#USAnumber3- Helen&Andy Nov 18 - Day 11 - Hollywood Studios, Homecomin’ & Happily Ever After

[HelenJNT]

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Day 11 - Hollywood Studios, Homecomin’ & Happily Ever After

Hello everyone and welcome back to day 11 of my trip report. The last few days are always sad, aren’t they, where you know you’re about to come home and everything you’re doing feels as though it’s for the last time. This was so much more bearable on our 2017 trip, where we already had this one booked in, but at this point, we didn’t know when we were going to be back to the World, other than that it wasn’t going to be in 2019.

Firstly, a bit of an apology, as this day largely follows the same start as the previous day. Yes, we ended up doing DHS three days in a row. This was due to two things – firstly, the availability of Slinky Dog fast passes due to the daft tiering system, and secondly, I knew I wanted to meet up with a friend of mine when we were over there and this, being a Sunday, was the only day she could do, plus she was desperate to ride Slinky herself. As it were.

Like I said, trying to take things a bit slower worked out really well in the earlier parts of the holiday but meant we had a bit of a balloon at the end as we tried to fit in everything we wanted to do. I can’t even begin to comprehend how overwhelming a trip must be for first-timers these days when even seasoned visitors like us still struggle to do everything to the level we’d like.

Anyway, on with the day. You join us once again at the Yacht & Beach boat dock, waiting to head off to Hollywood Studios. What a beautiful day – the skies were blue again, but it was still punishingly hot, even at 09:30.

Do you like my new t-shirt? I haven’t been brave enough to wear it to work yet, I don’t think my direct reports would approve, even if they agree with the sentiment.

We went straight into the park (well, I have no doubt whatsoever that I would have been in the bag queue behind a massive family lugging rucksacks containing everything bar the kitchen sink, you know like the rubbish dump lady from Labyrinth…?) and headed on in.

First up, into Toy Story Land, where we had the aforementioned dodo-esque fast pass for Slinky Dog.

No queue photos this time but I did take my own on-ride photo, to compensate for how appalling the real one is.

I was excited about today, as we were meeting up with my friend Judy. We’ve known each other for about ten years now, and actually “met” online when we were both active bloggers in the beauty community. Judy was based just outside New York at the time and we had always got on like a house on fire, sending each other swap packages of make-up (at the time, Americans were desperate to get their mitts on stuff like Barry M and Illamasqua) and snacks, and just generally being social media pen pals. Judy and I finally met for the first time in New York in 2015 (goodness, that was a long time ago). Here we are.

Since then, Judy got a new job and moved her entire family across the country to Orlando. HOW lucky? She’s worked in two of my favourite places on the planet. So, it was a no-brainer that we were going to meet up during our holiday, especially since her previous company had purchased her some Disney annual passes as her leaving present – again, jealous, much? Haha.

Judy had messaged to say that despite our plans for her to come with her daughters and husband (who I haven’t met) she had had to leave them at home as one of her girls wasn’t feeling up to a park trip in this heat, and her husband was looking after them. So, she had made the most of a morning to ride Rock & Rollercoaster with no wait, and get herself in the queue for Slinky. When we came off Slinky - she’d even spotted us from the ground when we were on the ride - we saw Judy in the queue (who had managed to somehow tip an entire bottle of water into her lap, hehe) and she was still a good 80 minutes away from the front, so we let her know we’d stick around and to send me a Whatsapp once she was off the ride.

First up, we were hungry! We hadn’t eaten since the Blaze pizza at about 4.30pm yesterday so we decided to go and see what Woody’s Lunchbox (fnar fnar) had in terms of lunchtime offerings. Yee hah!

It was 11:45 at this point and there was quite a crowd waiting to order food, so Andy encouraged me to get on the app and do a mobile order.

Oh. Quite the paradox.

We asked a cast member what was going on, as we really couldn’t be faffed to queue – mobile ordering has made us so spoiled, haha, and he said it was because they switch over to lunch service at 11:45 every day and as a result, mobile ordering is suspended for 20 minutes or so. Worth bearing in mind.

Andy had already snagged a table, so I had to abandon the plan to do the mobile ordering and instead, joined the back of the very long queue. It was pretty punishing out there in the sun as there was barely any shade at all, and the queue was very slow as people were being told they could no longer order breakfast and had to call their entire families over to see what Billy-Bob and Bobby-Bill wanted for lunch instead. Sigh.

