We had another restful start to the day today, which is a sure sign we are starting to relax and unwind. I spent my time finishing up day three’s blog. I’ll do a final pass through tonight to edit it some more before uploading.
We decided on a home-cooked breakfast this morning, consisting of the maple-bacon-and-eggs we bought at Publix. A few slices of toast and some fresh Florida orange juice rounded out the menu.
Today will be a full theme park day, albeit we’re not planning on rope dropping. That’s a term theme park enthusiasts use to describe getting to a theme park before opening time. The idea is to be among the first into the park, so you don’t have huge queues for the first attraction you try. Traditionally, the entrance to the park, or sometimes an attraction within the park, is marked by a rope strung between two pillars. Upon the park officially opening, the rope is dropped to the ground, indicating that everyone is free to proceed. It’s then a mad dash by often hundreds, if not thousands, of already-waiting guests to reach their first attraction destination. There are two reasons we aren’t rope dropping. Firstly, we’re on holiday and prefer a more leisurely start to the day. Secondly, most theme parks open an hour earlier for guests staying on property (for Disney, that means staying at a Disney resort or hotel). Early access to the theme parks is typically one of the perks afforded to people who choose to stay on property. Another perk might be free parking, or some Lightning Lane access passes, which allow you to jump the queue relative to mere mortals who have to queue up the usual way. We don’t benefit from any of those Disney perks since we are staying off property at a rather lovely, luxury private rental home. It’s swings and roundabouts, but we have always favoured private accommodation when visiting Orlando. If we had to pay for multiple hotel rooms for the four of us, the cost of staying at a Disney property—even the budget end—would be too prohibitive.
Our theme park of choice for today was always going to be Disney Hollywood Studios. Yesterday was a brief trial run, but today is the main event. We have several experiences booked for Joey there today. He has two back-to-back bookings for Savi’s Lightsaber experience, where he gets to custom-build a lightsaber. Yes, you can get toy lightsabers at toy shops, and indeed, Joey already has an impressive collection of toy lightsabers at home. The ones from Savi’s, which can only be obtained from within the Disney theme park, are not as much toys as showpieces. They are of significantly better build quality than the regular toy versions. They look, sound, and operate more like the actual props used in the movies. If you are a Star Wars enthusiast, you know. If you aren’t, you’re likely to look on boggle-eyed in confusion at why so many people drop so much money on these things. Disney is nothing if not a ruthlessly efficient extractor of money from tourists. Combine that fact with the monumental success of the Star Wars franchise, and you end up with Disney executives rolling naked in cash—much of it mine, since today!
Our deliberately slow start to the day put us on course for a departure time from the house sometime between 10 am and 11 am this morning. Although we have good WiFi here at the house, there is a bizarre dead spot in reception, both on the house WiFi and on our mobile phone cellular network, right around where our car is parked out the front of the house. Several times now, I’ve attempted to get the satnav to find a destination—or even correctly load the map—only to have to drive away without success. I then have to program the damned thing after a few hundred meters. It works fine if I remember to program the destination before we leave the house. I can’t simply walk back into the house and then program our destination, since we also arm the alarm as we go. Re-entering the house means finding the alarm codes and entering the numbers before the anxiety-inducing countdown timer expires, or the alarm will sound. That requires concentration, so it’s a bit of a rigmarole.
I did remember to set the satnav destination before we left the house today, so all was well in the end. We drove the 10 or so minutes over to Disney’s Hollywood Studios and repeated the process from yesterday. We parked in the same section, Buzz. I commented enthusiastically that the car park seemed slightly less full today, with fewer rows being occupied than before. Sandy pointed out that we arrived before noon, so there are still a few hours left before the car park fills up. That revelation deflated my sails a little.
We boarded the tram over to the security checkpoint. Although Joey didn’t have his gun-shaped comb with him this time, he was once again flagged by the machine for further inspection. I was waved through again, since I had nothing metallic in my backpack. Once again, Joey needed me close by while he was further inspected. Once again, I was irritated with the security guard for insisting that since I was now standing there with Joey, I also needed to be further inspected. I smiled through gritted teeth, mustering all of my restraint.
Once fully into the park, we wasted no time heading for the Galaxy’s Edge section of the park. Today was always going to be Joey’s day for merch and Star Wars paraphernalia. There are numerous things Joey can only obtain from here in the park. As we meander through the various shops, you can see him thinking about how to spend his future spending allowance up front already. He constantly calculates the likelihood we will ever return to this park. We will return before his next assigned pocket-money payday? Once again, I made a mental note to relax the reins on Joey today. Throughout the day, Sandy and I both ended up letting him buy pretty much whatever he wanted, not that we let it slip openly, of course. He still thinks he’s borrowing from future pocket money, meaning he has to accept that he will have little or nothing to spend next week, for example. Seeing his face light up each time the penny drops when he realises he will actually get what he wants, and seeing him in such a [relatively] positive disposition has been worth it.
Contrary to yesterday, Joey and I spent most of the day together, while Sandy and Jae went off to explore the park. It’s kind of an unspoken rule between Sandy and me that neither of us has to manage Joey for too long. We love him dearly, of course, but it’s often hard work dealing with his lack of empathy, impulsiveness, and frequently challenging behaviours. It can be draining. After a while, you need a break. Often, one of us will be out and about with Joey, we’ll come home and say to the other, “he’s now all yours”, as we’ve reached the limit of our tolerance and need a break while the other takes over. Sandy had Joey for most of the day yesterday, so it was only fair she have a break from those duties today. This way, we both keep our sanity…or so that’s the theory.
We checked into Savi’s a little earlier than we needed to. I did try to see if they could squeeze the two booking slots closer together, as Joey was chomping at the bit to get his hands on his $300 light sabres! One of the two Savis’ experiences was paid for with Joey’s pocket money savings, while the other was his birthday present this year. He was also scheduled for a droid build later today at the Droid Depot. Disney’s efficient money-making nature is put to brilliant use here at the Savi’s and Droid Depot experiences. Whether you are building a custom lightsaber or a droid, there are plenty of accessories available for purchase. For example, Joey bought a replacement/spare 36” lightsaber blade. It’s interchangeable with the Savi’s lightsaber. Also, the little droids you can custom-build can be accessorised with a personality chip. All that does is change the sounds and movements the droid makes. Literally, that’s it. That doesn’t stop them from offering these chips at $20 each, with at least 9 to choose from!
Our Savi’s lightsaber experience slot arrived, and we shuffled to where we needed to be. Each of the 14 builders was allowed to bring one non-participating guest, so I was on hand with my mobile phone, recording the entire experience. After being briefed, we went in. Inside a dimly-lit room, each builder stands at a build station around a racetrack-shaped table. They are presented with a tray full of the various parts of a lightsaber, with a choice of two parts for each section. A Jedi master discusses lightsaber lore as moving sound and visual effects create an inspirational mood. At a specific point, the Jedi master calls upon the Force to activate each lightsaber, and they all come to life in the various colours each builder has specifically chosen. It’s all done very well. If you’re a Star Wars fan, it’s the epitome of experiences.
After the fifteen-minute build ceremony, everyone was handed a sheath to store their precious lightsabers, and we all left the building and returned to the park. Joey was grinning from ear to ear, clearly over the moon with his newly activated lightsaber: one down, one to go.
After entering the park, we initially requested a DAS return time for me and Joey to try out the Smuggler’s Run ride, which is the one Star Wars attraction we missed yesterday. Our return time was rapidly approaching, but the timing wasn’t great. Depending on how long it took us to pass through Smuggler’s Run, we’d be cutting it very close to our second Savi’s experience. I didn’t fancy losing that $300 slot. We’d be running the risk of losing our money, to say nothing of the devastating impact that would have on Joey.
After some discussion with the cast members at the Smuggler’s Run Lightning Lane entrance, they decided we could go through ahead of time, which was nice of them.
Smuggler’s Run is a motion simulation ride. It’s done very well, with fantastic storytelling and theming throughout. As luck would have it, Joey and I were both designated as pilots, meaning we had to use joysticks and various buttons and knobs on the control panel before us to steer our ship through its mission. Screens around the cockpit gave the illusion we were flying through space and various rebel bases in a shuttle-sized spaceship. My control steered us up and down, while Joey’s steered us left and right. And I should be clear here, I use the word ‘steer’ quite wrongly. I did get the feel of it after a while, but Joey’s wild overcompensation as he repeatedly shifted hard left to hard right back and forth meant we kept crashing into things. It was a lot of fun. Hondo Ohnaka’s narration throughout was just hilarious. Joey and I loved Smuggler’s Run. It was well worth the effort.
Back out into the park, the blistering heat was becoming oppressive. Both of us needed a pick-me-up snack. We had seen a foot-long hotdog vendor somewhere on our way from the entrance to Galaxy’s Edge, so we found a place to park Joey and the backpacks while I wandered off to locate it for both of us. It turned out to be much farther away than I thought, at the boat on the lake opposite Nessy the dinosaur. It took me well over half an hour to find it, order a couple of hot dogs, and get back to where I had left Joey. I made it back to Joey just as he had sent me a message asking whether I had forgotten him.
By the time we polished off the hot dogs—although expensive at $12 a pop, they were pretty delicious—we were nearing our second Savi’s time slot. In the meantime, Joey’s lightsaber had gotten stuck in its sheath. In trying to extract it, he partly ripped the cloth fabric at the end of the sheath. When we returned to Savi’s, I pointed this out to one of the cast members. They were immediately happy to replace the sheath there and then, so we can’t ask for more than that.
The plan all along was for me to accompany Joey on the first Savi’s experience and for Sandy to accompany him on the second. That way, we’d both get to experience it. The trouble was that Sandy and Jae were at the far end of the park, attempting to ride the Rock ’n’ Rollercoaster. Evidently, there had been a technical glitch with the ride. It shut down after Sandy and Jae had reached the loading point, which must have been enormously frustrating for both of them. I was panicking that Sandy wouldn’t make it in time. She was stressed about making it back on time and, in the process, got very hot and bothered as she raced through the crowds in the blistering heat. By the time she arrived, with literally a couple of minutes to spare, Sandy was in a sorry state. She was overheated, dehydrated, out of breath, flustered and emotional. It took her a while to recover. Fortunately, I had some half-frozen/slushy Gatorade still, which was just what she needed.
With Sandy and Joey now engaged in the whole pre-show process with the Savi’s Lightsaber experience, Jae and I agreed to meet up at one of the restaurants we found yesterday. It, too, was a fair walk from Galaxy’s Edge, so I was all hot and bothered when I got there and saw Jae. It took me a few minutes to climb down before I was approachable, but we both recovered in the end, and all was well again in the universe.
Jae and I went back to the Star Wars area to meet up with Sandy and Joey again. Joey was by now sporting a second Savi’s lightsaber, as well as some other lightsaber paraphernalia from yesterday and today, as well as a spare lightsaber sword still in the box. He looked like a walking door-to-door lightsaber salesman struggling to contain it all along with his backpack, cooling fan and other bits and bobs.
One of the things he bought earlier in the day was a Kyber Crystal accessory. It’s a palm-sized, cylinder-shaped thing that came wrapped in plastic and with a stuck-on label. Joey had removed the plastic covering but also attempted to remove the label, which turned out not to be removable. He forced it off, leaving a sticky residue all around the cylinder. He also said it was resulting in a lime-green lightsaber rather than yellow. He wanted to see if we could exchange it for a new one. The staff at the shop where we bought it were excellent. They clarified that the lime-green colour is correct and had to check with a supervisor about the exchange. However, once I explained everything, the supervisor was very accommodating and exchanged the crystal for a new one. Happy days.
