Day 5 - Thursday, May 26 - Part 7: More solo fun
So yeah, heading for to the Tower of Terror!!!
The line wasn't too bad. It probably took about 30 minutes or so. The only thing is… if you are in line by yourself and the people around you aren't looking to chat with strangers…. 30 minutes can seem like a very long time!
It's probably been 6 or more years since I last rode it, so it was actually pretty fun for me. And not nearly as intense as I remembered it to be. Fun!
So it was now around 5:45 PM. Time to be heading over to Epcot, but oh yeah, Rockin' Roller Coaster has a single rider line. Why not just hop on while I have the chance!?!?
Turned out to be a horrible decision. That single rider line was ridiculously SLOW! And watching all the FP and even regular stand by riders pass us over and over made it seem worse. What was supposed to take 20 minutes took over 50 minutes. 50 minutes that I'd much rather have spent enjoying the Flower and Garden Festival in Epcot. What kept it interesting was… there was an old grandpa man who was riding by himself too. He kept on trying to ease up and cut in front of me. I'd stand my ground. He'd get ahead and then, I'd position myself in such a way that I could get back in my spot as the group in front of me shifted around.
Game on grandpa!!! I never said anything to him during our jockeying for position. About 30 minutes or so into the line, I was convinced that I had won.
Take that you old geezer!!!
He stayed behind me without a fight for the last 15 minutes... and actually struck up a couple of conversations with me. Nice try, but I'm still not letting you cut. Except for right up a the end, I was chatting with the group in front of me, and grandpa snuck by me and three of them. They eventually regained their position, but I was stuck.
Grandpa, if you ever read this TR, my hat's off to you. You won after all! Now, don't have a heart attack on the ride!!! Bwahahah.
That's him (fiddling with his hat) in the left most position in the next photo.
I assume he came out fine as I didn't hear any ambulances or anything.
So… it's been 12 or 13 years (maybe more) since I last rode Rockin Rollercoaster. In contrast to the Tower of Terror, it was every bit as intense as I remembered it!!! I think I'm good for another 10 years or so. Haha
OK. Another selfie.
It was now around 6:30. I figured that if I leave now, I'd get to Epcot around 7pm. Have a quick dinner at one of the festival kiosks, and then just enjoy the evening for a couple hours before they close. Skipping the FP+'s.
I hoofed it on out of there…
I took the boat ride this time!
So part of the fun of the Flower and Garden Festival is visiting all the various food kiosks scattered around the World Showcase. I looked at menus on the boat ride over. I was in analysis paralysis. So many options. What should I do?!?!
I ultimately decided for the tapas over at Mexico.
I headed over through England and Canada.
At this point, it was about 7:15 PM and I was starving. So I decided to just keep walking.
All the topiaries were pretty epic!
Being a gardener myself, I really wanted a cool shirt from the festival or something, but still being hungry… I kept walking.
I didn't get a photo of the kiosk in Mexico, but I opted for a shrimp taco, cheese and veggie quesadilla, and a Tecate beer. It's hard to tell in the photos, but the portions were miniscule. Those tortillas were the size of a large cookie!!! It was very good, but gone in like for bites. Essentially I felt ripped off. Not really worth $20.
The good thing… I don’t drink regularly, so a large beer on an empty stomach took the edge off pretty quickly and I just rolled with it. I can always find more stuff later right?!?!
Since I was already at Mexico, I had to go inside!
And ride the Three Caballeros Gran Fiesta Tour. For whatever reason, I consider this a "must do" attraction. I've never skipped it on a trip to WDW that included visits to Epcot. It was still fun, but I was missing my family at this point.
Moving on... Norway was practically still closed, as the Frozen ride wasn't ready yet.
The Anna and Elsa topiaries were cool though.
I explored China for a few minutes.
Love the late evening sun and shadows.
Skipped over Italy.
Browsed through Germany.
I love the toy store, even if it's not as cool as it used to be. They still have some Steiffs and Playmobil though! (I'm a HUGE, and I mean crazy HUGE Playmobil fan. Oh wait, you may have guessed that by my avatar picture.)
Watched the LGB garden trains for a while.
More ridiculously awesome topiaries!
And finally made my way to Japan. My favorite!!!
My favorite treat in all of WDW for some reason is the Kakigori shave ice. Rainbow or Melon, I like them both. And still being hungry from my gourmet miniature dinner, I had some sushi too.
I wasn't expecting much from this pre-prepared sushi, but it was delicious!!! As was the kakigori! Yum!!!!
I just sat there at chilled at the Pagoda for a good thirty minutes or so. People watching and soaking it all in. Have I already said that I love the Japan pavilion!?!?!?
Even though I spent a good deal of time inside the Mitsukoshi department store with Princess the other night, I went inside again anyway. I browsed the toy area for quite a while and then watched a few people purchase and have pearls opened. That was actually a lot of fun.
I also spent a fair amount of time looking at all the incenses and random tchotchkes..
Bonsai seed kits!!
"I want that"
Heading back outside...
At this point it was about 9pm and the fireworks were about to start.
Since I had now seen them twice already on this trip, I decided to call it a night and just keep walking. It was a long day and we planned to get up early for extra magic hours at Magic Kingdom tomorrow.
It was fun to be able to still see them off in the distance as I made my way back to the Boardwalk Inn.
And then looking back towards the boardwalk. (Crummy iPhone photo above decent Olympus camera photo below.)
And heading up towards the lobby, they were playing the new Star Wars movie on the lawn. How appropriate!
Sometime around 9:20 or so, I had made it back to the room. And wow, what a day!!! I chatted and shared stories with Stephanie and the kids for a little while, and then we all headed to sleep