I made an account here a few months ago to ask some questions about Disney etc,and even though it's been two months since then I thought I'll share my views if anyone cares.
I will only cover the days I went to theme parks.
Sunday, Dec 22
Discovery Cove.
I had the package with the 30 minute Dolphin Swim. It also came with a 14 day admission to Seaworld and Aquatica. I also added Seaventure.
It decided to rain.
I was a little put out, but since I was going to be wet all day anyway it didn't bother me too much. However, rain pretty much became a reallllllly annoying running gag my entire vacation.
Wet suits were a pain to get in and out of. I wore nothing underneath though which came in handy with using the bathroom. What is with having to pee after swimming?
The unlimited breakfast,lunch, snacks and drinks that came with admission were okay,but nothing to write home about.
Also as I would soon find out it would be the only "free" food I would have.
Even though the hours were supposed to be from 7-5 nothing was actually open until 9. I first found this out when I went to the Aviary. The ticket cost too much for the attractions not to be open at the time they should. So basically for two hours I had to just walk around a fake set looking, cheesy, childish 'island' instead of doing the things I paid for.
Seaventure(30 minutes)-
It was okay. It was lacking a lot of the marine life that was suppose to be around us from the short video and pictures I watched. There was a lot of holding place cards in the water for a teaching lesson then interacting with the wildlife. The whole thing felt more like false advertising to me.
Honestly the whole trip felt like that.
Also gravity hit me like a ton of bricks when I resurfaced lol.
Dolphin Swim(30 minutes) -I love animals so I perked up for this. A professional photographer took pics while we were in the water.We "played around with two female dolphins for 30 minutes.We also feed them a small fish each. I liked when they jumped in the air and waved at us with their tails. We also got to ride them once for a few seconds. I did mine in shallow water cause come on lol. They were cute and lovely.
I said "played" because they really wouldn't let us carouse with them in a manner that felt like we truly interacting with them. It seemed like they were to busy making us pose for their almost $300 dollar shots. Unfortunately, I couldn't get the pictures of my dolphin swim and seaventure unless I paid that outrageous price so I had to go with just one for $40. I picked the one of me kissing her snout.
These pictures should have been added into our admission,but greed must prevail as I kept being reminded throughout my theme park vacation.
I also got out of my comfort zone and got in deeper water. I'm 5'6 so I'm taller than 5 feet of water yet when it starts getting over 3 feet I start to panic a little,and 8 feet is a definite NO. However, I had on a wetsuit,life jacket, googles, breathing apparatus,and floaties so I tried the 8 feet. I looked silly,but all that made me conquer my fear(somewhat) to get into deeper water. I did this for the Wind Away River. The life guard only had to help me though a waterfall once lol . I got to scared to try it again for the The Grand Reef though. I stayed in the shallower end for that, and I also got to see mantle rays swim around me.
The Aviary was a disgrace. Barely any birds,and the ones that were there didn't fly around or even near us. They gave us little cups to feed them, but they only barely nibbled out of mine. The Marmosets exhibit was also pretty bad.
Monday Dec 23
Magic Kingdom
The reason I wanted to go on this trip, and yet it was the one I ended up disliking the most.
It rained. Sigh.
Luckily before the vacation brought a small backpack that comfortably held a small umbrella, raincoat, earmuffs,winter hat,gloves,and a scarf.
I was going to do this one on Christmas,but I was warned not to because it would be a wall to wall mob more so than any park.
Even the workers in Epcot on Christmas Day warned that Magic Kingdom would probably close due to capacity so if anyone wanted to go they should leave Epcot and go over there quickly. However, I was told by another solo traveler I met that she went to MK on Christmas,and the crowds were manageable so...
I arrived early enough to be there before rope drop.
It's the only theme park that seems to be on a piece of land to itself. I had to take a train there. However, I left that night by ferry. Apparently the ferry is slower,but they felt about the same to me.
I was shocked by the airport like security I had to go through to even enter the park. Little did I know that this would be an occurrence at all of them even Aquatica.
I was greeted to a cheesy welcome with Mickey,Minnie and the prince and princesses, and then we were let in. Also fireworks should not be done in the day. I mean It's not like you can even really see them.
I liked the murals that told Belle's story inside the castle.
I didn't want to bother people about taking my picture so the only memento that I have of the 'heart' of Disney is a badly shot selfie of me standing in front of the castle. I also unfortunately have no pictures of me standing in front of the Epcot Ball or the Universal Earth either. I just didn't want to bother anyone. Of course I found out at closing time that there are professional Disney employees that will take your picture for free in front of these landmarks, but by that point I had stopped caring and just wanted to leave lol.
My Fast passes were for Pirates,Ariel, and Peter Pan.
The fast passes are nice to have,but if you get there early enough they become useless. Since the park didn't start to get noticeably thick until 11ish I pretty much walked on my first two. I also was annoyed that even though I knocked Pirates and Ariel out pretty quickly I couldn't add anymore fast passes until I used my 4:55 Peter Pan one
That part needs to be revamped; especially if you last fast pass is so late in the day.
