Trip Report MILESTONE TRIP! First Orlando Visit, Final Disney Park!

D Hulk · Oct 30, 2021

I sidled up to the counter in Jock Lindsey's Hangar Bar. Initially, I just caught my breathed after that needless half mile schlep to get here. Then I ordered a Tusker lager, a drink which is heavily featured over at Animal Kingdom and which was a common feature of my safari trip through Kenya. Light, refreshing, crisp, cool. Good stuff.

Around noontime, Jock Lindsey's counter otherwise was home to several off-duty cast members, each trading war stories and exchanging long-established inside jokes with the bartender. These cast members were 50% world weary cynics, and 50% chipper "aw shucks" naïfs just like when they're on Disney's clock. A smattering of couples, young and old, filled out the hangar space.

If I may, I'd like to pause with another all-purpose Disney World complaint. You love it! Everywhere throughout the resort, Disney's air conditioning was never especially strong, certainly nothing like Universal's glorious AC. A cost-cutting measure, maybe? While going indoors at Disney provided a respite from Florida's heat & humidity, it was never able to cool me down. Meaning that once I heated up for the day - which I'd already done on this day - I would remain uncomfortable. Disney could fix this problem immediately, and it would make a visit significantly more enjoyable.

Jock Lindsey's was awash with Imagineered details and Indy Easter Eggs, like many of the world's best theme park eateries. Disney Springs felt unworthy of this place. So much to see, more than I saw...didn't want to intrude on other patrons. A sign declaring artifacts no longer accepted as payment. Temple of Doom voodoo dolls. Postcards and stamps the world over connecting Jock Lindsey to the larger S.E.A. mythos. Jet fuel containers repurposed as beer taps. Propeller fans. So much good stuff!

After leaving Jock Lindsey's, I pretty much limited my Disney Springs exploration to The Landing. I was already too tired to consider seeing The Marketplace or Town Center, et cetera, and besides, The Landing was food & drink central - certainly the things which most interested me. Hulk doesn't shop! So I took a circuitous route towards Raglan Road, so that I could at least catch a glimpse of places like Paddlefish along the way.

Disney Springs has a good amount of tucked away spots and soft landscaping. These moments contrast well against the panoramic views across the lagoon. While Disney World's overall expanse sickened me every time I tried getting from place to place, the magic slowly crept back when firmly immersed within a single environment. The "Disney Bubble" effect which people describe for the resort as a whole never happened for me. I felt the Bubble in Disney Springs, and in the parks, but rarely outside of those centerpiece spots.

I had a 12:45 brunch reservation at Raglan Road, Disney Springs' Irish pub which came highly recommended. Saturday brunch is especially coveted, since it includes live performances...not an easy thing to find with all the present staffing shortages and reduced streetmosphere.

While Raglan Road's interior is necessarily oversized to accommodate Disney World crowds - not nearly as intimate as the greatest pubs - they did a good job approaching that intimacy in a dining hall setting. I was seated near the very center, right up against that central platform seen in the image above. This provided me with an ideal, unobstructed view of the musicians' stage. I thoroughly enjoyed a guitar and fiddle duo singing traditional Irish folk songs.

I also immediately destroyed the chintzy dimestore frame holding the QR code menu. No matter. Ignoring the safe American dishes on the menu, I went with the most Irish options available - a shepherd's pie and a Smithwick's ale, lighter than a stout to suit the sunny weather, but still appropriately Irish. The pie wasn't super filling on its own, but the complementary bread basket - full of varied, lightly sweet options - helped supplement that. The flavors were a little on the safe side, which is typical of resort food in general, but wholly satisfying.

About halfway through the meal, the stage musicians took a break. Shortly afterwards, a great terrible pounding started up right behind my head. That central platform which I was seated alongside? Yeah, that's a stage, and it had become the setting for some Riverdance-type Irish dancing. I quickly shifted to the opposite side of the table for a way-too-close front row view of the performance.

To stretch out my time here before again venturing out into the wretched outdoors, I ordered a bread & butter pudding for dessert. In the time it took to receive and devour, the live acts again switched out and the musicians again returned to the stage.

I concluded brunch around 1:20. Already two pints in, I then decided to make the day into a bar crawl - perhaps unwisely, with how the sun had already affected me - so I set out into Disney Springs seeking my next libation...

Voxel · Oct 30, 2021

@D Hulk thanks for the heads up regarding the Bus situation. Luckily I'll only need the bus one day to go to the Magic Kingdom. I should still be able to walk to Hollywood Studios for the other day of my visit.

ArmoredRodent · Oct 31, 2021

And thank you for again giving the famous Nalgene bottle its rightful place in the sun (see original at post #58):

D Hulk · Oct 31, 2021

The pub crawl continues! It was time for drink #3 at Disney Springs. Ignoring the outdoor dockside bars (which would've seemed appealing in milder weather), I consulted my pre-trip research notes and settled on The Edison.

This is one of those trendy neo-steampunk drinkeries, not wholly unlike Toothsome Chocolate Emporium over at Universal, in this case realized in a more immediately tactile aesthetic within a repurposed industrial setting. The two-floor interior was large yet intimate. Warm earth tones definitely contributed. I sat down at the bar and selected a local Floridian beer, something light and hoppy with a hint of citrus. Crowds were sparse, meaning I got plenty of time to directly chat with the bartender...think the conversation inevitably turned towards Velocicoaster.

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Just as I was polishing off my beer and preparing to head out, the bartender handed me a second pint entirely on the house. Something darker, like an Oktoberfest beer. Apparently, she'd accidently poured the wrong drink for another party, and decided I should have it. All that flirting paid off! So I started on drink #4.

Sensing that the booze and the heat combined might eventually start to destroy me, I ordered a plate of fried calamari. I wasn't especially hungry, I just wanted to soak up the alcohol. Could that have been the bartender's plan all along? :geek:

Afterwards, I made my way out of Disney Springs around 2:30, definitely feeling the dehydrating effects of those four beers. (Cannot recall if I had any glasses of water to counteract them.) Boy was it hot out!

I swiftly discovered the WDW bus depot. That bus directory (below) is ridiculous! So, so many different bus routes! It's not actually that confusing, but it's totally overwhelming. It's too much, man!

