I wanted to add for my MK day: it really was an amazing day and we had few complaints. But I know people are relying on Disney CM and visitors to follow protocols, so wanted to mention- after lunch time, certain areas felt very crowded. We had to bob and weave when walking between areas. People were very good about staying 6 ft in the queues but it was impossible to maintain 6 ft in the walkways. My advice to those who are concerned about this- 1) avoid the cavalcades or set expectations. We seemed to catch a lot of Cavalcades by being in the right place at the right time. People would quickly fill in all around us. We would bow out and stand behind the crowd and just watch from afar. This would have been more difficult had we had children with us. 2) The hub once the projections started got crowded. We snapped pictures from the sides, then one as we were walking out, but did not stand around the hun watching because people were not physical distancing. 3) look for a different route. We probably added a few steps to our day by going a less traveled route to our destination but it made us feel more comfortable. There are multiple routes to each land, so just zig and zag to avoid the chaos (Im looking at you line at Sleepy Hallow).
The day was magical and I dont regret anything. Just wanted to mention these tips for those going soon.
Side Note: California Grill was fantastic. I know a lot have people have been there so I’ll spare you my boring review. Our server Riley was perfection and we hope to meet him on another trip!
We also rode the monorail to the Enchanted Rose for a martini before dinner and that was fun! The Enchanted Rose is very pretty and quiet. It was a great date spot for adults.
Its already 2:45 on our HS day and they just called our Boarding Group! Its been a whirlwind day and will report with more this evening! So excited to ride Rise!
Friday 12/11: Hollywood Studios day. Started out rough but ended with perfection. Woke up early and went outside of our hotel to score a boarding group. I had practiced, knew the tricks and was confident before we arrived. Then we arrived and my phone stopped cooperating. We have iphone 11s with great service- why did MDE not work for me at The Swan?? So there we are in our pajamas and flip flops on a bench outside of the Swan panicking at 6:57 am because MDE is acting WEIRD. Long story short I hit Join and it spun for 7ish seconds before going to the next pages… and I got the red bar of death. It was bad. We are competitive by nature, wanted to ride it really bad (1st time), yada yada we were sad. We silently rode the elevator back up to our room and finished getting ready for our day. We left the hotel at 7:20 and walked to HS. I LOVE walking to parks. I cannot emphasize the convenience of the Boardwalk hotels enough. We were inside the park by 8:30 (was hoping for a little earlier) and headed to MMRR. We walked straight through the queue and headed to RnRC. No wait and rode it twice! Then we decided to do that thing we intended to do- slow down and enjoy. We ordered Ronto Wraps, sat and enjoyed GE, took some Photo pass photos, shopped and enjoyed the decorations… while holding hands of course. We relied on the TP app wait times to guide our day and it was really freeing. I love FPP but today we just wandered where we wanted and I completely understand that appeal. Lunch at Hollywood Derby was quiet and a welcomed hour to rest our feet. I love having TS ADRs for lunch! I might stick to that plan going forward. We headed back to the hotel to drop off our sweatshirts (it got hot fast!) then back to HS for the 2:00 BG. We got it! BG 79. We did exactly what we did at 7 am but my phone cooperated this time. We grabbed some blue and green milk, people watched, then our BG was called. We really enjoyed RotR. I love how the CM are so into it too! Galaxy’s Edge felt packed and I yelled GET ME OUTTA HERE! My husband showed me the way to Baseline Taphouse for wine and charcuterie and more people watching. This was a great break in the day and we will be back next time. My husband got an impulse to build a droid so we went to the droid depot and they were accepting walk ins! He made the cutest Droid. We call him BB-77. The sun started going down, the Christmas lights came on and it was so beautiful! I was disappointed in the availability and quality of photopass photographers today. The photos we did receive were pretty lame. Ah, well. We finished the night with SDD at night (new favorite thing!), a second run on Smugglers Run, and a 7:10 reservation at Ogas Cantina sitting at the bar. We had a blast enjoying the bartender, the crazy drinks (fuzzy taun taun really does make your mouth tingle, proof by the photo below) and leaving the park after closing. An empty GE is a sweet memory. We headed back to the hotel and hit the hot tub for 30 min after packing. Tomorrow is our departure day, but not before we hit AK for a while.
I love how you guys persevered and didnt let the fluky phone bad luck ruin your day and got it at 2. Agree about the Tauntaun, I tried DW’s and it was an interesting sensation. Love that your husband made a droid. When in Batuu, right? BB-77 will be a nice addition to your family. Short trips go by so fast dont they. Have a great morning at AK first though!
I didnt Know if we could come back from That boarding group situation. Of Course its always a possibility to fail, but I took it a lot harder than I expected. Im a Pretty positive person but I was MAD!
So glad you got a BG at 2! After all that practicing, it becomes a bit of an obsession🤣. Our first try is tomorrow morning.
I love your t-shirts and your meal/drink choices! None of our days lined up, but I would have loved to meet you. You and your husband sound like fun to be around😃
We noticed this for our trip. Very few of the photographers seemed to know what they were doing. Here is one particularly bad…me in AK (Pandora) at night. She failed to capture any of the beauty of the land.
Sending good vibes and pixie dust! Ours was completely phone service related, all of our other Swan friends were successful at 7. I know you will be too!
Same!! We’ll be picking up our bags from the lobby around 4 if you guys happen to be waking through. Have a wonderful trip!
AK is awesome In the morning. It started feeling busy around 11. We rode FOP, Navi, Everest twice, Dinosaur, Safari twice before our 11 ADR at Yak & Yeti. Mask compliance and cast members staying on top of guests about it has been best at this park for us so far. It’s been a great day so far! We plan to wander around the Tree, take some
Photos, do some Shopping then finish our day at Nomad Lounge.
I hope you know I’m just copying your RD strategy. This morning I kept thinking “ok, Laura got to HS at 7:30 so if we make it by there by then we should be good!”
We relied on the TP app wait times to guide our day and it was really freeing. I love FPP but today we just wandered where we wanted and I completely understand that appeal. Lunch at Hollywood Derby was quiet and a welcomed hour to rest our feet. I love having TS ADRs for lunch! I might stick to that plan going forward. We headed back to the hotel to drop off our sweatshirts (it got hot fast!) then back to HS for the 2:00 BG. We got it! BG 79. We did exactly what we did at 7 am but my phone cooperated this time. We grabbed some blue and green milk, people watched, then our BG was called. We really enjoyed RotR. I love how the CM are so into it too! Galaxy’s Edge felt packed and I yelled GET ME OUTTA HERE! My husband showed me the way to Baseline Taphouse for wine and charcuterie and more people watching. This was a great break in the day and we will be back next time. My husband got an impulse to build a droid so we went to the droid depot and they were accepting walk ins! He made the cutest Droid. We call him BB-77. The sun started going down, the Christmas lights came on and it was so beautiful! I was disappointed in the availability and quality of photopass photographers today. The photos we did receive were pretty lame. Ah, well. 
We finished the night with SDD at night (new favorite thing!), a second run on Smugglers Run, and a 7:10 reservation at Ogas Cantina sitting at the bar. We had a blast enjoying the bartender, the crazy drinks (fuzzy taun taun really does make your mouth tingle, proof by the photo below) and leaving the park after closing. An empty GE is a sweet memory. We headed back to the hotel and hit the hot tub for 30 min after packing. Tomorrow is our departure day, but not before we hit AK for a while. 
