"We forgot to go to Magic Kingdom!" (Not really) – A September 2019 Trip Report - F&W, MNSSHP - COMPLETE 4/17

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

I am tired just reading about this day!

 

[jrmint427]

I am tired just reading about this day!

I felt tired re-reading / re-living it! I was feeling that leg pain again!

 

[jrmint427]

Day 4: Monday, September 23 – Magic Kingdom

We were so thankful to not have to be up early this morning. I planned for us to have a leisurely morning. Our first FP at Magic Kingdom was not until 12:40pm. My parents kept the girls overnight, but I still woke up around 8:00am. According to my FitBit, I got 7 hours and 20 minutes of sleep – not bad!

We were moving offsite this day, to a family member’s vacation condo. We are incredibly lucky that they let us stay at their place for free when they are not using it (and when it’s not been rented out to someone else). We were having dinner back at the resort this evening, so the plan was to go to the park, come back for dinner, then pick up our bags and drive offsite. We knew we needed to have our bags packed and down to Bell Services by 11am at the latest. I was sad to be leaving such a wonderful resort, but it’s also hard to beat a free place to stay.

I don’t have notes from this morning. I know I showered and started to pack up, and then my mom called shortly after to let me know the girls had been up for awhile and were asking for breakfast. By a little after 10am, the girls had been bathed, were dressed, and were eating pop-tarts on our balcony.



Bell Services was really slow when we stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge last year, so I was getting nervous as it got to be 10:30am and we hadn’t finished packing yet. With all the outfit changes and girls’ toys, our stuff was all over the place. But we finished and called downstairs at 10:40am, and they were at our room in about 5 minutes to pick up our bags. My parents had already dropped off their things, so we were able to head straight to the boat dock from our rooms. I realized later that I forgot to tell the resort that we were checking out, but they must have figured it out! Hopefully the fact that we had called Bell Services to get our things was a signal that we were out of the room.

We made it to the boat dock at 10:58am, just in time to watch our boat floating away. Despite being told that the boats ran every 20 minutes, another one came just 5 minutes later. I had started applying sun block to everyone because I thought we would have time but had to pause and continue on the boat. This boat was larger than the one the day before, so we were able to leave the double stroller open and just roll the girls right on. It doesn’t get more convenient than traveling from resort to park by a boat like this!



We made it to the park by 11:25am. I had originally planned for us to get lunch at Casey’s when we arrived, thinking it would be later, but none of us were hungry yet. We decided to go find some rides. What do you think the girls picked to be our first ride of the day?

 

[jrmint427]

It’s a Small World, PhilharMagic, Peter Pan

The girls wanted to ride It's a Small World, so we headed in that direction. It was already very hot out! The standby line had a 20-minute wait posted, and Touring Plans said 16 minutes. We could already tell the crowds were a little higher this day. We ended up waiting 17 minutes, so once again, Touring Plans was more accurate (but both were very close).

DD4 kept telling me what she wanted me to take pictures of, and she took some too.



DD2 eventually climbed onto my lap and we took some selfies. I will never take a selfie by myself, but the girls love them, and I like having pictures of me with them.




My name showed up in the farewell room again, and I think DD4 announced this was unfair – they always seemed to pick up my band!

We immediately wanted more A/C so we went to PhilharMagic next. We entered at 12:18pm and waited about 5 minutes to go into the theater. I think this is a really cute show, but DD4 did not like it – she hates anything that splashes us with any amount of water and did not like things being thrown “at” us. DD2 didn’t seem to like it either, but I think she was just following DD4’s lead.

We took a bathroom break after the show. We were all starting to get hungry but decided to use our Peter Pan FP before heading to the front of the park. We scanned in at 12:47pm and did not wait long at all. I’ve still never been on Peter Pan without a FP. This is my dad’s favorite ride, and DD2 was cuddled into him.



DD4 did not want to ride this at all, but she warmed up quickly, especially when she spotted the mermaid who looks like Ariel. By the end of our trip, she declared Peter Pan one of her favorite rides!

We stood in some shade near the ride exit to place our Casey’s order on the mobile app. This turned out to be a good decision! That place is always mobbed. We headed toward the castle to make our way back to Main Street.

