brownie
12-09-2010, 01:34 PM
We were up early on Sunday, 11-28-2010. We had breakfast at Everything Pop and then headed to Mary, Queen of the Universe, Shrine for 7:30am Mass. The Shrine and its grounds are beautiful. I could have done without the pre-Mass advertising, though. After Mass we drove to Disney's Hollywood Studios.
We arrived at Hollywood Studios early enough to get into the park and see the rope drop "show." Shelby Mayor and his partner were great! After the rope drop, we headed for Toy Story Mania, along with everyone else in the park it seemed. We got into the line for Fastpasses, which is a new one for me. Our neighbors got a late start, so they got into the park around 9:30am and got through the Fastpass line.
After getting our Fastpasses, we headed over to Sunset Boulevard and walked right on to Tower of Terror. Mark was going to ride it but the pre-show video and room did him in, so he, Justin, and Nick did not ride it. I love of Tower of Terror! It seemed like the effects when the car leaves the first elevator were much better. I don't remember them being that clear the last times we rode it (it's been 6 years!)
After Tower of Terror, all of us except for Bob & Justin rode Rock 'n' Roller Coaster. We had about a 10 minute wait. It's a superb coaster. After Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, we headed over to the Great Movie Ride and got on after a short wait. While in the wicked witch room for the Wizard of Oz, the ride stopped. And we waited. And we waited some more. Then they finally announced the ride was shut down and we were told we'd actually be walking on the yellow brick road. And then we waited some more, and some more, and then finally were able to get out of the ride vehicles and walk out. I thought they'd offer us Fastpasses for the breakdown, but we got nothing. At least we saw most of the attraction.
Next we saw Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular. I still enjoy this even though I know what's going to happen. I love the reactions to the plant in the audience! After Indiana Jones, we went on the Backlot Tour. The model from Con Air was gone from the queue line.
After the Backlot Tour, we used our Fastpasses for Toy Story Mania. You don't get to see Mr. Potato Head in the Fastpass line, but we managed to see him on our last day in the parks later in the week. I loved Toy Story Mania and ended up with the high score for our group of cars. It was 147,000 something. Justin had challenged me before the ride and he didn't even break 100,000! (he claims his shooter stopped working.)
It was time for our 1:50pm advance dining reservations for Sci-Fi Dine-in. We checked in a few minutes early but they were running way behind (and seem to stay that way for the rest of the day.) It was over 2 hours from the time we checked in to the time we walked out after lunch. And there were empty tables in the restaurant, so I don't know what the problem was. It took forever to get our food but another family came in well after us and had their food in a short period of time. I don't think we'll be going back there again.
After lunch, we saw Lights, Motors, Action Extreme Stunt Show. I really enjoyed it. It was interesting to see some of the set-ups on the cars.
We checked the lines on Toy Story Mania but they were too long. Michele had gone to get us Fastpasses for Tower of Terror, so we went and used those to ride Tower of Terror again. Zach & Nick rode Rock 'n' Roller Coaster while we did that and Justin & Mark hung out outside Rock 'n' Roller Coaster.
We headed over to the Streets of America to check out the Osborne Lights. They were amazing. Our pictures do not do it justice! We checked on Toy Story Mania again but the lines were longer than we wanted to wait. Michele and Nick went back to Pop Century.
The rest of us tried to eat dinner at the Backlot Express but it was closed. We ended up at Pizza Planet. The pizzas were okay, but were much improved from when we last ate there (in 2000.) We checked on the Toy Story Mania lines again but they were still longer than we wanted to wait (I really wanted to see Mr. Potato Head!) So, we called it a night and headed back to Pop Century.
We arrived at Hollywood Studios early enough to get into the park and see the rope drop "show." Shelby Mayor and his partner were great! After the rope drop, we headed for Toy Story Mania, along with everyone else in the park it seemed. We got into the line for Fastpasses, which is a new one for me. Our neighbors got a late start, so they got into the park around 9:30am and got through the Fastpass line.
After getting our Fastpasses, we headed over to Sunset Boulevard and walked right on to Tower of Terror. Mark was going to ride it but the pre-show video and room did him in, so he, Justin, and Nick did not ride it. I love of Tower of Terror! It seemed like the effects when the car leaves the first elevator were much better. I don't remember them being that clear the last times we rode it (it's been 6 years!)
After Tower of Terror, all of us except for Bob & Justin rode Rock 'n' Roller Coaster. We had about a 10 minute wait. It's a superb coaster. After Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, we headed over to the Great Movie Ride and got on after a short wait. While in the wicked witch room for the Wizard of Oz, the ride stopped. And we waited. And we waited some more. Then they finally announced the ride was shut down and we were told we'd actually be walking on the yellow brick road. And then we waited some more, and some more, and then finally were able to get out of the ride vehicles and walk out. I thought they'd offer us Fastpasses for the breakdown, but we got nothing. At least we saw most of the attraction.
Next we saw Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular. I still enjoy this even though I know what's going to happen. I love the reactions to the plant in the audience! After Indiana Jones, we went on the Backlot Tour. The model from Con Air was gone from the queue line.
After the Backlot Tour, we used our Fastpasses for Toy Story Mania. You don't get to see Mr. Potato Head in the Fastpass line, but we managed to see him on our last day in the parks later in the week. I loved Toy Story Mania and ended up with the high score for our group of cars. It was 147,000 something. Justin had challenged me before the ride and he didn't even break 100,000! (he claims his shooter stopped working.)
It was time for our 1:50pm advance dining reservations for Sci-Fi Dine-in. We checked in a few minutes early but they were running way behind (and seem to stay that way for the rest of the day.) It was over 2 hours from the time we checked in to the time we walked out after lunch. And there were empty tables in the restaurant, so I don't know what the problem was. It took forever to get our food but another family came in well after us and had their food in a short period of time. I don't think we'll be going back there again.
After lunch, we saw Lights, Motors, Action Extreme Stunt Show. I really enjoyed it. It was interesting to see some of the set-ups on the cars.
We checked the lines on Toy Story Mania but they were too long. Michele had gone to get us Fastpasses for Tower of Terror, so we went and used those to ride Tower of Terror again. Zach & Nick rode Rock 'n' Roller Coaster while we did that and Justin & Mark hung out outside Rock 'n' Roller Coaster.
We headed over to the Streets of America to check out the Osborne Lights. They were amazing. Our pictures do not do it justice! We checked on Toy Story Mania again but the lines were longer than we wanted to wait. Michele and Nick went back to Pop Century.
The rest of us tried to eat dinner at the Backlot Express but it was closed. We ended up at Pizza Planet. The pizzas were okay, but were much improved from when we last ate there (in 2000.) We checked on the Toy Story Mania lines again but they were still longer than we wanted to wait (I really wanted to see Mr. Potato Head!) So, we called it a night and headed back to Pop Century.