My grand plan for the afternoon was simply to drink my way around the Seven Seas Lagoon area. Originally I'd planned on grabbing a bus to Wilderness Lodge, on the advice of forum friends. They probably would have advised against what I wound up doing. After 15 minutes of waiting, and with drunken impatience growing, I called an audible and just leapt onto a Contemporary-bound bus instead. That was on the day's itinerary too, so I figured "What difference could it make?"

The Contemporary is undergoing extensive refurbishments presently. Lots of scaffolding and sheets everywhere. While of course I'd always prefer seeing things in pristine shape, I find construction walls to be reassuring (if ugly) because it means that things are getting improved.

The Contemporary's 1970s modernist design tends to be an acquired taste, one I do not have. I've never been a huge fan of Disney's futurist aesthetic. I find it too minimalist (Disney is better at detailed design), and it dates quickly. The Contemporary's main public areas - more stacked and vertical than I'd expected - have lots of awkwardly narrow corridors, clear signs that this was designed in Disney World's early years when crowds were lighter. Doubtlessly, the loveliest design detail which caught my eye was this delightfully vintage Mary Blair mural spanning many floors.

The ill-advised bar crawl continued with a very brief stop at Outer Rim. I had a light pilsner (drink #5) and a glass of ice water to go with it, guzzling both rather quickly (brain freeze!) because the lounge's retro-chic wall-to-wall carpeting ambience wasn't doing much for me.

Besides, I'd glimpsed the Contemporary's arcade nearby, and I just had to go get a particular monkey off my back...

Pinball!

I hadn't played a pin in like 6 days, and the withdrawal symptoms were becoming acute. Especially since there was that new-to-me 1981 Gottlieb sitting back home in my garage.

All across Disney World, each resort only offers the same Mouse-branded modern Stern pins: Guardians of the Galaxy, Star Wars, The Avengers. None of them are noteworthy by pinhead standards. Maintenance was iffy too. Avengers was straight up not working. Star Wars had a stuck left flipper which only worked 50% of the time. And the ball got stuck in a lock on Guardians. These are all-purpose arcades, mostly featuring video games for the kiddies, so this was pretty much what I expected.

Still, I played pinball!

That satisfied my time at the Contemporary. I went upstairs to grab a Monorail...thinking initially (stupidly) that Wilderness Lodge would of course be on the Monorail Line, and we'd go straight there. Nope! Serves me right for doing zero research into the Monorail routes. Even the sudden counterclockwise movement away from Magic Kingdom caught me off guard. Turns out this was the Resort Line, the only line which stops at the Contemporary, and the next stop was the Polynesian...

D Hulk · Oct 31, 2021

The Monorail carried my confused, overheated butt from the Contemporary to the Polynesian. This hotel was absolutely on my agenda, but with dinner plans tonight at Kona Café, there was no reason to visit yet. I remained on the Monorail.

The Monorail next stopped at Disney's Grand Floridian, which I never made an effort to visit. This hotel design was largely cloned at the Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel, where I'd spent quite a bit of time before. This wasn't an Orlando priority. I remained on the Monorail.

I got off at the Magic Kingdom station. I wouldn't be visiting this park itself until Tuesday, but it was neat to get a sneak preview. Looking pretty familiar!

I headed straight to the boat docks to await a water taxi to Wilderness Lodge. There wasn't very much clear signage pointing the way - without some form of prior research, I'd've been completely lost at sea here - so I simply followed some other guests who I overhead talking about Wilderness Lodge.

The wait for a boat was interminable. Actually, it was only 20 minutes (which apparently isn't that terrible or that unusual by Disney World standards), but in my overheated, semi-inebriated, wholly-confounded state, this was endless. I felt trapped, a victim of Disney's capricious whims, with a low level throbbing headache just starting to form. I felt ANGRY.

This was the least pleasant single portion of the entire trip, edging out Uni's Stay 'n' Scream bake-a-thon because I at least entered into that situation willingly. Standing out there on the dock in direct sunlight, watching a potential Wilderness Lodge boat show up, only to then turn on its "Out of service" sign...Watching another Wilderness Lodge boat get held up for a few minutes while a great big ferry boat made its way over from TTC...This extremely sluggish touring pace took a long time to accept. I felt like I had no control.

The boat ride finally started up, and a slight cooling breeze eased my mind somewhat.

I cannot deny that the views across Seven Seas Lagoon are very nice. Very special, very unlike the scenery at any other Disney resort. I was in a crummy mood, not feeling the resort's vibes, but still it was pretty.

These water taxis seemed to be the only obvious route between Wilderness Lodge and Magic Kingdom. That's a blessing and a curse. Wilderness Lodge takes fullest advantage of its secluded setting, but transportation can be a little inconvenient.

Walking down Wilderness Lodge's introductory docks, where the Floridian swamp feel gives way to all-purpose National Parks splendor, I decided to call off the bar crawl. That headache was growing worse by the minute. In this state, the walking distances simply within Wilderness Lodge alone started to feel needlessly long. There was no limit to the available space when building these hotels, so gaps between features are always a little wider, the empty lawn spaces are always a little bigger, and it was all just unfamiliar enough from the five other Disney Destinations that I was feeling dissatisfied with the situation. Disney World takes a long time to get used to, if it isn't already your comfort zone! I was fighting it.

I chose a roundabout route, fool that I am, heading past the pool area and towards Geyser Point. Had I been feeling better, I might've stopped here. I wasn't sure what I was doing in the moment. I simply trudged onwards, along the lengthy footpaths separating the main Wilderness Lodge structure from the adjoining DVC complex.

Ultimately I wound up inside the main lobby. While it was similar to Disney's Grand Californian back home, it was distinct enough to warrant a visit. Less Craftsman, more woodsy, with plenty of charming little details all throughout, details like carved Disney characters on a totem pole, or Craftsman silhouette light fixtures, or a glass table with Seven Dwarf footers, or a general railroad theme.

I think I eventually wound up at Territory Lounge, because I really needed to sit down and cool off. And that Disney AC wasn't doing the trick. So I ordered a Coke, and in my ill-tempered condition I vented to the (male) bartender about how overwhelming and massive and impersonal Disney World was to Hulk.

