Thursday, March 19, 2009

The Park Formerly Known as MGM Studios

We started our day at Hollywood Studios in a bad mood. Out of all of the parks and all of my planning, it took me the most off guard. It was much more crowded than we expected, much harder to navigate, and the employees that we talked to weren't as friendly as we had experienced at the other parks. It almost didn't even feel like Disney.

But all of that changed when we [finally] found Luigi's Garage...

and gave Lightning McQueen a hug!

Owen got to eat the "wahweepop" that he bought while we were waiting for a show. And right after I snapped this shot, it cracked and half of it fell on the ground. Good thing Owen is a good sport, and barely even noticed.

Something really funny happened with this water bottle. It was hilarious. Dave even had me take a picture to preserve the memory forever.
I just can't remember what it was that happened.

Mickey Mouse ice cream. It tastes better than regular ice cream. Right?

To prove that we did more than just meeting characters. Playhouse Disney - Live on Stage!.

To infinity and beyond! Meeting Woody and Buzz was the best!

We stopped to play in the "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" Movie Set Adventure for a while before grabbing some dinner and some seats...

to wait for Fantasmic!

...and wait...and wait...

for Fantasmic! Yay Mickey!

Favorites!
Me: my favorite was watching the kids meeting Woody and Buzz Lightyear, but I also really enjoyed Beauty and the Beast - Live on Stage.
Owen: I thought for sure he would say Star Tours, but when I asked, he said meeting Buzz, Woody, Lightning, and Mater.
Once we got the lay of the land, Hollywood Studios was sort of a mellow day with a lot of shows. I enjoyed it, but I think it's worth mentioning that [in my opinion] there was a lot more to do for older children and grown-ups (thrill rides, stunt shows, etc.).

4 comments:

Emily Norby said...

Thanks for doing all this research and planning and documenting. I'm ready to go--we'll just need to get a few days off work for Clint!

Oh, and did your kids really wear their mouse ears the entire time? Love that.

adventure knitter said...

Where did you find the Toy Story guys??? And I didn't even know that there was a Luigi's Garage!!

Sjauna said...

Owen didn't even want the mouse ears. He had wanted a goofy hat, but I "convinced" him to get the ears. Evie took them off half way through the third day, but Owen wouldn't take them off until we bought him a pirate hat to go with Evie's princess dress.

I knew we would be meeting a lot of princesses, so I wanted to balance it out with some "not-so-feminine" stuff. I did some research to find out Buzz and Woody were right across from Toy Story Mania, and Luigi's garage is in the way back corner of the park (we had to traverse the entire park and ask four different cast members where to find it ~ that was one of our bad experiences first thing in the morning). We showed up 10-15 minutes before they were scheduled on the park times guide, and there were only a couple people in front of us.

Heatherlyn said...

THe lightening garage looks awesome! My kids always want lolly pops like that! And yes, ice cream in the shape of mickey mouse DOES taste better!