The One with the Line Jumpers & the Perfectly Timed Fart -- August 2024 Trip Report

[MamaMouse0920]

Wednesday, August 14th: Day 3

This was our first day using the new Lightning Lane MultiPass (FP, FP+, Genie, LLs, LLMP, oy-vey!), me making the pre-selections a little over a week prior:


Safari @ 8:35
Everest @ 9:35
Kali River Rapids @ 10:50
Flight of Passage @ 11:50 (**this is a "fancy ride", so an additional $$**)

Animal Kingdom opened for Early Entry at 7:30, which for our rope dropping strategy would have put us at getting up around 5am.. oof! So, since we had the LLs for only 30 mins after the park opened to the public we decided to "sleep in", waking up at about 6:45am instead. Probably since we were all exhausted & verrryyyy slow-moving that morning, we were late to leave the room and wanted to stop to fill up our mugs on the way to the bus stop- only adding to our lateness. To make matters worse, one of the mugs was acting like it had never been activated, so we had to stop at the cash register in the gift shop to see if they could re-activate it. The CM at the register was training in another CM so was using this as a teaching opportunity, which felt very much like this:

Mugs finally filled, we made it to the bus stop....... just in time to see Animal Kingdom's bus driving away.

Finally, we made it to Animal Kingdom- taking this picture at 8:30am-



Even though the park had just opened to offsite guests, it must not have taken any time at all to scan in/go through security since I snapped these photos precisely 4 minutes later:





The kids had only been to AK once before, and were soon pointing out all the things they recognized/remembered from the year prior - they were excited to be back!!

We high-tailed it to our Safari LL, knowing that we would be able to make subsequent LL selections as soon as we scanned in so we (I) was really trying to hurry. Our plan was to Park Hop to Epcot for the afternoon/evening, so I quick changed parks for my Tip Board & noticed Remy's was sold out (a recurring theme, this trip) but there was a 4:50pm Frozen available, so I grabbed that while making the winding journey through Safari's queue. I always feel so guilty when I appear glued to my phone as my kids are trying to point things out to me excitedly. Thankfully Matt is always quick to jump in and grab their hands while I would focus on the LLs, but still - mom guilt.



By 8:43 it was our turn to get on the next truck!









We were in the second row and saw lots of animals! It was a great safari, as usual





^ This guy is a pretty accurate portrayal of how I look when I first wake up: ruffled & slightly grumpy.

 

[MamaMouse0920]

Funny little side note- as I am looking at the photo information on my phone (swiping up on the photo to see the image # to know which image I need to copy/paste on my computer into the TR), my iPhone tried to guess which type of animal was in the picture, and somehow guessed it was a moose



These subsequent images however it changes to "Asian Elephant" so I guess my phone got a little smarter





When we got to the rhinos, the kids excitedly were shouting "it's Dugan!!!", since we love to watch the Animal Kingdom show at home ("The Animals", as our family lovingly refers to it).





I tried to quietly remind them "oh, no, I'm pretty sure Dugan passed away actually.." but the kids were adamant - "no, that's Dugan! I know it is!"

..whatever you say, kids!

A quick Google search confirms Dugan did in fact pass away last July, so I'm not sure who the handsome fellow (gal?) is but it is most certainly not Dugan, sadly.

 

[MamaMouse0920]

We were off the safari by 9:15, and were all getting pretty hungry so stopped quick for a popcorn bucket refill and a potty break before making our way to our 9:35 Everest LL. As we passed the Tree of Life they were doing the birds show & we paused briefly to admire the dozens of parrots flying overhead.

For whatever reason, I was convinced that DS4 was tall enough for Everest. We had been talking about it all morning, getting him super excited to finally ride. I'm not sure how I was so convinced, cause just before we scanned our Magic Bands the CM stopped DS4 and sure enough he was too short by like 4 inches. WHAT. How on earth did I make that mistake?!?!!

Tears quickly filled DS4's lower lash line and Matt & I felt awful. We quickly changed gears, DS4 & Matt went to go find a Mickey Bar - first stopping at the CM with the iPad to set up a rider swap before DD5 and I finished scanning in.





