We're all going on a Poly-holiday - October 2019: Day 4: The non-park day (where we go to a park)

[bambikate]

Day 4: The non-park day (where we go to a park)
Wednesday 16 October 2019

Index

Hollywood Studios, Toy Story Mania, Slinky Dog Dash, Alien Swirling Saucers, Tower of Terror, Rock N Rollercoaster, Capt. Cook's for lunch, a trip to Target, a pool day and dinner at Narcoossee's

Today was strictly a "non-park day" as we were essentially just going to be visiting target, chilling at the hotel and going to dinner at the Grand Floridian but as we were still getting up relatively early and Hollywood Studios were open 6am-9am for Extra Magic Hours we thought a short trip to the park wouldn't hurt.

In October, when we went, the fastpasses were rather annoyingly tiered so literally everything was tier one apart from Star Tours and shows which were tier two and Millennium Falcon was walk on only

This effectively meant they were in reality only giving one FP a day to people as the tier 2 ones were pointless, which meant a lot more queuing unless we went early to beat the crowds. (I understand they've now sorted this again so it's much fairer)

We had a fastpass for TOT at 9am so the plan was to hit Hollywood Studios as early as we could to try and stand a chance of riding Slinky Dog dash for the first time (and without a fast pass) and hopefully Alien Swirling Saucers and Toy Story Midway Mania too (we were planning on doing the Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run on another day).

We woke around 6am and got dressed quickly as I'd already laid out our outfits out out ready the night before.

Andy and I had t shirts from The Main Street Press, Izzy had on her stitch dress made by my lovely Dibb friend, Aimie of The Wishes Wardrobe and the girls and I all had on our matching Woody knot bands from Magic and Main Street Ears on Instagram


We managed to get to the park shortly after 7am and the sun had just risen.

When we went it was just after the skyliner broke down and was temporarily closed. We decided to give them a miss this trip



We decided instead of following the hordes of people going straight to Batuu, we would veer off and go to Toy Story Land! This was our first trip to Toy Story Land as we had taken a year off Florida to visit California in 2018.

We absolutely loved the look and the theming here. They have done such a great job.





First up - Toy Story Midway Mania and its non-existent queue - woohoo! (This 20 minutes was not accurate at all)









This was the first time Andy and I could sit next to each other on tis ride since 2009 as the girls are now old enough to sit next to each other on all rides

This meant the competition was really ramped up as we could see each others scores as we went... I was determined to beat him but I was pipped to the post (JUST!)



Lollipop wall



Giant Pixar Ball!



Next we went straight to Alien Swirling Saucers for a quick spin



It was also a complete walk on





We thought this was a really fun ride

We hadn't yet had breakfast yet and were feeling a bit hungry so started walking towards the Trolley Car Cafe (Starbucks) to grab something quick and easy.

Andy and I got another breakfast sandwich each and the girls got a large chocolate frap (for a snack credit) which they kindly split into two smaller ones at no extra charge (the CM's idea) which the girls were thrilled with.

The girls decided to invoke the "cakes are an acceptable breakfast when on holiday" rule and Immy ordered a brownie covered in M&Ms and Izzy ordered a butterfinger cupcake with cute Mickey ears.

We were allowed a little bit of each and they were both scrummy

We found a nice wall to chill on and eat and the girls decided to sit by the fountain just in front of us.

We loved watching them chatting away together (and not arguing for once... )











We had chosen Hollywood Tower of Terror as our one and only fast pass that day but when we were sat having breakfast we noticed on the app it only had a 10 minute wait and Rock N Rollercoaster was showing a 30 minute wait so tried to see if it would let us switch. After a couple of attempts (probably when other people were chopping and changing) it did! Yay!

[bambikate]

Things had started to get a bit busier now as it just turned 9am and all of the rest of the guests had started coming in.

We started walking towards the ToT but not before a couple of photos on the boulevard (including the cringey "look scared" one...)







On the way down I had a message from my Mum, Izzy had sat her 11+ the month before and the 11+ results had come out (by post) and she had been down to check them for us and sent me a photo - she passed!

I showed Andy, we were both so proud of her. I know she had been really nervous about getting results while she was on holiday and was worried if it was bad it would spoil the day or even the holiday. So much so, she said she didn't want to know until we were home but I spoke to Immy and Andy and suggested we surprise her and told her the good news. We stopped on the middle of Hollywood Boulevard and said "Izzy, guess what? YOU PASSED!"

She was so happy she didn't say anything at first, she just looked shocked and hugged me really hard for ages. We said we would buy her something nice to congratulate her later in the day.



We walked down to the Tower of Terror and got in line - it moved pretty quickly and was as awesome as always.



Straight afterwards we went for our fast pass at RnR



And that was us done at about 9:30am

We started strolling towards the exit - we were really going against the crowd and decided to go via the gift shops which seemed to be a good choice as they were all empty.

We stopped at the kiosk to get Izzy an "I'm celebrating" pin for her exam passes. Immy got one too

Then we took a few pictures in the glorious sunshine.





