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Day 2: January 26, 2020
Rise & Shine for Rise of the Resistance
Our first order of business (pun intended) was to try to get on Rise of the Resistance at Hollywood Studios! When we were booking our FastPasses 60 days prior to arrival, Disney hadn’t announced how they were handling Rise of the Resistance, so we booked later afternoon FastPasses at Epcot, thinking we were going to rope-drop the new ride and be willing to wait in whatever long line there was in Galaxy’s Edge. When Disney announced the boarding group system, we were… relieved, kind of. At least we would have the freedom to do whatever we want while we waited, but we wouldn’t know until day-of if we would get to ride. We also knew we may have to abandon any or all of our Epcot plans.
With all that in mind, we decided we would try on our first full day to get on it. We were all very tired, but we got up bright and early and were on a bus at I believe 6am (maybe 530am? I don’t remember – but it was certainly early!) and off we went to Hollywood Studios. We also put all of our belongings in our pockets so we could take advantage of the no-bags line at security. That was a smart move. Interestingly, the MagicBand readers were not using the fingerprint portion, just scanning our bands today.
Once we were inside the gates we headed for Toy Story Land, as we wanted to rope drop Slinky Dog Dash. Well, this worked out to be a bad move. The line was very long, all the way back to between One Man’s Dream and Voyage of the Little Mermaid. We decided to stick it out because we figured once the park opened and the actual queue filled up (they had not opened up the land yet at this point) it wouldn’t be so bad.
Once we got closer to park opening time, we had our apps open and ready. James got us in – group 32! What a great group! A couple moments later the crowd started moving towards Toy Story Land. Unfortunately, the line was a lot slower and longer than we had anticipated. We were soon at a standstill – upon checking the app, we watched the wait time rise to 90 minutes. We decided to abandon it. I really wanted to do Rock’n’Rollercoaster, my favorite attraction at this park, so my husband & I went single rider while Katie and James waited at the exit gift shop for us.
After a fun ride with Aerosmith (with ZERO WAIT through single rider!), we headed over to Star Tours! It was about a 20 minute wait. The ride experience was exactly the same as California, although the queue was definitely different. We then decided to grab some breakfast at a stand over by Tower of Terror and check the app for updates on Rise of the Resistance.
We were about 5 groups away from being called, and by this point, One Man’s Dream was open, so we walked through the exhibit. When Group 31 popped up on the app, we decided to head over to Galaxy’s Edge! The land is very similar to California’s, but the layout of a few things was slightly different, and the paint colors in a couple areas appeared different as well. Other than that it was pretty much the same.
When we arrived outside Rise of the Resistance, it was clear the ride was down. No! We were debating what to do, and we were all very tired. We decided to just sit and wait it out. We sat on the side of a planter, soaking up the Florida sunshine, for about an hour, watching the entrance of the queue to look out for any signs of the ride opening back up. A couple of us may have dozed off for a few minutes.
Suddenly, some Cast Members started assembling in a different way than they were previously, and before we knew it, the ride was open! It paid to be sitting there near the entrance, because we were at the front of the crowd and we waltzed right through the queue. In California, the Cast Members scan the boarding group on your phone, but in Florida, they scan your MagicBand.
I won’t share details of the ride, but if you want a spoiler review & tips for how to experience it at either Hollywood Studios or Disneyland, check out my post here!
Time for the Skyliner
Next, it was time to head over to Epcot. This is my favorite park in Florida, and by the end of the trip, the rest of the party agreed it was their favorite park too! From Hollywood Studios, there are a number of ways to head to Epcot. There is a walking path that leads to International Gateway (let’s face it, we were too tired to walk, but it is a pleasant walk – and if you want to check out the Boardwalk this is a great way to go!). There are also the Friendship Boats, which stop at 3 resorts between Hollywood Studios and Epcot, and is a pleasant ride. However, we wanted to try out the newest addition to Walt Disney World’s transportation system – the Skyliner!
There was no wait for the Skyliner, and the gondolas were surprisingly fast, quiet, and smooth. We did have to transfer at one point (Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort), but it was quick and there was no line here either. It dropped us off right outside of International Gateway. Perfect, because we wanted to eat some of the food in World Showcase, and we were all very hungry by this point.
Final thoughts on the Skyliner: we all loved it and hope it expands to more resorts at Walt Disney World! It’s wheelchair accessible, and strollers don’t have to be folded, either!
World Showcase Explorers
We started World Showcase at France. We were super hungry, so we got in line at the first food booth we came across, which happened to be for Festival of the Arts! We picked up Creme de Brie en Petite Pain (basically melted brie in a bread bowl) and Moelleux aux Chocolats Valrhona (molten chocolate lava cake). Boy, those were both delicious. My husband ran back to the ice cream shop and picked up his normal mint chocolate chip ice cream. He got that on at least 2 other occasions this trip!
We headed to Morocco, exploring the nooks and crannies, then on to Japan. Katie and I picked up a sushi donut to share (definitely recommend sharing – it’s a lot of rice!), and we enjoyed the Japanese drummers outside. The four of us also toured Mitsukoshi and checked out the fun gifts.
We made our way through the rest of World Showcase and watched Reflections of China, the Circlevision 360 show. The Circlevision 360 shows are really special to me, because I remember Tomorrowland in California having a similar show when I was younger. After the show, we rested for a bit outside the China pavilion while waiting for our Frozen Ever After FastPass+. We were so tired at this point, we were supposed to have dinner in the Mexico pavilion that night, but we decided to reschedule for another day. We enjoyed Frozen Ever After with our FastPass+, then headed back to the hotel to relax for a little bit.
Return Home for R&R
We were all very, very tired – between the jet lag, the early wake-up call for Rise of the Resistance, and 2 of us fighting head colds, we were spent. We decided to leave Epcot a little bit early and rest before our nighttime outing. I don’t do great with napping in the middle of the day, so I watched the news while my husband napped. On the bus ride back from Epcot we found out about the fatal helicopter crash involving Kobe Bryant, so I was glued to the news for the afternoon.
When we were ready to venture out, we headed out towards the pool area and found Cast Members were setting up to toast marshmallows by the fire pit! We enjoyed some s’mores and watched the animals for a bit before heading over to Jambo House to eat dinner at Mara.
Starlight Safari
Next up, we had a tour set up at Kidani Village! We were doing the Starlight Safari at 10pm. We needed to check in at 9:45pm outside Sanaa, so we were up pretty late that night! We headed down to Sanaa to check in and wait. Once everyone was there, we headed out towards the porte cochere area where our truck was waiting!
The truck was open air, but they provided very large, fluffy blankets for us to use – definitely a lifesaver as it was quite cold! As we made our way backstage towards the savannas, the Cast Member on board explained how the animals are housed and taken care of. She was quite knowledgeable and enthusiastic. When we got closer to the animals, it was time to put our night vision goggles to use!
We got to see all the savannas at Kidani Village and Jambo House, and we got really close to most of the animals! In fact, one of the giraffes nearly licked our tour guide’s hair! The Cast Member also explained some of the animals’ personalities, and talked about feeding and care procedures as well.
At the end of the tour, we each received a glow in the dark pin, which can only be received by taking the tour! The Cast Member also explained that a portion of our tour payment goes towards Disney’s Conservation Fund. Overall it was a great experience and I would do it again!
Highlights of the Day
- Rise of the Resistance! SO AMAZING!
- Starlight Safari was incredible and a great value
Letdowns of the Day
- We were so, so tired.
Next Up…
It was straight to bed after that, because next up was a day at the Magic Kingdom!
