The day had finally arrived for us to hit the Parks, and for the first time ever that I remember, we had selected one other than the Magic Kingdom. Primarily because of the new Star Wars area, we all wanting to try this park out first, and it clearly became the family favorite throughout our trip. Sam's little cocoon is the first to get woken up first each morning when I come to make the coffee. And we had some friends from scouts tell us that we should use "uncrustables" as one of our easy meals each day, so we were planning to try that out on this day.
Once at the parks, we got in the large line and watched as all the Disney resort guests hopped into the parks 30 minutes early, then as they slowly closed entrances for them, they allowed our line to move forward, which also allowed us to watch where we should be in this massive park opening line. You need to stay far left, unless you came in super early. We did not know this trick on the first day, but beat others like us on subsequent days once we learned to STAY LEFT. But without this tip, we ended up middle of the pack folks and as always, we ended up behind that guy that had no idea where his tickets where, and as they dug thru the wife's purse, we watched all the other lines just slowly pass us by. I am sure this happens to all people, but I have a tendency to pick these lines over and over again. Although I felt really bad for the guy and his family, as I heard him say as they walked over to the side "We have to go back to the hotel to get our tickets". Ugh, How horrible would that be?
Once inside, our plan was to hit Rockin Rollercoaster and Tower of Terror to get our Disney trip going FAST. And the lines were reasonable hitting them first thing in the morning. I think RR was 30 minutes and TOT was 45 minutes. A joke of ours in these lines is that you always want to get to the front and right at the very end of the line, the cast member always asks for 1 or 2 or we have heard them ask for a party of 3...but NEVER do they ask for a party of 6. Yet we kept listening for it. Davis was so excited that he finally rode TOT, after having been terrified of that ride and others since I stuck him on it when he was like 4 years old. He got the disney pin to commemorate his bravery that Aunt Katie had promised to get him last time if he would ride it. But he loved it, and it probably became his favorite ride of the whole trip. I did get some pics throughout this trip from photopass on this ride, but did not get either of the two times we all rode it as a family, including this first time.
We got off of the TOT just in time to get into the Beauty and the Beast show. I had been watching the crowds, and wondering when they were ever going to leave from the New Years, and since I have continued watching after we are now back home, the crowds are still there. Disney has done some sort of Jedi mind trick in this post-COVID (kinda) world with their 50th anniversary to ensure that people never leave. And we saw what I have never seen on a trip to Disney in January...a Beauty and the Beast show at capacity. WHAT! This is actually also where we decided we were starving and immediately went to the uncrustables, which were great and tided us over for at least another 1.5 hours. haha...we kept bringing in the sandwiches, but they didn't fill much of a hole.
After visiting the characters at the Playhouse Disney area, we all thought it was funny with the new barriers in place between the kids and the characters. It looks like they are photo bombing you. Ruby was a little sad after she could not squeeze Pluto. We gave him air hugs tho. It was now time for the Indiana Jones stunt spectacular, but we got their in time to see the At Capacity sign, and thus were unable to get in. Wow! At Star Tours, we had a bit of a wait, but while in line we ordered our lunch, then as we got off the line, told them we were ready, then by the time mom found a table, we had the food there. Now that is another really great efficiency. Our favorite, or maybe it was just my favorite was the Wookie Cookie...oatmeal cookie with lots of cream in the middle and a chocolate strip on top. Those kids make me happy, as they know they will hardly ever have their own meals at these quick service areas. We always get 4 and split the meals every which way. But I never heard a complaint. Oh, and guess who was the spy on that first Star Tours ride...Ruby.
After the wookie cookies, we all went over to watch the Frozen show (Line wait times were ridiculous, so our plan was just to enjoy the park, and hit Galaxy's edge rides right at the very end of the day). This is where Sam and Davis politely asked if they could go ride tower of terror again. Understanding, we made our first split. After sitting down for the Frozen show, it was really comfortable, and I immediately fell asleep, which is usually just memorialized by a picture that Magan feels always has to be taken, but on this time...I was awakened from a deep sleep with "Dad, Dad, Dad" ...What, the people sitting next to us had decided to leave, but I was completely stretched out, and they could not get by. Haha, I would say I was embarrassed, but I had not yet completely woken up yet. I did stay awake for the show, and it is very funny.
Once back together with the boys, we took some pictures in front of the Chinese theater, and turning around, we saw that the 75 minute line we had seen earlier in the day was gone...completely gone. And while the ride had shut down earlier, they were letting people in the line again. So we hopped in line and were immediately indoors to the new mickey minnie ride. While the Lightning Lane did slow us up slightly, we moved pretty quickly and saw the first show and were one line away from boarding the ride when it shut down again. But they gave us a Lightning Lane pass for anytime the rest of the day...which I think was our only use of these lanes, but it was nice later in the day to hop right into the ride and knock this one out. Not one we ever cared to ride again, but it was good to see how Disney can make bad decisions and get rid of one of the best opening day rides for this park...The Great Movie Adventure was great, so it is rather disappointing, but it has long lines, so maybe others enjoy it.
We next went to our first trip into Toy Story Land, where the only ride less than 60 minutes was the alien swirley ride ( I don't know what it is called). So perhaps not worth the 35 minute wait, but I liked it. Magan passed on this "spinning " ride. She also ran into a friend from Chelsea, and they talked for a bit, once again amazing the kids that Mom knows lots of people and is always one people want to talk to.
But it was finally time to get our first glimpse of Galaxy's edge, and I think we were all blown away. The stores are amazing, the restuarants are cool, the character sightings are great, and standing at the Millennium Falcon is just overwhelming. This to me is the coolest section of any of the Disney parks. After all of our walking on this day, my knee twinge from the other day, had finally locked down my knee to very limited movement without some pain. But we were almost at the end of the day, so I just kept hobbling. We first rode Smugglers Run and Sam and Davis got to pilot the ship for us, Ruby and Belle behind them, and me and mom were the engineers in the back. The visual effects were pretty cool, but made Mom very sick. We were laughing later tho because as we got off that ride, she was stumbling due to some nausea, and I tried to steady her down the stairs, but was stumbling myself due to my bum knee.
And after this bout of nausea, we went to one of the Star Wars quick service places and had some sausages (rondo roasters I believe). And as we sat at our table, Magan looked to the table behind us, and watched as a little girl just started gushing puke into her parents hands, who apparently don't have the experience nor knowledge of the football hold to get their kid quickly to a bathroom. We quickly got up and found another table. Our last adventure was the Rise of the Resistance that we got into line (based on a tip I had read) right at about 30 minutes to close. We moved quickly and only waiting 45 minutes for what I believe is now the best experience in Disney. I was blown away at this ride. This is the type of thing only Disney is able to do...somehow connect you to a movie and become part of the movie. Amazing ride.
And that was the end of our first day in the parks. A few other notes I wrote was an excited Ruby telling me and Magan about the Muppet 3D show. She was sure that the little characters nose was looking right at her, and he was talking directly to her. Sam told us about an uncomfortable stall visit nearby Davis, where apparently Davis was cracking up at his own gas noises throughout. I will say the rondo roasters took me out of business for awhile..."No kids, you guys just go shop for awhile, I...I am just going to go over here and sit for awhile". Haha, Davis had to help me find the van that was parked right next to where I was standing. I think this happened multiple times. Wonderful first day!
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