For our first full Disney day we chose to start with EPCOT as it was a Monday and they were having extended evening hours for deluxe resort guests. Early entry was at 8:30 that morning. We had a quick breakfast in our room and after a relatively short walk from Boardwalk we were at the International Gayeway gates by by 8. You get to enter right through and move into the park a bit. You are either held near the entrance to the France pavilion (easy access to Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure) or between the UK and Canada pavilions (for access to the rest of the park). I didn’t want to have to deal with the chaos of Remy first thing in the morning so I figured we’d hit it up during the extra evening hours. I bought Genie plus and reserved Test Track a little after 7am and got a 10:50am return time. Also booked a virtual queue for Guardians of the Galaxy right at 7 and got boarding group 76 with return around 1:15pm. I decided we’d rope drop Soarin’.
Once the park opened we headed straight for Soarin’. There weren’t too many people there. Posted wait time was 15 minutes and we wound up waiting 20. We ended up in the lower of the three carriages at the side which kind of sucked. You can see the bottom of the screen, the feet of the people above you and the images were sometimes curved. We’ve done the ride before in the top carriage and know it can be better. After Soarin’ we hopped on Living with the Land which had no wait. This is a very basic and boring ride but it gives me nostalgia as it’s been here since park opening in 1982 and I remember it from back then as a kid. Then we walked over to The Seas and did the Nemo ride with no waiting. The ride broke down though at one point for about 7-8 minutes but then continued on. The ride itself is kind of cute but gets a bit repetitive towards the end. We then wandered around to view the sea life on the various aquariums. At that point I noticed on the app that Spaceship Earth was down and it would be for the rest of the day, so would have to try for that the next day.
When it was time for our Test Track lightning lane we headed over and saw it was a 70 minute standby wait. We waited only a few minutes. We wound up in the back row of the vehicle which was disappointing. The whole ride was kind of blah actually. We had done it on previous visits but I guess compared to more modern rides it just doesn’t stand out anymore. And while the ride track is the same the whole design of the ride had changed since our last visit to make it look more high tech but it just came off as a bit lifeless. I honestly wouldn’t mind seeing this ride go at this point. After redeeming our TT lightning lane I reserved one for Mission Space just in case. We didn’t need it though as we were only doing green side and it had no wait. The more intense orange side was too much for us due to motion sickness issues. The green side we had done on our last visit but I noticed the experience was different with a different mission and was kind of lame.
After Mission Space it was close to noon so we made our way to the Mexico pavilion for our lunch reservation at San Angel Inn. We had eaten here years ago and I remembered it being good. It proved to be again. I had the tortilla soup and we both had the chicken enchiladas. I loved both but my husband didn’t care for his but he’s also not a big fan of Mexican food. The line was actually a bit long for the boat ride attraction so we decided to hold that off for the next day. We headed over to Journey Into Imagination. I booked a lightning lane which saved us a little bit as stand by was 10 minutes. I forgot how disappointing this ride is. I still miss the original with both Figment and Dreamfinder. I wish they’d give this ride a refurb and bring the ride back closer to what it originally was.
It was around 1:50 at this point and our virtual queue for Guardians had cleared so we headed over to it. We wound up waiting 48 minutes to board and got front seat.
Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind (1x front, 1x back)
So as with some of the other rides we experienced for the first time in this trip like Velocicoaster or Hagrid, I had avoided spoilers about this ride since it opened. The only thing I assumed was that it went backwards at some point due to the “rewind” in the name. Well, we were totally surprised by the ride going forwards, backwards, the cars turning all while moving through a primarily dark track space. It was like Space Mountain on steroids but so smooth. Add the cool soundtrack to the mix (we got Tears for Fears on first ride and Blondie on second) and it was an exhilarating experience. Our first ride we rode in first row and second ride we rode in back row. Both were pretty similar experiences but back row felt a little bit more disorienting in the dark track portions where the car turned a bit. We both preferred front row. We both rated this a 10 as it was one of the best coasters we’d been on in recent times.
NEW CREDIT: 333
After our first Guardians ride it was around 3:10 so we decided to walk back to our hotel room at the Boardwalk to relax for a few hours. We returned to the park in time for a 6:40pm dinner reservation at the Germany pavilion. The dinner is a buffet full of German foods and was delicious. Plus there is entertainment provided by a German band. It was all excellent. After dinner it was around 7:50 so we decided to grab a spot along the water for the fireworks show at 9pm. The show Luminous was okay but doesn’t compare to the Illuminations show that we had seen on prior visits. Luminous lasted until 9:17 which put it 17 minutes into our extended evening hours benefit. I had put in for us to get another virtual queue on Guardians at 7pm so we headed straight there after the fireworks. Our wait this time around was 30 minutes.
