Thankfully Doug had to actually go to his convention and work for a few days before our next adventure to give us time to recover from our trips to Disney Springs and Magic Kingdom, but 6:30 am was once again too early when my alarm went off. This time it was the “Fantasmic” finale, which was more appropriate since we would be going to Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. We were no longer staying in a Disney resort so Jay and I had to pick Doug up from his convention hotel. I chose to save our Fastpass options for Hollywood Studios so we could guarantee our seats at “Fantasmic”, so we had to be there at rope drop to have a chance of getting on the big rides at Epcot.
It was about 8:20 am by the time we got through security and lined up at the Epcot touch points. They started admitting us around 8:40 and held us just in front of Spaceship Earth. I seized the opportunity to take down the Pokémon Gym and claim it for Team Valor while we were waiting. Right before nine, the Cast Members manning the ropes made the crowd repeat “No running!” Several times, which, while cute, didn’t work. We walked with purpose towards Test Track just as fast as we could. It was sitting at about a twenty minute wait by the time we got there. Not bad at all. So we waited and explained the ride’s concept as we went through the queue.
When we got to the design station, we let Doug make all the choices although we had to prod him along at some points when the timer started getting low. He was worried about riding an intense ride so early in the morning, until I assured him that his own driving was much more intense. His design placed in the vehicle and the total score was in the 190s, not bad for a first timer. Then we began the mad dash over to Soarin‘ Around the World which was already up to an hour, but what choice did we have? We hopped in line and began a lengthy discussion about Walt’s original vision for Epcot, and how it wasn’t this. I then told him the story of Oswald the Lucky, or not so lucky as it turned out, Rabbit. Doug had never heard of Oswald, but frankly most people haven’t if they’re not Walt fans. I think I can safely say Doug has now been added to this list. He later picked up a pair of Oswald ears, but decided it was too hot to keep wearing them when we changed parks.
I had a hard time not reciting the entire safety video along with Patrick Warburton, but it was about that moment when we realized Doug had no idea what the ride was. We were assigned row two, which wasn’t ideal but I refuse to be that person. Everything was fine until the seat belt check and I had to figure out how to get Duffy under the seatbelt I had already buckled. I don’t like putting him in storage bins unless I have to, I’m much happier with him in my arms so I stuffed his legs in by the buckle. Doug asked about the handles on the seats and Jay told him he wouldn’t need them, except he yelped and grabbed onto them the moment we took off, and kept giggling the entire time. I like the updated version of Soarin‘ so much better than the old one. They replaced all the jump cuts with transitions so you’re not BAM! Flying over something else. For someone who has been in video production since they were eleven, the lack of transition completely ruined the show. The new one I can actually enjoy! Doug thought it was incredible.
By the time we were done with Soarin‘, it was getting close to noon so we hurried over to Figment. I wanted to have all the Future World attractions we wanted to do finished before our lunch reservation. I realize Figment is not a ride on most people’s priority list, but with Duffy gone it is now my favorite thing at Epcot and that little dragon is adorable. I sang off key throughout the entire ride and Jay and I both had a good laugh when the air blast came, revealing all the Figments in the clouds. I have never understood why people are so startled by that part, but I love listening to the reactions. We then made a quick stop into The Seas to take a look at the manatees. Doug had never seen one before, and I adore them. Jay doesn’t understand my fascination with watching them eat lettuce and saying “Munch munch munch.” Our final stop before lunch was Living With the Land, because if you’re going to eat at Garden Grill you should see where the food comes from first! It was a nice slow relaxing ride of pointing out Hidden Mickeys before we headed upstairs to check in.
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My favorite chipmunk, Dale.
Chip gets busted!
Adorable!
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[lgc_column grid=”50″ tablet_grid=”50″ mobile_grid=”100″ last=”true”]Chip n’ Dale’s Harvest Feast at the Garden Grill is hands down my favorite character meal on property. Fresh, delicious food served family style with the chipmunks, Farmer Mickey, and Pluto. The produce is all grown in the Land greenhouses and the menu can change seasonally. This time we had pot roast instead of beef tenderloin and no tilapia, which was fine with me. The rest of food stayed consistent: turkey, potatoes, gravy, stuffing, mac and cheese with goldfish in it, Italian sausage, and French fries. Our fries went untouched, we were too busy stuffing our faces with everything else. The salad hadn’t even come out when Chip proceeded to sit down at our table to join us, until he got busted by a manager and he scrambled away with his hands up. Pluto was our next visitor, and for the first time in my life I noticed his dog tag says “If found, please return says “If found, please return to Mickey Mouse”, ADORABLE! Dale made it just in time for the main course, and got very excited when I told him that he’s my favorite. After he left, Doug got very upset, “How can you have a favorite chipmunk?” [/lgc_column]
I quickly explained one of my college program room mates was friends with Dale, so he will always have a special place in my heart. Mickey came to pester our waiter before he actually made it to our table on a quest for something to write on. He scurried around the restaurant until he found one and then rushed past our table with marker and paper held over his head in triumph.
