Trip Report COMPLETED- I Couldn't Love You, but Here's $0.25 in Souvenirs- Celebrating 10 Years of Kid Trips to Disney

We began our adventures early on the morning of February 5th. Just before 7am CT, we had my vehicle loaded up and ready to go. I’m not sure how we did it, but we managed some room for the dog so we could drop her off for boarding (aka Camp!) on our way out of town. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised. She gets comfortable in the strangest positions...

I haven’t set foot in my office since March 16, 2020, so I have no idea what rush hour really looks like these days or if Fridays are still lighter traffic days...but it was a breeze getting out of Houston.

I have no pictures for you until shortly after Lafayette, LA. I was driving up until this point, but after a series of urgent texts from my boss, we decided to stop and switch drivers. I’m not a big fan of critical conference calls at the start of my vacation, but these days, I’m thankful to be gainfully employed. After I got off the phone, I took a few pics as we were driving through the Atchafalaya.

It’s probably for the best that I wasn’t taking pics prior to this. Everything around Lake Charles, not too far west of this area, is still showing a lot of damage and tarps from the 2020 hurricane season, so it's pretty depressing. I also hate driving over the Mississippi in Baton Rouge, so I was pretty happy to have David at the wheel.

Speaking of David (and everyone else), if you want all of the details, please take a look at my PTR. https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/family-return-to-wdw-take-2.971452/

Now, if it looks rainy and gloomy...it’s because it was. We were at the leading edge of a front that was moving east. The rain stayed with us for a good portion of the drive.

In light of everything Covid, we didn’t stop at any of our usual lunch spots. I packed a small cooler full of lunch stuff and we stopped at the Mississippi welcome center to eat. Unfortunately, it was really chilly, so we ate in the car. That didn’t stop a ton of pigeons from surrounding us in hopes that we’d drop some crumbs on the way to the trash.

I was aiming for Tallahassee for the night. That’s usually where we wind up when we make good time, but we’d left so early that we were in Tallahassee by dinner time...even with losing an hour when crossing into the Eastern time zone. We didn't even have traffic with the tunnel in Mobile! Not sure why we decided on Whataburger when we have tons of them at home and this one was way off the highway, but we went a bit out of our way to eat at this one for who knows what reason. At least it had a nice little drive-in area to park and eat.

Somewhere in between Pensacola and Tallahassee, we also developed a bit of a car problem…

Somehow, my front sensor got blocked, which in turn disabled all of my front end safety features...as well as my cruise control. I’d had this happen once before, but it quickly corrected itself. This time, it wasn’t going away. The rest of the trip both to Disney and back would be done without cruise control. I felt like I’d jumped back in time to my first car!

We could have stopped for the night at this point. It was late enough that it wouldn’t have been crazy, but it was early enough that we felt the need to push on. So, I booked a hotel in Gainesville and we kept driving. I lived in Gainesville for several years in the early to mid 90s, so it always feels a bit strange to go back, but it was the best option for the night. It took a little bit of time to get all of our stuff upstairs, but by driving a bit farther this evening, we could all relax a bit and sleep in a little the next morning. And silly...we could be silly.

We slept in a little on February 6th. I think it was around 9am when we went downstairs to grab some breakfast to bring back to the room. It was mainly just some cereal, fruit and hard boiled eggs. We couldn’t sit around too long, because we remembered that I forgot to get cash. I couldn’t remember if the toll plazas had switched to toll by plate (they had) and I’d need some cash for tips upon arrival at WDW. So, we waved good-bye to the LaQuinta…

And headed to Publix…

I didn’t spend a lot of time in there, but it was really strange, because this was the Publix we’d shop at when we lived in Gainesville. It just happened to be the closest to the hotel. It also was in the same shopping center as a restaurant I used to work at for a couple of years...so a real trip down memory lane.

With cash in hand (and an extra stick of deodorant purchased so I could get cash back), we were on our way to WDW. I also got some time to call and set up an appointment to get my vehicle in the shop when we got home (more on that later).

David was driving, so I was actually able to take a few pics on my phone when we arrived.

This was also his choice of arrival music. I still don’t get it, but he’s got a pretty fun Idina Menzel impersonation. I regret not taking video, but I was taking pictures.

I’m sure most of us have experienced this, but between my phone, the MDE app, and our magic bands, they knew that we were on property. I immediately got notification that our room wasn’t ready, so I wasn’t expecting much upon arrival.

After getting a multitude of welcome homes from the security booth attendant (Kendall had all kinds of questions about this practice), a very nice guy with bell services helped with our luggage (who looked kind of funny at the big air mattress I had in the mix) and a woman, who magically knew it was me, told me she’d messaged housekeeping to put a rush on our room. So, all there was left to do at this point was park and figure out what to do with ourselves while we waited. Since I’d canceled our B&C ADR, we didn’t have any place to be until 5pm...and it was 11:48am. Hey, I told Disney we’d be showing up around noon.

Coming up...managing the wait, first impressions on our room, and an evening in Disney Springs.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

We also got a visit from Goofy!

Next up was dessert. David and the girls each got the s’mores pie and I was the oddball who got banana cream. We had a good laugh with our server about me being different, but she said that’s good.

I wasn’t a huge fan of the cookie type crust on mine and it didn’t have a strong banana flavor, but the filling was very tasty and not overly heavy. The s’mores one was extremely rich. David gave me a small taste of his and there’s no way I could have finished that. Still, it was so good.

And if we weren’t full enough, they brought us a birthday cupcake.