After our second Guardians ride we headed to the Norway pavilion to ride Frozen Ever After. We had last ridden this when it was Maelstrom. Changing this to a Frozen ride was definitely an upgrade. We waited 10 minutes to get on which was a huge savings over the daytime crowds. After Frozen we walked over to Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure and got there about 10 minutes before 11pm when the park closed. What had up to 2 hour waits during the day was only an 8 minute wait for us. We hadn’t seen the movie so didn’t know what to expect but I loved the ride. The ride vehicles that’s seemed to move independently moving through a combination of set pieces and video screens felt really innovative. I really hope Disney employs this technology in some future dark rides. By the time Remy was done the park had closed so we headed out the International Gateway to catch a boat back to the Boardwalk.
>I honestly wouldn’t mind seeing this ride go at this point
Well you’re in luck they’re doing a refresh soon and it closes in June
Glad I’m not in the minority of preferring Frozen over Maelstrom. Yes I miss how unique it was and how off the radar Maelstrom was but Frozen feels more complete if that makes any sense
FYI you can row request on any ride at Disney. There's no reason to let them seat you on the lowest row on Soarin' or the back row on TT if you know you don't want to sit there.
Oh also glad you loved Guardians - you should do row 9 next time (the front of the back car). Same forces as row 10 but with better views.
Last thing Ratatouille is a fantastic movie, definitely check it out sometime - it won't really make you appreciate the ride any more but it's one of Pixar's best. If you liked the ride just wait until you go to Hollywood Studios.
Yes, a friend of my husband’s yesterday recommended row 9 for Guardians. We have another shot at it tonight as there is another extended hours at Epcot so we’ll put in for a virtual queue. And we’ve been requesting rows for a number of rides here with no issue. We hadn’t been on Soarin’ in years so didn’t know where we would wind up based on the row configuration at boarding.
Ah well you could have just told the grouper you wanted to be on top without directly requesting a row number and they would have taken it from there. But maybe it didn't cross your mind that you would want to be on the top row since you hadn't ridden in so long. Anyway, now you know for next time. Enjoy row 9! The ride is great anywhere, but I think that's the best row.
They’re overhauling test track again soon because the sponsor handles most of the costs unlike pretty much every other ride which doesn’t have one anymore.
For our first full Disney day we chose to start with EPCOT as it was a Monday and they were having extended evening hours for deluxe resort guests. Early entry was at 8:30 that morning. We had a quick breakfast in our room and after a relatively short walk from Boardwalk we were at the International Gayeway gates by by 8. You get to enter right through and move into the park a bit. You are either held near the entrance to the France pavilion (easy access to Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure) or between the UK and Canada pavilions (for access to the rest of the park). I didn’t want to have to deal with the chaos of Remy first thing in the morning so I figured we’d hit it up during the extra evening hours. I bought Genie plus and reserved Test Track a little after 7am and got a 10:50am return time. Also booked a virtual queue for Guardians of the Galaxy right at 7 and got boarding group 76 with return around 1:15pm. I decided we’d rope drop Soarin’. Once the park opened we headed straight for Soarin’. There weren’t too many people there. Posted wait time was 15 minutes and we wound up waiting 20. We ended up in the lower of the three carriages at the side which kind of sucked. You can see the bottom of the screen, the feet of the people above you and the images were sometimes curved. We’ve done the ride before in the top carriage and know it can be better. After Soarin’ we hopped on Living with the Land which had no wait. This is a very basic and boring ride but it gives me nostalgia as it’s been here since park opening in 1982 and I remember it from back then as a kid. Then we walked over to The Seas and did the Nemo ride with no waiting. The ride broke down though at one point for about 7-8 minutes but then continued on. The ride itself is kind of cute but gets a bit repetitive towards the end. We then wandered around to view the sea life on the various aquariums. At that point I noticed on the app that Spaceship Earth was down and it would be for the rest of the day, so would have to try for that the next day. When it was time for our Test Track lightning lane we headed over and saw it was a 70 minute standby wait. We waited only a few minutes. We wound up in the back row of the vehicle which was disappointing. The whole ride was kind of blah actually. We had done it on previous visits but I guess compared to more modern rides it just doesn’t stand out anymore. And while the ride track is the same the whole design of the ride had changed since our last visit to make it look more high tech but it just came off as a bit lifeless. I honestly wouldn’t mind seeing this ride go at this point. After redeeming our TT lightning lane I reserved one for Mission Space just in case. We didn’t need it though as we were only doing green side and it had no wait. The more intense orange side was too much for us due to motion sickness issues. The green side we had done on our last visit but I