“You’re My Favorites: Now Go Away!” Feb/Mar 2019 First Family Trip (Complete 8/19)
- Thread starter TheOneWithTheTriplets
- Start date
cinderaimee
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 26, 2016
omg I love those Chewbacca outfits! How fun!
What a bummer of a rainy morning. I really can't believe Disney doesn't have any better system for dealing with families with an odd number of children because your SDD boarding sounds like more hassle than necessary.
I'm hoping your day gets better from here!
What a bummer of a rainy morning. I really can't believe Disney doesn't have any better system for dealing with families with an odd number of children because your SDD boarding sounds like more hassle than necessary.
I'm hoping your day gets better from here!
NJlauren
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 6, 2014
I am behind but caught up now!
Amazing pics!
As i was reading this whole trip report i am so impress! You have got your stuff (i would rather use a not DIS work) toegther! You rock this mom of triplets thing! Just saying! If i hadnt said it before i want to make sur ei pointed it out here!
Love your snack choices yum! Major bonus on the DDP!
Love the meet and greet story that they thought they were meeting plants !
!
I also love that they know what they want and dont all do the same thing! TT and FEA! You go girls!
OMG love these outfits!
What an annoying day, with the rain closing down the meets, honestly for a place in Florida building a new land, i do not under stand how they did not build shade, or cover for these things... was someone in a rush? just didn't care? i can not figure it out!
Amazing pics!
As i was reading this whole trip report i am so impress! You have got your stuff (i would rather use a not DIS work) toegther! You rock this mom of triplets thing! Just saying! If i hadnt said it before i want to make sur ei pointed it out here!
Love your snack choices yum! Major bonus on the DDP!
Love the meet and greet story that they thought they were meeting plants !
!I also love that they know what they want and dont all do the same thing! TT and FEA! You go girls!
OMG love these outfits!
What an annoying day, with the rain closing down the meets, honestly for a place in Florida building a new land, i do not under stand how they did not build shade, or cover for these things... was someone in a rush? just didn't care? i can not figure it out!
amazingact21
Upendi
- Joined
- Nov 6, 2010
I let my DIS time fall to the wayside this move and as a result I fell way behind on your report. However, I'm all caught up again and had a great time reading all your updates. Your girls were troopers, making it around the WS loop and then enjoying a final headline attraction at the end of the night! Good to know you can rejoin the line at TT if there's a potty emergency.
The rain on SDD is sort of viscious for us adults; it can really hit your face hard when you're going fast!
The rain on SDD is sort of viscious for us adults; it can really hit your face hard when you're going fast!
lvcourtneyy
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 24, 2012
Love this picture!
oo great souvenir.
Aw
Great FP work!
Impressive!
Wow that's frustrating!!
Love this!
StarWarsMomofGirls!
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 16, 2015
This whole thing sounds crazy! Glad it worked out but I can only imagine how crazy that must have felt like.
They probably did get shielded.
I LOVE IT!!!! So cute.
And all of you!!! Chewy must have loved it.
I hope things picked up. I have heard too many of these kind of days in HS. Hopefully we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel for that.
TheOneWithTheTriplets
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2018
Thanks!
It was, especially because that park is short on attractions before you factor in all of those closures.
You know, in retrospect we got a lot accomplished. In the moment, it just felt like our plans kept being thwarted.
Thanks! We loved those outfits in particular.
Thanks! They really are good kids.
TheOneWithTheTriplets
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2018
Thanks! We did our best despite the weather.
Thanks! Those outfits are definitely a personal favorite from the trip.
I found the whole SDD boarding issue to be unnecessarily frustrating. You'd think the CM would be flexible with little kids, but I also don't know how many families travel with more kids under 7 than they have adults.
Yeah, that was the day. I'm curious how your version of it went. I was less frustrated with the gross weather than the impact it had on the characters and crowds.
As i was reading this whole trip report i am so impress! You have got your stuff (i would rather use a not DIS work) toegther! You rock this mom of triplets thing! Just saying! If i hadnt said it before i want to make sur ei pointed it out here!
Love your snack choices yum! Major bonus on the DDP!
Love the meet and greet story that they thought they were meeting plants !
I also love that they know what they want and dont all do the same thing! TT and FEA! You go girls!
Awe, thanks, that's sweet of you! I feel like, if I didn't have my .... stuff... together, I'd just be constantly overwhelmed.
They were legitimately bummed for the 15 seconds where they thought the Anna and Elsa meet was topiaries. It was really funny.
Yeah, the lack of shade or cover in TSL just doesn't feel well thought out. I'm not sure why they let it slide, either.
