Hi Mickey, bye Mickey: 6 Disney parks on 2 coasts in 1 day
ORLANDO, Fla. — Heather and Clark Ensminger breathed sighs of relief when their Los Angeles-bound plane took off from Florida on time: Their biggest hurdle was now eliminated for achieving their goal of visiting six Disney parks on two coasts in one day.
They succeeded Wednesday, visiting four Disney parks in the Orlando, Fla., area and two in Anaheim, Calif., with a 2,500mile cross-country flight and two time zones in between, all within 20 hours.
“It was incredible, unbelievable, surreal,” Heather Ensminger, 30, said in a phone interview early Thursday as the Kingsport, Tenn., couple prepared to return to the California Disney parks for a second day.
Adding to the surreal feeling, they said, was the media interest in their Disney pilgrimage after an Associated Press story about their plans was published. As they traveled from park to park, they were bombarded with calls and texts from radio stations, TV outlets and newspapers, wanting to know where they were on the journey.
The trip was planned for their 10th wedding anniversary, but it also marked a sadder occasion: the first anniversary since Heather Ensminger’s father had died. Last year, a few days before the Ensmingers planned to visit Walt Disney World in Florida for a vacation with her parents, Heather’s father had a fatal heart attack.
After an evening flight to Orlando, the couple arrived at Disney’s Hollywood Studios on Wednesday at 6:15 a.m., Eastern Daylight Time, and were the first people let into the park when it opened for breakfast at 7 a.m.
About two hours later, they went to Epcot, and by 10:30 a.m. they were at the Magic Kingdom where they drank apple cider at Gaston’s Tavern. Following lunch at Animal Kingdom, they made it to Orlando International Airport by midafternoon.
The plane touched down at Los Angeles International Airport about 6:45 p.m., Pacific Daylight Time, and, after navigating rush hour traffic, they were at Disney California Adventure Park more than an hour later.
Before leaving Disneyland at 11:30 p.m., Pacific Daylight Time, they sat down on a bench on Main Street and just soaked it all in.
“We took five minutes to just look at each other and say, ‘Wow, we did it!’ What a great day,” Heather Ensminger said.