~The Trip That Changed a Million Times~ An Adults Only Sept 2019 TR NEW 1/24

Gina Starr

DIS Veteran
Joined
Mar 29, 2015
Hello and welcome to my second TR! You can find my first TR here. I guess I will start where all good TRs start- the intro. I’m never really good at these because I don’t know what people want to know about me plus I’m super boring but here goes!

I’m Gina and I enjoy finding yummy gluten free foods, watching YouTube pretty much all the time, being indecisive about my hair color, and overusing exclamation points!


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My husband is Donnie and he enjoys collecting Funko Pop figures, playing video games, watching Disney vlogs, and “just looking” at the store.

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We are #childlessmillennials who are high school sweethearts and this was our 9th trip to Disney together in the last 5 years! This trip was both planned for a long time and thrown together at the last minute. That isn’t a riddle- we were planning a September trip for a while but changed the dates no less than 87,657 times and finally made final plans (including hotel reservations) about 12 hours before we left. If you want to find out more, keep reading!

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*Sorry this is kind of a lame intro but I wanna get right into the report since I’m starting this a good two months later than I wanted to!
 
Wowwwwwww. I’ve been gone for a minute. I’m so sorry! I’m going to blame it partially on just life stuff but mostly laziness. We have a new trip coming up in 38 days and I really wanna get this TR done before we go so hopefully people like speed reports. It was a shorter trip and I don’t have tons of photos so it should go quick. I started editing my photos but only got through day one so you may or may not see a difference in the rest of the trip’s photos. Also, I wrote this all on the way home (gotta love long car rides) so hopefully it all makes sense

Day 0- September 23rd Travel Day/The Day Everything Changed



So we woke up and went to work this day like normal thinking we had to make it to Friday before our trip started. Then something happened (the details of which I won’t bore you with) and we were looking for new reservations the next day (September 24th) and texting my mom to make sure she could watch our dog and that Donnie’s MNSSHP costume would be done. Our original trip dates were Sept. 27- Oct. 2 now it was Sept. 23-29. Unfortunately POFQ, aka home, wasn’t available for the whole trip so we had a triple split stay for only 5 nights which I wouldn’t recommend but oh well. The first three nights were at All Star Movies which was a new resort for us. The 4th night was at POFQ in a river view room and the 5th night was at PORS in a royal room (these were really the only options other than the Poly for like $1000/night)



So we worked til 7:30 this day and since our tickets for MNSSHP were for the next day we had to leave this night. This whole thing really only worked because we drive. Obviously if we flew this wouldn’t work. We got home at 7:45 and we hadn’t packed yet. We had clothes set out and since it was a shorter trip than normal I was trying to pack light anyways. We got home at 7:45, I grabbed something to eat (I am gluten free and it’s a little harder to find something to eat on the road so it was easier to do that) and we packed/got everything ready for Pepper. We were leaving by 9:13 pm.




We got to my parents’ house which is luckily on the way and dropped Pepper off and picked up Donnie’s costume that my mom hurriedly finished just an hour or two before. Donnie grabbed some fast food to eat and we were officially on the road at 10:00pm. We were both really excited and he said he never wants to plan Disney in advance again! I always like to see what our ETA is with no stops or traffic and see how close we can get to that. Currently it was 12pm so how close were we?
 
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Day 1 Part 1 September 24 Arrival Day/ MNSSHP



I tried to stay awake as long as I could to keep Donnie company. We like to listen to audiobooks on the way and chose to start the Harry Potter books again. I fell asleep around 1 am and woke up just 45 minutes later when Donnie stopped for a bathroom break which was probably just a get out and walk around so I don’t fall asleep break. I decided to make some random fast passes at this point (and, spoiler) I think we kept maybe one of them. I fell asleep again on and off for a few hours until we stopped for gas/bathroom break again around 7:30. Donnie admitted defeat and asked me to drive. This might not seem like a big deal but every trip so far, he has driven the whole way. We only have one car since we work together and he drives everywhere. When he got his wisdom teeth removed last month and I had to drive him home he was so worried. He admitted I was a good driver when he was still loopy from the medicine so I have been teasing him that I can drive more. I am a good driver but he just likes to drive and be in control while driving. Anyways! Since he asked me to drive that really meant he was tired.



