Part4 : A day at TDS

[Judy from Boise]

One fellow agent Rhonda ( from Tacoma Washington ) and I decided to forgo Fuji and instead do Disney ! We were met in the hotel lobby at 0815 by a representative of Sunrise tours. We made 1 other stop at a local hotel, and were on our way. We were in a tour size bus with comfortable seats. From the freeway we could see the spires of the various “mountain “ rides at TDL, there was signage for the exit, and as we approached there was the Typical traffic gate. It was very pretty to see what I assume are the “good neighbor” hotels lining a real working bay , not just a man made one ! The monorail zoomed by ( love those Mickey head cutouts ! ) as we parked and the guide walked the people going to TDL to the front of the park. Then she was back and it was a short hop to TDS. The guide walked us to the coin lockers which was to be our return meting spot at 9:45 that night. We had vouchers in hand so we quickly liked up to trade them for tickets……as we were waiting the “welcome to the park “ announcement played in English, and a chill went down my spine.

We queued up at the entry gate….and by 9:15 we were standing in front of the Aqua Sphere. We walked through the front gate which resembles an Italian fortress, and out into the sunshine and the view of Mediterranean Harbor and Mount Prometheus. We stopped for just a few minutes to absorb the view and take a few pictures, then made our way quickly to Journey to the Center of the Earth, which is the ride inside of the volcano. I thought I was fairly confident about where to go, I appreciated the beauty of the “Greek ruins” as we walked up the staircase to the volcano I kept a lookout for signage to get me into the fastpassline for JTTCOTE I knew we were in trouble when we walked out from the crater never having seen it, so I backtracked to the podium outside of Magellan’s Restaurant and asked the CM where the line for the FP was. She gestured to a line that ended almost all the way down hill by the restrooms on the way to Port Discovery ! Rhonda said that she would pass on getting FP’s and just jump into the standby line….I bravely joined the FP line. SKIP the next part if you don’t want to know I was naughty ! Well, I finally got my FP, and looked up and Rhonda was directly behind me….it was like fate…..so I excited the FP line, walked around to the standby line and joined her ( yes it was bad and not something I ever do, but please forgive me ! ). We then proceeded to wait another 90 minutes for the ride ! I don’t know if this is typical….but the park was jammed with students in their uniforms. I had such flashbacks to Grad night at DL 1978….waiting 90 minutes for my first ever ride on Space Mountain. The only thing different was all the kids hung out in same sex groups, so there was no making out in line. The queue did have nice theming, but nothing to hold attention for that length of time. We finally loaded into the elevators for our journey deep into the Earth, then again loaded into our explorer vehicle. I got last row left side. I enjoyed the ride ( although I enjoyed it much better when I rode with my FP and was seated in first row right side ) The beginning is beautiful, the storm scene made Rhonda scream when the lightening boomed, and the speed and drop ending were a lot of fun. I just wish ala Splash Mountain, you had some more show at the end. After waiting 90 minutes it seemed awful short.

Rhonda and I parted ways as she wanted to head over to TDL, purchase a second admission and buy some merchandise/clothes with the TDL logo.
I continued onto Port Discovery ( actually I thought I was headed to the Arabian Coast, but the exit got me all turned around ) all the lines were 90 minute plus so I kept walking to the American Waterfront.
I rounded the corner….and came face to face with the Cape Cod village. It was beautiful….in seconds I was singing along with the music, and snapping pictures. When I get pictures up, notice that the American flag is flying , a gracious touch. A nice Japanese man agreed to snap my picture with the Captain Mickey Statue. This area deserves an attraction ! I walked up the street and turned the corner into the “New York in the 30’s “ part of the waterfront, right in front of me was the huge steamship, and the show “Sail Away” was happening on the front stage. I didn’t stay to watch, since at this point I was still concentrating on seeing everything once (remember it was almost 1100 when I got out of JTTCOTE ) But what I could see was very colorful costumes and energetic dancing. I had made it all this way without stopping, but when I went by McDucks….and it was obviously a BIG store…..well I was on a quest to buy pins for my friends…..yup right inside I went. Starting here I slowly pieced together some of the merchandise quirks. Sections in the park have a Fab 5 character attached to it. Goofy is dressed as a gondolier representing Mediterranean Harbor, Minnie has a 1930’s bathing costume on representing America Waterfront, Donald is dressed as an inventor/explorer, and Mickey is a Sea Captain, representing the whole enchilada. They usually appeared this way on merchandise that was “park wide”, there were also beanies like this. Then each land also had some unique merchandise. I picked up a few pins ( mostly “Grand Opening” ones ) and walked onto the Italian village park of the Med Harbor. This area of the park had wonderful views ! It was just beautiful looking over the bay to Mysterious Island ( home of Mount P the volcano ).

