More Fun Times Before Real Works Begins!

     Hold on tight, guys. This is going to be one long post! On Sunday, I went to Downtown Disney with a friend to take advantage of our holiday discount before it's over. We had a great time, and I got to go to Earl of Sandwich! I absolutely love that place, they make such good sandwiches! Parking there is an absolute mess right now, but Disney is working hard to make it better and the new parking garage is beautiful. After DTD we parted ways as she had to get to work, and I headed to Epcot. It was already pretty late when I got there, but I still got to go on most of my favorites! I rode Nemo, Soarin', and Spaceship Earth, and beyond that I just wandered around both Future World and World Showcase. While in World Showcase, I also found a good spot and watched Illuminations again! After that, I went home and went to bed, ready for another day of fun in the parks on Monday!

Spaceship Earth is so beautiful at night!

Illuminations, from a much better vantage point!

     On Monday, I went to Hollywood Studios as I continued my park-a-day adventure. Although a little eventful, it was still wonderful. I went on basically everything, except Midway Mania because the line is somehow always ridiculous! I'm going to have to get there right at opening or have a Fastpass for it. I also skipped Rockin' Roller Coaster, because the line was just too long. The first thing I did was go on Tower of Terror, which was totally awesome! It's the only ride that still makes me nervous, I love it! After that, I saw the Beauty and the Beast show, which is fantastic. They manage to include all of the major songs and everything! Right after Beauty and the Beast, I walked out of the theater to find that the nice, sunny day was gone, and suddenly it was gray skies and cold rain. Of course, I managed to forget my coat, so I ran into the closest store and bought a poncho. I would've waited it out, but I could just tell that it was the kind of rain that comes and stays for a while. Besides Tower, which I also rode again later, I also went on Star Tours I love how they've added other storylines, so it's a different ride every time. The Great Movie Ride was also a lot of fun! Before leaving, I also took the time to go through One Man's Dream and watch the show, it's a really interesting exhibit. I really enjoyed the opportunity to learn more about Walt and the making of Mickey and the gang, and how one small idea led to all of this. After that, I headed home with the intention of getting to bed early enough to get to Magic Kingdom early the next day!

The remains of the hat. Although huge, I still loved seeing it and I'm very curious what the main icon will be now.

The Tower of Terror! Such a fantastic ride!!!

This ride terrified me when I was little. I blame you, Dad :) Great theming though!

     Although I got to bed at a decent time, I still didn't make it into Magic Kingdom as early as I'd hoped. I explored alone for a little while, but unfortunately it was an incredibly crowded which I wasn't expecting at all, since the crowd projection wasn't too bad. I went to Monsters, which is always a joy, then met up with some friends. Right after getting together, we decided to head out of Magic Kingdom because all of the lines were just too long. So, we caught a bus over to Animal Kingdom and played around there for a little while, as it was the exact opposite of Magic Kingdom. The waits for both Kilamanjaro and Everest were less than 20 minutes, it was amazing! At least with Everest, it almost felt too short. I've always loved looking at all of the details in the queue itself, it's amazing how dedicated the Imagineers were to portraying the Himalayas in an accurate manner.

I've always loved the okapis, they're just the coolest animals!

The big male elephant along the Kilamanjaro trail!

And the rhinos, of course! The name white rhino is actually from a faulty translation, which I thought was pretty interesting.

     After Kilamanjaro, we went to Hollywood Studios for a little while where we had an awesome time! The lines were also incredibly short there, except for the usuals... Toy Story and Rockin' Roller Coaster, which were both crazy. We went on the single rider line for Rockin', and unfortunately it also took forever. But, it was totally worth it! It always feels a little too short, but it's definitely still a great ride. Finally, we went on the hunt for a cream cheese pretzel (we were foiled in that plan), and along the way managed to find Cinderella's carriage for the new film! Which inspired us to watch the preview for it, and it was  excellent! I'm so much more excited to see the movie now, it looks like it'll be pretty good!

Cinderella's carriage! It is absolutely gorgeous!

    Finally, we headed back to Magic Kingdom so that my friends could head home, as they were feeling pretty tired. I stayed for a while longer because I really wanted to ride Seven Dwarves Mine Train, and I was hoping that waiting until during Wishes or something would be helpful. Sadly, it's still new enough that that doesn't help very much. I did end up biting the bullet and braving the wait, and although it took about an hour it was a really great ride! It still felt a little short, but overall it's well done and beautifully designed. And, a lot of fun! When I got off, I noticed that the line didn't look nearly as long, so I rode it again. I sat next to a lady who talked to me the whole ride the first time, which was nice but a little frustrating, so this time I was by myself and I enjoyed it quite a bit more! Besides Seven Dwarves, I also rode Space Mountain and Big Thunder with nice, short waits.

And of course, it seems right to end with a picture of the castle :)

     Overall, it was a fantastic four days of playing in the parks! I've been training and working ever since, which I'll write more about in my next post. Thank you for reading, and have a magical day!

-Christie