Trip Report It Is What It Is... Our Journey To The Dark Side...Sept 2023

Hey there everyone!

We are back! I have to say, it was a Disney trip that was VERY different from those in the past. I am happy and excited to share it all with you all, as long as you are patient with me. Lol. You know – me -the one that takes 4 plus years to finish up a report!

That being said, I need to take care of some unfinished business before I start this epic tale. If you don’t know what I mean…. Here is the link to September 2019 trip which I am desperately trying to wrap up.

https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/from-droids-to-toys…-texting-the-boy-and-can-we-just-blame-it-on-captain-hook-our-september-2019-disney-journey-including-another-ross’-return.960569/

Thanks to all of you who helped get me excited for this trip and gave me such good advice and tips for our journey!

Here we go…

 

[Figment Forever]

We were off to Toy Story Land. First up was Slinky…

Our return time for TSMM changed into multiple experience because it was down, So I grabbed to return time for Alien’s.

There are not many things I can surprise Hope with…. She’s too smart and can always figure things out. So I had to try really hard to keep our next destination a secret. And to my surprise, I managed to.

I surprised Hope with an early dinner at roundup rodeo! We had to wait about 15 min to be called in.

Hope rode a horse in. lol

 

[Figment Forever]

More Toy Story photos...

 

[Figment Forever]

It was amazing!!! So yummy, great service. The biscuits were soooo good! But the roasted veggies were my favorite!

 

[Figment Forever]

Hope’s favorite was the watermelon salad. It was so funny because when it came time for dessert, she had no interest in the offerings – not even the Forky cupcake!

She instead opted for another dish of watermelon!! Our waiter got quite a kick of out that!

The only bad part was that we stuffed ourselves!! I ate way too much!! Also the price tag… was it worth it? I’m not so sure.

 

[Figment Forever]

By the time we were done Toy Story was back up and I was able to get as return time. So we could ride 2X. That was a Ross request because he wanted to ride once with NIck. Lol.

Nick scored the highest the first time.

I surprised myself (and Ross) by scoring almost 200,000 on the second time riding by myself. I have no idea how I did it.

 

[Figment Forever]

Both girls wanted to do the railway again – they wanted to ride in the back because Hope said it would be different- so off we went. Not sure how much of a difference it was, but I did see Pluto a bit more.

We walked on to Star Tours

and then had time for one more thing before Fantasmic. Hope picked…. R&R!!!!

Hope and I were both so excited to see Fantasmic. Usually I don’t like things that change, but I admit I watched the new version on YouTube and I was excited for it!

Of course it was raining - always on our Studio day!!! (Some things do not change!) There was an announcement that the show could be delayed. They were not seating people. So there was about a billion people outside the stadium waiting. When we exited R&R, the line was filing in and the rain was stopping so we joined the end of the line and walked in. Asked to sit in the back. Just as the last trickles of people came in, the rain started. We donned our ponchos again.

Then the announcement- I expected it to say it was going to be delayed- but nope- Cancelled!!!!

The moans from the people!!!

But… It is what it is…..

We swam out and made our way into a gift shop to regroup. It was pure chaos! People were CRAMMED everywhere trying to stay dry. It was absolutely torrential downpours. As we were talking and trying to figure out a plan, we realized Hope was in tears. BIG TIME tears with snots all over!! She was so sad about Fantasmic being cancelled!! Even Julia couldn’t comfort her! I told them to let her be upset - it was okay she was feeling sad and upset and even angry.

She didn’t tantrum. She wasn’t hurting herself or others. She wasn’t even really making a scene. She was just plain sad and upset. And that’s allowed. I was too!!! She kept asking for a sneak peak… I didn’t understand????? We walked around the shops a bit. Then made our way out.

The skyliner was running and we headed back to Pop.

 

[Figment Forever]

Back at Pop, we went for a quick swim. Hope regrouped and showed me what she meant by sneak peek…. On YouTube, she saw that during a rain storm, the park presented “A Taste Of Fantasmic”. Which was basically some of the lights, music and water affects. So when they cancelled the show, she thought she would see this. Obviously, we did not. I had never heard of such a thing, but Hope is usually spot on with her facts.

We got changed and went to the food court where I caved and had a very delicious cupcake. I split it with Ross who was having a problem with a $6 cupcake. He decided food taster much better when you pay with a credit. Lol

Studios day in the books..

 

[RememberWhen]

Ah Hope. I feel ya kid.

 

[fractal]

Sad for Hope and missing out on Fantasmic! but I approve of the way you handled it; like a scene from Inside Out.

 

[cgersic]

The ride photos are sooo good! And you are doing a great job of taking them yourself! I feel so bad for Hope, but agree that sometimes you just have to be sad.

 

[dizfan917]

Those biscuits at the Rodeo are AMAZING!! They were one of my favorite things of our whole trip! YUM!

