Furry Funded Florida Family Fun, Day 7

spencem · 17 Dec 16, 11:23 AM

Day 7, September 9th 2016. Hollywood Studios

The Plan for today had us enjoying an actual lazy morning before a lunchtime ADR at Hollywood Studios' Sci-Fi Dine In and then staying in the park for the Star Wars fireworks and Extra Magic Hours tonight.

Well that plan went straight out the window for me at least when I woke up with a migraine. I'll pause here for a little rant about people who get headaches and call them migraines while still carrying on with their day. I'll lump them in with the same muppets who get a cold and call it the flu. A cold is a nasty little bug that makes you feel like you might die, the flu is a virus that kills people, tens of thousands of them each winter. Similarly a headache can ruin your day, a migraine will put you in bed. I suffer from both and let me tell you they are very different beasts, I lose my sight when I get a migraine for a start. My vision going is the first symptom I get and if I take my medication as soon as I notice issues it will often head off the attack, but since I was still asleep when this one started it was difficult to know my eyes were taking the morning off until I awoke to a construction crew remodelling the inside of my cranium.

I stayed in bed for the morning and the early afternoon, so I'll hand you over to my guest writer Edward for an account of the morning's fun and rejoin you after they had had lunch when I got to the park and Edward retired hurt for a couple of hours, see you later...

Oh dear, I now have the reigns of this trip report. Right ok, let’s see what I can do with this. Are you sitting comfortably? Good. Then I shall begin... (send help!)

Leaving the construction crew inside Dads head to their ‘remodelling’ we (me and Mum) headed off in the direction of the bus stop to meet Sandra and Brian for the first ride of the day over to Hollywood Studios.

Upon arrival we had the custom Disney security check where once again Brian and I walked through whilst they were bemused at how to deal with the ECV. We watched from a distance for a few minutes while three of them worked out how to check the ECV and all of the bags attached to it.

Such drama...

Once inside Sandra and Brian decided that time was short (an hour till lunch) and so they made their own way towards Sci Fi, undoubtedly stopping at every photo pass person they could find; whilst perusing the shops en-route. I on the other hand had other ideas as the marvel of ToT was calling.

I just love this ride; in fact I think this is my favourite, not just for Disney but overall, including Cedar Point from out 2014 trip. The theming and the ride experience itself, with there being the millions of possible random combinations. I seriously hope that Disney don’t do what they have done with its cousin in California and turn this into Guardians of the Galaxy. I’m not altogether sure how that would fit with ToT
A, being at the end of Sunset Boulevard or
B, How that would fit with the view across Morocco in World Showcase; Guardians of the Galaxy would also ruin the fond memories I have of this ride.

As normal we walked straight into the lobby and only waited a few minutes for the next preshow. One thing I will mention is that the cast members who work the elevators can be very hit and miss. Some are great; interacting with the whole ‘these elevators will take you to your rooms’ along with waving or trying to say something as the doors close; whilst others simply play the safety message and check the seatbelts without coming ‘off script’. It really does make or ruin the whole experience; especially when tied in with the whole theme of the ride.

A quick glance at my phone as we walked off confirmed that there was time for a second visit. I’m sure they must have some sort of loyalty programme as I’m certain I’d be platinum by now...

Having once more checked out of the hotel (take the stairs if you stay, something odd is up with their elevators) we navigated towards Sci Fi dinner; where we arrived and booked in a few minutes ahead of the other two.

After a short 20 minute wait we were inside and seated in our car. If you’ve never been inside; the whole theme is the classic being parked up at a drive in theatre from 1950’s America. As someone who often eats parked up in the car; the novelty of eating in a car soon wore off. Although the food is better than the usual offerings from a UK motorway service area.

The car you sit in as a group of up to four. Larger groups sit lengthways along a bigger vehicle.

Reliving my childhood.

Sadly the content reel is only around 30-35 minutes long and so repetition soon sets in. Surely Disney could expand this with some of their own material?

Soon our server was with us who took the usual details, I don’t recall me and Mum having a starter but I think Brian and Sandra did. If they did I have no clue what it was though!

