If you book it you will go. Sept 2019. Day 3 - Hollywood Studios

[sha9]

The dining report for today is here.

We had originally planned on going to DHS for EEMH at 6am but having seen the wait times for Smugglers Run the past couple of mornings we decided we didn’t need to be there that early. I set the alarm for 5am but we didn’t need it and woke just before it. We got organised and before we left called housekeeping for some toilet paper and coffee maker refills.

We left about 6.20am and it took about 15 minutes to get to the car park. Since it was so early we were parked in the second row and had a short walk to the entrance. Both bag check and the tapstiles were quiet at that time.

We checked MDE for a wait time for Smugglers Run. It was 60 minutes so we headed to Toy Story Land instead. Slinky Dog Dash had been 15 minutes but by the time we got there it was 25 minutes so we rode Toy Story Mania instead. This was practically a walk on. Our tier 1 FP was TSM so I managed to change it to SDD by using the “tap, grab, modify” method.

By now Smugglers Run was 45 minutes so we decided to go for it and when we arrived it was down to 40 minutes. I used the time to sort the SDD FP and take pictures and actually it went quite quick. We were gunners which initially we were disappointed with but quickly realised we just needed to keep pressing the same button! It did seem that pilots got a better experience though.

We wandered round GE having a proper look and taking lots of photos. The First Order Troopers are very visible.
While in GE we were ready for 2nd breakfast so tried Docking Bay 7. I thought this was ok, Marie did not and there wasn’t a huge choice. The theming was good though.

We stayed for another wee while in GE looking in the shops before heading out to the rest of the park before it was open to the offsite guests.

This dress will be my motivation to lose weight for next year!

We went to Launch Bay and met Darth Vader. My top had him on it so he said “Of course”. He then went on about me not turning from the dark side etc.

After this we were a bit peckish so went looking for food along Sunset Boulevard and ended up with a churro and pretzel. By the time we’d eaten it was time for our Star Tours FP. This was technically our second FP as I’d made a throwaway FP for the Little Mermaid thing at 9.10am due to the tiering in DHS.

We did Muppets afterwards for a seat in the air con and again I fell asleep. By the time we’d finished it was time for the SDD FP I’d made so we headed to Toy Story Land via GE and looked in the shops again.

We enjoyed this much more than we had last time as we were at the front and found it a better ride.

After SDD it was lunch time so we headed to Backlot Express to get away from the Love Bugs.

We felt we’d done a lot so left after lunch and headed to the Premium Outlets on Vineland. We wanted to look in the Character Warehouse before we bought anything. On the way we popped into Sunglass Hut so I could look at the Ray Bans. They had an offer on polarised ones and they had the Wayfarers I liked so I just went ahead and bought them. Not entirely sure I saved much on what they would have been here but I wouldn’t have spent that money on sunglasses here whereas on holiday it’s not real money! Marie thinks I’m mad.

We headed round to the Character Warehouse and were disappointed to see a queue outside. Now I know that it’s becoming more common now, especially with these vloggers who will buy stuff to sell but we’d never seen this before. We walked on past in a bit of a grump.

Mum had asked for a handbag for her birthday and mentioned Michael Kors. I didn’t think we’d find one to suit her but actually we did so that turned out to be an easy job.

Next we popped into the Clarins shop just out of curiosity. Unfortunately we were the only ones in and the staff member was really friendly. I didn’t feel like I could leave without buying but as usual everything was more expensive than at home. They did have a wee gift set for $13 that included the facial scrub I like and a moisturiser plus another couple of things so I bought that. It turned out to be handy as I needed moisturiser.

We had a look in some other shops but didn’t buy anything else.
Marie suggested Publix to see if they had Cookies & Cream pie so we went to the one close by after taking at least 2 wrong turns to get there. The Publix sign is in the wrong place! Anyway they did have pie so we bought that plus Marie needed throat sweets as she was starting to get the cold.

We went back to the resort and chilled in the room as we were pretty tired by now.
I have no idea why I took these pictures except that maybe I was pointing out how messy the place was already!

We decided to stay in the resort for dinner so headed over about 5.30pm. We both had chicken and mashed potatoes and enjoyed it. It was quiet at that time too.

Resort pics.

We walked back via the bridges and it turned out not to take much longer.
More resort pics.

We had some pie and hot chocolate and got an early night.

