"That’s not how the Force works!" - January 2017 Rebel Challenge + More! 3/14 Complete

[Dis_Yoda]

Afternoon Thrills

We headed to the meeting ground with our drinks in hand and were given looks by the young children’s parents! Oh well! We enjoyed them! When we all met up, we were immediately ushered into the Special Effects show where we got to see how Special Effects were created for the movies. My husband really enjoyed it! I had seen the show previously and not much had changed.

After the special effects show, we headed into Springfield!

Going on The Simpsons Ride with 3 groups from Australia was interesting. None of them had ever watched the show outside of maybe an episode or two so a lot of it went over there heads, especially the Sideshow Bob storyline. My husband and I always love the jokes of this ride. I watched more of the Simpsons Marathon on FXX this past winter than I should admit (being at my mother’s house so much attributed to this) I got even more jokes than I usually do!

Once we left Springfield, we headed to the attraction I was the most excited for, The Walking Dead! At the time of this visit, I had actually never watched The Walking Dead but I knew about it. I do love scary things and haunted houses so I knew I would enjoy this attraction for being zombie filled and gory!

I loved the walk through experience! I didn’t find it as scary as Halloween Horror Nights but it was nice to see the attraction. I wonder what I would think about it now that I’ve binged watched Seasons 1 through 5 so far! I totally recognized the prison and the hospital and the bicycle girl!

Our next area to visit was Super Silly Fun Land to visit Gru and the Minions!

Minion Mayham is cute! We enjoyed the ride.​

 

[kastoney]

You should have told the annoying 10 year old that the simpsons was Harry Potter

 

[Dis_Yoda]

You should have told the annoying 10 year old that the simpsons was Harry Potter

Oh! I should have done that. I like how you think (but you already knew that!) At least the other two younger children in the group weren't annoying!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Wizarding World of Harry Potter

After our Super Silly Fun Land visit, we 'fiiiiinnnnalllllyyyyy' (in my best 10 year old girl voice) headed off to what would be the end of our VIP guided portion and went into the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

After our VIP Guide showed us one of the spells with the wands in action, we headed onto the Flight of the Hippogriff.

Getting into Flight of the Hippogriff

We headed into Harry Potter and The Forbidden Journey! Getting to walk through Hogwarts was really interesting. Even being in the VIP line where we didn’t have to wait, we took our time to walk through and enjoy the school.

What I didn’t enjoy was the ride though. I can usually handle thrill rides pretty well but this one screwed with me hard core. I did feel sick to my stomach when it was over as did my husband. I was glad we were done with rides after that ride! I’m also glad the VIP guide purposely left it for the end as he probably knew that would occur!

Our last attraction was a visit to Ollivander’s. The show was cute to watch but I kinda wish that bratty girl wasn’t selected to have her wand determined for her. I don’t like rewarding bad behavior!

I really loved how themed the Wizarding World of Harry Potter was! Maybe one of these days we'll visit Orlando's version!​

 

[TeeterTots]

I love Harry Potter and can't wait to visit universal someday! Maybe when the kiddos are a little older and into it. Ugh I can't tolerate annoying kids especially ones that aren't mine!

 

[CallieMar]

Following along! I haven't been to Universal in ages and the rest of the park doesn't interest me much anymore, but I love Harry Potter and that area looks amazing! Hoping to tag on a day to go here on a future trip but it's hard to pull us away from the Mouse even though we tend to stay for a week at a time

 

[DnA2010]

Jumping on board! Your reports are a great mix of experience and food pics! (Just like Alison does!)
Good for you for completing the run! I've just recently downloaded a C25K app and going to get started- I've had a couple of surgeries on my ankle/Achilles and then was pregnant last year ending in a c section, so needless to say I have like 0 fitness, but gotta start somewhere! I can't even fathom a half, you're awesome! I was so jealous that hubby got to do the Castaway 5K when we did a Fantasy cruise in 2015 - I was still walking with a cane at the time as had just come off crutches.

