Friday, August 19, 2011

Summer Vacation - Day #57 - Hollywood Studios

We got up nice and early today. After a good breakfast and packing up our backpack with snacks, water bottles, the camera, and ponchos we were ready to "Let the memories begin". And they did. Today was a wonderful day. It was a fantastic way to kick off our trip.
Once you get into the park we thought we were off. But, we met up with ropes. What better way to pass the time than posing for pictures?? And putting on sun block.
Once the ropes were dropped the plan was that Brian would go to get Toy Story Mania fast passes and we would head to Star Tours. Patrick was super excited. There was so much to see and spy while we waited, including the At At coming through the trees.
Waiting for our turn on Star Tours. Hope it is as good as the You Tube footage we watched.
Riding on a speed racer after Star Tours.
This is serious business.
Too many for a speeder, right Pat?
What a way to start off our visit!
Just when we thought it couldn't get any better, there was Darth Vader, right in front of us!!!
I tried to talk Patrick into attending the Jedi Training Camp where he could learn how to fight like a Jedi and battle Darth Vader. He wasn't to interested, actually I think it made him a bit anxious. Later on in the day he choose to spend some of the money he brought with him on a Light Saber that he built. Later in the hotel he remembered all the moves they were teaching in the Jedi Academy, he just didn't want to learn them on stage.
We were disappointed that The Little Mermaid was closed for renovations, but it was still fun to pose with the fish outside the ride.
Big hugs for Mickey.
Look at those smiles. They were both soooooo excited to meet the big mouse!
We had to meet Mickey at least once while we were in Disney. There was no better way to meet Mickey than waiting in air conditioning. We didn't wait long. But it was a welcomed respite from the heat and a great moment.
Brian isn't pulling a Clark and trying to flee to get to the next thing.......he didn't want to get Mickey all sweaty. Isn't that sweet. Wish he was a little closer though.
There was this great shop of all kinds of unique Disney art. The pictures were amazing, and a lot of the time pretty funny. There was a great collection of Disney Star Wars art. I so wish that we had more disposable income because I would have bought Patrick his favorite merger of Disney and Star Wars piece. Someday......
I just love all the Disney bushes and scenes that you can find all around Disney world. I particularly love the ones you can see from the road leading to Magic Kingdom or from the monorail. It is just amazing how well kept and clean Disney World is. It seems impossible to organize the up keep of it all, yet it seems to happen effortlessly.
Fantasia is one of my favorite Disney movies (I especially loved it in college). I thought it was really neat how the mops were dumping the flowers.
Patrick and Brian were off to ride Tower of Terror (yes, Patrick was traumatized afterward) so Elizabeth and I made it to the front of the line for Beauty and the Beast, which meant great choice of seats, right on the aisle. Before the show we enjoyed a spray down, good drink of water, and some Fruit Loops. Elizabeth was so excited to see Belle and the Beast in person.
I just love Mrs. Potts.




The show was awesome. Elizabeth loved it. I am surprised she wasn't up and dancing in the aisles. She was humming along with all the songs. It made me all choked up, just to see her having such a good time.
There's nothing like an empty bus. We headed back to the hotel mid-day to take a rest, a swim and change into non-sweaty clothes.
Mom's tired. And hot. Hiding it well though.
You gotta love Liz. She can entertain herself anywhere. Sometimes it means getting in others space or spraying strangers with water, but it makes for a great time to watch. Most of the time.
Rested, clean, returning to the park.
When we got back to the park after our rest we headed over the use the Fast Passes for Toy Story Mania that Brian got earlier. Fast Pass is an awesome invention. The only downside is that in the bigger rides, like Toy Story, there is so much cool stuff to look at while you are waiting. Fast Pass by passes a lot of that, or keeps you moving so quickly that you can't take notice, or in my case, take pictures :) That is all the complaining I will do about Fast Pass. Brian was the Fast Pass man and we barely waited in any lines, none over 20 minutes, the entire trip. Good planning Clark!
Liz donning her 3-D wear.
This ride it will be the boys versus the girls. I really WISH that we got to ride this more than once. It is an incredible ride.
Team #1.
They don't know how good it is going to be.
The "Wacky Jackies" waiting for Toy Story Mania.
Off we go. Ready to throw 3-D pies at all the games. There was so much to look at, and then the game to play, that my intentions of getting some inside pictures were gone. Liz and I gave it our all, but didn't beat Daddy and Patrick. Don't worry, we crush them at games later in the trip.
Brian and Patrick went off to use some Fast Passes. Elizabeth had been asking all day to have her face painted, so I had to give in when we passed by a stand. Liz looked over all the samples carefully, pointing out all the ones that Patrick would like, before she decided whole heartedly on hers. Elizabeth sat so still and quiet while she was being painted. I was amazed how fast the artist worked.
A priceless reaction. True happiness and fun.
I would like to introduce....................Miss Tinkerbell. Doesn't she look so cute. Liz was so careful not to touch her face, although you could tell she really wanted to. The glitter lips didn't last too long though.........hope it was non-toxic.
After posing by Mommy's favorite muppet, we went to see the Muppet show. It was just as funny as the Muppets were when I was a kid. I was laughing along with Elizabeth for the whole show, not at the show but at the reactions that she has to rides and shows. She is SOOO animated in the way she reacts. Everything is with a HUGE smile, or HUGE surprised eyes, or a HUGE gasp at just the right time, or a HUGE laugh when water squirts at you. Disney should cast Liz in their promotional commercials because her reactions are what a director would be looking for. After the show we encountered our first in the park August rainstorm. It wasn't bad.
Dad made us reservations at the Sci-Fi Drive-in Theater. We ate in a car and watched old movie clips during dinner. It was gimmicky but fun for the kids. We were still wet from the rain and the air conditioning made it super cold. I'll have to remember sweatshirts for our next trip.
Our last ride of the day.......Star Tours. It was different plot and the best story line of the day. We were racing in pod racers on Tatoine. Patrick was all smiles and Elizabeth was having those awesome Disney reactions......complete with "Oh my goodness! Did you see that?"
Riding again meant we also got to roam around Tatoine Traders again. It was a FANTASTIC first day in Disney. Tomorrow there are lots of new adventures and memories.

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