A Long and Somewhat Lackluster Day at Hollywood Studios

Today was our second day in the parks and our first day in Hollywood Studios.  We started by taking by new Skyliner, which was fun and quick, not to mention so much easier than a bus since you're guaranteed a seat.  On the other hand, it doesn't start running until 7:30, while the buses start between 7 and 7:15.  As was expected, the park was an absolute zoo, which stemmed from the fact that Galaxy's Edge is still the latest and greatest attraction.  We were in no rush to get into the park to get a boarding pass for Rise of the Resistance, so we weren't as stressed as the girl behind us.  She didn't get to the park until about 7:45ish, and she's all stressed because you have to be scanned in in order to get a boarding group.  She kept complaining and saying things like, "You'd think a company like Disney would be more efficient."  First of all, the park was packed, and second of all, poor planning on your part does not make an emergency on their part.  I wonder if she got a boarding group.

After getting through the gates, we headed down to Rock'n'Roller Coaster, since we weren't able to get any FastPasses for it.  When we first got in line, the wait was originally about 110 minutes, it quickly jumped to 180 and then 210 minutes.  It was ridiculous.  We waited for about an hour before deciding that it was a waste of our time, and we wouldn't make it to our FastPass for Toy Story Mania.  It was a difficult decision, because I felt like we just wasted all that time for nothing.

Waiting in line for an hour for nothing wasn't a complete waste, as we got chili mac and cheese from the small stand next to Rock'n'Roller Coaster.  It's the breakfast of champions, as we ate it at 9 in the morning(ish).  The mac and cheese was absolutely delicious, and I would easily eat it again.

From there, we headed into Toy Story Land to poke around and see what things were like.  There was already a three hour wait for Slink Dog Dash, but we have FastPasses for that for Saturday, so that wasn't a big deal.  While there, we met Jessie.  She was a lot of fun and our first character of the day.  We wanted to stick around, as our FastPass for Toy Story Mania was soon.  Unfortunately, right around when our FastPass was set to begin, the ride broke.  We could cash it in for another ride if we wanted or wait and use it whenever we wanted later for Toy Story Mania once it started running again.  We opted for the latter.  We could wait in the FastPass line, but that seemed like a waste of time, we might as well try to make the most of the time we had now.

Toy Story Land was absolutely packed, so we went over to Pixar Place where we could meet some characters from The Incredibles.  The line for Edna Mode was super short, so we decided to meet her.  While waiting in line, Mr. Incredible appeared in the window with a little girl.  He was playing around in the courtyard and was looking for Jack Jack (he pretended to rock a baby, so I'm assuming that's who he was looking for).  Edna ignored him, so he kept playing around.  We met Edna and talked about fashion and the fact that Jack Jack was everywhere.  It's true, there are little statues of Jack Jack all throughout the little courtyard area, including one in the Edna meet and greet location that looks shockingly like Auntie Edna.

From there, we headed back into the courtyard where I wanted to meet Mr. Incredible.  Rather than have a designated spot, however, he was kind of all over the place.  There wasn't a line or anything, just a small group of people following him.  I was able to meet him and talk to him, which was a lot of fun.  I asked him where Jack Jack was, and he pointed to the little statues of the baby up on the roof.  I asked if Violet helped take care of him, and he said no.  I told him I totally get what it's like, as I work with teenagers, and he felt sorry for me.  It was definitely a wonderful and fun interaction with him.

Afterwards, we headed back to Toy Story Land, as Toy Story Mania was back up and running.  The ride is very similar to Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, except you have this little rope you pull on the back of your gun to fire, and you're firing at screens with different themes.  I talked a lot of smack to Bryan, saying I was going to beat him, and I ended up doing terribly, so we're not going to really talk about that.  I'm not making any excuses, but that little string you have to pull the entire ride is exhausting and a pain, so maybe that's why I didn't do too well.  I don't know, I have time to redeem myself when we go to Magic Kingdom in a few days.

While we were there, I really wanted to meet Woody and Bo Peep, but the line was absolutely ridiculous, and by absolutely ridiculous, I mean an hour to meet them.  I just couldn't justify waiting that long to meet some characters, so we didn't.  We're fine with not meeting Buzz right now, as he's also in Magic Kingdom with, hopefully, a bit shorter of a wait.

