Build Your Own Droid in Galaxy’s Edge at Disney’s Hollywood Studios 🤖

Posted by Heather Rhoden in Disney Tips and Reviews, Trips "Home" and tagged with ,

Who wouldn’t want to build their own custom, remote control droid? Well you can have the opportunity to do so at Droid Depot located in Galaxy’s Edge at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Reservations are not required but recommended for this experience which you can make up to 60 days in advance. You can still partake in the activity without a reservation but you are subject to long lines with high wait times.

The cost for this experience is $99.99 per astromech droid unit, plus tax. Unfortunately you can not use any DVC or AP discounts for the droid unit itself. You are able to use your discount on accessories such as personality chips or jet packs. You have two styles of astromech units to choose from: the R-series (classic R2-D2 style) or the newer know BB series (BB-8). My daughter chose the classic R-series so we headed to check in and purchase our “credits” and begin assembly of our droid.

Anxiously waiting her turn to build
So many choices

We were directed to our place over at the assembly line and instructed the parts we would need to select to complete our unit. They also have a layout for you to reference at your station so you know what you need to be looking for as it comes past on the assembly line. There are many color options and styles to choose from and Delaney had it already set in her mind that she wanted purple so that was what we started hunting for first. Once we secured the purple head for her unit, we then grabbed a black body and legs to complete our R2.

Delaney’s selection for her R2 style droid

Now for the fun part, assembling the droid. We moved to the final station for assembly and with the help of a CM we began putting together our R2. After you have completed the assembly process, the CM will need to activate your unit and make sure that all parts are working properly and then adding the personalty chip that Delaney had picked out for her unit.

Time to build

We passed inspection and were now ready to take him out for a spin. Right outside of Droid Depot, Disney has set up a nice padded area for you to gather with other droids and play. The ground in Batuu is rather rocky and uneven so this special area makes it easier for your droid to roll around.

Play time

After we were finished playing with the other droids around we decided to take R2-10u (she decided on this name I guess because she is on 10u softball 🤷🏼‍♀️🤣) for a photo shoot around Batuu. Highly recommend this experience next time your visiting Hollywood Studios. It was a fun bonding experience and she had a blast. Props to Delaney for saving up for this all on her own for the past 6 months. Go little Rockstar ⭐️

Have a magical day friends and stay Disney ✨

The force
R2-10u
My mini me and I in Batuu

Fort Wilderness Campground and Cabins-Weekend Trip to the Fort 🏕🌤

Posted by Heather Rhoden in Trips "Home" and tagged with ,

I have been very bad this past year in posting on this blog. I guess sometimes we just get so caught up in life and responsibilities that we forget to step back and cherish the moments we have experienced and the loved ones we are surround by. On that note, let’s take a trip to one of our resort favorites on site, The Cabins at Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground.

Our Cabin

This resort has quickly become our favorite mainly for our family’s love of the outdoors and wildlife…when I say our family I mainly mean my husband 🤣. My favorite part personally is driving the golf cart all around the resort.

Delaney and Walter ready to go for a ride around the Fort
My husband’s favorite part when we visit

First thing when you arrive you want to get settled in either to your campsite or your cabin and start decorating. It can be a holiday weekend or just a normal Wednesday and you will find decorations everywhere. Garden flags and lawn blow ups tend to be rather popular choices I have noticed during our trips.

Custom garden flag and solar light post that I made
Our Mickey flag we hung from the porch

A little know favorite of ours is the scavenger hunt groups that you can find on social media. My personal favorite is Original Fort Wilderness Scavenger Hunts on Facebook. Visitors to the Fort can post photos and clues for treasures they have hidden around the property. There are rules to follow and safety is also a factor so don’t hide anything somewhere that could put someone in a dangerous situation. The types of treasures hidden range anywhere from little trinkets to custom hand made items. It is something you usually need to plan ahead for so be sure to follow their page on Facebook before you arrive for your trip for tips.

Minnie Mouse key chain we hid at one of the comfort stations
Delaney’s treasures she found

If you are a fan of horses, make sure to visit the Tri-Circle-D Ranch on the property. All of the horses you see at Magic Kingdom during the parades are housed at this ranch. They also offer pony rides and trail rides as well.

