All Things Disney - Except Movies

[JHDK]

Spur of the moment decision since it looks like the hurricane isn't going to be bad at all in Broward. I've decided to drive up to the Disney area now, stay the night and go to Universal tomorrow. They are offering a FL resident deal now where if you buy a 1 day ticket it will be good until the end of the year. So a half annual pass for $120...My Disney pass (the second cheapest option, is still around $330) so this is a good deal if I go a few times which I'm sure I will.

I would just go to Disney, but I'm blackout until the 7th. So when I go Disney next Tuesday I'll probably split my second day and spend half at Animal Kingdom and the other half at Universal.

Quick 210 mile road trip this afternoon.

 

[HecticArt]

Don't get lazy. Wear that damned mask.

 

[JHDK]

And I'm at the motel.

 

[JHDK]

I have lots of Disney related things today.

FIrst off, I always say it would be fun to be on a ride that malfunctioned and this is no exception:

Disney World's Splash Mountain boat sinks in viral Twitter video, guest claims they were told to remain inside

An iconic aquatic attraction at Disney World is making a different kind of splash on social media.

www.foxnews.com

Second, I didn't go to Universal. Once up there I realized that the deal on the ticket didn't include parking which would be another $26 every time I went. So I checked out this place called Fun Spot instead. It's much cheaper than the big name parks (smaller too) but still a good time.

Third, check out these lines:



Even with the higher capacity they started allowing into the parks the wait times are quite low. There are screenshots from yesterday at around 6:00pm. With lines that low on a weekend I should be good when I visit next Tuesday and Wednesday.

 

[HecticArt]

Wow. And the parking lot is empty!

 

[JHDK]

As you all know I'm a crazy person. I have a 2 day trip set for next week to visit Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom. That's not enough for this fanatic. Tomorrow is the first day that the summer blackout of my annual pass ends. I figured I'd try to get an Epcot reservation but all the parks were fully booked. I kept trying and managed to get a Hollywood Studios reservation!

I never thought this would happen. HS is by far the most popular park these days with the new Mickey and Star Wars ride. Lots of Youtubers I watch go so far as to book a room at a WDW resort because that guarantees a reservation at any park you want. I must have simply gotten lucky and refreshed right as someone canceled.

Now I will definitely be able to get on the Mickey ride but it will be luck of the draw with Rise of the Resistance. That one has a virtual queue where you have to be in the park and use your phone to try to get a spot at either 10am or 2pm. I will be there at 10 to give it a try and I'll also try again at 2 if need be. Even if I don't get on it this time it will be nice to see Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway for the first time. It took the place of The Great Movie Ride which was also a good one.

So it's an early wake up for me then off to Disney World for the first time since October 2019. Between tomorrow and next Wednesday I will have visited enough to have my annual pass pay for itself. And I will be going a lot more than just this week. The pass is now good until March thanks to the parks closing for months and I already plan to visit Epcot in 2 weeks.

 

[Aaron]

Let us know how you like the Star Wars place. Have fun, and stay safe.

 

[HecticArt]

Have fun out there, and stay safe!

 

[JHDK]

WHile it is certainly a luxury to be able to go to Disney on a whim, I do try to be as frugal as possible. Just made my lunch and dinner that will be in my cooler that I always keep in the car. I'm pretty sure you can leave and come back to the same park so I'll go out to the car to eat and then go back into the park. I'm going to carry my Contigo around with me in the park too. Usually I carry a much smaller water bottle so we'll see how that goes.

 

[JHDK]

Well I got here. 15 mins until we see what's up with Rise.

Oh and I forgot about the skyliner gondola thing. I've never been on it so I may take it to epcot and back just for the ride. Plus you can see a good view of the construction of a new epcot ride in France.

 

[JHDK]

I killed it! Boarding group 2! I should be on this thing in like 30 mins

 

[JHDK]

That worked out perfectly. Rise was a walk on and right at the end when my car was at the exit it broke down so I spent 10 mins sitting there. Perfect time for a breakdown. And the ride is amazing. The preshow areas are the best I've ever experienced. Good stuff.

Now I'm in line for muppet vision 3d, haven't done this one in years.

 

[JHDK]

Currently waiting in the longest line I've ever done while an annual passholder. Mickey and minnie had a posted 60 mins. So far it's been 27. We'll see if it really turns out to be 60. These days they seem to overestimate the line times for pretty much everything.

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

Currently waiting in the longest line I've ever done while an annual passholder. Mickey and minnie had a posted 60 mins. So far it's been 27. We'll see if it really turns out to be 60. These days they seem to overestimate the line times for pretty much everything.

Are you lining up to get in a better line?

 

[JHDK]

Turned out to be 40 mins. Then I got on the other new star wars ride, smugglers run in only 20 mins. Good old FL afternoon thunderstorm is rolling in now so I retreated to the car for dinner. I'll chill here for an hour and if it stops by then I'll head back into the park. The rain should clear out a bunch of people.