After some passing of time Lunch arrived,

The shrimp pasta for me

Ribs for Mum

Again I’ve no recollection of what either Sandra or Brian had, so it can’t have been awful or I would have remembered some sort of dispute between them and the server. I do however remember that mine was a fairly decent meal with large, plump shrimp and it had plenty of flavour; although nothing truly exceptional to write home about. I also remeber the ribs being and I quote “Meh”. I seem to recall that there was a fair bit of fat left behind.

Deserts were ordered but in boxes to go. Myself and Sandra ordered their signature candy bar which spent the next few days in the hotel fridge before it was eaten. Again Sandra will have to enlighten you of Brians’ desert and of their meal experience.

There was a great kerfuffle when it came time to pay/redeem credits, not least because there was only four not five of us (no issue checking in). However we thought we had solved the bill/credits, (and the universe, or so it felt like) and so departed the 50’s, deserts in hand.

A memorable meal, but not quite for the right reasons...

During the meal I had exchanged texts with Dad, who had upgraded his status from ‘Work in Progress. Due some point never’ to ‘Almost Operational’ and had established he would soon attempt the bus ride in, but not quite yet.

With this in mind we headed in the direction of Muppets as we wanted to allow lunch time to digest and Dad to decide if he was ready for a ride on a bus. However as we got to Muppets and parked the ECV, two things happened:
1, it started raining with the first of the afternoon showers
2, Muppets went tech, sorry had casting issues with Ms Piggy being difficult in her dressing room.

Whilst observing the spectacle of Floridian rain; Sandra decided to check her bill from Sci FI as something felt ‘off’. Sure enough when she looked, the table credit amount was lower than it should have been; likewise ours was the same. This was clearly the end of the known universe (or something equally important, apparently) and Sandra was soon having us route march towards Guest Relations. That time to let lunch digest? Yeah. That didn’t happen. Also it is somewhat difficult following someone on a route march through a busy park, whilst arranging via text where to meet someone!

Having stormed upon, sorry, arrived at Guest Relations we were soon inside trying to correct the errors of Disney’s ways. Sadly in the route march the construction crew from Dads head had teleported to my hip, which had decided to forget how to function.

Not having any pain relief of the right sort on us, I passed the problem onto Dad when he arrived and made my way to the bus stops to head back for a rest. Shame it took Disney forty minutes to supply a bus... and not tell anyone... But I digress.

I rejoin the action in a few hours. So in the meantime; I’ll hand back to your usual irregularly scheduled author.

Who was that? I am hearing voices?

Anyway back in the hotel after a failed attempt at getting out that had only gotten as far as the shower before I once again ended up in bed I finally got on the road and arrived at Hollywood Studios just after the afternoon shower at quarter past three.

See the damp pavements

As Edward said I arrived to find Sandra on the warpath over the incompetence of their lunchtime server. While Sandra being charged for Edward and Julia's meal was fine with me the fact that Julia's receipt only showed us having 8 table service credits remaining most defiantly was not! We were quickly seen by a very nice cast member, who didn't help at all. He explained that the dining plan is owned by the resorts and so only they can sort out any problems. He did try calling our resort to sort it for us, but never got answered. After several minutes on hold he told us that we would need to speak to the front desk at Coronado Springs when we got back tonight or in the morning. At this point I thought my sister may actually explode, which would have made a terrible mess. Instead she asked to speak to a manager and the cast member scuttled off out the back to get one.

A couple of minutes later our cast member reappeared with a manager in tow. The manager once again explained that Guest Services have no control over the dining plan and agreed that this is nuts as errors happen away from your resort, however she went on to say that they would waste the time trying to sort it on the phone to Coronado Springs so we could get on with our day. She also said we had wasted more than enough time on this and so gave all five of us three instant use bonus FP+ for the park. She took my mobile number so she could call or text us to let us know everything was sorted and we were on our way. I did indeed get a call about ninety minutes later to let me know all was resolved with our credits, glad we didn't have to stand there ninety minutes waiting for the phone to be answered!

How good does that view look without the stupid hat?

As we got into the main square there was some sort of march past going on, well the American impression of marching anyway.

Another ECV eye view.

