"Doctor Strange said not to touch anything!" - January 2018 solo MDAS/WDW (FINISHED Sept. 4)

I hadn't realized/noticed that you did the parks after this cruise! So excited to read about it! We're doing it after our Feb 2019 cruise and it will be our first ever time at WDW. We're disembarking at PC, not Miami, though.

All in all, it was a great meal, but after the cruise the sticker shock was a bit much. Meals at Disney are expensive, period (especially if you're going to do something like Boma); it's more jarring than usual when you've spent most of a week not paying out of pocket for anything.

This is one reason I decided we'd do the prepaid meal plan. It sounded like a really unpleasant adjustment to make.
 
I hadn't realized/noticed that you did the parks after this cruise! So excited to read about it! We're doing it after our Feb 2019 cruise and it will be our first ever time at WDW. We're disembarking at PC, not Miami, though.



This is one reason I decided we'd do the prepaid meal plan. It sounded like a really unpleasant adjustment to make.

I would absolutely do WDW before or after a cruise out of PC in future, just not one out of Miami. Losing a day to that drive is a bit much. When I was still planning the 2020 trip as a cruise I wanted to do two days at WDW before and one after (now it's shaping up to be a WDW-only trip).

I've looked at the dining plan a couple of times and I always want to do it but just can't find a way to reliably break even on it versus going out of pocket. I do think it would make things psychologically easier in a way, but I just can't bring myself to do it when I can save money paying as I go. Maybe if I someday manage to travel during the Free Dining promotion I'll finally try it out.
 
January 27
Four Parks, One Day!

Alright, folks, here it is, the final chapter (finally)! This is a big one. Also, I found a way to batch resize the photos (yay!) but it made some of them come out smaller than I'd been making them manually (boo!). Considering there were 143 of them in this batch, though...I'm just going to live with it.

I also want to preface this by saying that I came home after this trip and was out of work for a week with a terrible flu. I blame it entirely on the WDW leg of this trip. :sad2: I ran myself absolutely ragged over the course of three days (the long debarkation day with the terrible drive, the loooong park day I'm about to share, and then an extremely early morning for travel home) and I paid for it afterward. So I wouldn't do this again.

But it sure was fun while it was happening!

I was up and at 'em well before dawn. I hadn't been able to get a fastpass for Flight of Passage, and I knew my two options without one were either a very early ropedrop or doing it last thing at the close of the day. Since I had other plans for the evening, rope drop it was! At this point I wasn't actually decided as to what I'd do with the rest of my day in between; I was considering taking a midday break after AK before going on to my evening plans (and let's be real, that's what I should have done).

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My first bus stop photo is timestamped 6:34 AM, which means I'd been up long enough before that to shower, brush my teeth, and have a cup of coffee in the room. My goal was to get to Animal Kingdom an hour ahead of its 8:00 EMH opening, and everything I'd read in preparation suggested that the buses should start running well before 7:00. There were a couple of other people at the bus stop doing the same thing, so we waited together.

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And waited.

And waited.

A bus for Hollywood Studios came by around 6:45, which was confusing and upsetting considering that park wasn't opening until 9:00! As time ticked by I got more and more worried that I wouldn't get there far enough ahead of ropedrop to get ahead of the rush. I worried, too, that the AK bus would be full when it got to us, since I wasn't sure what order the buses served the different stops on the loop at Coronado Springs (here's where it's an advantage to stay at a value resort, with just the one bus stop). I thought about walking to the bus stop at the front of the resort on the theory that it might be serviced first, but didn't want to miss the bus if it came while I was between stops, so I stuck it out. By then more people had joined us.

Finally, at 7:04, the bus came and it was not full!

My fears had been well-founded, though, and it was very lucky that I hadn't changed stops. It turned out the stop at the front of the resort was serviced last, and there was an enormous crowd of people there waiting to get on. A bunch of them jammed in (though they could have gotten another family or two on if people had been willing to make space--when they asked if there was any more room I pointed out to the people in front of me that there was space for them to come up into the rear of the bus, and they just looked at me and then looked away without saying or doing anything).

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And we left a bunch of disappointed people standing at the bus stop. :guilty:

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I don't get it, seriously I don't. I can't imagine that this kind of demand on an EMH day for a park with a recently opened land is unusual at all.

Though I was at the back of the bus, as usual I found that I walked faster than most of the people who'd gotten out before me. I was at the front gate of the park at 7:25, a.k.a. 25 minutes later than I'd wanted to be.

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I don't know if it was because it was resort guests only for the EMH opening or if crowds weren't as bad as I'd been told as early as I'd been told to expect it, but it turned out that the "arrive a full hour ahead of opening" advice was not entirely necessary on this day. As you can see, the gates had not yet opened and I wasn't that far back from the head of the pack.

The timing was actually very good; eight minutes later the gates had opened and I was on my way past the Tree of Life:

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Things looked a bit intimidating at the entrance to Pandora

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But the masses kept on the move. They sent us down toward Africa, setting up a there-and-back loop nearly at the bridge to serve as part of the standby line.

