Disney: Day 3

Hollywood Studios
Park Hours: 9:00 am-8:00 pm

Outfits:

Pink, Black/Gray, Star Wars :)

Today was all about Luke!  It was Star Wars day!  He was so excited to go to Hollywood Studios to see Star Wars stuff.  Today we had Fast Passes for Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular, For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Spectacular, and Fantasmic.

Our Fast Pass for the Frozen Sing-Along was at 11:00 so we checked our phone to see what rides had short wait times.  Star Tours - The Adventure Continues only had about a 20 min wait and it was close so that's where we headed.  The line for this ride was super fun.  They had droids and ships and different Star Wars stuff to look at and most of it talked or did something fun.  The ride was really a 3D simulation where you are in a ship with C-3PO.  You fly around space and fight and run into lots of characters.  Watch the screen because they chose a person in the ship to be a rebel spy.  Luke was chosen and he thought it was hilarious because they put your picture up on the screen and make a big deal about you being a spy.  I am not a huge fan of 3D movies but this ride was super fun.

R2-D2 in a ship

3D glasses for the simulation/ride

When you exit, you walk through a gift shop, of course, full of Star Wars toys, etc.  The kids each built their own droids and we took a super ridiculous picture.  They had a setup where you could choose a background with characters from the movies and they put your face in the picture so you are the character.  Luke wanted to be Luke Skywalker and Lily wanted to be Princess Leia so we found the perfect picture for all of us to participate.

I mean, epic right?!  haha

I can't stop laughing at the ridiculousness of this photo!

When we finally got the kids out of the store, we had to run to the bathroom and get to the Frozen sing-along.  This was something highly recommended by friends and Lily absolutely LOVED it.  Luke could have done without, haha.  A couple of super silly characters come out and go through the whole story with you, stopping for each song.  A big screen plays the scenes from the movie with the words at the bottom and you get to sing-along.  I won't ruin the end for you because it was super magical and if you have a Frozen fan this is a must for your list.  It was about 30 mins long.

Just outside Frozen was another little 10 min show, Star Wars: Path of the Jedi.  They showed some scenes from the new movie but it was really just a recap of the old ones.  It sure got Brett and Luke excited about The Force Awakens!

We had about an hour before our our next Fast Pass for Indiana Jones' Epic Stunt Spectacular so we headed down the Streets of America.

We walked around and shopped a little and then found the Honey I Shrunk the Kids Movie Set Adventure.  The kids went completely crazy!!!  It is a huge play area where everything is gigantic like the movie.  By this time we had less than 15 mins to play before we had to head back to the show, and the kids were so disappointed that we couldn't spend the rest of the day there.  Plan to visit this area but make sure you plan a good amount of time for your kids to explore.  We promised them we would try to come back later but by the time we made it back it was closed.  They closed the area at 5 for a light show.  It is a understatement to say that the kids were disappointed!

The Indiana Jones stunt show was amazing.  I thought they just did a little stunt show but they make it seem like they are filming the movie but showed you how they film the stunts.  I loved this because often when we are watching movies my kids ask if something is real.  I either have to explain that it is CGI or stunts so this let me actually see how they film it.   We were in the front row so we had great seats to see the action.  Indiana Jones came down right in front of us.  They open up the backdrop to show another whole scene with fire and explosions.  It was intense and exciting and the kids thought the actors were super cool.

It was hard to sometimes balance the age difference in the kids.  Luke being almost 8 and Lily 4, she was still into Disney Jr characters so we scheduled lunch at Hollywood & Vine for their Disney Junior Play 'n Dine.  Sofia (Sofia the First), Handy Manny, Jake (Jake and the Neverland Pirates), and Doc McStuffins were all in attendance and walked around to all the tables to sign and take pictures.  The restaurant is buffet style.  Luke was not super into the characters but took pictures for me, but only with the boys.  :)  The food was good and they had a good variety so we all got our fill.  They would also play songs every 30 mins for the characters to dance too with the kids.  Lily had a blast!

After lunch was dedicated to Star Wars!

We waited to meet Chewbacca and Darth Vader and they had a ton of Star Wars memorabilia like costumes, ship replicas, all the characters light sabers, etc to pass the time.

Darth Vader was pointing at Luke's shirt and giving him a thumbs up because he had a storm trooper on it.

These 2 were totally in their element and loving it!

We, of course, ran into another gift shop where Luke was introduced to a BB-8 droid.  He spent 20 mins watching the lady drive it around and ask it questions on the iPad and then decided he needed one.  He was super sad that we didn't want to spend $150 on one but don't feel too bad for him, he ended up getting one from Santa.  :)  The stuff in this store was crazy expensive!

After spending like 3 hours in Star Wars land, we headed to Pixar Place.

We were just going to walk the street to get back to Honey I Shrunk the Kids but as were walked we saw Buzz and Woody from Toy Story signing autographs.  I decided we had to stop and boy am I glad we did!  The kids LOVED meeting them and they were so fun.  We waited a long time but as you wait, you walk through Andy's room and there are a bunch of cutout props for photo opportunities that kept us busy.  Here are a few:

In Buzz's box and in the claw game from Pizza Planet

Hands up Luke!  Suitcase conveyer belt.

Buzz and Woody were super silly and fun.  Each kid had their paper to sign so one went to Woody and one went to Buzz and then they switched.   Buzz was very efficient and had a stamp with his name that made us all laugh.  After they signed both kids gave Buzz a big hug and Woody turned his back and pretended to cry so I said, "Aw Woody needs a hug too" and they both ran to Woody.  They didn't talk but they joked around with each other and probably spent about 5 mins with the kids.  They were one of our favorite meet and greets.

As we left, we were getting hungry but the kids wanted to go back to Honey I Shrunk the Kids so we thought we could do that while eating Pizza Planet pizza.  It turned out that both were closed for the light show and we had some super sad kids on our hands.  We chose to hike across the park to where the Fantasmic show was and find food.  After eating Brett decided that Tower of Terror was a "must do" item and I almost peed my pants.  SO totally not something I ever would have done but the kids thought it would be fun so I obliged, really just so they would not freak out.  While I am glad we did it once, I will never feel the urge to ride it again.

Lily's face (second row if you can see her) of complete disgust says it all!

Also, totally bummed that people raise their hands like this and cover other people up.  :(

This is our "we did it and never have to again" picture

We ended the night with the Fantasmic show.  This is another "must see" in my books.  We got front row seats from our Fast Passes.  It is a water and lights show with Mickey and floats go by with princesses and other characters in the water.  Beware though, if you sit close, you will get wet.  We got a constant spray from water show but it was absolutely beautiful so we didn't mind it one bit!  It was a great way to end our day at Hollywood Studios.