It’s trip report time once again! Check out all the posts from this report here. Onward!
When we last left off, I had just finished the Wine & Dine Half Marathon. Obviously the first thing to do after a race, be it a sorta-kinda triumph or no, is to take a hot shower. Always a great time, that.
A one-off interstitial: I ate some of the rainbow cake I bought from Gideon’s. I had to take a picture with it, as the Rainbow Corridor. You get it.
Secondarily, and best of all: nap time! Alas, it was to be a mere one-hour nap, as we had Oga’s Cantina reservations to make. There was a small part of me – the sleepy part of me; the just-had-a-panic-attack part of me – that was tempted to tell Becky and Erika to go on without me and I’d meet them later. But there was another, stronger part of me that was like, MISS OGA’S CANTINA??? So I shook myself awake and soldiered onto the Skyliner.
Regrets? None: the only thing better than an Oga’s ADR is an Oga’s ADR with awesome Disney friends, to the point where I was happy to skip my favorite hobby (sleeping) in order to partake. The only small bummer was we were on a side of the bar where you can barely see DJ Rex, but that’s the chance you take.
We took a pause in the Batuu market so Erika could explain Star Wars to us. I like her version best.
On our way out we swung by the Photopass photographer by the Millennium Falcon, who coached us through some fun shots. He mentioned that in a sea of porgs, he found my baby bantha refreshing, which pleased me enormously.
We hadn’t quite had enough of the drinks – a stop by the Milk Stand was in order. I got my personal favorite, the green milk with tequila. I’m in that weird category of people who genuinely prefers the green milk over blue.
All of this was a lead up to one thing: the Frozen singalong! Which is incredible under all circumstances but especially good with a very gentle buzz. The Royal Storytellers were good as per usual, although I wasn’t 100% on board with this particular Aria’s vocal schtick. She did this, like, I don’t know… guttural voice a lot? Mad respect for her commitment to the bit, but it was a little much for me.
The Just Eric, by contrast, had strong Brad Sherwood vibes and I dug it. He could really spit dead Disney parents. Bonus points for “A coronation – and who doesn’t love corn?”
From there we marched over to Toy Story Land for our much-coveted Roundup Rodeo reservation. Review of that to come, of course! There will be much discussion of the exploits of Duke Caboom, I’m sure.
That whole truncated nap situation was starting to catch up to me, and while Erika bravely chose to extend her time in the Studios, Becky and I hopped a gondola and went back to Pop for a much-needed nap.
Erika returned roundabouts the time I was waking up again, and it was shortly after that we headed toward Epcot for the race after party. Now, last year I gave the after party its own post, but as this year I didn’t quite kill it the same way, we’re just gonna fold it into the trip report proper.
WINE & DINE AFTER PARTY PORTION OF TRIP REPORT STARTS HERE!
We got our party wristbands at the International Gateway and mixed into Epcot with the regular guests about an hour before park closing, sneaking into the Soarin’ line to start. I for one am so glad the California version is back! In my opinion it’s infinitely superior – the original score is back, the smells are so familiar, and, oh, gosh, what’s the last thing… IT’S NOT MADE OF BENDY CGI.
None of us felt any deep need to watch Epcot Forever, and we spent the park-closure-to-party gap hour in the gift shop and then wandering toward World Showcase. Once the Food & Wine kiosks opened again, it was snack time! Look for my Food & Wine Festival review coming soon to a trip report near you.
We also stopped to grab some extra photos with the race number backdrops. The lines were poorly organized, I fear, but we eventually got some cute shots. Well, the lights died during our Figment photos. I guess they ran out of ideas?
Then for the most important part of the night: a trip through Cosmic Rewind! Though the line was quoted at 90 minutes, with no Lightning Lane I think it was more like 20. While in line, I harnessed all my mental willpower manifesting “September” – and IT WORKED, BABY! I finally got a new song! “September” shoots to the #2 position behind “Disco Inferno”!
There was still another 45 minutes or so of party left, and of course a part of me wanted to keep pushing a la last year… but the smarter portion of my brain (the tiny bit) knew I’d had a rough couple days and needed sleep. I let Becky and Erika lead me unprotesting back to Pop Century and a much-needed full(ish) night of sleep. I’ll shut the party down again some day.
Next up: we’re winging it right back to Epcot. You can never go wrong with Epcot!
Don’t forget, you can follow FRoA on Twitter @fairestrunofall and on Instagram @fairestrunofall. If you have any questions or thoughts, leave a comment or email fairestrunofall@gmail.com. See ya real soon!
So glad you shared Erika Explains the Star Wars characters again here!!
Just Eric = Brad Sherwood humor nails it, didn’t think of that til you said it here.
I need to get a proper Erika Does The Guardians in January >D