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There were a few times when the line would pause and it would look like I'd gotten in too late and it was going to be really bad, but I think it was mostly happening when the crowd would have to narrow down from a sea of people to an actual queue, and it was stop-and-go as they opened up different parts of the queue ahead of us and made space for more people. By this point things were moving well enough that I could just accept that it was going to take however long it took and enjoy the scenery.

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January 27
Four Parks, One Day! (continued)

And, in true millennial fashion, shoot a selfie.

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The Squirrel Girl shirt might have been better-recognized on the MDAS cruise -- should have worn something a bit more mainstream for WDW. Also, you can see my string of magic users on the strap of my park bag.

By now FoP was already showing a 75 minute wait. That may actually have been accurate for people just joining the back of the line, or maybe it was a wild guess.

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Only 20 minutes for Na'vi River Journey, though. No love for the dark rides.

The landscaping throughout the entire area was absolutely amazing. On a future trip I'd like to actually spend some more time there just looking at it all. And honestly, I wouldn't mind waiting in this queue again; it was almost a shame to walk through it so quickly. Not for hours on end, though; that wouldn't be worth it to me.

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I reached the caves (very cool) and very suddenly the line was broken off a few people ahead of me and I found myself directed into a different area of the queue -- I think they opened an additional theater and we were the first people directed that way, because we got into the lab area and there was absolutely no one ahead of us.

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January 27
Four Parks, One Day! (continued)

And that was lucky, I suppose, because I was suddenly whisked right into the start of the show, but...actually, I really would have liked to spend some time winding through this part of the queue and looking really closely at everything. I was able to snap a few quick photos, but I didn't get to see everything as well as I would have liked. In hindsight I suppose I could have just stood to the side and let people pass me, but I didn't want to gum things up for the CMs and the other guests, so I just kept moving.

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By the time they sorted us into different lanes by the number of people in each group (very clever way to make fully loading the ride easier for the CMs; I'm sure they wish they'd done that for Soarin' and other rides), the official wait time was up to 120 minutes.

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I was worried I wouldn't fit in the restraints after everything I'd read. I was a bit right to worry, but it wasn't because of my weight like I thought it might be -- the problem was that my long legs were just barely within the limits of what the Banshees were built to accommodate. Like some others on this board have said, I'm dubious about the wisdom of this ride design. Disney is ordinarily very good about designing rides that accommodate a wide range of body shapes, sizes, and disabilities, but Flight of Passage's seat design is likely to continue to exclude a fair number of guests from riding it over the coming years. It makes me worry about the upcoming Tron ride, since that'll also have riders straddling the seat if they keep the same design as the version that already exists elsewhere.

The ride itself was fun, though I wish it hadn't been hyped up so much. I guess I have a harder time suspending disbelief for motion simulators than many others, maybe because I spent so much time in college riding that type of attraction and deliberately breaking the illusion for myself in order to study how the illusion had been constructed in the first place. It was a very good motion simulator, don't get me wrong, but I'd rather have a ride that moves through real, physical space.

I forgot to take a photo as I was exiting the ride, but this next one, taken after I had perused the gift shop for a couple of minutes, is timestamped 8:53. So I spent less than an hour of the time the park was officially open waiting in line...but between waiting for the bus and everything else, I didn't save much actual time, if any. But that was okay; it meant that I had an early start on everything else.

I'd researched ahead of time to figure out where I could get a hot breakfast, so I headed straight over to Africa and got in line at Kusafiri Coffee Shop. I'd never even noticed this was here; sometimes I think Disney themed the quick service counters in Animal Kingdom a little too well and made them look a little too much like holes in the wall!

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I snagged an iced coffee (so I could drink it quickly) and a breakfast burrito with goat cheese.

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The flavor of the burrito was good, but it could have used more texture -- pieces of potato, maybe, something to give you something to really bite into. As it was, it was just an egg and cheese mixture and soft throughout.

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I took a few minutes to eat and enjoy my surroundings. Animal Kingdom is always the park I think of when I remember going to the parks on my days off as a CM; it was the one I gravitated to most often. I really couldn't tell you why; my favorite rides are mostly elsewhere. It was just always where I wanted to go when I wanted to wander slowly and enjoy the atmosphere.

The one and only FP I'd pre-scheduled was coming up: Na'vi River Journey. That was why I hadn't bothered to rush over and get in line for it after getting off of FoP. When my FP window opened up I strolled back into Pandora.

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I actually enjoyed NRJ a lot more than I had FoP! There was just so much to look at all the way through, and such clever uses of special effects to complete the illusions throughout. I could have watched the animatronic of the shaman all day long if only the boat would have stopped. As I get older I'm more and more interested in dark rides with rich visual environments; I still love thrill rides in general, but I'm also perfectly happy to just sit in a slow-moving boat and stare at the interesting visuals around me. If I had been able to snag another FP I would have ridden this again...and maybe been spared the one negative of the experience: the parent behind me narrating the entire ride to their child. Everything had to be pointed out and (mis)identified: "That's an Avatar-lizard! That's an Avatar-deer!" :crazy2:
 
January 27
Four Parks, One Day! (continued)

After that I didn't have any firm plans, so I just pointed myself toward Asia and headed there at a sedate pace.