 

[Bullseye1967]

My folks called and asked me to make them an Instacart order for them, so I took care of that while waiting for the rest of our gang to get ready to go

1. You are a great daughter!
2. Absolutely LOVE Hope's "PotatoLand" shirt so much that I searched it out and ordered one for DW.
3. Mad props to Nick! He is wearing Julia's purse at least once in every update.
4. So sorry about Hope and F!. I think you handled it like a champ.
5. Above all, so glad you are doing TR's again! Your family is so fun and you are a GREAT storyteller!

 

[Figment Forever]

Ah Hope. I feel ya kid.

Me too!! I think a lot of people were upset that night!

Sad for Hope and missing out on Fantasmic! but I approve of the way you handled it; like a scene from Inside Out.

Thank you!! I try my best to manage her, especially in public. She's my work in progress. It's funny, when I saw Inside Out, I imagined what happens in Hope's mind... lol

The ride photos are sooo good! And you are doing a great job of taking them yourself! I feel so bad for Hope, but agree that sometimes you just have to be sad.

Thank you! I Am NOT a photographer, so I appreciate that! lol

Those biscuits at the Rodeo are AMAZING!! They were one of my favorite things of our whole trip! YUM!

YES!!! That jam too! It was delish! I heard they changed the meal around - not sure if we would rush to go back. I think they took away the roasted veggies!

1. You are a great daughter!
2. Absolutely LOVE Hope's "PotatoLand" shirt so much that I searched it out and ordered one for DW.
3. Mad props to Nick! He is wearing Julia's purse at least once in every update.
4. So sorry about Hope and F!. I think you handled it like a champ.
5. Above all, so glad you are doing TR's again! Your family is so fun and you are a GREAT storyteller!

Awww.... thanks so much!! It feels good to be writing again. I'm trying to force myself to do some every few days. I sit next to my mom and work on my computer. Hopefully I can wrap this one up in the next few weeks. (Fingers crossed)

 

[lindawdw]

Such a fun day in DHS even with Fantasmic being cancelled and I understand Hope being disappointed. Loving your TR!

 

[Figment Forever]

Such a fun day in DHS even with Fantasmic being cancelled and I understand Hope being disappointed. Loving your TR!

Thank you for reading! It was a fun time!

 

[Figment Forever]

Saturday September 16

I woke up and was ready to go at 6:59am, but I couldn’t get the VQ for Guardians!! Oh well…. It is what it is…..

My shoes were still soaked from the other day! It was on this trip that I realized that our family has a foot & shoe issue. No matter what, someone in our group has some kind of calamity with our feet or footwear! I didn’t want to be “that person” who put my shoes in the dryer, but I get extremely cranky with wet feet. Thankfully, I had a spare pair of sneakers that I wore.

Julia & Nicolas were going off on their own today, so as soon as we were ready, we headed out – just the three of us. It felt a little odd.

We left the hotel and got the Skyliner. It was a gorgeous day! It’s weird how sometimes the Skyliner CM’s put you with other people instead of letting you just be in your own group, even when it’s not busy, and other times, they give even a single person his own car.

As soon as we got into Epcot, we began our journey around world showcase. It was very empty and beautiful. We got a bunch of pictures taken, much to Ross‘ dismay.

 

[Figment Forever]

It was a great time. I’m was actually surprised how much we enjoyed just walking around the countries.

The food and wine carts were not opened yet, so we took note of different carts to return to later on in the day. Even thought the booths were not open, we still managed a few tasty treats…

Ross got a raspberry bar from Germany.

We walked around the China pavilion. Hope was very interested in all the Shanghai Disney World stuff.

 

[Figment Forever]

As we approached Norway, it suddenly got very crowded. I was amazed to see how many people were already getting on line for the food booths, even though they did not open until 11.
We took a trip through Arendale...

We cut through the odyssey. I asked Ross if he wanted a pickle milkshake and he only gave me a face, so I assume that meant no. Lol Hope agreed with him.

We met up with Julia and Nicolas at Test Track, only to find that it was down for technical difficulties.

So off we went to find Nemo. However, I have to say, we got lost along the way. Will Epcot ever be easy to navigate again?

 

[Figment Forever]

We ended up at the Imagination pavilion. Figment (ride) had a 35 minute standby. I love you Figment, but no, thank you! So we wandered over to the Pixar short theater to relax for a bit.

After that, we made the hike back to France to ride Ratatouille.

Hope was soooo excited to ride!! It was fun, but I think it was glitching while we were on it. During one scene, the ride seem to hesitate and seemed to be stopped at one area for too long. The cook who was after “us” kept reaching out far longer than it seemed planned to. As much fun as it was, I’m not sure if I would wait over an hour to ride it.


Since we were in France, we decided to get ice cream. It was close to 1pm and while we were on line, I was so nervous to get the virtual queue that I just ordered the seasonal macron. I didn’t even really care what flavor it was. It ended up being raspberry vanilla and it was very yummy..

And I did manage to get a group for Guardians!

 

[Figment Forever]

We walked over to Frozen. What a difference in world showcase! It was packed! Then I realized it was a Saturday, I’m not sure what I was thinking making our Epcot day on a Saturday during Food and Wine. But it is what it is.

We went to ride Donald’s small world. We waited maybe 20 minutes in line. It wasn’t too terrible but it’s funny because usually we just walk right on.