Lions and Tigers and CGI Bears, Oh My! June '16 - COMPLETED 6/4, page 22

[skysmom99]

Following along and entertained as always by your trip reports. Your kids remind me of mine. I have the rapidly growing 14 yr old son whose hobbies include sports, video games, and asking me what he can have to eat. While I don't have a 10 yr old daughter, I do have a 10 yr old son who is a huge ham and must pose every time he sees a camera.

Looking forward to your next installment.

 

[Chrystmasangel]

Hello! Joining in! Have been thinking about trying out CSR for a while now. Almost stayed there for our 2012 trip, but went with CBR instead. Our next trip we are actually going to do Deluxe for the first time ever to celebrate our DD's 18th Bday.

When I saw this pic as part of your introduction, I never would have placed Dylan at only 14. My oldest son was a big guy at 14 too. He was 5' 11" and weighed 200 lbs.
Emily looks like she is going to be tall too. Love Shellie May and so glad she found her!!

So surreal that you were there during such a tragic event. Really makes you stop to think about how quickly things can change and to cherish every thing.

 

[crepemyrtle]

Well okay. This is a really good trip report. I'm in.

 

[nilla]

You accomplished a lot in those last few hours after dinner...

We've had a lot of success at MK at night. The big stuff still has lines, but the less-popular rides are all basically walk-ons!

We always used to do breakfast at 1900 Park Fare but we haven't been back in so long. I think we got on the Chef Mickey's kick or awhile. Next trip, we are going 'Ohana. And I do realize I don't have to choose but with all the other choices at WDW, I do kind of have to choose.

We don't do very many character meals at all anymore, but this was a great one! You can't beat the Cinderella villains.

Hi there!

I just stumbled upon your trip report when I fell down The Dis rabbit hole so to speak. I excited to hear about the rest of your trip and possible binge on your previous trip reports as well.

Do it! Oh, and thanks for reading this one! I hope you enjoy it

Hurrah! I love your TRs. So happy to see a new one with almost two weeks worth of fun to tell us about! I can't believe how big the kids are now - crazy. So cute that Emily still brings Duffy and that her love of Mac & cheese lives on. I've never stayed at Coronado but reading your reports makes me want to! I still can't believe that gator attack happened. Unimaginable.

The kids get bigger, but a lot about them does not change! Dylan's still sustaining himself on peanut butter.

Glad I found your report! We stayed at CSR June 5-10 for the first time, and I'm sad to say that we are definitely CBR people. CSR was fine, we didn't have any problems, but we didn't love it. Anyway, we were in Ranchos 7B, so our bus stop was 4 also, and the bus board was there but wasn't working when we used the bus (we drove a lot). We used bus stop 2 on second MK day, and their bus board was working. It was really nice to have!

I love the bus boards!

I had a great time at CBR. I liked it almost as much as CSR, but gave CSR the slight edge. Still, two of my favorite resorts.

Loving all your photos so far, that iPhone takes pretty good pictures! I can't believe you guys were at GF the night that happened. I knew y'all were down there that week, I did think of you guys when I heard the story... so crazy.
Looking forward to the next update!

The next update will be tomorrow. Stay tuned!

Following along and entertained as always by your trip reports. Your kids remind me of mine. I have the rapidly growing 14 yr old son whose hobbies include sports, video games, and asking me what he can have to eat. While I don't have a 10 yr old daughter, I do have a 10 yr old son who is a huge ham and must pose every time he sees a camera.

Looking forward to your next installment.

Kids are crazy. I was even worse when I was a kid, if you can imagine.

Hello! Joining in! Have been thinking about trying out CSR for a while now. Almost stayed there for our 2012 trip, but went with CBR instead. Our next trip we are actually going to do Deluxe for the first time ever to celebrate our DD's 18th Bday.

When I saw this pic as part of your introduction, I never would have placed Dylan at only 14. My oldest son was a big guy at 14 too. He was 5' 11" and weighed 200 lbs.
Emily looks like she is going to be tall too. Love Shellie May and so glad she found her!!

