A magical (micro) adventure

What would you do in Orlando if you only had four hours of free time before a full two days of meetings? If you're like me, you'd grab your girlfriends and head to Disney. What can you do at Disney in such a short time?

Laugh, giggle, scream, throw your hands up in the air, eat sugary treats - pretty much everything you did when you were a kid...

Our micro Disney adventure

our Disney micro adventureOn Friday, I flew to Orlando for a planning meeting for WithIt, the organization I'm president of (translation - all hands on deck working weekend). I reached out to a friend at Disney to see if they'd sponsor a quick GoGirlfriend visit. I received confirmation on the way to the airport at 4 am and asked a few of my board members if they were up for an adventure that afternoon.

We arrived in Orlando at noon from Canada (Waterloo & Burlington), Missouri (St. Louis) and North Carolina (Cornelius) and made a quick stop at our hotel. And I mean quick - our taxi driver waited while threw our luggage into one room and donned our sandals and sunglasses.

I asked my contact at Disney which park would give us the most bang for our buck for such a short time. She immediately responded with Magic Kingdom. Hmmm, none of us had kids in tow, but who am I to argue with an expert - we set our sights on the castle.

None of us are Disney novices and we're women, which means planning our must-see's began en route. St. Louis downloaded the Disney mobile app and began shouting out rides she thought we'd like. We mapped out our path through the park and read through the Fast Pass information so we'd spend as little time as possible waiting in line.

Magic Kingdom, meet GoGirlfriend

Main St. DisneyAfter a quick jaunt on the mono rail and a short walk to the gates, we arrived at Main Street, USA. Burlington grabbed a map and sidled up to St. Louis and they merged the low and high tech navigation systems into one brilliant route.

It was a busy day at the park (a Friday and the last day of their Halloween celebration) but everyone was so happy, so it didn't feel full. Chances are, if you took that same crowd and transplanted them in a subway in New York, the vibe would be slightly different.

We're a pretty wild and adventurous bunch and our top choices (that we fast passed, of course) were:

• Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin - where Cornelius got competitive!
• The Barnstormer - where St. Louis made me scream!
• It's a Small World - which gave us time to sit and chat.
• Dumbo the Flying Elephant - took us too long to figure out how to fly!
• Tomorrowland Speedway - with just a little bumping fun!

what to do at Disney?Now you might think these choices are pretty pedestrian when compared to the Tower of Terror. And you'd be right but this was our adventure. That's all I'm saying.

Oh and since we'd taken a military approach to getting in as much Disney as we could in a short time, we opted to eat and run. St. Louis chose a chocolate covered banana with nuts - delicious and nutritious. I opted for popcorn, just because. And Burlington and Cornelius choose frozen Mickey heads to cool themselves down. Yes, it was hot.

Cornelius, a.k.a. Margi

Withit MargiI remember taking my 3 children to Disney Land in California, 40 years ago, and doing nothing but worry about where they were and are they safe.  This time I was the child. I don't remember a time when I have enjoyed or laughed as much as I did in the 4 hours in Orlando, at Disney World. What a great way to start or WITHIT Board weekend.

St. Louis, a.k.a. Lisa

Withi LisaIf you hit Disney World in just a few hours, you should hit something that makes you smile, something that makes you scream and something that makes you laugh! We did all that in less than three hours and were delighted to visit DisneyWorld as adults without kids.

Riding Dumbo into the beautiful Florida sky brought back smiles and memories of when we visited this easy going ride with our little ones, while a mild roller coaster like the Barnstormer still elicited semi-scared screams and driving a racecar on a track made us laugh at each other's driving skills!

Burlington, a.k.a. Donna

Withit DonnaRepeat business' what is it worth?

Disney has an incredible business model; Even though we were only able to spend a few glorious hours on Friday's visit to Disney, this was my fifth time with family and friends. This collective contribution translates to appox. 5,000.00 spent on enjoying the Disney properties... so far. Disney's target is an astounding 60K (plus) per client.

There is a child in all of us that Walt Disney and his well-oiled machine appeals to. Always inspiring for the young at heart! My only regret is I'll never meet you Walt, may your legacy live on and forever bring out the innocence and good in society. Where else could you pack in so much fun with great friends... in just 3 hours!

Always, your loyal, inspired fan.

Donna Barlett

PS - I love you and Julia for sharing this experience with me

So would you do Disney, even if you only had a few hours to explore? Follow us on Twitter or like us on Facebook and let's start talking!