After Toy Story Mania, we decided to eat again, this time at Woody's Lunchbox.  Just like everywhere else in the park, this place was absolutely packed.  We wised up and used mobile ordering, which was significantly easier.  We simply ordered our food, marked that we were there, and waited at our table until our food was ready.  This time, we both got totchos (tater tots with chili cheese and sour cream on top), which were alright.  The food was a little dry, but it was a lot of food.  We might have been able to split a plate instead of each of us getting our own.

At this point, we were tired of Toy Story Land.  We really hadn't made it very far in the park, and we were a little frustrated with how crowded it was.  It was close to the time for our Muppet*Vision 3D FastPasses, so we headed in that direction.  We also saw this as the perfect opportunity to sit down for a little while.  The show was just as fun and silly as I remembered it being.  It might have been childish, but the Muppets are always fun to see.

From there, we did a bit of shopping at the Christmas shop (I want an ornament from each park) and then went to visit with some more characters.  The line for Mickey and Minnie was fairly short, so we visited them.  Bryan commented how he was surprised even though it was just one line, we didn't meet Mickey and Minnie together.  Animal Kingdom is the only place you can do that right now unfortunately. 

Next door to Mickey and Minnie was Olaf, so, of course, we had to meet him.  The second we went in the room, his arms were out, ready for those warm hugs he loves so much.  He was a little disappointed that he had to wait a minute while we put down our bags.  We talked for a few minutes, and he was so excited to learn it was warm outside.  I told him that he couldn't go, though, because he didn't have his personal blizzard, but then he reminded me that Elsa gave him permafrost now, so he's fine.  He doesn't do autographs, so he couldn't sign my picture frame, but that's okay.  He was one of the characters I was looking forward to meeting the most.

At this point, it was close to our dinner reservation, so we first went to the new taphouse to get some beers.  As can be expected, Bryan got an IPA while I got a hefeweizen.  What really threw me off was the fact that we could take our beers into our dining reservation next door at Sci-Fi Dine-In.

I'd read the food at Sci-Fi Dine-In was mediocre, but it was somewhere I really wanted to visit because it looked so much fun.  The tables are two across in these little cars, and they're facing this huge movie screen where you can find trailers and clips from B-list sci-fi movies from the 50s.  It was all super cheesy but a lot of fun.  The drinks were delicious, and the vibe was a blast.  We even got to bring our drinks with us to go afterwards, which is still something that throws me for a loop.  As long as you're in the park, you can walk around with your alcohol.

Following dinner, we walked around for a little bit more before heading over to see the Indiana Jones Stunt Show Spectacular.  Instead of being a shortened version of Indiana Jones, it shows how they do some of the stunts.  It was another wonderful opportunity to sit down and this time, get out of the rain.  They had to shorten the show a little bit because of the rain, which caused me to worry because we had the dessert package for Fantasmic! in an hour, and that's a completely outdoor show.

After Indiana Jones, we wandered into a few shops near Fantasmic!, but they were packed also because people were trying to get out of the "rain" (it wasn't even sprinkling, neither of us put on our ponchos).  I bought a shot glass for Nicholas and then we went towards Fantasmic!, the shops were just too crowded.

We paid a little bit extra for the Fantasmic! dessert package, which gave us a delicious margarita (I'm just as surprised as you are about this, as I usually don't drink tequila) and this delicious box of food.  It included some apple cake, a brownie, chocolate covered strawberries, chocolate mousse, cheesecake with bobas on top and cheese and crackers.  It was a lot of food, especially given the fact that we ate so much already today.  We ended up bringing a lot of it back to the hotel and put it in the fridge to eat another day.  We also got absolutely wonderful seats to Fantasmic!, center stage, about ten rows back.  It was perfect. 

Fantasmic! is one of my favorite things in Disney World.  The special effects are out of this world as you watch villains try to ruin Mickey's happy dreams and give him terrible nightmares instead.  The show includes projecting images on large fans of water, fireworks, lasers, fog and sparklers.  It's so much fun as Mickey shows that he can control his own imagination, and the villains have no control over him.

