We really just did 2.5 marathons in a week - A June 2023 TR (Updated 7/25 x2)

[ExpeditionEmily]

Introductions
We made it, I knew we would!
We're officially back from our 7 night extravaganza at Walt Disney World and WOW, what a week. Here's what you can expect in this TR:
Our first ever split stay of 2 resorts
5 of the HOTTEST days in the parks ever known
2 After Hours events
1 birthday celebration
and over 65 miles covered

If this sounds interesting at all, feel free to stick around and join us

Who are we?


I'm Emily, a middle school special education teacher by day and a travel advisor by night. I enjoy vacations that involve lots of time in the beach/pool/water and many rides on every rollercoaster. Some of my Disney favorites:
Favorite park- Magic Kingdom
Favorite ride- Haunted Mansion
Favorite restaurant - Steakhouse 71
Favorite character- Goofy

Joining me as always:

​

My husband, Tyler! He's an elementary school special education teacher who loves that we get to celebrate his birthday on vacation most years. His ideal vacation activities include being in the water, relaxing, and trying new bars/restaurants. His Disney favorites:
Favorite park - Hollywood Studios
Favorite ride - Guardians of the Galaxy
Favorite restaurant - Steakhouse 71
Favorite character - Pooh Bear

About our trip

We were so happy to have a full 7 days in Disney!
We started out with 2 nights in a river view room at Port Orleans French Quarter, and then moved for 5 nights to a Preferred Room at Pop Century.

We conquered:
5 day park hopper tickets
Typhoon Lagoon H20 Glow Nights
Hollywood Studios After Hours


We dined at:
GIDEON'S BAKEHOUSE
Chicken Guy
Sassagoula Floatworks
The Boathouse
Satu'li Canteen
Biergarten
Woody's Lunchbox
Oga's Cantina
Sci-Fi Dine In
Backlot Express
Roundup Rodeo BBQ
Casey's Corner
Steakhouse 71
Columbia Harbour House
D-Luxe Burger
Plus many Flower and Garden booths


Stay tuned if you'd like to hear about our adventures! ​

 

[Counting Stars]

Read your pre-trip Looking forward to reading about your adventures!

 

[ExpeditionEmily]

Read your pre-trip Looking forward to reading about your adventures!

Thanks for sticking around! We had a great week that I can't wait to share about!

 

[ExpeditionEmily]

Day 1: Travel Day

Our travel prepping actually started the day before we left on a Friday. We spent the day finishing laundry and packing, as well as making sure I had all my classwork turned in and had contacted the class facilitators. In the afternoon, we headed over to Tyler's parents house for some pre-birthday celebration! His older sister and our youngest nephew came to visit from the West Coast, and we got lucky enough that they came into town just before we left. We also needed to drop off our dog since Tyler's parents were watching her for the week. We spent the evening picking crabs and catching up with family which was really nice and relaxing. We even had a baby Yoda birthday cake to celebrate Tyler's birthday a bit early with the family.

We didn't stay too late though, because our flight on Saturday had us up early! My alarm went off at 2:15am and I got about 2-3 hours of sleep. Shockingly, Tyler woke up while I was in the shower. Usually I let him sleep until the last minute but I think he was extra excited. Our goal was to leave the house at 3:15 for our 1 hour drive to the airport and we were in the car en route by 3:04. We filled the car up the night before and made sure Tyler had an energy drink so no stops were needed.

This time we decided to drive ourselves to the airport and utilize long term parking. We typically have family drive us to avoid paying for parking and leaving a car in a lot for so long, but we didn't want anyone to have to drive us this early. Long term parking was very easy for us to find and we got a great spot directly beside the shuttle pick-up. We got a parking ticket to scan for payment when we were leaving and quickly caught the shuttle over to the terminal.

Bag check and the security line went by very quickly this morning with one "oops". Tyler forgot to dump the water out from our large reusable water bottle. He was given the option to either throw the bottle away or dump it out and go through security again. It's one of our favorite bottles and the line was short so Tyler agreed to go through again with the empty bottle. They allowed me to sit on a bench with all of our other belongings which helped Tyler get through a little faster this time around.

