Here we go Again! Charlotte's 2nd WDW trip Jan 2019 - Day 2 Hollywood Studios, Swimming & Epcot

[vics18]

Index is here

Day 2
Friday 25th Jan 2019


It was another early start to the day today, I was awake at 4am, thankfully Martin and Charlotte managed to make it until 5:45 am before they both woke. Well, I think Martin would have lasted longer but once she was awake, nobody else was staying asleep!

She woke up with big smiles and thought it was hilarious to lie on Daddy until he took the hint and got up! Today we had an ADR at Cape May for breakfast, and were planning to hit Hollywood Studios after that. Thankfully when I opened the blinds the weather was dry, unlike yesterday morning. It was a bit cool though, admittedly the sun hadn’t come up yet so that probably shouldn’t have been a surprise!


We did our usual morning routine of getting ready while Charlotte had a bit of breakfast in our bed. No chance of her waiting until Cape May – she demands a banana as soon as she opens her eyes! I picked out mine and Charlotte’s clothes and Martin ironed everything while I repacked the park bag with snacks, then had a quick shower and got dressed. It’s so funny, it was only our second day and we just slipped right into the same routine we had on our last trip. It worked well then, so I suppose it made sense!


I forgot to mention that when packing Charlotte’s clothes I put her outfits into Ziploc bags with a vest and socks. It made life so much easier when unpacking, and getting stuff ready for the following day. If an outfit was for a particular park I wrote on it with a sharpie to make it easy for Martin to know what to get out for her (as he has difficulty telling leggings from pyjamas this is a necessity!) Once we took the outfits out we used the ziplocs for snacks in the parks so they weren’t wasted.


We decided we might as well leave the buggy in the room, and come back for it after breakfast. So we strolled down to the lobby (well, Charlotte skipped!) and checked in at Cape May.

It was one of our favourite breakfasts on our last trip, so as soon as we booked Beach Club I knew we would be going back on this trip.

Charlotte enjoyed a bit of Disney Jr at the little kids TV area, and our buzzer went off after a few minutes.

A very nice CM showed us to our table. She told us that some new things there were an omelette station and that now Daisy was meeting along with the other characters which was nice!


Red, our server was great, a vast improvement on our server from last time at Cape May! He got us some orange juice and a milk for Charlotte and gave us a rough idea as to how to gauge when characters would arrive at the table. They had brought a booster seat for Charlotte, but she flatly refused to sit on it (“I’m not a baby I’m a big girl”) so we had to take that off, and I swapped the chairs at that side of the table around so she was sitting on one with arms. I’m pretty sure Red was thinking we were going to be high maintenance at this point and probably wishing we weren’t put in his section!



As soon as we were seated I popped up to the buffet to get a plate for me and Lottie. There’s such a good selection here. I got Lottie some fruit loops, melon, strawberries, bacon, a sausage, blueberry muffin and a pancake! I know I had a lot of the same, definitely some tater tots too, scrambled egg, glazed ham and breakfast potatoes which were amazing. While I sorted out our breakfast, cut up stuff for Charlotte etc, Martin went and got a plate and we all tucked in! Oh, I forgot to mention that the orange juice they brought was so delicious too.

Shortly after we started eating, I spotted Daisy would be arriving soon so got the castle and markers ready for autographs. Daisy arrived and knelt down beside Charlotte, who had just crammed a load of fruit loops in her mouth! Such timing from my child! She was scrambling to get down and giver her a hug, so Martin pulled her chair back and the hugging commenced. Daisy wasn’t the best character this morning to be honest, she hugged her, posed for some pics, got up signed the castle and was off! Charlotte was perfectly happy though and keen to get back to her food anyway.

Minnie was shortly behind Daisy, and she was pretty sweet and took a bit more time with her. They had their hugs, and Charlotte had brought her little baby Minnie that she wanted to show her. Minnie did some little heart shapes and gave baby Minnie a cuddle, which Charlotte found so funny.

Once Minnie was gone, both Martin and I popped back for some last sweet bits from the buffet. I went straight for the Mickey waffles, whipped butter and jam. The dream combo. I got some more strawberries too, at Charlotte’s request!

Not long after we were back we realised Goofy was going to arriving soon! He was great, took loads of time with her. We love Goofy!

