Disney Sprint Continues

I mustered the strength to get out of bed at 8:10. I laced up my Asics (it’s time for a new pair), collaborated my Garmin running watch and I was off on my 5-mile run through Disney’s All Star Resorts with barley six hours of sleep. I knew that I would regret missing that morning run even though it was an hour later than yesterday, ten degrees warmer, and 25% more humidity. After the run, my wife greeted me at the door with a statement of the obvious, “You are soaking wet!”

We made it out the door around 10:40 and all of us were dragging a little tail along the way. It was a short drive to Epcot and we were at our first ride, Soarin’ around 11:00. It’s one of our favorite rides and it always meets our expectations. I love the smell of the oranges. With no breakfast in our stomachs, we made a b line to Sunshine Seasons inside The Land complex for lunch around 11:30.

Refueled with new found energy, we headed to Spaceship Earth to use up our second Fast Pass. After the ride, Brandi and I made our way to Mission: Space and joined the Orange team for the intense journey. Milisa and Blake sat this one out.

We decided to head to the world showcase and our first stop was Mexico. We rode the Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros. Next up, was the boat ride inside Norway, the Maelstrom. Out of character, we waited in line for 45 minutes for this ride. Next time, I will not wait 5 minutes for it!

We skipped China, Germany, and Italy. There are no rides. Only a film of China. No thanks. Someone said they could not see the screen anyway. Too much smog! Ha!

For the first time ever, we made our way into The American Adventure. It was a 30 minute film that included amazing audio-animatronics. I highly recommend it!

We visited Japan next and shopped in their candy store. They have amazing candy. I quickly tested a Coca Cola hard candy and it tasted just like a real Coke!

We skipped Morocco, France, and The U.K. Not much happening in those countries. We hustled over to Canada and watched their 14-minute, 360 degree film, O Canada hosted by comedian, Martin Short. Pretty funny and had some amazing scenery of Canada.

We took a break while we waited for our 5:45 dinner reservation in Canada’s Le Cellier Steakhouse. I can’t wait for the pretzels! We made acquaintances with some of the local ducks. Dinner was excellent. We all had the 16oz Ribeye. It was to die for.

After dinner, we headed over to the Living Seas to ride The Seas with Nemo & Friends. The entrance sign said it was a 15 minute wait but it was a 15 minute walk through the maze. When we exited the ride, we watched the scuba divers in the aquarium and I have to say, I wanted to blow some bubbles with them, but I’ve been there, done that!  I realized the Georgia Aquarium will be a better diving experience for sure.

Our last ride was Test Track and I have to say it was the highlight of the evening. We hit a top speed of 65 mph and it was awesome.

For the first time of the vacation, we split up and went separate ways. Milisa and Brandi went back to the room to get some much needed rest. Blake and I took the monorail from Epcot to the Contemporary Hotel. Blake wanted to play in the arcade and I was privileged enough to watch him defeat the Star Wars game. Thank you, Blake.

Blake surprised me after his arcade experience. He wanted to go back to the Magic Kingdom for the third day in a row.

As we ere entering the Magic Kingdom, fireworks were exploding in mid air. We headed to the Fast Pass kiosk to check on the availability of the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, but no such luck. We settled for the Haunted Mansion and headed that direction.

The Mine Train was on they way and the standby line was 40 minutes. Not bad but not good enough for Blake. We rode the Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Thunder Mountain Railroad. We passed the Mine Train on the way out and the stand by line had increased to an hour wait. Nope. Time to head back. We caught the tail end of the Electrical Light Parade and made it to the #24 bus back to the All Star Music Resort. We’re back at 12:10 a.m, Thursday morning. Day 3 is in the books. Animal Kingdom tomorrow!