I wandered the village a little and watched the gondoliers. It is very well done, but I must confess it reminded me of Vegas. Bellagio and the Venetian all ready “own” this theme in my mind, and have also done it well.

This brought me back to the entrance, and I decided to go get a better view of the Aqua sphere, as I excited the brass marching band did a quick marching show, they were very good. I took a picture with the beautiful Aqua sphere, I noticed this area had some nice flowers in planters…..I hadn’t noticed too many flowers inside the park, although there is great landscaping. Also Mickey and Minnie were on the far side of the sphere taking pictures with guests that waited in a Queue.
On the way back into the park I stopped in the Emporium shop to scope out my purchases for later in the evening. The merchandise is heavy on the “Grand Opening” theme, which is nice since I am sure it will become collectible in a hurry. The prices were very comparable to stateside prices, if not a little cheaper. I liked the looks of the plates, they had the characters dressed as I described….and were 3 D….but they were a little big since I collect mini’s, there were also some great picture frames….but mainly for different areas of the park, and I wanted a park wide souvie…so I settled on a snow globe. It is about six inches high, and plays a tune I don’t know but is very pretty. On the base is a beautiful 3 D rendering of all the lands with “TDS” and a Mickey head logo. The only character is King triton driving a sea sled with 2 dolphins. It is very colorful and rendered with great detail. Inside are the Fab 4 dressed as described previously. They are standing on translucent blue water, and behind them is the Aqua sphere with the words “Grand Opening” on it. Of course it is filled with mother of peal colored snow glitter. If I remember right it was about $35-38 dollars. Well worth every penny.

I exited the store and walked back to ride JTTCOTE with my fast pass. After which I headed the right direction to find the Arabian Coast ! Wow! It is just as beautiful as the pictures show, and has nice touches like a little out of the way waterfall built just to take some great pictures, of people standing “behind” the falls. I located the food court but was still on a quest to see all of the park, so I didn’t stop. I did see Aladdin and Jasmine as I walked through ! It was a nice little moment , and I got a warm smile when I called out to them ( in English of course ). I walked through the market place, and was reminded of the Morocco pavilion in Epcot, then went and got in line for Sinbad. Glory be the wait was only 10 minutes ! This is a great ride, it was refreshing to get on a ride that lasted twice as long as the wait ! Just the way I like it. The ride does compare to IASW, but the AAs are different. They move in a much more realistic way, and in many more directions. The tradeoff is that they are less realistic i.e. they look more like molded plastic, and the eyes are a little over the top, kind of reminded me off typical Japanese cartoon characters. In one scene they had both types of AA right next to each other so I tried to decide which I liked better. They had a couple of horses of the molded type, and a dog with the realistic fur. I decided I like the people OK in the “plastic” mode, but preferred the animals as the more traditional AA’s. The ride is very story based, and I would of loved to have earphones with an English translation. I did notice that every time the dude with the crystal ball showed up….something bad was about to happen. The end reminded me of the end of Rio Del Tiempo with the fireworks…..I got off of the ride mainly confused why this ride wasn’t more popular ????? With an English translation of the story I think this would be on the top of my list .

So onto the last part of the park I hadn’t seen, Lost River Delta. The transition between these two lands looks like a great area for another attraction ! Maybe a Kick *** coaster !

The themeing of just the transition areas is stellar. One of the things you notice is they really stuck to the water theme and every area has lots of boats and other elements relating to the sea.
Lost River Delta was fabulously themed ( it had a full size float plane in the water ), it is so hard to remember that all the landscaping etc is so new, as the theming is so fully realized. I quickly got in line and got a FP for Indy. It now was about 1 pm. My return time was for 6:30. I could feel my energy flagging, so I stopped in the Cantina and bought a bowl of Tortilla soup and a cup of coffee. Service was fast and friendly, and the soup was great once I added the packet of Tabasco ! As I left the restaurant I walked past the Hanger stage and saw the 2 pm Mystic Rhythms was about to start in 20 minutes. I couldn’t remember if It was recommended, but my feet were tired and I was cold, so I decided to watch. I was seated in the left section about ¾ back, 2 people away from the aisle. I wasn’t expecting much. Then the show started, and what unfolded was the best show I have ever seen in a Disney park. What a treat ! Great music, great staging, great dancers and acrobats…..but the way they used water ! Imagine a great stage show where the performers splash and cavort and dive in pools of water. Very unique.

