DISNEY: Sunday's Final Five

The rationale for going back to Disney was that I only had five more [valid] FastPasses to collect and that I was already "in town", so why not?

I headed out early and made Rope Drop at Magic Kingdom. The goal there was to collect FPs for Big Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain. First, I picked up one for BTM's then rode it, then had an hour until I was Splash-eligible, so I headed towards Tomorrowland. Thinking that Space will already be packed, I made some stops along the way, getting in a cozy visit to The Haunted Mansion and then a couple stops in Fantasyland -- I seriously Just Missed Out on a Dream Prize at Peter Pan's Flight (they charged into the exit lane right after I passed... oh well), but then I rode Winnie the Pooh and reinforced the awesomeness that Disney is (I love this ride).

Anyways, when I reached Tomorrowland, Space was showing a 10-minute wait, but I got RightOn! The other people in the car were fun and reminded me of an Asian Mario and Luigi -- innocent and with an accent, letting out gentle 'woo's at each turn and drop; it was fun. Then on the way back to Splash FP, I made a quick stop by Buzz (couldn't resist), which ended up also being a RightOn ride; and although I didn't max-out a gun this time, I did make a funny ride-pic.

After that, I went and got the Splash FP and forgot about picking up an invalid BTM FP -- dah -- and then headed out.

I took the Express monorail back to the TTC, riding in the NOSE! with a lady from Jacksonville, her two little boys, a country-talkin' car-racing enthusiast guy, the conductor, and someone I believe to be his trainee. So with the seven of us in there, it really was "the more, the merrier".

:)

Next, I was going to head to DAK but the DHS bus was RightThere at the TTC lot, so I took it.

At DHS, I stuck to the plan and picked up the Star Tours FP first-thing and proceeded to TSMM to pick up an invalid FP. I checked if single-rider was open (didn't expect it to be), and it was, so I went in. The line was just at the top of the descending stairs, and I started talking with the people around me. I ended up getting paired with a father-and-TSMM-newbie also in the SR line, and together we managed to unlock the secrets on the BoPeep and Alien stages (woo!).

Still, I finished with a score of [just] 218,100 because of a couple disappointing stages -- I was so close to getting the third-place-of-the-day-so-far -- but just riding TSMM was a big surprise and a whole lot of fun.

On our way out of TSMM, we rounded the corner and found the Dream Squad waiting for us! They handed us Extra Dream Hour Passes, and we all SCREAMED! (WOO!!!). I was TOTALLY beaming on my way out of the park and got in line for the DAK bus.

WOO!!!

On the ride to DAK, I sat near a guy who looked like David Cook, and the whole time, I had to hide my giddiness and resist the urge to ask for a picture-with. But when we reached DAK, I had my "on a mission" face on and headed straight to DINOSAUR for my second-to-last FP and to Primeval Whirl for the quick invalid FP.

I was going to ease to the 12:30pm FOTLK but got distracted by the comedy/trick troupe Smear, Splat, and Dip. The act was cute and had a nice "story" -- guys trying to out-do each other for a trophy -- and the live performers were a refreshing sight in the otherwise "empty-calories" area of the park.

Watching SS&D meant I had to haul it to FOTLK. I wanted to go because I heard that Timon was recently made animated (moving eyes and mouth) plus... it's been a while. The prince, Nakawa, definitely lived up to his name (i.e. Good Looking), the birds were fantastic, and just my luck, my favorite tumble monkey was there (woo!). And although there were a couple of oops's in the show -- a missed monkey-on-the-shoulder and a dropped knife stick -- it just showed that they're human and, to me, it added some flavor to a show I've seen close to a dozen times before.

After that, I made a clockwise journey to collect the Expedition Everest FP, but first stopped by Harambe to pick up a green apple and bottle of water (healthy choices) for the long walk.

Then, with the final FP in hand, I got in line, but realized today, I didn't have any repeat rides from Friday's trip around the World. I wasn't going to start then, so I headed out of the park.

I briefly considered a quick visit to Epcot to ride SSE and make it another 4-park day ( and it wasn't even 2pm yet!) but decided to be responsible and head back to the TTC & head back home early -- I was tired. Turned out that the TTC decision put me on a bus with a Brazilian family whose patriarch reminded me of a soft-featured Bruce Willis -- light-skinned, shaved head, blue eyes, and soft eye-lashes...

*ahem* what? where am i?

Anyways, the Sunday trek to the parks was very successful and special -- a peaceful visit to MK, a surprisingly lucky time at DHS, and a mixed-speed experience at DAK. The mix of attractions and distractions was good, and the self-realization of motives and abilities were well-attended to.

I'm taking at least one week off from the parks, but the next time out, I think that I'll repeat the same MKRD-DHS morning, then take a midday break to tour a couple resorts and then visit Epcot for the early evening. I think that we have a good template for a well-flavored Disney trip.

Yay!

Well, a few pictures from the day at the parks can be found after the itinerary below. Enjoy!

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Here's what I did this visit:

TTC (MINNIE 36)

Resort Monorail to MK (GOLD)

MAGIC KINGDOM
- Rope Drop (talked with a Bill from New Orleans)
- [FP] Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (only s'alright)
- [FPx] Splash Mountain
- The Haunted Mansion (cozy group of 6)
- Peter Pan's Flight (Just missed the Dream Squad)
- The Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (alone, cute)
- Space Mountain (right on! with Italian/Asian/Super-Mario-Bros in car)
- Buzz Lightyear's Space Rangers Spin (396400 Space Ace Ha!)
- [FP] Splash Mountain

Express Monorail to TTC (NOSE! w/mom & her 2 boys from Jacksonville) (RED)

Bus to DHS (no wait!)

DISNEY'S HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS
- [FP] Star Tours
- [FPx] Toy Story Midway Mania
- Toy Story Midway Mania (single-rider; 218,100 - unlocked most all bonuses) + EXTRA HOUR FASTPASS exiting TSMM (WOO!!!!!)

Bus to DAK (sat near someone who looks like David Cook!)

DISNEY'S ANIMAL KINGDOM
- [FP] DINOSAUR
- [FPx] Primeval Whirl
- Smear, Splat, & Dip
- Festival of the Lion King (animated Timone, and my tumble monkey)
- [FP] Expedition Everest

Bus to TTC (resisted quick urge for some SSE@Epcot)

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