IloveJack
08-24-2012, 04:46 PM
Hollywood Studios (Saturday, June 9)
Tired from our late night at MK, we slept til 8:00, even though we knew we were using up park time. We knew we had a drive ahead of us, and didn't want to risk falling asleep on the road. We got up and packed, (though I had done a good bit of it before going to bed the night before), and loaded the car. I was tempted to drive the car to the park, but decided to just use the bus one last time. That would cost us time later.
Before we left, we had to get a few more pictures with the Toy Story giants, one of DD1 peeking in Andy's window, and one of DD3 "turning" Andy's doorknob.
We arrived in the park at 11:00 and were told that the park was almost at full capacity already. It was the last Saturday of Star Wars Weekends, but oh my word, I wasn't ready for this. It was PACKED!
We had gotten a picture in front of all the major park symbols except DHS, so we made sure to get that on our way in. I knew it'd be hard to do much that day, but all I really wanted was pics with the Disney characters dressed in Star Wars costume and to see the parade. I didn't care at all about the other things going on. We went straight to see the characters, and were told that the line was already closed. Uh oh. It's going to be that kind of day.
We walked back to the hat, and I realized there were already people waiting on the SW parade. Lots of people. We walked until we found two feet, maybe, of space and parked the strollers in it. It was 11:30. The parade didn't begin until 12:40. Ridiculous. I sent DH to get FPs for ToT, cause we knew we wouldn't leave without one more drop. He picked up his lunch, a BBQ sandwich and fries, on the way back to us. I left him with DD1 and took DD3 to the bakery to get lunch for us girls. I got DD3 the "lunch box" meal, in an R2D2 carrier. It was a little more expensive, but a nice SW souvenir for her. I also got a Darth Vader cupcake for us all to share, along with my food. By the time I returned, people were lined behind our strollers five deep.
We ate while we waited. It was so hot that the chocolate from the cupcake was liquid before I could finish my sandwich. Not just melted. Liquid. We'd spent a week at Disney without sunscreen, and in the hour that we waited on that parade, we all got sunburned.
The parade was nice, but I could have done without it. Don't get me wrong. I like Star Wars a lot, but I don't need to see 200 stormtroopers marching. I thought it'd be more "Disney," I guess.
On to Tower of Terror, where DD3 was, yet again, devastated that she couldn't ride. We will have to return when she hits 40 inches, just for this. We did the baby swap and met some Disney newbies, through our incredibly social DD3 playing with their DD.
On our way back to get in line for the SW Disney characters, we stopped at the pin shop. I wanted a SW pin, and chose Darth Maul Donald with the dual light saber. DH found a phone case with Darth Donald fighting Jedi Mickey. He was out of money, so I got it for him in return for the Luna wand. I called it a late birthday present.
We got in line for the characters, being told that they rotate every 15 minutes, and the line was approximately an hour long, so we'd see whomever was there when we got there, with no guarantees of order. We still had one FP for ToT (you only need one with Baby Swap, by the way), so while I waited with the DDs, DH rode again. Of course, it began to rain, which made the wait even longer, as the area wasn't covered, and the characters melt in the rain. :-) We made it just to the rope, and got stopped. However, we spent the next 15 minutes talking to a CM who doesn't actually work for the parks. That's his overtime, without pay (he's paid in vacation time). He sells "Disney" to travel agencies. Cool job. After talking to me for a while and realizing it wasn't our first rodeo (or even fifth), he said we needed to move to Florida, so I could get a job convincing others to go to Disney.
We got to see Jedi Mickey and then got right back in line. We waited again and got to see Darth Goofy. They were pretty cool, and spent a lot of time with us. DD3 asked Darth Goofy where his pants were!
We had yet to ride the new Star Tours, so we went there next. After I rode, DH went in, and a torrential storm began. Even squatted under three umbrellas, we girls got soaked, as did our stuff. That ended our trip. We were already an hour past time we should have left, and we'd had more than enough of the rain.
Of course, when we got to the bus, we had to wait, and wait, and wait. We were an hour and a half late leaving ASM. We were staying with friends that night, so we called them and asked them to save us some dinner, and we were on our way to Lake City.
We stayed up super late at their house, as their sons were there (their kids are our age; they're actually my parents' friends), and we hadn't seen them in a while, either. Plus, they have a grandson that's just a couple of months younger than DD1, so they played for hours, as well.
We slept well, if not long enough. They left us to finish breakfast, and then we locked up and left around 10:00. The girls were good and either slept or played the entire trip, and we made it home around 10:00 that night.
