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Baboontyme

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9 hours ago, Baboontyme said:

If we do a park day at MK before I imagine there won't be anything of priority, other than seeing the stuff that is transformed as I would imagine HM and Pirates would be. But yeah I could imagine them wanting to get a last go round on Space Mountain or something like that if the lines were low. 

Doing rope drop at MK on a party day is great.  People avoid MK on party days because of the limited hours and people going to the party rarely get to MK early much less at rope drop.  A lot of party goers use party days to do a different park early and then head to MK for the party.  I wouldn't book any FP before 11:30 on a party day.

Edited by ShaggyBevo RIP
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2 hours ago, ShaggyBevo RIP said:

Doing rope drop at MK on a party day is great.  People avoid MK on party days because of the limited hours and people going to the party rarely get to MK early much less at rope drop.  A lot of party goers use party days to do a different park early and then head to MK for the party.  I wouldn't book any FP before 11:30 on a party day.

Good tip. That probably takes away park hopper. Hate to do an entire day at AK just for 2 rides. I feel like we've seen the rest enough to spend a whole day there. Maybe it's worth checking out Toy Story Land on a PH. That is new since we've been there. No interest in anything Star Wars related. 

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DL is just such a better trip in my opinion. 2 parks with everything being built into a much more consolidated space wins out. You get the best of the main parks (no AK or Epcot feel of course), easy in/out access, the ability to rent a house with a pool a mile from the gate, the weather, reduced crowds, plus all the other benefits of California over central Florida.WDW is worth the visit, DL is worth the return visits.


We rent a house in the neighborhood around the corner from the park. It’s a 3/2 with a putting green and it goes for like $250/night. It’s so close to the fireworks, it’s in the radius where Disney pays every home’s utility bills for the inconvenience since they rattle the windows. There’s a great view of them from the front porch. We schedule Vons to deliver groceries a couple of hours after we arrive. It’s a $4 uber ride to the DLR car share spot, which is like 100 yards from the gate. It’s just so much easier than WDW.
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Told the kids tonight and they went batshit. I think I have a plan but want to ask for opinions. Our experiences have pretty much been limited to Summer trips to MK and we never do park hopper as kids have been younger. 

We have 3 full days at the condo - Th, Fri, Sat. We are doing the NSSHP on the Friday. My kids are super into the rides, won't be so much into the trick or treating or the character greets. I will make sure see the parade. It looks to me like the only ride that won't be open that they will want to do based on past experience is the Jungle Cruise. But I also recognize that we won't want to spend the entire party time doing rides. 

They are super hype on Expedition Everest and Avatar Flight of Passage. And also want to do Dinosaur or whatever that thing is called, and the Safari. 

So - what I'm currently thinking is we buy a 1 day Park Hopper for Thursday. It's a Halloween Party day at MK (also an extra magic hour AM day that we wont' get to take advantage of b/c we're off site). But do rope drop, do our usual tour counter clockwise around the park and get everything done by noon without using any FP+. Head to AK after lunch and use FP+ for Flight of Passage and EE. And then whatever. 

Friday we just do the Halloween Party, ride anything that we missed on Thursday, plus the parades, etc. 

Does this sound ok? 

I should wear red shorts. 

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15 hours ago, Baboontyme said:

Told the kids tonight and they went batshit. I think I have a plan but want to ask for opinions. Our experiences have pretty much been limited to Summer trips to MK and we never do park hopper as kids have been younger. 

We have 3 full days at the condo - Th, Fri, Sat. We are doing the NSSHP on the Friday. My kids are super into the rides, won't be so much into the trick or treating or the character greets. I will make sure see the parade. It looks to me like the only ride that won't be open that they will want to do based on past experience is the Jungle Cruise. But I also recognize that we won't want to spend the entire party time doing rides. 

They are super hype on Expedition Everest and Avatar Flight of Passage. And also want to do Dinosaur or whatever that thing is called, and the Safari. 

