Trip Report ***COMPLETED*** Happy Howdyween - September 2019

Hello friends, and welcome to another J and K trip report! Since we’re all stuck at home with no word on when the Disney parks will reopen, I thought I would bring you all along to relive the magic of our last WDW trip. After all, this is WDW Magic, and you all have only seen J and I go to Disneyland together.

Who: Myself (Katie) and my husband and Disney travel partner, Jason. We are WDW Annual Passholders (technically only I am at the moment), and Georgia peaches. We have been to WDW together 11 times since our initial trip for our first wedding anniversary in 2014.

When: September 7th-11th, 2019

Where: Fort Wilderness! Hence the title, Happy HOWDYween!

Why: MNSSHP, Food and Wine, and seeing Galaxy’s Edge for the first time

Since it’s been 8 months since this trip, I don’t remember everything, so I’ll have to use my photos and Instagram stories from this trip to try to fill in the gaps in my memory. I hope that reliving this trip will help tide me over until we can be back in The World, and that I can help some of you who are also going through Disney withdrawals!

 

[k8einwdw]

September 7th - Continued

When I last left off, Jason and I had arrived at Hollywood Studios and entered Galaxy’s Edge for the first time ever. After staring at the land and taking a million pictures, we decided to check the wait time for Smuggler’s Run. We still had some time to kill before our next FastPass. The wait time was reasonable for a brand new ride (if I remember correctly, it was about 45 minutes). We hopped in line, and the time passed pretty quickly, as we were admiring everything in the queue. Soon enough, we were face to face with Hondo Ohnaka. This animatronic was crazy realistic!

We were assigned our boarding group, and we both got Engineer.

We were ushered into the chess room where you wait to be called. I had seen the chess table and really wanted a picture with my Star Wars shirt and ears, but our group was called almost immediately. I told J that I’m for sure getting a picture next time!

Our group was called, and we headed into the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon to receive our instructions. Everything up to this point had been so cool, but this is where it gets a little disappointing. Everyone else in our boarding group was together, and none of them spoke much English, so they didn’t really understand what was going on. They had a little girl with them, and they wouldn’t let her touch any of the controls. Since we were engineers, we had the most boring job out of all of them - just pushing buttons as they light up. So our actual ride was not that great - we both agreed that we’d request to be pilots next time around, as that seems to be the most fun and interactive job. Overall, we’re still glad we experienced Smugglers Run, but we don’t think we’d want to be engineers again. Once our ride was over, we decided that we were in need of refreshment, so we grabbed some bantha milk.

We got one blue and one green. At $8/each, they’re a little spendy, but we wanted to try them both at least once.

We both enjoyed the blue milk a lot - it tasted kind of like strawberries to us, but I’ve seen online that it had dragonfruit in it. Neither of us loved the green milk. It’s supposedly citrus flavored, but it tasted really herb-y to us. Next time, we’ll probably just split a blue milk. It was nice to take a break and sip on something nice and cold, and I’m glad they’re dairy free. I can’t imagine sipping on a milkshake in the September heat and humidity. Of course, I had to have a picture with my blue milk.

Milks consume, we headed back into Batuu to check out the marketplace.

Up next: More Batuu

 

[Loco_driver]

Our group was called, and we headed into the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon to receive our instructions. Everything up to this point had been so cool, but this is where it gets a little disappointing. Everyone else in our boarding group was together, and none of them spoke much English, so they didn’t really understand what was going on. They had a little girl with them, and they wouldn’t let her touch any of the controls. Since we were engineers, we had the most boring job out of all of them - just pushing buttons as they light up. So our actual ride was not that great - we both agreed that we’d request to be pilots next time around, as that seems to be the most fun and interactive job. Overall, we’re still glad we experienced Smugglers Run, but we don’t think we’d want to be engineers again.

Getting a good ride on smugglers run is really dependent on the rest of the crew. They don’t necessarily need to be good at the “game”, but it’s much better if they are into it. On one of our best rides we were engineers with two terrible pilots, but the entire crew was so into that we all had a blast anyways!

 

[k8einwdw]

September 7th- Continued

More Batuu pictures...we loved admiring all of the hidden details, and wacky creatures throughout the marketplace.

This guy is so creepy looking

I think this one is my favorite

We enjoyed strolling around taking in all of the details, and checking out the shops. Neither of us bought anything, but it was fun to check out all the new merch.

Up next: Enjoying the rest of Hollywood Studios

 

[lindawdw]

Signing onto your TR! That was a crazy story of the woman standing in the highway on your way down!!! We've never stayed at Ft. Wilderness in all the years going to WDW but the cabins are adorable. Did you find the mosquitos bad there at that time of year? We got to be pilots on Smuggler's Run and laughed hysterical the whole ride because we kept crashing the vehicle!