We thought we would use one of our FP+ to try to find the mythical cowboy on the Great Movie Ride, but when we got there we saw the queue started at the front door and so a FP+ would have saved us no time at all. We still had to go right around the side entrance, but walked straight past the Standby / FP+ merge point. Having the ECV with us we further bypassed the switchbacks in the viewing room and went straight to the front. Here we came to a halt and spent twenty minutes sat on the floor waiting for the one cowboy working today to work his way around the ride back to the loading station.

Yes it turns out that the cowboy version of this ride really does exist, after ten years of trying we finally boarded the travelling theatre - in the front car as well since we had been waiting so long - and set off into the movies.

Getting excited now, our cowboy must jump out soon.

Is this our cowboy?

I think we all enjoyed our new ride experience and I don't know if it was because we were doing the cowboy version or if it has just been upgraded since we last rode but I don't remember the bank catching fire in the wild west scene before.

Back from movie land I thought it might be time for some breakfast, it now being gone five. After a browse I decided a Darth Vader cup cake and a Pumpkin Spice frap would make a fine breakfast. I think Brian also tried his first frappucccino at this visit to Starbucks and Julia may well of had a mouthful of a cookie.

What do you mean unhealthy? Milk is good for you!

After exchanging texts with Edward we realised he was only just back at the hotel after his bus debacle and so went to use our pre-booked FP+ on Star Tours without him before the time ran out. On the way we paused to pay our respects to Walt.

Julia waited the ride out, not getting on at all well with simulators as she advances in years. I really enjoyed it this being only the second time I'd been on the upgraded version. We got to meet Vader and ended up under water I think.

Since we were at that end of the park we next went over to Muppets, I didn't know until I read Edwards contribution above that the others had tried to get in here earlier but were stopped by a stroppy pig. We paused briefly to look at the emerging PizzeRizzo and get some Photo Pass pictures done.

How can it take so loooong to redecorate a restaurant?

I'm alive!

Do take the time to read the stuff on the way in.

I really enjoy this show, I think the blend of the film and the characters running around is clever and really works.

Edward was finally back in the park and so we agreed to meet at Toy Story for our next scheduled FP+

Ride done there was only one thing to do and that was to ride again with one of our Guest Services Fast Passes. Second time around I think we all improved our scores a little. This has to be the most fun family ride Disney have ever come up with. They have a park covered in work walls and construction and it still has their two best rides in it!

Our next booked FP+ was for Tower of Terror, so to pass the time as we slowly walked that way we had a poke around the models in One Man's Dream and even sat and watched the film before heading off down Sunset.

Brian once again sat this out. The rest of us had a conversation in the loading area with our fellow riders about who was doing what for the picture. Julia somehow got confused between the row in front's arms to the left and our dying to the right.

Left, right? Arms, dead? It's all too complicated for some.

After checking out there is talk of riding Rock'n'Roller Coaster, so Julia wanders in the direction of the shops, Sandra went for ice cream, I paused for a picture and Edward actually looked at the time.

Edward pointed out it was getting very close to show time for the Star Wars fireworks and maybe we had better head there now. I realised he was right and tried to round everyone up. Eventually the group were together and we made our way to the central hub and to what we thought would be a good spot between the two new control buildings. It turned out to be a great spot for seeing the projection effects on the Great Movie Ride building, but rubbish for seeing any fireworks which were off to the right behind the kids show building.

My what a big TV you have Mr Disney

FIRE!

What we saw of the show was amazing, with the effects around the hub and the projections, lasers, fire and smaller fireworks all around the area. The opening battle sequence and Darth Vader's arrival really stand out, with Vader's breath being genuinely creepy.

Once the show finished thoughts turned to food, but the park was now closed to regular guests and restaurants were closing up fast. We walked down to try the ABC Commissary, but found they'd just locked the door in front of us. Walking further down the street we went into the Backlot Express, only for the cashier to announce they were closed as we stood looking at the menu! At this point we gave up and said we'd sort something later.

Since we were in the area and Edward had missed out earlier we took another trip with Star Tours, this time ending up on the Death Star after starting with the same two or three sequences as earlier.

Not the best pilot I've ever had!

