Reporting by Katie Bain, Rob Simas and John Ochoa

We’re not going to lie, guys: Heading to Orlando just a few days after we wrapped Escape: All Hallows’ Eve in San Bernardino, CA, was an exhausting premise. But we pulled up our bootstraps and boarded a red-eye flight from Los Angeles to Florida and arrived in the Sunshine State just as the sun rose.

And we’re so glad we did. EDC Orlando proved to be a party that was heavy on good vibes and outfitted with a real-deal carnival feel. We saw a ton of great music, met a lot of great people, rode the rides, saw the art, and left feeling vastly more refreshed and rejuvenated than we were upon our arrival.

Here’s everything we experienced during our 24 hours at EDC Orlando.

Friday, November 7

11:45 am – Outside the entrance

Leon and Denise are officially the first people in line for EDC. They’ve been here since 9 am and say the advantages of arriving early are that they can get on all of the rides before the place fills up. They got married this past January, but they held off on a honeymoon so they could take it here at the festival. Their first order of business today? Kissing at the top of the Ferris wheel.

2:17 pm – Under a tree near the main entrance

We meet Officer Wilson, who’s in his full police uniform. One thing stands out: His right wrist is covered in kandi given to him by attending Headliners. He came in wearing two kandi bracelets from EDC Orlando 2013, but his wrist is now PLURed out with close to a dozen. He’s usually off-duty on Saturdays but is putting in some extra shifts this weekend (he’s also stoked about catching Showtek tomorrow). The main thing that distinguishes Headliners from other massive crowds? Love, according to Wilson. As we get ready to walk away, an eager fan walks up to him and does the custom kandi trade. He’s all smiles, and we feel safe under his watch.

3:34 pm – Food trucks backstage

These clowns are charging their batteries with a quick lunch of tacos, grilled cheese sandwiches and burritos. They’ve burned a lot of calories clowning around the festival grounds and are enjoying a well-deserved meal in between “clown runs,” as they’re called. Thumbs up to these guys for keeping us smiling and entertained all weekend.

3:40 pm – circuitGROUNDS

Ookay and Kennedy Jones have the crowd at circuitGROUNDS whipped up and trapped out with a rather eclectic sampling of bass-heavy sounds. We hear a sampling of salsa, “Escape (The Piña Colada Song),” and “Summer” by Calvin Harris, topped off with some “Turn Down for What.”

3:57 pm – Performer staging area

In an effort to understand what it’s like to be an Insomniac performer, one of us climbs into a giant, inflatable costume and walk around the festival. It’s hot in there, and not that easy to walk, but you feel hella popular because all of the sudden everyone wants to have their picture taken with you.

4:37 pm – Water refill station near kineticFIELD

“This can’t be real,” screams a Headliner in disbelief as he refills his water. Indeed it is, my friend. All this magic happening around you is very real, and it’s all for you.

4:49 pm – deadmau5 Row near circuitGROUNDS

We’re roaming circuitGROUNDS and stumble upon deadmau5 Row. Okay, that’s not its official name, but that’s what we’re calling it. Across the 7UP Dome, we find a line of deadmau5 helmets resting on the floor. Jordan Navarro, owner of the X-Men-inspired Cyclops helmet and member of #TeamMau5, tells us that each of the helmets is custom-made. We’re digging Cyclopsmau5 and the Wario and Waluigi (from the Mario Bros. video game franchise) helmets. A lot.

4:56 pm – Front entrance

“Oh my GOD, LOOK AT THAT STAGE!” yells a young man dressed as Donatello from the Ninja Turtles as he catches his first glimpse of kineticFIELD (reborn as kineticCATHEDRAL for EDC Orlando) and takes off running toward the stage. It really is a pretty impressive setup.

5:00 pm – kineticFIELD crowd

We meet up with Maria, Lindsay and Joseph, members of Insomniac’s beloved Ground Control team. We’re wandering around the massive kineticFIELD crowd, looking for Headliners in need. Each team member checks on weary-looking fans with a sense of genuine tenderness, love and care. Beyond your average festival attendee, they truly watch over their fellow Headliners, proving to be everyday saints and true-to-form lifesavers. They also get to have fun while they’re here; when she’s not on duty, Maria can be found shuffling to 3LAU.

5:27 pm – Ball pit in the VIP area

We thought we were already in heaven, but then we find this amazing ball pit. It’s like a hidden paradise in rave heaven.

6:38 pm – Editorial production trailer

Our trailer is located directly behind kineticFIELD, where Yellow Claw are currently whipping the crowd into a mass frenzy. “Everyone say Yellow Claw!” command the DJs, and the crowd screams back “YELLOW CLAW” so loudly that it sounds like there are tens of thousands of people directly outside the trailer. The bass is also shaking the blinds on the windows.

