Two days of serious rain. The weather south of here was much worse, but it was still cats & dogs outside. Two nights ago, the rain was bad enough that people were getting flooded out of their tents. We heard rumors that Disney was putting people in cabins for shelter. We didn’t have any real issues, but it was wet enough that we stayed away from the amusement parks until this afternoon.

The shot above is from after the water receded a bit. Normally, this is all dry.

About late-afternoon today the rain mostly took a break and we made it to Hollywood Studios. The crowds were pretty light when we got there, but there were definitely some others braving the weather with us.

We beelined it straight to the Star Wars area. Sophia wanted to hit all the shops and everyone wanted to ride everything. The wait times for both Rise of the Resistance and Smuggler’s Run were in the no-thanks range, so we went straight to shop hopping.

After a while, Tanya & Cameron split off for dinner. Sophia & I finished with the rest of the shops. There are some shops tucked in little corners, so they’re not super noticeable. I’m pretty sure we found them all though.

After checking off every shop in the Millennium Falcon area, Sophia & I trekked across the park for some grub of our own.

We met up with Tanya & Cameron and there was pizza, soooo…we had more pizza. Yum. The recently re-themed Muppet Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster was a stone’s throw from where we ate, so we jumped in that line next.

The line for Rise of the Rebellion died back enough to tempt us, so we walked back across the park and did that next.

There was also a lull in the Smuggler’s Run line, so we did that next. Tanya & Sophia rocked it as our pilots while Cameron & I blew stuff up as the gunners. Pew pew!

By the time that was over, the line for Rise was even shorter. We all scooted over there and rode it again.

The Disney cast members in Rise of the Rebellion are all in character while you’re in line. The Empire part of the ride has guards put on a little bit of a mean face as they move you to your “prison cells” – it’s a fun twist to an amusement park ride. Tanya wanted to know more about it, so she hung back and had a quick off-the-record talk with one of the cast members. She got some answers and even a wink from him. Tanya broke the Empire!!

That was enough for Cameron’s feet, so Tanya & Cameron hyperspaced out of there.

Sophia & I ogled again at all the gorgeous work that went into making the Star Wars area really feel like you’re in that galaxy. The details work is top notch. Sophia and I wondered how we could get an arch like this at our house…

Sophia and I finished off the night with another Smuggler’s Run followed by another Rise of the Rebellion plus a cherry-on-top of a few more shops.

A great day for all!