Tri-Circle-D Ranch
Tyson

The campground has 2 pools on property, Meadow and Wilderness. We typically send to gravitate to the Wilderness pool since it is bigger and also has a water slide which Delaney enjoys. The Meadow pool is smaller and towards the front of the campground where the Wilderness is about half way towards the back and surrounds shops, dining, canoeing, gem mining and so much more.

Headed to the pool
Meadow pool, and my husbands feet 🙂
Delaney enjoying the water slide at Meadow pool

Next time you want to take a nice relaxing family trip make sure to check out Disney’s Fort Wilderness Campground and Cabins at the Walt Disney Resort. There is something for everyone to enjoy and the people and atmosphere are great perks. Until next time my friends, have a magical day.

A beautiful sunset at one of the many ponds on property

✨Star Wars Galaxy Edge Preview- Hollywood Studios✨

Posted by Heather Rhoden in Disney News, Disney Tips and Reviews, Trips "Home"

We had the pleasure of being able to attend the annual passholder preview at Walt Disney World Hollywood Studios Galaxy Edge today. It was a tad bit warm, well warm was a slight understatement. It was hotter than Hades.

Our plan was to try and ride Smugglers Run which is the only ride currently open but it had a 120 minute standby line so that was not going to happen. It was at 90+degrees outside but at least the chance of rain had dropped to nothing.

Galaxys Edge is very immersive in its ambiance. It transports you to the planet Batuu and from the second you enter the land to when you leave, you are fully transformed into their lifestyle. I do not understand how the cast members are able to wear long sleeve shirts and head garb while I am melting to death in a T-shirt. More power to them.

We made our way around all the accessible areas and then back out the entrance. It was a nice preview of the area but it will be more interesting when the other parts of the planet open and you can fully experience the land.

Star Wars Galaxy Edge at Hollywood Studios opens to the public on August 29th, 2019. If you have the opportunity to view this land at your next visit to Hollywood Studios, I hope you are able to fully enjoy the details of the land and it’s offerings.

Have a magical day my friends and may the force be with you. ✨

🥤Review: Custom Disney Autograph Tumbler From Mommy’s Crafting Operation 🥤

Posted by Heather Rhoden in Disney style, Disney Tips and Reviews

I am absolutely loving my custom Disney autograph tumbler from Mommy’s Crafting Operation. Covered in bling and all my favorite characters autographs, it is truly a work of art 🎨. Not only is it beautiful on the outside but keeps your drinks cold all day on the inside as well.

Visit their site on Facebook at Mommy’s Crafting Operation and check out their custom designs 😍. What Disney design would you want on a custom tumbler? Have a magical day my friends ✨

🍷🏃🏼‍♀️Wine and Dine Half Marathon Weekend 2018🏃🏼‍♀️🍷

Posted by Heather Rhoden in runDisney

What is better then running in a runDisney race? Running in two back to back!! This was a feat that I had yet to attempt. A race here or there, maybe once a month is all I had competed in before.

I decided I wanted to attempt to run in two races back to back. Since I had never tried this before I wanted to start out slow and just try a 5k and 10k to be my two races. The 5k would be on Friday morning and the 10k to follow on that Saturday. 3:30 wake up time comes super early let me tell ya.

My costumes of choice for this race weekend were going to be Princess Aurora and Maleficent. Delaney wanted to run in the kids race this year and chose to also be Princess Aurora. So I had to set out and make some costumes.

Race weekend quickly came upon us and I was starting to doubt myself if I was actually go to be able to accomplish this task. Could I honestly run two days in a row and survive? Well ready or not, it was time to test my fate. 5k here we come!