So - what I'm currently thinking is we buy a 1 day Park Hopper for Thursday. It's a Halloween Party day at MK (also an extra magic hour AM day that we wont' get to take advantage of b/c we're off site). But do rope drop, do our usual tour counter clockwise around the park and get everything done by noon without using any FP+. Head to AK after lunch and use FP+ for Flight of Passage and EE. And then whatever. 

Friday we just do the Halloween Party, ride anything that we missed on Thursday, plus the parades, etc. 

Does this sound ok? 

I should wear red shorts. 

Would definitely recommend park hopper. You can easily blow through AK in 1/2  a day if you plan right. If you have a fast pass mid to late morning for flight of passage you can usually get two or three rides in on Everest first thing if you are there for rope drop. Everyone else will head to get in line at flight of passage.  

FYI. The other pandora ride kinda sucks. 

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Could not get FP+ for Flight of Passage and it's all my daughter wants to ride since she was too short last trip and got turned away at the gate. We had planned to do rope drop at MK that morning and then head to AK after lunch and it doesn't look like that's worth changing since there's Xtra MH at AK the day we're going. By the time we got to FoP if we did rope drop the wait time is already north of an hour based on what I'm seeing. Guh. So I guess we'll finally have to wait in a real line, which isn't bad considering this will be our 4th trip in 6.5 years and we haven't really waited in one yet. I guess I will keep checking to see if one opens up but I'm not optimistic. 

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In for hopefully the last trip to WDW in late January (kids will be 11, 9 and 5).  Staying at Grand Floridian so hopefully the new walkway to MK will be open by then (same concept as walkway from Contemporary).  Have never been to Pandora, Toy Story World or Galaxy's Edge so there will be quite a few new attractions.  Almost entirely skipping EPCOT this time around other than dinner and walking around World Showcase one night.

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If you've done it before you likely know this. Count out your 60 days from your first park day and get your ass online exactly at 7 AM ET to make those FP reservations. It seems like it's pretty difficult to land them for the Flight of Passage, the Slinky Dog coaster at HS (which I didn't even know existed) and still the Seven Dwarves train. 

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38 minutes ago, alincoln said:

Can't recommend it enough, particularly if you aren't paying the bill.  We also had one last time we went in 2017 and we just walked into the FP line for every ride while the guide watched the little kids or got us refreshments while we rode the rides.  

Teach me your ways, obi wan. 

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Went to Orlando with the Gf (no pics) for an extended weekend. Decided at the last minute to visit Galaxy's edge Monday. Holy shit, they did an incredible job of setting it up. Even the cast members treat you as of you're on a different planet. Smugglers run was awesome, but very similar to star tours except you get to push buttons, etc. I did geek out some and build a r-unit Droid at Droid Depot. That was a cool, but expensive experience. The crowds were very light considering this only opened a few weeks ago.

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I'd like to think the low crowds are because there's only one ride, the Catina, and the shopping stuff but I'm starting to think Disney overestimated the desire for Star Wars in their parks. Either that or people just really only care about the OT Star Wars and this land is the sequel trilogy. 

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I'd like to think the low crowds are because there's only one ride, the Catina, and the shopping stuff but I'm starting to think Disney overestimated the desire for Star Wars in their parks. Either that or people just really only care about the OT Star Wars and this land is the sequel trilogy. 
That's what I'm thinking too. Yeah, it looks great, but it's basically a Millennium Falcon in the middle of a new land. I think they need more rides/shows and that's what will bring the crowds in.
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9 minutes ago, mdmost said:

I'd like to think the low crowds are because there's only one ride, the Catina, and the shopping stuff but I'm starting to think Disney overestimated the desire for Star Wars in their parks. Either that or people just really only care about the OT Star Wars and this land is the sequel trilogy. 

Kids don't really give a shit about SW, their dads do.  They may have some toys but it's not the obsession like it was when 40-somethings were kids. 

