conan617
10-27-2011, 12:42 AM
Let me start off by apologizing for taking longer to get this out than originally planned. I had a trip report put together, but it was short and so many details were left out. Instead I am opting to post my detailed journal and hope you will excuse my weak writing style and the fact that some of the details contained within are very pedestrian to most of the readers on INTERCOT. Anyway, thanks for reading….here we go.
Cast
Me – the nervous Dad and narrator
Kelly – the Mother of my beautiful children
Matthew – age 11
Mara –age 7
Pretrip report link
http://www.intercot.com/discussion/s...d.php?t=184956
9/29/11
Today were going to Hollywood Studios. We are up, out the door and at the park about 10 minutes before opening. Matthew spotted the Lightning and Mater topiaries and posed for a few pictures. I knew from all my research that Toy Story Midway Mania is very popular and long lines form right at park opening. We decided that we would go first thing and see what the wait was and pick up fastpasses. I think everyone in the park had the same idea. The line for the fastpasses stretched about 50 yards. Since everyone in the park had the same idea, we thought we would come back later and instead went on the Great Movie Ride. The kids got a kick out of the movies they recognized like the Wizard of Oz, but the older films didn’t seem to interest them too much.
Mara was excited to see the Voyage of the Little Mermaid so we got in the queue and watched the preshow. Once in the theater and seated, the lights dimmed and the show started. As soon as the puppets started swimming about, the sound track ended and we were told to get out of the theater as the attraction was experiencing technical difficulties. Oh well, a half hour down the tubes.
We thought we would see how the lines at Toy Story Mania were progressing and when we arrived there were no lines for fastpasses, so I grabbed four and the standby line was 30 minutes so we got in line. The line moved very quickly and we were entertained the whole time by the large renditions of toys and the talking Mr. Potato Head. I think we were boarding the ride in about 20 minutes. Matthew and I were in the cart together. As soon as we got to the practice round, I could tell there was something wrong with my blaster. Every time I pulled the cord, it shot straight up no matter which direction I was aiming. I was sad that I didn’t get to play and when we exited, I told the cast members that my blaster wasn’t working properly and I didn’t want them to load another person in and have them have the same problem. The cast member told me and Matthew to wait on the side and we could ride again in a moment. They loaded another person in the same cart and away they went. I hope that they didn’t have the same problem as me. A few minutes later we were loaded back in and this time there was no issues.
While Matthew and I were taking our “extra” turn, Kelly and Mara made their way across the street and got a place in line for us to meet Buzz and Woody. After we met up, I turned and looked back at the Toy Story Mania sign and the standby wait time was 60 Minutes. I guess we timed that right. The queue line for the Buzz and Woody meet and greet was entertaining. The kids posed for pictures in a Space Ranger box, in the claw machine and strapped to a rocket while we waited. Buzz and Woody made a big deal over the kids and we got some great pictures.
We were starting to feel hungry, but thought we would take in the Studio Backlot Tour before getting a bite to eat. We waited through two series of preshows before we got to the first section of the show. Then we got loaded on the trams for the tour but had to wait 15-20 minutes with the sun blaring down on us (we were in the back of one of the cars) before we started moving. The rest of the tour was good, but by the time we were done we were very hungry.
We decided to have lunch at Pizza Planet. On our way to the restaurant, we passed Sully from Monsters Inc and Lightning and Mater. Sully posed with the kids and Lightning and Mater drove right by us and we snapped a few pictures as they past. Matthew was very excited to see them. Lunch at Pizza Planet was good – the best part for me was the cappuccino cupcake.
The Muppets Vision 3D was close by so that was our next stop. I love the two old hecklers, Statler and Woldorf, and the Swedish Chef and I was glad they were in the show. After the show Kelly said, “Why does everything have to shoot water at us?” Good point. I didn’t realize it but lots of the attractions are giving you a puff of water.
Star Tours was near so we made the walk over and the Jedi Training was in process. We watched for a moment and then went into the preshow. I saw the previous version of the show a few years ago and I was very impressed with the updates. I only got to ride once this trip so I’ll need to ride a few more times to see the different endings. As we exited Star Tours the Pixar Parade was starting. We didn’t get a close up spot, but could see most of the parade as it passed by. Our fastpasses for Toy Story Mania were up again so we headed back. The stand by line wait time was 75 minutes and due to our fast passes we waited about 5 minutes. I had the highest score in the car this time!