We thought we'd take a walk over and see what the queue was like for Toy Story now we were properly into Extra Magic Hours. When we got there it was still too long, but then we remembered we still had the Guest Services FPs to use up. It took some convincing, but Sandra persuaded the Cast Member to let us tap the Mickey Head. When we did he turned green and in we went. Normally there are no FastPasses during Extra Magic Hours.

This being our third ride of the day scores were further boosted and tactics were discussed as we exited. This being the only ride all five of us would ride in the park and keen to implement the newly discovered tactics we went straight back round to the entrance to have another go at breaking the high scores. This second time I came close to getting the 'highest this hour' with a score of just under 200,000 but that was still less than half of the day's high score. I guess you just have to ride again and again to learn where all the bonuses are hidden.

The standby queue was still north of half an hour when we finished our second ride and so we thought we'd take a walk down to the end of Sunset Boulevard and see what the queues were like for Tower of Terror and Rock'n'Roller Coaster. There was no rush and we paused for photos, both PhotoPass and our own on the way.

These shops do look good at night.

When we got down there the sign was showing a half hour wait for Rock'n'Roller Coaster, but there was no one visible in the outside queue at all, so we knew that was wrong. Sandra, Edward and I entered the queue and walked straight into the room before the recording studio pre-show. A few moments later we were interacting with the band and off into the garage.

While we waited in the short queue outside the studio Sandra had started talking to a very nervous lady on her own. It turned out no one else in her party had wanted to ride and now this lady was having serious second thoughts herself. Sandra being Sandra had taken her under her wing and the two of them rode together. From the ride picture Sandra is enjoying herself, but I'm not sure about her new friend!

Edward and I took the opportunity for a short nap.

Since we were in LA anyway we thought we would check into the hotel next door, where there was a nice short queue. In that queue we found another group of first time riders, which is always funny to watch. One of them again was very nervous when she sat down next to me, as you'll see in the picture she found an interesting handle to hold.

Julia still hasn't got the hang of these posed ride pictures.

We did try for another ride, but they'd closed the park on us while we were riding. I was starving by now, having only eaten the cup cake all day and the others were interested in food having not eaten since lunch time so we headed off site to IHOP for a late night snack. On the way Julia decided that a bowl of cereal would do her and so we dropped her back at Coronado Springs before heading out of Disney on Sherberth Road and into the IHOP at the end of it.

IHOP were onto their overnight menu, but that still runs to half a dozen pages and so there was plenty of choice. I think Brian and I had omelettes, Sandra a bowl of fried stuff with dip and Edward just had toast, stuffed French toast that is.

Just a snack for Edward

The healthy options for me and Sandra.

Food eaten a jug or two of decaf coffee drunk it was time to head back to hotel to bed.

Disneyloverz · 21 Jan 17, 10:53 PM

I love your report, you look like your all having a great time- you've convinced me I need to give IHOP a go too!

spencem · 28 Jan 17, 12:02 PM

Originally Posted by Disneyloverz

I love your report, you look like your all having a great time- you've convinced me I need to give IHOP a go too!

Thanks for your kind comments. I always think IHOP is like an old Little Chef, but with better service and MUCH better food. Fine dinning it is not, but it is great for a late night fill after a long day in the parks.

Excitedx4 · 2 Jun 17, 10:40 PM

Glad you finally made it out after your migraine and it wasn't a wasted day. I love a midnight meal, it feels so naughty like stopping at McDonald's on the way home from a park, you know you shouldn't be eating it but hey I'm on holiday 😂😂

Mortimer Mouse · 9 Jun 17, 09:33 AM

LOL at Julia joining in 'dabbing' with the group in front on TOT. She's so 'bang on trend'.

I've done a early morning IHOP visit before, but never a middle of the night one.

spencem · 23 Jul 17, 07:32 PM

Originally Posted by Excitedx4

I love a midnight meal, it feels so naughty like stopping at McDonald's on the way home from a park, you know you shouldn't be eating it but hey I'm on holiday 😂😂

You get to a point where it just isn't worth stopping to eat and so a late night meal is absolutely needed.

Originally Posted by Mortimer Mouse

LOL at Julia joining in 'dabbing' with the group in front on TOT. She's so 'bang on trend'.