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Kids don't really give a shit about SW, their dads do.  They may have some toys but it's not the obsession like it was when 40-somethings were kids. 
I think that's it too. When I was building my Droid, it was mainly small kids or 30-40 something men doing it. They have a shop where you can build a $200 light saber too, it was pretty much all grownups carrying those around.
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TLJ did Galaxy's Edge no favors.  Kids were obsessed with TFA.  Halloween 2016 was wall-to-wall Star Wars even though it was almost a year after the movie.  Then TLJ was released and basically killed all Star Wars momentum, including any enthusiasm for Star Wars lands based on the new trilogy.   

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2 hours ago, mdmost said:

I'd like to think the low crowds are because there's only one ride, the Catina, and the shopping stuff but I'm starting to think Disney overestimated the desire for Star Wars in their parks. Either that or people just really only care about the OT Star Wars and this land is the sequel trilogy. 

Or they made the mistake of building a land for males over 45 instead of acquiescing to JK Rowlings' demand for control over Harry Potter merchandising or trying to buy the Marvel rights east of the Mississippi(Disney owns them west of the Mississippi) from Universal. Either one would have been cheaper and connected with younger generations. The corporate head of Galaxy's Edge was fired a couple of weeks ago over the abysmal attendance results.

Disney learned nothing from the Na'vi River journey.  They cut the budget and shortened the ride and it is a flop.  Those that have ridden it will understand that, unless you rode Flights of Passage right before it, you don't get truly absorbed into the Na'vi Ride's story until about 20-30 seconds before it ends and It should have been 2-3 minutes longer. Opening Galaxy's Edge without the second ride running is history repeating itself.

 

Edited by ShaggyBevo RIP
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  • 4 weeks later...

Hit up DLR last week. I was prepared to be underwhelmed by Star Wars Land but, holy fuck,they did a phenomenal job. It truly is immersive. The lesser ride that is open now is pretty good. It’s chaotic trying to keep up with your cockpit tasks while watching the action. I only rode it once so I don’t know how it’ll hold up to repeat rides.

 

Today, on the Park n Zoom shuttle to the airport there was a family of five with matching Disney shirts...

 

Me: “land or world?”

 

Mom: “it’s these aggys first trip to DW.”

 

Me: “cool.”

 

Mom: “we’re dressing as aggy football players for Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party.”

 

Me: “youve got the not so scary part down perfectly.”

 

 

 

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My school sucks at football so let's talk about something fun. 

Currently wrapping up a long weekend in Orlando for MNSSHP. Had a great time. Staying at Marriott World Center condo just off WDW property again. Some thoughts:

