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December 06, 2016 - 11:54 p.m.
"hollywood studios" or "lipoa"

Hey Journal!

We had another fun-filled day here at the Walt Disney World Resort! We got up this morning at 9:00 and headed down to Coconino Cove to have breakfast! Today my favorite chocolate chip muffins were back and I had two to get me going! I also had cereal and orange juice.

Next, we hit the bus stop and headed off to DHS. We arrived in time for our first FP which was for Star Tours. I had heard some things about it having been redone but it seemed exactly the same as I remember it from two years ago. Not sure what that was all about.

As we were leaving Star Tours we stopped by Muppet Vision 3-D! That's always a great one. It's a little old but it's really funny. The whole thing with that Waldo 3-D creature thing is weird but all the Muppets are great and Sweetums!!! The pre-show is really funny, too.

The whole area of the park that used to be the streets of America, the Honey I shrunk the Kids playground, and the old backlot tour are now completely under construction. They're making a new Toy Story Land and the old Pizza Planet is now Muppet-themed! Interesting.

Next we headed across the park to the Tower of Terror. Along the way we stopped to watch the street performers do a little Christmas carol show. Then we rode Tower of Terror with our FPs.

When we got off the Tower of Terror we noticed that they had a sign out by Rock N Roller Coaster that it was closed for refurbishment. I'm not sure if that was just for today but , either way, I'm glad we got to ride it last night so we didn't feel like we missed out!

One of our DHS traditions is to get a pretzel and frozen lemonade at the Anaheim produce stand. We usually do it relatively early in the morning and it's just a fun thing we like!

Our next FP was not for about an hour or so. We killed some time by Viking Walt Disney: One Man's Dream and then we headed over to Midway Mania. Our FastPass was still a little ways off but the standby line was kinda short. IT was only 20 minutes so we did that.

I was really surprised that they took Mr. Potato Head out of the queue! I thought that was a really clever, interactive part of the ride and I know people really liked it. I heard stories that it broke down a lot but come on....they couldn't have fixed it!?

Possibly another reason for his disappearance is that they expanded the ride, doubling its capacity, and the corridor that leads you there to the new ride is right where he used to be.

Anyway, we got to the front of the one and they sent us to the new section. It was basically like the old one but just a little newer looking.

Dan was very confident that he was going to win. The truth is that he has beaten me many many times at this ride but the last time we went on it, I won which I quickly reminded him!

I am happy to report that I WON again. After the first round I was way down and I really stepped up my game. Each game I made progress and finally overtook his score! Wahoo!

When we got off the ride my wrist and arm were so tired and sore! We had the FastPass for about 5 minutes after and I needed to rest a little so I could keep my performance!

So, we entered with our FPs just as it started to pour outside. Like, I felt one drop as we were touching our Magic Bands in and then we were inside for the whole storm. When we got out, it had passed! Perfect timing.

This time we were on the original ride. Same exact ride, so it really didn't make any difference. I wound up getting a lower score but I still beat Dan! Winner of the whole trip!

When we were done with that, we headed to the bus stop and took the bus to Animal Kingdom Lodge. While we were on the bus it rained again, and luckily we didn't get wet at all. It stopped by the time we arrived.

The reason we went to AKL was that our Tim and Neil happened to be staying there for a couple days! Time and Neil used to live in NJ and they moved down to Florida a couple of years ago. Neil saw a photo that I had posted and he let us know they were here so we wanted to come by and hang out for a little bit. We talked in the lobby for a while and then relocated to a little overlook area and watched the animals in the Savannah!

We were there for about two hours and, we realized that the last time we had seen eachother was about 5 years ago! That's wild.

To get back to our hotel we had to take the bus from AKL to Animal Kingdom and then switch to the bus for Coronado. It wasn't a big deal at all. Of course, it rained again during our bus ride and, as with the rest of the day, the timing was perfect because we didn't get wet at all!

Back here, I took a shower and got changed and then we headed down to Coconino Cove to take advantage of their afternoon offerings. Dan got some free beer and I got some potato chips and Fuse Iced Tea. We hung out there for a little while and then headed off to the Polynesian.

We took the bus to MK and then walked over to the Contemporary to visit Frank. He was working and Dan stared at him through the window until he noticed. Frank took us up to the top of the building which overlooks...well... a lot. It's a great view!

To get to the Polynesian, we took the monorail and as we were entering the Contemporary, we saw Seth working the monorail!

Oh, side story -- I went to the bathroom at the Contemporary and there was a guy in the stall next to me with his kid. When the kid was done, he informed his father who said, "Wow! That's a lot of poop!" followed by, "Good job!" I felt sad that nobody ever congratulates me. I feel like I need some words of encouragement!

So, we took the monorail to the Polynesian after that and then headed to Trader Sam's again! This time we each got a drink but we didn't have too much company to talk to. Shortly before we left we struck up a conversation with a couple from just outside of Washington, D.C. They were very nice. They have a 4 year old son who was not with them in the ba, obviously. We asked what they do for lunch and the guy said he does something with healthy school lunches and the girl does something at a radiology office.

We talked for a while and then around 9:15 we left to go to our Ohana reservation!

We've been to Ohana several times over the years and every time we've gone the same woman has been performing there, Lipoa. She's amazing. We just think her personality and her warm, friendly nature are so contagious. She's incredible.

I was actually saying, before we left for our trip, that I was hoping she'd be there when we came tonight. She as ALWAYS been there and I'm shocked that she hasn't happened to have a vacation day or a day off or anything when we come to visit WDW.

I really was nervous she wasn't going to be there tonight and thankfully -- she was there and she was as amazing as always! She came over to our table at one point and she remembered us from the last time we were there! Don't ask me how that's possible with all the people she must meet but she said she really remembered Dan's face. We talked to her for a bit and then she took my phone and we all took a selfie! It came out great!

We enjoyed our meal and the food was good as always. We had a great table with a view of the Christmas Wishes fireworks at Magic Kingdom! At 10:00 the fireworks started and the show was really nice.

After we finished, we headed for the monorail but it was down for the evening! Yikes! We had to take the ferry boat back to the Magic Kingdom and then catch the bus.

Now we're back at the hotel and we have Animal Kingdom in the morning! Now we're off to bed! It's later than I had expected!

Until tomorrow...

Goodnight. :)