May 2, 2009
OK... so this is our first and only Saturday in the parks. We've been blessed so far on this trip with minimal crowds. But now we are heading into the weekend and I am fully expecting a change in the crowd level. Per the crowd calculator, this day is ranked as a "9" and the park to avoid is.... drum roll please... yep... DHS. And we are totally going to take advantage of the early EMH for this day. We have never made a rope drop yet and I was determined to get us to at least one
The park opens at 8:00 am and therefore we needed to get up and at 'em early. The plan is to get showered, dressed, fed and on the bus by 7:30 am. We managed to miraculously make our deadline and end up at the park around 7:40 am (Yeah... it's a short ride from CSR to DHS). By 7:50 we are walking up to the rope area by the shops. One thing I found interesting about rope drops... everyone seems to congregate in the middle of the street by the rope. We managed to zip by about 50 people simply by sneaking off to the sides of the street
While we are waiting patiently for the rope drop, we start to formulate our plan. Our mission: Get FP's for TSM and head over to RnR. We are poised and ready to go... nothing can stop us now! I've been waiting sooooo long to finally get to ride TSM! But since we are going to play it smart, I was going to have to wait a little longer until the FP time arrives.
OK... the rope is dropped!! Woohoo! We start our way down Hollywood Blvd and we just get past the hat when all of a sudden I see her! Oh no... not a distraction... we're soooo focused on getting those FP's! But it was too late. DW and DD both saw her at the same time... it was none other than the sweet object of Donald's obsession... Daisy Duck. What to do?!? You can't just walk by Daisy and not say "hi"! We quickly discuss an alternate plan... DW would keep the camera and spend some quality time with Daisy and DD... I would continue on with the objective of capturing FP's for the three of us. I hear Daisy was pleased with the visit:
What a crowd! By the time I had stopped, handed over the camera, and said a quick farewell to my group, the FP line had already grown considerably. Took about 10 minutes to get through the FP line and retrieve the passes. Mission accomplished. Return time: 9:00 - 10:00. Now it's time to go gather my ducklings and head over to RnR.
I find DW and DD where I left them and we start our journey across the park. Just as we see Sunset Blvd in view, DW also notices Starring Rolls Cafe. Uh oh. Another detour is about to occur... yep... DW is hungry now (she doesn't eat breakfast right away). So we stop in and check out what we could get for a snack credit. They have a pretty good selection of things to eat for a snack credit. If you're on the QSDP, then this is a nice change from the normal snack stuff. Highly recommended
With our appetites feasting on the newly acquired morsels, we point our bodies back down Sunset Blvd. Ahhhh... there you are... oh wonderfully scary ToT. If only DD would grow to love you more! Maybe next year
So we take a left at ToT and go get in line for RnR. Here's a quick video I took while we sauntered up the ramp to the entrance:
Video:
There's not much of a line... we only wait maybe 15 minutes and we are being accelerated from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 2.8 seconds. Did you know that you experience more G forces during the launch than an astronaut does during a space shuttle launch? The things you can learn on Wikipedia!
DD has announced that RnR is her favorite Disney ride. It's no wonder... that ride ROCKS!
Maybe it wasn't such a bright idea to do RnR next as it's a pretty good walk to and from
Pixar Place with not much in between the two places. Although on our way back to TSM, we saw one of Chip and Dale's friends hanging out in the landscaping. See if you can find him here:
And here he is posing... such a ham:
A few minutes later we are in front of Pixar Place and the time is right for our FP. So we go get in the FP line. TSM is a pretty fun place to hang out... even in the queue areas. I think we ended up waiting about 15 minutes... even in the FP line. This ride is very popular. DW and DD ended up in one car and I in another. Which was fine with me... no distractions while taking out all the targets. I didn't keep track of scores or anything, but I know I pelted out quite a barrage of ammunition. DD was proud of her high accuracy percentage! We all agreed that this was one of the best rides at Disney World. Too bad we only experienced it one time this visit. As we were leaving, I took a quick photo of the queue coming out of TSM:
After TSM, we decide to head over to check out Studio Backlot Tour. DW has been looking forward to this ride. She's a TV/movie person and likes to see what goes on behind the scenes. Here's a few shots on the way over to SBT:
I never noticed the snow stuff last year:
The SBT was pretty fun. It had been many years since I had last been through it. DD seemed to like it, but was not thrilled with it. She was a little freaked out during the scene with the truck, fire, and water. But when she saw the back side of the scene, she was like "Whoa!! How did they build THAT!". That's my little engineer
From SBT we travel up Streets of America towards Star Tours. I've been looking forward to riding this one again because the last time I rode it was back in 1993. DD was fighting with us and was very reluctant to get on the ride. She is not fond of 4D simulators... this fear stems from a ride she went on at Busch Gardens, Williamsburg, when she was 3. Scared the wits out of her. But as we neared the attraction, she seemed to be more interested. We caught the middle of a Jedi training session... DD wanted to join in on the fun... but we ended up watching it from the back. This was just enough entertainment to make her want to check out Star Tours. Apparently, this ride has lost it's spark. I couldn't even enjoy the queue because there was no one in the line. But I did manage to take a few shots while walking through:
The ride was just as I remembered it. DD and DW both seemed to enjoy the ride. But it really does need to be updated. Would be cool to get some high definition video in there and maybe some awesome explosions... add some realistic heat to go with it. So many things they could do!
Those were pretty much the highlights from this trip to DHS. We ended up walking around and checking out some shops and caught a street act or two. Just around lunch time we danced and sang along with a HSM3 show at the hat. Then we followed the float back down Hollywood Blvd toward the exit. Kind-of felt like we were in a little parade! Anyway... through the exit we went and onto a bus back to CSR for some R&R. Swimming and playing were pretty much all we did the rest of the day. Here are a few shots of DD playing at the Dig Site:
After a long day at DHS, we decided to turn in early this day. We were able to enjoy yet another beautiful sunset at CSR... and DW got some more quality time in "her" hammock. And of course DD and I were water-logged from all the time in the pool. Have I mentioned just how relaxing this resort is? We didn't want to leave......
Next up:
Day 6, Part 1:
"Our Journey Into Imagination"
When we were there in January, my daughter, then 5, had a very good explanation as to why Miss Tinker Bell was so wired! She said that maybe Tink had had too much sugar for breakfast! 
May the force be with you.
I figured if we took it easy and hit the "must-see" items this year then I'd have a reason to "bait" DW into another trip. It worked! 
Now I'm just trying to talk DW into a resort other than CSR... but she is HOOKED on CSR. I'd like to eventually try them all.