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Ah, Everest! As I mentioned in today's earlier entry, I was there when it opened in 2006, and of the rides in WDW it's the one with which I feel the strongest personal connection as a result. Every time I ride it I remember how it was when it was brand new and everything in it was a surprise to all of us riding it, and the opening day crew were so excited and proud to be the ones running it. When I run the marathon, I think it'll be my top pick if I have time to ride an attraction along the route.

After Everest I grabbed an ice cream -- I hadn't had any of these on the ship, and it's a tradition. Also, I already needed to take some advil and I needed food to take it with.

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I ate it on the way to Dinoland U.S.A., one of my favorite areas in any park. I know it doesn't show as much in what I talk about on this board, but my housemate could tell you that I just adore dinosaurs. I find them utterly fascinating in their own right, and the history of how people have discovered, interpreted, and repackaged them over the decades is also deeply interesting to me. Funny thing -- I know a lot of people don't card for Chester & Hester's Dino-Rama (and that's not just guests; I knew plenty of CMs who thought the costumes for that area were the most hideous work outfits Disney had ever invented). I always thought that I would have been thrilled to be assigned here, though. Maybe if I follow through on my idea to go back to work for WDW when I retire...and if they haven't torn it down by then....

(Let's face it, they'll have replaced it with something else by then)

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That being said, I didn't stop for any rides there. I thought about Primeval Whirl, but since I was already sore I didn't want to subject myself to getting banged around quite that much at this point in the day.

What I did stop for? DARK PLACES and SCARY DINOSAURS!!

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Countdown to Extinction was such a better attraction name than Dinosaur. :rolleyes: Oh, well. When I visited WDW for the first time with my family, I was twelve years old and terrified of absolutely everything. We rode this two or three times and never once did I open my eyes during the ride -- in the first ride photo I was just plastered against my mom's shoulder with my eyes squeezed shut. Now I just absolutely eat it up. And, too, I remember going on this ride back when it was sponsored by McDonald's and there were golden arches painted on the walls...but I don't recall when exactly that was.

I took a quick snapshot of a home decor idea to text to my housemate.

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And then, right around 11:00, I made the fateful decision: rather than stay at AK a little longer and then go take a nap, I would leave immediately for the next park and do all four parks in one day.

I'd done so once before, in January 2010. I was fortunate enough to have the last day of my second College Program off from work, so I worked ahead all week to make sure I was all packed and ready to go and could use that day to give WDW a proper goodbye. That time around I went in with a careful plan; I listed must-do rides and wrote out a timetable and was ready ready ready. This time, though? I just winged it. And it was actually totally fine.

My evening plans put me at Magic Kingdom, which was open until midnight on EMH. That being the case, I quickly decided that the most sensible route would be DHS next, a walk or boat ride to Epcot, and the monorail to MK, minimizing my bus time. Not long after making my decision, I was on my way!

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The last time I'd gone to WDW, in 2015, my mom and I had struggled to make the most of FP+ because we weren't able to reserve new ones throughout the day on our phones. As a solo traveler with a smartphone in 2018, though, I found it very easy to play the refresh game throughout the day on buses and in queues, and snagged a FP for Tower of Terror for immediate use before I'd even arrived at DHS.

So this installment of the trip report is turning into a CP nostalgia trip. My assignment in 2009 (my second program) was backstage at DHS. One of my roommates at the time (and one of the bubbliest people I've ever met) was a ticket taker at the front gate of DHS, and more often than not I'd see her there when I visited the park on my days off and I'd stop and talk if there wasn't a line. She still works in WDW, though not as a ticket taker. We don't really talk anymore but I've got her friended on Facebook and see her posts now and then, and for a moment as I came up to the gates it almost seemed like I should see her there again.

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Since my FP window had already opened fifteen or twenty minutes before I even got to the gate, I made a beeline for the Tower of Terror. A good time was had, as always -- it's been my favorite ride ever since I got brave enough to ride it at all (so...not that trip when I was twelve). After this last year, though, I think it's been beaten out by the Guardians of the Galaxy version in California! I never thought I'd like an overlay better than the original, but there we have it.

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No pictures from the ride. I'm finding as I go through these photos that I skipped taking pictures of a number of things, I suppose because at this point I was just falling back into familiar old routines and didn't feel the need to constantly document.
 
January 27
Four Parks, One Day! (continued)

I snagged my third coffee of the day on the way back out to Sunset Boulevard. I'd decided to skip Rock 'n' Roller Coaster because I wasn't seeing a FP pop up for it and the single rider line is notoriously terrible anymore.

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Though I was theoretically on a tight(ish) timeline in order to get to all the parks and though I was definitely in a position of having to pick and choose my priorities, the moment I saw performers out in the street I immediately stopped and watched until they were done.

