That big drop... yep A July 2017 offsite Disney and Universal Adventure (updated 7/25)

[Lizzie the Banker]

Hello and welcome to my trip report. Although I've been fairly non existent in my posting, I've been obsessive in my lurking. I thought I'd write a trip report to help others. So without further ado, here is my experience in an 8 day road trip from Texas to Florida adventure.
First off we have the cast and crew:

We have Chris, the dad. He's 33, a beer enthusiast, and reluctantly along for the ride. Me, Lizzie the banker, 34. As my name suggests, I'm an architect. Ok, not really, I'm a boring old banker with a love of planning things. Cooper, 8, is adventurous. He loves thrill rides and is outgoing. And finally Anya, 5 is a shy sweet girl who loves Hello Kitty, Princess Aurora, and Ariel.

Chaper 1: The obligatory pre trip stuff. I've been planning this trip for essentially 2 years, since the drive home from our last big vacation in Tennessee. We knew we wanted to include Disney and Universal in this trip but we didn't know all the details yet. Over time it turned in to an offsite trip which we thought would be more affordable. That turned in to a "throwaway room" at Universal. That turned into a room we are using at Universal on top of a rental house. Which we learned was not more affordable at all. But oh well, c'est la vie etc. etc. Lesson learned.
The Friday before our trip dragged by. I had to work until 2pm but I had accumulated enough OT during the week, that my manager told me I could leave at 1. Yes! The hours ticked by and then at 12:36, my manager informed me she was going to grab lunch but would be right back. I was just concentrating on finishing up my existing work, when my fear happened. At 12:58, a new account came in wanting a new account,plus an auto loan. My manager was not back yet, and I was the only loan officer on staff. (I work in a small branch.) Passing on clients is a big no no so I knew I would be there for a while. Finally got them taken care of and got out of work at 2:15. Oh well, only 15 minutes behind original schedule.
I went to Target to get some last minute trip essentials. So I may or may not have left with a new doormat and high heeled wedges. Hey, that's actually GOOD for me at Target. Fueled by my Starbucks and retail therapy, I headed to the libarary to pick out some audiobooks. I ended up with the whole Diary of a Wimpy kid series, and we listened to all of them on our road trip.I then went to pick up the kids from the babysitter. My kids knew we were going on a road trip to Disney but thought it was at Christmas. When they got home I had set up a mini scavenger hunt for them and the final two clues were "we are going" and "on vacation tomorrow." They were so excited, and ran to pack their backpacks full of stuffed toys. Big mistake on my part, and foreshadowing.

I think someone wanted to go with us, but she was staying with "aunt Erica."

I followed up with instructions for my dog sitter, that would be Aunt Erica, last minute housecleaning, and quick dinner out with haircuts for the kids. I shouldn't have bothered with Anya, as the humidity made her hair a tangled mess the whole time. We loaded the car and were in bed by 9.

Chapter 2: Our Adventure begins. My day started at 3:30 am with coffee and full makeup. I know it makes no sense to make up my face to sit in the car all day, but I always feel fresher when I take the time to fully get ready for the day. I woke up the kids at 4 and we were on the road by 4:37 am.

I heated up some breakfast sandwiches and we ate those in the car. Our goal was to get from the Houston area to Baton Rouge without a stop and it worked. We ended up in Baton Rouge around 7:30 am and our first stop was Coffee Call for Beinets and Cafe au lait. It was ok, but next time I would have liked something with eggs.

Oh well, live and learn.

Back on the road and we didn't stop again til Alabama. We hit horrible traffic right past Mobile so we gave up for a bit and stopped for lunch at 5 Guys. Always a hit with us.

Back on the road and we were still in terrible traffic. We kept hearing reports of two separate accidents on both sides of I10. We finally made it past,and about 3 pm arrived in Pensacola Beach.
We stayed at the Hampton Inn and it was beautiful. Right on the beach, with a private entrance from our hotel, plus a seaside restaurant right next door. We spent the afternoon outdoors, but our early wake up call was hitting us hard. We were all asleep by 9pm.

One interesting thing happened. Chris tried to charge a drink to our room from the pool bar, but he transposed the room numbers. He told me once he got back to the room. I called the front desk to let them know, and they told me thanks but don't worry about it, the drink would be complimentary. It was essentially a bucket o'rum so I hope the other people never got charged.

Chapter 3: Arrival
The following morning we were on the road by 7am. We woke up at 6 for the standard waffles and eggs hotel breakfast and hit the road. We had 7 hours to go.

I don't think anything memorable happened on our trip to our rental home. We had lunch at a Steak n Shake in Tallahassee and had only one stop for fuel, at what we called "the fake Bucees." Texas has a series of travel centers called Buccees, and they're all Beaver themed with punny billboards stretching across the state. This was the same exact thing but Bee themed. We kept making jokes about it for miles. We were pretty psyched for the Game of Thrones premiere that night,and talked about that a lot. We were meeting up with our friend/housemate and also texting them about drive process throughout the day.

I do know this day I started getting blown up with text messages and facebook notifications. I am a huge Whovian, and it was announced the 13th Doctor will be a woman. Everyone I have ever known wanted me to hear it from them first I guess. I was really, really excited and spent a good hour reading comments threads and texting my friends.