We had a great ride! Since we had the LL we were off in no time, by the time we reunited with the boys Matt had barely opened DS4's Mickey bar- so we swapped kids and DD5 & Matt quickly got in line again. DD5 was thrilled to get to ride again immediately after, this time with dad.



DS4 and I enjoyed the shady stroller parking section across from Everest where he thoroughly enjoyed his (melting insanely fast) ice cream treat.









Before long, Matt & DD5 were with us again.



DD5 of course feeling sad that SHE didn't get a Mickey Bar (sigh) so Matt scurried back to get her one too.

 

[MamaMouse0920]

There's just something so cute about a kid thoroughly enjoying a Mickey Bar. It just needs to be captured! So, mini photo shoot # 2 was underway:









After we had all scanned in to Everest, I was able to make our next LL. There wasn't anything worthwhile available at Epcot, so I made our next one with an immediate return time for Dinosaur. It was 9:45am by this point, and the LL was for 9:50. Perfect! We weren't in a huge hurry since both Epcot & DAK had almost no LLs left available, so we took our time enjoying the ice cream (as much as the 100 degree sun beating down on us would allow, of course). 5,000 baby wipes later, we were on our way to DinoLand USA.

DS4 had no problem meeting the height requirements on this one, thankfully! It was around 10:15am by this point.



If you recall from last years trip, DD5 was so scared of the ride she had her hand clamped over her eyes for 98% of the attraction but said that this year "since she's 5 now" she would not be scared..... I think an attempt at being brave for her little brother

This go around, her eyes were in fact open (so an improvement!) but I still think perhaps a touch scared- check out the ride pic:



It was about 10:30 by the time we got off, the kids checking out this dino while Matt went to grab the stroller from the stroller parking area:



I don't remember why and truth be told I didn't take great notes this trip, but for whatever reason our initial LL for Kali River Rapids was at 10:50 but I must have modified it to 12-1pm, so we had over an hour to kill til our 11:50 LLSP for Flight of Passage. We decided to let the kids go wild in the Dig Site + playground area. It was ten billion degrees and Matt & I both commented that we were ready for an adult beverage to cool us down but we were having this conversation right at the entrance to the play area and the CM confirmed we wouldn't be able to bring food/drinks in. Boo! Understandable I suppose, but still a bummer. And so we sat there, keeping an eye on the kids in this massive play area as Matt & I rested on a nearby bench.



Eventually they made their way from the playground to the dig site area, which was super cool and the kids were LOVING it! Unfortunately the rocks they were digging in were dirty/sandy so that was a bit gross- plus the kids were all sweaty so the rocks stuck to their entire body. Not ideal, but the kids were having a blast so we just let them be kids while Matt & I figured out our lunch plans. I was in the mood for something healthy-ish, so we mobile ordered from Harambe Market- me getting the chicken rice bowl (Chermoula-marinated Chicken on Jollof Rice with Kachumbari Tomato Salad and Tzatziki Sauce), Matt getting the same but with chicken & shrimp, and the kids sharing a kids meal version of the chicken bowl. It was a bit of a gamble with DS4 (who is a tad picky) but he loves plain white rice (with soy sauce, granted) & grilled chicken at home, so it was worth a shot. We scheduled the pick up for 11:30, and by 11:15 were giving the kids the "2 minute warning" that we would be cleaning up & heading out soon. Mama was hungry!

We made our way to Africa, stopping first to thoroughly wash our hands after that playground. Matt & DS4 were still washing their hands in a not-so-nearby bathroom while DD5 and I attempted to push the double stroller, find a seat, pick up the food + drinks, then push the stroller while carrying the food to the table we had been able to grab. Thankfully there was a bit of an issue with mine & Matt's beers (I think they were out of the IPA we had ordered) so I wasn't attempting to navigate all of that PLUS two filled cups of beer- by the time they were ready, Matt had found us so he was able to watch the kids + stroller + food at the table while I ran back to the window to grab the beers (some different IPA, I can't remember what they were called... it was almost noon, it was HOT, so we weren't feeling picky!)



