It's The Greatest Hits Tour August 2018: Day 10: Hollywood Studios and Jiko

**moosha** · 14 Jul 20, 08:03 PM

Day 10 - Monday 20th August 2018

Today we were heading for Extra Magic Hours at Hollywood Studios. This was not long after Toy Story Land had opened, back when there were EMH every day from 7 am - 8 am. Because the EMH were super early we had to get up at 5.15 am which was a struggle, especially this far into the holiday.

We showered and then woke the girls at 6 am. Mat made himself a much needed coffee in the room and had some cereal to help him get going. We told the girls we’d get them a pastry in the park as there wasn’t time for them to have breakfast before we left.

Mat popped down to the car for something and took these photos out the front:

We were ready to leave at 6.40 am which was ten minutes later than planned. Who knows what we were doing for an hour and a half.

We took the walk to Hollywood Studios which took a bit longer than usual because of the Skyway construction. At the time the walking route to the park was a bit convoluted because of all the construction outside the park. We can usually walk it within 15 minutes but in summer 2018 it was taking at least an extra five minutes.

As we walked past the bus stops, a few buses emptied in front of us so we found ourselves behind a lot of people. We power walked to get as far ahead as we could as the EMH had already begun. When we got to bag check we managed to choose the worst line. The woman was ridiculously slow and was meticulously checking every single bag. We weren’t able to switch lines because the queues next to us were already long. It took us about ten minutes to get through the bag check which was so frustrating. All the other security CMs were moving people through so much quicker. If there’s a super slow line you can guarantee I will choose it.

It was about 7.15 am by the time we were finally in the park. We walked round to Toy Story Land. I’d seen photos and videos so it wasn’t much of a surprise to me but the others hadn’t really seen any of it. It was impressive in real life though. It was so cute.

We joined the Slinky Dog Dash line at 7.18 am. There was a CM holding a wait time sign where we entered that said 45 minutes, and as we passed through the entrance a couple of minutes later the posted wait there was 35 minutes. I said it wouldn’t be 45 minutes.

There is no shade in the line so we were happy it wasn’t too hot or sunny. We appreciated all the details in the line and I caught up on notes while we waited.

At one point an American lady in line asked me where Freya’s t-shirt was from, saying her daughter really liked it. I told her it was from a UK store (good old Primarni). Then I turned to Freya and saw she was wearing the t-shirt backwards.

I think we waited about 30 minutes in the end, maybe a little less. I rode with Seren and we were in the middle. The ride was so much fun, we were laughing the whole way through and I actually felt a bit emotional because it was so good. The lady behind us was laughing really loud the whole way through.

After Slinky, we walked round to Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster as Seren wanted to try it.

The plan had been to get there for rope drop and we didn’t do too badly as it was 8.03 when we got to the ride entrance. The posted wait was 15 minutes.

Mat had agreed to ride with Seren as Freya was too scared. I was on the fence, but I’d recently had a helix piercing so I used that as my excuse as I knew the shoulder restraint would really hurt my ear. Seren was a bit apprehensive about riding as she’d not been upside down before and it was a big thing for her. Mat was quite scared too.

Freya and I went into the shop at the end of the ride to wait for them. I liked this shop and I hadn’t been in it since the one time I rode R&RC in 2001. There were lots of cool things in there that we hadn’t seen anywhere else as a lot of it was rock themed. Freya and I had a good look around while we were waiting.

It was about 20 minutes before they were off. They both enjoyed it and said it wasn’t as scary as they were expecting. They wanted to have a look around the shop too and Seren bought a ‘hipster’ Mickey postcard and some Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster guitar picks. The guy behind the counter offered the girls a pin trade while Seren was paying. Seren didn’t want to trade but Freya did. The CM then pointed out another CM in the store who had like a drum covered in pins for trading. The girls went over and both traded.

Seren is a big Stitch fan so she wanted a photo with him:

Freya went back to the counter and asked for a small carrier bag to put the pins in that she wanted to keep. A different CM behind the counter offered her another trade. The girls have never been offered so many trades in one place before.

We left the shop and took some photos outside.

It was coffee time so we walked back down Sunset Boulevard to Starbucks.

Mat got a coconut milk hot latte, Freya had a chocolate croissant, Seren had the same plus an apple juice and I got a black Americano, some grapes and a banana. We took everything across the street to the Starring Rolls seating area.