Finally we arrived at our vacation home. We stayed offsite in Clermont at a home rented through VRBO.
Although our home was cute, well themed, and quiet, staying offsite isn't worth it. I wouldn't do it again. There were 9 of us though,and having the room to spread out was nice.

The following are pics from the house just to see the basic theming:
Our housemates arrived before us and had already unpacked so none of these pics are mine, they are straight from the website.

We swam for several hours, and then had dinner at Hurricanes, a restaurant right by our neighborhood. Another bucket o'rum was shared.

This would be my housemate/bff Amiee

And this would be me, post bucket o'rum

We went back to the house, sent the kids to bed, set up the Amazon firestick,and watched Game of Thrones. It was awesome, of course, and we were pooped.

Kingdom Strollers had delivered us a City Mini single earlier that day, but then I realized our house came with two umbrella strollers, a toddler sized stroller that would have been fine, and basically a closet filled with ponchos left over from previous guests. We would have been fine not to rent the stroller.

It was time for the kids to go to bed, and at that time after a big search, it was determined that Anya had left her backpack filled with stuffed toys back at the hotel in Pensacola Beach. She was crying her eyes out, as one of the toys was a gift from my grandfather. I called the hotel and left a message for housekeeping and assured her we'd get it back, while praying that we really WOULD get it back. I was also cursing myself for letting them bring so many toys. Poor little Anya fell asleep naming the missing the toys one by one. I felt so bad and promised to buy her a stuffed toy on the trip.

We decided we needed a few things, so while everyone was in bed Chris and I went to Walmart. It was horrible! People everywhere, the store was a madhouse. It reminded me of prison. We got out of there asap and gave up on the items we needed. Nothing was important enough to shop in there.
We packed a park bag, the City Mini, and an overnight bag for Universal and were asleep by 11.

Chapter 3: Universal Studios
Our 5:15 am wake up call came early. We had stopped at a Krispy Kreme the day before and our land lady for the week was nice enough to provide us a gallon of milk, so that was our breakfast of champions, with coffee of course. We loaded the cars and arrived at Royal Pacific Resort by 7am. I took zero photos of the hotel, so here's a stock photo for your viewing pleasure.

We left all of our luggage with luggage service and checked in. That is super easy, by the way. They gave us the spiel about valet parking being $29 a night and how to get our express badges and park tickets. (all done by kiosk and super easy.) They told me they would text me when the room was ready. My room was ready by about 9 am. My housemate's room wasn't ready til about 3:45 though, and we checked in at the exact same time. They also gave us directions to the walking path, water taxi, and bus shuttles. We chose water taxi. It was about this time that I realized I had WAY overpacked. Our park bag and didn't fit right in the stroller but was too bulky to carry. I ended up rearranging everything but lesson learned. It was stuffed. Almost immediately my 8 year old started whining that HE wanted to ride in the stroller, prompting my house mate's 8 year old son to say that HE wanted to ride in the stroller, prompting my 5 year old to whine that it was HER stroller, prompting me to tell all the kids to shut it and kicking Anya out of the stroller. So far a most unmagical day. In my trip planning process I had repeatedly asked for input and heard from everyone "we'll do whatever, we'll just follow you." So I planned to hit IOA first. However, when we got there all I heard was why didn't we go to Diagon Alley first? We were at the gates by 7:45 and they let us in exactly at 8. We contemplated a locker since I had so seriously overpacked, but decided to just deal with it. Finally at 8 were were walking thorugh Port of Entry,Seussland, and then finally Hogsmeade. All of the complaints stopped. It was just so magical.

First stop: Butterbeer. It was delicious! My husband and son got the frozen variety and one souvenir mug, Anya and I got the non frozen variety. I loved the topping. I did hear a girl asking for a non topping version as she had a dairy allergy and the server told her they aren't allowed, it has to be all or nothing. So dairy allergy folks, keep that in mind. Also, sorry I slurped down my butterbeer and have no photos of it. I'm not a big food photographer.

Our first ride was HP and the Forbidden journey. I had already warned Chris, my housemate (who is a big guy) and Anya that they wouldn't get to ride and urged them to go ahead to Flight of the Hippogriff. Chris and our friend tried the test seats, not even close. They are both big guys (6'2, over 300 lbs.) They weren't hurt, because they knew it was likely a no. They did go through the queue with us, and sat in the rider swap area. Anya received a certificate that said when she is tall enough to ride she gets to skip the queue to ride. She is so proud of that certificate and has hung it on the wall.

My housemates and I rode and it was awesome. Fast, fun, and awesome theming. I loved the talking portraits just going through the queue also. Our first time riding we walked through without Express Pass, and later in the trip with express pass. I would not say one is better than the other.
Next stop was Flight of the Hippogriff. It was fast and fun, but short. Anya loved it and immediately begged to go again. She would not let me ride with my hands up. ("Mommy I'm afwaid you will fall out.")
We followed up with Ollivander's shop. His show was cute, and he actually ended up picking a deaf child for the show. Her father was translating with sign language. It was as magical as anything I could imagine and I was tearing up at the excitement. We walked to the wand shop and it was so crowded we could barely breathe, but we ended up with two wands and were off to try spells. This worked ok, but at some spots we just had no luck doing the spells. Given the choice to go back, I would have never told my kids about the spell opportunities and would have bought a non interactive wand.

