Day 4 of our fabulous Disney Vacay was exactly that: fabulous! But to be clear, the start of this day made us question if we would even survive the entire day. This is the day we went to Hollywood Studios!
We got up early and were greeted with sunny skies and a cool beautiful morning. The rain from the day before had brought a cool front so we were facing a sunny 75 degree day. What could possibly wreck the start to that kind of morning? Well, picture our foursome at the entry gates of Hollywood Studios, eating cereal bars as we wait for the park to open. We had the park guide open and were building a plan, a plan that started weeks before when we booked our vacation. Apparently there are two "must do" things at Hollywood Studios that you need to do immediately upon the park opening: training to be a Jedi by Star Tours and fighting Darth Vadar OR running over to Toy Story Mania for the "best.ride.ever".
Note I said RUNNING. Yup. And AJ decided he didn't feel like going on stage alone to be a Jedi, so we put on our backpack, tied our shoes and prepared to run (aka run in spurts and breathe heavily like you are in the middle of a marathon) across the park so we could get in line to said "best.ride.ever".
The problem with our plan came down to AJ. He didn't want to rush through the gates, he definitely didn't want to run on his tired little legs. And so he refused. And he sat down and started scream crying. And like any sane parent would, I picked him up and started running while holding said 35 pound crying child. Because its not about the tired child, its about the ride people!
AJ rebelled by taking his magic band (aka his tickets for the entire trip) off his wrist and tossing it behind us in a rage. At this point, I am unaware as all I am thinking is "dear Lord, why didn't I make his father carry his heavy butt" and "just keep running surely we are almost there, dang it Disney why isn't this ride by the front gate". KK and Daddy had run ahead to get into line, joining the 100+ people who apparently also had the same brilliant idea that we had. So as I am being passed by a ninety year old granny and her grandson, I hear someone yelling "Ma'am". I turn to see someone holding AJ's magic band and trying to hand it to me. Thank goodness for kind strangers. But because of that stop, granny was way ahead of me and I was losing ground to pretty much anyone headed the same direction. Do we give up and cry together or are we almost there and this will be over?
So in case you weren't sure, we made it. Trust me, I was as surprised as you. A few moments later we rounded the corner and walked into Toy Story Mania land. It was enough that AJ quieted up and just started getting into the spirit of the time and smiling again.
And there it was: "the.best.ride.ever".
And it was!
We caught up to KK and Daddy and even had enough time to catch our breath and take a few pictures. It was by far one of our favorite rides of the entire trip. Even the waiting areas were Toy Story'ed out and so much fun to walk through.
My sweet KK, wearing her Minnie ears and her new tshirt that she woke up and found at the bottom of her bed (surprise #? I lost count)!
Look at this smiling picture - you can't even tell we almost ditched one of the children for a ride hehe. AJ too is wearing a Mickey shirt that we surprised him with this morning as well.
Daddy and KK looking so cute in their 3d glasses!
So the ride is in 3D! The ride is basically four people with shooters, and the cars roll in front of screens and throw pies, darts, etc. You feel water when you pop a balloon or air when a pie whizzes in the air by you. It doesn't sound nearly as awesome as it really is, but based on the fact there is usually a 1 hour wait, you could take my word for it.
Mommy smoked AJ :-)
Afterwards we went across the street to meet Woody and Buzz in person.
We might have had some fun while we waited taking silly pictures!
The kids couldn't believe we were actually meeting these guys. Buzz was cute, he had a stamp for his autograph. It is hard doing your signature when you are a robot...
We even got a family shot
This little monkey was loving Hollywood Studios so far, and he had no idea it was about to be even better!
Sadly he had to sit through a quick live show of the Little Mermaid (though he was sitting on the edge of his seat completely wrapped up in the show, he will never admit that). KK was so cute, she was singing along and just loving the show.
The kids were so into meeting characters and collecting autographs, and we just happened to be near Wreck in Ralph and Penelope Von Sweet so we stopped.
Ralph was huge
So big that he even tried to jump in front of everyone for our picture (they were very playful and sweet)
The kids were having fun
And much to my husband's "delight", we got another family shot :-)
KK always gives goodbye hugs :-)
After that, it was already time for lunch. We had a special lunch planned at Hollywood & Vine with some very awesome Disney Junior characters.
They liked that I said we could do silly faces in this picture...
Our first visitor to our table was none other than Princess Sofia. While KK is almost too big to really get excited about Disney Junior characters, she was still excited for more autographs in her book.
And AJ allowed a GIRL to sign his book too.
A princess is still a princess and we love princesses!
But this one surprised me - he was all about the love.
Doc McStuffins was next to stop by our table and say hello.
And AJ's favorite person was FINALLY headed our way! None other than Jake from the Neverland Pirates!
Look at his smile! While the food wasn't exciting by any means, this face was priceless!
And right before we left, Handy Manny showed up. Another boy for AJ!
After lunch, we were on a pretty tight schedule. Hollywood Studios is mostly shows with very specific start times. Thanks to my awesome planning, we mapped out when and were we needed to be for the afternoon so we could be sure to make the shows we wanted to see. So first, we walked over to Star Tours and AJ got to see Jedi knights fighting a very real Darth Vadar! So cool!