I then headed back towards the DVC area. I bypassed the arcade, and the temptation of pinball. My destination was the Carolwood Pacific Railroad Room, one of Disney World's best little hidden away spots (according to Floridian forum friends). This was a quiet, private, unassuming tribute to Walt Disney's love of trains. I found a rocking chair with a bucolic creek view, and for the better part of half an hour I sat here all alone and undisturbed. I needed that! Needed to sit, needed to cool down.

So...the hotel thing. All the Disney resorts have hotels, but Disney World is on a different level entirely. Twenty-five plus hotels on property, compared to the three or so at Disneyland, and the smattering elsewhere. People who consider Disney World to be the greatest of all Disney Destinations usually cite these hotels are the big reason why. I'm not on that wavelength.

Like...you only stay at one hotel per trip, right? (Unless it's a split-stay.) The other 24+ are just venues for some bars and some restaurants. They have nice decoration too, though not on par with the parks. I guess it's a leisure resort mentality, and a returning guest comfort thing. What I saw of Disney World's various hotels didn't move the needle personally. I could take 'em or leave 'em. They're a distraction from what I'm here for (parks! rides!), and not a draw in and of themselves.

I set out to leave Wilderness Lodge around 5:20. I had a 6 PM reservation at the Poly, and based on the day's transportation thus far, this might've already been cutting it tight. I trudged back towards the water taxi dock, mentally preparing for the next grueling hotel-to-hotel transfer.

Tuvalu · Oct 31, 2021

There is a bus that runs between WL and MK. While less scenic, it is MUCH faster than the boat. (One way less than 5 minutes.)

D Hulk · Nov 1, 2021

I slowly started to feel better as I walked back towards Wilderness Lodge's boat dock. That cold Coke and long sit-down indoors were doing me a world of good, as was the late afternoon shade. I got lucky approaching the dock, as there was a water taxi already there loading up, and I was able to secure one of the last seats before they set sail.

Got some good views of the Contemporary on the return trip towards Magic Kingdom. That exterior shape is iconic, monumental, quintessentially Disney World. The Monorail passing through the center sets this apart from similar period architecture.

Somehow, I got lucky with the boat timing at the Magic Kingdom docks as well. There was a Polynesian-bound boat also loading up when I arrived. Of course the Monorail was always a decent fallback, but I was happier to travel by water...happier to feel the cool breeze through my luscious golden locks, happy to enjoy some nice views of the Grand Floridian along the way.

We stopped at the Grand Floridian for a quick passenger exchange, and we then continued due south towards paradise.

Among the WDW resorts which I saw firsthand, the Polynesian has my favorite theme and my favorite design. It looked especially welcoming with the faint orange lighting of late afternoon. I arrived with a good quarter hour to spare before my dinner, so I meandered slowly towards the Grand Lodge, enjoying more breeze along the welcoming, wide open beach.

This whole chintzy faux-tiki design style is found all over the place in Southern California, dating back to the immediate post-war period when Pacific Theater veterans returned with exaggerated South Seas tales. It's similar in some ways to mid-century Googie...a kitsch design movement which went through a period of stagnation, and is now in vogue again. I'm a huge fan of this tiki kitsch stuff! I was fated to love the Poly!

Mind you, that tenacious headache which came courtesy of five beers was still going strong. (Not sure how 5 beers totally destroyed me today, but 11 crazier drinks in World Showcase on Day 10 didn't.) Upon reaching Poly's lobby, I sought out the inevitable giftshop and purchased a thing of liquid Aspirin. I drank it all in one great big gulp. Relief came swiftly...

Then, after a little more casual exploration of a space already so familiar from so many Disney blogs and YouTube videos, I headed over to Kona Café. This was my safety restaurant. Ohana was of course my first choice, but it was already fully booked over a month ago. Pre-planning dining was a lot of legwork, perhaps made more difficult because of reduced capacity. Availability became more and more scarce the closer we got to the 50th.

Kona Café's menu offered a nice diversity of American standards and more adventurous Hawaiian-inspired dishes. As always, I favored the exotic...this time also favoring light, chill dishes which would lower my body temperature. I chose for my first course a seafood coconut-curry soup, which had just the right subtle flavor, and wasn't needlessly filling either. I have no memory of what that ludicrous blue drink was; it wasn't booze.

My main course was a rainbow poke bowl. That hit the spot! Each course was small, tasty, not overpowering. I also had a coconut tapioca dessert (unpictured). This meal was exactly what I needed after an inexplicably difficult day of sitting and drinking.

Disney World utterly excels at dining! They absolutely blow the other five Disney resorts out of the water with variety and quality. (Only Tokyo comes remotely close.) This is great, because you're a lot likelier to need food at WDW. I've been to Disneyland over 100 times in my life (estimate), and already I think I've eaten more meals at WDW than I have combined at Disneyland. Most of my WDW meals were at the very least satisfactory. Many of them, like tonight's, went far beyond that.

D Hulk · Nov 1, 2021

After dinner, I grabbed a quick peek in at Trader Sam's Grog Grotto. It was certainly similar to Trader Sam's Tiki Bar at Disneyland, only with some unique decorations and a larger footprint. (Disneyland does occasionally build things a little too intimately, says Mr. Anti-Sprawl, and the Tiki Bar is a prime example.) There wasn't a single seat available inside, but that was fine with me since A) I was totally done with drinking for the day, and B) I wanted to grab a good spot out on Poly's beachfront.

It was a quarter past 7 now, and in a little over an hour the Happily Ever After fireworks spectacular (RIP) would be getting underway in Magic Kingdom. Poly is reputed to have the best fireworks viewing location outside of the park - they even pump in the show's soundtrack - so this seemed the easiest way to enjoy a fan favorite show in its waning days before the 50th. (The principle is similar to watching Disneyland's fireworks from the Carthay Circle terrace, Old Fashioned in hand.)

I was fortunate, as a solo traveler, to find a single unoccupied Adirondack chair close near the water's edge. Even minutes later, the crowds would start to gather, despite the show being a long way away, it was soon standing room only along Poly's beachfront walking paths. I happily leaned back in my chair, chatting briefly with the nearby couple - about nothing in particular - and catching up on Disney Park news on my phone while recharging it via external battery. Glad I did, too! I learned something with huge implications for the coming day!

