Well hey everyone. I trust you all had good holidays? I mean, I know. They were probably tinged with a bit of anxiety, huh? And for that, I do apologize. I am sure you all were disappointed when Santa didn’t leave a new blog post from me under your tree.
So what I am saying is I am sorry if I made your holiday a little less awesome. I hate the idea of ruining someone’s holiday. Again.
But can you blame me? I got Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order for Playstation 4 and have been playing it non-sto….working.
I’ve been working.
So I was gonna go into this whole thing about how I am posting in January about some Christmas stuff we did at Walt Disney World in NOVEMBER and how I am so timely and all that. But you know what? You should be thanking me. Because I am doing you the favor of extending Christmas magic into January. Keep Christmas with you and all that. Ho.
Ho. Ho.
Ho Ho Ho is what I am saying.
Onto Day 7….
This trip, man. It was bananas. We woke up on Day 7 at 9:30AM. This is the Disney equivalent of sleeping the day away. But I mean, we had our reasons. For one, we were at Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party til super late. And for two, our park tickets once again didn’t go into effect until like noonish.
Still though, for someone that usually wakes up before the sun at Walt Disney World, it’s a bit jarring to see everyone already going about their business when I step outside. It feels like I lost. Like, in the “make the most of Disney” competition.
After we woke up and got ready, the four of us had to figure out breakfast. Yeah, no Advanced Dining Reservations again. Bananas.
The boys were in the mood for beignets and since we usually don’t have a car at our disposal for a trip, we decided to grant their wishes, grab our refillable mugs, and drive over to Port Orleans – French Quarter for breakfast.
Man, I love me some POFQ. Before we started renting DVC points, this was my go-to resort. It’s still my favorite Moderate. The place is so well-themed, easy to walk, and has one of the better food courts with lots of unique options.
When we arrived at the resort, we immediately made our way to the Sassagoula Floatworks and Food Factory (their food court), only to find out that while all other breakfast items are served in the main food court, beignets were actually available at Scat Cat’s Club – Café. I assume this is because of their insane popularity since the line to get them in that location was a long one. We gave the kids some cash and let them get in line for their beignets.
And look how cute these little guys are.
I was more in the mood for something savory so I went for the whole-grain croissant breakfast sandwich with what Disney loves to refer to as potato barrels and the rest of the world refers to as tater tots.
No matter what you call em though – I love em. The sandwich wasn’t half bad either. To be completely honest, I missed the “whole-grain” mention in the description when I ordered it. But still…good.
After breakfast, we drove over to Disney’s Hollywood Studios with hopes they would once again let us in a little bit earlier than our noon ticket’s original intentions.
And THEY DID! Whoop. We were in the park before 11:30AM. At first glance, this may seem like a win. But at second glance, it simply means a half hour extra of spending. So really…who is the big winner here?
Yeah. Me. It’s still me.
We were at Hollywood Studios!!
I know we all love the Magic Kingdom at Christmas but Hollywood Studios’ decorating game is strong. I love how retro and tinsel everything is.
Annnd I love how these guys walk that cute/creepy line so deftly.
Are they Ooompa Loompas? Campbell’s Soup Kids? Snap, Crackle, and Pop? WHAT ARE YOU????
We walked right over to Toy Story Land with a plan.
As I mentioned, we had received three FastPasses from the front desk at Old Key West because we were a little perturbed by the fact they were double-charging us for everything purchased on our magic bands. And while we were pretty sure these WOULD NOT cover Slinky Dog Dash, it was worth a shot to see if we could use them. On account of we lurve Slinky Dog Dash and everything it stands for.
When we got to the FastPass line, the cast member informed us that unfortunately, our Multiple Experience FastPasses would not cover Slinky Dog Dash. Womp.
Or was it? Womp? Was it womp?
The cast member then asked how many we were and when I informed him it was just me and the boys (Nickie does not lurve Slinky Dog Dash), he told us to go through. INSANELY nice.
We were in.
These guys were excited. As evidenced by their thumbs being up.
We were seriously excited though. We had kind of figured there was no chance of us riding Slinky today.
After we hopped off Slinky, the boys and I met Nickie over at Toy Story Mania (https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/attractions/hollywood-studios/toy-story-mania/), as we had an actual pre-booked FastPass for that one. Nickie does, in fact, lurve this one.
As do the boys. See? Thumbs again.
As always, Toy Story Mania was a very fun ride and I believe Myles ended up with the high score out of the three of us. Which was a pivotal moment in our father-son relationship. As it began what I envision will be a lifetime of resentment.