 

[jrmint427]

Casey’s Corner

Since we had ordered on the mobile app, I went inside to wait on our food while my parents searched for a table. It took a little longer this time, but my mom was really good at jumping on tables as other people were leaving. We waited about 5-10 minutes for our food and were seated outdoors with our food by 1:20pm.



I really love Casey’s for the vegan slaw dog. I had been dreaming about this since our last trip.



I was able to get a plain vegan dog for the girls to split, but they didn’t love it. They did love the fries, though. The other adults liked their hot dogs, but I think for them, they were just hot dogs. I’m not sure they understood my obsession with this quick service. Or why we were spending $82 for hot dogs, fries and sodas. I can’t explain it either, but this is what Disney does to you - $82 for family hot dogs so I can get the vegan slaw dog? Sure, why not.



The girls liked the ducks circling around us. I’m sure these are well-fed, happy ducks!



After lunch, we headed to our next Fast Pass. What do you think it was? I’ll give you a hint (in case you didn’t pick up on the dresses yet) – we were off to meet some of our favorite princesses.

 

[jrmint427]

Castle Pictures

This post will be quick, but we stopped for some castle pictures on our way back to Fantasyland. We got some really cute pictures of the girls in their Tiana dresses.

 

[jrmint427]

Tiana and Rapunzel

Our FP to meet Tiana and Rapunzel was for 2:00pm. We arrived almost 10 minutes early and chatted with the CM at the entrance until 1:55pm, when I knew our magic bands would work. We waited 5-10 minutes to see the princesses, but did not mind at all since we were inside in the A/C. Did I mention how hot it was this day??

We met Tiana first this time. When she saw DD4, she said, “My twin!” then she saw DD2 and corrected, “Two of my twins!” She asked if Mama Odie made the dresses for them, which Tiana also asked our girls last year She also asked if they had to kiss frogs to get that dress. When they didn’t reply, she looked at us and said, “They did, because they are awfully quiet!” The girls were shy, but we got some cute pictures.











Rapunzel was up next. DD4 was concerned we didn’t have a Rapunzel dress for her to change into. I had to remind her that she helped pick the Tiana dress for today since we couldn’t wear both (though I won’t lie, I was very tempted to do a mid-line change here, but decided that would be too extra, even for me). They still had fun with Rapunzel, and she twirled them in circles to show off their dresses.

 

[jrmint427]

Hall of Presidents, Silhouettes, Jungle Cruise

We went to Hall of Presidents next and made it there around 2:15pm. We saw people lining up for the parade outside and were tempted to do the same. But it was so hot and we saw the parade the day before, so we headed inside the Hall of Presidents to cool down.

DD4 surprised us when she saw this painting and shouted, “George Washington!”



She told us she learned about Washington at school. Since we had a bit of a wait until the next show, I took the girls outside briefly to watch some of the parade going by, and they really enjoyed that. We danced until we were super sweaty again, and then headed back inside.

I like the Hall of Presidents show, they do a good job of sharing about the history of the presidency. DD4 was really engaged with it both last year and this year and asks questions during the show.

As we exited, I saw a souvenir stand and remembered that I wanted to have silhouettes made of the girls this day. There was one family being helped ahead of us, so I got in line. We waited about 12 minutes, as the woman who did the silhouette for the girl ahead of us just walked off after she was done without saying anything, and we had to wait for another CM to eventually come over to get started.

The girls agreed DD2 would go first. She did a pretty good job of not moving too much, and the CM did his cutting quickly.





DD4 was up next, and also took this very seriously. There were two boys from another country (I think they said Chile) who were watching this process closely. They weren’t speaking English, but I could tell they were begging their parents for money to do the silhouette, and the father was saying no at first, but eventually gave in. It was very cute how excited they were about the girls’ silhouettes, and then to do their own.



The silhouettes are $20 for 2 copies of the silhouette plus a frame, which seems like a great deal for the amount of talent required.




I really love how these came out! And was a little bit surprised that I could tell who was who from the silhouettes. The girls look different in some ways but have pretty similar profiles. DD4 is on the left and DD2 is on the right.



We hung these in the small hallway outside the girls’ room at home and I love seeing them every day. It’s a cute memento from this time in the girls’ lives and I love the fact that it says WDW at the bottom.