While waiting, I also messaged @Disney Dad 3000 to see how his WDW ride challenge had gone. Apparently, not super successfully, since I caught him in Islands of Adventure riding :inlove:

Velocicoaster :inlove:

instead.

The Seven Seas Lagoon was an ever-changing tapestry of colors as the setting sun filtered through layers of clouds. The aural ambience of the tropics wafted out from hidden speakers, with soothing wave sounds and relaxing ukulele music. Disney probably pumped in a subtle salty ocean scent as well. It was a memorable, immersive moment...not a genuine substitute for the real Polynesia, naturally, but admirable as a staged environment.

Then it was time for the Ever After fireworks to begin!

Seen from afar, without the castle projections or in-park effects, the show loses specificity. It's a simple spectacle of lights in the night sky. Simply an impressive array of varied firework shapes and colors, accompanied by a medley of over-familiar Disney songs. It was all very pleasant.

Crowds dispersed after the show...many of them likely headed back to their rooms, or to the Grand Lodge for a dinner reservation or a nightcap. Me? I sought a way to get back to the Swan. Direct buses are found over at the TTC, I know, but I didn't feel like walking all that way, nor did I really want to see the TTC in the first place. (It frightens me.) So instead, I went over to Poly's bus pickup spot, and as an alternative I nabbed a quick 'n' dirty bus down to Hollywood Studios. They would close in 15 minutes; no one else was going there.

From Hollywood Studios, I hiked the Boardwalk waterfront path back over to Swan. That took 20 minutes or so. This was no less walking than going to the TTC, probably, but it was much more enjoyable. A relaxing, totally private walk in the dark, just me and the unseen alligators in the waterways. Mostly, I wanted to scope out the DHS footpath, since I'd be taking it again in the morning.

At the Swan, I briefly stopped at the front desk. I asked about laundry services...I always try to clean my clothes while on a trip, to reduce how much I have to pack. There were apparently self-service machines over in Dolphin's basement (yikes!), and paid professional services charge somewhere around $5 per sock, plus more for other items.

Instead, I did my own laundry in the hotel room. I formed a fine lather from the soap bar, and I scrubbed my filthy unmentionables in the sink. Then I stretched them across the room vent to dry, which would take like 3 or 4 days (lousy humidity!). Somehow, I'd accidentally packed enough shirts and pants and whatnot to last for the whole entire 11-day trip, despite specifically trying to underpack, so there wasn't much which I had to wash.

Then I slept.

D Hulk · Nov 2, 2021

September 26th
Day 6

Tower of Terror as seen from my Swan hotel room

On this day, I visited Disney's Hollywood Studios.

Big changes made Hollywood Studios over the past days, weeks and years made it a surprise success for this trip. Five new rides came about in just these past few years, among them the highly-celebrated Rise of the Resistance. And while its sister ride at Disneyland remains to this day a Virtual Queue nightmare, just a week before my visit the Disney World version was finally given a traditional standby queue. I casually observed wait times over that week, witnessing a typical drop off near closing time, so I had my not-complex-in-the-slightest strategy all set.

And then just the night before, I learned that Disney was resuming hotel guest Early Entry. The first day of this all-new perk? Today!

Hotel guests on-property, even guests of independent hotels like Swan or the nightmarish Dolphin (seen looming ominously above), were suddenly allowed 30 minutes of Early Entry every morning. Unlike past Magic Mornings, or whatever the name was, this is shorter time, but it applies to all four parks on every day. Which spreads out the crowds better, benefitting me...for I'd always planned on avoiding Extra Magic parks in past strategies.

So anyway, that meant Hollywood Studios would be available to me at 8:30. I set out on foot around 7:45, out into the brisk Orlando morning shade for a quick 'n' easy walk over to the park. This walk would be torturous and unshaded in the afternoon, but it was a welcome jolt of activity immediately after a full night's slumber.

Any fanciful thoughts of rope-dropping Galaxy's Edge vanished upon reaching the Pan Pacific entry gates (delightfully duplicated at DCA). Just as I expected, there were great big crowds who must've been hear for at least an hour already hoping to be the first onto ROTR for the day. Happily, I had other plans. Security was a breeze - since I last visited Disneyland in early 2020, this oft-tedious process has been wonderfully streamlined and is now almost invisible - so I barely had to break stride walking through the entry gates into Hollywood Studios.

It's always a rush suddenly entering a new-to-you theme park, especially when you're pelted with design details in all directions. The Studios' Hollywood Blvd. is a great example of 1980s Imagineering, and a good variation on the classic Main Street entry avenue formula. Like the entry gates, lots of this has been ported over into DCA - I'll stop writing that, because it's a common feature between these two parks - lots of it nicely conveying that "Hollywood that never was and always will be" thesis statement.

The fantasy of Old Hollywood is a good theme. It's far more exciting than the mere idea of a "studios park." I'm glad that the "real studio" idea bit the dust; that never sounded too promising (Universal Studios Hollywood is the only studio park with enough history to make that work), and the studio soundstages were always too flat and bland and beige. But this romanticized version of Hollywood - a neighborhood of L.A. which in real life is deeply uninspiring, and not even all that connected to the movie business - this is a great Disney spin on an idea which Universal originated. In contrast to Universal Studios Florida, I must say Disney's Hollywood Studios does the idea better.

Overall, though, Hollywood Blvd. is shorter than Main Street, and less stupendous. The Chinese Theater at the far end is a less exciting, less original weenie and park icon compared to Cinderella Castle; no wonder people assume the Tower of Terror is the real park icon. But DHS obviously never had any illusions of outdoing Magic Kingdom, so this whole entry sequence perfectly sets expectations.

The better part of half an hour remained before Early Entry began. Around 90% of guests were veering left at the fork through Echo Lake towards Galaxy's Edge. I continued straight ahead, towards the only other land which would be offered up for the 30 minute Early Entry shenanigans: Toy Story Land. Until next time...

meggo819 · Nov 2, 2021

D Hulk said:
remains to this day a Virtual Queue nightmare

I just got back from DLR and man, I was so nervous about this. This trip came about because we hadn't seen Galaxy's Edge yet, so we would've been devastated to miss ROTR. But it turned out to be very un-nightmareish for us! Got boarding groups in the 7am drop our first day, noon drop our 2nd, and 7am our 3rd -- got to ride it all 3 days we were there!