That Universal tour so was so great to follow along, thanks so much for sharing! DH and I def would have been into the booze, especially with a bratty kid!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

I love Harry Potter and can't wait to visit universal someday! Maybe when the kiddos are a little older and into it. Ugh I can't tolerate annoying kids especially ones that aren't mine!

My husband had been really excited to visit the Wizarding World! We need to get to Universal Orlando and explore everything they have! I can handle behaved children or even a little bit of annoyance as it was a long day but this was beyond that with that girl. Her 5 year old brother was much better behave! The worst you saw from him was that he got scared to go on Minions and had to be escorted out of the first room with his mother - that's nothing. The 11 year old boy was very polite and well behaved! We ended up sitting with him a fair amount because his parents didn't go on certain rides and we were the party of 2.

Following along! I haven't been to Universal in ages and the rest of the park doesn't interest me much anymore, but I love Harry Potter and that area looks amazing! Hoping to tag on a day to go here on a future trip but it's hard to pull us away from the Mouse even though we tend to stay for a week at a time

That area was amazing! I just wish we had more time to explore before we were so exhausted by the day! We'll get to Orlando one of these days. I understand its hard to get away from the mouse. We aren't going to get away from the mouse in 2018 since our trip will be so short! We'll do a longer one in 2019 and add other things on!

Jumping on board! Your reports are a great mix of experience and food pics! (Just like Alison does!)
Good for you for completing the run! I've just recently downloaded a C25K app and going to get started- I've had a couple of surgeries on my ankle/Achilles and then was pregnant last year ending in a c section, so needless to say I have like 0 fitness, but gotta start somewhere! I can't even fathom a half, you're awesome! I was so jealous that hubby got to do the Castaway 5K when we did a Fantasy cruise in 2015 - I was still walking with a cane at the time as had just come off crutches.

That Universal tour so was so great to follow along, thanks so much for sharing! DH and I def would have been into the booze, especially with a bratty kid!

Alison and I have been following along each other's trip reports for years now! We both do have a similar style Thank you for reading along!

Getting started with C25K is a great way to get in shape! I'll be starting there after my surgery in May. How was your ankle surgery? My work just informed me today that I have training May 15th to 18th! My ankle surgery is May 12th! I just kinda looked at HR and was like...do you expect me to not be on pain killers? I also won't be able to move as I'm required to keep my foot elevated and off my foot for 2 weeks. Should make for an interesting training!

Booze is my friend! I'm glad Magic Kingdom finally allows me to get it at lunch now!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Finishing The Day

Afterwards, our guide said goodbye to us and let us know that we were free to use our VIP Experience ID to get on whatever rides we wanted to do again or we missed. We decided to head to Moe’s and share a beer! It was from the same Florida Brewery that Universal Orlando gets theirs from, so we knew we liked it!

Moe’s

Duff Beer

After the beer, my husband looked at me and told me he was done. Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey had totally screwed with both of us and messed with our equilibrium. He didn’t care about missing the Animal Actor show and the thought of doing another 3D show like Shrek made his stomach turn. All the attractions at Universal Hollywood are on the thrill side of things so we weren’t going to go on any of those rides again! I felt we had gotten our money’s worth for the day so I was ok with it. We headed out of the park!

We headed towards Citywalk where we visited the Candy Store and spent entirely too much money on candy. I totally bought myself this:

My husband got himself a box of Skittles that big!

We then went to the comic shop and my husband got himself some other goodies as well!

We knew we should eat something before heading back to the hotel. After debating on the a full sit down or something faster, we opted for faster. We actually ended up at one of my new favorites at Disney Springs - Blaze Pizza. We split a pizza though as we weren’t overly hungry. It is probably a good thing Blaze hasn’t opened in Naples yet as it would be bad for me.

Bacon, Cheese, Sea Salt

We headed back to Disneyland afterwards with only some traffic (it is LA) and the hotel. We needed to get packed up for tomorrow! I took a shower and sorted our stuff. Betsy was actually in the lobby not long after as she was waiting for her shuttle to take her to LAX to fly home. She had spent the day at the movies since she didn't have a park ticket! I went downstairs in my pajamas and hung out with her for a bit before I went back upstairs for television and ice cream. We said our goodbyes until next year!

