Summer at the Sequoia - Day 3

Nimbus · 31 Aug 13, 07:25 PM

Previously: Day 2

Day Three - Thursday 22nd August 2013 - Walt Disney Studios

Today, we actually had a little lie in and didn't get down to breakfast until... just after 7:30am. Woohoo! Strangely, the Hunter's Grill didn't seem to be quite as busy as it had been the first morning we were here even though we were down later. On the way back to our room we met Donald Duck.

I think on the way to the park we also saw Pluto, but I don't have a decent picture of him.

We weren't making use of the Extra Magic Hours this morning and instead visited Walt Disney Studios. We arrived at the gates at just after 9:30am.

That photo was actually taken when we were leaving later in the day - hence why lots of people are walking away from, rather than towards, the park.

There were already a lot of people here and many had already entered the park. We joined them, through Studio 1 and into Hollywood!

Nah, actually it was just the Disney Brothers Plaza, the central part of Walt Disney Studios. Wondering what to do first, we turned right and joined the queue for Crush's Coaster. The sign said the wait time was 45mins but I reckoned they'd artificially increased it to put off people.

I was wrong.

In the end, we queued for about 75 minutes. I guess it might have been closer to 45mins if the ride hadn't gone technical just as we were on the stairs near the loading bay. Another ride with problems at Disneyland Paris! The ride itself wasn't that great either. It was mostly dark, other than a couple of quick Nemo scenes near the beginning and none of us thought it was that good. We were sort of worried it might break down whilst we were riding it (especially when it stopped for about 20 seconds at the top of the hill climb). I'd say I endured it rather than enjoyed it.

Stumbling back out into the sunshine, it was Toy Story Playland next. It was nearly 11am by now and the queues for the rides here were very long. So, we rested with a coffee and snack whilst taking in the atmosphere.

Bit late taking the photo there - Hannah had been on her own just moments before but then Rex was invaded by other kids and Hannah looked away.

We then queued for the Art of Animation show which, if you remember, had been closed two days before. Sadly, they didn't seem to be running the Art Academy drawing class afterwards, which Hannah had been looking forward to. We did check a couple of other times during the day but it still wasn't running.

After lunch (filled rolls obtained from breakfast plus crisps) we queued ages for the Backlot Tour... sorry, the Studio Tram Tour: Behind the Magic.

Random stuff from some film you've never heard of.

Our plane ride back home.

French strikers set fire to tankers heading to Britain!

After this, we saw AniMagique - which is better than CineMagique in my opinion. The French seem to like adding 'Magique' to the end of everything: AniMagique, CineMagique, PanoraMagique, LongQueuesMagique.

We also saw Stitch Live again. Just as funny as before. Then, other than browsing through the shops, that was about it for this park today. The queues had been very long and we'd only managed about 5 attractions.

On the way out, we had a nice long look around the World of Disney store for souvenirs.

That's a statue of Mickey just outside the shop, not the shop itself.

We seemed to have a thing for those little green aliens from Toy Story this year. Hannah bought a cuddly one, Michelle bought a green, three-eyed mug and I bought a matching bowl. Plus we bought a few other bits like pens, pins for Hannah's collection (a Sequoia Lodge one and a Slinky Dog one) plus some gifts for other folk.

For dinner, we decided on the Rainforest Cafe.

"Waiter, there's a large dragonfly in my soup!"

"I'm sorry sir, but we'd run out of regular flies"

The theming here was wonderful; every restaurant should have animatronic animals! The service was very quick as well. Not only that but the food was quite good too. I had a square pizza, Michelle had salmon with gnocchi and Hannah had the kids meal - although she really is getting too old for these now. For afters, I had two (!) slices of cheescake that I shared with Michelle. Big thumbs up for Rainforest Cafe.

Well and truly full, we waddled around the shops in Disney Village for a while before rolling back to our hotel.

Next: Day 4

Guest · 31 Aug 13, 10:19 PM

Would you believe it we were in the Coaster que at the same time as you and had to wait extra minutes or could have been hours as it broke! Its a small world!

Nimbus · 1 Sep 13, 09:16 AM

Originally Posted by Harryhorse

Would you believe it we were in the Coaster que at the same time as you and had to wait extra minutes or could have been hours as it broke! Its a small world!

Isn't Its A Small World in the other park?

Just kidding.

Wow, you were in the same queue? Coo! Did you actually get to go on the ride or did you abandon it?

kempydee · 1 Sep 13, 10:15 AM

We've just got back and spent hours in Crush's coaster queue!
Fortunately it didn't break down. We've been many times before, but I always refused to queue for it.
However I made it out mission this holiday. Our son loved it so went on 4 times over the 5 days. Longest we queued was just over an hour. Shortest 45mins. Very overrated in my opinion though.
We've also got a similar photo next to Rex haha! You've gota be quick.

**Gill H** · 1 Sep 13, 12:03 PM

Peter queued at 9.30 and it broke down twice, so he came off at 10.50!

LongQueuesMagique indeed.

Nimbus · 1 Sep 13, 05:25 PM

Originally Posted by Gill H

Peter queued at 9.30 and it broke down twice, so he came off at 10.50!

Ah well. At least we can say we've done it now.

**Gill H** · 15 Sep 13, 09:28 PM

By the way, your photos are stunning! Well impressed.

Nimbus · 15 Sep 13, 10:07 PM

Originally Posted by Gill H

By the way, your photos are stunning! Well impressed.

Thanks. They were taken on my 5MP budget smartphone. So I think I was just lucky. Plus, these were just a chosen few from the hundreds I took.

fd1972uk · 20 Sep 13, 12:45 PM

Originally Posted by Harryhorse

Would you believe it we were in the Coaster que at the same time as you and had to wait extra minutes or could have been hours as it broke! Its a small world!

Unlucky, seems everything he went on broke down.

Great pics again.

That's one thing that DLP does better than WDW, characters on-site at their hotels. Why they don't do that in America (outwith a few character meals) I'll never know.

FD

Nimbus · 20 Sep 13, 02:16 PM

Originally Posted by fd1972uk

Unlucky, seems everything he went on broke down.

That's one thing that DLP does better than WDW, characters on-site at their hotels. Why they don't do that in America (outwith a few character meals) I'll never know.

Not everything broke down.

Just 7 or 8 rides during our 5 days there.

We've never stayed onsite at WDW. So, Florida doesn't have characters in the hotels? That's a bit poor. The character meets at the Sequoia were a great touch.

31 Aug 13, 10:19 PM	#2
	31 Aug 13, 10:19 PM Guest Guest
Guest Guest	Would you believe it we were in the Coaster que at the same time as you and had to wait extra minutes or could have been hours as it broke! Its a small world!