Now I was admittedly STARVING by this point, but holy smokes did I devour this lunch. It really hit the spot!!! I don't think I've heard (either on the DIS nor in the giant Facebook groups nor the many Vloggers I follow) anyone ranting or raving about Harambe Market's food options so maybe it was just me but man if you haven't tried it, I would seriously recommend it. YUM! The kids ate theirs well enough, but there was no sauce or anything so the rice was a bit dry to choke down and DS4 was whining for soy sauce. I didn't even bother asking the CM if this African style QS restaurant had soy sauce, so unfortunately he didn't enjoy his lunch as much as I enjoyed mine. He did enjoy his milk though! I think this trip may have been the kids first experience with drinking milk from a milk carton, so they were entertained by this novel method of drinking milk.

 

[MamaMouse0920]

After lunch we made our way to Pandora to set up our rider swap for our ILL Flight of Passage, DD5 and I scanning in at 12pm precisely. This was her first time on this ride and she was excited! Unfortunately even with the ILL it was about 45 minutes til we got off and were reunited with Matt, and he was slightly irritated since DS4 was acting up that entire 45 minutes. Because of his irritation & the fear it would be ANOTHER 45 minutes of waiting, he decided not to scan in for his rider swap/ILL. I stopped to check in with the CM at the entrance to see if we would be able to get a refund for the unused ILL, but they said we would need to stop at a blue umbrella to get it worked out- so we made a mental note to stop at the next one we saw. We were all hot & overheated, so Matt got in line to grab the kids a Night Blossom, surprising me when he returned with a Rum Blossom as well (I'd been wanting to try the boozy version of this yummy drink since our last trip to DAK!). It was very refreshing and couldn't taste the alcohol at all - a perk!





The kids shared their drink and the adults shared theirs as we all walked back to Asia, finally redeeming our LL for Kali River Rapids (the window was 12-1pm, and it was about 12:50 by this point). Perfectly timed since we were all boiling hot! Unfortunately the LL line was LONG and in the direct sun, we made it just to the touch point where you scan the Magic Band when the ride broke down. Go figure! We politely asked the CM if we would be okay since our window was set to expire in 2 minutes, who confirmed we would be fine, whew! We chatted briefly with the CM who said that it had been going down super briefly literally all day- so she was confident it would be up and running in no time. Sure enough about 10 minutes later, she let us scan in and we were on our way! The ride went down again briefly just as we had buckled into our raft, the CM there commenting to no one in particular "I guarantee it's the guy with the selfie stick". Matt and I had about an hour before been discussing how we had already seen like 5 selfie sticks this trip and had wondered if Disney had changed their ban on them. We told the CM about this and she said "no they haven't, but peoples bags only get checked if they go off in the metal detectors so a lot of them still make their way inside the parks". She said that she had scolded the guy with the selfie stick and he promised it would stay in his bag but she had a strong suspicion that he was the reason the ride was shut down. She said something along the lines of "don't people realize that every single ride is FILLED with sensors, and just because you can't see CMs doesn't mean they aren't watching you". I had never thought about that before! Before long, she had been given the green-light and our raft was on its way down the river.

We got "moderately" wet - just the right amount of wet, I would say, and we were off the ride by 1:30pm. We had long planned that this would be our last ride of the first park of the day, so after Kali we made our way to the park exit to catch a bus back to AoA for our afternoon rest. As we exited, I had Matt briefly pose for the "famous" AK picture, but I couldn't get it just right and we were melting in the 2pm sun so we gave up after only a few attempts.



While on the bus, Matt & I made a last minute decision to buy another ILL for that afternoon for Guardians - the kids first time riding it! We rested at the hotel from about 2:20-3:50, and by 4pm we were back on the Skyliner - this time heading to Epcot!







By 4:30 we were inside Epcot, and it wasn't very long til we got our first character sighting! The kids quickly joined the short line to chat with Belle!








