DISNEY: DHScot with Billy

A friend from college is visiting next weekend for a week, and Disney isn't on her radar, so I had to get my Disney fix this weekend! My friend Billy had the day free, so I have a theme park buddy. Yay! I managed to get up early enough to walk both pugs before Billy came and we headed out. We stopped by McDonald's for some coffee and bad-for-you food.

We started at DHS figuring that TSMM would fill up quickly. We grabbed FPs and headed into Standby. It was early so the wait wasn't bad (30 minutes), and I apparently need much of a warm-up and scored 208,800 -- the 2nd highest score of the day! (WOO!). Single-Rider was open so we headed right back in, and I managed to up my score 219,600 which was good enough for 3rd place! (WOO! again).

After that, we took a break and walked to Sunset Blvd and the Twilight Zone's Tower of Terror. This is Billy's favorite ride (because of the theming), and there was a small kid (maybe 9-ish) in our elevator that thought this ride was the coolest. When the elevator doors first opens up to reveal the hotel hallway, he was like "This is the best part!", then when the doors opened the second time for the vehicle to move forward, he was like "This is the best part!". It's awesome to see that type of enthusiasm. Awww.

Next, we went to the Art of Disney Animation. Ahead of us in the queue, we saw the Dream Squad passing out Dream Ears; I was excited but quickly reigned my excitement knowing that they could stop at anytime, and they did... about 20 people ahead of us. Yeah, I was a little disappointed, but I knew that if we had gotten them, we would've given them away to a deserving family anyways. If they were handing out Dream FastPasses... that's another thing.

Anywyas, by then, it was time for us to use our TSMM FPs. While waiting to be let up the stairs, a CM took us aside and had us load in the handicap area -- my first time! (WOO! It was good karma!). It was really neat! And this time I scored a 203,100. *shrug* not Top-3, but I was 3/3 today for getting 200K+.

After that, we were finished at DHS. We decided to drive to Epcot... Disney's Beach Club Resort. We entered via Epcot's International Gateway.

We picked up a couple pints at United Kingdom and headed to the Land Pavilion to pick up Soarin' FPs. Hungry, but not ready to walk back to the WS, we picked up a chicken wrap snack at Seasons. We took at break at the atrium and right beside us was the nicest, cutest Japanese family. The mother was young, slender, and classy, and the kids were very well-behaved. The father was a quiet provider, and their aura was very calm and relaxed. Awww.

Well, by then, I was a little lit, and what better place to visit as such than Innoventions. We checked out "What's Your Problem" sponsored by the Velcro company. I was a bit overly-enthusiastic, and Billy got chosen for the baby challenge (because he was one of the butchest audience members), and he wore the pink and purple apron very well. We also did "Where's the Fire?" -- our second time around at this -- and our team, the Findmores, won.

Next was a quick visit to Spaceship Earth -- Billy's first time after the refurb. We indicated that we were from Tanzania then made sleepy faces for the camera.

Anyways, by then, we were getting hungry. But first, we stopped by Club Cool and Billy tried a shot of the famous Beverly (ha!). Then from there, we went CCW over to Japan's Yakitori House for the forever-awesome Tonosama and Shogun Combos. It was a tasty rest before proceeded the rest of the way around the WS.

Test Track and Mission:Space were next. We did Single-Rider at TT, and I sat beside a woman who was a self-proclaimed "screamer", and she did. Loud. Then at Mission:Space, Billy and I went Green (I'm wimpy) and shared a capsule with a couple older ladies, one of whom was concerned about motion-sickeness and confessed that she threw up after riding Kraken at SeaWorld the day before. They turned out fine. Actually, they turned out to also be really big screamers... and gigglers!... they were like two little girlfriends on Spring Break, and I was laughing my head off the entire time -- best time at M:S ever!

After that, we were heading back to the other side of FW, and stopped again by Innoventions, and did "Don't Waste It" presented by Waste Management. We were "Team H S Musical" -- one of the CMs introduced us as "Team High School Musical", but that wasn't what the "H S" stood for... I'm impressed by the ingenuity of a lot of these Innoventions exhibits.

Finally, we were back at the Land and hopped a quick ride on LWTL before our Soarin' FP window opened. We got in line behind a tall Reichen-ish guy -- attractive but not on my radar (though I admired how well-spoken he appeared to be). Anyways, the film/projector had more dirt on it than I remembered before, but I don't see much being done since it's still so popular.

Yeah, so we walked back to the Beach Resort and headed back into town. We got a healthy dose of TSMM and a close encounter with the DS at DHS and covered quite a bit at Epcot including a lot of Innoventions. On my next visit to the parks, I think I'll be sweeping through MK's Fantasyland and Toontown Fair before walking to the Grand Floridian and checking out some of the SSL Resorts. I can't wait!

Pictures from today's trip can be found after the itinerary below.
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Here's what I did this visit:

DHS (MUSIC 44)
- Toy Story Midway Mania - Stand-By (2nd!)
- Toy Story Midway Mania - Single-Rider (3rd!)
- The Twilight Zone's Tower of Terror
- The Art of Disney Animation
- Toy Story Midway Mania - FastPass

Drove to Beach Club

Walked to Epcot's International Gate Entrance
- United Kingdom for a couple beers
- FP Soarin'
- Seasons: chicken wrap for a snack
- What's Your Problem
- Where's the Fire
- Spaceship Earth
- Cool Club
- Yakitori House (Tonosama Combo, Shogun Combo)
- Test Track
- Mission:Space - Advanced Training Lab
- Mission:Space (green)
- Waste Management - Don't Waste It
- Living With The Land
- Soarin'

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