So Many Characters..So Little Time! Our April Adventure to the World! Complete:)

[eandesmom]

Oh my goodness update bonanza!

How wonderful that you could still use GAD to get fastpasses, it sounds like you had a great time.

Your character story cracked me up! I can just picture the craziness. How very very fun.

I hope you made it to BAB....my boys (surprisngly!) loved it! Belle is the bomb and I made everyone go, well all that were with me at the time, and they really liked it. In fact they want to see it again this time!

Of course they just liked watching the prince turn into a beast...and back...and Gaston cracked them up.

Besides, who doesn't have a soft spot for Chip?

 

[mommytothreeboys]

WOW!! A character extravaganza!!

I would have stayed in line too...good choice! The UP characters are adorable...great PP pics in your calendar.

I so hope you get to see Beauty and the Beast. Even with 3 boys, it's one of our favorite attractions.

 

[Angies1274]

Oh my goodness update bonanza!

How wonderful that you could still use GAD to get fastpasses, it sounds like you had a great time.

Your character story cracked me up! I can just picture the craziness. How very very fun.

I hope you made it to BAB....my boys (surprisngly!) loved it! Belle is the bomb and I made everyone go, well all that were with me at the time, and they really liked it. In fact they want to see it again this time!

Of course they just liked watching the prince turn into a beast...and back...and Gaston cracked them up.

Besides, who doesn't have a soft spot for Chip?

I'm so happy we were able to get the GAD FP that late in the day. I had read before we left that they could refuse to give them out after noon. So glad it worked out!

The Animation Building was definitely crazy that night! I'm assuming it was because Fantasmic was showing later. I'm wondering if it's like that every time Fantasmic is scheduled...hmm...

WOW!! A character extravaganza!!

I would have stayed in line too...good choice! The UP characters are adorable...great PP pics in your calendar.

I so hope you get to see Beauty and the Beast. Even with 3 boys, it's one of our favorite attractions.

Aww...I know! We just loved the UP characters! I'm so glad we stayed in line.

 

[Angies1274]

April 15, 2010—A night at Hollywood Studios

When I left off, we had just visited the Animation Building and met up with a few of our favorite characters, Russell, Dug and Carl. We also watched in amazement as characters began to appear everywhere….Captain Hook, Stitch, The Queen of Hearts, Mulan, Aladdin and the list goes on and on. It was certainly a sight to see!! Unfortunately, we were unable to visit with any of the characters that appeared. We were determined to meet the UP characters, so we just watched the chaos from afar….and had a chuckle or two.

After our character meet and greet. We were on a mission. It was 5:30pm and we had a 5:45pm showing of Beauty and the Beast we didn’t want to miss. It was the last showing of the night and since we tried Typhoon Lagoon for the boys (okay…we did end up having a lot of fun there, but the boys didn’t have to know that. ) They were supposed to watch Beauty and the Beast for us. A deal is a deal…right? So, off we went back through the Animation Courtyard and headed left toward Sunset Blvd. We maneuvered around this way and that way. A few times I had to encourage the boys to keep up…yes, they were dragging their feet and no…they weren’t looking forward to the show.

Finally, we arrived at our destination with about 5 minutes to spare. I’m so glad we weren’t on the other side of the park, because I know we would have never made it on time. I wanted to stop and take a few pictures of the handprints on the sidewalk but there wasn’t time. We headed inside, happy to see that it wasn’t filled yet. We were in the far upper left hand corner of the stage, but I guess that’s to be expected when you arrive so late.

When we were finally able to sit down, I breathed a sigh of relief. We made it and apparently just in time because it was at that very moment that the dark clouds outside finally gave way and it started pouring out! We heard it hitting the roof of the theater and at that point my reaction was mixed. Of course, my first thought was that if it was going to rain at least we were inside but then in the back of my head I kept thinking…”Oh no! What about Fantasmic?” I decided to put those thoughts aside once again and just concentrate on trying to enjoy the show.

The lights came on and we were soon entranced by “A Tale As Old As Time”.

One of my very favorite parts and song in the show……

Belle:
There's something sweet and almost kind
But he was mean and he was coarse and unrefined
But now he's dear and so unsure
I wonder why I didn't see it there before

Beast:
She glanced this way, I thought I saw
And when we touched she didn't shutter at my paw
No it can't be, I'll just ignore
But then she's never looked at me that way before

Belle:
New and a bit alarming
Who'd have ever thought that this could be?
True that he's no Prince Charming
But there's something in him that I simply didn't see

Lumiere:
Well, who'd have thought?

