DISNEY: Two Tired

This weekend, I headed back to the parks in hopes of restoring some Disney faith after a less-than-spectacular end to visit to the Disneyland parks.

I stayed up late being productive Friday night and then woke up early with intentions of making rope drop at MK. Tired, I made it there a few minutes after. It was evident from the start that attendance was going to be light today -- and that I probably shouldn't've rushed-so-much.

I first headed over to Tomorrowland where I found that Space Mountain was down. I should've jumped immediately onto the TTA, but I started off with Astro Orbitor. By the time I got on TTA, one side of Space Mountain was operational and I missed seeing Space Mountain with its lights on.

Next, I headed to Fantasyland and rode Winnie The Pooh (WAY better than the DL version) and Peter Pan's Flight. Then it was to Frontierland where I got to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad just as it was going down. So, I did Splash Mountain instead to cool off then to Tom Sawyer Island to slow down the pace.

TSI was actually a very nice idea. There aren't any rides there, but the island was very shaded and the fort provided some nice angles of BTMR. The barrel bridges were particularly amusing, and the caves were amazing narrow (and had a funky smell).

After that, I went to the Hall of Presidents (and it's not July 4th!) to get some rest, but that wasn't happening. The room was air-conditioned nonetheless. Plus I've been learning the names of all of the Presidents using the Mental Floss quiz, so this was like a school field trip.

From there, I was already feeling a bit done. I headed towards the front of the park to the Barber Shop to get a haircut. I said that I wanted to keep my hair a bit long and just wanted it thinned around the sides, so when I heard the buzz razor, I knew that I was in trouble (maybe I should've said something then). The haircut was salvaged, but if I wanted to go short, I could've done it myself. Oh well.

Anyways, I took the resort monorail over to the Contemporary to look around, but there really wasn't too much to see there. So I headed back to the TTC and took my car over to Epcot for the afternoon.

I had the intension of hitting all of the pavilions in Future World, but I hadn't eaten anything up to this point, so I just rode SSE, and bailed from UoE and headed to the World Showcase. I decided on-the-way to give the Canada show another try (nope, still like the older iteration Much better) and I managed to get into France perfect-timing (great film, but now very sleepy).

Then it was "Where to eat? Somewhere new?" Naw, I'll stick to my usual -- the Tonosama Combo with a large iced green tea at Japan's Yakitori House. (Mmmm...)

The timing wasn't right for Voices of Liberty/American Adventure, so I continued on and rode Maelstom. I also stayed for the 5-minute film because it's another one that I really like (it's unpretentious). I also stopped by Mexico and rode the Gran Fiesta Tour since it's been awhile.

Now I was ready to go back to Future World. And I hit a number of the uncrowded attractions -- M:S, LWtL, CoL, JII -- before heading out shortly before 7pm. It was a "light" Disney day.

I headed back to downtown to spend some time with friends. And on Sunday, I had the intention of just driving home, but my car needed gasoline and the stations in that area were out. I knew that Disney would be well-stocked, so I headed over to LBV to fill-up and also made a quick visit to DHS.

I went over to TSMM! where and 50min estimate became 65 mins, but I was beside a really cool family, and I had a really fun time. During the alien ring-toss game, Buzz Lightyear told us to "put down our rings" and Lisa (my ride partner) and I screamed out "NO!!!" at the same time. HA! Then during the breaking plates game, we managed to get the tank to show up, which was a first for me. Lisa was great and made my day. Here's a link to her online photo album. I also scored the TSMM! Ring Me shirt my sister's been looking for. (Woo Shopping!).

After that, I went to go pay my respects at One Man's Dream, then before the Pixar Block Party Bash, I visited a couple attractions I almost always skip: The Great Movie Ride (which is only okay) and Drew Carey's Sounds Dangerous (which is actually not too bad after getting over how gross it is to be using those old-school foamed headphones that probably haven't been replaced since the ride opened in 1989).

BPB was okay this time around. I'm starting to feel awkward with feeling like I have to make it look like I'm totally in it for the balls at the end... like "I have no idea that there'll be ball". I'm a bad actor... so it's awkward. Anyways, I scored a red ball and a blue ball (when I was wanting a yellow or orange ball) so I gave the two away and headed out -- hoping in karma's reciprocation. And I supposed it did -- the drive home was uneventful/not difficult.

Overall, the trip was a moderate success. The haircut was a surprise -- and I'm probably back to cutting my own hair for a while. There weren't any "super" moments with CMs, but I did have a fun time at TSMM with the other guests. I was tired but managed to visit many attractions that I would usually overlook.

The Disney experience appears to becoming more "real" to me -- maybe I'm not reaching the delusionally naivety I entered the park with in years past -- but still with much respect for the company and services that they try to provide for the masses.

Once again, pictures from the visit are after the itinerary. The pics are not particularly organized, just hodge-podge.
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Here's what I did this visit:

DAY 1
TTC (MINNIE 39), Dark Blue Monorail to MK

MAGIC KINGDOM
- Astro Orbitor
- Tomorrowland Transit Authority
- Space Mountain (quietest ride)
- The Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh
- Peter Pan's Flight
- (Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (down))
- Splash Mountain
- Tom Sawyer Island (fort cool, caves smell)
- Hall of Presidents
- First Aid (band-aids)
- Barber Shop (Michal, short cut)

Light Blue Monorail to CONTEMPORARY
- Tower Construction Progress

Black Monorail to TTC

Car to Epcot

EPCOT (CREATE 44)
- Spaceship Earth
- Project Tomorrow
- Cool Club
- (Universe Of Energy (bailed for food))
- O Canada In CircleVision (don't like the refurbed film)
- Impressions Of France (love this film and music, but sleepy)
- Yakitori House (Tonosama combo with large iced green tea)
- Maelstrom (including the movie)
- Gran Fiesta Tour
- Mission:Space (green/less-intense version, little girl freaked)
- Living With The Land
- Circle Of Life
- Journey Into Imagination
- (Soarin' (wasn't feeling it, so bailed))

DAY 2
DISNEY'S HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS (FILM 25)
- Toy Story Midway Mania! (SB 50->65mins; 191,000)
- One Man's Dream
- The Great Movie Ride
- Sounds Dangerous (yes, Sounds Dangerous)
- Pixar's Block Party Bash

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