At this point we split up with our housemates and agreed to meet for lunch at 11. We went to Honeydukes and bought a pumpkin pasty and two chocolate frogs. Big mistake. Our chocolate frogs turned to chocolate goop in the heat and never got eaten. So helpful tip: If you are dumb enough to buy chocolate in 100 degree weather, eat it there and then. We rode Flight of the Hippogriff twice more and were itching to try something new.

So we walked over to the Jurassic Area and rode River Adventure.

This is where the title of my trip report comes in. First of all, Express pass, awesome. We walked on. Cooper had decided he was scared, so he was asking not to ride it, and then started crying. I know Cooper, I knew he was tired, and I knew he would love this ride if he would try it. So I told him he has to try it, all the while getting death glares from other riders as he cried louder. The ride operator told us that we could not ride unless he gave a thumbs up. I asked him to please give it a chance and he gave a reluctant and tearful thumbs up. The whole ride he was oohing and ahhing and when the drop came he whooped and yelled. When it was over he yelled "woo hoo best ride ever!!" all smiles. I turned to Anya who was sitting stone faced and I said "baby what did you think?" She stared at me deadpan and said "That big drop... yep." We cracked up and that was a running joke the whole trip.

We made it back to The Three Broomsticks at 10:57 am.

The theming in here was cute, but not worth it to me. For $75 we got a soup and salad combo (only thing vegetarian for me), mac and cheese (room temp verging on cold), chicken legs, and fish n chips. Plus all of us got a pumpkin juice. It was organized which was nice but it was a one and done meal.
My housemate told me while we were eating that she had just spent $100 on a robe and tried to wear it but nearly fainted from the heat.

After lunch it was time for the Hogwarts Express. It was so nice to have Express pass here, as the standby queue was 35 minutes. They didn't make us fold our stroller which was awesome as it was even fuller now with melting frogs and wands.I took zero pics on the HE because we were all sweaty melting messes.

I loved the sites out of the window as well as the sounds out the door. Plus the London side looked like a legit train station. Universal does theming right.

In Diagon Alley we wandered around Weasleys Wizard Wheezes but it was so crowded we couldn't really move. We headed to Escape from Gringotts while the guys who were too big headed to the Hogs Head for some firewhiskey. However, they said it was too hot and ended up getting ice cream instead at Florean Fortescue's. This time Anya passed the height test. I don't know if it was the heat or ride but it made me queasy. I had to close my eyes through most of it. While I loved Forbidden Journey, I don't know if I would ride Escape from Gringott's again. Kids loved it though,and begged to go again. Express pass once again was well worth it. 10 minute wait for a 55 minutes standby.

We split up from our housemates again and headed toward Simpsons. The ride makes me queasy but the theming is great and the jokes were hilarious. "A theme park won't kill you as long as you dime left in your pocket." It's funny because it's true.

We followed up by some photos and a giant donut sundae.

I checked out the taco truck as I was still hungry but I couldn't see anything that I could modify to be vegetarian.
We were all exhausted at this point and decided to head back to the hotel. (a great onsite benefit.) Megan, our water taxi operator was great. She made jokes about a $50 wand we'll never use again. One joke was "you know what my wand is? 5 margaritas." So true, Megan, so true.

Coming up next: Universal part 2

Universal part 2:

We went to the room and it was spacious and clean. However, I have no pics in the room. We were concentrating on cooling off while we waited on our luggage from bell services. That took about 30 minutes so we took that time to shower, only one thing we didn't think of was we had no clothes to put on. So 3 of us sat around in towels and I was the unlucky person chosen to put my filthy clothes back on and open the door.
The luggage arrived and we all put on our swimsuits and headed down. The lagoon pool looked really nice. No water slides, but they did have a kids splash area. I hopped in with the kids while Chris went to the bar. We were in the pool a whopping 3-4 minutes when the DJ made an announcement that lightning was spotted and the pool and pool deck would be closing. So out we went. Both kids were crying and Chris came over with his drink. We headed upstairs with promises of swimming later When I got to our room the phone was ringing. It was the front desk letting us know that due to the rain the pool bar had decided to comp Chris's drink. Score! Two free drinks so far this trip.
We set up the firestick and rested a little bit but soon all of our tummies were grumbling. The rain was really pouring down so we put on our ponchos. We decided we would brave the park in the rain, stroller free.

Since it was pouring we took the shuttle bus this time, which let us out right at City Walk. I had read a lot about Cowfish and was anxious to try it. I had the "tree hugger" sushi, which is vegetarian with mushrooms and red peppers. Chris had a Texas style burger, kids had chicken nugget bento boxes. Our food was delicous! I'd love to have a Cowfish in my area.

This post is really photo light because I just decided to keep my phone in my pocket and enjoy myself. We hung out in Islands of Adventure and did Spiderman and King Kong, and then mostly just shopped a bit and wandered around. I got a really cool mug, and as it is dirty in the dishwasher right now, here is a stock photo of said mug.