I do like the melody like ding of the fastpasses when it turns green to let you in lol.
It also took me a while to realize that no I don't have to walk to the nearest fast pass booth to get a new one which annoyingly seemed to be spread out at pretty much hidden locations around the park. I could just use my freaking phone and book though the app.
However....
Disney's internet was a nightmare for all of their parks. It kept being slow and having connectivity issues. Also don't even try to use their internet to access the app for the map, fastpasss, and wait times ugh. I got so frustrated I just cut my data on.
After I used my first two fast passes I stopped caring about following my park plan, and just got on whatever ride or show I got to first as I walked aimlessly around.
I ended up doing this for the rest of the parks to.
I kid you not by 10 a.m. I was texting my sister a long rant on how I wanted to leave. I was soooooo bored. I also found the park strangely small and fake looking. Something I also mentioned in my rant. The only thing that stopped me from calling a lyft right then and there was that I had to keep reminding myself just how expensive the ticket was, and therefore to feel like I got my money's worth I should stay until closing. Unfortunately closing was midnight. I damn near died.
Pirates- slower than I thought it would be. Boring. The human animatronics were nice though; especially Jack. Honestly I thought it was Depp for a second that's how life like he looked. Also should have been more imaginative then what was provided.
Ariel- another really slow boat ride that felt like it should have been more imagination to it. Also the animatroics looked uncanny valley because of how anime the characters looked. Basically another ride with a lot of hype, but failed to deliver.
Jungle Cruise- I was bored. I couldn't be amazed by the animal animatronics because they were clearly fake to my eyes, and also I'm not ten. I'm glad I went early though because when I walked back by it the line was snaked all the way to the Tikki room.
In no particular order
Liberty Riverboat- another really boring experience. Getting on the ferry, and then these boat rides, did make my realize that if I ever wanted to go on a real cruise water sickness wouldn't be a thing. So there's that I guess...
Peter Pan's Flight- It was okay. It was nice seeing a miniature London and Wendy etc while flying about. Not sure why this ride had the extreme wait time it had though. The stand by line was snaked down the street,and even though my fast pass was quicker the line for it was also still rather long. This is the ride I saw reviews raving about during my research,and yet this is it?
Haunted Mansion- I deliberately waited until it was night to experience this because I wanted a spooky atmosphere. It's the only ride that I went on twice. I really liked it.
The first time I went on a little before the ending shows at the castle. For the second time I caught a fast pass for it the park was truly starting to shutdown. This pass was unnecessary because pretty much no one was there. I could have just walked into the the pretty much empty standby lol.
I loved how on the elevator the pictures slowly revealed the amusing horror going on with the people in them.
My favorite part is when we got to the parlor. That was beautifully done and magically creepy. The bride was deliciously creepy to. I was amused at my head getting pulled off toward the end,and the hilariously voiced narrator saying the ghosts that did it were going to follow us home lol.
It caught some mechanical trouble the first time though. Ride stopped for about five minutes. Apparently it was just spiteful spooks though
Tiki Room- Animatronic birds. Just like with the Jungle Cruise the animatronics are only good when they look like humans. I could tell the birds were fake, and it took me right out of it. Also the song they sung was annoying,but not as annoying as it's a small world after all. Ye Gods.
It's a small world- Another raved one in reviews,but I was not impressed. It was really boring and repetitive, and the song was god awful.
Swiss Family Treehouse. Blah. It's going up a tree looking at furniture etc
I wanted to do frontier shooting,but you had to use 'real' money. Who in the world uses 'real' money anymore.
Mickey's Philaharmagic- I enjoyed it, and the 3D effects.
Hall of Presidents - I was going to skip this because I thought it was going to be some boring history lesson,but since I was trying to find something to do until closing I went in. I enjoyed it,but what had me take out my phone and start filming was all 45 presidents as animatronics at the end. It was absolutely brilliant what they did there.
I think I might have caught a bit of some dance party with mickey etc in the streets. Ugh
Sorcerer's of the Magic Kingdom- It was like a scavenger hunt across the park,but it was to childish. I did the tutorial in the shop then threw my map in the trash. Plus since you spend most of park standing in line how would you even have the time to be able to enjoy doing this to completion.
Tommorowland Transit- Blah and boring.
Carousel of Progress- Like always I enjoyed the human animatronics,but it's a beautiful tomorrow should be shot off into space never to be heard from again. I also liked how we moved with the theater.
I caught some bears dancing and singing in the streets leaving Liberty. Not sure what was going on there,but meh.
I accidentally caught some of Festival of Fantasy while I was leaving Pecos with my food. Thinking I must have missed something I tried to catch another showing that day. It was whatever. The princesses and princes dancing in their carriages was nice I guess. Also apparently Magnificent's dragon was supposed to show,but I didn't see it.
I got to take pictures with Tink and Ariel. A part of me felt self conscious being the only adult without kids, or with anyone else with me period, taking pictures with characters/set designs clearly set up for small children. However,the other part of me said so what lol. One of the employees also took pictures of me with my phone so now I don't have to go on Disney's picture thing with their water mark all over it just to view them.
