The Break That Saved the Afternoon
If you missed it, Part 1 covers our Galaxy’s Edge morning, the character breakfast at Hollywood and Vine, and Beauty and the Beast back to back with the Villains show. After all of that, we shopped a little, saw a big storm brewing, and decided to head back to the hotel for a break. As soon as we walked into our room, the rain started. We timed it perfectly.
We had a roughly two and a half hour break once you count travel both directions, and we actually napped and rested for close to an hour of it while it poured down rain outside. It was magical, such a nice escape from the heat and the crowds. I highly recommend building a break like this into a hot-weather trip.
Where the Butter Arc Begins
When we got back to Hollywood Studios we had dinner at Docking Bay 7, and honestly, it was just blah. It also marks the official start of what my mom and I now call the Butter Arc of this trip. She got the gluten-free Endorian Tip-Yip, fried chicken with rice and broccoli, and the chicken was seriously overdone. I got the Felucian Garden Spread, falafel and a hummus garden spread, and mine was genuinely delicious, though I ended up with way more pita than hummus by the end. Her broccoli was fine, but the rice was dry and flavorless, so we both wanted butter for our meal. There wasn’t any, so we ate it butterless. We should have taken that as an omen for how much this one detail was about to follow us around for the rest of the trip.
Rise, Frozen, and a Second Row We Regretted
Next up was our Lightning Lane for Rise of the Resistance, and I was so excited. We walked right on, and since there were only two of us we even got waved ahead in the line. My mom was completely enthralled. She loved it, ten out of ten, and it ended up being her favorite thing on the whole trip besides the afternoon breaks.
From there we went to see Frozen, and I swear every time I watch it I think it is the funniest one I have ever seen, and this time it really was. I was laughing so much, and I love all of the snow and the songs. Such a great break from the heat. We tried Little Mermaid after that and sat back center this time, which turned out to be perfect. The last time I saw the show I was front row off to the right, and the back center seats were so much better. That slow motion scene is honestly the best part of the whole show when you can actually see it clearly, and this time I finally could.
Trivia on the Lawn and Dinner at Cake Bake Shop
We decided we were done with Hollywood Studios for the day, the ride lines were too long and I didn’t think my mom would enjoy them anyway, so we hopped on the Skyliner over to the Epcot station and walked to the Boardwalk. There was a trivia night on the lawn we wanted to check out, and we had a reservation at Cake Bake Shop for later that evening. We were a little early, so we shopped around at the Screen Door, which is massive and so cute, I love that store.
Trivia was set up on picnic blankets on the lawn right by the lake, blissfully in the shade, with a projector and screen already set up, though the movie was not playing yet. That night’s topic happened to be Beauty and the Beast, which we had just watched that morning, but it did not help us at all. We maybe got half the questions right. One family there only missed one. Very impressive. It was a fun way to spend part of an evening, though I’m not sure I would leave a park again just to do it. It would be a great fit for a dedicated resort break day with other activities mixed in.
Cake Bake Shop had room and seated us a little early. We shared the salmon with asparagus, split onto separate plates for us, and it was extremely delicious, along with a pot of tea. Impeccable service and the most beautiful atmosphere, every single time. For dessert we shared the Marie Antoinette macaron. It was very good, though a little sweet for me, I am not a huge fan of Cake Bake Shop’s icing in general, and this one had three towers of icing holding up the one huge macaron shell, so we took that part off and ate around it. But the macaron shell itself and the lemon and raspberry inside were so good. I love that place.
A Completely Closed Epcot at 10pm
By the end of dinner it was almost 10pm, and it had not occurred to me how we were actually going to get back to All-Star Sports. I thought transportation stopped an hour after each park closed, and Magic Kingdom was open until 11, so my plan was some combination of Skyliner to Hollywood Studios, then a bus, then another bus. I asked a cast member at the Skyliner station, and he told us we could just talk to the cast member at the Epcot gate. So we did, and he let us through.
We walked into a completely closed Epcot. It was so cool, totally dark, and still a surprising number of people around even at 10pm. Beautiful nonetheless, and thankfully the bathrooms were still open. We walked through and up to the front and caught a bus back to our hotel. We had a full, fun, packed day, and we loved having that afternoon break more than almost anything else.
never miss the magic
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