Cooper discovered the wonders of souvenirs with his name on it, and got a keychain in one of the shops. Poor Anya learned a hard life lesson that I myself had to learn. There will NEVER be a souvenir with her name on it. I am actually Elisabethe, not too many of that spelling floating around. I told her that time will ease her pain.

It was now around 8:30 or 9 pm and we decided to go back. The rain had stopped but our shoes were soaked through and we were cold and tired. We looked for the walking path but somehow missed it and ended up back on the bus. We dried off and were in bed by 10:30.

Coming up next: Universal day 2

 

[Lizzie the Banker]

Universal Day 2:

We slept in a bit and woke up around 7:30 or so. All of us were stiff and sore, but we had learned the lesson to pack much lighter. Makeup on, sunblock applied, and we were ready to go in 45 minutes or so. We left our luggage with luggage services and did quick check out, and were headed to the parks by around 8:30. We rode the water taxi but this time paid close attention to the walking path so that we could find it. Here is an example of my giant 8 year old son trying to squeeze himself into a toddler stroller.

We made it in to Universal Studios by shortly before 9 and rode Minions Mayhem as part of early entry, followed by Shreck. Both of these were cute but none of us loved them. We had a much more important mission today. Anya is the self proclaimed "world's biggest Hello Kitty fan." She is 5, and has had 4 Hello Kitty themed birthday parties. She has a Hello Kitty themed bedroom and every stuffed toy you can think of. Meeting Hello Kitty was her "ultimate dream" as she says. When we arrived at the shop we were told Hello Kitty was off with her friends but would be back soon.
We browsed a little and let Anya explore the shop.

We purchased a stuffed kitty to add to the collection and a chococat smore for me. The shop keeper came over and asked Anya her name and then asked us to come with her. We stepped outside and the shop keeper told Hello Kitty that her number one fan is here to see her. Anya ran over and gave her a big hug, and started chattering a mile a minute about how much she loves her ("I weally weally do, you're my favovwite") and how she wishes that she would live in "hello kitty world" with Kitty and Mimi. Hello Kitty spent a good 10 minutes with her, comparing dresses and taking photos. It was really magical.

After we dragged Anya away from Hello Kitty (a line was growing) we did some more exploring at Universal. I don't have our schedule from that day but I know we met Spongebob, rode ET, rode Woody Woodpecker's coaster twice, and explored Diagon Alley some more. We each got a butterbeer and then Chris and I one by one stopped in the Hogs Head for a shot of Fire Whiskey that we mixed into our Butterbeer. We also rode Transformers and met Optimus Prime.

We then hopped over to Islands and rode Jurassic River Adventure twice more. (that big drop... yep). I wanted to do Raptor Encounter but no one else did. All morning long Cooper had been talking about a delicious hot dog that he had "smelled yesterday" so we went off in search of the hot dog, which was in the Jurassic area.At this moment I did a parenting fail. I set my spiked butterbeer next to Cooper's regular butterbeer and forgot which was which. I tasted them and couldn't figure it out, so I couldn't let him have any more. Poor Coop. I made it up by letting him get a soda from the pizza place.
We all decided on pizza, except the hot dog of course, so we ate at the Jurassic area pizza place. I thought it was such a rip off. $72 for 3 pizzas, 4 bottles of water, and a hot dog. I told everyone that we should walk to City Walk and eat something better but everyone was hot and tired and disagreed so crappy frozen pizza it was.

Not impressed with this meal.

At this point we were kind of melting and the kids were asking to go back to the vacation house. We headed to Hogsmeade and Chris and Anya rode Flight of the Hippogriff twice while Cooper and I rode Forbidden Journey.

It was time to go back. We passed by Seussland but didn't ride anything. Chris adamently hates anything Seuss related (no idea why) and the kids weren't interested. I was, but I was outvoted. A rainstorm had started and by the time we got to the walking path we were soaked, but it was nice to cool off. I got the car from the valet while Chris got the luggage, and after a quick stop at Publix for a few items that we abandoned at Walmart two days before, it was finally time to rest.

At our vacation house the rain had stopped so we swam, ate a homeade spaghetti dinner, and chilled out to watch tv until bedtime.

 

[Lizzie the Banker]

Disney day 1:

And now for my actual DISNEY trip report. Wednesday started bright and early. We had a PPO reservation at Garden Grill in Epcot. I planned to be parked and at the gate by 7:45 and I did perfectly. Our muscles were all a little stiff, and we all agreed to go slow as this was our "rope drop to fireworks day." Sure enough, by 7:45 we were scanned in and headed toward the giant golf ball.

We walked into The Land and were asked for my name and then sent straight ahead. When we approached the podium, the hostess already knew who we were. I thought the food and service at Garden Grill were EXCELLENT. Our server was Terri. She explained the process and brought our check right after taking our drink orders, as she knew we would want to be in line for Soarin right away. First off were the cinnamon buns. Yum! They were gooey and sweet and delicious. While waiting for our other food we were visited by Chip followed by Dale.
None of the characters did anything really memorable, but it wasn't a bad experience. I asked leading questions, such as asking Dale if he's been in to mischief lately, or if Pluto is a good boy. They responded to my questions in a cute way but I didn't get a "magical" feeling. Soon enough we got eggs, tater tots, salsa, Mickey waffles, coffee, and bacon. We all had more than enough food and in the meantime met Mickey and Pluto. We were second in line for Soarin by 7:36 am and off the ride by 8.