That pumped me up, so I decided no matter how long the wait for Storm rider was I would wait for it. Well, I joined the queue for what was a 60 minute wait. Rhonda and I bumped back into each other during the wait, she had just returned form TDL and was very disappointed with the clothes selection. She was only able to find 1T shirt ( no sweatshirts at all, and no logo shirts ) of Minnie kissing the castle. We made an appointment to meet at Magellan’s at 7:30, and then find a spot of the night time show. It was quite nippy standing in this line as the wind was coming in off of the bay. The ride is strange in that there is no inside queue, when you finally get inside of the building it is to watch the preshow, and directly load into the ride. The pre-show had English CC which was nice…..somehow I expected the CC to continue during the ride, but it didn’t. I was seated in the next to last row in the last seat on the left. Not the best seat I am sure. But I am not sure the best seat would save this show ? I was completely unimpressed. I couldn’t feel any motion hardly, and the effects left me cold ( literally I had my hand over the in the seatback spray because I didn’t want to get wet) well that didn’t work ! In a way this reminded me more of Alien Encounter and less of Star Tours. I will say I am sure the experience is enhanced if you understood the narration.

Well, my little “high” was now deflated, so I headed over to the American Waterfront. Once again as soon as I heard the music I felt my spirits lift. I realized how much of my enjoyment in Disney parks is knowing the music, and singing or humming along. I decided to buy another bowl of soup to warm up. I went into the Cap Cod cook off. Great theming again, it reminded me a lot of Columbia Harbor House in MK. I ordered the seafood chowder, YUM ! great variety of seafood and lots of it in a rich white chowder base. I headed toward the ocean liner, and could hear the sounds of the Paradiso water parade, I quickly walked to the harbor and saw the tail end…..It was another “Disney” moment, in retrospect I would make watching this a priority. It was one of the few times I felt I was in a Disney park….great catchy music and energy. Well, I was downright cold so I headed to Figaro’s clothiers to buy that warm cozy sweatshirt. Well, you know how that turned out ! I had to settle for a long sleeved T-shirt.

At this point I was a kind of lost about what to do. I had done 2 complete laps of the park, had ridden 3 attractions, and still had 2.5 hours left till my FP was good at Indy, so I headed back to the AW to see the 4 pm Encore !. It was due to start in 15 minutes, so I was seated in the balcony about 5 rows up in the center. I did remember that this show was recommended, but had no big expectations…….again I was blown away ! What a great show. I am a sucker for show tunes , and good singing and dancing, and this show had it in spades along with creative costuming and sets. I admit I actually got tears in my eyes during the “Oklahoma” set and yelled out the “yeah” part with gusto and a fist pump ! Afterwards I jumped on the electric cars and enjoyed the ride to Port discovery. From there I headed back to the Arabian Coast. It was getting dark, always a special time in a park, and the lighting was well done.

I walked by Sinbad, and it had a zero minute wait ! I almost jumped in again, but my stomach reminded me I had just had 2 small bowls of soup all day, so I went onto the Casbah food court. The land was just beautiful at night. In the food court the stall to the far right had no line, so I ordered the chicken skewer and rice, and a cup of tea. The inside seating areas were completely full so I was the lone person sitting outside listening to the music, and enjoying the evening. The food was delicious and there was plenty to fill me up for about $6. The beautiful lights on the spires of Mermaid lagoon called me so I walked over there.( in a weird way the spires reminded me of playing on the sidewalks at the West Innoventions in Epcot, which is one of my must do’s in the evening ) The only attraction I rode was the little coaster ( 10 minute wait ) which was fun in a “Toontown” sort of way. By this time I was ready for a bonafied thrill ride so I began my journey back to LRD to ride Indy. Despite a few lulls during the day I felt like the night was shaping up ! Ride Indy, explore the Fort, do my shopping, see the show and fireworks, and head home.

