12 Days at Disney Feb 2018 Trip Report - Day Eight
This was a busier day crowd-wise in the parks. My mother and husband seemed to conspire to sleep in, even though we all know the morning is the golden hour, but that's ok. We had a little breakfast in the room, and arrived at Disney Hollywood Studios shortly after 9:00. It's hard to imagine it now, but DHS back in 2018 did not have a whole lot going on. There was no Toy Story Land and no Galaxy's Edge yet, so for us, it was a half day park at the time. Still, we must spread the love to ALL Disney parks, so we went.
We had a FastPass for Toy Story Mania so rode that. We also saw the march of the First Order up Hollywood Boulevard. Disney was bringing a lot of Star Wars activity in in preparation for Galaxy's Edge. We then went to the Star Wars launch bay. We really wanted to trade with a Jawa but for whatever reason, it didn't seem that was available that day and we were told we could either meet Chewbacca or Kylo Ren, so we met Chewbacca and that was actually pretty wonderful. Chewie gives really good hugs.
Outside of Toy Story Mania
We then had a FastPass for the Frozen Sing Along because although we might not have picked it ourselves, we heard it was fun, and that was no lie. We had a great time, laughing, singing, and enjoying the Elsa magic at the end. We especially loved the two narrators and Disney not taking itself very seriously: "Their parents DIED?? What is this - Bambi? Or Cinderella? Or Snow White? Or Lion King?"
So Frozen was a great show. After that, we had a FastPass for Muppet Vision and while I've been to that show many times, I have to say that one had just not aged well and doesn't really stand up as well to the new stuff anymore. I know I'll probably get hate for that. I've been going to it since I was 12, and now I was taking my 11-year-old daughter, so I do not lie when I say it's old and could use an update.
Left via the Sweet Spells store and grabbed some treats on the way to the Magic Kingdom. Sweet Spells is actually my favorite candy shop at Walt Disney World. It's not as busy as the Main Street Confectionary and I think it actually has more imaginative treats.
We wanted to see the parade at the Magic Kingdom, so we did something unusual and hopped directly to a second theme park, not passing our hotel, and not collecting an afternoon break. And, boy, was it packed at about 1:30 PM! We had ADRs for Tony's Town Square for during the afternoon parade, which is a great way to see the parade and have a meal too, if you are lucky enough to get a seat at the patio. But until that ADR, we had a little time to kill and everything was so packed about the only thing we could manage was playing some more Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom, so we stopped at the fire station and picked up some more cards for all family members, and off we went.
Our somewhat obstructed view of the parade from Tony's Town Square
At our ADR at Tony's we showed up plenty early for our ADR, but in a rare turn of events, we were unable to secure a seat on the patio. At about 5 minutes to parade start, we relented and took whatever seat they could give us, which was one by the window, at least. This magic usually had worked for me in the past (time your dining to a show, show up extra early and say you'll wait, and nicely ask for the seat you want), but we were out of luck this time. So we only had a partial view of the parade.
People say Tony's is not that good, but I beg to differ. My husband's ravioli was very tasty. I had spaghetti and meatballs which was just ok, but then also had cannoli and that was amazing. I think it's perfectly decent Italian food. It's not four or five star, but it's good, and like I said, if you can work some strategic magic with your timing, it's a great meal.
After the parade rolled by and we finished eating (we could see it from the window, at least), it was still very crowded. We were stumped. Usually people leave after the parade, but not today. So we played some more Sorcerers while trying to figure out what to do, and it was about this time I saw that Small World was only a 20 minute wait, and I knew my kiddo loved that ride, so I suggested we go on it. And this is where we encountered the line from H***. I don't really know what had happened, but it seemed there was some sort of medical emergency in the line ahead of us, and then we were queued around, and maybe the ride was stopped for a while but all in all, we were in line for 45 minutes.
So after Small World, we were about max capped for tolerance of crowds and took the monorail back to our resort. I do love that at the Magic Kingdom and at EPCOT it seemed that when we hit capacity, it was always an easy and short ride back to our resort. Back "home", we got some drinks and set ourselves up for the torch lighting ceremony that happens at dusk at the Polynesian. It was a pretty cool short show.
Then, it was to the pool, and to see a 7pm showing of the Happily Ever After fireworks from the luxury of our own building's patio. While our room's patio did not have a direct view of the castle, we quickly learned at the longhouse's outdoor stairwell did, so that's where we went to enjoy the show. It was very laid back and pleasant.
Kona sampler from Kona Island. Not sure what wine I was having but I have to guess it was a plum wine. All very good!
We did not have ADRs for dinner, but Kona Island at the Polynesian is usually able to seat you, so we went there to eat. I had some of the best sushi and sashimi of my life and daughter even got adventurous and ordered dumplings. We had a nice family moment trying to teach her to use chopsticks.
I'm pretty sure after this we just went to bed. It was nice to relax a bit and have a quiet evening. I'm sure somewhere in there I saw the Electrical Water Pageant again too, as I usually made a point to when I heard the music start up.
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