Don't Pet the Sweaty Things. An Aug Solo Birthday Trip. Updated 12/4!!

Sounds like a great lunch! I think your character selfies came out great, you look so happy and that's what counts!

It was a very fun lunch and I was having a great time!

Looks like a great meal! I really need to try Garden Gerill one of these days.

Yes you do! The food is excellent and the characters fun. Plus you have the unique experience of the rotating restaurant.

Garden Grill breakfast is one of my favorites, so fun!

I’m glad you had fun with all the characters and got a little Birthday treat!

I haven't done breakfast there yet, that's definitely on my bucket list to try!

It sounds like you and I would get along well :rotfl:
I have never been to Garden Grill, but it's definitely on my "to do" list.

Yep, vegetables are not my friend! Definitely give GG a try if you get a chance.

I heard Vampirina is moving into Jake's spot!
This sounds like a really fun meet up!! :)

Ah, OK. I don't usually pay much attention to the Disney Jr characters. I have met Jake and Doc McStuffins but only because they had no line and I like to collect characters. And, yes, I had a blast at that DIS meet!

YUM! Garden Grille is the best; I especially love having breakfast there... that giant cinnamon roll they have there is heaven!

I haven't done breakfast there yet but it's definitely on my list to try someday!

Hey Ariana! I made it over and I'm all caught up. Great job avoiding vegetables! :thumbsup2

Hi Mark! Thanks for stopping in! I've gotten very good at avoiding those nasty vegetables!

Okay.... polished off the last one, now here.
And... I'll come back to read a bit later. Promise!

Wow! I'm impressed that you read a the way through the January one.

6 hours? I have a far quicker method...

I do too but I'm not sure my boss would appreciate it and I like my job and want to keep it.

Holy crap! That's.... forever!

It was a long and miserable night. I think in the future I will avoid flying in the evening in the summer. Too many thunderstorms around here for that!

I think that's a good thing. I believe they shut down at 10:30pm.

I think that's correct. When I checked in at the DME, they asked me if I had all of my bags. I also saw them send another family back to baggage claim to get their bags. They had used the bag tags but had a delayed arrival so they wouldn't allow them onto DME until they collected their bags. I'm guessing after a certain time they just send all the bags including the yellow tag ones up to baggage claim.

I'm getting a little woozy from looking at those... back and forth... back and forth... to and fro.... to and fro....

:rotfl:I really should learn to slow down and take the pictures instead of walking and doing it at the same time.

Huh! That's.... bizarre!

I think they were refurbishing the ride and that was to hid the work in progress.

Um... I think you might not be the first one on.

Nope I wasn't but as you saw it didn't take me that long.

Good to hear! I hadn't heard about the double launch though. Huh.

Yep. It stops in the middle of the ride and then launches you a second time. So much fun!

I hadn't heard of this! What kind of ride is it supposed to be? Like California's?

Nope, nothing like California's. It's going to be an indoor coaster. The building they are constructing is going to be ten stories high. I think I read somewhere that it's going to be the longest indoor coaster in the world (or maybe just the US). The old Universe of Energy building is going to house the line for the ride. Oh here you go, a link to the announcement on the Disney Parks Blog.

Guardians of the Galaxy Coaster

Trust me. It's much cooler inside the tank than outside.

I bet! That looks like a lot of fun.

I love your bags! Do you make them yourself or purchase them?

Thanks! A friend of mine makes and sells them and I have quite a few.
 
A Drizzly Afternoon Around World Showcase

Alright folks, this will be the last update for a few weeks since I leave for Disney on Friday!

I only had a few hours to make my way around WS before I needed to head back to HS. I had a couple of missions I wanted to complete. First, I wanted to find an elephant figurine to add to my growing collection. I’ve gotten kind of obsessed with Elephant figurines after I purchased one at Venice Beach when we were out in LA last year. Since then I had gotten one from the China pavilion and one from Animal Kingdom. My goal was to find one from a different country. Second, I wanted to check out the Steiff in Germany and possible purchase one. Finally, I wanted to stop in France to get an Ice Cream Martini.

I figured a good place to look for an elephant figurine would be the Mexico pavilion so I headed that direction once I got to WS. I went round and round and finally did find a ceramic one but I wasn’t thrilled with the pattern on it. I thought for sure I would find one at the booth that has the expensive wood carved animals but there was not one elephant in among all the different animal carvings.

