Disney's Hollywood Studios

When we go on a theme park vacation, I REALLY want to get the most bang for my buck. Because you have to fork over A LOT of bucks.  So, I do all the research that I can and basically run my family ragged.  And I *think* they appreciate it in the end.  :)  At both Magic Kingdom and Legoland, I tried to get us there half an hour before the park opened, so we could be the first in line.  But Andrew's back was hurting him again (arg!  Had flashbacks to our last Disney trip when he needed a wheelchair!) and he REALLY wanted to sleep in just a little when it was our day to go to Hollywood Studios (HS).  I tried to put myself in his shoes and decided that, yes, that extra hour of sleep would sure feel good.  So, we did it.  Of course it messed up my well-mapped-out-plan for the day there.  But, HS is small enough that it worked out just fine.  And everyone was a little less grumpy because we'd slept in a bit.

Outside of meet-the characters:

We noticed they broke all sorts of Scrabble rules.

My schedule.

It included the ride order and who would want to do each one.

Andrew thought it was funny that Tower of Terror said "MOM!"

next to it.  I was just a *little* excited about that one.

The line for Toy Story Mania had this HUGE Candyland replica.
This ride was EASILY the family favorite of the whole trip.
Unfortunately, everyone else in the park loves it, too.
It was the only ride that the whole family stood in line for close to an hour.
And we got fastpasses to go back a second time,
but then they ran out
and we didn't want to wait 70-80 minutes to ride it again.

Whit and Mr. Incredible

The carousel horse ridden by Mary Poppins

My girls riding on a giant ant.

 My kids are really into cars.

They are always on the lookout for mustangs,

camaros, jeeps, convertibles, punch buggies, taxis, etc.

So, the Lights, Motors, Action show was perfect for us!

 We got to see Lightning McQueen driving around (eeeek!),

cars driving on two wheels (watch out!),

 motorcycle chases with jumps (hold on!),

guys engulfed in flames (oooooooh!),

lots of sweet stunts (aaaaaaah!),

 and I think we all got our eyebrows singed during

the final explosion.  So worth it.

Amy and Dave will appreciate this highlight:

The girls got to meet Phineas and Ferb!

 And see Ducky Momo!
If you were thinking about going before,
this must seal the deal, right?
Let's plan on meeting here in early spring 2014?

The big kids had fun with Andrew at the Indiana Jones stunt show

while I took Caroline to the Disney Junior show.

She got to see Mickey and his friends as well as the Little Einsteins.

We had fun.  And she got to dance in the aisles.

Then we headed over to the Beauty and the Beast show.

So cool to see the characters come to life.

Fun music and costumes.

Brandon and I had a BLAST on the Rock n' Rollercoaster.  Super fast and fun.  I couldn't stop laughing.  Too bad they ran out of fastpasses and the line was too long for B to go back with Drew.  We did manage to score a bunch of fastpasses for the Tower of Terror.  B and I rode it twice.  The second time, we talked Whitney into riding with us.  Poor. girl.   This ride is 13 stories high and it lifts you up and drops you down several times.  You have a total freefall sensation, with just a seat belt holding you in around your waist, no harness over your shoulders.  She told us she didn't want to ride any roller coasters, but since this wasn't *technically* a roller coaster, she decided to give it a try.  I think I traumatized her.  She had a look of pure horror on her face when the lights came on. "Is it over?" And she was shaky for the next 15 minutes after we got off.  I felt terrible.  She will probably never ride another attraction with me.

After meeting their lego versions,

Care Bear got to see a Buzz and Woody

that she could actually hug!

The nighttime show at HS is called Fantasmic.

I had read great things about it and couldn't wait for it to start.

 

It was spectacular, but also intense and scary.

At least for Caroline.

She spent half the show with her eyes covered.

But no tears were shed.

And I don't think she was traumatized.

We sat a few rows too close because the fountains were

spraying a light mist and I didn't want to get my camera wet,

so I didn't get many pictures.

 

A boatload of characters at the end.

At the end of the day, we tried to sneak in one more ride on Toy Story Mania,
but it still had a 70 minute line.
So we gave up and headed home.
But first, I asked a woman to take our picture
in front of Mickey's big sorcerer hat.

Notice anyone missing?
I guess if you leave your child sitting in the stroller,
it might appear that you don't want them in the photo.

I had to find ANOTHER stranger and ask her to
take one with all FIVE of us.

That's better.
Except for Whit's silly face.