And at Last I See the Light...Or at Least the Tangled Bathrooms! **COMPLETED 2/8**

[WildernessExplorer04]

June 15th (Part One)-Toy Story Mania!

This morning, our favorite one-eyed monster woke us up early again! We got on a bus and headed to our park of the day: Disney's Hollywood Studios!

Close up on the Friendship Boat in honor of my DCP cousin, Bryce, who drove these around for a whole four months.

We saw that they had moved the Monsters University topiary over here from Epcot. It was great to see it again! But seriously, how much work do you think it takes to drag it from one park to another?

We entered the park in no time, even though it was VERY near opening!

These CMs with the Mickey-glove hands ALWAYS make my day. Honestly, if I could just have a few of them on call whenever I need some extra magic, that would be great. They're just so ridiculously adorable.

We made our way down Hollywood Boulevard. LOOK AT THOSE NONEXISTENT CROWDS! Getting up early has its perks.

The Monsters University Homecoming stage is just too cute. I mean, it totally obstructs my view of the Hat, but how can you not love it?

Continuing through the splendor and magic of Hollywood, we arrived at our destination. Almost. Because we found where all the people had gotten to.

TOY STORY MANIA!
And I kid you not, this was just the Fastpass line.
Here's proof. These CMs had to stand at the end of the line with signs.

At the beginning it seemed to move slowly.

We're still here.

But then the paced picked up and we arrived at the Fastpass distribution area. They had CMs helping people to increase the efficiency and get everybody out of there quicker.

Then we decided to wait in the stand-by line. I don't even know what propelled us into this decision because the wait time was 55 minutes and the line was out the door. I think it was my crazy father who talked us into it, because this was the only day we had at this park, so why not try to take the advantage to ride it twice?

While in line, I did some things on Facebook and took PLENTY of pictures.
I actually really liked not rushing through the queue and taking the time to look at all of the details. This is probably one of the best-themed queues in Disney. It's crazy detailed and just transports you back to your childhood.

I laughed so hard when I found this:

$4.95 in the U.S. $50.00 in Canada.
Like how is that logical. Please explain it to me.
Oh, Canada and your delightful Martin Short filled circle-vision movie.
Seriously, this was my new favorite thing. DETAIL DETAIL DETAIL.

After that riveting discovery, we just kept on trekking through the line.

At one point we came across this area where there was a clear plastic covering on the wall.
So why not take the opportunity to dispose of your Fastpasses and various paper articles, ya know?

I didn't understand the logic behind this at all. Wasting Fastpasses like this is NOT OKAY. I mean, if you aren't going to use them, at lease give them to someone else or keep them as a souvenir.

The line actually moved quite fast and before we knew it, we were right in front of Mr. Potato Head!

Then we found Rex and Nemo!

And a Hidden Mickey!

Soon we had acquired our 3D glasses and were emerging into Andy's bedroom!

Nick and I sat together, and then my parents sat together.

I am WAY better at this ride than Space Ranger Spin. Maybe it's because I can actually tell where I'm aiming and I don't have to blindly guess which red laser point is mine.

I still came in second to Nick, but score was 126,800! SO much better than my lame 3,000 on Space Ranger Spin.
Nick had 131,000.
We did alright.

After that ride, we speculated on whether we wanted to go to the new Jack Sparrow Adventure show...or whatever it's called. But our stomachs were protesting. They'd much rather be filled with sustenance than become pirates. So onward we went to find some breakfast!

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[tiggerfan77]

Love your pics from the line at Toy Story Mania! We only used the FP entrance so we will have to take the stand by line next time (or when it's not too long) to see all the cool details.

 

[WildernessExplorer04]

Love your pics from the line at Toy Story Mania! We only used the FP entrance so we will have to take the stand by line next time (or when it's not too long) to see all the cool details.

Thank you!
The stand-by line is FANTASTIC, but I don't think it's something I would stand in for more than an hour. There's a difference between waiting for while and getting to take everything in, but still move along, and then standing in one spot in the queue for ten minutes.
But the FP entrance is also crazy detailed! I love all of the artwork done by Andy and getting to see the loading area of the ride.