Nickie and I also had the boys take pictures of us in front of the popsicle wall. But none of them came out good as I either look fat or bald or a combination of the two. I blame the whole “shrinking down to a toy” thing. Messes with your proportions.
Nickie, of course, looks beautiful but I don’t think she would be ok with me just cropping the pic down to a pic of her solo.
Anyways though. As we were coming out of Toy Story Mania, things got a little more awesome. Because my brother Jeff and sister-in-law Sheila had arrived to meet us!! Fam squad for the win.
And bonus, they were coming from EPCOT so Sheila I think had already had a few margaritas. Which meant two great things – she was already margarita happy AND we had to catch up. Win win.
We checked the MyDisneyExperience App and saw the wait time for Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run was about 45 minutes. So off the six of us went to visit Batuu.
This was our first time seeing the Walt Disney World version of Galaxy’s Edge. We visited the Disneyland version back in July so I was excited to see the Orlando version.
And the verdict?
Yeah, totez same. I mean, we knew it would be. But yah, same.
We got right in line for Smuggler’s Run and came upon this fuzzball doing some repairs.
Like I said, the wait was about 45 minutes or so. And honestly, we don’t usually wait that long for attractions but I mean, there is still no FastPass for this one, the queue is pretty stellar, AND it’s the Millennium Falcon, ya jabroni.
Plus the six of us talked our way through the line so it all moved by pretty quickly. Soon enough, I got my assignment…
I was pretty excited to try out the whole Gunner thing since when we rode this baby in Disneyland, I was a Pilot. Pew Pew.
We then explored a little bit…
…and our group was called hella-fast so no Dejarik table this time around. Glayvin. After a brief intro video from Hondo, we walked into the cockpit and took our seats.
Oof. Those are our pilots? I have a bad feeling about this.
My feelings on Smuggler’s Run really haven’t changed. I do enjoy it, of course. I mean, I am in the frikkin Millennium Falcon. But I dunno. If this wasn’t the Millennium Falcon, would I think this attraction was amazing? Probably not. It doesn’t have that “mind=blown” feeling like I got when I rode, say, Flight of Passage, the first time.
Still though. It’s the Falcon. So I am always going to ride it.
After we disembarked, we caught a little bit of the whole First Order show thing…
And we decided to keep this Star Wars train running so we left Batuu and headed to Endor. Yerp – to use our FastPass for Star Tours: The Adventure Continues.
Our trip took us to Jakku, followed by Crait. Which I mean…is like always where we seem to go now on Star Tours. It’s a popular route I guess. Super excited to see the new sequences inspired by Rise of Skywalker.
Our late lunch reservation at Minnie’s Holiday Dine was coming up soon and with Jeff and Sheila being new additions to our party, they weren’t on our original reservation. But obvs squad, we wanted to eat with them. So I walked up to talk to the lady at the front to see what she could do. She told me that it shouldn’t be a problem but that it would maybe be a little longer. Which was totez fine with us.
On account of everyone else was over at Peevy’s Frozen Concoctions across from Hollywood & Vine ordering up some yummy yum town frozen drinks. The kids each got frozen Cherry and Blue Raspberry Slushies while we opted for some more adult choices. Nickie and Sheila wanted frozen Rum and Cokes while Jeff and I went for the frozen Jack and Cokes. Though when Nickie ordered, it went like this (paraphrased)…
Woman behind the counter: Can I help you?
Nickie: Can I get two Frozen Rum and Cokes and two Frozen Rum and Whiskeys?
Woman behind the counter: Oh, we don’t serve those.
Nickie: Oh, ha. OK. I meant ‘can I get two Frozen Rum and Whiskeys?’
Woman behind the counter: …
Eventually, they sorted everything out…
But literally, everyone couldn’t stop calling them Rum and Whiskeys. It was some sort of weird blip in our brains. In our defense, these should 1000% exist. Pay attention, Disney.
After our drinks were finished, we still had a little bit of time before we could eat so Owen, Jeff, and I made the decision to use one of our Multiple Experience FastPasses on Rock N’ Roller Coaster. Our time was short, so it was a risky move. But sometimes you gotta live on the edge.
You know, like Aerosmith.
We walked…briskly…down the street and got right in the FastPass line. After we left the recording studio and walked into the fenced area, a mom behind us asked us if one of us would ride with her daughter. She was riding with her son and it was her daughter’s first time on the ride so I don’t know. I guess we looked like nice fellas? Must have been the Rum and Whiskeys.
But of course we obliged and she sat up front with me. After assuring her this ride was super fun, I told her of our plan for the on-ride photo. Slayer hands!