Mrs Potts:
Well, bless my soul

Cogsworth:
Well, who'd have known?

Mrs Potts:
Well, who indeed?

Lumiere:
And who'd have guessed they'd come together on their own?

Mrs Potts:
It's so peculiar. Wait and see

All three:
We'll wait and see
A few days more
There may be something there that wasn't there before

Cogsworth:
You know, perhaps there's something there that wasn't there before

Mrs Potts:
There may be something there that wasn't there before

And then all is happy as the Beast changes back into the Prince and gets the girl!

What wonderful show!! I’m so happy that we made that extra effort to make it there. We could have just as easily hung around the Animation Building a while longer. But…in the end I think we made the right decision. The boys both told me after how much they enjoyed it and thought it was so cool to see the Beast and Gaston fighting. Boys!

After Beauty and the Beast, we walked outside, and were relieved to see that the rain had stopped. Our growling stomachs told us it was time to find someplace to eat and fast and if it wasn't our stomachs telling us than it was the boys who had suddenly started to become a little grumpy...which of course we all know the lack of food can do to you. Looking back...I really wish we would have checked out some of the places on Sunset Blvd to eat. Oh well....

But, instead we decided to head over to Backlot Express. It was around 6:25pm at this point and just as expected it was busy. Which ended up being fine since it gave us a chance to figure out what we wanted to get. DH and I ended up ordering the Grilled Turkey and Cheese sandwich with Fries. I can’t remember what DH got for dessert but I know that I got the marbled cheesecake.

(pic from photobucket)

Noah decided on the chicken nuggets and I think Nick did too. Now..this was the really frustrating part of the wait. Whoever had been taking care of and assembling our order apparently got busy with another order and forgot ours. We watched our order come up and sit at the window. We watched everyone hurrying about….grabbing the order beside it, while ours just sat there. Another order would come up and they would grab it and again ours would just sit there. We were trying to be patient…but we were hungry and the boys were hungry and it’s not like they were waiting on any of our food to finish...hmmm... Finally, someone must have realized and grabbed our food. We thought we were all set and then realized they forgot the cookies and grapes for the boys. So, we had to turn around and head back up to the counter.

After getting the cookies and grapes, we juggled our food to the first available table to sit down. I was a little disappointed with my turkey sandwich, while it was good it was a little bland. I decided to get creative and borrow some of Noah’s honey mustard sauce for his chicken nuggets and that helped a lot…even DH agreed! We decided to save our desserts for later and headed out. We all agreed that while we liked the Backlot Express.We would probably head back to Pizza Planet next trip.

Since, it was getting close to 7:00pm and Fantasmic was supposed to start at 8:30pm, we figured it would probably be a good idea to start heading over to arrive in plenty of time to get some decent seats.

A picture of DH and the boys on our way over—

Those clouds still look really dark!

Heading back up Sunset Blvd….

I saw the Siamese cats from Lady and the Tramp and you know I just had to take a picture.

We are Siamese if you please
We are Siamese if you don't please
We are from a residence of Siam
There is no finer cat than I am
My attempt at getting the picture of the Beauty and the Beast sign that I had missed earlier…..

But…there was still one more stop we wanted to make before Fantasmic….

That’s right….Tower of Terror!! It was the only ride that Noah had been talking non-stop about riding this trip. But on the walk over he was starting to change his mind. Mostly…because Nick was refusing to ride, which was apparently shaking his confidence. We stood there outside the entrance to Fantasmic. Noah looked toward TOT….we all looked toward TOT. Would he ride? Just when I thought he was ready to give it a try…he changed his mind. I’ll admit I was disappointed. As freaked as I was about riding for the first time, I was willing to for him…and to be honest…a little excited too! Oh well….hopefully later I could convince him!! After all the park was open until 10:00pm...maybe there was hope yet! So,off we turned toward Fantasmic. We were so excited to see this show!! It was another first for us!

Up Next—Would Fantasmic wow us? And….did Noah finally give in and ride TOT? Stay tuned to find out……

 

[dismagiclover]

You made it to Beauty and the Beast. We havent' seen that show since our 1st trip back in 2006. I'd love to see it again. We didn't go to Pizza Planet this past trip either, but my boys are telling me it is a must do for next trip. Too bad about TOT. It really is such a fun ride. It is so well themed that it is worth going on even if you don't like the drops.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Hooray for making it to Beauty and the Beast. It's been several years since we've seen the show. After seeing your pictures, I've decided we need to see it next year.

The counter service food at Hollywood Studios has always been a little bland to me no matter where you eat. Too bad you had to wait forever to get your food.

