The Waterstraut Waterspout: One Day. Four Parks.

So if you saw my post about CEO, you know I spent the weekend in Orlando doing stuff nobody else had any interest in, like seeing all the gingerbread displays around the resorts, and visiting with the Lake Eola swans (though Asa did tag along for that one). But, one thing I've tried to get people on board with doing lately has been visiting all four Disney parks in one day, and nobody expressed any interest in that, in fact, the opposite. So, I decided to go ahead and do it myself on Friday, our first full day in Orlando.

The process is made a little trickier by covid, for almost a year now, park hopping has been allowed- but only AFTER 2pm, and after you visit your first park for the day, the one where you made a park pass reservation. Of course you also have to cross reference that with your annual pass blockout dates, so it's not like this is something you can do just any old day. We complicate matters even more by having the Theme Park Select Passes- where your blockout dates don't vary by day, but rather by park. So, there's only some days where you can get into all four parks. I was lucky Friday was one of those days.

I decided to start my day at Animal Kingdom. I factored in the after 2 pm rule, along with the still-no-parking trams- situation to determine my order. I figured if I hit Animal Kingdom first, then made the impossibly long trek to the front gates of Magic Kingdom, I could arrive there at two, maximizing my time. (Hollywood Studios and Epcot are easier to traverse between thanks to the Skyliner, the boats and the walkway).

So, to Animal Kingdom I went.

Now, the tricky part was remembering where I park. Usually organization and preparedness is my forte, not Asa's. But for whatever reason (likely because it's numbers- and he has an impeccable memory for numbers), Asa is always the one that remembers the parking row. And I'm talking always- to the point that I don't even look OR think about about. So, I had to consciously remember where I parked. I decided it'd just be easier to take a picture and file it away.

Still no parking trams meant the long trek up to the front by foot. No lie, it took me nearly 15 minutes. They need to bring those trams back asap. It's not so bad in the winter, but walking those concrete jungles with zero shade in 100 degree heat before you even get to the front is brutal.

Again, luckily it's December. And December means pretty trees outside the parks!

I decided if I was visiting all four parks, I should decide what constituted a "visit". It's hard to visit all four in a day, because it takes so much time to even travel between parks (a reason I argue park hoppers aren't really worth it.)

On top of that, it was a very busy day. At ALL FOUR PARKS. Everytime I went to a new park, I thought, 'this one won't be so bad', but they were all packed, meaning I wouldn't be able to squeeze in much.

So, I decided to constitute a "Visit" to the park, I needed to do a couple things:

1. A picture with the park "icon"

2. Eating a snack

3. Riding a Ride/Watching a Show

And for good measure for the 50th, I decided to throw in there..

4. Searching out the Golden Statues.

So, here I am with the Animal Kingdom Park Icon.

It was a little weird down there though, because they were filming something, so the cast members kept everyone moving along.

I headed over to Pandora for my snack: a Pineapple Lumpia!

Pandora was just a little decorated for Christmas.

Back in front of the Tree of Life, I checked out the golden statues.

Of course Timon, Pumba and Simba are all together!

And you'll also find Bambi and Dory and Nemo. (And that's it for statutes in AK, they don't have a whole lot of them).

If you're visiting the Animal Kingdom, you should also stop to see at least a few animals.

And you have to stay hydrated! (It was annoying to stand in long lines just to ask for a glass of ice water, though).

I would have listed character sightings in my quest, but the way they do the sporadic ones now, you don't have too much control over that, but I did spot a few floating down the rivers.

Ride wait times were a bit bananas. It was 45 minutes for triceratops spin! I decided for my show/ride instead I would try the new Kite Tails.

It's newish, and has really mixed reviews. While I think they could have done more with it, I don't think it's as bad as some people say. The kite puppets at the beginning remind me a bit of Finding Nemo the musical, which still has not returned post-covid.

And there's a few huge kites handled by people off the back of jet skis.

They do kind of crash land- but apparently that's by design.

I made my way out via Dinoland, where the dino was dressed for Christmas.

And then tried to make my way out... it was SO BUSY though.

One park down, three to go!

I decided it would be best to park at Epcot next, since that was the park I would be ending the night at. So, I drove over there about 1pm, and took another picture of my spot.

Since the Magic Kingdom parking lot can be a trek, I decided it would be best to park Epcot and take the monorail over to MK.

It's fitting the first public transportation I've been on since Covid hit was the monorail. Luckily, I made it into an empty car.

Once over to the MK Ticket and Transportation Center, I decided to take the ferry instead of transferring to the other monorail line (I told you it was a trek to get there!)

And I arrived at 1:54pm. I asked the cast members if park hopping was a 'firm 2pm thing' and they said 'for you, it's a firm 1:54 thing', and they let me in.

I was greeted with the Magic Kingdom Christmas tree.

And some character cavalcades, Aladdin and his crew and Gaston.

Main Street, of course, is all decorated for Christmas, as is the shop windows.

For my snack/meal, I picked up some mini corn dogs and cheese fries from Casey's Corner, a Magic Kingdom staple. And all just for me! (Usually I have to share these anywhere from 2 to 5 ways)

Up by the castle, I ran into the Mickey's Celebration Cavalcade.