There is a first time for everything!

stonemad · 14 Sep 17, 07:45 PM

I just laughed out loud when I zoomed in on the photo of the tower of terror and saw what the woman did 😂😂😂.

I'm loving reading your trip report you are just so witty 🖒🖒🖒

spencem · 15 Oct 17, 07:23 PM

Originally Posted by stonemad

I just laughed out loud when I zoomed in on the photo of the tower of terror and saw what the woman did 😂😂😂.

I'm loving reading your trip report you are just so witty 🖒🖒🖒

Thanks

I just managed to get another day published if you're still interested.

**Gill H** · 28 Nov 17, 10:41 PM

Sorry that two of you weren't feeling great today but glad you both rallied in the end.

That French toast looks yummy. I could just tackle that right now!

spencem · 28 Nov 17, 11:16 PM

Thanks, a late night IHoP wouldn't go amiss right now.

17 Dec 16, 11:23 AM	#1
	17 Dec 16, 11:23 AM spencem Apprentice Imagineer
spencem Apprentice Imagineer Join Date: Sep 07	Furry Funded Florida Family Fun, Day 7 Day 7, September 9th 2016. Hollywood Studios The Plan for today had us enjoying an actual lazy morning before a lunchtime ADR at Hollywood Studios' Sci-Fi Dine In and then staying in the park for the Star Wars fireworks and Extra Magic Hours tonight. Well that plan went straight out the window for me at least when I woke up with a migraine. I'll pause here for a little rant about people who get headaches and call them migraines while still carrying on with their day. I'll lump them in with the same muppets who get a cold and call it the flu. A cold is a nasty little bug that makes you feel like you might die, the flu is a virus that kills people, tens of thousands of them each winter. Similarly a headache can ruin your day, a migraine will put you in bed. I suffer from both and let me tell you they are very different beasts, I lose my sight when I get a migraine for a start. My vision going is the first symptom I get and if I take my medication as soon as I notice issues it will often head off the attack, but since I was still asleep when this one started it was difficult to know my eyes were taking the morning off until I awoke to a construction crew remodelling the inside of my cranium. I stayed in bed for the morning and the early afternoon, so I'll hand you over to my guest writer Edward for an account of the morning's fun and rejoin you after they had had lunch when I got to the park and Edward retired hurt for a couple of hours, see you later... Oh dear, I now have the reigns of this trip report. Right ok, let’s see what I can do with this. Are you sitting comfortably? Good. Then I shall begin... (send help!) Leaving the construction crew inside Dads head to their ‘remodelling’ we (me and Mum) headed off in the direction of the bus stop to meet Sandra and Brian for the first ride of the day over to Hollywood Studios. Upon arrival we had the custom Disney security check where once again Brian and I walked through whilst they were bemused at how to deal with the ECV. We watched from a distance for a few minutes while three of them worked out how to check the ECV and all of the bags attached to it. Such drama... Once inside Sandra and Brian decided that time was short (an hour till lunch) and so they made their own way towards Sci Fi, undoubtedly stopping at every photo pass person they could find; whilst perusing the shops en-route. I on the other hand had other ideas as the marvel of ToT was calling. I just love this ride; in fact I think this is my favourite, not just for Disney but overall, including Cedar Point from out 2014 trip. The theming and the ride experience itself, with there being the millions of possible random combinations. I seriously hope that Disney don’t do what they have done with its cousin in California and turn this into Guardians of the Galaxy. I’m not altogether sure how that would fit with ToT A, being at the end of Sunset Boulevard or B, How that would fit with the view across Morocco in World Showcase; Guardians of the Galaxy would also ruin the fond memories I have of this ride. As normal we walked straight into the lobby and only waited a few minutes for the next preshow. One thing I will mention is that the cast members who work the elevators can be very hit and miss. Some are great; interacting with the whole ‘these elevators will take you to your rooms’ along with waving or trying to say something as the doors close; whilst others simply play the safety message and check the seatbelts without coming ‘off script’. It really does make or ruin the whole experience; especially when tied in with the whole theme of the ride. A quick glance at my phone as we walked off confirmed that there was time for a second visit. I’m sure they must have some sort of loyalty programme as I’m certain I’d be platinum by now... Having once more checked out of the hotel (take the stairs if you stay, something odd is up with their elevators) we navigated towards Sci Fi dinner; where we arrived and booked in a few minutes ahead of the other two. After a short 20 minute wait we were inside and seated in