What? We’re getting to go AGAIN!?!? - New Years dancing at Disney and Universal...

tyandskyesmom

DIS Veteran
Joined
Apr 18, 2007
Yep! It happened again...dancing causes us to HAVE to go on vacation again!

We did not expect this trip as we usually travel in the summer for dance and this year was supposed to be New York. And at first, knowing how expensive Disney is and how crowded Disney is at Christmas time (because we did 16 days over Christmas and New Years a few years ago) I said there was no way we could do it. Then I looked at the Universal portion of the trip and well, she does get great deals for Universal. So maybe we could do Universal and drive down a couple of days early and stay off property and just enjoy Disney Springs and the Disney hotels and dining...you know, a more relaxing start to our vacation. We NEVER get those! Then I started planning dining and decided for what we wanted to spend dining, we could afford to go to parks. And that evolved into staying on property and went from two nights to four. I don't know how, Disney Math I guess. We all agreed we'd rather do parks than eat high end. We'd actually love to do both but that is not happening this trip.

So what actually happened? Well...

Who :

Sherry (Me)...48 year old mother of two. I work from home for a hospital association... I love it! Commuting three seconds to work is great...except you don't get snow days like everyone else! I love to plan and talk about planning Disney trips and Universal's non-planning vibe upsets me! I like to have dining set and we have been enough that I don't feel like I am missing something else. I am usually the one behind the camera so there won't be many pictures of me.

Cary (significant other)...turned 45 years old the day we left for the trip. He works as a lead in a warehouse...in the cold...and cannot wait to be able to pick up amd move to Florida. He tends to phase out when I start talking about vacation and just wants to know where to be when. His first trip was our Christmas/New Years one a few years ago...needless to say, he was overwhelmed on that one. He's catching on but much to all of our dismay, as much as he enjoys Disney, likes Universal better. For him I think it is the lack of planning he enjoys and the front of the line access and the types of rides. We keep telling him he's wrong but whatever!

Tyler (Son/Brother)... turned 20 the first day at Disney. He is an Assistant Manager at Little Caesars and goes to a Community College full time. He has been going to Disney since he was 18 months old and still loves it! He just started liking thrill rides in the past year or so so this was a trip of new adventures for him. I still can't see him as an adult...mostly because he does not act like one...in good ways and bad ways. He is a contradiction to life! He drives me crazy!!! His favorite animal is an Elephant, color is blue, Character is Hercules, food is Steak/Pizza/Ramen. He used to play football since he was 4 and tried a local minor league out of high school but they were really unorganized and he stopped. He is a gamer (much to my dismay) and spent a lot of time Pokemon-ing on out trip.

Skyler (Daughter/Sister)... 14 years old and a freshman in high school. She is in all honors and AP classes, was a JV Cheerleader for football season, Varsity Poms/Competitive Dance for basketball/competition season, she is on the Freshman Class Committee, she made it onto Steeltones (their sort of Show Choir, sort of...), she and her new school bestie have gotten approval to start an Orchesis (dance club), and she just got a part as a nameless Nun in the Spring Musical "Sister Act". In with all of this she is an avid dancer and in fact, this weekend has her first competition for the year. She is the reigning State Champion the last three years in a row! She is doing a solo and a trio (with two seniors) along with two group dances this year for competition...she is in 10 classes for the recital and helps with 5 classes. She has signed up for Honors Physics in a six week summer course and plans on taking Drivers Ed during that first three weeks. So needless to say she's busy. Yet, she has plenty of time to be lazy and lay on the couch and stare at a phone or a TV. She intends to be a Heart or Brain Surgeon or maybe go into Forensics and minor in Dance along with that in college.

Our family dynamic has changed and we are all very busy so when we are in the bubble, we like to stay there! And we like to get there as much as possible!

Where & When :

La Quinata Inn & Suites Ocala
December 28, 2018 through December 29, 2018

All-Star Movies
December 29, 2018 through January 2, 2019

Hard Rock Hotel
January 2, 2019 through January 5, 2019

All-Star Music
January 5, 2019 through January 6, 2019

Hampton Inn Chattanooga - Lookout Mountain
January 6, 2019 through January 7, 2019

How : Driving...of course. No way am I paying that much to fly at this time of the year and I am not paying that much and planning my trip around airlines who cancel flights it one drop of rain falls these days. So we drove from Joliet, IL...about 17 hour drive.

So there you have our trip, in a nutshell...stay tuned for the fun details!


 
So December 27, 2018 was a long day. Tyler had to work 9am - 4:30am and Cary works 3pm until 1:30am. He had told his boss he was leaving at midnight though. Skye was on winter break but they had a last minute dance rehearsal for the Universal portion of their trip and I had taken the day off. Things did not go as smoothly as I planned though. Initially we had planned that we'd be back from dance early enough to his the grocery store for last minute things, we'd make sandwiches for the ride down, and then I'd be in bed by 4pm. I was the one driving. Then Tyler would get home, help Skye pack the trunk, and they'd get to bed. Then at about 12:30am Cary was to get home, shower, and we'd leave.

