The kids LOVED this place! Not surprisingly, they loved sitting in the car and watching shows.

I can see why they loved it.

The issue was we also had a flight to catch tomorrow, so Andy wasn't completly on board with getting up at the crack of dawn to try. But I insisted that we should try! I mean when would we have the oportunity to say we rode a ride on opening day!

You can't miss an opportunity to ride a ride on opening day. I'm still happy we rode FOP on opening day.

. Little L flagged down the waitress and asked if they could get some as well. Which I thought was hilarious!

:rotfl2:

I loved this whole area. I

Me too!

We left the park at 9:07! It was a great end of the day! We squeezed in 3 (or 4) rides in an hour and I got to see the christmas show.

What a great ending to your night.
 
What a great last night together!! So nice that you were able to end your time with them on a great note!

I'm excited to hear about the last day!! I can't remember if you ended up being successful with RotR, but if anyone has the tips and tricks, it's our girl, @lesleywake!
 
Sounds like a great night! So awesome to be able to squeeze in a bunch of rides at the end of the night!
It really was nice!

I can see why they loved it.
I mean what is there not to like about it as a kid? Really?

'm excited to hear about the last day!! I can't remember if you ended up being successful with RotR, but if anyone has the tips and tricks, it's our girl, @lesleywake!
Lesley is def the best!
 


Day Seven: Will we get on Rise of Resistance?

So, I had mentioned in my last post that there was a lot of debate about whether we should try to get on the ride or not. The girls were exhausted from the trip and were not as on board as the adults were. But I knew that they would be so happy they did once we were up and in Hollywood Studios.

The night before Andy and mapped out the timing for the day. Our Magical Express pick up time was 12:15. So, we figured we needed to get out of the room completely. So, we knew we would have to bring everything down to bell services before we headed to the park. We did figure we could take an uber to the airport and buy us another hour or so if we needed it.

@lesleywake recommended we get there between 5 and 6 AM.

So we set our alarm for 4:45 AM. Andy and I got up and packed up everything we could while we let the girls sleep a little more.

Around 5:15 we woke up the girls. They were VERY tired and NOT happy to be awake. And well, Gwen cried... Andy and I were kind of just looking at each other like what should we do?

I was really worried that our plan was going to fail. But we pushed on. We packed up the last of the stuff and headed out.

I have no pictures of what Tinkerbell left the girls, but I had gotten Star Wars Coloring books that I thought they could bring with us to do in line. (thinking that we would be in a real line the whole day)

We managed to get to the lobby at 5:40AM. We checked our bags with bell services. Thankfully there were people there!

Caribean Beach Lobby
And then we tried to see if the skyliner was running this early. And the folks at the front desk didn’t know. They tried to find out but didn’t have much luck. So, we decided to just take an uber.

Caribean Beach Christmas decorations
At 5:48 AM we were picked up by our Uber. The woman that picked us up, said that she was basically just driving in circles, picking folks up at the hotels and dropping them all off at Hollywood Studios.

The drive was super quick and we were at the park! I was starting to get nervous. I was really hoping to be there earlier but we were doing the best we could do with the girls.

Luckily, there were sooooo many security spots and practically no one in line. So, we walked up and were through security in NO time!

We also breezed through the tapstiles and were inside the parks at 6:02!

Once we were all through the tapstile. I pulled up the app and frantically tried to get us a boarding group. I knew this was going to be the method for the day. (also thanks to Lesley) Which is also why I was able to convince the family to give this a try. I had said worst case, we rode a few rides in Hollywood Studios.

At this point, I had serious butterflies in my stomach. Between the lack of sleep and the anxiety of what boarding group we would get. I thought I was going to throw up!

I smashed the buttons, it took a hot second for the system to register that we were all in the park and but a refresh later and we were officially in Boarding Group 32! Now we just had to wait and see how long that would take to get to.

Thankfully, Disney hadn’t officially announced when the part would be opening. I think if they had announced an earlier time, I don't think we would have gotten that low of a number. I think the "official" opening wasn’t until 8 or 9 AM.