 

[WildernessExplorer04]

June 15th (Part Two)-Red Velvet Heaven, More Mania, and Entering THE TWILIGHT ZONE.

IT WAS TIME TO EAT AND I WAS SO EXCITED. I'm excited to eat even if not's your ordinary morning at Hollywood Studios, but this was a VERY special breakfast occasion.

After walking to Starring Rolls (the best place to get breakfast at DHS, in my opinion) and violently drooling over all of the glorious food, we sat down and it was finally time for me to eat my ever-so-anticipated RED VELVET CHEESECAKE CUPCAKE.

Seriously, even taking those two pictures took so much patience that I didn't have because I just COULDN'T WAIT TO EAT IT.

Then I took that first bite and immediately fainted due to an overabundance of YUM. Just kidding, that didn't happen, but the experience was pretty close. I mean, that's what it felt like.
OH MY GOD IT WAS JUST INCREDIBLE. BEST CUPCAKE EVER.
In my trip journal, I wrote the following: "ALL I WANT TO DO RIGHT NOW IS EAT IT AGAIN. AND AGAIN. AND AGAIN. FOREVER."
So accurate.
It was heaven on a plate.
I had to take a break from indulging myself because I didn't want to end up inhaling it and then regretting that because I didn't take the time to commit the deliciousness to memory.
So obviously, I took that opportunity to take food pictures of what everyone else got.

Nick and mom both had cheese danishes, which they thought were good, but not super special. Should've gotten the red velvet cupcake, guys.

Dad got a chocolate croissant (which is an EXCELLENT breakfast decision; definitely one of my favorites), a cinnamon roll, and a strawberry yogurt.
The man was hungry.

After we had finished eating, we just sat there for a while and Nick entertained himself with throwing his chocolate milk bottle up in the air and catching it. Multiple times.
So I had to get action shots.

After that, I really wanted another cupcake, so I naturally went back in there and bought the whole supply.
Just kidding.
But I so wish that actually happened.

What we really did was ride the Great Movie Ride!

We ended up in the front row and that was pretty cool because I sat right next to the driver.

This time, we had the gangster side and he was very gangster-ish. The accent was perfect. I'm pretty sure he talked to me at one point, but I have no recollection of what he said, nor did I write it in my trip journal. Oh well!

Next, we quickly stopped by Tower of Terror and grabbed Fastpasses.
And after that, we decided we were thirsty, so we got waters.
Hydration!

Then we went on TSM again with our Fastpasses.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the drawings in this queue. Little Andy had talent!
And I love how he takes the time to draw his toys in these adventurous situations. He's just a normal kid obsessed with his toys and I appreciate that.

This time I BEAT MY BROTHER.
I got 160,400 and he got 148,800.

I know that's actually not that good of a score, but it was a personal best.
So I was excited.
And I believed that gave me license to make lots of celebratory noises and dance as much as I could while being restricted by the ride vehicle.
It was grand and I looked just like these bouncing characters: I also looked like this dancing circle with appendages and sunglasses: We can pretend the sunglasses were the 3D glasses.
Then Nick and I attempted a 3D glasses selfie, but that didn't turn out so well.
Here's the result.

Obviously my camera was just so excited for me that it could not contain itself and had the urge to dance, so it couldn't get a clear picture.
I also remember my arm really hurt at the end because I had gotten so intense and into the game. So maybe that plus my rambunctious dancing camera produced the less-than-acceptable picture.

When we exited, we found some Starburst candy just chilling on the ground. Nick was feeling the urge to eat them, but he refrained because, you know, they were on the ground.

After that, we walked to TOT to use our Fastpasses.

On the way, we encountered some street performers.

We didn't stop to watch, but we listened as we passed by. I don't remember exactly what was going on, but I'm pretty sure it was some kind of dating game and One Direction songs might have been involved.

My dad didn't ride, because THRILL RIDE ALERT. So he got Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Fastpasses for the rest of us instead while we went on.

