huggybuff
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 19, 2013
- Messages
- 1,093
Commando Trip Day 2 - 7/18
I was up bright and early, despite the previous night, and once again met BFF+Hubs along the way to DL. We made rope drop and even had time to go into Market House (Starbucks) to get our fix for the morning. It had already been decided that Peter Pan was our first priority. We made good time through the castle after the rope dropped, but it was an EMH morning, so quite a few people were already in line. We decided to go for it anyway because the line was not going to get any shorter, only longer. We entered the line right outside the 50 minute wait placard and started timing our wait. It really wasn't too bad at all since it was early and still cool outside. There was some silly excitement at entering the indoor portion of the queue.
We actually got on Peter Pan at exactly 8:50AM. I guess Disney knows their line wait times after all these years. I loved all the upgrades. It looked fresh and new and reinvigorated.
After PP we decided to go to the other side of the park with the same strategy I used during my June trip. We cut through the Hub to Adventureland and got an Indy Fast Pass; then we rode Pirates, Haunted Mansion and Splash Mountain with basically no lines. We went back and used our Indy Fast Pass and then decided to head over to Big Thunder Mountain. By this point I was getting warm and glad we had to stand in line for a little while. Not long though!
From BTMR we walked through Fantasyland over to Space Mountain to get fast passes for later. At this point we were getting hungry and I'd have been happy to sit down for awhile at Redd Rockett's Pizza Port (not my favorite dining establishment), that's how ready I was for a break. But we pushed on to DCA. My only request was that we ate somewhere inside...and for DCA, counter service + inside = Smokejumpers Grill. I hadn't eaten there since the reimagining from Taste Pilot's Grill, but I really love what they've done with the area as a whole, turning it into a 50's era National Park. I think it's superb. So Smokejumpers Grill it was, where I ordered the Grilled Chicken and Feta Salad. I just could not deal with anything warm at that point. The salad was pretty tasty. The only issue was that they forgot to give me dressing, so I had to go back and wait for a bit at the window to get a packet.
After lunch we got a Soarin' Fast Pass since we were in the area, and then made our way over to CA Screamin' and the Paradise Pier area. We got in line for Screamin' and noticed that it was starting to drizzle. The skies had been growing more overcast and the humidity was definitely increasing throughout the day. So we screamed on Screamin' and afterwards the BFF and I decided to ride the Fun Wheel - the Swinging side. To me, the Swinging side of the Fun Wheel is the scariest ride on property. We rode it. We survived.
It was actually considerably less intense than my first ride because they only cycled us through one time, instead of usual two times around, once while loading and then one time around without stopping. Oh well, once around was enough for me!
BFF+Hubs looove Toy Story Midway Mania, so that's where we ended up next. It was about a 40 minute wait but we had enough time before our Soarin' FP return time to get it in. This ride has always been 'meh' for me. It's cute but for my enjoyment it doesn't justify the wait times. And all the shooting makes my shoulder sore. I got my usual dismal score and we exited the Pier to head back to Soarin'. First we stopped for ice cream at Paradise Pier Ice Cream Co. The BFF and I abstained because we were waiting until a bit later to have our very. First. Dole. Whips! Soarin' was great as usual, but for the first time it made me a bit nauseated afterwards. It was also the first time I've been in the theater on the left. Not sure if that could've had anything to do with it.
By this time it was doing more than drizzling, it was raining in earnest. Not quite a downpour, but enough to say that it was raining. We crossed the Esplanade and saw some activity right in the middle where the colored tiles make the design. It had been cordoned off and there were officers milling around. We guessed that someone had slipped and fallen when the tiles became slippery from the rain. We pressed on to Space Mountain and used our Fast Passes. From there were went back through the Hub to Adventureland and the Tiki Juice Bar. I'd heard so much, for so many years, about the great Dole Whip. Yeah, it's almost all that. I think it would've had to have been covered in diamonds to live up to the hype, but I really did enjoy it. We ate them in the rain and then going from store to store down Main Street to try to stay dry.
After all that it was still only around 3:15PM. We had a 5PM Wine Country Trattoria World of Color reservation and lots of time to kill. We did quite a bit of Emporium browsing and then headed back to DCA where we looked at just about all of their shops, including Carsland. Radiator Springs Racers was down because of the rain and we heard that Tower of Terror was down because of lightning in the area. Creepy. We got into Wine Country Trattoria a few minutes early since we were just waiting around by that time. I started with the Salad: arugula, fennel, red onion, spiced walnuts, and goat cheese with a fig-balsamic dressing. Very nice. Next was the Seafood Pasta: spaghetti tossed with sauteed jumbo shrimp, scallops with garlic and herbs in a light pomordoro sauce.
