Another Morning at Hollywood Studios

This was going to be our second day in the parks and a very long day. We were spending the morning at Hollywood Studios, going back to the hotel for a (hopefully) long nap and then to the Christmas Party at Magic Kingdom from 4-midnight.

We were on the ball this morning and were too early to get in the park. (It opened at 9am, but you can get in early with a breakfast reservation.)

We were there at 7:45 am, so while we waited we snapped some really cute picks of the girls.

Ashley made their hairbows and they may be my favorite hairbows of the week :) I think this was the only day they wore outfits that weren't handmade, but the super cute bows made up for it.


Finally, they let us in and we were headed to breakfast, but we stopped on the way for some pics in front of the Sorcerer's Hat.


We had a breakfast reservation at 8:05am for Play and Dine at Hollywood and Vine. It is a breakfast with the Playhouse Disney characters....JoJo, Goliath, June and Leo.

Last time we were at Disney Maycee was hardcore Little Einsteins fan, so this had been a Must Do for us. This year Maddie and Maycee aren't as interested in these characters, but Addison is and it was most likely a last chance for us. I am very glad we did it, because Maycee really enjoyed it. Maddie wasn't feeling well this morning so she didn't really enjoy it at all, but thankfully she was feeling better very quickly and didn't have to miss any time in the park.

The characters started coming and the girls had a great time collecting autographs and taking pics.


Ashley had been worried that Kennedi would be scared of the characters.

That wasn't a problem this trip. :)
The food was great, we were all stuffed and it was time for some fun in the park.

As we were deciding what to do first we ran into Minnie. How exciting!

And we were off again. (Yes, he's on the phone and with work. At least is was one of only a very few times they bothered him.)

The girls had picked our first ride of the day.

Luckily there was no line.

And soon we were wearing our goofy 3-d glasses again.

We were starting today with the same ride we finished yesterday with. Buzz Lightyear!

Next up, a little shopping. Guy tried on a Birthday hat.

And the girls discovered pressed pennies, which they collected for the rest of the trip.

After some shopping, we met Sorcerer Mickey. The girls really were excited, even though it is very hard to tell from this pic. LOL I don't remember any reason for the grumpy faces.


We also met the character from Up while in this area, but the pics aren't great, the girls weren't that excited about it, the characters had zero personality, and I can't even remember their names.

Maycee wanted to meet the other two Little Einsteins, but they weren't out yet, so we headed over to see Beauty and the Beast, Live on Stage. This was another show we had never seen. (If you can't tell, we've never spent a whole lot of time at this park).

It was a fantastic show.

The girls were all mesmerized.

And the adults enjoyed it also.

Next up, back to meet the rest of the Little Einsteins.

June was with Quincy in the meet and greet area since it was lunch time and she was done meeting people at Breakfast at Hollywood and Vine ;)

It was gonna be another 20 minutes to meet Annie because they switch out every 30 minutes, so we headed for one last ride on....you guessed it....Buzz Lightyear and then came back to meet Annie.
Yummy!!! It was Mickey Ice Cream time and Maycee wanted a Popsicle. What is wrong with that girl? LOL. It was the only time this trip that she made that mistake. She didn't really like it and quickly wished she had an ice cream like everyone else.


Our last ride at Hollywood Studios was The Great Movie Ride and actually there's nothing great about it. It was so/so and it scared the crap out of Maycee. She isn't into the whole gunfight thing, and she is still at the age that she believes it's all 100% real.

We headed back to our hotel with just enough time for a nap and changing clothes for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party.

Hollywood Studios-Day 1

Finally, after months of planning, hours of sewing, too much time on Disboards.com and a long car trip it was our first day in the parks.

We were up early. Everyone was excited. We headed for the bus stop, and I realized I forgot my extra camera battery. I ran back to the room to get it and Guy and the girls went on to the bus stop.

Now I am an over planner. I was teased a little after I gave out folders with itineraries, descriptions of our restaurants and tons of other great info. ;) So this year Ashley did more of the planning and I did more of the sewing. I had an itinerary in my laptop and I knew exactly what we were doing every day. Problem is I didn't share the info with Guy and he assumed we were going to Magic Kingdom the first day so the girls could see the castle.

As I was coming out of the room with my battery, Guy was excitedly hurrying me because our bus was driving up. I ran and jumped on the bus just in time. We all got settled in our seats. Just a few minutes and we would be there. Wait?? What did that recording say? Magic Kingdom? We aren't going to Magic Kingdom?? UH OH. So I asked Guy what bus we were on and then is when we realized we were on the wrong bus. He said I should have given him an itinerary. He was correct. :)

We got off the bus at Magic Kingdom.