IT WAS TOWER TIME.

This was Nick's first time on this ride, so he was excited and nervous all at the same time. CONFLICTING EMOTIONS. A side effect of the Twilight Zone.
Before the drop, I was expecting the elevator to go up first, because that's what has always happened whenever I've ridden this. BUT NO. We went down RIGHT AWAY. And it was crazy. I loved the element of surprise, even though I already knew that the ride sequences are completely random.
IT WAS SO MUCH FUN.
And Nick said he loved it, too! YAY!

Then we met back up with my dad and the sky was looking very gloomy and foreboding.

So, even though we had just had breakfast less than three hours ago, we decided it was time for lunch!

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[WildernessExplorer04]

June 15th (Part Three)-"Why is there blue fuzz all over my camera?"

We went to ABC Commissary for lunch, and honestly, this was my worst lunch experience ever in Disney World. To begin with, the line to order food was really long.

This red carpet almost made up for that, though.

But then Nick and I tried to find us a table while our parents ordered and literally every single table in the vicinity was taken. We walked around there at least four times and either no one was moving, or a table had opened up while we were on the opposite side of the restaurant and someone else had taken it before us. We just weren't having any luck AT ALL.
Our parents came to us with their food and we commenced the search with two extra people.
FINALLY, a very nice woman told us she was about to leave and said we could have her table.
THAT WAS A TIME OF REJOICING.
We thanked her SO many times and proceeded to eat.

I ordered a cheeseburger with apple slices, because I attempted to be healthy after my delicious breakfast of infinite calories.
Apparently I was so hungry and exhausted after hunting for tables that I already ate some of my burger before I remembered to take a food picture.

Nick had this chicken sandwich with fries.

Mom had a cheeseburger with fried shrimp and fries.

Dad had a kids turkey sandwich with carrots and apple sauce. He was trying to save room for dinner.

None of the options we chose were all that good, honestly. The cheeseburgers were colder than I'd like and the apple slices were a little slimy, if that makes sense? I didn't eat all of my burger because it was big and after a while it started to taste bland and gross. Like when you eat so much of one thing that you get bored with it and it's not appealing anymore. Also, I have this strange habit of not finishing my sandwiches. I seriously don't know why, but it just happens; I literally can't recall a time when I ever ate the entirety of one sandwich. When there's about an inch left, I just have to stop. It's so weird and I don't know why I do that, but I do.

Anyway, when we finished there, we wandered the Streets of America for a bit.

These stairs are like my favorite thing:

I found it SO hilarious that they just end with a slab of concrete. Obviously, Disney can't make an underground subway system here, because that would just be illogical, but it's so funny that they just make the stairs not even go half-way and then BAM CONCRETE.
If I had the time, I would seriously just go sit in there. No one would ever think to go down there and just hang out, seriously. I would take a book or food or SOMETHING and just appreciate the fact that I am in Disney sitting on a slab of concrete that's preventing the subway stairs from continuing. Basically nobody would bother me and I could just sit there all day and be in Disney and relax. SUCH A GOOD IDEA. WHY HAVEN'T I THOUGHT OF THIS BEFORE?

But it was raining and I couldn't very well go sit down there in the rain (actually I could because I love rain, but my family wouldn't exactly be pleased if I did that). So we continued on through lovely New York.

And made it all the way to San Fran!

Then we stopped in to meet Mike and Sulley!

All of the Monsters University decorations were making me SO EXCITED for the movie!

We made it up there in about ten minutes--definitely not bad at all.

Because Abe LOVES Sulley to infinity and beyond, I took a video, just like I did for Jacob.
But this was a bit more awkward because Sulley can't talk, while Snow White can.
And Sulley is this giant blue monster, whereas Snow is a poised and graceful princess.
So I told Sulley he was Abe's favorite and asked if he could do something for my video for him.
He waved at the camera and then proceeded to embrace it, along with me, in a gigantic hug. So Abe had this PERFECTLY awkward video of Sulley waving and then he slowly approaches the camera (armpit first, actually) and then it's just black for a few seconds because Sulley's hairy armpit is right in the camera's lens. It was absolutely fantastic, haha. That's where the title of this update comes in, because he actually left a bit of his hair on my camera. It was hilarious.

