Elizabeth Smith
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 7, 2017
Day 8 Part 3 -- The Fifth and Final Ride on Haunted Mansion
We kept walking all over the place, and eventually ended up on Main Street when I decided I needed desperately an ice cream sundae from the Plaza Ice Cream Parlor. But the Move It! Shake It! Mousekedance It! parade was bustling by and there was no way across, so we watched the parade. But the parade did eventually end and we got our ice cream. I do not recall what Jacob got, but I got the All-American sundae and it was amazing! The peanut butter sauce might have changed my life.
Like any good, responsible adult, we got dinner after our dessert and chose to do so at Pecos Bill's. Now the sun was down and it was sufficiently dark outside.
We got one fajita plate to share and it was pretty good and satisfying.
Now, Happily Ever After was going to start and we decided to make a dash to get in line for Haunted Mansion, hoping that the fireworks would draw people away from the rides. But the line was still somewhat long, so we heard the music from the show and saw some of the bursts.
And with that, we made it for a 5th ride on the Haunted Mansion, and yet again, survived without becoming the thousandth and thousand and first haunts to reside within the ride.
We had made a fastpass at 8:05 for Splash Mountain, but it was cancelled and we got an anytime fastpass, which we were quite pleased about, since on a chilly night in January, a Splash fastpass wasn't exactly necessary.
So we went standby for Big Thunder Mountain, thinking by the time we got off, maybe Splash would be back up and running.
We waited about 40 minutes for BTMRR and made use of the queue diversions to pass the time. I think the posted time was inaccurate, but it was okay. I decided on this trip to like Big Thunder Mountain after all. The more I ride it, the more I think I like it.
By the time we got off of BTMRR, Splash was indeed back up and running and the line wasn't too bad.
After about 30 minutes of a wait and 12 minutes of a ride, we were off, not too wet either.
And now it was time to walk all the way across the park to use our fastpass. And it was time to complete the 3 mountain trifecta at Space Mountain. It was about 10 o'clock at this time.
Jacob made such a goofy face (on purpose) that these teenagers were making fun of it at the photo pass area! Hahaha! It was great when we walked up right behind them as they were pointing and laughing.
Now we decided on one more ride for the night, redemption from the night before. Seven Dwarves Mine Train!
The posted wait was 95 minutes, but it was more like 40.
It almost started to sprinkle on us, but it changed its mind and stayed dry for us to get off the ride. Now the park was officially closed.
We pressed a few pennies... got a few photos...
And we headed out of the park.
We went back to the resort, paid off our room charges, picked up our final packages, packed up all our stuff, and went to bed at about 1:20. We woke up to catch our Magical Express which arrived at 3:40, so all told we got about 90 minutes of sleep.
We got a rescheduled flight and made it home to Cincinnati about an hour earlier than we were originally supposed to.
And with that. It was all over.
So, takeaways from this trip?
If we go back to WDW ever again, I'd want to go with my brother again. I missed him this trip and while it was nice to be with just Jacob, it was honestly more fun to have my brother with me. We always travel the 3 of us when we go to amusement parks.
Some of the restaurants were not quite as good as I had remembered them. BOG, Ohana... they were good, but my memory had built them up a little too much. If we ever go back, I want to make sure I keep trying new places.
I hope to go back to WDW someday, but I'm not in any rush now. Last trip ended and I was just itching to go back, but after a 2nd grown-up trip, I'm feeling plenty content with my WDW experiences and am ready to try something new next time we take a big trip! I've got no plans for now, but thinking of places we might enjoy!
Thanks to everyone for reading and keeping up with this trip! Many apologies that this report took nearly 8 months to complete, but I'm happy to have shared it all with you!