Epcot & Hollywood Studios (Yes, Again!)

As I mentioned, we wanted to squeeze in one more Disney trip before our annual passes are blacked out for the summer, and we made that happen this past weekend. We're getting our money's worth over here, people!

We decided to make a full weekend trip of it this time, both to enjoy more Disney fun and to test out having the kids share a hotel room. When we travel, we have always booked two-bedroom suites to give the kids their own space and ensure better sleep for everyone. But, with the possibility of another summer road trip on the horizon, the idea of smaller hotel rooms is certainly appealing to the bank account. However, not if it means sleepless nights, am I right? So, we figured this was a good time for a trial run, because if it went terribly, the stakes weren't that high.

Anyway. We left early Saturday and drove down to Orlando to spend the morning at Epcot. We had such a nice time there during our little day trip, and there were a couple more things we wanted to see.

Back at Epcot!

Most of our morning was spent meeting characters, because that's really what the kids enjoy. I picked up a new Alice in Wonderland costume for Ellie at a consignment store the day before, and she was excited to wear it to visit Alice. She had also been asking to meet Mulan since our last visit, so we made sure to make that happen. As for E.J., he has really hit his character-meeting groove and was all about giving them big, sweet, E.J. hugs before turning around and saying "cheese" for a picture. These kids, man. Too much.

Ellie made sure to tell Alice that her name is Elizabeth Alice!

Big E.J. hug for King Louie!

Chip and Dale

Pluto licked E.J., and he loved when Ellie scratched behind his ears!

Group hug for Minnie!

E.J.'s favorite!

Mr. Smee

Mulan

After lunch, we rode the Nemo ride and hit Turtle Talk with Crush again, at Ellie's request. She was so excited to sit up front and told me she wanted to ask a question this time. Sure enough, when question time came, she waved her arm in the air and got chosen for the first question! Way to go, Ellie!

The boys on the Nemo ride

VIDEO: Ellie asks Crush a question!

By that time the afternoon was wearing on and we wanted to get checked in to our hotel, so we wrapped things up. Our plan was to check in to our hotel as soon as possible, put the kids down for late naps, then wake them up with just enough time to get out to Magic Kingdom for more fun. I booked FastPasses for us for the Dumbo ride, then the nighttime electrical parade, then we planned to stay for the fireworks and meet Mickey at the Town Square Theater (another FastPass) afterwards. We figured all that would keep us out until probably 11:30 p.m., which is crazy late for the kids, but we expected Ellie to be okay even if she didn't nap (which she rarely does anymore), and E.J. should be okay assuming he takes a good late nap.

The best laid plans, my friends. As it turned out, Ellie napped and E.J. didn't.

We had said if E.J. didn't nap we would just scrap our evening plans, but I had convinced Ellie to nap by telling her we could only go out for more fun in the evening if she did. I didn't have the heart to tell her that even though she did as I asked, we still weren't going. So we basically told E.J. to man up and out we went. 

But, we altered our plans. Instead of Magic Kingdom, where the fireworks didn't even start until 10:00 and we would have a much longer park exit time and commute home, we opted to go to Hollywood Studios for their evening fireworks show, set to Star Wars music. The timing for their show wasn't showing up on Disney's website, so Eric called Disney World to confirm that they were having fireworks that evening and at what time. We were told yes, fireworks would happen at Hollywood Studios at 9:45, so we scrapped Magic Kingdom (goodbye, well-timed FastPasses) in favor of that.

Back to Hollywood Studios!

Let me tell you what, folks. We are never again visiting Hollywood Studios during the day. All the stuff we did last time that we waited 30 minutes (or more) for before? ZERO WAIT TIME in the evening. The place was a ghost town. In one hour, we met Olaf (a new attraction!), Eric and I took turns riding the Star Tours ride, and we met both Chewbacca and Kylo Ren. It was glorious. And the kids loved it all!

So excited to see Olaf!

The kids and their favorite snowman

Snowman selfie!

Ellie just loved meeting Chewbacca!

So happy!

E.J. was a little spooked by Chewie, but Chewie did win him over with a little tickling at the very end!

