Sunday April 15th Part II- Hollywood Studios
A little more background if you havent read my PTR. This is practically the first time any of us were touring DHS. We skipped the park in 2011. In 2008, we made a brief visit at night for Fantasmic but that was it. So I was a bit anxious about the touring plan I had set up for this day since I wasnt familiar with the layout of the park. I was purely going by what I had learned on DIS and at easywdw.
We almost walked on TSM. There was not much of a wait I think we hit the line right around the staircase. I was eager to find out what all the hype was about. Honestly, I didnt think I would like the ride that much. From the youtube videos Ive seen, it just looked like an arcade game. Boy, was I wrong. I had a blast!
My fingers and hands were cramping from the rapid fire I laid on those poor targets lol. I had DS in my lap and he held on to the gun while I pulled the string. He loved it! DD was clamoring about her score at the end of the ride. The kids immediately started asking if we could go on it again as soon as we got off the ride, so I pulled FPs for all of us after exiting. We were out by 9:15am. Our FP return window was around 10:30am.
Next we headed towards Star Tours. I had rode this one a long time ago before they updated it. DD was nervous about going on this ride. I had tried showing her youtube videos but she just couldnt cozy up against the idea of confronting Vader. We got a Rider Swap pass for DW. DFIL, myself, and DD got in line first while DW took DS to meet Mater and Lightning. There was no wait at all. I enjoyed the ride. DFIL loved it! He was chuckling out loud during the whole ride. The 3-D aspect of the ride is what really differentiates this from the original one in my opinion. DD was pretty tense during the entire ride. Once we got off, she declared that she had absolutely no interest in trying that one again with the rider swap pass. DW was waiting with DS outside when we exited, so she and DFIL went back in with the Riderswap pass. Not that they really needed it since the standby lines were so short this time in the morning.
While they were in, I strolled over with the kids to see what Phineas and Ferb were up to. There were only about two families in line! DD had some reservations about meeting them earlier in the day so I wasnt planning on trying it. But when she saw them from afar, she decided she DID want to meet them. We entered the line which later turned out to be not such a good idea. We made our way to the front where now only one family was waiting their turn. Before I could reach them though, a woman who was standing to the side of the line taking pictures of her kids participating in one of those re-enactments of Phineas and Ferb scenes stops me and says that theyre in line and that I should wait until her kids are done. Theres about 30 feet of empty space between her and the end of the line which, did I mention, was only ONE family? I look behind me and theres no one!
Now being a DISer, of course the first thing that flashed in my mind was, what did the line etiquette threads say about this situation?
As I just stood there for a few seconds, the CM saw what was happening, and told me to move forward and politely told the lady that they make sure that they wont have to wait any longer than necessary once the scene was completed. Its a good thing to, because they were still working on that scene when we finished our meet and greet. Speaking of the meet and greet, it did not go well. DD planted both feet on the yellow line that separates us and Phineas and Ferb. I was carrying DS in my arm and he buried his face in my shoulder as I walked toward the guys. DD by then was holding on to my leg for dear life so I did my best Frankeinstein walk impression as I hauled both kids to the center. Im sure it was a hilarious sight. Heres a dad who appears to be dragging his kids to meet Phineas and Ferb!
Well at least neither of the were crying and screaming. They just acted very shy. Well, I figured we made it all the way to the center of the stage, and I just had to get pass the lady gatekeeper to get to this point, might as well hand my photopass card over and get it over with. There must have been something about the bigger than life versions of Phineas and Ferb that was imposing to the kids. We had absolutely no further problems with any of the characters we interacted with.
By the time we finished that meet and greet, DW called and said they were exiting the Star Tours, so I told them we would meet them in front of Muppetvision 3D. Tried taking some photos of the fountain. Boy, does the statue of Miss Piggy spin fast or what? Trying to capture her at the exact right time so that shes looking straight at my camera and not her derriere required several attempts!
Derriere
Better
The show was cute. Kids liked it. DD nearly poked another child sitting in front of her when those 3D bubbles started floating out of the screen and she tried to pop one.
By the time we made it out, it was time to head back to TSM to use our FPs. Had to warn the kids ahead of the time that this would be the second and last time well go on this ride. We all enjoyed it again, and for the rest of the week we heard choruses of We want Toy Story ride! from both kids so they must have really enjoyed it.
Now it was time to give the kids the opportunity to burn off some energy at the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground. By this point, there were two things I wanted to do that we couldnt fit into our plans. I really wanted to get a picture of me riding the Star Wars Speeder Bike in front of Star Tours. Yes, Im a Star Wars fan. Another one was meeting Mike and Sulley near the Backlot Tours. After how the kids reacted to Phineas and Ferb, it wasnt looking good trying this one for them, so we just skipped it. The playground was great! The kids tried most of the slides. DS got mentally stuck inside a tunnel I say mentally as he could have easily physically handled it but he got too scared to go forward or backward on his own. The rope net structure was a big hit. DS got to ride on the ant.
"I feel so small in here!"
Up Next: We found our new favorite ride!
I am terrified of the July heat and crowds, so I have planned our days to take full advantage of the EMH schedule. We will hit the parks early for EMH, then take a break and head back to whatever park have the evening EMH after dinnertime. So maybe we will get a chance to try TSM this time around.