Only restaurants I partook in where The Main Street Bakery, Plaza Ice-Cream, and Pecos. I literally loled at the prices. $4 dollars for a regular size pack of MM's and the mickey cookie I got was $6 lol. Drinks, even water, were almost $5. Considering the base ticket is a house and car note combined the food should have been covered with the price.
I'm not real sure if I saw happily ever after or once upon a time at closing,but whatever was happening at the castle is what I saw. So both? They were nice effects happening to the castle, and the the second one of course had Elsa,but there was strangely something off about the whole performance to me. I was pretty much like this is okay instead being wowed.
I deliberately ignored raved about rides like Thunder,Dwarfs,Space and Splash Mountain. I don't like huge drops,but later I did make myself get out of my comfort zone at the other parks in regards to roller coaster like rides.
Except for Tom Sawyer,and considering the blah of this park I probably wasn't missing anything, I pretty much got to do everything in my park plan,and honestly if it wasn't for the thirty five to an hour long wait times for pretty much everything(fast passes only take off about ten minutes if you try to go on anything after ten) you probably could be done before noon.
Tuesday,Dec 24(Christmas Eve)
Animal Kingdom
Boring, and the ugliest one design wise out of the parks.
Rained(ugh) and strangely freezing. This is supposed to be sunny Florida right? First time I had to pop out my gloves, scarf and hat.
Fast Passes were for Lion King, Safari, and Navi.
I missed my fast pass for Lion King trying to get my wallet back(long story) so they gave me an unlimited one that I could use anytime that day.
This is also where I noticed every park from here on out roped dropped faster then the time listed for opening.
Avatar Flight of Passage- I was there before rope drop, and decided to do Flight first since my research said this one had very long wait times and I didn't catch a fast pass for it. I didn't know where to go,but something told me to follow everyone literally running towards something. Good thing I did since it was Avatar lol.
The line was crazy long and this was rope drop time. I stood in line for at least an hour,but it quite the experience when I finally got to the ride. I absolutely LOVED it. Blown away. I wanted to get on again, and again, and again. Forget everything else. However, the time never truly left around 130 the entire time, even to closing, so welp I never got to get back on.
Also they even told me when I left the park, right after my avatar ride, to sit outside and try to get my wallet that it was about to fill to capacity because of Avatar. So I had to go back in,and still without my wallet(again another story lol)
This ride is literally the only reason why it wasn't the worst park to me instead of MK.
In no particular order
Lion King- I thought it was going to be like the Broadway play my sister raved about from her newyork vacation,but instead it was this childish dumbed down abomination. I very much disliked it, and was nonplussed at what I just witnessed and wasted a fast pass on.
Safari- I was so disappointed with this. Boring, Boring, Boring. Also barely saw any animals,and the driver pretty much sped by the ones we did see. Another waste of a fast pass.
Navi- boring and fake looking. Not real sure what the raved reviews were about for this one. Glad I had a fast pass for it though because the line was long,but nowhere near Flight's length. The only thing nice I can say about it was the inclusion of that creepy animatronic Navi toward the end.
Honestly, the whole Avatar section of the park should have been the most outstanding design wise because of what it's based on and yet it was really, really fake looking.
Discovery/Gorilla Trails. Boring. Nice to see some gorilla's up close though.
It's tough to be a bug- Nice. Liked it. Special effects were cute and the 3D was nice.
Kali River Rapids- I was going to skip this because I don't like drops, and I didn't want to get wet. However, I went ahead and did it anyway and wore my raincoat and water shoes just in case lol. I went a little before closing with a fast pass I snagged. I came 30 minutes early and they dinged me in anyway because no one was there lol. It was fine, and the drop wasn't terrible at all. Didn't even get nauseous like I thought I would. I was put in a raft by myself so that was kind of a experience in of it itself lol.
Dinosaur- Liked it. The dinosaurs were clearly fake looking,but since it was in the dark the fakeness was toned down a bit. It was also a mild drop to this,but it didn't bother me.
Tree of Life- So basically what was done to Disney castle but on a fake looking tree? Okay.
Before the light show you can see carvings of animals etched into the the tree sooo that was nice I guess.
Winged Encounters- I was looking for this,and finally got fed up and asked someone where it was.The employee said it had no set time and to just look into the sky. Sooooo basically the one or two birds that you can barely see flying around when you come in the park are the attraction.
For a sweet treat I went into some place in the Africa part of the park. Don't remember what it was called though. Also as I was walking by I saw people eating huge chicken legs. Made me chuckle,and I also got to try one myself at The Three Broomsticks at Universal.
Pandora Drummers- Accidentally caught some of this I think. Meh
I ate dinner at Flametree BarBQ . Not good.
Up! -This, and the Epcot attraction of Finding Nemo, were the only two that I seriously contemplating leaving. Unfortunately I was literally on a moving ride for Nemo so couldn't just get up and go like I could for Up. It was just absolutely horrendous. There were barely any birds just a supremely long, boring skit with cheesy characters in costumes.
