Part 2 - A bit of DCA, and DL at night.
When it comes to getting around the resort, it's actually easy to park hop considering the entrances are right across from another. An once I crossed over to DCA...
First there's Buena Vista Street, which I honestly a really nice entrance land. I loved the look, the music and even the period clothes that Mickey, Minnie and Goofy are wearing. It has a lot of charm to it. Then you enter Hollywood Land, which greeted me with thematic whiplash. So I'm fine with the look of the land, it does seem like something you'd see in Hollywood Studios in WDW. Maybe a little more with the awesome façade of the Hyperion down the street. The whiplash comes in the form of the music, as Marvel music was blasting through the land. Yes, you have the Hero meet and greed's in this area, though those alone also add to the hodgepodge of stuff in the land, making it feel like there's a case of a identity crisis. Monster's Inc: Mike and Sully to the Rescue being tucked away in the corner just adds to that.
Guardians of the Galaxy - Mission: Breakout! - So this attraction has quite the history, now does it? First it was DCA's ToT, which was quickly dinged as a lesser tower compared to WDW's. Then came the rumors it was getting turned into GotG which seemed crazy, then came the announcement and concept art which looked crazier. But then the ride opened, and people were admitting it not only worked...but it also worked -better- that ToT! For me I felt I was gonna' enjoy the ride at the very least. Now did I expect to enjoy the ride so much that I'd be going on it over and over? No...
...but that's what happened. 16 times to be exact.
Without a doubt, Mission Breakout was the biggest surprise of the trip. This ride is just plain fun from beginning to end, from all the nods and easter eggs in the entry room, to messages from Howard the Duck in the exit corridor. The Rocket AA is impressive, and the drop sequences mess with you in ways the Tower of Terror never did. Be it the constant darkness save for the screens and photo op, to the lighting above and to the sides of the lift which were used to great effect.
The only downside was I only missed one song/sequence, and that was Free Ride. I'm a little bummed about that since I've heard that sequence is awesome. But that doesn't change the fact that I downright loved this ride. Now for me, WDW's ToT is still one of the GOAT's. It's a masterful slow burn of a attraction that gradually builds suspense till you reach the drop shaft, where it will scare you good. Conversely, Mission Breakout is fast-paced, frantic and fun. (Which fit's perfectly with the GotG.) Both towers work incredibly well with the direction they go in, and while DCA's ToT was always compared to and dinged against WDW's tower, Mission Breakout proudly stands on it's own. Yes, the building itself is certainly...a lot. (An boy does it stick out in other areas of the park!) But what's inside is flat-out fun, and that's what honestly matters the most.
After a awesome time with the Guardians, I hopped into Cars Land which is a impressive land in it's own right. I may not be the biggest fan of the franchise, but the land looked really good and that Cadillac range is one heck of a backdrop!
Radiator Springs Racers - While it may not be as fast as Test Track, overall this ride is way better. The dark ride segment is really nice with some killer AA's, and the racing finale is a lot of fun with some nice pops of airtime in the mix. An hidey ho, another single rider line which was the way to go on avoiding a consistently busy line.
Next up was Pixar Pier, which may be the most hodgepodge-y of all the lands with the various clashes of styles in theming.
The Incredicoaster - I'm in the boat this overlay wasn't needed, you're essentially slapping on a story to something which never told one to begin with. That said, the coaster itself is really good! Some nice pops of air, a nice sense of speed throughout, plus some of the tunnels did have nice effects. That and the soundtrack was really good, too. Hey, there's a single rider for this, too!
Goofy's Sky School - A simple Mack wild mouse, fun enough for what it is. Especially with little to no wait via the single rider.
TLM: Ariel's Undersea Adventure - This feels like a larger scale fantasyland darkride, complete with shortened storytelling of the movie. None the less, it's a nice attraction with some sweet AA's. I also spotted the Mr. Limpet figure which was a nice touch.
Soarin' Over California - As usual, a wonderfully relaxing flight simulator with a GOAT soundtrack. As well as your daily reminder that Patrick Warburton is the man.
With all that rides and the weather heating up, it was time for another snack. For this I went to Clarabelle's where I tried the hand dipped ice cream bar. This is a wonderful snack, especially with the customization of what ice cream, chocolate and toppings you can use. I went with vanilla bean ice cream, dark chocolate and as for toppings, I went with "The Whole Herd", which is a bit of everything, including a nice amount of pop rocks which lead to this...it didn't take much moisture to set the pop rocks off, so once I started eating the pop rocks exploded and sent the various toppings flying everywhere! It was the first time food started attacking me, which was quite amusing and absurd. None the less, it was a great snack.
After that, I went back to DL where I re-rode some rides, and went on the Haunted Mansion which is always a classic. (For me it's a toss-up between this one and WDW's. Both are plenty good, and I loved both the Hatbox Ghost and the floating Madam Leota in DL's.)
Eventually it was time for my Fantasmic dinner at Blue Bayou, and that was really good. Had the house salad which was above average compared to other salads in restaurants, The Herb-Crusted Rack of Lamb was quite tasty and the Sorcerer Mickey dessert was a nice finish. Also had a Mint Julip over there which was very refreshing! Another nice touch to doing the Fantasmic dinner at Blue Bayou is they also give you a keepsake custom seat cushion considering you have to sit on the ground in the reserved section.
Fantasmic! - Wowza, that just stomped all over WDW's. Orlando may have the nice amphitheater to sit in, but that's about it. DL's was way bigger in scale, more up to date and was a treat to watch from beginning to end. It didn't feel like any segment dragged, either. (Unlike the Pocahontas and bubble mist segment from WDW's.)
After F!, I scrambled back to DCA for a fastpass'd night ride on Mission Breakout. (Thanks in part to the backstage exit at Main Street, boy did those Jungle Cruise skippers take quite the turn to end up there.) Then it was back to DL for more re-rides, and night rides on Jungle Cruise (shorter than WDW's, but still plenty of fun. Skipper Gabby had some wonderful zingers I've never heard before!), as well as Casey Jr. and Storybook Canal Boats. (Both very cute and charming rides which are a great way to rest one's feet.)
At this point the lines were so short, I even went on Dumbo. Never went on it once at WDW, but here it was a walk-on for me! I also hit up Pirates of the Caribbean, and while WDW may have the themed queue, DL has the better ride. Now the new Redd scene didn't turn out as bad as I thought, but it's a scene that's just kinda' there. Now my ride here was made a little more interesting as our boat caught up with the one in front at the town, and after a bit of knocking together we found ourselves in a omnimover of boats for the rest of the ride. I know Pirates has a fantastic capacity, throughput, but that was ridiculous! XD
So with all that and a few more rerides, Saturday was over. It was a packed to the gills and quite the first impression of the park for me. Part 3 is Sunday (probably Monday, too), and the following posts will be on the shorter side since I've got most of the ride comments out of the way.