We headed to our 3rd FP after this, for Jungle Cruise. Our window opened at 3:05pm and we arrived around 3:30pm. While in line, I picked up a 4th FP for Pirates at 3:40pm.

I love Jungle Cruise, but often feel like I’m the only passenger laughing at the jokes! We had a good skipper, she was quick and didn’t stop her jokes the entire time, even when we got slowed down at the end.



When we went by the guys with spears, she told us to duck and get down low. She made fun of me because I kept my video camera going – “Or just keep taking pictures, that’s cool…. Okay.” I was cracking up!



And, of course, we saw the beautiful backside of water.



Pirates of the Caribbean was up next!

 

[cheryllarsen]

That's great! We tend to spend time at the resorts rather than the parks but of course we love both!

 

[cheryllarsen]

Thanks for posting! I enjoyed the great read!

 

[jrmint427]

Pirates, Pirates, and More Pirates

We were in the FP line for Pirates of the Caribbean at 4:15pm. I really debated taking the girls on this one because I thought the cannon room would scare DD4 – especially with the splashing water – but my parents thought she would be fine. For a backstory, my parents made me ride Pirates when I was 10 years old, and at the time, I was terrified of drops of any kind. They didn’t tell me there was a small drop until we were on the ride. They claim they didn’t know… but I held it against them for years. I still joke, “Remember that time you made me ride Pirates and I hated it?” So they think it’s only fair that my daughter carries on the tradition.

While we were in line, I picked up a 5th FP for Magic Carpets at 4:40pm.

I warned my family where to NOT look for the picture, as my dad also is light sensitive like I am.



As I predicted, DD4 did not like the cannon room. She didn’t mind the drop but doesn’t like splashing water. We did a pretty good job of protecting the girls and I think they did fine. She seemed to enjoy the ride after that initial room but was concerned when she smelled smoke in the fire room.

This was the first of the three “pirates” I reference in the title of this chapter…

After the ride, we decided it was time to cool down with some snacks. We found an empty table at Tortuga Tavern (there were actually a lot of empty tables), and then split up to find the snacks that each person wanted.

My MIL wanted a Mickey Bar to share with the girls, and Pat wanted another strawberry lemonade Frozen bar, which DD4 was happy to share with him too. I had my eye on some treats at Sunshine Tree Terrace, so that is where I headed. It was a bit farther away than I thought it would be, but so worth it. The line was really long, but I was committed at this point.



I had plenty of time to decide what I wanted. I texted Pat the menu and he approved of my selections. First, I got Redd’s Revenge Float (Dole Whip strawberry soft serve, Fanta strawberry, and a chocolate Pirate hat). It was so hot that I knew I needed to take a picture from the window because there was no way this was going to last by the time I got back to our table. This is Pirate #2 for those counting.



I also ordered the FOMOsa (Sparkling apple cider served with Dole Whip orange soft serve). This one was made incorrectly the first time. It had way too much apple cider and not enough Dole Whip. I wouldn’t have known the difference, but another CM quickly picked it up before it was delivered to me, dumped it out, and taught the first CM how to measure the portions.



I walked as quickly as I could back to our table, but had to eat both of these as I walked to prevent them from melting too badly all over my hands. I couldn’t decide which one I liked better, but maybe the FOMOsa. Both were really good, and my girls agreed!

I was happy to see MIL got her Mickey Bar. She let the girls eat the ears, which is obviously the best part. The sacrifices that grandparents make…



I don’t remember if my parents ordered anything. We were eating our snacks and I was playing on my phone when my dad said, “Jess?” I said, “Yeah, just a second,” (because I’m sure whatever I was doing was very important) and he said, “You might want to see this.” He eventually convinced me to turn around, and this is what I saw:



Pirate #3! Well this was exciting. I didn’t even see him walk out there! One family approached him for his autograph, so I asked the girls if they wanted to meet him. Only DD4 wanted to go with me. Captain Jack Sparrow was just awesome, and this became one of the highlights of our trip.

As we waited our turn, DD4 asked me why his feet were on the table. I suggested she ask him when it was her turn.

