{"id":10475,"date":"2021-02-20T07:54:46","date_gmt":"2021-02-20T12:54:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.anniee.net\/?page_id=10475"},"modified":"2021-07-14T19:08:49","modified_gmt":"2021-07-15T00:08:49","slug":"travelogue-disney-world-2021-part-ii","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.anniee.net\/?page_id=10475","title":{"rendered":"Travelogue: Disney World 2021, Part II"},"content":{"rendered":"

February 2021
\n<\/strong>Where We Stayed: Disney’s Contemporary Resort
\n<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Oh my goodness, Hollywood Studios day.\u00a0 My favorite day from the trip (and I don’t think Hollywood Studios has ever ranked as my favorite<\/i>\u00a0day).\u00a0 The park is really turning itself around thanks to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and Toy Story Land!\u00a0 We had an absolute blast at Galaxy’s Edge and the day will forever be etched in my happy memory bank.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
The weather was forecasted to be cold<\/i>.\u00a0 And even though we are Wisconsinites, we aren’t stupid.\u00a0 We bundled up, wore our winter coats and hats, and were so grateful that we did!\u00a0 It was in the low 40s and extremely windy… but I think that helped to reduce the crowd levels, so it was an overall win for us.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
We got to DHS right at park opening and headed straight for Galaxy’s Edge.\u00a0 Mike was dying<\/i>\u00a0— his beloved Star Wars came to life!\u00a0 I was also dying<\/i>, but not quite to the scale that Mike was.\u00a0 Our first stop was Smuggler’s Run — which is essentially a magic motion ride where you get to pilot the Millennium Falcon.\u00a0 It was SO FREAKING COOL.\u00a0 You ride with two other parties.\u00a0 Mike and I were the captains\/pilots.\u00a0 Another party served as the shooters.\u00a0 And the last party served as the engineers.\u00a0 It was an interactive, fun, absolute joy of an experience.\u00a0 The technology has come a long way in that even though it was a magic motion ride, neither one of us felt too queasy afterward.\u00a0 Two thumbs up, Disney!<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
After Smuggler’s Run, we walked around and just tried to absorb everything.\u00a0 So much to see, so many details, and fun fact: there are no signs in English anywhere.\u00a0 Everything is in this mystery Star Wars language, which really added to the experience\u00a0and made you feel a little disoriented, in a good way.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
We stopped and tried blue and green milk.\u00a0 Blue was the winner in our book by far! It tasted like candy. Mmm. We visited the shops, which only allowed one party in at a time. We sat down and rested and watched Chewie and Rey and the Stormtroopers come out to play.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
By this point it was nearing lunch time and I wanted a Toy Story grilled cheese, so we left Galaxy’s Edge and headed to Toy Story Land.\u00a0 Oh.\u00a0 My.\u00a0 GOD.\u00a0 Toy Story Land was one of the most precious things I’ve ever seen.\u00a0 You feel like you’re in<\/i>\u00a0the movies.\u00a0 Primary colors everywhere!\u00a0 The pull at my heart was intense — like you’re walking through your childhood all over again.\u00a0 It was magical.\u00a0 I hope that I ever lose that sense of wonder and awe — and the ability to see and feel that kind of joy.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
I had my grilled cheese at Woody’s Lunchbox. It’s not an average grilled cheese.\u00a0 They used 4 different cheeses, garlic and mayo on the bread instead of butter, etc.\u00a0 So good and so worth it.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
We headed back to Galaxy’s Edge for two reasons 1) Mike’s reservation at the Droid Depot and 2) Rise of the Resistance!<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