 

[k8einwdw]

Signing onto your TR! That was a crazy story of the woman standing in the highway on your way down!!! We've never stayed at Ft. Wilderness in all the years going to WDW but the cabins are adorable. Did you find the mosquitos bad there at that time of year? We got to be pilots on Smuggler's Run and laughed hysterical the whole ride because we kept crashing the vehicle!

Thank you for reading! As far as mosquitoes go...I don’t think I’ve ever been bitten at WDW, and mosquitoes love me. Granted, it’s been 8 months since this trip, but I don’t remember any mosquitoes. I know Disney does a lot to try to control them. I will say, we were using bug spray wipes this trip because September is part 2 of love bug season (and there’s no controlling those little demons). I definitely want to be pilots on our next Smuggler’s Run ride, it seems like so much fun!

 

[k8einwdw]

September 7th - Continued

When I last left off, we had just experienced Galaxy’s Edge, including Smuggler’s Run, for the first time. Now, it was time to hit up the rest of the park. Our first stop was just outside Galaxy’s Edge at Star Tours. We had a FP for 3:50-4:50, so we breezed right through the line, which was already pretty short. I have a CM friend who works at Star Tours and she was working that day, so we stopped and chatted for a few minutes before our ride.

As soon as we got off, we jetted over to the Frozen Sing-Along for our 5:00-5:15 FP. I honestly don’t remember who the storytellers were this day. I will say, while I have the floor...I love Ben as much as the next person, but I always feel bad for the other male storytellers, because people are so obsessed with Ben that they often get overlooked. They’re all talented and funny, or they wouldn’t be where they are. I honestly think that a big reason that Ben has so many fans is because he’s very active on Instagram and people feel like they know him. I also follow him on Instagram, but I’ll be the first to say that the other male storytellers I’ve seen are equally as funny, since they all tell the same jokes....and that’s the tea.


After Frozen, we had some time to kill before our SDD FP, so we checked the wait times for ToT and RNRC. They were both very reasonable, so we headed down Sunset Boulevard. First stop...

We love ToT, so we of course had fun on this one. There is a PhotoPass picture, but it’s super unflattering, so I’m not going to post it for the internet to see. After we checked out of ToT, we headed next door to visit Steven Tyler and get some backstage passes.

After our limo ride, we browsed the shops on Sunset Boulevard and Hollywood Boulevard as we made our way toward the back of the park. We were kind of surprised that there was Star Wars merchandise EVERYWHERE, since there are quite a few shops in SWGE, but I guess if it sells, they’ll put it everywhere. We were ready for dinner at this point, so we grabbed some Ronto Wraps from Ronto Roasters.

In a park with mostly subpar quick service options, we were pleasantly surprised at how much we enjoyed our Ronto Wraps. We’d definitely get them again. I haven’t heard great things about the food at Docking Bay 7, so I think we made the right choice. After we had eaten and rested for a while, it was time to trek over to Toy Story Land. We had a 7:35-8:35 FP for the Wildest Ride in Andy’s Backyard...

Our ride photo for SDD never, ever shows up in our PhotoPass photos. Ever. I had to send in a request to get this one, and thankfully they came through! After our ride with Slink, I want to say we rode Alien Swirling Saucers...I was really slacking in my photo-taking and Instagram-storying that day, so I don’t have proof, but I’m pretty sure we rode it.

Pretty soon, we had to wrap up our time in Toy Story Land, because we had reservations to end our night at Oga’s Cantina. Our reservation was for 9:10, and I believe we checked in around 8:45. There was a huge line of people outside, but we were called pretty quickly - I know we were definitely in there before our reservation time. We were placed at a standing table with about 75 other people...okay, I’m exaggerating, but it. was. packed. I think there were at least 8 people around that tiny table. We all had to stand sideways to fit. We were near the main attraction, DJ-R3X, so we at least had that going for us.

The music in there was really fun, and I loved watching Rex “dance” to the music. For drinks, I got the Bespin Fizz, and Jason I believe got the Jet Juice? They were both good, but definitely not worth the price. I think by the time we tipped, it was $40 for two drinks.

There is a 45-minute time limit at Oga’s Cantina, but I think we were in and out in less than 30. It was just too crowded in there to enjoy it. I’m glad we experienced it, but I think it’ll be a one-and-done for us, at least for a couple years. I’ll be interested to see how Oga’s handles social distancing when WDW reopens, because I think the goal up to this point has been to cram as many people in there as possible.