DD4 tried to hand Jack her autograph book, and he said, “Thank you, I’ve always wanted one of these!” As she handed him the sharpie, he goes, “Oh, you want something from me. That’s the way all you children are, that’s why I never had any.” I told him yep, that’s how it goes. I then prompted her to ask her question, but she wanted me to ask.

“She wanted to know why your feet are on the table.” He said to DD4, “'Cause I do what I want. Does she tell you not to put your feet on the table?” DD4 said yes. He said, “You know what you say when they do that? You say, I’m a pirate, I do what I want. Actually, don’t do that, cause it’s going to get you in trouble.” Unfortunately, I don’t think she heard his last warning, as she tried this line on me later in the day :-D

She then said she had another question and asked him how he got off the ride. I was surprised she recognized him as the same pirate we had just seen, but I guess I shouldn’t have been. He was great with her, lowered his voice, and told her a long story about a secret treasure box, and how he swam out.




We then got to take a few pictures with him. The lighting wasn’t great, but DD4’s smile says it all.



Of course, I had to get in one too!



I didn’t know that you could meet Jack Sparrow outside of MNSSHP and I wonder how often he wanders around like this. I’ve actually met him twice before, but both times were during Disney races, in very brief encounters. This was a fun surprise!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Look at her posing! So cute!

We hung these in the small hallway outside the girls’ room at home and I love seeing them every day. It’s a cute memento from this time in the girls’ lives and I love the fact that it says WDW at the bottom.

I wish I knew about this when my girls were little. It really is a great memento!

You know what you say when they do that? You say, I’m a pirate, I do what I want. Actually, don’t do that, cause it’s going to get you in trouble.” Unfortunately, I don’t think she heard his last warning, as she tried this line on me later in the day :-D

Ha! That really sounded like a great interaction! And those are the best ones... the ones you can't plan for.

We then got to take a few pictures with him. The lighting wasn’t great, but DD4’s smile says it all.

Look at that smile!

 

[jrmint427]

Magic Carpets and More Pics

After meeting Jack Sparrow, the girls were dancing around Tortuga Tavern.



They then wanted to take some pictures but were in silly moods.



But I got some nice ones too.



We made it to our Magic Carpets FP around 5:30pm, about 10 minutes before our window ended. This was our first time riding the Magic Carpets! DD2 didn’t want to ride, so Pat, his mom and I took DD4. The line was kind of chaotic – the FP line joins the regular line at one point, but there was no CM there to direct traffic. I felt awkward “cutting” in front of people in the regular line, especially since the people there seemed annoyed when we tried to step in, but we decided that a zipper merge needed to happen here, or the FP line wasn’t going to move at all.



DD4 loved this one!



The ride made for some nice views.





It was almost 6:00pm, so we decided it was time to head back to our resort for dinner. I needed to swing by the Photo Pass store at the front of the park on our way out to locate our Mickey and Minnie pictures from the day before. We were back at the dock around 6:10pm.





Back at Wilderness Lodge, it was time to change once again… into our Snow White outfits!

Steps: 14,495
Miles: 5.94
Predicted Crowds: 5
Actual Crowds: 4

 

[jrmint427]

Artist Point Story Book Dining – Part 1

Our reservation for Story Book Dining was at 7:20pm. I originally wanted to eat here on an earlier night of our trip, but we couldn’t get a reservation for 7 until this day, so we moved things around to make this work.

We got back to the resort early and spent a little time in the gift shop. We picked up the Tinkerbell ornament my MIL had bought the day before, and I picked out another ornament for Wilderness Lodge (but apparently did not take a picture!).

We checked into dinner at 7:08pm and they told us we could hang out at the lounge next door. We had just sat down and were thinking about ordering a pre-dinner drink, when I got the text that our table was ready, just 5 minutes later.

We were seated at a table in the center of the restaurant with a great view of the Evil Queen. This made the girls nervous at first, because they had said they did not want to meet the queen, but it was fun to watch her and I think the girls ended up liking that they could keep an eye on her from a distance. It was so fun to watch her interacting with other guests. Her favorite bits were to call people out if they spoke to her before they were spoken to, and to tell them to get lost after taking a few pictures.



The restaurant was beautiful. I loved the trees and the lanterns.