But I am nothing if not a completer finisher, so I stuck it out. I ordered a grilled cheese sandwich with a cup of pasta salad for Andy, and a water, and I ordered the “totchos” – tater tots with beef chilli, cheese and tortilla chips. Of course I did. The queue had also aggravated me to the point that I felt some alcohol would be really welcome, so I also ordered the Grown Up’s Lemonade, which is cherry vodka, cherry puree and lemonade.

Something annoying happened at the order pick-up point. I guess a top tip is that when a mobile order is placed but a guest fails to collect it, it gets put on the outside of the collection window for anyone to help themselves to. In this instance, someone must have neglected to collect an order of the pop tart things that are on offer for dessert here, so a cast member broke them into smaller pieces and put them on the side for punters to snack on while they were waiting for their own orders. I took one little piece, so Andy and I could have a bite each. Anyway, a teenage girl muscled in to the front of the pick-up place and loudly demanded that the cast member fetch her eight cups of iced water, and no, she wasn’t waiting on a food order.

Aargh. I mean, it’s important to stay dehydrated but this was just rude. Then she spied all rest of the pieces of pop tart on the counter (probably 20 or so pieces) and, cool as a cucumber, just picked up the entire paper plate, and handed it off to one of her friends. Honestly, I was boggling. So, there you go, it is possible to do Disney on a budget; you just have to be a total inconsiderate ≈≈≈≈≈≈≈.

I was a bit of a sweaty mess but finally got the tray back to our table, and Andy flicked me a glance and just said “mobile ordering is working now”, which was, well, not helpful.

The lunch was actually really good. I think it’s fair to say we were fans of Woody’s Lunchbox. What’s not to love about tater tots with everything and a slightly different lunch menu to other quick services on property? Some of the sandwiches looked pretty good and I would definitely try the turkey one next time, but I was very happy with my choice. The chilli was really mild and was a bit like what we refer to as school dinner mince (i.e. cheap) but there was plenty of hot sauce available to pep it up.

Oh, and the pop tart thing was just alright. Lots of icing, and not a lot else to say really. Andy enjoyed it more than I did though. Oh, and the woman who had been standing by our table, less than 12” from my left shoulder, for the past 15 minutes, glaring at us, impatiently waiting for us to finish our meal, also said it looked a bit disappointing. We asked her to join us – more sarcastically than anything – and she said no, she was happy to wait til we’d finished before she sat down. Big of her.

The grown up lemonade was a total game changer for me. It was delicious and came in a decent-sized cup too. I’m not the biggest fan of synthetic fruit flavours but this actually tasted like proper cherries and was actually really refreshing, as well as serving to take the edge off the stress of the food ordering. I would 100% recommend this drink and I can’t wait to sample it again. Note plastic straws were still in abundance on this trip, by the way.

Sadly, this one didn’t come in the “souvenir sipper” which, hilariously, was the only bit of merchandise that I had on my shopping list for the trip, so after we finished lunch, I went to one of the little shop stand things that seem to be all over the place in Toy Story Land and parted with a good chunk of funds for the light-up Alien claw cup. It’s cool but I don’t actually like drinking out of it all that much as I always feel like I’m drowning the alien when I fill it up. “Drowning the Alien” sounds all manner of wrong, doesn’t it? <insert “oooohhh” joke here>.

At this point, Judy messaged to say she was now under an hour from the front of the queue for Slinky. As luck would have it, the wait time for the Alien Swirling Saucers was “only” 45 minutes, which was the lowest we had seen it drop to all trip.

Given that we have a personal mission to have ridden every single ride in the World (and this was the only one left on the list that was new to us) this was a no brainer for us as would tick a box and also nicely use the time we had to wait for Judy.

There’s not a lot to do or look at in the queue here as most of it is outdoors, but the time actually went pretty fast. Andy was looking at football scores and I was looking through Memory Maker photos and having a few Whatsapp chats, and before we knew it, we were nearly at the front of the ride. The wait time was actually spot on, but it didn’t feel too awful.

I don’t really know how to describe this ride. It looks like a pretty pony kiddie ride with not a lot to it but it’s one of the cleverest rides we’ve been on in a while. Sure, there’s no screen or big thrills but it is so much fun.