Mickey Mouse Ice Cream​

 

[kastoney]

Love that the Harry Potter ride bothered the hubby but a beer seemed like the answer to that Sounds like a total page out of our book. When you're not sure if you're getting sick or just hungry we find it best to drink to figure it out Oh and then eat pizza!

 

[CallieMar]

Too bad that the Harry Potter ride messed with you guys towards the end. I'm glad you had a great VIP experience regardless! And I LOOOOOVE Blaze Pizza!!!! It's my favorite of all the build-your-own pizza places. What a nice way to finish up your trip!

 

[DnA2010]

Alison and I have been following along each other's trip reports for years now! We both do have a similar style Thank you for reading along!

Getting started with C25K is a great way to get in shape! I'll be starting there after my surgery in May. How was your ankle surgery? My work just informed me today that I have training May 15th to 18th! My ankle surgery is May 12th! I just kinda looked at HR and was like...do you expect me to not be on pain killers? I also won't be able to move as I'm required to keep my foot elevated and off my foot for 2 weeks. Should make for an interesting training!

Booze is my friend! I'm glad Magic Kingdom finally allows me to get it at lunch now!

Alison's trip reports were excellent distraction training when I was laid up in bed after surgeries! Fran had actually buggered her ankle at the same time as one of mine!
My first surgery did nothing hence the second- I'm still not walking great and running is hard but gotta start somewhere- let's just say I'm really close with my physio!
Not sure what kind of surgery you are having but will you not need to take some time off after? Mine was an Achilles' tendon surgery and also some work in the ankle- I could barely get to my ensuit bathroom the first week! Also never let the painkillers they give you lapse for the first bit!!

Ya booze! We are good friends also! Good to hear about MK- we really need to get back to the world!

Sorry to hear that the Forbidden Journey made you guys feel so bad- we went on it in Orlando and my BIL got sick soon as he got off he managed to get on his shirt and the universal cart lady was super nice when we went to buy one for him and gave it to us for free once she heard he'd been sick...

That cereal errr marshmallow box totally cracked me up! Is that a giant box of nerds next to it?

My hubby would live the comic book shop too!

That pizza looks awesome! Bacon, cheese and salt- perfect!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Love that the Harry Potter ride bothered the hubby but a beer seemed like the answer to that Sounds like a total page out of our book. When you're not sure if you're getting sick or just hungry we find it best to drink to figure it out Oh and then eat pizza!

It would be page out of your book! Alcohol totally makes everything better! This probably wasn't the best decision but it's vacation! Pizza totally helped make us balanced again as cheese and bread should.

Too bad that the Harry Potter ride messed with you guys towards the end. I'm glad you had a great VIP experience regardless! And I LOOOOOVE Blaze Pizza!!!! It's my favorite of all the build-your-own pizza places. What a nice way to finish up your trip!

Well - I think that Harry Potter ride messes with a lot of people! I'm happy to finally go on it once but I think its a one and done for me! VIP was totally the way to go for us! Such a splurge but thats why we work right? There are other build your own pizza fast casual places? That would be dangerous for me! The options here are the norms - Pizza Hut, Papa Johns, Dominos and Marco's. We switch between Marco's and Papa Johns depending on how bad we want to be!

Alison's trip reports were excellent distraction training when I was laid up in bed after surgeries! Fran had actually buggered her ankle at the same time as one of mine!
My first surgery did nothing hence the second- I'm still not walking great and running is hard but gotta start somewhere- let's just say I'm really close with my physio!
Not sure what kind of surgery you are having but will you not need to take some time off after? Mine was an Achilles' tendon surgery and also some work in the ankle- I could barely get to my ensuit bathroom the first week! Also never let the painkillers they give you lapse for the first bit!!

Ya booze! We are good friends also! Good to hear about MK- we really need to get back to the world!

Sorry to hear that the Forbidden Journey made you guys feel so bad- we went on it in Orlando and my BIL got sick soon as he got off he managed to get on his shirt and the universal cart lady was super nice when we went to buy one for him and gave it to us for free once she heard he'd been sick...

