Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Hollywood Studios- and bidding farewell :(

Even though I think our trip was the perfect length (it's very doubtful that anyone over the age of 4.5 could have done another day of walking in the hot sun, us old folks were sore and tired!), it did go by SO quickly! Our last day was spent at Hollywood Studios. We arrived a few minutes after rope drop (oops) and raced back to Toy Story Mania, which probably consistently has the longest lines of any ride at any park. We were at the FP line by 9:15 and the return time was already a couple of hours out.

 

No problem though, lots to do! We ducked into the first Little Mermaid show, which unfortunately broke halfway through (there must be something about us and breaking things). So we went across the courtyard and lined up for Disney Junior Live- it was a hit! It had puppets from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Sophia the 1st, Doc McStuffins and...most importantly...Jake and the Neverland Pirates! Those are all of her favorite shows, so she loved it. Also, fake snow and gold doubloons rained down from the sky- pretty much the coolest for a 4 year old.

Disney Jr dance party!!!

 

Next we decided to meet some characters! Wreck it Ralph and Vanellope were up first, Maddie and I both loved that movie! Then we rushed over to meet one of her absolute favorites (just look at her dress!), Jake. This wasn't QUITE as exciting as meeting Hook and Pan, but it was close :). On our way back to Toy Story Mania, we also ran into a Green Army Man! A tiny bit creepy in the face if you ask me, lol. Mads didn't seem to mind though.

I'm gonna wreck iiiiit!

awwww

 

We rode TSM and it was pretty fantastic! I'm not sure it's worth waiting 75+ minutes in line for, but I really loved it. Maddie liked it ok, she got a little frustrated with this one because she could see that she wasn't hitting much, whereas in Buzz you can't really tell and she always thought she was winning, lol.

 

Next we did two classic rides, the Backlot Tour and the Great Movie Ride. The Backlot Tour was so so, but Maddie really liked the Catastrophe Canyon part. I'd say that both of these rides are probably due for a bit of an update, lol. But they were fun. Mads wasn't too sure about all the guns shooting in the Great Movie Ride- she wasn't really scared, but she wasn't sure if it was real or not.

watch out behind you!

 

It was time for lunch, and we decided to try out Pizza Planet! It actually wasn't as Toy Story themed as I thought it would be, but the pizza was pretty good. We played "the claw" game, but apparently those games are a rip off even in Disney World! After lunch Dad ran over to get Rock'n'Roller coaster FPs while we explored the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground. It's a HUGE play area, and not really possible to watch your kid unless you stay right beside them. But, there's only one exit and it's manned by a cast member, so we set her loose and told her to check in every few minutes, and she did! She had a blast!

 

It was time to head to the other side of the park for the thrill rides! First up was ToT, which had a super short stand by line. Dad and I tried to trick Mads, telling her that this was our new hotel, and we were going upstairs in the elevator to take a nap, lol. But she did get a little nervous when it went pitch black, so I quickly explained what was about to happen! I think the dark was much scarier than the falling for her though, because she absolutely loved that part! As soon as we stopped, she wanted to ride it again. Me too!

 

 

The plan was for Mom and Dad to go try out the R'n'R single rider line while Mads and I did ToT again, but somehow the line had gone from 10 minutes to an hour! Cray. So the two of us went back over to Animation Courtyard and this time saw the entire Little Mermaid show. It was good, Maddie loved it and I had to keep telling her that if she wanted to sing along she had to do it really quitely, lol!

 

We rejoined Mom and Dad, and Maddie got some ice cream while Mom and I used some R'n'R FPs. Then Dad and I went...that is one crazy roller coaster! I loved it, but I have to say I think ToT is my favorite. It's easier on my head and joints! Maddie and I had FPs to use at ToT at this point, so we went together and rode it twice more in a row. Very very fun, and by the last time I think I finally convinced Maddie that it's fun to scream on scary rides.

 

For our last show at Disney, we went to Beauty and the Beast. It was SO good! It was probably my favorite show that we saw the whole trip. I was very impressed with the talent, and the length was perfect for kids of all ages. Maddie loved it too, she was sitting on the end of the aisle right in front of us to see better, and she couldn't stop turning around to smile at us.

 

Our plan kind of fell apart at this point, it was about 6:00 and we were all soooooo tired. The original plan was to stay for the 8:30 Fantasmic. So we hiked back across the park and did Star Tours, which was fun! I'm glad we got to do it. We checked on the TSM and Buzz lines a couple of times, but they were still pretty long, and the playground was closed, so we made the executive decision to call it a day!

 

We decided that margaritas were necessary for our aching bodies, so we found a nearby TexMex restaurant (thanks Yelp!) and had some yummy food and a pitcher of margs. A pretty great way to end our trip I think! We crashed as soon as we got back to the hotel, what a wonderful, exhausting week!

 

The next morning everyone packed up, and Mads and I headed back to the pool for one more short visit. We also explored the Little Mermaid section of the resort that we hadn't seen yet- it was awesome too! Mads loved the giant Ursula and she was really excited to see the dinglehopper.

 

That's pretty much it folks! We hit up the Ink and Paint gift shop at the hotel and then it was time to make the long trek home. In the pouring rain. Wooomp.

 

Thanks for reading these incredibly long recaps!!! It was such a fun trip and our mission was accomplished- Maddie had the time of her life. I can't even count the number of times that I heard her say under her breath that week "I just love Disney World." I may need this blog to remember the details, and what rides we rode...but the look on her face when she met Hook, Pan, Ariel, rode her first big roller coaster, ate in the Beast's castle, etc...I will never forget! Thank you to my wonderful mom and dad for making this trip possible- I don't think any of us will ever forget it!

 

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