Chapter 11: The Re-Match
So our first attempt at touring a Disney park without using
Genie+ didn’t go so well. But we are one of the following: a) intelligent enough to learn from our mistakes, b) resilient in the face of adversity, c) stubborn and too cheap to pay the freight, or d) all of the above. So on Tuesday we were back again for our last day in the parks. This time around, we were armed with both our foreknowledge of how Monday had gone and park-hopper passes, courtesy of Bob, which would basically double the number of rides/attractions available to us.
Another advantage: Julie had done some scouting work the previous evening while we were at the Angels game. She had managed to ride both the Millenium Falcon and the Matterhorn using the single-rider lines and then got on Rise of the Resistance late in the evening with only about a 40-45 minute wait. Armed with that knowledge, a new strategy was born: we would try and rope-drop a major attraction, then spend the middle of the day focusing on either smaller rides or rides offering single-rider lines, and then hopefully get a couple of major attractions done in the evening when the crowds were smaller.
The biggest issue with this plan was whether Drew would agree to try the single-rider lines. It was certainly possible that he wouldn’t feel comfortable riding next to strangers.
So we did what all good parents would do and kept the plan a secret from him until the last possible moment later that day, when we could spring it as a surprise.
Now we just needed a good day with no crowds.
Ugh.
We decided upon entering DCA to try and rope-drop Radiator Springs Racers. This proved to be a terrible idea, because all of the crowds at the entrance also decided to rope-drop Radiator Springs Racers.
We stuck with it, though, because we are idiots. It took about an hour to get on the ride. About the only saving grace was that we had the opportunity to fill up on Butte Gas.
We did have fun on the ride once we were actually able to get on it.
Enough of this “waiting in lines” crap. I’d had enough of that the day before. We looked up the list of single-rider offerings. The closest opportunity was Web Slingers. Works for us!
Next came the hard part: convincing Drew that the single-rider line was going to be a good thing for all of us. We knelt down so we could speak with him at eye-level, just like all the expert parenting books we never read tell you to do when having tough conversations with a child. And we said, “if we go in this line, you might have to ride with a stranger. But we won’t have to wait as long and we’ll be able to go on more rides.”
And Drew said, “Okay.”
I wish all conversations were that easy.
As luck would have it, they ended up putting Scotty and me in the same car, and this time Scott was having no part of being beaten in a video game by his old man. He destroyed everyone in the vehicle.
Next, the big boys and I wanted to ride the Incredicoaster again. Drew wanted no part of it, so Julie took him on Toy Story while we headed to the roller coaster. Single rider worked like a charm here. We were on within 15 minutes.
I got to ride in the very front car this time around. That was a blast, if a little intense.
When we were finished, Julie and Drew hadn’t returned so the boys decided to go for another spin. I chose to catch my breath. Julie and Drew caught up with me while I was waiting for their second ride. This time, Dave and Scott got put on different trains. I managed to catch Dave going on the launch and giving us a nice pose (see if you can spot him).
We were already on a much better pace than the previous day, so that made me feel like we could treat ourselves for lunch by having dessert first. We couldn’t pass up on a Nom-Nom cookie.
Of course, even being super-sized, that one cookie wasn’t going to be enough for all of us, so we went to Avengers Campus to get some more super-sized food at the Pym Test Kitchen. When I’d first looked at the menu I had thought the theme was fun and I was curious about the giant fried chicken sandwich they had there.
So, on the plus side, the theme is fun. I loved how they set up the drink and condiment stations inside the restaurant.
And on the downside, there wasn’t nearly enough seating for the number of people getting lunch. We wandered futilely for a few minutes before completely giving up. We ended up taking our trays across the walkway and sitting on the ground in the shade of the Avengers building.
The food was…ok. Nothing really jumped out at us as being special. We definitely felt that for $16 they could afford to give us more than a tiny handful of tater tots.
We had to hurry and finish because a character greeting was starting soon and the CM’s started shooing us away from the building. Sorry, maybe next time put in some more chairs and tables for your guests.
With lunch finished, Andrew decided he wanted to do Radiator Springs Racers again. He had no problem going single-rider, so this time we were in and out within 20 minutes. Unfortunately, I got Wazowski-d on the ride photo, so I'm not bothering to post that one.
So, by mid-day we’d had two rides on RSR, one on Webslingers, and two on the Incredicoaster. Basically what we learned was that if you don’t do Genie+, then the single-rider lines are the only cheat code left available to you. So it’s a good idea to make use of them.
We stopped for a photo on the way out of DCA.
We hopped over to
Disneyland and tried the same strategy. Splash Mountain offered a single-rider line, so we walked over that way. SM isn’t my favorite ride, so I chose to rest on a bench while the others went for it. This one was a much more slow-loading ride, so even with the single-rider, I’d say it was at least a half-hour wait for them. So I got a nice nap and just enjoyed the surroundings.
That was Drew’s first Splash Mountain experience, and it turned out that he loved it. So that was a win.
We walked into Galaxy’s Edge and did a little souvenir shopping. We also re-filled our water bottles at this station, where I loved the little detail that was waiting for us in the tank.