I was 5 minutes early, and even my most winsome smile to the CM didn’t get me in a minute early ! The queue was beautiful , I was in the room listening to the safety spiel when the ride went down…..we were escorted out a back entrance and given a FOTL pass. Darn ! I really wanted to ride Indy. So I had two choices with my pass of attractions I hadn’t ridden , 20,000 leagues, or the transit steamer. I decided to do 20 k, we got to walk up the exit and had a maybe 4 minute wait. I was first to enter the sub, I knew I was supposed to face forward for the best view but I couldn’t remember if that meant forward when loading ( which is the left side of the sub) or forward in the sub ( which is the right side when loading ! ) I went for the forward part of the sub i.e. I was able to see the propeller of the sub in front. Well, cut to the chase, what a weird ride…. the one alien effect was great but besides that It was a huge disappointment. In retrospect I bet I would have loved the steamer. As I unloaded and I saw all of the people waiting 90 minutes for the ride I wanted to yell “Bail !”, but I held my tongue.

I wandered back and did the fortress explorations, I would of enjoyed them more if my feet weren’t so tired ! I did make sure to go into the planet room. Well, I met Rhonda, we were both early since we had run out of steam. We went to the Emporium and did our final shopping. Then picked a spot out for the Symphony show( 20 minutes till ). We had a spot right across from the Bakery. We were the first row on this side of the rock wall, meaning we were the first standing row so we had a great view. Oh I forgot to mention that once it got dark there were some families in the park . I was fun to see some kids and added a lot back to the atmosphere to hear kids laugh. I remembered this since we let a cute little boy and girl stand in front of us. The show was interesting I enjoyed the fountains and firework effects….unfortunately Mickey had such a bright spot light on top of his head that not only couldn’t you see him, it washed out some of the other effects. What I really enjoyed was the Disney music. Also it was a high point when Mount P went off and shot flames into the sky. Unfortunately the fireworks were cancelled due to high winds. So, we headed into the bakery and grabbed a pastry ( common theme, it was good ! ) then walked into the Mira Costa. The best part of the lobby was the rotunda ! What beautiful paintings. Besides that I think the lobby most reminded me of the Boardwalk lobby. We went into Minnie’s gift shop. Here we found 3 great pins, M&M both in Mira Costa outfits, and a Disney transportation Mickey bus pin. They also had beautiful tins full of cookies and candy. Have I mentioned how warm and friendly the store CM’s were ? Also every time I bought a pin, they would give me that many little bags, so if they were gifts, each one could come properly wrapped.

Well, at this point we were so cold we were shaking, so we headed back to the coin lockers to wait for our 9:45 bus. I guess everyone had the same idea, because we were all checked in, and back on the bus, and out of the parking lot by 10:00 ! And since traffic was nil, we arrived back to our hotel by 10:30 !

Some closing thoughts :
All in all I didn’t quite have the “magical” time I envisioned. I was disappointed with the few attractions I did have time to ride. I think I underestimated how important the “story”element is, I think with an English translation I would enjoy them more. Also I admit I have arrived at a point in my life where I am unwilling to wait for longer than 20 minutes for most things. The addition of FP to many of the rides ( which I just missed ) will greatly improve this aspect. I also missed the rush of a great coaster.

I went huge stretches at a time where I didn’t feel very “Disney”. The theming was suburb….but like I said sometimes I felt like I could have been in Vegas. The exception to this was the American Waterfront, inside the stores, the Water Carnival, and the Symphony show. And, of course when interacting with the CM’s.

My day may also have been colored by too much solitude. I spent the majority of the time by myself with no one to interact with. No one spontaneously talked to me, when I would initiate an interaction ( like picture taking ) they were polite and friendly….but even then no one asked me a question to keep it going. I had brought pictures of my family and post cards of Boise, I had envisioned some interest from strangers where we would talk, but it didn’t happen. I know it didn’t help that the only people in the park were hordes of High schoolers. I missed families.

On the positive side, it is unbelievable to think this park has only existed for 6 months. It is so fully realized landscaping wise. The themeing is great, and has many beautiful nooks and crannies. With this great foundation this park can only get better as new attractions are added. The two shows I went to were the best I have seen bar none. I am sure I would have been blown away by The Little Mermaid, but I just didn’t get it in. If I had it to do over I would hit the shows and do the transit steamer as priorities, and skip Storm Rider. I would just do JTTCOTE with fast pass, and I would bring my family. And, of course I would stretch my visit out to see both parks and stay onsite !

I hope I didn’t disappoint anyone with my review. I am also the type of person who usually enjoys things better the second time around, and I am sure there will be a second time someday !

 

[Marla Hellwig]

Judy - you did have an interesting day - I appreciate your candor - now someday I will get there - thanks for posting!

 

[Annie&Hallie'sMom]

Thanks for sharing this. Most of us will never get there, so we can only live through your experience.