That cereal errr marshmallow box totally cracked me up! Is that a giant box of nerds next to it?

My hubby would live the comic book shop too!

That pizza looks awesome! Bacon, cheese and salt- perfect!

I'm having lateral ankle reconstruction as my tendons are pretty much nonexistent after almost 20 years of ankle sprains. I won't be allowed to put any weight on my ankle for 2 weeks. I was originally planning on taking 2 days off but this training is something that I have to do for work. I already warned HR I'm going to stuck to that chair and will have to prop it up. At least my surgery is on Friday so I have Saturday & Sunday at home. My husband is going to have to drive me to and from work. For the bathroom - at least the other HR lady will be in the training with me and she already told me she'll push me around in a wheelchair and help me where needed. At least I'm good at holding my bladder! I'm planning on being on the painkillers!

I'm so happy about MK! It means we'll eat lunch there more than we have previously! I could see someone getting sick as soon as they got off of it! I'm actually shocked I didn't get sick, especially considering 36 hours before I was getting sick from who knows what! Glad the Universal Lady took care of him! That was nice!

I totally ate my marshmallows in a cereal bowl too when I had them when I got home. I did at least split it into 4 servings to avoid sugar overload! There was a giant box of nerds next to it along with a giant box of Swedish Fish! So much giant candy! Being an adult is fun as you can actually just buy it without convincing anyone else about the purchase!

Bacon, Cheese, Carbs - those are the only things I need to live right? I could totally manage that.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Travel Home

We woke up at 4AM for our 6:50AM flight. We didn’t take long to get ready and head to John Wayne Airport. We had to stop to get gas but there was a station not far from Disneyland that we stopped to fill up. We arrived before Avis had started taking cars yet for the day but she took our keys anyway and said she’ll email the receipt later. I wasn’t worried as I knew we didn’t damage the car and I knew the car was filled up! We headed upstairs to where United hadn’t even started their kiosks yet but I took advantage of this time and weighed our suitcases. One of them was 55 pounds! We did some rearranging between the other bag and my husband’s backpack and got both of them underweight. I hadn’t done any laundry this trip as I wanted to relax so my husband’s running clothes were taking up more weight than usual (and in a tied off bag)

Once inside, I got us something from Starbucks and we waited to board. We ended up taking off late from SNA which made us have a really short connection in Houston. We had to run (and have a fight mid-run) to the point I didn’t even look behind me and boarded the plane without my husband there as they had already called our group! He apparently decided to go to the restroom. Would have been interesting if he missed the plane! We wondered if our luggage was going to make it but at the worst case, we were on our way home so we could survive without our luggage. We did get to sit next to this super nasty guy on the plane though..

Gross People On Plane

The bad part about the lack of layover was we didn’t get a chance to get food at all. I ended up ordering the cheese tray as I needed something and that was the option that looked the best. I finished Season 1 of Narcos on the flight back as well!

Cheese Plate

We ended up landing earlier than planned in Fort Myers and our luggage had made it! Yay! We looked at each other and said we missed our puppies so we headed to the boarding facility and picked them up a day early. After that, we headed home and this trip was over! We won’t be back to Disneyland until 2018 for the Star Wars races. I may end up there in November 2017 though depending on my work trip to Orange County.​

 

[iivye]

Great trip report! Good luck with the ankle surgery! I broke my leg/ankle in 3 places and had to have surgery a few years back. I'm terrible with crutches and even fell over a couple of times so I ended up buying a knee scooter to get around which worked great for me. I had to stay off it for a couple of months but two weeks hopefully won't be too bad. I hope you heal fast!

People on airplanes can be extremely gross, from the BO to the constant farting, I would say sock feet is probably the least bothersome for me unless the feet stink really bad. Yuck!

Looking forward to the dining report!

 

[CallieMar]

Glad you had a fairly uneventful flight!