I'm anxious to see how you guys liked Fantasmic!

 

[Believeinfairytales]

I am so happy that you made it in time for the B & B show. How wonderful that the boys enjoyed it more than they originally thought.

I'm hoping that you will get on ToT - keeping my fingers crossed!

 

[Angies1274]

You made it to Beauty and the Beast. We havent' seen that show since our 1st trip back in 2006. I'd love to see it again. We didn't go to Pizza Planet this past trip either, but my boys are telling me it is a must do for next trip. Too bad about TOT. It really is such a fun ride. It is so well themed that it is worth going on even if you don't like the drops.

I know...I'm so happy we made it in time! It was such a great show!! Aww...I think the boys really missed not going to Pizza Planet this time too. I was sad that Noah changed his mind about going on TOT before Fantasmic....but don't give up on him...he may have changed his mind later that night.

 

[Angies1274]

Hooray for making it to Beauty and the Beast. It's been several years since we've seen the show. After seeing your pictures, I've decided we need to see it next year.

The counter service food at Hollywood Studios has always been a little bland to me no matter where you eat. Too bad you had to wait forever to get your food.

I'm anxious to see how you guys liked Fantasmic!

Hi Lisa We are hoping to see it ourselves again next trip...however, we plan to get there much earlier to get better seats!

Yeah..we weren't too impressed with Backlot Express...so I guess back to Toy Story Pizza Planet we go! Then again, maybe I can talk them into Sci-Fi next trip. I've always wanted to try it there.

I am so happy that you made it in time for the B & B show. How wonderful that the boys enjoyed it more than they originally thought.

I'm hoping that you will get on ToT - keeping my fingers crossed!

Thanks! I was so happy the boys enjoyed the show! I knew if I could get them there that they would probably like it.

Aww.....poor Noah. He just wasn't sure about TOT at that moment and I guess he just needed a little more time to think about it.

 

[ellajeansmom]

Great updates Angie! Wow, that was a LOT of characters, crazy!

Up! was a great movie, I think you made a good choice to stay and meet those guys, it must have been hard to stay in line though! I totally get the crying at the movie...I may have told you this before but when we went to see Up! my grandmother had recently passed away and grandfather's health was starting to fail - they'd been married for 63 years and it hit a little too close to home

So glad you got to see B&theB, its such a wonderful show - we love that story Glad you were under cover when the rain hit, and hopefully that was it for the rain.

 

[eandesmom]

Oh gosh, I'm not sure there are better places on sunset unless you want a turkey leg! Which, interestingly enough doesn't even show up on the Disney site anymore! Starring Rolls is ok, better than we expected but not my ideal dinner for sure.

I have heard good things about Fairfax Fare so we may try that for lunch in August, we will see!

BAB is the best and yes....Beast and Gaston, hunting down an "animal" I mean really, what's not to like if you are boy! It's a must do (again) for me next time. So glad you made it in time!

 

[DisMomAmy]

Great update! I'm glad you got to see Beauty & The Beast! I can't wait to finally see it this fall. Fantasmic too... haven't seen it since 2006! Hope you guys enjoyed the show. Anxious to hear if Noah decides to ride ToT!

PS - Love those siamese cats!

 

[wdwgirl03]

Glad you enjoyed the Beauty and the Beast show. I haven't seen that in forever but I know we have old home videos of it from when it first opened. haha

I can't wait to hear if Noah rode TOT! I hope so!

 

[Cory's Gal]

Great update Angie!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE Beauty and the Beast! I am glad the boys found something in the show that they liked (fighting...always a choice for Gabe too)! They really do a fabulous job telling the story in a short amount of time!! The pic you took of your 3 "boys" in their Disney shirts is a great candid shot! I can't wait to hear about Fantasmic!! I still need to get Cory and my kiddos to it, next trip Helen will be bigger and I think will get more out of it! I hope Noah decides on going on TOT!!! Can't wait to find out!!!!

 

[Angies1274]

Great updates Angie! Wow, that was a LOT of characters, crazy!

Up! was a great movie, I think you made a good choice to stay and meet those guys, it must have been hard to stay in line though! I totally get the crying at the movie...I may have told you this before but when we went to see Up! my grandmother had recently passed away and grandfather's health was starting to fail - they'd been married for 63 years and it hit a little too close to home

So glad you got to see B&theB, its such a wonderful show - we love that story Glad you were under cover when the rain hit, and hopefully that was it for the rain.

Thanks! It was a lot of characters!! It was definitely crazy but so much fun to see!

Oh..I'm so sorry to hear about your grandmother. UP was such a touching story...I can definitely understand why it hit too close to home for you.

