It took much more than pixie dust to get this boarding group!
Follow the link above and see how we did it.
Once we were all ready to go, we walked to the main area and stopped at our resort's snack stand, Goods Food to Go, for a quick jolt of java - decent but not great- and a brief look around the resort prior to getting that early bus to one very busy park. I was surprised that even at 8:00am, the air was already quite muggy. Denver, this is not.
For the record, Old Key West is a lovely resort. The rooms are quite large, the common areas are low key, and overall, it seems to be an undiscovered Disney resort. But beware, it is huge. The bus service between complexes is good, but if you choose to walk, be prepared. We had to make a quick stop at the temporary lobby so that our son could link his personal credit card to his Magic Band. The cast member was friendly and efficient. In contrast to our Magical Express experience, it is exactly what you'd expect from a world class resort.
Taking the time to walk from our DVC room
... and the view on the right side.
Here in Florida, it seems as if this land has a bit more energy and sense of place than at Disneyland. I'm not sure why. But this I can say, with the natural light different than in California and the positioning of the land and its slightly different color scheme, it just feels more alive. Not as sterile, grey, and cold.
OOOH- there's shade about a quarter mile away!
"Nothing Can Stop Us Now".
A little extra construction would have made more sense.
Two days later, and this was wrapped up for refurbishment.
Quite good but a one and done experience.
The new Disney means having to pay a premium (in cash or time or both) to get the fullest themed experience in the parks. Very elitist! Want to eat inside that beautiful building at the end of Main Street (The Crystal Palace)? Pay for a premium priced character meal. See a Star Wars cantina? Pay a lot of money for drinks and plan months in advance to reserve a spot. Same goes for limited seating inside the Polynesian Village Resort's exotic Trader Sams Grog Grotto. Join a team to build a light saber? Pay to build one and bring only one guest with you. (Why should a kid have to choose between parents?) Want some decent shade and air conditioning? Better get ready to fork out the dough for a sit down restaurant. These are Bob Chapek's theme parks- and unfortunately, we Disney park fans had better get used to it. If Bob really did visit Walt Disney World every year with his family, he certainly walked away learning the wrong lessons.
Park hopping certainly has its pros and cons. When visiting Hollywood Studios, it can be a plus... aside from the fact you currently have to wait until 2:00pm in order to do so- and there's not nearly enough to do at the Studios even in its fully operative state.
gave us this gorgeous view.
Back when it opened in 1989 as the Disney-MGM Studios, our young family was there just about a week later. We've seen so many changes over the years. (Here's a 30 year retrospective of the park with my personal photos and more as I recount its history.) Our favorite attraction back then was The Great Movie Ride, an epic and innovative attraction bringing guests into classic movies of multiples genres. Sadly, this is now replaced by Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway. The newer attraction was my personal choice for second place in what I just had to ride. I love those new cartoons. They're fresh, fun, and irreverent while full of references to classic Disney park attractions.
How would the new ride compare to its predecessor? Would I be disappointed? Well...no, and yes. Keep reading.
The Studios park is really delightful to look at! There's so much detail everywhere you look. Now that the big old Sorcerer's Apprentice hat has been removed, the view down the street to the reproduction of Grauman's Chinese Theater evokes all the charm and wonder that a Disney theme park should. The Imagineers of old and their direct descendants knew how to design places that scream for us theme park geeks to stop and take a photo or 100! And I did! (Why is it when the Imagineers go back to the original designs, the parks are better for it?)
On the left side as you enter the park...
You can see where the Imagineers who worked
on California Adventure 2.0 got some inspiration.
While we were waiting for the official opening time, I walked up and down the boulevard photographing the original buildings that remain from the opening of the park. It is really the soundstages and false backdrops seen on the Studio Tram Tour that have disappeared. The recreation of Hollywood in its heyday remains intact. These areas have plenty of charm and a nice reassuring, nostalgic warmth that's missing from modern Disney at large. In the other lands here, it's a mixed bag which along with the majority of blockbuster attractions found only on one side ultimately gives this park a split personality.
Every trip I take a photo of Gertie.
What is it about this lumbering green dino?
Directed by cast members to go around the Echo Lake side, we had to stop and queue to enter the home of the park's must-do latest hit. I soaked in the views of old familiar places now redone. Anyone reading remember Monster Sound Stage? It's now home to a "new" cartoon of Mickey and Minnie, Vacation Fun. Even the building is painted to match his main color scheme- and it looks pretty good!
Once the park officially opened, we had some time to walk around Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge aka Batuu aka Black Spire Outpost. In fact, we were able to almost walk right on Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run without a wait.
I just like this early morning photo!
