Trip is underway!
Who: myself, DS11, DD9, DD7, DMom, DDad
When: March 6-12
Where: Riviera (4 nights), Copper Creek Cabins (2 nights)
Yesterday, I spend all day frantically packing. I picked DD9 and DS up from school. Ran home and let them change. Left at 3:25 to pick up DD7 from her after school class and drove to DH’s work. Arrived there at 3:58 and DH drove the kids and I to the airport. By 4:25, we were through security and into Terminal A. Kids were starving. Grabbed a burger at Twisted Root for DD9 and a quiche at La Madeline for DS. DD7 didn’t want anything but did eat DD9’s extra bacon 
Flight was on time - departed around 5:30 - and was on the ground at MCO by 8:45! Took us an hour to get to the gate, deplane, grab our bags and a taxi. We made it to the Riviera right at 10! Explored our beautiful room and enjoyed the view. Unpacked and fell asleep around midnight. Maybe a bit after. Hollywood in the A.M.!!
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Rise and shine it’s a Disney Day!!! Have very loose plans this trip. I made park pass reservations for the kids and I (DMom and DDad didn’t need them since they aren’t APs) and a dining reservation or two each day but otherwise don’t have anything firmly planned. Polled the group last night before bed on “must dos” for the day. My parents are easy and just are tagging along for the ride. My kids all listed a handful of things on their agenda but otherwise were pretty open with the day. DD7 voted to stay and sleep in. DS and DD9 wanted to rope drop so I planned to wake up early to go with them and DMom and DDad planned to enjoy sleeping in a bit and coming with DD7 a little later in the morning.
I woke up around 6 am and woke DD9 and DS up around 6:30. We bumped around - although tried to be quiet! - and I brewed myself a cup of coffee but DD7 never even budged. My darling little heavy sleeper I bought G+ around 6:45. Kids were ready to go before I was (and even before I had planned to leave) but I figured there’s no such thing as too early as Disney so off we went!
Made it to just outside the Riviera before having to pause to deal with G+ at 7 am. Grabbed an ILL for just a couple of us for Rise (girls had zero interest in the Star Wars rides during our meeting last night) and an LL for Slinky Dog at 9:55 for all of us. Shot DMom a text to let her know when it was so they could know when they needed to try to be at Hollywood Studios.
I haven’t rope dropped in a while, and I’ve never attempted to Rope Drop from a resort I could’t walk to Hollywood Studios from so I was a little nervous on timing as well as Skyliner lines this morning. Not knowing how long the line would be at Carribbean Beach if we hopped on the Epcot line at Riviera, we opted instead to walk from the Riviera to CBR. Wayyy longer than I anticipated!! And likely not necessary. Nevertheless, we made it to the Skyliner Hub around 7:10, got in line (not running yet. We were maybe 20 back in line), and promptly ordered a latte from Joffrey’s! Yum.
I think they opened the Skyliner around 7:30, maybe a bit before. We were disembarking at 7:33, through security and holding at the taps at 7:38. Once they opened up the taps next to our line we were second in line. Go us! They let us start scanning on at 8 and DD9’s magic band wasn’t linked or working! Gah. Fortunately, I had the wherewithal to grab our physical AP cards (which I have never done) and just used that to scan her in. I hate the rope drop ticket drama/fingerprint scanning in drama. It’s so stressful!!
We fast walked to Slinky, made it over around 8:05, about 30 or so back in line. Had some fun cast member moments walking over (“Why aren’t you guys going to Toy Story Mania?! We’re so much better!!”) - getting to see a handful of cast members riding Slinky before park open being the highlight. Once we were posted up at the queue, I pulled up MDE and checked DD9’s magic band info. I realized immediately what had happened. Our last trip, in August of last year, DD9 had lost her Magic Band in Animal Kingdom. We weren’t able to pick it up from Lost and Found due to some funky transportation issues and missed deliveries but had requested that Disney mail it home to us instead, which they did. I had simply failed to go into MDE to reactivate it. Fixed immediately so hopefully no more issues there!
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Ok, back to rope drop. At 8:20, they started filling the queue and we were on board at 8:27! We also rode Toy Story Mania and Alien Swirling Saucers by the time the park officially opened to non-resort guests at 9. We hit the restroom, and picked up our Mobile Order from Woody’s. Tachos, Lunch Box Tarts and cuties totally hit the spot. Immediately went into Galaxy’s Edge afterward to grab some blue milk. We then spend the next 20 minutes or so wandering Galaxy’s Edge and window shopping. Absolutely gorgeous morning.