Disappointed in the lack of elephants, I decided to take a boat ride to visit Donald.










I did a quick walk through of the Norway store even though I highly doubted they would have any elephants and I was right. The skies were starting to look a little dicey at this point so I skipped over China and headed across the bridge. I did spend some time looking at the elephants at the Outpost and while there were some beautiful ones they were kind of pricy and delicate looking. I was worried about getting it home in one piece so I moved on to Germany.

I did spend some time in the Christmas Store and Arribas Brothers before heading across to the toy store to check out the Steiff. It was about this time that it started to drizzle. I looked over the Steiff and saw a few I wanted to look closer at but the CM back there was working both the Steiff counter and the Kidcot station and was busy. I decided to walk through the rest of the store and then come back. I found this long sleeve Germany shirt and sent a picture to Jim to see if he wanted it.




He didn’t answer me right away (he eventually said no) so I wandered back to the Steiff area and hung around until the CM was finally free. I wasn’t in all that much of a hurry and it was still raining a bit. Finally she was free and I ended up purchasing two Steiff. The first was an elephant (anyone the least bit surprised with that one?)



And also a little mouse.



It was still drizzling but not enough to even get out my poncho so I moved on. I passed up Italy and America because I didn’t think there would be any chance of finding an elephant. Plus I hate the store in Italy because the overwhelming perfume smell always sets off my allergies. I was hopeful when I entered the Japan store but after a thorough search, there were no elephants to be found. I did linger a bit at the expensive solar cats. I look at them all the time because I have quite a few of the solar items on my desk at work.







But the $45 price tag on the cats makes me walk away every time. Maybe someday I’ll actually get one. They do have some less expensive ones in the Japan store and also the China store but I haven’t found one yet that I liked enough to bring home with me.

I was sure I would find an elephant figurine in Morocco but once again I was thwarted. There were plenty of camels but not one elephant. It started to rain a lot harder when I was in Morocco so I ended up finding a bench that was under cover and sat for a while till it let up. When finally exited Morocco I snapped this picture of the new Guardians building.




By this time I was pretty much done with Epcot. I did walk up into France to check out the Ratatouille merchandise but there was nothing new. With the drizzle still coming down, I decided not to get the ice cream martini. Seating there is mostly outside and I didn't want to get caught if it started raining harder.

There was nothing I wanted to look at in UK or Canada so I decided to skip them this trip. I took one more picture of the Guardians building before heading out to the boat.




The time stamp on that last photo was 4:00 pm and the next thing I did was the 5:30 Frozen show but I’m not sure if it took me that long to get over to HS or if I did something in between the two. I do know I waited for a while for a boat because I had just missed one. This was a bit excruciating because there was a lady in front of me who insisted on giving me all of her Disney knowledge. I kept saying, yeah I know (when I could get a word in) but she was just persistent. Luckily when the boat came, I was able to separate myself from her and sit on the opposite end of the boat.

Any ways when I got back to HS I got in line for the Frozen show. I must have been pretty early because I stood in line for a while before they let us into the holding area and it was brutal. The rain had stopped and the sun had come back out. All the rain had done was make it more humid that afternoon and there is zero shade in the Frozen line.

Needless to say I was a little cranky by the time I got into the theater. And then I picked a row where a family of about 20 had decided to stop right in the middle and refused to move down when the CMs told them too. I’m a little ashamed to admit that I may have kicked a few shins as I climbed over them to get to the other side. I definitely was not careful about it.

Despite having to climb over half of the row, I still got perfectly good seats. There really aren’t any bad ones in that theater.




And a few more pictures from the show.









Despite the huge lunch I had, I was starting to get a little hungry at this point. I was doing the Star Wars Dessert Party that night and I knew I had to get something savory before the party. And yes, I knew there were savory items at the party but none of those options appealed to me. I decided to head to one of my new favorite places in HS, Baseline Tap House. I got a giant pretzel and a California Sunset and was able to find a seat inside in the air conditioning. The California Sunset is one of my favorite drinks in all of WDW.





I told myself that I was only going to eat half of the pretzel and take the rest with me for breakfast the next day. Yeah, that didn’t happen.



While I was eating, I looked up wait times. I had a Slinky Dog FP at 7:15 but I still had about an hour till I could use it. TSM was posted at 45 minutes so I decided to do that next. I do love that ride but I think the air conditioned line was the main motivation. I headed back to TSL. I snapped one picture before getting in line for TSM.



