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Old 3 Mar 20, 11:20 PM  
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Lisa_Lollipop
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Charlie's First WDW Adventure - Sep/Oct 2019 - Day 11: Florida Mall & Hollywood Studios

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Wednesday 9th October

After such a busy couple of days over at Universal we had tactically planned a slower paced morning today! Charlie woke up just after 8am and after some milk and Peppa in bed we got ourselves up and ready for the day. By 10:30am we were all set and leaving the villa… first stop was Denny’s for breakfast!



We were sat down straight away and Charlie was happily occupied with some drawing that the waitress kindly brought over for him. I posted one of these photos on IG at the time as he really did blow us away with how well behaved he was when eating out on this trip. He has always been good when in restaurants as we have regularly taken him out for meals from a young age but he totally surpassed our expectations whilst we were on this holiday! Having lots of distractions was definitely the key!







I don’t seem to have made note of what we all ordered but I have a photo of my pancakes (I wouldn’t have ordered anything else!) and I did note that it came to $52 including tip. We never have a bad breakfast in Denny’s, always a must-do on these trips!



On settling the bill we all loaded back into the car, the next stop was Florida Mall (I am sure anyone who has read my previous reports will have noticed the serious lack of shopping so far on this trip… time to start rectifying that!). Charlie was full of beans and having a whale of time laughing with Nanny on the journey there.





We hit some bad traffic so didn’t end up arriving to the mall until 1pm.





I don’t have extensive notes from this shopping excursion (clearly too busy spending!) but I know we did start with a trip to the Disney Store.. Charlie enjoyed going in the little castle and looking at himself in the mirror!



We of course also made the obligatory stop at Bath and Body Works! I don’t seem to have a photo of this haul but I know it included various hand sanitizers, hand creams and rooms sprays (my must-buys every trip!)



Next stop was in Abercrombie and Fitch where I picked up a hooded jumper and some super soft jogging bottoms (all about the lounge wear!) and Paul also got a t-shirt. On paying I was able to get $10 off by giving them my e-mail address which was a result!



Before leaving we had to make one last, and very important stop… at Carlos Bakery! Joan and John are both fans of Cake Boss so we knew they would be excited to visit so we swung by the food court where it is located on our way back to the car. We of course took the necessary photos with Buddy!







Whilst there we of course also popped inside to pick up some treats… it would be rude not to right?! Decisions, decisions…





We ended up with an M&M cookie for John, a vanilla fudge cupcake for Joan and a chocolate fudge lobster tail for me. Paul bafflingly didn’t want anything!





It was now 3pm and on leaving the mall we found it was raining again! We waited in the doorway whilst Paul kindly went and got the car… what a gentleman! On the way back to the villa we had to make a stop for fuel, loading up with $30s worth.

We arrived back at the villa at 3:40pm and had to make a pretty quick turnaround as our first FP over at Hollywood Studios for Toy Story Mania opened up at 4pm! We all got ourselves changed and ready and at 4:15pm were heading back out. Charlie was getting very tired at this point as he was yet to have a nap today. I gave him some milk in the car and he went from this…



… to this very quickly!



On arriving at Hollywood Studios we parked up in Buzz 406 and I successfully managed to transfer Charlie from his car seat to his buggy with him staying asleep! It was still raining at this point, so not quite the arrival to beautiful blue skies that we are so used to!



As we were up against it to make our Toy Story Mania FP we hot footed it over to Toy Story Land. I was pretty disappointed that Charlie was asleep as I had been looking forward to him riding this one… but not so much that I was going to wake him up for it! We went up to the entrance and ask for child swap to be put on Joan and John’s bands and then Paul and I went in to ride first.







Paul of course won… but I had a better accuracy score so that counts for something right?!



On making it back outside we found it had stopped raining, but was still very grey and gloomy… not the best weather for an Instagram wall it has to be said!



We met back up with Joan and John and tag-teamed so they could ride Toy Story Mania. Charlie was still sound asleep!



Once they returned we made our way out through the back entrance of Toy Story Land and into Galaxy’s Edge as we had a 5:55pm reservation for Oga’s Cantina. I had snapped this up on the day the reservations had been released as I knew that John would love to experience≈ it… he was very excited! I was a little worried though as I had read various reports of how small it is inside and how limited the space is so I was dubious we would be able to take the pushchair in and I didn’t really want to wake Charlie up when he was sleeping so soundly.