So surreal that you were there during such a tragic event. Really makes you stop to think about how quickly things can change and to cherish every thing.

Someone asked me last year if Dylan was my brother

Shellie Mae is a great addition to the bear family! Now, they need to add a meet and greet!

Oh, and bring back Duffy.

This is a really good trip report.

If you say so

Welcome, and thanks!

Readers, I have a super-mega-ultra update typed up (as in all of Day 3, which will require 15 separate posts), but since it's already 12:20, I'll wait to post it until tomorrow morning. You won't be on here that early anyway. And if you are...then go back to bed. It's the weekend.

Good night!

 

[SJSloan]

Your pictures are making me fall in love with CSR! It's beautiful! But, we are a family of 5 and sadly that isn't an option for us currently. Although I have heard rumors that CSR may be getting the murphy beds like POR and CBR. I'm sure you keep up with CSR news more than I do, have you heard anything about this by chance?

Your picture of Dylan "dabbing" (I assume you all call it that as well). I still don't get it, by my step-kids do it all the time... I showed the picture my husband just to prove to him that other kids do it too.

1900 Park Fare dinner is on our schedule for our December trip and I am looking forward to it so much. I haven't told the kids that we will be eating with Cinderella and Prince Charming as they will probably protest. I am hoping Anastasia and Drizella pay quite a bit of attention to my twin step-sons, I envision a fight over who gets who.

I can't image being in WDW or even at the Grand Floridian when the tragedy happened. My friend tagged me in a post and when I first read it I was positive it was a joke, an awful joke. But then I realized it wasn't April 1st… I hope it didn't put a damper on the rest of your trip.

 

[nilla]

Your pictures are making me fall in love with CSR! It's beautiful! But, we are a family of 5 and sadly that isn't an option for us currently. Although I have heard rumors that CSR may be getting the murphy beds like POR and CBR. I'm sure you keep up with CSR news more than I do, have you heard anything about this by chance?

Your picture of Dylan "dabbing" (I assume you all call it that as well). I still don't get it, by my step-kids do it all the time... I showed the picture my husband just to prove to him that other kids do it too.

1900 Park Fare dinner is on our schedule for our December trip and I am looking forward to it so much. I haven't told the kids that we will be eating with Cinderella and Prince Charming as they will probably protest. I am hoping Anastasia and Drizella pay quite a bit of attention to my twin step-sons, I envision a fight over who gets who.

I can't image being in WDW or even at the Grand Floridian when the tragedy happened. My friend tagged me in a post and when I first read it I was positive it was a joke, an awful joke. But then I realized it wasn't April 1st… I hope it didn't put a damper on the rest of your trip.

I know CSR is refurbing the rooms soon, but don't know if that will include Murphy beds. It will be great if they do!

Dabbing is quite the phenomenon

Big update, coming right now!

 

[nilla]

 

[nilla]

Day 3 - Wednesday - Hollywood Studios

Itinerary:

• Arrive at Hollywood Studios at Rope Drop
• Return to Coronado after lunch
• Back to Hollywood Studios mid-afternoon

FastPass+

• Tower of Terror: 9:30-10:30
• Star Tours: 10:45-11:45
• Toy Story Mania: 4:40-5:40

ADR:

• Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater: 5:45 pm

 

[nilla]

Our original plan (as shown above) for Hollywood Studios was to arrive for rope drop at 9:00, then utilize our morning FastPasses for Tower of Terror and Star Tours. Well, after the late night last night, we decided to sleep a bit later, adjust our FPs (ToT at 12:00, ST at 1:40), and go to Hollywood Studios after lunch.

Ok, whatever. We have two days at DHS anyway, so it's not like we'll miss out on anything.

I woke up at 8:30, while the others remained asleep. I read more about the alligator attack, and then looked to the DISboards for more happy news.

Ooh, big news - the DIS is reporting that Soarin' is closing tomorrow at 5:00, in preparation for the new movie the next day! That's fine, because we're 100% hitting rope drop at Epcot tomorrow. Soarin' first ride.