The TSM line was backed up pretty far but it was moving steadily.



I passed the time checking out everything in the new line and looking for Hidden Mickeys (didn't find any).



But as we got close to the end of that first room, the line came to a halt. After waiting another 15 minutes, watching the FP line back up out the door and noticing that no one was coming into the standby line, I came to the conclusion that the ride was down. I bailed and headed back out to discover that indeed, the ride was down and the standby line had been completely closed.

I still had a half hour until I could use my SDD FP but it was boiling and crowded in TSL so I headed around the corner to Walt Disney Presents mainly to get some air conditioning. I wandered in there for a bit, looking at the displays and I took a few pictures of the Star Wars Land model.






I headed back around into TSL and decided that before I got in line, I would try to get another picture of SDD.



Then I walked past the very long standby line and made it to the FP line. I don’t remember how long I waited but it wasn’t bad at all. I did take some more line photos of course.







They do the line here like TSM and 7DMT where they send odd numbered parties to one line and even numbered parties to another. I was paired with a family of three and sat with the dad. I felt really bad for him because he was absolutely terrified and kept his eyes closed the whole time.



I loved the coaster just as much the second time around and can’t wait to ride it again next week!

Up Next: Star Wars Dessert Party
 
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Alright folks, this will be the last update for a few weeks since I leave for Disney on Friday!
Enjoy your trip!

TSM was posted at 45 minutes so I decided to do that next. I do love that ride but I think the air conditioned line was the main motivation.
I did TSMM with a similar wait a couple times and my main motivation was the AC. I like TSL but the heat back there is brutal!

I would try to get another picture of SDD.

Great shot!
 
Second, I wanted to check out the Steiff in Germany and possible purchase one.
Thanks to you collecting these, I knew exactly what a customer was talking about when he approached me at hallmark this weekend!!! We don't carry them, but at least I came off as knowledgeable :)

IMG_7334-L.jpg
That building looks ginormous!! AND it's sort of surprising that they aren't really doing anything to hide it...I mean, how can they, but still!?

This was a bit excruciating because there was a lady in front of me who insisted on giving me all of her Disney knowledge. I kept saying, yeah I know (when I could get a word in) but she was just persistent.
Listen, lady. I already know it all. Just shh already!

I LOVE this!!! So true how toys are packaged versus what they actually look like LOL What a great detail!
 


So crazy that you couldn't find any elephants in the pavillions! I do love the 2 Steiff you purchased though :)

Stinks that you wasted time waiting for TSMM and it ended up breaking down- but at least you were staying cool!
 
I do too but I'm not sure my boss would appreciate it and I like my job and want to keep it.

Boooooring!



;)

:rotfl:I really should learn to slow down and take the pictures instead of walking and doing it at the same time.

:laughing:

I think they were refurbishing the ride and that was to hid the work in progress.

I figured that's what it was.

Yep. It stops in the middle of the ride and then launches you a second time. So much fun!

Cool! Can't wait to try it. :)

Nope, nothing like California's. It's going to be an indoor coaster. The building they are constructing is going to be ten stories high. I think I read somewhere that it's going to be the longest indoor coaster in the world (or maybe just the US). The old Universe of Energy building is going to house the line for the ride. Oh here you go, a link to the announcement on the Disney Parks Blog.

Guardians of the Galaxy Coaster

Huh. Thanks for that.. and the link. :)
 


Alright folks, this will be the last update for a few weeks since I leave for Disney on Friday!

Have a great time! :goodvibes

I had a couple of missions I wanted to complete.

I read that and immediately flashed back to the Kim Possible missions they used to have.

First, I wanted to find an elephant figurine to add to my growing collection.

Uh, oh... You're going to need another room!

I figured a good place to look for an elephant figurine would be the Mexico pavilion

That'd be my thought too. And the outpost (which worked, but was expensive I see.)

I went round and round and finally did find a ceramic one but I wasn’t thrilled with the pattern on it. I thought for sure I would find one at the booth that has the expensive wood carved animals but there was not one elephant in among all the different animal carvings.

Too bad.

I did a quick walk through of the Norway store even though I highly doubted they would have any elephants and I was right.

No surprise there. Norway is not really known for it's massive herds of elephants roaming through Oslo.

The skies were starting to look a little dicey at this point so I skipped over China and headed across the bridge.