After our drinks at Oga’s, we were done with our time at Hollywood Studios for this trip. We got a lot done in less than 8 hours! I’ll share my final thoughts on Galaxy’s Edge at the end of the report.

Up next: Our day at The Hottest Place on Earth

 

[lindawdw]

Looks like a fun afternoon at DHS! I'm not a Star Wars fan so I haven't had a strong desire to visit Oga's Cantina. The prices seem absurd and I'm not a fan of the standing room only pretty much idea.

 

[KellBelle]

I just found this! Along for the fun!

 

[k8einwdw]

Looks like a fun afternoon at DHS! I'm not a Star Wars fan so I haven't had a strong desire to visit Oga's Cantina. The prices seem absurd and I'm not a fan of the standing room only pretty much idea.

I’m hoping the standing room only thing goes away eventually, but I wouldn’t consider it worth a visit anytime soon unless you’re a super-fan.

I just found this! Along for the fun!

Thank you for reading!

 

[k8einwdw]

September 8th - Animal Kingdom Day

We had an extra extra early wake up call this morning, because we were participating in Extra Extra Magic Hours at Animal Kingdom, starting at 7:00 am. It was extra extra hard to wake up, and I definitely needed extra extra coffee to get me through the morning. The night before, Jason thought he would be funny and sleep in the bottom bunk of the bunk bed in the cabin. He said he’d never slept in a bunk bed, because he’s an only child...I have two siblings, and I only ever slept in bunk beds at church camp and Girl Scout camp. ANYWAY, I tried to warn him against sleeping in a bed built for children since he is 6 feet tall, but did he listen? Nope. So, he spent the whole morning with a crick in his neck...remember this later.

We left the cabin shortly after 6:00 am, and were at the bus stop just a couple minutes later. We parked the cart, and waited for an AK bus. We decided that we must have missed the first bus of the day, because it took forever for an AK bus to come. Thankfully, we still made it to the park and through bag check in time for the 7:00 opening. Normally I would freak out about not being toward the front of the herd, but we had nothing to worry about that day, because we were not headed toward Pandora with the masses. Instead, we made a beeline to Asia, with literally no one else around us.

First stop? Expedition Everest! This is one of our favorite rides in Animal Kingdom, and I think one of Disney’s best coasters. We breezed right through the queue to find a completely empty train. We had the whole train to ourselves! We settled into the front row, and got ready for a wild ride. When we returned from our trip to Everest, we found that there was still no line, so we went again. And again...and again...until we had ridden SIX times! Our previous record was five times in a row during EMH in 2015, so as soon as we saw that there was literally no wait, we knew we had to beat it. Unfortunately, we have no ride photos to commemorate our record, as the cameras weren’t working. It’s always a bad sign when you get off a ride and all of the photo preview screens are blacked out

After our sixth ride, we decided we needed to be done with Everest for a while. It’s a fun ride, but there’s definitely such thing as too much of a good thing. We left Asia, and trekked over to Dino Land, to visit our friend Dr. Seeker. We’re not gonna make it, we’re not gonna make it!

We made it! I knew we would...After Dinosaur, we had some time to kill, so we browsed through the big shop in Dino Land, as well as the main shops in Discovery Island. At this point, we were desperate for coffee. We didn’t want to backtrack to Asia for Joffrey’s, and there was no way we were waiting in the long line for Starbucks, so we headed to the Isle of Java, next to Flame Tree BBQ. We remembered getting some really good iced lattes there back in October 2018, but unfortunately we were disappointed this time. They were both really bitter and weak...yuck! I tossed mine after just a few sips, but Jason powered through his. We still had some time to kill before our first FP, so we hung out for a while in the Harambe village area to take some pictures and just enjoy the atmosphere.

Soon enough, it was time for our 8:40-9:40 FP for Kilimanjaro Safaris!

My faves

After we get off the safari, we always make a right to watch the gorillas for a while. Sometimes we do the Gorilla Falls trail, but we didn’t this day. We just hung out and watched this guy for a while.

Then, it was time to do something completely new to us! We had always talked about taking the Wildlife Express Train out to Rafiki’s Planet Watch “one of these days,” but had never gotten around to it. Then, it went down for refurbishment. It was finally back open, and we weren’t missing out on it again. We enjoyed the train ride, and getting to see some of the backstage areas and animal barns.

The main attraction for us? The Animation Experience! We got to draw Scar this time.

After we finished our masterpieces, we meandered around Rafiki’s Planet Watch for a bit before hopping back on the train to Africa. We had a FP for the 11:00 Festival of the Lion King show, but we decided to skip it. We had seen the show 10 times at that point, and as much as we love it, we were both exhausted and ready to get some rest. We decided to head out of the park, but not before making a couple stops first...

