This! And when I’ve looked into it the tickets were the same price as flying! But it takes longer?! We do plan to do the one to DC that you take your car with you someday. Train there and then a leisurely drive home.
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This reminded me of my grandpa 
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I hope it’s a good day at HS and the chance to finally experience Rise!!!
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What an awesome day! I love DD’s reaction to GOTG! I felt the same way the first time.
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Oh, and it is now almost 1:00 PM there. I hope you got on Rise! Can’t wait to read about your reaction to that one!
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Legitimately over here waiting. 
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Same!
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Seeing the CB entrance followed by the WDW gates seems so odd, but I like it!!
Cool gif
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Oh where, oh where can he be…
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Last 2 days were a whirlwind. A very incredible whirlwind. Full details tmr, it’s a rest day.
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Loving your TR!
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Wednesday. Rise Day. Fulfillment of a 3-year hunger for this ride. Last year, I tried very hard, but staying offsite I couldn’t get an $ILL for it, and just don’t have the endurance to go standby, not to mention the covid risk of being packed into the waiting tunnel. This year, I booked an onsite dummy room for 1 night, so technically we’re onsite guests Wed and Thurs, to maximize our chances. That’s awfully expensive for 1 ride, but we’re Star Wars nerds and Rise is a bucket-list item for us. If we don’t get it this trip, we’d feel obligated to come back 
This year, we want to avoid backtracking and take things at a slower pace. We have a much more focused target DHS ride list. The fam is sleeping in today as they’re still tired from getting up early Tues. On DW’s advice, we decide to shoot for an 11AM return time for Rise, to get it out of the way early in case it breaks down, which should sync well with our 1240 Oga’s ADR.
I wake up at 6:30AM and get everything ready. Connect to hotel WIFI, open MDE, select Rise as top pick in My Genie Day, go to Tip Board. Refresh a few times to check connectivity. Merlock clock open on other device to serve as countdown. 6:59:59 - refresh - go - click - confirm party - select 11AM return time - pay - confirmed for 11:05AM!!! 
Compared to that, Merlock is simplicity itself. We start stacking for later, ToT first since half the elevators are currently down.
I go and do errands while family sleeps. At 10AM we leave for DHS, getting there about 10:30. We get preferred parking for $25 discounted from $50 since we’re onsite guests, no line at the turnstiles at this hour, and head for Rise at a relaxed walking pace. No rushing this year! We tap in at ~11AM and wait about 10-15 mins in the LL.
Preshow starts (spoilers).
Resistance training, ok, expected that. Wait, what? Captured by First Order? Oh no, stormtroopers! Why are they yelling at us? DD hides behind me. In jail now? Nice Death Star feel to the prison cell. Cool homage to the Imperial probe droid scene in Episode V. AT-AT’s look real. Argh, its guns are being trained on us! pew pew pew! Kylo’s a bit corny but in an appropriately creepy way. Escape to big space battle scene. The shield is down! Commence attack on the Death Star’s main reactor! (ok, that was me adlibbing) and … we escaped! and the Calamari survived! YAY!
Reactions: fulfilled. Lived up to its billing and confirmed why Disney Imagineering is the best in the world. Disney at its best - thrilling through immersion, not physical motion, that the entire family can enjoy. The Rise shall be with you. Always 
We stroll around GE looking at stores - hey that Jedi robe looks nice - always wanted one - how much? hmm I’ll think about it. We go play Batuu Bounty Hunter and after a bit of fiddling with the PlayDisney app we’re able to capture the 1st target. The thermal imager is pretty neat - you hold up your phone’s camera to the door and it infrared “scans” revealing the target. DD wonders if the credits we earn can be used to buy things in the shops, lol, I wish. Tip: you don’t need to do much at the job assignment station - just tap your MB+ and you’re off.
Time for Oga’s We check in at 12:40 and are told they’ll send us a text when our table’s ready, ETA 20 mins. We find a shady corner to eat the kosher sandwiches and snacks we brought in. Text comes and we head for the Cantina. Ok, I tell DD, this is a rough place, all sorts of intergalactic scum here, so stay close! We order 2 Black Spire Brews and a Jabba Juice. Hope that’s not a Hutt secretion. Hey! Is that Greedo in the corner? Watch out for Han, I hear he shoots first.
