Ft. Wilderness - Nov 1-8, Part 4
Yawn. We woke early. Got Rise of the Resistance boarding group at 7 AM. Rejoiced briefly, then went back to sleep for a bit. They'd just started allowing you to try to get a boarding group on-line outside the park, and it worked very well.
Later, we rose and enjoyed a quiet and sunny morning. We were at the back end of a loop, so there weren't many people going by (except on golf carts). The folks in the site next to us had already left - and around 9 a cast member came by to wash it down and get it ready for the next guest.
We've stayed in a fair number of campgrounds over the years, and Ft. Wilderness is far and away the best we've ever seen. The bathhouses are sparkling, everything is CLEAN - and as always the attention to making sure everything is just right is such that it's the very few things that aren't that stick out - like burned out bulbs at walkways and such. Otherwise? It's about as perfect a campground as we've ever been in. (Just needs pizza delivery, like one in Kansas had, lol. But man, that place was Gnat City... no mosquitoes at Disney!)
We eventually got around and headed to Hollywood Studios for our second HS day. RoTR, of course - and lunch somewhere in Galaxy's Edge. We had a dining reservation for the Brown Derby, and were really looking forward to it! Smuggler's Run a second time? We considered it, and decided against it.
The campground bus arrived (after about five minutes waiting) - and the HS bus arrived just a few minutes after we got to the stop. We were the only ones on the bus (It was around 10 at this point - like I said we really weren't in any hurry.) and once we were dropped off we headed in. Again, I stopped and bought some MORE pins. (No, I can quit at any time. I just don't want to, you know?:blush:)
ROTR was nearly a walk-on. My lovely bride got me in trouble with one of the guards by whispering to me after we'd been captured. Fortunately, we escaped before they could interrogate me. I'd have been in trouble, because I REALLY didn't know anything!
Seriously, again I'm impressed by what the Imagineers have dished out in this ride. The technology is almost seamless throughout - and you've REALLY got to look for the cracks in it. Overall? 9.5 out of 10 for immersion and storytelling.
Lunch was at Docking Bay 7. 2 Kid's Meals of the fried Tip-Yip. We decided we didn't want a big meal, not if we were going to the Brown Derby later. I tried the Moof Juice - I'd definitely get that again. (And wouldn't mind a shot of vodka in it.)
My lovely bride wanted another chance at Toy Story Mania - so we got into line for that. It was a long one, stretching back to Animation Courtyard - but it was shorter than the Slinky Dog Dash line and moved rather fast. After she beat me AGAIN she suggested we get in line for Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway. That one was a lot longer, and... a lot slower. We proceeded to wind slowly through the queue... and through the queue... and through the queue.... and finally into the building! The preshows aren't going, of course - and we look forward to when we can see the ride as it was actually imagined. (Think about RoTR without the preshow room. That'd really take away a lot of the 'magic' of the ride.) But once we were loaded into the train, the fun began.
This ride is another where there's SO much detail one you get into the ride proper it's hard to take it all in with just one pass. I wouldn't have minded the ride being slower, I wanted to gawk! Overall, if something had to replace the Great Movie Ride (which I remembered with great fondness) this was a worthy successor.
As we left, I remarked that so far we hadn't seen a cavalcade. I really wanted to see the Green Army Men drummers... and about thirty seconds later the music swelled and guess who wandered by! Ah... I really like this place...
We still had some time to go before our reservation, so my lovely bride and I went through Star Tours - which was almost a walk-on. She noticed our names came up on a message board midway through the queue - but I didn't catch it in time to really read what was going on. Something about us being wanted criminals, maybe? (I figure our MagicBands gave us away...)
Then it was over to the Brown Derby Lounge to hydrate and relax. And they had Schofferhofer Grapefruit beer :beer: ... which was just right for an hour or so spent watching people pass by.
A quick note on conditioning - I'll admit that our first couple of days at the park were kind of rough. We really aren't used to a whole lot of walking around, and our jobs are a bit on the sedentary side. (At least mine is - she occasionally gets to go to other buildings where she works.) We're also a bit older than the usual crowd here... but about the third day we were doing a lot better. (Our mileage totals weren't that impressive - maybe 6-7 miles each day. I've got a friend who's a Disney fanatic who'll do 12 miles or more in a day, crossing a park at high speed to get to something with a 10-minute shorter wait. We weren't about to match that!) By the end, we were practically feeling fit! :mickey:
After several rounds at the bar, it was time for our reservation and we had a leisurely and excellent meal - she had the butternut squash soup and plant-based Salisbury Steak while I had the tuna carpaccio and the Waygu burger. The service was excellent, as were the mojitos!
Afterwards, we took a stroll around Echo Lake and did a rare foray into the shops on Hollywood Boulevard, buying some Christmas ornaments. I actually avoid the Pin store this time... (See? I CAN stop! If I want to.:blush:) And on the other side, we looked through the stores at the various clothing and costumes on offer - but nothing we really wanted.
Overall, with HS they've done such a good job constructing this park it always felt like there was something else to see no matter where you looked. We were quite happy with the day, and headed back to Ft. Wilderness. We thought about getting on the Skyliner for a Sunset Ride - but apparently a lot of other people had the same idea and we didn't want to wait for what looked like twenty, thirty minutes. So we bypassed it - and all things considered that was fine.
Back at the camp, we talked about the day. The one thing we missed was Rock'n Roller Coaster. Well, that'll be the priority next November! Hopefully things will be Covid-Free by then, with masking and social distancing a memory, and the preshows will be going again.
It had been another great Disney day. But tomorrow was... Universal.