7:43 pm – neonGARDEN

This is Dopefuse, and he is a dragon. He hails from Miami, and while he says he’s been listening to electronic music “forever” (he’s 23 years old), he’s new to the rave scene. EDC Las Vegas was his first festival, and this is his second. His headwear tonight was inspired by a photo of a Chinese lantern he saw online, and it took him seven days to make it. “Right now my neck hurts,” he says of wearing the dragon around the festival, “but it feels pretty cool, and people really seem to like it.” Check out the rest of Dopefuse’s work on his Instagram.

8:47 pm – Sennheiser Tent

Back in middle school, when kids were dreaming of becoming doctors, firefighters and presidents, we were secretly dreaming of becoming globetrotting DJs. Honestly. So it’s quite the pleasant surprise when we find the Sennheiser tent near neonGARDEN. An English bloke named Darren is showing us a new line of Sennheiser headphones. The over-ear sets look, feel and sound like top-of-line, high-end headphones. We have to admit, we look pretty freakin’ cool in these. Now if only we can figure out what all these shiny knobs do.

10:30 pm – VIP cabanas

We pick up members of the Orlando Magic and take them to the VIP cabanas. They won their home-turf game against the Minnesota Timberwolves earlier that day, so spirits are high. We hear somebody ask, “Is that the Orlando Magic at VIP?” Yes, that is the Orlando Magic at VIP. Baller! (Literally.)

9:30 pm – Rockstar carnival ride

We get on the swinging Rockstar carnival ride and are lifted off 50 feet in the air. From here, we can see the massive crowd at kineticFIELD for W&W and everyone at circuitGROUNDS for Noisia. As we swing back and forth, we notice that the security guard manning the ride is dancing along to the music, waving his hands, and smiling a huge smile. He’s clearly loving his job right now. Turns out that his name is Noel, he’s 40 years old, and he lives here in Orlando. His job today is to make sure the various security guards are at their appointed stations. He says that while he was “never interested in this music until today,” everything he’s heard here at EDC Orlando has been “phenomenal.”

10:15 pm – Performer staging area

You’ve likely seen the giant, light-up Octopus that floats on top of the crowd at most of our shows. Well, tonight we have wrangled ourselves into the job of being among the people who carry the poles connected to the Octopus’ legs. There are 10 of us total on squid squad—eight of us on the legs and two guys manning the middle body section. One large man lifts the Octopus up on the pole, and another guy hoists a backpack carrying the 75-pound car battery that powers the creature.

We weave through the crowd and watch people’s faces light up in wonder and happiness as a giant, glowing octopus moves over them. Really, everyone looks like happy little children when they see this thing go by. We go straight into the heart of the crowd at kineticFIELD during Dash Berlin’s set and stand here for a while, letting people in the crowd take over pole patrol while people dance under the creature.

11:01 pm – Artist compound behind circuitGROUNDS

We won’t name any names, but toward the end of the night, the artist compound behind circuitGROUNDS is crackin’. And by crackin’, we mean super rowdy. Some of the DJs and their friends set the Turn-up-o-Meter to extreme and are getting a bit rambunctious. We hear reports of people crashing through walls.

11:34 pm – circuitGROUNDS

Tired after the heavy lifting from our squid squad duties, we head over to catch Flosstradamus close out circuitGROUNDS for the night, and it’s an immediate jolt of much-needed energy. Simply put, the Floss dudes are going in hard. We’re hearing everything from the Flosstradamus remix of Major Lazer’s “Original Don,” to a flawless transition from “Get Low” by Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz into “Get Low” by Dillon Francis & DJ Snake (how has nobody done this before?!). Trap arms in full tow, literally everyone in the crowd twerks as low as they can and then heads into a raucous mosh pit in the middle of the dancefloor. We are now officially members of the #HDYNATION.

12:13 am – Port-a-potties near kineticFIELD

We’re walking back to the production area behind kineticFIELD when we find this crusty “Get Freaky” sign on the floor near the port-a-potties. We’re tempted to grab it off the floor but realize it’s not the best idea. Minutes later, someone bravely grabs it barehanded and posts it alongside the exit fences. We feel it is an appropriate parting message.

12:15 am – Backstage production area

While we stand waiting for our ride back to the hotel, a golf cart carrying the guys from Flosstradamus pulls up to drop them off at their car. “GREAT SET!” we exclaim while, horrifyingly, doing that devil horns rock ‘n’ roll thing with our right hand. It is tremendously uncool. They say thanks and smile back graciously, though.