Soarin was amazing, and after our flight safely landed, we had some time before our 9 am Test Track. So we headed to the Seas to explore with Nemo. My kids are just a little too big to enjoy that but they really liked the seas tank afterward. We saw a dolphin and probably spent 20 minutes just exploring that area. We then saw Character spot had just a 10 minute wait (which was closer to 20) so we headed over. There we met Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy. Great character interactions, and I'm glad we stopped.

Next it was time for Test Track. I checked in and soon we were designing our cars. We chose "plasma burning" of course in a mint green. Cooper was mad that we weren't in his actual car. I guess he thought they would build his exact car and paint it in the 10 minutes it took us to get on the ride?


Anya is hidden here, all you can see is her blonde hair flying

Also this started a pattern of my kids running forward to scan other people's ride photos, so I have a bunch of strangers on my memory maker. I got some funny faces, though.
I managed to modify my second fp for RIGHT THEN, so we headed to Spaceship Earth.
As soon as I scanned in, I immediately picked up a fp for Rock n Roller Coaster in Hollywood studios for that afternoon. We explored our future, played a few games, and then headed to Club Cool.
No photos here, but we all thoroughly hated the Beverly. Anya calls it the bubble soda, saying it tasted just like soap.

We were about done with future world here, so we headed to World Showcase.
First stop was Mexico. We rode the ride and then met Chris's favorite character, Donald Duck.
Donald was great. He high fived Cooper, and indicated that HE wanted to be on Coop's shirt, not Mickey Mouse. He gave Anya a kiss on the nose.

We then headed to Norway. We took some photopass pics while Chris grabbed a beer from the beer stand. He thoroughly enjoyed it, as he does with most beer.

Even though we had an ADR coming up, the kids and I decided on dessert first. And what better to try than school bread. I had never tried it, but after reading about it so much knew I had to. It was delicious! I've never tried anything like it.

I then got Anya all dressed up for a very special ADR, Akershus.


I'll just say. I wanted very much to like this restaurant. I've heard great things about it, but I just didn't.
We got seated quickly, which was a plus, but we felt very rushed.
First we met Belle, and with a quick bonjour she was gone. I didn't like their photo backdrop. You could clearly see the ugly white wall behind it in all the photopass pics. I haven't edited them yet, but it's really visible here.

We were seated and honestly had the worst service not only of our trip, but basically the top 3 of my life. Our server ignored us so blatantly that the other tables noticed and we started joking back and forth about it. We had to figure out everything for ourselves. She came over, took our drink orders, and never told us the buffet process. I only knew that existed from watching the tables around us. (we were all sat at the same time.) After our buffet of cold apps (which was pretty good), the server told us "I came to take your order but you weren't here. Do you know what you want?" I literally did not even know we had menus on our table. I still kind of think she had just brought them.
I asked her for a moment, exchanging bewildered looks with the other diners, and by the time she returned, two princesses had come by.

We said hello first to Cinderella, who told Anya that she loves mermaids, and in fact her very good friend Ariel is teaching her to swim.

Second up was Aurora, Anya's favorite princess. Aurora told her that she looks similar to her friend Ariel.

We had ordered and received our food by the next princesses. I had a cheese ravioli, Chris had a seafood casserole, Anya had mac and cheese and Coop had meatballs. None of us loved or hated our food, it was just ok.

Third princess was Ariel, who asked Anya if she had seen her sisters and if they were on their best behavior.

Finally we met Snow White and I don't remember anything about that conversation.

I could hear a loudspeaker announcement about the princess processional and although I tried to listen, it was very loud. Our server came by to clear the table and as I tried to ask her, she walked away when I was mid sentence. The other tables were just laughing at this point, the service was that bad. If I didn't know better, I'd say I was on a hidden camera show or something. Another table kindly explained to me that Anya needed to go find Ariel. The kids walked around the restaurant, and dessert had been served by then.

It was a rice pudding, an apple bread, and a chocolate mousse. All were really flavorless. Thank goodness I had that school bread still fresh in my mind.

All in all Akershus was a bust. I am glad we did a princess meal once in our lives, but probably would not ever again. (although I've heard 1900 park fare is pretty good.)

Following Norway, we headed slowly around the World Showcase. We stopped in Germany for a bag of caramel popcorn, but I wasn't super impressed. I wish I'd gotten one of the marshmallows instead. There's always next time. I knew it was time for a break around the time Anya started crying her eyes out for a bedazzled pickle Christmas ornament. We powered through the other countries to Japan to let the kids pick out a Pokemon toy. They did, and we just made the loop and left Epcot.

We stopped first for a photopass pic:

It was getting hotter and hotter, and we still had about 5 hours to go. We got in the car and made the short drive to DHS.

Coming up next, Disney day 1 part 2

 

[Lizzie the Banker]

Disney Hollywood Studios:

After leaving Epcot we sat in the car and just soaked up the AC for a little while. This is where I really felt the offsite regret.
We drove to Disney Hollywood Studios without a real plan in mind, with the exception of our upcoming fp. Chris and Coop had Rock n Rollercoaster, while Anya and I were headed to Toy Story. We rested about half an hour, and then the kids and Chris changed shirts and we headed out.
We had a big debate, stroller vs. no stroller. I wanted the stroller just for poncho convenience. Chris wanted no stroller because the parking trams seemed so full and folding the stroller seemed like a pain. He won on the no stroller.
Once inside we took a few photopass pics and parted ways.

