Tommy's Birthday part 5

[BigThunderFan]

Well it has been a few days (but it hasn't stopped snowing yet!) so I guess I better get the last couple days posted on here before I forget what happened.

1/27 Hollywood Studios
It's hump day of our trip! Already?! Where did the first half of the trip go?
This morning we hopped on the early bus again, and were surprised to actually have a couple of others onboard with us. First time all week. We also made a stop at Grand Floridian on the way. Earlier in the week we went through Ft Wilderness on the way to DS, didn't think they would change the routes like that, nothing big, just an interesting note.

We arrived at DS around 8:30 and found quite a few people already in front of us at the turnstiles. Uh Oh, we may have picked the wrong day to come here. Ended up being a great day with little to no waits like usual, but I was scared at first. We did the Toy Story rope drop march, and I took it easy rather than fight to get up front. My reward, a 10 minute line to get fastpasses. I got in the standby line as soon as I could to try to catch up with the others, but never did. So my first ever TSMM ride was by myself. It was definitely fun, but I was still surprised by the people that came early. No other park ever had a crowd like this so early. We met up right outside where the kids then got pictures with Buzz & Woody right across the street with no wait. We then split up, DW & DD saw Voyage of the Little Mermaid (and both loved it) and DS & I went to ToT and got Fastpasses for RnRC for DW & I later. We then met up again and saw Playhouse Disney Live. This was a cute show, but don't know if we will go again. Worth seeing once though.

It was just about time for the first Indy Stunt show and this was high on our priority list since both kiddos (and me) are huge Indiana Jones fans. We made our way over there and got great seats about halfway down near the right side. The show was great! Don't know how we always missed this in the past, but it took us 4 visits to DHS before seeing it! After the show we hit the sorceror's hat for pics with Tigger and Eeyore and then lunch at the ABC Commissary.

We picked up another set of TSMM fastpasses on the way to the Muppets. Afterwards we got pics with Lightning McQueen & Mater. I liked this, DD was a little nervous though with the loud motors. And it's about to get louder! We headed to Lights, Motors, Action next and were thoroughly impressed with this show. Again I don't know how we always skipped this before. Both kids liked it, but DS was starting to get on DW's nerves and this led to a meltdown about 30 minutes later at the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground. The area was just PACKED and DW & I were running around frantically trying to keep an eye on both kids. DW finally snapped and said we needed to leave, but DS wanted nothing to do with that. I then had to play peacekeeper and barely got them both settled down enough to keep DW from going back to the hotel. I understand both sides, as a parent I was freaked out, but the kid in me was looking around everywhere thinking "what a cool place!". We did come back later just before it closed at 5 and it was a barren wasteland. The kids had more room to run and play and mom didn't have to freak out the whole time.

At some point in the day we fit in two more TSMM rides, the Great Movie Ride, and we even met the Green Army Men at Pixar Place. We also caught Luxo Jr's performance of "You've Got a Friend in Me" outside TSMM. This was especially neat since I like to sing this (although badly and probably way off key) to DS when he's in bed. Glad we caught this.

We then raced across the park to RnRC to use our fastpasses. We hadn't ridden this since Mar2000 when it was just DW & I, and Monica really wanted to ride it. The kids & I sat outside and watched ToT from the big guitar and shared a cookie. When DW came out I ran to the single rider line (which was quicker than FP at that point). I just got in prior to the park closing at 6pm (still not sure why it closed so early that night). It was definitely fun and I can't wait until DS is tall enough for this one!
We wanted to go to DTD tonight, but after the meltdown earlier I thought it might be a good day for an early evening. So we headed back to WL, let the kids swim for a while (and DW soak in the hot tub) and went to bed early.

Random thoughts: I really like DHS, if not for the nostalgia of MK it might be my favorite park. I love all of the palm trees and the old Hollywood look, and some of the best rides are here! I suppose I just like the glitzy buildings and the feel of the area that is the Hollywood that never was. My arm hurt badly from 3 rides on Toy Story. I guess that's what you get for firing off about 10 shots a second for several rides...

Thanks for reading, and if you run into some extra money that you feel you just don't need, I'm taking donations for our next Disney trip!

See you tomorrow (hopefully) for Day 6!

[faline]

Whew! It's good that peace was restored - sometimes all the activity and stress of vacation becomes a bit overwhelming for any one of us!

Sounds like an evening of rest is just what was needed by everyone!

[BigThunderFan]

You know, I even scheduled in either a break in each day or an early evening. Sometimes it's just not enough! I wish we could afford to stay longer and have a day off in the middle.

[vizsla]

Thanks for the report.

[SBETigg]

Oh the middle of the trip day always hits me- it's sad. You're in the middle of the best time and you still have that fleeting thought that it will be over soon. But, so glad you had a great day. I love Toy Story Mania, and TOT, but DHS remains my least favorite park (which is still much better than being almost anywhere else).

[KylesMom]

You guys sure were able to hit a lot of first-time attractions today - very cool. I can't believe you caught three separate rides on TSM. I bet your arm hurt!

Another stellar day, even if things got a little tense in the playground area. We try to avoid this place for that very reason!

Looking forward to Day 6 . . .

[DisneyorBust]

Some of best trips involved a mid day break and some pool time. Work well a few times at night to wind the kids down as well. Glad to read your reports!

[pdrlkr]

Thanks for the Report!

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

Thanks for the report