Every so often this guy would pop up and have a look around.
Mmm…refreshing.
We did single-rider again on Millenium Falcon and got on within 10 minutes. I think our pilots crashed the ship over and over again, but who cares? I didn’t have to wait in line.
We were texting with Alison and she managed to find some time in the afternoon to come over and join us for a bit, so she met us outside the Falcon.
Julie decided to get some green milk, which looks suspiciously like the Star Wars version of Gatorade, which looks like the color of—well, never mind.
Alison had some magic fastpasses of her own to use, possibly from her annual pass? I forget now. But she got us into the FP line for Hyperspace Mountain, which was great until the ride went down. Luckily, it wasn’t too much of a delay. We had learned from our tour guide, Jeff, a few days earlier about the loading system for this coaster. It’s designed to unload and re-load a vehicle every 40 seconds or so, so there’s a reason why the CM’s are aggressively trying to get you out of your car when you get back to the loading area. When they get close, an alarm starts to sound letting them know that they have to send the car soon. If they don’t get it loaded in time, they have to send an empty car in order to keep the timing going. It all sounded like one of the more stressful minimum-wage positions you can have.
Anyway, eventually we were able to climb aboard for another spin doing battle with TIE fighters and having John Williams’ music blasting in our ears (have I mentioned how great the Star Wars overlay is on this?). I’m going to go ahead and call it now. On this particular run, we as a group managed to take one of the greatest ride photos of all time.
After that one, we didn’t see any good wait times available at the moment. Alison had a few more FP’s to use, so the kids decided they wanted to go get on Mission: Breakout. So we hoofed it back over to DCA.
I still had no desire to lose my mediocre lunch or induce motion sickness, so I went souvenir shopping while the others save the galaxy with Rocket again.
Alison had to get back home at that point, so we bade her a fond adieu and went back to DL (I should have tracked our step counters on this day). We checked the wait at Rise of the Resistance but incredibly, the ride was down, so we decided we could all use some dinner instead. The closest spot was the Hungry Bear restaurant, which I knew wouldn’t be anything special. But when you’re tired, hot and hungry, sometimes any available cheeseburger and fries just really hits the spot, and this one did. There’s nothing special about it at all, but it tasted really good in the moment.
After eating, we wandered along the walkway next to the Rivers of America. There was a canoe just setting off from the dock with a load of fresh tourists aboard, and we heard the guide call out, "Ok, who's ready for the most exciting attraction in the park?"
An enthusiastic cheer went up from the crowd.
"Well, you shoulda gotten in a different line. This here's the canoe," he said. "Now you gotta do some work."
Despite that appealing message, we went for one last wild ride in the wilderness.
Rise of the Resistance had opened back up, and it was getting on early evening, so we thought: why not see if our strategy works? The posted time was over an hour, if I recall. But when we got eyes on the queue, it wasn’t nearly as long as it had been at other times. So we gave it a shot.
The gamble worked. A 40-minute wait.
Perhaps even more surprising, I found an Imperial walkway that actually had safety handrails built in, instead of a random bottomless pit for careless employees to fall into.
Awesome ride.
We were on a roll with our newfound anti-Genie+ strategy, so we went for another single-rider line on the Matterhorn. Again, it took about 15 minutes to ride.
The sun was setting and the lights were just coming on, which is always a magical time in the parks. On our last visit in 2014, the kids had a terrible view of World of Color (ok, to be honest, everyone had a terrible view of it), so Dave mentioned wanting to give it another shot. We walked back to DCA. Along the way:
By the time we got to the World of Color viewing area, it was already mobbed. We hadn’t secured any spots ahead of time, and there was frankly nowhere to go. There are huge swaths of walking path available, but the CM’s are aggressive about keeping them clear, even if there is a decent view. So there’s just no place to go unless you have a spot reserved well ahead of time.
So, plan B: let’s get on another ride while everyone is watching the nighttime show.
We took another spin on Radiator Springs Racers.
I believe the park was supposed to close at 10 p.m. We were all tired, but you know what? This was our last night in the parks. We were going to get our money’s worth! You can sleep when you’re dead!
We asked the kids what they wanted for their last ride. They chose Mission: Breakout. Sigh. So be it.
I waited again while they bounced all over the galaxy. And then we started our sad walk out of the park for the final time.
It was 9:55 p.m.
As we passed Web Slingers, we noticed that the line wasn’t terrible. And if you’re in line when the park closes, they still let you ride…
Aw, what the heck. Sleep can wait a little longer. This will be the last ride instead.
Scott destroyed me again, but who cares? We were getting a bonus ride after park closing.
So, let me explain.
No, there is too much. Let me sum up: it is possible to have a full day with lots of headliners and not pay a fortune for Genie+. It involves Rope Drop, liberal use of the single-rider lines, and a willingness to burn the candle at both ends so you can get shorter lines at night as well. It also helps to have a park hopper, so you have more choices. But it works!
It was nice to end our park time on a high note.
Coming Up Next: Disney Departure Procrastination, and quick trip to an African safari.