HS_We made it!
We were now able to breathe a little!

Morgan_nope
With that done, we got some photos and we made our way down the main drag.

We weren’t really sure what to do now. We thought about getting Starbucks but the line was fairly long as it was basically the only thing open.

We just kind of stood in main area in front of the Chinese Theater. There was def a certain energy. Everyone was super excited! There were CMs holding 2 signs, basically making 2 groups, a group to go into Galaxy’s Edge and a group to go in to Toy Story Land. (There was also a group waiting to go to RnR and ToT)

We decided to get in the group to go to Toy Story Mania. As we were waiting for them to open the lands, we heard rumblings that Disney was going to open up rides, for people to do while waiting for the park to open and boarding groups to be called. This was a suprise but def made me feel better about dragging everyone up and out so early!

Disney was also making announcements that the only way in or out of Galaxy’s Edge. They closed off the Back exit from toy story land.

Around 6:20 AM CM started walking the Toy Story group into ToyStory land!

Soon after that, they opened up the lands, and we headed into toy story land. We decided to go to Toy Story Mania first. We figured most people were going to head to Slinky Dog.

At 6:26 AM we were hopped on Toy Story Mania que and walked right through the line.
Toy Story Mania_Mo Selfie

Toy Story Mania Score
I think these were mine and Morgan's scores, with Morgan having the higher score.

Toy Story Mania Score
And then this was probably Andy and Gwen's scores. Making Andy the winner of this round! Morgan wanted to go again, as to recaim the winner bragging rights.

But I suggested we go ride Slinky before the line got too long. Morgan agreed, and we were in line at 6:40AM and basically walked on that as well.

Slinky Dog Que

Slinky Dog Selfie
6:48AM we were on the ride! See the smiles... they girls had perked up and were glad we were trying. Now that they got over the hump of you know waking up at the crack of dawn.

Slinky Dog Que Sign
Since the wait was so short, we went again! We were back on the ride at 7:01 AM!

Slinky Dog Ready to Ride

Slinky Dog_Gwen

At 7:09 AM Toy Story Mania still didn’t have a wait, so we went and rode Toy Story Mania a 2nd time!
Toy Story Mania Score
I believe Morgan made a the decision to ride with Gwen this time. And I think these are mine and Andy's score. I think Morgan ended up with a good score but I can't remember at this point.

We decided to hop on Alien Swirling Saucers around 7:23 AM. There was no wait for that still.
Alien Swirling Saucer's

Alien Swirling Saucers

So, in an hour, we had hit all of the Toy Story rides multiple times! And we decided it was time to get some breakfast!

So, where would we eat? We walked back across the way, to Woody’s Lunch Box.
Woody's Lunch Box

Cashier Stand
We decided what we wanted and I sent the girls to find a table for us to sit down at.

Maple Lunch Box Tart
Gwen decided to try the Maple Lunch Box Tart. Got to love the claw mark on it! I debated to go back up and ask for another one. But I think I was just too tired to bother. I think it was fine. I don't think the girls loved it but didn't hate it.

Breakfast Bowl
Morgan, Andy and I split 2 of these.
Breakfast Tot bowls
Hearty portion of Potato Barrels smothered in Smoked Brisket Country Gravy, Scrambled Eggs and a sprinkling of Green Onions
I LOVE this! The gravy is so yummy!

As we were eating, there was lots of folks were talking about what boarding group they were at and what group everyone had.

We were sitting at the baby bell table by the walkway. So, we could see folks leaving Galaxy’s Edge.
Baby Bell Chairs
A few folks did come out and we heard they were on group 11 already but that the ride had gone down. It was a mixed feeling of knowing that they were already at Group 11 but that it was down.

The people that were coming out who had rode all looked so excitied! I was trying to be stay hopeful!

While we ate, Andy and I discussed exactly how long we were able to wait before we had to leave the park to make our flight. We decided that we needed to have our boarding group called by 10:00 AM to give us enough time to ride and get back.