My favorite part of the show is the end.  At this point, a steamboat comes out with Mickey dressed as Steamboat Willy.  On board is a whole collection of Disney characters showing that they've won and defeated the villains.  It ends with fireworks and Mickey standing at the top of the rock formation on the stage setting off fireworks and water effects.

After the show, there were Extra Magic Hours, but we were kind of done for the day.  We felt like we didn't do a whole lot, and yet, we were still exhausted.  Throughout the day, we talked and figured out what made it so difficult to get on attractions at Hollywood Studios.  While there are some shows, there are no filler attraction rides.  I mean, look at Magic Kingdom, if you have some down time, you have smaller rides such as Carousel of Progress or Prince Charming's Regal Carousel.  Rides like that take the burden off the bigger rides such as Space Mountain and Peter Pan's Flight.  Those rides still have long lines but you still have the option to ride the smaller ones.  There really isn't such a thing in Hollywood Studios, all of the rides are big ticket items, and the tier system there is still heavily flawed  Personally, I think they should do what they do in Magic Kingdom there, you get three FastPasses, use them however you want.

While our day in Hollywood Studios wasn't the best, it could have been a lot worse.  We're excited to be going back to Animal Kingdom today and then Epcot tomorrow.  Be sure to check back for those posts soon.

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A Closer Look at Hollywood Studios

That's right, after a week off for Christmas last week, it's time for another Walt Disney Wednesday.  Today, we're looking closer at Hollywood Studios, which I still refer to as MGM even though it changed its name all the way back in 2008.  Old habits die hard.  I'm working on it, but I know other people are having trouble with this adjustment as well.

Since we've done our FastPasses since our last closer look at a Disney park, this one is a little bit different since we have a better idea of what exactly we're doing.  Now, that doesn't mean everything is set in stone, but we do have a much better idea of what's going on when we arrive at the park.

As the name implies, Hollywood Studios focuses on show business and everything that goes into making a movie.  Since the overwhelming majority of Disney's job is to make movies, that means they can put just about anything in this park, and it will work.  For that reason, it is a little bit of a ragtag of everything cobbled together. 

Originally opened in 1989, Hollywood Studios has undergone some extreme changes in recent years.  The first of these was Toy Story Land, which opened in 2018.  More recently, however, Hollywood Studios has opened Galaxy's Edge, which is based on the Star Wars franchise.  I'll talk about both of those in more detail in a little bit.  It is important to note that Hollywood Studios is the smallest of the four Disney parks.

Since the premise of Hollywood Studios focuses on show business, many of the attractions are shows or performances.  With the opening of Toy Story Land and Galaxy's Edge, however, there have been a few more rides that have opened in recent years to balance out the number of shows and rides in the park.

Even though there have been some huge changes in Hollywood Studios since the last time I went to the park, there are still some attractions that I'm excited to visit again.  One of them is Muppet*Vision 3D.  As the name implies, it is a 3D show with the Muppets.  It focuses on taking a tour of the Muppet studio, where they're getting ready for their upcoming performance, until Dr. Honeydew's technology goes wrong (as usual), and shenanigans happen.  Apparently we saw the show the first time we went to Disney World when I was four, and my cousin kept reaching out and trying to touch all the 3D images floating in front of her.  My mom loves to tell that story.

Another attraction I'm excited to ride is Star Tours.  This is not part of Galaxy's Edge, but it has been updated in recent years.  Originally, the ride focused on the first three Star Wars rides.  In recent years, however, it has been updated to include the entire Star Wars saga.  This is a 4D ride (Bryan hates when I use the phrase "4D", but he's not here, so he can't stop me).  Riders enjoy a 3D show on a ride where the car moves in conjunction with what's happening on screen.  It's difficult to say what exactly the ride is about, as there are 18 different scenarios that riders can experience, so almost every time you ride this attraction, you will experience something different.  This is all new to me, as when I saw it, it was a completely different experience, so I'm excited to see it.  We do have a FastPass for this attraction.