Well, dance did not get over as soon as it was supposed to. The grocery store was slower than planned. Tyler worked late. I did not get to sleep before 7pm. Cary's bosses were being jerks and did not let him leave until am.

The kids had managed to pack the trunk FULL! I had gotten up and showered and was ready when Cary for home. We had food ready for him to jump in the car and go. By the time he was ready to go we were all up and waiting. We left the Joliet at 1:57am (CST).

This is the perfect time to drive...no one was around.

We hit Indiana at 2:23am and everyone was still awake.

We were in Indianapolis, IN at 4:15am...and they were mostly awake still. The Windmills before Indianapolis are a sight to see even at night when all you see are tons of red flashing lights with a vague outline of the blades spinning here and there. It seems we are always through there at night though so the kids have never seen them in the daylight.

We stopped for gas and a bathroom break in Austin, IN at 5:40am ($26.00).

Somewhere in here time changed...which is always odd because it changed back again before we get to Disney.

At 7:06am (EST) we entered Kentucky.

At 8:20am (CST) we entered Tennessee.

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We were in Georgia at 10:39am, back in Tennessee at 10:42am, and then back in Georgia at 11:00am. Going the opposite direction through this area was at a complete stand still. We could not see why because the median is very tall here though. Skye found driving through the mountains very cool. Usually she is sleeping during this span. There were a lot of little water falls along the road that were really pretty. I love that stretch of road!

Around 1:30pm we were approaching Atlanta, GA. Should have been too early for rush hour but OMG, it was horrible! It took us forever to get through. Once we were through that mess they closed off the whole road going our way just north of the Georgia:Florida line. We were re-routed around, off the expressway, and back on further down. So that cost us more time.

We were planning on getting to our hotel around 6pm. That did not happen. We were entering Florida at 7:47pm. We stopped for gas in Reddick, FL at 9:20pm ($29.00)...

We arrived at the LaQuinta at 9:30pm...much later than planned. I ran in to check in and the young girl at the desk was very nice in explaining that they were full that evening and she has been told the parking lot was full. She said they apparently has a lot of people with campers or pull behinds that were using more than their allotted spaces per room. She went on to say that the Hilton next door would let us park there and their lot is connected. So we go out and sure enough, there are no parking spots in the LaQuinta lot. So we head to the lot that is adjoining it. And nope, nothing. So we ride around to the opposite side of that other hotel where it appeared they had full banquet halls because there were not spots there either and a lot of very dressed up people going in and out to finally find a spot about three blocks from our hotel. So ya, not happy! We hesitantly parked our car under a sign notifying us that it will be our problem if our car is broken into, grabbed our bags we needed for the night (which wasn't much but it wasn't really comfortable leaving the rest of our stuff way far from our hotel) and headed for our walk in. Once we arrived I let the young girl at the desk (who said she was the night manager) how inconvenient this was and how uneasy it made me. I expressed that I believed that when I reserve a room at a hotel I assume I am reserving at least one spot on the lot at that hotel to park in. She pretty much told me too bad, so sad and there was nothing she could do about it and would not comp any part of my bill or offer anything in restitution. So we go to carry on and walk to the elevator to get to our second floor room. There is a couple standing there waiting already. Eventually, after we had been there about five minutes waiting they left. I don't know how long they waited before we walked up though. So Cary walks the 20 feet to the front desk to ask about it and she tells him that it sometimes works and sometimes doesn't and proceeds to tell him how to jiggle the button. REALLY?!?!?!

So finally the elevator comes, we all hold our breath, and we arrive on the second floor. Our room was right there next to the elevator. Because of traffic, we did not have tome to use the pool/hot tub...it was closing shortly. But we could see it outside of our window and it looked like it was probably nice. The room was clean and decent...nothing fancy but it was what we were looking for for that night.

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We had planned to run out for something to eat...but being so late and not wanting to move the car in fear of losing our three block away spot to a six block away one, we were limited in our options. We didn't want pizza. So the closest place that was still open was El Toreo. Cary and Tyler walked over and got us food. Unfortunatly I did not take pictures or keep the receipt...either too tired, too upset, or too hungry...so I'm winging it.

Skye got a Cheese Quesidilla Dinner...with lettuce, sour cream, guacamole, and pico de gallo on the side. It also came with beans and rice ($9.95).

Ty got the Three Steak Tacos... with flour shells, lettuce, and cheese,,,and rice and beans ($11.95).

Cary got the Three Beef Enchilada Dinner...with rice and beans ($11.45).