Yup, I was also very glad to find out about the bathroom exit on TT.
That rain on SDD was no joke. It wasn't raining particularly hard, but it sure felt like it was.
TheOneWithTheTriplets
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2018
I just don't understand why there wasn't a rain plan built into this land at all. It rains practically daily in Orlando.
It just all happened so quickly. I was really frustrated with myself after the fact because there were much easier ways to go about it, but I didn't think of them in the moment.
He was quite expressive about the outfits, pointing and vocalizing. It was really fun for all of us.
TheOneWithTheTriplets
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2018
Park Day Eight: Hollywood Studios (con’t)
When we arrived at Backlot Express at 11:30am, it was absolutely mobbed! We did a full lap of the restaurant and, other than a roped off area marked “Reserved”, every table was full with very few patrons there to eat. Mostly, people were sitting around playing on their phones, presumably waiting out the rain. I absolutely do not understand that mentality at all. I get it, the rain sucks, but if you’re going to just wait it out anyway, go hop in line for TSMM or one of the indoor character greets. Olaf and Mickey and Minnie were a few steps away and then you’d at least waiting to do something while you play on your phone.
We ended up having to ask a family of 4 who was sitting at an 8-top if we could use a couple of the seats at the open end of their table. There wasn’t room for everyone to sit, but I was fine standing behind the kids so long as they were able to sit while eating. Luckily, that family was nearly finished so we soon had room for everyone to take a seat. While Hubby got the kids situated, I went to pick up our food. Everything wasn’t out quite yet, but the CM let me take the first tray for our order back to the table while she finished the second. With only two days left in our trip, it was clear that we were going to be way over on our QS and snack credits, so all five of us picked out individual meals. The kids were super hyped about being able to order slushies, only to find out they didn’t like them very much and preferred to share the blue Powerade that one had selected. Hubby and I felt much more favorably about our vodka lemonade and strawberry daiquiri. As to the food, the kids got your standard, junky QS food, but Hubby and I were pleasantly surprised by the Cuban sandwich and the chicken and biscuits. The latter has since been removed from the menu, but the former is a good option in an otherwise bleak HS QS line up.
This meal was anything but relaxing: the blue Powerade was out on the nearby fountain prompting a cross-restaurant walk for refills; A had to use the bathroom mid-meal, which meant I had to take her; and we were all generally a little crabby given how our morning plans had been mucked up. Muppets still wasn’t running, so that wasn’t an option for right after lunch. We knew we had to be down for Jedi Training at 2:30pm, so we had about two hours to get way too much done. After refreshing a bit, I was able to get the girls all FPs for the next Little Mermaid show. Hubby and I were holding RnR for later in the day, so it was just the kids, but I figured it was worth at least asking the CM if he’d be willing to let the five of us in on their 3 FPs. It’s not like they’d be able to use their third selection without the adults, anyway. The plan would be to hightail it over to the 12:30 Mermaid show, immediately double back for the 1:15 Indiana Jones show, then have the adults swap RnR in the 2:30-3 window that the kids needed to be getting ready for Jedi Training.
We all booked it across the park. Since A and I had already gone to the bathroom, Hubby took B and C to the restrooms between Mermaid and Launch Bay while I plead my case with the FP CM. He said it would be fine for us all to use the FP line, so I went over to wait for the rest of the crew and tell them the good news. And, I waited… and waited… and watched the Star Wars stage show characters head backstage while I waited. I even asked a random guy coming out of the men’s room if he saw a Dad in there with two little girls in Chewie dresses. He kind of laughed at me and told me they were definitely in there. They finally came out and we rushed over to the Mermaid FP line to see the FP CM putting the chain over the entrance and telling a family who just arrived that they had missed their window and the standby guests had already been let in. My phone said it was 12:26pm and the FP window closed at 12:25, so we just missed it. There may have been some grumbling on my part about taking an exceptionally long time in a bathroom, and some return grumbling about not being able to do anything about it when a kid says she’s going but she isn’t done yet. The CM did let me burn the kids tier 2 FPs, so I was at least able to start refreshing for an additional tier 1 for them.
The rain had finally let up so we decided to head to TSL to see how bad the line for Woody and Jessie was. When we got into line at 12:38pm, the line was backed up down the TSMM exit path. The length of this line made the decision for us as to whether we’d scrap Indiana Jones or Little Mermaid for the afternoon: the line was obviously too long for us to have any hope of making the 1:15 Indy show. While we were in line, I was able to grab Swirling Saucers FPs for the girls for after Jedi Training. Other than that little bit of refreshing, it was slow going for the 40 minutes until it was our turn.