Once we were all done, he made us laugh by high fiving Martin (who was videoing) and us. We didn’t even sit down, because hot on Goofy’s heels was Donald! I am biased because Donald is my favourite, but he was the absolute best here today. She ran at him and hugged him for so long, then we had a good chat about his shirt, pretended to eat some ice lollies, then he signed her castle (Donald Duck #1) He gave her a little kiss on the cheek with his beak, which made her day and almost made me cry. As he was walking off to the next table he still had hold of her hand, so I think he liked her almost as much as she loved him!

(I am attempting to do a little video of some pics and video clips from the trip, if I ever manage to finish it I will post it at the end of the report!)

We paid the bill and made our way back to the room. Another really lovely experience at Cape May. I can’t see us ever not coming here now, although we do have other places on our list that we want to try too.

(I don’t think I’ve mentioned that our fridge was freezing stuff in certain parts of it, which was a bit inconvenient! So I nipped to reception on the way back to report that and ask someone to take a look at it.)


A quick pitstop in the room, changed Charlotte’s clothes and picked up the stroller and we were back down and heading towards the Friendship boats to catch one to Hollywood Studios. We stopped to refill our drinks, and Charlotte was already asleep by the time we got to Marketplace!

There were only a couple of families waiting and a boat arrived after around 10 minutes. We didn't empty the stroller and fold it as we did when we were waiting for buses etc as previously we had been allowed to keep the stroller up on the Friendship boats. Not this time. They said we would have to fold the stroller, which annoyed me a bit to be honest. He basically said everybody had to, and I understand that everyone should be held to the same rules, however if that were me and my child was awake and they asked us to fold our stroller, I would have no problem whatsoever with another family being allowed to leave theirs up because their child was asleep in it.

Anyway, we boarded and Martin stood with the stroller while I sat on a bench with her on my lap. Mercifully she had stayed asleep as we lifted her out. At this point I noticed one of those Keenz wagons in front of me that was in no way folded, and was taking up half of the boat! I. Was. Fuming! Why were they allowed to leave their massive wagon up when I had to remove my sleeping child to fold our regular size buggy! It will come as no surprise to you then that I was delighted last week to hear they are banning these stupid wagon strollers. I tried to take a picture of the offending vehicle, but it was so giant I couldn’t fit it all in the frame!

Rant over.

Once we arrived at Hollywood Studios, we disembarked and when we got away from the boats and out of people’s way sorted the stroller and put her back in. She murmured but stayed asleep.

We popped into the shop and I saw the plates I had been looking for! Not making the same mistake again I went straight to the till, bought them and had them shipped back to the Beach Club. Yay! I never saw them again anywhere so was so glad I got them today. We use them loads at home and Charlotte loves them.

I loved these ears too...

And the new Alex and Ani bracelets...

Mission accomplished, we headed round to Toy Story Land.

We had a FP for Alien Swirling Saucers but had some time to kill before it, so we let Lottie sleep a bit longer. Where the old Midway Mania entrance was has been rethemed to Municiberg, home of the Incredibles and it had only just opened so we went for a little look. There wasn’t a huge amount to see, it was obviously a bit of a filler and some of it wasn’t finished (apparently there should have been a sort of treasure hunt where you had to find all the Jack Jacks) but we did have our eye on the Jack Jack Num Num cookie. I had heard such good things about this, so we were right over to the booth to get one with a snack credit.

It was huge! Served warm, very good but very rich. We didn’t even eat half of it between us, so I wrapped it up and put it away so Lottie could try some when she woke up.

Toy Story land was calling, I was excited to see it! Unsurprisingly, it was busy! We were trying to look around and absorb all the details , I’d love to go in when it was a bit quieter I bet you could see so much more. It’s very cleverly done, and Slinky Dog looks brilliant fun. I didn’t book a FP for this on this trip as Lottie wasn’t big enough to ride, so thought I would save it for our next trip when we can hopefully do it all together.


We found a bench to have a little sit down, and soak up the atmosphere while the clock ticked down until our FP for Saucers opened.

Even the benches are themed!

Eventually we thought we should wake Lottie and let her come to and have a snack before going on the ride. She was a big fan of the num num cookie and had a drink of water. She got excited when she saw the giant Buzz figure who is standing near the queue for Saucers (for now, apparently when Galaxy’s Edge opens he may move!)


We waited less than 10 minutes for Swirling Saucers. To be honest it was pretty rubbish and I don’t think we’ll ever do it again! It was short, very bumpy and just not great. Ticked it off the to-do list anyway I guess.