We are ready for our flight into space!
The kids loved the ride! I forgot how much fun it was, AJ totally believed he had just been in a Jedi battle in space! KK seemed to get it was a ride, but she loved the drops and thrills.
Next we were walking down to find AJ's absolutely most favorite characters ever: McQueen and Mater... we had to enjoy some of the movie backdrops along the way.
AJ and I hanging out in San Fran
Daddy and KK in NYC
And then we found THEM! AJ was smiling so big it must have hurt but he didn't mind.
He did let KK jump in to meet them and take a picture too! She thought it was cool, even if they didn't move or talk.
And since they were one of our big meet and greets, we had to have a family picture too.
We were then on our way to an action car show. But first, we must pose and be silly in front of the Muppets fountain! We didn't get to make that show, but next time we definitely will stop by!
Next was an oldie but a goodie: Indiana Jones! I still remember as a kid when we came in to watch it and how much I loved every moment. Well I wasn't the only one:
AJ's jaw dropped open and all he could do was grunt and say "awwww" as he watched the fight scene with the ninja moves. They had his full attention.
And he was a little concerned when Indy was ducking bullets and the plane was on fire. Good news: it all ended great and the bad guys were stopped. AJ was jumping up and down afterwards, talking so fast and trying to tell us everything he loved about it.
We had a few moments between show times to meet Mr. Incredible and Mr. Freeze.
This was the moment we didn't expect: AJ asked Mr. Incredible "why are you wearing your underwear on the outside"... yup! He asked it out loud. Parents behind us were giggling and part of me laughed and part of me cringed. Mr. Incredible never really explained himself, he just flexed his muscles and hugged the stinky little boy I call mine. KK, ever the big sister, made a point to say "you can't ask him that!". Nice try sister...
So we surprised the kids with the next stop: Lights, Motor, Action. We filled into this huge stadium and below us was a movie set. The director and specialists showed everyone the secrets and tricks to filming action scenes with cars and explosions. It was so neat... and a very sweet little boy was having the TIME OF HIS LIFE watching:
The kids were on the edge of their seats during a scene where it looked like a man got shot (don't worry, he was okay - this is a movie set). KK was just as into the show as AJ was, even biting her lip during the action scenes.
And AJ's favorite friend showed up for a chase scene and to save the day!
This was pretty much his face the whole time, just saying "awwww" and grunting or giggling in joy. Sweet sweet sounds and the very reason we did this trip! Made me so happy!
They absolutely loved the show! (Even us girls had a fun time watching!)
Well after all that walking, watching and excitement, it was time to eat at PIZZA PLANET! (Remember, it was on Toy Story).
The pizza was delicious and the cappuccino cupcake was divine! We would definitely come back, it was just what we needed while we took a break from our day.
We walked across the park and then took another quick break for KK, who wanted a funnel cake. While waiting for daddy, she and I decided it was time to take a selfie...
Turns out our duck faces were so cute, we attracted an actual duck! Well, either that or he smelled the funnel cake...
This duck wasn't shy, he came up and took a bite off of our plate! We were shocked. And no hand waving would make him leave. He actually drove us away and we had to eat our cake while walking.
Due to our crazy beginning at the park (remember that "running" start?), we never had a chance to take pictures in front of the Wizard Hat. So as the sun was setting and our day was wrapping up, we took some pictures to commemorate our day at Hollywood Studios.
Sadly the last ride of the day I don't have any pictures on. It was something KK was so excited to complete: The Hollywood Tower of Terror! Yet another "roller coaster" thrill ride she could cross off her list. While AJ and I went to save seats for our final show, KK and Daddy took off to conquer the tower. KK loved it, no surprise there! Next time I will have to ride it with her :-)
I will add here that since we had to save our seats for this final show (that only happen once at night in this very park), we had to sit for over an hour and wait for the show to start. Having done my homework, I was prepared. Inside our bag were treats to pass the time, including Disney character bubbles, glow bracelets and candy. So worth it, the kids were happy and entertained, and I got to wave off the man selling a $10 glow wand. Brilliant I tell you :-)
So at this point we are pretty tired. We had been at the park since it opened at 9 a.m. and due to show times had been zigzagging all over so we could pack as much as possible into our day. And while it was a long day, it was so much fun. And believe it or not, our last show was AMAZING and eclipsed everything we had seen all day. We went to see Fantasmic!
For those who haven't gone to see this, Mickey has a dream and seeing bad guys/darkness taking over the kingdom. Then the light and the good begins to fight back. The beauty of it is that all this is done with Disney music in a light, fire and water show with every single Disney character you could ever imagine joining in the dream. And it ends with all characters singing together on the water in front of us. My words won't do it justice and pictures were impossible due to the water and light moving so fast... that and we were on the edge of our seats yet again today, mesmerized by the story and the show.
I think these smiling faces afterwards tells you just how great of a show (and day) we had! It was packed with music, characters, thrills and all! Seriously one of our favorite days on this trip!
These two kiddos didn't even make it out of the parking lot before falling asleep!
Sweet dreams Y'all!
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