I only drove for two and a half hours before he woke up and claimed he was good to take over again. Since we had packed so quickly we knew we would forget something and we did so we stopped at Walmart and to get gas and got back on the road. I had packed a sandwich in our cooler from home knowing I wouldn’t have many options so I ate that now. We made more stops than normal so our eta was a good bit later than I wanted. I kept checking the MDE app to see if we got our room assigned yet and we hadn’t even at about 2:30.

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We got to All Stars Movies right at 3:00 and had to go to the check in desk. I requested the Toy Story section during online check in but I checked the box that I would prefer having my room ready early over that. So this is where Donnie and I really started missing POFQ. Let me preface this by saying: we are totally not snobby in any way, we just really love FQ for many reasons. Before this trip I didn’t feel strongly one way or the other about Value resorts. At one point our whole trip was going to be at All Stars Movies. We will never be able to afford to stay at a deluxe resort unless we rent DVC points. I’m saying all this because I don’t want to come across like I feel like I’m too good because that’s not it at all, I’m just used to a different experience.



Anyways, we go up to the check in desk and we weren’t greeted at all, pretty much just a “what do you want” She told us our room wasn’t ready and I said I don’t care where our room is I just want a room (nicely) because we were already running late for MNSSHP. During our drive I had made a tentative party plan and that meant getting there at 4 or earlier which obviously wasn’t going to happen and I know that’s not their fault. She didn’t really reply, just walked away. About 10 minutes later I got a text that our room was ready and she still was somewhere doing something with our magic bands. She did come back shortly after and said our room was ready and gave us a map with our room number on it but again no other pleasantries. We stopped to get our mugs that we overpay for since we never do the dining plan but still like to have. Donnie got the Halloween one and I got a cute Mickey one.

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We walked to the room first to check it out and my magic band didn’t work. First it flashed green quickly then it went to red. When we got in (luckily Donnie’s magic band worked) it was so hot in there! The thermostat was set to 68 and wouldn’t go any lower. I tried to call from the room phone to let them know about our magic bands and the phone said in use and there was no dial tone. Donnie went to move the car and bring in the luggage and we ran around getting ready. While I was walking around in my bare feet (which I don’t usually do in hotel rooms because I’m a weird germaphobe) little crumbs were sticking to my feet. I try to ignore all this and just try to have fun.

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Coming up: Our evening at MNSSHP

 
Hi Gina! Glad to see you back and looking forward to reading about this ever changing trip!


I'm sorry your hotel experience wasn't off to a good start :( But glad you got a room to start getting ready for the party!
 


Following along . Looking forward to reading more. Hope the room situation improves
 
Joining!

Your room looks very nice, despite the drama beforehand. Looking forward to reading more
 
Joining in!

It sucks when the check-in experience isn't great and sets the trip off on a bad foot.
 


Hi Gina! Glad to see you back and looking forward to reading about this ever changing trip!


I'm sorry your hotel experience wasn't off to a good start :( But glad you got a room to start getting ready for the party!

:welcome: Thanks for joining!

Following along . Looking forward to reading more. Hope the room situation improves

:wave2: Thanks for being here!

Joining!

Your room looks very nice, despite the drama beforehand. Looking forward to reading more

:welcome: Thank you for joining in!

Joining in!

It sucks when the check-in experience isn't great and sets the trip off on a bad foot.

:wave2: Thanks for reading along!
 
What better time to finish a trip report than on the way home from another trip? I had planned on finishing this before we went on our January trip but ya know, life happens. If you are still reading, thank you! If I used to be active on your TR, I’m sorry! I have caught up on all of them but just haven’t been able to comment/quote. I hope to fix that after I finish this one and start my new one. Because I want to start the new one ASAP and since this whole thing is already typed up, I will probably just post the rest of it all at once.


Day 1 Part 2 MNSSHP

We got to the bus stop at 4:23 and a bus was there but it was full. Luckily we only waited 8 minutes for another one. We got into Town Square Theater right at 5:00 to check on the wait to meet Jack and Sally and it was three and a half hours!!! No thanks! I was pretty upset because that was one of the things on my must do list and I felt like if we weren’t late we would have been able to meet them. Trying not to dwell on it, we decided to go through the bypass to get our trick or treat bags.

