Thursday, 5/13
7am alarm goes off... on VACATION? Really?? We get the kids ready, pack the cooler and diaper/snack bag. With a 2yo you have to have everything handy quickly. This is the first time we decide to take a cooler with us into the parks. Cokes, water, gatorades and tropical fruit juice... unfortunately, no rum.
Everything packed and it's off to MGM, err... Hollywood Studios. We decided to do Hollywood Studios first because we had reservations for 6:30pm at DTD and dinner planned at Crystal Palace the next day.
The first thing we do is hit the stroller rental. Now, we have learned from years past that it is a pain carry a stroller on and off the buses so we normally just rent one while we are there. Plus, the Disney strollers are so smooth. Since we have 2 relatively small children we go ahead and opt for the double stroller. Anybody, who doesn't already know, care to guess what a daily double stroller rental is from Disney? Anyone???.... $31.00 per day! We're going to the parks for 3 days. You guys do the math. Luckily, there is a SMALL savings if you go ahead and pay for all three days up front. This small savings bought me a cookie later.
Alright, you are in Hollywood Studios, what is the first thing you do? Yep, we head straight to Toy Story Mania and get a fastpass. Luckily, the standby wait is only 20 minutes so we decide to go ahead and wait for it as well as grab a fastpass. We had never done the ride before so we knew riding it twice would be no problem for us. The ride was awesome as we figured it would be. The kids really enjoyed the queue line so that made it easier for us to wait. The only thing I was upset about was that I thought I read somewhere that the ride had been updated with the new TS3 characters and that there was a new game in place of the Bo-peep darts game. Well, that hadn't been done, so we were a little disappointed but we got over it quickly as it is a pretty cool ride.
There was about an hour difference before we could come back for the Fastpass so my wife decided to take the 4yo and 2yo to Playhouse Disney and asked if I wanted to take my 7yo to Star Tours... WHAT??? Are you SERIOUS? Sure, I'll take him to Star Tours while they are at Playhouse Disney! (How did I luck into that one???) While on the way to ST we passed by the American Idol experience. It was about 30 minutes until the first showtime and I noticed how incredibly EMPTY the line was. I posted a pic for your viewing pleasure. I don't know what the reviews are for that attraction but judging from the lack of crowd I saw, I can't imagine it sticking around too long.
Star Tours was a walk-on, in fact, there were more people standing there watching the Jedi-in-training stage show than there were total in the ride. It's a shame as it was such a cool ride when it first opened. Watching the film, it is definitely over due for an upgrade. The film is very grainy and I hope they get rid of that Pee Wee Herman voice of Rex.
Walking back, we noticed that High School Musical 3 was going on... we took a WIDE turn to avoid it. We then went into the Art of Animation store outside of Playhouse Disney and they have the most beautiful paintings from Thomas Kinkade with Disney scenes. I recommend checking them out if you get a chance. I wanted to take a pic of one but figured that was frowned upon.
After the kids got out of Playhouse Disney we bought autograph books and waited in line for some characters. We got Chip & Dale, Jessie, Woody, Green Army Men, Lightning and Mater before I was able to talk everyone into going to Writers Stop to try out a carrot cake cookie. I think it was kcarts who posted a video about this cookie but it is easily one of the best kept secrets in DHS. Two huge cookies made out of moist carrot cake and in the middle... an ENORMOUS amount of cream cheese icing. MMmMMmMm... I don't even like carrot cake. The next time you eat lunch/dinner at DHS you HAVE to get one of these cookies afterwards. Trust me...
On to The Great Movie Ride... 10 minute wait and wouldn't you know it, I got the BANDIT scene as I was in the front car. Boring... stick to the Gangster scene. We then went to the 2pm showing of Beauty & the Beast Live on Stage, for my wife of course. Good show but if you've seen it once...
One of the things we wanted to do on this trip was see the Block Party Bash, so we went ahead and sat down on the parade route to reserve our seat. It was pretty good. It definitely gets the people involved and moving. Here are a couple of pics:
After this we figured we needed to get out of the park and rest before dinner. I hated that I couldn't do the Tower of Terror as I really like it, but it was a long wait and I knew the kids wouldn't get on it. So... Oh well.
After a very short nap we took the boat over to DTD. We met up with 6 cousins and all ate together at T-Rex. It was pretty good but I think Rainforest is better. Here are a couple of pics:
Me and my baby girl waiting to be called:
After dinner it was shopping time @ LEGO and World of Disney:
Afterwards, it was back to the hotel to sleep... no bar that night. Tomorrow, Magic Kingdom.
I have a TON of pictures but don't want to drag down the boards by posting them all. If you want more, just PM me and I'll send you more.
I like how the boys both had their dinosaur shirts on for eating at T-Rex, did you plan that?! I would say you really lucked out on missing PHD and HSM in one day! I didn't realize strollers were that expensive, but if it saves the struggle on the buses...