This day seemed dedicated to deluxe Star Wars activities as we had late afternoon reservations at Oga's Cantina and a light saber building reservation. When I was booking these appointments on line, I thought it would be good to lump them all together in one day just in case we saw everything we wanted in the Studios. That strategy actually worked out very well. (Planning tip- unless your main priority is to ride Ratatouille, make Epcot your second park hopping location for the day. The park is huge and most certainly the last one to close due to capacity. The downside with park hopping is the inconsistentcy in the feel of your day as you jump from one place to another.)
Smuggler's Run was fun, but if truth be told as we'd find out awhile later, it was the original Star Wars attraction that was a blast and far superior of the two similar attractions! Star Tours still has it- and even better, it was a walk on. The random sequencing of scenes made it a must do twice, and each trip, we came off the ride with a smile on our faces.
Really like this, but where are all the other
galactic citizens that we're supposed to see?
A really nice clear morning.
The blues of the spires really stand out in Florida.
It was finally time to cash in our Boarding Group pass for the one we'd all been waiting for. Walking back to the rather barren side of the land, the atmosphere all made sense once I explained to my wife that the Imagineers thought it best to have the First Order in charge of the busy town while the somewhat hidden rebel base hiding on the opposite side. That said, a few spires of rock in front of the entrance would have conveyed a bit of mystery to its location versus being out in the open. If you're going to go full bore with a theme, go all the way.
Armchair Imagineering aside, the very first ride on any new major "E Ticket" is a thrill, and I certainly had that same rush walking the queue. It was a balancing act between trying to take it all in, grab some photos, and not be a burden to others in line behind me.
Of course, I'd seen the spoiler videos. I can't resist those, especially since it takes quite an investment to visit the parks and is a luxury trip. But let me say that video viewing does not come close to giving the thrill of riding it in person. No comparison. You've truly got to see it to believe it. Really.
The big bad in his lead role!
The multiple preshows and the simulator ride set the stage for the final escape from our capture. The cast members stayed true to character without exception. Most all the effects seemed to be working, but the big "Wow!" moment for me was entering the room with the very large AT-ATs. As designed, from this point, the ride really rocks, taking it up one step at a time until the exciting conclusion. Admittedly, I didn't cry at the conclusion of this epic adventure, but I did get a little misty eyed. When the Imagineers are at the top of their game, well, the end result is epic.
Confession here: I'm not a big Star Wars fan. I can't remember most of the new character names or plot lines, and it doesn't matter to me. Nor should it matter much to riders. Regardless, Rise of the Resistance ranked as the top attraction we experienced this trip. From all three of us. (If you're reading and concerned about the thrill element, don't be. If you can ride Star Tours, you can ride this.)
Was Rise of the Resistance worth getting up very early for and trying to snag a limited spot? Absolutely! Should guests have to do that for any Disney park ride? Definitely not. This is vacation, but working within Disney's modern constraints, it often feels too much like work.
Stopped for a quick bite at Ronto Roasters as we hadn't had breakfast yet. The place continues to be a pretty fair value for a good, quick, and tasty meal. The other options seemed to be colored popcorn and a soda or a tumbler of blue or green milk. Neither seemed the right choice at 10:00am. For this and many other reasons, an expansion for Batuu has to happen and soon.
Seeing so many people waiting for a place to sit, it was hard not to feel rushed. The idea of relaxing over a bite is not possible if you're at all considerate of others. Mobile ordering is not a friend here or anywhere else in the World. This style of service leaves large crowds waiting for food and then for a table with some frustration for all. There's got to be a better way.
Leaving Batuu, we entered the land of Woody and Buzz, taking in the lengthiest queue of the day to ride Slinky Dog Dash. The 40 minute wait went by fairly fast as we were still high on Rise and had much to talk about. Our son agreed the bare bones, lightly themed attraction had more zip and thrill than he expected. By now, the crowds were thick, the temperature was rising, and there was no shade to be found. We'd do Toy Story Mania later just before leaving the park.
What were the Imagineers thinking when they designed a sure to be popular land without an adequate amount of covering in a park that is saturated with hot Florida sun? There's also a lack of indoor quick service type food options. I'm sure the barbecue restaurant planned will help that, but here's to expecting another expensive meal option.
Nice 20K tribute!
Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway is the kind of charming, old school attraction that this park desperately needed. With a song that's hard to get out of your head, this replacement for The Great Movie Ride brings the family together without having to choose whether to please adults or kids.
Walt Disney himself would have been very, very, pleased. It is a solid "E Ticket" attraction of old embracing all the latest technology with its own very effective queue surprise. Yet, without a doubt, the attraction is in the absolutely wrong location. Mickey's should be anchoring its own land. The charm and strength of Disneyland is there because few shortcuts are taken. The extra time and effort and expense to give this family friendly crowd pleaser its own building while updating The Great Movie Ride would have been the wisest long term solution. In fact, it would have been a clean and honest representation of where the Disney Company currently gets its biggest popular franchises- buying other people's successful intellectual properties.