This guy is much more E.J.'s style. Go figure.

Kylo Ren family photo

Ellie loved the Jawas again!

By then were about ready to go watch the fireworks, but lo and behold, everyone seemed to just be exiting the park. Nothing seemed fireworks-ready at all. We quickly learned that no, there would not be fireworks at Hollywood Studios after all, despite being told otherwise when we called. What a bummer! I'm not sure if we would have gone through with Magic Kingdom anyway had we known, but it was such a disappointment to have been wrongly counting on Hollywood Studios as a suitable substitute. Ah, well. We had a nice evening anyway!

At last! He sleeps!

And, guess what else? THE KIDS SLEPT IN THE SAME ROOM. Now, it did not exactly happen under normal circumstances, because their bedtime was 2.5 hours later than normal after a very full Disney day, so they were pretty spent. But they both went to sleep with no issues and slept in until 8:20 a.m., when the woke up and started playing with/talking to each other! So, yay! It has happened! That makes our future road trip life so much easier.

Coming up next: Our first visit to Animal Kingdom!

To see all of our pictures from this visit to Epcot, click here. For Hollywood Studios, click here.

Disney, Pt. 3: Hollywood Studios

When Eric and I finally got back to the hotel after our 10k, we had a little bit of time to relax, shower and eat lunch before heading out for the next big event of the day: our afternoon at Hollywood Studios! Ellie was very excited to see all the Star Wars stuff at Hollywood Studios, and dressed in full Rey costume for the occasion:

She looks amazing.

As luck would have it, by the time we got to the park, got our tickets all figured out and got inside, we were just in time to catch the new Star Wars show right as we walked in. The kids fluctuated between being really excited and a little nervous (the show was really loud), but for the most part, they liked it. Ellie loved the part where C3PO bonked R2D2 on the head!

The new Star Wars show at Hollywood Studios

Okay, so they were a little nervous.

After the show, we walked around a little bit. We saw the Jedi Training kids putting on their show by the Star Tours ride, and the kids took turns riding a speeder.

The kids were excited about the big AT-AT!

Ellie on the speeder

Look at E.J.'s little legs!

The kids really looked awesome in their Star Wars gear, I must say!

Our little Rey and BB8

Our next stop was the Frozen Sing-Along show, which the kids enjoyed.

Elsa and Anna in the show

We also took some time to meet Doc McStuffins and Sofia (who congratulated Ellie on her race when she saw her medal!), and saw the Little Mermaid Show (during which E.J. yelled out an enthusiastic "YAY!" a thunderous round of applause in a silent theater when Ursula was killed).

Ellie and Doc

Hugs for Sofia

We also took a little snack break. We splurged on a BB8 cup of lemonade and a TIE fighter of popcorn (both of which are still getting much love in our house, which softens the blow of the bill a little).

Rey staying hydrated

E.J. loved eating popcorn out of a TIE fighter! Bonus: now the TIE fighter serves as a place where he can hide important items like my keys. So that's great.

Of course, we also had to meet the available Star Wars characters: Chewbacca and Kylo Ren! Chewie was our longest wait of the day (30 minutes), but it was worth it to see the joy on Ellie's face when she saw him! E.J. was also really excited, but he was a bit more cautious when Chewie got close. Ellie said this was her favorite part of the day!

Big hug for her favorite Wookiee!

Look at that happy face.

Family photo!

Meeting Kylo Ren was funny, because when the kids walked in dressed as Rey and BB8, he immediately started circling them in a pretty menacing way and talking about how they were who he was looking for. Bless his little heart, E.J. was entirely unintimidated and just happily said, "Hi, Kylo Ren!" before spotting a picture of a planet on the wall. He then ran over, pointer finger at full speed, calling out, "Look! Look! Kylo Ren, Look! MOON!" That little dear just wanted to show his good buddy Kylo the moon. Can you even?

Honestly.

Kylo Ren!