But back to today. It's time to wake up the sleepers.



Of course, you HAVE to wake up happy, when you wake up with bears.



As we got ready, Dylan reminded me that our most favoritest TV show in the whole entire world, Big Brother, was starting during our trip. Alright, onto DirecTV's site, and the DVR is set! Both receivers!

We finished getting ready and walked to El Centro. I have a feeling we'll be seeing a lot of the Pepper Market this trip. It sure beats any of the QS places at Hollywood Studios.

The place is fairly crowded with conventioneers, but the wait isn't too bad. No restaurant photos - let's get straight to the food!

Dylan got a turkey sandwich, with red velvet cake for dessert.



I got the Azteca Burger (which was listed as "Azteca", but all of the CMs referred to as "Aztec", for some reason) and chocolate cake.



Delicious! They make great burgers at this place. I put some of that Chalupa or Count Chocula or whatever that hot sauce is called on it, too, and it made it just right. I might get this again.

Emily and Kristin got pizzas:





They were pretty much what you get at Pinocchio's. Good stuff, but I don't like it as much as Mickey's Magical Pizza (the stuff they serve for kids at the buffets).

Emily opted for the vanilla self-serve soft-serve ice cream for dessert. She didn't get a chance to eat it, though, because suddenly, everyone in the restaurant started to stand up. A woman at a nearby table then told us the place was being evacuated. What?

Oh, man. What now? On the way out, Kristin says, "this is getting old." I'm hoping it was a small kitchen fire, or something minor. We'll see (read on!).

 

[nilla]

We decide to go to the bus stop, because we can always find out what was happening later. They wouldn't be running buses if it was anything really serious, most likely.

We got to Hollywood Studios around 12:30. No time for photos as we're on our way back to ToT!

"We're not gonna make it!"

Heh. Funny, kid. We DO make it, though. And we ride it. Well, most of us.

If you've read my previous TRs, you know that Emily's not a fan of this ride AT ALL. We're done bribing her to ride it, too. She just doesn't want to, and that's her call.

However, she's finally big enough to wait in the gift shop alone now, so yippeeeeeee! The rest of us are riding! I almost never get to ride this with Kristin, because Emily.

No photos around, in, or on the ride, though. Far too busy!

We got some great drops, and the ride was long, so it was a blast. Awesome ride on Tower of Terror. Emily, you're missing all the fun!

After ToT, we went next door to ride Rock 'n Roller Coaster, one of Emily's favorite rides. Right, Emily?

"You'd think so, but no."

Huh?

Let's analyze that last line. Not only did I manage to insert a line from Emily's and my new movie obsession, "Pee Wee's Big Holiday" (3 points for me!), but I just said that RnRC wasn't one of Emily's favorites. What happened?

The answer is, "who knows?" I think she's scared of the launch now. She said she always closes her eyes for it, but today, she wants no part of the ride whatsoever.

Kristin, who has said multiple times that this ride gives her a splitting headache for the rest of the day, opts out as well. Good choice.

We're riding this by way of the Single Rider line, which Kristin and Emily stand in with us. Hey, check it out!



Imposter! I know it can't be me, because (1) I'm in Disney, and (2) I would not go by just my first name, much less my full first name. I flat-out reject this second rate "Jonathan".

So anyway, Kristin and Emily head to the exit doors when we reach the train, while Dylan and I board the coaster.

As a side note, Something else that started up early this trip was Dylan doing the voice of Family Guy's "Consuela" (the maid). I don't know for sure that he said, "no, we ride anyway" before we boarded RnRC, but he very well could have. It would have been appropriate.

 

[nilla]

After this ride, I DID get photos of the area!









And, because I started to feel guilty about the earlier omission, I got a few of ToT as well:





Hey, look - Hilarity!



Hilarity

/h?'ler?de/

- The name given to the broad category of "street actors" at DHS.

- e.g.,: "People on the DISboards said Disney got rid of the Hilarity, but I still see plenty of Hilarity."