David’s was one of three birthdays we’re celebrating this trip and I wanted to try out the feature on the app. Needless to say, it works! So much easier than calling and having it added to all of your ADRs.

And since there are no autographs, we got four of these little cards to take home.

I didn’t take pics or video of it, but the characters did some little dance celebration during the meal and we had at least half of them pass by again for a second round of hi’s and hello’s.

All in all, I was very pleased with this meal. Was it perfect, no...but it’s still one of the best non-breakfast character meals we’ve had at Disney. I really wouldn’t hate it if they stuck with this instead of buffets.

After waddling out of lunch, it was on to the next attraction. I wanted to go back to Slinky Dog, but David argued that we were too close to Star Tours to pass on it. So, we headed that way…

David made a comment about how this looks NOTHING like Harrison Ford. I never knew that bothered him so much!

I have no idea what that wait was, but we’re getting into the line…

I don’t think I’ve been in this part of the queue since 1991. It also prompted a discussion about how it looks like the Ewok village and got David on the topic of how much he hates them...or the stupid grunting teddy bears, as he often likes to call them. I, on the other hand, wished they were real and wanted one as a pet after seeing Return of the Jedi when I was a kid.

The line was moving, so it wasn’t long before we were inside.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

I am kind of curious to compare photo differences after I changed lenses for our second DHS day. I’m not expecting miracles, but just some things I noticed in early sifting through my trip pictures and some things that guided my choices with my recent post-trip lens purchase.

Almost time to board.

I did appreciate how we were all spaced out in the ride. So that was good. We also had a casualty with this one. I’m not sure why she didn’t hold onto them, but Kendall lost her sunglasses in the bin under her seat. How? I have no idea, but this is sort of a recurring theme for her...both during and outside of the trip. It makes me crazy, but losing her stuff is the only way she’s going to learn to take better care of it...or so I keep telling myself.

Finally...time to start walking towards Slinky!

Honestly, it felt like a long line. It started at the edge of Slinky’s perimeter, just inside the entrance to the land, but we’d later learn this really wasn’t too bad. Let’s just say this was the best crowd day and wait times of our trip.

It’s such a richly detailed area that the only thing really to do while waiting is take a bunch of pics. Hey, I can have time with my family and live behind the camera...right?

(Is it supposed to be this dirty?)

This is where David started getting really frustrated with the line. We saw soooooooo many people coming up, talking to the CMs and starting in the queue at this point and going through what appeared to be the FP route. I’m sure they were disability passes, but there were a lot of them. My nephew usually has to go this route when my brother and SIL take the kids to WDW, and I thought there was also a limit to how many people could be on the pass with you. We saw a party of 11 enter by these means as well as a party of 16, so I’m not sure how all of that worked. Meanwhile, we had people in the regular line with us on ECVs, so something just felt really out of balance. I love that Disney offers these things for people with special needs and I know from my nephew that not everyone’s disabilities are visible, but including these big groups, we counted over 60 people enter via the FP side while we were waiting on the bridge in the main queue. Like I said, something just seemed out of balance.

At least we’d now made it to the main queue area.

I didn’t take any pics while we were on the ride. It was our first time, so that’s all about enjoying it...all of it. I know I didn’t do that for anything in SWGE, but this felt different...like I should enjoy the roller coaster. I thought it was a lot of fun, but I noticed my left lower back wasn’t too sure about it. I was still moving and no pain, but I could feel something just wasn’t quite right.

After Slinky Dog, the girls wanted to go back on Aliens. David and I had 0 desire, so we went to use the restroom while they waited in line. While I was in the restroom I started to notice some chaffing issues with my shorts. All of the shorts and pants I’d brought on this trip had been tested at home...6+ miles in all of them several times. So, that was another concern starting to form...literally and figuratively. I had searched for my Body Glide before the trip and even tried to find some in store, but by the time I was at this point it was too late to have it shipped. I guess I could have gotten something delivered locally, but I hadn’t considered that.

We came back to try and find the girls in the queue, but I think I just took a pic of random people.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

We did eventually spot them. No clue what surprised Kendall.

I decided it would be much more fun to video them on the ride.



And they’re off!

I really wanted this trip to be about new stuff for everyone, and while I experienced it last visit, I wanted to introduce the family to Oga’s. So, we headed back into Galaxy’s Edge for a mid afternoon ADR.

We didn’t really have enough time to do anything else, but we still had a decent amount of time until the ADR, so I just tried to look at details along the way to make it go faster.

David and Sam took a quick stroll through this store, but I really needed a spot to sit. Unfortunately, most spots were either in direct sun or had some kind of do not sit here sort of notice. It was only in the low 70s today, but in the sun, it felt quite a bit warmer and I was kind of over it.

Walked a little bit more…

David also declared we’d need some of these special little Coke bottles before going home.

Eventually, we just found a place on the ground and sat...like a bunch of space bums! Of course, I still took pics while we sat.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Every now and then, someone would even approach and ask what we were waiting for...like we were part of a line they should join.

We decided to move a little closer to the entrance after I’d checked in for our ADR. It was a real chore having to stand up. LOL

Oga’s was running behind, but I eventually got the message that our table was ready. The real question...would we be standing or sitting???

Coming up...drinking it up Cantina style, abandoning the kids, a disappointing break, and what to do with the rest of our day.