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(I have faded henna on my hand and wrist if you were curious)

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I really didn’t know what to do next because I thought we’d be in line for Jack and Sally still and wasn’t really sure what other party things started before 7. We were both hungry so we decided to mobile order Pecos Bills. I got the Chicken Rice Bowl and Donnie got the Southwest Salad with Chicken. We both liked our food but it didn’t like us! (Sorry if this is oversharing but we both have acid reflux and Mexican food probably wasn’t the best choice)

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We forgot to get a map at the front so I pulled one up on my phone trying to see what to do until the party officially started. We decided to just do some rides since everything had short waits. We decided to do Pirates since we were close by. I think it said either 10 or 15 minutes but it was a literal walk on. Next we went to Haunted Mansion which was only 10 minutes. It was 6:55 at this time so we decided to see if Trick or Treating started. While they do have allergy friendly options at the party, I decided to just get regular treats because the allergy friendly ones didn’t interest me and I can eat a lot of the regular candy. We went to PhilharMagic first, then Pinocchio’s Village Haus, Ariel’s Grotto, and Cosmic Ray’s. We rode Buzz next and I won! I couldn’t believe it! I usually suck at this but I won! Donnie claimed that his gun quit shooting, he just can’t admit that I won fair and square.

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(No idea what he’s showing me! Haha)

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We finally got around to something on our must do list at 7:45- the Monster’s Inc Laugh Floor treat trail. The line was longgggg but it went quick. We sat down for a bit and watched as they picked on one lady for almost the whole time. We sat on the end of one of the middle rows and it’s like our row had a sign “Please cut through this row!” People who were just walking through to get candy cut in front of us instead of just walking in the back or front. If it happened once it happened 5 or 6 times!

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We stayed for 10-15 minutes then went to Haunted Mansion because I wanted to catch the characters out front, namely Madame Carlotta. We got there and there was a massive line out the fast pass line which is where they were sending people through and Carlotta wasn’t even out, it was some guy. We had to get going to get to our next must do thing so we didn’t stick around.
 
We walked around the side of the castle and everything was taped off for the parade already but it was only 15-20 minutes until the Hocus Pocus show and there was tons of street space open. Donnie asked a CM and they said we could stand there for the show but they were going to clear it for the parade so we got a pretty close spot. I really liked the show! The beginning was a little slow but the second half was very entertaining.

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It ended at 8:50 and we were supposed to check in for the dessert party at 8:45 but I had already read it wasn’t necessary to get there that early. We checked in and the chef came to talk me about my allergy. They brought me out my plate and I was a little sad. I was able to get the Billy’s Dirt and Worms dessert but nothing else was a party dessert. They had both the Sally push up cake and the pumpkin chocolate cheesecake at the dessert party and the larger sizes are gluten free so I didn’t understand why I couldn’t have the mini versions of those. Oh well, I really couldn’t eat much anyways. I had a ton left so I asked for a to go box. They said they don’t normally do that and I totally get it but since mine was a special plate I figured it would go to waste if I just left it. They did give me a box and said if anyone asked where I got it, I definitely didn’t get it there. It wasn’t even 9:30 when we were done with dessert and the fireworks didn’t start til 10:15. Since we had the plaza viewing we could leave and just come back to the plaza when we want.

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We didn’t want to waste party time so we went over to Pirates to ride it this time with the overlay. It was posted at 20 minutes but it was only 5 minutes. We have watched a few videos and the Pirates in the line interacted way more in the videos than they did with us. They pretty much said hi. Maybe because we walked through the line so fast. We did like the Pirates in the ride though. Look at my face in the picture- hahaha

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We got to the fireworks viewing area a few minutes before 10. It was pretty empty which was nice. I loved being able to sit comfortably and stand up just as they started and not have a million people on top of me. As far as the actual fireworks- meh. They were enjoyable but I am just totally not a fireworks person! I would have a much worse opinion of them if we didn’t have the dessert party though! (no fireworks pictures! They never turn out good) Since we had missed several of my must dos tonight I made it a point to get the Haunted Mansion magic shots. There was only one person in line for the Hatbox Ghost shot! The PP CM told me to look scared so I immediately put my hands on my cheeks and she was like “let me clarify- look scared without raising your hands” Am I the only one who thinks scared = 😱

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It was a bit before 11 and Boo to You started at 11:15 so I wanted to grab a spot. We always watch Festival of Fantasy from Frontierland and figured we would do the same thing. We actually found a wide open front row spot across from Diamond Horseshoe so decided to take it. We would be able to sit! As much as I feel indifferent about fireworks I actually love parades! Boo to You was amazing! The song is so catchy and the headless horseman and grave diggers are awesome. We agreed that we didn’t love the western part of it but everything else was awesome.