On arriving outside we joined the queue and were handed menus. I mentioned to the CM about sleeping Charlie and he said it would be fine for us to take the pushchair in with us… phew!






We didn’t have to wait long before we were lead inside and shown to a booth table opposite the bar. Now as always the amazing theming was totally lost on me but I was blown away regardless… it was so cool in there!









Whilst inside you aren’t allowed to leave your allotted area so we waited for the CM to come over and take our order. Joan and I both ordered the Jabba Juice and Paul and John had a cider. We also ordered two portions of the Batuu Bits (the only food item on the menu but tasty and very moreish!)













The Jabba juice was very refreshing, those popping pearls sure are weird though! But weird in a good way! It was such a great experience and we were all so happy we got the chance to go in for a drink. Charlie slept nearly the whole time, which probably was for the best given you aren’t really able to walk around and I didn’t see any highchairs that we could have restrained him in! He did wake up at the very end as there was some loud chanting going on, he must have been very confused waking up to such a racket in a very strange place!

We stayed for pretty much our allotted 40 minutes which was plenty in reality. We settled up the bill and headed back out.



Charlie still seemed a little sleepy… that of course didn’t stop me taking photos of him (such a mean Mummy!)





We walked through Galaxy’s Edge and were lucky enough to see Chewbacca passing through (who Charlie thought was a monkey when he waved at him!)





Next on the agenda was dinner. I think we can all agree that food options in DHS are rather lacking and as we wanted to make the 8pm showing of Fantasmic we wanted something rather quick so we decided on Backlot Express. The others queued up to order the food whilst I found us a table in the outside seating area and got Charlie settled in the highchair. We ordered a selection of burgers and fries plus the macaroni cheese for Charlie. Despite his love of pasta, this meal did not go down well and he outright refused to even try it! To be fair I had a taste and it wasn’t particularly nice so I can’t blame him! The food was pretty mediocre all round but filled a hole at least!







On finishing up our food we headed in the direction of Sunset Boulevard as we had FPs for Fantasmic which was starting at 8pm. We had watched this show back on our first trip but had never seen it since so I was excited to see it again. Having FPs meant we were able to arrive just before the show started and still get pretty good seats which was great as I was dubious how long we were going to be able to keep Charlie seated at this late stage of the day!

We had a great view, I loved seeing the show again… it was much better than I remembered!







Charlie was a superstar and sat throughout the whole thing. It totally caught his attention which was so wonderful to see… I think he was also getting pretty sleepy again at this point too which most likely helped!







After the show finished we decided to head back over to Galaxy’s Edge as I was super keen to ride Smuggler’s Run after missing out when the others visited DHS without me earlier in the trip. As we made our way through we spotted a photographer roaming so we took the opportunity to jump in for some shots.





It was lovely and quiet in Galaxy’s Edge at this time of night and it was great to see it all lit up at nighttime. Such a wonderful area, it really proved to me that you don’t need to be a fan of Star Wars to appreciate the theming (although I imagine for fans it is out of this world!)









On making it over to Smuggler’s Run we found it had a 25 minute standby time so Joan, John and I headed in leaving Paul with Charlie. It actually was pretty spot on for wait time but with so much to look at in the queue it felt so much shorter!













On making it inside we were all assigned to the white boarding group and I was designated as an engineer. Despite not understanding any of what was going on it was impossible not to be excited by the whole experience! Joan and John kept laughing at me as I was beaming from ear to ear! I never thought we would get to experience this ride on this trip so it felt like such an achievement to be there.







The ride was fun, I think it would be great to be sitting up front but I was happy to just be on board! I’m happy Joan and John got to ride it twice as this was one they were really wanting to experience too. On leaving we met back up with Paul and then stopped for a few more photos. So pretty all lit up at night!











Park closing was fast approaching but I was still super eager for Charlie to ride Toy Story Mania so we made a speedy walk in that direction. Charlie was excited to see Buzz as we entered Toy Story Land from the Galaxy’s Edge entrance (he definitely became more knowing of characters as the trip went on, particularly Toy Story ones!)



We made our way round to Toy Story Mania where it was showing a 10 minute standby time but we actually ended up walking straight on!





Charlie sat on my lap which is my excuse for such an abysmal score!