I suppose you weren't aware that China has the largest collection of Elephant figurines, castings, ornaments and sculptures in all of Disney.











Ok. I'm kidding. But you stopped for a second, didn't you?

Finally she was free and I ended up purchasing two Steiff. The first was an elephant (anyone the least bit surprised with that one?)

Nope! :laughing: And I like them both.

Plus I hate the store in Italy because the overwhelming perfume smell always sets off my allergies.

Too bad. :(

I did linger a bit at the expensive solar cats. I look at them all the time because I have quite a few of the solar items on my desk at work.

Including an elephant!

With the drizzle still coming down, I decided not to get the ice cream martini. Seating there is mostly outside and I didn't want to get caught if it started raining harder.

I can see that. I didn't even know about this until I saw it on another TR recently.

There was nothing I wanted to look at in UK or Canada so I decided to skip them this trip.

Hey!


(actually, I know just how lame the Canada gift shop is. :sad2:)

This was a bit excruciating because there was a lady in front of me who insisted on giving me all of her Disney knowledge. I kept saying, yeah I know (when I could get a word in) but she was just persistent.

oy. You should have started giving her incorrect info.

"Did you know that China has the largest collection of Elephant figurines, castings, ornaments and sculptures in all of Disney?"

All the rain had done was make it more humid that afternoon and there is zero shade in the Frozen line.

Ugh. No.

Needless to say I was a little cranky by the time I got into the theater.

:rolleyes1

And then I picked a row where a family of about 20 had decided to stop right in the middle and refused to move down when the CMs told them too. I’m a little ashamed to admit that I may have kicked a few shins as I climbed over them to get to the other side.

Oh, no. Don't be ashamed. You're performing a public service. If they're too stupid or rude to follow extremely simple directions... then they deserve a good stomping.


Touchdown!!!

I decided to head to one of my new favorite places in HS, Baseline Tap House. I got a giant pretzel and a California Sunset and was able to find a seat inside in the air conditioning. The California Sunset is one of my favorite drinks in all of WDW.

I want exactly that in that exact spot. :)

I told myself that I was only going to eat half of the pretzel and take the rest with me for breakfast the next day. Yeah, that didn’t happen.

:laughing:

But as we got close to the end of that first room, the line came to a halt. After waiting another 15 minutes, watching the FP line back up out the door and noticing that no one was coming into the standby line, I came to the conclusion that the ride was down.

Well... poop.


Nice shot!

They do the line here like TSM and 7DMT where they send odd numbered parties to one line and even numbered parties to another.

Huh. Didn't know that.
Did that lady waiting for the boat tell you that?

I felt really bad for him because he was absolutely terrified and kept his eyes closed the whole time.

:laughing: I hope you screamed loudly.
 
Joining in. Love the pictures around the hotel. I had such a hard time picking a hotel but we actually were booking a moderate for like the first time ever and changed to a value as we felt the value was more Disney ish than the moderate :goodvibes
 
Love all the pictures. Following along. Can't wait to hear about the Star Wars dessert party!
 
Alright folks, this will be the last update for a few weeks since I leave for Disney on Friday!

Have fun storming the castle!

But the $45 price tag on the cats makes me walk away every time.

:scared1: Yeah, I'd walk away from that, too.

When finally exited Morocco I snapped this picture of the new Guardians building.

Every time I see it, I am amazed at how big that building looks. That ride is going to be huge.

This was a bit excruciating because there was a lady in front of me who insisted on giving me all of her Disney knowledge. I kept saying, yeah I know (when I could get a word in) but she was just persistent. Luckily when the boat came, I was able to separate myself from her and sit on the opposite end of the boat.

:faint:

Needless to say I was a little cranky by the time I got into the theater. And then I picked a row where a family of about 20 had decided to stop right in the middle and refused to move down when the CMs told them too. I’m a little ashamed to admit that I may have kicked a few shins as I climbed over them to get to the other side. I definitely was not careful about it.

Nice. I go for the more subtle art of crop-dusting, myself.

I decided to head to one of my new favorite places in HS, Baseline Tap House.

I didn't get to try that on the last trip, but it looks like a cool place.

I wandered in there for a bit, looking at the displays and I took a few pictures of the Star Wars Land model.

Can't wait to see it in real life!

I was paired with a family of three and sat with the dad. I felt really bad for him because he was absolutely terrified and kept his eyes closed the whole time.

