Finale

Finale

We started our day the the Earl of Sandwich for a quick croissant and coffee before joining the queue for the Magic Hour, when Disney resort hotel guests can get into the parks an hour before they open more generally, Today, we decided to start in the Walt Disney Studios Park which has not been constructed when we last visited in 1996.

PY had done his homework and knew which rides we should try and tackle when the crowds were, theoretically, smaller. We stared with the very fun Ratatouille ride which is a car that moves around without a track to scenes of restaurant kitchens where we were chased grilled and hit with virtual brooms.  We were on this ride very quickly.

Next we queued the Spider-Man WEB adventure which is a contest where you are required to shoot webs from your wrists to kill spiders. It’s a lot of fun and the sensors seem to do a good job of detecting your arm movements so you can fling a web. It also feels like an extended workout with your arms flying around.

From there we moved on to, what felt like, the biggest coaster that was open. Avengers Assemble: Flight Force is, apparently, a rebranded version of the Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster starring Arerosmith. It is definitely the ride that flung me around the most. It’s another in-the-dark ride where there are only small portions of the ride illuminated to give the impression that you are part of some intergalactic battle.  I am not sure it quite worked and I still prefer Space Mountain.

By the time we were off the ride, the park had opened to general admission and we joined a very long queue for The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror.  This is another Disney theme park staple that I really like.  It always surprises me when the windows open at the top and a glimpse of the parks can be seen before the lifts plunge down to the ground. 

Next were a couple of very tame but fun rides: the Aladdin themed Flying Carpets and the Cars-themed road train. These were the last couple of rides in the Studios Park before we crossed back to the main park where we had lunched booked. We thought we had time for a go on the Pinocchio ride which, for some reason, had the longest queues throughout our entire visit. The reported wait time was 45 minutes which would have been just about right to allow us to ride and make our lunch. However the advertised time was wrong and the line moved much slower but now we were stuck in the middle of a complex queuing system. 

Lady Luck was definitely watching over us as we were still about 20 minutes from the front when a little gate next to us opened and the attendant started asking for groups of two riders. Of course me and PY were right there and were whisked to the front of the line to sit in one of the cars with another party. I have no ides what the other people waiting in line ahead of us thought.

We arrived at lunch on time in Captain Jack’s restaurant, inside the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. It was very atmospheric with a Caribbean Island theme but we didn’t really get to see any other customers on the ride itself as we were seated back from the edge.  

After lunch we took in the Mickey’s Philharmonic show, which was the only indoor show we saw. It was pretty impressive how all the songs from a number of Disney films were merged into the show.   Next a boat ride on the Thunder Mesa Riverboat around Thunder Mountain (another ride that was, sadly, closed for our visit) which was followed by a train ride on the Disneyland Railroad around the park. We also did the Casey Jr. rollercoaster, which was certainly aimed at ‘smaller guests’ but was full of adults when we rode.

Paul drove a car around Autopia. I am not sure he was too thrilled with the idea of driving but, in the end, I think he enjoyed it. We hopped into a short queue for Orbitron afterwards and then ended our time in the main park about 5:30pm on the Peter Pan ride which was quite sedate.

We crossed back into the Disney Studios Park where we were going to watch the closing show later in the evening. In the meantime we rode Slinky and found a place that was selling mulled wine. We also had a second go on the Ratatouille ride where the queues at this point were, more or less, non existent. 

The closing show, a mix of Marvel-themed projection and fireworks around the Tower of Terror was chosen because it is, currently, the only one of its kind in any Disney park, Unfortunately, the wind was too strong for the drones to fly and they are reportedly the highlight of the event so we were a bit disappointed. We’d only planned to see one closing show but, in hindsight, should have scheduled last night’s dinner later and taken in the main park show.

Dinner tonight was a burger at the American-themed Annette’s Diner. There was quite a queue after the park shows finished but we persevered.  There were a couple of very large groups of rowdy Irish families and it took us a while to realise that they were here for the St Patricks Celebrations which the park has been promoting for tomorrow. The burger and milkshakes were delicious but, as you would expect, felt very expensive for what turned up on the plate.