our car. If you’ve never been inside; the whole theme is the classic being parked up at a drive in theatre from 1950’s America. As someone who often eats parked up in the car; the novelty of eating in a car soon wore off. Although the food is better than the usual offerings from a UK motorway service area. The car you sit in as a group of up to four. Larger groups sit lengthways along a bigger vehicle. Reliving my childhood. Sadly the content reel is only around 30-35 minutes long and so repetition soon sets in. Surely Disney could expand this with some of their own material? Soon our server was with us who took the usual details, I don’t recall me and Mum having a starter but I think Brian and Sandra did. If they did I have no clue what it was though! After some passing of time Lunch arrived, The shrimp pasta for me Ribs for Mum Again I’ve no recollection of what either Sandra or Brian had, so it can’t have been awful or I would have remembered some sort of dispute between them and the server. I do however remember that mine was a fairly decent meal with large, plump shrimp and it had plenty of flavour; although nothing truly exceptional to write home about. I also remeber the ribs being and I quote “Meh”. I seem to recall that there was a fair bit of fat left behind. Deserts were ordered but in boxes to go. Myself and Sandra ordered their signature candy bar which spent the next few days in the hotel fridge before it was eaten. Again Sandra will have to enlighten you of Brians’ desert and of their meal experience. There was a great kerfuffle when it came time to pay/redeem credits, not least because there was only four not five of us (no issue checking in). However we thought we had solved the bill/credits, (and the universe, or so it felt like) and so departed the 50’s, deserts in hand. A memorable meal, but not quite for the right reasons... During the meal I had exchanged texts with Dad, who had upgraded his status from ‘Work in Progress. Due some point never’ to ‘Almost Operational’ and had established he would soon attempt the bus ride in, but not quite yet. With this in mind we headed in the direction of Muppets as we wanted to allow lunch time to digest and Dad to decide if he was ready for a ride on a bus. However as we got to Muppets and parked the ECV, two things happened: 1, it started raining with the first of the afternoon showers 2, Muppets went tech, sorry had casting issues with Ms Piggy being difficult in her dressing room. Whilst observing the spectacle of Floridian rain; Sandra decided to check her bill from Sci FI as something felt ‘off’. Sure enough when she looked, the table credit amount was lower than it should have been; likewise ours was the same. This was clearly the end of the known universe (or something equally important, apparently) and Sandra was soon having us route march towards Guest Relations. That time to let lunch digest? Yeah. That didn’t happen. Also it is somewhat difficult following someone on a route march through a busy park, whilst arranging via text where to meet someone! Having stormed upon, sorry, arrived at Guest Relations we were soon inside trying to correct the errors of Disney’s ways. Sadly in the route march the construction crew from Dads head had teleported to my hip, which had decided to forget how to function. Not having any pain relief of the right sort on us, I passed the problem onto Dad when he arrived and made my way to the bus stops to head back for a rest. Shame it took Disney forty minutes to supply a bus... and not tell anyone... But I digress. I rejoin the action in a few hours. So in the meantime; I’ll hand back to your usual irregularly scheduled author. Who was that? I am hearing voices? Anyway back in the hotel after a failed attempt at getting out that had only gotten as far as the shower before I once again ended up in bed I finally got on the road and arrived at Hollywood Studios just after the afternoon shower at quarter past three. See the damp pavements As Edward said I arrived to find Sandra on the warpath over the incompetence of their lunchtime server. While Sandra being charged for Edward and Julia's meal was fine with me the fact that Julia's receipt only showed us having 8 table service credits remaining most defiantly was not! We were quickly seen by a very nice cast member, who didn't help at all. He explained that the dining plan is owned by the resorts and so only they can sort out any problems. He did try calling our resort to sort it for us, but never got answered. After several minutes on hold he told us that we would need to speak to the front desk at Coronado Springs when we got back tonight or in the morning. At this point I thought my sister may actually explode, which would have made a terrible mess. Instead she asked to speak to a manager and the cast member scuttled off out the back to get one. A couple of minutes later our cast member reappeared with a manager in tow. The manager once again explained that Guest Services have no control over the dining plan and agreed that this is nuts as