C’s grumpy expression aside, this was a really cute meet. I wish we had been able to do it first thing when it wouldn’t have cost us so much time, but it wasn’t to be. We were back to Little Mermaid at 1:30pm, this time in the standby line to see the 1:45pm show. I know this show gets a lot of heat, and the laser effects are obviously dated, but it was still fun. Then again, The Little Mermaid was my absolute favorite (I even had the comforter) so it was always going to be a win for me.
From there, we all headed over to RnR so that Hubby could get a RS. He then took the kids into Jedi Training while I hopped into line. I tapped in at 2:20 to a moderately backed up FP line, so I had time to refresh Hubby and I into AS2 FPs that overlapped what the kids already had. Being a lone rider, I was paired up a gentleman from the single rider line. As soon as we got to our row, he started trying to calm down a preteen girl fighting back tears a couple rows ahead of us. I have to assume that she was feeling brave when they first decided to go single rider but was psyching herself out. I quickly traded spots with her so that she could ride with her Dad and she was smiling when we all exited, so it seemed to have done the trick.
My photo time stamp at RnR was 2:31pm. I sped my way down to the Jedi Training meeting area and at 2:38pm Hubby was making his way over for his ride. We knew he’d be cutting it close for the 3pm show start, but we were going for it.
The whole process of getting the kids situated and then moving to group over to the actual show was very well organized. They have the group do a little chant telling people to make way, which made the kids feel special and kept the group together. I had a little trouble with moving both of the strollers from point A to point B, but that was mostly to do with people trying to zip by us too closely and bumping the single stroller that was resting folded on the double. I was getting worried as 3pm neared and Hubby hadn’t arrived, but he made it just in time.
Jedi Training is so incredibly cool! I’m so glad the girls decided they wanted to try it after all because it was one of our top highlights.
The girls were completely amped when this was done. They were so excited to fight Vader and B kept saying, “I got his arm! Did you see I got his arm?!?” In fact, if you look closely at the photo, you can see she did in fact graze his hand ever so slightly (she’s the one in purple).
The show finished up at 3:20 and we headed over to find out that Muppets 3D was (finally) back up and running. Once again, we had bad luck timing our arrival as we were one of the first families released into the holding room and had to wait essentially a full show cycle. It was certainly worth the wait, though as everyone loved it. I have distinct memories of this show from my first visit in the mid-90s because this and Honey I Shrunk the Audience were my first experiences with 3D movies. It turns out adulthood doesn’t make me any less susceptible to 3d gags and I was squealing and ducking right along with the girls.
We were done with Muppets at about 3:50pm, which left us a weird amount of time before our 5:25pm ADR. I wanted to be at the bus stop no later than 4:45pm in case we ended up with a long wait. We had FPs for AS2, but getting there would have been a crazy detour that landed us as far from the exit as we could have gotten. While the girls enjoyed the ride earlier that morning, I didn’t think it was worth the hassle to rush over and ride again.
On the way out, we passed a group of CMs who were applauding whenever people walked through a small square taped on the ground. It was such a little thing, but the kids got an absolute kick out of it.
After the girls’ round of applause, we zipped off for a quick outfit change and headed for the Wilderness Lodge bus. The bus was just pulling up when we arrived at the stop at 4:30pm, so my concerns about bad bus timing seemed unfounded. Then again, if we had tried to hit AS2 first, who knows when the next bus would have come for us. While we were riding over, Hubby and I discussed the plan for the evening. We had an early morning planned for the next day, and I needed to get packing, so I knew the kids and I wouldn’t be going back into the park. Hubby is more of a night owl, though, so we thought that perhaps he could get back in, hit a ride or two, and catch the Star Wars fireworks. I was able to pick up a RnR FP for the last hour of park operation, just in case.
We arrived extra early, but the restaurant was able to seat us despite being 30 minutes early for our ADR. We got to see Snow White right away, with the dwarfs following closely behind.
We had already met Snow earlier in the week, so the Dwarfs were really point of the visit. The girls were so excited to meet “The Heigh Ho Guys” and they did not disappoint. They were completely in character and the kids got a huge kick out of it.
Hubby clearly didn’t hear the CM say we were making a grumpy face, which might make the family photo even better. The Evil Queen then started her set so we opted to hop up and meet her right away before the kids inevitably spilled something on themselves.
