Photo Trip Report (as I go) - 9/9 to 9/14, 2018

I am going to attempt to write a trip report as I go! Traveling with me is my friend; we came last November and had so much fun we decided to come again…

We just got here an hour ago — we’re staying at the Yacht Club and are just finishing up a sundae at Beaches and Cream. Now to get changed for some poolside lounging at Stormalong Bay!

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The detail in your pictures is phenomenal! Have a great trip!

Thank you! :blush: I’m just using my iPhone. But it’s easy to get good photos here.

I stayed at the Beach Club years and years ago when I was little. But ooh the YC is so lovely! The newly renovated rooms are gorgeous. DF (Disney Friend) and I each ended up with king rooms — nowhere close to the room request I had sent in, but I can’t complain too much!

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Took a stroll around the lake to get some pics. It’s so pretty here…

Now we’re off to Jiko for dinner!

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Great photos. Love Jiko!

Yum! Jiko is a favorite of mine! Great photos!

I love photo trip reports! Great shots!

Great pictures; looking forward to following :slight_smile:

Day 1 at the parks: Hollywood Studios!

We have FPs for SDD on Friday, so we didn’t even bother. The crowds at TSL are indeed fairly crazy, even with low CLs this week — it seems like everyone at HS was in this one small spot. We started out the morning with breakfast at Ale & Compass before heading to HS via boat. Our first stop (after stopping for a photopass op) was to meet BB-8. Apparently he liked my shirt!

I saw that lines for TSM were still pretty short, so we popped over and only waited 15 mins on standby. Man, I love that ride… really brings out my competitive side. DF beat me by a little — I vowed to beat him when we returned for our FP later! On the way to our ToT FP, we tried to stop in and meet Groot, since we’d hoped to see him the last time he was here (But then he was “getting his twigs trimmed”). The line was looking long enough that we were in danger of missing our FP, so on we trudged to the Hollywood Tower. My friend really does not enjoy “stomach drop-y” rides, so I fully expected him not to go on it. But he decided to be brave and did it! (He hated it :joy:) You really get an amazing view of Star Wars: Galaxy Edge from the top. It looks so cool! (Friend kept his eyes closed for most of the ride so he didn’t see much of it… poor guy.)

We stopped for some water cause it is HOT HOT HOT in Orlando today. But our FP time for our second ride on TSM was soon approaching, so back to Toy Story Land we went. I won this time. Hah!

We decided to meet Groot now, no matter how long it took (it was about 20 mins… not horrible). You guys he’s SO CUTE. Star Lord was so irked we were there for Groot and not for him. It was pretty amusing. After getting our pics, we got Mickey bars and realized we had just enough time to sneak into Indiana Jones — it’s… a bit long in the tooth. I remember being thrilled by it when I was little, but it was sort of silly.

And now I’m back at the pool. Y’all are not kidding that it’s inportant to get out of the parks at midday. The heat is oppressive, and even though I’m pretty happy in tropical weather, even I was ready to get into the pool.

Tonight is ‘Ohana and the HEA dessert party!

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Great report and pics so far. Interested to hear how 'Ohana and the dessert party went.

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End of Day 1:

We lounged at the pool, got changed, and drove over to the Polynesian. I hadn’t been there for… at least 16 years? They’ve expanded it so much! But still such a lovely property. Before our reservation, my priority was to get a tiki drink at Trader Sam’s Tiki Terrace, because those souvenir mugs are just too good. I love this place!! I wish I could go there every night we’re here! (I might try to go back on Thursday…) My drink was DELICIOUS — if we hadn’t had a reservation at ‘Ohana, I could’ve sat there for ages. And had another drink or three…

Then we went up to ‘Ohana to check in — it seems like we hit it at just the right time; our reservation was at 5:10 and we were seated almost immediately! The food was really tasty, and a LOT. That coconut bread was yum, salad nice and crunchy, and oooooh the dumplings. Those were the best part of the meal for me. By the time the skewers came around we were already pretty stuffed. And since we had the dessert party coming up, we said no to the bread pudding and got the check. (I know, I know… but one can only eat so much sugar before collapsing into a coma!)

After hopping on the monorail, we got that sweet sweet green Mickey at the tapstiles, and we were in! Dinner was even so quick that we had time to catch a ride or two! I’d grabbed an FP for Buzz while we were still at dinner, so we rode that, and then jumped on the PeopleMover (still one of my favorite rides). By then it was time to get our wristbands for the party. Once we got them, we entered the spot and staked out just the right view. @profmatt is 100% correct that the optimal spot is at the back of the garden. Our view was PERFECT. This pic was taken with just my iPhone, no edits:

Since there was lightning in the area, Tink didn’t fly :cold_sweat: … I was pretty bummed, but HEA was still sooooo good. I can’t seem to watch it without crying in happiness and delight. My friend is a pretty jaded, cynical New Yorker, and even he loved it. (He’s a total mush on the inside, but it takes some doing to get that to come out… HEA definitely worked its magic on him :slight_smile:)

Since we had the post-show dessert party booked, we ambled over to pick out some tasty treats. It was all pretty good — nothing life-changingly amazing, but worth it for the really great fireworks view.

Once we’d stuffed ourselves silly, we headed back to the Poly. The monorail lines were bananas, so we took the boat — this definitely ended up being the right choice. We picked up the car and headed back to the YC to crash for another day of magic and fun, starting out at the Magic Kingdom!

To be continued…

(The next installment will contain my tale of amazing success at playing the fastpass lotto — @OBNurseNH is not kidding that you can ride ALL THE RIDES with very little waiting!!)

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