Mice, Magic & A Maiden Voyage: Day 5: Wimps, Winners & Wieners

[iheartwdw]

Day 5: Wimps, Winners & Wieners

First of all a MASSIVE apology for the delay in posting! I have been super busy over the past few months. I spent most of my summer holidays volunteering with some of my students in South Africa and my school has just gone through a merger, so there have been lots of changes and no time to indulge in reliving my Disney memories. Things are a bit more settled and I am determined to finish my trippie (especially as it means I can start a new pre-trippie…spoilers! ). Hopefully you’ll accept my apology and there are still some people out there that will enjoy reading the next instalment…

There was a lie-in scheduled on our itinerary, but we were still awake fairly early – 7:00; this was a bit later then our previous mornings so we are getting better! As we were up and raring to go, we decided to try and get to park opening at our chosen destination of Hollywood Studios (or MGM if you are old school like me and still cannot help yourself from calling it this! ). This was the first morning we didn’t have any breakfast plans and I can’t remember what we had to eat = epic fail, I imagine it would have been some of the snacks we had picked up on the DDP over the last few days, so a normal healthy Floriday breakie of leftover cake, cookies and crisps!


I had given Nathan’s backpack a Disney makeover!

There was no diddle-daddling and we were at the bus stop for 8:15, just in time for the HS bus that was pulling in. Nathan was really excited as the Studios are his favourite park and he was looking forward to seeing everything again after so long. By the time we arrived just before park opening there was a wait and we were greeted by long queues. Nathan was so eager to get in that he was getting frustrated by all of the people struggling with the tap-styles and holding everyone else up; he even suggested that there should be some sort of Magicband test before you were allowed one, so only qualified guests were allowed in the queues and there would be no hold-ups!


We took some pictures whilst we were waiting, well I had to keep Nathan occupied as he was eager to get in the park and I didn’t want him to get grumpy because of the Magicband novices… he he!

The last time we visited paper fastpasses were still being used and there was the TSMM dash over to the FP machines, I used to enjoy all of the males of the parties rushing off ahead in a sort of powerwalk / jog to get in line before they all ran out. With the new system, the race doesn’t really exist anymore (sad times), but there was still a substantial crowd following us over. We were planning to jump in to a hopefully short standby queue this morning and then using our FP+ this afternoon so that we could have two rides in one day… greedy! Our plan worked and the line was only 10 minutes. We have never queued in the standby area before, so I finally got to see Mr Potatohead!


The ride is so well themed.

As we got closer we were pulled out as a party of two, so had even less of a wait. If you have not already guessed, Nathan and I are super competitive, so our game faces were on for the ride as we both tried to win. Unsurprisingly Nathan won, as I am not very good at these shooty time rides, I think it’s because I don’t play many video games. He must have won by quite a bit, as I didn’t even bother to make a note of our scores .


All smiles before the competitiveness creeps in!

As we came out of the ride, probably with Nathan boasting whilst we were walking, we bumped into the Green Army Men and had some snaps taken.



Our next stop was the Great Movie Ride, where we had a very camp and very lovely CM guiding us. We had the gangster version (again!), I don’t think I can ever remember ever having the mysterious cowboy version; maybe it doesn’t really exist and is some big conspiracy theory! I really liked the updated clips at the end, I hope they never get rid of the classic elements of the ride though. After I have been on it, I always have a list of films that I haven’t seen for ages that I want to watch again.



The weather was sooo much nicer today, just look at all of those blue clouds over the Chinese Theatre . I was over the moon and so glad that we didn’t have another horrible wet and grey day, I don’t think I could have handled anymore of the horrible weather that we had experienced over the last couple of days. I know that we only caught the end of end of the constant rain and storms, there were lots of Dibbers who arrived before us that had to contend with the weather for a lot longer (I don’t know how you guys did it!), so we were very lucky as the weather started to improve from today (spoiler! ). As it was nice and hot we decided to have a little wonder around the park after the GMR and take in some of the atmosphere. We were really happy to see some of our favourite TV programmes advertised, especially The Goldbergs. We had just started to get into this before the holiday started, it is so funny and I love the mum character Beverly.



We stumbled across Star Tours during our gallivant and Nathan obviously had to go on, as we were so close. I got told off by a CM when I took the picture below, as apparently not allowed to stop in the queue area – I understand this, but as it was only a five minute wait there was nobody behind us, which meant that we weren’t holding anyone up. He was clearly a stickler for the rules and I am just a rebel!


The banned image!