The Queen was delightfully wicked. When she read her page in the character encyclopedia, she asked me if Snow had written such terrible misinformation. When I said that I didn’t think she had, she quickly quipped back, “Of course. She can’t write.” Once again, leading up to the meet, the girls insisted that they were going to talk some sense into the Queen. In person, they started to get cold feet, but C eventually struck up the nerve to tell the Queen that she didn’t have to be jealous because she and Snow could both be pretty. The Queen said, “Well, I supposed, as long as we can all agree that I am in fact the fairest,” to which the girls only stared in awe. After a beat, she said, “I’ll take your stunned silence as agreement,” and got us posed for pictures.
We were all done with characters at 5:40, just 45 minutes after we were seated, and ready to focus on our food. In between the character visits, our appetizers and drinks had been served. The kids were very excited to make their own butter, but they didn’t have the forearm strength to shake those tiny bottles with the force and speed required to get the cream to become butter. Instead, Hubby and I ended up having to sit there shaking the darn things until they got solid enough that the kids could spread the contents on their rolls. Great idea in theory, perhaps, but in practice this was a hassle.
For mains, Hubby got the prime rib and I got the gnocchi, both of which were delicious. We agreed they were some of our favorite meals of the trip. Meanwhile, the kids were making it a point of reinforcing why I had favored sit down lunches over dinners for our ADRs. Astute readers will notice that, other than a 4pm seating for HDDR, all of our TS meals had been late breakfast or lunch. That was done with purpose, partly in lieu of a midday break, but also so that the kids would actually sit nicely and eat. When tired, our girls tend to get melty in their chairs, barely touch their food, and generally do anything that isn’t eating dinner. It took them nearly an hour to manage to eat dinner, with much coaxing from Hubby and myself that they at least needed to get enough in them that they wouldn’t be hungry at bedtime. The poor CM came over at least 3 times to check on us, but my pokey little puppies were barely making a dent in their meal. We finally had her bring out the desserts and finished up.
We weren’t done our meal until 6:35pm, but that had nothing to do with the service at the restaurant and everything to do with our kids. We all took turns using the restroom, which is really only noteworthy because it’s much too small for the size of the restaurant that it’s serving. There were only a couple of stalls, which was probably fine for a signature meal generally featuring adult patrons but doesn’t work as well for families with young kids and tiny bladders. The girls spotted some pins at a little stand in the lobby and opted to buy a Snow White pin to commemorate the meal. We caught a bus back to HS at 6:52pm and used the walking path to head back to Boardwalk. The bus ride gave the girls that little extra burst of energy they needed, because they walk/ran the whole way back to the hotel while Hubby and I pushed empty strollers.
We were on the elevator to our room at 7:28pm and Hubby decided he wasn’t going to try to get back to HS. In order to do so, he would have had to go over straight away, but he didn’t want to leave me to get three tired-but-hyper kids showered and in bed by myself. After getting the girls washed up, we put them to bed in their clothes for the next day and they crashed quickly. We then packed up everything we possibly could and I brought down all but one of our intended checked bags for bell services to hold. The next morning would involve trying to let the kids sleep as late as possible while simultaneously checking out of our room, utilizing RAC, and making it to MK for an 8am breakfast ADR. With our morning time crunch, I decided it was better to already have the bags that we could down there so that I wouldn’t have to either wait for bell services or bring them myself in the morning. With everything as packed as it could be, I finally let myself crash as well.
Our second day at Hollywood Studios had some of the highlights of the trip but also some of the most frustrating moments. The character and attraction downtime, coupled with the bad weather, lead to longer waits and greater congestion than we were expecting. On the other hand, Jedi Training and Storybook Dining were both amazing experiences that we hadn’t originally planned for but decided to fit in midway through the trip. In the end, when I look at what we missed out on, the only intended entertainment we had to forgo was the Indiana Jones show (and the funnel cake sundae from Oasis Canteen that I was planning to eat during that show). I’m sure the kids and I would have enjoyed the show, but this was the biggest bummer for Hubby, who would have loved it. If my crystal ball had been working, I’d have left him in HS to see that show on day 1 when the kids wanted to swim, but it wasn’t meant to be. In total, we rode four family rides and one adult swapped ride, met three characters, saw two shows, trained our future Jedi, and dined with dwarfs.
When we arrived at Backlot Express at 11:30am, it was absolutely mobbed! We did a full lap of the restaurant and, other than a roped off area marked “Reserved”, every table was full with very few patrons there to eat. Mostly, people were sitting around playing on their phones, presumably waiting out the rain. I absolutely do not understand that mentality at all. I get it, the rain sucks, but if you’re going to just wait it out anyway, go hop in line for TSMM or one of the indoor character greets. Olaf and Mickey and Minnie were a few steps away and then you’d at least waiting to do something while you play on your phone.