Including this one of our super happy and relieved girl



Walking back to the bus stop



As it was so early there were no dedicated buses running back home from each bus stop so there was a CM coordinating and rounding up people looking to go to similar resorts and then scheduling a bus to take us home. It was very efficient and cleverly done. Only about a ten minute wait.

Back at the resort we popped back to our room briefly and ordered a Lyft to Super Target at Rolling Oaks Boulevard. It cost $13.91 plus tip there and $13.25 plus tip back. As we were staying onsite the entire two weeks and using the free WDW transportation and magical express there really was no need for us to hire a car so we were very happy with our choice of just using Lyft for our 10 trips during our entire stay. It was super convenient.

They begged us to use the gigantic double seat trolley






We bought some of our favourite snacks and treats, some bottled water (a 24 pack was the same price as ONE water in the Disney Parks...

We also had a good browse at the Halloween stuff on sale





They literally had pumpkin spice everything











Their homeware section is amazing - so stylish and great value too. I loved everything about this section:



After a good old browse we checked out with our haul and ordered another Lyft home.

Back at the resort we dumped all of our stuff in our room and nipped back down to Capt. Cook's to grab something quick and easy for lunch. We shared 3 burger meals between the 4 of us and they came with an alcoholic bevy so we thought - why not! They had little single glasses of wine so Andy and I chose those and the girls had fountain beverages, for the third drink we were entitled to we got a Kona beer for our room.



Afterwards, we spent a few hours in the pool and chilling in the sun loungers in the sunshine at our beautiful resort. I didn't take any cameras or phones (only our GoPro for some footage for my video) it was absolute bliss.

After that, we went back to our room to shower and get dressed for dinner. We had a reservation at Narcoossee's at the Grand Floridian. One of our faves

There was no point even reading the menu TBH... we knew it would be Lobster and Steak

We all got dressed and headed towards the monorail and stayed on for one stop which took us straight to the GF.

Such a gorgeous resort







We took the steps down to the ground floor and stayed to listen to the beautiful piano music before slowly strolling to the restaurant









We checked in and were seated in a great window seat overlooking the Magic Kingdom and the Contemporary



This was in the lobby - ALL made of chocolate!







We were using 2 dining credits each for this reservation as it was a signature restaurant.

As Izzy was now 10 on this trip she was quite clearly an adult in Disney's eyes so as she loves steak and lobster we thought she may as well order the adult meal! (We would only have to pay extra tip as the total value of the bill would be higher) Andy and I had the same and Immy ordered the kids flat iron steak.

While we waited we tucked into some freshly baked bread (a whole loaf of it!) Along with some smoked sea salt butter





My steak and lobster

6-oz Sirloin Steak and Cold Water Lobster Tail with Yukon Gold Mash, Roasted Carrots, and Cipollini Onions.



Absolutely heavenly.

[bambikate]

Grilled Flat Iron Steak with Potato Puffs



The girls equally shared their mains to make it fair

All the food was blimmin' gorgeous as always. Andy and I had some wine with our main and a cocktail each with our dessert.

I chose the Blue Glow-tini and Andy had a margarita



For dessert, I chose the Coconut and Chocolate Crème Brûlée:

Layered Coconut and Chocolate with Whipped Chantilly Cream and Toasted Coconut





Andy's dessert was the Narcoossee’s Candy Bar:

Dark Chocolate-Mocha Bar with House-made Guanaja Chocolate Gelato

Not sure about that chocolate smudge



Izzy chose Almond-crusted Cheesecake with Lambert Cherry Sauce



Immy's chose the Nemo cupcake



The girls split the desserts too but couldn't manage it all (luckily Daddy was on hand to help out!)

Cheers!



After dinner, we were absolutely stuffed - it was a lovely lovely meal. We wanted to have a browse around the gift shops at the GF, we had a good old mooch and ended up in the main gift shop - we treated Izzy to a new Stitch teddy, which she loved. Immy didn't see anything she liked so said she was happy to wait until we went to another shop.

We hopped back on the monorail and rode it round back to the Poly then called it a night

[mrsdjh]

Well done Izzy - the celebrating pin was well deserved.

Your early morning start was very productive. Glad you could get your Toy Story Land bits done easily.

We always get an Uber to that Target. I love looking round it - and yes we got a crate of water last time for the price reasons you mention!

Your evening meal looks delicious but I agree about the presentation of the chocolate desert

[Leia77]

What a lovely day! Was so cute how pleased Izzy was with her results 😍

[Tinkermom]

Well done for passing your 11+ Izzy !
We were on holiday a few years ago waiting for our daughter’s results too, oh I still remember my nerves for the first few days before we heard.

[Palm trees]

Another congratulations for your daughter. Must have made your day! Sounds like you all had fun especially with a quiet toy story land.

[Jessika]

Yay for Izzy! Another lovely day with beautiful for photos.

[yellowrose78]

Brilliant day! Congratulations to Izzy for passing! Lots of lovely photos

[Inky]

Well done Izzy! Fabulous day, I am looking forward to Narcoosees in August!