One of the many unique things about Garden Grill is it Walt Disney World’s only rotating restaurant. It turns very slowly in a circle to take you through the scenes from the beginning of Living With the Land to an intricate jungle mural to looking out at the Land pavilion. I knew there was a Hidden Mickey in the mural but I couldn’t find it, so I asked a hostess walking by. She got a pair of pickers, a long handle used to pick up trash in the parks, and used it to point it out. It’s a full face instead of just Mickey’s head and I’m fairly certain it was only one we found that wasn’t a “Classic Mickey” (three circles).
[lgc_column grid=”50″ tablet_grid=”50″ mobile_grid=”100″ last=”false”]Chip came by to ask us how our food was, and then went off to see the next table. Suddenly, someone appeared behind us and Jay grinned from across the table. Mickey snuck up on us! He started playing peek-a-boo with Doug’s Oswald ears and then gave him a big hug. I demanded my hug next. It doesn’t matter how many times I meet Mickey, every time is magical. We took lots of photos and Mickey gave Duffy a hug before he went on his way. Then it was time for dessert! Mixed berry shortcake, which Jay ate most of. I picked around the whipped cream.[/lgc_column]
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Peek-a-mouse!
Dessert!
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I rarely tell waiters about the allergy these days, I know what I can eat and what I can’t since mine isn’t severe. I appreciate how good Disney is about allergies, but their dessert alternatives are never as good as the actual dessert. We left our amazing waitress Kristen a smiley face with the tip and began to waddle our way out. We stopped by the Fantasia topiary then it was off to see World Showcase.
My plan was always to do World Showcase after lunch, that way we would be full and less tempted to splurge on snacks. I bought two of the Epcot Easter egg maps, but I wasn’t really interested in actually finding the eggs. I just wanted the Lady and the Tramp prize eggs. I was more worried about seeing all the countries and making it over to Hollywood Studios for our first Fastpass. We wandered through Canada searching for the first one, but when I couldn’t find it after a few minutes I decided time was more important. You get the prize whether you complete the map or not. We went quickly through the U.K. and France to Morocco, which we stopped to go through the unique architecture. I always forget how much is hidden back there, you actually cannot see the rest of the park at all. It’s the most impressive immersion at Epcot.
My two favorite things in one photo.
Then it was onto my favorite pavilion, Japan. Mitsukoshi, or as I call it “the Fun Store”, has some of the most unique merchandise in the parks. Studio Ghibli collectibles, Anime, Pokémon toys, stationery, tea, chopsticks, everything! The Pokémon section hasn’t always been my favorite, but now it is, and spending money there is much too spending money there is much too tempting. Thankfully the boys pulled me away to look at other things before I made an impulse buy for a Pikachu hat. I then dragged an exasperated Doug into the “Kawaii: Japan’s Cute Culture” to show him Gelatoni with his souvenir Duffy popcorn bucket and Tippy Blue (Duffy’s seagull friend exclusive to Japan).
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Lady and the Tramp.
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[lgc_column grid=”50″ tablet_grid=”50″ mobile_grid=”100″ last=”true”]We came to the American pavilion next and Doug scoffed a little at it until I explained the American Adventure show is actually impressive and a unique telling of our history. We still walked straight past it to Italy, where Jay protested the Lady and the Tramp topiary, “They eat pasta! THEY’RE NOT IN ITALY!” We honestly spent more time taking pictures of the flowers than we did looking at the actual buildings. We breezed through the rest of World Showcase and stopped into what used to be the Duffy store to get the prizes for the egg hunt. I think we found two of them, but I got my cute little eggs, and we headed towards the park exit. Time to head for Disney’s Hollywood Studios.[/lgc_column]
We practically had to run to Tower of Terror, World Showcase had taken longer than I expected and we were just on the edge of being too late for our Fastpass. I think we made it with two minutes to spare. We then took our time going through the queue to catch our breath and so Doug could take it all in. I can safely say the spooky attractions are his favorites, and he likes the attention to detail they have. He completely freaked out in the preshow area when Rod Serling appeared on screen, apparently he’s a big fan of The Twilight Zone and I never knew. Jay was quick to start pointing out all the artifacts on the upper shelves of the library. The vast majority of them are props or recreations from episodes. The door opened and I bolted through it, putting us at the head of the line. We went down the left side of the line and thankfully I was paying attention when they called for a group of three or less, I probably saved us five minutes. Except then I was mortified as the Bellhop went through her safety spiel with Jay and Doug talking over her, until she put Jay on the spot, “What way do your seat belts buckle?” He had to mime buckling it, but at least he knew the answer. I just covered my face with my hands.
