Friday, December 7, 2018

A Day in the Life: Disney Edition | Part 3: Hollywood Studios

I am back today with our first full day at Disney World!  I talked about my prep work in Part 1 and the boys' first plane ride, my thoughts on our resort and our first night at Splitsville in Disney Springs in Part 2.  But today we're getting to the really fun stuff!



It was HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS DAY!!



We woke up early on Friday morning so that we could be at the park before it opened.  And look who showed up! ;)


Our elf, Doodah, couldn't pass up the Happiest Place on Earth! 

Almost everyone grabbed a quick breakfast at the food court in the resort (which was really nice by the way) and then we waited a few minutes for our bus that would take us to Hollywood Studios!

(Sidenote:  The buses were great.  They said they ran every 20 minutes but it seemed like we never waited that long. The rides to all the parks were quick too.)

I just have to say that I felt like a total kid again as we pulled into the parking lot.  We could see the Tower of Terror in the distance and I was practically giggling.  #suchadork

There were several times during this vacation that I had to remind myself that I was actually an adult. haha

Before we'd even hit bag check, I was pulling the boys aside for pictures.  I had already warned them that this was something they were just going to have to deal with all week.  


Nana and Papa wanted pictures too!


So did Mimi & Paw Paw!


When the gates opened, we headed straight for Slinky Dog Dash because we weren't able to get a Fast Pass for it but knew it was a must-ride.  Our planners told us it would be best to run there first so we did and that was great advice. But apparently, everyone else had the same idea. Hahaha. 

All those people on the right were in line too.  (TIP:  Run faster than us after rope drop.  And be at the front of the line at rope drop.  It'll save you an hour at least.)  

We ended up waiting about an hour and a half but when you have a big group with you, it's easy to stay entertained.  We played Heads Up on my phone and the boys played the Disney Play app some too. But since we had just arrived and everything around us looked like this...




...no one cared that much.  It was just exciting to actually be there after the months and months of waiting.

Everyone was all smiles!




We finally made it to the front of the line!


Hands up!!  This was such a fun roller coaster!  It's definitely a family-style coaster meaning it doesn't get super crazy but it's still so much fun.  Completely worth the wait.


They put so much thought into this ride!  Toy Story Land was one of my favorites all week.  The detail was incredible.


The boys needed a picture with Buzz.  They don't really remember watching Toy Story over and over and over again when they were babies and toddlers...but I do. So I think it all may have meant more to me.  ;)


Our first Fast Pass for Toy Story Mania wasn't for another hour and a half so we decided to check out Alien Swirling Saucers.  But on our way over, the toy soldiers came marching in with their drums and they put on quite a show!


We ended up taking advantage of the fact that everyone was standing around watching the soldiers and jumped in line while it wasn't crazy long.  We waited about 45 minutes and after we rode it, we decided that it MAY not have been worth it.  I'll never ride it again unless the wait is maybe 15 minutes or less.  This is a great one for little kids though!



We walked by Woody doing a Meet & Greet!  I can't help but wonder how miserable it would be to wear that costume, even just for a couple of hours.


Pretty soon it was time for our first Fast Pass at Toy Story Mania!


Or almost time.  We had to stand around for about 15 minutes in the sun while we waited for our time slot.  Waiting is not their favorite.


It was starting to warm up so Papa tried to cool off the boys with a cold water bottle.


But we finally were able to get in and had just a short wait.  


This is what happens when I say "Smile!"



I loved everything about this one!  They have it set up like you are a toy inside of Andy's bedroom. Giant doors, windows, toys, furniture.  Even the electrical outlets looked real. 



We needed 3D glasses for this one!


I don't have any pics from the ride but it was SO MUCH FUN!!!!  You can see it HERE if you want to check it out.  I sat with Mason and he ended up beating me!  I really thought I had him.  I'm still not sure how he beat me.  Of course, Craig beat everyone.  By a lot. #soannoying



There was a Disney photographer outside of Toy Story Mania so we stopped for pics in front of the giant fence.



We left Toy Story Land and were about to head over for our next Fast Pass at Rockn' Roller Coaster, when I checked my app and saw that it was temporarily closed!  Nooooooo!!!!  We didn't have a lot of disappointments on this trip but this was definitely one of them.  It didn't reopen during our Fast Pass time so we missed it.  The wait for it was so long for the rest of the day that we never tried to get back to it but MAN were my kids sad.  They had been looking forward to their first upside-down roller coaster!

So instead, we headed to the Indiana Jones Stunt show which was a highlight of everyone's day for sure!  If you need a break from the heat or just need to get off your feet for a bit, this is pefect for that.




After the show, it was time for lunch!  We had reservations at the Sci-Fi Theater but were a few minutes early so we snapped some pics in the cool blue car...


...and Mason joined the hula-hoopers outside the restaurant.  Why hula-hoop with one when you can do two?!



Since I had done my research, I knew what the restaurant was about but I was not expecting it to be so dark and so QUIET.  The theater is built to look like a drive-in so all the tables are cars!  There are "stars" that light up the sky along the tops of the walls and it is pretty legit.  




