In the last installment.....the Hound & the young Padewan had just exited BTMRR for the 4th time (or was it the 5th) & were in a finely tuned groove. Ride the runaway train.....do stuff for an hour.....& then back to the train......rinse & repeat.....(& eat every 88 1/2 minutes
).
After exiting the train, we again turned right to take the
backway around to Fantasyland. I wanted to ride Storybookland & we both wanted to ride Roger Rabbit. We had thought about riding the train (hopping on next to HM) & riding it to Toon Town , but figured that hoofing it would get us there quicker & besides....we are tireless Jedi's.
A few yards down on the right side of the pathway, a family was stopped & taking a picture of a cactus. I thought to myself "Good...the more folks taking pictures of cacti & stuff.....the fewer people riding rides"....
...but i was a little TOO quick with the snark & I was wrong. They were not just taking a picture of a cactus......they were taking a picture of a cactus that had.....a
Mickey Head!!! Alec & I both agreed that THAT was pretty cool.....but then continued on after 2-3 seconds.....because we had rides to ride.
Storybookland was again very crowded (it looked like the parade was about to start) & i was bummed because I had ridden it twice on my very first trip to DLR (after 40 years in the wilderness).....once at night & once during the day......(I love the detail on this ride & the relaxing vibe i feel....Storybookland is a wonderful, calm place....& it's smack dab in the middle of crowded Fantasyland (Saturday night) bedlam. But i've missed it each of the past 4 times we've visited DLR....either because it was closed, or because i didn't feel like waiting in the longish line. I must do it next time in the early AM!!!
Onward to Roger Rabbit. It had a perfect 6-8 min. line....perfect because RR is one
the most fun queues at DLR. In fact, i enjoy the queue almost as much as the ride....& because of this (imo), it's better to avoid FPing Roger Rabbit...especially if the line is 15 min. or less.
After successfully outsmarting those dastardly weasels & avoiding the
"Dip" (which i guess is the same stuff they used on the Wicked Witch of the West")......but not spending NEARLY enough time with our sweet friend Jessica Rabbit
.....the Hound Jedi's departed Toon Town. Alec is a year or two past the age that Toon Town has much of an interest for him (except for RR)....so it was off to conquer new frontiers.
Walking back towards Fantasyland, (& walking behind those tall shrub/trees, since the pathway in front of IASW was blocked off & had there were hundreds sitting down in anticipation for the parade),..... I couldn't believe my eyes. A group of people were boarding onto a boat on Storybookland.....AND THERE WAS NO LINE!!!
Alec & i raced over & the nice CM politely informed me that Storybookland would be closed for half an hour.... because of the parade.
Rats!!! Foiled again!!!!!
Alec....being the observent Padewan that he is....& wanting to make his ol' Dad feel better......said "it's ok Dad.....there's no line for the Teacups".....and he pointed over to the 4-5 people happily waiting in line for that most evil of rides....that Mad Hatter's Tea Cups....whose line was barely 20 feet away.
Having successfully avoided this ride on our last two visits to DLR.....I was busted. At least it was a pretty night (i figured) & the lanterns looked cool & after all....how much damage could a 60 lb padewan do to a slowly spinning cup??
After sitting down into our cup (which had virtually NO line...even though the area around it was JAMMED with people), i asked a nice lady in the cup next to our's, if she could take a pic....interestingly, the cups are so close together that I could reach out & hand her the camera. Here's Hound & the Padewan....hoping that Texas Tech & Bama losses... so the their beloved Horns can return to their rightful spot in the College Football Natl Champ Game. (hook'em):
Just as the spinning ride from h*ll began moving,.... a miracle occurred.....the parade (that we didn't intend to watch)...started to pass by & we (kind of) had an unblocked front row seat. The cups were moving around, but Alec & i didn't spin our little death trap cup because we were watching the cool floats go by.
But after a couple of floats, our little padewan got tired of the watching & waving & decided to start spinning, but thankfully the ride was about half over & I survived it.....knackwursts, jalapeno cheese pretzels & dole whips all intact.
After exiting the tea cups, the parade was still passing, so we went back thru FantasyLand..... first we checked on Toady (the line was still pretty long, rats....) & then decided to start head back towards that wacky runaway train....aka BTMRR. BUT.....since we had survived those evil teacups....& were about to board the
wildest ride in the wilderness....we figured that NOW was probably about as good a time as any ........to grab some Mexican food.
....Lucky for us, we were walking right by the good ol' Rancho del Zocalo. Where we were able to split an order of beef soft tacos & also a slice of tres leches cake. (& for those not familiar.....Tres Leches Cake, after the fast pass machine...... is probably the greatest item EVER invented in North America). The tacos provided necessary fuel for our young padewan (with the hollow leg).... & we both enjoyed the tres leches cake (using two plastic forks, of course
).....not quite as good as the homemade versions that i used to enjoy when people would bring them on birthdays when i worked in San Antonio......but darn good for theme park food.
As everyone here knows....the Zocalo is next door to the BTMRR, so we walked a few steps......picked up a FP (of course)......observed the one hour return.....observed that there was a 45 min. standby wait......& used our old FPs to enter..... & walked by the 636 people in the standby line......who grumbled as we walked (with a purpose) by them
.....& we boarded the
Wildest Ride in the Wilderness for the 5th time.....or was it the 6th?..... (but the first time at night
) following a FP wait line of about 2 minutes.
Just as much fun the fifth (or 6th?) time of the day as it was the first time.
Next up....will we make it to the fireworks??
& if not, is it possible to carry a 9 y/o sleeping Padewan filled with 23 lbs of Disney junk food??..... & How far??
your writing style. you've got me hooked. Can't wait for more!
Wow! You just made my head spin in your whirl of a day! The next time I go, I know to PM you for advice for how to get things done in that park! 
