The 50th, 50th & 50th Disney trip - April/May 2022, Day 12 - Hollywood Studios & Epcot

[sha9]

The dining report for today is here.

Today was Marie’s birthday and she had Savi’s Workshop booked for the Lightsaber build. We also planned to have dinner at Space 220 later. I set the alarm to book RotR and managed to choose my time of 10am. I also got SDD for 11.10am with a bit of perseverance. We had breakfast in the room of a muffin and then headed in about 9ish. Annoyingly housekeeping arrived at 8.45am for one of our full housekeeping days. I was still having breakfast and we were still getting ready so we just took some towels and gave her trash. Mum and Dad had the sense to ask her to return later and got a full service.


We paid for preferred parking since we were a bit later and on the basis we were going to Epcot later too and would probably be glad of it. Dad was really struggling with his knee and the lack of trams was causing a problem if we didn't arrive at park opening.
We arrived to these two greeting guests.

We went straight to Savi’s and Mum and Dad waited while we went in. It’s definitely an experience and better for me as I didn’t have to pay for a lightsaber . We checked in and had to wait a few minutes until it was time for Marie's group to move on to the next stage. I thought I'd taken more photos than I did but looking at what I have it's mostly video I'm afraid so no pictures of the outside area. Once she was let in she had to choose her sabre parts. There were some parts they didn't have but she was happy with her choice. We were then sent to another outside waiting area until the previous party had finished before being let in. There's then the show where you actually build the lightsaber and Yoda gives a wee speech at the end. She chose green with a plan to buy more coloured Kyber crystals later.

We rode RotR immediately after this. I tried to take some pictures on the ride but it's hard because you're moving and also trying not to miss stuff.

Once we’d finished I was able to make another LL since it was over 2 hours past park opening. I managed to get TSM for 11am so we rode that then immediately rode SDD.

We were a bit hungry and not sure what we wanted to ride next so we went to ABC Commissary for lunch. Marie got buffalo chicken grilled cheese, mum chicken club, dad grilled chicken southwest salad and I got pork carnitas tacos.

I made a LL for Star Tours for straight after lunch and after that we decided we had done everything we wanted to do. There was a LL for Smugglers Run but it was too late for us.
We came across this brief character parade on our way out.

Back to the hotel to chill in the hope we’ll stay out a bit later tonight.
I had booked a LL for Soarin’ for 4pm so we left for Epcot around then. We were able to use our preferred parking again and we’re in Journey 5 which was really close.

We headed for Soarin’ but Mum decided she didn’t want to ride. I had also been able to make another LL selection before we rode so I chose Journey Into Imagination as Marie wanted to buy a Figment anyway and we’ve never ridden it. Not sure anyone was impressed. There also wasn’t any need for ll. By now it was close to time to check in for Space 220. We had a browse in the Creations shop, popped into Club Cool and went to the loo.

I've copied the dining report for Space 220 below.
We checked in early so had a bit of a wait. While we waited we saw a few people ask about walk ups. You could wait for a space in the lounge but basically were reliant on people leaving so it could be any time.

We were then taken in the space elevator up to the restaurant .

We were seated at the back of the restaurant at a high table which wasn't ideal but it did give us a great view. The restaurant is tiered so no one should really have a bad view.
My pictures weren't great but here is a couple.

Because we were in the restaurant we had the fixed price menu. Our server was lovely but he spent a lot of time filling our water glasses and not taking our order .

Spacey cutlery .
Marie got one of the cocktails. I don't have a picture but it was the one with cotton candy that melts when you pour in the drink. Woo hoo. The rest of us had fountain drinks.

To start I had the calamari with spicy marinara (not really spicy) and roasted pepper citrus aioli.

This was lovely and the dips were nice, not spicy at all.

Marie chose the cauliflower which is tempura fried and comes with a hot sauce.

She says this was lovely but the sauce was really hot. I'll have to take her word for it as she didn't let me try it.
Dad got a "Space Greens" salad which I don't seem to have a photo of and Mum got the Big Bang Burrata. She didn't read the menu right and thought it was a burrito so was surprised when this arrived.

She enjoyed it anyway.
We were all boring and ordered the Filet Mignon.

This was one of the best steaks I've ever had, never mind just this trip. It was cooked perfectly all the way through and still lovely and tender.
For dessert Dad was boring and went for the gelato which again I don't have a photo of. He was across the table from me so it wasn't easy.
Mum ordered the Coconut Panna Cotta.

Marie had the Carrot Cake.

I had the Short Cake which was matcha air cake, mascarpone mousse and strawberries.

This was amazing! Even the weird insulation sponge bit .

Everyone enjoyed their meal here although Marie felt she had played it safe with carrot cake and wouldn't get it again. It was very expensive at $450 in total but it was absolutely the best meal of the holiday. The setting is so completely different and it's great to see it but I was so pleased that the food was also amazing.
I've spoken to a few people about this experience since I wrote the dining report and about how expensive it was. We've previously had meals at signatures where we've paid OOP and then kind of resented it but this definitely wasn't one of those times. It was possibly helped by the fact that Mum & Dad paid for it , however I don't think I'd have felt it was wasted money anyway. We had waited nearly 3 years for this trip, we were celebrating my 50th, Mum & Dad's Golden Wedding and it was Maries birthday. It was a lovely experience and I'm happy we did it. Marie and I are thinking we might try the lounge next time but I'd also be happy to do the fixed price meal again.

We left after dinner and had left the park when we saw Spaceship Earth starting to light up but it was still too light to see it fully. The plan was to try and stay later when we were at the Swan. We're used to September where it gets dark earlier so we missed a lot of night time stuff this trip.

[Cinderella]

We are looking forward to Space 220 👍

[Goldia]

Happy Birthday Marie! It seems like she had a fun time building her light sabre, it looked great all lit up. It's interesting to read your thoughts on Space220 compared to other signature restaurants. It sounds like a great place for a special celebration meal and given you were all celebrating it makes the hefty bill worth it...I've not booked any signatures for our trip as I just couldn't justify it given we are out there for 3 weeks.

[sha9]

Originally Posted by Goldia

Happy Birthday Marie! It seems like she had a fun time building her light sabre, it looked great all lit up. It's interesting to read your thoughts on Space220 compared to other signature restaurants. It sounds like a great place for a special celebration meal and given you were all celebrating it makes the hefty bill worth it...I've not booked any signatures for our trip as I just couldn't justify it given we are out there for 3 weeks.

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I would agree about signatures without free dining. We really enjoyed Space 220 as an experience though.

[Goldia]

Originally Posted by sha9

I would agree about signatures without free dining. We really enjoyed Space 220 as an experience though.

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I remembered after I replied that actually I have booked a signature as we are going to The Boathouse! Still it's only 1 for us this trip.

[Pep]

Seamed like a perfect day to me right up my alley