Hello Yellow! Nana is back from a quick fall refurbishment. Did she miss the parks? Oh, yes. Did she miss the crowds? Oh, no. Did she remember where she parked? At least she did today!
Anyway, let the chaos begin!
Today’s Mission
Today’s mission was to check The Cake Bake Shop, see if Disney’s Hollywood Studios had implemented their “new” early entry procedures, do a loop of the park, check The Cake Bake Shop, park hop to EPCOT for a few things, then check The Cake Bake Shop.
Sounds crazy, right? But Nana’s got this (At least, that’s what I kept telling myself). I was definitely aided by my $1 McDonald’s large iced coffee. I parked somewhere near Princess Parking and walked to the Friendship boat at 7:47 a.m.
This morning was beautiful. Fantastic T-shirt weather. I saw a Friendship boat by the dock, so I walked as fast as I could to make sure I got on.
The view from my window was gorgeous. I love fall mornings.
My first attempt at getting more information about The Cake Bake Shop came at 8:17 am, but there was no sign of life.
With no luck, it was time to jump back on the Friendship boat and make my way to Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios
I got off the boat at 8:40 a.m. and walked through security quickly! But then I had to get in line for the touch points, which can often be the most stressful part of the day. I was through and into the park at 8:44 a.m.
I had time to check each land and attraction for pre-COVID early entry procedures. Sure enough, Disney was testing out the old system all around the park. You can read the full details here.
Sunset Blvd has started prepping for the holiday season. They added snoap (snow + soap) machines, and some lights were added on the bushes. I know we haven’t passed Halloween yet, but Christmas is already starting to show up.
I went back to Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy to see that the area was roped off. The refurbishment for the new Disney Villains show should begin soon.
At Once Upon a Time, I found this reversible jacket. I love how they come with a pouch! This makes the jacket super easy to carry! If you don’t want to wear it, just put it in the pouch and it won’t take up much room in your bag.
At Legends of Hollywood, I found a few new Pandora charms!
I was never a Pandora girl, but once I saw a tiny AT-AT charm, I couldn’t resist them anymore.
Hello to the temporary door at Keystone!
When I went inside, only one question went through my mind: Where did all the Star Wars merchandise go? This store used to be full of Star Wars merchandise. Now, it’s Disney’s general clothing store.
Oh hey, Figgy!! You made it to Hollywood Studios!
Hi, my big baby AT-AT! It’s working fantastic.
The Muppets are still alive and well. Don’t worry everyone who is concerned they’re going to end up leaving the parks.
In a few weeks, Santa will be here.
Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance is still testing out the single rider line. The latest developments make it so that the single rider line no longer skips the pre-shows.
At the market, there was a crowd… Of course, it’s Mando.
My man 8D-J8 is working hard as usual. He never gets a day off. I hope he gets the 40% Cast Member discount on merchandise.
Speaking of Cast Members, Disney has announced this year’s holiday block-out date for Cast Members. Once again, Cast Members are blocked from Magic Kingdom and EPCOT on New Year’s Eve. They did open EPCOT for Cast Members back on December 31st, 2021.
Back to my loop, Dok is working as usual, but there are no new parts at Droid Depot.
The temporary seating area between Galaxy’s Edge and Toy Story Land still exists, and it’s pretty much unchanged.
At the Pixar Plaza, the “Insides Out 2” wall and tables are gone! Back to the plain wall and the tables for now.
At Walt Disney Presents, they brought the blogger couch back to the lobby! This is where bloggers write/create their content. This couch was gone for a while, but it’s nice to sit it’s back.
I don’t know what happened to the Voyage of the Little Mermaid scrim. Did Milton do this?! Surely, it could be responsible for some of the damage, but some of the design has completely faded away.
Off to Boardwalk (Again)
I checked Google Maps for Friendship boat times and made my way over to the dock.
Ta-da! The boat is here.
This Google Maps feature comes in pretty handy and makes my life a wee bit easier. I can plan my reporting time accordingly. Off to Boardwalk (again.)
Still no sign of life at The Cake Bake Shop, but I got a closer picture this time.
EPCOT
Hello from EPCOT! All the taco babies were in the lagoon today.
My first stop was Port of Entry for the Pandora FIGMENT CHARM! The Cast Member working told me they’ve sold 10 figments in an hour!! Nana needs to adopt him soon.
Next, I stopped by the Australia booth to see that it was finally in use. It took them about 50 days from the beginning of Food and Wine to make the booth operational. Happy for them.
The last stop is Creations Shop for a merchandise check!
Mickey, Goofy Crewneck – $59.99
These long-sleeve crewnecks feature the Walt Disney World logo in white. The front of each shirt features the front of a character, while the back features the back of each character in the same pose. Above you can see Mickey and Goofy (and even Daisy poking in).
One Last Trip to The Cake Bake Shop
Back to The Cake Bake Shop one last time (Yes, this is my third attempt of the day). There still weren’t any guests or Cast Members. Guess that means we’re not opening. No Nana’s review of The Cake Bake Shop just yet.
I am a little excited to try $12 Unicorn Hot Chocolate and $9 iced tea.
That’s it for today! I found my car with no trouble! See you again next time. Have a magical weekend!
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