One race down, one to go. With the 5k behind me I could now focus on tomorrow’s endeavor. I have never attempted to run two races in one weekend so this was going to be interesting to say the least. This sleeping beauty was going to tape up and call it a day and get a good nights rest for a 3:30 am wake up time the following morning. 💤

Rise and shine for race #2. 10k here we come! Transformation from Sleeping Beauty 🎀 to Maleficent 🐉 was complete. It was a little on the cold side that morning. Complete opposite of the previous race that’s for sure. This year the race started in the parking lot of Magic Kingdom and finished with a loop around EPCOT and World Showcase, finishing in the usual spot in the parking lot of EPCOT. I survived! I officially had just run two races back to back. Another 5k and 10k in the books for runDisney. Now with my races complete we needed to focus on Delaneys kids race, the 200m dash, Now to travel over to the Wide World of Sports complex for the final race of our Wine and Dine weekend.

Delaney was feeling a little under the weather that weekend but she still did an awesome job. Once we returned home we did find out that she actually had strep throat, poor thing. It was an awesome and rewarding weekend for all and we wouldn’t have had it any other way.

If you have every thought about running in a runDisney race I hope my story has persuaded you to compete in the most magical place on earth. Every mile is truly magical and you will not find a race like it anywhere else. Until next time my Disney friends, have a magical day! ✨

🎒👝👜 Disney Parks Newest Vera Bradley Collection: Mickey’s Paisley Celebration 👜👝🎒

Posted by Heather Rhoden in Disney style

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After what has seemed like an eternity, Vera Bradley is finally releasing a new Disney print.  The new Vera Bradley Collection is called Mickey Paisley Celebration and is in honor of Mickey Mouse’s 90th birthday this year.  The collection is set to release on September 6th and will be sold exclusively at Vera Bradley in Disney Springs.

The collection will include the following styles:

tote

Iconic Vera Tote $120

duffel

Iconic Large Travel Duffel $120

makeup bag

Iconic Medium Cosmetic $40

pouch

Iconic RFID All In One Crossbody $76

wallett

Iconic RFID Front Zip Wristlet $44

backpack

Iconic Campus Backpack $130

hipster

Iconic Triple Zip Hipster $84

hipster 2

Iconic Mini Hipster $58

blanket

Plush Throw Blanket

I have added a few of these items to my wish list, that’s for sure.  I love how the print features both Mickey and Minnie and even has the castle in the background too.  Which silhouettes are your favorite?

***UPDATE AS OF 9/6/18*** The collection also now includes a Breakaway Lanyard ($20) and a Iconic Zip ID Case ($16)! Score!!!

 

 

Photo source: Vera Bradley

❄️🎿👙Family trip to Blizzard Beach👙🎿❄️

Posted by Heather Rhoden in Disney Tips and Reviews, Trips "Home"

I can’t believe that in the 33 years of my life I had yet to ever go to a Disney water park. What better time to finally get to go then on one of the hottest days of the year, July 4th. We decided our park of choice for our first trip was going to be Blizzard Beach.

Delaney and Goofy hanging out

Being a Floridian, we knew that we would experience the usual fury of summer afternoon thunderstorms so we made sure to get there at park open to optimize our pool time. We reserved our lodge umbrellas ahead of time to ensure a relaxing and stress free experience. This includes 2 lounge chairs, 2 beach chairs, a table and umbrella and beach towels for a nominal fee. I highly recommend reserving them ahead of time because they are first come first serve. They are located in a more secluded area of the park away from the crowds.

The usual summer storm came right on time so we hung out under cover while most of the other people headed out. All the rides and wave pool shuts down when there is lightning within 6 miles of the park. Luckily the storm passed quickly and all the rides opened back up with little to no wait times.

 

I was very impressed with their bathrooms and shower/changing area. We had plans to go spend the evening visiting the new Toy Story Land at Hollywood Studios and we needed to freshen up before heading out. They were very spacious and clean. We showered up and got dressed and were ready to head off on our next Rhoden Disney adventure.

After having such a fun day at our first water park experience, we decided to upgrade our annual passes to Platinum Plus which includes both Disney Water Parks, Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon. We can’t wait for our next trip for some fun in the sun. Stay Disney my friends and have a magical rest of your summer.

