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Old 2 Nov 20, 03:23 PM  
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NewtoOrlando
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October 2019 - The Unexpected one! - Day 3!

Day 3

Today was Hollywood Studios day! In 2016 we loved HS, was our favourite park overall, but in 2018 because of all the building work, it wasn’t, it was such a mess and felt so crowded, so we were looking forward to seeing it all complete, and the new Star Wars additions to the park! Park opening was at 6am for extra magic hours. I knew there was no way we would make it for opening, 3rd day tiredness had struck, but I wanted to get there before normal opening at 9am!

I woke the gang up, at around 6.30, and by 7.40 we were getting off the bus to the sight of this magnificent building!



I have a love hate relationship with the Tower of Terror!
It was so refreshing to see Hollywood Studios back to it’s former glory, and the Skyliner looked fantastic!



We still had an hour to go before regular hours kicked in, so once we were through the entrance we headed down Hollywood Boulevard towards Rock & Rollercoaster and ToT. The kids went off and did R&R on their own, Craigs not a fan of this mainly because it feels too tight for him. They were on and off within 15 mins, they loved it as usual.




I love that their now old enough at 13 & 11 to go off and go on some bits just the 2 of them. We then went and did the ToT. Not the best idea on an empty stomach, I already felt sick haha. Like I said, I have a love/hate relationship woth his ride. I hate it, it literally makes me squirm and having a heart problem, I probably shouldn’t do it, but, I HAVE to do it, at least once a trip! The cast members are always brilliant and play their roles so well! The picture says it all, we’re in the middle row on the left haha.




After this we walked down towards Toy Story Land, an area we loved in 2018! The queue for Slinky was at 70 mins, so we decided to go on Toy Story Mania instead, it posted a 20 min wait but was about 10-15 minutes. This is always a favourite, and ALWAYS causes an argument between Craig and the kids, they are all SO competitive! I know I’m rubbish so just enjoy it for what it is, but nope, not these 3! Have to make a thing of it, which guarantees a row at the end, wonderful. Craig won, Joey came last, which made a certain boy very grumpy as he was beaten by his sister. Never a good thing haha.



We walked over to Alien Swirling Saucers and by the time we got off that, all was right in the world. Till the next time! We had a fastpass for Slinky later in the morning, so we decided to stop for some food at Woodys Lunch Box. The queue was huge, but when we were queuing for Aliens, I put the mobile order through, so by the time we got to Woodys, we found a table, with some shade (a rare find!) and then clicked the make my order button (whatever it’s called!) 5 mins later the notification came through, Craig came with me to collect the food. I love mobile ordering; it is so easy! Craig and I both had the breakfast turkey sandwich, with some tater tots, the kids just wanted some tater tots, and I had a mystic portal punch (powerade!) and they all had a Fanta. This came to $51. Food was good, expensive for what it was, we were starting to notice the difference now with not having the dining plan, it certainly makes you look at prices more often!



As we were finishing our food, the Toy Story Soldiers walked through making a racket, I love watching the little kids all joining in, my 2 would be mortified if I tried to get them involved!

I think the day 3 tiredness was starting to set in properly, the kids were both grumpy, does anyone else struggle with day 3? We’ve noticed it over the years, and it seems to get worse as the kids get older due to them being grumpy teens! It was now time for our Slinky fast pass, something we were all looking forward to. I really felt for people who were queuing, it was boiling and why they built he queue line with barely any shade I don’t know, especially with so many little kids. Anyway, we were on in less than 10, and we all LOVED this again! I think I prefer it at night though, rides under the lights make it so much more fun!



When we were done we had a walk through Star Wars land. Completely lost on me as I have only watched 2 of the more recent films, and know 3 characters, but Craig and the kids are all fans! We had a walk around, popped into Savis workshop, but walked straight back out, it was so busy, you could not move. We had some photopasses done, and by this point we were all flagging. Grumpy teens and hot weather do not go well together!






Our final fastpass was for the Frozen Sing Along, which we did in 2016, but didn’t do in 2018, as Craig and the kids refused. Bores! I talked them into it this time, we had a fastpass which I thought was pointless, we queued for ages, for the same amount of time as everyone else and ended up sat near the back. Never mind, it’s not like you don’t get a decent view anywhere! I loved it again, but, much to the others amusement, I dozed off a few times, oops! They mocked me so much, after all, it was me who had been going on for a year to do it!

We had a look in a few shops, then decided to call it a day, but to get a nice cold drink on the way out. I really regret not buying Craig this t shirt haha.



We have a picture of Joey wearing this hat on all our Disney trips! He's still a willing participant in the silly photo game, for now



We got the kids a slushie each from the Epic Eats cart, tried to pay with my FitBit instead of my MagicBand though, gave the castmember a chuckle! Craig and I popped into get a Starbucks refresher, I had my fave, a Strawberry Acai made with lemonade, and he just got himself a diet coke. As we made our way out of the park, it was around 2pm, and the heavens opened! It was lashing down, so we quickly walked out to the bus stop. We didn’t have to wait too long for the bus, and we were back at FQ by 2.30.