Well - I think that Harry Potter ride messes with a lot of people! I'm happy to finally go on it once but I think its a one and done for me! VIP was totally the way to go for us! Such a splurge but thats why we work right? There are other build your own pizza fast casual places? That would be dangerous for me! The options here are the norms - Pizza Hut, Papa Johns, Dominos and Marco's. We switch between Marco's and Papa Johns depending on how bad we want to be!

That's ok, the Wizarding World looks so detailed you would be fine skipping that ride from now on! And yes, it's great to be able to splurge on experiences! Work to live, not live to work.

There are 4 build your own pizza places in my city lol. Blaze, Pieology, Mod, and Pizza Rev. I think these are all national chains. Actually now that I think about it, Blaze is only my 2nd fave. I can't believe I forgot about Pizza Press, which is on Harbor right across the street from DL!!! My favorite, perfect for a late night snack after a long day in the parks.

Off to check out your dining report!

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

Really enjoyed the trip report! See you in 2018 for the next Star Wars--we'll be there too. My first half was the race this year and by the next one it will be #4! Very addicting

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Great trip report! Good luck with the ankle surgery! I broke my leg/ankle in 3 places and had to have surgery a few years back. I'm terrible with crutches and even fell over a couple of times so I ended up buying a knee scooter to get around which worked great for me. I had to stay off it for a couple of months but two weeks hopefully won't be too bad. I hope you heal fast!

People on airplanes can be extremely gross, from the BO to the constant farting, I would say sock feet is probably the least bothersome for me unless the feet stink really bad. Yuck!

Looking forward to the dining report!

I'm debating on the crutches or the scooter. I haven't decided yet. I think the scooter is just a visual image thing for me that I need to get over.

Those feet was stank! They also ended up causing a problem for the poor flight attendants as they couldn't get the drink cart around them and he wouldn't wake up! The guy next to the stinky feet was trying to get him to run over them!

Glad you had a fairly uneventful flight!

That's ok, the Wizarding World looks so detailed you would be fine skipping that ride from now on! And yes, it's great to be able to splurge on experiences! Work to live, not live to work.

There are 4 build your own pizza places in my city lol. Blaze, Pieology, Mod, and Pizza Rev. I think these are all national chains. Actually now that I think about it, Blaze is only my 2nd fave. I can't believe I forgot about Pizza Press, which is on Harbor right across the street from DL!!! My favorite, perfect for a late night snack after a long day in the parks.

Off to check out your dining report!

I live that motto - work to live, not live to work. I work hard so I can play hard .

The Wizarding World is so detailed! I know I missed so many details in it and we didn't even explore the shops so I know I missed tons there. I've never heard of those other 3 pizza places! I might have to try Pizza Press next time I'm in Orange County for work!

Really enjoyed the trip report! See you in 2018 for the next Star Wars--we'll be there too. My first half was the race this year and by the next one it will be #4! Very addicting

Glad you enjoyed my report! See you in 2018! RunDisney is very addicting! Hopefully I'll be coming back strong post recovery!

 

[kastoney]

Awesome trip report as always!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[franandaj]

I've finally had time to comment over here, and I'm almost caught up overall!

The VIP tour at Universal sounds like a pretty good deal, but I find that the rides there are all to motion simlulator dependent. I didn't realize you two hadn't been to US/IOA. I had the same problem with Forbidden Journey. I had been considering trying it at Universal Hollywood because I wouldn't have invested a plane flight into getting sick, but it sounds like I may have the same reaction that I did in Florida.

Where was the Blaze pizza you went to? I haven't seen any out here (at least none in Long Beach).

You guys are so good at early mornings! We did three this week and I'm needing toda to fully recover from it. I'm lucky to arrive at the airport by 6:50 much less be on the plane taking off.

You might consider investing in one of those travel scales for your carry on. I have one and it has saved me the repacking at the ticket counter stress. Not sure how much it cost, but it's digital and pretty small.

Yay that you and your luggage both made it. I would have been in so much trouble to have boarded without Fran, but then again she can't board without my assistance, so it wouldn't happen.

Glad you had a good trip! I hope you'll post a link to your next TR!