 

[Songbird76]

Maybe it’s because we were checking into our ADRs in person for our Disney Springs meals, maybe it was some selective amnesia on my part, or maybe it’s because I saw people who appeared to be checking into things in person in the park….BUT...I’d completely forgotten about virtual check-in for dining on the app. I believe we had an 11:35am ADR, and I hadn’t received any push notifications reminding me to check in (would learn about those just a little bit later), so it had to have been before the 20 minute mark when I followed David’s urgings and tried to check in.

There was a CM outside and she just looked and sounded bothered that I hadn’t checked in on the app. I apologized for my faux pas, found an area for everyone to wait at a distance, and went through the check in process on my phone. Yup- that’s me...following directions after not following directions. I think 2 minutes passed and I got the notification that our table was ready. In fact, we were seated by the time that I got the app notification to check in. The girl I first spoke to was still acting kind of moody, but the people from the inside that came out to greet us were the customary Disney cheerful and we had excellent service throughout our meal. We were seated pretty close to where we sat in 2011, except this time, we were heavily spaced out from other parties...which is good. I also don’t know if you noticed, but we weren’t using those stupid eating masks I bought. They were a good idea in theory, but a royal pain in the rear.

David even remarked that it looked like it’s normally a buffet. I could have let it go, but I had to remind him that it was the last time we ate here. He has absolutely no recollection of us eating here. I think I’m going to share this 2011 CRT pic every time I have one of these moments with him.

Either way, I was kind of excited. I know this place has nicknames like Hollywood & Vile and Hollywood & Slime, but I’ve heard better things about it since it reopened in non-buffet form and our breakfast here was very good.

Rolls and salad came out first and both were really good. David is a big salad fan and was shocked how much he liked it. It’s not the normal ranch dressing he’d like, but loved what this ranch is that they’re using. We all ate rolls like we’ve never seen food before. Bunch of barbarians!

While we had seen those cavalcade characters before our meal, it really wasn’t feeling like a Disney trip...maybe because we hadn’t seen Mickey? Well, that part was about to change…because here he comes!

And here he is!

Still wasn’t feeling like we were really there, but I think it’s not going to MK first or at least seeing the castle that is the issue. And it would be DAYS before any of that was going to happen.

Kendall had taken all of these on her phone so I could more easily share with friends who were missing Disney. I’m not sure about the newer models or the offerings from other brands like Nikon and Sony, but the Wifi on my Canon DSLR is pretty useless. I’m also glad she took some because I was having some focus setting issues on my camera and all of my pics came out soft.

I must have changed something by the time Minnie came by, because she was better.

I had to laugh...this is my only picture of Minnie from this first go-around. I don’t know what it is, but I am pretty much anti-Minnie. I’m sure I’ve shared this before, but it’s worth repeating. She drives me nuts. I’m not a huge Mickey fan either, but Mickey is different...like he symbolizes it all, so I am good with him. Minnie...nope! It drives me nuts that Dooney, Harveys, and Kate Spade have focused so many bags on her. I don’t like pink, I don’t want Minnie dots and bows, and I’d prefer things with other characters in the mix. Whew! Total first world problems.

I was back to taking bad pics when the food came out, but I think it’s because I was so hungry and was trying to get the pics out of the way so we could chow down.

I had the pork. There was a bit more fat than I would have liked, but the meat that was on the bone was very tasty and the polenta underneath was so good. The apples could have baked a little longer, but they weren’t bad either.

David got the prime rib. He said it was actually pretty good, but the gravy was odd. He’s used to a more traditional au jus. I was going to try his brussel sprouts, but I accidentally took a pearl onion and was just over his veggies after that. People keep saying how much they love brussel sprouts, but I have yet to have any that I like. Oh well.

The kids both got the shrimp mac & cheese.

Sam hates shrimp, but was willing to suffer through it for mac & cheese...or as she likes to call it- Macertoni. I took a taste and didn’t love it, but they thought it was really good, so it’s all personal preference. The only funny thing...Kendall got about 8 large shrimp and Sam got 16. I’m guessing someone lost track during prep and gave her twice as much. Not that I’m complaining...it got eaten, but the fact that it was given to the shrimp hater. We got her to eat four or five just so she wasn’t having all macaroni.

While we were on entrees...a puppy came by for a visit.

Glad to hear my husband is not the only one with amnesia issues! My husband swore he had never seen Beauty and the Beast, even though I remembered renting it and watching it with him the first time he came to the US to visit. I remembered him commenting on Cogsworth using his hands as windshield wipers.

Is it just me, or are those Brussels sprouts battered and fried? Or is that something else? I've never had battered brussels sprouts, though I LOVE brussels sprouts. It's weird that you said so many people love them, because I don't find many other people who like them.

That prime rib looks soooo good though. That's something I miss here. I have to get my "fix" when I'm in the US.

 

[Songbird76]

I am kind of curious to compare photo differences after I changed lenses for our second DHS day. I’m not expecting miracles, but just some things I noticed in early sifting through my trip pictures and some things that guided my choices with my recent post-trip lens purchase.

Almost time to board.

I did appreciate how we were all spaced out in the ride. So that was good. We also had a casualty with this one. I’m not sure why she didn’t hold onto them, but Kendall lost her sunglasses in the bin under her seat. How? I have no idea, but this is sort of a recurring theme for her...both during and outside of the trip. It makes me crazy, but losing her stuff is the only way she’s going to learn to take better care of it...or so I keep telling myself.

Finally...time to start walking towards Slinky!

Honestly, it felt like a long line. It started at the edge of Slinky’s perimeter, just inside the entrance to the land, but we’d later learn this really wasn’t too bad. Let’s just say this was the best crowd day and wait times of our trip.

