Day 2:
7:05am Alarm
I expected to wake up way earlier due to jetlag but after such a busy day my body must have needed the sleep.
7:32am Leaving the motel
8:03am Arriving at Animal Kingdom parking lot
The park was scheduled to open at 9 and I knew the recommendation for rope drop is arriving 90 minutes early but because I slept longer than anticipated it couldn’t be helped anymore. I contemplated skipping Animal Kingdom altogether this morning or at least skipping Pandora since I had already done it but then decided to still try it. Also, if you paid attention: The headline is 9 Orlando parks in 3 days but then I started with Day 0 for arrival and Animal Kingdom After Hours so if I didn’t visit the park again during the official 3 days I’d need a new headline
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They let the first pack of people into the park around 8:30 but then stopped the line for a while. I was in the second pack. Not exactly pole position. About 10 minutes later they let the second pack in and of course we headed towards Pandora where we joined the first pack waiting to get into the land. Another 10 minutes later they led us all into the queue of Flight of Passage.
I am so glad I went back to Pandora this morning because the themed land looks incredible at daytime!! It did look pretty at night for After Hours but this morning with the rising sun and some morning fog and the floating rocks it was absolutely jaw dropping. So beautiful!
09:02 am Flight of Passage pre show room one
09:16am Done riding
Considering the current standby line was way over 2 hours now, I guess I should have felt accomplished for already having ridden it just 16 minutes after park opening. But still, I wish I had arrived at the park half an hour earlier because the next ride on my agenda didn’t go so smoothly anymore:
09:29am Kilimanjaro Safaris (30 minute wait)
It took a long time fighting the crowds to cross the bridge into Africa and once I got there the Safaris line was a solid half an hour wait. I assume for the folks that were on the first Flight of Passage ride of the day, it was still a walk on.
The Safari ride is excellent though, much better than the ones at other theme parks. I love how they grow so many species of African trees that make your surroundings look legitimately like Africa.
10:51am Back in my car
Originally I had planned to do a few more rides before leaving by 11. Me arriving later than planned and the park being very busy by now prevented that. No problem, thanks to After Hours I got my fair share of rides the other night.
11:11am Arrival at Disney Hollywood Studios
Second park today, the fifth this trip for those who are counting.
11:16am Getting in line for Slinky Dog Dash roller coaster
The posted wait said 90 minutes. It was long. It was hot. It was miserable. But I knew that in advance. I had actually anticipated it to be somewhere between 90-120 minutes so this was still good, and I would have probably gotten in any line up to 3 hours for it anyway. I don’t think the coaster is really worth that kind of wait but it was the only Disney roller coaster in the world I hadn’t ridden yet so my honor as a Disney nerd demanded it.
12:43om Slinky Dog Dash
The ride was fun. It’s really nothing special but I can see this remaining popular for many years to come because it’s simply a good classic family friendly roller coaster. I would never wait more than 15 minutes for it anymore (so never ride it without a fastpass) but I’m happy to have done it.
I briefly popped into One Man’s Dream next to admire the Imagineering model of Tokyo Disney SEA but unfortunately it has been replaced by some Star Wars models. I get that Star Wars is popular and Galaxy’s Edge is going to be cool but this is getting a little too much...
12:59pm Muppet vision 3D
It’s not just my favorite attraction at Disney’s Hollywood Studios but it’s still my number one 3D movie in the entire world. And trust me, I have literally watched about a hundred. The Muppets are super funny. It’s a pity they removed this from California Adventure and I hope it will stay in Orlando for many more happy years. When I walked in I “had” to watch the entire pre show because I had just missed a showing, which in this rare case is actually a good thing since even the pre show is hilarious.
01:41pm Grabbing an ice coffee and leaving the park
The only other attractions I would have wanted to do were The Great Movie Ride (unfortunately closed forever) and Tower of Terror (too much of a wait and at least there was the possibility of coming back tomorrow night for After Hours although that wasn’t my plan).
02:12om Epcot
Park 3 for today. What an amazing feeling to enter future world again after 10 years and walking towards Spaceship Earth.
02:19pm The Seas with Nemo and friends
It was a lot better than I remembered. The projections in the actual aquarium are really good and the song “In this big blue world” stays with you. I don’t know why, I enjoyed it more than the submarines at Disneyland, possibly because it’s so much easier to ride without the longer waits and climbing into the sub.
02:34pm Mission Space (Fastpass)
I panicked! Not remembering too much from my last ride on this and already getting nauseous from Harry Potter and Avatar (I’m not usually like that!) made me really worry about this one. All those warnings Disney shows you before the ride and the news articles about the incidents from back in the day didn’t help either. I got pretty nervous and asked the cast member about the exit. He said I could exit after the pre show, during which some other guests talked me back into riding with them. I did ride. I was freaking out. It turned out to be fine, I was just panicking from what was in my head. Interesting experience because that’s not typical for me at all.