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I couldn't tell you the specifics at this point, but it was the usual -- the director is trying to shoot a scene for a movie, but his stars and crew are more than a little thick and interpret all his commands absolutely literally. As far as I can tell that's the plot of every streetmosphere performance on Sunset Boulevard in DHS, but there are a lot of variations on the theme and they're always a ton of fun.

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After that I ducked into Sweet Spells a moment to see if anything caught my eye and -- well --

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I am weak.

Outside, Kylo Ren was going on about something. I like Star Wars well enough but I'm not a mega-fan like I am for Marvel, and I didn't really feel like standing outside anymore. I stayed for just a minute or two before moving on.

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So I kid you not, in training they told us that a good use for One Man's Dream is that it's a good place to send guests who are wilting in the heat since they can hang out in the air conditioning indefinitely in there. And that is indeed part of why I went in; I also wanted to see if there was anything new, and was rewarded with this model:

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I'd also heard that Star-Lord and baby Groot would probably be meeting and greeting in the back, and they were indeed there that day! I frankly find character meets a bit awkward most of the time (especially when I'm not in costume myself, weirdly), but the line was short and I figured, what the heck.

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We found that we had all kinds of things in common, like...being from Earth. Yeah, no, that was the extent. And then I told baby Groot about churros and Star-Lord was not happy because Groot already had enough sugar in his diet, thank you very much.
 


January 27
Four Parks, One Day! (continued)

During the wait, I'd managed to refresh my way into a fastpass for Toy Story Mania. I was on a roll!

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It's utterly bizarre for me to imagine that walkway being a backstage area now and the entrance being on the other side of the attraction. Also, check out that stand-by estimate! Yeah, there was a reason I wasn't doing a lot of standby....

I seem to recall I did fairly well, so of course I completely neglected to take a picture of my score. :badpc:

After that I lingered a little while, trying to snag a second FP for Tower of Terror, but no dice. With so much of the park closed down at that point, I decided to call it and head to Epcot -- the only other ride I would've been interested in was Star Tours, and at the time they were doing the promo storyline for The Last Jedi instead of randomizing, and I'd seen it several times in Disneyland the previous fall. So a pass on that, and off I went.

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I always think, when I decide to go between Epcot and DHS (or to/from one of the resorts in that area) that I'll rest my legs and take a boat. And then I never do because the dock looks like this:

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With a line of people I suspected might fill an entire boat and no boat in sight, I decided to just lean into my unplanned day of physical exertion and walk to Epcot instead. By this time it was still only 2:00; if I hadn't had definite plans relatively early in the evening at MK I probably would have taken more time at each of the preceding parks. As it was, though, I had deadlines to meet!

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You know how I said this was a nostalgia trip now? Yeah, enjoy this picture of a laundry/towel bin, because it gave me nostalgia feels.

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Partly I stopped to take a picture because this had been such a familiar sight (remember, I worked in costuming...a.k.a. laundry). Also, I was mildly surprised to see that the laundry department's soap bubble Mickey logo hadn't changed in the nine years since I'd been backstage (or, if it has, it hasn't been changed out everywhere). I always got the impression that departmental logos come and go, but you have to admit that this is a good one.

It was around this time that I tripped and scraped up the front of one of my nice Sanuk flipflops. I always used to think anyone who wore flipflops to WDW had to be nuts, but I got these in Disneyland last year and they're now my go-to casual walking shoes when the weather is warm enough. I'd worn them almost exclusively the entire trip.

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It was around this time, too, that I blasted Proud Carazon on my phone since there weren't enough people around to call me out on it and man I just love that song.

I'm not going to lie, I'm jealous of people who can afford to stay at Yacht/Beach Club.

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And check out this view!!

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The one time I got to stay at an Epcot-area resort, I loved being so close to two of the parks. I didn't love everything else about the Dolphin (it doesn't have the level of theming I expect from a WDW resort, and it was frustrating not getting all of the amenities you get at a Disney-owned resort), but I sure wouldn't pass up a chance to stay in this area again.
 
I reached the caves (very cool) and very suddenly the line was broken off a few people ahead of me and I found myself directed into a different area of the queue -- I think they opened an additional theater and we were the first people directed that way, because we got into the lab area and there was absolutely no one ahead of us.
You got lucky-they opened up the full standby line for you! In the early morning they just send people thru the Fastpass line (once they reach the caves), which is actually pretty boring! I want to do it again standby to actually spend time looking at the queue, but it will probably have to wait a couple trips!

By the time they sorted us into different lanes by the number of people in each group (very clever way to make fully loading the ride easier for the CMs; I'm sure they wish they'd done that for Soarin' and other rides), the official wait time was up to 120 minutes.
Interesting-maybe they just do that in the early morning? I don’t think I’ve ever noticed that during the day. For the top ramp, the right side goes to the middle row, left side to top row, and center is for single riders so CMs can pull them out easily. On the bottom row, it’s mostly FP people, with left side the normal row, center single rider, and right side for people in ECVs.

