DAY 3 – Sunday 9/22/19

Who:  Sue (60), DVC Member

Plan:   Pool, Studios, Food & Wine, Starship

Actual:  I slept better last night, and the neighbors weren’t as loud coming back around 11.  They quieted down once they got inside, and other than some toilets flushing it was a quiet night.  I didn’t need to be anywhere this morning, so I slept in until almost 5:30.  Once awake, I moved to the living room, where I enjoyed my cappuccino and spent time online.  It looks like another beautiful weather day – possibly the best one yet.  They say the nice lower humidity should still last a few days, but then it will return to the normal heat/humidity/storms. 

Around 8:30 I got up and made my egg and slice of bacon, then changed into a swimsuit and headed to the quiet pool next to my building.  I set up my chaise lounge and thankfully today the pool was exactly how I described it – quiet!  A little piped-in music would have been nice, but the quiet was nice too.  Another couple used the pool for a little while, then a mom & adult daughter came by to sunbathe.  I stayed out there until noon, then returned to the villa. 

I got the suitcase out of the closet and gathered up the kitchen stuff I wouldn’t be needing any longer.  For lunch I had wine, crackers & cheese in the living room.  I had a great time just relaxing at “home” – but since I live in a staff house at work, this is nicer than home <g>.  Chris, Amanda & Ari were at the Tampa Rays game, so I texted and received photos/videos from them.  Ari seems to really like baseball, which is great for SB!  He can’t wait to work with him.  Our 3 grandkids each have their own personalities and strengths, but when it comes to athletic ability Ari is the one who has it.  SB saw that a while ago, and he can pretty much tell from looking at a kid if he’ll ever have a shot at becoming a MLB player (not saying that we want Ari to pursue that path – he needs to become whatever HE wants to do and can do well). 

Today I have fastpasses for Star Tours at 3:50 and Slinky Dog at 4:50.  I don’t care about Star Tours, and checked to see if I could move Slinky Dog up at all but of course there’s nothing available.  That said, I can enter the queue at 4:45.  It’ll be tough to make it to the first Starship concert at 5:30, but I should be able to at least hear the end from outside the theater. 

Finally around 3 I got my lazy butt up and showered.  Maybe I’m more like SB than I like to admit <g>.  After dressing and gathering up my backpack I left the villa around 3:45 to take the bus over to Hollywood Studios.  Originally I planned to drive, but since I’m solo I really don’t mind walking and I’ll get off the bus at the first stop! 

The bus came within 10 minutes and it didn’t take long to get to the Studios.  The bag check and entry both went quickly, and the park wasn’t crowded at all.  Since I had time to kill I used my fastpass for Star Tours, but both fastpass and standby people were just walking right into the loading area.  It wasn’t busy at all. 

I do like Star Tours better than the Falcon Run thing, but they’re both very similar to me.  I walked through Galaxy’s Edge, which also wasn’t crowded at all.  Coming out on the other side, I was in Toy Story Land so I continued to Slinky Dog and told the cast member I was early, but asked what time I should come back.  She looked at her screen and said I was only 10 minutes early (really more like 12) and to just go ahead & have fun.  I thanked her and joined the queue!

This time I rode by myself in the last seat.  They’d assigned me to the row in front of that with another person, but when the train arrived and the back row didn’t seem to be closed I asked if I could ride there & they said yes.  I’ve never seen them not fill every row, but perhaps the next several parties were all more than 2 people.  It was a fun ride, but over in the blink of an eye!  I think I was walking away by the time my fastpass window actually opened.

I headed out of the park, and saw the boat at the dock but soon realized it was full and would be leaving lots of people to wait for the next one.  That didn’t work for me, so I walked to Epcot.  Coming through bag check the security cast member was careless and my phone went flying down to the ground.  Thankfully it didn’t break, or I would have been furious.  The case did its job!

Epcot wasn’t too busy – a huge improvement over last night!  Many of the festival booths had lines, but most weren’t too long.  France had a line so I decided to save the fondue for later.  In Brazil I thought about the cheese bread, but decided to skip it.  When I got to America the theater was full, including all the standing areas. 

I walked back to France and this time there were only a couple people in line, so I got the cheese fondue and carried it back to America.  It was pretty good, but it made me very thirsty afterwards.  I doubt I’d get it again, but I’m glad I tried it.  In America I joined the queue for the second Starship concert, and got to listen to the second half of the first show while in line.  I’d brought my kindle, so I sat down and read while listening to the music.  That helped pass the time pretty quickly, and soon we were being let into the theater.  I ended up in the front row of the 2^nd section, right on the end directly in front of center stage.  It was a great seat!  By the time the show started the theater was full again.  They put on a great show, mixing up the song choices again (they said they do this because so many people come to 2 or 3 shows in a night). 

After the concert it was much easier walking through World Showcase, compared to the nightmare crowds last night.  It was a really pleasant evening, too.  I stopped at the Cheese Studio and got the maple bourbon cheesecake, which was excellent.  Tiana will like this next time.  I ate the cheesecake while walking towards the front of the park, stopping to take a couple pictures of the fiber optic lights in the pavement.  We’ll see if they are still there after the park is redone.

I exited the park and had a short wait for the Old Key West bus, which was freezing!  I was happy to get off at the first stop and walk back to the villa!  Today was a nice relaxing day, and overall I really enjoyed this trip.  The unusually comfortable weather played a big part in that, as it’s usually miserable this time of year and it’s hard to really have fun when I’m sweating to death.  Starship was fabulous, although I think I prefer seeing them at Flower & Garden Festival because the slightly smaller crowds make it easier to get into multiple shows with good seats.  Food & Wine is just too busy on weekends. 

The photos are on Snapfish at https://www.snapfish.com/library/share?via=link&token=ucjdG1Px2x6Yk2qTFz5WcQ/SFO/27950569140060/SNAPFISH

The next trip will be the “real” Food & Wine trip, starting October 29^th – 6 nights in a 1-bedroom at Boardwalk.  I’ll be so glad to be using International Gateway again, lol!

Sue