A WEEK WITH MY SISTER

My sister and I have always bonded over Disney. We've been completely Disney obsessed since we were kids. So of course, the minute that she could get on an airplane and come to Orlando to visit me and take her first trip to Walt Disney World, she did!

She stayed for five days and for two of those, we were at Disney from sunup to sundown. If you've ever been to Disney, you know that that's A LOT of walking. The first day we walked around 17,000 steps and the second was close to 20,000! And even though it was January, it was still quite warm. Needless to say, we were exhausted by the end, but it was so worth it.

Animal Kingdom//

The first day, we went to the Animal Kingdom. This was the park that I was most excited to take her to because Avatar is her all time favorite movie and the world of Pandora is BREATHTAKING.

Disney is the master of creating immersive worlds and really making you feel like you're there. Pandora has to be one of my favorite areas in all of the Disney parks, it's incredibly enchanting. Especially at night, when all of the greenery becomes luminescent and glows in neon colors. I could NOT wait to take my sister here.

The very first stop of the day was Flight of Passage (FOP) because it's always the longest line and almost impossible to get a fast pass for, but if you can rope drop it (aka HAUL ASS), you have a pretty good chance of getting in quickly. We wound up having only about a 40 minute wait, but we were extremely worried that wasn't going to be the case initially.

Most everyone has the exact same idea and heads directly toward that ride first thing and we sorely underestimated how long the line could get. We actually wound up all the way back by the Festival of the Lion King (pretty darn far away) and we almost ditched it and tried to come back later. SO glad we stuck it out though because it moved a lot faster than it looked like it would and Ciara was BLOWN AWAY by the ride.

If you don't know, FOP is a virtual reality experience, where you actually feel like you're flying on the back of a banshee through the world of Pandora! It's one of those rides that you never want to end. It's pure magic.

Once you've been on FOP, it's hard to top it with anything else. It made me hesitant to take her on that first thing, but it was so worth it. It really set the tone for the rest of the day and amped us up for more! Plus, there are so many cool things to do at the Animal Kingdom. The Festival of the Lion King is my second favorite thing there, which was up next.

It's such a beautiful show. Highly entertaining and they love to get the kids involved, which is always fun to watch. It's a MUST do for any trip to the AK. Followed by a ride on the Kilimanjaro Safari.

Located in Africa, the Kilimanjaro Safari is about a 30 minute ride through the Disney Animal Preserve. You sit in a safari jeep and the driver takes you on a bumpy journey, telling you all about the animals that you see along the way. Part of the fun is that you never know which animals will be around because they have free reign of the property. At night, you can ride with night vision goggles. We've never been on that one yet, but I would love to give it a try!

Later, we spotted Kevin out and about. We hit It's Tough to be a Bug!, Dinosaur, Naa'vi River Journey, rode FOP again and then stopped at Flame Tree Barbecue for some dinner before snagging our seats for the Rivers of Light Spectacular.

It was my first time eating at Flame Tree and the food was delicious! Prices were reasonable because it's considered a quick service restaurant, the most expensive dish on the menu is $16.59 and that's for a St. Louis Rib dinner. Food was hot and the meat was tender and cooked perfectly. I would highly recommend eating here!

After Rivers of Light Spectacular, we had enough time for one last ride, so we hit Expedition Everest and honestly, it was probably my favorite memory of the entire day. I'm not a huge roller coaster fan and there's quite a steep climb up to the top of this ride, so it's always been intimidating to me; but it was so much fun the first time that I rode it and I thought Ciara would love it, so I put on my big girl pants and hopped in line.

I was SO nervous the entire time that we were in line, it had been a long time since I had gone on and I couldn't remember how big the drop was. It turned out to be nothing really and we couldn't stop laughing through the entire ride. Plus, we came out with this little gem...

Beach Day//

The next day we really didn't have the energy to do a whole lot, so we decided that it was the perfect day to lounge around at the beach. We chose Clearwater beach because neither of us had ever been and it's only about a two hour drive from Orlando.

On the way there, we stopped and grabbed some McDonald's and gabbed about girl things. Listened to some Disney music and eventually crossed the bridge that led us to that sweet, salty air.

It was an incredibly hot, windy afternoon and neither one of us remembered sunscreen (rookie move), but we were determined to make the most of it, so we sat there and enjoyed the sunshine and feeling of the sand between our toes.

We were ridiculously happy when a family vacated this shady spot and even though we weren't supposed to, we quickly sneaked over and took their place. We didn't realize until we were almost ready to leave that we were actually supposed to rent these little cabanas, so we felt really lucky that we got to lounge for free!

After a bit, we were starting to get hungry and a cold smoothie was sounding SO good, so we headed out in search of the nearest location that sold acai bowls and we stumbled upon Karma Juice Bar + Eatery.

Ciara had a turkey wrap that was sooo good and I had an acai bowl (but after having a bite of Ciara's, I had buyer's remorse). The bowl was cold and refreshing, just what the doctor ordered after an afternoon in the sun.

Our two hour drive back home consisted of blaring Billie Eilish and Khalid songs and screaming the lyrics at one another until our throats hurt. haha

Magic Kingdom//

Our last, full day together was spent at the Magic Kingdom. The best way to end a trip to Orlando, in my opinion!

We hit the ground running with the Trolley Show first thing that morning and then didn't stop the rest of the day!

We rode Buzz and Space Mountain in Tomorrowland.

The Little Mermaid, It's a Small World and Mickey's Philhar Magic in Fantasyland.

The Haunted Mansion in Liberty Square.

Big Thunder Mountain in Frontierland and Pirates of the Caribbean in Adventureland.

No wonder we took almost 20,000 steps! The day was jam packed, but we still made some time for a Pistachio/Cherry/Hot Chocolate ice cream from Aloha Isle and a little bit of shopping.

We also saw the Festival of Fantasy Parade and of course, we couldn't leave without watching the Happily Ever After Fireworks at Cinderella's Castle.

It was a magical day and a wonderful trip with my sister that I will always look back on with fondness. Next time, we hope to visit Hollywood Studios and Epcot together and I am very much looking forward to that!