After splitting up from Mom and Dad, Buzz and I headed off toward Sunset Boulevard.
Along the way, I noticed that theyve redone the sign at the Voyage of the Little Mermaid. Looks pretty nice.
Sunset Boulevard! This has to be one of my favorite areas in all of the Disney parks. The retro 1940s feel of the area is fantastic- not to mention the attractions!
Along the way, I popped into the Villains shop to get a pic of Maleficent glaring out the window.
Ahh
my favorite attractions in Walt Disney World- the Tower of Terror. But thats now where we were going now. Instead, we made our way to the
Rock n Roller Coaster. If you can believe it, Buzz and I had only been on this ride once before and that was three years ago! At the entrance, the standby wait was listed as 30 minutes, so we decided to just go ahead and get in line. After all, 30 minutes isnt too bad.
The funny thing is, there wasnt a line per se. They were running a test for a queue-less wait system, so as you enter the stand by entrance, youre given a Tour Ticket with a number on it and and told to wait in the Festival area directly in front of the attraction.
When your number comes up on this screen, you can proceed into the main building. However, when we checked out number on the screen, it was listed in the 50 minutes of less section!
A bit longer than we expected! We debated jumping out of line and getting Fast Passes, but for some reason, we decided to stick it out. I think we were a little confused by the whole new queue system.
Of course, there were things to do while in the Festival. There was a DJ who played some rock tunes and hosted trivia games and challenges. There were a few machines set up for guests to be able to play Rock Band which Im sure was fun for those who enjoy that. Of course, there were plenty of carts selling refreshments, souvenirs and face painting along with the rides gift shop providing a captive audience ways to dispense of some cash which Im sure the merchandising department loves.
All in all, the queue-less wait system seems like a good idea, but has its problems. Perhaps most of all, the Festival area needed some shade and more benches! Standing for almost an hour outside for over an hour in Florida just isnt ideal. It may have been December, but it was still sunny and a bit warm (actually, the sunniest, warmest weather of the trip, go figure). Between that and the fact that the actual wait was quite a bit longer than the entrance sign said it would be, looking back, I wish we had left and gotten Fast Passes. Oh, well.
Once out number was called, we headed inside to wait in another queue (again,
). By the time we finally got to boarding out limo, we had waited pretty much an hour. Even though the wait was long, I did enjoy the ride. The blast-off at the beginning is amazing, and I love all the scenery along the way. It sort of brings to mind what youd get if you combined Peter Pans Flight and Mr. Toads Wild Ride and made it a roller coaster. Great fun. Once the ride was over, we met up with Mom and Dad who were over by the Victory Garden at the Farmers Market taking pictures. They had been spending some time doing some shopping and watching Streetmosphere. Dad even bought a shirt to wear at EPCOT the next day to replace one of the ones he left at home. Next on the agenda was The Magic of Disney Animation, so we head over to check it out. Since we were there last, they added a new entrance that takes you right into the main area bypassing the Mushu movie so you dont have to go in through the exit at the gift shop if you want to ship it. Works for us.
My main goal for Animation was, of course, to see the UP characters which I had not gotten to meet beofre. I was really hoping to get there by 10am when they were scheduled to come out to avoid the long lines, but as it turned out, we didnt get to it until 11am. Buzz started off joining we, but realizing before I did just how long the wait would be, he ended up bailing fairly quickly. While I was in line, Buzz, Mom and Dad ended up doing a little exploring in the Animation building. Buzz and Dad even made it over to
PIXAR Place to see the Luxo Jr. animatronics that bounces around the roofs there now. Wish I could have seen it too since none of us ever had, but as you might guess from this reports title of Wet Chistmas, those blue skies didnt stick around for long and Luxo doesnt come out in the rain. Maybe next time.
After about 45 minutes, I finally made it to the front of the line to see the UP characters. While my autograph book was going around to get signed, I got some individual shots of the characters. First up was my favorite- Dug! Im by no means a dog person, but even I have to admit that Dug was extremely adorable in the film.
Next was Russell who posed with Kevin.
Russells autograph.
The characters were pretty cool, but I think Kevin was the biggest surprise of the meet-and-greet. When I went to take Carls photo, she disappeared from where she was and popped out to pose with Carl.
Dug wanted to sign his autograph below his new masters.
A group shot with everyone (including Kevin!) Im glad I got to see the Up crew, but I wish the line wasnt so long. I had heard they were popular, but wasnt expecting to wait as long for them as I did for the Fairies! By this time, it was almost time for our ADR at the 50s Prime Time and Buzz and Dad had already headed towards the restaurant. After a pair of fairly long waits, some rest and relaxation at the Prime Time sounded like a good idea.
Next chapter: Prime Time and Muppet Time
But no photos of them?
The beignet photo from August will just have to do for this trip report as well. 
The next update's coming very soon. Just have to put the finishing touches on it.
for the UP gang! Some of my favorite charachters! 