Our food was yummy and it was a really fun experience.  I'd definitely recommend making a reservation here.

After lunch, it was FINALLY time for our Tower of Terror Fast Pass!  This was one of the boys' most anticipated ride.  You are just not cool unless you can say you've ridden the Tower of Terror at Disney World, apparently.  So many of his buddies had been talking about it and they were nervous, giggly and so ready to join the club!


We had to wait a few minutes again before it was time to go in so the boys kept themselves entertained like this.


They really bonded on this trip and as much as I loved everything else, seeing how much fun they had with each other was the #1 highlight of the trip.  They have always been best buds but their relationship really grew on this trip.  I love that they'll share these memories for the rest of their lives.

Y'all, I am a HUGE fan of roller coasters and thrill rides.  I don't get scared or nervous very much but as we were doing the whole first part of this ride where they try to set the mood and get you all freaked out...let's just say it was working!


I was also nervous for my mom because she's not a fan of dark, enclosed spaces but she did fine!

And look at our funny picture!  We're still not sure what my dad was doing. hahaha


After our ride, we were kind of running out of things we wanted to do.  It was around 4:30 by that point and everyone's feet were hurting, we were hot and tired and since no one had any kind of desire to see the Star Wars stuff, we decided to head back to the resort.

We stopped to watch these funny street performers for a little bit.  I'm still not sure I understand what they were talking about but it was fun.


As we headed out toward the bus, I caught this in front of me.  I'm so glad I had my phone out.  Seriously.  Heart bursting.


Back at the resort, the boys changed into their swimsuits and we headed out to the pool.



The Art of Animation resort has 2 big pools.  We headed to the main pool for some swimming as the sun set.



The boys swam for about an hour, we grabbed pizza and salads from the food court and ate outside and then we all got dressed and headed back to Hollywood Studios for the fireworks!






Everything was so impressive and the boys loved the "snow" that they sprayed down all over us.  Day 1 was so much fun and if it weren't for the cancellation of Rockn' Roller Coaster, it would have been totally perfect.



It was all so pretty.  We loved our day at Hollywood Studios!!


Next up...ANIMAL KINGDOM!

Come back next week for the rest of our trip!  Animal Kingdom, Epcot and Magic Kingdom.  Ahhhh!!  It just got better and better every single day!

{UPDATE: FIND ALL PARTS OF THE SERIES BELOW.}

PART 1Prep Work
PART 2Travel, Resort Check-In, Disney Springs
PART 3Hollywood Studios 
PART 4Animal Kingdom
PART 5:  Epcot
PART 6: Magic Kingdom

I'll probably be posting videos from our trip in my Instagram stories to go along with that day's post and you can follow along @amandanall.

And since today is Friday Favorites, here are a few from this week.

I ordered this Waterproof Bluetooth Speaker to give to Craig for Christmas (but really it's for all of us) so we could listen to music-or audiobooks-in the shower.  It has AMAZING reviews and is under 20 bucks.  Definitely a favorite.

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As for Favorite #2, Jane has these awesome makeup bags on sale for $13.99 SHIPPED right now.  I raved about bags very similar to this about a year ago but these are even better!  They have a flap that closes over the top of your bag once it's all cinched up and that's exactly what the other ones were missing.

If you are always digging down to the bottom of your make up bag trying to find your eyeliner or lip gloss, this is for you!  You can lay it out flat on your counter so you can see everything and then when you're done, you just cinch it back up!  So easy!  

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Great gift idea too!  Find them HERE.

And finally, I have been ordering gifts left and right lately but now that they are starting to pileup in their boxes because I have no wrapping paper!  So I found this awesome deal on Amazon yesterday on this bundle and it should be here today.  It comes with 3 reversible rolls of wrapping paper, 3 different colors of ribbon and 36 gift tags.  All for under $20.  YAY!!  And the paper is SO CUTE!! 

I love it so much!!  Can't wait to wrap presents tonight!


If you need some too, you can grab it HERE.

If you are really into finding deals, gift ideas and other fun stuff, you should join my Daily Deals FB group!  I've got a ton of other favorites over there!  I also have a Daily Deals blog that I do my best to keep up with as well. This week has been insane though with an overwhelming number of Etsy orders, sending Matthew off to 5th grade camp, Christmas parties and being sick on Monday, that the deals blog came in last place. :(  

You can find the Deals Blog HERE and the FB Group HERE.


Have an awesome weekend, friends!


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5 comments

  1. Oh my word! Those smiles say it all! WHAT A FUN TIME!!!

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  2. Normally if a ride shuts down during your fast pass time it converts to a fast pass you can use anytime during the remainder of the day

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    1. Ours just disappeared from my app after our hour time slot was up and it gave us another fast pass to that we could use to book something but it was impossible to get one for anything. I think having 8 people in the group didn't help. I'm going to check to see how that works for next time for sure though because it almost happened to us at Magic Kingdom too! Thanks, Cathy!

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  3. We took the kids to Disney twice and the Tower of Terror never disappointed! Looks like you really enjoyed your trip :)

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  4. That day at Disney looks like so much fun. Also, thank you for the makeup bag gift idea. I hope you have a great weekend!

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