I got the Burrito Supremo...with steak, beans, sour cream, cheese, lettuce, and tomato ($7.95).

We had three soft drinks and an Horchata to drink because we had not lugged anything from the car to drink. Our total was around $57.00.


I all came with chips and salsa that were good scooping up the kids' beans. They, of course, don't eat beans. Everything was good...or we were really hungry. We scarfed it all down in bed and then passed out.

 
December 29, 2018

Today was Tyler's 20th Birthday! Cary's 45th Birthday was yesterday...travel day, FUN!

So we were up and showered early and headed down to the included breakfast before leaving. We walked out into the hallway and it was like a sauna in there! Seriously? You have a full hotel and you cannot afford to turn on the air conditioning in the hallway??? The hotel is a pet friendly one and on the way down someone opened a room door and a large dog rushed out towards Tyler rather aggressively before he was stopped by his owner...who said nothing! We waited for the forever-vator and made it to the lobby for the open area breakfast area and it's about 9- million degrees in there.

Breakfast was lack luster like the rest of the hotel. The only meat type protein was hard boiled eggs. There was minimal whole fruit...nothing that would take too much effort. The milk, coffee, OJ and Apple Juice was out when we got down there in about the middle of breakfast serving time. And it took quite a while to get them filled up. Here's a plate...

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That was about the extent of it. They also had waffles and Skyler had to wait for the batter to be filled before she could make hers. Skye made Ty a waffle when they were able but that's about all he ate, along with OJ. Cary had coffee and yogurt. Skye had a waffle and juice and cereal. The above plate was mine. The bagel was hard. The muffin came with us. Breakfast is probably the kid's and my favorite meal and we were very disappointed. The breakfast was one of the reasons we booked this hotel figuring if we paid to eat out, we'd pay more. At this point we were wising we had stayed at a scary motel for $50.00 and eaten at the Cracker Barrel or a Waffle House (which we have yet to eat at!).

After we finished our food and were sufficiently sweaty, we headed beck to the room to gather up our stuff. We did not have much up with us so it did not take long and we went back downstairs. THe kids and I held the luggage near the door while Cary hikes the three blocks to our car and brought it back.

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We stuffed back into the car and got back on the expressway. In about a little over an hour we were seeing this...

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We arrived at All-Star Movies and parked in the check in lot.

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We checked in at 11:10am. I already knew our room was not ready because I had gotten a text telling me that but we wanted to make sure our tickets were activated (last time we had to do that). I had requested to be in the Herbie section. I thought that might be a good option because I never hear of people wanting to stay there...we never have. And then i heard that those rooms were renovated. So far, from pictures, I am not fond of the new look but i wanted to stay in one, maybe I'd change my mind.

We stopped for a picture in the lobby with the tree.

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And since our room was not ready we left our stuff in the car in the check in lot and hopped a bus to Hollywood Studios! This was waiting for us when we walked out...

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What a bummer about your hotel troubles. We usually do road-trips and I like to get reservations for hotels that have breakfast included, but have rarely found ones that have had anything stellar. Once in awhile we get lucky.... but free is free. I'd be super upset about the parking incident, especially because I don't like unloading the entire car if we're only staying one night somewhere.

We will be staying the night in Chattanooga on our trip back from Florida in June... Did you like your hotel there? I'm still trying to figure out where we'd like to stay.
 
What a bummer about your hotel troubles. We usually do road-trips and I like to get reservations for hotels that have breakfast included, but have rarely found ones that have had anything stellar. Once in awhile we get lucky.... but free is free. I'd be super upset about the parking incident, especially because I don't like unloading the entire car if we're only staying one night somewhere.

We will be staying the night in Chattanooga on our trip back from Florida in June... Did you like your hotel there? I'm still trying to figure out where we'd like to stay.


Yes, we did actually really like the one in Chattanooga...and better food too!
 
We were able to hop on the waiting bus and stand right at the front line and we were off right away!

We arrived at Hollywood Studios and even though I had heard about the bus stops and all the construction going on, I was still surprised to see it all. The walk didn't seem that much different than the last couple of times we were there but the walls being up in an area that is usually so open and pretty was kind of a bummer! We were actually trying to place where things were in relation to what used to be there and it was really hard! I do like the idea of the bus stop area but not sure about where it is located. And the jury is still out on the gondolas. In theory, I like the idea. But, not open air yet not air conditioned...the weather in Florida for much of the year...the eye sore that they look to be so far...just not sure if I am going to like them in actuality or not. I am all for another form of transportation but I just don't know how useful this one will be. Plus, I am wondering how much the rates on the hotels they are at will go up.


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We were able to walk right in and stopped for a picture...

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The crowds did not seem too bad yet. There were a lot of new "generic" Christmas decorations all around that we just did not really understand. I mean, I'm all for decorations but this is Disney...I want Disney themes decorations!