Once that was done we headed out of Toy Story land. I wanted to get a photopass picture at the entrance with the sign so we queued for a couple of minutes to do that.

On the way out of the land there’s a DVC booth and the CM there chased after us to tell us how beautiful Charlotte’s hair was and how blessed we are!


Charlotte was really excited to meet Vampirina, so we thought we should really do that next. We meandered over to the Disney Jr section and got in line for Vampirina. Charlotte was so, so excited to meet her, when it was her turn she ran and gave her the biggest hug.

Martin wanted to have a look in Star Wars Launch Bay next, so we left the stroller parked where it was and went inside. She had her Chewie hoody on but wasn’t keen to meet him so we didn’t push it. She checked out the lightsabers in the gift shop (that’s a no from me) and we were soon back into the sunshine.

A roaming stormtrooper saw that I was trying to get a picture and had a nice little interaction with Martin and Charlotte. I thought it was really clever how the phrases they use leave you in no doubt what they want you to do!

Next up – an alcoholic beverage. I had my eye on a couple of drinks at the Sunshine Day bar, then realised I didn’t have any ID! Nooooo! Martin, being the wonderful husband he is said he would get me one as he had his driving licence. I said he just order mine and his beer too but he thought they might not allow that so just got mine. He didn’t get asked for ID in the end. In fact, neither of us got asked for ID anywhere on the whole trip! We weren’t sure whether to be relieved or offended!

I went for the Cherry Blossom and it was delicious, although had too much ice as all Disney cocktails seem to.


Heading back towards the Frozen show, we saw that a show was about to start but I wasn’t sure if they’d let me in with my drink, so I poured it into my refillable mug (stay classy) and we were allowed straight in. Our timing was great and the show started within 2 minutes of us sitting down. I knew Lottie would love this, but didn’t anticipate how much we would enjoy it! The hosts were hilarious, and there were lots of jokes clearly more aimed at the parents. Really great.

Charlotte was a bit disappointed she didn’t see Olaf, so when we left we power walked over to his meet and greet (guessing that a lot of other people may have the same idea!) Martin needed to use the restroom so me and Lottie joined the queue, which said 10 minutes when we joined. By the time Martin made it back to us it had gone up to 35 minutes so I was glad we got in line when we did!
Of course, Charlotte was delighted to see Olaf.

Martin had a FP for Star Tours that was active now, so we popped to the Starspeeder bike to get a photo there, then he went off to do that.

I gave Charlotte some strawberries and a mini muffin, then we went back over to Disney Jr as she was asking to meet Doc and Sofia the First, having spotted them earlier.


She loved meeting both of them, but Sofia was particularly lovely with her.

It was absolutely crazy busy in this area of the park now, and we decided to go back to the hotel and have a splash in Stormalong Bay, as it was lovely and hot and sunny now. We got a photopass on the way out, which I realised recreated one we had taken on our last trip!

2017

The photographer was an older gentleman, wrapped up in all his layers and scarf, he called us crazy when we said we were going off to the pool! Floridians are such wimps haha.

We took a Friendship Boat back, all strollers were allowed to stay up this trip (eye rolls).


Back at Beach Club, we popped to the room to get changed into our swimming gear. We had a quick snack of cookies and fruit, and took our refillable mugs down to fill them up on our way to the pool.

In case I forget to mention this again, the Coke Freestyle machines were a pain in the backside and I wish they were just normal drinks machines! The touch screens were terrible and sometimes I got so fed up trying to get what I wanted I just had whatever ended up being selected on the screen!


As we passed the activity room next to the Beach Club Marketplace Charlotte had a bit of a coughing fit . She was fine, just needed a drink of water. A CM called Rahul stopped to ask if she was OK, we assured him she was fine and was just getting over a cough and cold. We walked into Marketplace to get our drinks, and he followed us in with one of those little light up Tinkerbells I think they put on some cocktails/mocktails. She loved it, and had a big beaming smile. I thought this was so lovely of him. We encountered so many lovely CMs like this and I made sure to email the manager before we left and tell them all the people who had helped us during our stay.