It’s such a richly detailed area that the only thing really to do while waiting is take a bunch of pics. Hey, I can have time with my family and live behind the camera...right?

(Is it supposed to be this dirty?)

This is where David started getting really frustrated with the line. We saw soooooooo many people coming up, talking to the CMs and starting in the queue at this point and going through what appeared to be the FP route. I’m sure they were disability passes, but there were a lot of them. My nephew usually has to go this route when my brother and SIL take the kids to WDW, and I thought there was also a limit to how many people could be on the pass with you. We saw a party of 11 enter by these means as well as a party of 16, so I’m not sure how all of that worked. Meanwhile, we had people in the regular line with us on ECVs, so something just felt really out of balance. I love that Disney offers these things for people with special needs and I know from my nephew that not everyone’s disabilities are visible, but including these big groups, we counted over 60 people enter via the FP side while we were waiting on the bridge in the main queue. Like I said, something just seemed out of balance.

At least we’d now made it to the main queue area.

I didn’t take any pics while we were on the ride. It was our first time, so that’s all about enjoying it...all of it. I know I didn’t do that for anything in SWGE, but this felt different...like I should enjoy the roller coaster. I thought it was a lot of fun, but I noticed my left lower back wasn’t too sure about it. I was still moving and no pain, but I could feel something just wasn’t quite right.

After Slinky Dog, the girls wanted to go back on Aliens. David and I had 0 desire, so we went to use the restroom while they waited in line. While I was in the restroom I started to notice some chaffing issues with my shorts. All of the shorts and pants I’d brought on this trip had been tested at home...6+ miles in all of them several times. So, that was another concern starting to form...literally and figuratively. I had searched for my Body Glide before the trip and even tried to find some in store, but by the time I was at this point it was too late to have it shipped. I guess I could have gotten something delivered locally, but I hadn’t considered that.

We came back to try and find the girls in the queue, but I think I just took a pic of random people.

I believe the limit on the DAS pass is 6? Before the DAS pass, I know they had issues with people taking advantage of the system. There were people with disabilities who would sell their services to families who wanted to skip the lines. I think before the pass, you could just go to the front of the line with someone in a wheelchair or something....anyway, people in wheelchairs were making a bunch of money by renting themselves out for a day so families didn't have to wait in lines. If they paid the ticket fee and meals for the person, and a small service fee, they could ride a lot more rides. That's just what I heard from a friend of mine when I was planning a trip with my best friend and someone (an acquaintance, not a friend) with a disability invited herself along on our trip and told us we could take turns pushing her in the wheelchair and she could just stay in one of our rooms so she didn't have to pay for a hotel. I politely told her that that wasn't going to work because I had 2 small children who would be in strollers and my bestie had one in a stroller as well....no free hands to push a wheelchair, and I was staying with a friend, not at a hotel, so she couldn't stay with us.. At the time, I didn't even know that Disney had a program for disabilities, so I also tried to discourage her by saying I didn't know how many rides she'd actually be able to go on and it wouldn't be much fun for her. When I was telling the friend with whom I was staying about it, she mentioned that that was a "thing"...people with disabilities selling themselves as "tour guides" for the parks. I don't know if that still happens now that they changed the system. But I thought that was one of the reasons why they restricted the number of people you can add to the pass, and I thought it was 6, but I could be wrong. We used the DAS pass a LOT in 2019, but we're only a family of 4 and even when my brother's family was with us, they are a family of 3, so it was still only 6 extra people. I don't know what would have happened if we had tried to add more people.

Are they doing tours? I know there are some tours that include a ride on a particular attraction without waiting in line....could the groups you saw be one of those?

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Glad to hear my husband is not the only one with amnesia issues! My husband swore he had never seen Beauty and the Beast, even though I remembered renting it and watching it with him the first time he came to the US to visit. I remembered him commenting on Cogsworth using his hands as windshield wipers.

Is it just me, or are those Brussels sprouts battered and fried? Or is that something else? I've never had battered brussels sprouts, though I LOVE brussels sprouts. It's weird that you said so many people love them, because I don't find many other people who like them.

That prime rib looks soooo good though. That's something I miss here. I have to get my "fix" when I'm in the US.

He absolutely loves it when I forget something, so he can point out that I forget too. We all do, but I swear...that man has a brain like a sieve when it comes to certain things. The biggest ongoing memory thing is over our anniversary. Yes, it's so cliche for a husband to forget, but he thinks we were married a month earlier than our actual wedding date. It all started about 10 years ago when he brought home flowers. I thought it was "just because" and he tried to set me straight. I've shown him our wedding invitations, our marriage certificate, some receipts in the wedding photos I retained and even the engraving on our rings...but he swears his memory is correct.

I'm glad you noticed that...because that's why I accidentally took an onion vs. a brussels sprout. They were breaded and I assumed they were the sprouts. Nope. The green stuff under the breaded looking things are the Brussels Sprouts. Everything on top is onions...big pearl onions. I surely can't be the first person to dig into an onion and realize this issues. Like why?