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Are these poodles form something, maybe, that I do not know of???

We really miss The Great Movie Ride and are not anticipating liking the new Mickey themed ride that is replacing it. We don't really like the style of the new cartoons. I am sure as an attraction we will enjoy it but in general, we do not like that version of Mickey and the gang.

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Looking back towards the entrance, maybe there were a lot of people???

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We've been doing Christmas/New Years and summer the last four or five trips for maybe compared to our other recent trips, it didn't seem so bad.

We were able to catch the 12pm March...

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Cary always geeks out over this...the only thing he'd like better would be if Darth Vader led it!

We had the same destination in mind as everyone else but along the way we enjoyed the walk.

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See? What are these guys???

We took some pictures with Ariel's fishes. It was a little bit warm but uncomfortably so.

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Tyler tended to give me the "Oh, we have to stop and take more pictures of her again!" (ya, she likes looking at herself...she's a 14 year old girl for sure!) but then I'd tell him to take some and he'd be silly so that went on all week!

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And then we found the people...

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The whole area was really cute and we loved it. I am sure once Star Wars is open and the other end of the walk way is open, it won't seem so congested...or at least I hope! We did think they missed some great opportunities here though and I have heard thoughts that we might not feel as immersed in the back yard once Star Wars is open because it seems is if you will be able to see that area from the ground of the other...I guess we'll have to wait and see though.

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We loved the ornament set up...

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And the Hamm cookie...

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And giant Buzz...

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We hit the bathroom (which was really cute) and then decided to wait for Alien Swirling Saucers. The standby said 75 minutes. We normally would not wait in a line this long but we knew going in that this was a very good possibility...and Slinky Dog was at almost five hours so that was not happening! We got in line at 12:25 and were off the ride at 1:36pm...so 71 minutes!

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These guys guard the entrance and they talk. While we were waiting it was getting hotter.

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The kids love to bring Panama (he seems to come to all our trips!) and make him pose in funny spots.

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I went with Tyler and Skye went with Cary. We went to opposite ends of the track to see where we would end up and if we ever crossed paths. We did not ever come close to each other and we ended in the same spot we started in just on the opposite side of the track. It's a cute ride. It does get a little whippy in there but not much. I would not wait that long for it again unless I had nothing else to do but we all were glad we rode it.

Once we were off, we took a picture with the Pixar ball and hraded towards our first fast pass of the trip!

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All in all, we love the land. It has lots of cute touches and little things you did as a kid but probably don't think of anymore. We think it could have been so much more than it is though...




 


So we headed on up to our first fast pass of the trip....Rock'n Roller Coaster! We looked through the shops along the way taking our time just enjoying being there.

Tyler was on this once when he was little and it scared the crud out of him. Skyler had never been on it. But somehow, this past summer they both hit their love of thrill rides and this would open up a whole new world for them. Skye got a little nervous walking over but she's been on MUCH worse at Great America so she wasn't backing out.

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And somehow, that is the only picture i have from our trip to the concert!???! We got in the fast pass line at 2:06pm and we were off at 2:26pm...so 20 minutes for the whole thing! In the end, the both loved it this time around and Skye even kept her eyes open.

After the concert we headed back across the park for our next fast passes.

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As we were waling over i got a notification that one of my fast passes had changed. The way it was worded was odd so I was not sure what it was saying. So when we arrived at Star Tours for our next fast pass, I asked the CM there. She looked at it and said it was worded oddly but that our last fast pass much be down so they were giving us an open fast pass for the attractions listed. SO ok, but nothing was on there that would be worthwhile to us so I was not happy at this point. Anyway, we got in the fast pass line at Star Tours at 3:24pm and walked right into a line. It was fun, as usual. We did not go anywhere we had not been before though and none of us was the rebel spy.

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We decided to head over to Toy Story and see if it was back up yet or if they knew an approximation of when it would be. So we walked back around to Toy Story Mania. The CMs out front were turning away people left and right. When we told them we had a fast pass for this time frame, they told us they were allowing one side for the fast pass holders...so we headed inside at 4:11pm. We did stand still for a bit so I think they jusr decided to do that right before w ecame up but that was fine with us.

Skye had brought her pointe shoes to try to get some cool pictures.

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Skye and I ride together and Cary and Tyler rode together. Tyler won, of course. We love this ride but it is an arm work out for sure!

We were needing some food so that was the next thing on our agenda!




 
Linner was at Woody's Lunchbox.

This place is so cute! But it is also SO crowded! And with limited space in the land in general there were a lot of people taking up tables not eating or clearly done eating. And after hearing people talk, using that as a place to sit with littles to wait got bigs riding things littles could not. So needless to say we had to stalk a table...and people are rude and ruthless! WOW...it never fails to amaze me how horrible people can be, especially in the Happiest Place on Earth.

