We did it! 14 hours and 3 Disney Parks! Since we didn't have any kids with us, Erik and I took off at a "sprint" through MGM Studios, EPCOT Center, and the Magic Kingdom with a detour to meet Philip and the Skippers for a quick dinner at Downtown Disney. The karma was up and down throughout the day.
We went directly to MGM Studios and The Rock 'N Roller Coaster & after a 35 minute wait got inside to discover that the coaster was not working. Since we were in the building when it went down, we got passes to come back through the FASTPASS line anytime during the day. Part of the experience included some Disney trivia led by the cast members running the ride and a glimpse at the engineers whose job it is to make sure that the attraction is in working order.
Next was the Great Movie Ride. It is a slow moving ride through the movies. This is best for a break from the heat or for the old movie lover. Erik thought that we could have skipped it. Once we were done with that, it was time for our FASTPASS to Tower of Terror. We walked right into the elevator and entered The Twilight Zone. Back to the Rock 'N Roller Coaster where we went almost to the front of the line. It was worth the wait as we were catapaulted to 60 miles an hour into a loop-de-loop. We finished our tour of MGM Studios with stops at Star Tours and Muppet Vision 3D. There was more good karma at Star Tours as the cast members working the line gave us a FASTPASS to the front.
The only kink in our plan was navigating the Disney Bus Transportation between the parks. When we made the transition from MGM Studies to EPCOT we had to wait 30 minutes for the bus to arrive. That was the first time that we really noticed the heat and humidity, and our only real complaint throughout the day.
Once we made it into EPCOT, we hightailed it to Mission Space -- the intense version, of course -- and then to FASTTracks. The single rider line is the way to go on the FASTtracks as we once again got to go to the front of a really long line. We visited Nemo and friends at The Seas and got in line for Soarin'. There was a 70 minute wait for Soarin', but karma was on our side again as we missed the afternoon thunderstorm while inside waiting for the attraction. Soarin' is different in that it gives you the opportunity to experience an IMAX movie by becoming a part of it. Riders sit in a chair as the floor drops away and the movie begins. It was is a cool concept.
The monorail ride to the Magic Kingdom provided a nice rest. We had 90 minutes before our dinner meeting so we race walked to Space Mountain. As we were getting our FastPasses to come back after dinner, a woman walked up to me to give me her passes which were good for that hour. Her kids had ditched her and she wasn't going to be able to use them. We were elated at the good karma, only to be deflated as Space Mountain was down for technical difficulties. After a 10 minute hike to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, we were once again disappointed to find that it was also closed for technical difficulties. We were 0-2 in the Magic Kingdom with 60 minutes until our dinner meeting. Erik blamed it on acknowledging the good karma that we were having. Not to be totally dejected, we checked on the line for Pirates of the Caribbean -- it was only 20 minutes! Things were turning around :). After our visit with Jack Sparrow, we made our way to the bus terminal.
As it turns out, you can no longer take a bus from the Magic Kingdom to Downtown Disney? Why? Because parking at Downtown Disney is FREE, and parking at the parks is not, you can't cheat the system by parking in the free zone and taking the bus to a park. That through a kink into our system as we walked to the Polynesian and waited for a bus to take us to dinner. As we rode the bus around kingdom, Philip and the Skipper gang scoped out a restaurant and shopped for a toy in the Once Upon a Toy Store. We ate at Wolfgang Puck Express -- the food was delicious considering that we'd shared a pretzel and 9 pieced of sushi total during our marathon of a day.
To save us some time on our trek back to the Magic Kingdom, we were given a ride in the Skipper Odyssey. We arrived just as people were gathering around Cinderella's castle for the fireworks. We were able to ride Space Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain before the park closed at 11. The adventure ended with the Electric Light Parade & a ride back to the parking lot on the Riverboat Ferry.
In the end, we had a blast together on our anniversary weekend trip to the happiest place on Earth. Would either of us recommend getting a one day park hopper and hitting 3 parks in a day? Not really. We proved that it can be done, but if you want the true Disney experience, it is best to spread the magic out over several days.
We'll wait for dad to get us all reservations at Shades of Green before we visit Mickey again. Maybe when Caroline is older or there is a little Belknap to experience the magic.
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