It makes me worry about the upcoming Tron ride, since that'll also have riders straddling the seat if they keep the same design as the version that already exists elsewhere
Yeah, I’m definitely worried about that too! I think in Shanghai the last car has a row or two of normal roller coaster seats so some larger people can fit. I wonder if they will add more cars like that?
 
January 27
Four Parks, One Day! (continued)

Soon after that, I had arrived at the International Gateway. I wonder if they'll expand it with more turnstiles once they have the gondolas bringing heavier traffic to this entrance.

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Time being limited, I decided to head counterclockwise around the World Showcase without backtracking, skipping Canada and the United Kingdom. I hadn't realized (again, because this part of the trip had been a bit of an afterthought) that there would be a festival going on. I wasn't particularly interested in the art for sale and figured that this was a sign I'd get to ride little or nothing in Epcot due to the crowds, but I'm all for tapas/munchies around the world.

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First stop: chebbakia and an arak-based drink. I had to ask what arak was, and the chebbakia wasn't quite what I expected.

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I'd thought it would be a relatively soft dessert, but instead it was crunchy all the way through -- very tasty, though. I liked the arak drink quite a lot; I like anise in general and it had a strong flavor despite the orange juice and grenadine.

My next stop was Japan; I always stop at the shop in Japan because it's just so expansive and interesting.

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Heeyy it's Gudetama!

Really, though, I was there to fulfill a little self-imposed tradition. Every time I've visited WDW, I've bought a lucky cat. I try not to repeat colors...unfortunately I've only found three or four of them as I was tidying up my things, but I'm going to try to be better at keeping them all together.

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And here's an entire rack of mochi. When I was a high schooler I would have loved to chow down on a six- or eight-pack of these things, but as an adult I figured I'd either have to throw half of them out or get a stomach ache, so I gave them a pass.

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It was still bustling all around the World Showcase.

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Frozen Ever After was sitting at an 80 minute stand-by and I hadn't managed to snag a FP for it, so I passed it by even though it was new since the last time I'd been there. I like Frozen well enough, but I'm not in love with it and I'm honestly a bit sore about the removal of Maelstrom and the fictionalization of the Norway pavilion.
 
January 27
Four Parks, One Day! (continued)

Instead, I headed for my favorite pavilion of all:

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So I'm a little bit of a hypocrite because I like the Gran Fiesta Tour much better now that it's a Three Caballeros ride than back when it was a totally nonfiction dark ride in the 1990s. In its defense over Frozen Ever After, though, they at least kept the setting the same instead of setting it in a fictional country.

This was the only other place I saw anything related to Coco in the parks.

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Gran Fiesta Tour was marked as a 10 minute wait in the app, but it was considerably busier than that.

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I decided to stick it out, though, and only had to wait probably fifteen or twenty minutes. The queue looked atrocious, but frankly I think it's because that ride's queue area is nearly nonexistent; in my past visits it's almost always been a walk-on and I think they knew it would be when they designed it.

Now that I've been to Disneyland, I see the obvious parallels between this building and the original Pirates of the Caribbean/Blue Bayou setup (we ate at Blue Bayou last fall and it was wonderful).

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While in line, I was very surprised to find that I was able to get a FP for Frozen Ever After!

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I'd planned to be heading out of the park around 5:00, so using this FP would make FEA my last attraction before leaving Epcot. That was a little bit of a bummer (it's extremely unusual for me to pass through Epcot without riding Spaceship Earth), but since I'd never ridden it before I decided to go for it.

I did take pictures on the Gran Fiesta Tour, haha. Tower of Terror? Nah, been there, done that. It's A Small Mexico? The world needs to see this.

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I got a little surprise at the end -- the last time I'd been on this ride they still had a video screen for the big finish. I've since learned that these animatronics were recycled from an attraction at one of the Asian parks (and recycled from a different stateside attraction before that!), which would explain why they're a little bit old-school despite being relatively new to Epcot.

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January 27
Four Parks, One Day! (continued)

After the ride, I checked out the alejibres for sale. I love these things and I've wanted more of them (I have one that a family member bought for me in the real Mexico) but between being unsure how I would bring it with me the rest of the day without breaking it (since I was leaving early the next morning I couldn't have it sent to my resort) and the price tags I sadly had to move on without one.

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Outside, I decided it was time for yet another snack. I was really enjoying eating as I went rather than sitting down for a full meal anywhere. I settled on the Mixiote de Cordero; when it said it was "wrapped" I didn't think it meant that it was basically meat in a paper parcel.

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Not...the most visually attractive thing I've ever eaten. What it lacked in looks, though, it more than made up for in flavor; it was absolutely delicious.

I was basically killing time since I didn't want to walk all the way to Future World and back when I probably wouldn't have time to ride anything there anyway, so I decided to continue to indulge with some boba tea from a stand in the China pavilion.

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Too much ice, not enough tea. Lots of boba, though, and that kept me entertained trying to suck them all up through the straw.

China is the other pavilion where I stop to shop at length, though apparently I wasn't too excited about it that day -- I only took one picture in there.