At 4:48pm we were ordering. Skye and Ty went to stalk tables. Initially they could not find anything. Then we found a table with two chairs because the chairs were being used for the table next to us so their backpacks would have a place to sit. It's a tight squeeze through there too when people bring their huge strollers into the small area where the tables are all squeezed together...and then act like they don't see the fat lady trying to squeeze through.

We finally were able to find a table with four chairs closer to the aisle...which gave us more room in the first place.

So what did we eat???

Well, both the kids got the ... Grilled Three-Cheese Sandwich - Melted Provolone and Cheddar Cheeses with a Cheddar Cream Cheese Spread on Garlic Buttered Grilled Artisan French Bread...

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Initially, I was worried about these because they can be weird (especially Tyler) about different cheeses on their grilled cheese but they both liked them. They did both say they were pretty garlicy...which is not their preferred method of grilled cheese and even Skye, who LOVES garlic said it was a lot. Neither would rush back for them but if they were here and hungry, they'd have it again. The tots, though were nice and hot and crispy on the outside whole being soft on the inside. Tots were a hit!

Cary and I were going to share two items. First was the ...
"Totchos"-Potato Barrels coated with Beef and Bean Chili, Shredded Cheese and signature Queso with Tomatoes and Corn Chips finished with Sour Cream and a sprinkle of Green Onions.

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Now, this may not look like much and the bowl looks small but believe me, it was a big bowl and was very good! The Frito were a surprise and a good one at that! Cary really liked this! There seemed to be enough toppings to cover all the tots. I had some and it was good. Cary would come back for these for sure!

We also shared the ...
BBQ Brisket Melt-Sliced Smoked Brisket, Pickles and tangy BBQ Sauce between melted Cheddar and Monterey Jack Cheeses on Grilled Sourdough with a bowl of tomato soup in place of the tots.

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This is a lot of food...definitely enough to share. The soup was really good...creamy bit not thick. No one else eats tomato soup so I did not have to share. The sandwich was good and bad. Some bites were really good but in other bites the meat was fatty, which is always what I am afraid of with brisket. The melty cheese and sauce with the good parts of meat and buttery bread would get me coming back but served as it was, I don't know that I'd order it again. I might, it wasn't horrible in any way...Cary did not like it much but he has a great aversion to any kind of fat at all.

For dessert we had a Holiday Lunch Box Tart. And I do not remember what it was...I am thinking an apple something...but not sure. Tyler wouldn't tough it...Skye, Cary, and I all liked it but it was very heavy and one on one, this would have been too much.

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We did bring bottles of water and pop with us from home to last the whole time at Disney because the cost of those things are off the charts but since we were not able to unpack the car, we had not brought any with us into the park so we got three large drinks (Sprite and two Cokes).


Overall, Woody's Lunchbox was just ok. Neat concept...good sounding food. Horrible seating in a bad location for catching stragglers. So not quite sure on it's return-ability factor. It is different. It is the only thing in that part of the park. So it might get vidited again but I don't think we'd make a special trip.

Total here was $58.81.
 
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So after linner we headed back up front.

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We headed to Launch Bay. We miss the Jawas being there. We did head in and watch the movie again.

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Then we went towards Star Tours but the line was huge!

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So we saw that one frosty friend did not have a long wait so we stopped in there! We walked through the line and were the next ones in. Within a minute or so someone came to get us. We went in at 6:55pm and were out at 6pm.

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We headed over towards Muppets...

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We went into Muppets at 6:06pm...we love this and I am afraid it is in jeopardy. I would hate to see this attraction go. Skye grabbed a Frozen Strawberry Lemonade ($5.50) from the cart right to the side of Rizzo's...which was closed.

We had decided to skip Fantasmic to see Jingle Bam. We headed over that way and saw that there was a Frozen show that we just missed! But there was another one in about an hour an it would be over before the other show started so we grabbed a table right out along the walk way in front of the Dockside Diner to wait. Skye's coach, her dad, another dancer that was traveling with them and another dancer and her mom came around. We sat there talking for a while about our trip down so far and they stayed at the table while we went to Frozen at 7:30pm. We got in line when it started moving thinking it'd be fine...but as we got closer, we were getting worried we would not get in. But they made everyone fill in all seats and we all fit! We were in the back past where it snows but we could see just fine. It was a Christmas version that was different than even the last time we were there at Christmas with a little bit from the Christmas special. It was cute as usual. We were out of there at 8:04pm.

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We wanted to see Toy Story at night so we left all our stuff with the people at the table and headed back there. WOW...really cool at night.


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We were kinda hoping everyone would be heading to Fantasmic or thr Jingle Bam and we'd get a ride on Slinky but the line was still almost three hours long! So no Slinky DOg for us this time around...