Really? On Slinky? Huh.
 
Enjoy your trip!
I did TSMM with a similar wait a couple times and my main motivation was the AC. I like TSL but the heat back there is brutal!
Great shot!

We had a great time, I can't wait to tell you guys all about it!

Thanks to you collecting these, I knew exactly what a customer was talking about when he approached me at hallmark this weekend!!! We don't carry them, but at least I came off as knowledgeable

Glad I could be of service. :rotfl2:

That building looks ginormous!! AND it's sort of surprising that they aren't really doing anything to hide it...I mean, how can they, but still!?

It definitely is huge! I do think that Disney will do something to either theme it or make it blend in. Not much they can do during construction though.

Listen, lady. I already know it all. Just shh already!

Seriously. She was so annoying!

So crazy that you couldn't find any elephants in the pavillions! I do love the 2 Steiff you purchased though :)

Stinks that you wasted time waiting for TSMM and it ended up breaking down- but at least you were staying cool!

I thought for sure I would find something in Mexico or Morocco but no luck. And yes, the air conditioning in TSM is definitely a must do now!

Hope you have a great time!

We did!

Have a great time!

Thanks, it was an awesome trip!

Uh, oh... You're going to need another room!

I actually have my Elephant figurine collection at work. As of right now I just have five so they don't take up a whole lot of room. I still have a few shelves I can expand onto.

Norway is not really known for it's massive herds of elephants roaming through Oslo.

:rotfl:

I suppose you weren't aware that China has the largest collection of Elephant figurines, castings, ornaments and sculptures in all of Disney.

Actually, I'm pretty sure you are correct here. They have a lot of different Elephant figurines ranging from $10 to about a gazillion $ (OK I may be exaggerating there but there are some pretty pricey ones). But I already bought one in China in February and wanted one from a different pavilion. I'm sure I'll end up buying another one from there someday.

Including an elephant!

Yep, just in case you are wondering (and even if you aren't, I'm telling you anyways), my sorority mascot was an Elephant so that's the main reason I love them.

I didn't even know about this until I saw it on another TR recently.

Those ice cream martinis are a pretty good value. Probably about the most alcoholic drink for the price. Last time I had one I was flying for about an hour afterwards. Of course, I am a serious lightweight.

I know just how lame the Canada gift shop is.

Sorry but I do have to agree here. My husband does like to look at the hockey stuff and my mom has purchased some notepads and a nightshirt from there, but I don't think I've ever bought something at that shop.

oy. You should have started giving her incorrect info.

I'll have to remember that for next time! Of course I couldn't get a word in edgewise so it might not have worked.

If they're too stupid or rude to follow extremely simple directions... then they deserve a good stomping.

I do agree on this one. I don't get why people rush into the theaters. I always try to hang back towards the middle of the crowd so you end up in the middle of a row.

Nice shot!

Thanks! I get lucky once in a while. :lmao:

Huh. Didn't know that.
Did that lady waiting for the boat tell you that?

Nope, probably about the only thing she didn't tell me. I just figured it out by observation.

I hope you screamed loudly.

No, I was nice. I tried to talk to him to distract him from the ride. But he didn't speak much English so I don't think it was much help.

Joining in. Love the pictures around the hotel. I had such a hard time picking a hotel but we actually were booking a moderate for like the first time ever and changed to a value as we felt the value was more Disney ish than the moderate :goodvibes

Thanks! I do like how Disneyish the values are but I usually end up there because of the price. I'm never in my room so paying for a moderate or deluxe just isn't worth it.

Love all the pictures. Following along. Can't wait to hear about the Star Wars dessert party!

Thanks! I'm going to talk about the party here in a minute.

Have fun storming the castle!

Thanks! We had a great trip!

Yeah, I'd walk away from that, too.

Well, I may or may not have come home with one last week. :P

Nice. I go for the more subtle art of crop-dusting, myself.

:rotfl2:My husband likes that method too.

I didn't get to try that on the last trip, but it looks like a cool place.

Baseline is a really nice place to sit and have a drink and snack. The outside area is nice and we used that in February when it was a bit cooler out. I was very happy to find an indoor seat in August though!

Really? On Slinky? Huh.

Yeah I was surprised. Not sure why he rode it? It wasn't like he had too for his kid since his wife was there.

Have a wonderful trip.