Really, that was kind of a theme for the kids: they were just too beside themselves with excitement about all the Star Wars characters to play along with the "we're gonna get you, we're the bad guys" act. Take, for example, the storm troopers circling the kids outside in the courtyard. Once again, their acts of intimidation fell on blind eyes and deaf ears as the kids were just all, "THIS IS THE COOLEST THING."

Look how excited Ellie is!

"Hi, Star Wars!"

Another highlight of the day for Ellie: the Jawas we bumped into!

So happy.

Also, speaking of Ellie and cool Star Wars stuff, she looked amazing in her Rey costume and wore the full get-up for the entire day. She got tons of compliments all day long, and one woman was so smitten with her that she gave her a huge stuffed Yoda from the gift shop!

Our Rey!

Yay, something new for Mama to carry around the park!

He didn't get quite the attention that Ellie did, but let's not forget our little BB8, who also looked great both in his shirt and in the baby carrier slipcover I made, if I do say so myself:

Droid-wearing!

After all the Star Wars stuff had been checked off the list, we made one last stop at the Disney Junior show, which was another big hit.

E.J. sitting on Ellie's lap at the show!

Then, we called it a day. Eric and I had been up since 3:30 a.m. and, having walked/ran over 26,000 steps that day (my max-recorded steps per day via my Fitbit  - 12 miles walked!). Needless to say, we were pretty tired, as were our nap-less kids. So, back to the hotel for a pizza dinner and a good night's sleep before a busy day at Magic Kingdom!

Coming up next: Magic Kingdom fun, with Grammy along for the ride!

If you want to see more pictures from our day at Hollywood Studios, click here to see the full set.

Disney Pt. 2: Hollywood Studios

After Ellie's race, we left the Wide World of Sports and went straight to Hollywood Studios. We decided to go all in for this day of our trip - we had to get the kids up early to leave Jacksonville on time, and then we were just plowing through our day with no planned naps for either of them. It's a risky game, my friends, but one of necessity in this instance, as our hotel wouldn't be ready in time for naps anyway. And really, the kids did much better than we probably should've expected! I guess we just had too much fun for anyone to be angry (or, you know, we got really, really lucky).

Look at these handsome guys, ready for some theme park fun!

So, Hollywood Studios! I think I only ever passed through there once in my life before, and I really had no memory of it other than that is is home to the Tower of Terror, which sounds like a horrible ride to me so that was hardly a pull. What really drew us to Hollywood Studios was the character meal offered at Hollywood and Vine, which included an encounter with Ellie's hero du juor: Doc McStuffins! We had an early afternoon reservation to make all her little dreams come true, but we had some time to wander the park before all that took place.

Hollywood Studios!

So, we kicked things off with a ride on The Great Movie Ride—E.J.'s first ride! He did great, and the ride was fine, but Ellie was TERRIFIED. It got too loud and she flipped. Poor thing. Lesson learned: no more rides and/or loud noises, if we could help it. (And so we saw our dreams of the Magic Kingdom fireworks display drifting away...)

Footprints in the cement (a la the Chinese Theater) in front of the ride

A spectacular journey into the movies!

E.J. riding on through the land of Oz

Ellie holding Eric's hand on the ride

After the ride we made our way over to the restaurant. We had some time to kill while we waited for our table, so E.J. grabbed a quick snooze in the stroller while Ellie admired both her race medal and a katydid on a bench outside the restaurant.

Ready for lunch at Hollywood & Vine

I remember readings reviews of strollers, and people talking about how great it is if the seat reclines, because the baby can take a nap on the go. That always made me LOL because Ellie was so NOT a sleep-on-the-goer. E.J., on the other hand, made good use of our stroller recline for the very first time!

Kicking back, admiring the fruits of her efforts

Big ol' katydid!

After a short wait we were brought in to our table, and the magic started happening right away. Doc McStuffins was the very first "celebrity" to visit our table, and Ellie nearly exploded with joy. She was just beside herself.

Look at that face!

The highlight of her little life thus far.

Ellie showing off Doc's autograph! (She really is very excited, this is just what happens to her face when you ask her to "smile.")