errors happen away from your resort, however she went on to say that they would waste the time trying to sort it on the phone to Coronado Springs so we could get on with our day. She also said we had wasted more than enough time on this and so gave all five of us three instant use bonus FP+ for the park. She took my mobile number so she could call or text us to let us know everything was sorted and we were on our way. I did indeed get a call about ninety minutes later to let me know all was resolved with our credits, glad we didn't have to stand there ninety minutes waiting for the phone to be answered! How good does that view look without the stupid hat? As we got into the main square there was some sort of march past going on, well the American impression of marching anyway. Another ECV eye view. We thought we would use one of our FP+ to try to find the mythical cowboy on the Great Movie Ride, but when we got there we saw the queue started at the front door and so a FP+ would have saved us no time at all. We still had to go right around the side entrance, but walked straight past the Standby / FP+ merge point. Having the ECV with us we further bypassed the switchbacks in the viewing room and went straight to the front. Here we came to a halt and spent twenty minutes sat on the floor waiting for the one cowboy working today to work his way around the ride back to the loading station. Yes it turns out that the cowboy version of this ride really does exist, after ten years of trying we finally boarded the travelling theatre - in the front car as well since we had been waiting so long - and set off into the movies. Getting excited now, our cowboy must jump out soon. Is this our cowboy? I think we all enjoyed our new ride experience and I don't know if it was because we were doing the cowboy version or if it has just been upgraded since we last rode but I don't remember the bank catching fire in the wild west scene before. Back from movie land I thought it might be time for some breakfast, it now being gone five. After a browse I decided a Darth Vader cup cake and a Pumpkin Spice frap would make a fine breakfast. I think Brian also tried his first frappucccino at this visit to Starbucks and Julia may well of had a mouthful of a cookie. What do you mean unhealthy? Milk is good for you! After exchanging texts with Edward we realised he was only just back at the hotel after his bus debacle and so went to use our pre-booked FP+ on Star Tours without him before the time ran out. On the way we paused to pay our respects to Walt. Julia waited the ride out, not getting on at all well with simulators as she advances in years. I really enjoyed it this being only the second time I'd been on the upgraded version. We got to meet Vader and ended up under water I think. Since we were at that end of the park we next went over to Muppets, I didn't know until I read Edwards contribution above that the others had tried to get in here earlier but were stopped by a stroppy pig. We paused briefly to look at the emerging PizzeRizzo and get some Photo Pass pictures done. How can it take so loooong to redecorate a restaurant? I'm alive! Do take the time to read the stuff on the way in. I really enjoy this show, I think the blend of the film and the characters running around is clever and really works. Edward was finally back in the park and so we agreed to meet at Toy Story for our next scheduled FP+ Ride done there was only one thing to do and that was to ride again with one of our Guest Services Fast Passes. Second time around I think we all improved our scores a little. This has to be the most fun family ride Disney have ever come up with. They have a park covered in work walls and construction and it still has their two best rides in it! Our next booked FP+ was for Tower of Terror, so to pass the time as we slowly walked that way we had a poke around the models in One Man's Dream and even sat and watched the film before heading off down Sunset. Brian once again sat this out. The rest of us had a conversation in the loading area with our fellow riders about who was doing what for the picture. Julia somehow got confused between the row in front's arms to the left and our dying to the right. Left, right? Arms, dead? It's all too complicated for some. After checking out there is talk of riding Rock'n'Roller Coaster, so Julia wanders in the direction of the shops, Sandra went for ice cream, I paused for a picture and Edward actually looked at the time. Edward pointed out it was getting very close to show time for the Star Wars fireworks and maybe we had better head there now. I realised he was right and tried to round everyone up. Eventually the group were together and we made our way to the central hub and to what we thought would be a good spot between the two new control buildings. It turned out to be a great spot for seeing the projection effects on the Great Movie Ride building, but rubbish for seeing any fireworks which were off to the right behind the kids show building. My what a big TV you have Mr Disney FIRE! What