Anya and I were about 10 minutes early so we paused for some Pixar pics. Chris and Coop meanwhile did the same.

Cooper LOVED the Rock n Rollercoaster, and it's Chris's favorite ride. Cooper has still not stopped talking about it. I'd say it was a success.

I texted Chris to let me know the second he scanned in, and once we'd both scanned in I snagged a Tower of Terror fp. I told Chris to wait there, we'd be over soon. He texted me back that i was not going to be pleased.
He was right. I stepped outside into a downpour. While of course our ponchos were safe in the trunk of my car.

Anya and I grabbed a coffee and donut from the Joffrey's cart and tried to wait it out, but gave up. We walked through the rain and splashed in puddles, and walked on to Tower of Terror dripping and cold. Kids had an absolute blast. And of course we all uttered the famous line. "That big drop... yep."
After Tower of Terror we were at a loss for what to do. I had headed to DHS earlier than expected and so hadn't made definite plans, but our dessert party wasn't for a few hours. I booked a fp for The Great Movie Ride, since I had heard a few days before that this would be my last time ever to ride. It wasn't for a while, so we walked around. None of us were interested in seeing any shows, and then while passing One Man's Dream, I remembered about the Star Lord and Baby Groot meet!

I had completely forgotten them, AND Coop was wearing his Guardians of the Galaxy shirt. It was fate, because this was the most perfect character meet of any character meet I have ever had in my 5 trips to Disney. Starlord was SO charasmatic and Baby Groot was adorable enough to bring tears to my eyes. Both paid close attention to Cooper's shirt, and spent a good 5 minutes with us. I am so glad we stopped.

None of us were starving, but we knew we needed something to eat that wasn't dessert so we headed to ABC Commissary. DHS as we all know is pretty lacking in quickservice options. Plus it had started to rain again. Kids got a cheeseburger meal to share, and Chris and I shared hummus and mozzarella sticks. It was just ok, like it always is. It never fails, I always eat here or at Backlot when visiting. One of these days I'll make it to Sci Fi or Mama Melrose, but this wasn't the trip for it.
Bellies full(er), we headed to The Great Movie Ride. FP wasn't needed, it was a walk on regardless. We scanned in and I immediately booked one last Tower of Terror fp. After escaping the Gangster, and saying goodbye forever to The Great Movie Ride, we headed back to Tower of Terror. Here I got my favorite ride photo of the trip.

I love how scared Cooper looks compared to how Anya is just sitting there with a serene little smile on her face. (that big drop... yep.)
It cracks me up every time I see it.

We waved goodbye to Tower of Terror and headed toward the launch bay. We checked in about 15 minutes late, but the cast members assured us we would still have plenty of time for desserts.

Now for the review of the dessert party. Inside the launch bay they had mini desserts, like small two bite cakes and brownies, cookies, nutella ice cream, and a bread pudding with a variety of toppings. They also had fruit skewers, bean dip, hummus, tomato and cheese skewers, and 2 or 3 kinds of punch. They served 2 alcoholic cocktails and I tried both. I felt they were way too sweet and way too strong, but Chris enjoyed them. They also had soda and bottled water. It was all you can eat, and there were tables, but not chairs.

None of us loved the desserts. They were pretty, but all in all we all thought they were pretty flavorless. We did get a chance to try everything though, and definitely did not leave hungry. There was a meet with Chewbacca but the kids were tired and so we didn't go. We had brought a little baggie of goodies to try to trade with the jawas, but they weren't trading that night. To be honest, none of us are huge Star Wars fans, so the whole thing was not the amazing experience I'm sure it would be had I been a mega fan. We are all sort of meh about the series. (I know, I know, blasphemy.)

Around 15 minutes before the fireworks, the Storm Troopers led us out in a line to the center of the viewing area, which was roped off. I had read reviews that the viewing area had a special place for kids to sit up front, but that wasn't the case with us. Grown adults were shoving and running to get to the front, and we ended up smack in the middle. It was ok, we were chatting with two other nice families that got basically ran over. They gave us each some sort of death star replica toy, I'm not sure what it was. I passed ours on to various coworkers. (like I said, none of us are huge fans.) We also each got a bottle of water.
The show itself was incredible. The kids could only see the fireworks and the highest projections but they enjoyed it. They did whine a bit to leave toward the end, but we were all exhausted. The music was wonderful, and the part where Darth Vader shows up gave me chills. Again, not a mega fan, but I posted a short video to facebook and a mega fan coworker told me it made her tearful. So even though I didn't love the desserts, I'd say the dessert party is worth it if you are a huge fan. If you're just an average fan or just want to see the show, I'd say just show up early and get a good viewing spot.
I wouldn't swear off dessert parties forever, and in fact I want to try one in MK next time.
After the party we hung around for a little while in the shops, just waiting for the sea of people to disperse, and then headed to the parking trams. The kids fell asleep immediately. When we got to the house we all stunk, so the kids and I took turns in the worlds quickest shower (I had to basically hose Anya down) and then Chris showered. We all ended up falling asleep in the same bed. (thank you king bed.)
Our first day at Disney complete. it was time to crash out and prepare for Magic Kingdom.