  • We did a park hopper day on Thursday. Started off with rope drop at MK at 8 AM. GREAT TIP from whoever gave it to me here. Thursday was a Halloween Party date at MK, and the park was (relatively speaking) a ghost town until noon. Even with Extra Magic Hours starting at 7. I have gotten a routine down where we don't use a FP+ for the first half of the day at MK and it was solid as per usual. Rode Peter Pan first (10 min), Big Thunder Mountain (5 min) - we would have done Haunted Mansion on way but it was closed, Splash (no wait), Pirates (5 min), Jungle Cruise (5 min then got kicked out of line b/c line broke and got a free FP). I don't remember what we did next, I think the boy (10) and I did Space and the girls used the FP to go see Tinker Bell. Then maybe we did Small World and left the park by 11:30. 
  • We were going to spend the rest of the day at AK. Had our FPs lined up for AK, but couldn't get Flight of Passage. Well I kept working on the app and nabbed it for all 4 of us around 7 PM. Awesome! This allowed us to go home for a nap as we got in late on Wednesday night. I kept working the app and was able to move our FP back for Kiliminjaro Safari and Everest to be right in line before the Flight of Passage one. We spent like 4 hours back at the condo napping, drinking Jail Alai, etc. Getting that FP for Flight was the key. 
  • Had a great time at AK, even with my daughter (6) screaming and crying through Flight of Passage. What an awesome ride, I had almost forgotten how great it was. Same for Everest. The boy and I were able to ride Everest 3 times. We also all rode Dinosaur and then hit the bricks. It was only 7:30. DHS was open until 10. Hmmmm...
  • We went for it. The nap helped big time for all of us. Toy Story Land was pretty awesome. Could not get FP for anything but Tower of Terror and Toy Story Mania. Sent the girls to Mania since they have no interest in thrill rides. We did Tower. Awesome again. Been a few years. 
  • Lines app told me 35 min actual for the Slinky Dog Coaster and we said F it, let's try it. It was about 28 minutes. So funny how the Mouse is so creative in mind-f'ing you with the line queues. This ride was the prime example. So many twists and turns and walls and half walls and glimpses at the actual rider queue. Only to realize there was another turn, another wall, etc. 
  • Slinky Dog ride was just so so. Fun little coaster. Smooth. Fast at times. Nothing great. Not worth the hype imo. 
  • We then did Toy Story Mania all four of us together (second time for the girls). This is so much more fun than Buzz Lightyear at MK. Still a great ride. 
  • Boy and I booked it for Rock n Rollercoaster. I have never ridden this (neither has he - he's never done an inverted coaster before). We made it through at like 9:57 and the line was walk through. He loved it. It was short, but pretty fun. 
  • 3 parks in one day and riding pretty much everything we wanted to without really hustling, just planning on the app. Not bad. 
  • We used the valet at Contemporary plan at MK in the morning. I still think this is a great alternative to parking at the TTC if you're staying off site. It's $33 (as opposed to $25 for TTC) and you don't have to wait for the monorail or ferry boat. It's a 5-7 minute walk, you have your own security checkpoint on the sidewalk, and your valet is good for 24 hours anywhere on WDW property. 
  • Even better, the second time I did this, for MNSSHP, the valet guy basically winked at me and told me hey you can valet - it's $33 - or you can go park in guest parking for free. I'm not a cheap ass, I do like short cuts and will pay for them. But this guy knew the deal and I was just following his directions. So technically we parked for free, and I would assume anyone could do this. I would also assume this is a loophole they will close at some point. 
  • As for MNSSHP, it was cool for sure. Kids enjoyed it. I would say it all depends on what your kids are into. Both are really into Halloween, moreso my son. My daughter was into dressing up. Son was not. Neither really cared about the candy. Son was very interested in the abbreviated lines that were a selling point. They both seemed interested in the shows, but only somewhat. 
  • We loved the Disney's Not so Spooky Spectacular Show on the Castle at 10:15. Amazing how they can transform the castle, even after seeing a million of these during the summer. And checking out the fiber optic cables. Really cool. 
  • We planned to watch the 2nd parade due to crowd sizes per advice. But it rained. No headless horseman, and delayed. We wound up leaving before it started, as it was damn near midnight and we were done. We caught 3/4 of the first one before the Spectacular Show, but I did not think it was as amazing as I had read. 
  • Ride lines were not appreciably shorter. We do better with FP and rope drop to be honest. Exception being we watched the Spectacular Show near the bridge to Tomorrowland and as soon as it ended the boy and I walked briskly to SM and literally walked on. Blacked out Space Mountain was awesome!! He wanted to go again but by the time we got out the line was well into that concession stand, probably 45 minutes. We waited in line for 7 Dwarves during the period right before the beginning of the first parade, and it was posted 35 minutes. We got on in 31 minutes. Fun ride, but not worth the usual wait times. FP only in my opinion. 
  • The live pirates at PotC - meh. There were literally two. They have microphones and talk shit but really are not that creative or funny. They don't add much. There is one pirate in one of the little dungeons on the queue. He's a bit more funny. 
  • Overall I am not sure I would do this again. If I did, I definitely wouldn't do it on a Friday 5 days before Halloween. I would do it on like a Wednesday or something in late August/early September with lower crowds. 
  • Kid have not been really into character meet and greets (daughter has liked to meet princesses in the past) but they wanted an autograph book this trip and got a little more into it. We got lucky coming out of Pirates and saw a line of about 10 people and heard the attendant say "He" would be out in 3 minutes. Figured it was Captain Jack and sure enough, we jumped in line and caught him. He was funny as hell and cool with the kids. They enjoyed that. 
  • We did Chef Mickey's today for breakfast. What a colossal ripoff. At least my kid's love it. $217 for the four of us. Shitty breakfast buffet.
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Another thing I thought of. If you have a ticket for the holiday party but not a park ticket you can enter the park at 4 pm. The weird thing is you can actually line up 3 FP+s, even though the FP system is off for the party. Even weirder, from what I could determine on the app, if you wanted, you could technically book FP selections at another park and gain admission to that park after 4 on a party day. Not sure I understand the logic behind that one, but when I went to book, it was an option.