Up next: a little more Animal Kingdom

 

[fizzieee]

September 8th - Animal Kingdom Day

We had an extra extra early wake up call this morning, because we were participating in Extra Extra Magic Hours at Animal Kingdom, starting at 7:00 am. It was extra extra hard to wake up, and I definitely needed extra extra coffee to get me through the morning. The night before, Jason thought he would be funny and sleep in the bottom bunk of the bunk bed in the cabin. He said he’d never slept in a bunk bed, because he’s an only child...I have two siblings, and I only ever slept in bunk beds at church camp and Girl Scout camp. ANYWAY, I tried to warn him against sleeping in a bed built for children since he is 6 feet tall, but did he listen? Nope. So, he spent the whole morning with a crick in his neck...remember this later.

We left the cabin shortly after 6:00 am, and were at the bus stop just a couple minutes later. We parked the cart, and waited for an AK bus. We decided that we must have missed the first bus of the day, because it took forever for an AK bus to come. Thankfully, we still made it to the park and through bag check in time for the 7:00 opening. Normally I would freak out about not being toward the front of the herd, but we had nothing to worry about that day, because we were not headed toward Pandora with the masses. Instead, we made a beeline to Asia, with literally no one else around us.

First stop? Expedition Everest! This is one of our favorite rides in Animal Kingdom, and I think one of Disney’s best coasters. We breezed right through the queue to find a completely empty train. We had the whole train to ourselves! We settled into the front row, and got ready for a wild ride. When we returned from our trip to Everest, we found that there was still no line, so we went again. And again...and again...until we had ridden SIX times! Our previous record was five times in a row during EMH in 2015, so as soon as we saw that there was literally no wait, we knew we had to beat it. Unfortunately, we have no ride photos to commemorate our record, as the cameras weren’t working. It’s always a bad sign when you get off a ride and all of the photo preview screens are blacked out

After our sixth ride, we decided we needed to be done with Everest for a while. It’s a fun ride, but there’s definitely such thing as too much of a good thing. We left Asia, and trekked over to Dino Land, to visit our friend Dr. Seeker. We’re not gonna make it, we’re not gonna make it!
View attachment 469939

We made it! I knew we would...After Dinosaur, we had some time to kill, so we browsed through the big shop in Dino Land, as well as the main shops in Discovery Island. At this point, we were desperate for coffee. We didn’t want to backtrack to Asia for Joffrey’s, and there was no way we were waiting in the long line for Starbucks, so we headed to the Isle of Java, next to Flame Tree BBQ. We remembered getting some really good iced lattes there back in October 2018, but unfortunately we were disappointed this time. They were both really bitter and weak...yuck! I tossed mine after just a few sips, but Jason powered through his. We still had some time to kill before our first FP, so we hung out for a while in the Harambe village area to take some pictures and just enjoy the atmosphere.
View attachment 469941

LOOOVEEEE your outfit for your AK day. SO cute

 

[k8einwdw]

LOOOVEEEE your outfit for your AK day. SO cute

Thank you! I thought wearing a dress would be cooler/more comfortable than wearing shorts and a t-shirt. I thought wrong. Never again! But it was cute while it lasted lol.

 

[k8einwdw]

September 8th - Continued

After we hopped off the Wildlife Express Train in Africa, we decided to forgo our FoLK FP and start making our way out of the park. On our way out, we meandered through the Tree of Life and Discovery Island trails. These are some of our favorite spots in Animal Kingdom. So many people go to AK, do the rides, and leave, but we like to take our time enjoying the quiet...well, quietER spots in the park, and admiring the animals.

First stop, otters! Don’t mind the dirty screen lol. These guys were so cute, it’s so fun to watch them play.

Then there’s this big guy

We always, always stop to watch the swans on Discovery Island. They are such beautiful birds, but they’re so mean to the ducks that try to swim near them.

Soon enough, we were exiting the park, and on the bus back to Ft. Wilderness.

We got back to Ft. Wilderness, changed clothes, and since we had tons of time until we needed to be back at AK for our Flight of Passage FP, we decided to head to Disney Springs for some lunch and shopping.

First stop - lunch! We absolutely adore Cooke’s of Dublin. It feels like our little secret, there are never a ton of people in there, because people flock to Earl of Sandwich and the newer QS spots. Jason always gets the Fish and Chips, and I get the Chicken and Chips, since I don’t eat fish. We also split a Dubliner Irish Cheese and Bacon dip for our fries...er, chips. The dip is a little pricey for what it is, but it’s seriously so good.