Belle loved their outfits and commented that Winnie the Pooh is Chip's favorite book to read at bedtime. We left France & headed into Morocco where we saw another character (we think)- based on the song playing on the stage we *believe* it was the live-action version of Jasmine! She wasn't doing meet & greets and was singing along/dancing to the song Speechless from the live-action version of Aladdin, so we just clapped and sang along as we walked by.

We were on our way to Norway to redeem our 4:50 Frozen LL but stopped briefly in America for a pretzel & a beer.

 

[MamaMouse0920]

We scanned in to Frozen at 4:55 and were on the ride by 5:03, I love it when LLs work out that way! We also got lucky with getting the first row, something DD5 LOVES.

...except for maybe this time, because DD5 and ONLY DD5 got absolutely drenched on this ride! I guess sometimes with rides like this and Pirates if the weight on the boat is distributed juuuust right this is what happens. Ha! The picture doesn't do it justice because the bulk of the water was on the darker tulle portion of her dress, but trust me when I say she was soaked!





We of course had to say hello to our favorite troll!



After leaving Norway we stopped briefly in Mexico for another shared snack, me wanting to finally try the much adored empanadas con queso.. which in my opinion were not that great.



I had one, Matt had one, DD5 had half of one and we tossed the rest. Just boring and something slightly "off" about it, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Oh well! A bit of a waste of an adult meal credit (the beer was also "meh", some sort of Mexican light beer) but at least now I can say I've tried it and know I won't bother with this meal again. I guess the perk of this free dining plan - it doesn't feel like such a waste of $$ when it technically was free!

We took a quick bathroom break outside the Land pavilion before scanning in for our Living with the Land LL..... which was comical since the standby line was empty and we literally had the entire boat to ourselves - ha!!

One fun thing that happened on our ride: we could see Mickey up in the Garden Grill. We tried to discreetly wave (didn't want to disturb the people who were eating there!) and DS4 SWEARS that Mickey waved back.... but I doubt it

After Land we rode Soarin'- I can't remember (and again didn't take very good notes) if we had a LL or if we rode Standby (I'm sure we had a LL from at some point earlier in the day, I can't imagine the standby wait time would be less than 20 mins and that's the only way we would ride standby), but either way it was DS4's first time on this ride and he LOVED it!!!



We were seated with another family who got a huge kick out of DS4's exclamations throughout the ride (which I'm thankful for, since they were over-the-top and could have been annoying to some grumpier folks). They loved how every time the screen would transition from one part of the world to the next with a "jump scare" transition (i.e. the elephant throwing dirt, the kite, the eagle, etc.) DS4 would yelp and quickly yank his knees to his chest to avoid getting "hit"- ha!! It was very cute.

It was about 6:30 by the time we got off, and we still had another 35 mins to kill before our GotG ILL so we decided to check out Moana's Journey of Water. The kids had explored the area the night before with Miss Kate so they were our guides throughout the interactive trail.





So beautiful!

 

[MamaMouse0920]

Oh one thing I forgot to mention - at some point in Epcot I stopped at a blue umbrella who was able to refund me for Matt's ILL on Flight of Passage. Whew! We figured that at least helped contribute some of the last-minute GotG ILL purchase.

Anyway, unfortunately the Journey of Water didn't eat up that much time, so we stopped for another popcorn break until it was time to scan in to GotG. Finally it was time!! We were a bit apprehensive about the chaos of the teleportation room, and to be safe I just carried DS4 and Matt held DD5. Thankfully it wasn't too terrible of an experience, and we were really trying to get the kids to focus more on what was actually happening in the pre-show vs the crazy people running to get to the right side of the room etc. They were enthralled with the Guardians characters and the "bad guy", and DS4 at least was thoroughly convinced we had just teleported to a space ship. Ahh to be 4, and think that we really are about to fight bad guys and help save the world!!

They were so excited!!









Poor DS4 does not look like he's having fun but I promise you he was! They both LOVED this ride!! We got Disco Inferno and everyone had a blast.

We stopped to commemorate their first ride with some PhotoPass pictures!