Nick and I then took a picture with them!

Okay, can we take the time to appreciate Mike for a second here? He's a green circle with arms and legs and one huge eyeball. And he can't even move his arms so hugging him is completely difficult; you basically just nuzzle his face/body (because really, they're the same thing with this guy) while he stands there and it's the most ridiculous thing in the world, but it's so funny and I love it. These two are just a big bundle of awkward all around. I can totally relate to them.

Then we hung out in the gift shop area afterwards, because it was still raining. I found the door that Mike and Sulley go in when they need a break and LOVE that it says "Grads." Everything at Disney is themed so perfectly.

When it stopped raining, we went back into the Streets of America and stopped at the Singing in the Rain umbrella! Because after it rained, we just had to make sure it got its encore performance.

We passed this large building, which may not look like much, but this is where I danced last summer during the Dance the World event!

It's right behind the San Francisco façade. When I saw it I got SO many flashbacks to when I danced there. That was such a fun trip and I'm extremely grateful that I had that experience. Besides dancing there, we also danced in a special Magic Kingdom parade, which was UNBELIEVABLE. OH MY GOD. I still can't comprehend the fact that I get to say I literally danced down Main Street.
Here's a flashback picture of yours truly in the parade.

I LOVED THAT DAY SO MUCH DESPITE THE HEAT. Thankfully, I didn't get any blisters from the shoes we had to wear, unlike most of the girls.

But I digress. MOVING ON.

We headed to Star Tours next!

The Jedi Training they have (I think that's what it's called?) was going on, so we experienced it from the back side while in the queue.

This was both Dad and Nick's first time going on so they were a bit nervous.

Fortunately, they ended up LOVING it! Nick's a gigantic Star Wars fan, so it was right up his alley. On the other hand, I've never seen more than five minutes of a Star Wars movie, so I never know what the heck is going on when I ride this. But Nick could relate to everything, and, in fact, he liked it so much that he made us go on a second time! The line was less than ten minutes, so that wasn't a big deal at all.

Our experiences were very similar, and I think that's because we were placed in the same concourse both times, but we did have different characters.

Even though Nick begged to go on AGAIN, the rest of us ruled against him and we headed to a different attraction!

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[dismagiclover]

Awesome updates! I love all of your TSM pictures. That is a fun ride, but it is such a huge pain to get on. We still do it every trip though. We had a similar experience with lunch at DHS. (Well kind of similar.) The line to ABC Commisary was super long and there were no tables. So we just bailed and left the park to find lunch somewhere else. (So actually not very similar.) After reading your review I'd say we made the right call. Can't wait to hear more! Oh and I'm going to check out that concrete slab next trip. I have never noticed it. Maybe I'll even make my kids pose for a picture there.

 

[WildernessExplorer04]

Awesome updates! I love all of your TSM pictures. That is a fun ride, but it is such a huge pain to get on. We still do it every trip though. We had a similar experience with lunch at DHS. (Well kind of similar.) The line to ABC Commisary was super long and there were no tables. So we just bailed and left the park to find lunch somewhere else. (So actually not very similar.) After reading your review I'd say we made the right call. Can't wait to hear more! Oh and I'm going to check out that concrete slab next trip. I have never noticed it. Maybe I'll even make my kids pose for a picture there.

Thank you! It definitely takes a while to get on that ride, the wait is always HORRIBLE, but with Fastpasses it isn't as bad.

VERY good call on bailing on ABC Commissary. I'm just not a fan of that place. I read about your experience in your TR and Beaches n Cream sounds like such a better alternative. The counter services in DHS just aren't that great.

A picture of you kids with that concrete slab sounds adorable! It's just so random and hilarious, which kind of makes it the best thing ever.

 

[WildernessExplorer04]

June 15th (Part Four)-"Tale as old as time..."

After Star Tours, we headed to Muppet Vision!

