We were fairly well rested after taking Tuesday off to play in the pool and watch tv. Sam was excited with his newfound roller coaster bravery. We were ready to see what Hollywood Studios had to offer.
We took advantage of our early arrival and headed straight to the Tower of Terror. Sam was flabbergasted that we would start with such a scary ride.
"What are we doing?"
"This is a warm-up?!!? I don't think you people know what 'warm-up'm means!!!"
It was like the Haunted Mansion on steroids. Really well done. Beautiful and creepy at the same time.
Sam was on the verge of hyperventilating and a little boy in the row in front of us turned around and reassured him that it was just like a "hoppy frog". Sam took him at his word, relaxed a little, and did enjoy it. Thanks, kid....you saved the day.
Next up after our warm-up was the Rockin' Roller Coaster where Aerosmith jams out with you. Grandpapa and Daddy Larry, we took this picture for you! You kind of walk through little museums before and after a bunch of the rides.
It was Sam's first over-the-shoulder-strap-in-flip-upsidedown coaster. He loved it!!! Thanks to Disney's tendency to turn the lights off (aka shut your eyes for you, according to Ray) on scary rides, he didn't get as freaked out looking at the turns before they actually happened. Brilliant, Disney, brilliant.
Here was our FastPass plan for the day. We rode two of these rides before getting this. It was nothing but happy anticipation beforehand instead Sam's usual dread. I think he's finally turned the corner.
(Mom, this Gone with the Wind shot is for you)
We decided to ride The Gread Movie Ride next. You take a little tram through some studio sets and visit a lot classics. This is an icognito shot of the kids in the Wizard of Oz set.
Love this shot!
More of the Disney magic captured as they held hands and walked to the Muppet Vision 3D.
I remember watching the Muppets Show ALL THE TIME as a kid. These guys were well represented with Disney's awesome animatronics.
This was our warmest day so far. You can see a little bit of a sweaty glow on our faces here as we wait for the Indian Jones Epic Stunt Spectactular. It was pretty cool. I will upload some video of Sam's reactions to the stunts when we get to some better WIFI.
Cool airplane writing after the stunt show.
My boy can strike a pose!
Stacy always finds the local library!
Our first character photo.
That's a Yoda backpack. Cracked Miranda up! We did the Star Tours twice. GREAT ride. They have a lot of different show parts the put together differenty, so there are a lot of different ride experiences.
We had some time to kill so we decided to wait the hour in the Toy Story ride. Luckily, it only ended up being about 30 minutes. Mommy won this shooting game, too. What can I say? The photo above is Miranda looking very nervous with the Pixar-like lamp.
Below is Mr. Disney's personal plane.
Sam and his intense interest in Walt Disney's life led us to the Walt Disney: One Man's Dream exhibit.
We got to see a lot artifacts from his life as well as a short documentary at the end. I see a book purchase in his future.
We rode our two big rides one more time, and then we decided to go get seats for the Fantasmic show. It was pretty intense. The mouse ears that glow are called "Glow with the Show" and they have some kind of electronics in them that coordinates with the show. They were glowing certain colors and at different rhythms at various parts of the show. Fun techno stuff.
Most of the show was shown on projectors through water that was sprayed from the lake. There was also great theatrical elemeents and of course fireworks. Glad we got to see it. This is the boat at the end with all the popular characters on it. The kids were waving their arms off at them.
Hollywood Studios was great. I didn't expect a lot, but I think it might have been our kids' favorite day in terms of action and thrills.
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