Rivers of Light- accidentally caught the ending of this going up to Kali. Then I watched all of it later that night before closing. The flowers glowing on the water were okay,but honestly the whole show was poorly done and boring.
Affection Station- animal lover in my me wanted to go,but didn't get to.
I mostly got to do everything in my park plan.
Wednesday, Dec 25 (Christmas Day)
Epcot
It rained yet again.
Boring,but has Soarin Around the World so that along gets it high marks like Flight does for Animal Kingdom.
There at rope drop. I mean literally at the rope. I could put my hands on it and shake hands with the security guards if I wanted. One women at the drop told me and some other rope drop people to follow her if we wanted to hit Frozen Ever After first. So that's what I did lol.
Fast passes were for Soarin,Living with the Land, Spaceship Earth
Frozen Ever After- I'm always glad to see Elsa,but it didn't live up to the hype. Very childish as were the animatronic's (Ariel at MK were like this to) which I'll concede are probably the point.
In no particular order
Pixar's Short Film Festive- I really liked this one. The 3D was nice and the effects. I especially liked how in one short they climbed out of the screen and were still there even without the 3D google's on lol. Also the one called Feast was cute and heartwarming.
Living with the Land- very boring ride.
Soarin around the world.- Loved it. Unlike Flight we were lifted up in the the air more lol. It was very, very beautiful. It was also cute that Tink showed up to bring a taste of magic to the experience.
Out of the two I still prefer Flight though because there we went though a fantasy world, and this one was just our's. I also felt like Flight's graphics were just a tiny bit better than Soarin. If Flight's were a 11 Soarin is a 10 and a half.
All the parks need more virtual reality ride's that are immersive to the point you actually feel like you're there in the picture before you.
Journey into Imagination- very boring and childish ride. Waste of time.
Got my picture taken with my phone with Anna and Elsa separably. They didn't look, talk, or act like their characters at all. Just like Ariel and Tink they just felt like women in cosplay. No imaginative immersion.
I also kept thinking how all of them have this fake genki girliness about their acting. I'll hate to fake being out of this world cheerful all the time, and having to say cheesy inane things on an daily bases. I hope they get payed well.
Mission Space Green- the graphics need an update. The ride was enclosed like a spacehsip would be,but not enough to cause claustrophobia.
Seabase- nice place to take a break and watch the marine life go by. Saw divers go in a feed different beautiful and creepy looking the fish in the huge tanks. Atleast I think it was here and not Seaworld lol. Also saw a guy get in a tank near the middle of the room and sign talk to us. This gets boring after a few minutes though.
Nemo and Friends- a ride with nothing to offer. Absolutely atrocious. Hype is a lie and a half. Literally wanted to walk out,but it's a moving ride.
Also this is the ride I realized I lost my Disney Ticket(actually looks like a credit card instead of freaking paper like Universal's). I wouldn't have cared since this was my last Disney park and I was already in, but you need it to ding in you fastpasses and I still had Soarin and the free one active on it.
So I had to walk all the way to guest services and its long lines to get another card. However, since it was linked to the app I had a new card within seconds.
Spaceship Earth- the sent an email saying it was not operational at the time I had so they gave me an all day free fastpass to see this one if I wanted or any other ride that day. I still ended up using it for Spaceship though. A very slow ride. Apparently we were moving up the Epcot ball. Didn't feel like it though. Another over hyped ride. Boring.
Project Tomorrow- I think I took a glimpse in here as I was walking toward World Showcase. The fact that reallly can't recall what I saw is saying it all.
Test Track- I really was going to try this ride to get out of my comfort zone of high speeds, and it even had a single rider line(45 minute wait to the standby's 60 minute),but ultimately didn't get to.
Turtle Talk with Crush- very cute how CGI crush was actually talking to us and asking questions in real time. The CGI for Crush needed to be updated though.
Imagining presents- The 360 projection was nicely done as was the little miniature town and Epcot ball that kept changing in the room.
World Showcase- I wanted to see Reflections of China but didn't get to. It was pretty close to closing so I just decided to walk the showcase until Candlelight and Epcot Forever started.
However the showcases just seemed to be just a bunch of restaurants featuring different foods from the the country highlighted. Meh
During my walk I stopped at the Germany one and got something.
Candlelight Processional- I saw the last show of the night. It was located at the American part of World Showcase. I got to get with a reservation because when I was walking to standby an employee noticed I was alone and said she had been waiting for a guest to be by themselves so she could give this reservation card to them. She said the original owner only ate at the dinner but didn't want to do the show.
At first I'm like yea since this one was hyped as a must see, and reservations got first pick in an already small setting.
Well that soon died once I actually saw the processional. It was horrendous; from the songs to the set up. Soooooo boring and poorly done. The guest speaker was the captain from Battlestar Galactica. He was a boring waste of time to.
Epcot Forever- really bad show. Pretty much just fireworks going off and barely seen jetskiers riding in the water for a few seconds. Also if you are going to do fireworks make them make designs in the air. This goes for all the parks.
You are Disney so have an imagination.