We thought we’d just be going round in a circle, or maybe it would be like the teacups, but it was mad, the way you cover the whole ground and you never quite know which way you’re going to go next. It certainly disoriented us a bit – indeed, here’s a photo of Andy’s knee – and you wouldn’t want to ride it several times in succession, but it was actually a surprise hit for us. I bet it would be loads of fun after dark actually.

We disembarked and used the rest rooms (bit chaotic and kind of small) and then timed things perfectly as Judy had just come off Slinky, all excited about how much she’d loved it. We had hugs and a proper catch-up while we decided what to do next. Andy and I actually had a fast pass which was looming for Tower of Terror, but Judy hadn’t managed to get one which synced up with ours. However, we all took a wander over there, stopping to get some awkward magnetic boob photos in the main hub.

As Andy and I went to check in for our fast passes, Judy did some excellent - and incredibly charming - emotional blackmail with the cast member on duty, saying she was an annual passholder and had been desperate to get a fast pass for ToT as it was the one ride she wanted to do with her friends all the way from England and wouldn’t it be the best magic ever if he let her ride with us. He scanned her band to confirm she was indeed a passholder, and agreed to let her in with us.

I appreciate some of you might be wondering where my morals lie if I will happily countenance this but get annoyed about someone stealing some free pop tarts, I guess now you know. This worked to my advantage as meant I got to spend more time with my friend, so I was all for it.

Judy, who, like us, also honeymooned in WDW, was pretty nervous as she hadn’t ridden ToT in years. Whereas Andy and I hadn’t ridden it in, let me see now…about 23 hours. Haha. Turns out she’s a screamer, and my upper arm must have provided some sweet comfort judging by the way it was being clutched on the ride. Anyway, we came off in one piece and hooting with laughter. So much fun.

Once out of the ride, and laughing a lot at the ride photo, we realised that if we were quick, we’d catch the next showing of the Beauty & the Beast stage show.

We really were in the nick of time too as we had to climb all the way to the back of the theatre where we were guided towards some not-very-comfy and pretty high up and shade-less bleachers. It was OK, the show is only 20 minutes long, but we were getting pretty warm and cosy there.

We’ve seen the show a gazillion times, but it was Judy’s first time. It was really lovely to experience it with someone who hadn’t seen it before, and she absolutely loved it, saying they’d never been bothered with the park shows before but that now she’d done one, she wanted to take her daughters to them all. I don’t have many photos of the show as I was mainly recording video snippets to post on Instagram but here are the ones I did take, with full zoom on as we were waaaaay at the back.

Next up it was time for our final fast pass of the day, Rock & Rollercoaster. Again, Judy hadn’t managed to get a fast pass for this, and we did consider trying the guilt trip thing again but thought once was probably enough and twice would be pushing our luck. Judy also felt it was probably time to get back home as her husband had been alone with two very small children for hours now, so the dutiful mum instinct kicked in and she decided it was time to leave the park.

Sad goodbyes were had – but luckily knowing wouldn’t be too long before we saw each other again. It’s likely that Judy will get posted to London for a few days for work at some point, and although it wasn’t booked at the time, we knew we wouldn’t be able to resist the lure of WDW for too long, so we’d catch up in Orlando again before too long. Judy has plans to whisk me off site and take me make-up shopping, so who am I to argue?

Speaking of which, before she went, Judy handed me the most massive carrier bag of US drugstore makeup, which was a birthday present. She knows my tastes really well and had spent loads of time picking out things she knew I would love, and she was right. I love everything, and looking at it all certainly kept me very entertained in the R&R fast pass queue.

We were still quite a long way back in the queue, so I wasn’t really paying attention but the next thing I knew, Andy had grabbed my arm and was pushing me forwards as he had heard that sheepdog call for a “party of two”. Cool, it had happened again!

I’ve ridden this about four times in total now, but I do still get a little nervous as you’re being queued up for the launch. Merge like you’ve never merged before, and all that. If you’ve read my last report, you’ll know that this is probably the most painful ride for me – and what puts me off a lot of the bigger Universal rides, as I don’t do brilliantly with over-the-shoulder harnesses due to being rather ample-chested (I hate that description, not sure why I used it). As a result, the harness doesn’t come down as far on me as it should, and I spend the whole ride with my head ricocheting off either side of it. So not only can I not breathe properly for 90 or so seconds, I also have the joy of multiple ear piercings jamming into my neck. But none of that matters – it’s great fun.