We ended up having to ask a family of 4 who was sitting at an 8-top if we could use a couple of the seats at the open end of their table. There wasn’t room for everyone to sit, but I was fine standing behind the kids so long as they were able to sit while eating. Luckily, that family was nearly finished so we soon had room for everyone to take a seat. While Hubby got the kids situated, I went to pick up our food. Everything wasn’t out quite yet, but the CM let me take the first tray for our order back to the table while she finished the second. With only two days left in our trip, it was clear that we were going to be way over on our QS and snack credits, so all five of us picked out individual meals. The kids were super hyped about being able to order slushies, only to find out they didn’t like them very much and preferred to share the blue Powerade that one had selected. Hubby and I felt much more favorably about our vodka lemonade and strawberry daiquiri. As to the food, the kids got your standard, junky QS food, but Hubby and I were pleasantly surprised by the Cuban sandwich and the chicken and biscuits. The latter has since been removed from the menu, but the former is a good option in an otherwise bleak HS QS line up.
This meal was anything but relaxing: the blue Powerade was out on the nearby fountain prompting a cross-restaurant walk for refills; A had to use the bathroom mid-meal, which meant I had to take her; and we were all generally a little crabby given how our morning plans had been mucked up. Muppets still wasn’t running, so that wasn’t an option for right after lunch. We knew we had to be down for Jedi Training at 2:30pm, so we had about two hours to get way too much done. After refreshing a bit, I was able to get the girls all FPs for the next Little Mermaid show. Hubby and I were holding RnR for later in the day, so it was just the kids, but I figured it was worth at least asking the CM if he’d be willing to let the five of us in on their 3 FPs. It’s not like they’d be able to use their third selection without the adults, anyway. The plan would be to hightail it over to the 12:30 Mermaid show, immediately double back for the 1:15 Indiana Jones show, then have the adults swap RnR in the 2:30-3 window that the kids needed to be getting ready for Jedi Training.
We all booked it across the park. Since A and I had already gone to the bathroom, Hubby took B and C to the restrooms between Mermaid and Launch Bay while I plead my case with the FP CM. He said it would be fine for us all to use the FP line, so I went over to wait for the rest of the crew and tell them the good news. And, I waited… and waited… and watched the Star Wars stage show characters head backstage while I waited. I even asked a random guy coming out of the men’s room if he saw a Dad in there with two little girls in Chewie dresses. He kind of laughed at me and told me they were definitely in there. They finally came out and we rushed over to the Mermaid FP line to see the FP CM putting the chain over the entrance and telling a family who just arrived that they had missed their window and the standby guests had already been let in. My phone said it was 12:26pm and the FP window closed at 12:25, so we just missed it. There may have been some grumbling on my part about taking an exceptionally long time in a bathroom, and some return grumbling about not being able to do anything about it when a kid says she’s going but she isn’t done yet. The CM did let me burn the kids tier 2 FPs, so I was at least able to start refreshing for an additional tier 1 for them.
The rain had finally let up so we decided to head to TSL to see how bad the line for Woody and Jessie was. When we got into line at 12:38pm, the line was backed up down the TSMM exit path. The length of this line made the decision for us as to whether we’d scrap Indiana Jones or Little Mermaid for the afternoon: the line was obviously too long for us to have any hope of making the 1:15 Indy show. While we were in line, I was able to grab Swirling Saucers FPs for the girls for after Jedi Training. Other than that little bit of refreshing, it was slow going for the 40 minutes until it was our turn.
C’s grumpy expression aside, this was a really cute meet. I wish we had been able to do it first thing when it wouldn’t have cost us so much time, but it wasn’t to be. We were back to Little Mermaid at 1:30pm, this time in the standby line to see the 1:45pm show. I know this show gets a lot of heat, and the laser effects are obviously dated, but it was still fun. Then again, The Little Mermaid was my absolute favorite (I even had the comforter) so it was always going to be a win for me.
From there, we all headed over to RnR so that Hubby could get a RS. He then took the kids into Jedi Training while I hopped into line. I tapped in at 2:20 to a moderately backed up FP line, so I had time to refresh Hubby and I into AS2 FPs that overlapped what the kids already had. Being a lone rider, I was paired up a gentleman from the single rider line. As soon as we got to our row, he started trying to calm down a preteen girl fighting back tears a couple rows ahead of us. I have to assume that she was feeling brave when they first decided to go single rider but was psyching herself out. I quickly traded spots with her so that she could ride with her Dad and she was smiling when we all exited, so it seemed to have done the trick.