He said the meat was good. I worried because I'd seen several people report that they got really fatty pieces, but there was a lot of meat on that thing. I know a lot of my friends who have moved from the US have their food fixes when they come back to visit.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

I believe the limit on the DAS pass is 6? Before the DAS pass, I know they had issues with people taking advantage of the system. There were people with disabilities who would sell their services to families who wanted to skip the lines. I think before the pass, you could just go to the front of the line with someone in a wheelchair or something....anyway, people in wheelchairs were making a bunch of money by renting themselves out for a day so families didn't have to wait in lines. If they paid the ticket fee and meals for the person, and a small service fee, they could ride a lot more rides. That's just what I heard from a friend of mine when I was planning a trip with my best friend and someone (an acquaintance, not a friend) with a disability invited herself along on our trip and told us we could take turns pushing her in the wheelchair and she could just stay in one of our rooms so she didn't have to pay for a hotel. I politely told her that that wasn't going to work because I had 2 small children who would be in strollers and my bestie had one in a stroller as well....no free hands to push a wheelchair, and I was staying with a friend, not at a hotel, so she couldn't stay with us.. At the time, I didn't even know that Disney had a program for disabilities, so I also tried to discourage her by saying I didn't know how many rides she'd actually be able to go on and it wouldn't be much fun for her. When I was telling the friend with whom I was staying about it, she mentioned that that was a "thing"...people with disabilities selling themselves as "tour guides" for the parks. I don't know if that still happens now that they changed the system. But I thought that was one of the reasons why they restricted the number of people you can add to the pass, and I thought it was 6, but I could be wrong. We used the DAS pass a LOT in 2019, but we're only a family of 4 and even when my brother's family was with us, they are a family of 3, so it was still only 6 extra people. I don't know what would have happened if we had tried to add more people.

Are they doing tours? I know there are some tours that include a ride on a particular attraction without waiting in line....could the groups you saw be one of those?

I thought it was 6 for DAS. I'm nearly positive that's what it is, because I remember my brother trying to work it all out when we were a group of 10 on our 2017 trip. We basically took turns, since our group size exceeded the standard number. He called me just before this trip to suggest it for days where my dad was with us and said it should be easier since we were exactly a party of 6. That being said, I've seen some stories about people getting CMs to agree to larger groups. Still, it sounded like it was more Guest Services approval and that there would still be snags and push back from attraction CMs. I also read that private tours had resumed, but it looked like the max guest number was 10. These people also weren't approaching the line with a CM like you'd expect with a private tour.

The only other thing I could think of was people returning after waiting during a ride breakdown, but I don't remember seeing a lot of things down during our trip. Part of me thinks it's just Disney trying to keep people happy during tough times and not wanting to say no...but other guests are still negatively impacted with this approach if this is what's going on. Ultimately, I'm all for programs like DAS and I know it's been such a blessing for my nephew...especially the stroller as a wheelchair provision, but I hate the idea of people possibly abusing the system.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Unfortunately, we’d be standing at Oga’s. At least David and the kids were pretty wowed by the atmosphere…

I do have to say that I like Oga’s so much better with the Covid spacing and volumes. Even though we were standing, I liked not sharing my table with anyone and I liked having distance between us and the other groups.

We also had a super cool server. I still don’t know why Kendall deleted it, but she had started to film herself in there to share with some friends and he comes in behind her with this crazy spiel about how she’s live from Oga’s and all of this other stuff. She thought she looked goofy with how hard she was laughing and erased it! It was Disney fun gold and she deleted it. Like deleted it from recently deleted too! Ugh.

Oh yea...he also advised us to put all of our drinks, including our water on the lights so we could make them extra cool.

He also sent the chef/manager out, who determined he didn’t feel it was safe for Kendall to consume the cookie that came with her drink. So, we passed on the cookie...just to have our server rush out a cookie and tell us just because she can’t eat it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t enjoy. So, we got the cookie.

Maybe it’s because we were so full, or because we had rich desserts at lunch, but we weren’t fans of the cookie. Still, it looked neat.

These were David’s and Sam’s first drinks. Our server noted we clearly have a thing for blue stuff.

I, once again, was being different and didn’t get a blue drink. I got a Fuzzy Tauntaun.

I thought it was really good and didn’t mind the numbing effects. Our server also did check first to make sure I knew what it was going to do.

And back to blue...Kendall got the blue milk...which I guess at Oga’s is the Blue Bantha.

I never got to try the green milk, but I’m with all of the people who don’t care for the blue.

Now this was the coolest thing...if you recall, the first pic of Sam’s drink had the red syrup at the top. After it sat there for a few minutes, it all dripped down and looked like she was about to drink a glass of dark blood. And I’m sure this drink phenomenon has been documented a million and one times on here, but it was new and super cool to me.

David got another drink. I can’t remember if I tasted it or not. The candy looking kiwi thing on top was pure sugar, but I think he liked the drink.

Here’s where the fun comes in. This is K’s second drink. I have tried everything I can think of to rotate the video, even going into the page codes on YouTube, and it just won’t turn for me. If I ever get around to loading LightRoom on this computer, maybe that will do it. So for now, enjoy watching sideways. I've been playing around with my camera settings to see if I can prevent this in the future, but at some point...all of the menus and options make me dizzy!

We were nearing the end of our 45 minutes and we were all getting antsy, so it was time to say good-bye to Oga’s. Is it an every day, every trip thing...no, but I’m so glad we did it. I think everyone really enjoyed the experience and the service was perfect.

The kids decided they wanted to try piloting the Falcon again…

I just wanted to sit and relax for a while...and hopefully enjoy a drink or two. So, we abandoned the kids for sitting and alcohol. Parents of the year!

We left SWGE, waved goodbye to Chewbacca and Rey, and headed for Baseline Tap House.

(I swear...that’s Rey! LOL)

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Many of you had really positive things to say about this place, so I really wanted to try it out. The line for drinks was pretty long, so after reviewing a menu, David volunteered to wait in the line while I tried to secure seating.