12:45 am – The elevator at our hotel

Um, OMG! We get into the elevator at our hotel and see that Curt from Flosstradamus is also inside it. He asks us which floor we’re on. We tell him 12. He presses the 12 button. This is unprecedented. Do we tell him we loved his set again? Do we tell him that while we have reservations about the often misogynistic lyrical content, trap music nonetheless makes us feel epic and powerful? Do we tell him we’re proud members of the #HDYNATION? By the time we’ve considered all of these important questions, the elevator door has opened, he has gotten out, and we have failed… again.

1:30 am – The hotel bar

Night one of the Insomniac staff after-party is in full swing. There are spirits. There are beers. There are Flosstradamus and 3LAU drinking at a table not far from where we’re sitting. We fleetingly consider making one last effort to go tell Floss how much we love them, but by this point we have been fully distracted by the huge pizza someone just brought for the staff. Pizza over everything. Good night.

Click through to read day two of our coverage…

Saturday, November 8

11:45 am – The main entrance

The first people in line today are Philip, Yosh and Greg. Philip and Yosh are friends and University of Central Florida students, and Greg is a 50-year-old man who has traveled to EDC Orlando from New York. The three guys met yesterday at kineticFIELD, where they stood in the front row for most of the day. They agree that the highlight of their day was seeing Yellow Claw, and Greg very enthusiastically tells us he also loved Alesso, W&W and Dash Berlin. He says he first got into EDM when he was hanging out in the Hamptons, but he likes these events more because they allow people to be freer. “I love the originality and the ability to be myself. You can be who you want to be and dress how you want to dress.” When we point out that Greg is not wearing a costume, he tells us that costumes aren’t really his thing, but that he has mad respect for people who put so much time and effort into theirs.

11:55 am – The zip line

We get strapped into a harness, climb a flight of stairs and jump on the zip line, which shoots us over a pond and to the other side of the festival. So exhilarating! So convenient!

Noon – The zip line

And then we ride the zip line again, because zip lines are the very most fun.

12:18 pm – Performer staging area

As a member of our editorial staff gets his face painted, our clown ringleader Nick is giving what is undoubtedly the most epic speech about the ethos of clown life. “Your job as a clown is to inspire play and also to create that community of love and inclusiveness.” Never could we have imagined the depths of clown life and the full commitment the various roaming performers give at EDC. It isn’t until our Insomniac journalist goes deep undercover (that’s him below in the orange crop-top) as a clown for the first time ever that we truly understand the magic these performers add to the EDC experience.

1:54 pm – Overheard at neonGARDEN

“Hold this for me, please. I don’t want these balls to hit me in my face.”

2:52 pm – neonGARDEN

neonGARDEN is packed with fans as the clown troupe and monkey girl performers entertain Headliners. As if our senses aren’t already over-stimulated, the Imagine Nation folks bring out a big parachute, and we host an impromptu session of that game we used to play in elementary school. The trick is to fly the parachute as high into the sky as possible. Before it falls down, every Headliner must sneak under the parachute and sit on the outer edges, preventing the air within from escaping, thus creating a huge parachute mountain. It takes us a few tries, but once we nail it, we create a big air bubble inside the parachute. From there, we have a quick twerk session within the parachute bubble, where people run to the center and show off their best twerk. Some dude does a full handstand inside the parachute!

If that’s not enough, the Imagine Nation crew brings out a tall volleyball court, and we have the most insane match in the history of the sport. People are climbing on each other’s shoulders and spiking the ball from way up in the sky. It is so surreal to unleash our inner child smack in the middle of EDC.

3:26 pm – Box office

There’s a lonely Headliner crying in front of the box office. She’s bummed out because she lost her ticket on the taxi ride over, and the taxi company can’t seem to find it. There’s a security guard watching all this go down. He walks over to the Headliner and escorts her to the front of the box office line. He pulls out his own wallet and buys her a ticket using his own income. If that’s not PLUR, then we don’t know what is.

4:57pm – kineticFIELD

We’re near the front of the crowd for Paper Diamond, who is putting on an epically bass-y set that, for a moment, is just waves of delicious low-end pulsing out at the crowd. He finishes with Lil Jon’s crunk classic “Get Low,” and all of a sudden we find ourselves screaming the completely disgusting lines of that song with gleeful abandon as we, and all of the people around us, do indeed get low… get low, get low, get low, get low, get low, get low.

