Jeff and Joe's August 2018 Quick Trip

Hee hee - then you *really* won't like me after I post some TSL pics!! (Spoiler alert - it's awesome!)

We spent this morning at HS and TSL! I have to say it is pretty darn awesome. The attention to detail is remarkable and it's just fun. we had about 40 minutes to kill once we got there until our Slinky Dog FP, and Alien Saucer standby was 30 minutes, so we decided to wait in line and by the time we finished Alien Swirl of was time for SL. Swirl.was.fun but I does kinda whip you around a little more than I expect and I may have bruised Joe's side...ha! Slinky Dog was a blast!! Some TSL pics for your enjoyment!

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This just in: Slinky Dog at 9:30 pm is AWESOME!!! Last row/car/seat too.

And thank you for fixing my pics!!

Some pics from Slinky Dog last night. And our view from.the very last seat!! Loved loved loved it!

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We hit up MK this morning and did Haunted Mansion, BTMRR, the Swiss Family treehouse, Buzz, The Undersea Ariel ride, Pirates and the Tiki Room before taking an afternoon break. Main Street is looking quite festive!

This time Elastigirl was being driven around (last time we saw Edna!).

The last pic is some of the things we picked up at HS last night. We have a FP for 7D this evening so back to the Kingdom.

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Haha - oh,those are not happy faces! They need to hang out with me!!

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Haha - yes! we were chatting with the dad in line and he was super excited. His son not so mich. At the end as we were waiting at the cottage he asked the kid if he wanted to do it again. It was a quick and clear 'No! ". Lol.

Here are some pics of the Skyliner landing platform at the International Gateway at Epcot. It looks pretty big!

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Boy was that a fun trip! Toy Story Land lived up to the hype for me! I loved it. The theming was great, and it was just a fun place to be.

We had a Slinky Dog FP on Monday for 11 am, along with FPs for RNR (8:30 " 9:30) and TOT (9:40 " 10:40). We got to the park around 9 am " it was already pretty busy, as they opened at 8 am and have EMHs from 7-8 am. We got through bag check, security and the park entrance by 9:15 and first hit up the Sweet Spells shop to check out all the Toy Story Land merchandise. They had a lot! Some pics below (and horray! I think I figured out how to post them right side up!). I really wanted the light up slinky dog but had a hard time justifying the $30. That's 6 Mickey pretzels. Hahaha. I ended up with just a Slinky Dog Dash pin for now.

We got through RNR & ToT by 10 and then worked our way over to TSL. It was awesome from the minute we walked it! We wandered round the whole area, checked out the food options, and decided since we had time to kill, we'd do the Stand By for Alien Swirling Saucers. It was only 30 minutes and by the time we finished it would be Slinky Dog Time!

The wait was probably closer to 20 minutes. I liked that it was covered. August is hot! There are fans in the queue line too so that helped a lot.

There are 4 separate tracks/quadrants with the ride so I think that helps move people along. It's a lot like Tea Cups in that you get assigned into a section, and then when they let you in "grab any available saucer!".

It was really a fun ride but I wasn't quite prepared for the force of some of the swings and I think I crushed Joe a time or 2. Or three. Haha. I'd do it again but not sure I would wait any more than 20 minutes now that I've done it once.

Then we hit up SDD with our FPs. The que is really really fun to check out. So much detail between the giant crayons, huge Elmer's Glue bottle and all the various crayon drawings and eye catchers.

The stand by wait time was 105 minutes, and the line was waaaaay outside the SDD entrance. The wait area outside the ride queue wraps around the side of the attraction and is only covered by umbrellas. Not fun-looking at all!

Thankfully, our FP got us on in 10 minutes. We were seated pretty much in the middle of the ride, and I have to say, it was so much fun! There's nothing not to like about it. It was rolly, fast, smooth and a complete joy!

Once we finished that up, we decided to take a break (did I mention it was hot & humid?).

For the later afternoon, I got us a FP for Soarin' so we headed over to EPCOT for dinner (Lotus Blossom Orange Chicken!!), and then headed back over to HS once it got dark. I really wanted to see TSL at night. Stay tuned for that update!

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Hey there wdwizbest. I really meant to take more but only did a few and several didn't turn out great because I snapped them while walking so they were just blurs. But here are a few. The first one was taking right at dusk; the last as we were leaving the land around 9:30 pm. It really is a big difference and part of why I really wanted to make a point of going back at night. Everything really just comes alive!

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Not a lot of food pics, but here are the ones I took:

Orange Chicken and Rice from the Lotus Blossom at the China Pavilion in Epcot (a personal favorite)

Bacon Cheeseburger and Fries from Cosmic Rays in TomorrowLand at MK (another personal favorite!)

Super Foods Salad with Chicken from Cosmic Rays (Chilled Grilled Chicken on a bed of Kale Salad Mix with Avocado, Quinoa and Blueberries tossed in Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing). Joe would not get it again..it was just ok. 5 blueberries and a teeny scoop of quinoa....

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Most will recognize where we were for these pics!

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As I mentioned above, we really wanted to experience TSL at night. And while I was really happy to have a FP for Slinky Dog on Monday morning, I really wanted to ride it at night. I had heard it was a great experience. But I had zero luck getting a night time FP.

So we decided that we had plenty of time on Monday evening to venture over to Hollywood Studios after dinner and Soarin' at EPCOT, check out TSL after dark, and maybe, if not too bad, do Stand By for Slinky Dog.

We got to the park around 8 pm and worked our way back to TSL. It was just starting to get dark and the lights were coming on. And Stand By was at 60 minutes for SDD. We decided why not! It had rained a little earlier and cooled things off, and it was a really nice evening. So we got in line. On the plus side the end of the line was right at the SDD entrance.

I will say that I usually would not tolerate a 60 minute wait, but this was a rare exception. Ha! The line moved pretty slow, no doubt. And while there is plenty to look at and admire in terms of art work, it's not interactive. We tried to play the new Parks game on our phones but got tired of that after a few minutes. We thought some of the activities that required 2 or more players would be fun to do together, but it was not at all what we were expecting. Instead of 2 people playing together on 2 separate phones, you were to pass one phone back and forth to let each other play. I don't recall which game it was and if all of them are like that, but it was enough for us to say forget it.....

I had read a lot of people post that their wait times were lower than the posted, but in our case, nope, it was a good solid 60 minutes. We got on around 9 pm, and lucky us, we got the very last seat in the very last car!!

The ride was spectacular. So. Much. Fun! Was it worth the 60 minutes? Absolutely. Would I do it again? Surprisingly, I might. But I would not wait more than 60 minutes just on principle. The lights and the views were so fun at night.

A couple more pics from Toy Story Land. Walking in, the new entrance to Toy Story Mania, the meet and greet area with Woody and Jessie.

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