After a quick stop for the restroom and a water bottle refill, we made it to our gate at 5:10am with a 5:45am boarding time. We actually were there so early that we had to wait for Auntie Anne's to open so we could get breakfast. Tyler ended up bringing back two HUGE cups of pretzel bites that we didn't finish - salted for him and cinnamon sugar for me. Boarding was on time with a slight delay on pushback. As soon as they announced there was a slight delay for takeoff, we started moving.​

We were on time and on our way! The flight wasn't notable otherwise. Tyler played games on his phone and I watched some 90 Day Fiancé. We landed and were off the plane by 8:39am.​

All smiles on the fonorail! It took a little while for our bags to come out and I think both of us were growing a little frustrated but they did eventually arrive and we made our way over to Mears Connect. We got to board our bus immediately and our driver was incredibly sarcastic and fun. She did apologize for the wait since we were the first to board the bus and had to wait a bit. We boarded at 9:27 and got moving at 9:44, so just over a 15 minute wait.

We made multiple stops around Disney property and off property before we finally arrived to Port Orleans French Quarter! In all, the process took about an hour from boarding the bus to getting off at our resort. We liked the Mears Connect and will definitely be doing this again in the future.

Our room was ready immediately - we got our request of a nice ground level room and it had a great view of the river. We dropped off our bags and took a minute to acclimate to Florida weather before hopping on a boat over to Disney Springs!


Next up: Gideon's, Chicken Guy, and H20 glow nights​

 

[MinnieFan4ever]

I’ll be following along for the ride

 

[SEAGULL59]

Following!!

 

[BLTtinkerbell]

Following! Looking forward to reading more…

 

[BLTtinkerbell]

Sorry, double post

 

[Counting Stars]

Off to a great start- such a smooth trip and room ready! Wow!

 

[ExpeditionEmily]

Day 1 Part 2- Disney Springs and H20 Glow Nights

We took the boat over to Disney Springs and got there just before noon. It was a smooth ride, though I'm not a fan of the location where they drop off/pick up. I think maybe it got moved due to the new security measures which I understand, but I just wish it still had drop off/pick up over by Jock Lindsay's.

Our first order of business at Disney Springs was getting on the Gideon's virtual queue. This was our first time ever and we got quoted 2 hours and 10 minutes. Afterwards, we headed to Chicken Guy to grab some lunch and were shocked to find it with no line. We both got the 3 tender combos and shared an order of the fried pickles. Tyler chose the bourbon BBQ and the chipotle ranch sauces and I chose donkey sauce and special sauce. The cashier must have misheard me because instead I got the donkey sauce and ranchero sauce.​

We both really enjoyed our food! The ranchero sauce was not really what I wanted, but it wasn't terrible. We agreed that donkey sauce is our favorite from here. Once we finished up lunch, we browsed the stores a bit and did some pin trading. We really loved finding all of the pride signage around the resorts/parks!​

For some reason, Tyler did not want to go in Basin this day. He groaned "It's always all about the soaps with you" but definitely perked up when he saw that he could use the soaps in the store. I ended up buying one of the little sampler bags with small pieces of multiple soaps. I like to try out a few different ones and this works well for that while being affordable!

Surprisingly, we got our Gideons text about 45 minutes earlier than what we were expecting. We were glad because it was SUPER hot out and we needed a nap before H20 Glow. I told myself not to go nuts in Gideon's but I somehow went nuts anyways. We ended up getting a chocolate chip, triple chocolate, cookies and cream, and the bites which were the dark coffee cake. Tyler was excited to buy stickers here and both of us really loved the artwork.

After we got our Gideon's, we boated back to French Quarter to pick up resort mugs for the week and sample our cookies. We agreed that cookies and cream was our favorite, though the dark coffee cake was a close second for me. I would have loved to try the banana bread cookie, but unfortunately could not because of my food allergies.

We napped for quite awhile in our room until it was time to get ready for H20 glow nights. Before leaving, we grabbed a quick dinner - kids mac and cheese for me and a cheese pizza slice for Tyler. We wanted to maximize time on the rides and not have to stop for dinner.

We arrived at Typhoon Lagoon just in time for the 6pm event entry and the bus ride was quick despite needing to transfer at Disney Springs. While waiting to check in, we got a scary call from my mom. Recently we've been hiking a bit at a local state park with my sister's puppy. She decided to go alone but didn't know the trails well and somehow got lost with just her and the dog. Fortunately, I've been hiking in the park a bit more than she has and was able to help her. Tyler and I ended up calling the ranger station at home and letting them know to look out for her just because it was starting to get dark out and it was so hot, we really were worried for her. We ended up taking it slow when we entered the park so I could stick by my phone in case she called again needing help. Luckily it wasn't long after we got there that she called to confirm they had made it back to her car and were going for celebratory ice cream.