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We were really starting to fade fast. Donnie slept poorly Sunday night and then slept maybe 1-2 hours Monday night in the car. I also didn’t sleep great in the car so we just wanted to shower and sleep! We got back the room at 12:30 and I got in the shower almost immediately. The water pressure was awful and I couldn’t get the water hot. I get that hotels have bad water pressure due to the sheer amount of people using water at the same time but it was almost 1 am, not a popular shower time. I pulled down the top blanket and noticed a light yellow staining all over the entire sheets. I was so tired I just wanted to sleep but that was the last thing that pushed me over the edge with All Stars Movies. I had received an email earlier in the day with a survey (like an hour after we checked in) plus there was a letter saying to let them know if there’s problems. So even though I was exhausted I typed everything up and filled out the survey. (I did get a text message in the middle of the night from the manager saying he tried to call us but it was busy. A. Yes, it’s busy the room phone doesn’t work! B. Why are you trying to call me at 3 in the morning?! I got another message from a different manager at a more reasonable hour and she was super nice and apologetic. She apparently saw our FP for the next day was for Epcot so she said she would give us a gift card so we could get a nice dinner at Epcot and the in room issues would be resolved while we were out. She definitely did everything she could to make it right and we of course didn’t expect a gift card but it was a nice offer. More to come tomorrow with this saga)
 
Since I post pictures straight through the dis instead of a photo hosting site I’m limited to 10 pictures per post so here’s some random ones from the night.

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Coming up: Day 2- Our first Food and Wine Fesitval

 
Day 2- A More Relaxing Day

We had big plans to sleep in a bit today. I set up our FP for today starting at 11am. We woke up around 9:30 and took our time getting ready. I ate some leftover desserts from the party for breakfast. We got to the bus stop around 11:15. Not sure what happened in the next 45 minutes but my next note says we got on Spaceship Earth with our FP at 12:00. Possibly our last ride on SE before it goes down for the long refurb. (spoiler for next tr- it wasn’t!) I was able to move up our Figment FP to pretty much immediately. Total waste of a FP because it was a walk on. Our ride vehicle wasn’t even full but with the tiers at Epcot not much we can do. So not only was I able to get a Frozen FP for today on the ride down to Florida but I was also able to move that FP up after we tapped in for Figment.

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It was time to start eating at Food and Wine! I had a list of things I wanted to try but Donnie just kind of saw things as we walked by and decided he wanted to try it. First up was Lump Crab Cake with Napa Cabbage Slaw and Avocado-Lemongrass Cream from Coastal Eats and Smoked Corned Beef with Crispy Potatoes, Cheese Curds, Pickled Onions, and Beer-Cheese Fondue from Flavors from Fire. He liked both of them but preferred the Corned Beef.

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Next was Liquid Nitro Chocolate-Almond Truffle with Warm Whiskey-Caramel from The Chocolate Studio. I was super excited for this since it was one of the few gluten free items. I don’t know if it was too hot for the liquid nitro part of this but it just tasted like chocolate mousse which of course is yummy but nothing special.

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Next was Canada for the oh so famous filet. It was about 1:30 at this point on a Wednesday and it was dead! Like only a few other people in line, waiting no more than a few minutes for each item. We each got our own filet because this was again gluten free and I wanted it all! I have read this is pretty hit or miss but ours was delicious. It was a little pink for me but most people would cringe at the temperature I like my steak so some people would probably call it over cooked. Still it was super tender and had a great taste! Donnie wanted to immediately go get another one but we held off.