I don't know what was happening in this particular instance of Hilarity, but it seemed to involve the street actors harassing someone who is just trying to enjoy his day in the park. Which it seems DHS Hilarity usually entails.

Since we're on Street With All of the Stores Avenue, we decide to do a little shopping. Our first detour is into Villains in Vogue. But wait - where IS Villains in Vogue?

Oh, there it is. But it's been renamed. It's now "Reel Vogue", and it's no longer Villain merch-centric. It's not even really Villain merch-have-any-tric. It's a completely different store.

At least they kept the "Vogue" part, though. Because nothing says "Vogue" like giant green Hulk fists.

Yeah, a lot's changed. But, oddly enough, not the theming:







I guess they don't expect people to really look that closely.

They have a bakery here, too, which I don't remember from before. Maybe I just missed it.

We talked to the CM about it, and she said she really wishes Disney would market the Villains more, in shops and with character meet and greets. We agree!

Afterwards, we stopped into the Planet Hollywood store, for some reason. Ahhnald!



Stripe!



I LOVE that movie (well, not Gremlins 2. Gremlins), but haven't seen it in years. I want the kids to see it, too, and think they'd like it. The problem is, when it's on TV, the stations edit out the microwave scene. You do NOT edit out the microwave scene in Gremlins. That would be like editing out the Death Star exploding in Star Wars.

Oh, sorry for the spoiler, if you haven't seen Star Wars! But then again, if you haven't seen Star Wars by this point, you probably don't care that I just spoiled it for you.

Plus, Star Tours spoils it. Well, old Star Tours. When you see the Death Star exploding in the rear-view.

BTW, sorry for spoiling old Star Tours for you. But we really should get back to our show.

Freddy's glove!



Puppet Master!



Wait, Puppet Master? Who cares about Puppet Master?

I guess a lot of people liked that movie, but I just don't get it. And I LOVE most horror films that feature small or doll monsters (especially when said films have awesome microwave scenes), so the fact that I never liked Puppet Master (or Puppet Master 2, or Puppet Master 3, or Puppet Master 4, or Puppet Master 37) should tell you something about it.

Anyway, at least they have gorillas:



Aww, but it's dumb Marky Mark gorillas. Not awesome Draco Malfoy gorillas. And certainly not even awesomer Madame Piranha gorillas (look THAT one up!).

I realize my age when a young kid in another party doesn't know who this is:



C'mon. I mean, that show is probably still on, in some form ("Power Rangers Sky Dragon Super Mecha Danger Squad", or something), so there's no excuse for not knowing who that is.

To be honest, I don't even really notice any of the for-sale merchandise in here, since I don't want to buy any of it anyway. Planet Hollywood shirts, key chains, and beer coozies, I would imagine.

 

[nilla]

Into the next store, which I THINK was once "Mouse About Town" (I could be wrong), but it now "100% About Star Wars" (or something).



This next photo will become ironic later:



Kristin hadn't seen any of the films until last year, when we returned from WDW and she asked about watching them. We watched Episodes 4, 5, and 6 (the older ones), and then she said she was good to see Episode 7. To be honest, I couldn't think of any reason she'd HAVE to watch 1-3 at this point, either.

She enjoyed them, and liked "Force Awakens" a lot, too. She's certainly not a Star Wars junkie, or even a fan, but she thinks it's pretty cool.

At the moment.

Anyway, back outside, and we're on our way to Star Tours!



Crowds look pretty light. And they were. Well, light for June.

On the way, Kristin stops for a picture with her hero:



We arrive at Star Tours, and Vader's just taken the stage!



A CM rushes those of us photographing this from the Star Tours queue along quickly. I guess they don't want people hanging out here and watching the show.

We ride, and the scenes we get are Jakku (the new one) and Coruscant. The new clip is fantastic! I really love the "still" scene (when the vehicle stops moving).

