The Disney Lunch Club Rerun: Motivational Edition - Dec 2019 - Day 1

[MinnieMrsA]

The Disney Lunch Club Rerun: Motivational Edition

Day 1 – Monday 2nd December

We were awake early as expected. I headed down to fill up our reusable cups. One thing I do like about Coronado is that they had great coffee machines in the rooms (with decaff coffee), and the small quick service location opens at 6am for coffee too. Waiting until 7am for coffee at other resorts can be a pain!

We watched our favourite meteorologist Eric Burris on WESH2, and got up ready to meet our friends outside the Gran Destino Tower at 7.45am. Sean & Tammy were right on time, and we were soon heading off to Hollywood Studios. The plan for today was to park at Hollywood Studios, head over to Epcot for the day, then back to Hollywood Studios for our reservation at Oga’s Cantina in the evening.

Sean had not been keen on going on the Skyliner, but I thought it was worth asking him if he fancied a flight over to Epcot before we started walking over. Gentle motivation(bullying) got him on it, and we flew over to Epcot. It was a quick flight to Caribbean Beach, but it actually seemed like quite a long flight to Epcot after changing at Caribbean Beach. It was a smooth ride and enjoyable though.

We entered Epcot via the International Gateway (after a restroom break – obvs), which has very little queue. We walked round to the port of entry, and towards Soarin’, which we were planning on joining the standby line for. We stopped to take some pictures by the Festival of the Holidays signs. A lovely DVC cast member took some pictures for us, which came out really nicely.

We pretty much walked onto Soarin’ and I managed not to cry! With no line, it would have been rude not to see the holiday overlay on Living with the Land. The holiday additions were really cute. Some of the graphics at the end of the ride have also changed, they were much sharper and fresher.

It was time to awaken our imagination with Figment. Sean & Tammy had never been on Figment before and it was time to correct that – we love that ride. Next was our first FP+ Mission Space – green mission for us all. It’s still not the same without Gary Sinise.

We now had a FP+ for Test Track, but needed a restroom visit first – but the nearest restrooms were closed. We headed over to the Odyssey building to use the restrooms there, and have a look at the Epcot Experience. This showed us everything that is coming up at Epcot in the next few years – and it looks incredible! I am especially excited about the Mary Poppins attraction.

Restroom break achieved, it was time for Test Track. This is always a fun ride. But whyyyyyyy do people insist on blocking the exit so you can’t get to your pictures?! Three loud rounds of ‘excuse me’ got nobody moving, so elbows out it was. I don’t like having to do that, but people just do not pay attention to anyone else around them. We were all feeling peckish now, so I grabbed a sharing bag of pretzels and some drinks, which we ate stood outside the Chevrolet showroom.

Final FP+ time now – Spaceship Earth. Whenever we ride this, I feel like it might be the last time as I think it will be renovated pretty soon. It is a classic ride, but hopefully it will be spruced up a little.

Feeling like we had pretty much completed Future World, we headed round the World Showcase for another first for Sean & Tammy – the Three Caballeros.

Hanger set right in now, and we wanted to share our favourite quick service location with Sean & Tammy – the Tangierine Café in the Morocco Pavilion. We all had what is now our usual – a Kefta Wrap. For the first time we used our reusable straws too. I just love this meal, and try as I might, I can’t quite replicate it at home.

After a mooch through the World Showcase, we left via the International Gateway for another first for Sean & Tammy (and partly for us) – looking round the Christmas Decorations at the Boardwalk Resorts. They were stunning! Here’s a few highlights…

Having seen all there was to see, we decided to walk over to Hollywood Studios and see Galaxy’s Edge for the first time. Sean & Tammy also hadn’t seen Toy Story Land either, so we started there before heading into Galaxy’s Edge. I managed to pickup a FP+ for Alien Swirling Saucers for 7pm.

It is so well themed – we were impressed by how immersive it felt. We had a reservation at Oga’s Cantina at 7.30pm and it was only about 5pm – so as we were freezing, we broke out own rule about queue lines, and joined the Queue for Smuggler’s Run at 85 minutes long. It did take pretty much that long to get to the front, and we were assigned pilot and gunner positions. Dave and I were the pilots, and Sean & Tammy were the gunners.

After a few quick pictures in those all important locations (for the ‘gram), it was time to ride. Having seen a few reviews of this ride saying it was disappointing, we were prepared not to be blown away but it was really good! We enjoyed it.

After grabbing a hot chocolate on Sunset Boulevard, we paid a quick visit back to Toy Story Land to use our FP+. I know this is a short ride but it is fun still – Tammy wasn’t expecting to like it but did say afterwards it was actually good!

It was time to check in (and still queue for) Oga’s Cantina. The cast member came out and shouted our party name – then promptly decided there was another party with the same name and let them in first. Being stood in the queue did have one positive outcome – Sean was accosted by some Stromtroopers who wanted to see his identification. What felt like hours later he got it out and they were on their way – such good interaction though.

Anyway – once we were in it had exactly the atmosphere I expected. It was an enjoyable experience – my Hyperdrive – Punch It! was very nice but I think once you’ve had the experience of being there, unless you are a die hard Star Wars fan, it might not be worth a return visit.

Once Sean had cajoled the bartender into giving us some extra coasters, we decided to ride Smuggler’s Run again as the queue was only 25 minutes long. We swapped positions this time and were gunners. I enjoyed this too – pilot is definitely the best role.

Feeling exhausted and cold, we headed back to the car and Sean& Tammy dropped us back at Coronado. I have no idea what we did for food – maybe we just had a snack in our room? This is the first trip where I didn’t make notes but did stories on Instagram and I’m referring back to those to write this up.

Tomorrow – Cracker Barrel, Target and MVMCP…

Steps – 32,362 – THE MOST I HAVE EVER DONE IN A DAY!

[Sparksy72]

The theming at Star Wars Land looks fantastic as did all the Christmas decorations at the Boardwalk Resorts. Lovely pics

[MinnieMrsA]

Originally Posted by Sparksy72

The theming at Star Wars Land looks fantastic as did all the Christmas decorations at the Boardwalk Resorts. Lovely pics

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Thank you - this is one of the shortest trips we have taken and yet somehow we have the most pictures 🤣

[Palm trees]

That looks like an amazing day, I just can't wait to see Star Wars land! However I'm always a little bit taken aback when I see people in coats (or even long sleeves!) at Disney world, looks like it was a bit chilly.

[MinnieMrsA]

Originally Posted by Palm trees

That looks like an amazing day, I just can't wait to see Star Wars land! However I'm always a little bit taken aback when I see people in coats (or even long sleeves!) at Disney world, looks like it was a bit chilly.

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It was really cold! Not as consistently as January but still, not warm at all!

[mick]

A brilliant day with outs done

Joan

[MinnieMrsA]

Originally Posted by mick

A brilliant day with outs done

Joan

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Thank you!

[squishy]

Looks freezing! Loads crammed in, too!

[MinnieMrsA]

Originally Posted by squishy

Looks freezing! Loads crammed in, too!

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Couldn't believe how many steps we did - I don't even do a tenth of that some days!

[Rescuer]

That step count is amazing.

It was fab to see all the Galaxys Edge photos, something we’ve yet to experience.

I love the Christmas decorations at the Epcot resorts, they are so cute.

Strange to see you all wrapped up, it must make it feel different in the cold.