We disembarked and headed out of the ride, noting there was no queue for the photographer under the archway. These pics are always so cringey.

As we were walking away, I went to get my phone out of my bag and thought “that’s odd” as the zip compartment I always, always keep my phone in was open. I take a little Kipling bag to the parks as the strap is really comfy and it’s the right size and quite water resistant but as there are so many compartments I always have to make sure that my phone goes in the same one otherwise I’d spend the whole holiday searching for it.

My phone wasn’t there. It wasn’t in any of the pockets, or in my shorts. I had that moment of white hot terror, realising that it had probably fallen out of my bag on the ride.

Of all the Disney rides to lose your phone on, Rock & Rollercoaster probably isn’t the one, mainly as it is the only one which goes up-side down, so it could have been anywhere. I can only think that as we rushed towards the party of two calling that I hadn’t had time to zip my phone away properly. Oh shiiiiiiittt.

We sprinted to the shop at the end of the ride, where I panted out to someone that I had lost my phone on the ride and I didn’t know what to dooooooo. I’ve heard horror stories about the lost property department in Disney (you can see it from some of the bus trips and it looks like Area 51) and I couldn’t believe I had been so silly.

The cast member disappeared behind a curtain and I could hear her asking a colleague whether anything had been handed in. She reappeared and asked me to come with her, and to describe the phone.

“White iPhone 8, case has glittery pink prawns, I mean shrimp on it” (what can I say, I love a glittery prawn. I mean shrimp).

It was actually really interesting peeking behind the curtain. There’s a little gangway area where each vehicle stops after the ride has emptied out and they sweep each one for any missing items. And they had my phone! Yes! The glittery prawns were not doomed to a fate of zooming around in a footwell with Dude Looks Like A Lady on repeat for all eternity. Oh, HAPPY day! I was so relieved to have it back that I told the cast member I should probably leave before I hugged and kissed her. It must happen all the time, but how bloody lucky was I that it hadn’t fallen out all together?

After all this excitement, my freezing cold sweat needed to turn back to a regular temperature, so we went and grabbed some Sprites from the stand near the new Galaxy Edge entrance and just sat on the wall while I stopped hyperventilating. I’m not the kind of person who does well at losing things.

Great photo bomb here.

We realised that we hadn’t paid our dues to the Muppets yet on this trip, and seeing as we were right by there, decided to go in for the next showing.

That felt like a good place to leave Hollywood Studios. It was about 15:30 and we had an 18:20 reservation for Chef Art Smith’s Homecomin’ down at Disney Springs. I was really excited about the prospect of this meal as had heard great things.

We managed to get on a boat back to the Beach Club straight away and popped up to the room to drop off the very generous gift from Judy…so much stuff, thank you!

Continued below...

[HelenJNT]

We then bounced straight out again and onto a bus to Disney Springs. This kind of hopping about was much more difficult when staying in other resorts. It took no time at all to get out of Epcot and DHS and back to our hotel during the day, so it was brilliant to be able to just pop back, drop off shopping, get changed if we needed to, before going on to the next part of the day.

This would have taken us a solid hour back over at Animal Kingdom Lodge, whereas at the Beach Club it barely felt out of the way. I think it’s also why we racked up significantly fewer steps on this trip too as on other holidays we would leave the room at 07:00 most days and not return til gone 22:00.

Arriving at Disney Springs at about 16:15, we didn’t have any shopping left to do, so it was time for a first and something I have always wanted to do – stop and have a leisurely drink at Dockside Margaritas. The number of times we have walked past there, and I have always wanted to stop in but never been able to as we’ve always been en route to a meal or a park or something. Today was finally the day!

We managed to get prime position outside on a nice rattan sofa and before long, someone was there to take our order. Andy had a beer, and I, of course, had a margarita.

Bliss. At first I was a little disappointed that the entertainment wasn’t the country music dude who I had wanted to stop off and listen to on so many other visits, and instead was a guy playing the steel drums. However, as soon as I saw how much he looked like Willem Dafoe, and how incongruous this seemed, plus the more margarita I drank, the more I enjoyed it.