Luckily, that was the last we saw of the rain that night.

Oh gosh, I'm not sure there are better places on sunset unless you want a turkey leg! Which, interestingly enough doesn't even show up on the Disney site anymore! Starring Rolls is ok, better than we expected but not my ideal dinner for sure.

I have heard good things about Fairfax Fare so we may try that for lunch in August, we will see!

BAB is the best and yes....Beast and Gaston, hunting down an "animal" I mean really, what's not to like if you are boy! It's a must do (again) for me next time. So glad you made it in time!

Oh..I know! DHS is definitely lacking when it comes to CS places! I've heard good things about Fairfax Fare also. I wish we would have checked it out instead of Backlot...it was okay but I don't think we will repeat it.

So happy about Beauty and the Beast too! We loved the movie..and I think they did a great job with the show. I'm glad the boys liked it...even if it was because of the fight...whatever works.

 

[Angies1274]

Great update! I'm glad you got to see Beauty & The Beast! I can't wait to finally see it this fall. Fantasmic too... haven't seen it since 2006! Hope you guys enjoyed the show. Anxious to hear if Noah decides to ride ToT!

PS - Love those siamese cats!

Hi Amy! Thanks I'm so happy you are going to see it when you go back! It was such a great show!

Poor Noah..riding TOT was all he talked about that day but when he finally walked up to it and realized how high up it was. He needed just a little while longer to think about it.

Glad you enjoyed the Beauty and the Beast show. I haven't seen that in forever but I know we have old home videos of it from when it first opened. haha

I can't wait to hear if Noah rode TOT! I hope so!

Me too!! I wasn't sure we would make it to Beauty and the Beast in time but so we glad we did!! TOT can look pretty intimidating to a 7 year old...heck it looked downright scary to me! Maybe that extra time to think about it did us both good.

Great update Angie!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE Beauty and the Beast! I am glad the boys found something in the show that they liked (fighting...always a choice for Gabe too)! They really do a fabulous job telling the story in a short amount of time!! The pic you took of your 3 "boys" in their Disney shirts is a great candid shot! I can't wait to hear about Fantasmic!! I still need to get Cory and my kiddos to it, next trip Helen will be bigger and I think will get more out of it! I hope Noah decides on going on TOT!!! Can't wait to find out!!!!

Thanks Beth!! I'm so glad the boys liked the show! I knew they would if they gave it a chance....boys sometimes. At least I know now that they will go watch it again even if it's the fighting that brings them back!! I can't wait to share all our pictures and what we thought of Fantasmic with all of you. Hopefully, I can get an update posted soon....it's been so HOT here this week and the pool has been the only thing on our minds.

 

[Mickey_Mom]

You made it! We love this show, Ariana is just enthralled watching it. Did you see the rose given to Belle at the end? I always tear up at that, such a sap I am.

I don't blame Noah for being nervous about ToT. It's the highest point in WDW so yeah, looking all the way up there must have been unnerving for sure! I know it is for me!

Looking forward to your Fantasmic update!

 

[Angies1274]

You made it! We love this show, Ariana is just enthralled watching it. Did you see the rose given to Belle at the end? I always tear up at that, such a sap I am.

I don't blame Noah for being nervous about ToT. It's the highest point in WDW so yeah, looking all the way up there must have been unnerving for sure! I know it is for me!

Looking forward to your Fantasmic update!

Hi Tracy! I can definitely understand your love for the show!!It was wonderful! We did see the rose given to Belle. I thought of you because I remembered you mentioning it in your TR.

Noah was very nervous about going on TOT. He really wanted to...but was so unsure at that moment. Poor kid. I figured rather than pushing him...I'd let him think about it during Fantasmic.

Fantasmic update coming up soon.

 

[Angies1274]

April 15, 2010--Finishing up our night at Hollywood Studios!


When I left off, we had made it to Beauty and the Beast despite a few protests from the boys and much to their surprise and amazement they actually even enjoyed the show. We realized that it would be a must for us from now on. We were really glad we made the time to watch it. After Beauty and the Beast, we filled our tummies, and then headed toward Fantasmic. We wanted to make sure and get a good seat as I had read that getting their extremely early is a must for this show. We did however have one stop we were hoping to make and that was to ride TOT…..unfortunately as you know from my last post that was a no-go….well at least for now.

So off we went…on the pursuit of the perfect seat or to be honest any seat. We definitely did not want to stand. A few pictures on the way in…

I just had to get a picture of the Beast because it reminded me of the great show we had just seen a couple hours earlier!!