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I'd killed enough time by then to head over to FEA.

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It felt weird queueing for the ride in what I knew had previously been the exit. It also felt weird going through the same basic sequence with all different animatronics. In general...well, meh. It's a cute enough ride and the animatronics are pretty impressive, but I wish it had more of a story. There's a very basic storyline about a celebration going on, but it felt like a thinly veiled best hits album for the movie, designed to showcase the songs from the movie rather than tell a new story. In short, it feels like Disney really played it safe with this one instead of stepping out and doing something more interesting with it. They've proven with rides like Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout that they're capable of taking familiar characters and putting them in new stories and situations that lend more interest to dark rides instead of only rehashing bits and pieces of the source material, so I really thought they could have done a lot more with this. I'll admit that I might be being more harsh on it than I am on other dark rides, though, I think because it replaced a ride I did really like.

It was past 5:00 by then and I had to be on my way, so I breezed into and through Future World without any more stops.

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January 27
Four Parks, One Day! (continued)

I really would have liked to ride Spaceship Earth, but with a 30 minute posted stand-by I really couldn't afford the time, so I had to say goodbye to Epcot without it.

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While on the monorail, I had to manually unlock my phone because it was just sure I was trying to text and drive!

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Rather than transfer to the other monorail, I decided to take the scenic route. For the Seven Seas Lagoon? Yeah, I'll wait for a boat this time.

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And then I was there, in the park at the heart of WDW...and where I'd been assigned during my first College Program. I didn't get to see either of the shows that had been my secondary locations on this trip, sadly; I wasn't at DHS at the right time of day for Fantasmic and Spectromagic has been gone from MK for years now.

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January 27
Four Parks, One Day! (continued)

I didn't have a lot of time to spare, but I decided I could probably sneak onto a single attraction -- I had just the one in mind.

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When I suggested to my housemate that we ride the carousel in Disneyland last fall, she asked "Why?" And I kind of get it. It's on the same level as wanting to ride Dumbo or the Carpets of Aladdin -- it's Disney and there are more interesting things to do. But I just like a carousel, always have, and this one is particularly grand.

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It being a busy night I ended up on one of the smaller inside horses, but that was alright.

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The wear and tear of the day was starting to get to me, but it was a happy kind of exhaustion.

After the carousel I headed back to Tomorrowland for my appointment with...the Happily Ever After dessert party! This was one of those things I never thought I'd do -- so frivolous, reserving a spot for the fireworks and spending all that money on desserts. But you know what? I was glad I'd done it. HEA was new since the last time I'd visited and I wanted to watch it without having to stake out a spot ahead of time, and ending the day with sweets sounded like a perfectly fine idea when I booked it.

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I'd waffled a lot when I made the reservation about whether or not to mark the reservation with my corn sensitivity. I ultimately decided that yes, I would. I normally don't bother because I've lived with it long enough that I'm adept at navigating most menus without running afoul of hidden corn products, but I was leery of the dessert party because corn syrup (which hits me the hardest) turns up in so many sweets, especially when they're mass-produced, and I really didn't want to finish out the night with an upset stomach. The result was that they had prepared a special plate for me ahead of time because apparently it turns out there's at least a little bit of corn in just about everything at the dessert party (unfortunately it didn't let me indicate that I just needed to avoid corn syrup and corn in large amounts, so there were probably things I could have gotten away with eating that were kept off this plate). All three of the cups on the left were basically just fruit and whipped cream. This was actually really nice; after a day of eating this and that and being very indulgent, a plate of fruit with a bit of cream and chocolate was just what I wanted.

I was encouraged by a CM to take some bottled water with me, so I did -- and I was able to confirm that the lemonade was made with real sugar (not hfcs), so I carried away a big cup of that as well when I went down to the courtyard viewing area.

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I enjoyed the projection show, and HEA all but brought me to tears. I know a lot of people miss Wishes, and Wishes will always hold a special place in my heart, but I was kind of ready for something new and I thought HEA delivered well. Maybe it's because I'd seen Wishes so many times -- when I was a night shift costuming CM at MK in 2006, every night one of my fellow CPs and I would time our break so we could go out to the back of the Utilidor and watch it from there, so close that we could feel the concussion of the fireworks on our skin. I learned the show's script by heart from watching it night after night, and it became a nightly joke: when Jiminy Cricket would tell us that our wishes would come true if only we kept believing in them, one of us would say to the other, "I wish my shift was over!" and the other would reply, "Keep believing in that wish for four more hours and it'll come true!"

So it's not that I didn't love Wishes and it's not that it didn't mean anything to me. It's just that Disney World is always growing and always making itself new, and sometimes it's in ways that don't immediately thrill all of us.

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I have to say, I'm a convert to the dessert party way of doing things. This was the first time I'd seen a fireworks show at MK from in front of the castle without being touched on all sides by strangers. On future solo trips I probably won't do it again just because I don't usually devote much attention to fireworks when I'm solo (this had been an exception because it was new), but whenever I bring someone else with me I think it'll be a solid option to consider.
 