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After we walked around a bit and saw it all, we headed back to the table for the show.
 
I think the only time I'll ever visit TSL and ride SDD is at night or at dusk.... It just has a completely different feel when you're not there in blazing sun, and the lights everywhere are just amazing. I'm hoping on our trip we won't have problems getting a FP for SDD if we do it later in the evening when Id rather ride it anyway.

Great pictures ..…..
 
When we arrived back at the table we realized we were still early for the show so we headed over to Sunset Boulevard.

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WOW! Now, this is a site to see. Maybe not as cool as the Osborne Lights were but it is very cool!

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We stood there a while in just about the same spot just looking around and watching. There was music and snow and lasers and moving billboards and lights and projections...it was just fun and beautiful...these pictures don't do it justice. While I am generally over the projecting things on buildings that Disney seems to be doing too much of these days, I really enjoyed this one. We could have just sat on Sunset Boulevard and watched all night!

So eventually we headed back to the table when it was just about time for the movie memorie show to start (I forget the actual name of it). It is another projection show...it is neat but it was pretty limited in the movies they used.

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Mostly mainstream Disney...Mary Poppins, Star Wars, Pirates, Guardians, etc... it was a good space filler though. Shortly after that, the Jingle Bam started. I did not take any pictures except one...I guess I just wanted to enjoy the show.

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It was cute. I am glad we stayed to see it rather than Fantasmic (although Fantasmic is our favorite night time show) and we got to hang with our friends for a while.


 
After the show our friends left. They were staying at The Dolphin so they took off walking. We took our time heading to the front. Skye wanted to take pointe pictures on Sunset Boulevard so she put on her shoes and we headed that way. Unfortunatly, those pictures are on her phone so I don't have them to post. But it was starting to thin out so we got some decent ones.

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Then we took pictures on the way out too...

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We did this for a while just enjoying the walk out. When we got to the front we headed over to the bus lines. We were at stop #6...almost all the way down to the end. And of course Movies had the longest line. We stood in line a short time thinking we should just settle in but then three buses pulled up and they told us we got the last bus out for the night. It did empty the line. We were one of the first on the third bus so we got seats so we were happy at that point! We were on the bus at 10:35pm.

So somewhere in the day we got our text that our room was ready. And just like our last couple of trips, I WAS NOT PLEASED! We got exactly what I did not want! We were in Mighty Ducks Building 3 on the second floor around the back facing the parking lot...about the furthest back as possible. We were closer to the All Starr Music food court and bus stop. I hate that though. I want to enjoy walking back to my room not walk past the service areas, across a parking lot/street and then to my room...not very Disney like. At this point we're not planning to be here much and it's late. And being this is a hugely busy time of the year and we checked in in the middle of it, I assume there was not a lot of choice but still, I was not thrilled. Otherwise, it was a value room as we have come to expect it. It was not a refurbished room but I knew it wouldn't be once I knew where we were. We had the bottle of shampoo, conditioner, and body wash attached to the wall rather than the little bottles. We love that stuff so we did like being able to take them home but we were fine with this too.

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Since it was so late, we had a hard time finding a parking spot...we were in about the middle of the parking lot and we did not pack well for bringing stuff up. So we took a few trips bringing up luggage, food, water, pop...and then we ordered room service...which we were pleased to see was not just pizza delivery anymore.

So we had Whole Pepperoni Pizza...

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...that was good Disney pizza. I did not have any, Skyler had one piece that I think she ended up giving to Tyler, and Cary and Tyler ate the rest.

We also ordered a Chicken Caesar Salad and a plain Caesar Salad.

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We did not know how large the salads would be because they were listed as "side salads". I have part of one, Skye ate part of one, Cary ate part of one and we had a little left over. They were nice and fresh and a lot of food, especially along with the pizza.

They do charge a delivery fee and add on an 18% tip automatically but for us, tonight, it was worth it.

Our total was $51.97.

We barely made it through food before we all passed out for the night.

 
Last edited:
Following along and enjoying your day at DHS. We plan to go this year for Christmas/NYE so excited to hear what happens next!
 
The next morning (December 30, 2018) we were up at 5am at the bus stop by 6:35am!

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The bus arrived at 6:43am, we had just missed one. We arrived at Magic Kingdom at 7am and were through security by 7:09am.

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So we headed towards The Contemporary.

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I had planned this breakfast partially to eat breakfast but also so that we were already through security and not relying on any form of transportation in case the crowds got crazy. The last time we were here at this time of the year, the day before New Years Eve was crazy entering so I was taking preventive measures. It worked great.

We arrived at The Wave at 7:23am for our 7:30am reservation.

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And we were the only ones there...which is similar to the only other time the kids and I have eaten here. We had to wait until 7:30am exactly before they would seat us (that is when it opened). We were seated straight away from the entrance neat the kitchen.

