Trip July 22-31 (A few photos)

I am going to break up the trip report in to several posts, to make it easier to read.


Arrived Saturday, July 22. The flight was good, but over an hour late getting in. The luggage took a long time, but everyone was entertained, because there were some new MCO employees that were trying to move bags from behind the "backstage" door, and did not know how to operate the keycard system, so they set off the door intrusion alarm about 4 or 5 times.
Magical Express was actually fairly quick this time. My family was staying at Pop Century, so we were the first Magical Express dropoffs. Checkin was fine. The room was exactly what it was supposed to be. The preferred rooms are very close to the lobby (we were in the 70s section).
The rooms are about the same size as the All Star rooms, but they do have a bigger television. Below are a few random photos from Pop Century.

One funny comment- the following statue is also in the Paradise Pier hotel at Disneyland.

 

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Sunday, July 23. All day at Magic Kingdom. We started the day by going on the left hand side of the park. I rode Big Thunder Mountain about 6 times in about an hour (the wait was only 10 minutes, but you were moving the whole time, so it seemed quicker). I can’t remember the exact order we did everything, but we got most of our favorite attractions in (such as Jungle Cruise, Tiki Room, TTA, Buzz, Carpets, Railroad, Philharmagic, and Splash). I also went on the newly refurbished Pirates of the Caribbean ride. The sound is so much better, even in the queue. The fogscreen effect is very cool, as are the new lighting effects (and improved cannon effects). I thought it was really cool how they could integrate Jack Sparrow into the existing plot. It fits so nicely! The wait time said 40 minutes, but it ended up being closer to 65-70, because the ride broke down while we were in the line. One interesting experience I had this time was at the Tiki Room. For some reason, the work lights stayed on the entire show. The show is not nearly as cool with the worklights on.

A lot of Brazilian Tour Groups were at the parks all week, but especially today at MK. A few of the members of the tour got too hot and passed out on the sidewalk in the morning. Tons of security came to help them.

We also stayed until 1:30AM for EMH. Big Thunder was only about a 15 minute wait. Splash was about a 5-10 minute wait. Pirates was only a 15 minute wait. All of the Fantasyland attractions were walkons after midnight. The Speedway was about a 20 minute wait. Buzz was about 10 minute wait.

 

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Monday, July 24. Went to EPCOT in the morning. We took it fairly slow, and just did the Land boat ride (wait time was posted 40 minutes, but we waited 60. The sign updated while we were on the ride), Soarin (with a Fast Pass). Next, we explored The Seas pavilion (I tried to see if I could see any part of the new ride system through the tanks, but could not). We finished up with Innoventions. I was going to get in a Test Track ride before we left, but the wait time was 110 minutes, plus it was getting very hot and starting to rain a little. If y’all are wondering, the below pictures show what the EPCOT wait times were at about 12:15-12:20 Monday afternoon.

That evening, we were off to AK for their EMH. That park is truly amazing after dark. It looks so cool with the lights on. First ride we went on was Tough to be a Bug. I had gone to the show when AK first opened and hated the show and refused to go back until this past May (when I was there on my school’s senior trip). I loved the show when I went in May and now always go to it. (One nice thing about the theater is the arctic a/c in the preshow area. The next attraction was Dinosaur. I had never been on it. I enjoyed it a lot. After that was Primeval Whirl. That ride is a lot jerkier than it looks from the ground, that’s for sure. It just does not feel like a ride built in the past few years—it feels more like something built 15-20 years ago. After that, it was dinner time (at Restaurantosaurus). It was amazing to see the place with so few guests in it. There were only a couple of tables being used (the exact opposite of lunchtime).
After that, it was time to start my EE marathon. I got in one ride before the park closed to regular guests (sign said 120 minutes, but the wait was only 40). I got in two more rides before it got dark (wait was averaging 20-30 minutes). We decided to walk over and see Dinorama at night.

The Finding Nemo Musical construction site had several temporary work lights aimed at the pathway. The building is coming along nicely and is now being painted green. After that, I finally got to ride EE when it was pitch black outside. That ride is always great, but seems even cooler at night, especially since the drops are so much darker. Final ride count: 4 rides in less than three hours.

Here is one photo of EE at night. This is the only after dark photo I am posting from AK, since it is the only one that turned out halfway OK.

 

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Tuesday, July 25. Went to Typhoon Lagoon. We got there about 9:45AM, and it was not too crowded (no lines longer than 25 minutes). It started getting really crowded about 1:30PM. I was still able to get in all of my favorites (Lazy River, Wave Pool, Family Raft Ride, and the two inner tube slides next to the Family Raft Ride). I had to have some of my favorite donuts before I left. Those minidonuts near the giftshop are amazing.

That evening, we went to Downtown Disney marketplace.

 

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Wednesday, July 26. Went to Magic Kingdom again in the morning. I did Big Thunder about another 6 times. We did all of our favorites again. This time we also got on Small World and Haunted Mansion. Don’t remember too much else from this morning—sorry.

That evening, it was time for EPCOT. We got in a few Test Track rides. The ride had been shutdown due to lightning. The CMs said that guests were welcome to wait in the building, but they did not know how long it would be. It was amusing, the CM at the photocell counter was obviously tired of the music, because he asked all the guests over the PA if they wanted the music muted and everyone said yes, so he did. We waited 30 minutes, and then it reopened. They actually had a manager holding the preshow exit doors open, so they could have the line move as quickly as possible. We got off and went around on or two more times (the standby line was almost none existent). There were tons of single riders and FP though. After the first time, they made everyone watch the preshow, though. After that, we did not have a lot of time left, so we went to do one ride on the Mexico boat ride and get a spot outside Mexico for the fireworks.