 

[Lizzie the Banker]

Disney Day 2: Magic Kingdom

I woke up this day with melancholy. Our fun filled 4 park day 5 park vacation was soon to be over. We were headed to the last park, Magic Kingdom. I was determined to make this the best day ever, starting with our 9 am Pirates League appointments. Here is where I made a huge mistake. The previous day it had only taken us 45 minutes to get in the car, through the parking lot, through security,and in line. So I left at 8 am. Big, huge, ginormous mistake.
First of all, we asked Siri to route us to Magic Kingdom, and noticed she did not take us in the same direction that we had headed in the day before. We saw the red marks on I-4 so just assumed she was rerouting us around traffic. Siri wouldn't do us wrong, would she?
At this time I FINALLY reached the Hampton Inn that we had stayed at on the way and they located Anya's backpack. Success! It did take about 5 days of leaving messages, but fuzzy bear and all his friends would be waiting for us in two days.
Meanwhile, Siri was taking us through neighborhoods and all sorts of strange things. I saw the castle in the distance, so I wasn't worried. Siri knew what she was doing.
Except she didn't. Siri led us straight to the Magic Kingdom cast member parking.


Nooooo! It was 8:36 when I told Chris to reroute us to the TTC and Siri told us it was 30 minutes away. I called the reservation line and told them I was lost, stuck in traffic, Siri had done me wrong, and I was not going to make my 9 am Pirates League.

The cast member was very sympathetic and told me that she was putting notes on my reservation, drive safe, and I could arrive any time I wanted that day and be helped. Yay! Pixie dust!

That worry out of the way, we continued on,and Siri routed us to the Poly. I know that you can walk to the TTC from the Poly, but as I had no reservation at the Poly and therefore no right to park there, I did not want to go there. I don't know what Siri's problem was, but I was so irritated. I told Chris turn it off, turn around, and we'll figure it out ourselves. We finally pulled into the MK parking lot, none of us very happy. Chris told me to go ahead with the kids, and he would go through bag check. We made the no stroller decision again. This trip proved that Anya is just too big for a stroller to work comfortably.

We made it through the non bag check line, and the kids and I headed for the ferry boat line, as it looked much shorter than the monorail. There were already hordes of people, and the sun was beating down. Worst still, I had left my phone and wallet in the bag. I just hoped Chris would figure out where to meet us, whenever he finally made it in, poor sap.

Little did I know...

We got off the boat, got scanned in, pouring sweat, and there was Chris. Standing near the train station, sipping a nearly empty Joffrey's coffee, looking very relaxed. He asked me what the heck took so long.
Yeah, turns out the monorail line was WAY shorter.

Big regret during this trip, we didn't stop for any castle pics. We were more than an hour off schedule, my precious touring plans were now toast, and I was at a loss. Chris had to remind me that this is a vacation, not a military drill. We were going to be ok. So we hurried every chance we could through Adventureland, and checked in to The Pirates League at 10:21 am.

This was without a doubt my favorite part of the trip. They were SO accomodating and never broke character.
For those who don't know, they give kids a pirate or mermaid makeover of their choice. Without a costume it's about $45 a kid, with a costume, it's about $95-$100. We brought our own shirts.

They told us it would be about 15 minutes, so while Chris sat with the kids, I went off to get the treat I'd been dreaming about since my last visit 5 long years ago.

Ahhhh bliss. We'll just ignore the fact that the float was dripping down my arm faster than I could eat it. Lifehack: if it's 100 degrees outside, go for the whip,not the float.
I brought back the deliciousness, and the kids had just been seated. Score! I didn't have to share.

Doesn't she look just thrilled to be here?

Anya started with a mermaid manicure, a mermaid hairstyle, and then her makeup, scales, and "seafoam sparkle." All the while the pirate kept instructing her that it's very important that mermaids don't bite pirates, as they are friends.
Coop was across the room, but I saw enough of the little boy next to me to get the gist. Ghostface makeup, spiked hair, bandana,and earring. Each time a kid completed their makeover, everyone in the building got a hearty yo ho! Everyone, kids, adults, and cast members alike were so into it. I was wearing Doctor Who themed ears, and one of the wenches told me that once long ago she had seen that mysterious blue box and wondered what magic was inside.
I loved it.
The kids were then brought to a secret treasure room where they had to find their treasure. And sorry, I swore a landlubber's oath that I would never reveal the whereabouts. Anya's treasure was a necklace that changes colors in the sun and matched a hair clip and bracelet that she had been given. Cooper's was a medallion necklace.
After a couple of pics, we were on to our next adventure.

In a perfect world, it would have been 10am and I would have been casually hopping on to a short Pirates of the Caribbean queue and then watching the Pirate tutorial show. However, that plan was out the window. It was closer to 11:30 and our first fp of the day, so we headed across the hub to Tomorrowland.