As we ate, we were also visited by Handy Manny, Jake of the Neverland Pirates, and Sofia the First. Most of them commented on Ellie's medal—she's very impressive, after all! In addition to each character visiting our table multiple times, they also did a couple little song and dance numbers from time to time. And, you know, we also ate some food. It was a lot of fun!

Pleased to make your acquaintance, Handy Manny!

Hugs from Sofia

E.J. is not buying what Sofia is selling.

Ellie is not so impressed with Jake, apparently.

E.J. and his #1 Dad

Song and dance!

After lunch we went over to Star Tours, where we caught the tail end of a show featuring Darth Vader and a couple of storm troopers. We snapped some pictures and then Eric and I took turns riding the ride while the other one stayed with the kids. It's a 3D simulator ride that puts you in different scenarios based on the different Star Wars movies. Eric's was based on Episode I, so he went underwater with Jar Jar Binks, and mine was from Empire Strikes Back so we were flying through the snow. It was cool!

Star Tours

Darth Vader himself

Outside and inside the Star Tours ride

The best way to sightsee on Endor!

If you don't mind, I'd like to take a moment to toot my own horn. I made a couple of different slipcovers for my baby carriers for this trip. For Hollywood Studios, I made a cover for my mei tai out of Star Wars fabric. I was quite pleased with how it turned out!

Testing it out before we left home

In action!

After Star Tours we did a little more walking around.

E.J. getting his very first look at NYC!

I was wishing my nephew Santiago was with us - he loves Cars!

We tried to wait in line to meet Buzz Lightyear and Woody, but the line was very slow-moving (Buzz and Woody took an insane amount of breaks) and although we almost made it to the front, we had to leave the line before we actually met them because we had Fast Passes to the Disney Junior Live On Stage show that we didn't want to miss out on.

Ellie playing around in line

Silly girl!

So, we left the line and ran over to the theater to get our seats for the Disney Junior show. It was pretty fun - with the exception of one performer, it was all puppets. The concept was that Mickey and the gang wanted to throw a birthday party for Minnie, but needed help with various tasks. They called on the other Disney Jr. hit shows (Doc McStuffins, Sofia the First, Jake and the Neverland Pirates) to help. Each part of the show also had its own little effect that rained down on the crowd: "snow" for Sofia, bubbles for Doc and gold (tissue paper) coins for Jake. Ellie was a little spooked by one part of the Sofia section, but she loved the Doc part and even danced along a little bit!

Disney Junior Live on Stage

Snow!

Doc McStuffins, Stuffy and some bubbles!

Jake and the Neverland Pirates

After the show, we decided it was time to hit the road. We really wanted to stay and do a little more, but we knew we were lucky there hadn't been any major meltdowns yet, given how underslept both children were. We knew we needed to get going, check in to our hotel, get ourselves situated and get everyone fed and to bed. Sure enough, both kids passed out almost immediately upon getting in the car!

A last photo of the Sorcerer Mickey hat - they began tearing it down after our trip! I'm not sure what is taking its place, but the hat is no more.

Sweet E.J.

One last family photo!

We stayed off-campus this time, at the Lake Buena Vista Resort Village and Spa, which was excellent. It was just a few minutes from the parks, and thanks to an especially amazing Black Friday deal, we were able to stay in a three-bedroom suite for less than we would've paid for much smaller rooms at any of the Disney resorts. That meant everyone had their own bedroom, plus we had a full kitchen, separate living area and even a washer/dryer. I mean, this hotel room was literally more square feet than our current house. I do not exaggerate. It was HUGE. And the master bathtub! Oh, that tub. There is not much I wouldn't do to have a tub like that in my own house someday (and someone to pay my water bills for me, because I am a grown-up now and have to think of practical things like that).

Top row: the living area and kitchen; Middle row: the room Ellie slept in, the washer/dryer, and E.J.'s room; Bottom row: the master bed and bathrooms

This tub came equipped with jets and DISCO LIGHTS.

We got ourselves settled and the kids off to bed, then Eric and I relaxed a bit and hashed out our plan for the next day.

Coming up next: Magic Kingdom!

(If you'd like to see more photos from Hollywood Studios, you can see the full set here.)