Near the front of the park is Rock'n'Roller Coaster, which is an amazing roller coaster.  On this ride, you join the famous band, Aerosmith, as they race to get to a concert on time.  Of course, the only way to do this is in true Aerosmith fashion: racing through the streets of Los Angeles in a classic car with Aerosmith music blasting all around you.  There are speakers embedded all throughout the car, including under the seats, thereby completely surrounding riders as they launch from the platform and zip through this exciting roller coaster.  It's definitely one of my favorite rides.  I remember riding it with my family last time we went to Disney World, and my dad made the most hilarious face on the ride that was captured by the cameras.  Needless to say, he hated the ride, while the rest of us loved it.

Near Rock'n'Roller Coaster is one of my absolute favorite attractions: Fantasmic.  Fantasmic is a laser light show on a large lagoon behind Tower of Terror (which Bryan and I have agreed not to ride).  The show focuses on Disney villains who attempt to infiltrate Mickey's dreams and give him terrible nightmares.  With the help of his friends, however, Mickey is able to fight off the villains and return to his dreams.  The technology is absolutely amazing, and it's one of the things I'm looking forward to the most when we visit.  We even got the dessert package for this attraction.  Slightly different from a dessert party, this is simply a margarita and a box of snacks/desserts, along with prime seating for the show.  It seemed like a fun thing to splurge on, especially since this is one of my favorite attractions, and I want to make sure we have good seats (not that there are bad seats in the seating area). 

Like I said previously, there have been some huge changes to Hollywood Studios since the last time I went, including a name change.  First is Toy Story Land, which has three new rides: Toy Story Mania, Alien Swirling Saucers and Slinky Dog Dash.  Bryan and I did manage to get FastPasses for both Toy Story Mania and Slinky Dog Dash, which are the two rides in Toy Story Land we want to ride.  Toy Story Mania is similar to Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin in Magic Kingdom, you ride in a little car and shoot at various targets with a laser gun.  The competitive side of me absolutely can't wait to ride this.  Slinky Dog Dash is a roller coaster.  It's supposed to be as if Andy built a roller coaster with his toys in his backyard and uses Slinky the Dog as the car for the ride.  It's not nearly as intense a roller coaster as Rock'n'Roller Coaster, but it still looks fun and adorable.  As a whole, Toy Story Land seems like a lot of fun, like Andy has simply left his toys out, and they've come alive, just like the Toy Story movies.

Since we're spending two days in Hollywood Studios, and there aren't any FastPasses available for Galaxy's Edge, we've devoted an entire day to Galaxy's Edge.  There isn't a lot there, but we're not entirely sure what the lines will be like for the attractions.  First and foremost, there's Millennium Falcon: Smuggler's Run.  In a way, this ride is slightly similar to Mission: Space at Epcot, in the way that you're supposed to pilot a ship (aka: the Millennium Falcon).  Unlike Mission: Space, however, what you do actually matters.  If you press the wrong button or steer incorrectly, bad things will happen to the ship.  My cousin has told me the best role is the pilot, as you actually get to steer the Millennium Falcon, but my coworker has told me the best view is from the back.  If you can provide some insight, be sure to leave it in the comments below.

The newest ride at Hollywood Studios is the one people have been looking forward to the most: Rise of the Resistance.  It's supposed to be one of the most immersive experiences ever created by Disney.  It's part ride, part immersive experience.  On the ride, you're part of the resistance fighting against the New Order.  Unfortunately, you're captured by the New Order and must escape back to the resistance.  This ride is supposed to be unlike anything people have ever experienced before, and the lines have been ridiculous.  In order to help with the lines, you can check in for a boarding group as soon as you are checked in to the park for the day, which has resulted in people getting to Hollywood Studios incredibly early in order to get a boarding group.  I'm really hoping that by the time we go in a little over a month, things will die down a little, and we won't have to get to the park at five in the morning in order to get a boarding group.  One can only hope.

At Galaxy's Edge, we also have reservations at Oga's Cantina.  Disney recreated the cantina from Star Wars: A New Hope, where you can get some delicious drinks and snacks.  Most quick service restaurants don't do reservations, but there are reservations for this one because there's such high demand to eat there.  Just like the rides, it's supposed to be a completely immersive experience where you feel like you're eating at the actual cantina from the movie.