We grabbed some chairs right beside the DJ booth and headed to Miss Adventure Falls! We rode my favorite slide at Typhoon Lagoon with a 15 minute wait. We then waited about 15 minutes for Crush and Gusher on the Banana Blaster slide as well. I wanted to take things a bit slower this evening because I was still only 2 weeks post-op and was a bit nervous on how I'd feel.

To rest, we floated a few laps around the lazy river before checking out the dance party kick-off at 8pm. After grabbing some ice cream sandwiches, we were ready to hit Keelhaul Falls. This line was oddly very long and slow moving for an after hours event. We didn't mind the wait, though we weren't going to ride it twice.

Feeling pretty good, we headed over to Humunga Kowabunga for Tyler to do some drop slides. I don't usually like the body slides and especially did not want to risk hurting myself after surgery, so he did this one alone. At this point in the evening it started absolutely POURING!

We tried to wait out the rain as best we could by alternating between the lazy river and the wave pool, but it was just relentless. There wasn't any thunder or lightning so all the rides remained open which was nice. However, we worried about our things getting wet because of how intense the rain was.

To finish our night out, we did Miss Adventure Falls again which shockingly had a small line despite it being 9pm and pouring. We then did Crush and Gusher on the Coconut Crusher which was a complete walk-on. Tyler was way too excited to get popcorn that immediately became soggy in the rain.​

We got really nervous about the standing water and how our phones/bag would be in the rain. When we made it back to our chairs, our bag was sitting in a huge, deep puddle! Our phones were still working which was a good sign, and we decided to hop on a bus back to French Quarter around 10:30pm after our quick stop for Mickey ice cream bars and pictures at the front. We felt a little guilty leaving 30 minutes early from the event, but overall felt it was a good value and enjoyable experience despite the rain. We ended the night by taking showers, watching cartoons, and snacking on our Gideon's.

Tyler's top 3 moments from the day: NOT flipping over on Crush and Gusher (we have a long history of flipping out of slide tubes), going to Chicken Guy, taking a good nap

My top 3 moments from the day: riding Miss Adventure Falls, going to Chicken Guy, and making some good pin trades at Disney Springs

Next up: Poolside friends, hot cookies, and the BEST meal of the trip! ​

 

[nemolover22]

Following along! I love the cookies and cream cookies from Gideons too it's delicious. I've always been curious about the H20 Glow nights so I'm glad you had a good experience despite the rain.

 

[ThreeBoyMama]

Sounds like a fun filled first day! Bummer about the rain but sounds like you guys made the most of it regardless.

 

[PAsFab5]

Following along! Sounds like a great trip!

 

[MrsSaraG]

Following along! I read your PTR and this looks like its going to be a fun trip!

 

[ExpeditionEmily]

Day 2: Pool and Disney Springs
We decided to sleep in after our night at Typhoon Lagoon, since we didn't have many plans for this day other than enjoying French Quarter. We woke up around 8:15 and took our time getting ready for the pool. Once we got dressed, we headed to the Sassagoula to grab breakfast.

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I chose the kids waffles with bacon and sausage and Tyler got an adult waffles and a pack of apples.
Afterwards, we headed straight to the pool and were one of the first groups there! It was pretty cool to be rope dropping the pool and get to see the lifeguards announce opening time. We got great seats under an umbrella in the shade.

Totally empty at the pool!! It wasn't long before the people came pouring in. We got chatting with the lady beside us who happened to be in town for an education conference. We enjoyed talking with her and her husband all day about teaching and giving some advice since it was the first visit for their teens.


We both read our books, swam a bit, and just relaxed. Around lunchtime, Tyler picked up a Jai Alai for himself and my FAVORITE- grapefruit beer! I also mobile ordered us lunch and picked up a kids chicken tenders for me and a kids burger for Tyler.

One thing that really stood out was that they had a cast member monitoring the chairs. She walked laps all day and intently watched for anyone who seemed to be holding chairs for others. The family seated beside us had left for a bit to go change and get the rest of their party, and a woman to our left insisted she have their seats. She and her husband stated that they needed this family's umbrella for the grandbaby's stroller. Spoiler: the grandbaby didn't come down for hours and didn't have the stroller.