My photo time stamp at RnR was 2:31pm. I sped my way down to the Jedi Training meeting area and at 2:38pm Hubby was making his way over for his ride. We knew he’d be cutting it close for the 3pm show start, but we were going for it.
The whole process of getting the kids situated and then moving to group over to the actual show was very well organized. They have the group do a little chant telling people to make way, which made the kids feel special and kept the group together. I had a little trouble with moving both of the strollers from point A to point B, but that was mostly to do with people trying to zip by us too closely and bumping the single stroller that was resting folded on the double. I was getting worried as 3pm neared and Hubby hadn’t arrived, but he made it just in time.
Jedi Training is so incredibly cool! I’m so glad the girls decided they wanted to try it after all because it was one of our top highlights.
The girls were completely amped when this was done. They were so excited to fight Vader and B kept saying, “I got his arm! Did you see I got his arm?!?” In fact, if you look closely at the photo, you can see she did in fact graze his hand ever so slightly (she’s the one in purple).
The show finished up at 3:20 and we headed over to find out that Muppets 3D was (finally) back up and running. Once again, we had bad luck timing our arrival as we were one of the first families released into the holding room and had to wait essentially a full show cycle. It was certainly worth the wait, though as everyone loved it. I have distinct memories of this show from my first visit in the mid-90s because this and Honey I Shrunk the Audience were my first experiences with 3D movies. It turns out adulthood doesn’t make me any less susceptible to 3d gags and I was squealing and ducking right along with the girls.
We were done with Muppets at about 3:50pm, which left us a weird amount of time before our 5:25pm ADR. I wanted to be at the bus stop no later than 4:45pm in case we ended up with a long wait. We had FPs for AS2, but getting there would have been a crazy detour that landed us as far from the exit as we could have gotten. While the girls enjoyed the ride earlier that morning, I didn’t think it was worth the hassle to rush over and ride again.
On the way out, we passed a group of CMs who were applauding whenever people walked through a small square taped on the ground. It was such a little thing, but the kids got an absolute kick out of it.
After the girls’ round of applause, we zipped off for a quick outfit change and headed for the Wilderness Lodge bus. The bus was just pulling up when we arrived at the stop at 4:30pm, so my concerns about bad bus timing seemed unfounded. Then again, if we had tried to hit AS2 first, who knows when the next bus would have come for us. While we were riding over, Hubby and I discussed the plan for the evening. We had an early morning planned for the next day, and I needed to get packing, so I knew the kids and I wouldn’t be going back into the park. Hubby is more of a night owl, though, so we thought that perhaps he could get back in, hit a ride or two, and catch the Star Wars fireworks. I was able to pick up a RnR FP for the last hour of park operation, just in case.
We arrived extra early, but the restaurant was able to seat us despite being 30 minutes early for our ADR. We got to see Snow White right away, with the dwarfs following closely behind.
We had already met Snow earlier in the week, so the Dwarfs were really point of the visit. The girls were so excited to meet “The Heigh Ho Guys” and they did not disappoint. They were completely in character and the kids got a huge kick out of it.
Hubby clearly didn’t hear the CM say we were making a grumpy face, which might make the family photo even better. The Evil Queen then started her set so we opted to hop up and meet her right away before the kids inevitably spilled something on themselves.
The Queen was delightfully wicked. When she read her page in the character encyclopedia, she asked me if Snow had written such terrible misinformation. When I said that I didn’t think she had, she quickly quipped back, “Of course. She can’t write.” Once again, leading up to the meet, the girls insisted that they were going to talk some sense into the Queen. In person, they started to get cold feet, but C eventually struck up the nerve to tell the Queen that she didn’t have to be jealous because she and Snow could both be pretty. The Queen said, “Well, I supposed, as long as we can all agree that I am in fact the fairest,” to which the girls only stared in awe. After a beat, she said, “I’ll take your stunned silence as agreement,” and got us posed for pictures.
We were all done with characters at 5:40, just 45 minutes after we were seated, and ready to focus on our food. In between the character visits, our appetizers and drinks had been served. The kids were very excited to make their own butter, but they didn’t have the forearm strength to shake those tiny bottles with the force and speed required to get the cream to become butter. Instead, Hubby and I ended up having to sit there shaking the darn things until they got solid enough that the kids could spread the contents on their rolls. Great idea in theory, perhaps, but in practice this was a hassle.
