Triple park day

Immediately when I got up, I felt the 22k steps from yesterday. Not my usual amount of movement during a day. And when I wasn’t walking, I was standing, usually in a queue somewhere, just to be able to sit for about two minutes during a ride 😛

This morning, the mobile order worked as planned, so I grabbed my pancakes, bacon, sausages, and juice (just healthy stuff at Disney!) and went outside to the bus stop. Today, the sun had time to come up! I finished eating just as the bus rolled up, and after two scooters got loaded up, they really take care of the handicapped, the rest of us followed. No songs today! 

I arrived at Hollywood Studios about 7:30 and after the security check (bag got searched, again), I walked around with the aim of The Rise of the Resistance. However, the ride had some unexpected delays, where have I heard this before, so I walked on to Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run instead. The first time, we were only two pilots; the second time, I was alone. The computer does a decent job replacing missing crew members, but you need a full crew to get a good score. This was also the first time that I went through the ordinary line and saw the dialog before the ride itself!

I was going to do Star Tours – The Adventures Continue, but when passing by RotR, I saw it had opened up again, so I jumped on it. The queue was quite short; probably hadn’t been open for long. Inspired by the short queue, I went for a second run, but now it took 20 minutes to get on. 

At the exit, I found the single rider queue, hadn’t seen being advertised anywhere earlier. I tried it, and you then get escorted past the parts before getting interrogated. I did another two of those before thinking it was enough. The fun part was that I got to try the second cart. During the ride, there are two different carts (that go together) and they see a bit different things and angles, so it was nice to experience both! A couple of runs in the front row as well.

Afterwards, I went for some ice cream and headed into Indiana Jones for a stunt show. Seeing three entertaining scenes with some action and a bunch of stunts. Even though it’s a show about making shows, it’s quite fun.

I did another Star Tours and then left the park for Animal Kingdom at about 11:45. My main goal here was Avatar Flight of Passage, so I headed there straight away. 15 minutes into the queue, there were bathrooms, which is the first time I’ve seen that. After about 45 minutes of queuing, I got in. You sit in/on something that is like a reversed chair and motorcycle seat. Then you get locked in from behind, and the whole thing moves. One older man couldn’t get locked in, so he had to bail out. Too bad after almost an hour of waiting and walking slowly.

It was about how I remembered it, though I handled the drops better this time. Maybe the two rides from yesterday helped. I even managed to look sideways a couple of times, and it looked like three stories with about 18 riders per floor, all watching the same (huge) screen with 3D goggles. Here you can see a video that describes the setup (spoiler alert).

After a late lunch at 14, I went for the Kilimanjaro Safaris, which is a bus/truck ride in the compound with a bunch of different animals. We stopped unplanned at three different occasions, two for “animals on the road” and one for another truck had engine trouble. The guy next to me played Pokémon Go almost the whole trip, with two phones!

Walked around and ended up at Zootopia: Better Zoogether! A 4D show with effects, air bursts, sprays of water, and rumbling in the seat. Quite fun and just about a 20-minute queue.

I left Animal Kingdom at 16:40 to get to the third park for today, Magic Kingdom. I had a dinner reservation at 20:50. This was the first time that a bus couldn’t take all passengers. But on the other hand, it was Saturday and a bus from a park that was closing soon, to a park that was going to be open for another five-six hours.

Walked around and got myself a slushy-type drink, and then found a spot for the Frozen Holiday Surprise. Sat down on the ground and rested my feet for a while. Blisters on the way, unfortunately. The show was okay. What I found most cool was that they seemed to project on this large castle from about 150 meters away. Sure, it was dark, but I must be pretty powerful stuff to be able to do this at such a distance.  