After leaving the area it started to get dark (it was about 8pm by this point) and we grabbed some maple popcorn & a seat in Canada in the Mill Stage area (it looked like they were setting up for a concert/show, but unfortunately they were actually just cleaning up AFTER a show so we missed it). I mobile ordered some fish & chips from the UK and hung back with the kids while Matt went and picked up our late dinner (really we just snacked our way through the day, not having set "meals"- ha!). The kids loved the maple popcorn (who doesn't?) and I was surprised by which of my kids enjoyed the fish & chips... at home, DS4 loves salmon (pretty much the only fish we eat on a semi-regular basis at home) and it's not really DD5's favorite. Here at Disney World though, DD5 devoured the yummy battered fish & DS4 turned his nose up to it. It does look a lot different than the salmon he is used to, and we tried to only give him the "meat" of the fish but he still was not interested.

SIDE NOTE -- a couple weeks ago I was attempting to do our weekly meal planning/grocery prepping and I asked DD5 to give me some dinner ideas for the week and she requested fish & chips, "like the ones in Epcot!" So when we went to Sam's Club later that day I grabbed some frozen beer-battered filets (not holding my breath that they would be any good) but surprisingly with a few spritzes of olive oil & popping them in our air fryer they were actually SUPER tasty, and both kids loved them! So now I guess we've converted DS4 to the good side of beer battered, deep fried fish. Double side note, we're having it again for dinner tonight! Yum!

Anyway, as we sat and enjoyed our shared fish & chips + maple popcorn (what a combo!), we watched the crowds worsen as they prepared for fireworks. The adults at least were feeling tired and knew we weren't going to attempt the fireworks again after last nights fiasco, so after wrapping up our last snack/meal we made our way to the Skyliner around 8:30 and were showered & in bed by 9:45pm.

TOTAL STEPS: 26,007 (9.5 miles)

Up Next: Thursday, August 15th: Day 4

 

[MamaMouse0920]

Thursday, August 15th: Day 4

The plan for today was DHS in the morning, and a "rest" afternoon/evening back at the resort. We had pre-purchased MultiPass, with our scheduled rides looking like this:

Tower of Terror @ 11:50am
Toy Story Mania @ 1:05pm
Slinky Dog Dash @ 3:20pm

Not ideal, but it was quite literally all I could get 7 days prior to our first day. Not loving the new system so far!

In terms of outfits, it was our first Star Wars day!! Prior to the last 6 months or so, none of the 4 of us had ever seen Star Wars (gasp- I know!) but after our last Disney trip the kids were enamored with Galaxies Edge & all of the Star Wars rides/characters so we figured what the heck - lets give the franchise a go. We. Were. Obsessed. All of us! Even the kids, which I didn't think the SUPER old movies would have that big of a hold on them but surprisingly DS4 especially loved the original 3 movies!! So we quickly became one of "those" Star Wars loving families and officially consider ourselves Star Wars nerds as we immediately watched all of the movies (have not yet started on any of the shows/spin offs with the exception of Han, which we loved!) in quick succession. So I was excited for our outfits today! I had fun doing DD5's hair, even though it is super easy/nothing fancy- she still loved looking like Rey!



Having heard horror stories of the line for the Skyliner station at Pop/AoA I knew that this morning there was no time to mess around - we needed to be at the Skyliner station LONG before the masses all got there. So with DHS opening for early entry at 8:30, I wanted to be at the Skyliner before 7 (generally my rule of thumb is 1.5 hours before the park opens for EE, but that hadn't played out too well for me on our first MK day). So my alarm was set for 6am & after getting everyone ready, the stroller prepped, and preparing a light breakfast 'to go', we were out the door & on our way. As we approached the station (6:45am), we realized there was only one family standing awkwardly in the middle of the bridge - directly across from the (closed) gate to the Skyliner. I looked at them and thought to myself "do you guys not see this line over here...?" We did find it odd that they would force all guests to join one mega-line on POP's side instead of having two separate lines for the two different resorts, but also thought there's no way the family standing directly in the middle of the bridge was in the right place, there were no partitions or anything to indicate that that was where the line would be... However we didn't ponder it long since the line on POP's side was about 30 people deep already, so we just quickly found our place in line. I set the kids up with their mini breakfasts (yogurt pouches and a banana) and they started eating. We were all suuuuper sleepy and Matt and I were in desperate need of coffee but didn't dare give up our place in line or have one of us leave the area - what if they decided to let people on early?! Navigating the Skyliner with two kids, a double stroller, 4 water bottles, a popcorn bucket, and 2 bags is hard enough with two people- ain't no way we were about to risk having all that be on one parent's shoulders. So we stayed put, decaffeinated and feeling (+ looking) like sleepy zombies.