I started out at this center bar area…

We’ve already addressed my issues with bar stools. I really didn’t want to tip over backwards in the middle of a park, so I was keeping an eye out for a true table to open up. It took about 10 minutes (hey...David was still in the line...not even inside yet), so no biggie when I finally had one open up to my left.

David got really confused, but after flailing my arms around like a crazy person...after normal waving didn’t work...he found me and brought over our drinks.

The problem...they weren’t what we ordered. None of it. It took him close to 25 minutes to get these and he said that things were kind of hectic and not going well inside, so he wasn’t up for trying to get them to correct their errors nor was he willing to wait in the slow moving line for anything else. I had ordered the cider that I saw on the menu (I don’t see it online, but it involved blood orange), so I was really ticked off about being given beer. David’s beer didn’t taste right either, and after looking at the ticket...neither were run up for what he ordered. At this point, we just wanted to sit, relax and utilize these drink fails for their attitude adjustment benefits. I wish I remembered what they served us, but we didn’t like either one of them.

We also didn’t totally abandon the kids. I enjoyed checking their location on the the GPS app and seeing them inside the parks/attractions…

*Except that I really don't consider this Pixar Place!

I was really expecting the kids to spend more time off on their own, but I started getting texts that the girls were done and heading our way. Our table was only for 2 due to safety spacing, so David moved to the center bar with Sam and Kendall joined me. She was thirsty, so I gave her some cash and sent her over to an adjacent cart...with a firm “bring back my change” order. She came back with the $20 bill I gave her and said the CM gave her some magic and let her have a bottle of lemonade on the house. LOVE!!!

The kid also was willing to take some selfies with me!

And then one on my own…it was nice to ditch the hoodie!

I’m hoping this was just a fluke, but we weren’t big fans of our first experience with this place.

We had finally sat long enough and it was time to start doing stuff again. David wanted to do Star Tours again, so...we did Star Tours again.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

The kids were really insulted that their names didn’t appear up here.

Almost time to ride…

I can never remember the names of all of the places you could go, but I liked our journeys a lot more this time. And nobody lost anything in the process. Nice!

Now it was time to walk to the other side of the park...to the one area we really haven’t hit today.

The same cavalcade appears to be coming through again.

And if you couldn’t tell...we were walking at a pretty brisk pace.

When we got to this point…

...a certain someone started begging to ride.

This is part of why she and Kendall met us at Baseline...K refuses to ride ToT. That girl was one and done after last trip. I am really the only one who is usually willing to ride with Sam...and by willing...I mean I hate it, but do it for my child...most of the time. I was just not up for it today, so even more evidence in her opinion that I don’t love her.

The other issue...TOT’s wait was significantly longer than RNRC...and we all like that ride.

It said 10 minutes, but it was walk on.

I didn’t take any pics in the queue. We were moving so fast that I spent my entire time just securing my stuff in my bag.

A couple of observations…

1. The ride felt extremely dark. Yes, I know it’s a dark ride, and I thought it was just me, but when we finished, we all wondered if some of the lights/effects were off, because it felt significantly darker than normal. Was I on Space Mountain and just didn’t know it???
2. That back issue I felt during Slinky Dog felt far more significant on this ride. It also really smacked my ears around.

The kids wanted to ride again. I decided to sit this one out. David opted to join me. I could also feel my chaffing was getting worse, so sitting was wise. So, we just sat and I took some pics.

The kids took a bit longer than expected, but reconfirmed the extra darkness we felt the first time around.

I want to say it was approaching 6:15pm at this point and the park was closing at 7. We started looking at wait times and opted to try and make it to Slinky Dog. I think the wait said 30. Sam begged for TOT one more time, but that was a hard NO! No love!

 

[HouCuseChickie]

OK, it’s actually a little later...it’s more like 6:20. Funny how I leave myself little reminders in my pictures.

We were really hustling because the line started much closer to the actual boarding area than what we experienced earlier.

They’re so happy to be at WDW!!! Especially Kendall. LOL

I really don’t know what I was thinking, but I took video for part of the time...ONLY part of the time. And I didn’t even have the camera in a good position.



Back to stills.

Aaaaand we’re at the end.

I should have gotten video David singing and dancing along. I swear he bumped my arm when I took this next one...all for the dancing!

And I'm pretty sure there was a NO DANCING sign somewhere! Rule Breakers!

 

[HouCuseChickie]

We still had a little bit of time before park closing, so we started rushing to our next objective…

Made it!!!

Coming up...how many times would we get to ride?... Super Bowl in the park… Dinner at 50s after park closing… and some next morning decisions.

 

[Songbird76]

He absolutely loves it when I forget something, so he can point out that I forget too. We all do, but I swear...that man has a brain like a sieve when it comes to certain things. The biggest ongoing memory thing is over our anniversary. Yes, it's so cliche for a husband to forget, but he thinks we were married a month earlier than our actual wedding date. It all started about 10 years ago when he brought home flowers. I thought it was "just because" and he tried to set me straight. I've shown him our wedding invitations, our marriage certificate, some receipts in the wedding photos I retained and even the engraving on our rings...but he swears his memory is correct.

I'm glad you noticed that...because that's why I accidentally took an onion vs. a brussels sprout. They were breaded and I assumed they were the sprouts. Nope. The green stuff under the breaded looking things are the Brussels Sprouts. Everything on top is onions...big pearl onions. I surely can't be the first person to dig into an onion and realize this issues. Like why?

