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Old 27 Feb 19, 10:03 PM  
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HappyPanda
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Just the Two of Us at DLP Feb 2019 - Day One 19.02.19 *Part 2*

This is a continuation of our first day which can be found here

After an enjoyable lunch Liv was itching to get on another ride, so we decided it was to head for a trip on a Star Speeder. Star Tours only had a 25 minute queue and there were still fastpasses available; luckily it had been two hours since we picked up our BTM fastpass so we were able to pick up a Star Tours one too for 45 minutes later.

We joined the queue and said hello to R2D2 and C3PO



I absolutely love this queue line; I think it's probably my favourite queue line anywhere. There's so much detail. This trip all the droids were working properly (which they weren't in November) and I'd forgotten how funny some of their one-liners are!

This trip I was determined to get an English version of Star Tours - Olivia got one in November which she wouldn't stop bragging about but in all the times I've been on since the refurb I've only ever had it in French.

Within about 20 minutes we were boarding our starspeeder, we had a great front row seat - it was a French version but still as enjoyable as ever!

After we got out we still had 10 minutes before the start of our FP window so we decided to check out Mickey's Philharmagique. I had read conflicting reviews on this online so wasn't expecting much but I actually really enjoyed it -- I can definitely see where the basis of some of the negative reviews come from as you can tell not all the effects are being used in the Paris version but as someone who has never seen it elsewhere I thought it was a cute little show and it was just nice to see the Discoveryland Theatre being used again.

Once we got out it was time for our Star Tours FP.. we were in and out within 10 minutes BUT it was another French version though. I was beginning to think I'd have to sell a kidney to get it in English!

We now had about 30 minutes before our BTM fastpass and as luck would have it the "Make your choice" show was just starting. There were already massive queues round the castle stage so we decided to go into the central hub and got a great spot on the right-hand stage facing the castle where Minnie & Jake would be dancing.

Whilst waiting for the parade to arrive we lost count of the number of people trying to climb up onto the stages to get photos in front of the castle. The poor CM was trying his best but every time he turned his back to try and guide the crowds in the right direction someone else went up there - I think they definitely need a few extra CMs to control the situation.

It wasn't long before the Pirates took to the stage - we had a fab view and got a wave off of Minnie which Olivia loved.





The sun was out in full force and we ditched our coats at this point, it was so hard to believe that it was February!

Liv thought the castle looked even prettier through her sunglasses, so took this picture to prove it:



We briefly stopped to see the Princesses get back on their float but Liv was keen to get moving as it was nearly time for our BTM FP. We had 5 minutes until the window started so we decided to head to IJ in the hope there might be FPs left and there were! Just like Star Tours the FP was for only 30 minutes time so we picked this up and then hot-footed it over to BTM.

As we turned the corner I saw a huge queue at the FP entrance which could mean only one thing... the ride was down! The CM said they were hoping to get it back up and running "soon" so we decided to have a sit on a bench round by the Pocahontas Playground (which was closed for refurbishment) - this side of the park is so desperately underused and was pretty much redundant on this trip, with the playground, cowboy cookout and the station all closed. The only thing open was the M&G location.

After about 10 minutes I heard a boy excitedly shouting that the ride was open so we headed for the FP entrance with what seemed like 1000 other people. We were lucky that we were one of the first people to rejoin the FP queue as we got in on the ride within about 5/10 minutes, when we left the FP was coming out of the entrance, I'm not sure just how "fast" that FP line would have been:



Because of our delay it was then time to do our IJ fastpass. This is one of those queue lines where you have to join the main queue - when we were there earlier there was a CM stopping the main queue to let the FP join but no such luck for us - we had to just make our own way in and deal with the tutting from the people behind us.

We were sat right on the front row this time which I'm pretty sure is a first for both Liv and I - I really enjoyed it. I was wearing my contact lenses on this trip so for the first time I could actually see all the details as normally I'd be half-blind as I had to take my glasses off!

I think at this point I would have happily called it a day but Olivia was desperate to do one more ride - so reluctantly we headed to Hyperspace Mountain. It was showing a 55 minute queue but given our luck so far we'd thought we'd risk it and hope that it might be shorter than stated. It was slightly shorter but not by much.. we queued for 50 minutes which actually turned out to be our longest queue for the entire trip!



I definitely enjoy this ride a lot more since they changed the harnesses - I just wish I could work out a way to not let the harnesses rip out half my hair each time. Even with my hair tied back it still got me!

On our way out Olivia said that she couldn't remember ever doing Nautilus so we had a quick walk through this - I absolutely love this attraction, it's such a hidden gem.