When the people we had befriended came back, they were a little surprised that the cast member moved all of their things and they had to share 2 chairs among 4 grown people. It got a little awkward since the woman who insisted on having their umbrella tried to get Tyler and I into their conversation by claiming us as witnesses. We mainly ignored it but it was still just a weird scenario. This cast member was super aggressive with the chairs which is why I mobile ordered lunch - I feared we'd lose our seats if we both left for 10 minutes to grab lunch.

Tyler enjoyed participating in the pool games and chatting with the cast members while we swam. Eventually it started to look rainy and we went back to shower and nap before our dinner reservations.

We headed out for to take a bus to Disney Springs, but it didn't show up when it said it would. We got nervous about our reservation time so we luckily got the last seats on a boat and headed to Disney Springs!


Soon, we were seated at the Boathouse! I ordered the Duck Duck Razz and Tyler ordered the Changing Tides. We both really liked these drinks and we also loved the free bread.



For meals, I ordered the lobster roll with fries and Tyler got the filet sliders with fries. Tyler said he nearly cried of happiness after taking a bite of these. He said he wished he'd ordered two of them. He LOVED this meal and still talks about how great it was. My lobster roll was also very good, but I could be swayed into ordered those sliders too. Service was quick, food was amazing, and the bill was reasonable in terms of a Disney table-service meal. We were super happy with our experience!

After dinner, we put in for Gideon's virtual queue because obviously I needed even more cookies, right? We got quoted 90 minutes and quickly headed over to Jock Lindsay's to wait out some time.



At Jock Lindsay's, I got a Cool Headed Monkey and Tyler got a Wrong Island. We both really liked these drinks and the atmosphere. Our server was friendly and made good drink recommendations. We considered staying for a second drink, but decided we'd rather shop a bit.

We mulled around a few stores and checked out the Lego store. I was in the midst of doing some pin trading when we got called back for Gideon's. At Gideon's, I ended up getting a slice of Pipistrello's cake because it was a name I had recognized in positive reviews online. I remember it being very cinnamon-y and I think it's meant to resemble the coffee cake cookie. We also got insanely lucky and hit the very end of hot cookie hour, so I had to indulge.


Tyler and I sat on a nearby bench and shared this. It was absolutely amazing and I hope we can hit hot cookie hour next visit! A guy walked by and commented how good it looked - we said it was worth the wait. He was shocked when he was quoted the return time. We saw that happen a lot. I think many people don't know about virtual queue and were really surprised by the long wait times.

After our cookie, we hopped on a bus back to French Quarter. We went over to Scat Cat Lounge to listen to some live jazz music and we got another round of drinks.


I got another grapefruit beer and Tyler got a Kona longboard. We liked the band and wished we hadn't eaten so much since the food menu looked good too. We were seated back by a cast member cabinet area and Tyler noticed a server struggling to reach the higher shelves. She called for another server to come help her, but he was busy at the time. Tyler ended up going over and helping her reach what she needed which is probably breaking a rule, but Tyler can't help himself when he sees someone needing a hand.

After our beers, we headed back to the room to watch TV and rest since we had an early wakeup call for Animal Kingdom early entry.

Tyler's top 3 moments of the day- pool time, filet mignon sliders, Jock Lindsay's drinks
My top 3 moments of the day - chatting with people at the pool, entire Boathouse experience, and hot cookie hour

Up next: a VERY long park day!

 

[ExpeditionEmily]

Day 3, Part 1: Animal Kingdom
Our alarms went off early this day at 6am so we'd have time to check out from French Quarter and set up our bags for transfer to Pop before heading to Animal Kingdom early entry.
We quickly got ready and the bag drop off at FQ was extremely efficient and fast! We boarded a bus to Animal Kingdom around 6:50 and got to the turnstiles by 7:10am after Tyler got pulled for extra screening with the backpack.