As we came out we saw the Star Wars fireworks over at the Chinese Theatre had started so we made a speedy walk in that direction so we could catch then end of them. It was a littler disorientating with the fireworks going off from all angels, I felt like I was constantly spinning in circles to see them all! And wow, that burst of fire sure was warm!









As the park had now closed there was nothing left to do but head in the direction of the exit. We did of course make a stop in the shops on the way out though… is it possible to leave a park without stopping in the shops?! I spotted a Daddy keyring that I picked up for Paul from Charlie and also got a Hollywood Studios bag to add to my collection. Whilst I was sneakily making my purchase Charlie was having a look around with Paul and had come quite taken with a Rex toy. He spent ages standing there pressing the button that made him talk… when we said it was time to go he was absolutely heartbroken! Not tantrum upset, just so sad that he had to leave him and he said the most heartfelt ‘bye bye Rex’ I have ever heard! Of course our hearts totally melted and we of course knew we had to buy him! (We would worry about getting him home later!). We also picked up a pull-back Buzz spaceship toy too to further feed his new love of Toy Story!





Whilst we were in this shop I also tried on a couple of spirit jerseys as I was keen to get one before the trip ended but was torn between the plain black or the Arendelle Aqua. After trying them both on I was no closer to making a decision so decided I would think it through a little longer (I am useless at making decisions!)

We popped over to the other shops opposite and while in there we picked up a Tinkerbell pen for Joan and I also bought the Halloween Mickey tealight holder that I had spotted earlier on in the trip.



By now the park had practically cleared out and we were pretty much one of the last ones out of the exit… nothing like delaying going home!





On making it out we took a moment to say goodbye as this would be the last time we would be at Hollywood Studios on this trip (everyone else says goodbye to parks right?). Charlie was getting pretty tired at this point so we coaxed him into the pushchair with some milk.





Paul decided to walk back to the car with Charlie to save having to get him out of the pushchair, whilst Joan, John and I jumped on the tram. With so few people left at this point we were pretty much the only people on it! The CM onboard was super lovely and asked us which row we were parked in and dropped us exactly there!





On getting off the tram he then asked it we needed any badges (buttons, sorry!) and Joan and John both got an ‘I’m Celebrating’ one. We thanked him many times and waved goodbye and make the very short stroll over to the car where we met back up with Paul and Charlie.≈ Charlie seemed to have found a reserve tank of energy at this point (despite it now being 11:20pm!) and was happily climbing all over the car!



We arrived back at the villa at 11:35pm and Charlie was still full of beans! I finally managed to get him down to bed just before 12am. Once he was settled I tucked into my lobster tail from earlier (totally acceptable to be eating this past midnight when on holiday right?!). By 1am it was time for bed!



And that brings us to the end of day 11 and our last visit to Hollywood Studios! Join me for the next instalment where we head back to Animal Kingdom and enjoy a lovely lunch at Rainforest Café.

Day 12 can be found here

Edited at 05:59 PM.
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Old 4 Mar 20, 02:07 PM  
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HelenJNT
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Looks like a lovely relaxed morning and some good shopping! Disappointed there was no photo of a chocolate fudge lobster tail; I’ll just have to imagine that!*

Such a grey day in DHS. I don’t think we’ve ever been there in the rain, it looks so different. I’m afraid I skimmed over the pics as I’m still spoiler free for Galaxy’s Edge! Good to hear you enjoyed it though despite not being a mega fan!
Happy Charlie got to ride TSMWM! And he was so good in Fantasmic, the waiting around before it starts and again when trying to get out is enough to try anyone’s patience.

*edit: There it is! I knew you wouldn’t let us down, haha! (I was making notes as I read along).
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Old 4 Mar 20, 09:16 PM  
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This sounds like a lovely day! Excellent to hear you hit B&BW - love that shop!

I may just have to partake in a lobster tail to truly see if cake boss can redeemed him/itself!

So cute how much you all enjoyed Galaxys Edge (have I even got the name right?), I cannot believe you don’t get to move in Ogas Canteen though 🤣

So pleased you got to do fantasmic with Charlie - it’s one of my favourites - and toy story mania too.

Loving how quick these days are coming now - keep ‘Em coming xx
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Old 5 Mar 20, 09:08 PM  
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Palm trees
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Another fantastic sounding day, your little one has great stamina!
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Old 7 Mar 20, 11:44 AM  
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DadToThree
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Just found this trippie, so will work my way back through it!

