Love it!! I too hope to meet up with more liners. I got to meet 2, by chance, in line at AK one day. It was great but not a planned meet up, so it was fast. A picture or 2 and a “nice to meet you in person”.
I read your brunch thread. We’re definitely going in January. I decided to get a TiW card to help offset the cost!
You, my dear, are an awesome writer! Lovely trip report with lots of Disney details but also personal notes. Mwah! And for the record, I could listen to your OB stories ALL DAY.
I actually have this one and meant to insert it! Thanks for picking up my slack
Wow! So fun. We really need a 603 group hoot 'en 'anny
Great trip report, @OBNurseNH. I am really enjoying it. Makes me feel like I was there. I wish I had been.
Sounds like an amazing day so far. I had a few me days while my husband was at a conference. They were amazing. I think alone might be my favorite way to tour.
Great report even if there are no pictures. I am glad you got to see King Cat @BGK. I miss his morning greetings and am happy when the cat pops in from time to time. @BearsMom2011 is a sweetheart that I have had the pleasure of meeting on a couple of local liner meets. I am half a year away from my trip and can’t wait to get back.
What a fantastic day! You did some solid cocktailing I must say-were you at all tipsy? My Mom and I did a girls trip in late August and did Mizners one night and Nomad early evening during AK day. Loved The hidden factor of both (well, at the time!); should have done a French 75 there-great place for French 75 ordering! On our AK day a Summer storm rolled in so we went to Nomad and it was BEAUTIFUL sitting outside, watching/listening/hearing the rain and imagining what Pandora will look like. One of those moments I will never forget. We also split a bottle of wine there and a half at dinner. Eek!
Loving your reports! I am right around the corner from you in Windham! We should meet up!
Feel like I was walking around with you in GF - Love Basin! And all the shops in GF. Will have to check out the bar next time lol. Have a great day!
Sounds like an awesome day…and what fun to meet the liners…
Thanks for taking us along
I got your back!
I’m really fortunate beyond words that I have these ladies as my friends. Every one of them is smart, witty, accomplished, and beautiful. I am frequently the only male kitteh in the group, which gets me an odd variety of stares.
I was doubly fortunate this time as I got exclusive @OBNurseNH time. I don’t mind people knowing about Mizner’s, but with the addition of the villas and just general word-of-mouth, it’s harder than ever to find a seat. That’s the problem with Disney lounges, they let any riff-raff in. I won’t even try to recreate the outrage I felt when there was an actual stroller parked in place of my designated barstool.
And Matt, whom was your bartender that day, is one of the good guys. He was on the opening team of Nomad Lounge, but had to relocate when the crowds never showed up. Now that it’s regularly a full house, he’s looking to rotate back there, so look him up if you’re there.
That just means you’re doing it right.
True Fact™: the French 75 is named after a small but powerful piece of French artillery from the Great War. Legend says that Papa Hemingway, during his Paris days, could only manage three before being blotto. Which is really saying something.
Monday April 24th – Hollywood Studios
I rallied the troops early the next morning. We had all slept well and woke to a beautiful morning. Really, the weather on this trip was the best we’ve ever had and we’re not sure how we’ll visit at any other time of year again! We were out the door and to the bus just after 0900 and on the bus to Hollywood Studios in no time.
A couple of trips back we (foolishly?) introduced my son to the idea of collecting transportation cards. Back then, it was a way to keep his 6 year old self engaged in moving about and minimizing melt downs. But it’s really one of his favorite parts of our WDW trips and he asked every. single. bus driver and ferry operator. we encountered this time around too. It doesn’t seem to bother most of the cast members and most seem amused and excited to have been asked. Anyway, he started his mission this morning when we boarded and got three cards from this driver.
We arrived at the tapstiles at 0829. When that same boy who was amused about the transportation cards above realized the park doesn’t open ‘til 0900 he responded, “WHAT?! Why are we here 30 minutes early?!” Just wait, my boy. Just wait.
As they often do, they began “tapping” people through quite a bit ahead of park opening and allowing us to congregate at the corner of Hollywood and Sunset and we found ourselves just a few rows back from the rope right in front of Trolley Car Café (Starbucks).
At 0900 the rope dropped and we began making our way back to TSMM. The running and panic around us was amusing to me. And sadly there were already parents shouting at their kids to “hurry up”. Meanwhile we made our way, not leisurely but not “walking with purpose” and were in the standby line in no time at all. I have no photos from that time but I can assure you our wait was under 5 minutes. I nearly lost this time – my husband and I rode together because I just cannot take it easy on the kids LOL – but thank goodness for that final round I wound up kicking his butt in the end! TSMM is one of our most favorite rides in all of the World, so I asked if anyone wanted to go again as the line was still very short. But everyone wanted to continue on with our plans so we did.