This little girl? She was awesome.
Now, as I mentioned, time was tight. So of course just as we were pulling into the end of the ride, it stopped. And as we were stuck, the texts started coming in from Nickie letting us know our table was ready. Help me, Steven Tyler.
Eventually, the ride did start moving. We hurried off and ran the entire length of Sunset Boulevard. When we got there, Nickie and Sheila had just sat down.
So we ran for pretty much nothing. But hey, at least we were sweaty.
We were seated promptly and put in our drink orders. And once that was handled, it was up to the buffet!
To take pictures!
OK, fine. I got some food while I was up there too. I mean, a buffet is really where I shine. It’s like…my natural habitat. Check THIS plate out.
I don’t know if I can remember everything on that plate, but let’s give it a shot. So I see some pretzel bread there. And corn on the cob, obviously. Some chicken tenders. Prime rib with horseradish sauce. Corn dog nuggets. Meatballs. Macaroni and cheese. I think I see some tater tots back there. And a rando piece of asparagus. For decoration.
This was my first plate. My second was pretty much all meatballs, corn dog nuggets, and chicken tenders. My second plate is really where I show my true colors.
Soon enough, some friends came to see us. First up was Daisy…
Then came Mickey, looking sharp as all get out.
Apparently, he REALLY liked Sheila. Or he has some sort of hat-eating addiction.
Next up was…Daisy?
At this point, Mickey started to pretend to be into Daisy and gave us the “shush” sign when he saw Minnie, indicating he needed to keep his feelings for Daisy a secret? We laughed but I have also had trouble sleeping ever since, knowing that I have this secret.
Speaking of Minnie…
And I mean, stuff just kept getting weird….
Place was turning into Studio 54 all of a sudden.
Donald joined us next, which helped bring us back to normalcy. Dude is centered.
But everyone wouldn’t stop moving for this picture. This was literally the best one I got.
Once we finished eating and settled the bill and all that, we were then invited to meet with Santa Goofy, the star of the day.
After we finished eating, it was nearly 4:30 PM and we had to get to the airport soon. But, I mean we still had time for a quick stop in Arendelle.
Yup, another insanely long-named attraction – For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-A-Long Celebration!
We were walking by just as the show was starting so we quickly made our way into the auditorium to listen to the Arendelle Historians tell the story of Frozen.
And I mean, OF COURSE I sang along.
I actually really like this attraction. It’s charming, funny, interactive. It’s all the things. It’s super simple and whatever, but in my opinion, its one of the better stage shows at Walt Disney World.
Plus, look – Anna! Elsa! Kristoff! OLAF!!!!
And while the show is always fun, it’s especially awesometown around the holidays as they sprinkle in some songs from Olaf’s Frozen Adventure and it gets all snowy and Christmassy in there.
It seemed a perfect choice for a last attraction as we were about to bid goodbye to Walt Disney World and hello to the holidays.
I mean, the kids didn’t agree as they continued to ask to ride one more ride while we made our way to the exit. Kids. Amirite?
Once outside the park, we said our tearful goodbyes to Jeff and Sheila and walked to our car to make the drive back to MCO.
We got to the airport, made our way through security, and decided to have some dinner before getting on our plane. The boys wanted Burger King while Nickie and I wanted more of a sit-down meal so we grabbed them some burgers and brought them over to On the Border, which is basically the only sit-down choice in that terminal.
I did get a picture of my meal – the grilled Mexican chicken with rice. Eh, I was feeling pretty full at that point. You know. From all the stuffing-my-face-hole.
It was actually pretty good. We always take this time to talk about our next vacation (Disney’s Vero Beach in February 2020) and/or our next trip to Disney World (Summer 2020). And we ended up giving each other our quote/unquote Christmas presents we bought for one another. On account of we have a hard time waiting for things. For those wondering – Myles ended up with a purple Mickey sweatshirt, Owen got a t-shirt with a bunch of important WDW opening dates listed on the back, I got a super sweet Lady and the Tramp t-shirt, and Nickie got a new Dooney & Bourke Mickey and Minnie wristlet.
And I mean, that’s pretty much it. Oh, our plane was also delayed. But I mean, no one wants to hear about that.
All in all, a pretty great trip. Not only did we get to visit our favorite place but we got to spend so much time with so many of our favorite people and see two of those favorite people start a new chapter in their lives together.
Thanks for reading along and stay tuned for more trip reports in 2020. Like I said, we are heading to Disney’s Vero Beach Resort in early February and we have our longest-ever Walt Disney World vacation coming up this summer. Get excited!
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