There were some delicious looking snacks on offer here and had they been on the dining plan, we probably would have caved and ordered some, but they weren’t, and also I knew we should be saving ourselves for the main event at Homecomin’, so we didn’t order anything. A lady who was say by us had ordered some nachos and then her husband came to get her as they had to be away somewhere, so she offered them to us as she had only “had a few” but it felt a bit weird, so we declined, then spent the next half hour eyeing them up to see if either of us was going to cave and start nibbling them. But we held off.

We were about 45 minutes early for our table, but we decided to head on over to Homecomin’ to see if we could get a drink at the bar there and maybe get seated early.

It looked really busy, so I wasn’t holding out a lot of hope. There was a little bar outside the restaurant selling various cocktails and beers, so Andy was despatched there, and I went in to check us in for dinner and to let them know we’d be outside if a table came free sooner. I was given a pager and went to find a seat on the terrace.

Next thing, Andy was flapping in my face that he had ordered two drinks but that the outside stand wasn’t letting him charge them to our room via the magic band and did I have any cash or means of paying for them? This was all very odd, so I went over, and the bartender explained that (for reasons I can’t remember in detail now) that because the outside bar is a separate franchise to everything else, they can’t accept Disney room charges and it was cash or credit only. Oh.

Luckily I had my credit card with me. Andy had left his, and our joint account one, in the room – he loves paying with the magic band – so I had to apologise and make a hasty credit card transaction, with a hefty tip. $30 for two drinks, ouch. However, little did I know at this point that my drink would have paid for itself by the end of the night…

We didn’t even get a chance to sit down outside the restaurant with our drinks before the pager was going off, so we went up to the podium. Our server took us to our table, which was on some far away porch outside, and to this day, if you asked me to describe what the inside of this restaurant looks like, I would not be able to tell you. It was lovely out there, only a few tables, with nice views over the water, but also a bit of a pain as the servers only appeared when they were taking or bringing someone’s order, so we didn’t feel as well attended to as we would have liked.

I had a first slurp of my moonshine drink and nearly lost the power of speech. Wow, that stuff was strong. And warming, and burning, and just – wow. I’ve never had moonshine before, but it was incredible. I can’t actually remember (unsurprisingly) the actual one I had ordered but judging by the colour I think it was some sort of citrus or watermelon. I made Andy take a sip and then feared for his weak heart as he had an even stronger “blaaaaarrghh” reaction than me, haha.

Undeterred, and knowing we got a “free” alcoholic drink on the dining plan, we double-parked and Andy got another beer, and I ordered a Fig & Berries cocktail. I swear if I could only ever have one cocktail again as long as I lived (first world dramz) then this one might even edge out my beloved margarita. Fresh strawberries with lime, fig jam and tequila. Yes, yes and yes again. Take me back please. Actually, I might try to recreate/perfect this at home at the weekend, I don’t have a lot else to do.

No starters were ordered; we went straight in for the main. Andy, being the fusspot that he is, isn’t a massive fan of chicken (mealtimes at home can be very challenging when pork products, most seafood, lamb, and occasionally chicken now - depending on his mood, are all off the menu), so he ordered the beef short ribs, which came with mashed potato and corn succotash. I’ve never really known what succotash is (other than “suffering”) but it was basically like a dry, sweetcorn based salsa.

I have very little interest in sweet and savoury stuff together, so the famed chicken and donuts wasn’t tempting me; instead I opted for the original “famous” chicken dish which you’ve all seen many times on here. Three pieces of chicken on the bone, a dish of mash, a cheddar biscuit and some pickles (hard no from me, the pickles, ughh). The biscuit went over to Andy who gobbled it up and really enjoyed it.

And yes, it was good. Different to KFC, the coating was chunkier, but the meat was still really moist. I don’t love chicken on the bone, I am a heathen who far prefers boneless wings, but this was pretty good, and I ate it all. The mash was also a revelation. It was clearly no stranger to cream or butter. Aside from boiled new potatoes, mash is my least favourite method of preparing spuds (roast or jacket for the win, clearly...well, after tater tots anyway) but this is without a doubt the best mashed potato I have ever tasted. I even spent a while googling to see if I could find a recipe, but alas not, and our server was nowhere to be seen so I couldn’t ask him either. If anyone has successfully recreated this mash at home, please message me immediately.