Growing up, I never watched much of the Muppets at all. So I honestly don't know most of the characters in this show or what's even going on. But I still enjoy it, nevertheless. Because, I mean, it's 3D. Who doesn't love that?

Even though my Muppet knowledge is lacking, it was still pretty adorable.

We left that and headed to Sunset Boulevard. On the way, we saw two Photopass photographers taking pictures...of each other.
MY LIFE WAS MADE.

LOOK AT HOW RIDICULOUSLY ADORABLE THEY BOTH ARE.
When there's a shortage of guests who want their picture taken, why not just take some of yourselves? Logic.
Seriously, they were so cute.

Anyway, we made our way to see the Beauty and the Beast!
We arrived about fifteen minutes before the show started, but the theatre was already almost completely filled. So, we had to sit WAY in the back in those bleachers that aren't even really inside the theatre.

The show was still lovely, of course!

These three are my favorites. If our school ever did a production of Beauty and the Beast (which probably won't happen, but hey) I would definitely want to be one of them because they're so hilarious.

Into the castle we venture!

THE BEAST.

Halfway through the show, it started raining. Most of the people who were in the bleachers with us left, because the canopy over us was letting some of the rain in on us. But we toughed it out, being the Disney veterans that we are.

I would also love to play the enchantress, because her costume is so unique and beautiful at the same time.

AWWWWWW HAPPY ENDING.

GASTON, WHY ARE YOU SO HILARIOUS?

The show finished, and we headed out into the rain!

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[WildernessExplorer04]

June 15th (Part Five)-"Make it a super stretch."

After watching Beauty and the Beast with a side of rain, we went to Rock 'n' Roller Coaster! Time for Fastpasses!

Nick and Dad didn't want to ride, so Mom and I used their Fastpasses--we got to go on twice!

The CM in the preshow was VERY enthusiastic. He was like, "Hey guys, WE'RE GOING TO AN AEROSMITH CONCERT."
"How about some BACKSTAGE PASSES, right guys? WE WANT TO MEET AEROSMITH, RIGHT?"
He was crazy and I loved it.

Here's our first ride photo:

And our second:

The second time, after we got off, the guy in front of us was SUPER excited and basically screamed, "DID YOU HAVE FUN?" at us.
Obviously, we screamed back, "OF COURSE!"
He laughed.

Then we met up with my dad and brother in Sweet Spells and headed to the Magic of Disney Animation Building.
Once we were in there (and out of the rain I might add) we looked around at all of the concept art and movie posters.

AHHHHHHHH FROZEN. I FINALLY get to see it in less than six hours today and I CANNOT WAIT. Two days ago, I bought the soundtrack on iTunes and basically haven't stopped listening to it since then. I'm obsessed and no one's mad.

YAY MONSTERS UNIVERSITY!

The next Drawn to Animation show was about to start, so we went in and watched that.

Next, I spent about a day and a half looking at all of the Monsters University concept art because I love it so much.

Dean Hardscrabble is my favorite.

Notice more than one thing wrong with this sweatshirt?

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[WildernessExplorer04]

June 15th (Part Six)-"I'm gonna WRECK IT!"

Eventually, we left the Monsters University concept art room and journeyed farther into the Animation building.
Nick and I then got in line to meet Ralph and Vanellope!
He was excited.

We had to wait for about twenty minutes, but that was okay because this queue is fantastic!

Then we met them and they were adorable! When I met them in April, I had absolutely no idea who they were because I hadn't yet seen the movie. I'm glad we met them this time because I could actually make movie references to them!

As we were leaving, the Photopass photographer commented on how bright my shoes were. Haha that's not the first time that's happened!

My parents had found a place to sit down and relax, so Nick and I kept on going and played the "Which character are you?" game approximately six times.

First, Nick was Jafar.

Then I was Nala.

Nick proceeded to be reidentified as Cogsworth.

And as we were about to take the picture for our fourth round, Frozone joined us!

