Once again we decided to hit the parks early to avoid the crowds. Today was our day at Hollywood Studios. By the way, we don't do the park hopper tickets. For us, it's not worth the extra money because we never make it to more than one park in a day. Goodness I am so rushed just trying to get through everything in one park, I can't even imagine trying to make it to two in a day. With the bus system, etc, it just takes too long in my opinion. And you waste a lot of time going back and forth. Maybe if my kids were older it would be different, but for now, one park a day works perfect for us.
I didn't make fast pass reservations for Toy Story Mania, so it was the first place we headed. We were there when they opened the park so we didn't wait in line at all. It is always a favorite ride!
My sweet little "Jessie!" Ha!
It was amazing, after we rode the ride one time without waiting, we thought we might try to go on it one more time before it got crowded. By the time we got back out to the line, it was already packed! It is just crazy how busy it was over Christmas. We were so glad we got there early.
We headed over to the Rockin Roller Coaster and got a rider swap pass because Kerigan was too short (we knew she would be, it's just a nice way to get a "free" fast pass!) So Andrew and I waited in a 30 minute line to ride. When we were done, he and daddy had a fast pass for later in the day when it got busy!
You will notice we have rain ponchos on in most of these pictures. This was our first rainy day in Florida! It rained pretty much the whole day. Oh, and the Tower of Terror in the background of this picture? Yeah, we didn't ride it. I know. Everyone loves that ride but I just don't do big drops like that!
Sweet girl hung out with daddy while we were on the roller coaster. We came out and he had bought her a Minnie purse. Daddy is such a sucker when it comes to his little girl! And side note- I couldn't believe it when I read that they are taking this Sorcerer Mickey hat down! It is like the central part of this park and I just love it! I'm sure they will put up something else, but it kind of makes me sad to see this go!
The kids loved the Great Movie Ride. It is just a fun way to relax and ride in a car through different scenes of a variety of movies.
Kid selfie!
Kerigan loved Mary Poppins!
And Wizard of Oz!
We decided it was a good thing that our rainy day was on our Hollywood Studios day, because this park just has a lot of indoor things and mostly shows. This is my sweet girl dancing to Sofia at Disney Junior Live.
After a few rides we had to get in some character meetings! Kerigan was so apprehensive about meeting Mike and Sulley and the whole time in line she kept saying she wasn't going to meet them. Then we walked up there and she did this!
She was sure checking him out and didn't want to take her eyes off him! But when he played peek a boo, I think he won her over!
"Roar!!" We all love the Monsters movies!
Next we went over to the Animation Building to meet Hiro and Baymax. We knew they were coming out at 10am. So we arrived about 45 minutes early and there was already a line! So daddy took Kerigan over to meet Sofia while Andrew and I stood in line.
I later regretted not going with her to this, but I knew we were meeting her later at lunch, and we were so rushed to get in the Baymax line I just wasn't thinking! Daddy took her picture and she just was in awe. Sofia wasn't in her usual spot since it was raining, so Enchancia isn't in the background. :(
When they got back, I took the kids to stand in the Mickey line while daddy staked out our spot for Baymax. So yes, basically we waited in 2 other character lines, got pictures and autographs in the amount of time it took for the Baymax line alone. Whew! But it was so worth it!
This was Andrew's one character meet and greet that he couldn't wait for. He is really getting too old (sniff sniff) for meeting characters, although after a few days of it he did start to enjoy it. I ordered his shirt special for this day, and he was so proud to wear it and meet Hiro and Baymax. We all loved this movie! It was a pretty special opportunity to get to meet them.
We saw the Little Mermaid laser show, and this was the kids waiting in line for it. Ha! What did we ever do without technology??
Before lunch we had fast passes for the Beauty and the Beast show. This was probably one of the best shows we saw the whole trip (besides one coming up at Animal Kingdom!)
It was the only time we got to see The Beast, other than in a parade. They had all the characters and performed a shortened version of the movie. It was spectacular!
Then it was time for my favorite part of the whole day. The Disney Junior Play and Dine lunch! There was a huge line to check in with a million people asking for a table and they kept telling everyone they were booked. This is not a place you can just walk in. You have to make reservations and I highly recommend doing it 180 days in advance. I made all my reservations first thing in the morning 180 days out. It was so worth it!
They had Handy Manny
And the most anticipated... Sofia the First!
My sweet girl, I had waited for this moment for so long. No words could describe how special this moment was.
Even Andrew gave her a big hug! He had so much fun at this lunch!
Jake!
Doc McStuffins!
I just love meeting characters at meals because they spend so much more time with you. And the best part is not waiting in line!
It was just to awesome, every fifteen minutes or so, they turned up the music from Disney Junior songs and the characters all came out and danced with the kids! It was seriously the most fun lunch we've ever had. We took our time (Craig said this is how he gets even with Walt... going back to the buffet countless times! Ha!) and just relaxed and it was so enjoyable.
The food was amazing and the desserts were to die for!
None of us wanted to leave our lunch, but when we did it had stopped raining briefly so we took a few pictures before we had to head over to the Frozen Sing Along!
We were so excited for the sing along. The line was hours long, but we had a fast pass so it was really short. We got right in and I was disappointed right away. All it was was the Frozen sing along DVD playing on 2 big screens. They had Anna come out for a very brief time at the beginning, and Elsa only came out at the end (Anna was "looking" for Elsa during the songs). Christof made a brief appearance as well. The end was somewhat cool when they made it "snow" and snow shot out of the sides of the stage. By that time, Kerigan had fallen asleep! I was waiting for Olaf, and he never came. Totally not worth a 2+ hour wait. I was grateful we hadn't wasted time waiting for it.
Afterwards Andrew met Santa Goofy. This line was ridiculously short (like 2 people) because he was moved to a different spot that no one knew about because of the rain. I happened to notice because I was on my way to a bathroom and I spotted him! Ha!
They were having another dance party and Bolt was there! Andrew loved that movie too!
While Kerigan was still sleeping, Andrew had a blast playing in the Honey I Shrunk the Kids play area. I have to admit, this was pretty cool!
You are made to feel like you are in the movie and have "shrunk" like the kids in the movie!
That's a giant cookie behind Andrew!
There were lots of fun tunnels and slides. Andrew could have stayed there all day!
Giant Play- doh!
He was cracking me up with his expressions!
Little Miss woke up as we were heading out of the park. Daddy and Andrew had to use up their fast pass for the roller coaster on our way out!
Craig was cracking me up wearing this Sofia backpack the whole trip. We learned the first day that my big bag was way too heavy and had to rent a locker. I realized I didn't need half the stuff in it anyway, so we condensed. Craig refused to admit he missed the stroller. Ha! I think he carried her 90% of the time this whole trip.
Olaf window display after our stop in the gift shop!
We left early enough to eat dinner back at our resort and play in the arcade a little bit! Andrew found a giant Skylander game and was just in heaven!
When we got back to the room, the kids were so excited how the maid set it up with all their stuffed animals! We were in the Ariel themed rooms, which Kerigan loved.
This was too funny. They insisted on having a "sleepover" (aka- sleep in the same bed). I was organizing and packing up our stuff since we were changing locations the next day and after a while I looked over and saw them laying like this! Ha! So tired after a fun filled day!
