We stayed at Disney Port Orlean’s Riverside Resort and soaked up all the Disney theming for our stay in Orlando. The resort was medium priced and came complete with two pools, a dining room, restaurants and a ferry to Downtown Disney.

Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure were definitely more suited to adults with extreme rides like the Incredible Hulk and Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit, but the highlight was Harry Potter World. I am so glad I watched the full suite of films before the trip! Everything was designed with such detail and the butter beer was delicious. It’s also worth getting the Park to Park ticket so you can ride Hogwarts Express. We also paid for an Express Pass for both parks but they also have the option of Single Ride lines if you don’t want to pay the extra money.

Diagon Alley

Hogwarts Express Station

Universal Islands of Adventure

You might wonder how did we get all four Disney parks – Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Epcot and Magic Kingdom – done in one day? Well, it wasn’t too difficult at all. We chose to focus on the main rides we wanted to go on and as I had already been to Disneyland Paris, Hong Kong and Japan, the only thing we really wanted to see at Magic Kingdom was the fireworks. The key is to plan and map out your day in advance. It may have also helped that we didn’t visit during school holidays or on a weekend.

We started the day at Animal Kingdom as that park opened early to Disney World Resort guests on the day we were visiting Disney Parks. We used our three Fast Pass options here. It was really easy to get around Disney World Resort as there were buses to and from each park and to and from each hotel. Next was Hollywood Studios where we enjoyed the Aerosmith and Hollywood Tower rides again (we had done these in Paris).