SDD is such a fun coaster

Thanks! We had a great time. I got to ride SDD two more times and still love it.
 
Hello everyone! I'm back from my trip and we had an amazing time! I can't wait to write all about it but I've still got to sort through all of my photos and download the Photopass ones. I also need to come up with a title as nothing jumped out on this trip. I'm hoping to get it started in the next week or so. In the meantime, I've got the next installment already written for this one so here it is....

Star Wars Dessert Party Part 1

I finished up with Slinky Dog by 7:45 pm and even though my Dessert Party didn’t start till 8:30, I decided to just check in early and find a bench inside Launch Bay to cool off a bit beforehand.

Check in was very easy and I had the privilege of meeting @FastPasser. who is a regular poster here on the DIS and a CM (retired now). I got my lanyard and then went inside and found a bench near the steps leading down to the Chewbacca and Kylo Ren meet and greets and also the Dessert Party area.

Here’s both sides of the lanyard:






And the view of the dessert party area from my bench. I didn’t know at that time but my table was #18 right next to the pole in this photo.



I sat there and called Jim while waiting for the party to open up around 8:15. Most nights the party opens about 15 minutes before the advertised start time. While I was there, I spotted a lady in an awesome Princess Leia outfit and had to snap a stalker photo. She was harassed quite a bit that evening by the storm troopers.



Once it was time I headed down the steps and into the party area. I knew being a solo traveler I would be seated with another group which made me a little nervous. But for some reason, no one ever showed up at my table and I was perfectly fine with that! Also on the table sign was my designated time to meet Kylo Ren.



As soon as I found my table, I headed up to the buffet to get some food. In the interest of this TR and also some friends who asked me for pictures, I took photos of most of the food before getting a plate myself. First up was the savory table.





And the sweet stuff.












Off to one side was a table with Bread Pudding and cookies.



And also a Nitro station where they were freezing Nutella.



On the other side of the area was a drink station. There were all kinds of non-alcoholic drinks that I didn’t pay too much attention to or get a picture of and also a bar. I ended up getting the Cosmic Citrus Twist listed below.



If you remember, I ate way too much of the pretzel at Base Line Tap House so I wasn’t as hungry as I should have been for this party.

Anyways, here’s my first plate.




And the Cosmic Citrus Twist which was really good. The other drink in that last picture was a non-alcoholic drink they were handing out at the door. At this point I don’t remember what it was but it was light and fruity and hit the spot with the hot weather.



I really liked everything on my plate except for the Dark Chocolate Mousse Dome. It was very bitter and I just prefer sweet. My favorite was the peanut butter cupcake followed by the little chocolate cheesecake.

I finished my first plate and then it was time for my Kylo Ren meet and greet. There was a separate line for the party guests so I just had to show my lanyard and I walked right in, past the fairly short stand by line.

I will say this was the only thing I was disappointed in during the whole party. This meet and greet was super rushed. I entered the area, Kylo pointed at me and then at the floor, ordering me where to go and stand. I stood there, they snapped a picture and then ushered me out. There was zero interaction with him at all. I doubt I was in the room more than 30 seconds. So here’s my super awkward photo with him.




After my quick meet and greet I went back and got some more food. I ended up with the chocolate peanut butter cupcake and the chocolate cheese cake again. I thought about getting one of the chocolate chip cookies and trying out the nitro Nutella but I ended up getting full and never made it back to them. Note to self, have a smaller snack next time before the dessert party.

I will say this was when I noticed how crowded the party felt that night. The tables were close together and it was a bit hard maneuvering between them to get back and forth to the buffet. The first time I went up to the buffet, a lot of people still hadn’t made it into the party area.

For the next while I mostly just enjoyed the atmosphere. @FastPasser. stopped by to say hello for a few minutes and confirmed that the party was sold out. I also talked a little bit with the family at the table behind me. They had a boy maybe around 5 who had a severe egg allergy. He got one of the special boxes of allergy safe treats and he was so excited about them. He was showing them to everyone around and counting how many were in the box. I think the total count was somewhere around 10. I think the poor kid was so used to being super restricted in what he could eat that he was amazed with how many options he had.

The Stormtroopers did walk through a few times and spent some time harassing guests. At one point one of them stopped at my table. He just stood there and stared at me and finally I got a bit flustered and said “What?”. He replied “I’ll ask the question here” and then turned and left. Not sure what that was all about.