(too bad it came out a little blurry…)
Wow! We couldn’t believe the people…they were everywhere! Crowds like this make DH nervous but we made it through and decided while passing a snack stand that we should get our snacks now to avoid having to do it later. We hopped in line, along with the other dozens of people who apparently had the same idea as we did. We settled on some popcorn and bottled water since we knew we also had our desserts from dinner that we couldn’t finish to also snack on.
We managed to find a seat…not directly in the middle but a little off to the side. I decided to snap a picture of the theater filling up.

It was only about 7:30pm at this point and we still had another hour to wait. Surprisingly though, it ended up going by rather quickly. I had remembered to pack the boys DS’s, which kept Nick, occupied almost the whole time. Noah played for a little while but then became bored so I challenged him in a game of ispy and then we proceeded to look through the pictures on the camera that I had taken during the trip. We also decided to take a couple pictures being silly….what you will do to pass the time!!

After doing the wave a few times, it began to get dark, the lights came on and the show began….and all I can say is Wow!

I loved this part!!

So much so that I got it on video as well….just click on the picture below....

Another video below…just click on it

A wonderful, wonderful show!! I can’t say enough good things about it! We are huge Disney movie fans so this show was right up our alley! We loved seeing the different characters and when the villains arrived Noah was in awe. For our family it was definitely worth the wait! Nothing could ever replace Wishes for me because there is nothing like it…but Fantasmic comes really close. The only thing bad about it was trying to get out of the theater afterwards as we moved at a snails pace.

On the way out, I figured it was a good time to talk to Noah about TOT and if he wanted to ride or not. Poor kid….one minute he did and the next he would change his mind. But, to my surprise by the time we made it out of the crowd and were passing by it. He decided to ride. There was no hesitation and despite Nick’s “Are you sure?” He held firm and off we went to grab our fastpasses.

It was about a 30 minute wait time but since we still had our GAD fastpasses….we figured why wait. Of course, as we approached the fastpass line, we were the only ones in it as FP’s ran out hours ago. So we got to zoom by everyone with a smile and a wave and soon we were being ushered into the library. That’s when the lights went out and things started to get spooky. Noah grabbed my hand…just as he did in the Haunted Mansion. I whispered to him that it would be fine, that I was here with him.

The television turned on and we concentrated on “tonight’s story on The Twilight Zone” We see the five guests boarding the elevator car, and then see a flash and the people are gone. I know at this point Noah was starting to freak out a little but I kept squeezing his hand to reassure him. We enter the boiler room and wait for our elevator. When we finally made it inside to sit down, I leaned over to ask him if he was ready. He nodded but didn’t say anything. Poor Noah, at that point I think he was afraid to speak. But, I was right along with him….freaked out doesn’t begin to describe how I was feeling. I think the waiting for the drop was actually worse than the actual drop because you never knew when it was going to happen. Before we knew it….we dropped

Again……

And again…..

And again....

I looked over at Noah to see his reaction….because I didn’t know whether to scream or to laugh. He was just looking straight ahead with this terrified expression, like he didn’t know what to do either. When the ride was over I grabbed his hand again, I couldn’t wait to hear what he thought….so what was the verdict?

He loved it! He actually wondered why I had said it would be so scary…huh? I just laughed so happy that he enjoyed it! We met up with the guys and Nick of course was very excited to hear his reaction and was actually surprised to hear how much fun he had on it. On the way out that night, Noah declared it his most favorite ride of the trip!! I grabbed a picture of this favorite ride....

After conquering TOT, we decided it was time to head back to our resort. It had been a fun but very long day. We stopped at a couple gift shops on the way out before grabbing a few pictures to end the night…..

The one thing I can say about DHS…is how much I love the bus stops. If you have ever stayed at Pop Century you would know that at every other park, you have to walk a mile to get to the bus stop but at Hollywood Studios it’s one of the first ones you come to. After a long day, the last thing we wanted to do was to have to walk forever to get to the bus. Just as expected once we got in line, it took awhile because it was a Fantasmic night. But, soon enough we were on our way back to the resort. I was happy that we had another wonderful day at Disney but also sad because tomorrow was our last day.

Up Next—There’s more to see that can ever be seen, more to do than can ever be done……..

 

[dismagiclover]

Great update! I've only seen Fantasmic at Disneyland. It was great there, but I've never gone through the bother to see it in Florida. I'm glad you liked it so much. for Noah and TOT! What a brave kid! I'm glad he loved it. That is such a fun ride, but it is definitely spooky! I love it when kids conqer fears like that! Great ending to a great day.