Looks like a great day all round.

The photos in Galaxy’s Edge at night are lovely. The parks always look amazing at night.
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Old 9 Mar 20, 11:36 PM  
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Lisa_Lollipop
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Originally Posted by HelenJNT View Post
Looks like a lovely relaxed morning and some good shopping! Disappointed there was no photo of a chocolate fudge lobster tail; I’ll just have to imagine that!*

Such a grey day in DHS. I don’t think we’ve ever been there in the rain, it looks so different. I’m afraid I skimmed over the pics as I’m still spoiler free for Galaxy’s Edge! Good to hear you enjoyed it though despite not being a mega fan!
Happy Charlie got to ride TSMWM! And he was so good in Fantasmic, the waiting around before it starts and again when trying to get out is enough to try anyone’s patience.

*edit: There it is! I knew you wouldn’t let us down, haha! (I was making notes as I read along).
Haha I did think when posting this day that you would skip through the Galaxy's Edge stuff... so soon and you will be experiencing it all for real!

And as if I wouldn't have included a photo of the lobster tail!

Originally Posted by sheluk View Post
This sounds like a lovely day! Excellent to hear you hit B&BW - love that shop!

I may just have to partake in a lobster tail to truly see if cake boss can redeemed him/itself!

So cute how much you all enjoyed Galaxys Edge (have I even got the name right?), I cannot believe you don’t get to move in Ogas Canteen though 🤣

So pleased you got to do fantasmic with Charlie - it’s one of my favourites - and toy story mania too.

Loving how quick these days are coming now - keep ‘Em coming xx
The lobster tail was good... just far too big! (although that may have come with eating it so late at night!)

Haha can you tell that I am reaching the end now and really want to get this report wrapped up?!
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Old 9 Mar 20, 11:39 PM  
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Lisa_Lollipop
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Originally Posted by Palm trees View Post
Another fantastic sounding day, your little one has great stamina!
It's only really re-living it all through this report that I realise how much we threw him in at the deep end... he handled it brilliantly! Definitely our child when it comes to theme park stamina!

Originally Posted by DadToThree View Post
Just found this trippie, so will work my way back through it!

Looks like a great day all round.

The photos in Galaxy’s Edge at night are lovely. The parks always look amazing at night.
Thank you for joining me, hope you enjoy reading along!
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Old 18 Mar 20, 10:43 AM  
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Redrach1903
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Ok I totally thought at first that it was a mangled egg on top of your pancakes! I was very confused. I now see that is whipped cream

We have still never made it to Florida Mall! Next time! Oh and I bet you're glad you bought those hand sanitizers now

Oga's canteen looked really cool. What were the Batuu Bits?

I must give Fantasmic a bash again. We were so unimpressed when we first saw it!

Love the night time pics at GE and I'm so glad you got on Smuggler's Run too!

Does Charlie still play with Rex? So cute.

And of course we all say goodbye to the parks. Makes me sad just thinking about it!

Lovely day! xxx
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Old 27 Mar 20, 03:19 PM  
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Originally Posted by Redrach1903 View Post
Ok I totally thought at first that it was a mangled egg on top of your pancakes! I was very confused. I now see that is whipped cream

We have still never made it to Florida Mall! Next time! Oh and I bet you're glad you bought those hand sanitizers now

Oga's canteen looked really cool. What were the Batuu Bits?

I must give Fantasmic a bash again. We were so unimpressed when we first saw it!

Love the night time pics at GE and I'm so glad you got on Smuggler's Run too!

Does Charlie still play with Rex? So cute.

And of course we all say goodbye to the parks. Makes me sad just thinking about it!

Lovely day! xxx
You've never been to Florida Mall?! It's really nice and the food court is lovely, definitely worth a visit on your next trip! And yes, very thankful for all those hand sanitizers now!

Batuu bits are basically like crisps, but a bit weirder... tasty though!

Charlie still absolutely loves Rex! He is definitely the favorite of all the Toy Story gang!
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Old 10 Apr 20, 10:13 PM  
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I'm in agreement with you about your TSM score - quality over quantity! Glad you managed to get back on later with Charlie.

The family photos in Galaxys Edge at night are lovely - the area looks very impressive all lit up.

Cakes and pastries are definitely acceptable at anytime on holiday!
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