Wait what?
Hahahahahaha it was hilarious. All of a sudden he just appeared and patiently waited for the picture to be taken. However, the enchanted objects were taking too long and the character attendants needed Frozone back so he could go save the world on his break, so he had to leave. That was one great experience!
Nick and I continued coming up with different answer combinations after that and I ended up as Maleficent.

Nick became Aladdin.

And finally I stayed true to myself and answered everything as I actually would and was Belle!

Next, we reunited ourselves with our parents and went to the Animation Class!

Our artist wouldn't tell us who we were drawing and said we'd have to guess as we went along. Basically after the third line we drew, someone guessed Jiminy Cricket and was right!
At the end, a little girl was a bit upset about how her Jiminy turned out, so the artist was SO sweet and consoled her by saying that everyone's picture would be different and that was okay because that was how it was supposed to be. The little girl cheered right up!

Here are all of our drawings.
Nick's:

Mom's:

Dad's:

And mine:

This class is like my favorite thing ever and I wish I could do this every day.

Once we got out of there, it was time for dinner! Where did we have an ADR tonight?

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[wiigirl]

Great update!

 

[Surfinpiratee]

awww cute Jiminy! I can't wait to do that class!!!

 

[khertz]

I loved the queue for Ralph & Vanellope! It's so cute how they make the screens look like you are inside of the game. I was so relieved they were still there in October because we had missed the opening of their meet & greet by a day on our trip last year and I was worried they might have been replaced by the time we made it back!

That's so funny how Frozone came over to do the character game with you. I love when characters do stuff like that!

Your mom's Jiminy Cricket came out pretty great! I probably would have had a hard time with him, if I have to guess. Since we have been going with DS it's been impossible to do any of the animation classes, but it's something DH and I really loved to do on our trips pre-DS!

 

[Iowajes]

What a fabulous review!

And I love to see all the Jiminy Cricket drawings- so cool how they are all a bit different.

 

[Gabisgramma]

Thank you so much for this report and all the pictures. I will be going for the first time in Oct 2014. After your report I am even more excited.

 

[WildernessExplorer04]

Great update!

Thank you!

awww cute Jiminy! I can't wait to do that class!!!

It's so much fun, you'll love it! Thank you for the compliment!

I loved the queue for Ralph & Vanellope! It's so cute how they make the screens look like you are inside of the game. I was so relieved they were still there in October because we had missed the opening of their meet & greet by a day on our trip last year and I was worried they might have been replaced by the time we made it back!

That's so funny how Frozone came over to do the character game with you. I love when characters do stuff like that!

Your mom's Jiminy Cricket came out pretty great! I probably would have had a hard time with him, if I have to guess. Since we have been going with DS it's been impossible to do any of the animation classes, but it's something DH and I really loved to do on our trips pre-DS!

That queue is downright adorable. You missed them by a day? That must have been so infuriating. I'm so glad you were able to meet them on your latest trip! They're just too cute!

Haha Frozone was great! It was so unpredictable and it's things like that that make trips the most memorable.

My mom was so happy to see your compliment on her drawing! She says thank you! He wasn't that bad, I've seen some that look a lot more complicated. The animation class is really a lot of fun, I hope you get to do it again when DS is older!

What a fabulous review!

And I love to see all the Jiminy Cricket drawings- so cool how they are all a bit different.

Thank you so much!

It is pretty cool how everyone draws theirs a little bit different than the others.

Thank you so much for this report and all the pictures. I will be going for the first time in Oct 2014. After your report I am even more excited.

You're so welcome! Thank you for such a wonderful compliment!
You're going to have so much fun when you go! That's so exciting! The way people's faces light up when they see the magic for the first time is priceless.

 

[WildernessExplorer04]

June 15th (Part Seven)-"I SAID NO ELBOWS ON THE TABLE!"

When I left off, we were heading out of the Animation Building and on our way to dinner.
You can probably infer where we were dining that evening from the title of this update.

50's Prime Time Café!
The last time we ate here, I was only two years old and can't remember it.
But my parents do and according to them, it wasn't very pleasant due to a torrential downpour that got us all soaked before we ate there. Apparently after a few minutes, our waitress could tell that we weren't having a very good day because of that and dropped the reprimanding-mother act and just tried to accommodate us the best she could. Since our first meal there wasn't exactly joyful, we decided to try it again and THANK GOODNESS we did.
Because it was GREAT.