January 27
Four Parks, One Day! (continued)

I'd hoped MK would clear out a little as the night went on, but I quickly realized that wouldn't be the case -- it made sense, since it was the only park left open and everything had been bustling all day.

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I headed for the one ride I knew I could rely upon to have a minimal line and give me a chance to gather my thoughts.

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I'd snagged a FP for Space Mountain as I was leaving Epcot, but it was for 11:05-12:00 and I'd had no luck in bumping it up. It was about 8:30 by then, so I had a little time, but not enough to ride more than one or two headliners on stand-by with the crowds the way they were. I was sore and tired but determined to stick it out and make the most of my day; for the moment I sat back to enjoy...the...ride........

And then it stopped above the gift shop, and it didn't start again.

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Timestamps tell me I got on the ride at 8:39, and that it stopped at 8:43.

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8:47

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8:48

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A bit of excitment at 8:51!

The guests a car or two behind me spent the time complaining amongst themselves. I get it; when you've paid a lot of money for a trip and your time is limited, you don't want to be trapped on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority. I was kind of excited, though; I'd never been evacuated from a ride and the longer we sat there the more likely it seemed that we would be. Furthermore, if we got evacuated we stood a decent chance of being given anytime fastpasses for our trouble; ten or fifteen minutes spent stuck on the ride was much better, to my mind, than sixty or eighty minutes spent in a stand-by line! I didn't share that information with the others since of course one can never be sure if compensation is coming and I didn't want to promise them something on behalf of the CMs and potentially make them a thorn in the CMs' side if they weren't given fastpasses after all.

Two CMs had taken off walking down the track past us, no further signs of movement. I spotted a cute Stitch backpack in the shop below and snapped a picture to remind myself to go look at it once I'd been freed.

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8:59

And then--evacuation!!

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9:05

A bit naughty of me to snap that picture; I put my phone away before we passed through the access door that took us downstairs through a backstage area and spat us out into...I want to say the exit hallway of Stitch's Great Escape, but I may be confusing my Tomorrowland geography. The backstage area looked pretty much how I remembered backstage MK looking; I hadn't been in that particular area before but it's all pretty similar. They did indeed give us all anytime fastpasses as an apology; they had us line up and a CM with a tablet did some computery things and tapped our MagicBands.

The Stitch backpack was a bust, btw; it was cute enough but not really my style once I got to see it closer.
 
January 27
Four Parks, One Day! (continued)

With an extra FP in my pocket and my FP for Space Mountain still a way off, I headed off through Fantasyland.

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I did a little shopping.

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I didn't buy these; I just took a picture because who was it who thought "You know what people want? The Disney villains' shoesonas."

Also, the Captain Hook shoe looks like a good way to fall and slice up your own ankles. So villainous!!

I did buy this:

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No particular reason; just liked him.

And on my way through, what should have a short posted wait but...It's a Small World!!! I genuinely, unironically love this ride (I know, I know, no story, repetitive song -- but there's just so much to look at!).

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Seriously, I have this song on my Disney running playlist. I'm That Person.

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Even better, as I was exiting the ride the clock struck 10:00. Somehow, I'd never watched the clock strike the hour. Loved it!

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January 27

Four Parks, One Day! (continued)


I decided to use my Fastpass on Big Thunder Mountain, and headed through Frontierland accordingly. Because my stomach is basically a bottomless pit, I snagged some delicious garbage food on the way.


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It was too cold by that time of night for me to want to ride Splash Mountain, which was just as well since it was down for maintenance.


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Funny story, it was down for maintenance in January 2010 when I'd done my other four-parks-one-day adventure.


Big Thunder was bustling, but I got in quick with that bonus fastpass.


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It's always surprising to me just how much time it takes to go from place to place within the parks and to ride the attractions even when you don't have to wait stand-by. When I got off of Big Thunder it was already time to head back to Space Mountain. I showed up right at 11:00 for my 11:05 FP window; I usually follow the instructions but I knew they'd let me in five minutes ahead.


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Hey random fellow rider, hope you enjoyed this photo.


I wasn't counting on doing much more after that, but figured I might as well make my way back to Adventureland and see what I could make of it since that was the one land I hadn't hit yet -- I did a lot of inefficient crisscrossing at MK, but oh well. By the time I reached Jungle River Cruise it was 11:30 and I figured any ride could be the last I made it onto.


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In line I spotted a group of brand new College Program kids just starting the spring program, celebrating with a night at MK! Something one of them said caught my attention first, and then I saw that they were all wearing College Program t-shirts. They were all very engaged with each other and I didn't want to interrupt and interject myself when I was so tired and knew I'd probably be an incoherent conversationalist, but perhaps I should have said hello. I do usually like to strike up conversation when I notice a CM is wearing a name tag with a college instead of a hometown since I know what we have in common. Lucky kids. By now they'll have gone home, probably even the ones who extended through summer. I hope they all had great programs.


