Disney and Independence, Nov. 9, 2019

[ashley0308]

We started our journey at 2:15 am from North of Toronto.  With a few pit stops on the way, we made it to Orangeburg SC around 6pm.  We booked and prepaid our hotel in advance and when we arrived to the Country Inn and Suites they told us our reservation had been cancelled in August and they were fully booked.  (We received no notice or refund and even received an email on Tuesday reminding us of our stay)

 

After about 45 minutes on the phone with hotels.com we are finally in a room at the Hampton Inn and Suites with a credit from hotels.com.  

 

Tomorrow morning we do the rest of the trip to POP Century with a stop at the Character Warehouse first.  Super excited to share this trip with you, hopefully we don't have too many more surprises.

[mac_tlc]

Have a safe journey. We have done the I-95 drive from CT over a dozen times, usually with little "excitement". Good time to go to Disney --- Food & Wine still ongoing and Christmas in full swing.

 

mac_tlc

[Ourusualbeach]

2 hours ago, ashley0308 said:

We started our journey at 2:15 am from North of Toronto.  With a few pit stops on the way, we made it to Orangeburg SC around 6pm.  We booked and prepaid our hotel in advance and when we arrived to the Country Inn and Suites they told us our reservation had been cancelled in August and they were fully booked.  (We received no notice or refund and even received an email on Tuesday reminding us of our stay)

 

After about 45 minutes on the phone with hotels.com we are finally in a room at the Hampton Inn and Suites with a credit from hotels.com.  

 

Tomorrow morning we do the rest of the trip to POP Century with a stop at the Character Warehouse first.  Super excited to share this trip with you, hopefully we don't have too many more surprises.

Have a safe trip.  We will be doing the trip in just under 7 weeks from just east of Toronto.

[ckrobyn]

See you onboard Indy 🙂  Also from Toronto, but flying on Friday.

[styxfire]

I love that you’re packing it all in, what an awesome vacation!  My family is doing something similar, Universal & then Indy over the holidays.

 

Looking forward to hearing about your sailing!

[Cel_cruise]

DIsney And cruising are some of our favorite things!   Sorry about the hotel chaos - hopefully it’s the last of the chaos for you!     

 

Staying at PoP - will you be driving or will you use the sky liner? 

[ashley0308]

6 hours ago, Cel_cruise said:

DIsney And cruising are some of our favorite things!   Sorry about the hotel chaos - hopefully it’s the last of the chaos for you!     

 

Staying at PoP - will you be driving or will you use the sky liner? 

We plan on driving to the parks.  However will be trying the Gondola to see how efficient it is.

[ashley0308]

22 hours ago, Cel_cruise said:

DIsney And cruising are some of our favorite things!   Sorry about the hotel chaos - hopefully it’s the last of the chaos for you!     

 

Staying at PoP - will you be driving or will you use the sky liner? 

Just wanted to say gondolas all the way

[ashley0308]

Day two started early.  We stayed at the Hampton Inn in Orangeburg SC and it was clean, comfortable and just what we needed.  We left Orangeburg at 4am and arrived at the Vineland Character Warehouse for 10am.  

 

We waited about 40 mins to get into the warehouse, spent 10 minutes shopping and another 40 minutes in line to pay.  Left with a decent amount of stuff.

 

We arrived to POP around 1:45 and our room was ready.  We decided to grab a bite to eat and then head to Hollywood Studios.  We took the new Skyliner over to HS and it was absolutely amazing - no wait and took about 7 mins to get to the park.  

 

Got the kids some pins for trading, did TOT with a fastpass, watched the Star Wars show, watched Indiana Jones.  We then visited Galaxy's Edge - felt like we were in a whole new world.  The kids met Vi who took them around the park staying in character the entire time.  We tried Oga's Cantina but none of us liked the drinks we got (blue milk and something that numbs your mouth) waited 40 mins for Smugglers Run (amazing.. only downside is if you are anything but a pilot you are paying more attention to the buttons beside you then the screen in front of you)

 

We then walked on to Star Tours and decided to go back to the room for a short swim and showers.  Tomorrow we are hitting up Hollywood Studios again where we will be rope dropping Toy Story Land and building droids.

[Cel_cruise]

That sounds like a super productive day!!  Excited to hear about the skyliner!! 

[LuCruise]

Disney and cruises are my favorite holidays and we are doing similar to you next summer but backwards (Mariner cruise first followed by a few days at Disney).  Also staying at Pop for the Skyliner convenience so great to hear it was quick (and quirks fixed).  How do you find the new Star Wars area?  DH and DS are big fans so we'll be visiting HS.  Sounds like you are enoying.

Have a great vacation!  Love Independence as well!

[styxfire]

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Edited November 4, 2019 by styxfire

[styxfire]

13 hours ago, ashley0308 said:

We arrived to POP around 1:45 and our room was ready.  We decided to grab a bite to eat and then head to Hollywood Studios.  We took the new Skyliner over to HS and it was absolutely amazing - no wait and took about 7 mins to get to the park.  

Is the entrance to the new Skyliner at POP or at AofA?

[LeeW]

On 11/3/2019 at 4:21 AM, ashley0308 said:

We plan on driving to the parks.  However will be trying the Gondola to see how efficient it is.

 

Your hotel parking charge means you can drive to any of the parks and park free.  Usually faster than Disney transportation, although with Magic Kingdom you park at the Transportation and Ticket Center and take monorail or boat to the park - Disney buses go direct to the park entrance across the lake.   

 

Have fun!

[ashley0308]

11 hours ago, styxfire said:

Is the entrance to the new Skyliner at POP or at AofA?

It is actually between the two resorts

[styxfire]

I guess i'm asking which side of the walking bridge does the Gondola start from... AofA or POP?