This brings me to my next point: nowhere in Galaxy's Edge will you find the words "Star Wars".  This is because you're supposed to feel like you're actually in the Star Wars universe.  Disney went out of its way to create the most immersive experience possible, not like you're just visiting restaurant  or ride themed after a movie, instead, you're actually inside the movie.  I'm excited to see all the little details Disney incorporated into Galaxy's Edge.

All this talking about Oga's Cantina reminds me that I skipped over our other restaurant reservation at Hollywood Studios: Sci-Fi Dine In.  I came across this restaurant in one of my guide books, and while Bryan and I didn't want to do a lot of table service restaurants since they take up a lot more time than quick service restaurants, this one seemed like too much fun to skip.  This restaurant is themed after drive-in movies.  Instead of regular tables, there are the front ends of classic cars with tables built into them.  As you eat, there's a huge screen that shows trailers and clips from old, cheesy sci-fi movies.  I've heard the food is mediocre, but I really wanted to do it because it seemed like so much fun.  I just hope it lives up to the hype I built up in my head.  We'll have to see.

Of course, there are characters I want to meet at Hollywood Studios.  I'm still working on getting Bryan into meeting the characters, but I'm optimistic that he'll come around...eventually....maybe.  Most important, you can meet Olaf in Hollywood Studios.  This is non-negotiable for me, as, next to Stitch, Olaf is my favorite Disney character.  I love his personality and love for life, and I loved in Frozen II when he kept thinking that everything in his life would make sense when he got older, as he tried to navigate through his own midlife crisis of sorts.  Hopefully by the time we see him, he's gotten through this crisis and is back to his usual bubbly self.

Since there's a significant amount of Pixar attractions in Hollywood Studios, there's also a significant number of Pixar characters to meet.  I want to meet Mike and Sulley, although the Mike costume freaks me out a little bit because I can't quite figure out how a person fits inside it.  I've included a picture so you can get an idea as to what I'm talking about.  There would have to be a pretty short person to fit inside, and the hat would definitely help hide the cast member's head.  Even so, it's a little weird for me.

Along the same lines of Pixar, I can't wait to meet Edna Mode from The Incredibles and The Incredibles 2.  I personally think her character is one of the best; she doesn't care what anyone thinks and always says what's on her mind.  When I see her, I want to ask her about Jack-Jack, as their relationship is probably one of the best things to come out of The Incredibles 2.  If you haven't seen the Pixar short with the two of them, I highly recommend it.  It's on Disney+ and might be on YouTube as well (no promises though).  It's also available on the extras menu on the dvd and blu-ray of The Incredibles 2.

Of course, no trip to Hollywood Studios would be complete without meeting Star Wars characters.  Since there's no Baby Yoda character (yet), I can't wait to meet BB8.  You can also meet Kylo Ren (who seems pretty fun to meet) and Chewbacca.  Around Galaxy's Edge, there are also Storm Troopers who wander around, although you probably want to steer clear of them since they are known to give you a pit of a hard time.

At Hollywood Studios, you can, of course, meet Mickey Mouse.  Of course I want to meet Mickey Mouse in Magic Kingdom where he's in his traditional outfit, but I also want to meet this Mickey Mouse since he's in his outfit from the Sorcerer's Apprentice from Fantasia.  It's a great, fun outfit that is unique to just Hollywood Studios.

One thing I'm really bummed about is the fact that we're missing the new ride at Hollywood Studios by about a week and a half.  This ride, called Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railroad, replaced The Great Movie Ride, which was a trip through the sets of various famous movies through the years.  On this new ride, Mickey and Minnie are on their way to the premiere of the new movie, and, of course, things go wrong.  It's a nice, slow ride that looks adorable, and it's the first ride to feature Mickey and Minnie.  Since we're missing it, I told Bryan that we'll just have to go back.

As always, I asked Bryan what he's most excited to do in Hollywood Studios.  His exact response was "The Star Wars stuff and Rock'n'Roller Coaster".  I'm glad we're both on the same page here. 

As a whole, I'm pretty excited to go to Hollywood Studios.  While it's not the park I'm looking forward to the most, I know we're still going to have a great time, especially at Toy Story Land and Galaxy's Edge.

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