After lunch, we did some shopping. I don’t have any photo evidence, but we’re creatures of habit, so I can tell you we went to World of Disney, the Marketplace Co-Op, Tren-D, Disney Days of Christmas, Basin, Pin Traders, Ghirardelli for our free chocolate, Uniqlo, Ever After Jewelry, and Joffrey’s. After our shopping, we were both hot and our feet were killing us, so we headed back to the resort. While we waited for our bus, we saw my favorite character bus - Daisy! Daisy is my favorite character, and I love the colors on her bus. We have yet to get to ride a character bus.

Soon enough, we were back at Ft. Wilderness for some much-needed rest.

Up next - Jason ruins my entire vacation, and why I’m the best wife in the world

 

[lindawdw]

So awesome that you got to ride EE 6 times! I have trouble doing one time because the backwards motion makes me nauseous but I do it for my DH. Your upcoming post sounds a bit ominous.

 

[Swissmiss]

Thank you! I thought wearing a dress would be cooler/more comfortable than wearing shorts and a t-shirt. I thought wrong. Never again! But it was cute while it lasted lol.
View attachment 470250

That‘s why I started to wear my running skirts - the integrated shorts with pockets are still “feminin” while not being hot.

 

[MickeyCB]

I'm late, but all caught up now!

 

[k8einwdw]

So awesome that you got to ride EE 6 times! I have trouble doing one time because the backwards motion makes me nauseous but I do it for my DH. Your upcoming post sounds a bit ominous.

We’re lucky neither of us has that issue on Everest so we’re able to enjoy it! As for my upcoming post...it’s not as bad as it sounds

That‘s why I started to wear my running skirts - the integrated shorts with pockets are still “feminin” while not being hot.

I actually just found my running skirt that I bought ages ago, maybe I’ll bring it on our next trip!

I'm late, but all caught up now!

Thanks for reading!

 

[k8einwdw]

Real Life Update - Roses and Thorns

In my sorority, we used to do something at the beginning of our chapter meetings called roses and thorns, where sisters could share good and bad things that happened to them that week. I thought I’d do that here.

Rose - My little sister A (who you may remember from my Cruise trip report) just found out last week that she got accepted to the University of Georgia! She wants to be a veterinarian, and they have a great program. She was originally waitlisted and planned to attend a local college for a year and then re-apply, but then she got her acceptance letter from UGA! I guess I’ll have to learn how to say “Go Dawgs” without gagging.

Thorn - As you may know, Jason and I had a trip to WDW planned for April 25th-29th. That got pushed out to May 15th-20th. Then again to June 5th-10th. And then yesterday I got the email from Disney that our trip will be cancelled. Rather than rebooking for the third time, making plans and getting our hopes up, risking more heartache, we’ve decided to cancel this trip altogether. We’ll be back in September (assuming they’re open). It was a tough and emotional decision, but we feel it’s for the best. HOWEVER...

Rose - Since we had to cancel our WDW trip and we don’t want to wait until September to take a vacation, we have booked a room at the resort where we honeymooned in Florida (back when J refused to get on an airplane). It’s a gorgeous, HUGE resort right on the Atlantic Ocean, with 2.5 miles of beachfront, a huge pool complex, and it’s in a quaint little town that’s not super touristy. Right now they only have one of their buildings open, with just 20 King rooms, so at most, we’ll be sharing the whole place with 38 other people. We’ve been saying for years that we wanted to go back to that we could enjoy the pools without freezing to death (we got married and honeymooned in November, and it was abnormally cool in FL that week). I know it’ll be a little unconventional for a beach trip since a lot of things aren’t open yet, but we’re ready to escape and relax.

Thorn-ish: I’ve taken on some new, temporary (please, God) responsibilities at work, as we’ve had some personnel changes. So I have a lot less down time at work than I usually do. So, that means that I’ll probably be a little slower getting this report finished. I like to post at least one update every day, but there have been and will be days that I just don’t have the time, and I’m too drained by the time I get home from work to want to work on the trip report.

Thank you all for reading up to this point, and I hope to have another installment for you soon!

 

[muddyrivers]

I like the idea of roses and thorns instead of good and bad news! haha No worries spreading out the trip report posts as it makes them last longer. I certainly enjoy your writing style and pictures so keep up the great work!

 

[lindawdw]

So glad you decided to book a beach/resort vacation while waiting for your September trip! We actually just bought beach badges for a beach (about an hour's drive) near to us for the summer since we didn't get the chance to take our WDW May trip. We're hoping to take some weekdays off this summer to just lay on the beach and let the COVID19 stress disappear for a while. Hope your job doesn't keep you so busy that you can't finish this TR!