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One thing I noticed at DLR is that they’re manufacturing wait times. The park was not busy but all wait times were 30 minutes. Attendants were artificially creating a gap in the line that was always out of view of the loading area. They’d hold the line there until it backed up and then let 50 or so people past to a load area that was empty. This was happening on multiple rides where the wait would’ve been 5-10 minutes if not for them creating a back up. This was my 19th visit so I’m pretty aware of how long lines should take and I’ve never seen them so obviously doing this.

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My GF and I planned to take our kids to WDW on Labor Day weekend but had to cancel at the last minute because of Hurricane Dorian. Kids were crushed. We rescheduled for next week so we can take them to the not so scary Halloween party on Halloween. Have tickets to MK, AK and Hollywood Studios so we can check out Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge. Have a reservation at Savi’s Workshop so the boy can make his own lightsaber. 

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Booked Disney from Jan 30th-Feb 5th, then Universal Studios Feb 5th-10th

Port Orleans Riverside and Royal Pacific

Morimoto Asia for my 60th birthday on Feb 3rd, I was shooting for Shula's but the wife gagged when she saw the prices.

Does US have a dining plan like Disney does?

What are the best four or 5 restaurants at US?

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On 10/26/2019 at 9:47 PM, Rabidhorn said:

Booked Disney from Jan 30th-Feb 5th, then Universal Studios Feb 5th-10th

Port Orleans Riverside and Royal Pacific

Morimoto Asia for my 60th birthday on Feb 3rd, I was shooting for Shula's but the wife gagged when she saw the prices.

Does US have a dining plan like Disney does?

What are the best four or 5 restaurants at US?

You'll enjoy the Royal Pacific after staying at Riverside. Not that Riverside is terrible, but the Royal Pacific is on a different level.

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On 10/27/2019 at 2:25 PM, Rabidhorn said:

What restaurants are good near the gate at Universal Studios?

I honestly have no idea. The only thing we had was Voodoo Donuts. But we're a blow and go type family. Sit down meals take away park time, unless it's something we make a point to go to like character meals or meals with parade/firework options like Blue Bayou at Disneyland. 

https://www.universalorlando.com/web/en/us/plan-your-visit/dining-experiences/reservations

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On 9/11/2019 at 10:50 PM, Brew said:

DL is just such a better trip in my opinion. 2 parks with everything being built into a much more consolidated space wins out. You get the best of the main parks (no AK or Epcot feel of course), easy in/out access, the ability to rent a house with a pool a mile from the gate, the weather, reduced crowds, plus all the other benefits of California over central Florida.WDW is worth the visit, DL is worth the return visits.

I agree with this.  if I have to visit one of those parks id much rather do it in socal where you also have knotts berry farm nearby for real rides, and can escapes back into Beverly hills or down to la jolla for a few days when you get sick of the Disney experience.  we go every year right before Christmas.  probably will start planning it out again in a few weeks. 

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Just booked a trip for May for WDW, daughters will be 8 and almost 5. Doing 7 nights so we can get the most in with out being in a super rush, 4 nights Animal Kingdom Lodge and 3 nights Beach Club. 

I guess next is to look at character dining as we approach 180 days out. 

Suggestions on best websites for tips and advice?

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On 11/4/2019 at 10:44 AM, mdmost said:

Disneydining.com and Touringplans.com. I'm sure there are others but those are the two we used. 