We finished up eating and decided where to head next. We decided to head over to Rock n' Rollercoaster and Tower of Terror next!

Up next, how many more rides could we ride! Will we get on Rise?
 
Day Seven: More Hollywood Studio Rides (and waiting)

We headed over to Rock n Rollercoaster to ride. I don’t think the wait was too long still, as it was only 8:00 AM.

Rock n' Rollercoaster Pre-Show
All 4 of us rode together. I don't think they were even bothering with the pre show room. We just walked through.

Rock n' Rollercoaster
I always look terrible in this ride photo. Sigh.

When we got off the ride, I pulled up the app to check the boarding groups and the numbers had started to move again!!!! I had started to restore hope that we might make it. We had almost 2 hours for our gropu to be called. Although, we did start to say, well, if we didn’t get on, at least we rode basically every ride in the park one last time.

We decided to split up at this point. Gwen and I went and rode Tower of Terror while Andy and Morgan went to ride Rock n' Rollercoaster again.

Tower of Terror

Tower of Terror
Lines were starting to build at this point, as the folks who came at park opening were starting to show up.

Gwen and I used the bathroom after we were done with Tower of Terror and I started checking the boarding groups like a crazy person. Refresh, close the app, reopen the app, refresh…

And when we came out of the bathroom, the number had jumped up a bit more!!! Woo Hoo! We still had a way to go but I was keeping my fingers crossed.

We started heading back towards Galaxy's Edge. Gwen wanted to stop in the shops on the way. She said she saw something on the way down that she wanted to check out.

Inside Out Merch
Gwen wanted to check out the Inside Out merch. But she was officially cut off from merch at this point. There was no room for anything else! So, she could only admire the plush unicorn.

It was now 9:05 and everything del was starting to get long lines. We decided to get in line for Star Tours as it was the only thing we hadn't really ridden.

Star Tours

Star Tours Welcome Video
I was trying to stalk the boarding groups while in line but also not as it was a slow progression.

By the time we got off the ride, they were up to 22! So, we headed over to Galaxy’s Edge.

We decided we should just start stalking the line!

I had been text with Lesley about boarding groups. Her friend Zach was here as well and had scored boarding group 24. So, I was trying to use his timing to see how much time we needed.

Once the group jumped to boarding group 24, and Zach was in line. It was a matter of time to see how fast he made it through the ride. We found out at some point that you were moving through the line fairly quickly. Which was good to know that we wouldn't be in line for hour upon hours.

At this point, we had done everything and the only thing left to do was ride the new ride. We basically just hoovered around the area for the next 45 minutes, hoping and praying that our group would be called soon.

It was so NERVE racking! We were watching the time go by and just hoping and praying. The sun came out about now and we ended sitting on a rock in Galaxy's Edge. So, it started to get hot!

We got to see a bunch of people coming out all amazed and on a high about getting to ride. Which was fun to see.

At some point the Boarding Group jumped all the way up to 30! It was a big jump but man did we get excitied to see that! Only 2 more groups!!!

But then it felt like an eternity that it sat at boarding group 30. Time was ticking away, 9:30, 9:40, 9:50.... and then the dreaded 10:00 rolled around.

Andy and I pushed our leave time back to 10:15, saying we could take an uber to the airport, it would still be ok. We were talking about how we did get to ride ALOT of rides today, so the day wasn't a lose if we didn't get on. but it was going to be so hard if we didn't get on at this point. We were SOOOO close!

Then 10:15 came, and we said 5 more minutes and then we REALLY will have to go.

At some point we left the rock and basically stood right by where you enter the que. So, we could be at the front of the boarding group folks.

Would we get on?
 


They were VERY tired and NOT happy to be awake. And well, Gwen cried...

Ooof, I hate those super early wake ups with kids. My girls are so used to being the ones that wake us up that they really struggle when it's the other way around.

I smashed the buttons, it took a hot second for the system to register that we were all in the park and but a refresh later and we were officially in Boarding Group 32! Now we just had to wait and see how long that would take to get to.

Yay, a great start!

