Day 8: Hollywood Studios and the Almost-Jingle Bell, Jingle Jam Dessert Party

After changing our Universal plans today was the first real day that we had a ‘nothing’ morning planned. However, when we checked the weather forecast we realised that heavy rain/ storms were due around mid-day so at 9am decided to walk to Hollywood Studios for a bit of fresh air and return to the room for the chill-out time we’d promised them girls once the weather turned, before heading back to the studios this evening.

The walk from the Boardwalk area to Hollywood Studios is lovely (even when the wind is blowing!) and we were there in no time, even with old little-legs Winnie! As we hadn’t got any fast passes booked we decided to tick off the last few Christmas bits. We started by meeting Christmas Woody & Bo Peep again. The line looked long, but we decided to stand in queue whilst we were waiting for Steve to grab us some breakfast, and by the time he got to us we were at the front. We also met a lovely family from Philadelphia (originally Australia) so chatting to them helped pass the time. The characters were great with the girls and Woody especially was so much fun. We also tried the Cinnamon Apple Lunchbox tart which the girls really enjoyed (well, Polly enjoyed the tart, Winnie enjoyed the icing!!)

We took a few more pictures in Toy Story land and watched the green army men for while before moving on.

The girls then wanted to do some pin trading and a CM told us that in the Once Upon a Time shop they have a blind pin trading board where you have to answer general knowledge questions to reveal the pin before deciding if you want to trade. The ladies with the board were lovely and helped the girls to get the answers right.

We also had an unplanned visit with Santa Goofy as there was practically no queue, which was nice as there aren’t many Christmas things left now (the resort decorations have pretty much gone now).

We decided to try out The Skyliner to get back to the hotel. I hate heights so pretty much cling onto Winnie the whole time, and the strong wind did make it sway a fair bit, but it’s a really quick and convenient way to travel and we’d definitely use it again. 

We got off at Epcot and Steve went to Les Halles for some lunch. They don’t have a children’s menu there so said it was the same whether child/ adult QS credits, but then took all adult credits from our DDP so we are going to get it sorted at front desk later. It seems odd that they’ve specified children’s QS when a lot of places don’t have specific children’s meals 🤷‍♀️

We got back to the room just in time as the heavens opened and it started throwing it down, so after eating lunch I spent time getting a few bits organised for the next few days whilst Steve went to the gym to lift some big bolts according to Winnie, and the girls did some writing (Polly is in full-on script writing mode!) before setting off back to Hollywood Studios for tea at Hollywood & Vine and the dessert party (with a little Slinky Dog in the dark thrown in for good measure!)

Now, Hollywood & Vine gets a bit of a bad rap in my opinion. Ok, it’s not Michelin star fare for the cost, and the staff can be hit and miss, but that goes for the other Disney buffets too (don’t get me started on Chef Mickey’s) We go with the mindset that you are essentially paying for the character experience which, in our opinion, has always been great here and especially so when they are decked out is their seasonal costumes. It’s also a really good way to get reserved seating for Fantasmic by booking the Fantasmic dining package (especially if you’re on the DDP as it’s still only 1 credit each) but as we had the dessert party booked we didn’t bother with that this time. Anyway, we arrived and were seated promptly. We managed to find plenty enough decent food to fill our bellies in between character meets. Everyone was on amazing form tonight.

Daisy had Polly in hysterics pretending to faint repeatedly over her costume, Minnie kept coming over for hugs before telling the girls they had to go and meet guests and going for a sit down, Mickey spent ages with them, Santa Goofy was telling the photographer to take shots of them doing all sorts of things and Donald was just his amazing self (I love Donald!) We were in there ages and all really enjoyed ourselves. We then headed over to Toy Story Land. and used our fastpass for Slinky dog just as it was going dark (so much better than in the daylight and the view of Batuu is amazing). Steve decided to sacrifice his go so that the girls and I could go on as a 3 meaning they could ride together (otherwise the youngest has to be 7). They asked to go at the front and scream-giggled the whole was round.

We then headed over to check in for the dessert party. The actual time they give you is 7.30pm but we wanted to be in the first groups to meet Chip n Dale early, so got there around 6.30pm. Whilst waiting to check in Winnie and Polly were watching the ducks on the lake. Suddenly Winnie ran over to me to say that she could see Amy (our cousin who we are running the marathon in memory of) and pointed to a lone, bright star in the sky. It was so lovely.

Once checked in we were given a return time of 7.10pm so headed off to watch Sunset Season Greetings on Hollywood Boulevard which is a projection/ laser show that is stunning. The girls were full of beans, dancing away and it was soon time to head back for our party time. We arrived just as Chip n Dale were getting ready, and were immediately let in to get into line. And that’s when things went a little bit pear shaped!

Winnie, who very rarely complains of feeling ill suddenly started crying uncontrollably. We asked what was wrong but she couldn’t explain other than to say she didn’t think she could manage it! We weren’t exactly sure what ‘it’ was, but after delving deeper between sobs found out that she didn’t feel right. At this point Polly declared that she’d had a poorly tummy at H&V (I’m banned from the cubicle so have to stand outside holding the door whilst they go in together and ‘distract’ each other!!) but didn’t want to spoil the night by saying anything, A lovely CM asked what was wrong and suggested we go and see the check in lady. As soon as she saw the state of Winnie she asked if we wanted to go home and have a refund (which we certainly didn’t;t expect) whilst simultaneously sending another CM to get cookies for the girls to have when they felt better.

It was a shame but there was no way I’d have expected them to sit through anything feeling poorly, so we set off back to the hotel (with Steve carrying Winnie…good job he did his bolt lifting earlier!) and the girls are now tucked up fast asleep. We shall see what tomorrow brings, but despite the evening not quite going to plan we had a wonderful day together and made some beautiful memories.