We were full, but not rolling on the floor groaningly full. Maybe as we’d only had a quick service meal that day, maybe as we hadn’t had starters? I don’t know. Anyway, the main courses didn’t defeat us. Do we get a prize? As such, we ordered dessert. Mainly as it was included on the dining plan, we aren’t totally mad.

I ordered the pecan pie, and Andy ordered the chocolate cake. Look at the size of it! It was like a house brick!

The pie didn’t look all that appetising, but it was utterly delicious. The portion was a good, i.e. sensible size, those caramelised pecans were delicious, and it was a perfect end to the meal. I managed the lot. 10/10 from me.

Andy, however, was struggling with his cake…

He had made a valiant effort and was asked if he wanted it to go, but I think really, he was the one that wanted to go. So, we eventually flagged down our server, and paid the bill. Homecomin’ is a solid use of a single dining plan credit. The food isn’t fancy, but it’s good. The cocktails were outstanding, and we really enjoyed it. I think it’s going to go back on the list for our next trip.

As I’ve mentioned a few times, time was really running out on this trip, certainly as far as evening events went anyway. What we really wanted to do was hang out in the outside bar at Homecomin’ – I still had that blow-yer-head-off moonshine drink to finish – but what we needed to do was get over to Magic Kingdom as this evening was our only opportunity to watch Happily Ever After, as the next two nights there were party nights (one of which we were booked into, but as it is a special event, you get the Holiday Wishes show and not HEA).

This meant that we needed to figure out the best way to get to the Magic Kingdom from Disney Springs; we had about an hour before the fireworks were due to start. Just in case anyone isn’t aware, you can’t get a bus direct from Disney Springs to any of the parks, on account of the parking at Disney Springs being free, whereas parks and hotels charge you a fortune to park your car.

I decided the best thing to do would be to get a bus to the Contemporary Resort instead, as we knew from the other day when we had brunch there that we would have a nice easy walk to the Magic Kingdom, plus there is a little security screening section along the way, so we wouldn’t have to deal with the queue on the way in of people arriving from the monorail and TTC just ahead of the fireworks. Easy.

Here’s how I was going on the moonshine. It was slow, slow progress, not made easier by the fact that there was no lid on the cup.

What we didn’t realise, on account of never having stayed in either resort, is that the Contemporary shares buses with the Wilderness Lodge, and therefore the latter was going to be our first stop. It felt like a LONG old journey from Disney Springs to the Wilderness Lodge. I was actually alright with this as I had smuggled my cup of moonshine onto the bus and was devotedly sipping away at it. And we had a seat.

Plus, it was nice to see parts of the World that we don’t often see. I always feel a bit out of place when I’m not on “my” resort bus – does that make weird sense to anyone else?

Finally, after 45 minutes, we arrived at the Contemporary and I pretty much fell off the bus, as I had managed to finish the moonshine. Hurrah! I’ve drunk bottles of wine in less time than it took me to finish this cup, but I did it, and I could very much feel that I had done it. They really should sell this stuff in Epcot, you know, it would add a real… je ne said quoi… to the drinking round the world challenge.

We dashed into reception to use the loos there (yep, loo roll still 10/10) and headed back out again to the walkway.

Weirdly, our bus was still there. I thought I was hallucinating, but no, there really was a woman standing in the headlights, ranting about something, and refusing to move. We were a bit too far away to clearly hear what was going on, but I sort of wish we had been able to. Only in a Helen & Andy trip report, eh?

We pottered along the path to the Magic Kingdom, once again wishing we would one day have the funds or the “screw it” mentality that would enable a stay at the Contemporary. Funny how we’ve gone from feeling really ambivalent about the hotel to actively wanting to stay there?

I still think it feels a little like an airport, but it has good bars and restaurants, I am sure the rooms are lovely, and the proximity to the Magic Kingdom really can’t be beaten. Mind you, as we found out tonight, it’s a hella long bus ride to anything that isn’t walkable or on the monorail.

