Monday, May 5: Our first day this trip at the Studios. With all the other things we wanted to do plus Star Wars fans showing up for May the 4th Be With You day over the previous weekend, I decided it was prudent to buy the Lightning Lane MultiPass, so we got to do a fair bit even though there were some Jedi and such still around. We had breakfast at the hotel’s food court (first time at this hotel) then took the Skyliner over to the park. Once there, started with our first lightning lane ride (Tower of Terror) and just went from attraction to attraction, grabbing more lightning lanes as we could. I was able to get a same day dinner reservation for the Brown Derby, so that was a nice break in the air conditioning. It was crowded enough that they had two performances of the evening show; we went to the first one and were able to make our way out afterwards in time to get one more ride in before the park closed. Did some shopping on our way out (the stores are open past park close, of course), so by the time we got to the Skyliner to get back to the hotel, there was pretty much no line. Attraction count = 13: Tower, Toy Story Mania, Slinky Dog, One Man’s Dream, Vacation Fun movie, Frozen Sing a Long, Indy, Smugglers Run (we got pilot role and were able to delight the couple behind us by trading with them so they could be pilots—we’ve done it and it’s stressful), Runaway Railroad (once with lightning lane, once at the end of the day), Star Tours, Muppets, Saucers, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster.

 
Tuesday, May 6: We returned to the Studios only to eat at Mama Melrose’s, which, along with the rest of the Muppets area, is closing soon to make way for new attractions. After eating, took a boat to the nearby hotels and strolled through that area to get a bus to Disney Springs for a bit of shopping there. Once we’d hit up our favorite stores (World of Disney, the M&Ms one, and the Coca Cola one being three of the must-dos), we bussed back to the hotel and relaxed before walking over to the hotel next door for dinner. Not quite a rest day, but close. Attraction count = 0.

 
Wednesday, May 7: We’d reserved our last park day for doing things we’d missed earlier or revisiting favorites. Started with breakfast at what’s probably our favorite hotel but one which we may never stay at again due to the prices being ridiculous now, then went over to the Magic Kingdom. On our second attraction, an estimated 33 minute wait turned into a 58 minute one, with us trapped in an indoor queue not sure what was happening. So that wasn’t great. Fortunately the other things we did in the Kingdom that day went more smoothly. I’d bought us Lightning Lane Single Passes for Guardians because I really wanted to ride it again and did not want to wait in an hour plus line, so we headed over to Epcot, which took a bit longer than expected as we had to wait for the monorail an unusually long time while one train was switched to a different track. When we got to Guardians, the Lightning Lane entrance was super backed up and the standby line was ridiculous. We heard that one of the two sides of the ride was down. Since it was our last day, we opted to wait, which ended up being nearly a whole hour. That made us about 10 minutes late to the Coral Reef dinner I’d grabbed when we got to the park, but it was okay; we even got seated right next to the glass of the big tank. During dinner, one of the sea turtles decided to take a nap on the tank floor right next to the table behind us, settling in so long that another sea turtle came to check on him and I had to Google how long turtles can stay submerged (up to seven hours when resting). We did a bit of shopping after dinner and headed back to the hotel before the evening show; we did see some fireworks from the Skyliner and from the hotel after we got off the Skyliner. Attraction count = 5: Peter Pan, Jungle Cruise, Country Bears, Pirates, Guardians.

 
Thursday, May 8: Packed up, loaded the car, and checked out of our hotel with a click on the app before we hit the road. Then we drove and drove, ending up in Denham Springs, Louisiana for the night.

 
Friday, May 9: Completed our drive to Texas for the cousin’s wedding we’d planned this part of the trip around. Experienced my first Buc-ee’s, a travel stop of huge dimensions; there was even a walk around character in the huge convenience store portion of the property. Checked into our hotel, got dressed for the pre-wedding dessert party and spent the evening chatting with family and other folks.

 
Saturday, May 10: The main event, wedding day. We had a late breakfast with some of the family then relaxed at the hotel until it was time to get even more dressed up than the night before and head off to the venue where the ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception were all held in different parts of the property. We stayed until they shut it down, sending the happy couple off with Texas-sized sparklers.

 
Sunday, May 11: Started our drive home after another late breakfast with some family. Lots of miles interrupted by breaks at truck stops and rest areas. Ended our day in Oakley, Kansas.

 

*****
On this date in 2008 through 2024: No journal entries
2007: Women on the Run
2006: No entry
2005: Fabric Shopping Debrief
2003 & 2004: No entries
2002: A Brief History of Me and Weight