Today was our last day and we were back to starting at Disneyland and Rise of the Resistance. The lineup never dropped below 90 minutes that we could see, so going first thing was our best option. We got a bit unlucky with the lineup because although we got to the gate early and were near the ropes at 8:00a we took the wrong way into Galaxy's edge. There is one near Frontierland and the one we took near Critter Country. By the time we got to the entrance the line was already snaking in the direction of Frontierland so we had to run backwards against the lineup. Lesson learned for next time.
The ride was even better the second time because there is so much going on. The line up starts as if you are part of the Rebellion and you are on one of their secret bases. You get ushered onto a transport ship and an Admiral Ackbar like character attempts to get you off the base but everyone is captured. You are still in the line up but the transport moves as if avoiding enemy ships. At this point the First Order captures you and you go through the hanger of an Imperial Star Destroyer and are lead into a prison cell where a Jedi frees you and you get on the actual ride.
The ride itself is on an 8 seater cart that moves you through various scenes that include Imperial Walkers, canons on the ship, views of the fight going on outside and even an elevator that drops you fairly suddenly. At this point it turns into a ride much like Star Tours where you are flying in a simulator and they get you back down to the planets surface. Even leaving the ride is interesting as you are back in a rebel base with damaged equipment from the battle. We really loved the Millenium Falcon Smuggler's run ride and but if we had a choice we would pick Rise of the Resistance every time.
Our goal continued to be to hit all the rides that we hadn't been to and this included the Tiki room. We got lucky and were the last few people in the door and the show started almost immediately. I'm sure this ride was cutting edge when it first started and I do wonder about the technology/electronics that goes into getting the bird movements timed with the singing but I think I fall asleep most times watching it. The room is dark and you are sitting down so sleep is only a few seconds away. It doesn't take up much space so I think they will always keep it around. Plus it's where you get the Dole Whips so we always head in that direction.
We had a Genie Pass to Space Mountain and on our way out I finally found R2 however I was quite disappointed in his construction. Now that I'm trying to build one there are quite a few details that I never noticed before that this one didn't have. The most glaring one for his setup is that his shirt is on backwards. by that I mean that he is leaning the right way but his head should be pointed in the other direction. There are also some details on the shoulder that are missing that I only know about because they will be a pain to recreate. The version they had in the gift shop of Galaxy's Edge was much better. We won't be going for 100% screen accurate because there is no such thing since they had multiple versions in the movies but we will try to include as many details as we can.
As we headed back into Frontierland we saw that the Mark Twain paddle wheeler was leaving so we hopped on for a trip around the park. I'm trying not to always jump on the 'cancel culture' band wagon but we are wondering how long they will have the natives on display. Disneyworld got in trouble for a cheer leading team that was doing an Indian themed war chant about scalping their opponents and they don't have any other scenes with people like this. Also, they don't really say which tribes are represented and it's mostly just stereotypical native scenes. They could at least say which bands are represented.
Out last ride of the morning was the canoes. We often don't get to these because they are closed and I think it's because it can get too hot, both for the passengers and the guides. The weather today was cooler with rain forecast for the afternoon so it was perfect paddling temperature. We decided to take the monorail to Downtown Disney on our way out since it does sort of count as a ride. It only has two stops in Disneyland though they are planning on adding a new large hotel so perhaps they will add another stop as part of that work.
On our way back to the park in the afternoon we had to stop by the lobby of the hotel for pictures in the tree. We've been to this hotel several times so we have many pictures of the kids through the ages. Today was somewhat comical because the kids suddenly found it much more difficult to fit between the branches and get up higher. Callie eventually just gave up and Carter was stuck behind a branch and didn't want to try to get farther. There used to be two trees but it looked like one was cut down and this one might be too big for it's space. Hopefully they replace it with the same type of tree. They are fun to climb.
For the start of the evening we went back to California Adventure Park for dinner and choose Flo's Diner. I had the fried chicken and it was quite delicious. You got three big pieces and it wasn't greasy and the chicken was moist and the spices were perfect. I might only eat there every time we go now. It also came with garlic mashed potatoes with gravy and a side of vegetables. I am not a gravy fan but it was still good. Although we didn't take advantage of it we also discovered a nice quiet area on the back side of Flo's where you can sit. We decided we'd enjoy people watching instead.
Our last ride at California Adventure Park was Luigi's Rollicking Roadsters. It had been closed when we tried previously. The ride itself is quite fun. It's like the teacups but instead of being on a fixed track, the cars are free to move anywhere. This doesn't mean you get to control them. The fun part is that it starts off random and them moves to a choreographed dance where all the cars move in unison. They even throw in a 720 degree spin at one point.
California Adventure Park closes at 10:00p and Disneyland at 12:00p so we headed back to Disneyland to close out our trip. Unfortunately it had started to rain. I don't think I've ever experienced rain on any of our trips here. The good thing was it slowly cleared out the park. The bad thing was that certain rides like Alice in Wonderland closed. There is a hill on this ride and apparently it gets too slick to run it. Too bad because this was the only ride we didn't do. I headed back to the hotel and Kerry and the Kids stuck around for Splash Mountain to finish out a great trip that was long overdue.
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