As always, the Jungle River Cruise was a good choice. I never get tired of it. The boat wasn't even crowded or anything; I think people had finally started to leave the park (at least, those who weren't waiting in hour-long lines for roller coasters...).


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Pirates of the Caribbean had been closed for technical issues when I passed by it, but I went back up that way after JRC just in case and -- yes!


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I got in line at 11:51, and this one really was the last ride of the night. I still love it even after riding the full length version at Disneyland; call me a blasphemous heathen but I don't think we're missing all that much by not having the long cave segment at the start. I know that's not all that's missing, but the fact that the Disneyland version is nearly double the length is not entirely down to it having a lot more actual story content. :duck:
 
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January 27
Four Parks, One Day! (continued)

Main Street was still quite busy as everyone finally headed out.

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Knowing I'd be up too early to get breakfast before I got to the airport, I bought a sugar bomb to get me started in the morning.

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And then, finally...yes. Finally, I had to admit that the day was done.

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All told, between the time I set foot in AK at ropedrop to stepping out of MK's gates at 12:30, my park day had lasted a total of 17 consecutive hours (and that's not counting time spent getting to AK or getting back to Coronado Springs!). I was dead on my feet, and the dock rock had returned with a vengeance. This was what I would pay for in the coming week...but I can't say it wasn't worth it. It was an amazing day and reliving it here has made me want to go right back to WDW...though I'll take it a little easier next time.

Next Up: Homeward
 
January 28
Homeward

By the time I got back to the resort, showered (I desperately needed it), repacked the few things I'd gotten out of my bags, and set my alarms, it was about 2:00 in the morning.

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I got about two hours of sleep before I was up and at it again.

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Coronado Springs was beautiful in the darkness, and I wished a little that I'd had time to get to know it in daytime.

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Or to shop at Panchito's -- but that was okay; I had the pins to serve as my Coronado Springs souvenir.

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I was able to check my luggage for the flight curbside before boarding the Magical Express, so that was one less thing to deal with later. The Orlando airport gets a lot of flak, but I like it better than the one in Miami, and I think they're basically doing the best they can with a setup that wasn't meant for the kind of volume they deal with. Also, first thing in the morning? It's not so bad. I'd had my sugar bomb, but protein sounded good and the ME had gotten me there early, so I had second breakfast before going through security.

Then it was on to concourse via the fauxnorail....

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And eventually on the plane.

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I slept fitfully while listening to the Coco soundtrack the whole way to Denver. We were early, so I was able to eat lunch at the United Club, no problem -- no hitches this time around!

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Which was good, because I was basically a zombie.

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Back onto a tiny plane...

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To a tiny airport in a tiny city, where my housemate picked me up and drove me home all of twenty minutes away.

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The final words on this trip in my journal:


"Now we have begun our descent, and soon I will return to my life and friends. I am tired but refreshed and renewed. While I'm not thrilled to return to work tomorrow I do feel ready to resume and eager to plan my next adventures, near or far. This was a beautiful experience."


And it was. Even with the low moments, even with two truly terrible travel days in the mix...and even with a week of the flu afterward...it was wonderful. Magical, even. I don't have another cruise in the works right now, but I'm excited for Disneyland Paris in November and to see WDW again in 2020 when I go for Marathon Weekend.

And that's all, finally. Thank you all so much for reading, and a big thank you to those of you who stuck it out despite the months-long delays.

End
 
You got lucky-they opened up the full standby line for you! In the early morning they just send people thru the Fastpass line (once they reach the caves), which is actually pretty boring! I want to do it again standby to actually spend time looking at the queue, but it will probably have to wait a couple trips!

Ah! That makes much more sense! I wasn't sure if it was like Soarin' where there are multiple theaters; I thought it must have been since I couldn't figure out why we appeared to have been let in to a completely empty queue area. I didn't realize I'd almost missed seeing the lab at all. I hope that by the time I go again it's a little less crazy (and/or I can arrange things to get in line at closing time once or twice) since I enjoyed that part of the queue and wanted to see it better; I wouldn't want to skip it with a FP.

Interesting-maybe they just do that in the early morning? I don’t think I’ve ever noticed that during the day. For the top ramp, the right side goes to the middle row, left side to top row, and center is for single riders so CMs can pull them out easily. On the bottom row, it’s mostly FP people, with left side the normal row, center single rider, and right side for people in ECVs.

It's also possible I'm misremembering, or maybe I just got confused because they had sent single riders all down one lane -- but I could swear I remember the next lane being all groups of two.

Yeah, I’m definitely worried about that too! I think in Shanghai the last car has a row or two of normal roller coaster seats so some larger people can fit. I wonder if they will add more cars like that?

I knew someone would say which park it was if I was lazy and just handwaved without looking it up. :p On the one hand, I think the design is kind of cool on both rides, but...it's just so limiting in who can ride it. I guess we'll have to wait and see if they change up the design or put regular cars on the end; I didn't realize they'd done that in Shanghai and I'm glad since I want to eventually go there and I'd hate to miss out on it.
 

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