I waited for that to pass to by to take my picture with MK's park icon: Cinderella's Castle.

I walked thru it, of course, and snapped a picture on the other side. Since it's all decked out for the 50th, there isn't any Christmas decorations on the front of the castle, and just a few on the backside.

For my ride/show, I decided to swing by Philharmagic to watch the updated show once again.

And just like the first time I saw it, I LOVED it.

On my way out of the theater, I did a little window shopping. I'm kind of loving the new-ish Up ears! (I, however, have not been wearing my ears since the ears with sunglasses and a mask is just too much stuff behind my ears).

Over in Fantasyland, I spotted Belle.

And in front of the teacups, I found a few more golden statues: The Madhatter, and the Cheshire Cat.

Look how pretty the castle was looking!

It was a little tricky to find Jaq and Gus from Cinderella, but I tracked them down.

And I'm also a big fan of the Dumbo statue.

But Stitch wins for most unique. He's over in Tomorrowland, climbing on the purple wall.

Complete with a 50th medallion in his teeth.

After charging my phone for a bit back by the Rapunzel bathrooms, I ran into the Princess Cavalcade.

I got the trifecta of Cavalcades, and I was only there a few hours.

Next on my list, I was headed to Hollywood Studios. I took a bus there from Magic Kingdom..

And arrived as the sun was about to go down.

On to my third park!

Which was also decorated for Christmas, and crowded. They don't have the tree outside the park anymore, though, so that was kind of weird.

For my snack, I got a special holiday limited edition treat from the Trolley Car Cafe, the Reindeer Mousse.

This thing sits on a shortbread cookie, and is full of chocolate and peanut butter flavors. It was messy, but one of my favorite things I had.

There's not too many statues over in Hollywood Studios (though I did somehow miss the Woody/Bo Peep one).

The R2D2 and BB8 ones are cool though!

The Incredibles get their due, but with an odd combo: Frozone and Edna Mode.

There's also a Sebastian and Flounder statue, and Joe Gardner from Soul.

I wasn't sure what the "icon" was at this park. It used to be the Sorcerers Hat, then it was the Chinese Theater, and now I think it leans toward the Tower of Terror (so I took a picture with that too).

Without a tree out front, I guess the one in the lagoon is this parks tree.

For my ride/show I decided to go see Muppet Vision 3D, which I hadn't been in since covid either.

The show is one of my favorites though, and I hit the waiting room just right, where they were loading into the theater as soon as I walked in.

I did decide to walk through Galaxy's Edge, since it's lovely at night.

These views cannot be beat.

And then I wandered thru Toy Story Land, hoping to see their Christmas decorations, but apparently they decided not to put them up again this year. (They haven't been up since 2019, and that makes me sad).

I did catch a Minnie and Mickey Cavalcade on the way over to the Tower of Terror.

And then I waited to watch the Christmas show/projections, Sunset Seasons Greetings.

That's also when I got my "icon" picture.

The show is cute, they play videos and then the projections on the tower match whatever the videos was about (my favorite was the Swedish Chef making the Gingerbread house).

And the whole thing ends with snow! Or, as we in Florida call it, 'snoap'.

Three parks down, one to go.

I was going to walk over from Hollywood Studios to Epcot, but there are a few empty spots where it gets really dark, so I decided to take the boat instead. I took it over to the Yacht Club, and then walked the rest of the way.

And just like that, I tapped into my fourth park for the day!

I'd been wanting to see Epcot at night, anyway, because everyone talked about how cool the lighting was there at night these days. (It did not disappoint).

The park was super crowded, and my phone was dying, so I wasn't super excited about having completed my quest though. I stopped in the American Pavilion hoping to find a quiet place to charge my phone.

Success! Right under a bench.

Meanwhile, I wondered around to check out the Gingerbread creations. These too are usually more intricate and bigger. But, everything is a little more subdued this year.

Instead of the White House or Capitol building, we got the American Adventure building in Epcot.

Outside, I could hear the Candlelight Processional going on. Good music. But, not my favorite Disney Christmas thing (which I would find out in a couple of nights when I actually went to see the whole thing).

I really wanted a bread bowl of cheese in Germany for my food, but the line was crazy. Like, the longest I'd ever seen. Instead, I popped into the bakery in Norway with no waiting to grab some school bread.

And then I made my way toward the front of the park...

The Epcot tree all lit up at the start of the World Showcase..

...and all the Festival stuff..

I popped into the gift shop hoping to grab a magnet with all four parks on it to remember my quest, but not only did they have none like that, they only had ONE kind of magnet, and it was one I already have. Disney shops are not immune to the supply chain shortages, apparently. Lots of shelving has been removed (making stores feel very spacious!) so it doesn't look too empty, and some shelves are just filled in with one row of merch to make it look fuller. One whole wall in the Creations shops were just a single line of Remy chef hats from floor to ceiling.

That was a bit disappointing, but seeing Spaceship Earth all lit up was not. That totally delivered.