♀️ - WALT DISNEY WORLD TRIP SEPTEMBER 2022

*ALL VIEWS ARE MY OWN AND NOT OF THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY, CENTRAL MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY OR YUMMY JOBS*

Hey there, pals!

It's that time of week again where I share another day of mine and my sister's September 2022 trip to Walt Disney World! This post is a little bit of a shorter one, as we really didn't do much at all after our fun-filled (yet exhausting!) day at Magic Kingdom the day before. Nevertheless, let's jump right into the Day 2 adventures!

We started off the day with a VERY long sleep in... And boy was I glad for it because I definitely needed it, and I'm sure my sister did too!!! We then investigated how to use the free shuttle bus service from our hotel to Walt Disney World. Unbeknownst to me, the information about how to get the shuttle bus was already on the back of our hotel map, so I was the dumb guest that had to ask at the front desk on how to use it! All we had to do was scan the QR code that was on the back of our hotel map, select which park we were going to (either Magic Kingdom, Epcot or Universal), and the times for departing and returning. So, we went for the later departure to Epcot to enable us to have the lie in we so desperately needed AND make the most of the transportation included in the package price we paid for.

Side note: this is pretty much the same for other hotels on International Drive or those that are a less than 20min drive away from Walt Disney World and Universal

Anyways, my sister and I had packed all our things that we were going to need for the day and made our way to the bus stop outside our hotel. And sure enough, our bus was there waiting to take us off to Walt Disney World!

Now, once the bus drops you off at either Magic Kingdom or Epcot, you'd have to take the Disney Transport buses to your theme park (or in our case water park!) destination if you're not heading to either Magic Kingdom or Epcot directly! My sister and I headed to Typhoon Lagoon for Day 2 of our trip. My goodness, it took us over two hours to get to Typhoon Lagoon!! But all of our bus drivers were absolutely hilarious, especially our driver from the hotel to Epcot. Just the way he said "Welcome to EP-COT!!!" made my sister and I chuckle and it soon became the joke of the entire trip!😂

My sister and I finally were ready to head into the pools at Typhoon Lagoon. The locker system was incredibly easy to use, but man I forgot how difficult it was to see the screen to create your own locker code and authorise your payment. After I was sun creamed up, my sister and I decided to do the lazy river for a couple of laps because that's one of our favourite type of water attractions! It was quite comical when both my sister and I flipped into the water because we couldn't get on the dingy first time! Once we'd had enough of the lazy river, we decided to head into the wave pool. This was a first for me as I had never done the wave pool before - my previous trips to Typhoon Lagoon have always been slide-focussed, so I've always missed the wave pool! Just as my sister and I were ready to hit some of the slides, the typical Florida climate had other plans and it absolutely chucked it down with rain that all the slides and pools were closed. We had our packed lunch and waited 30mins to see if the afternoon storm would clear up, but there was still no sign of the rain going away. Plus, the rain radar said this patch of wet weather was not going to clear Orlando until 7pm! So, my sister and I (unfortunately) decided to leave Typhoon Lagoon and head somewhere else.

We had to get a bus via Disney Springs to get to Typhoon Lagoon, and so it was our only way to leave the park also. Therefore, it made sense to have a walk around Disney Springs after our 'chilled out' visit to Typhoon Lagoon. I always feel that Disney Springs is an underrated area of Walt Disney World, as a lot of people tend to miss it out completely from their trip - me included when I first visited!! But, it's a great area full of shops, eaterias and other entertainment venues.

My sister and I decided to have a little stroll around inside World of Disney (the biggest merchandise store in all of Walt Disney World!). We were doing this so we could decide later on what souvenirs we wanted to take home to commemorate the 50th anniversary and our trip to Walt Disney World. However, this turned out to be our downfall because our jaws dropped at how adorable all of the merchandise items were! If we could buy one of everything, my sister and I certainly would!

As well as starting to plan what gifts my sister was going to get for her friends and decide what jumper we were going to get for our Mum, I decided to purchase a 50th anniversary photo album. Photos are such a sentimental thing to keep, they're so easy to take and it doesn't cost a lot for a snap of the camera. And so, I thought that was the best souvenir for me. Of course I added to my collection of Disney ears by getting a 50th anniversary addition. But I must admit, picking some ears was really difficult as there wasn't any that I really liked until I came across the Loungefly ones! Yes they were a little more pricey, but I do adore them! My sister got some 50th anniversary balloon ears that caught her attention as soon as she saw them.

As my sister and I made our way to pick up the shuttle bus, we stopped off at the Contemporary Resort to have a walk around where we went into a couple of their merchandise stores too! I didn't even realise that the Contemporary has three separate merchandise stores and all of the displays looked super cute, especially the Loungefly backpacks! But, my favourite thing has to be the really cute stickers that were stuck on the windows for the anniversary 😊

After a quick stroll, my sister and I realised that it was time to head to the shuttle bus pickup point, so we were straight onto a monorail to Magic Kingdom ready to head back to the hotel. Our bus drive back to the hotel was incredibly weird as our driver literally gave a 10 minute speech before setting off and we were really going off the beaten track! We went all across World Drive, State Road 535 (so I got to point out to my sister where I used to live for my Disney Academic Exchange Program!) before hitting International Drive. It took us well over an hour to get back to the hotel - it was crazy!

As soon as we got back, we quickly cooked up a tuna and vegetable pasta before getting an early night for all the adventures for Day 3...

Surprise, I left you guys on a cliff-hanger! So, you'll have to tune in next week to find out why my sister and I got up so early and where we went! I do hope you enjoyed reading my slightly shorter post. They're just some days when you're on vacation where you're predominantly chilling or just not doing as much. And that's kinda the plan that my sister and I had for this vacation... we have our set things that we would like to do and we are mainly taking it at a slow pace, soaking up the whole atmosphere and just enjoy being back in the Sunshine State 😎

Thank you so much for reading and have a magical day!

-Hannah

DISCLAIMER: this blog is my personal experience on the Disney Academic Exchange Program (DAEP) 2019-2020 and may not reflect everyone’s experience. Other programs and future participants on the DAEP may have slight adjustments to their programs that may not be featured in any of my blog posts. That being said, if you do leave any questions, I will try to answer them as best as I possibly can 😊