At 9:42, we walked into the Muppet Vision queue and timed it just perfectly. One minute before the next show. I wish DDad had been here to enjoy it with us. He loves the Muppets (mainly for the old hecklers in the audience!!). I laughed so much at this show. The Muppets are really just pure greatness.
It was just after 10:00 when we finished up in Muppet land and DMom, DDad and DD7 had just made it to the park! We grabbed them and trekked back into Andy’s back yard for the second ride on Slinky of the day!! Happy kids!
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Love those faces in that last pic! 
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I had secured a Lightning Lane for Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway but it didn’t start until 12:30 so I needed some time fillers at this point. We decided to try and make the first Indy show. I started at 10:45, and it was 10:35 when we made it off of Slinky so I figured we’d be pushing it. I told everyone we would try to make it but that I didn’t want anyone to rush. If we made it in time, great. Well, we did! Yay! Unfortunately, we were one of the last ones in the theater and had to sit on the far right hand side and those seats were all in the sun and holy smokes did it feel hot!!! They were all such troopers and we enjoyed the show despite this but man alive. That sun!! It wasn’t even that hot temperature wise!
I need to look into if they’ve made changes to this show. I swear it was shorter than the other times I’ve seen it….
After Indy, we watched Vacation Shorts, grabbed some root beer floats, left ice cream eaters around Gertie, grabbed Starbucks (always such a great time - around noon - not much of a line!) and did our first (of many) rounds of shopping for the day. By then, it was time to scan in for MMRR. I snagged a LL for Toy Story after this but I needed to bump it at the drop time so while we waited for that we……shopped some more!
My dad had forgotten his hat at the room and was burning so we got him an Indy hat which is fun! He had one very similar to it years ago but left it somewhere accidentally one time and never found it.
DS bought a small mystery pin set and DD7 and DD9 did a lot of window shopping (purchases to be made later!).
By now, I had managed to push our Toy Story LL up and we went off to ride that before lunch. DD7 was SO excited to ride with Mimi. She won. Maybe for the first time ever. Elated! DD9 rode with me and was mad I was crushing her at first but ended up being able to let it go so that was a plus. DS thoroughly enjoyed smoking DDad although he put up more of a fight than anticipated!
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Sadly, this is the only part of our day that now goes off the rails.
We were really hungry at this point. When we got off of TSM, we were about 20 minutes early for our Woody’s Roundup Rodeo reservation but I checked us in hoping we could get seated a little early. COMPLETE OPPOSITE happened. They were “really behind seating for our size party”, meaning we kept seeing parties of 4 or less seated in front of us as we are standing melting in the sun while our bellies grumble. By the time we made it to our table, it was 20 minutes AFTER our reservation time, meaning we had just sat there waiting for close to 40 minutes. Not the best, especially when you are really hungry!
Thankfully, by the time we sat down, the food was very quick it coming and we ate until we could eat no more. We had A TON of food leftover. Like a whole basket of meat practically, but they said they have ZERO to-go boxes (or cups) and not only could we not take any of that food back but we couldn’t even get a to-go iced tea! My mom was flummoxed and I too don’t really understand the absence of to-go containers in a restaurant that serves such a large amount of food per person. Felt really wasteful and kind of icky to walk away from all of it.
Lunch was incredibly tasty! I was so hungry I took zero pictures of my food but I enjoyed the biscuits, salmon, watermelon, cucumber salad, brisket, chicken and cheesecake! All so tasty. Rolled out fat and happy.
After lunch, my folks and the girls were ready for a break so they all went back to the Riviera. Something I didn’t even consider to ever be something that could happen happened to them going back though! The HS Skyliner line was running but the Epcot line was down when they disembarked at CBR so they had to walk from there back to the Riviera!! From the time we left lunch to the time they got to the room it took them about an hour. My dad’s hip has been feeling pretty strong post hip replacement surgery this past December but he’s using a cane and not really all that fast and I felt so bad they had to walk. Not sure what is normally done in this situation……busses from CBR? A word of warning at the Hollywood Studios Skyline station? Busses from Hollywood to Riviera? Seems something should have been available as an alternative….
