If you looked at the photos at the beginning of this update and then read the itinerary, you're probably a bit confused. That's ok. We'll explain ourselves very soon.
Baymax woke me at 5:30, and I'm starting to wonder if he's the only one they have doing that job. He and Darth Maul really need to organize.
Epcot has Extra Magic Hours this morning from 8-9 (so, technically, Extra Magic "Hour"), and this sounds like the perfect opportunity to catch the California version of Soarin' on its very last day.
We COULD have gotten FastPasses for this, but I really wanted at least one day with a Test Track Fastpass. The three other Epcot days had us riding new Soarin', new Soarin', and Frozen Ever After with our tier 1 FPs, so Rope Drop was our best hope for riding this today without a ridiculous wait.
I learned on Day 2 that I overestimated the time it would take to get through security, but still, we want to get there reasonably early. While we're getting ready, Kristin tells me she would like to switch our ADRs from Rose and Crown to Teppan Edo. Rose and Crown, you see, doesn't have hibachi grills at each table, in spite of what this Trip Report might imply. I love TE as well, so I'm in.
MDE is still a bit off today, but I'm eventually able to make the ADR for Teppan Edo, then drop the one for Rose and Crown. Of course, AFTER I already booked the ADR for TE, we both remembered that there's a fee for same-day cancellations. I think it's $10 a person, so that's a $40 hit we'll take for cancelling our existing ADRs.
Ugh. Kristin decides to call Dining (she prefers the phone to the computer), but they say they can't get the fee waived. Shoot. Oh, well. Kristin's not giving up. She'll try again at the park.
While I'm online, I take a look at the DISboards to see if anyone replied about yesterday's El Centro evacuation.
Nothing.
I guess it really wasn't a big deal, since we never heard another word about it. Anti-climactic, really. But I like it that way.
We were out the door at 7:15, and at Epcot shortly after. The bus rides to 3 of the 4 parks were really quick this year, and even trips to MK didn't seem that long.
Since we're here early, we might as well get some photos in front of the ball:
We're close to the rope! Not a lot of people here yet, either.
I guess that's how we came to be close to the rope. A fountain shot as we wait:
Crowds are showing up now. Almost time to go in.
While we waited, I listened to the family behind us figuring out how to get to Soarin'. They're looking at a map. I wanted to tell them to just follow the masses, but figured they'll see that's the case soon enough.
A few minutes later, I was talking to Kristin, and the mom asked, "are you going back to Soarin'?" I responded, "everybody here is!"
And we did. The rope was released, and it was straight back to the Land. 30-minute standby. Nice!
We never rode this at Rope Drop before, to the best of my recollection. I used to come back here at RD and grab FPs for later in the day, but since the dawn of FP+, that hasn't been possible. Or necessary.
We got to the ride, we waited for row B-1, and we watched our flight director Patrick for perhaps the last time. Dylan overhears a guy near us tell his sister that Patrick is the voice of Joe Swanson from "Family Guy", which I somehow didn't realize until now, either. I did know he was the Tick and Puddy from "Seinfeld", so while Dylan would say, "it's Joe!" every time he came on screen, I would reply with, "the Devilsssssss!" Both great characters. He's a hilarious actor.
Anyway, we rode, and it was great. We're going to miss this one. Our only criticism of it, the film quality, was addressed by theater upgrades (finally!), and now, it's going away. Oh well. I'm sure we'll love the new one, too!
The wait has increased significantly since we entered the queue, BTW:
The villains are some of the most interesting characters. It's a shame they don't get much attention outside of Halloween season.
::shudder::
It does help stretch out the trip, though.