Arriving into the Magic Kingdom just for the fireworks was a pretty new experience for us as we’ve normally made a day of it in the park. It is very busy and cramped and not terribly magical. As luck would have it, we were about 20 minutes early for the start of the show, so we made a little dash through the crowds and up to Memento Mori, to see whether they had any of the Grim Grinning Ghost doom buggy Christmas baubles left in stock. The cast member tried her hardest not to laugh at me and said no, they’d sold out on the first day of sale and that they were super super limited edition, so we didn’t stand a chance. Oh. Rewind to that day which now feels like ages ago where they had about 50 in stock and Andy talked me out of buying one? Yeah. Clearly not all his fault, but, well… mainly his fault. There goes our retirement fund.

We swarmed back into the hub and navigated our way to as near to the exit as we could. It may not surprise you to know – and I think I have said this before – that I am a little pushier than Andy. Years of navigating the London Underground have taught me that no-one makes way for you in a crowd and you just have to press on. He doesn’t like it and would rather let everyone go first, which always means we get separated. We did find each other eventually, and just in time as the show was just starting.

I do like Happy Ever After. Controversially, I prefer it to Wishes. But I won’t go on about it. Here are a few photos for you instead.

Given our proximity to the front of the park, we made it to the bus stop in record time. My photo of the last firework burst is at 22:18, and then here we are at the Beach Club bus stop at 22:26. Not bad going at all.

I was pretty shocked when I looked at the step count for today – it felt as though we had done soooo much more than 6.9 miles. Surely it should have been seven? Ha. I don’t know why it wasn’t more given the ground we covered although I suppose there was that little spell where my phone went off and had its own adventure.

Interestingly, Andy’s Apple Watch was clocking up more steps and distances than my phone was for each day, but I don’t have those to hand, so this is what we’ve got.

The end of another day! I hope you’ll join us for tomorrow where we return to Animal Kingdom, which can now be found here!

[Inky]

Glad you got your phone back! Those cocktails look very nice, never considered homecoming but Andy’s meal looked good.

[MrsSilverStar]

Did that woman at Woody’s really comment on the pop tart?! that is hilarious and awful at the same time, nice to make friends during lunch eh? Glad she gave you some personal space

Sounds like a great day, reunited with your friend and the glittery prawns. In awe of how much you packed in to this day. Moonshine sounds way too much for me, but that other cocktail sounds amazing.

I want to know what headlight lady was ranting about now too...this is the quality content I’ve come to expect from your reports!

[tory79]

I also thought the mash at Homecoming was amazing... dh swears on his life that it is in fact Smash...

[jemima2]

I literally laughed out loud many times at this as usual, loved it 😍

[princess allie]

Another action packed day. The Christmas ornament you wanted, is it black with just the little hitchhiking ghosts in it? Quite simple, not glittery or anything? I saw them in the Christmas shop at Hollywood Studios today, if it’s the same ones, or maybe they have brought out a new line as the other were so popular? Wish I’d taken a photo now, as I could have got one for you and posted it to you when we get back.

[HelenJNT]

Originally Posted by Inky

Glad you got your phone back! Those cocktails look very nice, never considered homecoming but Andy’s meal looked good.

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I have never been so grateful in my life!

Yes, everything was good there - I’d recommend it.

[Lisa_Lollipop]

Wow another jam packed day! You guys are so like Paul and I on our WDW trips (well how we used to be, I feel future trips will be less busy!). I love it, sleep when you get home I say!

Love the t-shirt, purple is a great colour on you.

So lovely you got to meet up with Judy, not jealous at all of her living in Orlando and having a WDW annual pass. Not jealous even a tiny bit. Much respect for her jammy tactics and getting on ToT with you guys, impressive work! And I am glad she did as that on-ride photo was worth it a million times over, her face looking at you is hilarious!

I am happy that both you and Rach have been praising of Alien swirling saucers, this is one of the few rides that Charlie can ride at DHS so now I feel happier using a precious tier 1 FP on it!

Oh the drama of your lost phone, I can actually imagine the stress and worry you must have been feeling! So happy it was found safe and sound!

Erm, are you sure that wasn't Willem Dafoe on the steel drums at DS? I haven't seen him in any movies for a while, maybe a career change? Looked like such a fab evening, the cocktails sounded amazing!

A great, great day topped off with fireworks at MK. Just perfect. This is all coming to the end too quickly, I don't want it to be over!

[Goldia]

Lovely to meet up with Judy. Always fun to do new rides or shows with people who've not done them before. How nice that you've converted her to the shows at HS. What a relief that you got your phone back.

Some great cocktails at DS, the moonshine went on forever!