So, in an hour, we had hit all of the Toy Story rides multiple times!

How great that you were able to do so much while you were waiting!

Would we get on?

Oh, goodness, at this point, you had better. It's not good story telling to give this much ramp up and then end with, "So, we never rode and wasted the money on an uber to the airport" :-)
 
The suspense is killing me!
Hopefully I have time for an update soon!

You're killing me!!
Sorry... soon hopefully

How great that you were able to do so much while you were waiting!
It was a nice surprise that we were able to go on so many rides while we were waiting. And not just in a line!

Oh, goodness, at this point, you had better. It's not good story telling to give this much ramp up and then end with, "So, we never rode and wasted the money on an uber to the airport" :-)
Ha! True... So, true!
 
Day Seven: Finally did we make it on

I left off with us waiting with a few of our friends.
Sea of People in Galaxy's Edge
Tons of folks were doing the same thing, just milling around waiting.

I was so nervous about this. Originally, we were going to fly home late Wednesday so that the girls would be able to go to school Thursday and Friday. And then we decided to leave Thursday, as they would be too tired to go on Thursday anyway. So, we pushed it out a day and booked a flight at noon-is so that the girls weren't exhausted for there last day of school. But when Disney announced the opening of Rise, I secretly pushed our flight time back. Andy never remembers and he literally never realized I changed it. (and luckily it wasn't any more $$$. SO, I was really hoping this worked out.

And we had said we had to leave at 10:00, and then we pushed it to 10:15. And then we said we would give it 5 more minutes.

And at 10:17 the magic happened!!!! They called our boarding group!!!!! We were right by the area to check in, so we were maybe the 5th party to go in with the new groups called! We were SOOOOO excited!!!

In fact everyone going in was all super excited. And that really made the whole experience extra special.

Where we wanted to be
Notice the red haired guy in this picture and the guy in the hat in front of him. We ended up on the same ride vehicle as us. And they were just as excited as we were.

Also, notice the waterfall in the picture.
Waterfall

Finally making it into the que
We headed in! you wrap around this turn and...

Backside of Water
Enter a cave with the BACKSIDE OF WATER! Gwen shouted this out so loud and everyone around us all laughed. And one couple behind us said "Hey, It IS the backside of water!" Gwen was very proud of herself.

Backside of Water

Rise Que_Prop
We moved fairly well through the outside area. And quickly headed inside.

So Excitied!
Nobody was excited...

Ride Que_Light
A light that I noticed in the que but never did in the times we have since then...

Rise_Waiting
We did stop peroticallly while in line but it moved really well.

Rise Que_Luggage

Rise Que Map
We got SUPER excited to be in this room.

Gwen inputting code
Gwen saving the gallaxy!

Rise_We made it!

Rise Que
After the strategy room, the hallway narrows and really feels like you are working your way to a secret base.

Rise cages
I noticed this couple with the wheelchair. I am not sure how far they let her sit in the wheel chair. We lost them at some point but I did see ECVs at the end. So, you can at least use either for a good period of time in the que.

Rise cages
Morgan and Andy commented on who most of these could have belonged to.

Rise

Rise_Final Room
This is the final room before where I personally would consider where the ride starts!

Rise_ room
This boy and family left through the exit. I am not sure if the kid chickened out or had to go to the bathroom or what. I remember thinking that I hoped they were able to get back in line!

I am going to stop here, if you are someone who still wants to skip ride spoilers, don't read the next post! ;)

Up next, how did we like the ride?
 
OMG the suspense was killing me!!!!! SO excited that you didn't have to leave the park before your boarding group!
Ha! It was WAY to close for comfort. But also made for a great story.

But I am sooo glad you were able to ride! but I just don’t want this trip report to end!
I know! It's bitter sweet to be at this point in the trip report. I have been dyeing to share this part of the trip but it is also the end. I do have one more trip that I can report on. But I didn't take notes as we got back and all of the coronavirus stuff started.

Yay! Can't wait to hear more about it
Thanks! Coming up today (hopefully)
 

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