We started with drinks. I was intrigued by the Smoking Mirror, which was Johnnie Walker Black, wildberry, lime, and rosemary smoke. The wildberry, lime and rosemary sounded like a great mix. When I tried to order this, our server asked me if I like scotch. To be honest, I’m sure I’ve had it before but do not know what scotch tastes like. I told him, “Umm, I’m not sure.” He convinced me to order the Enchanted Apple instead, which is Skyy Citrus Vodka, sour apple and white cranberry juice. This turned out to be a great recommendation!



The way the menu worked, they brought out three appetizers for everyone to share, you picked one entrée, and then they brought out four desserts for everyone to share. I was really happy when they informed me they had vegetarian appetizers they could bring for me and the girls. Also, they offered DD2 a free side of mac n’ cheese and I took our server up on that, as the girls typically shared meals on this trip anyway.

For appetizers, the non-vegetarians got the mushroom bisque soup, Hunter’s Terrine (chicken, black truffle, stone fruit preserve, house-made pickles) and shrimp cocktail. For the vegetarian appetizer, I got what I think they said was an Impossible burger, the mushroom bisque soup, and a spring roll.



The mushroom soup was my favorite. It came in a cute cauldron. Unfortunately for me, DD2 loved this soup too, so I had to share I liked the Impossible burger with the onions on top. I did not care for the spring roll.

They brought DD4 her own vegetarian appetizer platter. It also came with the soup (which she did not like, so DD2 and I split that one too) and a vegetable roll (which she did not like either). She did eat the fruit, veggies and cheese, which came with a mix-your-own honey butter.



We were just finishing up our appetizers when Snow White came out and took a stroll around the room, smiling at the Evil Queen as she went by. She then started to make her way from table to table.

When she got to our table, the girls were being quiet, as usual. She said, “They’re suddenly acting like my friend Bashful right now!” The girls were happy to take pictures with her though. She had them twirling in circles with her.



I tried to get a picture of the three of them, but the lighting was not great and DD4 was clearly distracted by the Queen.



The girls also wanted individual pictures.



We also took a family picture, but this time DD2 was watching the Queen.



We enjoyed our visit but completely forgot to ask Snow White to sign the girls’ autograph book. Our server was very nice and took it over to her a little later so we could get her signature.

More characters and food coming in the next post!

 

[bamaslp]

Hall of Presidents, Silhouettes, Jungle Cruise

We went to Hall of Presidents next and made it there around 2:15pm. We saw people lining up for the parade outside and were tempted to do the same. But it was so hot and we saw the parade the day before, so we headed inside the Hall of Presidents to cool down.

DD4 surprised us when she saw this painting and shouted, “George Washington!”

View attachment 645254

She told us she learned about Washington at school. Since we had a bit of a wait until the next show, I took the girls outside briefly to watch some of the parade going by, and they really enjoyed that. We danced until we were super sweaty again, and then headed back inside.

I like the Hall of Presidents show, they do a good job of sharing about the history of the presidency. DD4 was really engaged with it both last year and this year and asks questions during the show.

As we exited, I saw a souvenir stand and remembered that I wanted to have silhouettes made of the girls this day. There was one family being helped ahead of us, so I got in line. We waited about 12 minutes, as the woman who did the silhouette for the girl ahead of us just walked off after she was done without saying anything, and we had to wait for another CM to eventually come over to get started.

The girls agreed DD2 would go first. She did a pretty good job of not moving too much, and the CM did his cutting quickly.

View attachment 645258

View attachment 645259

DD4 was up next, and also took this very seriously. There were two boys from another country (I think they said Chile) who were watching this process closely. They weren’t speaking English, but I could tell they were begging their parents for money to do the silhouette, and the father was saying no at first, but eventually gave in. It was very cute how excited they were about the girls’ silhouettes, and then to do their own.

View attachment 645261

The silhouettes are $20 for 2 copies of the silhouette plus a frame, which seems like a great deal for the amount of talent required.

View attachment 645262
View attachment 645263

I really love how these came out! And was a little bit surprised that I could tell who was who from the silhouettes. The girls look different in some ways but have pretty similar profiles. DD4 is on the left and DD2
We hung these in the small hallway outside the girls’ room at home and I love seeing them every day. It’s a cute memento from this time in the girls’ lives and I love the fact that it says WDW at the bottom.