It was now 6.45pm and we decided to call it a day - we hadn't any plans to watch Illuminations on this trip which makes me sad in a way as when it was Disney Dreams we would watch it every night but I just don't enjoy Illuminations at all.

We definitely felt like we were walking against the crowds as we left the park but this meant that we could get the shuttle bus without a scrum and when we go to the Santa Fe check in we were the only people there!

We were allocated room 129 in block Sally 54... it was by the river which we like but was literally the furthest one away from the park! This was our first time staying in one of the multi-level blocks, we were on the first floor and were pleased to see there was a lift that we could use as we had a heavy suitcase.

We quickly unpacked, facetimed Andrew and Bethany and then headed back out to the village for dinner.

Since we visited in November they have started work on the Hotel New York renovations which meant that they have closed the pathway on the Cheyenne side of the river. This means that all the cheyenne and santa fe guests all have to use the santa fe path which is a lot narrower and not as well lit.

We had a reservation at Billy Bob's for 20.45 - we arrived right on time and were pleased to see there was no queue. We were seated in a table on the raised section with just one other family.

I love the food in La Grange, I had some chilli, chicken wings, fajitas, cornbread and some salad (Needless to say I wasn't not calorie counting on this trip!). Liv had pasta, meatballs and some cheese. I then got a sample of all the desserts for us to share.. the lemon meringue pie was definitely our favourite of the bunch!

With full tummies we had a quick browse round the shops and then walked back to our hotel.

It was about 22.30 by now and I definitely was starting to feel the effects of such a long day so we picked up one of our free hot chocolates from the vending machine in our block and headed back to our room. We watched a bit of "America's Got Talent - The Champions" in bed before promptly falling asleep!
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Old 27 Feb 19, 11:50 PM  
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Animagus
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Wow. I admire your stamina. You certainly packed a lot in. It's good to know that checking the wait times Vs the FP availability times is the right thing to do - I'll make a note of that.

Hyperspace Mountain sounds such fun; can't wait to try that one!
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Old 28 Feb 19, 12:43 PM  
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HappyPanda
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Originally Posted by Animagus View Post
Wow. I admire your stamina. You certainly packed a lot in. It's good to know that checking the wait times Vs the FP availability times is the right thing to do - I'll make a note of that.

Hyperspace Mountain sounds such fun; can't wait to try that one!
It was definitely a jam-packed first day and my feet definitely felt it by the end!

We really utilised fastpasses a lot on this trip - I think that was a massive bonus of going just the two of us as we could really zip around the parks without too much hassle.
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Old 28 Feb 19, 11:45 PM  
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Wow what a packed first day! Your DD certainly got stamina
Re the Cheyenne path being closed- is that a long way around? We are going for our first time in April so not sure of the layout...
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Old 1 Mar 19, 12:49 AM  
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Wow a really jam packed first day! I'm really hoping you get your English speaking Star Tours later on in this trip :lol:

I spent a bit of time sat round the back of Frontierland this trip too, its such a shame there isn't mord round there it's such a lovely part of the park!

Is it wrong that I checked all of your show photos to see if I could see any of us in the background! ? Haha!

And I just realised we didnt get ourselves one free drink at the hotel the whole trip! Doh!
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Old 1 Mar 19, 10:14 AM  
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Originally Posted by flo-tinka View Post
Wow what a packed first day! Your DD certainly got stamina
Re the Cheyenne path being closed- is that a long way around? We are going for our first time in April so not sure of the layout...
If you're staying at the Cheyenne and want to walk to the park you'll need to cross over the bridge across the river and take the path that runs alongside the Santa Fe. It is slightly longer but not by much.

You could also get the shuttle bus to the park but we prefer to walk as the queues for security are normally smaller at the hotels entrance to the village rather than at the main gates.
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Old 1 Mar 19, 10:23 AM  
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Originally Posted by kadypants View Post
Wow a really jam packed first day! I'm really hoping you get your English speaking Star Tours later on in this trip :lol:

I spent a bit of time sat round the back of Frontierland this trip too, its such a shame there isn't mord round there it's such a lovely part of the park!

Is it wrong that I checked all of your show photos to see if I could see any of us in the background! ? Haha!

And I just realised we didnt get ourselves one free drink at the hotel the whole trip! Doh!
I do love the themeing of Frontierland, hopefully once the theatre and the station reopen the area will be brought back to life! I must admit I did quite like how quiet it was though, a little escape from the manic crowds everywhere else.

I did the same with Gill_H's photos and videos from their Christmas trip as I knew they were there the same time as us! I didn't spot us but I could see Beth's pushchair outside slinkydog when they were filming from the parachutes
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