The kids were getting antsy in the pantsy so after they finished eating we let them out of the stroller to explore the area a bit.





It was around this time (6:58 on the photo above) that we noticed another family, then another pull up behind the family on the bridge. SAY WHAT. Obviously they knew something we didn't! Shortly after, a CM appeared out of no where and set up a partition on the bridge. Sigh. So I scurried over to him & confirmed "there's no difference between that line and this one, is there?" to which he replied "no, not really. This line is technically for the Art of Animation side and that one is for Pop Century.

As I walked back down the long line of people on Pop's side, I looked at Matt like this:

And tried discreetly telling him what was happening and quietly getting the kids back in the stroller (which they objected to, unsurprisingly, having literally just gotten out) so we could quickly scamper over to the AoA side before the people around us all got the same idea.

Finding ourselves in the CORRECT line (and only the 3rd or 4th family in line, much better than 30th where we were on the Pop side!) we let the kids out once again while Matt and I slapped our foreheads and felt like total dummies. But oh well, now we know! We wouldn't be making THAT mistake again on subsequent Skyliner mornings, that's for sure!



Time stamp above is 7:03, and I believe they let us on to the Skyliner around 7:15. It was a bit of a free-for-all, and a little unsettling that there wasn't a CM directing the flow of traffic while the two lines attempted to merge into one. Since the Pop side was technically closest to the gate itself, and the AoA side had to cross over the width of the bridge to get to the gate, there was a huge clog and the Pop folks were just pouring in while the AoA side had to wait for a gap to get let in (surprising to literally NO ONE - no one seemed to want to let any other guests in). Eventually we just sort of forced our way and didn't care who we upset, hoping that behind us the two lines would manage to figure out how to do the zipper method and merge together.

One Skyliner transfer at CBR (where we were originally supposed to be staying, incidentally! Matt grumbled each time we arrived at that station how much easier it would be- as he's toting the collapsed 40lb giant stroller across the station- if we had stayed there instead. Oh well- for 3 extra hotel nights and a bunch more park days for CHEAPER - he (we) can deal!) later, we were arriving at Hollywood Studios. One of my favorite parks!

We made it to Disney's Hollywood Studios a little after 7:40, Matt & I being sure to step to the side and get the stroller all set up with the 3 stroller fans, the kids' bubble wands, their water bottles clipped on, etc. prior to going through security. Again it feels like a bad idea when you're watching the hoards of people power-walk past you, but as I've said it's certainly better than the 20 minutes you can spend in the bag-check line!



We used the time waiting near the tapstiles to apply sunscreen and finish organizing the stroller when we heard the crowd cheering. They were letting us in early - yay! Time stamp below is 8:04.



We were rope dropping Rise of the Resistance, but were not taking the race to Galaxies Edge as seriously as others and didn't care if we were 100th in line. We weren't going at a snail's pace obviously but also were not among the idiots running down Hollywood Boulevard.



We made it to Rise where we were greeted by CM offering to park our stroller for us (such a nice change of pace from 7DMT!) and time stamp on the photo below, as we just entered the queue was 8:09--



Eek!! It was the kids first ride on RoR & all of our first times since actually watching the movies and becoming more immersed in the franchise!!

 

[MamaMouse0920]

We loved the queue - all the fun props & theming was definitely interesting to look at as we wove our way through.







I got some really cute videos during the pre-show, where the kids were so excited to see Rey & BB8- especially DD5 with Rey! Both kids were really into the whole concept - it was adorable!