The Droid Depot is basically Build-a-Bear for Star Wars geeks.\u00a0 It was so awesome!\u00a0 You can make a BB or an R2 — and you pick all your parts and then a cast member helps you to assemble the droid.\u00a0 You leave with a “living”, “breathing”, working droid that beep-beep-boops and whizzes around.\u00a0 It was such a charming experience.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
By this point in the day, my back was killing<\/i>\u00a0me.\u00a0 Like, I-need-to-sit-down-for-a-while killing me.\u00a0 But our Rise of the Resistance boarding time was approaching so I had to suck it up and pretend to be psyched.\u00a0 I mean, I was psyched, but I was also a little grouchy and in a lot of discomfort.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Rise of the Resistance was incredible<\/i>. It was unlike any ride I’ve ever been on.\u00a0 It was a 20+ minute experience<\/i>. You feel like you’re in the movies… it’s the only way I can describe it. Because of the length of the ride and the level of production involved, you have to reserve a boarding time in advance.\u00a0 You have two chances to do this: 7am and 1pm.\u00a0 Mike fired up the MyDisney app at 7am that morning and got us our boarding position.\u00a0 You then have to check the app throughout the day to find out what time corresponds to your boarding position.\u00a0 We were in position #59… and we kept checking back until they were able to give us a window of time: we had to be at the ride and ready to go between 1pm and 1:30pm.\u00a0 The entire process was a little confusing at first and slightly counterintuitive, but we figured it out .\u00a0 And after we experienced the ride and realized how involved it was, it made total sense why they do it that way.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
But honestly, that ride was great.\u00a0 I’m not a huge fan of crazy rides and don’t do well with extreme spins or drops or loop-de-loos, but I was A-OK.\u00a0 You sit with another group on a trackless car.\u00a0 The trackless car takes you through the entire ride experience… moving from room to room to room as you join the Resistance battling the First Order.\u00a0 It’s a dark ride with a lot of lights and flashes and noises and spins and a drop (nothing too scary though — I honestly thought the drop on Pirates of the Caribbean was bigger).\u00a0 It’s a must see, 10\/10 ride!<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
After Rise of the Resistance, we had some time to kill before our dinnertime reservation at Oga’s Cantina.\u00a0 We decided to drop all of our souvenirs (including Mike’s new droid) off at the car and ride the new Skyliner.\u00a0 The Skyliner has stations at DHS, the Caribbean Beach Resort, the Pop Century, EPCOT, and a few other resorts I can’t remember off the top of my head.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
We loved the Skyliner! It was smooth and not crowded.\u00a0 It was nice to just have a moment alone in our little skyliner car — we enjoyed the quiet and the ability to put our feet up and relax. It definitely helped my lower back feel a little better! We rode the skyliner to the Caribbean Beach, got out, walked around for a bit.\u00a0 Then took the skyliner to EPCOT.\u00a0 We walked around the boardwalk area of EPCOT and then boarded a boat back to DHS.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
We headed back into the park and had dinner (burgers and an Oreo funnel cake) before our drink reservation at Oga’s Cantina.\u00a0 Oga’s was a hoot.\u00a0 It’s basically just a bar (they serve just a few food items) — with alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks available.\u00a0 All of the drinks are colorful, fun, and many of them have dry ice as a feature.\u00a0 It’s kid-friendly, so don’t let the fact that it’s a bar scare you away if you’ve got kids in tow.\u00a0 You can’t just pop in though… reservations are a must!<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
After Oga’s we headed out and stopped to watch Kylo Ren interact with the crowd.\u00a0 Kylo, as you know, is kind of a dick.\u00a0 But he spotted a little boy in a wheelchair and told him to come up to the front — then he said that the boy would do great things in life and have many talents.\u00a0 It was such a sweet moment — the moments you see all the time at Disney.\u00a0 They train their cast members so well and it’s so sweet when kids are singled out and made to feel so special.\u00a0 The magic of Disney, right?<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
We made one more trip through Toy Story Land — and this time rode Toy Story Mania because there was no wait (unheard of in normal times!).\u00a0 I beat Mike!\u00a0 Woot woot!<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
It was nearing park closing time but we wanted to go on one more ride:\u00a0 Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway.\u00a0 This is the ride that replaced the Great Movie Ride (which I loved but admittedly, it was becoming very outdated).\u00a0 Overall it was cute (dark ride, trackless cars, lots of neon colors and lights), but omg, there was one section where your car goes into this room with Daisy Duck at the helm… and Daisy pretends to conduct an orchestra… and your car moves and sways with her conducting motions.\u00a0 I. Wanted. To. Barf.\u00a0 The worst part of the entire day was that bitch Daisy!<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
But I survived sans barf.\u00a0 The park was closing at this point, so we headed back to the car and back to our hotel to crash yet again.\u00a0 It was such a delightful day at Hollywood Studios.\u00a0 Up next: our last day… at the Magic Kingdom!<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\"\"<\/a>Good morning, WDW!
\n\"\"<\/a>The Star Wars nerds were ready to go!
\n\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>Mike… dyingggg. Picture with the Millennium Falcon!
\n\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>The waiting area for Smugglers Run.
\n\"\"<\/a>View from the queue.
\n\"\"<\/a>The Droid Depot!
\n\"\"<\/a>I wasn’t kidding about it being cold!\u00a0 And mmmm BLUE MILK!
\n\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>The attention to detail was impressive — C-3PO and R2-D2 footprints!
\n\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>Ahhh, so cool!
\n\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>Mike’s turn at the Droid Depot!
\n\"\"<\/a>Choices, choices.
\n\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>I loved that green BB up on the shelf! I wish they had green ones available to make!
\n\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>All set to come home with us! I like that Mike chose a BB (cuter, imo). And the red\/black kind of gave it a Sith vibe.
\n\"\"<\/a>Rise of the Resistance!
\n\"\"<\/a>Stormtroopers everywhere!
\n\"\"<\/a>I tried to take pics on the ride but this was about all I could get.
\n\"\"<\/a>Kylo Ren.
\n\"\"<\/a>Oga’s Cantina!
\n\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>May the Force be with you.
\n\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>And so marks the end of my Galaxy’s Edge photos.\u00a0 Moving on to the rest of DHS now!
\n\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>Just the cutest!
\n\"\"<\/a>Slinky Dog Dash!
\n\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>Woody’s Lunchbox! Look at the Babybel chairs!
\n\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>Brio train benches!
\n\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>Even the bathrooms were adorable.
\n\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>Say it with me now… “The claaaaawwwwww!”
\n\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>A completely empty Toy Story Mania
\n\"\"<\/a>Love the attention to detail… making the pink crayon used instead of sharp.
\n\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>That little girl was almost as excited about the Mickey balloons as I was!
\n\"\"<\/a>Of course I had to get a Starbucks strawberry refresher. Starbucks while traveling always makes me think of my momma. I hope I can convince her to visit DHS soon so she can see Galaxy’s Edge and Toy Story Land, too!
\n\"\"<\/a>On our way to the Skyliner… I just liked the colors here.
\n\"\"<\/a>Finally.. a little rest. It was so lovely.
\n\"\"<\/a>Walking around the Caribbean Beach Resort property.
\n\"\"<\/a>We passed a Star Wars car! And check out that yummy Oreo funnel cake! When on vacation, right?
\n\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>I no longer like Daisy Duck (IYKYK..)
\n\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

February 2021 Where We Stayed: Disney’s Contemporary Resort Oh my goodness, Hollywood Studios day.\u00a0 My favorite day from the trip (and I don’t think Hollywood Studios has ever ranked as my favorite\u00a0day).\u00a0 The park is really turning itself around thanks…<\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":{"0":"post-10475","1":"page","2":"type-page","3":"status-publish","5":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anniee.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10475","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anniee.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anniee.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anniee.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anniee.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10475"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.anniee.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10475\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anniee.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}