Matthew surprised me next by asking to go and see One Man’s Dream - The film documentary of Walt Disney’s life. Matthew is sort of a history buff, but I guess I didn’t think he was interested and hence the surprise. Absolutely we can go and see One Man’s Dream. The artifacts were very interesting and provided some great detail as to the history of the Disney Company and the life of Walt. The film was also a neat perspective on the early company. Matthew was upset about the fact that Walt lost the rights to Oswald on a legal technicality and asked if that hurt Walt’s company. I told him that everything happens for a reason and if he hadn’t lost the rights to Oswald, we might not have Mickey.
We wanted to try again for the Voyage of the little Mermaid, but when we got to the entrance, there was a 45 min wait. Instead we checked out The Magic of Disney Animation and saw the various stages and concepts behind Mushu. Upon the completion of the show, the wait time for Voyage was 10 minutes so we went and saw the show. This time we made it through the entire show without any issues.
Matthew was excited to see the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular and the last showing of the day was coming up so we backtracked across the park and got seats about 10 minutes before show time. I had seen the show a few years back, but I still really enjoyed it and Matthew mentioned that this was one of his favorite attractions of the trip. After the show we grabbed some drinks at the back lot express and then went and stood in line to meet Phineas and Ferb. While standing in line Kelly discovered that the pen we were using to gather autographs from all the characters had exploded in her new WDW backpack. The entire time we were in line we were trying to clean the ink out of the bottom. Luckily, nothing in the backpack was ruined. Our visit with Phineas and Ferb was fun (I wish Dr Doofenschmirtz was there too) and we took lots of pictures.
There was about an hour left before closing and everyone was starting to get tired. We didn’t even make it to Sunset Boulevard, but I don’t think the kids were up for the Rock n’ Rollercoaster or the Tower of Terror anyway. Matthew had heard from one of his friends that the Rock n’Rollercoaster goes upside down and both of them saw the Tower of Terror on one of the planning videos. Based on the last few days’ worth of ride experiences – we didn’t even try to get them on. There’s always next trip though! So we headed towards the exit and stopped at a few shops so Matthew could purchase a Perry the Platypus and then we headed for our home away from home – the AKL.
It was just before 9PM and the kids wanted to swim. We hadn’t eaten anything so we grabbed some dinner at The Mara and then went upstairs to change. Kelly stayed in the room and worked on getting the ink out of the backpack and getting some of the luggage in order so we didn’t have to take care of it all last minute. The kids and I swam for awhile and they met a little girl from the UK that told them all about Expedition Everest. My guess is that we won’t be going on that attraction now either. Tomorrow is sadly our last full day in Walt Disney World. We are visiting the Animal Kingdom Park and then dinner at the Hoop Dee Doo Musical Review.
Cast
Me – the nervous Dad and narrator
Kelly – the Mother of my beautiful children
Matthew – age 11
Mara –age 7
Pretrip report link
http://www.intercot.com/discussion/s...d.php?t=184956
9/29/11
Today were going to Hollywood Studios. We are up, out the door and at the park about 10 minutes before opening. Matthew spotted the Lightning and Mater topiaries and posed for a few pictures. I knew from all my research that Toy Story Midway Mania is very popular and long lines form right at park opening. We decided that we would go first thing and see what the wait was and pick up fastpasses. I think everyone in the park had the same idea. The line for the fastpasses stretched about 50 yards. Since everyone in the park had the same idea, we thought we would come back later and instead went on the Great Movie Ride. The kids got a kick out of the movies they recognized like the Wizard of Oz, but the older films didn’t seem to interest them too much.
Mara was excited to see the Voyage of the Little Mermaid so we got in the queue and watched the preshow. Once in the theater and seated, the lights dimmed and the show started. As soon as the puppets started swimming about, the sound track ended and we were told to get out of the theater as the attraction was experiencing technical difficulties. Oh well, a half hour down the tubes.
We thought we would see how the lines at Toy Story Mania were progressing and when we arrived there were no lines for fastpasses, so I grabbed four and the standby line was 30 minutes so we got in line. The line moved very quickly and we were entertained the whole time by the large renditions of toys and the talking Mr. Potato Head. I think we were boarding the ride in about 20 minutes. Matthew and I were in the cart together. As soon as we got to the practice round, I could tell there was something wrong with my blaster. Every time I pulled the cord, it shot straight up no matter which direction I was aiming. I was sad that I didn’t get to play and when we exited, I told the cast members that my blaster wasn’t working properly and I didn’t want them to load another person in and have them have the same problem. The cast member told me and Matthew to wait on the side and we could ride again in a moment. They loaded another person in the same cart and away they went. I hope that they didn’t have the same problem as me. A few minutes later we were loaded back in and this time there was no issues.