Got to mostly everything I wanted to do.
I will only cover the days I went to theme parks.
Sunday, Dec 22
Discovery Cove.
I had the package with the 30 minute Dolphin Swim. It also came with a 14 day admission to Seaworld and Aquatica. I also added Seaventure.
It decided to rain.
I was a little put out, but since I was going to be wet all day anyway it didn't bother me too much. However, rain pretty much became a reallllllly annoying running gag my entire vacation.
Wet suits were a pain to get in and out of. I wore nothing underneath though which came in handy with using the bathroom. What is with having to pee after swimming?
The unlimited breakfast,lunch, snacks and drinks that came with admission were okay,but nothing to write home about.
Also as I would soon find out it would be the only "free" food I would have.
Even though the hours were supposed to be from 7-5 nothing was actually open until 9. I first found this out when I went to the Aviary. The ticket cost too much for the attractions not to be open at the time they should. So basically for two hours I had to just walk around a fake set looking, cheesy, childish 'island' instead of doing the things I paid for.
Seaventure(30 minutes)-
It was okay. It was lacking a lot of the marine life that was suppose to be around us from the short video and pictures I watched. There was a lot of holding place cards in the water for a teaching lesson then interacting with the wildlife. The whole thing felt more like false advertising to me.
Honestly the whole trip felt like that.
Also gravity hit me like a ton of bricks when I resurfaced lol.
Dolphin Swim(30 minutes) -I love animals so I perked up for this. A professional photographer took pics while we were in the water.We "played around with two female dolphins for 30 minutes.We also feed them a small fish each. I liked when they jumped in the air and waved at us with their tails. We also got to ride them once for a few seconds. I did mine in shallow water cause come on lol. They were cute and lovely.
I said "played" because they really wouldn't let us carouse with them in a manner that felt like we truly interacting with them. It seemed like they were to busy making us pose for their almost $300 dollar shots. Unfortunately, I couldn't get the pictures of my dolphin swim and seaventure unless I paid that outrageous price so I had to go with just one for $40. I picked the one of me kissing her snout.
These pictures should have been added into our admission,but greed must prevail as I kept being reminded throughout my theme park vacation.
I also got out of my comfort zone and got in deeper water. I'm 5'6 so I'm taller than 5 feet of water yet when it starts getting over 3 feet I start to panic a little,and 8 feet is a definite NO. However, I had on a wetsuit,life jacket, googles, breathing apparatus,and floaties so I tried the 8 feet. I looked silly,but all that made me conquer my fear(somewhat) to get into deeper water. I did this for the Wind Away River. The life guard only had to help me though a waterfall once lol . I got to scared to try it again for the The Grand Reef though. I stayed in the shallower end for that, and I also got to see mantle rays swim around me.
The Aviary was a disgrace. Barely any birds,and the ones that were there didn't fly around or even near us. They gave us little cups to feed them, but they only barely nibbled out of mine. The Marmosets exhibit was also pretty bad.
Monday Dec 23
Magic Kingdom
The reason I wanted to go on this trip, and yet it was the one I ended up disliking the most.
It rained. Sigh.
Luckily before the vacation brought a small backpack that comfortably held a small umbrella, raincoat, earmuffs,winter hat,gloves,and a scarf.
I was going to do this one on Christmas,but I was warned not to because it would be a wall to wall mob more so than any park.
Even the workers in Epcot on Christmas Day warned that Magic Kingdom would probably close due to capacity so if anyone wanted to go they should leave Epcot and go over there quickly. However, I was told by another solo traveler I met that she went to MK on Christmas,and the crowds were manageable so...
I arrived early enough to be there before rope drop.
It's the only theme park that seems to be on a piece of land to itself. I had to take a train there. However, I left that night by ferry. Apparently the ferry is slower,but they felt about the same to me.
I was shocked by the airport like security I had to go through to even enter the park. Little did I know that this would be an occurrence at all of them even Aquatica.
I was greeted to a cheesy welcome with Mickey,Minnie and the prince and princesses, and then we were let in. Also fireworks should not be done in the day. I mean It's not like you can even really see them.
I liked the murals that told Belle's story inside the castle.
I didn't want to bother people about taking my picture so the only memento that I have of the 'heart' of Disney is a badly shot selfie of me standing in front of the castle. I also unfortunately have no pictures of me standing in front of the Epcot Ball or the Universal Earth either. I just didn't want to bother anyone. Of course I found out at closing time that there are professional Disney employees that will take your picture for free in front of these landmarks, but by that point I had stopped caring and just wanted to leave lol.
My Fast passes were for Pirates,Ariel, and Peter Pan.
The fast passes are nice to have,but if you get there early enough they become useless. Since the park didn't start to get noticeably thick until 11ish I pretty much walked on my first two. I also was annoyed that even though I knocked Pirates and Ariel out pretty quickly I couldn't add anymore fast passes until I used my 4:55 Peter Pan one
That part needs to be revamped; especially if you last fast pass is so late in the day.I do like the melody like ding of the fastpasses when it turns green to let you in lol.
