After our little detour through the Crystal Grotto, we continued on our way to Tron.
Lucky for us, Wendy's DD wasn't keen on riding, so she was able to mind all our bags. She did look rather like a pack mule lol! The ride was a walk on anyway, so it was nice to not have to waste time with lockers (which are required for everything but the smallest handheld items that can fit into a tiny compartment on the ride vehicle).
The people in front of us in line were walking particularly slowly, and stopping to look around quite a lot. At first I thought they were, like us, taking in all the details in the queue area and just enjoying the journey. However, after a while, they turned and looked at me with such a confused look on their faces that I realised they were getting lost lol! For the record, the queue is just like any other - just keep following it until you get to the loading area. I told them (with some gestures to help with the language barrier) to just keep going, and they didn't seem to have any further issues with it.
We all eventually made it to the loading area of course, got strapped in, and very much enjoyed the ride!
I think we were all getting a little hungry by the time we were finished with Tron, and I suggested Barbossa's for lunch. Unfortunately that meant trudging all the way back to the other side of the park again. However, our trudging did take us past Peter Pan, which with only a 10 minute wait, proved to be a pleasant detour.
They have made some slight improvements on this version, adding in some new projections and lighting effects, but it is very much still true to the original version (unlike Pirates!).
By the time we made it to Barbossa's, we were all pleased to be able to spend some inside out of the steady drizzle. Like its counterparts at DLR and DLP, Barbossa's is located inside the Pirates ride, and one of the dining areas has a view of the boats going past. Unlike its counterparts, this is a quick service restaurant. Everyone in our party ordered either the chicken or the ribs. Both got good reviews, although no one really enjoyed the corn on the cob that came with the ribs. Luckily we were able to find a table in the section overlooking the ride. Boats were coming past empty, so we assumed it must still be down.
When we'd finished eating, we were all keen to have a look through the other areas of the restaurant (there are multiple dining rooms, each with a slight variation on the theme). I don't think any of us were that enthusiastic to get back outside lol!
It was still grey and drizzly when we got outside.
With Pirates still down, we now had to make a decision about what to do next. Some incredibly clever person (it may have been me), suggested that now might be as good a time as any to tackle the Challenge Trails. Having said that, it did actually turn out to be the best opportunity for it over the course of the next 2 days, as the rain only got heavier.
There are no loose items allowed on this attraction at all. Luckily, there were again a couple of us who had decided to sit this one out, so we left all our stuff with them. They don't check your pockets or anything, but if they see you carrying anything upon exiting the lockers, you will not be allowed through. A couple of us managed to smuggle through picture taking devices, but I will let them share their pictures on their own TRs.
Having donned our harnesses, we headed up to the course. Being drizzly and damp, only one course was available to us (I assume the one that gets the least slippery). Most of the obstacles managed to remain relatively grippy despite the rain. However, at the end of each obstacle there was a metal plate where you stepped back onto solid ground. This metal plate did get quite slippery. Most of the group started off with some of the harder options, and progressed to the easier ones as the obstacles got harder. This particular course seemed a little harder in general than the one I had done previously, but there were still 3 options to choose from for each obstacle. Only Wendy's DD was brave enough to tackle the single rope line at the end of the course.
After we'd all recovered from our efforts on the Challenge Trails, our next destination was the Seven Dwarves Mine Coaster. Happily, this wasn't too far away. This was another one I was pleased have done before the rain really set in heavily. At some point during the morning, we had gotten fastpasses for this, so we were able to walk straight through to the undercover bit of queue. We probably didn't need the fastpasses by this point in time - I can't remember what the wait time was here, but it certainly doesn't look that busy in my photos!
We had an interesting experience in this queue. As we were about to walk through to the loading area, one of the CMs stopped PIO's DM, saying something to her in Mandarin which of course none of us could understand. I think she was quite taken aback by it, and the CM started trying to talk to us in English, saying 'this is a rollercoaster'. We all tried to tell the CM that we all knew it was a rollercoaster, and that PIO's DM was ok with it, but they weren't letting her through. Eventually someone (I think FairyFloss) told the CM that PIO's DM had just been on Tron. That seemed to do the trick and they let her through. 'You know it's a rollercoaster' has since become a running joke in the group. FairyFloss even had a shirt made for PIO's DM that says 'Yes, I know it's a rollercoaster'
The ride is apparently pretty much a duplicate of the one at WDW, but there seemed to be some bits missing. I haven't been on the one at WDW, so perhaps someone who has done both can elaborate for me. Anyway, for me it was very enjoyable.
I particularly enjoyed the climb up the hill in the diamond mine with the dwarves singing 'Heigh Ho' in Mandarin, and the view of the castle going over the crests of the hills.