The Magic 3 do WDW again May 2022 - Day 8 Hollywood Studios and Epcot

[MrsSilverStar]

We were finally slowing down a little bit so let poor Heath sleep in this morning…

…while I went to Hollywood Studios for rope drop! You must’ve realised by now, I don’t do ‘chill’ at Disney 😂

I wanted to ride Rock n Roller coaster and Tower of Terror and neither Mark nor Heath were keen, so a solo trip it was.

I decided to rope drop RnR and genie+ ToT - one side of it is currently under refurbishment so the queues get huge at the mo.

The park opened at 8am, I can’t remember exactly what time I got there but here are the queues for the two rides at 7.55am

They looked huge but that’s because they weren’t letting us into the rides until it was 8am on the dot.

More genie+ lenses to keep me entertained

As it was so early, I didn’t get my photopass photos for either ride 😭

I was off RnR so quickly, I had to sit and wait for my ToT genie+ to go live at 8.30am (when the park opened to everyone)

I LOVED ToT! I had a moment of being absolutely terrified before the first drop but once it got going, I was just laughing and having a great time. So fun and worth the early solo trip!

I was back on the bus at 9.16am - the bus driver even asked “done so soon?!” 😂

Heath was still asleep when I got back to the hotel!

When he finally woke, he asked when I was going to the park…he couldn’t believe I’d been, rode two rides and come back again before he woke up!

We grabbed some breakfast from Capt Cook’s

The Oasis pool opens at 10am so we obviously rope dropped that too 😂 it was necessary to get a lounger in the shade! I did notice that if you arrive in the afternoon, you struggle to find a spot.

We held out until just before 12pm before we started on the cocktails

So delicious and refreshing.

Heath and I had some food by the pool too

The wings were sensational - we really enjoyed the food and drink at the Poly.
While we were at the pool, I sent Mark off to queue for Trader Sam’s - he got there at 2.10pm and said there were at least 50 people in front of him and it doesn’t open until 3pm! They told him to come back to be seated in 3 hours.

After lots of swimming and snacking, we went back to the room to wash up. Heath relaxed on the balcony with his book.

Then off to Trader Sam’s for yet more food and drink!

We loved it in here - all the weird things that happen when drinks are ordered are so fun! It’s a bit of a mission to get in, but we felt it was worth it.

We were due to be meeting some friends from home at Epcot at 7pm, so we walked to the ticket and transportation centre to get the monorail - and of course it was down! We had to get a bus instead.

I hate being late to meet people so was quite grumpy but our friends went on Mission Space while waiting for us and we met them after they were done.

It started raining at this point so we huddled in a shop for awhile before deciding to brave the drizzle and find some food. We were in the world showcase so I sent Mark ahead to see if Via Napoli could find space for the 7 of us…obviously he was laughed out of the place 😂

We ended up at the Mexican QS instead. It was busy so we sent the dads and kids to find some tables while my friend and I got the food.
We decided to take our time as we realised it was a great spot for the fireworks - seating and a roof in case it rained again! So we had a lovely time, chatting with friends while the kids enjoyed themselves on their own table.

I loved the show! It gets a lot of hate but again, I wasn’t emotionally attached to the previous shows so it was good for me! The lights, projections, fireworks and music created an awesome atmosphere.

The music and lights continue afterwards so Mark got this gorgeous shot of the Miguel golden statue.

Then it was time to monorail home, thankfully it was back up and running again.

This ended up taking longer than expected because we stayed on at the TTC stop, expecting it to go to the hotels next - but it only does a loop between there and Epcot! So back we went 😂
We were finally back at the hotel at 10.30pm.

Tomorrow, we’re back at Epcot for a much busier day and our highest step count of the trip!

[flo-tinka]

Early morning Mum only rope drop 👍👍 and then rope dropping the pool😂
Looks like you made real good use of that Poly pool

[Pep]

Great day love the poly and trader Sam's and harmonious looks amazing that spot at Mexico qs looks a perfect view to see all the projections

[MrsSilverStar]

Originally Posted by flo-tinka

Early morning Mum only rope drop 👍👍 and then rope dropping the pool😂
Looks like you made real good use of that Poly pool

See more...

We really did! That was a big difference from our first trip and made it a much better holiday - even with all the rope dropping, I do allow them the odd bit of lounging by the pool 😂

Originally Posted by Pep

Great day love the poly and trader Sam's and harmonious looks amazing that spot at Mexico qs looks a perfect view to see all the projections

See more...

The Poly was just fab, Trader Sam’s was so fun.

I definitely recommend it as a chilled way to watch Harmonious - I had to duck a little to get the angle to see the fireworks up above but much nicer than camping out in the crowds for a view!

[mick]

Well done on your early morning trip
Im not surprised Heath was shocked that you had been and come back before he woke up

Joan

[MrsSilverStar]

Originally Posted by mick

Well done on your early morning trip
Im not surprised Heath was shocked that you had been and come back before he woke up

Joan

See more...

He’d lost all sense of time and space after all those rides and walking 😂

[Goldia]

A solo sprint to HS, and back in the room before Heath had woken up! Brilliant. I have to say those chicken wings did look tasty and such a lot of lovely cocktails. What a palaver to get into Trader Sam's, you haven't had to wait to get on any rides, but had a 3 hour wait for cocktails! Lol, at least you could lounge around the pool. It sounds like a fun evening in Epcot, despite the drizzle. I do love the lights on Spaceship earth, great photos.

[MrsSilverStar]

Originally Posted by Goldia

A solo sprint to HS, and back in the room before Heath had woken up! Brilliant. I have to say those chicken wings did look tasty and such a lot of lovely cocktails. What a palaver to get into Trader Sam's, you haven't had to wait to get on any rides, but had a 3 hour wait for cocktails! Lol, at least you could lounge around the pool. It sounds like a fun evening in Epcot, despite the drizzle. I do love the lights on Spaceship earth, great photos.

See more...

Haha, I won’t queue for rides but I’ll queue for cocktails 😂 well, I’ll make Mark queue!

We got so many lovely photos this trip, now I have to try and choose which ones to print and frame.