We arrived, checked in, and were seated almost immediately--AT A TV TABLE.

YAY! Our waiter's name was Little John (seriously) and he came and took our drink orders. I captured everyone's excitement while we waited.

Then the drinks arrived!

I got a PB&J milkshake to drink, which was actually really good! I'm not a big fan of PB&J sandwiches, but I wanted to try this. I mean, I like peanut butter and I like jelly, but not together on bread. Since this milkshake was lacking in the bread area, I thought it'd be safe to try. I'm so glad I did because I loved it! Definitely a different flavor, but still great!

The rest of my family got sodas.

Little John came back and took our food orders and that's when the 50's Prime Time reputation came into play. My father had his elbows on the table. That is not allowed. So Little John screamed, "NO ELBOWS ON THE TABLE," at him. Throughout the course of our dinner, my mother was actually caught in the act more than once. But unfortunately she wasn't put in the corner, just given a stern talking-to.
Our food arrived soon after and we dug in!

Mom, Nick, and I all got the fried chicken. Nick and I substituted corn for the collard greens, but mom kept them.

DELICIOUS! Probably the best fried chicken I've ever had, let's be real.

Dad had the sampler platter, which came with fried chicken, meatloaf, and pot roast.

He liked it a lot!

At some point this happened:

That's Little John at another table. He was great.

After we finished our entrées, Nick and Dad attempted to hide their vegetables under their chicken bones, but Little John saw through them and they got yelled at, although they were still allowed to have dessert anyway.

Nick was the only one who ordered dessert and he chose Dad's Brownie Sundae!

Of course I helped him with it, though. YUM.

Once we devoured that, we left the restaurant.
My mom and brother decided they wanted to go back to the room because they were really tired and done for the day, but my dad and I stayed because we were NOT going to miss Fantasmic!
The Monsters University Homecoming Party was going on by the Hat, so we watched that for about fifteen minutes.

They were quite entertaining.
I enjoyed their costumes.

Dad and I figured that if we wanted to get front row seats for Fantasmic (and we sure as heck did), we needed to get there at least 45 minutes before it started, so we didn't have time to ride anything. Instead, we wandered down Sunset Boulevard and looked in the shops, such as this dapper gem.

Soon, we headed into the Hollywood Hills Amphitheater!

I love this perspective on the Tower.

There were quite a few people already in there, but we managed to get the most absolute perfect seats EVER.

Staking my claim:

Obviously there's food by me only half an hour after we ate dinner.

Our view:

Stunning. I was so happy we were able to grab these seats! And what was even better, only one other family sat on that bench with us (and it's a pretty large bench). We had so much room and such a spectacular view!

I sat there and listened to the beautiful Disneymania music. MY CHILDHOOD. Not gonna lie, I still listen to those CDs and jam out by myself or with my friend MaiLei when I drive places. It's a beautiful thing.

Before we knew it, the preshow was starting!

The CMs were very funny and had TONS of energy! They played Disney trivia games with the audience and had sing-offs between sides. I love that stuff. It was so much fun and it was getting me even more excited for Fantasmic!

Soon afterwards, the amphitheater grew dark, the stage was lit, and the show was about to begin!

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[Surfinpiratee]

Love it!!

 

[WildernessExplorer04]

Thanks so much!

 

[WildernessExplorer04]

June 15th (Part Eight)-"Nothing is more wonderful than the imagination..."

*CUE SPINE-TINGLING MUSIC*

And Mickey!

I'm pretty sure that the following photo is the best night picture my camera has ever taken ever. Like seriously, I was so proud of myself and I sat there for a while in awe until I realized that there was a magnificent show going on right in front of me (literally, front row pride) so I refocused my attention on where it should be.

Anyone else notice that Mickey has two shadows in this picture? Of course it's the lighting, but it's also a bit scary. Like he has an evil twin or something, I don't know.

