One year ago today I started my morning at AK. We went straight to Pandora to ride FoP in the standby line. We didn't get there late; we were there well before rope drop. But when we lined up, we started on the bridge that leads back to Africa. And it was a good ways onto the bridge. The line probably lasted 30-45 minutes, so it wasn't terrible. Definitely worth it for FoP. And my seat wasn't broken this time, so that's good. Afterwards we did standby at NRJ. It's an okay ride, but it really lacks a story, which is my biggest gripe with it. I definitely wouldn't waste a FP on it. We waited in line for probably 20-30 minutes (I'm not sure why I am remember this morning so well). After Pandora, we went to use a FP at EE. I love that ride, even with Disco Yeti. It's the best rollercoaster on property, IMO. Not my favorite, but the best. It then appears that I had another delicious breakfast: a Mickey Premium Bar. That's better than the cookie from DHS, right? We then did our FP at KS and saw some giraffes up close and personal. They could have stuck their heads in our vehicle because they were so close. My mom loved it (giraffes are her favorite animal). After KS almost everyone was wanting to leave, even though we still had a FoP FP. My aunt, uncle, and cousins went back to their hotel. My mom and dad went out to the car. My brother and I went to use our FPs, then look around in some shops.
We went back to POR to rest and east after FoP.
Later that day we went to MK. We got monorail red. I used to love the monorails, but they are very gross and there is no ventilation. They used to have AC, right? I much prefer the ferry now. It's much more peaceful. You can spread out from the gross, stinky people, and you get a nice breeze. I especially love it at night.
We managed a FP for JC after AK, so we went there first. This was another highlight of the trip. As we scanned our FP, there was a skipper named Brody (previously mentioned when talking with
@Taylor). We mentioned an incident that happened to my on the JC a few trips back. We didn't tell him specifically what happened, but essentially my mom fell getting off the boat. It's become a joke in our family. By the time we got to the front of the line, Skipper Brody had rotated to be our skipper on the boat. At the very end of the ride, we were stuck in a backlog of boats. He was making some joke and said to everyone, "We don't want another incident!" And looked right back at us. Our family burst out laughing, but nobody else on the boat had any clue why that was funny. Personal touches like that are what makes it so much fun. Aside from that, it was also pouring. My brother was sitting on the part with no covering. He got absolutely soaked. My legs got soaked. And everyone was trying to cram under the awning, so the boat was tilting to the left the entire ride. There were a few times I thought we were going to take on water. And Skipper Brody made so many other great jokes. He was my favorite skipper ever. Truly a highlight of all of my Disney trips combined.
After JC, it was still pouring. We were also hungry for supper. I think we went to ride PotC, and then managed to stay under coverings and got to Pecos Bill after that. It was packed due to the rain, and we couldn't find a table or anything. We knew it'd be at least a 30-40 minute wait for our food, then maybe longer to get our table. So we decided against it, and walked under coverings to try and see CBJ. Turns out they had stopped the show and offered the theater as a storm shelter since there was very strong lightning. So we hung our in the theater for a little while. It was really cool to sit in there while the show wasn't going on. After a while we went back to check Pecos Bill, and the lines died down, but the tables were still packed. Somehow we managed to find two tables for our big group, so we got food. I had the nachos. I'm not sure if I was just starving, but they were so good. Definitely a top two meal of my trip. The only other rival comes later in the trip.
While eating, we had a FP for HM that we managed after JC. Well, HM broke down, so we got an all experiences FP to use anywhere. We decided to use it at Space Mountain, but we weren't thinking and every outdoor ride also shut down due to rain and storms, so hundreds of people had the same multiple experiences FP. Most seemed to use it at Space. It was a long line for FPs, but no longer than 20-30 minutes.
After Space, we went to ride the Peoplemover. We then rushed to Main Street to catch HEA. We didn't get great spots, which it fine. But as soon as the fireworks started, we had a couple kids up on shoulders directly in front of us, and the were holding big balloons, too. And then there were large tablets recording the whole thing. So our view was basically nothing. While I didn't need to see the show again, the rest of the group really did. So we decided the following night we'd come back and get there early to get one of the best spots.
After the fireworks, we went back to POR.
This was one of my favorite days of the trip. Pictures to come!