Surprise Orlando Trip Days 5 & 6

WARNING: WAY, WAY TOO MANY PICTURES

Day 5: Hollywood Studios

We had heard that there wouldn't be a lot to do at Hollywood Studios because a big section is under construction right now.  But there was plenty to do!  And we had a fun-packed day, thoroughly enjoying the park.  The only complaints were that it was very hot and humid and that it got very crowded, but neither of those things came as a surprise, given the season and the fact that we were there on a Saturday.  But even when considering those complaints, I still appreciate the day we had at Hollywood Studios.  (Though I miss the old "Honey I Shrunk the Kids" set and the "Singing' in the Rain" photo spot that were there last time I was at the park, back in the day when it was still MGM Studios.)

We asked a few different employees and were told that the ferry to Hollywood Studios
would begin running at 6:30, since the Magic Hours for the park started at 7:00. Well,
we waited for a while and the ferry didn't come until about 6:50.  One other family came
to wait for the ferry and ended up giving up and walking all the way to the park.

Finally on the ferry!

The first stop we made was to sign the kids up for Jedi Academy.  Then we went straight
to the 6-week-old  Toy Story Land.  It was so cool!

We had Fast Passes for Toy Story Mania, a fun old-fashioned carnival-style ride
where you pull a string on the shooting aparatus
at your seat, aiming at 3D targets and getting a score at the end.

I loved how Toy Story Land had all these enormous toys everywhere so it really
felt like you were in Andy's room or Andy's back yard.

The Slinky Dog Dash was a fun ride with cool materials in the queue
showing how Andy assembled the roller coaster by making his own plans
and using pieces from a roller coaster kit.

We had a very short wait for this ride too and would have loved to ride it again but
as we kept checking wait times later in they day, they were always very long,
so we just did it the one time in the morning.

 

Cat was really excited about the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster and was even able
to ride it twice because we had Fast Passes and the boys weren't interested in riding.

Ben and I each had a turn taking the girls on the roller coaster.  Once was enough for me.

Luke wasn't at all sad about missing the roller coaster.
He found a pretty nifty snail to play with.

This was our first time on Star Tours.  The wait for this ride was
never very long - I don't think I saw it over 30 minutes the whole day -
and Jack took full advantage of it.  The rest of us were happy with
riding it just once but since Jack wanted to keep riding on it,
we all humored him and took turns going with him.  By the end
of the day he'd ridden it 5 or 6 times.

Ben and I were pretty excited to sign the kids up for Jedi Training Academy, a cool activity for kids 12 and under where they are taught how to use a light sabre, then they fight an actual Dark Side foe.  When we signed up the younger kids, the cast member was pretty adamant that Cat should do it too, even though she was technically too old.  So we signed her up too.  The younger kids were pretty stoked about it.  Cat was not.  She was a good sport though.  The experience ended up being less awesome than we were hoping, unfortunately.  I think that was mostly due to the weather, though.  The training and sparring were out in full sun and wearing the robes meant that the kids were wearing an extra layer over their clothes.  Even though the trainingd didn't last all that long, it was long enough that the kids were hot and sweaty and less than thrilled by the end.  I'm still glad we did it but if we ever do this in the summer again, I'll sign the kids up for an early morning or evening time.  (But then again, by the time we ever make it back to Disney World I'm guessing the new Star Wars Land will be open, so the facility will probably be much better.)  We saw more Star Wars characters in the park throughout the day.

  

Next we saw a couple of shows: Beauty and the Beast and the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular.  The Indiana Jones show never fails to entertain!

  

We were all hot and tired enough by then to go back to the hotel and rest in the air conditioning for a little while.  It was a welcome break during a very long day!  When we arrived back at Hollywood Studios, most of us were in a pretty good mood.  The first stop was the Frozen Sing Along, which was actually quite fun and entertaining and culminated in a snowstorm.  Then we'd hoped to eat in time to watch the first fireworks show but dinner took a while, so we missed the first show.  But we sat down to watch the Muppets show, then hung out with Olaf before watching the Star Wars fireworks show, which was very cool.  It was a really fun (and hot) day.

 Day 6: Church, Family, and Going Back to Utah

Our last day in Orlando was Sunday, so we drove to my BIL and SIL's ward for Sacrament Meeting.  Another BIL and SIL met us there too and it was great to be surrounded by family at church.  We went to brunch afterward, then had some time to hang out at the house before we left for the airport.  I wish I'd taken more pictures!

 

 

This was such a fun trip!  I'm really thankful that we were able to do these things as a family!