Afterwards, we walk over by the Muppet area. For what reason, I don't know why. Kristin doesn't like the Muppets, and I don't need to see the attraction every year. We do get a photo of Emily near the graphic about the Star Wars overhaul this park is going through, though:



My notes say we didn't ride the Great Movie Ride until later, but that doesn't seem right. Especially since this next photo was taken outside the Great Movie Ride:



And this one was taken inside the Great Movie Ride:



As was this one:



Go away, Mila Kunis!



And take that, Kaiser!



Wait, what happened? It seems like we teleported from the Great Movie Ride to One Man's Dream. But we didn't. But here we are, anyway.

Off topic, that was one crazy comic, wasn't it? Pretending to shoot foreign dictators in the face was once considered Disney-style entertainment.

Anyway, I thought OMD closed long ago, but apparently not. They don't show the film anymore, though. Or at least not today. Darn. We loved that one.

I do like the museum part, too:







They got rid of Walt's old desk, for some reason. I wonder where that will pop up?

Speaking of popping up, look who decided to do just that!



No, not Six-foot Nine Guy with Red Hat. BB-8!

 

[nilla]

Ok, ok. Now I REALLY have to apologize to everyone. I have some 'splainin to do. From the looks of it, I not only have decided to put very little detail into my attraction explanations, and am skipping from place to place with no transition, but I also skipped to the END of the Star Wars show. Well, almost the end. But I'm back on the meds now and returning to before the show. After One Man's Dream.

Dylan really wanted to see the new Star Wars stage mini-show, and I'm down for that as well. But I'm hungry. If I don't eat every three hours, I notice it. HS doesn't exactly have the best selection of snacks that are also nourishing, but Starring Rolls should still be open. Or not. It closed about 2 minutes before we got there. So I opt for the next best thing: a Mickey pretzel with cheese (no photo available). Kristin and Emily decided to go to the bakery inside Reel Vogue (r.i.p. Villains) instead. I didn't get photos of what they got, but if my notes are correct, Kristin got the "Carrot Cake Thing with Cream Cheese in the Middle", and Emily got the "Rice Krispies Treat on a Stick Dipped in Chocolate with M&Ms". All qualify as a snack credit on the Disney Dining Plan, which is perfect.

The girls decide they want to see Voyage of the Little Mermaid now, and I join Dylan near the stage for the Star Wars business. Here's the actual chronology of the show:



The show was essentially Build up, character(s) arrive and do their thing, repeat. Up next was Darth Maul:



While I LOVE Darth Maul, and feel his early demise (sorry for the spoiler!) was a blown opportunity for the writers of the prequels, I almost busted out laughing at this performance. I mean, he was really good with the double-sided saber, but he's Darth Maul. He's one of the nastiest, most dangerous villains in the Star Wars universe. That said, he loses quite a bit when his weapon of choice is a plastic toy straight from the Build-Your-Own-Lightsaber display at Tatooine Traders. Surely you have better props than that, Disney. Maul should go on strike.

Here are the others:









Hey, I saw you at Star Tours! Did you rough up those little kids? They looked cocky.

Kylo Ren makes an appearance, along with my left index finger. And FY-UH!



FINALLY, the part I showed first happens:



And now, they're all out for a curtain call.



Including my left index finger.

I'm happy to see they were able to put aside their differences for the sake of the show. I mean, if I were Chewy, I'd DESTROY Kylo Ren, after what he did to-

Oops, almost blew it again! I caught myself before I could throw out another spoiler. You'll just have to see the movie to see the scene wher-

Ok, that was almost too close. I'd better wrap this part up and move to the next scene.

 

[nilla]

What is the next scene, you ask? Well, it's none other than the E-Ticket attraction "Wait 3 Hours For Kristin and Emily to Get Out of What I Thought Was a 20 Minute Show"! One of our favorites!

Since Kristin left her phone with me, I decided to take a peek at the DISboards. I had posted earlier on the Coronado resort thread asking if anyone knew why El Centro was evacuated. While no one had a response for that, I did see that the resort had officially closed all of the beaches and took down the hammocks. Wow. Big changes, and there's more to come. Hopefully the beach closure is temporary, and the hammocks come back.

