April 2019 – Star Wars Rival Run – day 6 – 4/3/19-4/10/19

Monday 4/8/19

After the short, rough night on Saturday, boy did we sleep good! I didn’t even need an alarm, getting between 8 ½ and 9 hours, way more than I get at home! We took some pictures of the Cars section after getting ready, had breakfast, and made it to Studios just before 9:00. They were testing some gondolas out from under their wraps! That was cool to see. Heather and Ryan were having trouble moving, suffering a bit from allergies so she told us to go on Toy Story Mania which had just a 15 minute wait. It was our first time seeing the new stand-by queue and were happy with the smallish wait as we got to see Potato Head animatronic a bit and all the new to us stuff. After that Heather and Ryan had arrived so I met up with them for our Rock-n-Roller Coaster fastpass while Kathy used the time wisely meeting Mike and Sully. After our awesome ride we met back up with Kathy but had some time before our Slinky Dog FP. No problem, we hadn’t met Edna Mode yet so we all went and did that in the old Pixar Place with not very long of a wait! That was fun to do! We headed back into Toy Story Land to use our Slinky FP. It was so great! We got first and second row! Heather and Ryan were so kind and made sure we had the first! After a great ride we all went over to see something new we were all looking forward to, Lightning McQueen Racing Academy! We walked in just before the show was about to start and it was about 2/3 full. We got decent seats for now wait and even noticed how you could still smell everything fresh and new. It was a great show, we all laughed several times and really enjoyed it! We look forward to seeing it again, thankful for something truly new and an addition, rather than a subtraction or replacement for losing something else. Heather and Ryan had a third FP for Tower and we had one for Star Tours so we said brief good byes to Heather and Ryan knowing we’d meet up later at EPCOT. We browsed a couple stores on our way over to Star Tours and picked up a 4th FP for Soarin’ for between 6:00 and 7:00 in the evening after riding. I let Heather know so she could possibly get one after their 4th at Test Track. There was a Friendship boat at the dock when we exited so we decided to take a nice relaxing ride instead of walking to EPCOT. From experience I knew it would be quicker to get off oat Yacht and Beach and walk the rest of the way in since they still had to go to Boardwalk before heading over, so we did that. It’s such a nice ride!

We got our fish and chips at Yorkshire County Fish Shoppe and sat by the water eating, relaxing, and just enjoying life in our happy place. We found the rest of the eggs really quickly and met Melissa and Jenny exiting Living with the Land. It was so much fun to be able to spend some more time with them! We rode Figment with absolutely no wait with them and then noticed Ralph and Vanellope didn’t have to much of a wait so we were all able to meet them together, that was so great! Sadly, our time together came to an end far too quickly as they had to get to their dinner ADR. Lots of hugs and we sent them on their way and Kathy and I rode Living with the Land with no wait. There was relatively no one at EPCOT! It was a gloriously uncrowded day! We headed over to the Visa Meet and Greet where there was also no wait, almost never is for this. Goofy was so funny, he “said” he couldn’t run because of the resistance of his ears!

We knew we hadn’t planned to go back to AoA this afternoon so Kathy got us one of the couches in the area behind Club Cool where we could take a nice rest break. I got us the peanut butter mousse, actually two because one of them was broken and they couldn’t serve it….thank you cast members! We rested for quite a while on the couch, I’m really going to miss that quiet spot. It’s always so nice when you need a break but don’t want to, or maybe don’t have time to, leave the park. After our rest we sampled the offerings in Club Cool (minus Beverly), browsed Mouse Gear, and got street corn and a ham and cheese pretzel for dinner. We had a bit of time before Heather and Ryan were going to get there and our Soarin’ FP so we were able to meet Baymax and Joy and Sadness with minimal waits. We told Joy and Sadness about the wet 5k and Joy loves playing in puddles! Sadness just likes the rain. We felt a storm blowing in when we exited so we ran, literally, for the Land Pavilion, just making it as the skies opened up! Heather and Ryan’s shoes got soaked on the way in! But they made it and we all rode Soarin together in B-1! About this time Kathy was cooked and fading fast, so we sent her home with a hug and a kiss and I stayed for the evening with Heather and Ryan. Heather was doing and feeling much better after her much needed nap that afternoon! I walked about World Showcase with them while they got food at various places, and I enjoyed another chocolate macaroon in France. It was just such a great evening, no schedule, just enjoying each other’s company, the beautiful weather, and low crowds. We even saw a hummingbird moth at the Honey Beestro! It looks just like a hummingbird, but is a moth at night! I’ve never seen one before! We were all done by this time so we walked out the exit together. An AoA bus was just pulling out so I rode to Pop with them and then crossed the bridge to home. It was truly a great day! I believe it was only my second day ever over 36,000 steps!

Steps: 36,012

Miles: 16.26

Spin: 5