Finally, dessert was a mini-dessert array. Meh. I'm not a mini-fan. They were, Trattoria Tiramisu, European Macaroons, Caramel Chocolate Panna Cotta and Lemon Cream Puff. The lemon was my favorite because I'm a sucker for lemon. Always. WCT lived up to it's reputation with me. Fine and serviceable, but nothing truly memorable or special.
After dinner we headed over to Tower of Terror to check out the wait time situation. 40 minutes, not too bad. ToT is probably my favorite ride in the whole park, so the wait was no problem for me. The theming and music are so wonderful and add so much to the experience, I just love it. I made sure I was in the very front of the TV screen in the pre-show. When the lights were out and the Twilight Zone feature played I could almost imagine that I was alone in the room. In the gift shop I bought a pretty purple ToT shirt (shocker) and a hotel key keychain.
We relaxed for a little bit on a bench outside the ride exit until it was time to make our way over to World of Color. We got there a little before 8:30PM and took our spots in the second row of people right in front by the railing. I'm short, so my view was already blocked for the most part. Practically minute by minute until the show started, I could feel myself being pushed in on both sides, and forward from the growing crowd. Not a good feeling for me. I tried doing some deep breathing to keep from going into panic-mode and it helped a bit. Finally, the show started (a few minutes late because the fireworks at DL had been moved up to replace Paint the Night, which had been canceled because of the rain) and NPH was talking. And talking. For me, this new version of World of Color dragged. It's true that my feet were in agony and claustrophobia was setting in. And my view was mostly blocked. But I have to agree with the consensus...World of Color-Celebrate! is kind of a dud.
So during the day I'd been making noises that I wasn't going to ride Grizzly River Run. I just had no desire to schlep around all day in soaking wet clothes. The last time I rode it I got soaked, but I'd made sure to make it the last ride of the day. After WoC where I'd felt so constrained and squeezed, I suggested going on GRR because I needed something refreshing to blow off steam. To be honest, I didn't even like the ride itself the first time I rode it, even beyond the getting drenched part. But I needed something. And it was awesome! I barely got wet and the BFF got soaked. I loved it! We exited GRR at 9:57PM and I said we have 3 minutes to get back in line. No takers. Bummer.
We left DCA and briefly started to head back to DL. However, we realized there was nothing left on our list of things to do. So we headed to DTD instead to get some Haagen-Dazs. Then I realized that I didn't want any and it was time for me to head back to the hotel. We said goodnight, I walked back, and promptly sacked out.
I was up bright and early, despite the previous night, and once again met BFF+Hubs along the way to DL. We made rope drop and even had time to go into Market House (Starbucks) to get our fix for the morning. It had already been decided that Peter Pan was our first priority. We made good time through the castle after the rope dropped, but it was an EMH morning, so quite a few people were already in line. We decided to go for it anyway because the line was not going to get any shorter, only longer. We entered the line right outside the 50 minute wait placard and started timing our wait. It really wasn't too bad at all since it was early and still cool outside. There was some silly excitement at entering the indoor portion of the queue.
We actually got on Peter Pan at exactly 8:50AM. I guess Disney knows their line wait times after all these years. I loved all the upgrades. It looked fresh and new and reinvigorated.
After PP we decided to go to the other side of the park with the same strategy I used during my June trip. We cut through the Hub to Adventureland and got an Indy Fast Pass; then we rode Pirates, Haunted Mansion and Splash Mountain with basically no lines. We went back and used our Indy Fast Pass and then decided to head over to Big Thunder Mountain. By this point I was getting warm and glad we had to stand in line for a little while. Not long though!
From BTMR we walked through Fantasyland over to Space Mountain to get fast passes for later. At this point we were getting hungry and I'd have been happy to sit down for awhile at Redd Rockett's Pizza Port (not my favorite dining establishment), that's how ready I was for a break. But we pushed on to DCA. My only request was that we ate somewhere inside...and for DCA, counter service + inside = Smokejumpers Grill. I hadn't eaten there since the reimagining from Taste Pilot's Grill, but I really love what they've done with the area as a whole, turning it into a 50's era National Park. I think it's superb. So Smokejumpers Grill it was, where I ordered the Grilled Chicken and Feta Salad. I just could not deal with anything warm at that point. The salad was pretty tasty. The only issue was that they forgot to give me dressing, so I had to go back and wait for a bit at the window to get a packet.
After lunch we got a Soarin' Fast Pass since we were in the area, and then made our way over to CA Screamin' and the Paradise Pier area. We got in line for Screamin' and noticed that it was starting to drizzle. The skies had been growing more overcast and the humidity was definitely increasing throughout the day. So we screamed on Screamin' and afterwards the BFF and I decided to ride the Fun Wheel - the Swinging side. To me, the Swinging side of the Fun Wheel is the scariest ride on property. We rode it. We survived.