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It was getting HOT so our goal was to get around World Showcase, only stopping for what I want because Donnie actually decided he was full. My number one must try was the Cheese Bread from Brazil. Yes, it’s gluten free because it’s made with rice flour (I think)! I didn’t really know what to expect but it was soooo good! I barely finished the bread when I came across the Creme Brûlée from France. It had hazelnut at the bottom (aka Nutella). Best creme brûlée I have had!!

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Have I mentioned it was super hot?! We needed a break and were coming up on the American Adventure. Perfect timing. I honestly zoned out most the show but at the end when Franklin and Twain are talking their hands kept hitting each other and I almost burst out laughing. Then they “shook hands” and I couldn’t hold it back- I laughed out loud. Their hands didn’t even touch and their fingers were spread far apart. It’s hard to explain but it was hilarious. We also stayed for Voices of Liberty but just sat against the wall. One of these times we will listen closer/where they recommend. We were still just trying to relax a little. When we finally got motivated enough to leave we saw a lady in a regular wheelchair holding onto an ECV in front of her which was pulling her. Donnie said it was genius! If we ever need wheelchairs we will do that. Wheelchairs are cheaper to rent than ECVs so it is also budget friendly.

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It was 4:00 now so we were starting to head out. Donnie NEEDED to get bubble tea from China. He discovered this in January during Festival of the Arts and he loved it. I like milk tea but I don’t like the tapioca boba. I prefer popping boba so we both got one and when I got down to just the boba Donnie drank the rest of mine. (Pro tip I learned this week- you can ask for it without the boba!)

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The last thing I wanted to try was Passionfruit Cheesecake with Toasted Macadamia Nuts from Hawaii. It was decent but nothing special. If it wasn’t a thousand degrees and I wasn’t super tired I would have walked back to France and got another creme brûlée.

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We went into MouseGears next and I don’t know if it was now or earlier but I know we got our Passholder magnets. If it was a longer trip I would have liked to get the coaster set but there just wasn’t enough days in the trip. We also got some Food and Wine pins.

We had talked about what we wanted to do tonight because we were planning on doing EEMH (extra extra magic hours) at Hollywood Studios tomorrow for Galaxy's Edge so we wanted to be in bed early. We decided on Disney Springs because I wanted to get Erin McKennas and Donnie wanted to go to World of Disney. We got to the bus stop at 4:47 and were on a bus at 5:00 thank goodness because the DS bus stop is out in the sun! We first went to Uniqlo. I found a cute shirt I liked but I hate trying on clothes at Disney after I’ve been all gross and sweaty so I held it up and it looked big enough/maybe even like it would be baggy. Spoiler alert- it didn’t fit and I never went back to return it. At least it was only $10.

Then we went over to World of Disney which we still hate. Its just so boring in there and it’s hard to keep track of where you have already looked. And after being in both MouseGears and The Emporium already, I really didn’t see too much different in there. Donnie wanted to go into Amorette’s since it was right there. I wasn’t planning on getting anything but I decided to ask what they had that was gluten free. They told me what was gluten friendly but since they work with flour nothing was completely free from cross contamination. I usually don’t have a problem with that so I got a pumpkin creme brûlée. I love pumpkin flavored things so I was excited about this but the one from Food and Wine was better. It was still yummy though. Donnie got something pretty but I can’t remember what it’s called. Based on the menu online it might be the Avant-Garde but his had raspberry and the menu doesn’t include that. He thought it was delicious. We also got a strawberry frozen drink. It was super good! Just a basic slushy type drink but it tasted like real strawberries, not that obvious fake syrup stuff.

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Next up was Erin McKennas. I like to stock up on pastries for breakfast and obviously it’s all gluten free so I can have anything there! Donnie of course gets stuff too because he can’t be left out. Our last stop was Blaze. I was trying to decide what I wanted for dinner and pizza sounded good. I can’t do tomato sauce due to the previously mentioned acid reflux but they have a really good white cream sauce. I got the regular gluten free dough even though they have both a keto crust and cauliflower crust that are both gluten free as well. I got chicken, bacon, and garlic on mine. Donnie got a meat lovers pizza. We took them to go which I always prefer. Donnie likes eating where we order food but if I could I would eat every single meal at home in bed, whether on vacation or not. I won this time.