The original Disney drop ride is still the best!
While my wife is not a fan of extreme thrills in theme parks, she graciously rode both Twilight Zone Tower of Terror and with some major coaxing, Rock 'N' Rollercoaster. She did this for our son. I was so proud of her! No one had to coax my son or I to ride, although I probably wouldn't do them back to back again with little to no wait.
The original Tower and its story and technology remains my favorite. I have yet to ride Tokyo Disneysea's incarnation. Disney California Adventure's Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission BREAKOUT! is lively, but I still favor the original drop tower for many reasons. It is this park's Haunted Mansion, with superb execution of its theme from any way you look at it.
Even after all these years, the high speed cruise with Aerosmith ranks towards the top of my Hollywood Studios attractions. It's still smooth, fast, and one I would ride over and over again if I could. Just a blast!
An expensive keepsake and an impressive but rather short show.
As I said earlier, this day was our Star Wars day, and after the 1:00pm rush for Boarding Groups (in case we couldn't get one at 7:00am), we booked a 1:45pm reservation for my son to build his light saber. My wife was a good sport as always and let me experience this with him. It was a slow process from checking in to show time. Again, next to no shade in the waiting area or elsewhere, hence the abundance of plain, unthemed, afterthought, umbrellas both here and at Disneyland. What is it about this? Is Batuu a desert planet?
Back to the light saber build. Once inside, the cast member telling the saga was just excellent (seen in the photo above), but the in room special effects of a simple well designed lighting package seemed like a let down for the overall price of $200+. A surprise appearance of Yoda would not have been all that difficult to pull off, and it certainly would have been a crowd pleaser. And made the price more worth it. These extras were what once set Disney apart- or at least used to. (Universal is giving their guests some extras in service, experience, and design detail, so Disney has some new competition in this area, but we'll get to that soon enough later on in this trip report.)
C3PO rocks the universe!
RX-24, or Rex, rocks the cantina.
This was my third attempt in the last few years - made on each coast- to get into Oga's Cantina. As the old saying goes, third time's the charm. We arrived exactly 10 minutes before our 4:45pm reservation- again, no shade. When our name was finally called, we received a very curt "45 minute maximum visit" reminder before we were ushered in. I'm sorry, but we are paying their salaries, and it certainly wouldn't have hurt to be treated with a bit more courtesy and respect when dishing out a good amount of money for three (very good) drinks and one bowl of "Batuu Bits".
In preparation for the Epcot's Food and Wine Festival, we all agreed to order different dishes or drinks and share. This way, we'd be able to taste many different items. We did this at Raglan Road and continued on throughout the trip.
Our time in the cantina- almost exactly 45 minutes, thank you very much- was a welcome respite from the sun and its scorching heat. The time of air conditioning, a place to sit and talk in a unique environment that is distinctly Disney, and the quality of the food and drinks perked us up. Our server was excellent- funny, charming, knowledgeable and totally in character without being over the top. The bill- and our tip- reflected our experience.
Will we do it again? Not unless we were with someone who hadn't and wanted to. It's fun, but it is not that special for the price.
The Skyliner was just what we wanted.
Riding it was a breeze!
We ended our visit to the park with a Mickey bar but had to walk to the Echo Lake area of the park to get away from the massive crowds. Sitting at a table with an umbrella, we discussed what was next. Should we stay in the park for dinner and then even later for the nighttime show? No. The dining options were not what we were looking for, and the fireworks and light show seemed unappealing. After considering Disney Springs but discovering the places we really wanted to eat at were already booked solid, the Food & Wine Festival won us over for an evening at Epcot.
In reality, Disney's Hollywood Studios has a relatively small roster of attractions. The theater shows are old and tired, and there is little on the other side of the park to draw people in and disperse the crowds that gather in Galaxy's Edge and Toy Story Land. The park needs "C Ticket" dark rides to even out the mix and give guests a greater variety of attractions for their families. Even with five new rides in the last two years and one new Cars themed show with an Audio-Animatronic Lightning McQueen, savvy longtime guests can tell this park has been neglected for decades. I'm afraid COVID and its effects will only further delay any additional growth.
I was planning to end this post with a transition to our evening at Epcot and our time there. But as I wrote, I realized it really needed to be its own separate piece. It's part trip report, critique of the state of the expansion and its plans, and partially a love letter of sorts to the park I once knew and loved. Stay tuned.
(Photographs copyright Mark Taft.)
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