Day 4 - Back once again like a Floriday Master - Boma/Epcot/HS/Hollywood Brown Derby

[Man v Disney]

We woke up today and felt a lot more fresh and less tired than previously. I think we woke around 5am, so a full hour later!

Hannah changed the breakfast booking to 7.45 as we had both woken early. We started to write up yesterdays report and as this took a while, we changed the booking again to 8. After a little while, with the kids not fully woken and the report not quite finished we pushed our booking back to 8.15. So easy with the app, although they must have been confused with all of the changes! It must have won an award for ‘Most Changed Meal’

We set off for Boma at around 7.40 and had an easy drive up to the restaurant. After parking in Animal Kingdom lodge – Jambo House – we headed in and down to breakfast. Our greeter, Boldness (great name), insisted that she give us new badges to celebrate our anniversary holiday and gave us Happily Ever After pins with ‘18 ears’ on them! That’s right folks – Han & I are celebrating our 18th Wedding Anniversary this holiday.

Once we had been taken to our table and introduced to our server, Kathy, we were unleashed on the buffet breakfast. It is fair to say now that we thought this better than Crystal Palace – not that there was anything wrong with CP, but Boma was just better. The range of food is fantastic and has a number of unique food options. We feasted on Pap, Bobotie, Chakalaka, a Chipotle and Teriyaki mustard, fresh omelets and so much more besides (Eliana hoovered up some Krispy Kremes). Rather than picture our plates we have pictured the buffet. The jungle juice was fab too -just like a J2O but a bit better. They also brought out some of their Zebra Dome desserts with a congratulations chocolate. This was great as we loved these puddings when we came here last time in 2016 for tea.

Food 8.5
Service 8.5
Ambience 8
Total 25

The bill came to $123.54 with a tip of $23.20.

We were now well fuelled and ready to hit Epcot. Having been there last night we didn’t feel as much pressure today as we already had gone on a number of the rides. After parking close to the entrance in Journey – row 8 – we headed in and although we had a fastpass for the Frozen ride there was no queue for Spaceship Earth so we headed in there. Josiah and I went together, leaving the girls to go together in their own car behind us. Their futures were interesting and it gave me an insight into his mind as he answered the questions to choose his future! We did have a fastpass for this for later, which Han swapped over to the Seas with Nemo.

Frozen was next and was enjoyed by all of us, we didn’t get too wet as we went backwards! We headed back round and I went to get a DAS pass for Test Track again – which Hannah was willing to try today.

We popped over to Mission Space and although Josiah sat this one out we walked on as the Standby for the Green Mission was only 10 minutes. Again, a good fun ride, although Han wasn’t keen on the bumpy landing! On the way out Josiah decided that he wanted a freeze dried Neopolitan ice cream, which I suspect filled a small hole. I tried a bit – it was OK but no swapsie for the real thing.

The kids wanted to give The Sum of All Thrills a go in Innoventions as they liked this last time. Unfortunately, once we were in there it was clear that this was closed, so we went to do our Seas with Nemo fastpass, pointing out to Eliana Coral Reef, one of her favourite restaurants.

This was a pretty quick ride and one we all thought was good. For the first time we went up to have a look round the aquarium section. How have we not done this before?

Eliana, the animal lover, could have stayed there all day. We sat and looked at the various fish including some that we had never seen before that looked like a cross between a Stingray and a Shark. We popped over to see the Manatee’s and just as we got there they started a little talk about them and their diets, which is mainly Romain lettuce! Although they are large, they have little fat due to their diet and so only go in warm water as they struggle to stay warm!

Once we had coaxed Eliana away from here we went over to our final Fastpass for Figment – a favourite of Eliana’s from last time. I’m not sure she came out of it loving it as much as before but it was still good fun and ensured that we were having a full day and hitting as many things as we could. On our way out we passed the Meet & Greet for Ralph breaks the Internet. The queue was massive but Ralph and Venelope need to go for a little ‘break’ so we were able to get pictures of them as they were coming back out to continue greeting!

As we were near Living with the Land and had used our last Fastpass, Han picked us one up for LWTL, which I always enjoy. I find it really interesting to see how stuff can be grown better, not sure everyone else enjoyed it the same as me – but hey!

Josiah and Eliana were excited to take Han on her first Test Track of 2019. We split up with Hannah and Josiah together and Eliana and I as a pair. Although Josiah’s car won on 3 areas, Eliana was pleased hers was top on responsiveness. In fact, when we got to the end, her car had a total design score of 216, compared to Josiah’s 214. The ride was great as always, Han loved it – you can tell from the picture!

We also popped into Club Cool as we heard it would be closing soon. It was good - there was no Beverley!

At this point we decided it was time to head out, so went back to the car and Han dropped us off at CBR while she went to do a little shopping without being helped and supported by us! She ended up getting a few clothes and bits from Target, Ross Dress for Less and TJ Maxx.

It is worth mentioning that it was a very warm day and we had kept cool using the snap towels and kept refreshing them whenever we were near a water fountain. They really worked very well for us and helped to keep us refreshed and cool throughout the morning. These together with a hand fan that our friend Sarah bought Han made today a lot more bearable.

While Hannah was out I started writing the trip report up for today, while Josiah and Eliana went over to Port Royale to fill their drink mugs. We chilled for a bit, before going to the closest pool, which is a little smaller for a quick dip before heading back to the room to chill some more and then get ready for our evening at Hollywood Brown Derby and Fantasmic!