I like that TouringPlans offers a bot that will search for dining reservations for places that are full for any cancellations and they'll send you a text when they find one so you can grab it. We used it and were able to find any dining reservation you could want over the following couple of months.

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I don't know how the algorithms work in the wdw app - it may just be a matter of there's that much traffic flowing through there that it works out that way - but I have had a ton of luck changing stuff around and refreshing to get what I'm looking for, both for FP+ and dining reservations. i.e. switching from morning to evening and then going back and looking at 10 AM and there's a spot. Or changing # of people in your party, and then changing it back, etc. 

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On 11/8/2019 at 5:42 PM, SimonBolivar said:

I like that TouringPlans offers a bot that will search for dining reservations for places that are full for any cancellations and they'll send you a text when they find one so you can grab it. We used it and were able to find any dining reservation you could want over the following couple of months.

Outside of the most sought after character meals and few other spots it has been much easier to book dining since Disney instituted the $10 a head no show fee.

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On 11/14/2019 at 10:32 AM, mdmost said:

If you signed up for Disney+, the Imagineering show is a must watch. First episode is about the making of Disneyland. The next one, which comes out next week, is about the Florida Project and Tokyo Disney. 

That was my dream job as a kid. Luckily it didn't work out as I don't think I could consciously replace Universe of Energy with GotG.

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  • 3 weeks later...

The reports I've seen about the Rise of the Resistance ride, when it's working, are pretty hyperbolic in saying it's the best ride Disney has done in a long time. 20 minutes of total "ride time" and it really immerses you in the SW world. Some have said it actually helps make Galaxy's Edge finally feel complete. It's part Star Tours, part Ratatouille, and part Guardians. They were doing virtual queues at WDW so you didn't wait more than 30 minutes to get on. I'd hope they'll keep that idea as long as possible. 

I think we're locked in for a Disneyland trip this coming summer as we're also going to hit some beaches south of LA and go into and out of San Diego. The DL one opens on January 17th. 

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Yeah sounds like it's very impressively immersive and the attraction starts well before you actually get on the ride vehicle thanks to the detailed scenery and cast member actors.  Watched some clips on a review video and I can't wait to check it out.

 

We're planning a trip to WDW in July for my mom's 60th.  It's getting harder to decide which Fast Pass plus selections to prioritize.

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So, by happenstance my family was at Hollywood Studios yesterday.  I only found out a month ago that Thanksgiving was going to be in Orlando with in-laws, so we extended to do parks this week.

 We got boarding group 86 at 8am. We rode the ride at 6pm.  

I am not really a SW fanboy so take that into account.

It is a long total ride.  The pre-ride staging areas are extremely cool.  I didn’t really care for the park personel staying in hardcore FO character(a-holish) as they move you around. I would guess that will diminish over time.

There were alot of well done sections. The trackless vehicle looping path was a negative to me.  Personally, I would have liked more time in the “escape flight” segment.

 

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On 12/6/2019 at 2:16 PM, mdmost said:

The reports I've seen about the Rise of the Resistance ride, when it's working, are pretty hyperbolic in saying it's the best ride Disney has done in a long time. 20 minutes of total "ride time" and it really immerses you in the SW world. Some have said it actually helps make Galaxy's Edge finally feel complete. It's part Star Tours, part Ratatouille, and part Guardians. They were doing virtual queues at WDW so you didn't wait more than 30 minutes to get on. I'd hope they'll keep that idea as long as possible. 

I think we're locked in for a Disneyland trip this coming summer as we're also going to hit some beaches south of LA and go into and out of San Diego. The DL one opens on January 17th. 

Is Flights of Passage even 3 years old?

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heading out Friday morning for out annual "elf on the shelf" Disneyland extravaganza.  He's kind of at the point now where the Disney portion of the trip is mostly nostalgic.  That is good news and bad news.  Bad news, he's growing up too fast.  Good news we are only staying in Anaheim one night before moving on to the montage for the remainder of the trip.  Always love Disney with the holiday decorations.  it is special for sure.  

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