After looking at what had FP+ availability and debating the amount of walking vs. sitting to go to Animal Kingdom for FOTLK and the Nemo Show, we settled on the place with the smallest footprint and the most FP+ options:
Disney Marathon Weekend 2020, on Flickr
Yes, sitting outside on the boat from Wilderness Lodge did nothing for my hair. LOL.
We were able to grab FP+ for Space Mountain, so after catching the Dapper Dan set that was starting just as we were starting down Main Street, we headed into Tomorrowland.
M loves Space Mountain, and roller coasters in any form. I hate this version and much prefer
Disneyland's version, but we rode it. Because I don't ride it very often, I had forgotten just how much walking there is, both to get to the part where you board the car, and after you get out. So much walking!
I was already feeling hot and crabby at the weather, so I insisted we stop for frozen beverages at the Lunching Pad. This was my first time trying out mobile ordering since they started it, and it worked great! It was also nice that the CM hadn't made our drinks yet because I was able to customize mine in person, when that hadn't been an option on the app. What did we get?
Disney Marathon Weekend 2020, on Flickr
The Space Ranger Slush- a mix of green apple and grape flavored icee served with a candy straw.
I got mine with all green apple because something tart and cold on a hot day is so refreshing. M got hers with no modifications.
These really hit the spot. the candy straw was super annoying, but otherwise, they were a hit.
We then decided to hit up a classic while waiting for our Buzz Lightyear FP+ that we had gotten- The Carousel of Progress.
Both M & I are HUGE fans of the Sherman Brothers and always sing-along to the song, which was really bugging the person next to us. Get into the Disney Spirit, guy next to us. What made it even worse was that we got stuck in the 3rd scene. The seats just didn't rotate, so we had to sit through it a second time. (Alternate trip report title: Trapped in a Beautiful Tomorrow). Boy was the guy next to us mad, which just gave us the giggles.
I had been obsessively checking
MDE to see if I had a chance at my back-up boarding group being called for ROTR and when we realized they were like 5 or 6 groups away from mine, I made the decision to start heading over to HS, since you only have 2 hours once your group is called to check-into the line. Which was a good decision, because while I was waiting for the boat back to Wilderness Lodge to pick up the car, my group got called.
I also started texting my friend A, who works for Disney, and who was getting a group of friends together to meet up at MK at 6, telling her I didn't know what time I would be able to join them, because of the ROTR situation.
Between retrieving the car, driving to HS, parking at the farthest end of the parking lot, and walking to the queue, it took over an hour. I ended up in line with people 10+ boarding groups behind mine, just cause it took so long to get there.
Disney Marathon Weekend 2020, on Flickr
No spoilers for ROTR- I promise! The ride went down twice while we were waiting in line- I got in the line around 4 pm and made it to the pre-show about 5:20 pm. I messaged A that the ride was done and I was heading back to MK at 5:56 pm, and met up with the girls around 7pm.
ROTR was amazing- as a pooh-sized fan who can't fit on FOP and so has no comparison, for me it's easily the best ride Disney's ever done. However, I estimated it took about 6 hours of time total to be able to ride it that could have been spent doing other things, between needing to grab a boarding group and needing to get back to the park to ride later in the day. When you only have 50 hours in Disney, that's a LOT of time. So I ultimately have mixed feelings about it.
Anyway, back to MK! Sister M had headed out for dinner and an early night before the marathon (thanks Uber!) so she didn't get to meet up with A and the gang. By the time I got to MK, the nightly fireworks show was happening (I know it's not Wishes anymore, but I don't know the name). Main Street was packed with people, so we ended up doing some shopping and just chatting. Then we ended up back in Tomorrowland for Monster's Inc Laugh Floor. I got picked as one of the people to talk about where they were from, so that was fun. Minneapolis's state bird is Mary Tyler Moore and it's famous for the Eiffel Tower. LOL
We went on Buzz, and I did horribly as expected- the other girls trounced me. And then we enjoyed a leisurely ride on the People Mover to close out the night, followed by some photos in the hub and on Main Street as the park was closing.
Disney Marathon Weekend 2020], on Flickr
The winter castle is my favorite castle
Disney Marathon Weekend 2020, on Flickr
It makes me so happy just looking at these
Disney Marathon Weekend 2020, on Flickr
Disney Marathon Weekend 2020, on Flickr
There were still thousands of people leaving, so we waited a bit to try to let the lines die down and chatted some more, until we couldn't put off saying goodbye any longer. By the time I made it back to the TTC and then to the car, and then to the hotel, it was 11:30 pm. And guess who had a 2:45 am wake up call?