We continue to wait, and I get a photo of this:



And this:



The latter, so I can write in my Trip Report, "Kristin and Emily watched Voyage of the Little Mermaid next", and then show the photo. Which I didn't end up doing after all, but I didn't want to waste the photo, so there it is. And here THEY are:



Whom? Stormtroopers. First Order. Back between the two palm trees. They're walking around hassling little kids, which is exactly what they should be doing.

We finally met up with the girls, then headed over to cash in our FPs for Toy Story Mania. Army guy!



Standby is only 40 minutes!



The third track is doing what it was supposed to do. But we have FPs, so it doesn't much matter.

Either way, we didn't bother getting very many pictures. We did get a photo of Dylan's score, though:



I was in the running until the last scene. I always fall apart of the final part, where you have to hammer the board being held by either Buzz or Woody at breakneck speed. Tons of fun, though, even though my right arm feels like it's about to fall off.

We were pretty much in and out of that ride, and then it was off to dinner. Sci-Fi!

 

[nilla]

Before we head to the restaurant, we get a few photos:









The last photo was taken because our house is a perpetual "hot set", meaning no matter what I do or what I say, I'm interrupting some sort of audio or video production Emily is making. In fact, as I type this, she and her friend are recording a dance to the High School Musical hit song ("Together! Together!"), so I'm typing quietly. (note: I also had to delay the posting of this update do to a "hot set" this morning.)

As for the previous photos, there's one that bothers me: Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter.

Now, don't get me wrong - I think Depp is great as the Hatter. In the films. However, in the promotional posters, he bothers me. I don't know why one does, but not the other, but that's where we're at. On the bus, at DHS...it doesn't matter. I don't like it.

We MIGHT be seeing Finding Dory on our last day, at Disney Springs, but that plan is still very tentative. I do really want to see it!

We arrive at the restaurant and check in.

Anyone who has eaten at Sci-Fi knows this restaurant has a special check-in procedure that most other Disney restaurants do not. After checking in for your ADR, you and your party must sit through a six-hour "cool down" period until your table is actually ready. It doesn't matter how early or late your ADR is, or even how crowded the park or restaurant is. The six-hour waiting period is mandatory for all guests.

We decide to ride it out in the Writer's Stop, while they run our fingerprints and submit the background checks:



This seemed like a good idea, because hey, comfy couches. And a TV.

But there's a catch.

The TV plays two clips - a five-minute promo for Once Upon a Time, and five-minute one for Quantico. And then it loops. And it loops again. I think we can almost recite them by heart. As you saw in the last photo, Dylan possibly sought refuge in his subconscious. What does that mean? Fun photos; that's what!

 

[nilla]

We FINALLY get cleared by customs to enter, and in we go. We always ask for a front-facing car, and get a four-seater this time, which means no pair of strangers sitting behind us. I think the strangers are happy for that as well.

We still did manage to squeeze three into the front seat, however:



Shellie Mae loves classic sci-fi. Or, at least, I say she does. I say she likes a lot of things.

Once we're seated, the service is fairly quick, which is nice. The service INSIDE Sci-Fi is usually great...it's just getting in that seems to take an eternity.

Since we're at Sci-Fi, it's a no-brainer that we're getting milk shakes. Kristin, Dylan, and I get the Oreo one:



Goes great with ketchup.

Next to it. Not in it. C'mon. Let's be serious.

Emily got vanilla, which is not surprising.



All those choices, and she gets vanilla. She's not shy about her love for it, though:



Shot of the snack bar:



I honestly don't know what's back there, but I'm willing to bet it's not a snack bar.

I enjoy my shake, too. I'm not shy about it, either:



Shellie Mae also likes vanilla:



It's probably really hard to see, but the waiter from a neighboring table photobombed us on this one. It was hilarious, but it's really to make him out back there. He's between the girl and the bear.