We got back to the resort at 7:15 and stopped at the gift shop to get a few pins. When we got back to the room, there was a surprise on the bed. They had two mugs, a magnet, Rice Krispie treats, and popcorn. There was also a rose made out of towels. The room looked spotless! The floor was visibly cleaner and our bedding was changed. We had left the room kind of a mess when we left earlier and mousekeeping cleaned up all our clutter, setting out washcloths on the sink. I had random bobby pins laying out and they neatly lined them up! Earlier someone came to fix the ac and it was now down to 65 when we couldn’t put it below 68 and it felt nice and cool! We were very thankful they took our complaints so seriously.

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We ate our pizza and watched YouTube in bed. We like to bring our fire stick because as much as we like the resort channel/music, there are times like tonight when we are in for the night at 7:30 and want something to watch. We set the alarm for 4:30 am and went to sleep.

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Coming soon: Our first trip to Batuu
 
Nice pictures from MNSSHP! I like your costumes!!

Sounds like a nice day at Epcot and night at DS!

That sucks about the room issues- I'm glad they made it up to you with the gift card and room treats!
 
September 26th- Galaxy’s Edge!

Our alarm went off too early- at 4:30 am! Hollywood Studios had EXTRA Extra Magic Hours every single day from 6am-9am. We got on the bus as 5:34 and it was a quick trip because just 10 minutes later we were to the park. On the way there I thought they opened early because MDE was showing wait times.


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When we got through the tapstiles though, everyone was stopped on Hollywood Boulevard. At 5:55 there was an announcement that they were going to start walking us in.

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I was surprised how many people went to the right towards Toy Story Land! It was probably 60% to GE and 40% to TSL. It was a pretty constant walk until 6:09 where we stopped.

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It wasn’t for long though and we kept walking slowly til we got to the entrance for Smuggler’s Run at 6:17. The posted wait was 60 minutes. We saw Rey and Chewbacca while walking through the line. We got to Hondo at 6:26.

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We both got engineers. :-( I didn’t mind because I was a little worried about my motion sickness but Donnie really wanted to be the Pilot as most people do. He was geeking out and loved every second! As a novice Star Wars fan I thought it was awesome too. And it didn’t mess with my motion sickness at all!

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We were off the ride at 6:41 so it was maybe a 15 minute wait. We had no idea what to do next. We were walking by Oga’s and they were saying they were taking walk ins. We originally had a reservation for when we were going the following week and I couldn’t get us one today so we hopped in the short line. They led us to a stand up table which was fine that early in the morning but after a long day, I couldn’t stand there. We aren’t big alcohol drinkers so we looked at the non alcoholic options. I got the Jabba Juice which is Orange Juice with Pineapple, Kiwi, Cantaloupe, and Blueberry Popping Pearls. When I first ordered it I thought all those fruits were juices but now reading it, it sounds like they are the popping pearl flavors. It tastes like Orange/Pineapple juice and it was impossible to get the pearls out which is half the reason I ordered it. I think Donnie got Oga’s Obsession which is Odwalla Lemonade, Cotton Candy Flavor, Blueberry Popping Pearls, with a Bursting Dried Fruit mixture. His had the pearls too and this is the only other non alcoholic one that does. But reading this now mine only had blueberry pearls? Who knows?! I just know I liked his better. It was really cool to be in there, we were right in front of DJ R-3X and I enjoyed the music. I don’t think it will be a must do. Since we don’t drink alcohol, you have a good chance you have to stand, and there’s shared seating and we are both socially awkward.

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We were out of Oga’s at 7:20 and the Photopass spot is right there so we hopped in a semi long line. After that Donnie decided he wanted a Ronto Wrap. They were serving the breakfast one but he got a regular one and said it was really good!

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(We also got the Tatooine Sunset which was super yummy!)

