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Old 6 Oct 20, 10:35 AM  
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Mightyfraz
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Florida 2019 - Tell Me This Isn't The Last Time - Day 02 DHS and Biergarten

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Sunday 28th July 2019

Our plan today was to go to the park which had EMH as we’re always up early on the first day; so today we’re heading off to DHS. DW did a brilliant job of getting FPs as they are now available from 1200 each day rather than 0700 on previous trips, but we couldn’t get a FP for Slinky Dog Dash so aimed to get there at rope drop and queue. We had FPs for Star Tours, Alien Swirling Saucers and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster with lunch at ABC Commissary in between. Our table service tonight was the Biergarten in Epcot so the plan was to chill at the hotel in the afternoon before heading out to Epcot in the evening to see if we can get any FPs.

The thinking was correct, we woke up about 0300 then 0400 and got up at 0530, I went to the lounge for some coffee, tea and hot chocolate. Pushed under the door was a printed itinerary and suggestions from the concierge; again, these little touches are exactly why we love Disney.

It was nice seeing the sunrise, you can see the Swan/Dolphin in the background

On the way to the lounge there is a communal area where you can just sit and chill out.

We were a bit early for breakfast but filled up our water bottles from the iced water machine. I grabbed another coffee for the walk to DHS and noticed the sugar; this is what makes Disney so special to us, it’s the little details

The lobby was really quiet so was able to take some photos of it and us

The walk to DHS was beautiful, the sun was coming up, hardly anyone else around, getting warm and we were full of excitement. Whilst yesterday was amazing, today is what we’ve saved and planned the last four years for. It’s funny how much that walk has stayed in mine and DW’s memory; as I write this, we’re in week six of COVID-19 lockdown and we’re really fortunate to have a lake nearby which is where our daily exercise takes place. The other day I asked the question “where would you like to be walking to rather than here?” both of us said “take me back to the morning when we walked to DHS”.

If I remember, the park opened at 0800 and we got there around 0650; there was about 8 bag search stations open; as DDs didn’t have any bags, we sent them through to get into the queue. They got first in the queue; once in there were two rope drops, one for Toy Story Land and the other for Tower of Terror (which if you went in summer of 2019 you’ll know that the ride was only half open and the queues were horrendous). As you can see, we got there nice an early

But it didn’t take too long until it looked like this

Yvonne was the cast member trying to keep order in the chaos and she was brilliant. She made sure that people only stood on the road, so when “clever” people thought they could walk along the paths and cut in or stay there, Yvonne called them out and made sure they got to the back where they should be.

The countdown started and about twenty cast members came down to walk us to the ride. The prize is in sight

If you thought it was chaotic before, you haven’t seen anything yet; as we walked to the ride, not only did more people join from other directions but we were being funneled from thirty people wide to twenty to eventually two or three wide.

At this point we got split up from DDs, they ploughed on and when we eventually caught up with them they were at the front, we were very proud parents and they passed the first Disney test

We got on the first train; really unsure what DW was looking at but guess there’s something to do with Cheese that’s caught her attention

The ride was brilliant and wish we could have had more goes on it but the queue was 120 mins long when we got off, so next stop was Toy Story Mania

As the park was still in EMH, we went to see if we could get on Tower of Terror; stopping on the way for some photo opps

I think the second photo was us supposed to be scared; I’m guessing I translated that into Jazz hands The wait time for Tower of Terror was 115 mins, so we went to Rock ‘n’ Roller coaster. This was pretty much a walk on so we used our first snack credits of the holiday (did I mention we had DDP ) on nachos and cheese; 2 snack credits for $10.98 (£9.07). They didn’t last long as we ate them in the queue

From Rock ‘n’ Roller coaster we walked to Star Tours having a look in the shops on the way. Opportunity for DDs to try on some headwear

Goofy was near Star Tours, so time for a character meet

Look how close Galaxy’s Edge is…..so near but so in a galaxy far, far, away

Next stop was Muppet Vision 3d, which I think is getting more and more dated each time we visit, I think that needs to be the next re-imagineered. From there it was over to Alien Swirling Saucers, I really like what they’ve done with Toy Story land, there’s so much detail

Now it’s time for lunch; on this holiday we’re going to try new restaurants and with DDP it will allow us to do that. We’ve never been to ABC commissary, so here goes.

