Saturday, December 14th. Today is our only full day at Disney's Hollywood Studios, so let's get going! The park opened at 9am to the public, but today was an Extra Magic Hours day for resort guests. That meant that people staying on-property in a Disney hotel could get into the park an hour early at 8am. We decided to take full advantage of this and slept in. We did manage to get up and get going early enough to walk past all the people waiting at the gate and make it inside the park by 8:45, which was more than enough time to ride Rock 'n' Roller coaster and get in a 5 minute line for The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. Check, and check. Rock 'n' Roller Coaster is such a sweet ride. Launching 0-60mph in under 3 seconds, zipping through 3 inversions in the dark, flying by and through lit up neon signs, all while Aerosmith cranks out of speakers by your headrest - not to mention how smooth the ride is - this is a perfect roller coaster! I could ride it over and over again if the line wasn't long.
The scenery outside the infamous Hollywood Tower Hotel
Hmm...guess we'll just have to walk to the basement and take the service elevator
What could go wrong?
If you only remember one thing about this trip report, make it this: Star Tours - The Adventure Continues is amazing! It used to be an incredibly jerky, nauseating, and even though it was Star Wars themed, kind of generic motion simulator. Then they shut it down in 2010, and re-opened it in 2011. Now the motion is as smooth as glass and makes you feel like you are right there living the adventure.
We rode it 4 times during our visit, and each experience was different. I've since learned that there are more than 50 possible combinations of the different show elements, making repeat rides an incredibly enjoyable "must". I mean, when Darth Vader appeared in front of us everyone - everyone - gasped and cheered. He then tried to stop our vehicle from leaving the hanger using the force, and our ship swung from side to side as we struggled to escape...unbelievable! And that was just the start of the ride. Plus there is a full sized animatronic C-3PO that pilots each ship and helps bridge the believability gap between the 3D film and the physical effects inside the vehicle. I cannot praise this ride enough.
"My eyes have glazed over in entertainment technology joy"
The Osbourne Family Christmas lights are decidedly less awesome during the day.
Props from the Pirates of the Caribbean movie(s)
Be very careful about what you volunteer for
The Catastrophe Canyon set on the studio backlot tour
Hero (and cuteness) poses
"From expert to beginner, everyone's a winner!" Hmph, I think I could write these things: "From pro to novice, let go of us." Bada bing...done.
The best queue in Walt Disney World (also the longest line in Walt Disney World - thankfully we had a fast pass). Second best queue: Under the Sea - Journey of The Little Mermaid at the Magic Kingdom.
Giant tinkertoys
Using the mobile My Disney Experience app (more on that later), I had checked reservation availability the day before and saw there was an opening at the 50s Prime Time Cafe for lunch today. I was also able to make the reservation right then for the two of us through the mobile app. Good stuff. This was a really fun restaurant with a great theme. You're treated as "family" by the servers, and I don't necessarily mean the good kind. They're all helping keep an eye out for mom while she's in the kitchen cooking, so you better wash your hands, keep your elbows off the table, and eat your vegetables. Todd wasn't quite quick enough with his greens, so our server Anton sat down at our table and fork-fed them to him.
For an appetizer we split fried herb and garlic cheese with toasted french bread. Todd had a chocolate malt and I ordered one of Dad's special cocktails, a Mowie Wowie, made of Parrot Bay coconut rum, melon liqueur, peach schnapps, orange juice and pineapple juice. It was extremely tasty and gone too soon. My entree was Cousin Ann's Traditional Meatloaf served with garlic mashed potatoes and green beans. It tasted better than homemade. Todd had A Sampling Of Mom's Favorites which had fried chicken, pot roast, meatloaf, greens, and mashed potatoes. It was a lot of food, and reportedly all delicious. Todd skipped dessert, understandably, but I opted for the S'mores which were served as a whole graham cracker with 6 toasted marshmallows on top that were drizzled in chocolate. It was so sweet and sticky and good.
Wait a minute, how did we get to Mom's house?
Mom's living room
Mom's tables in the kitchen
Mom has a lot of nooks in her kitchen
Mesmerized by the dessert menu
Too cool for school
"I haven't seen that one duck come up for air. I think it might be dead." After I laughed so hard I couldn't breathe, I pointed out that it was not a drowned duck, but a piece of palm tree bark, and that he should have brought his glasses with him.
"Keep absolutely still. It's vision is based on movement."
All of us went to watch the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular show. The amphitheater has covered bleacher seating with the action taking place outside. It was really cool to watch and the performed did a great job. Near the climatic end which featured a lot of fire effects, there was a ton of water being sprayed onto the stage area. We thought it was to counteract the fire, but when we left the show we saw that it had rained briefly. Duh.
A little later when it got dark Todd and I decided to go back through the Osborne Family lights area. We were right in the heart of the massive shoulder-to-shoulder crowd when it started to rain. Then it started to rain hard. Then it started to rain hard with the biggest raindrops I have ever experienced. The entire crowd panicked and started trying to go somewhere, anywhere to get out of the rain since there's no cover in that part of the park. We were finally able to break free from the crowd and ducked into the Star Wars gift shop just as the rain started to slack a little. The funny thing we had been packed so tightly in the throng of people that while our heads and shoulders were soaked, the rest of us was relatively dry. It was an odd experience.
We decided to ride Star Tours one last time since a portion of its outdoor queue was covered, and the rest of the queue was inside. It was great, again.
R2-D2 ready for duty
C-3PO in the Star Tours queue
While waiting in line we were checking out the My Disney Experience app and saw that the Magic Kingdom was open until 1am. Should we do the sane thing and go back to the hotel for the night and relax, or should we go back to the hotel for a quick bite, a quick refresh, then head over to the Magic Kingdom? Do I really have to ask?
Space Mountain as seen from the monorail about to head into the Contemporary
Chef Mickey's was pretty rocking - the noise was bleeding over into the Contempo Cafe
Todd has had enough of Chef Mickey's
Space Mountain again
The Little Mermaid
Scuttle
Watching Ariel swim above our heads, combing her hair with a fork. Oh Ariel, you're so stupid.
Ariel flipping her fins. Love the way they made her hair seem to float.
Ursula - some would call her, well, a witch. She's actually an amazing animatronic figure.
The Main Street Electrical Parade
Look out! Here comes a dragon!
Whew. It's just Eliot, Pete's Dragon.
I remember seeing this movie in the theater when it was released in 1977. Then it was big thrill in 1978 to watch this float appear with others in the halftime show of the 1978 Orange Bowl.
Jingle Cruise sign
It really is something to see
Lights on Main Street
Our room from the outside - the double lit window on the bottom. I was so tired by this point I could barely put one foot in front of the other. Did I mention I had been up for 3 hours in the middle of the night last night?
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