We loaded in and once again it was right about the time we were about to take off when we realized Doug had no idea what was about to happen. “Does it drop?” I didn’t have time to answer before the first plunge. Doug was somewhere between laughing and yelling, and Jay was a continuous stream of what I call his roller coaster laugh. Duffy put his paws in the air and I held tight onto him. We came to the exit and Jay pointed out the creepy dummy behind us, supposedly it’s from the show too.
Our next priority was getting water and making our way to Star Tours to knock out our next Fastpass. The boys got distracted however and wandered into Villains in Vogue to look at the Nightmare Before Christmas merchandise. I got bored and wound up making friends with the Cast Member rearranging the tsum tsums, her name was Logan and she was awesome.
I finally dragged Doug and Jay out of the store towards Star Tours. I was walking about twenty feet ahead of them and Jay fussed at me to slow down and let Doug look around. “My walking ahead of you is not preventing that. He can take all the time he wants.” We had just passed the droid scanning baggage when I heard them call for another party of three, and my hand shot up. We were sent down to Terminal D in Row 4, except when we got into the vehicle there weren’t enough seats. There were only two, but Row 5 had an empty seat so Jay sat back there by himself. I thought they would make him the Rebel Spy to make up for this, but I was disappointed. Star Tours has 96 different destination combinations, but I always seem to get Hoth. Stormtroopers showed up as our ship took off and we found ourselves blasting off to Kashyyyk, which I’ve only seen maybe four times so that was great. Then BB-8 transmitted himself on board to deliver a message about the Rebel Spy, and R2-D2 sent us off to find the almost completed Death Star much to C3PO’s dismay, and then Boba Fett showed up to chase us. I only recently became a real Star Wars fan but I’m still confused about the time line of this ride… Doug thought it was amazing though and that’s all that matters. The Cast Member who had miscounted his rows was waiting for us by the 3D glasses bin with Fastpasses for all three of us good for any attraction. We were ecstatic! Toy Story Midway Mania was suddenly an option.
Star Wars photo op!
The Great Movie Ride had to come first though. Doug and I both have backgrounds in movies and film, though in very different ways. (As an added bonus, he was actually in the first real movie I ever made that no one will ever see.) It was only at a thirty minute wait so we just made our way through the queue, and Doug was fascinated by all of the movie relics on display. Our tour guide, Matt, was highly energetic and dedicated to his corresponding with the voice of Mr. Osborne. I am once again one of those terrible people who prefer the updated version of an attraction to the original, but I mostly prefer the new highlights reel at the end.
Back alleys of New York in the Great Movie Ride.
“Ready when you are, CB!” We made our way into the classic musical segment and I heard Doug remark about the rain effect. We moved past Mary Poppins to the back alley gangster movie set and Doug told me the sound effects sounded more like a cap gun than blanks. I have no idea what the difference is, but he was certainly confused as our vehicle was heisted. Every new scene brought a new exclamation from Doug, and a few times I had to resist the urge to smack him since there were little ears around. He was so genuinely excited it was hard to be mad. We reached the end and Doug shook Matt’s hand on the way out to thank him.
Duffy wasn’t very helpful.
We headed straight for Toy Story Midway Mania to use the Fastpasses given to us at Star Tours. There was some argument to who Doug would ride with, and I lost at “Rock, Paper, Scissors” fair and square. I prefer riding with someone to try to trip the Easter Eggs but I also knew I wouldn’t be able to explain them to Doug fast enough on his first time. Jay won “Best in Vehicle” and my score was about my average score. For someone who knows a lot of the secrets, I’ve never been very good at video games.
Our “Fantasmic” Fastpass was fast approaching, but it left just enough time for “One Man’s Dream”. It is one of my favorite shows and I think it does a wonderful job of explaining Disney history quickly and in a way that’s easily understood by people who aren’t super fans. I wish they would stop replacing it with movie previews. I like the previews but they can go somewhere else. I left Doug to read the exhibits while I checked the countdown to the next showing. I came back, “You have six minutes to read everything in here.” So we breezed through the rest of the museum. I had heard Moana’s meet and greet had been added there, but it made me sad to see they had taken out the models of Tokyo Disneysea, California Adventure, and Animal Kingdom to make room. I feel like the warehouse they used for Mickey’s temporary meet and greet would have been a better use of space, where The Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow used to be. We sat down for the fifteen minute film narrated by Julie Andrews and I braced myself, I rarely make it to the end without crying. To my surprise, when the lights came up, I was not the only one wiping my eyes. Not one but BOTH of the boys had been brought to tears!