Love the silhouettes! How much are they?

 

[jrmint427]

The silhouettes were $20 which included 2 copies. Not bad!

 

[jrmint427]

Artist Point Story Book Dining – Part 2

Grumpy and Dopey came out next, about 15 minutes after Snow White, while we were still waiting on our entrées. As he was making his first round, Dopey tapped on Pat’s head as he went by. It was fun to watch them interacting with the Queen and Snow White. Our food came out while we were waiting for Dopey and Grumpy to make their rounds.

I ordered the “Stroll Through Nature” – asparagus, leeks, arugula, gnocchi, sage, and parmesan. It was the only vegetarian item on the menu, but I’ve seen that vegans can order a fake chick’n dish. This was one of my favorite meals of our trip. It was very rich and I ended up boxing up almost half of it to take home.



These were dishes the other adults ordered but I don't remember what they were:





DD4 ordered the Prince and Princess pasta, which came with a red sauce. I apparently did not take a picture, but she always likes pasta with red sauce.

DD2’s mac n’ cheese was fantastic. One of my favorite mac n’ cheeses of the trip.



Grumpy came to our table first. I think we won him over because I was wearing Grumpy earrings and Pat was wearing a Grumpy shirt. Pat got a shoulder pat for his shirt, which he took as a good sign, and said, “See, we’re in good company.” Grumpy responded by wiggling his hand back and forth to say “so-so” and Pat said, “Okay, maybe not.”

DD4 did not want a picture with Grumpy, but DD2 was game. Look at that forced grin!



Grumpy got down to her level and we tried to get her to cross her arms like him.



We had to get a family picture too.



Dopey approached our table next and gave Pat a high-five. Once again, DD2 was eager to meet Dopey, but DD4 was not so sure.



DD4 eventually joined in after deciding he wasn’t so bad (and letting little sister test him first).



We got a family picture with Dopey too.



Dessert is up next!

 

[jrmint427]

Artist Point Story Book Dining – Part 3

I was very excited for the desserts. They brought out enough for us to each have one serving of each option. It was a lot of dessert! Our server let me know that a couple of the desserts have gelatin. Gelatin is not vegetarian, but it’s in many things, so it’s something I generally avoid but will have every now and then. I decided to at least taste each dessert.



My favorite was the Miner’s Treasures – sponge cake, chocolate gems, berry panna cotta. I didn’t really care for the top two layers, but once I got down to the “mud” it quickly became my favorite.



Inside the mud was some buried treasures – such a creative dessert and it tasted great too.



The “Poison” Apple was pretty good – dark chocolate apple mousse, sour center.



I didn’t really care for the Gooseberry Pie, which was meringue and gooseberry, but I think other adults did.



The Hunter’s Gift to the Queen came out last – crackled maple popcorn, ganache heart. It was presented in a steaming box and came with a ticket so we could go meet the Queen.



There wasn’t much popcorn (our table of 7 received two of these plates), but we were all so full that it was plenty.



Our invitation said that the Queen only invites the Fairest in the land – just my luck that my t-shirt said I was the fairest!



We are almost done with this dinner adventure… up next, we finally meet the Queen!

 

[jrmint427]

Artist Point Story Book Dining – Part 4

When it was our turn to meet the Evil Queen, DD4 had absolutely no interest. Ther tears. She told me, as we waited in line, that she was scared the Evil Queen would find her house and give her a poison apple. Seriously. She was so upset, I assured her she didn’t have to meet the Queen. But I wanted to!

When it was our turn, the Evil Queen shouted, “Get over here!” I ushered my dad and DD2 up to her, as I wanted to take video of the interaction. She asked, “Who dressed this poor child in such rags?” DD2 was dressed as Snow White. I was quick to take the blame, and then she noticed my shirt. She walked over and asked, “What does your shirt say? Why?” I had forgotten all about my shirt and the fact that she might be interested in it and mumbled something about liking Snow White. She asked, “So why would you wear a shirt that has nothing to do with Snow White?” I suggested she ask the mirror, and she said, “Come, please.”

It was such a fun interaction. In half the pictures, I am laughing hysterically and she is making funny faces.



I especially love the pictures of my dad and DD2.





