But Did You Die? A December 2019 TR *COMPLETE 12/13*

Notice J’s head is down, that is his default position on any thrill ride. Despite what the picture shows, the boys love Dino.
Well, as long as they will try it and say they enjoy it... I guess actually seeing isn't necessary. :rotfl:
Launchpad really liked Joe’s Ducktales shirt.
I do too!
There were some very unhappy kids in this show, they weren’t mine though.
Kind of nice to have that sometimes. That reminder that all kids have their moments and for once you aren't the guilty family. :rotfl::lmao::rotfl2:
Once their ice cream was devoured we got in line for our last FP, Expedition Everest. N needed to be measured and we all waited with bated breath to see if he made it. He was just tall enough to ride! Land of 44” rides here we come.
:banana: Awesome!
C and J were scared to ride, but we pressed on.
N was super excited though.
Isn't that how it usually works? The older ones are scared, the one that doesn't or barely meets the height is all in!
When I win mother of the year, they should show this picture.
:rotfl2: In his defense, I get it though. I mean, he's hesitant about the ride anyway and has to ride with a stranger. I wouldn't have been super excited about that when I was his age, and as the oldest of 3, I always had to ride as the single rider so I can totally relate.
N was so happy for the first bit of the ride' screaming weeeee!! About the part we started going backwards, the wees stopped and he was silent :oops: .
:rotfl2::rotfl::lmao:
Let’s just zoom in on N here.
That might be the best picture of this TR. It will be hard to top. :rotfl:
The verdict from all three boys, they hated it. And with that wonderful memory, it was time to leave for the night.
Well, at least they tried it!
I wanted to express how the balls of my feet were very sore. For some reason felt that saying all that was too much so what came out was, “My balls are hurtin’”. Not what I intended to say, but it got the message across:blush:.
And you certainly made for a memorable moment, and likely a TR title, for anyone who overheard you out of context. :lmao:
 
Glad the boys rode EE even if they weren't happy about it lol. Those pictures will be great to show years later!

:rotfl: :rotfl: Sorry about your balls. It happens to me all the time though that things don't always come out how I plan for them to lol.
 
Oh no, sorry the boys didn't like EE! But other than that, sounds like a nice night at AK !
They were good sports about it, and didn't let it effect the rest of the evening.

And sorry about your balls :rotfl2::rotfl:
Thanks😂😂

I hope your balls are better :scared::smooth:
They are much better :rotfl2::rotfl2:

Your EE pictures remind me of the pictures from Chris's first ride on TOT, he looked like he was in the middle of a slow motion scream :rotfl2:and as a fellow mom of the year I found that hysterical!
:rotfl:Love it!

Can't wait to see what you had planned for the next morning!
It was EPIC

Loving your trip report! Looking forward to your next installment 😊😊😊
Thanks for reading!
 


I'm glad I'm not the only mom to make kids go to bed dressed in tomorrow's clothes :rotfl2:
It is so useful when you have to get up early. Those extra minutes to sleep are precious.

Well, as long as they will try it and say they enjoy it... I guess actually seeing isn't necessary. :rotfl:
No why do they need to see it :lmao:

Kind of nice to have that sometimes. That reminder that all kids have their moments and for once you aren't the guilty family. :rotfl::lmao::rotfl2:
I LOVE when its not us, because let's face it, it's us enough of the time

It feels so good to cross over to a new set of rides we can all enjoy together.

Isn't that how it usually works? The older ones are scared, the one that doesn't or barely meets the height is all in!
That's because the younger ones don't know any better :rotfl2:

That might be the best picture of this TR. It will be hard to top. :rotfl:
It is definitely my favorite for sure.

And you certainly made for a memorable moment, and likely a TR title, for anyone who overheard you out of context. :lmao:
Oh gosh, that adds a whole other layer of embarrassment to think who over heard me :eek:

Glad the boys rode EE even if they weren't happy about it lol. Those pictures will be great to show years later!
For sure, it is my duty to collect embarrassing photos to show their significant others later in life.

:rotfl: :rotfl: Sorry about your balls. It happens to me all the time though that things don't always come out how I plan for them to lol.
Me too, Joe is always teasing me about the things that get mixed up when they come out of my mouth.
 
The Ashley Special, Two Coffees

Once again, I had a very difficult time sleeping. I woke up many times throughout the night, one time being when Epcot Forever was going off. I was finally up at 4:00. I got myself ready, and when I got out of the shower, Joe was also up. The excitement was palpable. This was a day we have been waiting 4 years for. We quietly got C and J up. Thanks to my ingenious planning the night before, it was a relatively quick process. We placed a sleeping N into the stroller and left the room right around 4:45.