 

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Thursday, July 27. Went to Typhoon Lagoon again. We got there a little later (10AM), but the crowds did not get bad until about 12 noon. We did some of the same rides this time. They did close the park in the afternoon, due to thunderstorms.

That evening, we were going to go to Disney Quest, since we thought we had old admission tickets for it. Evidently, Disney does not count Park Hopper (old ticket) Plus visits as acceptable Disney Quest tickets. We were not going to pay $35 per person to get in for just three or so hours, so instead we just walked around Pleasure Island and the Marketplace some more.

 

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Friday, July 28. Went to AK in the morning. Even at 10AM, it was getting very hot there. We got in a safari ride, EE, Tough to be a Bug, Dinosaur, and a few other attractions. Below is a photo of the wait time sign at about 12:15PM.

That evening, it was another MK EMH evening. I got in a few more Big Thunder rides in, along with some of the other favorite attractions. One interesting thing from tonight, the Buzz figure in the queue area was broken and they had a curtain in front of him (you could still hear him talking though). The photo is below.

Another interesting thing—the Riverboat landing is now being refurbished. Below are a few pictures.

 

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Saturday, July 29. We went to MGM first thing in the morning. We rode Backlot Tour. (It was neat to be able to see all around the LMA theater, while they were doing a show. The drivers waved at the guests on the trams.) Next, we went on one of my MGM favorites, Muppet Vision 3D. Lunch was at Backlot Express. I think it seems silly that they don’t have single cheeseburgers on the menu (it has to be special ordered, they only have double on the menu). Several guests were commenting about this.

We were going to go to Fantasmic! that evening, but it was starting to storm, so we thought it would get rained out (the storms ended up being long gone). We went to EPCOT again, since we like Illuminations better anyway.
We went to Test Track. The singles line was only 15 minutes, vs. 60 for standby. We got off and went again. This time, we got all the way up to the merge point in about 10 minutes. Evidently, during the first ride, the CMs had rotated. A terrible CM rotated into the merge position. He was very rude (yelling at all guests for not moving closer to the preshow rooms, even though he had sent so many guests that they could not). He did not let a single single rider go for over 45 minutes after we had gotten up there. We finally asked him when he would send more single riders. He said “Oh, thanks for reminding me” and sent a large group into the preshow room. However, he did not start the preshow video. After about 5 minutes, everyone just pushed the preshow exit doors open, not about to wait any longer. One guest said that same CM was working FP earlier in the day. Their ticket was not working so he wanted to just hand write on an invalid FP ticket “OK to enter at 11:40.” Needless to say, the guest was upset and got another CM to help, since everyone knows the handwriting would not work. Needless to say, a large number of guests were saying that they will be filing complaints with Disney against him.

After that, there was not a lot of time left, so we walked around World Showcase Lagoon and got spots near Mexico again. The fireworks were great, as usual.

 

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Sunday, July 30. Went to MK all day. We hit every single attraction we like today, during either the day or EMH. I was able to get in over 6 Big Thunder rides. At one point, due to lightning the following attractions all had to shutdown: Pooh Playground, Train, Donald’s Boat, Astro Orbiter, Dumbo, Magic Carpets, Cars, Big Thunder Mountain, and Splash Mountain. Space broke down at 3PM. This caused Stitch’s line to grow to over 90 minutes!! I took a picture of the Stitch sign, but it did not turn out. Space reopened about 3:30, but we were ready to go back to the hotel for a little while. They announced that all FPs are valid all day.

We came back about 5:30. Space was broken down again. It came back up at 6:30, or so. I got all the way up to the rockets when it broke down again, and the lights came on. They immediately cleared the building and gave everyone reride passes. They said it would be awhile. I came back at 7:30 and it was back up. I got in two rides, in a row (with leftover FPs from the day). I went for a third ride, but once I got near the Tower, the ride stopped and the lights came on. The people in the Tower were running back and forth across the tower, looking at screens. Both of them were talking on two phones and Nextels at one point. Not too long after the lights came on, a Maintenance person and a lead came up to the tower. They decided to not clear the building. Some people started leaving. I decided to wait a few more minutes (but not too long, since I did not want to miss the fireworks show). Once I got into the final section of queue near loading, the CM offered reride passes. I decided I’ll just come back later, so I took one. Once I got to the gift shop, someone who was waiting for me had found out what happened. There was an older woman who had ridden and was unconscious when they arrived at unload. The delay in getting her out of the rocket caused the ride to backup and auto e-stop (since only 4 trains can be at unload). At first they were worried that she had had a heart attack, but it turned out that she had just passed out. All of this information was from one of the Engineers, which came out to talk to everyone waiting (since other people were panicking about whether their relatives were safe). They told everyone what had happened, since they had to wheel the guest on a wheelchair through the giftshop to backstage. She was doing OK, but not looking great at that point. The person waiting for me said there had been several people from First Aid and a large number of security officers that went through the gift shop to the ride.
Anyway, I was able to see the fireworks just fine. After that, I was finally able to get in the last 2 space rides. One interesting thing is that both reride passes were valid at any MK attraction. One expired 8/29, the other never expired. We ended up leaving about 1AM. The Buzz figure was working again.

 

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Monday, July 31. Sadly, it was time to go home. It had been a great trip.
Two general observations I made during this trip:
1) The bus service (at least at Pop) was improved, and actually followed somewhat of a schedule (every 20 minutes, a bus arrives for each park at the resort).
2) The CMs were socializing to each other more this time, than in May. For the most part, they also seemed happier and a little bit more friendly towards guests.

Magical Express was ontime. The flight was fine. The captain made sure to announce that he had gotten everyone home 30 minutes early.


Well, that's the end of the trip report. Hope y'all enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed the trip.

 

[KnK]

Thanks for the trip report. Only 34 more days till I get to start mine!