At 9:25, we lined up to head outside. As we exited, we were handed our Phasma stein (please ignore my reflection in its shiny surface).





I ended up giving it to Jim and he has it displayed with the Chewy Stein we got the first time we did this party several years ago.

When we got out to the viewing area I headed towards the back and found a seat along the wall towards the right when looking at the theater. The area did feel pretty crowded that night. Here’s some pictures although it’s hard to get a good sense of the area because it was so dark.






Then it was time for the shows to begin. I planned on staying seated but unfortunately everyone towards the front was standing so I had to stand to see. I felt bad for the people right behind the raised area who probably thought they had the best spot in the house until the dessert party people arrived. I took a ton of pictures of both shows as usual. First up, Disney Movie Magic which basically showcased live action Disney movies.















Continued in Next Post
 
Star Wars Dessert Party Part 2









I sat back down for the few minutes in between the shows but had to stand back up in order to see once Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular started up.



























This next one isn’t really a good photo but it shows the intensity of the fire they shoot off. It totally overwhelmed my camera and it felt like we were standing on the sun for a few seconds.



















Overall I really enjoyed this dessert party. The desserts were wonderful and it was so nice to have an indoor seated area for the party. I liked SWaGS a lot although I still would say the previous Star Wars fireworks show was better.

We were definitely a bit close for the show but in all honesty I’m not sure there is an ideal place to watch this show from. If you are far enough back to see all of the fireworks, you won’t be able to clearly see the projections. I think the current dessert party area is probably the best because the show really is more about the projections with a few fireworks thrown in.

I think my only disappointment of the night was the rushed meet and greet with Kylo Ren. I don’t expect a huge amount being a solo adult but a few more seconds of interaction would have been nice.

I definitely recommend this party to anyone who is thinking of trying it and I hope to do it again in the future. I actually went back to see if I could fit it into our October schedule but was really not an option since we were concentrating on Food and Wine. Plus my Mom, Brother & SIL are not Star Wars fans.

My plan after the fireworks was to head back into TSL to see it at night and possible ride Slinky again if the line wasn’t too bad. But at this point, between the heat and lack of sleep the previous two night, I was done with a capital “D”. D.O.N.E. I couldn’t believe it but all I wanted at that moment was a shower and my bed. I did wait about 10 minutes before heading out because this was the view from the raised platform.




It was a teeny bit crowded that day! Once that thinned out some, I headed out to the bus stops to find absolutely no one at the All Star Movies stop. I guess I must have just missed a bus. But almost immediately, a bus pulled up at the All Star Sports stop and it was one of those big comfy ones like the DME buses. The driver waived me and the four or five people from the All Star Music line over and said he had plenty of room and would drop us off at our resorts also.

So I ended up making it back to my room fairly quickly, showered and crashed for the night.

Pin trading was horrible this trip, there was nothing good on any of the CMs lanyards. I only managed to find one I liked all day. Oh and I forgot to mention that morning at HS a CM had loved my Slinky gear so much that she gave me a couple of Toy Story stickers. She searched all through her stack for a Slinky Dog sticker but didn’t have one so she gave me Jesse and Buzz instead.




And here’s my Fitbit stats for the day.



Up Next: A Pandora Kind of Morning
 
Hey! I have been missing from the Dis so much so that I am sure my readers think I have fallen off the face of the Earth (I finally updated today after forever). I am so glad that I found your report. There's simply too much to comment on so I'll just say I'm all caught up.
 
The dessert party looks nice, I like all the savory options you can have now. I have never done a dessert party! I love Star Wars but I agree, I think the first SW’s fireworks were better!
 
Thank you for the dessert party review. We are going to it in a few days and I wasn't really sure on what to do.
 
I got a bit flustered and said “What?”.
LOL I love that..."WHAT?!"

This one looks way cooler than that crazy faced Chewbacca one they were giving out before!

I sat back down for the few minutes in between the shows but had to stand back up in order to see once Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular started up.
We had the same issue with Jingle Bell, Jingle Bam dessert party at DHS. Everybody standing with their kids on their shoulders...not really necessary when you're already so close. Ugh.

But almost immediately, a bus pulled up at the All Star Sports stop and it was one of those big comfy ones like the DME buses. The driver waived me and the four or five people from the All Star Music line over and said he had plenty of room and would drop us off at our resorts also.
Oooooh, what a bonus!!!
 

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