I have only walked to DHS from the Boardwalk area once, and I was following someone else, so I wasn’t entirely sure where to go. There was no Disney transportation running at this time of day, and we couldn’t take a normal car without car seats, so I hoped we would find our way.


It was very quiet, we didn’t see another soul until we neared DHS. The right bag check line wasn’t too bad, this was our view for the time being.


I had prepared myself the Ashley special, two coffee, to get me through this morning.


They opened security at 5:30 and in the commotion N woke up. There were less than 10 people in front of us at the tapstiles, but we still had a lengthy wait in front of us. We had prepared and broke one of our cardinal Disney rules by allowing the boys iPads while we waited.


Unfortunately after about 30 minutes they made everyone stand up, which we thought meant we would be getting in soon, so we put the iPads away. The boys were very cranky and antsy after that. We passed the time chatting with other Star Wars fans. This morning reminded me a lot of Star Wars weekends, the excitement was contagious, we were all just so happy to be there. It was honestly a really cool thing to be a part of. At 6:30, they opened up the park, official park opening was 7. We had a good strategy. Joe would scan in first, and then as soon as he saw the last of us scan, he would start looking for a boarding group. He got us in group 15, the people behind us that I had been chatting with got 14. We wished each other luck for a successful day, and headed off towards Galaxy’s Edge. We were led back by cast members, and there was just one other group in front of us. I didn’t get any pictures as we entered the land, one because I was pushing the stroller, and two I was just trying to take it all in while also keeping my place in the crowd. Now normally I would tear up seeing the castle for the first time, but that didn't happen this trip. I did however tear up walking into Galaxy’s Edge for the first time. We were walked all the way back to the Millennium Falcon, and honestly I was so turned around, but from what I could see I like the land.


We were able to walk right on MF:SR.




Walking onto the Falcon for the first time.




We were given our positions, C and N were pilots, J and I were gunners, and Joe was an engineer. We were not paired with anyone else.

Pilots ready.





My very blurry picture of the cockpit.


We did not fly well.


N was too short to even reach the hyperdrive, but I do appreciate that even if you suck, the ride can still be enjoyable. However, I didn’t love the ride. I loved getting to go on the Millennium Falcon, and be in the cockpit, but that was about it. I didn’t feel like the motion was that good, and the whole storyline kind of boring. That said, everyone else loved it. We walked out and got right back in line. I think the wait might have said 20 minutes, but it was more like 10. It was nice to be able to check out the queue a bit too.












While we were in line we got a notification that our boarding group was being called.

This time J and Joe were pilots, I was gunner with N, and C was the engineer.







We crashed it again, and this time the CM made sure to mention it, which was fun. But we were too pumped for Rise to care. We hadn’t left the MF area, and we had no idea where we were in the land. It probably took me until my third walk around the land to really get a feel for the layout. We stopped at the bathrooms in the marketplace area, and then made our way to Rise.

 
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Notice J’s head is down, that is his default position on any thrill ride. Despite what the picture shows, the boys love Dino. Meanwhile, Joe and N were meeting some characters.
Too cute!
We spotted Dug and Russell's cute Christmas trees.
I love them, so well themed!
The verdict from all three boys, they hated it. And with that wonderful memory, it was time to leave for the night. Animal Kingdom would still be open for another hour, but we had big plans the following morning and needed our beauty sleep. We stopped to view the Christmas Tree of Life Awakenings.
Oh no! Maybe they will try it again one day.
When we got back to the hotel, it was all business. They boys got dressed in the next day’s clothes, to make getting ready easier. Joe and I prepped everything that we would need for the following morning. We were in bed and asleep by 8.
You are so organized!
I had prepared myself the Ashley special, two coffee, to get me through this morning.
The only way!
We were given our positions, C and N were pilots, J and I were gunners, and Joe was an engineer. We were not paired with anyone else.
Can't wait to try this in person!
We crashed it again, and this time the CM made sure to mention it, which was fun. But we were too pumped for Rise to care. We hadn’t left the MF area, and we had no idea where we were in the land. It probably took me until my third walk around the land to really get a feel for the layout. We stopped at the bathrooms in the marketplace area, and then made our way to Rise.
Looking forward to hearing all about it!
 


What an exciting morning! It's great that you got to ride Smugglers Run twice before your boarding group was called!! Can't wait to hear about your experience on RotR!!
 
