Disney World, Part VI

We spent Wednesday at Hollywood Studios. We were getting pretty worn down from the past few days' activities and from being up late at Epcot on Tuesday, but they didn't open until 9:00, so we made it just shortly after opening.




We'd been given a tip to go straight to the Toy Story ride, as the lines are long, and we may not be able to get Fast Passes. When we got there, the line was already at about 40 minutes, and the Fast Pass return times were for 2:30 pm. So we decided to get in line. We waited about an hour, but had fun waiting in line, looking at all the giant games/toys in the room. You've gotta love the Tinker Toys box bigger than you, the Shutes and Ladders and Scrabble games on the ceiling, the Barrel of Monkeys hanging all over, and the Mr. Potato Head entertaining you while you wait in line. And don't forget the 3D glasses!

When we came out of Toy Story, there was an Army Man out on the street, so we had to get a picture with him.

We went on the Star Wars ride next. We'd been told that it's randomized so there'll be a different story line every time. There was a fairly short line, so we went twice, but it was mostly the same every time - just a different character narrating, and a different person on the ride that was featured - Kaylen was the suspected spy the first time we rode!


We grabbed 3 Fast Passes for Tower of Terror, and 2 for Rockin' Roller Coaster. But, the Tower of Terror line was very short, so they just went immediately instead. Daddy, Elijah & Kaylen went, and apparently, Kaylen was really scared, but Elijah wasn't because he wasn't listening to the story line. Josephine and I didn't even try. We had a snack while we waited.

Then Kaylen and I used our Rockin' Roller Coaster fast passes - the timing worked out perfectly. It was a fun ride. Kaylen was excited, but then when we were about to get on, she almost chickened out. I told her we weren't backing out after waiting our turn, so we went, and she loved it. Jock, Elijah & Josephine got ice cream while they waited for us, and we joined them when we got back.

When we were hot and tired of walking, we headed back to the stunt show. They showed us the tricks and then described/showed in slow motion how they did them. The guy on fire has several layers: fire retardent, coolant, fire retardent, then a gel that would keep the flames going on him - then there were people placed with fire extinguishers to put it out after a certain number of seconds. Then they showed what the tricks actually look like when they put the clips from different camera angles together in a movie. It was pretty neat, and I was glad that they incorporated a little bit of Cars with Lightening McQueen and Tow Mater.

When we came out of the stunt show, we were bummed because we wanted to go see some characters and get some photos. But none of them were available at 2:30. So we looked for the Narnia ride/exhibit, but it wasn't there. Apparently they were either renovating it or making room for something else, even though it was still on our maps. :(

Then we realized the reason that everything was closed - all the characters were getting in position for the Parade! So we stopped to watch the Muppets 3D show first - we had just enough time. It was a cute show.







When we came out of the Muppets, we found a spot to watch the parade, and really enjoyed seeing lots of characters from some of our favorite Disney movies, and dancing to the parade music.
























After the parade, we headed over to the Animation Studio, where we saw a brief presentation about how it all started, then got a few photos with characters who had returned from the parade. We got a good photo with the Incredibles, but the kids were tired and grumpy, so we skipped Pooh and got a horrible photo with Mickey.

We then went to have a drawing lesson, which was fun. Here are the results, attempting to draw Rapunzel from Tangled. Elijah didn't participate, but the rest of us tried. Can you guess whose is whose? You might be surprised! (Clockwise from upper left: Kaylen, Jock, Josephine, Lisa.)


We didn't take a break and do naps in the middle of the day, so we were exhausted by about 5:00! We also planned to return to Hollywood Studios for a partial day on Friday, so we headed back to our hotel early evening for a normal bedtime.