Tuesday, we were off to Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Again, we had breakfast reservations before park opening.
Waiting for the bus:
They were as tired as they looked:
They had this giant tree outside the park. It’s kind of hard to tell how big it is until you see that the boys are standing in front of it.
Excited to go inside:
Yeah, this is one of the few pictures we got of the 4 of us in the park that day. Isn’t it a really great shot of Matthew? 🙂
Ian (with a map) waiting on the steps of the restaurant:
We were actually the very first family seated in the restaurant that day.
Tuesday’s breakfast was a buffet with the characters from Disney Jr.
We got to meet June from Little Einsteins:
Jake from Jake and the Neverland Pirates:
OSO from Special Agent OSO:
And Manny from Handy Manny:
The meal is called “Play ‘n Dine at Hollywood and Vine” and it is pretty interactive. They have people come out and lead the kids in singing, dancing, and even a conga line around the restaurant.
Handy Manny dancing with the kids:
(Sorry, it’s turned sideways but I was sitting so ridiculously close there really was no other way to film it.)
Posing in front of the sign before leaving:
After that, we took off for the running of the bulls. Oops, I mean the running of the Toy Story Maniacs (that’s what I like to call it).
Toy Story Midway Mania is one of the most popular rides in all of the parks and people are so hell bent to get in line (or get fast passes) that they pretty much run to that part of the park. I left Mike with the boys and the stroller and took off with the crowd to get in line for fast passes.
The mass of people all going to the ride:
In line for fast passes, I was really far away but the line moved fast:
Mike and the boys waiting off to the side while I was in line:
After I got fast passes, we got in the stand-by line since the ride only had a 35 minute wait.
Buzz and Woody were meeting in this building (you can kind of see them through the glare on the glass):
This part of the park was so cool!
The giant nightlight overhead that served as a regular light:
The queue for this line was soooo cool. I took a ridiculous amount of pictures because it was so neat! It was kind of like being in a toy box!
There was a Mr. Potato Head animatronic that could sing and talk to guests.
(I added eyes in Photoshop because they didn’t photograph well at all and he looked creepy otherwise. LOL)
Looking down over where the cars come through for the ride:
Almost time to ride!!!
After that, we hurried over to see:
After Little Mermaid, we went next door to Disney Junior Live on Stage:
Matthew LOVED it!
Once we got out of the show, we wandered all over the park trying to find the Lighting McQueen and Mater meet-and-greet. (I have no sense of direction is this park! LOL)
On our way through the park, we saw Chip and Dale and decided to see them:
After I ran to get fast passes for Rock ’n’ Rollercoaster and Tower of Terror and then we all headed over to Toy Story Midway Mania to ride using our fast passes.
After we rode, Mike and the boys left for nap time and I stayed in the park to ride…
Tower of Terror:
Rock ‘n’ Rollercoaster:
(Almost lost my glasses on that one. Whoops! LOL)
and watch Beauty and the Beast:
By the time I rode the 2 rides, watched the show, and did a little shopping, it was already time for the boys to come back. As they were walking in the park, the afternoon parade was gearing up to start.
Waiting for the boys to join me:
Faux flash mob!!!
Parade:
This parade was one of those things that we didn’t think we’d be seeing. Typically, we were at the hotel for naps when the afternoon parades were going on. Today, the boys came back early because we were going to the 4PM showing of Lights! Motors! Action! Extreme Stunt Show.
Mike’s friend that hooked us up at the Hoop Dee Doo Revue had pulled some strings and got us VIP seats for the show.
They weren’t just VIP seats, they were special directors chairs!
The show was really cool!
Matthew fell asleep on Mike’s lap, believe it or not. LOL
Guess who was soooo excited?!?!
Mater!!!
McQueen!!!
A bad guy!!!!
McQueen chasing the bad guy!
He got ‘em! Mission: accomplished!
Random rainbow despite there being no rain:
Matthew was now awake:
Stunt man on fire:
The driver waving at Matthew!
Cars coming out of that building!
Making a jump!
Explosion!!!
The heat from the flames was pretty intense!
Replaying the film on the screen and bringing out all the cars:
What an awesome experience!
We didn’t take any videos but here are some I found online:
Car chase sequence: http://youtu.be/rTAlioGpqUA
Lighting/Mater sequence: http://youtu.be/iCTK1bsAkjk
The finale: http://youtu.be/hJb4BHayXrk
After the show, we kind of wandered around and didn’t get much accomplished. We were going to meet with Buzz and Woody but they had a 50 minute wait. We did a little shopping but mostly just walked around with no purpose.
The boys played (and fought over) buses we bought them in an out-of-the-way spot:
I made the boys pose in front of this sign:
It wasn’t long before the sun started to set and it was time to go see the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Osborne_Family_Spectacle_of_Dancing_Lights)
It started “snowing”!
The lights flipped on and wow. Just wow. It was AMAZING.
Film by Ian, Hollywood director extraordinaire:
Poor hot, over-tired, under-napped Matthew did not want to be there.
We took a few more pictures….
(catching snowflakes LOL)
….but quickly decided to see if we could get seated at dinner a little early. Thankfully, they were willing to seat us right away.
The Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater was soooooo cool.
The walls of the restaurant looked like a picket fence around a drive-in theater and there were lights in the walls made to look like stars. They even had landscaping painted on the wall.
Matthew wasn’t much better at dinner but the movie screen and food kept him a bit more occupied.
Afterward, we tried the Osborne Lights again but this time it was even more crowded.
Prep and Landing scenes in these windows:
Here is a video that is much better than what we took: http://youtu.be/X2oUMDTQi_4
I could have stayed to watch the lights for about 3 hours but we decided to leave because Matthew was D-O-N-E. The wall had been hit a looong time ago. LOL
On our way out, we wandered over to see what Buzz and Woody were up to and check to see how long the line was. It was still too long so I took a picture of them with strangers. LOL
As we were making our way towards the exit with a clearly unhappy child on Mike’s shoulders, Ian starts screaming from his seat in the stroller. He was having a massive bloody nose. One of those “I love being a parent” moments of absolute exhaustion, frustration, panic and chaos. LOL
I took this picture while waiting for Ian’s nose to stop bleeding:
Once we got everything under control, we caught the most ridiculously full bus ever. It kind of reminded me of movies that take place in 3rd world countries where passengers bring their goats and chickens along for the ride. LOL
A very nice man let Ian and Matthew sit but Mike and I had to stand in the aisle. Thankfully, the boys were charming and adorable on the bus ride. You’d never have known that Matthew had spent a good portion of the last two hours in hysterics. Thankfully, we were the first stop on the bus route. LOL
We fell asleep that night with the promise of a later, easier, more relaxed day at EPCOT on Wednesday.