DD continues to stack with Merlock - and manage to snag an SDD LL midday - and then we head to Launch Bay for our last attraction before midday break. We choose BB8 as it has the shortest posted wait (5mins) although it felt like 15. Cute little guy. Launch Bay also has some really cool posters on display, including an original one from '77.
Ok, time to take a break! We order food for pickup from Kosher Eatery, a kosher restaurant near Disney, that has absolutely amazing pizza. It’s so good in fact, that even if you don’t keep kosher, it’s worth a visit! I ordered a veg pizza, DW had a mediterranean salad and DD had baked ziti. We take it to our dummy room at All Star Sports to eat and rest. I have it on good authority that the beds are super comfy, and the theming is pretty cool.
All this time we’ve been building our stack, and now have a lot of rides built up. First up is MMRR, which is DW’s fave, and one of mine too. We really like the Mickey/Minnie song “Nothing’s gonna stop us now” as they drive off for a picnic day. Hold DW’s hand, romantic moment
Afterwards I do Saucers with DD (DW’s motion sensitive to anything that spins). Really cool theming. I like that the saucers change orbits - they don’t just spin in a circle. The music is hypnotic. And why are these 3-eyed aliens pulling us around anyway? What’s their real agenda??
We catch Star Tours which though old, is still cool especially the combination of C3PO animatronic and motion simulator. Unexpectedly, it’s me who feels a bit nauseous afterwards so I ask DW for a dramamine so I don’t hurl on RnRC later. In the ST store we spot a cool poster for Asian Star Wars
Then on to RnRC (1st time) and ToT which feel surprisingly tame to me. Maybe it’s the Dramamine?
We get off ToT at 9:23, just in time for Fantasmic! DW and I saw it back in '06 and it feels vaguely familiar, but it’s DD’s 1st time, and as a Disney Princess alumni, she’s blown away. She turns to me and says Dad, there’s Ariel and she has a tail!! She’s really into mermaids.
Phew, what a day! We exceeded our goals, and we’re now pretty tired.
Epcot Thursday, with a hop to DHS and a 2nd Rise - or so we thought …
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I love that you made GIFs. Fancy stuff!
Looks like you had a great time!
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Your day sound so low key but fantastmic!
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Great day! So glad you finally got to ride Rise!
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It was only half a dummy room, since you got some usage out of it.
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Agree with both of you. What changes the equation is if your schedule lines up with a sub-6hour intercity leg on a sleeper train. Then you can travel in style for relatively little money.
I resemble that remark!
If you’re not odd, you’re very odd
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I’m loving this report…except where you say second Rise…or so we thought. Suspense!!
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Thursday… Epcot with hop to DHS. It’s our last dummy room day, so hoping for 2nd Rise $ILL. Set alarm for 6:45am, get ready. 7:00 and score GotG BG3 and 9:00AM Remy return time with Merlock, easy peasy. Now for Rise. I had MDE open but not on Tip Board … oh no it’s spinning… spinning… 7:03 by the time I can click on Rise… return times already 5pm… click 6pm, select party, pay… and it doesn’t go through! Payment declined??? Click again! doesn’t go through! keep trying… nope. All times gone by 7:08 
I called my credit card company, nothing declined on their end, and I used that card in MDE to buy $ILL’s day before (and day after). Freaken’ glitchy MDE!
Still, I’m confident this will work out for the good somehow … just don’t know how, yet 
Anyway, fam is up early and DD is enthusaistic for GotG, and I’m very proud of her because she’s not normally a morning person but for Guardians she’s making an effort. She really likes that ride!