4 Parks, 1 Day Challenge: How my daughter and I conquered the task

Posted by Heather Rhoden in Trips "Home"

We had not started out the day with the intention of trying to visit all four parks in one day. We only had planned to go to Magic Kingdom to purchase a specific pandora charm that had just been released. We headed over to Magic Kingdom at around noon from the Polynesian where we had made a stop for a quick visit. Once at the kingdom and while waiting in line for Thunder Mountain, I came up with the bright idea to go pay a visit to the other three parks and ride at least one ride at each. On a side note, we did not even get started with our first park until noon that day 😳. This was for sure going to be a challenge. Ok, here we go!

Riding the monorail from the TTC to Magic Kingdom

First stop on our version of the “4 Parks, 1 Day” challenge brought us to Magic Kingdom. Our ride choice for this park was Thunder Mountain. Yes we could have rode a ride much closer to the front of the park but that would have been taking the easy way out. Park 1 was now complete, off to our second stop.

For the second park in our challenge, we headed to Hollywood studios. We had to choose a show instead of a ride because of the wait times in the standby lines since we did not have fastpasses. We watched Muppet Vision 3D. Again, this attraction is all the way in the back corner of the park. We sure got in our steps for the day with all this walking. Delaney had to get a spirit jersey like me so she had a wardrobe change between Hollywood Studios and our next destination.

Our third stop brought us to Animal Kingdom. Luckily we had priority parking because their lot was very full by the time we arrived. Priority brought us much closer to the front entrance of the park making it easier to get in and out since the day was coming to a close and we still had one more park to visit when we were done here.

At Animal Kingdom we had to do another show because of no fastpass availability at this time of day. We watched It’s Tough to be a Bug.

With the sun starting to set to the west of us, we needed to head out and drive over to our final destination, EPCOT.

We saved the best for last in my opinion. I l°o°ve EPCOT. We decided on The Seas with Nemo and Friends ride. We got in our clam shells and rode off into the big blue world. The night sky’s were now upon us and it was time to conquer our next task, the drive home lol.

We had a blast that day and I wouldn’t have wanted to spend it with anyone else. Just me and my Minnie Me °o° lol. Until next time my friends, have a magical day ✨

Pandora WDW Annual Passholder Charm Released 😍

Posted by Heather Rhoden in Disney style

DisneyParks has released an annual passholder exclusive Pandora charm and I am in L°o°ve!!

I went to my favorite Pandora shop in Uptown Jewelers on Main Street USA at the Magic Kingdom. At the time, that was the only shop on property that you could purchase this exclusive charm when it was first released.

This exclusive Disney parks Pandora charm can now be found across the Walt Disney World Resort property. This charm is by far my favorite passholder exclusive merchandise purchase I have made to date. It can be one of the more pricier souvenir options from your Disney vacation but they are meant to last a lifetime of memories. Start a tradition like I have and on special trips such as birthdays or anniversaries, get a Pandora charm to add to your collection.

My Mickey and Minnie themed Pandora open bangle

That’s all for today my friends…until next time…have a magical day ✨.

🚘 The benefits of doing “preferred parking” at Walt Disney World 🚘

Posted by Heather Rhoden in Disney Tips and Reviews

With it being a race weekend here at Walt Disney, the parks are super busy. The parking lot at Magic Kingdom is parking all the way out to the usual Christmas time section as I call it as of 10:45 am. We chose to do preferred parking today which was our first time utilizing this offer. The cost is $40 but if you are an annual passholder, you only have to pay the difference which is $20.

Preferred parking includes up close parking to the parks which is able to be used at any park all day long so if you plan on park hopping, it can be used all day for that one price 💲. They also supply you with water bottles for everyone in your vehicle.

<<<<<<<<<
ng to lie is was an awesome feeling getting to drive past everyone parking out in the back lot while I progressively move farther and farther to the front by the entrance. We are parked in the second row from the TTC (transportation and ticket center) !!!!!

<<<<<<<<<
w if I could justify paying the full $40 for preferred parking but if your a passholder and Magic Kingdom is super busy, I highly recommend upgrading and paying the $20. You won't regret the shorter distance to walk, especially at the end of the day when you are ready to leave. Until next time, stay Disney my friends ✨