Seren took a photo of her Kylo Ren pin:

We had Toy Story Mania FP+ from 9.05 am - 10.05 am so once we were done with our snacks we walked back round to Toy Story Land. We got to TSM about 9.10 am and pretty much walked on.

I was beating Mat all the way through until the target shooting round when he ended up about 600 points ahead of me. We all love Toy Story Mania and Mat and I get really competitive which is so funny.

The green army men passed by:

We had some time before our Tower of Terror FP+ so we decided to go to the Groot and Star Lord meet. There was a model of Galaxy's Edge set up inside the building:

We joined the line and a grumpy old CM was trying to get people not to wait by telling us all what a long wait it would be. When we got to the front, the CM was talking to us about Galaxy’s Edge. She told us it was going to be 14 acres compared to Toy Story Land’s 11 acres. She was really excited about it. She said that the Millennium Falcon ride would be special because the outcome of your ride would affect the rest of your experience in Galaxy’s Edge. She also said they weren’t sure about what would happen to The Muppets (which distressed Mat, a big Muppets fan), Pizzerizzo and Launch Bay with the latter being located in the wrong area.

We waited about 30 minutes in the end for the Star Lord and Groot meet.

We couldn’t believe how tiny Groot was (we’ve actually never seen the films).

Arty:

We had a look in a couple of shops as there was still a bit of time to kill. We went in the Star Wars shop and the CM went after Freya with a light saber which was amusing. We also went in the Planet Hollywood store and Seren freaked out over the costume on display worn by Leonardo Di Caprio in Titanic.

The girls went to use the Tower of Terror FastPass+es while I cancelled mine and Mat’s. I was never going to use mine but we weren’t sure whether both Mat and Freya would ride with Seren or whether one of them would wimp out.

Seren loves Tower of Terror and Freya goes back and forth on being scared and liking it. Today she loved it but she said she felt she was falling out.

Next Seren wanted to do the Star Wars meets so we walked over to Launch Bay.

Mat went off with the girls to do the meets while I sat on a bench and did notes.

Some Storm Troopers came out and were wandering around. One of them called to me from across the room, ‘You, get over here.’ Well obviously I wasn’t going to do that so I just ignored them. They tried to get my attention a few times but I just continued to pretend I hadn’t heard them. Mat and the girls could see what was happening from the Chewbacca line across the way and they thought it was hilarious. As did another family near them who could see what was going on too. I don’t like attention like that so I was so glad when the Storm Troopers gave up and moved on. Plus they’re scary.

The wait to meet Chewbacca had been posted at 25 minutes but they were out in about 20.

Next they went to meet BB8. The posted wait was 10 minutes but they were back in less than that.

Then it was time to meet Kylo Ren which also took less than 10 minutes. The girls found him really scary and refused to pledge allegiance to the Dark Side.

We had a bit of time before our Frozen Sing-a-Long FP+ so we had a look in the Launch Bay shop. Seren built a droid for her boyfriend as a present which she enjoyed spending a few minutes doing, I think she was quite tempted to make one for herself. Freya built one too for fun and then disassembled it.

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**moosha** · 14 Jul 20, 08:11 PM

...continued

It was then time to head over for our Frozen FP+ as it was about 12 pm. The show started at 12.30 pm so we were allowed to arrive between 12 pm and 12.15 pm. We were seated right at the front towards the edge of the row. While we were waiting for the show to start, Mat placed a mobile order for ABC Commissary.

I always really enjoy this show. I cried during Let It Go as I usually do and I had one of those ‘Wow we’re actually here’ emotional moments. Mat meanwhile had a nap. Seren and I both thought the Kristoff was yummy.

After the show we went over to ABC Commissary to collect the food and the girls did a quick pin trade.

The WiFi was so bad so Mat was struggling to check in and say he’d arrived to collect the food. Eventually we managed but it took ages for the food to be ready. I think it was because Seren’s vegan burger had some customisations (no lettuce, no mayo or sriracha.) We took the food to a table outside. It was really busy and there were only a few tables in the sun left available. Mat had a vegan burger too (they were Beyond Burgers). I had the alcoholic beverage included with his meal on the Dining Plan as he was driving and didn’t want a soft drink. The cocktail was a Happy Daze and it was tasty and quite strong for a pre-mixed Disney cocktail. While I was sat drinking it I placed a mobile order at Fairfax Fare for my lunch. Freya had a fried shrimp platter and it was the first meal all holiday she actually finished. Both girls had bottles of water with their meals. Everyone said they enjoyed their meals.

