Day 6 – Hollywood Studios and Chilling Out
Thursday 19th May
Nearly a week in, but somehow we are still managing to make it up and out each day at a reasonable time. Today we’re off to the Studios nice and early to do Toy
Story Mania as if you’re not there at rope drop then you’ve no chance. We park up and head inside, and are about 10 metres back from the where they hold everyone back for the ‘Lights, Cameras, Action’ moment. Considering the park is meant to be quiet today and has a 7pm close with no Fantasmic, it’s majorly packed.
We follow the CMs through the park, almost everyone headed in the same direction, and I veer over to the right-hand side to get fastpasses, while Helen and the kids keep going left and get in line for the ride. I’m lucky and get the FPs very quickly, then we meet up right outside the show building. 10 minutes later and we’re stepping onto the ride. Decent scores, but boy does my arm ache by the end!
After this we head off and ride Star Tours twice, and experience some new sections of the story. No real queues here today, partly due to a being in pre-open still, but also I reckon most people are still in the Toy Story line! Lots of people being told off for taking photos in the queue area ahead of the official opening – we’ll get our pictures eventually though!
Back to TSM for our FP times…arm muscles have just about recovered, and get a higher score to prove it (but alas no photo this time).
We grab FPs for Rock ‘n Roller Coaster, then a pretzel and drinks to snack on while we watch Indy. It’s as good as ever, but the guy in front insists on wearing his stitch hat throughout – and he wasn’t short to begin with. Luckily he’s picked to be a member of the group of extra, sadly he isn’t the one that they practice the stunt punches on…
Don’t know if it’s just me that thinks this, but they seem to be making the plant in the show a little bit less obvious these days. I always try to remember that while we’ve seen the show many times before, there are always going to be loads of people in the crowd where it’s their first time and they won’t know what is going to happen.
Back to Rock ‘n Roller Coaster for the FPs but it’s broken down – first Everest yesterday, now this…what is it with our luck this trip? I hope the ship won’t be the 3rd thing next week
We decide to leave the Studios at this point and head to Olive Garden for lunch…very nice, quick and inexpensive. You could easily fill up on their garlic bread and salads on their own. Back to villa for swimming, rest and a bit of packing, then out in the evening to Earl of Sandwich for a bite to eat. We both love the sandwiches here, and we don’t seem to be the only ones as the place always seems to be busy. Original for me, Ham and Swiss for Helen, and some pasta and cookies for the kids that we brought from the villa.
After we’ve filled up on food we walk around the marketplace browsing in various shops, and then stop to get an Ice Cream at the Haagan Daaz shop. I’m pretty sure out lunch for 4 at Olive Garden was cheaper than these
We watch the static balloon winch up and down a few times. Doesn’t seem to last very long at all, but I’m sure you get a great view from up there. I’ll stick to my 2-3 minutes at the top of Expedition Everest for getting birds eye photos of the area ☺
Downtown Disney topiaries and water features
We walk round to DisneyQuest and pop in for an hour so the kids can go on Mighty Ducks Pinball once again. They play alongside a whole lot of adults and teens and end up grabbing first and second place on the leaderboard – both very proud of their efforts
We decide to head off around 9pm and are driving past Epcot soon after, just as the Illuminations fireworks are approaching their climax. Kids head straight off to bed when we get back to the villa, asleep almost by the time they touch the pillow, whereas Helen and I nip outside for a nice soak in the hot tub. It’s our last in the villa, and we’ve really enjoyed it. It’s been a great space to spread out in, and we’ve made plenty of use of the games room and pool.
Tomorrow, we’re off to Universal and the Hard Rock Hotel
Day 7 - Hard Rock Hotel and Blue Man Group
Setting the Scene and Index
Thursday 19th May
Nearly a week in, but somehow we are still managing to make it up and out each day at a reasonable time. Today we’re off to the Studios nice and early to do Toy
Story Mania as if you’re not there at rope drop then you’ve no chance. We park up and head inside, and are about 10 metres back from the where they hold everyone back for the ‘Lights, Cameras, Action’ moment. Considering the park is meant to be quiet today and has a 7pm close with no Fantasmic, it’s majorly packed.
We follow the CMs through the park, almost everyone headed in the same direction, and I veer over to the right-hand side to get fastpasses, while Helen and the kids keep going left and get in line for the ride. I’m lucky and get the FPs very quickly, then we meet up right outside the show building. 10 minutes later and we’re stepping onto the ride. Decent scores, but boy does my arm ache by the end!
After this we head off and ride Star Tours twice, and experience some new sections of the story. No real queues here today, partly due to a being in pre-open still, but also I reckon most people are still in the Toy Story line! Lots of people being told off for taking photos in the queue area ahead of the official opening – we’ll get our pictures eventually though!
Back to TSM for our FP times…arm muscles have just about recovered, and get a higher score to prove it (but alas no photo this time).
We grab FPs for Rock ‘n Roller Coaster, then a pretzel and drinks to snack on while we watch Indy. It’s as good as ever, but the guy in front insists on wearing his stitch hat throughout – and he wasn’t short to begin with. Luckily he’s picked to be a member of the group of extra, sadly he isn’t the one that they practice the stunt punches on…
Don’t know if it’s just me that thinks this, but they seem to be making the plant in the show a little bit less obvious these days. I always try to remember that while we’ve seen the show many times before, there are always going to be loads of people in the crowd where it’s their first time and they won’t know what is going to happen.
Back to Rock ‘n Roller Coaster for the FPs but it’s broken down – first Everest yesterday, now this…what is it with our luck this trip? I hope the ship won’t be the 3rd thing next week
We decide to leave the Studios at this point and head to Olive Garden for lunch…very nice, quick and inexpensive. You could easily fill up on their garlic bread and salads on their own. Back to villa for swimming, rest and a bit of packing, then out in the evening to Earl of Sandwich for a bite to eat. We both love the sandwiches here, and we don’t seem to be the only ones as the place always seems to be busy. Original for me, Ham and Swiss for Helen, and some pasta and cookies for the kids that we brought from the villa.
After we’ve filled up on food we walk around the marketplace browsing in various shops, and then stop to get an Ice Cream at the Haagan Daaz shop. I’m pretty sure out lunch for 4 at Olive Garden was cheaper than these
We watch the static balloon winch up and down a few times. Doesn’t seem to last very long at all, but I’m sure you get a great view from up there. I’ll stick to my 2-3 minutes at the top of Expedition Everest for getting birds eye photos of the area ☺Downtown Disney topiaries and water features
We walk round to DisneyQuest and pop in for an hour so the kids can go on Mighty Ducks Pinball once again. They play alongside a whole lot of adults and teens and end up grabbing first and second place on the leaderboard – both very proud of their efforts
We decide to head off around 9pm and are driving past Epcot soon after, just as the Illuminations fireworks are approaching their climax. Kids head straight off to bed when we get back to the villa, asleep almost by the time they touch the pillow, whereas Helen and I nip outside for a nice soak in the hot tub. It’s our last in the villa, and we’ve really enjoyed it. It’s been a great space to spread out in, and we’ve made plenty of use of the games room and pool.
Tomorrow, we’re off to Universal and the Hard Rock Hotel
Day 7 - Hard Rock Hotel and Blue Man Group
Setting the Scene and Index