While we wait for the food, it's time to sample the entertainment. They've got space gorillas with helmets:



Space gorilla fur is apparently sufficient for serving as the rest of the space suit.

They also have robot nurses...





...reanimated sausages...



...Walt Disney...



...steak and onion rings...



Oh, wait - that's our meal! Well, my meal. Or Kristin's meal. We both got the New York Strip Steak, which was done perfectly and one of the best steaks we had in Disney. Kristin gets it every year. There was also asparagus on that plate, which I didn't know at first, but found out later in the night. The asparagus enthusiasts among you know the deal.

Dylan and Emily got the Build-Your-Own-Burger, and from the inclusion of a tomato, I'm guessing this was Emily's:



For dessert, every one of us got the same thing - the Candy Bar:



You can't go wrong with the Candy Bar. I was so full from the meal and the shake that I could barely put this away, but I did my best. It's wonderful.

Another fabulous meal at Sci-Fi! This became a perennial stop for us about four or five years ago, and now it's one of our favorite joints in WDW. The atmosphere is great, and we love the food, too. Highly recommended!

 

[nilla]

With dinner over, we decided to check out the Launch Bay:







While I'm a big fan of Star Wars, it is bittersweet that this replaced, among other things, the character-drawing classes. We LOVED those. Here's what Kristin thinks of the Launch Bay:



I think she's grown to hate Star Wars in just one day. She thinks its presence in this park is far too big. I tell her it's only going to get bigger.

As a result, Kristin and Emily agree that they might not come back here for our second planned Hollywood Studios day. Dylan and I still intend to, though. The girls might switch to MK. We'll see! That's still a full week away.

They're here now, though, and Emily gets a friendly warning about the Resistance from local law enforcement:



We then find the main attraction - the Jawas. If you haven't seen the films, the Jawas are a clan that travel around trying to sell droids (robots) to people. In DHS, they supposedly will barter. Since the Jawas are currently engaging other guests, I take a photo of one of them with said other guests:



The word on the street is that you can trade them ANYTHING. Well, just about anything. I'm sure there are some limits. But there certainly does not have to be any real value to what you're trading.

I told Kristin to grab some tea bags from the Pepper Market at lunch today, and that they will be our bargaining chips. Dylan's not sold on the idea of offering up tea bags we stole from the restaurant, but after I point out the other kids carrying plastic forks and spooks for trading, he's ready to haggle.



He pitches the product as "some of the finest tea from the Milky Way galaxy", but the Jawa isn't interested. Oh well...we tried.

But wait - he IS interested! After briefly walking away, he returns and takes the tea. In return, he gives Dylan the head of a small droid action figure. Score!



Ok, so it's not really a "score". It's just a little piece of plastic. But trading was fun.

The Stormtroopers disagree, and come in to shut the whole thing down. One Jawa proceeds to poke one of them in the back with a glow stick he got in an earlier trade, and hilarity ensues.



The Stormtroopers, conversely, are not amused.



Dylan is, however, so he asks for a photo. This particular Jawa is very reasonable, so he's game:



That was fun! Ok, let's see if we can meet some more characters.

 

[nilla]

The wait for Kylo Ren (or, as Kristin thought he was named, that Dastardly Space Irishman Kyle O'Ren. Ok, so I made up everything before "Kyle". But still. Irish. Space Irish.) was only 10 minutes, so we got in line. Dylan has all kinds of Star Wars books, so he knew who all of these lightsabers belonged to:



I don't know if any of this stuff is legit from the movies, or if they're just replicas. But it's awesome either way.

We get inside, and Kyle looks - um, I mean Kylo looks disturbed by something. As usual. He gives Dylan a pretty hard time about allegiance to the First Order and what not.





I'm not even sure why, to be honest, since Dylan is 100% for joining the First Order.

Kylo finally says, "as if you have a choice" (I told you, he's more than willing to join), and the two do the official Kylo Ren Force Move (tm).



Kylo then approaches me, as I record the entire incident. He gets right up in my face.



"You...are free to leave."