To her credit, the Evil Queen tried hard to engage DD4. I was impressed – she approached her gently and tried to coax her over, while still staying in character. I finally explained that DD4 was afraid she would come to our house, and she assured my daughter that she had no idea where her house was, and I think we told her the poison apple was only for Snow White. DD4 never gave in, but hopefully she felt better after that conversation. I was really impressed with how much time the Evil Queen spent with us. We were not rushed at all.

This meal was expensive – over $400 for the 7 of us. But it was such a wonderful experience, this is one character meal I would do again. I didn’t feel as rushed with any of the characters, the food was amazing, and service was great. If I had the dining plan, this one would definitely be on my list.

We finished our meal around 9:00pm. We picked up our luggage from Bell Services and were heading offsite to the family condo by 9:15pm. It was about a 20-minute drive, so not bad at all. The condo has 3 bedrooms and 2 full bathrooms, which was really nice for our group of 7. They also have a washer and dryer, so we got some laundry started, showered and unpacked a bit, making it to bed around 11:00pm.

 

[jrmint427]

Day 5: Tuesday, September 24 – Hollywood Studios

This was our one day at Hollywood Studios. With all the additions to the park, I struggled with narrowing down what we wanted to do this day – we easily could have spent two days here (though I see so many people comment that they don’t know how to fill a full day here – is that still an issue?).

We didn’t have to leave very early this morning, so according to my FitBit, I got 7 hours and 20 minutes of sleep. We left the condo around 8:15am and were parked by 8:45am. With the tram and security, we were entering the park right around 9:00am when it opened to non-resort guests. I include these details because transportation always takes longer than I think it will.

Our first stop was going to be to meet Daisy Duck. Backing up to the year before, I had bought outfits for the girls to meet Daisy in her purple dress. Partly due to the weather being so cold that year and partly due to exhaustion, we never put them in the outfits, and they never met Daisy. I was very excited that the outfits still fit this year, and so we were going to try again.

I double checked characters and meet times several weeks before our trip. I used a mix of Disney’s website and another site. I had to update a few plans based on time changes, like Merida moving to earlier in the morning. I’m positive Daisy was still listed at that time. When we entered the park, we quickly learned that Daisy is no longer out for meets at Hollywood Studios; Chip and Dale have replaced her at the park entrance. The CM we talked to said this change took place “about a month” before.

We were bummed, but we got some cute street pictures in their Daisy Duck outfits instead.







After we learned that we couldn’t meet Daisy first thing in the morning, we quickly split up. The plan was for the girls to go to the Disney Jr. Dance Party with my parents while Pat, his mom and I rode Tower of Terror (we didn’t have a FP). I’ve never seen the dance party before and wished I could do both, but this was our only opportunity to ride ToT and it’s one of my favorite rides.

My parents said the girls loved the Dance Party and were especially excited to see Vampirina. They arrived so early that they were invited to be the Family of the show, but the girls were being shy and declined the offer. They apparently had a wonderful time, though, and my mom sent me a video of DD4 dancing The Robot.

The rest of us headed to Tower of Terror and took a PP picture on the way.



The standby line said 25 minutes, and so did Touring Plans.



We were in the pre-show in 20 minutes but not on the ride for another 5 minutes, so the time predictions were accurate. This was a good ride, with lots of drops! Our picture disappeared too quickly as we were coming off the ride, but they were able to help us grab it at the Photo Pass desk in the gift shop. Our faces are hilarious!



We were off the ride at 9:50am. I knew the girls’ show had just started at 9:40, so I thought we could try for Rock n’ Roller Coaster on the single rider line. We walked over and saw that standby was 65 minutes. There was no time showing for the single rider line, so we were going to check it out, but as we entered, we saw people walking out toward us. They told us even the single rider line was over an hour wait, so we decided to bail.

I thought maybe we should go grab a treat instead. We went to the Trolley Car Café (Starbucks) and I couldn’t believe the line – we ended up waiting close to 30 minutes for our drinks. Since we were planning to have an early lunch, my MIL and I went with a salted caramel Frappuccino. We also picked up a cup of pineapple for the girls to snack on, and some waters for our group. My parents and the girls met us outside the café, so we took our snacks and headed to our next show.