It also took me a while to realize that no I don't have to walk to the nearest fast pass booth to get a new one which annoyingly seemed to be spread out at pretty much hidden locations around the park. I could just use my freaking phone and book though the app.
However....
Disney's internet was a nightmare for all of their parks. It kept being slow and having connectivity issues. Also don't even try to use their internet to access the app for the map, fastpasss, and wait times ugh. I got so frustrated I just cut my data on.
After I used my first two fast passes I stopped caring about following my park plan, and just got on whatever ride or show I got to first as I walked aimlessly around.
I ended up doing this for the rest of the parks to.
I kid you not by 10 a.m. I was texting my sister a long rant on how I wanted to leave. I was soooooo bored. I also found the park strangely small and fake looking. Something I also mentioned in my rant. The only thing that stopped me from calling a lyft right then and there was that I had to keep reminding myself just how expensive the ticket was, and therefore to feel like I got my money's worth I should stay until closing. Unfortunately closing was midnight. I damn near died.
Pirates- slower than I thought it would be. Boring. The human animatronics were nice though; especially Jack. Honestly I thought it was Depp for a second that's how life like he looked. Also should have been more imaginative then what was provided.
Ariel- another really slow boat ride that felt like it should have been more imagination to it. Also the animatroics looked uncanny valley because of how anime the characters looked. Basically another ride with a lot of hype, but failed to deliver.
Jungle Cruise- I was bored. I couldn't be amazed by the animal animatronics because they were clearly fake to my eyes, and also I'm not ten. I'm glad I went early though because when I walked back by it the line was snaked all the way to the Tikki room.
In no particular order
Liberty Riverboat- another really boring experience. Getting on the ferry, and then these boat rides, did make my realize that if I ever wanted to go on a real cruise water sickness wouldn't be a thing. So there's that I guess...
Peter Pan's Flight- It was okay. It was nice seeing a miniature London and Wendy etc while flying about. Not sure why this ride had the extreme wait time it had though. The stand by line was snaked down the street,and even though my fast pass was quicker the line for it was also still rather long. This is the ride I saw reviews raving about during my research,and yet this is it?
Haunted Mansion- I deliberately waited until it was night to experience this because I wanted a spooky atmosphere. It's the only ride that I went on twice. I really liked it.
The first time I went on a little before the ending shows at the castle. For the second time I caught a fast pass for it the park was truly starting to shutdown. This pass was unnecessary because pretty much no one was there. I could have just walked into the the pretty much empty standby lol.
I loved how on the elevator the pictures slowly revealed the amusing horror going on with the people in them.
My favorite part is when we got to the parlor. That was beautifully done and magically creepy. The bride was deliciously creepy to. I was amused at my head getting pulled off toward the end,and the hilariously voiced narrator saying the ghosts that did it were going to follow us home lol.
It caught some mechanical trouble the first time though. Ride stopped for about five minutes. Apparently it was just spiteful spooks though
Tiki Room- Animatronic birds. Just like with the Jungle Cruise the animatronics are only good when they look like humans. I could tell the birds were fake, and it took me right out of it. Also the song they sung was annoying,but not as annoying as it's a small world after all. Ye Gods.
It's a small world- Another raved one in reviews,but I was not impressed. It was really boring and repetitive, and the song was god awful.
Swiss Family Treehouse. Blah. It's going up a tree looking at furniture etc
I wanted to do frontier shooting,but you had to use 'real' money. Who in the world uses 'real' money anymore.
Mickey's Philaharmagic- I enjoyed it, and the 3D effects.
Hall of Presidents - I was going to skip this because I thought it was going to be some boring history lesson,but since I was trying to find something to do until closing I went in. I enjoyed it,but what had me take out my phone and start filming was all 45 presidents as animatronics at the end. It was absolutely brilliant what they did there.
I think I might have caught a bit of some dance party with mickey etc in the streets. Ugh
Sorcerer's of the Magic Kingdom- It was like a scavenger hunt across the park,but it was to childish. I did the tutorial in the shop then threw my map in the trash. Plus since you spend most of park standing in line how would you even have the time to be able to enjoy doing this to completion.
Tommorowland Transit- Blah and boring.
Carousel of Progress- Like always I enjoyed the human animatronics,but it's a beautiful tomorrow should be shot off into space never to be heard from again. I also liked how we moved with the theater.
I caught some bears dancing and singing in the streets leaving Liberty. Not sure what was going on there,but meh.
I accidentally caught some of Festival of Fantasy while I was leaving Pecos with my food. Thinking I must have missed something I tried to catch another showing that day. It was whatever. The princesses and princes dancing in their carriages was nice I guess. Also apparently Magnificent's dragon was supposed to show,but I didn't see it.
I got to take pictures with Tink and Ariel. A part of me felt self conscious being the only adult without kids, or with anyone else with me period, taking pictures with characters/set designs clearly set up for small children. However,the other part of me said so what lol. One of the employees also took pictures of me with my phone so now I don't have to go on Disney's picture thing with their water mark all over it just to view them.
