With the wedding fast approaching we decided to open Disney's Hollywood Studios in an attempt to get on the Slinky Dog Dash roller coaster. Think of it as we had some unfinished business from the day before. I originally did not have a park pass for the day of the wedding, but increasing my number of park days cost me a whopping $12 so it really was not a big deal at all. The weather was very New Jersey like. The temperature that morning was in the low to mid 40's. This was the first time I had experienced any kind of cold in Florida. Even with the temperatures that low I felt comfortable in my light zip up sweatshirt, baseball cap, and jeans. All around us were people bundled up as if it was snowing. Ski caps, huge parkas, gloves, and even some scarves could easily be seen. We got into the park before it opened and the cast members had a road block set up close to the Chinese theater.
What this does is allow guests to get into the park and not be all jammed up at the gates. Starbucks opened early so people were able to get into there and get some coffee and what not while waiting for the inevitable park opening. While we were standing in line it began to rain at a good moderate pace. This wasn't the typical Florida downpour though. This was what I'll equate to a cold, rainy, miserable New Jersey morning. Ponchos were being put on left to right, people huddling together for warmth, and then you had people like myself and the groom who've grown up in that kind of weather standing there getting soaked in the cold rain and being completely okay with it. In fact it was just over a year ago that he and I had walked through Six Flags Holiday in the Park with temperatures in the mid 30's and a pounding rain. Eventually the hoard began to slowly move towards Toy Story Land.
If you have never opened a park when a new land or a major new attraction has opened then this may seem strange to you. Instead of doing the classic rope drop, cast members stretch a rope across the crowd and lead them towards whatever the new area or ride is. This is an excellent method of crowd control. Back when Anna and Elsa first started a meet and greet at Magic Kingdom there were reports of adults running over kids trying to secure their spot in line. It was a huge mess. I was at the front of one of those lines one time and talked with a cast member whom was telling some stories of the crazy things she was seeing before this rope lead strategy went into effect. Crazy stuff. Anyway... The cast members led us to the entrance of the Slinky Dog Dash roller coaster and allowed people to branch off towards Alien Swirling Saucer and Toy Story Mania as needed.
The rain kept coming down as we stood in the outside section of the queue line. Even with this park opening strategy and the terrible weather we were looking at about a 40ish minute wait. The line behind us stretched on and by the time we got off the ride the wait time was over 120 minutes. More on that later though. The queue line for Slinky Dog is a lot of fun visually. Giant toys and other object tower over you, really making you feel the size of a green army man. While the queue is visually engaging, it is not physically engaging like say Seven Dwarfs Mine Train at Magic Kingdom. Luckily for those waiting in monster lines with nothing to do Disney released the Play Disney Parks app for smart phones! More on that at another time though.
Slinky Dog Dash is simply put wonderful. Growing up with the Toy Story franchise I have to admit I felt all kinds of giddy when I got on the ride. The ride was incredibly smooth, but actually a little intense at times. There are some great moments on the ride too. The first comes as you wrap around a scene where Rex has himself stuck on a tower of blocks and Jessie is working on saving him. The next awesome moment is the second launch sequence. The ride hits an impressive 40mph and at the top of one of the turns you currently have a clear eye shot into Star Wars Galaxy's Edge. I'm not sure if they are going to do anything about that in the future, but wow is the construction really coming along in there. It looks incredible even from the top of that hill. The final amazing moment on this ride comes at the end where a giant Wheezy animatronic is singing You've Got a Friend In Me. Mr. Spell is also there with various spelled out phrases, but Wheezy is the real star there. The only downside I noticed on this ride is some of the grey slinky parts had a protective covering over them. The groom told me that it was due to the paint chipping, cracking, and peeling off the train. I was sad to hear that since the ride isn't even a year old at this point.
The second picture above is the second launch section of the coaster where you can get a great view of Star Wars Galaxy's Edge.
With the weather being as crappy as it was and us achieving our goal for the morning we decided that it was a good idea to head back to the car and return to Pop Century Resort, play some Nintendo Switch and get ready for the wedding.
Thanks as always for reading. I've decided to move my review of Toy Story Land to my next blog. So the next blog will be a semi pause in the trip related blogs. The blog after that will be March 6th which was a four park day with a special guest visiting Disney World for one day for the first time. Stay Tuned!
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