My Star Wars knowledge is very limited, as I have never watched a single film, but I can tell you that on our trip into the space we went under the sea and also had the snow version (I know, very technical terms – sorry to all of you Star Wars fans out there!). Nathan geeked out in the shop with his fellow fans for quite a while afterwards and made sure that he had looked at every single piece of merch, he didn’t end up making any purchases though.

We continued meandering around until we came across the Writers Stop, which is somewhere I had down on my snack list as there were a few things that I wanted to try; top of the list was the Dibb favourite, the carrot cake cookie. We went in and joined the queue, as they had not long opened the slushies weren’t ready yet, which was very disappointing and we had to make do with just the cookie. As the weather was lovely and toasty, we decided to eat outside in the Streets of America area. The cookie was absolutely ginormormous, it was pretty much the size of my head! I had a few bites before it became too sickly, Nathan soon devoured the rest – he is pretty much a human food vacuum!



Whilst we were enjoying our sweet treat and the sun Mulch, Sweat and Sheers started. There was such a great atmosphere around them and we were enjoying their tunes and jokes, we even had a little boogie! It would be amazing to go back there now!




Nathan appreciated the grass cutting sign on the sign of the van, as he hates mowing the lawn and told me that he was going to abide by this measuring system now!

I was super thirsty and on the lookout for a slush, but none of them seemed to be ready. I can’t believe that nobody else in WDW would not want an icy treat at 10:30 in the morning? Herbie’s had a machine, but they weren’t ready either. Nathan suggested going to see the 11:00 showing of Lights, Motor, Action whilst my drinks were freezing up a little bit more. He really enjoyed the testosterone filled show, I just like seeing Lightening McQueen. It was extremely hot and humid sitting on the metal benches in the blazing sun, but we were not going to complain!



After the show had finished, we were now into our TSMM FP+ time and I wanted to try and claw myself a victory and an overall draw for the day. It wasn’t meant to be though, as Nathan beat me yet again. It was only by 4000 points this time, so I am getting a lot closer. As One Man’s Dream was next door and I am a nerd when it comes to Disney history, we spent some time looking around at all of the fascinating exhibits. I love looking at all of the models of the parks and rides, as well as finding out more about Walt and his passion for the company. The film at the end is always emotional!





Our next FP+ was for Tower of Terror and I was sooooo nervous! I love the ride when I am on it and the adrenaline buzz when you come off, but I get butterflies in my tummy thinking about the ride and beforehand. To try and take my mind off of the imminent peril that was ahead of us, we briefly stopped to watch the Frozen Summer show and see Olaf hit the dancefloor.



I also had to have a pit stop at a restroom before we joined the ToT queue, to avoid any accidents! He he! My belly was doing full on aerobic flips at this point and I felt very sick with nerves.


Nervous before faces!

The standby line was well over an hour, which meant that even the FP+ queue had a bit of a wait. We ended up waiting a torturous 10 minutes in the basement area, which didn’t help, as the dark lighting, eerie music and scary CMs made me feel even worse!



We ended up on a row with another young couple, where the girl was just as nervous as me. We apologised in advance for each other’s screams, whilst both of the boys were laughing at us and found the whole thing completely entertaining! As the ride started to move, we said that if kids can do it, then we must be able too. I of course screamed my head off as we dropped and Nathan was screaming like a big baby as well. As we first dropped, I reached out to grab the arm of the chair and grabbed the ladies leg next to me instead! It was ok though, as she had done the exact same thing! We had a chuckle as we were shooting back up before the next plummet. There really should be something to hold onto on this ride, besides your neighbour’s limbs!

I had a complete rush of adrenaline afterwards (as always) and completely loved the ride. I was even considering booking a second FP+ for it! We decided to get a squashed coin, as a medal of my bravery and the other couple decided to do the same. We had a lovely chat about what they had been up to so far and wished them an amazing holiday.


Look how proud of myself I am, now that I have ridden!

More to come!...

[iheartwdw]

… continued!

I was back on the hunt for a frozen drink, the plan was for me to enjoy the sunshine and hydrate, whilst Nathan went single rider on Rock ‘n’ Rollercoaster – I may have been brave with ToT, but there was no-way I was going on an upside down rollercoaster, I have my limits! The RnR kiosk was selling coke floats and I have never tried one before, so decided to grab one of these with a snack credit. The CM saw my birthday button and wouldn’t let me pay though, she said that it was a treat from Mickey – I love how Disney help you celebrate with all of these little treats and surprises . Nathan settled me on a bench, in the ‘wimps’ area and joined the line. I took the opportunity to soak up some rays and catch-up on my trippie notes for the day. Just sitting, making notes and people watching is one of my most vivid memories from this holiday; I was so content and happy. There was a little boy on the bench next to me who wasn’t very happy, he was too small to ride and his big brother had gone on without him, he was not a happy chappy at all and was certainly a lot more courageous then me!