And it pays off! We arrive at Epcot at 8:30 and because we still have EE, we bypass the hordes at the gate and get to GotG by 8:40 (thanks @bebe80 and @disneyfan150 for critical info) with only BG1-18 having been called. Preshow hall is mostly empty so we take our masks off 
Afterwards we scoot over to Remy in France and get there about 9:10. There’s a huge line already and I ask where the lightning lane. Some French CM points over there, so I go and line up. Hmm, this LL sure seems long. DW texts me and says, why are you waiting there? LL is over here! I asked the guy in French. Turns out I was standing in the 2nd half of standby, there is a gap at the corner so people can pass through. Saved by DW 
Remy is pretty neat, combining motion and 180-degree IMAX type screen. A bit HPFJ-ish, but less intense, although DW did not ride due to her motion sensitivity. We’re off by 9:38.
We’d like some coffee at this point, but the line at Les Halles is long, so we press deeper into World Showcase and pass the L’Chaim Jewish festival of the holidays booth. Unfortunately no certified kosher food, but they sell a coffee-link “breakfast drink” that’s hot and sweet, so good enough for us. And the Hannukah storyteller is doing his thing
We go to Italy hoping for some European coffee concoctions but no dining is open yet. However, the shop is open and they have some really cool made-in-Italy opera-type masks and DD convinces me to buy her one. Then to Japan for DW and DD to do some shopping at Mitsukoshi once it opens at 11. I appreciate that the Epcot stores sell native-made goods and are staffed with native CM’s, it lends authenticity to the experience. The Japanese garden has a really pretty waterfall.
I watch the very well synchronized and graceful Matsuriza drummers until DW and DD emerge with their kawaii (cute) purchases. Time now to head to Space 220 Lounge for our 1135 ADR. Apparently the fact that we’re booked for the lounge allows us to bypass the line of people waiting for the restaurant, and we head into the spaceport and blast off into orbit!
DD and I order Milky Ways for a coffee fix, while DW asks for Moon Rocks. Note: they offered us the prix fix lunch anyway, so if the restaurant isn’t available that could be a useful bypass to get a meal at Space 220.
Time for lunch! We head to Kosher Eatery about 20 mins away and order same as yesterday (pizza, baked ziti, and a salad) and eat in their outdoor dining section.
Back to CBBR for a nap and dip in pool, all the while stacking for DHS for evening.
I’m really starting to like RnRC. It’s like an upgraded Space Mountain; more intense, but smoother, and with a padded headrest that cushions well. No whiplash.
On TSM DW and DD sit together and I’m alone on the other side of the car. I get the high score at 132k 
MFSR DW and I are Engineers, DD is gunner, and 2 1st timers are pilot, but they’re surprisingly good so not too bumpy. My only beef is the right pilot didn’t pull the hyperspace lever, not even when I yelled “Ok Chewie, hit it!” They take our picture though.
Afterwards we shop around Batuu for awhile and I spot this Jedi tunic that looks nice. I’ve been wanting an authentic Jedi outfit for oh, a decade or so. It will be great for Purim (Jewish holiday where you wear costumes). DW wants a Jedi robe, so we end up getting both tunic and robe.
Around 8pm I notice posted waits for Rise decreasing steadily, and finally at 55 mins we decide to go standby and hope it doesn’t break down. That standby wait was an experience. Unlike Hagrid’s which can have similar waits, the Rise standby line moves in fits and starts, and you have long stretches where it doesn’t move at all, so you get to know your linemates. The New Yorker lady in front of us had quite a story to tell - their flight was canceled, and they drove 19 hours to salvage their vacation and get on Rise in particular. It’s nice to see what WDW (and Rise in particular) mean to people. She and DW chatted quite a bit.
The Rise preshows were cancelled or abbreviated - it felt like the ride was running in a “rapid” mode to make up lost ground. And btw, had I bought the $ILL in the morning, Rise would’ve been down anyway during my return window. So it all worked out!
(Note: our CO2 readings in Rise standby were high because of the tightly-packed low ceiling tunnel, so if you choose to wear a mask at WDW, this would be a good place to do it.)
On the way out of the park there were some CM’s that formed a lightsaber arch for guests to pass through chanting, Olé, Olé Olé Olé, a traditional soccer (and Montreal Canadiens) cheer, so DD took advantage!
Friday’s a rest day for us. Saturday night / NYE scheduled for Epcot!
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So glad you were able to ride Rise a second time!
Love the tunic. There’s a vest there I’ve been eyeing for a while.
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