For mains, Hubby got the prime rib and I got the gnocchi, both of which were delicious. We agreed they were some of our favorite meals of the trip. Meanwhile, the kids were making it a point of reinforcing why I had favored sit down lunches over dinners for our ADRs. Astute readers will notice that, other than a 4pm seating for HDDR, all of our TS meals had been late breakfast or lunch. That was done with purpose, partly in lieu of a midday break, but also so that the kids would actually sit nicely and eat. When tired, our girls tend to get melty in their chairs, barely touch their food, and generally do anything that isn’t eating dinner. It took them nearly an hour to manage to eat dinner, with much coaxing from Hubby and myself that they at least needed to get enough in them that they wouldn’t be hungry at bedtime. The poor CM came over at least 3 times to check on us, but my pokey little puppies were barely making a dent in their meal. We finally had her bring out the desserts and finished up.
We weren’t done our meal until 6:35pm, but that had nothing to do with the service at the restaurant and everything to do with our kids. We all took turns using the restroom, which is really only noteworthy because it’s much too small for the size of the restaurant that it’s serving. There were only a couple of stalls, which was probably fine for a signature meal generally featuring adult patrons but doesn’t work as well for families with young kids and tiny bladders. The girls spotted some pins at a little stand in the lobby and opted to buy a Snow White pin to commemorate the meal. We caught a bus back to HS at 6:52pm and used the walking path to head back to Boardwalk. The bus ride gave the girls that little extra burst of energy they needed, because they walk/ran the whole way back to the hotel while Hubby and I pushed empty strollers.
We were on the elevator to our room at 7:28pm and Hubby decided he wasn’t going to try to get back to HS. In order to do so, he would have had to go over straight away, but he didn’t want to leave me to get three tired-but-hyper kids showered and in bed by myself. After getting the girls washed up, we put them to bed in their clothes for the next day and they crashed quickly. We then packed up everything we possibly could and I brought down all but one of our intended checked bags for bell services to hold. The next morning would involve trying to let the kids sleep as late as possible while simultaneously checking out of our room, utilizing RAC, and making it to MK for an 8am breakfast ADR. With our morning time crunch, I decided it was better to already have the bags that we could down there so that I wouldn’t have to either wait for bell services or bring them myself in the morning. With everything as packed as it could be, I finally let myself crash as well.
Our second day at Hollywood Studios had some of the highlights of the trip but also some of the most frustrating moments. The character and attraction downtime, coupled with the bad weather, lead to longer waits and greater congestion than we were expecting. On the other hand, Jedi Training and Storybook Dining were both amazing experiences that we hadn’t originally planned for but decided to fit in midway through the trip. In the end, when I look at what we missed out on, the only intended entertainment we had to forgo was the Indiana Jones show (and the funnel cake sundae from Oasis Canteen that I was planning to eat during that show). I’m sure the kids and I would have enjoyed the show, but this was the biggest bummer for Hubby, who would have loved it. If my crystal ball had been working, I’d have left him in HS to see that show on day 1 when the kids wanted to swim, but it wasn’t meant to be. In total, we rode four family rides and one adult swapped ride, met three characters, saw two shows, trained our future Jedi, and dined with dwarfs.
TheOneWithTheTriplets
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2018
Dining Plan Day 9
Day 9 Actual Spending
Backlot Express: $88.47
Artist Point: 249.21
DDP Day 9 Value: $337.68
Total DDP To Date: $2,806.31
Dining Value Above DDP Cost: $691.40
Moderate Splurge Adjustments
We definitely overbought at Backlot Express since we had plenty of credits left. Without the DDP, I knocked out a couple of the meals and the adult beverages. Also, if not for the dining plan, Storybook Dining at Artist Point wouldn’t have been on my radar. Instead, I’m estimating a QS dinner that we likely would have had. Since we’d have stayed in the park later, I’m also expecting I would have managed to get my hands on that funnel cake sundae after all.
Moderate Splurge Day Nince Estimated Cost (Tax and Tip): $94.93
Moderate Splurge Budget To Date: $1,924.03
Day 9 Actual Spending
Backlot Express: $88.47
Artist Point: 249.21
DDP Day 9 Value: $337.68
Total DDP To Date: $2,806.31
Dining Value Above DDP Cost: $691.40
Moderate Splurge Adjustments
We definitely overbought at Backlot Express since we had plenty of credits left. Without the DDP, I knocked out a couple of the meals and the adult beverages. Also, if not for the dining plan, Storybook Dining at Artist Point wouldn’t have been on my radar. Instead, I’m estimating a QS dinner that we likely would have had. Since we’d have stayed in the park later, I’m also expecting I would have managed to get my hands on that funnel cake sundae after all.