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I also booked this because I knew they had Mickey Waffles for Skye and Cary is not a really big breakfast eater so I figured he could at least have good coffee.

Cary and I ended up ordering an
Omelet Your Way - Choice of Ham, Bacon, Mushroom, Onion, Tomato, Cheese, or Spinach with Breakfast Potatoes...

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We had it with cheese, bacon, and tomatoes. Our waiter, Jorge, brought us a separate plate to split it. It was really good. I don't like my omelets too done and Cary likes his dry...this was perfect for both of us somehow. The potatoes were really good with onions and peppers mixed in and we could have done with more of those. And the biscuit I had a bite of and Cary ate the rest...it was a biscuit. This was plenty of food for the two of us for breakfast.

Skyler had the Kid's
Mickey Waffles - with Butter and Maple Syrup, Bacon or Sausage, and Small Minute Maid® Apple Juice.

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She would have liked more waffles but she did not really need them. She was plenty fill after breakfast. She did scam on some of out potatoes too.

Tyler got the
American - Two-Eggs Cooked-to-Order with Breakfast Potatoes and Bacon...and he was able to sub an extra egg for the potatoes (he doesn't eat potatoes). His eggs were cooked well, with no runny parts, the bacon was Disney bacon and he got white toast too. He enjoyed it all.

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Tyler had a coke, I had tap water, Skye had apple juice and Cary had what is listed on the receipt as Organic Colombian Coffee. He was brought the pot...you can see it in the first picture. He said it was really good coffee.

Jorge was pretty good. At first he was around a lot. After we ordered and other tables started being seated, not so much...but that was ok with us. He brought our food when it was ready and was around enough to know when we needed refills. The place probably only had about 5 or 6 tables full by the time we were leaving so it was a nice, quiet meal. We were heading out at 8:23am...so exactly one hour from when we arrived at The Wave.

We all enjoyed our meal here. We have yet to eat lunch or dinner here because there are just so many other places to go but we would not hesitate to have breakfast here again if the option presented itself.

Our total was $54.71.
 
After breakfast we headed through security before upstairs to catch the monorail.

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We got off at The Grand Floridian to check out the decorations.

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They moved the gingerbread house and it seems smaller. Maybe it's just the location that creates that illusion but I thought it looked smaller.

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After we were done playing at the Grand Floridian we headed back around to The Magic Kingdom!
 
So we arrived at the Magic Kingdom and headed in...

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...and we headed over to Tomorrowland.

We jumped in stand by for Buzz at 9:31am and it said it was a 30 minute wait. The line was not out the door yet but they had the turnstiles out and ready so we had to walk through those.

Panama took a pic along the walk...

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And
then we remembered all the times this line twists and turns inside the building. I don't think we have ever waited in stand-by before. If we rode stand-by it was when there was not a line at all and we just walked on...otherwise it used to always get a fast pass for us...so needless to say, the wait was longer than 30 minutes!

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Tyler obviously won...he got 999999...and got a sticker declaring him a Galactic Hero!

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We were off at 10:20am so the wait was more like 50 minutes!

Then we headed to the People Mover...which HAD A LINE!!! We jumped in line at 10:23am.

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The kids ALWAYS take this picture...usually it's real because Skye does not realize Tyler brought Panama but this time it was staged...LOL!

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The kids were being obnoxious and pretending to be scare of the dark...

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I love all the great views from the People Mover. We were off at 10:40am...so it wasn't a long line, and it kept moving for the most part but the belt going up was not moving so you had to walk your way up that incline. I don't know if that is done on purpose when it's busy but we had never seen it before and we have been her at this time of the year before.

After that we walked into The Carousel of Progress at 10:42am and were leaving singing about a great big beautiful tomorrow at 11:07am.

Next up was our first fast pass.Now both of the kids had been on Space Mountain before..ONCE .separately...because when Skye was finally big enough, Tyler had already ridden (he was a tall for his age kid and she was tiny until she was about 12!) and there was no way we were getting him on again. Skye had attempted to ride a couple of times on our last few trips but always took the chicken exit while Cary and I rode. This time with their new found love of coasters, we were all in...except Tyler was still wavering...it's the dark and not being able to see what's coming. SO he chickened his way through the line...we walked right up to the loading dock. We walked in at 11:15am and were out by 11:30am. And they both liked it...not loved it...the dark still was a problem for them, not being able to see what was coming next but they would not complain about riding again.

And then we headed out of Tomorrowland.
 
Next we headed for food since we were all feeling a bit munchie...

We stopped into Columbia Harbour House. We all ordered and Tyler went to find some place to sit upstairs. They love to sit by a window but it was pretty crowded in there so he did have to hunt.

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Ant this was our view, so he succeeded! We ended up getting a couple of things to share. Skyler got the side of
Macaroni & Cheese...