He said the meat was good. I worried because I'd seen several people report that they got really fatty pieces, but there was a lot of meat on that thing. I know a lot of my friends who have moved from the US have their food fixes when they come back to visit.

So the pearl onions were breaded? I've never seen that either....is that anything like an onion ring? I never knew there was such a thing as a pearl onion until I moved here....my MIL uses them for a few dishes. I am not a fan of onion in general, so I've never eaten one, but they smell awful, like they are pickled or something, so I can't imagine they would taste good battered and fried, but perhaps I'm wrong?

That's so strange that your husband still thinks he's right even though you showed him proof that he's not. Maybe he knows he's wrong, but just can't bring himself to admit he did the typical cliché forgetting the anniversary thing? For the most part, my husband is good about that kind of stuff. He's pretty good about remembering the dates and such. With him, he forgets weird things, like...we go to Disney and he raves about the breakfast at Trattoria al Forno, the Breakfast at Boma, the whole experience at Whispering Canyon...then we get to the last day of our trip and we eat at Pecos Bill and he says "Why haven't we been eating here every day? This is the first meal I've enjoyed in the whole trip!" He completely forgot about the things he loved.

 

[coachwnh]

I'm finally all caught up. Enjoying the report.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

So the pearl onions were breaded? I've never seen that either....is that anything like an onion ring? I never knew there was such a thing as a pearl onion until I moved here....my MIL uses them for a few dishes. I am not a fan of onion in general, so I've never eaten one, but they smell awful, like they are pickled or something, so I can't imagine they would taste good battered and fried, but perhaps I'm wrong?

That's so strange that your husband still thinks he's right even though you showed him proof that he's not. Maybe he knows he's wrong, but just can't bring himself to admit he did the typical cliché forgetting the anniversary thing? For the most part, my husband is good about that kind of stuff. He's pretty good about remembering the dates and such. With him, he forgets weird things, like...we go to Disney and he raves about the breakfast at Trattoria al Forno, the Breakfast at Boma, the whole experience at Whispering Canyon...then we get to the last day of our trip and we eat at Pecos Bill and he says "Why haven't we been eating here every day? This is the first meal I've enjoyed in the whole trip!" He completely forgot about the things he loved.

Yes! So bizarre. I was hoping they'd be like onion rings, but whatever the coating was happened to be pretty light. So, it was more like biting into a little onion with a few bread crumbs. I've seen them here in frozen veggie bags, but it's usually in combination with peas. These and the others I've had don't normally taste pickled, but it was certainly a surprise to get a bit of onion when I was expecting a sprout.

It's just one of his quirks. I think at this point, he knows I'm right, but he has fun playing with this whole crazy idea. He still has an awful memory. That's really interesting that your husband will love meals and so quickly forget. I guess at least you know he enjoyed things, even if he doesn't immediately remember all of the good meals.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

M&M was pretty much walk on...so that was excellent.

Not sure if you can tell, but we are in the exact same position we were this morning.

And we’re off…

Pretty sure we saw someone’s hat this time around. Secure your belongings, people!

Nothing can stop us now!

When we got off, it was 6:59. A CM told us we could make it back in for one last ride if we hurried, but we all just decided it was time to move on to dinner.

When I first made ADRs, I had booked something like 6:40pm. As I got closer to the trip, I noticed ADRs after 7pm had been loaded to the system. This happened to me with MK, which wound up spelling park hours being extended by an hour, so I thought the same might be happening with DHS. Nope! Park closed at 7pm.

I had the option of a 7:20, 7:40, and 7:55 when rebooking. I went with the 7:40 and was now kind of regretting it. We had so much time that I decided to talk to the CM at the host stand outside. I first wanted to make sure there was no mistake with the timing, but also wanted to see if there was any way to put us on some kind of check in list, even though I was before the time the app would allow me to check in. I was expecting a no, but he said yes, but warned me it still could be closer to our ADR time when we were seated. Hey, can’t hurt to try.

So, I took a few pics…

Then I remembered there was a little game being played…

The kids had some bizarre game of their own. They were playing some odd version of tag.

I know I got the push to check in for our ADR even though I manually checked in. The app actually reflected that after opening it up. I want to say we were seated around 7:30...so a little early.

Every time I look at meal pics from this trip, I shake my head about having the girls on their phones in most pics. And then I remember that they’re probably reviewing the menu.

I’ve always liked the setting for this meal and it’s a fun one when things are normal, but I go in with lowered expectations on the food. I also went in with lowered expectations on the fun, even though I know the kids wanted this to try and recreate some of the parental punishment of our 2012 trip.

I heard a couple of groups where their server was giving them a safer version of the normal treatment, but the tables around us were just eating...no antics. And that’s fine, because we didn’t really expect any. So, I just took in my surroundings…

While we didn’t have any antics, we were watching the game and our server was pretty into it. So, that made it fun. She was a Bucs fan, so she’d get all excited every time she came back to check in on the score.

Food came pretty quickly…

David and Sam both had the fried chicken. Said it was ok, but was lacking salt. He does tend to like things with more salt than I do, so that's part of it. He could have asked for salt as well, but fried chicken is one of those things where you really need the meat seasoned before cooking and the rest of the salt in the coating before frying...as well as a pinch of it when it comes out of the oil.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Kendall and I both combined two appetizers/sides...the onion rings and the crab cake.

The onion rings were great, but as soon as I saw the crab cake, I knew I’d made a mistake. I have had this before and definitely not a fan. Oh well. I was hungry.

