Day 1 – Part 2
We left off on board the Friendship ferry en route to HS. The ferry, for those who don’t know, goes from Epcot to Yacht & Beach Club, Boardwalk, Swan & Dolphin, and ends at Hollywood Studios (and vice versa). The trip takes about a half hour. Now, when we took this in December, it took much longer than a half hour. I’m not really sure why. But, going by the time stamp on our pictures, we wrapped up with Alice at 2:45 and were posing for these photos an hour later – and we had “lunch” in between.
My daughter LOVES Tinkerbell. She can recite every line from every Tinkerbell movie. So I thought it would be cool to take this picture for her.
I checked the wait times for the dwindling attractions here, and we opted to start with the Great Movie Ride. The posted wait time was 40 minutes, which didn’t seem too bad. So on we went.
This ride is fun, and even though I know it’s a little different, they really haven’t changed it all that much since I was a kid. Also, if your child is of the faint at heart, this ride is not for them. We had a few crying children in our car. It’s loud, the gangster is kinda scary, and that alien thing is just freaky. So, word to the wise.
Up next was One Man’s Dream. I’m sad they’re getting rid of this, it should be a mandatory stop for anyone visiting. It’s a nicely done exhibit. We just missed the start of the movie, and didn’t feel like waiting for the next one, so back out in the hot sun we go!
Pixar Place is next for Toy Story Midway Mania! This ride is really a lot of fun. I really enjoy it, and didn’t mind waiting in the standby line for it. The wait was posted at 75 minutes, and it was probably about that. It got a little jumbled at the end and they ushered us through the handicap entrance so we were on much quicker than those waiting around us. My sister whopped my behind in this. But my accuracy was better. Ha!
We exited the ride and the sky was not looking good. We dashed through the Streets of America and popped into Mama Melrose to see if we could get a table for dinner. Fat chance.
Okay, so what next? My sister hates the Muppets (blasphemy!) so we go to make our way towards Star Tours. And…. It’s raining. Break out the ponchos! My sister, being ever so frugal, picked up two child size ponchos at CVS. They did the job of keeping our top half dry, and our bags and electronics. But this thing was like an oversized t-shirt at best. More on that later…
On to Star Tours! Again, another attraction they’ve updated but still keeping bits of the attraction I remember from the 90’s. I love this ride, and the fact that there’s different “missions” now makes it more fun. We went to Wookie Island, and some underwater scene with JarJar.
Exiting the ride into Tatooine Traders, you could not move an inch. By this point the downpours were so bad, the walkways outside were flooded. I don’t like being a sardine in a can, so we made our way through the crowd – ponchos on – and out into the rains we went. We swam – err – walked over to Backlot Express to grab some dinner.
Now, this part of the story gets me a little aggravated. I understand it’s raining, and I understand that people don’t want to get wet. But unless you’re buying food or eating, don’t take tables away from paying customers <end rant>.
We each ordered cheeseburgers and fries. They were, ehh. Nothing to write home about, but for the purpose of this trip report they’ve been included.
The rain seems to have died down, so we decided to make our way out towards Tower of Terror. I LOVE this ride! Posted wait time I think was only 20 minutes, I’m pretty sure we were on it in 10. A far cry from the 2+ hour waits I remember from my childhood, that’s for sure. The last time I rode this was in 2000, and I remember being somewhat disappointed because they had changed the drop. Slowed it down maybe? It wasn’t NEARLY as terrifying as it had been in years prior. That was definitely not the case this time! They must’ve dropped us 5-6 times. Each time was has scream inducing as the last. So much fun!!
It was just about 8pm when we finished the ride. We contemplated taking on RNR coaster, but neither of us were really feeling it. We noticed people lining up for the 9pm showing of Fantasmic!, so we decided to get in line. It’s starting to drizzle now, so back into the ponchos we go. For some reason, we were both thinking that Fantasmic! was covered – it’s not. So by the time we got into the theater, maybe around 8:20 or so, the benches were soaked. We attempted to pull down the ponchos enough so that our butts wouldn’t get wet, but remember… these are child sized. There was no way that was happening. And my sister ripped the hood on her’s in the process.
Sitting there in the rain, on a cold wet bench, watching the lightening in the distance, the announcement goes off that the show may be delayed or cancelled if the weather is bad. We made the executive decision to call it a night and make our way back to the buses. I’ve seen Fantasmic! a lot recently, thanks to K’s obsession with “Mickey fireworks”. We’ve watched the video on YouTube about 100 times. I was still bummed to miss seeing it in person though. Next time!
We were back at the resort by 9. I stopped at the pool bar to get a Captain’s Mai Tai. This was delicious! It was just the night cap I needed. I called DH and K for a little video chat, and then it was lights out. We have an early day tomorrow at the Magic Kingdom!!