The First Order CM gave one poor sap in front of us a really hard time which had the rest of us cracking up, thankful it wasn't us!!! Eventually it was our turn to ride- eek!



We were off Rise by 8:45 (so technically only 15 minutes into Early Entry, not bad!), thinking we'd head over and see how long of a wait Millenium Falcon Smugglers Run had, when we ran into none other than Rey herself!! She was chatting with a guest and there was a bit of a line forming which Rey's CM shouted to the group "THERE IS NO LINE- Rey could leave at any time" which caused some of the crowd to disperse but we stayed put, hoping that DD5 could get a chance to talk to her hero. I was sure to tell her that it may not work out, Rey might have to go on a mission and leave pretty soon but before we knew it, Rey had spotted her in the crowd and basically ran to her- commenting immediately on how spectacular she looked and commenting on all of the rest of our outfits as well. I looked away for a second (maybe to answer a question DS4 had asked or something?) and when I turned around Rey had taken DD5 by the hand and was zooming away with her in the park. Slow down, Rey!!!!

She had found a little hidden corner/bench area and sat her down to have a quieter chat. I'm not exaggerating when I say that Rey sat with DD5 for at least 5 minutes (I know it was at least 5 because Matt took a 5 minute video of the interaction, ha!), even sitting with her and showing her some tricks to using the Force. It was so, so special!



Poor DS4 however was chomping at the bit - I felt bad because on one hand I wanted to give DD5 her special time, but poor DS4 wanted in SO bad and it didn't seem fair to force him to stay with us while his sister had all the fun. So we eventually (5 minutes later, at least- ha!) let him join Rey & DD5 and we snapped some photos:









We really felt special for that 10 minutes or so, and I of course found myself wiping away those pesky tears as I watched this wonderful CM show DD5 some special attention. What a wonderful memory and great way to start the day!!

 

[MamaMouse0920]

At some point that morning, I placed not one but TWO breakfast mobile orders. I had been dying to try the breakfast version of the Ronto Wrap (was not in love with the regular version, unfortunately) but knew it wasn't going to feed all of us and wanted several options so placed a secondary order for Woody's Lunchbox. Our next LL wasn't until 11:50, so we really were just going with the flow based on what we could stumble upon with low wait times, but were all getting hungry so since nothing was jumping out at us (in terms of rides), we let our tummies guide us and we went to pick up our Mobile Order at Ronto Roasters.

As I approached the QS restaurant and clicked "I'm here, prepare my order" the app glitched and closed out. Odd, I thought, but when I reopened the app it prompted me to click "I'm here, prepare my order" again. Precisely .000003 seconds after I clicked it though, I realized the second prompt was for Woody's Lunchbox. Doh! Oh well, nothing I could do about it now- that's a problem for 30ish mins later

I had a bit of a wait for the food to be prepared so I had Matt & the kids try to find a table. I later found this out, but as Matt + kids approached the seating area, there was a man and a woman (together) that were sitting at two separate but close together tables. Matt says he politely asked if they wouldn't mind sitting together so him & his family could have a seat, and apparently the woman gave him this huge dramatic eye roll, grumbling as she got up to sit with her husband. When he was telling me the story later I said "well maybe they were hoping to hold the table for more people?" and he said "yeah maybe, but the whole time we were seated there no one else joined them". So we settled on the conclusion that they must have been in a fight and didn't want to be near each other & chalked it up to yet another strange encounter with rude guests.



Remembering that I didn't care for the peppercorn sauce last time, I opted to nix it and overall was VERY pleased with this breakfast version! The whole family enjoyed (with the exception of DS4 who doesn't like eggs or cheese, so we gave him those first few bites that only had pita + sausage, and he was happy with that) and I would absolutely get it again!

Looking at MDE it appeared MFSR only had a 20 minute wait so we headed that way next.



We liked this ride before, but now that we've seen (& loved) the movies, it made it that much more enjoyable!! Punch it, Chewie!







It was 9:30 by the time we got off the ride and took these pictures with the Falcon herself:





We decided to leave Galaxies Edge and see if we could get on Alien Swirling Saucers since that one seems to have a relatively low wait time for the most part, but before leaving the area stopped for some PhotoPass pictures to capture our Star Wars outfits!

