SandmanGStefani24
02-13-2009, 09:14 PM
After deciding to swing over to Florida to check out the Duel at Daytona races, I looked for hotels and spotted a deal online for $49 a night at a WDW value resort. Hmm, I figured it would only be about an hour drive to Daytona from WDW, so I decided to merge two of my interests and get going! I managed to avoid the severe weather that hit the middle states and caused the tornadoes and hit Orlando around 1:45. I drove down, thinking that a map was not necessary with all the WDW signage and having a general idea of where it was. Unfortunately, my sense of direction lets me down usually when I have to decide where to go in a new situation. If there is a choice to be made, I make the wrong one. Need to go left? You gessed it, I'm heading right. Finally, somewhere around Downtown Disney, I spotted a WDW bus with the Marquee reading, All Star Resorts, and I made an illegal U-Turn to follow it. I became frustrated going a whopping 25 MPH behind this thing, hitting all the red lights, but after an hour of driving in circles, I figured going somewhere slowly beats the heck out of going nowhere fast.
I finally made it to the parks almost around 4PM. I figured I would be stuck missing most of the rides due to waits and no fastpasses, but to my suprise, the wait times were minimal. :eek: (which was strange since there seemed to be a lot of people at the parks...or at least as many as usual) I pretty much rode what I pleased, with the longest wait being about 15 minutes for Pirates of the C. I thought my good fortune had run out when the TTA broke down. I walked over to Space Mountain for my faspass and noticed people were walking out of the fastpass line saying it was shut down for an unknown amount of time. The line was only a few people long, so I decided to hang out in the cool shade and see if it would reopen. Luckily after only about 5 minutes it started up again and I was on in no time. It was a great ride as always, and I loved it. Still, I felt like it was faster this time, and felt a little roughed up walking out of there...
My unfortunate navigational skills and the non working rides later turned out to be lucky. I rode Thunder Mntn later in the evening, and right at the top before the first drop, Cindy's castle was lit up bright purple against the darkening sky. Folks, if you haven't seen it from this angle, you're missing a gem! I then made my way back to tomorrowland to check on the TTA and it was now working too. The views at night are amazing! I walked off and noticed that the wait time for Buzz was 5 minutes, and walked in to see it was an actual wait time of 0 minutes! I got everything and then some done in no time. I finished the evening with a chili cheese dog at ASM, and drinks at Singing Spirits. I slept them both off that evening quite nicely. Epcot awaits tomorrow, if I can keep from getting lost again. :D
I finally made it to the parks almost around 4PM. I figured I would be stuck missing most of the rides due to waits and no fastpasses, but to my suprise, the wait times were minimal. :eek: (which was strange since there seemed to be a lot of people at the parks...or at least as many as usual) I pretty much rode what I pleased, with the longest wait being about 15 minutes for Pirates of the C. I thought my good fortune had run out when the TTA broke down. I walked over to Space Mountain for my faspass and noticed people were walking out of the fastpass line saying it was shut down for an unknown amount of time. The line was only a few people long, so I decided to hang out in the cool shade and see if it would reopen. Luckily after only about 5 minutes it started up again and I was on in no time. It was a great ride as always, and I loved it. Still, I felt like it was faster this time, and felt a little roughed up walking out of there...
My unfortunate navigational skills and the non working rides later turned out to be lucky. I rode Thunder Mntn later in the evening, and right at the top before the first drop, Cindy's castle was lit up bright purple against the darkening sky. Folks, if you haven't seen it from this angle, you're missing a gem! I then made my way back to tomorrowland to check on the TTA and it was now working too. The views at night are amazing! I walked off and noticed that the wait time for Buzz was 5 minutes, and walked in to see it was an actual wait time of 0 minutes! I got everything and then some done in no time. I finished the evening with a chili cheese dog at ASM, and drinks at Singing Spirits. I slept them both off that evening quite nicely. Epcot awaits tomorrow, if I can keep from getting lost again. :D