I'm finally getting to my Star Wars Dark Side Half Marathon Weekend recaps from April.
In case you missed previous posts from the Star Wars Dark Side Half Marathon Weekend:
After showering and stretching and resting a little, I met up with Kelly and Franklin to get something to eat. I love going to the parks with Kelly as she knows all the good things to do that I didn't even know existed. I hadn't been to Magic Kingdom since my first time doing a runDisney event at Disney World in 2014 and wanted to do it Kelly-style.
We got into the park and the first thing we saw was the "Move It! Shake It! Dance & Play It! Street Party" parade.
It was fun to see it, but man was it crowded. So we moved on to Tomorrowland.
We didn't have a FastPass till 12:45, which was the Buzz Lightyear ride, so we wondered around finding something to ride. We headed onto the Peoplemover.
I had been on it in 2014 and found that it's a nice relaxing ride.
There were great views of the castle.
The race track.
And the park. It really is a nice way to see Tomorrowland.
We headed over to get a picture with Buzz himself before we went over to ride his ride. There was a mother in line in front of us that was on the phone and not paying attention to her kid. The Cast Members had to come over a couple times to ask the kid to stop doing something and the mother barely acknowledged them. Buzz saw my medal and asked if I ran. He was very impressed.
We still had a little more time before our FastPass, so we headed into Monsters Inc Laugh Floor. I had never seen the show and I was told by both Kelly and Franklin that it would be great. Once we got into the theater and took our seats, it was one funny joke after another.
Mike was our MC while Roz was there to make sure there was no funny business going on, though that was the point. We were told that we wouldn't be able to be let out till the tank was filled and the more you laughed the more it filled.
Several different monsters came out to tell us jokes. They would talk to and about audience members. The improv was fantastically funny. The people behind the sceens doing the jokes right on the spot were amazing. This is the type of show that would be different every time you saw it.
After the show it was time for our FastPass at Buzz Lightyear. I've done this ride as well as the counterpart in Disneyland and it's so much fun.
Within the first shots, I hit something that was worth 100,000 points. And then I hit it again. So within the first minute of the ride, I had over 200,000 points and I had no idea what I had hit to do that as I was just remembering how to aim and was just shooting all over the place. By the end I had almost 400,000 points. I've never scored that high!
After that we headed back out and towards Aventureland. Another beautiful shot of the castle.
When we made it to the center area there was another parade going on. This time it was the "Mickey's Royal Friendship Faire" parade. We stopped and watched a little of it.
Once in Adventureland we decided to get a Dole Whip. While I know I tried one in 2014, I don't remember being very impressed with it and wondered what all the hype was. Trying it again, it was fabulous. Not sure if my taste buds were off last time or what, but it is definitely a must have when down there.
We decided to head to the Tiki Room to eat our treats. I had only been once at Disneyland and loved it, so yes, we had to go back and see the show. The guy that started the show was hilarious! He could have been part of the Monsters Inc Laugh Floor.
After the wonderful singing we heard, we made our way out of Aventureland and to Frontierland. It was time for our FassPasses for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Last time I was here, it was closed down, so this was a first for me. I was very excited for it. I do have to say that I loved it and wished that the line wasn't so long so we could ride again.
Ride selfie!
We decided to head over to Tom Sawyer's Island. I have never been there and thought it might be fun. Though I have to say by then my feet were starting to not be happy. We had to take a very short boat trip across the water first.
We headed up the path and decided to go into Old Scratch's Mystery Mine. I hated it. I'm very claustrophobic and the floors and walls were not even. And it just kept getting smaller and tighter. I wanted out as fast as possible.
There were some great views of Big Thunder Mountain from there.
We headed over to explore Fort Langhorn. It had a barn like area that had audio animatronic horses, black smiths, and chickens, all which made sounds. There was also a jail.
On the second floor they had areas where you could pretend to shoot rifles, known as a Rifle Roost.
And some beautiful views of the water.
We decided to head to the main land. Both Kelly and I were getting very tired but Franklin wanted to head up to the Mill while we waited for the boat. He said that it was a mill, nice to see, but we didn't miss anything.
We still had some time before our last FastPass so we ended up at It's a Small World.
And we are heading into the tunnel of worlds. Rider selfie!
I have to say that I think I enjoy the holiday theme of this ride. It is fun to see it decorated for the holidays and it does give your ears a break from just one song.
Our next FastPass were in separate directions. Because I had issues with my ticket, the reservations that I had got lost and we had to do last minute adjustments so that I could ride at the same time as them. The one ride it didn't work on is the Seven Dwarfs ride. This is another ride that was closed when I was there last time and really bummed me out that I would miss it this time as well. Kelly and Franklin headed to the Seven Dwarfs and I went to the Haunted Mansion.
The ride is fun to see the special effects. It's just not one that I would not wait in line for.
Since my FassPass was a little earlier then theirs I took my time heading to the restaurant for dinner. My sunglasses had broken earlier in the day so I looked at the expensive ones that they were selling in a shop in Aventureland. I couldn't see spending that much on sunglasses but it was fun trying them on.
I headed to the Skipper Canteen where we were having dinner. I met up with Kelly and Franklin who where already there. I was surprised that they beat me there and they said that the Seven Dwarfs ride was broken and they were not able to ride. Well that made me feel a little better about not getting a FassPass with them.
I had never eaten there, but they had and raved about it. We got seated and then had to wait almost half an hour to have someone take our drink orders. Being tired and hungry was not a good combination to have when the wait staff was backed up. On top of it, our table was right in the middle next to the door so there was a lot of traffic right around us. It just was awkward.
For an appitizer I had the Orinoco Ida's Cachapas which was corn pancakes toped with pork, black bean salad and avocado cream. OMG that was so goood!!!! I could have had a bigger portion for my meal. YUM!!
For my entree, I had the Sankuru Sadie's Seafood Stew. This was just OK. The seafood was good, but I was not a fan of the sauce. So I pulled the seafood out and ate it with the rice.
By the time we were done and had to wait extra, we were done. All I wanted to do is get off my feet. Though on the way out we did stop by one of the shops because Kelly wanted to get one of the seasonal Alex and Ani bracelets. I ended up getting a BB-8 bracelet while we were there. And I got a replacement pair of glasses, too. Not the best, but they would do to get me through the rest of the weekend.
Continue reading about my Star Wars Dark Side Weekend with the
10k.
Have you explored Tom Sawyer's Island? Have you submitted a joke to the Monsters Inc Laugh Floor? If not, do you have a joke? What's your favorite ride at Magic Kingdom?