Thanks to my ingenious planning the night before, it was a relatively quick process. We placed a sleeping N into the stroller and left the room right around 4:45.
Gotta love it when you put in the effort to plan... and it actually works out well!
We had a good strategy. Joe would scan in first, and then as soon as he saw the last of us scan, he would start looking for a boarding group. He got us in group 15
Not bad at all!
N was too short to even reach the hyperdrive, but I do appreciate that even if you suck, the ride can still be enjoyable. However, I didn’t love the ride. I loved getting to go on the Millennium Falcon, and be in the cockpit, but that was about it. I didn’t feel like the motion was that good, and the whole storyline kind of boring. That said, everyone else loved it. We walked out and got right back in line. I think the wait might have said 20 minutes, but it was more like 10. It was nice to be able to check out the queue a bit too.
Seems to be the consensus about this ride. I can't wait to explore the Falcon, but I've never been a big fan of rides that are screen based motion simulator type things.
We crashed it again, and this time the CM made sure to mention it, which was fun. But we were too pumped for Rise to care. We hadn’t left the MF area, and we had no idea where we were in the land. It probably took me until my third walk around the land to really get a feel for the layout. We stopped at the bathrooms in the marketplace area, and then made our way to Rise.
I can't wait to see what you all thought of Rise!!!!
 
I love them, so well themed!
They did such a good job with all the AK Christmas decorations

Oh no! Maybe they will try it again one day.
Hopefully

You are so organized!
I try, it's kind of a necessity with three little boys.

The only way!
I mean, I couldn't have made it without.

What an exciting morning! It's great that you got to ride Smugglers Run twice before your boarding group was called!! Can't wait to hear about your experience on RotR!!
We really made use of that extra time.

Gotta love it when you put in the effort to plan... and it actually works out well!
It's like a 50-50 chance it will actually work out :rotfl2:

Not bad at all!
I wasn't sure how things would be moving, remember this was only 5 days after it opened, but I was hopeful we would get on in the morning.

Seems to be the consensus about this ride. I can't wait to explore the Falcon, but I've never been a big fan of rides that are screen based motion simulator type things.
Yeah, I'm not s huge fan either, but I do like Star Tours. is it blasphemous to say I like ST better than MF:SR
 
It was fun reading about your early morning at HS! Kind of disappointing that most have the same opinion you do about Smugglers Run. Anxious to hear what you thought of R of the R!
 
How fun that you got to ride MFSR twice with little wait! What do you think of the new way they are doing boarding groups? (All at park open vs. first come, first served)

I also felt lost on Batuu. I still don't think I could find my way around- after spending an afternoon and an evening there!
 
It was fun reading about your early morning at HS! Kind of disappointing that most have the same opinion you do about Smugglers Run. Anxious to hear what you thought of R of the R!
It's still a fun ride, but certainly no match when compare to other new rides like FoP or RotR.

How fun that you got to ride MFSR twice with little wait! What do you think of the new way they are doing boarding groups? (All at park open vs. first come, first served)

I also felt lost on Batuu. I still don't think I could find my way around- after spending an afternoon and an evening there!
I think the new way sounds horrific. As someone who has young children, I understand it is difficult to get up for these types of things. But you are either willing to do it or your not. Coddling the people who would otherwise have stayed in bed, if it was first come first served is frankly annoying. I am SO glad we were able to experience it this way. Although I will be doing the less magical way in May, so I guess we'll see.
 
Great start to the morning in Galaxy's Edge! I wish they were still doing the boarding passes as soon as you scan into the park.
 
Great start to the morning in Galaxy's Edge! I wish they were still doing the boarding passes as soon as you scan into the park.

Me too:sad:, every time I read anything about DHS now, it just sounds like a hot mess. The way this morning worked out for us was so smooth and honestly enjoyable. Not looking forward to even going there when we visit in May.
 
Worth the Wait

There were legions of CM stationed outside the attraction, and their sole purpose was to ask you what boarding group you had. If you said the right number, that granted you access to another line of CMs who had Ipads, and were scanning magicbands to verify, your boarding group. Only then were you allowed to enter the area where the queue started. Each time, they had to measure N, who is clearly taller than 40” (he was never checked at any other 40” ride) and then finally we could enter the queue. After the initial outside portion of the queue, you enter caves, where you can literally see how they cut into the rock.




Inside the caves, there are many of the typical rebels/resistance equipment strewn throughout.


















We were at the pre-show in under ten minutes.




This effect was really cool. Before Rey shows up it is almost imperceptible that there is glass here. And once the projection starts, it actually looks like a real hologram. From the pre-show you are escorted outside, were you find BB8 in Poe’s X-wing.