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DS and I, however, spend the next hour and a half riding all the Star Wars things. Used an ILL for Rise, LL for Star Tours and MF and spotted Mando and Grogu out for a stroll in Galaxy’s Edge!
Also, by this time the sun was going down and dang if I don’t say it every time. It is simply a different ballgame being in the parks when the sun isn’t straight over head. Just night and day. I really don’t know why I even bother staying at the parks during the middle of the day. Even on a mild temperature day like today - 80 degrees - it was so hot at some points and we all got a bit sunburned.
At this point, DS was still saying he wanted to stay rope drop to park close. But it was 5 pm, we had 4 hours to go, we were running out of things to do that interested us, and he was dog tired.
He tried to rally. So hard. Valiant effort. We strolled through Walt Disney Presents. They had a new opening day Disneyland model in there I hadn’t seen before and that alone made that a worthy spend of my time. Honestly, I just love it in there. It’s so quite and the history is so amazing every time.
By 5:30, we were at Baseline, enjoying the cooler part of the day, sipping on some delicious beverages, and reflecting on the day. He was waving his white flag. Bested with 3.5 hours to go.
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As we were deciding to leave, I got a text from DMom saying that the girls had rallied and that the four of them were en route to the front gates. DS perked up and said he could muster the energy to stay when they got here. I said ok, but was extremely skeptical. We strolled down Sunset Blvd. while they rode over and popped over to the Rock n Roller Coaster area just to snag a picture. Also, best place in the park to pee right now. Empty bathroom! Woot!
The girls and my folks got back into the park at 6:05ish. DS had decided that, once again, he was really done. Lol. My dad was happy to turn around and take him back to the resort to rest and call it a day. So that’s what they did. I, somewhat sadly, turned back down Hollywood and went back into the thick of it with my girls and DMom.
We didn’t do too much. At that time, most of the lightning lanes were either gone or were rides we had already ridden, so, DD9 and I rode Star Tours standby (it was a walk on) and then by 6:30, we were walking into Galaxy’s Edge. DMom has only been to the resort once since GE opened and we avoided her going into GE when we were here for the Marathon in January so she could see it with the kids. The girls were excited to show her the land (and blue milk!!). We grabbed some great pictures as the sun started to set.
Our final ride of the day was at the request of DD7. Aliens in standby. My never top choice. But the line wasn’t terrible and we were on within 25 minutes or so. Worth it for her. She rode with her Mimi and I heard them giggling as we passed them by during the ride and that is just the most precious memory.
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By this time, it was nearly 7:30 and I had been at Hollywood Studios nearly 12 hours straight. I have not done that in a long time and I was ready to be done. And we were. Mostly. A few moments of shopping later, and we were boarding the Skyline back to the resort just after 8:00.
Once we made it there, I realized everyone wasn’t going to be held over by our massive Woody’s Roundup lunch and needed something to count a dinner-ish. So, as soon as we got back to the room, we mobile ordered from Primo Piatto. DS walked with me to lend a helping hand. While we waited on our MO to be ready, we popped into Le Petit Cafe for dessert and a final nightcap for me - which I thoroughly enjoyed in Voyaguer’s Lounge while waiting on our food to be ready. I really love that spot. It’s so cozy and no one is ever in there. I could quite easily lay down and take a nap on those benches!
Finally back to the room for good around 9. I ordered the vegetarian option for dinner and dang it was good! I don’t normally go for those because anytime I do, I am normally directed to other things by the Cast Members, but I was pleased with this offering and it totally hit the spot!
After dinner, we all showered and sighed in relief at the rest. NO PARKS TOMORROW! We’ll see if we make it.
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I love your trip reports!! You have a beautiful smile, and I love seeing photos of you with the kids! They are growing up fast 
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Thank you so much! What a sweet thing to write.
SO FAST. And growing faster it seems the more time goes by!
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What a great day you had at Hollywood Studios! I hope the rest of your trip goes well. I have always wanted to stay at the Copper Creek cabins.
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Thank you! We’ve never stayed in them. I’m super excited!
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Slept like a rock.
I just can’t get enough of this view. 
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Fun magic shots from last night. 
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We are at MK today. (I have a TR going but mine is hidden in LA cava). But if we see you we will say hello!
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What a great day at HS yesterday! Love your pictures!
Sorry DD(ad) had to walk. Seems they should have more options.
Can’t wait to see the cabins!
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