Thanks! And leave we do. This was a great meet and greet! We could possibly meet Chewbacca next, but the wait is about 20 minutes, and we don't feel like waiting any minutes. Moving on!

 

[nilla]

So what do we do instead of waiting to meet a character?



We meet Olaf, of course!

Ok, so there's a little bit more to the story than that. Quite a bit, actually, starting while we were still at Toy Story Mania. I meant to tell you about it before, but accidentally skipped over it. So here it is:



No, that's Olaf again. With Shellie Mae. Shellie Mae loves warm hugs, if you haven't heard.

Now, what about Toy Story Mania?

Oh, yeah. That. After redeeming our FastPasses, Kristin tried to add a fourth FP using the My Disney Experience app, but no go. We then tried, after the ride, at a kiosk. Nope. The system appears to be down. Somehow, someway (my notes aren't that detailed), she managed to get an FP later for Star Tours at 8:15, but the MDE system was down for at least a little while.

Alright, now back to Olaf.



Yes, there he is, signing Emily's almost-complete autograph hat (previously a "regular hat", but just add Sharpie, and BAM! Autograph hat.). But how did we get here?

We walked, silly.

On our way to Star Tours. This is right over by where they used to show Frozen Fever, and they now show some Star Wars documentary, or something. Who knows? It's a safe bet it's SOMETHING Star Wars, though. Right, Kristin?



I'll take that as a "yes, it probably is something Star Wars."

So, back to Olaf. Finally. There was literally a 0 minute wait for him, so in we went. Emily and I are big fans, and he seems like a fan of us, too!



We cash in our Star Tours FPs next, and got Naboo as our second scene this time. That's the underwater one. I love that one, because the part where your craft resurfaces, then splashes back down, is so incredibly realistic that it blows my mind. Anyone else who has ever been in an underwater spaceship as it comes back to the surface knows what I'm talking about.

 

[nilla]

After docking on Naboo, we decide we've done about all we care to do tonight, and head out to the exit. It's probably too late to get to Fantasmic!, so Kristin books an FP for it for our second DHS night. On the way out, we get this photo:



It took a while because Emily decided after getting into the car that she wanted Shellie Mae to sit on the back, so it was a major problem getting Dylan to move and getting the shot "just right". We almost called it off entirely.

After we passed that huge, pointless dinosaur, I got this photo:



It's blurry, but you should still be able to see the people. Or lack of them. There were not very many. I think everyone was at Fantasmic.

We had no trouble getting on a bus, and even got a side view of Mickey on top of the mountain doing his John Travolta Staying Alive magic thing at the end of the show before we left. So at least we got to see SOME of Fantasmic.

*RANT*

I really hate that the show is called "Fantasmic!", with an exclamation point. Because of that, it looks like I'm excitedly happy every time I mention the show. Why can't you just let ME decide which punctuation is appropriate to best describe my emotions, Disney? Stop trying to control me.

*RANT OVER*

We left DHS around 8:30, and got back to Coronado soon after. That night was to be one of the last nights for the old Star Wars fireworks show (or, should I say, less-new Star Wars fireworks show, since it's not THAT old), but we still got to see it from CSR:







You can see the DHS fireworks perfectly from this resort. You can also see Illuminations, if you're over by the Casitas quiet pool. Love Coronado!

I try to load the pictures onto the laptop for resizing and uploading, but since they're on Kristin's phone, I don't get first dibs on it. It'll have to wait until morning.

It was a fun day at Hollywood Studios, though Kristin isn't a fan of the recent changes. Dylan and I, of course, love them, and can't wait to see the NEW Star Wars fireworks next week. It's looking like we'll be splitting up on that day, which is fine by everyone.

As for tonight, we're all tired, and in bed by 11:00. Tomorrow is the last day of old Soarin' (Lots of old-to-new transitions on this trip. Ok, well, two. But that's more than most trips. Like, two more.), and we wouldn't want to miss. Rope drop at Epcot tomorrow!

(Up next, Day 4 - Thursday - Epcot)