We were in line to meet Buzz and Woody by 0912. The queue for this meet and greet is cute and kind of fun for the kids, with several photo ops scattered about:
That said, this was a very long wait for a meet and greet. I’m not sure, too, whether they took a break just after we started waiting because for a little bit the line stopped moving altogether. It took us until 0944 to finally reach Buzz and Woody. These guys are always fun to meet:
Still, I’m not sure I would do this particular meet and greet spot in the future. It’s definitely not worth burning a fastpass over for most people and there are places to meet them, although separately, with much shorter waits in Magic Kingdom. Plus there’s the added bonus of also meeting Jesse when you meet Woody in MK.
We headed toward Launch Bay next. On the way we ran into one of my husband’s coworkers! She and her family were spending a few days of their FL vacation in Disney World. They had gotten a very late start in planning their trip and asked for a little help from us. It was nice to meet the person I had been corresponding with a month or so back
I was surprised that my family only wanted to meet BB-8 in Launch Bay. Lines for Chewy and Kylo were not long, but they just weren’t feeling it today I guess. Fine by me: I’m not a Star Wars person and was just going along with it for their sake. We headed right to BB-8 and had a very short, less than 10 minute, wait. I met my first ever Legacy Cast Member:
Not sure what a Legacy Cast Member is? Well, if you ever see a cast member whose name tag is blue with white writing, like Jeremy’s in the picture above, instead of white with blue writing like most are, you’ve found one! The Legacy award is given to cast members by their co-workers for going above and beyond to make Disney extra special for both guests and other cast members. So these folks are super fantastic and if you’re lucky enough to find one, be sure and thank them for making the magic extra magical!
After we met BB-8 it was time for us to slay ToT. DS9 had flat out made it clear he was not going to ride this ride under any circumstances. It probably didn’t help that he rode Forbidden Journey the day before and hated it LOL. But DD13 had decided this was going to be her year to finally take the plunge (pun is every bit intended!). DH took DS for a snack and DD and I headed that way to use our FPP to ride.
The place seemed a little dusty, but it had great reviews on Trip Advisor… A million 5-star ratings couldn’t be wrong.
Does anyone know what this sign says? It’s just before you get on the elevator waaaay over on the far left side of the boiler room. We both tried to read it but the lighting and my over-40 eyes prevented us from being able to make it out:
DD looked a bit in shock after the ride was over. I’m not sure DD agrees with the 5-star rating, but she was glad she rode so she could say she did!
After DH took his turn riding, our next stops were meeting with Olaf and then hitting up The Red Carpet to meet Minnie and Sorcerer Minnie. The posted wait time for Olaf was a little bit inflated at 20 minutes – it was more like 15 – but the expected wait time for The Red Carpet meets were way off in the other direction. Fortunately we had Heads Up to keep us occupied, and had activated the Disney Parks card pack to keep us which helped the time to pass.
I was getting a little bit nervous about making it to the Frozen Sing-Along on time because missing it would require a huge re-shuffling of the rest of our day. But we made it just in time, arriving at 12:22 for a 12:30 show. Phew!
If you haven’t been to the Sing-Along because, like me, you’re kind of over all the Frozen mania, don’t count this show out. It is adorable, very well done, and SO much fun! I even got a little bit goosebumpy and had a bit of pixie dust in my eyes hearing everyone sing Let It Go as one voice. Definitely one that is not to be missed if like Frozen even a tiny bit.
I’m not sure if the show ran over time or if TouringPlans has the duration wrong but we were pretty late getting out of there. The last photo I took was at 1:05 and the show wasn’t quite over even then. We had a 12:50 reservation at SciFi Dine-In Theater and while our plan had us arriving 10 minutes late (which we were comfortable with) it was closer to 1:15 – 25 minutes late! - by the time we checked in. I was stressing a little bit but they took us without issue.
Lunch was good and so filling! My son had mac and cheese and my daughter ordered popcorn chicken (an appetizer) as a meal. DH and I both had burgers.
Here is where I will pause to say some things about the Dining Plan. Our family has always used the Dining Plan – the one with one Quick Service and one Table Service per person per day, and now with 2 snacks per person per day. For us, having the entire vacation paid for – except for tips, incidentals, and souvenirs – makes the trip more enjoyable. We have known it isn’t always the best value, but there is value to us in not worrying about budgeting our food money, skimping at the beginning of the trip so we can be sure we can eat at the end. To us, that just isn’t vacation.
This trip, however, has us thinking we will skip the plan for the next few trips. Here’s why: first, our DD13 is a Disney adult. This means we pay a LOT of money for her to eat – and she eats like a bird. She is very picky and although she’s getting better and did stretch her limits even this trip, we felt like we were wasting money at every meal when she ate barely a smidge of what she was served. Next year our son will also be a Disney adult. His story is the same as hers. Both kids would be happy to order off the kids’ menu or to order a single adult meal and split it. We realize that’s always been possible, and maybe in that way we would end up doing more TS meals because we’d have “extra” credits, but it still doesn’t seem like it will work out for us. Finally, the change to the plan, where you no longer get dessert at QS but instead get 2 snacks per person had us leaving credits on the table at checkout. And believe me, we grabbed snacks whenever we wanted. But 8 credits per day over 8 days – 64 snacks?! Jeez, I kind of feel like we could have survived just on that!
