Quick Trip Review

[BrianL]

Well, I clicked off another one. This was just a quick two-day adventure with a friend of mine who isn't one of my usual Dinsye cohorts. He wanted to see Star Wars stuff though, so I made that work. It was actually a trip filled with wild and weird stuff, but was still a lot of fun. Just some thoguhts and anecdotes below.

• Starting off on the wrong and right foot - So, I started my trip with a sprint! We get off Magical Express at Pop. It had stopped at Art of Animation first, but one party didn't realize and didn't get off. The slightly frustrated driver told them he would take them back after he unloads at Pop. As we are walking to our room (which was amazingly ready at 11 AM!) my rookie travelling partner informs me that he has lost his Magic Band. It must be on the bus. The bus in gone too...BUT...we know where it's gonna be! It's going to Art, and so am I - on foot! I crossed Hourglass sLake and with a little hustle I spotted the bus at Art just pulling away. I flagged him down and sure enough he had found the band on the stairs -disaster averted and props to our driver Guillermo!
• Early to Rise - The rope-drop procedures for Rise of the Resistance are pretty wild! The Skyliner got us there from Pop plenty early enough and we were in the first hundred or so in the line. They marched us through the most convoluted queue ever to the point that I was starting to think we were on one of those prank shows. We did ride pretty quickly though, though there was a slight delay in getting started.
• "It's just a boat ride" - That's what my friend said about Pirates of the Caribbean. I repeated it loudly and informed him that we don't care for that kind of talk around here! From that point on, every water ride was "just a boat ride."
• Space Mountain ate my phone! - Yeah, I got to be that guy who had a cell phone fall out of his pocket on Space Mountain. I wore some new shorts and the pockets aren't that deep...dumb mistake and I'm paying the stupid tax to buy a new phone. At least we have my buddy's phone.
• Double the fireworks, Double the fun - I successfully pulled off watching Enchantment and HarmonioUS int eh same night. The bus to Beach Club is the answer - worked out great!
  • Enchantment - I did enjoy this and adding the projections to Main Street is cool. It may not be as good as HEA though.
  • HarmonioUS - This one is very cool and unique. It's like World of Color and Illuminations had a baby. I liked this one the best.
• Rats to the Vitrual Queue - I've hated VQ for Rise and now I do for Rat. We signed in at the second and still got into the high 70's. It went a bit faster than expected, but when it was our time, there was still like a 45 minute line! Rise wasn't like that at all - when we were called did not wait very long once in the queue.
  • Remy's Ratatouille Adventure is a pretty fun ride, but not mind-blowing. Nothing is worth the VQ rigamarole! Also, the CM's were all dealing with someone having written on a wall in the queue. That thing's literally been open for 19 days! People man....
• A Perfect Moment - Since we had seen Enchantment the night before and MK had been really busy, we decided to concentrate on rides on night two. We rode Big Thunder just as fireworks were going off! Just one of those great and magical times - a perfect moment as the booms sounded and the sky was alight over the peaks of Big Thunder!
• Aaaand they found it! - After asking the CM's about it at Space and City Hall, I filed the appropriate lost item report. Later the next day I was informed it was found and I could pick it up at Disney Springs, which I did this morning. I'd like to thank the brave astronauts who rescued my phone fromt he depths of Space Mountain! The CM's couldn't have been nicer about it and they really came through - 5 out of 5, would lose item again!
• It's a Lightsaber - My friend had been worried about getting his Legacy Dark Saber on the plane. It was in a long box as the blade doesn't detach on that one. I told him that MCO sees that stuff all the time and there would be many people with lightsabers and other souviniers all stuffed in Disney Shopping bags - they are basically luggage at MCO! Certainly we asked the guy at Southwest if we could carry it on. "What is it?" he asked. "It's a lgihtsaber." Without batting an eye, "I'd carry it on."

So, overall it was a great and fun trip, despite some challenges. Sometimes the tragedies make it more memorable. I even bought a Space Mountain T-shirt - hey, I don't hold a grudge! I very successfully showed my friend all the hot stuff - Rise, MFSR, Runaway Railway, Rat, Enchantment, and HarmonioUS? Slinky Dog was down for a long time or we'd have hit that too. We did well though overall, and I had a great time!