Carol in Oregon - June 2008

We are down in California and decided to make a one day visit to DL & DCA. Some of you may remember that I asked about Ridemax a few weeks ago. Well...decided at $15 it was worth a try just to see if we could avoid lines this time. It worked far better than I ever imagined and I want to tell you that I would recommend it to anyone who is looking to hit a lot of attractions and not have to be in long lines all day.

So we followed the plan...arrived at the parks half an hour early and made our way down to the gate. We had a little bit of a sprint at the get go, but it was the only one. While most people were heading for Space Mountain and the Matterhorn, we were on about the 5th car to go out on Peter Pan. Seeing as we've never spent less than 45 minutes in line for this ride I was somewhat impressed. We exited Peter Pan and walked right on to Mr. Toad's Wild Ride...no wait at all. We picked up one fastpass then headed over to do the Jungle Cruise and the Tiki Room. By this time we were actually ahead of schedule by following the Ridemax plan. BTW, the Tiki room is a welcome stop in 90+ degree heat. Very nice AC. Also was glad to see they still have the Polynesian theme in DL and not the "New management". On the Jungle Cruise we learned that Splash Mountain had broken down and they were pulling people off. We headed over to Winnie the Pooh...wait time...less than 10 minutes. As we exited Pooh, we saw that they had just re-opened Splash Mountain and walked right on with our fastpasses.

OMG...the last time we went on Splash Mtn. there was one long drop at the end of the ride. Where did those 3 or 4 others come from??? I barely had time to recover from one before the next one hit. Needless to say, sitting in the front seat of the log...I was completely drenched. Not entirely unwelcome due to the temperatures.

By this time we were more than an hour ahead of schedule, so when we stopped by Big Thunder Mtn. RR to get a fastpass and saw a 10 minute standby line, we jumped on. Then rounded the corner to the POTC and saw the wait time as 15 minutes. Decided to take a chance and walked on in 5 minutes.

Don't want you to think the park wasn't crowded...it was. But thanks to the extreme heat, I think most everyone by now was heading for Splash Mnt. and other water or air conditioned rides.

We decided to have a quick bite for lunch, then headed over to DCA for a few hours. Got fastpasses for Soarin' and Grizzly River Run, then off to Monsters Inc, Animation and Muppet Vision. Breezed through all of these...longest wait time about 10 minutes. Then back to Golden Dreams for a nice air conditioned break. Finally got to our Soarin' fastpass time...again less than 10 minute wait. DD getting blisters on feet so went back to front gate to get her a stroller and ice cream for DH.

Grizzly River fastpass time finally arrived...ooops! Our only glith, the fastpass line was longer than the standby line. Time to take a break and have dinner. Wondered if everyone had come back to the fastpass entrance right at the front end and all at the same time, so we wandered back to find no line. DH's ankle killing him by now, so DD and I went on our own. Got a much needed drenching and a great ride! Is this basically the same as Khali River Rapids in AK? I have never been on either before now. If it's the same, we will be doing more of this ride!

Back to DL Park where we were now so far ahead of schedule that we abandoned the Ridemax plan (had already done most of our evening rides in the morning) and just took it easy and went on the attractions we felt like going on at the time. Headed over to check out the Nemo Subs and see what the line looked like. In the end, we opted out of Nemo and Toy Story Mania. It was just too hot to stand in line for a minimum of an hour at each attraction (no fastpass option for either) and with DH's ankle problem, it wasn't going to happen. Got another quick walk-on at POTC and then did the Haunted Mansion. Left the park a full two hours earlier than planned and all completely exhausted. We easily did twice to three times as many attractions today than we have ever done before. Not sure how well Ridemax would work for WDW if you are park hopping, but I think it would be a great resource if you don't park hop. Ok...feet hurt...need sleep...talk to all of you later.