As soon as we got into the park, I grabbed a DAS return for Flight of Passage and we headed to Expedition Everest. I was nervous for how I'd feel on the rides after my surgery but hoped for the best. I did totally fine on Everest and rode it twice since it was a walk-on! Tyler can only ever handle one go on Everest at a time, but he was happy to wait in the shop while I rode my second time.
After Everest, it was time for our FOP return time. This was Tyler's first time in Pandora! We waited about 10 minutes with the return DAS and it was such a beautiful ride. I loved it more this time than I did the first time I rode it, and Tyler also really loved this one. While heading out from Pandora, we made our next DAS return for Dinosaur - a ride I hate but Tyler really likes.
We took our time heading to Dinosaur and found it almost empty when we arrived. I still really dislike this ride, but I can agree to ride it once per trip. In the spirit of miserable rides, I told Tyler I wanted him to try It's Tough to be a Bug. I really dislike this experience but hadn't been on in years, so I thought why not try again.
Neither of us particularly liked it, so maybe we'll go again in another 5 years and see if that changes. When we got out, we were ready for our Navi River Journey DAS return. This was both of our first times on the ride and it was so beautiful! I wouldn't wait more than 30-40 minutes for it, but it was really pretty.
We lucked out with timing and saw that the next Festival of the Lion King was starting in a few minutes, so we filled our waters and quickly hustled to make it.
Once we watched FOLK, our DAS return for Kilimanjaro Safaris was ready. We both really love this ride and I especially loved seeing so many giraffes on this day!

​

It was about 11:30-12pm and we'd been on everything we wanted to do in Animal Kingdom, so we headed to Satuli Canteen for lunch. Tyler got the kids chicken bowl and I got the kids beef bowl, plus we got a side cheeseburger pod to share. We were both incredibly hungry and all of this was amazing!
While eating lunch, we got our room ready text from Pop. We decided to head back to the resort to get our bags settled in before our evening plans at Epcot.
On the way back to the exit, I stopped in the front shops to pin trade a bit. Two very sweet young girls saw my pin book and asked if I'd like to trade with them, which I ALWAYS say yes to kids. They were both incredibly polite and I told them they could choose any of the pins and I'd be happy to trade with them.
It was a really nice experience and I love doing pin trades with kids, especially if I have a pin that makes them really excited. We happily exchange a quick "thank you" before Tyler and I headed to the bus and made it back to Pop.
We got settled and rearranged the bags in our preferred room in the 70's building. We debated a nap, but the Disney adrenaline got to us, and we instead decided to head straight back out for Epcot! We hopped on the skyliner to continue our evening plans.

Up next: Epcot rides, Festival offerings, Biergarten, and Simple Plan

​

 

[MinnieFan4ever]

What a great day, I love it when I get the room ready text early.

 

[ExpeditionEmily]

What a great day, I love it when I get the room ready text early.

Me too! We were so glad to have it that day because we really wanted to get our things settled in for the week before our Epcot plans.

 

[ExpeditionEmily]

Day 3, Part 2: Epcot
We got to Epcot still with a few hours to spare before dinner, so our first priority was a snack.
We ended up walking from IG over towards Canada and the first place that interested us was Honey Beestro.
​

We got the lemonade mead and the chicken and waffles. I had read mixed reviews on the chicken and waffles, but this was good! We liked the cornbread waffle with the honey chicken combination. The mead was a lot better than we had expected as well and we wished we'd gotten a larger size.
After our snack, we headed over to Figment since it was only a 5 minute wait. I do love this ride and Tyler like his first time on it.
Next, our DAS time was ready for Test Track so we headed that way. It looked like the ride had been on/off a lot that afternoon so the lines were VERY backed up. Since it was a mostly indoor wait and I was feeling okay, we stuck it out and waited. It was a pretty long wait but manageable.

I love building the most ridiculous cars possible. It actually did pretty well!
By the time we finished on Test Track, it was nearing closer to our dinner reservations. But we were so hungry, we needed to stop for a snack. Only in Disney do you stop for snacks on the way to a buffet dinner.



We popped into the Citrus Blossom and grabbed the beer flight and orange tempura shrimp. The beers were all really good and we didn't find ourselves struggling to drink any of them. The shrimp were amazing too and we thought it was a great value since this included 5 shrimp for only about 7$!
We ate our snack and slowly made our way back to Germany for Biergarten. We checked in and were seated immediately with the hostesses commenting on our "very German last name." Tyler's favorite thing to say at bars in our hometown is "look for the most German looking name". I ordered half a liter of the Schofferhofer and Tyler got a full liter of I believe the Pilsner.


He was VERY happy with his choice! The music started shortly after we sat down and we really liked the show. Highlights on the dinner menu for me were the meatballs and mac and cheese. Tyler's favorite was of course the pretzel bread!