Tired from our late night at MK, we slept til 8:00, even though we knew we were using up park time. We knew we had a drive ahead of us, and didn't want to risk falling asleep on the road. We got up and packed, (though I had done a good bit of it before going to bed the night before), and loaded the car. I was tempted to drive the car to the park, but decided to just use the bus one last time. That would cost us time later.
Before we left, we had to get a few more pictures with the Toy Story giants, one of DD1 peeking in Andy's window, and one of DD3 "turning" Andy's doorknob.
We arrived in the park at 11:00 and were told that the park was almost at full capacity already. It was the last Saturday of Star Wars Weekends, but oh my word, I wasn't ready for this. It was PACKED!
We had gotten a picture in front of all the major park symbols except DHS, so we made sure to get that on our way in. I knew it'd be hard to do much that day, but all I really wanted was pics with the Disney characters dressed in Star Wars costume and to see the parade. I didn't care at all about the other things going on. We went straight to see the characters, and were told that the line was already closed. Uh oh. It's going to be that kind of day.
We walked back to the hat, and I realized there were already people waiting on the SW parade. Lots of people. We walked until we found two feet, maybe, of space and parked the strollers in it. It was 11:30. The parade didn't begin until 12:40. Ridiculous. I sent DH to get FPs for ToT, cause we knew we wouldn't leave without one more drop. He picked up his lunch, a BBQ sandwich and fries, on the way back to us. I left him with DD1 and took DD3 to the bakery to get lunch for us girls. I got DD3 the "lunch box" meal, in an R2D2 carrier. It was a little more expensive, but a nice SW souvenir for her. I also got a Darth Vader cupcake for us all to share, along with my food. By the time I returned, people were lined behind our strollers five deep.
We ate while we waited. It was so hot that the chocolate from the cupcake was liquid before I could finish my sandwich. Not just melted. Liquid. We'd spent a week at Disney without sunscreen, and in the hour that we waited on that parade, we all got sunburned.
The parade was nice, but I could have done without it. Don't get me wrong. I like Star Wars a lot, but I don't need to see 200 stormtroopers marching. I thought it'd be more "Disney," I guess.
On to Tower of Terror, where DD3 was, yet again, devastated that she couldn't ride. We will have to return when she hits 40 inches, just for this. We did the baby swap and met some Disney newbies, through our incredibly social DD3 playing with their DD.
On our way back to get in line for the SW Disney characters, we stopped at the pin shop. I wanted a SW pin, and chose Darth Maul Donald with the dual light saber. DH found a phone case with Darth Donald fighting Jedi Mickey. He was out of money, so I got it for him in return for the Luna wand. I called it a late birthday present.
We got in line for the characters, being told that they rotate every 15 minutes, and the line was approximately an hour long, so we'd see whomever was there when we got there, with no guarantees of order. We still had one FP for ToT (you only need one with Baby Swap, by the way), so while I waited with the DDs, DH rode again. Of course, it began to rain, which made the wait even longer, as the area wasn't covered, and the characters melt in the rain. :-) We made it just to the rope, and got stopped. However, we spent the next 15 minutes talking to a CM who doesn't actually work for the parks. That's his overtime, without pay (he's paid in vacation time). He sells "Disney" to travel agencies. Cool job. After talking to me for a while and realizing it wasn't our first rodeo (or even fifth), he said we needed to move to Florida, so I could get a job convincing others to go to Disney.
We got to see Jedi Mickey and then got right back in line. We waited again and got to see Darth Goofy. They were pretty cool, and spent a lot of time with us. DD3 asked Darth Goofy where his pants were!
We had yet to ride the new Star Tours, so we went there next. After I rode, DH went in, and a torrential storm began. Even squatted under three umbrellas, we girls got soaked, as did our stuff. That ended our trip. We were already an hour past time we should have left, and we'd had more than enough of the rain.
Of course, when we got to the bus, we had to wait, and wait, and wait. We were an hour and a half late leaving ASM. We were staying with friends that night, so we called them and asked them to save us some dinner, and we were on our way to Lake City.
We stayed up super late at their house, as their sons were there (their kids are our age; they're actually my parents' friends), and we hadn't seen them in a while, either. Plus, they have a grandson that's just a couple of months younger than DD1, so they played for hours, as well.
We slept well, if not long enough. They left us to finish breakfast, and then we locked up and left around 10:00. The girls were good and either slept or played the entire trip, and we made it home around 10:00 that night.