Joey and I had booked ourselves a DAS return time for Slinky Dog Dash over at the Toy Story section of the park. After the initial wait time has elapsed, you can go on regardless of what time you turn up. Our time had already come and gone, so we were able to walk straight on when we arrived. The Toy Story section of the park doesn’t have much shade, so I was glad we were able to get there and straight onto the roller coaster without much hanging around.
Having done Slinky, Joey and I headed back to Galaxy’s Edge. Joey had been contemplating what other Star Wars merch he could get while we were still in Florida. He has been in a near-constant state of calculating what the possibilities are if he is successful in convincing mum and dad to let him borrow from his future pocket money allowance. Every time he is mulling over the merch in the stores, I can see the wheels turning. I can always tell when he’s reached a decision roadblock, when he has his sights set on something but has realised he can’t yet afford it. He really wanted one of the special lightsaber hilts (handle) from the movies or shows. They had several on display in a case, which can only be bought here in this shop at this theme park. They weren’t cheap. Even with Joey’s next allowance, due on Wednesday, he could only afford the very cheapest, which was nearly $100. The one he really wanted was around $200. I tried to call Sandy and Jae a few times to discuss whether I should let him get it, but they were out of reach while attempting the Rock ’n’ Rollercoaster again. Since I couldn’t reach Sandy, I made an executive decision. I told Joey that he could borrow from the following two allowances to cover the cost of the $189 lightsaber hilt he really wanted (just over $200 after adding tax). I made it clear that this meant he would have no spending money for an entire week. In reality, he would still end up spending money on things he really wants, because we are weak as parents in this regard, but I wasn’t going to let him know that. The ear-to-ear beam from him made it worthwhile for me. I ushered Joey quickly out of the shop with his latest score before we had time for him to lock onto one more thing. Yes, I am my own worst enemy when it comes to spoiling the kids, but this is a once-in-a-lifetime holiday and I really want to make it memorable for all of us.
I finally managed to connect with Sandy and Jae. They were doing the Rock ’n’ Rollercoaster for a second time. During the first run, the music wasn’t working. The pair of riders in front of them complained about it and were told they could walk through a side door to reach the start of the queue again as compensation. Sandy and Jae followed them through and scored an immediate second ride as a result. Bonus.
With everyone now slowly making our way back towards the park exit, Joey and I arrived at the car first and waited for the girls to catch up. When they finally arrived, Sandy wasn’t in the best of moods. They had bought a cup of slushy, which she forgot she was carrying in her bag. It had leaked all inside the bag, narrowly missing her camera. I didn’t say too much. From experience, I knew that anything I had to say in this situation would be wrong by default, so I erred on the side of caution and self-preservation, keeping my mouth shut. Sometimes, you need to know when to say nothing.
Now out of the car park, we decided that we would all enjoy a quick stop (is there such a thing) at our favourite Waffle House. That turned out to be one of the highlights of the day. The place was empty, save for a rather enthusiastic waitress named Deedee, with a chef named Dee. Together, they were the Dynamic Duo. Deedee was the most wonderfully entertaining character—brash, full of bubbly energy, and excellent with the kids. She put smiles on all our faces and had everyone doubled over laughing. She was very deserving of the generous tip we left.
Back at the house, we went into our autopilot routine: unloading everything from the car, stashing everything on the kitchen counter, and slipping into something more comfortable. I parked myself by the pool to crack open the laptop so I could at least get the day’s recollections summarised in bullet form. Sandy and Jae dipped their feet into the balmy pool water. Joey was walking around with a Cheshire Cat grin on his face, playing with his new stash of lightsabers, accessories, and a remote-controlled droid.
I finished the editing and final read-through of the previous day’s blog. Everyone else had gone to bed by the time I had uploaded it. I wrote up the notes for today’s blog, but was so tired by 21:30 that I decided to call it a night. We have no theme park visits planned for tomorrow, so there should be plenty of time to slow down, relax, and continue with my blog.