we saw of the show was amazing, with the effects around the hub and the projections, lasers, fire and smaller fireworks all around the area. The opening battle sequence and Darth Vader's arrival really stand out, with Vader's breath being genuinely creepy. Once the show finished thoughts turned to food, but the park was now closed to regular guests and restaurants were closing up fast. We walked down to try the ABC Commissary, but found they'd just locked the door in front of us. Walking further down the street we went into the Backlot Express, only for the cashier to announce they were closed as we stood looking at the menu! At this point we gave up and said we'd sort something later. Since we were in the area and Edward had missed out earlier we took another trip with Star Tours, this time ending up on the Death Star after starting with the same two or three sequences as earlier. Not the best pilot I've ever had! We thought we'd take a walk over and see what the queue was like for Toy Story now we were properly into Extra Magic Hours. When we got there it was still too long, but then we remembered we still had the Guest Services FPs to use up. It took some convincing, but Sandra persuaded the Cast Member to let us tap the Mickey Head. When we did he turned green and in we went. Normally there are no FastPasses during Extra Magic Hours. This being our third ride of the day scores were further boosted and tactics were discussed as we exited. This being the only ride all five of us would ride in the park and keen to implement the newly discovered tactics we went straight back round to the entrance to have another go at breaking the high scores. This second time I came close to getting the 'highest this hour' with a score of just under 200,000 but that was still less than half of the day's high score. I guess you just have to ride again and again to learn where all the bonuses are hidden. The standby queue was still north of half an hour when we finished our second ride and so we thought we'd take a walk down to the end of Sunset Boulevard and see what the queues were like for Tower of Terror and Rock'n'Roller Coaster. There was no rush and we paused for photos, both PhotoPass and our own on the way. These shops do look good at night. When we got down there the sign was showing a half hour wait for Rock'n'Roller Coaster, but there was no one visible in the outside queue at all, so we knew that was wrong. Sandra, Edward and I entered the queue and walked straight into the room before the recording studio pre-show. A few moments later we were interacting with the band and off into the garage. While we waited in the short queue outside the studio Sandra had started talking to a very nervous lady on her own. It turned out no one else in her party had wanted to ride and now this lady was having serious second thoughts herself. Sandra being Sandra had taken her under her wing and the two of them rode together. From the ride picture Sandra is enjoying herself, but I'm not sure about her new friend! Edward and I took the opportunity for a short nap. Since we were in LA anyway we thought we would check into the hotel next door, where there was a nice short queue. In that queue we found another group of first time riders, which is always funny to watch. One of them again was very nervous when she sat down next to me, as you'll see in the picture she found an interesting handle to hold. Julia still hasn't got the hang of these posed ride pictures. We did try for another ride, but they'd closed the park on us while we were riding. I was starving by now, having only eaten the cup cake all day and the others were interested in food having not eaten since lunch time so we headed off site to IHOP for a late night snack. On the way Julia decided that a bowl of cereal would do her and so we dropped her back at Coronado Springs before heading out of Disney on Sherberth Road and into the IHOP at the end of it. IHOP were onto their overnight menu, but that still runs to half a dozen pages and so there was plenty of choice. I think Brian and I had omelettes, Sandra a bowl of fried stuff with dip and Edward just had toast, stuffed French toast that is. Just a snack for Edward The healthy options for me and Sandra. Food eaten a jug or two of decaf coffee drunk it was time to head back to hotel to bed. __________________ All of my trip reports can be found here, Florida, Paris and LA. Edited at 11:50 AM.

14 Sep 17, 07:45 PM	#7
	14 Sep 17, 07:45 PM stonemad Proud to wear my Ears
stonemad Proud to wear my Ears Join Date: Jan 11	I just laughed out loud when I zoomed in on the photo of the tower of terror and saw what the woman did 😂😂😂. I'm loving reading your trip report you are just so witty 🖒🖒🖒 Edited at 07:46 PM. Reason: Spelling

28 Nov 17, 11:16 PM	#10
	28 Nov 17, 11:16 PM spencem Apprentice Imagineer Thread Starter
spencem Thread Starter Apprentice Imagineer Join Date: Sep 07	Thanks, a late night IHoP wouldn't go amiss right now. __________________ All of my trip reports can be found here, Florida, Paris and LA.