It was actually considerably less intense than my first ride because they only cycled us through one time, instead of usual two times around, once while loading and then one time around without stopping. Oh well, once around was enough for me!BFF+Hubs looove Toy Story Midway Mania, so that's where we ended up next. It was about a 40 minute wait but we had enough time before our Soarin' FP return time to get it in. This ride has always been 'meh' for me. It's cute but for my enjoyment it doesn't justify the wait times. And all the shooting makes my shoulder sore. I got my usual dismal score and we exited the Pier to head back to Soarin'. First we stopped for ice cream at Paradise Pier Ice Cream Co. The BFF and I abstained because we were waiting until a bit later to have our very. First. Dole. Whips!
Soarin' was great as usual, but for the first time it made me a bit nauseated afterwards. It was also the first time I've been in the theater on the left. Not sure if that could've had anything to do with it.By this time it was doing more than drizzling, it was raining in earnest. Not quite a downpour, but enough to say that it was raining. We crossed the Esplanade and saw some activity right in the middle where the colored tiles make the design. It had been cordoned off and there were officers milling around. We guessed that someone had slipped and fallen when the tiles became slippery from the rain. We pressed on to Space Mountain and used our Fast Passes. From there were went back through the Hub to Adventureland and the Tiki Juice Bar. I'd heard so much, for so many years, about the great Dole Whip. Yeah, it's almost all that. I think it would've had to have been covered in diamonds to live up to the hype, but I really did enjoy it. We ate them in the rain and then going from store to store down Main Street to try to stay dry.
After all that it was still only around 3:15PM. We had a 5PM Wine Country Trattoria World of Color reservation and lots of time to kill. We did quite a bit of Emporium browsing and then headed back to DCA where we looked at just about all of their shops, including Carsland. Radiator Springs Racers was down because of the rain and we heard that Tower of Terror was down because of lightning in the area. Creepy. We got into Wine Country Trattoria a few minutes early since we were just waiting around by that time. I started with the Salad: arugula, fennel, red onion, spiced walnuts, and goat cheese with a fig-balsamic dressing. Very nice. Next was the Seafood Pasta: spaghetti tossed with sauteed jumbo shrimp, scallops with garlic and herbs in a light pomordoro sauce.
Finally, dessert was a mini-dessert array. Meh. I'm not a mini-fan. They were, Trattoria Tiramisu, European Macaroons, Caramel Chocolate Panna Cotta and Lemon Cream Puff. The lemon was my favorite because I'm a sucker for lemon. Always. WCT lived up to it's reputation with me. Fine and serviceable, but nothing truly memorable or special.
After dinner we headed over to Tower of Terror to check out the wait time situation. 40 minutes, not too bad. ToT is probably my favorite ride in the whole park, so the wait was no problem for me. The theming and music are so wonderful and add so much to the experience, I just love it. I made sure I was in the very front of the TV screen in the pre-show. When the lights were out and the Twilight Zone feature played I could almost imagine that I was alone in the room. In the gift shop I bought a pretty purple ToT shirt (shocker) and a hotel key keychain.
We relaxed for a little bit on a bench outside the ride exit until it was time to make our way over to World of Color. We got there a little before 8:30PM and took our spots in the second row of people right in front by the railing. I'm short, so my view was already blocked for the most part. Practically minute by minute until the show started, I could feel myself being pushed in on both sides, and forward from the growing crowd. Not a good feeling for me. I tried doing some deep breathing to keep from going into panic-mode and it helped a bit. Finally, the show started (a few minutes late because the fireworks at DL had been moved up to replace Paint the Night, which had been canceled because of the rain) and NPH was talking. And talking. For me, this new version of World of Color dragged. It's true that my feet were in agony and claustrophobia was setting in. And my view was mostly blocked. But I have to agree with the consensus...World of Color-Celebrate! is kind of a dud.
So during the day I'd been making noises that I wasn't going to ride Grizzly River Run. I just had no desire to schlep around all day in soaking wet clothes. The last time I rode it I got soaked, but I'd made sure to make it the last ride of the day. After WoC where I'd felt so constrained and squeezed, I suggested going on GRR because I needed something refreshing to blow off steam. To be honest, I didn't even like the ride itself the first time I rode it, even beyond the getting drenched part. But I needed something. And it was awesome! I barely got wet and the BFF got soaked. I loved it!
We exited GRR at 9:57PM and I said we have 3 minutes to get back in line. No takers. Bummer.We left DCA and briefly started to head back to DL. However, we realized there was nothing left on our list of things to do. So we headed to DTD instead to get some Haagen-Dazs. Then I realized that I didn't want any and it was time for me to head back to the hotel. We said goodnight, I walked back, and promptly sacked out.
Maybe tomorrow? LOL
And thank you for reading!!!
I will warn you, I am TERRIBLE at keeping up, but I do try my best!
