We took our time this morning, as we knew we wanted to stay at the park until closing for the highly recommended Fantasmic show. Little did we know that would be an hour and a half later than we thought, but more on that later. This is a park that's completely centered around movies. Fun, but in comparison, maybe not quite as many things to do, and things that take a little longer to complete on average.
We arrived around 10:30, I think. There was a line to get IN the park. After experiencing two days of small crowds and little to no lines, this was not a welcome sight. I suspect many people did exactly what we did... saw that Fantasmic was only going on tonight (for this week) and decided that today would be the day to visit Hollywood Studios. So it seemed crowded to us.
We skipped the Tower of Terror and Rock n Roller Coaster because of Scaredy and Cat, and started in the Animation Courtyard. What a great way to start a great day! We went to a presentation on how characters are drawn, took an interactive test to find out which Disney character we were most like (J-Mav: Mushu, from Mulan; me: Mulan, from Mulan; Keeper Boy: Woody, from Toy Story; Hubby: Hopper, from A Bug's Life), saw Mickey and Bolt (but didn't wait in line to have pictures), got a picture of J-Mav with Mr. Freeze (from The Incredibles), and then the coolest thing of all. We went to an animation workshop where we learned to draw a character. Our class learned to draw Dale (as in Chip and Dale). We now have three renditions of the loveable chipmunk. I did one, Keeper Boy did one, and J-Mav and Hubby tag-teamed on one. Very cool experience.
From there, we moved on to The Great Movie Ride. We entered what I think was a replica of The Chinese Theatre in Hollywood and rode a car through scenes from different movies through the years. J-Mav didn't like the Alien scene we rode through. It was scary. Other than that, he declared it fun and good.
Next up: Toy Story Midway Mania. This is what the boys were really looking forward to. The sign said it was an 80-minute wait, but we decided that would be time well spent eating some of our lunch snacks we had in the backpack. We munched while we snaked through the line looking at all of Andy's toys. We were entertained by a giant Mr. Potatohead when we got toward the actual ride. And when we got to the actual ride, it was worth the wait. We donned 3-D glasses, got in our cars and manned our "guns." Then we moved through various rooms, where we shot at targets or other things and earned points. I was competing against J-Mav; Keeper Boy against Hubby. We all did well. I had the highest accuracy percentage. Hubby had the highest number of points. We walked out of the ride at about the 60 minute mark, so the wait time estimation was off (in our favor). Woo hoo!
We discovered the Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show was going to start at 4:30, so we went to a playground nearby to kill some time before the show began. The playground was based on the movie Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, so the kids played amongst giant blades of grass, huge spider webs, and ginormous ant mounds. We then went into the stunt show stadium early because we wanted to make sure we got in. We had to wait -- in the shade on metal bleachers -- about a half hour for the show to start, but man was it worth it. It was amazing! It was all about stunt car driving. I took pictures, but there's no way they will do the show justice. That show was worth going to the park just by itself! We all loved it!From there, we went to the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular. Another stunt show. This one based on scenes from the first Indiana Jones movie. Also very cool. J-Mav declared it scary because there was fire. But he thought it was cool in the end. Hubby and I thought the fire was great for the warmth it provided for a few minutes!
After that, we were about done with everything we'd wanted to see, which was good because it was 6:00 and the Fantasmic! show was starting at 7:00. We headed over that way, intending on grabbing something to eat along the way and taking it into the ampitheatre. Plans changed when there were Disney "people" along Sunset Boulevard telling us that the Fantasmic! show was, at that point, standing room only, and they'd added an 8:15 show. So we grabbed some dinner at an outdoor cafe (by this time we had all replaced any layers that had been shed during the day and put on our knit hats and gloves) and then headed over to join the small crowd of people who were waiting for the 8:15 show (even though it was still only 6:45). At 7:00, they opened a set of gates and let us part of the way down the walkway. I think this was to get the crowd off the "street" in the park. They kept coming and telling us that we didn't have to wait there because the show wasn't until 8:15; however, we (and most everyone else) decided that we didn't want to chance not having a seat for the show and stayed put. Turns out the ampitheatre wasn't full for the 8:15 show; however, we weren't sorry that we stood in line. We talked to some very nice people and they gave us some non-specific Fast Passes for Animal Kingdom that we can use on Saturday if we go back there! We also made use of our time in line to call Grandma, and Grandma & Grandpa. :) About 7:15, they let us a little further in. And about 7:45, we were allowed into the ampitheatre. The seats in the ampitheatre are metal, which did nothing to help us get warm. And the show didn't actually start until 8:30. But, again, it was worth the wait. It was an amazing display of live action, fireworks, fountains, and more. It was about a half hour and it was wonderful. Again, I'm sure my pictures won't do it justice.
So, we were back "home" later than we thought we'd be tonight. But that's okay. We're just rolling with the flow. :) Tomorrow is Magic Kingdom day. Please think happy, magical thoughts for us. There are a lot more rides there than at any of the three parks we've visited so far. It could be a very trying day for Hubby and I, with lots of whining about not wanting to go on this or that. Then again, I could be pleasantly surprised. This is Disney World after all. With a little pixie dust, maybe, just maybe, we'll have a magical day!
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