Trip Report From Batuu to the Boardwalk...and Beyond!

We're back from an absolutely wonderful trip that involved many firsts! As many times as we have been to Disney, we are always looking to try new things and find new favorites, and this trip was no exception! If you read my PTR (here) you will know that we actually went on two trips back-to-back; many of you questioned my sanity when I posted about the short trip, but you'll have to keep reading to find out exactly how crazy it was. If you're ready for food, drinks, and DRAMMA, you have come to the right place!

 

[riverside]

A lot of the audience was laughing, which was very disturbing to me!

That is very disturbing

 

[bee]

2-4, cont.

After the show ended Emily brought out our dessert trios.

These were soooo good. I only had a bite of each because I was so full from everything else, but they were great! I think Emily brought us one last round of drinks also.

We really enjoyed the Dining Package and it ended up being one of our favorite meals of the whole trip! We found it to be a great value for the amount and quality of food, plus it's all you can drink and with a great view! We have already *spoilers* booked the same package for Epcot Forever for an upcoming trip!

After we finished up we chatted with Tony and Brian for a few minutes, and then M and I both realized we had a bunch of texts from MIL and she was waiting outside the Rose and Crown to meet us. We thought she had already left the park for the night.

MIL loves Queen Victoria and anything Victorian so I snapped this for her

Good night...

MIL knows we love IllumiNations so she bought us a little souvenir...

The cup has come in handy for bringing homemade iced coffee to work!

Since it was an EMH night the park was open until 11 and we wanted to ride Frozen with (hopefully) a minimal wait, so we went around to the other side of WS via Mexico.

But alas, Frozen was Clozen! So we went back to Mexico and rode the Consolation Boat Ride...aka the Gran Fiesta Tour.

Up next: More Fiesta

 

[bee]

2-4, cont.

We continued our Fiesta...

Uh oh, Donald...

Is Jose...dead??

After our Fiesta we tried Frozen again...

...but it was not to be!

Up next: One more boat ride!

 

[bee]

2-4, cont.

After Frozen (NOT) we called it a night and headed back to the International Gateway. MIL wanted to take a Lyft from the Boardwalk and this time I helped her make her own account.

As we exited we saw a Friendship waiting!

Unfortunately we waited for the boat to fill up and didn't actually leave for twenty minutes. We should have just walked!

We helped MIL call her Lyft and got ready for bed after a long and exciting day!

Up next: Day 5! Margaritas! Magicians! And Mishaps!

 

[bee]

Trip 2, Day 5: Wednesday, August 28

The day began with sleeping in (surprise!) and yesterday's leftovers for breakfast.

Today was @Darstarr's departure day, and she had offered to give us all the food and drinks she had leftover in her room. She was staying on the Villas side so I walked over to her room (and finally experienced the long hallways!).

She gave me QUITE the haul and we had fun having a mini-meet before she and her family left!

We had originally planned to meet up with MIL in Epcot in the early afternoon to ride Frozen together and then go to lunch, but she wasn't feeling great and just hung out at her resort. So M and I went to Epcot alone.

First stop...Margaritas!

And corn!

The frozen lime margarita was good. We also tried a spicy margarita and I have to hand it to Disney for actually committing to some spice. However, it was also quite smoky and by the end we weren't really into the flavor. The corn was good!

We had an audience as we enjoyed our snack and drinks!

Next: Frozen strikes again

 

[bee]

2-5, cont.

You may have read in my previous TRs (and this one) that our track record with Frozen Ever After is awful. Before this trip we only actually rode the whole thing once; the previous times we tried and had a FP, either the ride shut down and we never got on, OR we were evacuated in the middle of the ride. Not to mention the night before it had just been closed indefinitely. So we were basically waiting for it to break down at any moment this entire trip!

We followed the Sven tracks...

So far so good...

Still good...

Well THAT's not good...

WE MADE IT! We couldn't believe it!

We had lunch plans in the MK area so we headed toward the front of the park. On the way we caught a bit of the mariachi show!

This is forever one of my favorite performances anywhere in WDW!

As we were walking I got a notification that Frozen was now down! Since we'd already used our FPs we didn't get a multi experience FP, but MIL hadn't ridden so she got one. Dodged a bullet, I guess!

Up next: Lost...

 

[bee]

2-5, cont.

Let's back up. While I was getting ready this morning I could not find my hat ANYWHERE. I always wear my hat to the parks as an additional bit of sun protection in addition to sunscreen. We looked all around the room, in all our bags, everywhere. It was gone. The last place I firmly remember having it was at Rose and Crown the night before. I took it off since it was getting dark and THOUGHT I secured it to my bag...but alas, it fell off sometime before we get back to the room that night.

On the way to Frozen we stopped at R&C to ask if anyone had turned in a hat, and they pointed us to Guest Relations where we could check with the general resort-wide Lost and Found. So, after Frozen, we walked in that direction.