D Hulk · Nov 2, 2021

I tried to soak in as much of Hollywood Blvd as possible while retaining an efficient pace towards the rope drop spot. Tried to appreciate the variety of romanticized SoCal architectural styles, tried to catch all the smaller niceties like the customary bronze statue near the “hub.”

From the Toy Story Land gathering point, I could look across the Mickey-shaped esplanade and see the assembled Galaxy’s Edge crowds already spilling out into Echo Lake. As usual, Star Wars fans were overshadowing Indiana Jones. Thousands of guests were already ahead of the visible gatherers…compared to the few dozen folks ahead of me. To paraphrase Last Crusade, “They chose poorly.”

After 10 minutes waiting at the footsteps of the Chinese Theater, the additional crowds behind me grew…but only moderately. Only doubling the numbers.

Precisely at 8:30, the cast members slowly led us forward with a rope stretched out across the walkway. Everyone was funneled through the gateway to Animation Courtyard, so by sticking to the sharp inner turn I was able to position myself towards the very front of the crowd without ever once running or cutting off another guest.

Around another corner, the grand entrance to Toy Story Land came into view. This is a minor WDW land compared to other recent additions like Pandora or Galaxy’s Edge, but it is easily the best Toy Story Land in the world. The care, richness and scale put to shame the options in Paris, Hong Kong and Shanghai. Where their attraction lineups are merely three flat rides apiece, DHS’s version has two substantive rides, one of them wholly original.

That would of course be Slinky Dog Dash, which was out running empty trains for its early morning warmup. Cast members narrowed the route forward, directly nearly everyone into single file towards Slinky Dog’s queue. Only a few guests - parents with children beneath the height requirement - went in other directions.

Shortly enough, this area would be a bustle of activity. This was the final moment of quiet before the frenzied fun begins. Let’s savor this last moment of tranquility…

meggo819 said:
I just got back from DLR and man, I was so nervous about this. This trip came about because we hadn't seen Galaxy's Edge yet, so we would've been devastated to miss ROTR. But it turned out to be very un-nightmareish for us! Got boarding groups in the 7am drop our first day, noon drop our 2nd, and 7am our 3rd -- got to ride it all 3 days we were there!

I'm extremely glad to hear how easy it was in Disneyland. The only time I did their ROTR was late January of 2020. Making it from home to the park by 7 AM (there weren't noon drops yet) was challenging. I had tremendous success with ROTR's standby line at DHS, which we'll get to eventually.

D Hulk · Nov 3, 2021

Slinky Dog Dash wasn't just my first ride for the day, I got the very first train. This could not have gone better! From the start of Early Entry to exiting the train took at most a quarter hour, most of that spent following cast members at a gentle pace first into Toy Story Land and then down every twist and turn of the empty queue.

This queue would see wait times rarely dip below 60 minutes for the rest of the day...once late afternoon rolled around, it was longer than ROTR's queue. Most of the switchbacks seemed to be both outdoors and in minimal shade, which would be unpleasant. The theming was nice to see at such a swift pace early in the morning. The shrunken down Toy Story concept is probably executed just about as well as you could hope for.

The ride was fun, but not a standout. It lacks the interesting physical sensations of the region's wilder roller coasters (not that Slinky Dog Dash was ever competing in that category), and it lacks the lovely scenery of similar family-friendly thrillers like Big Thunder Mountain. The scenery was nice, this is a thoroughly pleasant ride, but not spectacular like Disney's top efforts.

The trains were the best thing about SDD. So charming! So photogenic and kinetic throughout Toy Story Land SDD's designers fully committed to the idea of a slinky toy on an oversized roller coaster kit - a clever concept which makes this "fully themed" without breaking the bank. I loved the slinky recoil noises all throughout, which are so fitting you might not notice them. Front car riders might have their views blocked by Slinky, sadly.

As a coaster, SDD consists of two mild launches - Mack Rides does gradual pushes, not acceleration - an upwards helix, a few larger hills, and a fun sequence of bunny hops near the end. There are never any overwhelming physical forces. No airtime even. Intensity-wise, I'd rank this above Seven Dwarfs Mine Train but below Big Thunder, which is exactly what Imagineering wanted from this. It's an accessible thrill ride for nearly everyone, and - wait times aside - it's thoroughly fun.

Really photogenic, too! Most of the ride can be seen from the land's walkways and from a bridge near the official ride marquee. This is a wise design choice to put younger children at ease. Nearly the entire ride layout is visible before you ride, so Disney makes sure there will be no surprises and no scares.

Next up, with Early Entry still ongoing, I decided to get a quick ride in on Alien Swirling Saucers, why not, it was by no means a priority but it was easy. There was nobody else doing this! In the time it took to walk over to A.S.S., wait, board, ride, and leave - four ride cycles in total during that time - I swear that I was the only person who rode this!

A.S.S. would be much less enjoyable with the nearly hourlong waits I've sometimes seen posted. Its queue lacked the charm of Slinky Dog or Toy Story Mania, and the basic flat ride itself obviously isn't worth so much effort. No doubt, this is Hollywood Studios' least impressive ride. I still find these modern whip rides to be a surprising amount of fun - Mater's Junkyard Jamboree at DCA is actually my favorite Disney flat ride of all time - but there's still an upper limit to how spectacular these filler rides can be.

A.S.S. lacks Mater's personality or its placemaking or even its shocking whippiness. These rooftops which they place over Florida's flat rides - a necessary evil because of rains - strip them of their potential kinetic open air fun. Oh well.

Early Entry still wasn't over when I got off my A.S.S. - this ate all of 5 minutes out of my day - so there will be more efficient early morning ride time coming up next!

D Hulk · Nov 3, 2021

Toy Story ~~Midway~~ Mania was pretty much a walk-on around 8:50. What a change from just a few years ago, when this was the entire resort's high-priority must-do! Hollywood Studios is so much healthier now. Still within the Early Entry half hour, my fellow on-site guests in Toy Story Land were all focused on Slinky Dog Dag. As you can see below, there was absolutely nobody at all in here with me (that cast member doesn't count).