Caught a monorail to the ticket and transportation center.

And caught a bus there to get to Hollywood Studios.

We made it and it only took us 1 hour and 15 minutes to get there. We immediately caught up with Ashley and Adam.

It was time to decide what to do first.

And we decided on RockNRoller Coaster. Maddie was tall enough to ride this year and I decided to give it a try. We took turns riding and leaving on adult with the little kids. There was absolutely no line and Maddie ended up riding four times with different combinations of adults. It was also my first time to ride this. I do NOT like going upside down, but it is so dark and fast that you don't even realize. The first time I rode it was so fast I couldn't even think straight. I was thinking wow it IS really dark in here and then I realized my eyes were clenched shut. LOL. The second time I kept them open and I could kind of tell when we were gonna go upside down by seeing little glimpses of the track, but still never really felt it. I'm glad I finally gave it a try. It's a very fun ride.

While we rode Maycee and Addison did a craft and ate a snack.

And Kennedi relaxed.


Next up was something fun for the little kids, Playhouse Disney Live on Stage, but on the way we stopped for a Meet and Greet with Handy Manny.



And then we headed over to Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin. It is a ride, but also a 3d game. It is new since the last time we were there and we all enjoyed it.



This is another attraction we had never seen, but this one isn't new. We had always skipped it before and now I'm not sure why. It was actually pretty good and the Guys really enjoyed it.

The girls spent quite a while playing in the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground. Maycee and Maddie were both soaked when they were done.



The afternoon parade was something we didn't want to miss, so we headed over to find a seat on the parade route. We couldn't find a spot all together in the shade, so Ashley sat in the shade with the kids and we sat across the street. They had lots of cast members out entertaining the kids with games while we waited for the parade.

Then it was time for dinner at 50's Prime Time. I had been very excited about this dinner, but it didn't turn out to be so great. It wasn't horrible, but we won't be going there again. Both the food and the atmosphere were just so/so.

We took these pics while waiting on our table.

And more waiting.

We rode some other rides, shopped a little, and saw some other shows including American Idol, which was new since we were last there. We really enjoyed it. It was funny though, when we got home Maddie told Kaleigh that she saw the season finale to AI before it was on TV and she knew who wins. LOL. I guess we didn't explain that the contestants were just park guests. Is there even a season of American Idol on right now? There was a younger girl who sang a Hannah Montana song, so both girls voted for her. Ashley and Maycee's voting buttons were on the same armrest and Maycee kept telling Ashley not to touch her buttons. I guess she was scared Ashley was gonna steal her vote.

When it was dark we headed over to see the Osbourne Spectacle of Lights. This was something else that was new to us and it was fabulous. So many lights. So pretty.

It was about time to go and we let the girls pick one ride to ride again. The chose Buzz Lightyear and we headed that way, but on the way we found Buzz and Woody.

So we got in line, pulled out our autograph books,

had Buzz and Woody sign them,

and took some more pictures.


We then got in that one last ride on Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin and headed to the bus stop.

On the way out I snapped this pick.

Arrival Day

Part 2 of our vacation

Finally we had arrived at Disney World. We were all so excited. We had made such good time that we decided to add a day to our Disney Reservation instead of stopping at an offsite hotel. So not only were we at Disney, but we were there a day early.

We couldn't wait to get out of the car, so even though we were all looking very rough from our long car ride we all got out and went to check in and explore the hotel lobby.

Some pics of the kids in the lobby. Notice they still have their bows from the wedding the day before. LOL. At least they have bows in at all. :)



And a picture of the lake that the rooms surround. It was very nice. It wasn't the hotel I would have chosen when we were making reservations, but Ashley had heard good things about it and it is the only Moderate Disney hotel that has Queen beds instead of Double which sounded very good to me. As it turned out I am thrilled that we stayed here. I had a plan that I wanted to stay at a different hotel every time we visit Disney until we had tried them all. That will be a difficult plan to stick with now. I really fell in love with this hotel.


It was now time to head to our rooms and get unpacked.



These pictures were only taken about an hour apart. It didn't take us long to make a disaster of the room.

And we quickly took the kids out to explore the grounds.


They were full of energy.


Now time for a swim. The guys were in the room watching the Cowboys.







We headed back to the hotel to get ready for bed. Next day was going to be a fun filled day at Disney's Hollywood Studios.