Five Perfect Days in Walt Disney World

You will start your morning by waking up at Disney’s Contemporary Resort. It’s a short walk from the hotel to the entrance of Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom Park, where you will begin your first day. You take advantage of early entry, as you are a guest of the Contemporary Resort, and quickly visit the most popular rides without long wait times. Early rides to consider include Peter Pan or the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.

Before a quick lunch — which you order on the app and pick up at the "mobile order window" — you ride Big Thunder Mountain in Frontierland. After lunch, you experience the Haunted Mansion in Liberty Square and Pirates of the Caribbean in Adventureland.

A quick monorail ride from the Magic Kingdom to EPCOT allows you to spend the late afternoon strolling through EPCOT’s World Showcase, sampling traditional food and maybe a drink along the way. You start to get hungry for dinner and hop on the skyliner to get you to Topolino’s at Disney’s Riviera Resort. You will finish your day with a full belly and high anticipation for day two!

Your second full day begins at Hollywood Studios. Early entry allows you to go straight to Toy Story Land and brave the Slinky Dog Dash without too much of a line. You quickly move to Star Wars Land and hope to join shorter than normal queues for Rise of the Resistance and Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run. Before lunch, you use a lightning lane and experience the drop at The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. You’ll grab a quick lunch at Rosie’s All-American Cafe on Sunset Boulevard and make your way to Star Wars Land to continue exploring with a quick stop into Oga’s Cantina — which you have reservations for — to sip a Star Wars-themed cocktail.

With dinner reservations back at Magic Kingdom, you’ll return to the park, pre-dinner (at Be Our Guest Restaurant) and join the virtual queue for Tron Lightcycle Run. Best to ride Tron before your delicious dinner! Space Mountain and The Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover are good ride choices while you wait. After incredible rides and a perfect meal, you’ll be ready for fireworks and bed.

Day three begins at Epcot. You would have woken up early to secure your 7am virtual queue request for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind and head straight to the park. You’ll wonder around Epcot, targeting some of the newer rides early in the day, including Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure and Frozen Ever After. You are lucky and got to ride Guardians prior to your lunch at Space 220. What a thrill! A few more rides and a stroll to “France” for an afternoon crepe at La Crêperie de Paris and you head back to The Contemporary Resort, where you have a table booked at California Grill. When the fireworks begin, grab your drink and head to the outdoor terrace to view the spectacular fireworks show. You stumble back to bed post dinner, happy and satiated.

Day four begins at Animal Kingdom, where you rush towards Pandora - The World of Avatar. Get there early and ride Avatar Flight of Passage before the lines get too long. On your way out, stop by Na-Vi River Journey. Don’t miss the incredible $22M Avatar that sings to you towards the end of the cruise. Grab a light snack at Satu’li Canteen before daring Expedition Everest and Kali River Rapids. Your afternoon will end with a ride through the Kilimanjaro Safaris where you will explore a wide variety of animals in their habitat. You’ll walk straight to dinner at Jiko, The Cooking Place. Then you’ll be ready for bed with your final day to come.

Your last day is at Magic Kingdom and you have all day before your evening flight home. You make a list of your favorite rides and put a plan in place to tackle them all. You eat one last churro (yum!) and check on the progress of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, the re-themed version of Splash Mountain due to open in summer 2024. You have an early dinner at Jungle Navigation Co.LTD Skipper Canteen before walking back to the Contemporary to grab your bags and head to the airport.