I got the day's high score...that wouldn't last for long! :hilarious:

Toy Story Mania is a fun enough ride, one I've done plenty of times in California and in Tokyo (the wait times out there are atrocious!). Beyond the gameplay element, which I'm fairly neutral on, Toy Story Mania isn't an especially deep ride, certainly not compared to the more traditional dark rides in Disney's portfolio. It's simply surface level fun, which is how I'd describe Toy Story Land overall.

Speaking of...Thirty minutes into the day, and Toy Story Land is conquered!

Toy Story Mania has a ludicrously long exit pathway. This must be an awkward change they made to "relocate" the ride from Animation Courtyard / Pixar Plaza into Toy Story Land. It isn't seamless, but still and all, this is probably a better ride now that it has a true land to support its themes and its immersion.

It was now past 9 o'clock; Hollywood Studios was officially open. Which meant that food options were open as well, so I tried to grab a quick snackable breakfast from Woody's Lunch Box. I somewhat failed. This was one of those "mobile order only" places, despite the nonexistent crowds and the plainly visible staffed ordering window nearby. Guess modern Disney is gonna do as they will and make it more complicated, just because.

Not a big deal, I got into the app, selected my choice, selected the first available pickup window...11 AM?! Why so far away?!

Okay, fine, I'll come back here later, and I'll be hungry for now. (Hadn't eaten yet for the day.) Let's go polish off some high priority rides meanwhile...

But first let's linger a little while longer and admire Slinky Dog Dash. This really is a nice-looking roller coaster. Better than I'd anticipated.

Next on my agenda was Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway. Entering the line around a quarter past 9 - the Woody's Lunch Box fumble dillydallied me a little bit - meant a 15 minute wait to ride. This wasn't that big of an issue - the line was still visible expanding after I entered it, and it wouldn't die down until late afternoon - but it was a notable slowdown from the quick pace of Early Entry.

It's truly a shame that they had to replace Great Movie Ride to create this. There's still plenty of developable acreage within Hollywood Studios (Animation Courtyard, anyone?), and the park still needs more ride capacity. This must be a Walt Disney World thing; Epcot too has suffered for decades with ride replacements rather than additions. Seems counterproductive. Runaway Railway is a solid new ride, certainly - I cannot speak to how it directly compares to Great Movie Ride - but it feels like a true tragedy to lose a vintage Imagineering classic to get this.

The interior queue at least (and the façade) retain some old Great Movie Ride DNA. The interior was uninspiring. Lack of detailing, dated wall-to-wall carpeting, and only a smattering of digitally projected Mickey movie posters to build anticipation. I'm really curious now to see how they change things up for the clone coming to Disneyland's Toontown.

The pre-show kinda makes up for it. Goofy literally breaks the 4th wall, creating a sudden, sharp break from our reality and into the cartoon universe.

The ride itself, as stated, is solid. As a fusion of projection tech with practical set dressing, it's a revolutionary experiment that succeeds more often than not in fleshing out Mickey's world. That they went with the "flavor of the decade" Flash animation Mickey is...it's a choice...we'll see if this is easily modified when Mickey's character design inevitably changes.

The ride experience - the storyline, the immersion, all that jazz - it's good. Better than Paris' Ratatouille, if we're comparing family-friendly trackless dark rides against each other, but really lacking that extraordinary charm factor found on Pooh's Hunny Hunt or on Mystic Manor...still both tip top trackless masterpieces. The storytelling here is a bit more manic & madcap & random, channeling that vintage Tex Avery insane cartoon energy. Think it'll fit well in Toontown. Was kind of an empty calorie ride, however,and it hasn't stuck to my ribs in the month+ since my trip, not with so many other new rides vying for attention.

MickeyCB · Nov 3, 2021

D Hulk said:
"flavor of the decade" Flash animation Mickey is...it's a choice...

This....

D Hulk · Nov 4, 2021

The morning's mayhem continued as I headed out from the Chinese Theater and proceeded initially against a wave of guests still entering the park and rushing down Hollywood Blvd. But I veered left before the park's exit, and I turned down Sunset Blvd. Moments later, a gentle bend in the road revealed a glorious sight...

The best Tower of Terror in the world.

The Tower of Terror attraction experience began NOW, hundreds of feet from the entrance, with the attraction façade utterly dominating the entire mood and story of Sunset Blvd. No wonder this is often considered DHS's "castle."

There are few Disney attractions which announce their presence so perfectly, so far in advance of the experience...the other Towers of Terror worldwide aren't placed as effectively. (Signs that DHS was planned from the start with this as an expansion.) DisneySea's Journey to the Center of the Earth has a similar lead-up effect, since it's set in the park's central icon as seen from the entry gates. Let the suspense build!

The wait time was no longer at its famous 13 minutes...but 20 minutes again wasn't bad. Besides, Disney likes inflating wait times. Certainly they do that nowadays to encourage Lightning Lane purchases, but they did it too in these innocent "standby only" times. Lines back in September were physically longer but they moved faster, like I remember from Disneyland's pre-FastPass times. I miss that.

The Tower of Terror queue is one which I totally wanted to enjoy to the fullest. This is one area where Florida's TOT totally blows away most of its competitors, with tons of extra space available to flesh out the dilapidated old hotel grounds. To be fair, the "quality of theming per square inch" award still goes to DisneySea's very unique Tower of Terror (which lacks a Twilight Zone tie-in). There is more richness of invention in Tokyo, while in contrast Florida's Tower impresses with its sense of scale.

Where Florida's Tower takes all comers is the ride itself. This earliest Tower uses a more complex ride system, one that's part drop tower and part dark ride. I knew about this coming in, and it was still impressive. The "5th Dimension" sequence adds just the right amount of extra substance - something I always felt was slightly lacking from e.g. the DCA model - to make this Tower the rival to classic, lengthy Disney E-tickets like Pirates or Mansion.

Then there's the drop sequence...also the best!

This was the most physically forceful Tower, by a wide margin. The drop sequence seemed randomized...or at least it was distinct the two separate times I rode this. Not predicable. In that category, Florida's Tower easily bests the oh-so-tame Tokyo version, and even has a leg up on DCA's newer Mission: Breakout version with its pure rock 'n' roll funhouse thrills.

Hell, Florida's Tower of Terror is...dare I say it?...it's the best drop ride I've done. Ever.