5:00 pm – Backstage at circuitGROUNDS

Irina, Zoey, Brittany, Kristen, Lila and Melissa eagerly wait to meet Texan duo Tritonal backstage before their set at circuitGROUNDS. They’re all winners of an EDC Orlando totem design contest Tritonal hosted. Each winner won a behind-the-scenes meet-and-greet with Tritonal, where they show off their creative totems and listen to some new music from the group. Talk about mega fans! Check out those totems.

5:11 pm – Main entrance

We’ve seen our fair share of booze smugglers at festivals, but this one takes the cake. It’s a glass vial filled with booze hidden inside a fake tampon. Looks painful and prob really dangerous to stuff in any human orifice. We catch some folks trying to sneak these in. Luckily, they are still in the package and not inside… well, you know.

5:22 pm – The Delusion and Screamin’ Eagle

Hardstyle master Headhunterz is deep into his kineticFIELD set as we (bravely) ride the Delusion and the Screamin’ Eagle B2B. As Headhunterz’s hefty kick drums pound into our ears, our stomachs go through intense ups and downs as we flip, turn and spin high above our fellow Headliners. We walk out of that 15-minute timespan dazed and confused. We’re not sure if the roller-coasters or the hardstyle are to blame.

7:35 pm – neonGARDEN

Green Velvet takes over for Amine Edge & DANCE, who have just delivered a moody, housey set that exceeded our already-high expectations. Green Velvet is immediately captivating, and we dance like no one is watching while above us, green laser beams (natch) illuminate the drops of rain starting to fall, making the sky look like it’s filled with floating green diamonds. It’s all pretty spectacular. There is also a guy sitting on the ground behind us meditating with his mouth open and his palms up toward the sky. He may be the happiest person at this festival right now. Minutes later, what looks like a rave séance takes place at the back of the crowd; but really, it’s our awesome friends from Imagine Nation being extra awesome.

8:30 pm – kineticFIELD

Dillon Francis is rocking hard at kineticFIELD when the music suddenly cuts off. He then gets on the mic and says, “FUCK!!!! Sorry guys, I pressed the wrong button. But that’s what happens when you’re actually DJing.” The crowd cheers, and he starts a new track. Flawless error recovery, Dill.

9:38 pm – Overheard near kinecticFIELD

“Bro, I love that I just saw a girl wearing a tiara and a tutu with tape across her nipples, standing next to a jumping beaver with a giant tail.”

9:45 pm – Dillon Francis’ artist trailer behind kineticFIELD

Insomniac: “Hey Dillon, we’re with Insomniac. We wanted to see if you would be willing to have us film you going down the zip line to share the video via Snapchat with our fans who couldn’t make it to EDC Orlando.”

Dillon Francis: “You guys have a fucking ZIP LINE?!?! I’m in! Let’s see who else I can grab.”

Dillon grabs Alesia. They go down the zip line. Hilarity ensues. History is made.

10:00 pm – Artist catering area

Dude! We totally catch a gate-crasher red-handed in the artist catering area. He thought he made it through security and passed the gates. Sorry, buddy, gate-crashing is totally illegal—not to mention, super dangerous. As security escorts the guy out, Sunnery James, Ryan Marciano and Green Velvet all cheer us on for stopping the crime.

10:15 pm – circuitGROUNDS

Above & Beyond is making grown men cry and young men dance with their emotionally epic sound. They type “Florida, we’ve been waiting to dance in the rain with you” on the screen and then launch into “Sun & Moon,” the moment everyone’s been waiting for. The crowd screams the lyrics, “It’s raining/It’s pouring,” as a steady mist falls from the sky. Somewhere out there in the middle of the huge crowd, someone is probably getting engaged. It all feels so right.

11:12 pm – Editorial office, production area backstage

We’re at the editorial home base during the final stretch of EDC Orlando, with only 48 minutes left to go. The rain is pouring pretty hard out there. Our legs are tired, our stomachs growling. Just as we’re ready to call it quits, we enlist the powers of PLUR and make one last hurrah. We can’t decide whom to catch as our final set of the weekend, so we split between Knife Party at kineticFIELD for some bass-heavy tunes, Steve Angello at circuitGROUNDS for some uplifting big-room electro, and Claude VonStroke for some wobbly house music. We immediately forget how tired and hungry we are and let the music take us away one last time.

12:15 am – Tampa Street

We’re waiting for our Uber to arrive and bring us back to the hotel, and we are doing so while standing out in the rain, which is now coming down hard. The driver is taking his time getting here, and we are getting increasingly wet and tired. Finally, the dude shows up in his Kia four-door and delivers us to our hotel. We attempt ordering a pizza (because, as you may recall, pizza over everything), but when we find out that it won’t be delivered for an hour, we cancel the order and go to dreamland. Sweet dreams, Orlando.