03:10pm San Angel Inn (same day reservation)
My choice for same day reservations was this or Nine Dragons. I have been at both before and liked them both but today I was craving Mexican more. The tacos al pastor were really delicious. I forgot I was in America and got an appetizer. Way too much food! I think one of the best things about EPCOT is the food in world showcase.
04:08pm Frozen (Fastpass)
Obviously it was my first time on this ride since they converted the Maelstrom flume ride. I still find it odd that they did that because the movie Frozen is not set in Norway and it doesn’t seem logical to retheme such an old ride system to such a popular new franchise. I must say the result was pretty good though. I liked the animatronics even though their faces were just projections and the music from Frozen is always nice to hear. I’m glad I finally got to ride this but I hope the upcoming Frozen attractions in Hong Kong and Paris will be a lot bigger and more modern.
04:38pm Journey into your Imagination with Figment
Believe it or not, I was looking forward to this ride a lot and it didn’t disappoint one bit! Figment is so cute and funny. I know it’s dated, I know it’s cheesy. I didn’t even grow up with this but still I can’t help but feel nostalgic for this ride. The song is so catchy, too.
04:53pm Spaceship Earth
THE ride in EPCOT. I mean it’s even located inside the park’s iconic sphere. I imagine Walt envisioned more rides like this that were educational and entertaining at the same time. I love that it’s so long and that you slowly travel forwards in time. The moment when you arrive at the top and see the earth from space is amazing. I hope during the upcoming major refurbishment they don’t mess with it too much and just find a better solution for the descent than just the monitor in front of you.
05:37pm Character meet
I wouldn’t have allocated much time for meeting characters this trip but there were instant Fastpass+ reservations available so I gladly said hi to Mickey and Goofy.
05:54pm Living with the Land
Another classic EPCOT ride. I just love it. It feels more like you’re in a museum than in a theme park and I’m saying this as a good thing. I just wish they still played the theme song.
06:18pm Spaceship Earth (again)
How could I not ride my favorite EPCOT ride a second time?
06:50pm The Seas with Nemo and friends (again)
I probably shouldn’t have ridden it again because time was running out but it was a walk on and it was fun.
07:10pm Oh Canada
In my opinion this is the best one of all the World Showcase movies. Martin Short is genuinely funny and I like how the Canadians can be lighthearted about the whole thing and laugh about themselves and common stereotypes, too. The song Oh Canada actually put tears in my eyes, it’s so beautiful.
I really wanted to watch the other circle vision movie that can be found in the China pavilion. Back in the day I remember being impressed about how modern China seemed. Since then I have visited the country multiple times so I was curious to experience the movie again. Unfortunately when I arrived there I had just missed it and I wouldn’t have time for the next performance.
Instead, I got some delicious Baumkuchen from the Japan pavillion and made my way over to Test Track for my Fastpass, thinking I could easily do the Grand Fiesta Tour afterwards.
08:13pm Test Track
I was a bit bummed I had to wait 35 minutes (including a few minutes to create my car) despite the Fastpass. No Grand Fiesta Tour for me. But the ride itself was really interesting. They changed it a lot since last time. It was fun to see how the individually designed cars would measure up to the other riders’ designs. During the racing part in the end I could really feel that this ride is considerably faster than Radiator Spring Racers or Journey to the center of the earth, both of which use the same ride system.
09:00pm Illuminations
Originally I just wanted to find a spot somewhere in World Showcase but I barely had time to make it from Test Track to the lagoon so I watched from the center of Future World at the lagoon. In my memories this was one of the best fireworks displays ever. Well… the beginning and ending still really are. They really really are amazing! The middle part on the other hand is lacking. There’s nothing happening for a long time. In my dreams, they’ll keep the beginning and ending when they replace this show next year and just find a really good replacement for the middle part. Also, the music is really beautiful so it would be sad to replace it.
After Illuminations I made my way to my car because EPCOT was closed now and I wasn’t done for the day yet.
09:52pm Fun Spot America - Kissimmee
Theme park number 4 for today and number 7 on this trip. Some of you might argue it’s not a real theme park and you’d certainly be right that most people wouldn’t spend more than just a few hours here but hey: They have 3 roller coasters that I still hadn’t ridden yet. So for me it counts. I got those done quickly and was back in my car at 10:16pm.
10:48pm Back at my motel with Krystal
In Europe we don’t have half of the crazy fast food you have in the US. Being a huge fan of White Castle, this night was a great opportunity to get the southern version of it called Krystal again. The sliders from Krystal seem a tad higher quality than White Castle but to be honest, both count towards the worst kind of junk food I know. And I love them both. I know it’s bad for me but it’s fun every once in a while.