We arrived at the “Fantasmic” theater around 7:40, ten minutes before our Fastpass was even supposed to start, and the first two sections were already filled! Two other sections were reserved for VIP and Dining Package and the third Fastpass section was halfway full. We had to go much closer than I would have liked in order to find good viewing. “We’re going to get wet!” Jay was right however, it was the best we could do. I hate it when he’s right.
First Mickey ice cream!
With forty minutes left until show time, I debated out loud if I wanted to go get a funnel cake. This instead turned into me being sent for a pretzel, ice cream, water and a funnel cake. I went to the concession stand at the top of the next section and was able to take care of the water and pretzel there, but had to venture down next to the bathrooms to find Doug ice cream. I still couldn’t find the funnel cakes so I opted for the cinnamon glazed pecans instead. At the last minute I panicked and couldn’t decide if he would like a Mickey Bar or Ice Cream Sandwich better and my hands were too full to text, so I bought both. Jay wound up with the spare.
The closer we got to 8:30, the better the music got. The entire stadium sang “Don’t Stop Believing” out loud, followed by “Love is an Open Door”. No one else knew the words so I did an off key duet by myself, and then the lights went down!
“Fantasmic” is my favorite show at all of Walt Disney World, but I really only care about Mickey. Everything else in between tends to drag for me, so I mostly watched Doug’s reactions. We had different favorite parts but I couldn’t stop smiling watching him. He teared up a few times, and then my attention was torn away by Sorcerer Mickey appearing at the top of the mountain. Now it was my turn to cry as the fireworks went off and the music swelled. Thinking about it now gives me goosebumps and my heart is in my throat. I love the “Fantasmic” finale. It gets me every time. “Some imagination, huh!?” POOF!
The lights came up and I had to wipe my eyes again. We joined the huge rush of people trying to exit the stadium and the discussion turned to the fact that while Hollywood Studios was now closed, Magic Kingdom would be open until midnight. That decision took no time at all and we did our best to get to the car quickly. Driving, parking, security and monorail, and we still made it to Mainstreet U.S.A. just in time for Wishes. Instead we headed for Mickey’s line, and I thought it would be short with people
watching the fireworks, but I was wrong. It would probably be all we had time for. It took a little over an hour to meet the Mouse, but this time we got to see him do a card trick! “Is this your card?” “No…”
We were done and there was time for one more ride, so we made a mad dash for the Haunted Mansion. It was at a walk on so we took our time through the interactive queue, looking at all the details. Jay showed Doug the five busts and put him to work solving the murder mystery that I had no idea was a thing. We finally entered the foyer and we tried to stand in the stretch room for an extra moment to hear the final sound effects, but we got yelled at by the Butler working instead. It’s fifteen minutes before closing and the ride is empty, good grief. Completely unnecessary. We hopped in our Doom Buggy and Jay continued to point out all the details a second time. The Hitchhiking Ghosts now play off your Magic Band so we got the same reaction they did the last time. I get the concept but I’m not sure I like it better than the old interactions. Maybe it would be better if the sign didn’t read “FLORIDA”, but it’s the home address on my Magic Band obviously. We got out just before close and the boys opted to ride a second time in their own buggies to try to get different interactions. I decided to go wait in the Hub and Jay handed me his Magic Band so it wouldn’t pick up. Apparently the Ghosts were much better the second time around, and they skipped the Stretch Room entirely. I sat out by the Castle to watch it turn colors and people watch. The boys arrived just after the “Kiss Goodnight” started and I refused to move until it ended. It’s a simple show with the lights on Cinderella Castle changing and the music from “When You Wish Upon a Star” with a narrator thanking you for spending your day at the Magic Kingdom. It’s short and to the point, but a wonderful, magical touch and the perfect ending to our day.
Then began the long trudge back to the monorail as we started to realize exactly how much our feet hurt. To my shock, we took almost a thousand steps fewer on the day we changed parks from Epcot to Hollywood Studios to Magic Kingdom than the day we spent solely at Magic Kingdom with 34,175 compared to the previous 35,023 but it occurs to me we were still in the park at midnight when the day cuts off, so the walk out wasn’t included. Any way you look at it, we did about 30 miles in two days at Disney.
Check back for the final part of Doug’s first trip as I take him to Disney’s Animal Kingdom for a few hours before the drive to the airport.
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