Despite being painfully full by the time dessert came around, we shared a plate to try a bit of everything. We got apple strudel, a brownie, a chocolate chip cookie, and black forest cake. I wished we'd tried the cheesecake, but Tyler grabbed this plate while I was in the bathroom and he hates cheesecake. Of this plate, we both liked the brownie best though the apple strudel was a close second for me.
Our sweet waitress brought Tyler a little certificate out saying that he celebrated his birthday at Biergarten - it was super cute and even had the date on it. Overall, we felt this was a good experience and we liked having the tickets for Garden Rocks. I made us a DAS return for Remy and we happily rolled on our way.
We made it over to France and got to enjoy our first ride on Remy's! It became a quick favorite in Epcot for both of us, we just loved it.
At this point in the night, we had been in the parks for about 12 hours and were just hitting a wall hard. We decided to sit in the shade in the America pavilion since we still had about an hour until our seating for Simple Plan. It was cool because we could hear the first set from our picnic table, so we just decompressed and listened for a bit.

Tyler thought we needed this quick pick-me-up before the concert and I agreed! He got the Tennessee lemonade and I got the moonshine sour. These are arguably our favorite drinks in Epcot and many people we chatted with in line agreed. After our drinks, it was time to head in for Simple Plan.


We got seats very close to the front and had a great view! It was a wonderful show, though I was sad they didn't play "I'm Just a Kid." They did play it for the set before ours so we got to hear it from the picnic tables, but would've liked to see it up close.
When the concert ended, it was only a few minutes away from fireworks. We settled into a little spot in Morocco to watch but then decided to do the "walk and watch" once the show started. I was terrified of being caught up in a long line at the Skyliner, but we luckily were already out of the park and right beside the station when the fireworks ended. We hopped on the skyliner and made it back to Pop Century quickly.
Once back at Pop, we grabbed a late night slice of pizza and filled our mugs before heading to bed. We somehow survived being in the parks from 7am to 9pm with virtually no break in the June heat - I don't know how we did it, but spoiler alert, it did not happen again.


Tyler's top 3 moments from the day- Flight of Passage, Kiliminjaro Safaris, and Simple Plan
My top 3 moments from the day- Flight of Passage, Remy's, Biergarten

Up next: Tyler turns 33 in Hollywood Studios!!

 

[ExpeditionEmily]

Day 4: Hollywood Studios
Today was Tyler's birthday! Our goal was to leave the room by 7:30 for Early Entry and we made it onto the Skyliner at 7:29. For rope drop, I let Tyler choose between Rockin or Runaway Railway. We chose Rockin because it seemed NOBODY was headed to Sunset Blvd. However, we got about 1/4 way down and there was a CM explaining that it was delayed opening.
We quickly turned around and went over to Runaway Railway where we waited about 10 minutes. We just love this ride!
Our next pick for the morning way Midway Mania, since this also seems to be a ride with a shorter wait during EE. We ended up waiting about 15-20 minutes here which timed out well since we were waiting on our return time for Rise.
We finished up on Midway Mania where I once again beat Tyler!

I snapped a quick photo of the birthday boy with his favorite droids before we went over for our Rise DAS. We just love Rise every time, it's such a nice and smooth ride. We mobile ordered from Woody's Lunchbox to pick up breakfast after our ride.


One of our favorite breakfast items, the breakfast totchos. Tyler didn't like them as much this time - he claims they didn't have eggs last time, but they did.



I surprised Tyler by picking up the seasonal lunch box tart when I went to grab the order. We hadn't seen it on the mobile order menu, but I noticed it at the counter. It was a guava tart and Tyler LOVED it. He was grumpy at me for accidentally dropping the little blue Mickey off it when I went to try it, but he really liked this tart.

Up next it was time to head over to Sunset Boulevard! We had an advanced DAS selection for Tower of Terror. Tyler wasn't a fan of this ride last trip, but he was willing to try again and ended up really liking it. We also had a DAS return time for Rockin, which Tyler did not like as much. I didn't fare too well on this ride either considering my recent surgery, but I do still love it.

Once we had ridden both our Sunset rides, we made our way back to Galaxy's Edge for our Oga's Cantina reservations. On the way, we noticed Rey and Chewbacca out and about. Tyler had his birthday Chewbacca shirt on, and I knew that he'd get an interaction if we could manage it. I ended up walking us a few feet in front of them and Chewbacca noticed Tyler's shirt and interacted with him a bit.


You can just FEEL his birthday happiness!


