Trip Report Trip among friends

So let me start by saying that I have never done a trip report before, so as far as structure goes, this is probably going to seem somewhat different. For a long time I was simply an Orlando local who visited the parks on the whim. I had a couple friends who worked within the resort (I personally never did), and nothing was better then spending an evening walking around Disney Springs. This past year I moved back to my home city of Panama City to be with family and friends and to start on college locally. During this time some friends wanted to take a trip to Disney at the beginning of March, and I gladly accepted the offer.

We first needed a resort so we looked through our options. I have always been fortunate and blessed to make the money I have at my age, and booking my favorite resort was never usually a problem unless for a specific reason. My friends (two females and a male) wanted something much cheaper. We found a special spring deal for All-Star Music at 109 a night so we took it. We booked our FP's, dinner reservations and everything was set for the trip. We would leave early Monday morning and return home Thursday night.

Monday came early for all of us as they stayed at my home for the evening to save time. I never did sleep during the night for different reasons so I was working on eighteen hours without sleep and the day was only going to get longer. We took our showers, loaded the car and left the house at 2:12 am (Central Time). What was five hours only seemed like a couple with movies and such, but of course I was put on watch duty to make sure the driver did not sleep. We arrived at the resort around 8:55 am (Eastern Time) and made our way to our first park which was Hollywood Studios.

Our first FP was for Star Tours at 11, and we arrived much earlier then expected so we took the time to slow down and enjoy Hollywood Blvd. The people with me were not seasoned Disney visitors so they simply wanted to bounce from ride to ride. I encouraged them to take their time and so we moved through the stores and stopped by the Cable Car Café for Starbucks. It was still early on in the day and our FP would not be ready for another hour so we went over to Toy Story Midway Mania to check the wait. One hour into the park opening and the ride was already reaching 95 minutes. With nothing to lose but possibly our sanity, we waited in line for maybe 20 minutes. It was then that the emergency lights came on, and we were told to leave the queue.

The time was now 10:30 and we still needed to kill 30 minutes before riding Star Tours. They did not even know about the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids playground so we spent maybe 10-15 minutes exploring and hanging out inside the playground. It was then time to move over to Streets of America as I was determined to spend as much time as possible on the streets taking photos. The Once Upon a Time window display was absolutely perfect in every way. We took pictures with the umbrella, on the stairs, in front of the city skylines and more. We wasted enough time and went over to Star Tours where we moved pretty quickly through the FP line. We just happened to make it to the front of the line when they opened up another gate for operation. (I am not sure if they open them based on crowd level, but we made it in time). Front row is always a treat on Star Tours and the ride was fun as always. It was my first time seeing the new Force Awakens scene so that was an added bonus. I did not like the addition of BB-8, however, as it just felt weird...I don't know why.

We were off of Star Tours around 11:10 and we had until 12:35 before Tower of Terror would be ready for FP. I took them to one of my beloved attractions at the park, Muppet-Vision 3-D. The ride to me is so classic and I love the gags. Sadly the quality of the film has shown its age, and while my friends did not realize it, I could tell the ride had been neglected. The queue was clean but the theater itself was lacking. Some of the seats had stains that looked very old and there were multiple seats that were broken and had straps over them. The addition of Constatine in the pre-show is very weird and does not fit. It feels more like an afterthought then a quality addition. We moved from Muppet-Vision and I wanted a snack. My personal favorite is the funnel cake and I knew exactly where to find them. We moved through crowds of people and headed over to Indiana Jones where we grabbed a funnel cake with strawberries on top. (People don't understand my obsession). We on the steps outside the show and watched people as they passed. We would finish off and head to Tower of Terror to find our next adventure......

So that is all for now. I do hope to have more up soon and I hope everyone enjoys!

 

[FigmentForver96]

Heading over to Tower of Terror, I noticed something very weird about the lack of acts on Hollywood Blvd. I do know that some of the Citizens of Hollywood had been cut, but there was literally NONE the entire day that I could find. We used a lot of our time crossing up and down the streets, and I never did find one act. I did see this group of men wearing red shirts and shorts. The first time was on the way to Tower of Terror where they were "filming" a scene for a music video. On the way to Tower of Terror we took a break at the restroom and I just want to add how clean the restroom felt. A weird comment, but this restroom was always one I avoided due to high traffic and it never seemed to be clean. To my surprise, there were two cast members who were sitting and waiting to clean the restroom regularly. The one for the men's restroom went would enter and clean the stall as someone exited it. I have not seen that since sailing on Disney Cruise Line. Tower of Terror was running ten minute wait times, but we had a lot to do so I suggested we just hit up the FP and maybe come back later in the evening. The line was not ten minutes though, the line went all the way through the metal fence so joke on then I suppose. As far as ride quality I was both disappointed and pleased with what they have done with Tower of Terror. On one hand, the audio in the shafts seems to be much better then in the past. It was clear and did not sound muffled. What I do not understand is the TV in the preshow room. Who would think a TV that bright would be ok? Even the lights in the boiler room are much brighter than before. It is little things, but these little things totally change the mood of the ride. We exited the ride into the gift shop and surprise surprise the wait was now forty minutes. Our FP for Rock 'n' Roller Coaster would not be until 1:45 so we went over to Great Movie Ride. The line was only ten minutes so we went ahead and decided to ride. I know this ride has been under great debate since the sponsorship of TCM and the Osborne narration. The queue itself is amazing with the new posters and props. If there was a way to do an interactive queue this would be it. The preshow is much better in my opinion as well. I miss the old classic film but the new one is informative yet still has many of the clips from the old preshow. You also feel like you learn a little something about the movie industry which is a plus in this kind of park right?

Our tour guide was great! Her name was Samantha and she made the ride wonderful. She was upbeat but she did not overplay anything to make it seem like she was just restating lines. They must have upgraded the speakers in the cars since when Osborne spoke it literally would vibrate the back of the seat. From what I heard I felt the narration would be overbearing, limiting and soulless much like the Backlot Tour. Amazingly enough, I personally do not fell like it took away from the ride. The ride itself looked amazing and the audio was the best I heard in years. Alien was the only scene that was a bit of a letdown, but everything else looked top notch. The finale was also great with the new movies and music. Overall, while the ride looked and sounded great, it needs a major refurbishment one day. A replacement of a few scenes, new AA's music etc. The ride is a classic so I would hate to lose to much of its classic feel, but some new things would not go amiss.

 

[LAKid53]

It only took you 5 hours to drive from Panama City to Orlando? Wow, that was quick.