When I originally made my plans, we’d decided to leave all things Hollywood Studios based until later in the holidays as the Christmas things go on longest there. However, as the park openings crept earlier and earlier, and with already having two 3.30am get-ups in the 2nd week for races, we decided to swap things around and go today. We were originally doing a relaxed AK today and a monorail park day yesterday, so all my fast passes up until a week ago we’re for AK. Still, I cancelled and swapped to HS with no trouble, and although we couldn’t get Slinky Dog we did get Toy Story Mania, so those of you fretting over planning, please don’t! Your days will be wonderful anyway. We had 2 plans for today:
Plan A (assuming low-ish boarding group): suffer the queue for Smugglers Run, wander around GE, head to Toy Story land for Toy Story Mania fast pass and character meets to fill in until boarding group called and head back to the hotel to let the girls nap/ chill before hitting Epcot this afternoon/ evening
or
Plan B (assuming high-ish boarding group): do Hollywood Studios as above apart from Rise of the Resistance then the gondola to EPcot and stay there until boarding group called, then ride RotR before heading back for a nap and a resort evening.
We were happy with both (well, apart from the crazy early get up which didn’t exactly fill Steve with festive cheer!) and having a back-up plan eases my worries, so as long as we got a boarding group we knew we could make it work.
I was awake at 3 and I got the others up at 4.30 (luckily Winnie had finally made a decision on the Toy Story/ Star Wars costume saga that formed yesterday’s major worry!) We ordered a Lyft and were at the park by 5.10am.
It was already very busy, but it’s Christmas week and we knew it would be so waited patiently until they let us into the park at 5.30am and we were through the turnstiles in about 5 minutes. You are currently held on Hollywood Boulevard until park opening, at which time you can grab a boarding group on the MDE app so make sure you are logged in and have your group all linked (not easy when Disney wifi isn’t working!). We got group 46 but there doesn’t seem to be a pattern as I was one of the first to get a group but families who got them after us got earlier groups! We didn’t mind though as we were just happy to have one, and decided it was a low enough number to go with plan A.
We queued for Smugglers Run and Polly told me she was worried her ears might pop because we were flying, bless her! The queue was long but moved fast and as you moved through the land there was loads to see.
Winnie was worried about the Stormtroopers though because they were stood on a bridge! She said ‘it’s not going to end well for one of them. If you ever stand on a bridge in Star Wars, one of you is going to cop it! 🤣)
Polly and I are not great on simulator rides, so we were dosed up on anti-sickness tablets, but it was a lot of fun and worth the bit of queasiness afterwards! The girls got to be pilots and actually did a pretty good job, and we were gunners. Polly was a bit shaky afterwards because she said she felt under pressure not to crash, bless her. I didn’t help her anxious mood by realising I’d left my camera on the ride, but we got it back almost immediately, so crisis averted. Batuu is completely amazing. You really feel as though you are in another world and the attention to detail is phenomenal.
We hadn’t been called yet so headed to TS land to meet Woody & Bo Peep which is always a pain of a queue but much more bearable in this weather than blazing August sunshine.
We were actually 2nd in line as we arrived 10 minutes before they were out which was perfect, especially as they go for so many breaks which always makes the queue take ages (Polly decides that Buzz and Woody go to the toilet to distract each other as that’s what her and Winnie do, and Bo Peep goes to get some deodorant because she’s a bit sweaty 🤷♀️🤣).
We then used our fast pass for Toy Story Mania before grabbing some breakfast muffins. We decided to head back to Batuu for a wander around until our group was called. However, the ride went down and boarding groups didn’t move for ages, so we grabbed a quick bite to eat at ABC Commissary and then met Mike & Sulley before heading back for RotR.
I won’t say too much as I think it’s best experienced without knowing what will happen, but it really is a ride like no other. Truly amazing! The girls were a bit scared in parts but they both said they were glad they went on it, although they don’t want to have to get up that early again!!
We headed back to the hotel straight after the ride and within 5 minutes the girls (and Steve!) were fast asleep so I left them for an hour to recharge before packing a few bits and heading to EPcot.
Epcot was the one park we couldn’t squeeze in before the decorations came down last trip, so it was our first experience of Festival of the Holidays and it was so much fun. We were going to get the bus to HS and then the gondola (or dingle dongle/ gongler as the girls call them) across to EPcot to save walking through the whole park but the Epcot bus pulled in as soon as we got to the bus stop so we hopped on it.
The plan was quite simply to wander around World Showcase and do the cookie stroll. This is an activity where you get a stamp on a card each time you buy one of the set festive cookies, and once you have 5 stamps you get another cookie for free!
Steve seemed to misinterpret the gist of the stroll though, and clearly thought the objective was to buy a festive beer at each stop!
Our favourite cookie was definitely the chocolate crunch (although we didn’t make the peppermint pinwheel as the girls were too tired) but they were all pretty good. We decided to take a break and watch the Voices of Liberty singers. Oh my goodness, they are astounding. They were singing Christmas songs and it really was spine tingling. Such a lovely experience.
I also tried the roast turkey from the American table which was delicious, but in my usual style of eating first, thinking about photos later, I didn’t get a picture!
We couldn’t face walking back to the entrance so exited through International Gateway and walked to Beach Club where we looked at the gingerbread carousel before getting a Lyft home. Sometimes the lazy option is the best, but sometimes you end up with a driver who is all over the road with seemingly no clue where he is going and realise that Disney transport is always best!
Full day of crazy crowds at Magic Kingdom tomorrow to ring in the new year! Can’t wait!
Doodle & Peg Do Disney 