Only restaurants I partook in where The Main Street Bakery, Plaza Ice-Cream, and Pecos. I literally loled at the prices. $4 dollars for a regular size pack of MM's and the mickey cookie I got was $6 lol. Drinks, even water, were almost $5. Considering the base ticket is a house and car note combined the food should have been covered with the price.
I'm not real sure if I saw happily ever after or once upon a time at closing,but whatever was happening at the castle is what I saw. So both? They were nice effects happening to the castle, and the the second one of course had Elsa,but there was strangely something off about the whole performance to me. I was pretty much like this is okay instead being wowed.
I deliberately ignored raved about rides like Thunder,Dwarfs,Space and Splash Mountain. I don't like huge drops,but later I did make myself get out of my comfort zone at the other parks in regards to roller coaster like rides.
Except for Tom Sawyer,and considering the blah of this park I probably wasn't missing anything, I pretty much got to do everything in my park plan,and honestly if it wasn't for the thirty five to an hour long wait times for pretty much everything(fast passes only take off about ten minutes if you try to go on anything after ten) you probably could be done before noon.
Tuesday,Dec 24(Christmas Eve)
Animal Kingdom
Boring, and the ugliest one design wise out of the parks.
Rained(ugh) and strangely freezing. This is supposed to be sunny Florida right? First time I had to pop out my gloves, scarf and hat.
Fast Passes were for Lion King, Safari, and Navi.
I missed my fast pass for Lion King trying to get my wallet back(long story) so they gave me an unlimited one that I could use anytime that day.
This is also where I noticed every park from here on out roped dropped faster then the time listed for opening.
Avatar Flight of Passage- I was there before rope drop, and decided to do Flight first since my research said this one had very long wait times and I didn't catch a fast pass for it. I didn't know where to go,but something told me to follow everyone literally running towards something. Good thing I did since it was Avatar lol.
The line was crazy long and this was rope drop time. I stood in line for at least an hour,but it quite the experience when I finally got to the ride. I absolutely LOVED it. Blown away. I wanted to get on again, and again, and again. Forget everything else. However, the time never truly left around 130 the entire time, even to closing, so welp I never got to get back on.
Also they even told me when I left the park, right after my avatar ride, to sit outside and try to get my wallet that it was about to fill to capacity because of Avatar. So I had to go back in,and still without my wallet(again another story lol)
This ride is literally the only reason why it wasn't the worst park to me instead of MK.
In no particular order
Lion King- I thought it was going to be like the Broadway play my sister raved about from her newyork vacation,but instead it was this childish dumbed down abomination. I very much disliked it, and was nonplussed at what I just witnessed and wasted a fast pass on.
Safari- I was so disappointed with this. Boring, Boring, Boring. Also barely saw any animals,and the driver pretty much sped by the ones we did see. Another waste of a fast pass.
Navi- boring and fake looking. Not real sure what the raved reviews were about for this one. Glad I had a fast pass for it though because the line was long,but nowhere near Flight's length. The only thing nice I can say about it was the inclusion of that creepy animatronic Navi toward the end.
Honestly, the whole Avatar section of the park should have been the most outstanding design wise because of what it's based on and yet it was really, really fake looking.
Discovery/Gorilla Trails. Boring. Nice to see some gorilla's up close though.
It's tough to be a bug- Nice. Liked it. Special effects were cute and the 3D was nice.
Kali River Rapids- I was going to skip this because I don't like drops, and I didn't want to get wet. However, I went ahead and did it anyway and wore my raincoat and water shoes just in case lol. I went a little before closing with a fast pass I snagged. I came 30 minutes early and they dinged me in anyway because no one was there lol. It was fine, and the drop wasn't terrible at all. Didn't even get nauseous like I thought I would. I was put in a raft by myself so that was kind of a experience in of it itself lol.
Dinosaur- Liked it. The dinosaurs were clearly fake looking,but since it was in the dark the fakeness was toned down a bit. It was also a mild drop to this,but it didn't bother me.
Tree of Life- So basically what was done to Disney castle but on a fake looking tree? Okay.
Before the light show you can see carvings of animals etched into the the tree sooo that was nice I guess.
Winged Encounters- I was looking for this,and finally got fed up and asked someone where it was.The employee said it had no set time and to just look into the sky. Sooooo basically the one or two birds that you can barely see flying around when you come in the park are the attraction.
For a sweet treat I went into some place in the Africa part of the park. Don't remember what it was called though. Also as I was walking by I saw people eating huge chicken legs. Made me chuckle,and I also got to try one myself at The Three Broomsticks at Universal.
Pandora Drummers- Accidentally caught some of this I think. Meh
I ate dinner at Flametree BarBQ . Not good.
Up! -This, and the Epcot attraction of Finding Nemo, were the only two that I seriously contemplating leaving. Unfortunately I was literally on a moving ride for Nemo so couldn't just get up and go like I could for Up. It was just absolutely horrendous. There were barely any birds just a supremely long, boring skit with cheesy characters in costumes.