[sha9]

Marie has pointed out that I completely forgot to mention our trip to the Droid Factory! I think it’s been because I didn’t take pictures.
We had booked it for 12.10pm weeks ago when the slots were released however when we were in GE early in the morning the Droid Factory was empty so we asked if we could just go in. The CM took our reservation details so she could check us in later so we wouldn’t get charged as no shows. She had a big list of names.
We were directed to the “parts” conveyer belt and Marie chose her BB droid bits while I decided to go with R unit. There are limited colours but Disney have very kindly brought out add on items at an extra cost . We both went with purple which for the BB is just purple and white for both head and body. The R unit has a purple and silver head and everything else is white but you could choose blue, black or red. I went with white.
We then went over to the build station where a CM helps you put it together and activate it.
The whole process doesn’t take long.
I had a look at the add ons and saw you could in fact buy purple “bits” for the droid or stickers. I went with green stickers (they didn’t have purple) as they were cheaper - $8 vs $13. It was at this point I realised we’d now have to carry them everywhere and suggested to Marie we get them sent to the resort.

I only have a picture of mine but I’ll take one of Marie’s and add it in.

[Goldia]

I loved all your photos of galaxies edge, it looks fab. It seems like you had a really great morning in HS, great idea to modify your FP for Slinky.

I'm with Marie I'm afraid as I wouldn't want to pay too much for sunglasses, I tend to buy cheap ones, but yours do look nice! Handbags on the other hand are a different matter and I love that Michael Kors bag.

I'm tempted to opt out of mousekeeping next summer. We like to have the coffee every day though, but from what you've said you just phoned up to get refills of coffee and toilet paper. Can I ask about rubbish? I don't recall there being bin bags so how did you empty out the bin or is that something they will do?

[sha9]

Originally Posted by Goldia

I loved all your photos of galaxies edge, it looks fab. It seems like you had a really great morning in HS, great idea to modify your FP for Slinky.

I'm with Marie I'm afraid as I wouldn't want to pay too much for sunglasses, I tend to buy cheap ones, but yours do look nice! Handbags on the other hand are a different matter and I love that Michael Kors bag.

I'm tempted to opt out of mousekeeping next summer. We like to have the coffee every day though, but from what you've said you just phoned up to get refills of coffee and toilet paper. Can I ask about rubbish? I don't recall there being bin bags so how did you empty out the bin or is that something they will do?

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I felt like I was constantly phoning housekeeping for loo roll and coffee pods. At one point though we had phoned for towels and they gave us 2 weeks worth! We asked for trash bags and any time we called for something if we had enough rubbish we left it outside the room with any towels we had.

It wasn’t too bad and the gift card went a long way to paying for our droids but my preference would be to have housekeeping. That said, it was good not to have to play housekeeping roulette when you wanted to chill in the room!

[Goldia]

Yep I know what you mean we often felt like we had to rush in the afternoon to beat housekeeping and get out before they came round.

Ok so its not a perfect system. I figure that's Disney all over. Thanks for the info

[sha9]

Originally Posted by Goldia

Yep I know what you mean we often felt like we had to rush in the afternoon to beat housekeeping and get out before they came round.

Ok so its not a perfect system. I figure that's Disney all over. Thanks for the info

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Once I’ve finished the report I’m going to sum up a few things including opting out of housekeeping. It has it’s pros and cons.

[Ariel's Mum]

Love the droid... Thinking of buidling one next year!

[sha9]

Originally Posted by Ariel's Mum

Love the droid... Thinking of buidling one next year!

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It’s very expensive and I’m not sure it’s worth the money but since we used gift cards we think of them as free!

[caitlinsmummy]

I can't believe how quiet GE is, it was hyped up so much but doesn't seem to have been as popular as they thought. Did you get the same feeling?

It looks great but not sure it's somewhere we'd appreciate having never seen a Star Wars film in our lives

Seems like a great day and I must admit the droid is cute xx

[sha9]

Originally Posted by caitlinsmummy

I can't believe how quiet GE is, it was hyped up so much but doesn't seem to have been as popular as they thought. Did you get the same feeling?

It looks great but not sure it's somewhere we'd appreciate having never seen a Star Wars film in our lives

Seems like a great day and I must admit the droid is cute xx

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The theming is great but if you’re not a Star Wars fan a lot of it will go over your head. I think it’ll get busier when Rise of the Resistance opens.