I decided I was finally going to get something I have been wanting for over a year. We left Galaxy’s Edge through Toy Story Land and got in line at Woody’s Lunchbox. This was my first time ordering an allergy meal at a Quick Service without doing mobile order. I was a little worried they would feel annoyed or bothered but I was worried for nothing. The CM cashier called for a manager and talked to me the whole time til they came out which was only a few minutes. I placed my order and she said she would make it right away. We grabbed a table close by but the CM handing out food said it would be 10-15 minutes which is fine because I understand that allergy meals take longer so I sat down. Three minutes later they were calling my name. I finally got my s’mores sandwich! Before being gluten free I loved s’mores anything. S’mores pop tarts were my breakfast everyday for probably 3 years straight. S’mores blizzards from Dairy Queen were my favorite summer treat, etc. So when I heard about the s’mores sandwich I was so sad I wasn’t going to get to eat it. But then I read a review from a gluten free Disney blogger who said they had gluten free bread there! I faced my fears about talking to a chef for a special order and ..... it wasn’t that special. I mean it’s chocolate and marshmallow, of course it’s good but it wasn’t as life changing as I had hoped. I’m still glad I finally tried it and I might have to try one of the lunch sandwiches next time.

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I was able to grab a Toy Story Mania FP for 9:00 am last night and we had about a half hour to kill so we rode Alien Swirling Saucers. It was a 20 minute wait which I would never do normally but what else were we going to do? It started out as a fun ride, I wasn’t holding on so I slammed into Donnie every time we swirled that way. I told Donnie to try not holding on and that was a mistake. He came sliding into me and man it hurt! I held on after that....

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It was 8:50 so we just sat outside of TSM. I wasn’t sure if the 5 minute rule applied to a 9 am FP since the official park opening was 9. We tried tapping in at 8:55 and it worked! They were working on something so had a good portion of the que roped off so had to send us through a backstage area. We had a fun ride and going into the last round I was beating Donnie significantly but he somehow managed to beat me.

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It was only a little after 9 and we needed to head back towards Galaxy’s Edge because Donnie had a reservation at 9:50 at.... Savi’s Workshop! When our trip got moved, that was the first thing we did. We found a reservation for this day and kinda planned everything else around it. We checked out all the shops which were all awesome and if I was a millionaire I would buy one of everything but we settled for a few pins. We checked in for Savi’s at 9:30 and they gave Donnie a “menu” to choose his lightsaber hilt. The options were:



  • Peace and Justice
    Salvaged scraps from fallen Jedi temples and crashed starships in these Republic-era designs honor the galaxy’s former guardians.
  • Power and Control
    Originally forged by dark side warriors, this style features rumored remnants from the Sith homeworld and abandoned temples.
  • Elemental Nature
    This theme embodies the Force — an energy created by all living things, like Brylark trees, Cartusion whale bones and Rancor teeth.
  • Protection and Defense
    Hilt materials bear mysterious motifs and inscriptions that reconnect users with the ancient wellspring of the Force.


He chose Power and Control and paid and were lead into a waiting area outside. We only waited a few minutes and were lead inside and the experience started pretty much immediately. I filmed the whole thing and I forgot to get pictures throughout. They need to have a Photopass cm in there! I’m not going to spoil anything but it was amazing! It was mostly grown men saying they have waited their whole lives to build a lightsaber and there were definitely some tears. The whole process went by pretty quickly but it didn’t feel rushed either. If you have any questions I’d be happy to answer them but the only way I can describe it without giving anything away is by saying it’s amazing!

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We were done at about 10:00 and were starting to head out of Galaxy’s Edge because it was getting crowded. We had to get a few Coke bottles. We got a Coke and a Sprite and then stopped for some milk. We got both a blue and a green and found somewhere to sit and drink them. I took a sip of the green one first and it immediately tasted like fruity pebbles and I really liked it. Then I took a sip of blue and didn’t like it as much as the green. But then I took another drink of green and it tasted like perfume or lotion. I can’t explain it. I don’t know why my tastebuds changed on me like that. Donnie really liked them both and didn’t taste the floral/perfume taste I did with the green. The blue is made of coconut milk I believe so it kind of tasted like a creamy blue raspberry coconut slushy which I really liked! Even though Donnie liked green milk, he said he liked blue better too.

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We were trying to think of what else we HAD to do in Hollywood Studios and I remembered Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy which is new since the last time we were there. Man, it is way of out the way, especially when I am tired and hot. We got there right when a show started so we had to wait the whole 15 minutes for the next one. At least there was shade and we just sat on the ground. I’m glad I saw it once but I don’t feel like I ever need to see it again. It was cute but I’m honestly not a huge Cars fan and haven’t even seen Cars 3.