Once Hannah had got back (a little later than anticipated due to taking a detour on the road system!) we headed out on the short drive to Hollywood Studios. The first thing we noticed was that the park was a lot busier than Epcot had been. We parked up in Buzz 408 and just managed to catch a tram, which saved a longer walk.

After going through security we were straight to Hollywood Brown Derby and not long after checking were taken to our seats in a little booth and introduced to our server, Gilberto! The menu looked fab and we were excited for our second 2 table credit meal. Gilberto was fab, brilliant service, he got it just right.

For drinks, Eliana had a coke, I had the Kiwi Glitzer and Han and Josiah had the Maliblue Beach. Non alcoholic cocktails all the way! Gilberto realised that Eliana’s was the only drink without a flashing ice cube so he popped back with one just for her! Excellent service G!

For starters, Eliana rekindled her love of Chicken Noodle soup with a starter of the kids menu, Josiah had the Tomato Soup, I had the New England Sea Scallops and Han the Ahi Tuna. We all cleared our plates and realised that we hadn’t eaten too much since Breakfast at Boma. The food was sooooo good.

Next up were the entrees, Eliana went for the Kids Hotdog, Josiah the Charred stuffed Pork chop, I had the Filet Mignon and Han had the Duck Breast with char grilled peaches which she had been eyeing up since we first started looking at menu’s over six months ago. We all demolished these, they tasted fab. Josiah got a slightly nervy tummy and stopped eating towards the end of his meal. However, even though he was ‘full’ and felt unsettled, he couldn’t help but keep dipping into his meal and he actually finished it all off!

Both kids said they were full and so didn’t have dessert, Han and I on the other hand were well up for more. I had the Chocolate Mousse Cake while Han had the Grapefruit cake. While we were eating these Josiah cleaned up and wrapped up (QUOTE OF THE DAY – “I’ll wrap them Mum, I know how to do it because I’m a paperboy” Josiah Clark, 2019) the glowing cubes which had come with our drinks, they were ours to take away. Gilberto reminded us of the details about using our seating passes for Fantasmic before we left.

The bill came to $307.75 with a tip of $57.19.

Food: 9
Service: 9
Atmosphere: 8
Total: 26

The size of the meal here is just right and is excellent quality too. It was one of the ones from 2016 that we really knew we had to do again and I’m really glad I did. The Fantasmic seating with it is just a bonus.

I went to get a DAS pass for Slinky which at 5.55pm was giving a return time of 7.05pm. After this we needed to fill some time so went to Voyage of the Little Mermaid as a show was about to start. This was good fun, the puppet work on the fish at the start is brilliant!

Our Fastpass for Star Tours was next, Han had booked when we left Epcot this morning. We all loved Star Tours and got a different story to the one we had yesterday. Unfortunately we were not chosen as Rebel Spies, but didn’t mind too much.

Josiah asked whether he could get a Jack Jack Cookie Num Num, which he had researched about before we left the UK. Han went to get this and also got herself a Keylime Pie on a stick. We had realised that we hadn’t made a start on getting through any of our snack credits so hoped that this would begin to make a dent. We had a piece of Disney Magic though when Kaylea, the server, gave them for free as Han was wearing her Happily Ever After badge. A great bit of Pixie Dust for us. I can definitely recommend the Key Lime Pie on a stick but after all the hype, the Num Num wasn’t quite what Josiah was expecting.

After a little wander round while we ate these, we headed over to Slinky Dog to do our DAS pass. Again, this was really fun and was enjoyed by all three of us. We got some memory maker photos as we left the Toy Story Land and headed round to Path of the Jedi. Unfortunately, this wasn’t open so the kids dipped into the playport next door and had 15 minutes or so on the Xbox’s there.

Han had got us a Toy Story Mania DAS pass while we were on Slinky, so we headed there and had another great game. Eliana won with her highest ever score and beat the rest of us. She was very happy about this! And when I say happy I mean, rub it in everyone else’s face happy!

Finally, we headed over to Fantasmic and even though it was 8.15pm and the stadium opened at 7.30pm we got some good seats, in the Dining Package section, about a third of the way up and central to the main area. On the way in we met a cast member, Laura, who was from Grimsby, not too far from where we live. She was really friendly and pleased to meet someone who was so close to home. Fantasmic was, as always, absolutely brilliant. A very impressive show and we all thought it was a little different to what we had seen before. I won’t put up many pictures of this as our phones aren’t great at night shots but there are plenty on google images I’m sure!

We left as soon as it finished and managed to get ahead of the crowds and past the people watching the Star Wars fireworks. We rushed to catch a tram and were the last ones on.

Once back at CBR, Eliana went to get a Hot Chocolate and we settled down for the night, absolutely shattered, this had been the biggest day for steps by far! A whopping 24050 steps (the day before had been 16848 too).

Tomorrow, Animal Kingdom, Sanaa, shopping and packing ready to move to the villa on Monday, Tiffins and Rivers of Light…..another full day I imagine.

[tory79]

Do you mind me asking what cooling towels you bought? I am totally bewildered by the amount of them on amazon!

[lincolnhan]

Originally Posted by tory79

Do you mind me asking what cooling towels you bought? I am totally bewildered by the amount of them on amazon!

See more...

Hi! It’s these ones that we used 😊
YQXCC 2 Pack Cooling Towel (120 x 30 cm), Ice Towel, Microfiber Towel For Instant Cooling Relief, Cool Cold Towel for Yoga Beach Golf Travel Gym Sports Swimming Camping (Blue) amazon/dp/B07SS9NP..._6fZpDb7JN915M

[OB1LukeLucas]

Another great day. It’s such a shame they are closing Club Cool.