For the first time in forever in Florida, (like what I did there?!) we felt chilly! We had got a bit wet walking from the bus stop to the main building, and really fancied a brew to warm up! The kids wanted to go back to the room, so they went back on their own, whilst me and Craig went into Scat Cats to get a tea. And what goes well with tea? BEIGNETS! We ordered 2 teas and 3 beignets and sat in the corner having a chat and enjoying some time just the 2 of us.



The kids enjoying going of back to the room on their own now, gives them a little bit of freedom and we get 5 mins of peace! When they’re on their own together, without us, they get on great! We finished up, and bought the kids some beignets to have back in the room, and then made our way up to our building. I love the layout and the greenery of French Quarter, it’s so pretty. The kids were watching stuff on their ipads, and enjoy their sugary treat!

We pretty much just chilled for the rest of the afternoon. We had been so busy in the run up to this holiday, and then to be on the go all the time, you don’t realise how it takes it out of you. We had showers and relaxed, thinking about what to do for dinner. We were going to go back to HS, but decided against it as we were going to MNSSHP the following evening so we knew it was going to be a late night then. We're either early starters or late finishers, we can't manage both! We decided to try and get an ADR at Sanaa, over at Animal Kingdom Lodge, somewhere we had been meaning to go to but not got round to it. We booked for 7.05pm.



We arrived at Animal Kingdom Lodge at 6.15, really early, but we wanted to have a look around as we hadn’t visited the resort before. Was an easy drive and we got parked up, I like the underground car park, so you don’t get wet!

We got the lift up into the hotel, and had a walk down the corridor to the lobby, I didn’t realise that this wasn’t the main park of AKL, and the big lobby was actually Jambo House, not Kidani village! Oops, remember that for next time! Anyway, we still had a look around the small lobby area, looked in the shop, and then went downstairs to go outside and sit round to see the animals!





It was a lovely evening, not too hot, and we sat in the rocking chairs watched the giraffes, zebras, and some weird and wonderful birds roaming around. It was so peaceful!



ADR time came round and we walked round to Sanaa, the hostess was really chatty and informed Joey that he would be paying, and Katie would have to do the washing up, the kids never know when to take people seriously! We went through to our table, and the restaurant was beautifully decorated, and very relaxed. You couldn’t see out onto the savannah because there was building work going on, which was a shame.

Right, the food! There was one reason we wanted to try Sanna. The bread service! $18 worth of naan bread, whats not to love? So Craig had a beer, I ordered an Antioxidant Lemonade cocktail and the kids both had a diet coke. For mains I went with the Potjie inspired – and I chose the butter chicken and the cilantro coconut vegetables with basmalti rice. Craig had the African inspired byriani with chicken, and both the kids had the
plain chicken breast which I think is now off the menu, they had this with fries. I could moan at them for being unadventurous, but they did try lots of the naan breads and also some of the dips, so I cant complain really!







The bread service was incredible, and was enough for the 4 of us, I think we would have struggled if it was just Craig & I. My favourite was the garlic & ginger, as I pretty much put garlic in everything when I’m cooking! And the best dip was the garlic picked and the tamarind chutney!

The mains were just as nice, well mine was, it was just enough after all that bread, and the vegetables were very welcome!



Craig preferred mine to his, because it was dry, as unlike here it did not come with a curry sauce.



The kids ate most of theirs, but it was pretty uninspiring lol. The service here was so so. The server was busy, but she kept coming to us to see if we needed anything, but kept forgetting to bring the ketchup and mayo for the kids, and didn’t refil our drinks, luckily we caught the attention of another server who sorted it all for us. When we asked for the bill she also took ages, which is never good when you have 2 kids pretty much asleep at the table. She brought the cheque over eventually, and asked if everything was ok, we said it was fine, food was good but service was a little slow at times, which she apologised for. Overall, it was nice, but wouldn’t have it at the top of the list to go again, is possibly a one and done, but the setting was lovely and the kids loved seeing the animals. It came to $116 plus the 15% tip we left, so overall it was $135.


When we left, we found a lovely little seating area with a roaring open fire. If I had my jammies, a good book and a cuppa I would have been in my element. I can see why people stay here, it’s very cosy.




Once we got back to the car, we drove straight back to FQ, it was only 9pm, but we were all shattered. FQ is so peaceful at night, and so pretty.




Craig grabbed the refillable cups from the room and went over to the food court to fill them up, bringing me back a cup if tea bless him.


We got in our jammies and got comfy in bed, the kids were asleep within about 20 mins, and I don’t think I was far behind, Craig stayed up watching some NFL. Another busy day, tiredness won the day, and this is why we are flexible with our planning as sometimes it just doesn’t go as planned, but that’s fine, after all, it is a holiday!
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Old 3 Nov 20, 12:52 AM  
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Loobylou_82
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A good day had by all. Love the Tower of Terror, it's one of my favourite rides, especially as you don't know which drop it's going to do.
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Old 3 Nov 20, 10:06 AM  
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A good day and nice to have some rest time

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