Sorry that there aren’t photos of everything, clearly too hungry to stop eating DDs had chicken breast, fries and salad, one had a coke the other a slushy. DW had an angus cheese burger, fries and a Bud Lite and I had the ribs platter with fries and a Yuengling beer. DW and I shared the burger and ribs

The photos don’t do it justice; all of the meals were really nice and there was a lot of fries. It’s definitely worth a visit and will be on our list for next time; the total was $79.24 (£65.49) or 4 QS credits

As we checked off the rides we wanted to do and with the ride times increasing we headed back to Beach Club for a relaxing afternoon. We caught the boat back

The boat is a really nice trip and I don’t think you could tire of walking from the dock to the hotels and seeing that view. Back to the room to get changed then off for a swim at the hotel; grabbed some drinks from the lounge and headed to the pool. It’s such a lovely pool and the lazy river is fantastic. Must be something to do with the weather but we were feeling hungry again; so, we went to the take-out window at Beaches & Cream. We got a coke for DD2, I had a mint choc chip/butter pecan ice cream and DD1 had a double chocolate ice cream; it was $18 (£14.88) or 3 snack credits

We went back to the room, got changed and headed off to Epcot; it’s great as no more than a five-minute walk from the hotel. They’re doing a lot of work at the International Gateway entrance as that’s where the Skyliner will be stopping. Epcot was looking lovely in the evening sunshine


We had a little bit of time before our reservation, so went on Spaceship Earth, Soarin’ Around the World. I’m unsure if it’s just us but we all thought the original Soarin’ was better. It seemed that the screen was bending especially the Eiffel Tower

We decided to walk around the world to Germany; first stop was Mexico for Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Calaberos. DD2 pulling off the sombrero look.

We used to live in Germany so hoped that the Biergarten would take us back there; the setting is great and the oom-pah band was really good. It’s a buffet and there was enough food for everyone (Pork, Chicken, Wurst etc.), however it was just a little bland

Maybe because it was the first day and an early start, we all started feeling tired and seemed to rush the meal. To be honest I’m hoping that was the case rather than the restaurant just being very average. The bill was $209.48 (£173.12), as we used 4 DDP TS credits, we tipped $39.30 (£32.48); We all know how expensive Disney restaurants are but I’m glad we had DDP as it was definitely not worth £200.

We walked back to the hotel, grabbed a drink in the lounge and headed back to our room; then there was an almighty thunderstorm, so we watched that for a bit and then headed to bed. It was a brilliant day, we loved the walk to DHS, Slinky Dog, ABC Commissary and especially the pool

DDP
• Snack Credits – 40 start – 5 = 35 left (behind by 3)
• QS Credits – 20 start – 4 = 16 left (on track)
• TS Credits – 20 start – 4 = 16 left (on track)
• Daily/Total Saving $317.70 (£262.56)

Tomorrow’s plan is MK where we have FPs for all of the Mountains, plan to chill in the afternoon and then we have an ADR at California Grill to watch the fireworks. Day 3 can be found here

Edited at 11:44 AM.
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Old 6 Oct 20, 10:45 AM  
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TigerLily8
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Fabulous day, I really enjoyed reading this! Slinky dog is so much fun and you got rope drop spot on by the looks of it!

It's a shame that Biergarten didn't quite live up to expectations. We really enjoyed it, although I suspect my memory of it has been slightly overshadowed by the amount of beer we drank.

Looking forward to reading more!
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Old 6 Oct 20, 01:56 PM  
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mick
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That was a great day

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Old 6 Oct 20, 09:12 PM  
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Florida1972
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Perfect first day. That early morning walk to DHS (sighs) just lovely 😊
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Old 6 Oct 20, 09:49 PM  
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Brilliant first day. That is such a nice walk along the water first thing in the morning.
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Old 6 Oct 20, 11:38 PM  
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Loobylou_82
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Lovely day had by all. Not been on slinky dog yet, glad you enjoyed it. I keep replying as though you are there now or just returned, got my lockdown head on.
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