So, Im back from Disney, and I spend all my gift card money and then some. I'll add photos after I get my camera unpacked.
Our first full day on property, as they say, was last Sunday. We went to Disney Springs, the one part of Walt Disney World you dont have to pay to get in. It's just a large outdoor mall. I bought some Christmas ornaments, three from an all Christmas store, one from a Marvel themed store. Two of the ornaments are the same, with a reason. It's the Partners statue, from the parks. Walt and Mickey. In both Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom at Disney World, it's in front of the castles. And I have a monorail setup that I try to do at Christmas. (It didnt get up last year, for lack of space.) It has a monorail system, Disney's Contemporary Hotel, EPCOT's Spaceship Earth, and in the middle, Cinderella's Castle. (There have been other add-ons, but since they dont make them anymore, they're very expensive on eBay.) I also added a die-cast parking lot tram. And now, it will have the Partners statue. The other ornaments I bought were Baymax from Big Hero 6 and Star Lord's Awesome Mix cassette.
Also at Disney Springs, they recently opened up a shop selling items preveiously only available in Galaxy's Edge. This was my first large scale purchase of the trip. Two holocrons (one Jedi, one Sith), 5 of the 6 available Kyber crystals (Which can be used in the holocrons), a bag of chance cubes (the red and blue dice Watto used in Episode 1) and a decorative piece with part of Galaxy' Edge, including the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy. That was just over $200. I still had plenty to spend.
Monday was Animal Kingdom. It was s short day, mainly due to rain. I, personally, spent no money.
Tuesday was the big day. The first of two days at Hollywood Studios, and my first visit to Galaxy's Edge, First order (no pun intended) of business was to get a boarding group for Rise of the Resistance. We got group 44, so we has time to kill before then. We rode a longtime favorite, Toy Story Mania, before heading into Galaxy's Edge to try to fly the Falcon. It was not a successful flight. After lunch and a quick Star Tour, it was back into Galaxy's Edge. Our boarding group was ready. Rise of the Resistance is ground breaking. If you dont want to be spoiled, I wont go into details. If you dont mind being spoiled, you can check it out on YouTube. By the time we got off the ride (which took a while due to down time while we were in the queue, it was raining. Not as torrential as the previous day, so we donned our ponchos and carried on. After all, I had my droid reservation, and wasnt leaving without that. So, we headed over to the Droid Depot, where I would build my little friend. I made him look as much like R5-D4 as possible. (Minus the bad motivator.) Once he was built, I bought the add-ons for him. Tool attachments, personality chip, rockets and lasers. I didnt feel the need to get the serving tray. I also got a magnet that looks like a restraining bolt. But I wasnt done shopping for the day. I also bought a sabbac deck (the card game Han and Lando played in Solo), the last Kyber crystal I needed, and a flash drive that looks like a data storage unit. By then, the rtains were picking up, so we left for the day, knowing we would be back tomorrow.
Wednesday, back to Hollywood Studios. We were in the park early enough to ride the newest thing in the park, Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway, before trying for our boarding group. It's a nice calm ride, suitable for all ages. (No height requirements.) Then we got our boarding group. Number 46 this time, close to what we had the previous day. I still had over $300 on my gift cards (closer to $400), and they had just started up the custom lightsabers recently. So, I was lucky enough to get in as a walk-up. The building is an experience in itself. A bit of a show, along with a $200 souvenir. I gave my saber a purple crystal, like Mace Windu's. After the saber was built, and lunch, I still had time before our boarding group. I went to the creature stall, to adopt a new friend. Specifically, a Kowakkian Monkey Lizard, like Salacious Crumb from Jabba's Palace. I also tried some Blue Milk. (Not as good as Butterbeer from The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.) After that, we rode Rise of the Resistance again. This time, no down time. Straight through the queue. By then, we were getting tired, so we left. I hads about $40 left on my gift card, and one park left.
Thursday was a but of an earlier start, since we had a breakfast reservation, at The Wave... of American Flavors, in the iconic Contemporary Hotel. After breakfast, I rode the monorail over to the Magic Kingdom, while the rest of my part drove. And the GPS got them lost. I was waiting for about 30-45 minutes. We made a clockwise circle of the park, from Adventureland to Tomorrowland. We picked the appropriate day to go, Walt Disney World's 49th anniversary. There were no special celebrations, but we did ride several opening day rides (Jungle Cruise, Haunted Mansion) and saw two opening day "shows". (Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room and The Country Bear Jamboree. I had a turkey leg for lunch. If you havent had a Disney turkey leg, you havent had a real turkey leg. They use the legs of the tom turkeys, not the hens. So they're larger than your Thanksgiving drumsticks. Unfortunately, I couldnt find anything worth buying. Dinner that night was at the Grand Floridian, in the Grand Floridian Cafe. I had a steak, but couldnt eat it all, thanks to the earlier turkey leg.
Friday, we had to leave Disney World, but not Florida. We went to a Disney outlet, which we had tried yo go to on Sunday, but couldnt get in. I didnt find anything there. So, we went back to Disney Springs for lunch, and I went back to the Star Wars store I shopped at on Sunday. Because we had limited room, I shopped small. Two magnets and another ornament. Now, I had exhausted my gift cards.
We didnt leave Florida until Saturday morning, and began a two-day drive back home, stopping for the night in Chattanooga. (Didnt see the Choo-Choo.)
Now, I just have to find places to put everything I bought.
