We arrived at Epcot around 8:30 am. Our GPS was kind enough to remind us that the park was closed until 9. Thanks Google, but the plan was to be there early! We opted for preferred parking, as that seemed key to our success. Preferred means parking close, which cuts down on the time it takes to transfer from park to park. And hey, with this type of parking, you get cold water bottles each time you park, so that's a win!
After a brief hiccup, where the attendant's bar code scanner would not work with our tickets, we were in! (Thanks customer service with the iPad that would work for scanning!). We had 3 rides in mind for this park, so we headed to Test Track. We were stuck inside for a bit, as the ride had some sort of issue, and this one ride took an hour. Worth the wait, but I was already concerned about the schedule. Mission Space: Orange went quick. Not much of a line at all for this ride. I'm still not sure how Disney makes it feel like you are pulling several Gs and actually launching into space, but we landed our spaceship on Mars successfully! A brief break for drinks and a Pluto popcorn bucket, and we were off to Soarin'. We were on the far right, which meant a bit of distortion in some of the taller objects, but hey, this ride is still one of my favorites!
On a related note, Radiator Springs Racers seems to have a very similar technology to Test Track, but is so much better.
Now, we moved the car to Animal Kingdom. We did Dinosaur, which was great, but I just kept thinking, this is no Indiana Jones! Traven and I then did the Primeval Swirl, as we could just walk on. It's a fun ride, but if you don't like sudden turns or spinning (Lori), it's not for you!
And now, a key moment of the day. Expedition Everest. Traven did NOT want to do this one. There was some bargaining, and I finally convinced him to try it. I'd only been on it once, so when he asked if it was dark, I said not that I remembered. Uh, turns out it has quite a bit of darkness. He survived, wanted to beat me up after, but I could see a slight sparkle in his otherwise angry eyes. A few minutes later, he said he'd probably do it again, that it wasn't that bad. We did Nav'ii River journey after this, which was pretty, but so not worth the 2 hour wait time some folks had. Thank goodness for FastPass+! As we left it, Traven was begging for another run at Expedition Everest. He loved it!
Lori was feeling a bit sick at this point, from Mission Space and EE, so she sat out our 2nd run at Everest. We had lunch reservations at the Yak and Yeti, and she felt better after eating. I have to say, this was my least favorite Disney eatery of all time. It's not that the food was bad, it just wasn't as good as I've come to expect from places like Carthay Circle and Blue Bayoo.
You know, I'm just going to say it. Disneyland > Disney World. Yeah, World is bigger and has a lot more to do, but it just doesn't have the same level of magic as Disneyland.
After letting Traven do Primeval one more time, we were off to Magic Kingdom. I had never parked there - only taken the bus to the park, and I did not realize that you take the Monorail from parking over to the park. Bonus ride!
The party did not disappoint. I was curious how they cleared the park for those that didn't pay for the party, and it turns out it's a bit of crowd management plus wristbands. I wasn't sure what all the party entailed, and I'm not sure we even scratched the surface. There was non-stop entertainment from a stage in front of the castle. A dance party was going on in one of the restaurants. There were singers on a stage in Tomorrowland. Two parades, fireworks and who knows what else? And the treats, oh my goodness! You just had to look for the glowing candy cane blow-ups. We had apple cider, hot chocolate, grape soda and eggnog. We had sugar, gingerbread, chocolate chip and all manner of cookies. We were handed chocolates. We had slushies. We somehow missed the pretzels, and I think we missed many other treats. But honestly, how much can you eat?
The ride lines were great! With people distracted by all the other things going on, we walked right onto Pirates. Haunted Mansion was like a 10 minute wait. We did Peter Pan in 15 minutes. 15 MINUTES! We also did Small World, Big Thunder, Teacups, Tomorrowland Speedway and Buzz Lightyear, We could have done more, but we honestly ran out of steam towards the end, and when the parade ended at 11:30 pm, we decided to call it a day.
So, as always, notes for next time?
- At over 28,000 steps, non-cotton socks and newer underwear are recommended.
- Patience. Poor Traven was exhausted, and the problem is that when he is exhausted, he becomes even more hyper and grows a bit cranky. The lunch break helped, and he devoured a bacon cheeseburger around 10 pm. But he did require and deserved a lot of TLC.
- The party was so worth it. I'd for sure do one again.
- The inline games were fun, but bring lots of battery chargers! Between FastPass+, games, photos and other usage, I completely drained my phone twice.
Update #1:
I just remembered three things I wanted to mention! One, we went to "It's Tough to be a Bug!". I will always miss the Bug's Life stuff at California Adventure, but knowing this gem is at Animal Kingdom eases the pain a little bit.
Two, there's something magical about watching and hearing people experience something wonderful for the first time. I had some newbies to Soarin' near me on that ride, and to hear the wonder in their voices was special. And I think we had a room full of first timers with us for the Bug show, and there was a lot of screaming and laughter.
Third, there is so much to do and see at the Disney parks, that sometimes we can miss something for years. For instance, this was the first time that Lori noticed the hanging person in Haunted Mansion! That's right - that prop has been above her head dozens of times, and on this trip she finally saw it!
Ok, four things. When it comes to the holidays, Disneyland is so much better. I missed the holiday overlays to Haunted Mansion and Small World.
