This time its OUR trip - Day 4
Day 3
June 11th
Today we were headed back to Hollywood Studios for an 8 am opening. We did a quick breakfast in the room and then headed to the car to head to the studios. Original game plan was RnR and ToT but we opted to ride things with DS first.
This is the first time I can remember being at HS for opening. Tight quarters when they are holding everyone back. When the rope dropped we made our way back to Toy Story Mania (with a whoooooole lot of other folks). Made it on pretty quickly, DS LOVED this one. We hopped right in line to see Buzz and Woody after. Loved all the little photo opts in line at this one. DS however was not terribly impressed with the characters.
After we headed off to the Great Movie Ride. The line for this grew surprisingly fast. Next up was One Man's Dream solely to see the Cars 3 sneak peak. DS is a Cars fanatic and has been watching the trailers on loop so this was super cool for him. We decided to grab lunch at the commissary next and then attempted to make our way to the first Indiana show. Unfortunately it was already only to standing room only and that was not going to happen with a sleepy 2.5 year old. We opted to head out as it was getting hot and crowded. On our way to the car they were actually handing out free bottles of water!
By the time we made it back Saratoga DS was out cold. Carried him up to the room and he settled in for a nap with DH. I finally got around to setting up my new phone with some wine and chocolates on the balcony.
Around 3 or so everyone was refreshed and ready to go. We headed out to Epcot via bus and did Living with the Land. I love this ride. DS does too. When we walked out it was obvious rain, lots of rain, was coming. We hightailed it into the Pixar short show. This was actually really cute. DS was totally enthralled and actually wore his glasses. Pouring rain was continuing on the way out so we jumped in line for the Visa meet and great. DS warmed up a little more to Mickey & Goofy.
Still pouring :( so we opted for nearby Imagination next. We spent some time in the gift shop and DS came out with a new car. The rain didn't show any signs of letting up so we trucked over to Mexico. Did some shopping and the ride. Next up was a FP for Frozen. The line for this is actually really cute and DS, who isn't even a huge Frozen fan, was AMAZED when he saw Olaf. I really liked this ride actually and thought it was nicely done.
By now it was time for our dinner reservation at Via Napoli. While we checked in I checked our confirmation for the Sparkling Illuminations Dessert party later that night. Based on the rain I knew it had to be relocated. I called the number they provided but no information.
We settled into our table (seated next to people from our town, small world). We shared the arranci, fried veggies, a chickpea arugula salad and an individual pie. All really good. As we wrapped up I tried the dessert party number again. No dice. I had heard that the rain location was in the American Pavilion. We really didn't want to walk all the way back to the original location, at the entrance to World Showcase to walk back. Why didn't the phone number tell us where to go??
Unfortunately it was STILL raining. We wandered Japan and then headed over to America. Surely someone had to know where the dessert party was held. Here my annoyance began to take over. First no one knew. Then one woman called someone and said oh yes its here. It starts at 8:15. This didn't sound right since I KNEW it started at 8. Tried the disney reservation line. Nothing. Found a cast member in a suit, he looked important. He didn't know where it would be held but he was positive it wasn't in America :mad:
Since it was now 10 to 8 we decided to walk all the way back to the front and there was a sign directing people to the Odyssey building. I'm still super annoyed the phone number they SAID to call didn't supply this information. Would have saved us a lot of hassle.
One benefit to being inside the Odyssey was there was seating around the stage area. DS grabbed some coloring pages and settled in. Another plus was the guy working the unlimited drink station was generous with his pours. The desserts were nice, the dry location to sit and relax for an hour was worth the money.
About 5 minutes before Illuminations they brought us out to the viewing location. Great spot and the rain had finallllllyyyyy stopped. Illuminations as always was fantastic and this was without a doubt the best view I've ever had. We headed back to the resort after,the location made for an easy exit, and we snagged a bus right away that was almost empty.