 

[MamaMouse0920]

These photos were in that little "limbo" space between Galaxies Edge & Andy's Backyard, so soon enough we were shrunk down to toy size!

The saucers had a 10 minute posted standby so we got in line, it being around 9:45am by this point, the kids wanting a picture with Buzz first:











We were off the ride by 9:58 (so the wait time was accurate, or even slightly inflated) and made our way to Woody's Lunchbox for our second breakfast of the day. As I approached, I realized I wasn't sure which line to join. Yes I have a mobile order, but they thought I would be picking it up some 30 mins ago.. so I decided to join the regular line and explain to the CM what my situation was and let him tell me where to go. I was very apologetic but the CM was unfazed - he literally did not care in the slightest, ha! and sent me on my way to the Mobile Order line. I waited by the window, trying to shrink myself to fit in the nearby shade (for only 10am it sure was blazing down!) when the CM called my name. He apologized profusely for the mix up (?? huh?? sir I am the one who messed up, not you!) and threw in a free Lunchbox Tart to make up for it. Whaaa??? I thanked him repeatedly and went to re-join my family. Unfortunately there wasn't any seating (& Matt desperately wanted a coffee) so we took our breakfast "to go" and walked and ate. I can't for the life of me remember what we ordered & I didn't take any pictures but I'm guessing it was a kids breakfast meal with the delicious breakfast totchos, a side of extra tots, and chocolate milk for the kids to share. Best guess, because if I had to place a breakfast order right now at Woody's Lunchbox for my family- that's what I'd order. Ha!

Matt joined the lengthy line for Joffrey's while the kids and I finished up our shared breakfast in the wonderfully cool & shady Pixar Plaza. There were a slew of characters doing meet & greets in the area, but we didn't stay in the area long - just long enough to get a picture with Frozone & then we were on our way!

 

[Stacybaeasm]

So...one of my former students and now good friend is "friends" with Rey. And I thought for a hot second in the first photo that it was her. But alas, not so. I'm glad that Rey is consistently good with kids though. And that pink dress!!! I want one in a grown up version.

 

[ambula603]

We really felt special for that 10 minutes or so, and I of course found myself wiping away those pesky tears as I watched this wonderful CM show DD5 some special attention. What a wonderful memory and great way to start the day!!

This made me teary just reading it! What a wonderful interaction. The magic is in the CMs, for sure!

Your Hollywood Studios day sounds like so much fun. I LOVE the photo pass pictures at Galaxy's Edge. What a cool background! We never do the photo pass (my girls are teens and not into forced photos with the fam these days) but yours are all beautiful and make me regret not pushing the issue years ago! You will never regret all the photos with YOU in them!

 

[MamaMouse0920]

So...one of my former students and now good friend is "friends" with Rey. And I thought for a hot second in the first photo that it was her. But alas, not so. I'm glad that Rey is consistently good with kids though. And that pink dress!!! I want one in a grown up version.

Oh man! I would have loved if my appreciation had gotten back to that CM! I wish there was a way (without ruining the magic, obviously) to know character CMs names so you can enter Cast Compliments. I did enter one for this interaction but who knows if it actually got to her since I just put "Rey - Character".

And right?! They are cheap cheap cheap on Amazon so she has 3 actually! Blue (which she wore for Dory), pink (Piglet & Daisy) and then white which we didn't wear this trip but is obviously super versatile!

 

[Araminta18]

What an awesome morning! That's fantastic - I'm so glad you had such a magical moment with Rey. What a great experience!

 

[LoveToDisney]

I have enjoyed your TR. Thank you for sharing with us. The interaction between Rey and your daughter was endearing and so wonderful to hear about.

 

[Skywatcher1206]

I am loving your trip report!

 

[Nicnicnic.nic]

Very much enjoying the read and love all the pictures

 

[cheryllarsen]

Sounds just like a trip with my family!

 

[cheryllarsen]

I really enjoyed reading this trip report.