There is a transport waiting to take you to the secret resistance base.


On the transport there is an amazing AA figure of Lieutenant Bek.




Unfortunately our escape plans are thwarted and a Star Destroyer sucks us with its tractor beam. A first order person boards the transport and tells us we are being taken to interrogation. At this point you enter the Star Destroyer, and this might be my favorite part of the entire experience. The room is massive, and the screen with the ships passing out in space and the stormtroopers intimidatingly staring you down. There is so few times when I have been able to take myself out of reality and actually believe I am somewhere else and in this giant hanger, I believed I was on a Star Destroyer.




I was too excited so I took a horrible selfie.


This is the one part of the experience that I didn’t like. After you are escorted into another queue, and it does kind of take you out of the experience a bit. You're just kind stuck in this hallway until you are sorted into your ride group. The CMs here are fantastic. They are super intimidating, and will even start to scare the kids. We were assigned our groups, and our CM made sure to insult us into remembering our groups.






Once you are taken to the interrogation room, you see more stormtroopers, General Hux, and Kylo Ren. Joe especially appreciated how them pacing above you was even reflected in the shadows, instead of it just being a screen of them walking. The whole thing just felt so real.


At this point you are rescued by the Resistance and they have a transport to get you off the Star Destroyer. This is the actual ride portion.




I didn’t get many pictures of the maneuvering around the ship, because I was just trying to take it all in.






At the end of the ride, I was blown away. There have been a few times I have gotten off a ride and just thought WOW, and this was one of them. The effects are so cool and realistic, the only one that I don’t think they completely pulled off was Kylo cutting through the ceiling. I literally just kept saying wow the whole time, as that sums up my experience. This being my first trackless experience, I love that you never know where you’re going to go. My favorite parts of the ride were coming face to face with the AT-ATs and when Kylo Ren forces pushes you back and forth. I couldn’t wait to experience it again, and it was so worth the early wake-up call.

 
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Super late to the party but joining in.

Your trip so far sounds lovely. I'd like to do a Christmas trip someday: the parks look so cool decorated.
 
Super late to the party but joining in.

Your trip so far sounds lovely. I'd like to do a Christmas trip someday: the parks look so cool decorated.
Thanks for joining in. We love all the festiveness of Disney at Christmas, definitely worth going if you get a chance.
 
Blue or Green

By the time we got off it was 8:00 and we decided to try and knock some other rides out of the way and explore Galaxy’s Edge at a later time. We found our way out of GE and into Toy Storyland.


It was cute seeing it decorated for Christmas.




Our first stop was for TSMM, the posted wait was 20 minutes, and we waited about that.


The boys wanted to sit together again.


Me vs. N.


I was the clear winner


Joe beat us all though.




We checked out wait times for the rest of the park, and they were already more than we were willing to wait. So we were trying to decide what to do.


We were all feeling hungry and really wanted to get back to GE, so we decided to do that.




The milk stand was right there, and no one was in line, so we picked up one of each.


I really didn’t care for either of them, and never feel the need to get them again. If I had to pick it would be bleu milk, the green just had a funky taste to it. Everyone else really like the blue.






We checked out the First Order store, and in came the barrage of “I wants”. We had given each child a $50 Disney Gift card and then they had $50 cash from my grandma to spend. But they wanted everything, especially N, so they would have run out of money day one. My rule was if they saw something they wanted and they still wanted it the next day, then and only then could they buy it. We left the store with a long list.






We walked back over to the MF area, just trying to get our bearings.








When we got to the marketplace area, we were drawn in by the smell of Ronto Roasters.




I did mobile order, and we found a seat while Joe grabbed the food.




I went with the breakfast wrap.


I thought it was very good. It wasn’t anything particularly outstanding, but it’s hard to impress with breakfast food.

Look at the cool cups.



Joe went with the traditional ronto wrap, and I was envious.


The slaw gave it a nice crunch and the sauce was a nice tangy balance to the sausage. I really wished I had gotten that instead.

 
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My rule was if they saw something they wanted and they still wanted it the next day, then and only then could they buy it. We left the store with a long list.

I like this idea. My girls don't have a great sense of their buying power, so telling them something costs "a lot" is generally sufficient to get them off if something that I think isn't worth their money.

The slaw gave it a nice crunch and the sauce was a nice tangy balance to the sausage. I really wished I had gotten that instead.

His photographed better, too. I'm a big fan of a sandwich with slaw, so I think I'd like the wrap, too.
 

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