Coop and I had a date with Space Mountain, while Chris and Anya were headed to Buzz. I dropped them off right outside of Buzz and told them I'll meet them at the Astro Orbiter after. I wasn't watching my apps since my touring plans had dropped, but if I had been I would have known that Space was down. Hmmm. This was my number one ride. Coop and I decided to hop on the old trusty Peoplemover while we figured out our next move.

Here we are trying not to melt

Meanwhile Chris texted me that he had defeated Zurg and all was good.

When we hopped off, Space was still down. I debated meeting Merida (my only must do of this trip), and then glanced over and saw it was back up. Score! Coop and I scanned in, while Chris and Anya hopped on the Peoplemover. Astro Orbiter was abandoned this trip,and I can't say I was sad.
This is another blasphemy, but I'm not a Space fan. Neither is Chris, but I knew Cooper would love it so I took the hit. Literal hits. I got so beat up on that ride that I had a bruise on my ribs for days. I did end up with this handy dandy ride photo though.

When we returned to earth, we met up with Chris and Anya who had actually completed a second ride on the Peoplemover. All of us had growling stomachs, so we decided it was lunchtime and Merida would have to wait.
We took the red walking path (thanks Disboards for the tip!) to the Fantasyland station. We arrived just in time for the train, and took the easy breezy way to Frontierland. Pecos Bills was calling my name. We had a 1:30 Splash fp and I was thanking our lucky stars because the wait was 110 minutes. We were all too hungry to wait the 20 minutes for our FP to begin, so we headed in to Pecos Bills.
I had a vegetarian fajita platter, Chris and Coop had nachos,and Anya had mac n cheese. Everything was yummy. I
m from Houston so I'm a Tex Mex snob, but as theme park food goes, this was a solid 7 of 10.

Bellies full, we headed to Splash. (that big drop...yep.) I rode with Anya and this joke was repeated more than once, but all I got from her was eye rolls. I am so glad we rode when we did, because we stopped for a potty break when we got off. When I was exiting the bathroom I heard a loudspeaker announcement that a storm was coming in and the ride might be closing. I heard thunder but I wasn't sure if that was because we were next to Big Thunder Mountain.

It was about 1:45 now,and our next FP didn't start til 3. Haaaaaauuuuunttted Maaaaannnnsioooooon (that's a ghostly voice, if you can't tell.)
My plan had been to get adorable sillouettes of the kids in Liberty Square but when I brought it up it was pretty obvious they were not going to be very cooperative. I knew they were offered in Disney Springs so I modified the fp to right then and there.
We picked up our ghostly hitchhikers and then ditched them to head to Fantasyland. We were all getting exhausted, and as much as I love MK, I knew the trip was coming to a close. The storm was rolling in faster.

I hadn't met Merida yet, so I checked my Kenny the Pirate app and saw she was starting another set in about 45 minutes. I grabbed a Dumbo FP and we walked on to Philharmagic.

I like Peter Pan a lot, but no one else wanted to meet him,or Pooh,or Alice, or really ride anything. Kids and Chris were over vacation at this point.
We scanned onto Dumbo, our last ride of the trip.

When we left Dumbo, I realized something important. We hadn't had a Mickey Bar yet! Anya and Coop got Mickey bars, Chris got a strawberry bar, and I got a frozen banana.

Merida's set was starting soon so we headed that way.

We got in line for Merida and were told it'll be 15 minutes or so. It was then that Cooper started doing something he's infamous for, something very irritating. If he doesn't want to do something, he'll pretend he has to use the bathroom to get out of it. He did not want to meet Merida, so he started in that he has to potty so so so bad and he is about to have an accident, etc. He was being very vocal about it, and I was irritated because I knew he was faking, and this was my one request for the whole trip. Chris took him, while I tried my best to clean Anya up. Her Mickey bar had melted really quickly and she was a disaster. A really nice cast member grabbed me extra napkins and I emptied my bottle of water on to them and managed to get her halfway presentable.
It was finally our turn and I got to meet my favorite character. She wasn't the fun, charismatic Merida I'd heard great reviews about. More like a "hello, snap a pic, next" type. I was disappointed, but then I heard her handler say Merida had to go help her mom with her baby brothers. We were only her second group of the set, so I am thinking Merida wasn't feeling well, understandable in the heat, or that they were closing up because the thunder was getting louder.

Totally Starstruck

I met back up with Chris and Cooper, and sure enough he had been faking. The second they got out of line he "didn't have to go."

I was trying not to be angry.

We had no castle pics, so we stopped by a couple of photo pass photographers on our way out.

One was not so nice, she actually rolled her eyes when I asked for a pic. The other was very polite.
The balloon sellers at the front were really funny and made a big deal out of Cooper's ghost makeup, telling me they were scared of pirates. Of course Cooper asked for a balloon and I told him no way, not after that stunt he pulled.
We made it to the car and Anya immediately crashed out, while Cooper whined about not having a balloon.

We made it to the car in the nick of time. The heavens opened up and a storm came in that did not stop until late that night. We made it back to the house and traded adventures of the day with our housemates. They had been at a local coldsprings and chocolate factory tour. We made dinner together, played board games, drank the chocolate wine she brought back, and had a general good time.

I did a load of laundry, and packed up. Our vacation was nearly over, we just had one more stop.

Next up... Disney Springs