 

[JHDK]

I killed it yesterday. I did every ride in the park (and Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway twice) except one, Lightning McQueen's Racing Academy which is an interactive stage show for very young children.

Let's talk about the two new rides: Mickey and Minnie's and Rise of the Resistance. They are very different but share interesting characteristics. They are both trackless rides and it was the first time I have ever been on that type of attraction. Like I said the pre-shows for Rise are amazing. First you get a BB8 animatronic and Rey hologram which is really well done. Then they load you into a second pre-show where you're on a ship that gets tractorbeamed into a first order ship. There are screens on either side of the ship and an animatronic pilot. The neat part is that while on the ship it is spinning around but you don't feel it. So you enter from a resistance base, then you exit out the same door but now you're in the first order ship and are greeted with this:



While they don't walk around, their heads move so it gives the impression they are real. From there you then get on the actual ride. Also the staff do a good job of acting. They kinda act creepy in the Haunted Mansion but on this ride they really commit. Once on the first order ship they are jerks to you and order you around...it's fun.

With both of these rides they mix real props and animatronics along with screens very well. A lot of people complain that Universal relies too heavily on screens for their rides and I think these two show that a lot of screens mixed with physical elements can make for an amazing ride.

Mickey and Minnie's is supposed to be about going through an animated adventure. They too rely heavily on screens but there are all sorts of physical set pieces and animatronics with digitally projected faces. In that one the cars also have a rumble feature like in a video game controller so it helps with the immersion. There is this one part where you go over a waterfall and each ride car is in its own, domed IMAX type screen that is really neat. I loved The Great Movie Ride but this is a fantastic replacement. It gives me hope for the remix of Splash Mountain. (Although the movie ride was never tied for my all time favorite attraction.)

Took a couple more pics and everyone loves a slide show (hah) so here we go:



It's neat how the line for Smuggler's Run gives you a view of the back of the Falcon.



And I managed to get a pic of the front with no one around so that was nice.

Star Wars Land is cool and very well done but I still think that Avatar Land is the best of the movie related lands. Seeing the floating islands irl is really neat.



I like this one. With the dark clouds and the wet pavement it helps give the tower a more ominous feel.

I was able to do the trip for $73 including gas, tolls and $5 I spent at 7-11. And that's with me being lazy and taking the turnpike the whole way there and back instead of using I-95 for part of the trip to save on tolls, so that's not bad. I can get it down to around $60 if I avoid some of the tolls.

And now I just have to wait until Tues to be back and spend 2 more days in the parks! Oh and even though people did a good job of distancing in lines I probably have COVID now but screw it, Disney trips are worth it.

 

[HecticArt]

Well, wash your hands.


Oh, I glad you had fun. You needed the break.

 

[JHDK]

Well, wash your hands.


Oh, I glad you had fun. You needed the break.

I carried a little bottle of hand sanitizer around with me and they are all over the park. I would make a point to sanitize before and after each ride. And like I said the people in line did a great job of staying on the marked distancing tape that has been put down in every line.

I mentioned before that they have erected plexiglass dividers in all the lines. Looking at it yesterday, it must have been a real pain to install. Every section it attached with metal U clips bolted on and they also all have some glue around the clips to secure them onto the normal line spacers.

Wearing the mask wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. It was very hot (it doesn't get hotter than central FL in August) but unlike my walks, I wasn't constantly moving. Also many of the ride lines have a section that is inside and air conditioned so that's nice.

I also didn't need the battery pack for my phone. I would simply charge it in the car when I went to eat. Now I may need in in MK since it's annoying to get back to the parking lot since I have to take the boat or monorail but in AK I'll just walk to the car like I did yesterday.

They also have a cool new security thing where you don't need to have someone look in your bag. I don't carry a bag so it doesn't matter but it's not a metal detector, it's something else. It looks like two, about 4 foot tall plastic beams that you walk through. And for some reason umbrellas trip it up so you have to take them out and hold them in front of you. I asked why that was but the security guy said he didn't know.

Oh and I set a new walking record with 21k+ steps. I'm skipping my walks today cause I'm a bit sunburnt and sore.

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

They also have a cool new security thing where you don't need to have someone look in your bag. I don't carry a bag so it doesn't matter but it's not a metal detector, it's something else. It looks like two, about 4 foot tall plastic beams that you walk through. And for some reason umbrellas trip it up so you have to take them out and hold them in front of you. I asked why that was but the security guy said he didn't know.

They are trying to catch Mary Poppins if she is entering the park.

 

[JHDK]

They are trying to catch Mary Poppins if she is entering the park.

I have a pic of me with Mary Poppins in MK when I was like 4 or 5. I swear I have a clear memory of her flying in on her umbrella to to greet me. Now of course that didn't happen yet I certainly remember it.

5 y/o me wouldn't have made a very good eyewitness.