Yes, that's including thrill park drop towers. That includes world's tallest Zumanjaro, or the insane Lex Luthor's Drop of Doom, or the genuinely terrifying Falcon's Fury (we'll get to that). Disney took a familiar ride genre, like they've done with log flumes and roller coasters and such, and they truly knocked it out of the park with a genius combination of themed storytelling and a genuinely good thrill ride experience which could stand on its own.

Mind you, Tower of Terror's drop isn't on its own anything special. But there's much more to it! The randomized yo-yo up-and-down ping-ponging of the elevator car means not only several unpredictable drops at a variety of heights, it also means several heavenly airtime moments when the car peaks. This airtime does not get enough love! You get multiple multi-second out-of-your-seat sensations, good enough to rival some of the best coaster airtime I've experienced. With just a loose seatbelt. Insane!

Obviously, after Tower of Terror I went to go do Rock 'n' Roller Coaster. Did this using Single Rider, since by now it seemed we'd passed that crowd tipping point for the day. Note, too, that I was in Hollywood Studios on a Sunday. Apparently, DHS's crowd levels don't drop as much on the weekdays, not compared to MK or DAK or Epcot, so by contrast it wouldn't be that much worse on weekends. I had no problems.

I'd already done Paris' Rock 'n' Roller Coaster years ago. (It's under the knife presently, receiving an Iron Man retheme.) I found it to be middling. By Disney standards, judged by its theming and storytelling, well, while those things are certainly present, they're nothing too special or fantastical or transporting, absolutely nothing to compare to the nearby Tower.

By roller coaster standards, too, it's middling. Surely, by Disney's benchmarks, RnRC is an aggressive thrill ride, with a forceful launch and multiple inversions. But compared to the vast world of similar rides, it's pretty basic. It's clearly a knockoff of Flight of Fear (at the time Outer Limits) at Kings Island & Kings Dominion, an early Premier Rides model. Flight of Fear is superior...and also middle tier. This late-90s Vekoma version (their dark ages) is vanilla. The pacing is wonky, with lots of extremely slow spots. The track transitions are rough and abrupt. In the world of Six Flags and Cedar Fair, this is a middle-of-the-road roller coaster. Not bad, not great, simply a one-and-done credit. It's weird that Disney built one of these.

D Hulk · Nov 4, 2021

So, to recap: It was only one hour into Hollywood Studios' daily operations, and already I'd done every ride except the three Star Wars ones. On a first time visit, touring efficiently but never in a rush.

It's fair to say that Hollywood Studios is underbuilt. That it needs more attractions. Of course there are other things, like the shows and the placemaking, including a new Lightning McQueen animatronic show near Rock 'n' Roller Coaster which I didn't do but which is apparently surprisingly good.

Parks can be more than rides; I'm a ride guy, and I'll admit that. So, as is customary after the first hour and change in a park, it was time to slow down the touring pace and start some sightseeing...

I took it slow on my way back out through Sunset Blvd.'s cul-de-sac. (Odd park layout choice, probably due to an organic shift away from the original studios park concept.) I made it a point to mask up and walk through as many shops as possible, simply to see what sort of decoration and design could be found within.

The similarities to DCA shine through again! Hollywood Studios did it long before DCA 2.0 borrowed their ideas, so Hollywood Studios' Sunset Blvd. gets the leg up over Buena Vista Street, no matter how much I truly do love that area. There's a similar Art Deco department store vibe going on in both places.

One big thing I noticed about Hollywood Studios - at least the "Hollywood that never was" half of this weirdly bipolar park - is the mid-century nostalgia. Compare that to Disneyland & Magic Kingdom (et al) with their 1900s turn-of-the-century nostalgia. Hollywood Studios was designed by a later generation, and they miss the 1950s like Walt missed the 1900s. There's a bit of this on Sunset Blvd., which perhaps skews a little 1940s, and there's a LOT of this on Echo Lake.

The theming choices in Echo Lake seemed a bit haphazard. There's the studio commissary stuff, the vintage Los Angeles architecture, the California Crazy roadside chintz like Gertie the Dinosaur, all anchored by a non-operating Indiana Jones stunt show which seemed just random in context.

Like Dino-Rama, I wonder if Gertie here strikes most guests as intentionally campy kitsch, or if they think this is just Disney failing to make a convincing dinosaur. The old genuine Hollywood was once full of zany pop architecture like this!

I made my way to Star Tours (home of the perpetual 5 minute wait), which seemed just as random as Indy here. Echo Lake was a grab bag land, full of studio park postmodernism, a sort of Universal-by-way-of-Disney attitude which doesn't feel coherent. Disney's other Star Tours worldwide are all found in sci-fi settings (Tomorrowlands) where they make a slight bit of sense in-universe. Not so much in Echo Lake. Its Star Tours embraces the whole awkward premise that guests are extras on a movie set - hence the flat-topped fake redwoods - and that the movie set slowly transforms into a real movie world, or something. Universal's older rides use this setup too. It's never wholly worked for me.

No matter the context, Star Tours remains a classic. For all of the innovations and breakthroughs in screen-based simulators in the decades since its creation, Star Tours remains for me more effective and more thrilling than most of its younger siblings. The "spam in a can" ride vehicles really are effective. The newish 2.0 Adventures Continue upgrade was a great fresh coat of paint. I never tire of the randomized ride sequences (finally capitalizing on the ride's untapped potential), and the improved character integration such as the C3PO animatronic pilot.

While it would be neat if Star Tours could've been integrated into the nearby Galaxy's Edge - it would've been especially neat if the ride was "transportation" from Hollywood to Batuu - there is stuff in between (Muppets!) which I wouldn't want to see removed. Which means that Star Tours' inevitable post-ride gift shop has a weird vibe. It's like some sort of Tatooine star trader done in a cheap & cartoony Toontown register, not like something out of the Star Wars universe. It's the sort of odd little place which passes muster in a studios park, but feels outdated as Hollywood Studios embraces a newer identity.

ferbtones · Nov 4, 2021

Totally agree about Tower of Terror, I have ridden both the Florida and the Paris version.
Florida got the theming so perfect I took the chicken exit first time through. I literally could not ride.