Rivers of Light- accidentally caught the ending of this going up to Kali. Then I watched all of it later that night before closing. The flowers glowing on the water were okay,but honestly the whole show was poorly done and boring.
Affection Station- animal lover in my me wanted to go,but didn't get to.
I mostly got to do everything in my park plan.
Wednesday, Dec 25 (Christmas Day)
Epcot
It rained yet again.
Boring,but has Soarin Around the World so that along gets it high marks like Flight does for Animal Kingdom.
There at rope drop. I mean literally at the rope. I could put my hands on it and shake hands with the security guards if I wanted. One women at the drop told me and some other rope drop people to follow her if we wanted to hit Frozen Ever After first. So that's what I did lol.
Fast passes were for Soarin,Living with the Land, Spaceship Earth
Frozen Ever After- I'm always glad to see Elsa,but it didn't live up to the hype. Very childish as were the animatronic's (Ariel at MK were like this to) which I'll concede are probably the point.
In no particular order
Pixar's Short Film Festive- I really liked this one. The 3D was nice and the effects. I especially liked how in one short they climbed out of the screen and were still there even without the 3D google's on lol. Also the one called Feast was cute and heartwarming.
Living with the Land- very boring ride.
Soarin around the world.- Loved it. Unlike Flight we were lifted up in the the air more lol. It was very, very beautiful. It was also cute that Tink showed up to bring a taste of magic to the experience.
Out of the two I still prefer Flight though because there we went though a fantasy world, and this one was just our's. I also felt like Flight's graphics were just a tiny bit better than Soarin. If Flight's were a 11 Soarin is a 10 and a half.
All the parks need more virtual reality ride's that are immersive to the point you actually feel like you're there in the picture before you.
Journey into Imagination- very boring and childish ride. Waste of time.
Got my picture taken with my phone with Anna and Elsa separably. They didn't look, talk, or act like their characters at all. Just like Ariel and Tink they just felt like women in cosplay. No imaginative immersion.
I also kept thinking how all of them have this fake genki girliness about their acting. I'll hate to fake being out of this world cheerful all the time, and having to say cheesy inane things on an daily bases. I hope they get payed well.
Mission Space Green- the graphics need an update. The ride was enclosed like a spacehsip would be,but not enough to cause claustrophobia.
Seabase- nice place to take a break and watch the marine life go by. Saw divers go in a feed different beautiful and creepy looking the fish in the huge tanks. Atleast I think it was here and not Seaworld lol. Also saw a guy get in a tank near the middle of the room and sign talk to us. This gets boring after a few minutes though.
Nemo and Friends- a ride with nothing to offer. Absolutely atrocious. Hype is a lie and a half. Literally wanted to walk out,but it's a moving ride.
Also this is the ride I realized I lost my Disney Ticket(actually looks like a credit card instead of freaking paper like Universal's). I wouldn't have cared since this was my last Disney park and I was already in, but you need it to ding in you fastpasses and I still had Soarin and the free one active on it.
So I had to walk all the way to guest services and its long lines to get another card. However, since it was linked to the app I had a new card within seconds.
Spaceship Earth- the sent an email saying it was not operational at the time I had so they gave me an all day free fastpass to see this one if I wanted or any other ride that day. I still ended up using it for Spaceship though. A very slow ride. Apparently we were moving up the Epcot ball. Didn't feel like it though. Another over hyped ride. Boring.
Project Tomorrow- I think I took a glimpse in here as I was walking toward World Showcase. The fact that reallly can't recall what I saw is saying it all.
Test Track- I really was going to try this ride to get out of my comfort zone of high speeds, and it even had a single rider line(45 minute wait to the standby's 60 minute),but ultimately didn't get to.
Turtle Talk with Crush- very cute how CGI crush was actually talking to us and asking questions in real time. The CGI for Crush needed to be updated though.
Imagining presents- The 360 projection was nicely done as was the little miniature town and Epcot ball that kept changing in the room.
World Showcase- I wanted to see Reflections of China but didn't get to. It was pretty close to closing so I just decided to walk the showcase until Candlelight and Epcot Forever started.
However the showcases just seemed to be just a bunch of restaurants featuring different foods from the the country highlighted. Meh
During my walk I stopped at the Germany one and got something.
Candlelight Processional- I saw the last show of the night. It was located at the American part of World Showcase. I got to get with a reservation because when I was walking to standby an employee noticed I was alone and said she had been waiting for a guest to be by themselves so she could give this reservation card to them. She said the original owner only ate at the dinner but didn't want to do the show.
At first I'm like yea since this one was hyped as a must see, and reservations got first pick in an already small setting.
Well that soon died once I actually saw the processional. It was horrendous; from the songs to the set up. Soooooo boring and poorly done. The guest speaker was the captain from Battlestar Galactica. He was a boring waste of time to.
Epcot Forever- really bad show. Pretty much just fireworks going off and barely seen jetskiers riding in the water for a few seconds. Also if you are going to do fireworks make them make designs in the air. This goes for all the parks.
You are Disney so have an imagination.
Got to mostly everything I wanted to do.
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Is there a way to ask the moderators to move my thread there if they can?
