WDW Mini Trip Report: Sunday 11/9/14

[horizons1]

Business trip to Orlando allowed me to fly in on a Sunday with the parks were open late and get some quality time in. My #1 goal was to try out the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.

I landed around 4:15pm, picked up my car and was at the MK gates by about 5:15p. I love that I can get from the plane to the park in an hour. MK was open until 11pm, and Epcot was open until 10 (a rarity for a non-EMH night). I intended to take full advantage.

Parking at MK, I was able to leverage the monorails to park hop. First, I went into MK and headed straight for the SDMT. I was too late to get Fast Passes and neglected to try to secure them from my phone app prior to departure. No biggie. The posted wait time was 110 minutes but I am willing to wait in a long line the first time I ride anything, just to take it all in. Fortunately, the posted time was exaggerated. The actual wait time was about an hour. Could have been the time of day and not a lot of Fast Passes, or maybe they just know how to keep the line moving. The queue has some interactive elements that are cute, but the layout is not practical. For instance, there is a section of the queue with flat screens laid flat in a row, face up. A video game of a stream of flowing gemstones runs down the length of screens, and the object is to drag certain gems into certain slots as they roll by. It's cute, but it causes a big bottleneck as people slow down to play.

The Mine Train itself is fun. I'd describe it as something of a Junior Big Thunder. It's very smooth and has lots of swishing turns that take advantage of the swinging nature of the cars. The special effects are also cute, and riding at twilight I got to enjoy the lighting and no stark change from harsh outdoor to lit indoor.

After the Mine Train, I grabbed a quick dinner at Cosmic Ray's. Grateful that the full toppings bar is still there (with melted cheese and grilled onions). I was surprised to see that they sealed in the balcony overlooking the Plaza. There is no longer any outdoor seating in that restaurant, except for some freestanding tables outside Sonny's show room. I vaguely remember some construction last time I was there but didn't realize they were closing the balconies in. It makes the main dining area bigger, obviously, but I missed being able to sit facing the castle and enjoying the sites and sounds coming from the Plaza and nearby walkways.

After dinner, I took the monorails over to Epcot. Food and Wine was in full swing, so I could've had that, but I was not there to browse food on this trip. First stop, pay my respects to Wonders of Life. The pavilion is pretty much the same, except that the science exhibits near the exit of Cranium Command have been replaced by a Ghiradeli Chocolate shop. Free samples though. It was after 7, so much of Future World was closed. I expected more to be open considering the park was open an extra hour. Odyssey was open and doing microbrew demos. I like going into that former quick serve location but since they blacked out the windows there isn't much to see.

Walking around World Showcase, I soaked in the sites and sounds. Maelstrom, of course, is closed for Frozenification. As I came around to the American Adventure, I saw that it was just about time for the Eat To The Beat concert to start. That night's band: Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. Watched that show, which was pretty dull and attended by a surprisingly high ratio of seniors. Perhaps seniors go to Epcot in the evenings for dinner and shows. I will probably do that when I am old too.

On the way around the showcase I stopped in and saw the O' Canada show and did Spaceship Earth on the way out. I wanted to get out before Illuminations. Then it was back to the MK.

I arrived back at the MK around 945p. The first Electrical Parade had ended and they had the Main Street bypass open, so I was able to skip the crowds by going backstage. Over in Tomorrowland, the Peoplemover was broken so I headed along the path behind the Speedway toward the Circus area just as the fireworks were beginning. Good location back there - you can see pretty much everything, albeit from a right angle, and no crowds. I walked on Goofy's Flight School, then headed back to check the wait time for a second ride on SDMT. The line was as long as before and I didn't want to waste the last hour (10-11p) on just one ride. Instead, I headed over to Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder, and Splash Mountain. Practically walked onto all three. After Splash, I was surprised to see the second Electrical Parade was at closing time, 11pm. That meant the handful of people at the end of the parade route, near Pecos Bill's and Splash, would not see the parade until 1130, fully a half hour after closing. Strange, but I guess they need to put some space between the end of the fireworks and the parade. Walking back to the front of the park, it was amazingly dead all along the parade route. Even in the Plaza there were ample spots to watch the parade.

I took my time leaving the park and caught the monorail back to my car. About six hours altogether and it felt like a solid visit. I used to have an annual pass so I often enjoy just walking the parks - the attraction count isn't as important as the atmosphere on trips like this.

[Amy]

Sounds like a wonderful afternoon and evening trip! We have been at the parks a few times when the last nighttime parade was right at closing too.

[NaCler]

That sounds like my kind of trip horizons. I will now make the 6 hour drive (round trip) just for 6 hours in the park(s). I don't even care what I accomplish. I think for my birthday this year I went down there and did like 3 attractions and ate at Tony's Town Square, then drove back.

Very nice use of your limited time. Thanks for the report.