I plucked up the courage and loved it. This was back when it was one long lap bar across 3 or 4 seats. I was sat next to a lovely lady who had legs very much thicker than mine, meaning a clearance of about 2 inches between me and the bar. That was air time on a whole new level.
Loving your detailed descriptions of the details of Disney, and the feeling you get from it. Gets lost too often when rushing from ride to ride.

BwlrBry212 · Nov 5, 2021

D Hulk said:
While it would be neat if Star Tours could've been integrated into the nearby Galaxy's Edge - it would've been especially neat if the ride was "transportation" from Hollywood to Batuu

I had this same thought. Create a new "landing" sequence after the final jump to light speed that ends in Batuu and somehow (no ideas there) have the ride exit into Galaxy's Edge.

D Hulk · Nov 5, 2021

Before we move on to Muppet*Vision 3D, let's pause to take in the situation surrounding Rise of the Resistance. When the park opened at 9, the wait was already at 145 minutes...and that were just the Early Entry on-site hotel guests. In the 90 minutes since then, the wait time had swollen to 160 minutes, and many of my fellow Early Entriers still hadn't been boarded. I could see this massive line now, zigzagging multiple times through the Galaxy's Edge entry tunnel and filling up the Muppet*Vision overflow cattle pen. Yikes!

I was happy to instead join a Muppet*Vision screening which was just about to start, hitting my head on a beam on the way in. :hilarious:

Muppet*Vision was cute...dated, but cute. It was my first time enjoying this. Even though they briefly added Muppet*Vision to DCA 1.0 in that park's early desperation years, basically nobody out west ever joined its fanbase. Not because Muppet*Vision is poorly made - not in the slightest! - but because it never felt correct for that park. We didn't want Florida's reheated leftovers.

But for DHS, the early studio-centric DHS especially, Muppet*Vision fits like a felt glove. It is adorable. The technical aspects, the 3D and in-theater elements, aren't too terribly special now three decades later, but the central Muppet charm & humor courtesy of Jim Henson himself still shines through. This was overall a minor attraction, but a cute one. I'm glad I got to finally do this, and get off my feet for 20 minutes or so.

There's this surrounding Muppet Courtyard area supplementing the 3D show. It's nice, there are some interesting Muppetty touches throughout. Still, I feel that the Muppets deserve more. That old concept for a Great Muppet Movie Ride is sorely missing from contemporary DHS's teen-focused lineup. A screen-based theater show cannot anchor a miniland on its own...especially when Star Wars is closing in on all sides.

I quickly passed through Galaxy's Edge - which we'll be visiting shortly in great, great detail - and returned to Toy Story Land as finally my rope drop breakfast window was approaching.

Realizing how much lead-in time and preplanning is required by mobile ordering, and with a few minutes to spare, I paused on an oversized domino bench (nice touch!) to plan out some lunchtime food orders first. There were some Star Wars items I hadn't yet tried out in Disneyland, so might as well make a roaming brunch out of the next hour or two. I made future orders with Ronto Roasters and with the Milk Stand.

Then I told the Disney World app that I was nearby & starved, and soon enough afterwards I got the push notification to collect my snack from Woody's Lunch Box. (What a whole lot of needless extra steps this app ordering is!) I got the Lunch Box Tart, which I'm legally required to say is distinct from a PopTart, but...it's a PopTart!

I got the raspberry [Pop]Tart. I retreated to the Galaxy's Edge transition area to snack under the peaceful shade of some trees and Imperial blaster damage. Though the tart wasn't toasted, it was otherwise quite tasty, in fact better than a proper PopTart. Or at least the taste was unique enough that I was taken in by the novelty. The tart was soft & flaky, the filling was plentiful & appropriately sweet, overall it was satisfying & light.

Now then, shows aside (which either weren't operating to begin with, or I simply wasn't interested in 'em), by now around 11 AM I'd easily done basically all of Hollywood Studios' attractions...all of them, that is, except for the entirety of Galaxy's Edge. With so much time to use up, and with some distant reservation plans, I downshifted again into lackadaisical wandering mode, with every available nook and cranny of Galaxy's Edge to serve as my afternoon entertainment.

Of course, I'd already thoroughly explored Disneyland's extremely similar Galaxy's Edge. The differences are few, and minor. A couple of distinct land entrance scenarios, and a muted grey color scheme on Florida's spires to better suit the local sunlight conditions. Otherwise, it seemed pretty one-to-one.

At Disneyland, I'm not a gigantic fan of Galaxy's Edge...though undoubtedly it's still a positive addition to the park. But Hollywood Studios needed this land oh so very much more, and it better suits this park. It better suits Florida overall. Visiting this in Anaheim, it's a major shift in scale and pace from the world's most densely-packed Castle Park, and it's hard to adjust. Plus, it's way off on an undervisited spur loop, not along a major park artery as in Orlando, meaning that the Californian Galaxy's Edge feels more acutely lifeless and lacking. By Disneyland standards, of course.

Well, I was mentally prepared to see Galaxy's Edge from new eyes. Give it a chance! I would have a far more enjoyable time in Florida slowing down to appreciate Galaxy's Edge on its own terms, without the temptation to just rush off and do Pirates or Indy or Matterhorn for the 138th time. We'll begin that galactic exploration next!

D Hulk · Nov 5, 2021

Many of these newer Disney franchise lands, particularly Pandora and Galaxy's Edge, offer up seemingly endless photo-ready vistas and niches, as if to flesh out a distinct world and make up for a relative dearth of traditional theme park offerings. It's the Harry Potter effect.

Galaxy's Edge can be a difficult land to enjoy if you arrive unprepared or unready to spend. To an extent, Smuggler's Run is the only offering that's both free and doable without advanced reservations (with either Individual Lightning Lane or Virtual Queue afflicting ROTR). Beyond that, there are the plentiful smaller shops and eateries, to say nothing of the high-price reservation-only features like Oga's Cantina or the build-a-bot or the lightsaber assembly experience. Oh, and that Galactic Starcruiser hotel is quadrupling down on the idea! All this makes me feel a little left out; it shouldn't be so much guest effort to simply appreciate a land!

Still and all, those endless photo-ready moments provide enough content for several posts, and not much trip report commentary. So sit back, relax, and simply see some Stars Wars sights for a spell...