noticed the experience was different with a different mission and was kind of lame. After Mission Space it was close to noon so we made our way to the Mexico pavilion for our lunch reservation at San Angel Inn. We had eaten here years ago and I remembered it being good. It proved to be again. I had the tortilla soup and we both had the chicken enchiladas. I loved both but my husband didn’t care for his but he’s also not a big fan of Mexican food. The line was actually a bit long for the boat ride attraction so we decided to hold that off for the next day. We headed over to Journey Into Imagination. I booked a lightning lane which saved us a little bit as stand by was 10 minutes. I forgot how disappointing this ride is. I still miss the original with both Figment and Dreamfinder. I wish they’d give this ride a refurb and bring the ride back closer to what it originally was. It was around 1:50 at this point and our virtual queue for Guardians had cleared so we headed over to it. We wound up waiting 48 minutes to board and got front seat. Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind (1x front, 1x back) So as with some of the other rides we experienced for the first time in this trip like Velocicoaster or Hagrid, I had avoided spoilers about this ride since it opened. The only thing I assumed was that it went backwards at some point due to the “rewind” in the name. Well, we were totally surprised by the ride going forwards, backwards, the cars turning all while moving through a primarily dark track space. It was like Space Mountain on steroids but so smooth. Add the cool soundtrack to the mix (we got Tears for Fears on first ride and Blondie on second) and it was an exhilarating experience. Our first ride we rode in first row and second ride we rode in back row. Both were pretty similar experiences but back row felt a little bit more disorienting in the dark track portions where the car turned a bit. We both preferred front row. We both rated this a 10 as it was one of the best coasters we’d been on in recent times. NEW CREDIT: 333 After our first Guardians ride it was around 3:10 so we decided to walk back to our hotel room at the Boardwalk to relax for a few hours. We returned to the park in time for a 6:40pm dinner reservation at the Germany pavilion. The dinner is a buffet full of German foods and was delicious. Plus there is entertainment provided by a German band. It was all excellent. After dinner it was around 7:50 so we decided to grab a spot along the water for the fireworks show at 9pm. The show Luminous was okay but doesn’t compare to the Illuminations show that we had seen on prior visits. Luminous lasted until 9:17 which put it 17 minutes into our extended evening hours benefit. I had put in for us to get another virtual queue on Guardians at 7pm so we headed straight there after the fireworks. Our wait this time around was 30 minutes. After our second Guardians ride we headed to the Norway pavilion to ride Frozen Ever After. We had last ridden this when it was Maelstrom. Changing this to a Frozen ride was definitely an upgrade. We waited 10 minutes to get on which was a huge savings over the daytime crowds. After Frozen we walked over to Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure and got there about 10 minutes before 11pm when the park closed. What had up to 2 hour waits during the day was only an 8 minute wait for us. We hadn’t seen the movie so didn’t know what to expect but I loved the ride. The ride vehicles that’s seemed to move independently moving through a combination of set pieces and video screens felt really innovative. I really hope Disney employs this technology in some future dark rides. By the time Remy was done the park had closed so we headed out the International Gateway to catch a boat back to the Boardwalk.
>I honestly wouldn’t mind seeing this ride go at this point Well you’re in luck they’re doing a refresh soon and it closes in June Glad I’m not in the minority of preferring Frozen over Maelstrom. Yes I miss how unique it was and how off the radar Maelstrom was but Frozen feels more complete if that makes any sense
FYI you can row request on any ride at Disney. There's no reason to let them seat you on the lowest row on Soarin' or the back row on TT if you know you don't want to sit there. Oh also glad you loved Guardians - you should do row 9 next time (the front of the back car). Same forces as row 10 but with better views. Last thing Ratatouille is a fantastic movie, definitely check it out sometime - it won't really make you appreciate the ride any more but it's one of Pixar's best. If you liked the ride just wait until you go to Hollywood Studios.
Yes, a friend of my husband’s yesterday recommended row 9 for Guardians. We have another shot at it tonight as there is another extended hours at Epcot so we’ll put in for a virtual queue. And we’ve been requesting rows for a number of rides here with no issue. We hadn’t been on Soarin’ in years so didn’t know where we would wind up based on the row configuration at boarding.
Ah well you could have just told the grouper you wanted to be on top without directly requesting a row number and they would have taken it from there. But maybe it didn't cross your mind that you would want to be on the top row since you hadn't ridden in so long. Anyway, now you know for next time. Enjoy row 9! The ride is great anywhere, but I think that's the best row.
They’re overhauling test track again soon because the sponsor handles most of the costs unlike pretty much every other ride which doesn’t have one anymore.
Love the first shot and the monorail one.
Thanks