But first, BEES!

Guess someone (two someones) didn't want to be an Honorary Bus Driver!

At Guest Relations, a nice CM checked for my hat backstage but it wasn't there, so he gave me instructions for reporting my lost item.

And with that, we continued on to the bus stops.

Up next: Lunch!

 

[bee]

2-5, cont.

A bus was arriving as we approached the bus stop, and soon we were on our way to Wilderness Lodge for our lunch reservation at Whispering Canyon Cafe. MIL ended up not joining us for lunch so it was just M and me.

Once we arrived at WL we had awhile until our reservation so we admired the lobby for a bit.

We stopped in the bathroom and...

...um...

Then we checked in at Whispering Canyon and were seated pretty quickly.

M ordered a bourbon iced tea and I stuck with water.

We each ordered the Vegan Skillet.

YUM! The skillet came with "chicken," "sausage," and jackfruit that resembled pork. The potatoes were freakin' delicious and the veggies were all cooked nicely. Plus the housemade barbecue sauce that came with it was very good. Everything was great and Disney has really stepped up their vegetarian and vegan options. If we could have fit any more food in we would have considered refills because everything was SO good, but we were positively stuffed!

Since it was a late lunch time it wasn't very crowded and we didn't witness many antics. I think the only thing we saw was the ketchup ritual. Honestly we were glad they didn't try any funny business with us because we wouldn't have been into it. Overall it was a really great meal and we are glad we tried it.

We stopped in the bathroom post-lunch...

...still there!

Since there was no lotion in our room we stopped in the gift shop to see if we liked any of the lotions for sale, but didn't like the ones available.

We took a Lyft back to the Boardwalk and relaxed in the room for a bit.

Up next: We finally go to the Creepy Clown Pool

 

[DisneyGigi]

2-5, cont.

A bus was arriving as we approached the bus stop, and soon we were on our way to Wilderness Lodge for our lunch reservation at Whispering Canyon Cafe. MIL ended up not joining us for lunch so it was just M and me.

Once we arrived at WL we had awhile until our reservation so we admired the lobby for a bit.

We stopped in the bathroom and...

...um...

Then we checked in at Whispering Canyon and were seated pretty quickly.

M ordered a bourbon iced tea and I stuck with water.

We each ordered the Vegan Skillet.

YUM! The skillet came with "chicken," "sausage," and jackfruit that resembled pork. The potatoes were freakin' delicious and the veggies were all cooked nicely. Plus the housemade barbecue sauce that came with it was very good. Everything was great and Disney has really stepped up their vegetarian and vegan options. If we could have fit any more food in we would have considered refills because everything was SO good, but we were positively stuffed!

Since it was a late lunch time it wasn't very crowded and we didn't witness many antics. I think the only thing we saw was the ketchup ritual. Honestly we were glad they didn't try any funny business with us because we wouldn't have been into it. Overall it was a really great meal and we are glad we tried it.

We stopped in the bathroom post-lunch...

...still there!

Since there was no lotion in our room we stopped in the gift shop to see if we liked any of the lotions for sale, but didn't like the ones available.

We took a Lyft back to the Boardwalk and relaxed in the room for a bit.

Up next: We finally go to the Creepy Clown Pool

Keeping with the Friends theme in other reports- it must have been this guy- He always carries a fork with him.

 

[Tuvalu]

No molten chocolate lava cake?

 

[Darstarr]

Keeping with the Friends theme in other reports- it must have been this guy- He always carries a fork with him. View attachment 417950

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

I'm glad to know that they Rose and Crown dining package is a good value, we have it booked for our trip in March. I'm sorry you lost your hat, hopefully Disney found it and returned it to you. And that skillet at the Whispering Canyon looked really yummy!

 

[bee]

2-5, cont.

Once we arrived back in the room we changed into our swimsuits so we could finally visit the Creepy Clown Pool. When we arrived it was extremely crowded and loud. This was not at all turning out to be the relaxing pool day we'd been hoping for. I rode down the clown slide exactly once before we nope-d outta there. I will admit the slide was fun, but the pool area was way smaller than we'd expected and it was just soooo crowded.

Since we were already in our suits and at least I was already wet, we walked over to the Inn quiet pool, which was MUCH more to our liking. Only other adults were at the quiet pool and everyone was quiet (AMAZING) and chill. And before you say, "WHY DO YOU GO TO DISNEY IF YOU DON'T LIKE CHILDREN?!!???!?!?!?>"...just because I'm at Disney doesn't mean I have to be around kids 24/7.

FIL drove down after work and rejoined MIL at All Star Movies. The plan was for them both to come to the Boardwalk so we could all have dinner together. After M and I swam we showered and obtained dinner for us all to have in our room.

"Mystifying Flatbreads" always made me chuckle

Strawberry Margarita for dinner!

LOLJK. Pizza for dinner!

We had a nice time catching up with M's parents and everyone enjoyed the pizza.

