On Monday we again set an alarm for 6:55 to get Lightning Lane reservations. This time, we were looking for Star Tours, a Star Wars ride we’d never experienced, even though it’s been around for a long time. I think originally I thought it was just the Jedi training academy thing and didn’t realize there was a ride. I had troubles with the app but was still able to get the reservation.
We got ready and grabbed coffee at the little hut by the Skyliner station. One great thing about staying at the Caribbean Beach Resort is that we were between two Skyliner stations. One — the one closer to Riviera Resort — went directly to Epcot, and the other — very close to our room — went directly to Hollywood Studios. So we were able to take a short walk, get coffee, and hop our non-bus (yay) ride to HS. The Skyliner was busy, but the line moves fast, and soon we were entering the park.
We headed straight to Slinky Dog Dash, another ride we’d never ridden because of the long wait times. We were maybe halfway to the ride when we encountered the back of the line. I thought with all the other top attractions at HS — Rise of the Resistance, Smuggler’s Run, Runaway Railway — not a lot of people would hit Slinky Dog first, but I was very wrong. The park didn’t open until 9:00, or 8:30 for resort guests. We got there around 8:00 and were still way back in line. We started moving around 8:20, but I think that was just because they let the people in front move from outside the ride to the lines inside. The people in line in front of us were friendly, and they were from a small town in Louisiana. There were SO MANY people from Louisiana at the park that week, and we learned it was because it was Mardi Gras week. Apparently, a lot of Louisiana schools take a few days to a whole week off for Mardi Gras, a completely new concept to a couple of Hoosiers. Talking to them made the wait seem faster, but we still didn’t ride until about 9:15 or 9:30, so about an hour in line, even though we got there before the park opened!
The ride was great and, honestly, so was the queue. One of the best things about Disney is the attention they put into every detail. The concept in the Slinky Dog line was that you were a toy in Andy’s room. So, the walls looked like super-big versions of board games and other toys. The ride is a roller coaster, albeit a tame one for anyone who’s a fan of Cedar Point. Still, the older I get the less I can tolerate the really great roller coasters, so Slinky Dog was just my speed.
From Slinky Dog we moved to Galaxy’s Edge, which is the name for the Star Wars area at HS. We took pictures and shopped and spent some time doing ”missions” on the Play Disney Parks app. We got in line for pictures in front of a resistance fighter, and when we were near the front of the line, Chewbacca and Rey Skywalker came and posed for pictures near the fighter. You can see Chewy in the back of some of our shots.
It was then time for the Star Tours ride, and we’ll never ride that again. It was a 4D ride, which neither of us handles well. It seemed really exciting, but I got immediately motion sick and spent at least half of the ride with my eyes closed. Andy closed his eyes, too, but the ride triggered a migraine. His migraines always start with tunnel vision, so he had trouble navigating through the gift shop the ride dumps you into. Outside, we were across the way from Baseline Tap House, so we popped in there for some shade and beer and a snack. That helped a bit, and then he did some inverted yoga poses because the blood rushing to his head seems to help.
We had lunch reservations for the Sci-Fi Drive-In Theater, which is themed like an old drive-in theater. The tables look like cars, and there’s a big screen at the front showing scenes from 1950s movies. Because of the theme and the screen, it’s dark in there, which I think helped Andy quite a bit. The food was nothing special; we split a pork burger, and I had a yummy chocolate malt.
When we left the restaurant the crowds were crazy thick. We decided to leave the park and go back to our room for a nap. Because of the Skyliner, we were able to leave the park, take an hour nap, and return to the park all in less than two hours, which meant we were back in time for our Lightning Lane pass for Toy Story Mania. That’s another of my favorite rides. I’m terrible at shooting, but I love it just the same.
We went next to the Brown Derby Lounge, thinking that it would be nice to have a drink outside. The walk-up line was full, so we grabbed drinks to go and drank them just around the corner at an open table. But then I noticed on the app that I was able to get on the list, so I did. We finished our drinks and did some shopping, then our table was ready. We were just seated outdoors under a nice big umbrella when rain started pouring down! We were only planning to get drinks, but we decided we’d eat dinner then and wait for the rain to pass. Andy really loved his meal, but my Cobb salad had way too much dressing. A nice woman and her eighth grade son were sitting beside us, and we had a nice converation and were keeping dry, so it was a nice way to pass time while it rained.
After the Brown Derby we decided to go back to Galaxy’s Edge and try the single-rider line for the Millenium Falcon ride, Smuggler’s Run. It worked out amazingly well — we basically walked right on, and we were even able to do the ride together. The rest of our group in the cockpit was a family of four, and they were riding for the first time. Their shrieks of surprise and squeals of delight made the ride so much fun! Then it was time for our reservations at Oga’s Cantina. That was another reservation I had made thinking we might cancel it, but we ended up keeping it and had a fun time. This time we were right in front of the DJ.
It was early evening then, but we’d done everything we wanted to do, so we left Hollywood Studios. Back at our room, we watched an episode of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and then called it a day.