We all walked down to Fairfax Fare, passing the Star Wars characters on the way:

I had ordered a 5 layer vegan rice bowl which was the 7 layer vegetarian rice bowl with customisations (no sour cream, no cheese.) I struggled with the WiFi briefly but it was smoother than what had happened at ABC Commissary and my food was ready quicker. I got a Bacardi and Coke with my meal. We sat at a table at Fairfax Fare while I ate. My meal was really good.

While I ate the girls went to pin trade with the CM at the DVC stand and then another CM at the little pin store. The guy at the pin store would only do a mystery trade. Freya traded three pins and Seren did two.

We popped in the shop that had all the Toy Story merchandise in. So cute:

We then had Star Tours FP+. Seren’s band wouldn’t scan her in but the CM let her go through anyway. I tried to book us all another FP+ while we were in line but MDE wouldn’t let me book for Seren because it was saying she hadn’t yet used her Star Tours one which was annoying.

It was really hot on the ride, the air conditioning didn’t seem to be working very well. During the ride my little Kipling bag fell out of the net pouch under my seat and made its way under the seat in front which was a bit stressful. At the end when I asked the guy in front to pass it back to me he commented ‘I wondered where that came from.’

The shop at the end of the ride was also really hot so we made our way through it as quickly as we could.

When we got back outside we spoke to the entrance CM about Seren’s unused FP+ and they got her to scan again. This time it worked so we were all good to book something else after that. Except we didn’t end up doing that anyway after all.

We decided to watch the Indiana Jones show which I don’t think the girls had ever seen. Mat and I probably last watched it in 2001 on our honeymoon. When I would come to Florida with my parents and sister as a child and teenager, we always watched pretty much all of the shows every trip. But with Mat and the girls we don’t tend to watch many shows besides a couple of favourites (Frozen and The Lion King basically.) We thought the girls might enjoy it though and that hopefully it would be a slightly cooler place than outside to sit and have a rest. It was about 2.45 pm at this point and the next show was 3.15 pm. We got three bottles of water from the snack kiosk outside the show. There was a bit of a queue for the snacks with the show starting soon so it took a few minutes.

We sat down inside and it was a little bit cooler than outside but, well, it was still Florida in August. The theatre was completely full by the time the show started. The show isn’t really my thing, I don’t like ‘action’ movies / stunts and it’s pretty cheesy. The stunts are impressive though and the girls enjoyed it. I personally don’t think they should bother with the whole educational aspect of teaching the audience about cameras, stunts and movies though as it all feels a bit dated and I think it would work better just as a simple stunt show.

When the show finished we restroomed and then decided to leave the park.

Mat got an iced coconut milk latte and we got some tap waters from Starbucks on the way out:

As we arrived at the boat dock, a boat was just filling and there were quite a lot of people at the dock. The waiting area was in the sun and a sign at the dock said boats were every 20 minutes.

I decided I would walk back instead. I knew there was no chance Seren would agree to walk back but Freya wanted to walk with me so we split up. I don’t like waiting around and I felt there was a good chance we wouldn’t even get on the next boat in 20 minutes. Even though it was hot I would prefer to be on the move than standing waiting with lots of other people in the sun.

It was very hot on the walk back.

As I’ve already mentioned the path back was longer than usual because of the Skyliner construction and the changes Disney were making to the car park and bus stops. Thankfully the first part of the walk by the temporary bus stops was pretty shady. It took us 20 minutes to get back to the Yacht Club. We went into the hotel via an external door to our part of the building using our Magicbands.

It was lovely to get back inside with the air conditioning.

Meanwhile on the boat:

We started to get ready for showers when Mat and Seren arrived. At first they pretended they had been sat in the bar downstairs for 20 minutes waiting for us but then they said they had managed to get on the boat we had seen at the dock. It’s a bit mad that it took slightly less time to walk than it did to get the boat back.

We had quite a long, much needed rest in the room. It wasn’t so much that we were tired or worn out, we just needed a break from the heat. This was our first August trip and none of us love extreme heat so there were moments in the holiday where it took its toll on us a bit.

We all got showered, Freya did some school work and Mat did some laundry. We had a Jiko reservation at 7.15 pm but the dryer wouldn’t be finished in time. So he went onto MDE and amended it to 7.35 pm. He has never used MDE or had anything to do with ADRs before so I was quite proud of him for just getting on with it all by himself.