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It it the creamy kind with lots of "juicy" cheese for dipping french fries in. She always loved this kind!

Then we ordered two other entrees to share among all of us. The
T
rio Platter...a combination of Fried Shrimp, Breaded Chicken Breast Nuggets and Battered Fish served with Hushpuppies and a choice of Green Beans & Carrots, Apple Slices or French Fries (we got green beans and carrots).

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I
t had five chicken chunks, two decent sized pieces of fish, three hush puppies, and five shrimp. We all ate off of it and it was a lot of food. We really liked all of it. The shrimp was nice and fresh tasting, the fish not too greasy and the chicken was typical Disney chicken. We always love Disney green beans and the hush puppies were suprizingly not dry but well seasoned and soft on the inside, crunchy outside.

We also got the
Chicken Breast Nuggets & Fish Combo...Chicken Breast Nuggets and Fried Fish Plate served with Hushpuppies and a choice of Green Beans and Carrots, Apple Slices or French Fries (we for fries).

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There was three pieces of fish and six chicken pieces and a ton of fries. Again, this was a lot of food and was all very good.

They have little stations set up all over with plastic utensils, salt, pepper, straws, napkins, and various sauces...hot sauce, tarter sauce, barbecue sauce, mustard sauce, ketchup...maybe more but that was all we were after.

We also got four cups of ice. We had bottles of pop with us and this actually worked out really well. MUCH cheaper than buying Disney pop. I thought Cary might not like doing this but he loved it and it is likely we will do this from now on.

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We spent some time eating and cooling off (it was pretty warm outside!).

Our total here was $29.69 for two meals and a side. Not the cheapest meal but it was plenty of food for four people. If we were starving, maybe not. If we weren't planning on snacking in the future, maybe not.

All in all, we really enjoy Columbia Harbour House and it is usually one of our go to counter services in the Magic Kingdom if we are doing counter service.

We were outta there at 12:21pm so for being smack dab in the middle of lunch time, it wasn't too bad.




 
After lunch we saw that the riverboat was coming around so we hopped in line for that at 12:44pm.

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And our tour was over and we off the boat at 1:24pm. We were able to sit up along the deck and it was not crowded up their either...probably because the sun was HOT. But sitting was a good thing and you could see everything out there. It was a nice slow tour!

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We headed over to use our fast passes for Big Thunder next. We were a little early still so we stopped off in the store over by Splash. It is a really cute store but it was super crowded over there with people sitting all over in the store for the air conditioning making it difficult to shop. I must not have ever looked up in here because i never realized this was there...

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At 1:35pm we got in line for Big Thunder.

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We had a wild ride and were off at 1:50pm...and we were munchie again...or we just wanted to snack around and we were near one of our other favorites. So we stopped to eat again!






 
So we headed to Pecos Bills. This place was crazy! With as many tables that they have, we had a hard time finding a table and then finding four stools. We did finally find a place and find the stools. We actually did this before ordering because there was no way we could eat tacos standing. We had grabbed a laminated menu before finding a table so we all decided what we wanted and Cary and Tyler went to order.

Tyler is a bottomless pit. He ordered the
Taco Trio...Three Soft-Shell Tacos with a selection of Seasoned Ground Beef, Seasoned Chicken, Pork Carnitas or Spicy Breaded Cauliflower topped with Five-Spice Yogurt and Pineapple Salsa. Additional toppings can be found at our Fixin's Bar.

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He got them all beef. and used the filling bar for lettuce and cheese...

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He really enjoyed these...the meat is on the slightly spicy side and he is a boring taco eater with just lettuce and cheese but he liked them.

Cary and I shared the
Taco Trio...Three Soft-Shell Tacos with a selection of Seasoned Ground Beef, Seasoned Chicken, Pork Carnitas or Spicy Breaded Cauliflower topped with Five-Spice Yogurt and Pineapple Salsa. Additional toppings can be found at our Fixin's Bar.

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With two chicken and one beef. We made better use of the filling bar though!

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We added sour cream, lettuce, cheese, and salsa. These were all really good but i thing the chicken ones had a better flavor...not as spicy but well seasoned.

Skyler ordered the
Mini Churros...served with Chocolate Sauce.

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She lived these and even licked out the container of chocolate when she was done! They were crispy but soft...and the chocolate went great with them.

We got two cups of water here also...one to drink and one to fill with pop. They gave the larger cups here.

We all had another great meal/snack here again. The kids are always leery of Mexican, because they're weird, but we all found things to like here.

We ordered at 2:16pm and were out of there at 2:46pm. We do like to eat at off times here though because of the seating. Unfortunately, I think this is one of those places that a lot of people sit to wait for others so it makes for a difficult time finding a seat even at off times.

Our total was $29.69.




 

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