So, until the kids are older and bigger and eating more like adults I think we’ll do the gift card thing. It will be an adjustment, but I think it will be better for us for a while. Instead of worrying about budgeting, we found ourselves rolling our eyes in frustration over wasted money at many meals and that wasn’t fun either.
Lunch was the perfect break we all needed, and we emerged refreshed and ready to carry on. We have not done many TS lunches before but there’s a lot to be said, I think, for having that time in the coolness to relax and re-energize! We may do more of this in the future.
When we left the restaurant, I was excited to see that the African Crane I had seen on my trip in September at Animal Kingdom had emigrated to Tatooine and was settled in nicely in its new land
We met Chip and Dale and made our way to the Great Movie Ride. DH and I love this ride, and while the kids enjoyed it (this was their first time) they didn’t know most of the films so it wasn’t as much fun for them. DS said, “Gee I thought I’d know more of those movies but I didn’t!” I know there’s often a debate between updating it and honoring the classics, but I do think that as time passes they just might have to go for the update or lose an entire generation.
DH and DS rode Star Tours next. DD and I were not interested – it’s one of the few kinds of rides that makes me nauseous – so she and I wandered around a bit while we waited and ended up under an umbrella at able outside of what I think was PizzaRizzo. We all met up again to enjoy the Muppets.
And then made our way, stopping for frozen cokes – yum! – back to Sunset Boulevard to take in Beauty and the Beast, stopping to look in some of the shops along the way. In the short interim, DS began melting down in the hot Florida sun. He was tired, his feet hurt, he wanted to go swimming… So while we sat enjoying the show – my second favorite on property - I also considered our options for afterward.
We had always planned to leave the park go back for Fantasmic. The question had always been where we would go for QS dinner in the interim. I was hoping to boat over to Epcot, especially since it was such a lovely day for a ferry ride, but with energy zapped and whining coming on strong, this just didn’t seem good for our sanity. So after the show ended, we agreed we would head back to the resort.
But first, I had to take my turn on Rockin Rollercoaster. I’m the only one who rides this one and I had snagged a FPP for it for this time slot. I don’t know how you can’t love this!
That guy next to me? He looked like that the whole time. Before riding, while riding, after riding. I think that’s what you call a “flat affect.”
While I rode the family took in some Star Wars stage show, and had some pictures taken without me
Before leaving we had our Hollywood Boulevard photos done. A tip here: when you arrive in the morning, you’ll be facing the sun as you have your photo taken. Depending where you are, that may leave you feeling squinty. We try to have our pics done toward the end of the day when the sun is behind us. If you’re not a sweaty mess, they come out much nicer:
We headed back to AKL – an empty bus was waiting when we got to the depot, awaiting driver swap before boarding – and had dinner in the Mara before taking in some animal viewing. On another trip I had taken some time – interestingly, also on our HS day – to go exploring around the resort to find other, lesser known animal viewing areas. My family was interested to see where these locations were because Arusha Rock was very busy that night. We wandered down the 3rd floor (lobby level) of the Kudu Trail and just followed the little side trails off there and out the exit doors to external stairwells. This had us overlooking the very peaceful Sunset Savanna, many many animals, and this amazing sunset:
My DD and my DH wanted to go back to the room at that point, but my DS had money burning a hole in his pocket for the Zawadi Marketplace (did you know Zawadi means “gift”?). So we split up and I took him since I wanted to go in myself, having not been in yet this trip. We encountered one of the many kids’ activities the resort offers. Just outside of Zawadi Marketplace the “Primal Parade” had just concluded and they were playing a drum game. DS wanted to join in so he did!
This is one of the best things about AKL: there is just soooooooo much to do! It really could be a vacation all on its own. Between the amazing pool areas, fantastic dining options, animal viewing and optional safaris, and cultural activities you could never be bored here. I was glad we got to do a few of these extras on this trip.
After looking around the gift shop a while we headed back to the room. All of us got ready for bed and were tucked in good by 10pm, resting up for our day at Animal Kingdom.
Oops. We forgot to go back for Fantasmic again! This happened to us the last time we planned things this way. A break back at the resort is never a bad idea, but getting yourselves motivated to return to the park is sometimes a challenge. The last time we just could not rally ourselves back into going back. And this time we just plain forgot! The only time we did manage to see it was when we hopped to HS from MK on a late-start day in 2015. We just are not open to close park touring people, even if we’d like to be!
Next up: a wildly chill day at Animal Kingdom, and an evening being swept away by Rivers of Light.
Yay, happy to see another update!
Loving the report…
I’m with you on the meal plan…we didn’t do it last time…just not worth it for two people. for the next trip…hopefully next April, we’ve started collecting gift cards. A different, but more effective way to have food prepaid by trip time…
Again, great photos…your experience with the red carpet makes me wonder why HS is the only park without FFP for a Mickey/Minnie M&G…
Loving your update !
Sounds like a great day!