Moderate Splurge Day Nince Estimated Cost (Tax and Tip): $94.93
Moderate Splurge Budget To Date: $1,924.03
3threebabies
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 6, 2018
I love the HS applause box. Such a small thing to give so much joy. My 13 yo son kept jumping back and forth in January. It was a wonderful memory.
3threebabies
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 6, 2018
Also, I love your running food tally.
Cloe Colton
Registered
- Joined
- Mar 6, 2018
Stinks that so many rides were down, and like you said how dumb that Disney didn't plan ahead with character M&G spots in TSL but you guys still got so much done!! I'm glad your girls enjoyed Jedi Training and that you all enjoyed Artist Point Storybook Dining! Definitely one of my faves!
NJlauren
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 6, 2014
Bummer that so much was down and timing was tight, but overall looks like a great day! I love Jedi training, Dillon hasn’t been into it yet, but I keep thinking she may want to try it, but not yet!
Haha love did you see a man and 2 girls in Chewie dresses
Ugh kids, with taking
to eat... why?????
Looks like overall a good day, and as always amazing skill at these calcs!
Ambitious morning you have coming up!!!
Haha love did you see a man and 2 girls in Chewie dresses
Ugh kids, with taking
to eat... why?????Looks like overall a good day, and as always amazing skill at these calcs!
Ambitious morning you have coming up!!!
SimplyGoofy
"You are not Mickey Mouse... you are a rat!"
- Joined
- Jul 31, 2011
Despite all the snafus, it seems like you had a successful rest of your day at HS. I also would've been frustrated about missing the FP window for Little Mermaid, but I'm glad you managed to catch it later in the day. The Frozen Sing Along is my current favorite show at HS, but I do enjoy seeing the Little Mermaid every trip. The songs are fun, the effects are amusing, and it's air conditioned!
It looks like your girls had a great time at Jedi training! What great pictures!
I'm slowly coming around to Storybook Dining. I was quite sad when I heard they changed Artist Point to a character meal (I LOVED the original restaurant!), but the characters seem fun and most seem to enjoy the food. It's too bad your girls didn't love sitting through dinner as much as they did lunch, but I'm glad you got to fit in the experience! (Also, the "Heigh Ho Guys"? That's brilliant! )
I think it was a good call to deliver as many bags to bell services as possible. The less hassle, the better!
It looks like your girls had a great time at Jedi training! What great pictures!
I'm slowly coming around to Storybook Dining. I was quite sad when I heard they changed Artist Point to a character meal (I LOVED the original restaurant!), but the characters seem fun and most seem to enjoy the food. It's too bad your girls didn't love sitting through dinner as much as they did lunch, but I'm glad you got to fit in the experience! (Also, the "Heigh Ho Guys"? That's brilliant!
)I think it was a good call to deliver as many bags to bell services as possible. The less hassle, the better!
The weather was most annoying to me. I live in CA and we do not get a lot of rain or cold, so those are not things I am used to or like! Crowds were pretty big all day. The only character I saw outside was Pluto, but he was under cover. And then Star Wars characters, but those were inside and after the rain stopped as I recall. My friends and I really did not do a whole lot that day. I did wait in the SDD standby line, but it was still raining at that point, but finally stopped a little before I got on. It was posted at 75 minutes as I recall, but was definitely under an hour, so not bad overall. Just seemed like it was busy all around despite the rain!
missangelalexis
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 27, 2012
I'm sorry you didn't get to see Indiana Jones, but I love the pics of the girls with Woody & Jessie and I'm glad you and DH got to ride RnR!
Jedi Training sounds like it was a success! And the pics of the girls in the white box are too adorable, they look thrilled!
Lots of great pics from dinner, I'm glad it was a good experience even with the girls being a little slow to eat!
It's easy to focus on the things that went wrong, but it really does sound like it was good day!
Jedi Training sounds like it was a success! And the pics of the girls in the white box are too adorable, they look thrilled!
Lots of great pics from dinner, I'm glad it was a good experience even with the girls being a little slow to eat!
It's easy to focus on the things that went wrong, but it really does sound like it was good day!
caylene44
Aspiring Disney Travel Planner
- Joined
- Aug 19, 2015
They are such characters! Every time you post pictures of them, I am cracking up. Way too cute.
I have vivid memories of Honey I Shrunk the Audience from when I was younger!
Despite the snafus, sounds like you guys still had a good time. Jedi Training looks like a lot of fun.
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