On the way out to the car we took a slight detour to the quiet pool area which is where the laundry building is so we could collect the clean, dry washing. We’d spent an afternoon by the quiet pool during our previous stay in 2012 so it was nice to reminisce about the girls’ first Florida trip.

We popped the washing in the ‘trunk’ to bring in with us at the end of the evening and set off for Animal Kingdom Lodge.

When we arrived, we told the security CM we had a reservation at Jiko and he asked if we knew where we were going. Mat said he did as we’ve been here at least once a trip and we set off. Unfortunately he missed the turning for Jambo House which was quite amusing.

Eventually we made it to the car park and walked into the Animal Kingdom Lodge reception.

We all like this hotel a lot and have been tempted to book it but just never have so far. We always comment on how dark the lobby is at Jambo House. It is lovely though. There was a little kids’ dance party going on in the lobby and the atmosphere was very festive.

We checked in at Jiko and waited a few minutes to be seated.

Our server was Benjamin and he was an absolute star. He was so professional and very friendly. He just got everything exactly right as I would hope from a server at a Signature restaurant. To start we were given hot towels and some Moroccan mint tea. The tea was like a sweet iced tea with a vague mint flavour which was disappointing as I was hoping it would be like a nice hot peppermint tea. Sweet iced tea is not my thing at all, I thought it was horrible. It was served in some really cute glasses though. Mat and Seren ordered strawberry lemonade with pineapple foam.

I had a glass of Merlot and Benjamin gave me a pour to try first. All wines were South African. They were all included in the Dining Plan except flight and fine wines.

I had a second glass once I finished the first as Freya hadn’t used her drink allocation for the meal. It was so nice not having to pay for drinks at table service meals with them now being included on the Dining Plan.

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**moosha** · 14 Jul 20, 08:13 PM

...continued

Seren was really stroppy because she had been given an allergy menu but there was nothing vegetarian on it. We told Benjamin she was struggling and he said to her ‘What do you like to eat when you go out at home?’ Bless him. She liked the look of the Egyptian Kushari which was on our vegan menu. He checked through the ingredients to make sure Seren wasn’t allergic to any of them. Mat said to leave out the olives for her and then cheekily said he’d have them. Benjamin said he would bring them on the side for him.

For appetisers, Mat and I shared the Taste of Africa. Benjamin said we were able to eat three of the four dips served with the dish. He asked which one we would like more of instead of the one we couldn’t have: ‘sweet, savoury or spicy.’ I think we chose spicy as that sounds like something we would do. We could only have the poppadums of the breads but they were so good. I don't know why I didn't take a photo of the appetiser but it was so good.

We had bread and maple butter brought to the table for the girls and then some vegan bread with oil for dipping for us.

Freya didn’t like the bread and butter which she found quite depressing as she was hungry (as always) and wasn’t having an appetiser.

I ordered a vegetable curry and Mat and Seren both had the kushari.

Freya had been offered a children’s menu even though she was ten and she ordered a cheese pizza from there but for some reason I don't have a photo of that either, maybe she inhaled it before I had a chance.

My curry was so good. It was definitely one of my very favourite meals of the whole trip. It was quite a small portion though, I could have eaten a lot more of it. The others’ kushari was a much larger portion. Seren wasn’t a huge fan of it so she didn’t eat too much but Mat ate all of his. Freya really liked her pizza but left a small slice.

For dessert Freya had an African shield which was a biscuit to decorate with three coloured icings, plus a brownie and ice cream. Seren had two scoops of raspberry sorbet with berries. Mat had one scoop of lychee sorbet and one scoop of raspberry. I had a coconut milk panna cotta with berries. It was so good. It’s not often there’s a vegan dessert on a restaurant menu that isn’t sorbet or at a push, a brownie. Having something I hadn’t eaten for years was a big treat.

It was just an excellent meal overall. Jiko had been one of our absolute favourite WDW restaurants for two trips and then we’d had a dodgy third visit which had put us off. But an impressive vegan menu had brought us back and I’m so glad we went. We only had to pay for our shared appetiser and tip. Seren wrote Benjamin a note apologising for being so fussy and thanking him for all his help.

The girls watched the cartoons in the lobby for a bit.

We drove home in high spirits having a big sing-a-long in the car. We all went straight to bed when we got back.