Once inside the Studios we watched from afar the wonderful show they put on to open the park. They use several of the streetmosphere actors and it really gets your revved up for a day at the Studios. As soon as the rope dropped most people went straight towards Toy Story Mania (us included) and the cast members make sure everyone stays on a specific path and they don’t let anyone take any of the shortcuts to get over there. It was a madhouse over there and as soon as we arrived we quickly decided to break off and let me get the fast passes while Becca got in line. After waiting for a tour leader to collect at least 35 passes (I am not kidding about this) it was finally my turn. I quickly grabbed my two and was off to meet Becca in line. We had about a 15 minute wait that early and for the first time EVER, I beat Becca in this game. It was such a good feeling as she typically cleans the floor up with me and now my time had come!
After I reminded her who was boss and took over gloating to a new level, we were off to Sunset Blvd to ride Tower of Terror and get a fast pass to Rock N’ Roller Coaster. Tower was only a 5 minute wait and we were on enjoying the fourth dimension (not present in the California & Paris versions) and the random drop sequence. After giving Becca just a touch of nausea we waited about five minutes until we could get another fast pass, which we got for Rock N’ Roller Coaster.
Since we only had a Pop Tart in the room before leaving for the park, we decided to grab a quick bite at Starring Roles. Becca had a bit of a run in with a lady that swooped into the table she was waiting for and when she confronted the lady, she told Becca to “call the police, everyone does it.” We went to sit on a bench when a nice lady who saw what happened came over to tell us she was leaving and we could have her table. You have to love that at WDW some people can be so selfish and mean, then someone will come around and make up for it.
After we eat our bagels and muffin we realized the first American Idol Experience was about to start for the day so we decided to check it out since it was new to us. We actually pretty surprised at how well the show was done. The show quality and the scripts were pretty well done and thought out and there was only a small bit in the middle when the crowd is supposed to get up and sing that get a little cheesy, but otherwise a nice addition to the park. Oh, and the talent was pretty decent. The guy that won our show had a great voice and could totally make it to the Hollywood round on the show. After the show we walked by the American Idol merchandise and found a very funny Randy Jackson themed Goofy plush and tee shirt that we just had to buy.
After helping the next American Idol on his way it was time to get another Fast Pass and we made our way back to Toy Story to pick up another one, giving us two for later. Next it was time to see our favorite Muppets (we are kind of fond of Beaker) at Muppet Vision 3-D. We saw the whole entertaining pre show and then enjoyed the movie, although it does seem to need an update as some of the effects don’t work and the film is looking its age. After escaping the Swedish Chef’s destruction of the theater we decided to get over to the other side of the park and cash in our Rock N’ Roller Coaster fast pass. We had a lot of fun riding through LA traffic and it seems each ride I manage to catch some other small detail that I missed before when I would keep my eyes firmly shut.
It was just about time for our lunch ADR at 50’s Prime Time Café. We sat in the back room and had Cousin Richard as our server. He was very funny and we did get yelled at a couple of times for having our elbows on the table. We both had the fried chicken and I had a cherry coke Becca a chocolate shake. The food was good although the corn was pretty bland. We topped off our yummy lunch with a Brownie Sunday and as we walked out into the hot summer Florida heat decided it was time for a break back at the Kidani Village. First we split up and I got Fast Passes for Rock N’ Roller Coaster and Becca bought the American Idol items I talked about earlier. 
We made our way back home and as soon as we hit the room the bed was just calling to us and we quickly took a much needed nap. I did set the alarm to give us some time before we had to pack up and head back to the parks. After the nap I did a little blogging and then it was back to the Studios. As soon as we got back in the park we cashed in one of our Toy Story fast passes and I some how took Becca to the cleaners yet again. I’m getting good at that game/ride.
We decided to have a bite to eat for dinner and Backlot Express was close so we had some BBQ pork subs. After dinner we rode the Great Movie Ride and had a fun jaunt through some movie history and got caught up in a gangster shoot out. Next, we cashed in our last fast pass for Toy Story and I made it three for three as Becca has apparently lost her edge over me. We walked down Sunset Blvd to use our last fast pass of the day over at Rock N Roller Coaster where we enjoyed our second high speed ride through LA traffic to the Aerosmith concert.
People were already lining up for the second Fantasmic and the first showing was still running. The schedule change where Fantasmic is now only shown on three nights a week as opposed to every day has really messed the crowd situation up and the number of people in the Studios on Fantasmic nights makes it very uncomfortable and hard to catch the show. The told us they would not let anyone in until 9:30 and we still had about 40 minutes, so we decided to “drop” into the Tower of Terror since it only had a 20 minute wait (it was really more like 10).
As soon as we walked out of the attraction, the first Fantasmic was letting out and we got stuck in the herd as we made our way around the front and then into the line the was waiting for the next show. We stood for about twenty torturous minutes as we were sandwiched in with hundreds of people. We finally made our way the nearly mile long walkway to the theater and found a seat right in the middle section towards the back row. We waited the twenty minutes until the show started and had some pretty nasty stale popcorn and some pretty decent nachos. We enjoyed the show as usual and there is nothing better than a Fantasmic to top off a wonderful day at a Disney park. I think I would watch that show every day. Great stuff!!
Just when we thought we were done for the day we decided to race out of the park and make our way over the Magic Kingdom for some extra magic hours (the park was open until 1AM). We got to the TTC and walked to the monorail where we were required to take the resort monorail, which slowed us up a little. Then once we got to the gates of the Magic Kingdom we noticed a long line to get in, and the line was not moving. It turned out that the main entrance had lost power and they couldn’t scan anyone’s ticket. After a five or ten minutes the line started to move and they resorted to just stamping peoples tickets. Even know we had annual passes, the guy for some reason still stamped our ticket with the days date.
Once inside the gates we got immediate “magic in our bellies” and strolled up Main St. excited about the prospect of an hour and a half of late night fun in the Magic Kingdom.
Our first stop was Pirates of the Caribbean where there was a decent size line considering it was the second half of a late night extra magic hours. Next, we worked our way over to Haunted Mansion, but not before stopping for a midnight Dole Whip and this time we got the classic pineapple. We decided to stay on this side of the park and took fun late night walk one rides of Thunder & Splash Mountain. It was just about 1AM and started to make our way toward Main Street via Liberty Square when we heard a cast member yelling out that the last show of the Hall of Presidents was about to start. We were very excited as we had not seen it since the recent refurbishment and thought it was closed for the night much earlier. We ran into the theater with about a dozen other guests and thoroughly enjoyed the newest rendition of the show. The new audio animatronic of Barack Obama was unbelievable; I mean they really nailed his mannerisms and everything. Bravo Disney on a great refresh of a classic attraction.
We slowly walked down Main Street at 1:30AM and enjoyed the ambiance of a truly magical environment. We made the very long journey back to Kidani Village and collapsed with exhaustion after a wonderful day of Disney magic where we acted like two kids sans parental oversight.
I'm your newest follower. Sounds like you guys had a great time, enjoyed reading about Hollywood Studios, the rides there are awesome..
ReplyDeleteDiane @Can Do It MOM