Nathan was on and off in around 20 minutes and I only had a bit of my scrummy coke float left to share with him. It was 1:00ish by now and we were both feeling peckish, as well as thirsty – it must be lunchtime! Fairfax Fare was chosen, as Nathan was keen to try one of their speciality hotdogs. We had an ADR for this evening, so decided to share a meal. We went for the macaroni cheese hotdog, with bacon and truffle oil – nom, nom, nom! Fairfax don’t serve fries, they have crisps instead, we weren’t feeling any of the desserts (especially not me after my sugary drink) and asked to swap for extra crisps instead. The CM gave us an extra bag, making three in total, as apparently they are only small = way too much food again! We ended up taking some of the bags back to the room and taking them out on the days we were not in Disney. She also gave us two drinks, as it was hot today, she was a fab CM!



The food was very tasty, although a little hard to eat, as the pasta and cheesiness kept on falling out of the bun. We had some time before our next FP+ and were in need of some air-conditioning, so decided to browse around the shops. I was very refrained again this holiday and no purchases were made.

After cooling down, our Frozen Sing-a-long FP+ time was available. The waiting area before you were allowed in was very hot and they were cramming us in like sardines, I was very happy when we were eventually let in to the theatre. I love Frozen (I know it’s not everyone’s favourite) and was really looking forward to this. it didn’t disappoint! The Arendelle historians were hysterical; I think they were off script for some of the performance, as you could tell they were actually laughing at each other’s little jokes and puns. We had a great crowd in with us and everyone was singing along at the top of their voices, even some of the more grumpy looking men. The family next to us were also hilarious! They were genuinely so into the film and whole Frozen vibe, as when Prince Hans came out they stood up and shouted ‘Loser’ . I didn’t expect it and it made me jump, but it was sooo funny. Nathan and I couldn’t stop laughing and whenever we see Hans now we always shout loser too! When the show got to the wedding proposal, the family also stood up again, but this time shouting ‘don’t do it!’ They totally made the show for us, I loved their passion!



We were starting to feel tuckered and decided to head back to our room for a rest and freshen up before our evening ADR.


We were loving the Frozen Summer of Fun.

It was after 4:00 by the time we were back in SSR, which meant that we had a couple of hours to chill in the room and get ready for our 7:00 ADR at Raglan Road. It was around 6:00 by the time we left and started to walk over to Downtown Disney. Even though we weren’t in the closest block to the walkway, it only took us around 10 minutes before we were back in the Christmas shop.




It is such a scenic walk over.

We had another look around some more of the shops, just to make sure that I hadn’t missed anything from our previous visits . We did buy two car aerial toppers, as I wanted to buy one for the hire car we were due to pick up, to help find it in the car parks. There was some sort of offer on if you brought two; we got Sully for the holiday car and Darth Vader for Nathan’s car when we got home.



The DTD refurb was well underway and some of the new areas looked really pretty, I loved the topiaries and flowers. As we were taking the picture of Lady and the Tramp below, a man wearing an Oaken top walked by, Nathan said to me how cool his tee was and the man must of heard as he suddenly yelled a massive ‘yoo-hoo!’ – love the Disney spirit!





We headed over to check in to Raglan Road and were told there’d be a short wait, as they were busy. It was only around 15 minutes before our buzzer went off and we were shown to our table. I wish we were sat in a different area, as our server was terrible and dampened the experience for us . He spoke at us and not to us for the entire meal. He only refilled drinks when asked and then we had to wait ages; he was much more attentive to the larger party next to us. We also couldn’t see the stage from where we were, so missed out on all of the performances. Our pushy waiter took our orders, we were hungry and went for a starter to share as well. We had the Guinness ribs and they were delicious, the meat fell off of the bone. Nathan also ordered a beer flight, which was a bargainous $9 and was slightly tipsy by the end of the meal.





For mains, I went for the fish and chips – they were average pub grub, kind of greasy. Nathan went for the sausage and stew combo, which he enjoyed.





The desserts were the best part of the meal; we shared a chocolate kiss and pavlova between us.



As I was taking pictures of the desserts two snooty American girls that were lactose free, gluten free etc. I hope you can imagine the stereotype, were being snarky about me taking pictures of food and making comments under their breaths, generally just taking the mick . I bit my tongue though, I really wanted to tell them that the pictures were for a very important trip report and that Dibbers love food photos to drool over.