After the show, it was crowded everywhere, and my feet were still tired, so I headed for The Hall of Presidents. A 22-minute (they said the length multiple times) show about the foundation of the presidency and a few of the one more important during USA history. It finished with a setup with all presidents as audio-animatronics and hearing Donald Trump take the presidential oath. The seats were dangerously comfy…

Went to find another spot for the Disney Starlight: Dream the Night Away that would start at 20:00. Found a small open space behind a family sitting on the ground and asked if I could stand there. It was still 30 minutes until showtime, but it would just get more crowded. And a couple of minutes later, they announced over the speakers that Main Street and the area in front of the castle were full, and you should go look at Liberty Square. There were loads of people walking everywhere, pouring in from the entrance and from the sides. I admire the staff’s patience while directing people, telling them they can’t stay when they thought they had found a great spot, and so on. But, they know what they are doing, and when the show started and the parade came, the streets were empty! 

It was quite a cool show, a base music track from the speakers in the park, and then each equipage had its own music and songs. Lots of light and happy characters, half of them I didn’t know who they were :p  

After the show, the time slot for my dinner reservation was closing in, so I made my way through the crowds to Be Our Guest Restaurant, where, after check-in, I waited for the words, Jens Backeman, party for one. The meal took place in the ballroom, which was full of tables, but gorgeous! 

They only offer a three-course menu, but with a few selections per dish. I went for the Tuna Tartare, Grilled Filet Mignon, and lastly Crème Brûlée Tart as dessert. I wanted to try something else than Coke, so I chose Château Shimmer, which is described as Pomegranate Green Tea blended with Hibiscus, Lemon, and a dash of Star Dust. A peculiar taste, but it was rather nice.

Shortly after I ordered from my server, Moses, I got a whole baugette and some whipped butter. The bread was delicious, but pretty soon after, the starter arrived. I made the comment, “That was quick”, and the gentleman at the table next to mine said he had the same reaction. It was really nice as well. The starter was followed by the entree and then the dessert. All was very good, but maybe it all happened a bit too fast. Even though it would be nice to get back to the resort and rest a bit.

During the main course, Moses asked if everything was alright, and I praised the bread in particular and asked (jokingly!) if I could have another one for breakfast. Sure, he said and left. A few minutes later, another server dropped off a whole new baugette and said, “Here you go!” I snuck it down in my backpack, hoping no one noticed. Breakfast solved!

At the table next to me, there was a large family that celebrated a girl’s 18th birthday. Locals, as I understood it, and they were very nice to speak to. This is a typical moment where a travel partner would have been nice to enjoy the meal with, but on the other hand, I would probably not have been talking to these guys.  

I left in under an hour, as said, pretty quick for a three-course meal, but I was longing for the bed, and I had a blog post to write. When I got to the bus station, the queue was huge. So large that they used the gate next to it as well, and still had to use the space behind for overflow. It took about 35 minutes and five buses before I got on. As the last bus before mine left, I realized that I should have taken a bus to one of the other “Disney’s All-Star *** Resort” because they are just next to each other, and Music (the one I stay at) is in the middle. From the map, it looked like it was roughly the same distance from the Sports bus stop to my building as from the Music bus stop.

Anyhow, I got back into my room at about 23 and had to plan for the next morning. I wrote half the blog post and saved the rest for tomorrow. I was too tired and needed the rest.

Some fun things I’ve thought of during my two days at Disney World.

On several attractions, the doors are opening towards those waiting. At a couple of places I understand since there is no room on the inside (like a ride or such), but on theathers? Maybe a firething that all doors from a room should open outwards?

The parks are very clean, I mean VERY clean. There is a bunch of cleaning staff walking around, but also a bunch of other cast members who carry “litter pickers”, and I guess everyone is trained to pick up trash if they see it. When I left Animal Kingdom, I had to tell one of the “cleaners” what a great job they do, because I guess they don’t get to hear that every often. It’s easy to see when it’s dirty, but harder to see when it isn’t.

And talking about staff. There is a lot. Attractions, dining areas, customer relations, and even the bus stations have staff helping out.

Lastly, one thing that comes to mind is the beeping sound from a scooter that is backing up. If someone needs to go backwards, everyone within 50 meters will hear them 🙂