That Time I Took My Unwitting 3 Year Old on Tower of Terror
On Tuesday we were up bright and early for an 8AM opening of Hollywood Studios. The Studios closed at 4pm this day for a cast member party, so I was hoping the crowds would be light. We drove to HS and were there in no time. We found through the week that we liked to drive to the parks in the morning when we could get a close parking spot, and take the bus in the evenings and avoid tram rides from the back of the parking lot. I think we were through bag check and waiting for the gates to open around 7:30am.
We we're let in around 7:45 and while everyone was headed to Toy Story we took a right towards Sunset Blvd and were held at a second "rope drop".
We had decided to hit up RnR first instead of Toy Story since we had a FP+ for Toy Story later in the day. We never really feel the need to ride it more than once. Audrey was definitely more excited to try RnR for the first time. Ezra on the other hand was not pleased to start off with a ride he is too short for.
So we decided to do a photoshoot while we waited.
Bubbles made an appearance.
Meanwhile Audrey was having her first Rock N Rollercoaster experience
I lost it when I saw her face. This picture was an instant classic. Thinking of donating it to the Smithsonian. Good news is she loved the ride and was ready to ride again with me. Child swap is awesome for older kids, they get to ride everything twice.
There was a little more happiness and a little less worry in her face this time. The dad and young kid duo that should have been behind us bailed at the last minute. The kid was LOOSING IT when she saw a limo take off.... poor thing.
I don't know if I'm just remembering wrong or what, but it seemed like RnR was much shorter this time? Anyways, after our wild ride through L.A. it was time to head back to the hotel. Unfortunately our elevator had a little issue....
See that look on Ezra's face... pure terror. We got in line for ToT totally expecting Ezra to chicken out during the Twilight Zone movie or at best the boiler room would do him in. Nope, the kid was more than willing to hop on that elevator. At this point I realized I probably should have told him what was going to happen, but why ruin the surprise? You can really see his reaction in the video.
I'm a terrible parent, haha. He wasn't too traumatized. He said he was okay, but had no desire to try it again. A week or so after the fact he is adamant that it's his favorite ride, so maybe he's a little thrill junkie like his sister.
After traumatizing the toddler we left Sunset Blvd, but not before getting a few photopass pictures.
Tremors 15: Experiment 626
Our next stop was a favorite of mine, The Great Movie Ride. It was great as always. The gangster was cheesy and everyone was slightly scarred by the munckin' animatronics , you know same old thing. I liked the updated movie at the end. The worst part of the ride was sharing a tram with a deodorant defector. GMR is a long ride to share with B.O.
Next we headed to the Streets of America, which is an area we had never checked out before. We didn't make it back there on our last trip. As we walked into Muppets Plaza, the CM was yelling "last call" for the next showing of Muppet Vision. We figured why not, and hurried in. Last time I saw this show was in
Disneyland in 2003. Once a decade is really all you need
I made the kids take pictures with Lightning McQueen and Mater. Ezra wasn't really in the mood for pictures and Audrey is not a Cars fan, so they aren't the greatest pictures.
About this time, it was time for our Star Tours FP+ reservation. I was really excited since Ezra loves Star Wars and was tall enough to ride. This was a day after they started using the new scenes from The Force Awakens. I hadn't read anything about that, so I was really surprised. It was great. We had a scene with Darth Vader and the underwater creature things from Episode 1. Finn saved us and C3PO was there in the flesh. Daniel got sick because motion simulator, but said it was worth it because Star Wars. Logic. The kids were due for a toy stop, so I let them make droids in the dump shop. Who knows where those pieces are now. One day I'll learn.
We were feeling a little drained at this point so we stopped for a pre-lunch Ice Cream break. I love vacation.
You can see Ezra's droid in his hand. #RIPChristmasdroid Hes probably living in the cracks in between the backseat of my car.
After our rest it was time for.... more rest! But this rest stop had meatloaf!
Apparently the sun was in their eyes or something....excuses.
We were seated quickly, but didn't get a TV seat.
I though about asking for one, but I kind of liked our little secluded corner.
The kids and I ordered milkshakes. I got a PB&J. Audrey got a chocolate PB&J and Ezra got plain chocolate.
We also got the onion ring appetizer, which was devoured quickly.
Audrey opted for the meatless meatballs because she momentarily forgot what family she was born into.
Daniel got the stuffed pork chop, which he said was good.
I got the sampler which was great. I only finished about half of it though.
We were wrapping up our meal a little before 12PM, so we decided to try to hit up a 12PM show. It was a toss up between Indy and Frozen and of course Frozen won. We were some of the last few people to enter the theater and were escorted to a seat towards the front but far off to the side.
The show was really cute and we were definitely laughing. We decided we made the right show choice. At the end of the show when it "snows" we were in prime snoap machine territory. We were all COVERED in it.
Frozen was on our unexpected, favorite experiences. We had a great time. We had about an hour to burn until our Toy Story fastpass so we grabbed a few Chinese theater photopass pictures.
Can you tell Audrey is tired?
Way too tired for monster arms.
In fact at this point everyone was getting pretty tired, so we made a stop at the Trolley Car Cafe. The kids got their favorite Nesquick chocolate milks.
And Daniel and I got our caramel and coffee frappuccinos. When we were done with our starbucks we still had 45 minutes until our Toy Story FP+. I took a quick census of the group and they were all in favor of heading back to the hotel and forgoing Toy Story. So I cancelled our Toy Story FP+s and probably made someone's day.
Up next: Our first time at Epcot.
Thanks for joining in!
. Not me! 
And an upfront warning, this update is short on pictures. All I had was my phone for taking pictures and the nighttime quality is atrocious.