Stormalong Bay was pretty quiet, as it was relatively late in the day I guess. I had a little relax on a lounger while Martin and Lottie had a good old play and a splash. The lifeguard mentioned to Martin that there was a “Shipwrecked pool” with a little slide that hardly anyone finds, so we decided to go over to it. It was like having a private pool, nobody else there. There were no loungers so I guess you’d only go there if you wanted to go in the pool or on the slide. I sat on the side and dangled my feet in the water and watched them having fun. Happy times. The slide was great, she went down it loads and loved it.

After about 20 minutes, she started to look a bit cold and shivery so we decided to go back to the room, get dry and decide what to do for our tea.


We had some crisps to keep us going, gave Charlotte a quick bath then got dressed. As the Beach Club QS was a bit rubbish, we decided we might as well walk into Epcot. I mean, how often can you say that?

Our room was near the quiet pool, and when we walked out the sky over the Boardwalk was just so beautiful . We couldn’t stop taking pictures of it, it was gorgeous.

Entering via International Gateway, we walked round to Future World and decided to go on Spaceship Earth as it was a walk on

Basic

. On the way we saw them doing the “magic light” pictures, for the Festival of the Arts, where they walk behind you with a stick and a light effect appears on the finished photo. We’d done one before at Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party so jumped in the short line to get one, as they’re pretty cool.

That done. We took a ride on Spaceship Earth (love it).

We were all starving by now, so we went into Electric Umbrella for some food. I think we had a burger and chicken tenders and fries between us all. Martin had a beer and I had a coke. When I put the leftovers in the bin it said thank you!



As we left, it became clear the temperature had dropped a lot! It was freezing! We let Charlotte have a little look at the floor with the lights then bundled her up into the buggy where she fell straight asleep. We went into Mousegear, for a warm more than anything else, but didn’t buy anything (shocking I know).

Martin asked did I want to go anywhere else, but we were both full, knackered and cold so we just decided to go home! Haha. Rock and roll.

5 minutes later we were home. We popped Charlotte into bed, and I don’t even think we got our stuff ready for tomorrow before we were both in bed and asleep too.


Tomorrow – the day from hell at SeaWorld and an evening at Disney Springs!

[Lisa_Lollipop]

What a fantastic day... love all the character meets you had today! I welled up reading about Charlotte's meet with Donald, such a magical moment. The food at Cape May sounded lovely!

Those wagon things are a joke, I don't think I have ever seen one that large before! Thank goodness they are banning them!

So amazing to be able to walk into Epcot so easily and quickly... this is exactly why Beach Club is my dream resort!

I'm intrigued to read about what happened at Seaworld!

[Rabel]

I love the photos, so good.

[Palm trees]

What a fantastic jam packed day. Your little one has plenty of stamina!

[mick]

A busy butgreat day


Joan

[vics18]

Originally Posted by Lisa_Lollipop

What a fantastic day... love all the character meets you had today! I welled up reading about Charlotte's meet with Donald, such a magical moment. The food at Cape May sounded lovely!

Those wagon things are a joke, I don't think I have ever seen one that large before! Thank goodness they are banning them!

So amazing to be able to walk into Epcot so easily and quickly... this is exactly why Beach Club is my dream resort!

I'm intrigued to read about what happened at Seaworld!

See more...

It was a brilliant day. Makes me smile when I think about it!

Oh I know, that one was something else. So ridiculous!

It was amazing, feel like we made the most of it every time we could!

Oh it's quite the tale...

Xx

[vics18]

Originally Posted by Rabel

I love the photos, so good.

See more...

Thank you!

Originally Posted by Palm trees

What a fantastic jam packed day. Your little one has plenty of stamina!

See more...

Thank you, she definitely does!

Originally Posted by mick

A busy butgreat day


Joan

See more...

Thank you x

[margyloveswdw]

Another busy but fun filled day!

Looking forward to reading more

[collybird]

I love the outfits in Ziploc bags tip, I wish I could get bags big enough to do this for my OH

I really didn’t enjoy Alien Swirling Saucers either, I’d go as far to say that it’s my least favourite ride in Disney. I wouldn’t be fussed if we never ride it again, so violent!

I’d never really appreciated what a great park Hollywood Studios is for little ones. It looks like Charlotte had a ball today, she looks chuffed to bits with the characters. I love the photo of her holding Olaf's hand.

[EJSakaAnna]

I am loving the outfits in ziploc bags idea, we're only going to DLP for 4 days but I am definitely doing this thank you!

Lottie is fairly racking up the character meets, she's having a ball . Such a lovely age for her to experience it all again! xx