He was super excited to get a picture with Chewy! I will say that they had QUITE a crowd following them around and trying to snap pictures/interact with them. Our strategy worked well where instead of joining the large mob, we walked a bit ahead on their projected path and waited for them to come our way.

At Oga's, we requested a seated table and it was ready very quickly. We sat with a few nice groups and enjoyed chatting while we were there.


Our tablemates took a photo of us with our first round. I got the Fuzzy Tauntaun and Tyler got the Dagobah Slug Slinger. We really liked both drinks! For round two, I got an Outer Rim and Tyler got the Jet Juice. I believe Tyler preferred the Jet Juice and I liked both of my drinks about equally. We didn't find the price to be terrible and had a really fun time. I found out later that a few former coworkers/friends work here now, so hopefully we'll be able to catch them on our next trip.

We left Oga's and it was just about time for our lunch reservation at Sci-Fi. We took our time headed over and briefly watched Max Goof as Powerline interacting with some families. We bumped into Goofy for a few minutes too! We made it to Sci-Fi on time for our reservation and were seated quickly.

Maybe this is going to be unpopular: we did NOT like Sci-Fi. I have no pictures because it was just too dark. The environment was very weird because it was so dark and quiet. But, Tyler had wanted to try it and we got the Fantasmic dining package!

We both ordered Diet Cokes and decided on the Fried Pickles for our appetizer. They were pretty good but nothing spectacular. For entrees, Tyler ordered the feature burger which had a shrimp/crab cake on top and I ordered the salmon pasta. These were again just okay, Tyler didn't really care for his burger. For dessert we chose to share an ice cream sundae - our server surprised us and brought out a second one for Tyler's birthday. which was very nice of him. The sundae was honestly the most memorable part of the meal!

When we left Sci-Fi, we had planned to hit more rides and continue our day. However, I started feeling REALLY sick shortly after lunch. We headed back to the room and I napped for a bit hoping to knock out the feeling.

I woke up still feeling sick but needed to rally for Tyler's birthday, so we went back over to Studios. I bought myself a new pin pack as a reward and we headed to Star Tours.

Since I wasn't feeling well, we took it easy and went to MuppetVision 3D next so I could rest a bit longer. I do love this show so much! I felt a tiny bit better after that so we headed to Slinky Dog Dash for our DAS pass. After Slinky, we went on Alien Swirling Saucers as well. I do like that ride but can only handle 1 go on it before I get dizzy.

At that point, I was still feeling nauseous but started to get pretty hungry. I told Tyler we'd order whatever we want from Backlot Express for his birthday dinner. He chose the cuban and I got an adults chicken tenders, both of us with fountain sodas, and a Wookie Cookie! We had the dining gift card that we used to splurge on this meal since we typically opt to share/no sodas/get kids meals at quick services.

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We took our time eating dinner in the AC and just relaxing. We both really love the Wookie Cookie but have never been able to finish it. Maybe next trip when we have more people to share with, we'll finally finish one.

By the time we finished with dinner, it was nearing time for our Fantasmic seating. We had time to go over to Smuggler's Run quickly before the show and we were Engineers this time - it was my first time having this role!

We got to Fantasmic and got good seats up towards the top of the stadium with hopes to beat the rush out of the park afterwards. I still was feeling unwell and Tyler was getting tired at this point, but we pushed through. I LOVE Fantasmic and Tyler really liked it too, despite being so tired.

We managed to speed walk our way out after the show and beat the huge crowds, so we were quickly on the Skyliner and back to Pop Century.

When we got back to the hotel, I got SUPER sick that night. It was pretty rough. We figured that I had likely gotten food poisoning at lunch based on the symptoms and the timing of everything since we hadn't overeaten or dehydrated too badly that day. I felt terrible and called guest services/front desk just to report what happened so nobody else would get sick. They offered medical services which I declined, since I felt like I'd be better with some water, medicine, and sleep. I had to file a claim with guest services but never heard back at all, which was super disappointing. We had plans to go to Garden Grill the next morning for breakfast but I ended up cancelling because I was so nauseous I couldn't even think about having a big breakfast the next day.

We went to sleep with the hopes of waking up feeling better!

Tyler's top 3 moments of the day - Oga's Cantina, Fantasmic, meeting Chewbacca
My top 3 moments of the day - Slinky Dog Dash, Oga's Cantina, Fantasmic

Up next: Morning in Epcot and Hollywood Studios AH