While Matthew and I were taking our “extra” turn, Kelly and Mara made their way across the street and got a place in line for us to meet Buzz and Woody. After we met up, I turned and looked back at the Toy Story Mania sign and the standby wait time was 60 Minutes. I guess we timed that right. The queue line for the Buzz and Woody meet and greet was entertaining. The kids posed for pictures in a Space Ranger box, in the claw machine and strapped to a rocket while we waited. Buzz and Woody made a big deal over the kids and we got some great pictures.
We were starting to feel hungry, but thought we would take in the Studio Backlot Tour before getting a bite to eat. We waited through two series of preshows before we got to the first section of the show. Then we got loaded on the trams for the tour but had to wait 15-20 minutes with the sun blaring down on us (we were in the back of one of the cars) before we started moving. The rest of the tour was good, but by the time we were done we were very hungry.
We decided to have lunch at Pizza Planet. On our way to the restaurant, we passed Sully from Monsters Inc and Lightning and Mater. Sully posed with the kids and Lightning and Mater drove right by us and we snapped a few pictures as they past. Matthew was very excited to see them. Lunch at Pizza Planet was good – the best part for me was the cappuccino cupcake.
The Muppets Vision 3D was close by so that was our next stop. I love the two old hecklers, Statler and Woldorf, and the Swedish Chef and I was glad they were in the show. After the show Kelly said, “Why does everything have to shoot water at us?” Good point. I didn’t realize it but lots of the attractions are giving you a puff of water.
Star Tours was near so we made the walk over and the Jedi Training was in process. We watched for a moment and then went into the preshow. I saw the previous version of the show a few years ago and I was very impressed with the updates. I only got to ride once this trip so I’ll need to ride a few more times to see the different endings. As we exited Star Tours the Pixar Parade was starting. We didn’t get a close up spot, but could see most of the parade as it passed by. Our fastpasses for Toy Story Mania were up again so we headed back. The stand by line wait time was 75 minutes and due to our fast passes we waited about 5 minutes. I had the highest score in the car this time!
Matthew surprised me next by asking to go and see One Man’s Dream - The film documentary of Walt Disney’s life. Matthew is sort of a history buff, but I guess I didn’t think he was interested and hence the surprise. Absolutely we can go and see One Man’s Dream. The artifacts were very interesting and provided some great detail as to the history of the Disney Company and the life of Walt. The film was also a neat perspective on the early company. Matthew was upset about the fact that Walt lost the rights to Oswald on a legal technicality and asked if that hurt Walt’s company. I told him that everything happens for a reason and if he hadn’t lost the rights to Oswald, we might not have Mickey.
We wanted to try again for the Voyage of the little Mermaid, but when we got to the entrance, there was a 45 min wait. Instead we checked out The Magic of Disney Animation and saw the various stages and concepts behind Mushu. Upon the completion of the show, the wait time for Voyage was 10 minutes so we went and saw the show. This time we made it through the entire show without any issues.
Matthew was excited to see the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular and the last showing of the day was coming up so we backtracked across the park and got seats about 10 minutes before show time. I had seen the show a few years back, but I still really enjoyed it and Matthew mentioned that this was one of his favorite attractions of the trip. After the show we grabbed some drinks at the back lot express and then went and stood in line to meet Phineas and Ferb. While standing in line Kelly discovered that the pen we were using to gather autographs from all the characters had exploded in her new WDW backpack. The entire time we were in line we were trying to clean the ink out of the bottom. Luckily, nothing in the backpack was ruined. Our visit with Phineas and Ferb was fun (I wish Dr Doofenschmirtz was there too) and we took lots of pictures.
There was about an hour left before closing and everyone was starting to get tired. We didn’t even make it to Sunset Boulevard, but I don’t think the kids were up for the Rock n’ Rollercoaster or the Tower of Terror anyway. Matthew had heard from one of his friends that the Rock n’Rollercoaster goes upside down and both of them saw the Tower of Terror on one of the planning videos. Based on the last few days’ worth of ride experiences – we didn’t even try to get them on. There’s always next trip though! So we headed towards the exit and stopped at a few shops so Matthew could purchase a Perry the Platypus and then we headed for our home away from home – the AKL.
It was just before 9PM and the kids wanted to swim. We hadn’t eaten anything so we grabbed some dinner at The Mara and then went upstairs to change. Kelly stayed in the room and worked on getting the ink out of the backpack and getting some of the luggage in order so we didn’t have to take care of it all last minute. The kids and I swam for awhile and they met a little girl from the UK that told them all about Expedition Everest. My guess is that we won’t be going on that attraction now either. Tomorrow is sadly our last full day in Walt Disney World. We are visiting the Animal Kingdom Park and then dinner at the Hoop Dee Doo Musical Review.