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We decided to head out after this. We stopped in the gift shops on the way out and got back to the resort around 11:30. Feeling more comfortable about ordering at QS, I decided to ask for a chef at the food court. She was awesome! She went through everything I could get, which at lunch time was pretty basic stuff- burgers, chicken fingers, pizza, hotdogs. But I was really in the mood for a burger so I got a bacon cheeseburger and fries fried in a designated fryer. I picked it up at the mobile order location and Donnie got chicken tenders and we went back to the room to eat. It was basic but just what we both wanted/needed. It was about noon at this point and I was super tired. We were considering swimming but neither one of us wanted to make a decision so we just both took a nap. And it was an amazing nap! Donnie loved the bed at All Stars Movie. Side note- we have very different tastes in beds which isn’t great. The softer the better for me but he likes a firm bed and this one was perfect for him. We set an alarm so we didn’t sleep all day and took our time getting ready again after waking up.

We decided to go to MK tonight so Donnie could watch Happily Ever After. We got to the bus stop at 6:00 and after arriving, immediately went to our FP at Jungle Cruise. Our skipper was awesome! I’ve been saying that a lot lately. I think most of the skippers have a similar sense of humor which is very dry and self deprecating which is my type of humor so I love it. Next we went to Sunshine Tree Terrace so Donnie could get the Redd’s Revenge. I had my heart set on another treat so I didn’t get anything. He said it was good but messy. It kind of got more carbonated after they handed it to him so it kind of overflowed. And with their new straw policy, you have to ask for one. I went up to get one but they were distracted with some woman whose first language was not English and ordered something that she didn’t end up wanting so I gave up on the straw.

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Next was my turn for my treat. I needed the pumpkin milkshake from Auntie Gravity’s. Some lady in front of me asked to taste it. Like, this isn’t your local fro yo shop. But they let her taste it. I never found out if she liked it and ordered it but I ordered it without tasting it and loved it! The marshmallow was meh but the milkshake was soooo good. I had big plans of getting another one later in the trip but sadly never did.

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We went on the Peoplemover next which surprisingly didn’t have an extended que set up. We had made a Buzz FP but unsurprisingly the FP que was snaked outside so we ditched that idea.

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What does one do while in Tomorrowland with nothing to do? Carousel of Progress of course! We decided that John is a real jerk. I don’t have a list of reasons right now but he is just sexist and only cares about himself! We say that in good fun, kinda like how Ross is also a jerk but Friends is still our favorite show and we watch it every night. (Until Netflix got rid of it!)

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We got yet another Buzz FP and apparently the line wasn’t as long because we rode it this time. It was around 8:45 after that and HEA started at 9:00. Donnie went to grab a spot for that while I went on Peoplemover again. I really liked seeing the fireworks from there, away from the crazy crowds. And while I don’t love fireworks I do love the HEA soundtrack. So after I got off Peoplemover, I sang and walked. I stopped at the Purple Wall cause where else was I gonna go? We met at the bathroom by the Plaza Restaurant and the bypass was open, I don’t know if it always is or if it was because there was an After Hours party that night.

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(Donnie’s view)

I was really exhausted so I tried to get a Minnie Van but it was going to be 20 minutes so I cancelled it and went to the bus stop. We got to the bus stop at 9:30 and back to the resort at 10:00 so it wasn’t too bad. I was feeling a little sick all day- congested but also runny nose, sneezing, sore throat so we stopped at the gift shop to get some medicine. It wasn’t as overpriced as I expected. We were going to eat leftover pizza and fries so Donnie went back to the room while I waited in the food court. He came back 5-10 minutes later empty handed. His magic band wasn’t working. Mine never had but I was always with him and I never felt like going to the front desk but now we had to. It was surprisingly busy for 10:00 at night- we had an early/long day, I wasn’t feeling good, and I was honestly just really frustrated. When it was our turn I explained our issue and I didn’t think I sounded upset but the cm must have been able to tell I was exhausted because after he fixed our bands (Donnie’s is a limited edition one and his took longer to fix but still no longer than 10 minutes total once he started working on it) he said he was giving us a room credit for our inconvenience. Thanks!

Donnie went back to the room again to get our food to reheat. We scarfed it down in the room and went to bed. We had another early morning. Not 4:30 am early, but still early!
 

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