The dismissive waiter became very friendly when he brought the bill over, but then proceeded to tell me how to tip! Urghhhhh! This is the one way to guarantee a low tip from me, just because I am British does not mean I do not know how to tip – it also explains how on the Disney receipts if I did want to know! After his poor service, this was the final straw and we left under a 10% tip. I put an unhappy face next to the tip on the receipt, to indicate it was because of his shoddiness, not my knowledge of tipping to why he was getting such a minimal amount. I remember reading somewhere (probably on the Dibb) that this is what Americans do to show bad service or to just leave a dollar. I saw him counting the tip as we left and expected him to stop us and ask for more, he was not a nice server! After all of this, we were not converted into Raglan Road fans.

With full bellies we didn’t think that we could waddle back to SSR and took the lazy option of the boat instead. As we were picking up the hire car tomorrow and had never had a car at Disney before, we thought that it would be best to go to concierge to see if we needed to register the vehicle or if we needed a parking pass. We were served by the most adorable CM, he was an older gentleman and absolutely charming . He let us know that we didn’t need a pass now that we had Magicbands, but he would give us one just in case as sometimes the system could be glitch. We then spent around half an hour chatting to him about our holiday so far, how much he loves Disney and his top tips for our upcoming Disney cruise. We even heard some of his life story and how he had battled with cancer. He was such a nice man and was the epitome of what you expect Disney CMs to be! You could really tell that he loved his job.

After our lovely chin-wag we went into the gift shop as Nathan had found one of the parcel collection forms in his backpack. We handed the form over to the CM and she went out back, but she was gone for ages! We couldn’t work out what had happened and when another CM came over to see if we were OK, she also disappeared to the back of the store for a long time. Eventually they came back, but with no package?! Turns out Nathan had already picked up the package yesterday, which is why they couldn’t find anything. I felt like a right numpty! The CMs found it hilarious and apologised for keeping us waiting so long, but it took them a while to realise what the problem was. Nathan was not allowed to look after the parcel collection receipts after this, his rights were revoked!

By the time we were back in the room, it was 10:00 and it had ended up being another day with an early morning and late night. We had another breakfast reservation tomorrow morning, before we picked up the car, so tried to organise everything we would need for tomorrow before going to bed.

We had another amazing day and I couldn’t wait for a day of shopping tomorrow! Eeek!

Laura Xx

[The Bobbo's]

So lovely to see you and Nathan back. 👏

What a shame about the Raglan Road server, I'm glad you didn't tip him what he was clearly expecting! Is it sad that I can't wait to get a pic with the Goldberg's too? 😆 X

[lovedisney89]

Glad you are continuing with this report. Lovely day, apart from the rude Raglan Road server.

[collybird]

It's a real pet hate of mine too when they explain about tipping. It's very patronising, but it also makes me sad that they have obviously been tipped so poorly by so many Brits that they feel it necessary to explain!

[scottishgirl1]

No rain! Interesting about Raglan Road, its one of the few places i left little or no tip a few years back. Cant remember details but we were heading to Cirque de Soleil and were eating at a quiet time like 4pm or so, started well then real service problems, chasing for the bill and then probably dining plan issue as i remember her putting all the info in again whilst i stood in middle of restaurant.We ended up having to run to Cirque and had been really frustrated in there for ages and i remember her then pointing out the tip and that was the final straw!

[SleepingSophie]

Loved reading your report so far! Such a shame about the girls at Raglan Road and the Server! What a rubbish epxerience for you.

I HAVE to ask... Where did Nathan get his Disney TShirts? They're great and i know my hubby would love them but we never see any like this!

Cant wait to read the rest of your report!

x

[DISNEYLIZ]

Great report - love the Goldbergs. Shame about your meal

[KittyBlackDog]

Totally outrageous there was no slushes at that time 😱

Yay! Well done 🏅For doing TOT! It's my fave but I still get those feelings during the bit prior to the drop area.

We had the same historians they were fab weren't they? Totally loved them.

Did you enjoy being at SSR? We loved the proximity to DTD but we didn't spend enough time in the resort to really appreciate it. 😞

TFS xx

[iheartwdw]

Originally Posted by The Bobbo's

So lovely to see you and Nathan back. 👏

What a shame about the Raglan Road server, I'm glad you didn't tip him what he was clearly expecting! Is it sad that I can't wait to get a pic with the Goldberg's too? 😆 X

See more...

Not sad at all, but very cool! Only the best people like the Goldbergs!

Do you have any more Disney cruises on the horizon?

Laura Xx