We also shared a cupcake

After dinner the parents left so we could have an early bedtime before our big day at Galaxy's Edge.

And I practiced my Spanish...lol

My brother was on his way to Orlando after work and he and I were texting back and forth to plan for the morning. We considered meeting at DHS, or having him park at the Boardwalk and us all taking the boat/walking together. In the end we decided he would pick us up in the morning and we would drive together to the park. I called the "front desk" (just a call center again) and let them know he would be picking us up early in the morning so the security guard wouldn't give him any trouble for trying to enter the Boardwalk at 3:30am.

M and I got everything ready for the next day so we could wake up as late as possible for the big day.

Up next: STAR WARS DAY!!!!!!!!!

 

[bee]

Keeping with the Friends theme in other reports- it must have been this guy- He always carries a fork with him. View attachment 417950

LOL!

No molten chocolate lava cake?

View attachment 417955

We were wayyy too full to even think about dessert!

❤❤❤

I'm glad to know that they Rose and Crown dining package is a good value, we have it booked for our trip in March. I'm sorry you lost your hat, hopefully Disney found it and returned it to you. And that skillet at the Whispering Canyon looked really yummy!

I think you'll enjoy the Rose and Crown package! Stay tuned for the hat saga...

 

[Darstarr]

LOLJK. Pizza for dinner!

 

[Nunu]

And I practiced my Spanish...lol

Had I known this then, I would've gladly practiced Spanish with you when we met. We'll do it next time!

 

[bee]

Trip 2, Day 6: Thursday, August 29

The 3:10am alarm happened waaaay too soon! We quickly made coffee, got dressed, grabbed our breakfast (including blueberries and Gatorade from @Darstarr) and took the elevator down to the lobby.

My brother (Jay) pulled up at 3:30 as planned and we listened to Star Wars music during the ride to DHS. There was no line to get into the parking lot and we got a great spot, very close to the entrance. Bag check took awhile but we were inside the park gates by 4:15am.

M and I wore our Leia shirts we'd worn for the Princess 5K in 2018, and Jay wore his NASA shirt, lol. We all wore matching glow necklaces courtesy of @Darstarr!

Every so often the hoard would allowed to continue moving through the park, until we actually arrived in Galaxy's Edge.

The CMs were doing an excellent job of keeping the crowd under control. Finally, around 4:45, we were able to enter the land!

Up next: STAR WAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRSSSSSSSSSSSS

 

[bee]

2-6, cont.

We were routed a slightly different way once in the land than the way M and I had entered before.

Cool water fountain!

It took us awhile to realize that the line to get into the land had become the line for Smugglers Run. This was fine with us as it was our main goal to ride the ride even if we didn't get to do other things. For a long time the line moved veeeeeeeeery slowly. Then we started to move very quickly, but only because the CMs opened up another area of the queue. A lot of people behind us ended up routed through a backstage area.

Up next: Falcon time!

 

[bee]

2-6, cont.

While we were waiting I checked the app to see about Boarding Groups. Apparently the land reached capacity because I was able to sign us up for a later boarding group.

Later I got the notification that we were allowed in. We didn't need it since we'd already visited first thing in the morning but it was good to know it worked!

Um. I can't figure out what this is.

We moved up in the queue and finally entered the preshow areas!

YAAAAAAY!!!!

M and I were both pilots and Jay was a gunner.

We took the obligatory chess table photos and all of the guests were really nice about taking photos for each other.

We had a great ride and it was quite different from any of our three previous rides.

It's hard to say exactly how long we waited on line for the ride because we didn't realize we were waiting for the ride and not just the land until pretty late in the game, but we were off by 6:45. After the ride we decided to just walk around the rest of the land so Jay could see everything.

These End of Line signs were being used for EVERYTHING. Every food/drink establishment, droids, lightsabers, shops, etc.

A different kind of aliens...

All in all we had a fantastic time going on opening day! The timing of everything worked out really well. If we had arrived even half an hour later I think we would have been waiting for the ride a lot longer, but if we'd arrived earlier we would have been standing around a lot longer. I am so glad I went and got to share this crazy morning with my wife and my brother. I don't think I will ever do anything like this again, but for Star Wars it was totally worth it!!

Up next: Another first!

 

[bee]

2-6, cont.

We exited SWGE via Grand Avenue around 7:15am. We had FPs for Slinky Dog later in the day but the standby wait wasn't too long so we decided to just ride then. M and I had never been to Toy Story Land because our previous trip was right before it opened so we were excited to see the land!

Oops blurry

Slinky was a lot of fun! I wouldn't wait over an hour for it but I will definitely make an effort to get a FP in the future.

I guess we were allowed back in the land! But we didn't go. We were #done.

We walked out of the park and back to the car. While in the car I made us a breakfast reservation because 3:30am was a long time ago and we were super hungry!

Up next: A parking adventure...