We also had a little discussion about the next morning. We’d hit DHS pretty hard and I was torn about going to our breakfast at Topolino’s vs. sleeping in. We’d also just had a character meal...even though K deemed it to be inferior due to a lack of Donald. I can’t fault her on that. In the end, we decided it would be best to skip breakfast. So, I canceled our ADR and hope someone who really had been wanting it got it. I know it’s last minute, but there was always the chance that Sam and David would sleep in and K and I would go. That didn’t happen...so again, hope someone with little ones had a blast in our place.

It was time to leave DHS and head back to BWV. We had been hearing the park closure announcement ever since we were waiting for dinner, so nothing exciting there. It was kind of creepy having the place to ourselves. I think we saw a whopping three people walking around before getting to the exit.

No Skyliner for us today!

We were over an hour past closing and I didn’t think the boats were still running. The gates to the dock appeared to be closed too...but here’s a boat...a blurry one too!

Oh well...we were walking. I won’t get too graphic...yet...but the chafing was really starting to hurt pretty badly, so I was lagging way behind the group.

We headed in a side door near a quiet pool. We also clearly startled a couple having some fun in that pool who thought all park goers were back from DHS and wouldn’t be walking by. Nice.

We even took the stairs…

Once we got back to the room, we finished watching the game…

After the game, we cleaned up for bed. I managed to trip over a few of David’s things because he refused to unpack and use all of our closet space. So, he always had a few things in inconvenient spots. We also got an earful about how much he misses our bathrooms at home...well specifically, the master shower.

Way back when we were trying to select a resort for this trip, the rainmaker showers in some of the villas really got our attention. We were getting ready to redo all of our bathrooms and that’s one of the things that was a must for our updated master shower. So, no matter how spacious and comfy this room was...he missed his shower. I can’t blame him. I love it too...but it’s the sacrifices we make to be at Disney...right?


Coming up...I get a new name at breakfast, mask drama, the kids fail to appreciate freedom, and a foodie reunion.

 

[Pooh'sBuddy]

Your pictures are great! I have so many comments to make, but I keep forgetting them. Lol!

Our first day at DHS, Lance got us boarding group 2 or 3; our second day I got us group 5. Nice to have a cool attraction so early in the day!

Oga's: OMG!!! I was so on the fence about getting this ADR - worried about the waste of time and expense and were the drinks going to be good. I forgot about the standing, too. We were not happy since we had already been walking for practically two days. We were sure it was going to be a one-and-done thing. But it was one of the highlights of my trip. Yes, our Son the Younger got that same drink as Kendall did. It's funny y'all talked about the dry ice. I was in Longhorn Band in the mid to late 80s, and we have a story about dry ice burning skin - big broohaha. I would do Oga's again in a heartbeat.

Oh, no! We really thought SDD was pretty smooth. It was MF:SR that we won't do again. That hurt our backs. OK, maybe we will just to walk through the Falcon again, but we didn't during our trip.

ToT: we all love that attraction! Unfortunately, many of the shafts were shut down while we were there and had long waits every. single. time.

We have a love/hate relationship with RRC. We love it so much, but it is awful on my and Lance's backs. The backrest is SO hard, and we jerk around SO much. I have to twist my torso to make it as comfortable as possible. But, the lines move very quickly, it was hard to say no.

We started off each day together (except for EPCOT), but the boys quickly departed for their fun on their own. They're 16 and 14, so it was nice for them and us. EPCOT - Lance and I went to Frozen first. Glad we did because the line just kept growing all day.

 

[Songbird76]

Yes! So bizarre. I was hoping they'd be like onion rings, but whatever the coating was happened to be pretty light. So, it was more like biting into a little onion with a few bread crumbs. I've seen them here in frozen veggie bags, but it's usually in combination with peas. These and the others I've had don't normally taste pickled, but it was certainly a surprise to get a bit of onion when I was expecting a sprout.

It's just one of his quirks. I think at this point, he knows I'm right, but he has fun playing with this whole crazy idea. He still has an awful memory. That's really interesting that your husband will love meals and so quickly forget. I guess at least you know he enjoyed things, even if he doesn't immediately remember all of the good meals.

That's so strange...just lightly coating them in bread crumbs. I would think the texture would be off-putting. What an odd thing to do. But some people must like them or they'd have removed it from the menu, I would think.

I think the thing with my husband is just that he's not a fan of Disney, so he kind of has a negative mindset...he expects that he's not going to enjoy things, so then when he DOES enjoy it, it takes him by surprise and then it's like he's so shocked that he can't remember anything else that he enjoyed. If I asked him today, he'd probably not even remember the meal, or he'd say "It was ok." And to be fair, he was in a really foul mood that whole day anyway...he was grouchy about a lot of things. I have no idea what was going on in his head, but he was ticked off when we went to bell services to get our luggage because we had so much water left over, and he was ticked off that we had so many snacks to fit in the car because we had so many dining credits left over that we used them for a ton of snacks to take with us to Uni. I think he was just in such a bad mood that he was never going to admit that he had had some good meals, and he was expecting that that meal was going to be awful because he was just in a mood to be negative about everything. Then when he LIKED the food, he had to admit it was good, but he was still so grouchy that he wouldn't admit to liking anything else. Like he was trying to prove that he doesn't enjoy Disney, so he can't admit that there are good things about it, and if he was going to admit to liking Pecos Bill, he couldn't admit to liking anything else or I might start to think he was softening.