"LOOK! IT'S JOHN SMITH!"

Side note: whenever the Lion King music starts playing with all of those neon animals, I think it's the Pocahontas part. It just sounds so tribal at first and I'm like, YAY POCA IS COMING! But then I Just Can't Wait to Be King starts playing and I'm like, OH. I knew that. Every single time this happens no matter how much I listen to the music.

ANYWAY. PRINCESS PART!

That's my favorite part, besides the beginning and the end and the middle and actually I just really love the whole thing because it's fantastic. Or should I say FANTASMIC? HA. I slay myself sometimes.

OH NO VILLAINS.
But please let's be real, her costume is fabulous.

...well, not anymore.

Jafar is a pureblood Slytherin, I'm telling ya. He's totally related to Salazar.

MALIFICENT'S TIME TO SHINE!

And then the weirdest thing in the whole world happened.
SHE DID NOT TURN INTO A DRAGON.
I REPEAT: SHE DID NOT TURN INTO A DRAGON.
I WAS GOING CRAZY BECAUSE I WAS JUST SO CONFUSED.
SEE? HERE'S THE FIRE ON THE WATER THAT THE DRAGON IS SUPPOSED TO BREATHE OUT BUT THE DRAGON IS NOT THERE AND IT'S JUST MALIFICENT IN HUMAN FORM.

It was so strange. She was being raised up on her pedestal thing like usual. The lights got dim like usual. A scene was projected on the water like usual. The lights brightened like usual. BUT HUMAN MALIFICENT WAS STILL THERE NOT LIKE USUAL. NO DRAGON. AHHHHHHHHHH.
I was a tad upset, which I guess is weird because that dragon used to TERRIFY me as a child. There were times when my parents had to take me out of the amphitheater because I was so scared and crying myself dry. But now I love it and it's just not Fantasmic without it.
There must have been a technical issue, so I totally understand, though, being in our school's drama club. It happens and there's nothing you can do to fix it at the time, so you just do your best with what you have.

Anyway, Mickey defeated human Maleficent and everything was happy again!

YAY CHARACTER BOAT.

Mary and Bert are too adorable to handle.

MICKEY WINS!

"Some imagination, huh?"

THAT. THAT RIGHT THERE IS THE BEST LINE IN THIS ENTIRE SHOW. Because it so simplistically sums up everything Walt stood for; imagination, creativity, love--that's what's important. And I will never ever forget it.

The show ended beautifully and we cheered like it was our job. Then we reluctantly got up and realized that we were really wet because of the water screen mist. Since we were sitting right in the front and the wind was blowing towards our direction, we got quite a nice shower.
Also, the tech crew came on stage after some time while we were waiting for the majority of people to clear out so we could leave.

I'm not really sure if they come out after every show, because this is the first time I've noticed them--I probably just haven't been paying attention to that before this trip. Or if that's not the case, maybe they were there for the whole Maleficent malfunction. The world will never know.

When we eventually exited the theater, we spotted a shadow of a person in one of the Hollywood Tower Hotel's windows.

I had never ever seen that before and it was such a great extra dose of Disney magic in their details! So I basically spent about ten minutes just standing there and marveling over it until my dad forced us to leave because apparently it's not common courtesy to stand on the side of a heavily populated walkway in order to gaze up at the Tower of Terror all night long.

As we were exiting Sunset Boulevard and coming out onto Hollywood Boulevard, we saw Mike and Sulley on the stage!

Near the front of the park, Dad had to use the restroom, so I entertained myself by taking pictures and just soaking up the Hollywood magic.

At the exit, a CM was giving high fives to the guests as they were leaving, so my dad obviously asked him, "Can I get a high five?" And the CM said, "How about a high four?" because the Mickey glove he was wearing only had four fingers on it.

Farewell for this trip Hollywood Studios!

We made our way to the bus stop, got on a Pop Century bus, and arrived at the resort. My mom and brother were already asleep, so my dad just basically decided to crash right then and there, and I quietly took a shower and then fell asleep.

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