We visited Hollywood Studios on our 3rd day at Disney. Didn’t see my previous posts? That’s OK I’ll put them here:
Day 2 – Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom
We were pretty tired by this point in our trip so we slept in a bit and ran, again, to our first Fast Pass of the day. Disney first timers- it really does take a while to get into the parks, don’t under estimate the time it takes to go through security/bag check and scan your passes at the front gate! Luckily the kids knew the drill, they looked forward to scanning their bands before heading in.
Our first ride of the day was the highly popular Toy Story Mania. I didn’t know what to expect but I did know that EVERY single person I asked about Fast Pass recommendations told me this was a must do. I can’t imagine waiting in line for this one, I think it was 2 hours long. Yikes! But if there is one thing we’d learned by day 3 it was that the lines can actually be fun once you are inside the attraction!
The “cars” on this ride rotate so it was fun being able to see both kids enjoy it. Here is Jack and Grandpa getting ready to shoot some targets. Both kids LOVED this ride and would have liked to have been able to do it again if the line wasn’t so long.
I think I was most excited to revisit the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground. For some reason I remember climbing all the way up to the top of the spider web when I went with my friends for a class trip, it’s fun revisiting these places with our kids.
The kids had a blast in this playground. It was their second favorite thing about Hollywood Studios after Toy Story.
I’m 99% sure my friends and I posed for this exact picture but I can’t find it anywhere! Haha. It still cracks me up.
We ate lunch at the cafe around the corner from the park. Layla had fun going through her pins and traded her first one while at HS. She picked from a Disney employee that had a bulletin board full of pins. She traded in one of her least favorites for a naked mole rat of all things. But she loves it and it still makes her laugh whens he looks at her lanyard.
After lunch we went to ride Star Tours. We were running a little early for our Fast Passes so we decided to hang out in the area around the attraction and watch Jedi training. BIG mistake. Jack heard the Death March and saw Darth Vader come out…he was done. Not just done with that area, he was literally on the look out for bad guys for the entire rest of the day. LOL. Poor guy. So Layla and I did Star Tours together while Daddy and Jack got as far away as they could from Lord Vader.
I LOVED Star Tours, Layla kind of liked it but didn’t like being “shot at”. Jack probably would have peed his pants in terror so I’m glad we were able to avoid that mistake. Maybe next time when he’s a little older and not so scared of the dark one.
Bryan went to ride Star Tours on his own while the kids and I went for a little stroll around the park. It was a beautiful day so I was perfectly happy just being outside and seeing the sites. We walked down to the Tower of Terror- Layla didn’t want to ride it but really wanted to see what it was all about. Lucky for us a Disney employee whispered to me that Mickey just came out around the corner and he let us in past a gate into a little courtyard. The kids got to see Mickey with NO line. It was sweet and they were so surprised. Jack was a little star struck!
We met back up with Grandma while the guys rode the big kid rides. Of course Grandma had to get the kids a treat so we ate ice cream and listened to the screaming outside of the Tower of Terror. The kids were pretty into it. Haha!
All of a sudden Jack got the urge to actually RIDE the Tower of Terror. I don’t know what came over him (sugar rush from the ice cream?) but Bryan decided he’d try to take him. I was a nervous wreck when he sent me this picture of Jack right outside the entrance.
Hahahaha! Five seconds after taking that picture and going through the doors, Jack suddenly had to poop and the moment was gone. No Tower of Terror this time. If he couldn’t handle Star Wars I don’t know how he would have handled THAT.
We tried to do the Little Mermaid show to slow things down a bit but J freaked out. I think he was still on the hunt for Darth. He went into the theater kicking and screaming and I had to leave before the show even started. The staff was very kind and asked if he maybe wanted to wait right outside the doors so he could calm down and sneak back in. The lady manning the line offered to let him play with the radio and mega phone she had but he was NOT having it. Thankfully my husband came to save the day so I could go back inside. The show must be cursed because I ended up choking/coughing through the entire thing. So in other words, if you attended the Little Mermaid show at approximately 3:00 that day…I’m sorry for my screaming son and then my relentless coughing.
Day 3 at Disney was pretty rough. I don’t know if it was that the kids weren’t that into Hollywood Studios or if it was just the fact that they had been going non stop for 3 days…but they were SO ornery. Their faces in this picture sum it up perfectly- bad to the bone.
We were all kind of done after the Little Mermaid ordeal but I really, REALLY wanted Jack to meet Darth Vadar. Yes even after the events earlier in the day. He loves talking about him at home and has a few action figures and shirts with him on it. I was so sad that he got scared outside of Star Tours and I wanted him to leave at least meeting him and seeing he wasn’t SO bad. We walked in to the area to get in line and Jack just really didn’t want to do it. Luckily you can still get a Star Wars experience without waiting in line to see the characters so we just walked around the props/gift shop area. Jack thought the big Millennium Falcon was pretty cool-
And Layla wasn’t going to let the Storm Troopers get in her way of having fun.
Our biggest and best surprise for the day was making a trade with a Jawa. My pictures of this event are terrible because it all happened so quickly but if you give the Jawa something he can use on his home planet (aka- basically anything but money) he will give you something from his bag (plastic droid parts).
The kids thought this was a BIG deal and can’t wait to go back to Disney World so they can get more parts and build a real robot. Haha. They each got a piece that actually fits together and play with it ALL the time!
On our way out of the park we stopped to say hi to Minnie. Her line wasn’t long and Jack was in the mood so we had to cease the moment. Layla made sure to get her autograph (look how excited J is in this pic!)-
And Jack even leaned in a bit for the picture! He was totally trying to play it cool.
He chatted with Minnie for a second after the pic. I don’t know what he was saying to her but he stopped mid sentence when he realized what was actually happening and got shy. Then he looked at her and said “bye!” and walked away.
Here we are all exhausted trying to take a family picture before heading back to the hotel. We left and ate a “sit down meal” back at the resort (Port Orleans Riverside). The food was great and we left full and ready to fall into bed and SLEEP.
You’ve got great insights about the Article, Thanks and keep up the good work!