October 29, 2023-Disney Season Pass Era Ends

(click for today's pictures)

Since this is our 7th trip to Disney this calendar year, we do it a little bit differently than most Disney goers. Now, people at the campground probably do Disney like we do, and probably 50 percent of them do not even go to the parks at all. We may not be traditional in how we have done Disney this trip, but we are having a great time.

Robby and I slept later today, but the kids had to wake up earlier than usual. We had lunch at the Sci Fi Diner in Hollywood Studios. Some of the kids had a tiny snack, but most of us skipped breakfast since we hadn't really been up that long.

On our drive there, we were amazed at how many cars are parked in the overflow lot at the campground. And it isn't just the overflow lot that is full. The overflow overflow lot is full as well so people are parking on the sides of the roads. It took a while but we eventually figured it out-many of these campsites are so decorated that they do not have room for a car at their site. For example, we do have an average length site but we struggle parking our car and golf cart in the front of the camper. Imagine if we had 30 inflatables, or if we had over 100 real pumpkins, or if we had 6 tents containing scenes from The Haunted Mansion ride-there would be no place to park our car. 

At Hollywood, all we did was eat. Graham mentioned going to see the Indiana Jones show, but he was overruled by all of the others. I am not sure if he really wanted to go or if he was just trying to get a rise out of everyone. 

The Sci Fi was something to see, as many of our Disney restaurants have been. However, we don't have to really go back. You eat in cars that are facing a giant movie screen like you are at a drive in movie theater. All of the kids filled up one car, and Robby and I were in a seat nearby them. 

Our food was good-I had chicken salad on a croissant. I would have enjoyed it more if the croissant had been warm or soft. Reagan had a salad, Keaton and Campbell had chicken fingers while all of the boys ate hamburgers.

After our meal, we debated riding something, but everyone was content to move on to the next item on the list. We went to our outlet store at a nearby mall. We used to always find things there, but the last few visits we haven't had any luck. I was hoping to find ears to give to some people we know coming to Disney soon.

We looked for a parking spot for nearly 25 minutes until Robby finally found one. He was just about ready to let us out of the car and him just circle. Graham and Whitman opted to stay in the car, and when Reagan saw the line to get into the store, she turned around and went back to the car.

The line was probably about 50 people long, and it did take us about 25 minutes before we were let in the store. I was really hoping there would be something that we wanted to buy-I had seen cute things in the past and kind of wanted a memento to take home to remind us of this year. But we were out of luck and left with nothing.

It was not all lost since there was a McDonalds right down the road, and we celebrated our unsuccessful shopping trip with some ice cream. Then we came back to the campsite to do what we have been doing best on this trip: nothing!

Whitman is all about some Pokemon cards so anytime we see someone posting that they are giving those out, he is ready to go. Keaton's priority is candy collecting so she has looped on foot, on her ripstick, on the golf cart, and on her bike for most of the day adding to her candy bags. Campbell has spent a good deal of the day on the phone with her friends. Reagan did a bit of school work today so hopefully none will have to be done tomorrow. Graham and Anderson watched all kinds of sports on the tv, played basketball and pickleball, and did quite a bit of golf cart driving.

Plus we did carve our pumpkins today. Anderson wanted no part in it-when he was little every year I would take a photo of him completely disgusted by the pumpkin innards. He wouldn't even pose for one this year. Keaton and Reagan were the main pumpkin carvers though Graham and Campbell went to town cleaning out the pumpkins. Keaton did let Whitman carve a little bit. Next year we may have to buy some more pumpkins, but the hardest part about carving is cleaning out the inside. Maybe Babs' trick with the hand held mixer helps clean out the pumpkin.

Tonight we had leftovers for supper-Reagan had her leftover salad, Keaton and Campbell had orange chicken, Whitman had a poptart, Anderson had breakfast burritos, Graham had chicken tacos, and Robby and I had chips and salsa. 

The evening was spent just hanging out around the campground, and it was a perfect evening. Tomorrow we need to be a little more productive since we have a few things to do on our schedule!

No comments: