Disney's Hollywood Studios

So I promise there is life after Disney!  :)  This has been a great way to record my thoughts and memories about our trip, and share with our family and friends about how our trip went, but I am getting a little tired of Mickey Mouse!  So we'll wrap up our vacation with our day at Hollywood Studios!

We went back and forth as to whether we should just do two days at Magic Kingdom, or try out another park at Disney.  After being able to ride and enjoy almost everything we really wanted to do at Magic Kingdom, we thought a day a Hollywood Studios would be fun and a little more low key... and it was! 

Liam is slightly obsessed with Lego Star Wars... so we knew the first ride we had to do was the Star Tours where you get to experience a Star Wars flight in a simulator.  It was one of my favorite rides at the park, and the fun thing was that each time you went on it, it was a different "adventure".  Ainsley wasn't too sure after the first time she went (I think it felt too real to her) but she went on it again, and really liked it! 

After the Star Tour Ride, we were able to watch a Jedi Training session.  Liam was fixated on the training and didn't take his eyes off the stage the entire time!  He loved to watch the little boys and girls learn to use their light sabers, and his eyes got so big when Darth Vader came out.

 

It was to fun to hear the crowd cheer for each little person who was able to defeat Darth.  I think it was more fun for me to watch Liam thoroughly enjoy every second of this show. 

(Just a note... Liam is in none of the above pictures, but you can imagine)

Our next adventure was to the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids movie set play ground.  On the way there I had to explain to the kids a little about the movie and what happened so they would understand the play ground.  With slides, tunnels, and climbing structures, Liam and Ainsley had so much fun. 

We were so excited to be able to see the Little Mermaid show (Ariel is a favorite around our house), and it did not disappoint!  It was a short musical theater retelling Ariel's story with animation on the ceiling, black lights, bubbles everywhere, and even a little water falling on us.  The kids really enjoyed it!  We also watched a live show about how they animate movies and Ainsley fell in love with this large drawing of Snow White.

We are Playhouse Disney fans at our house, so there was lots of dancing and singing at that show.  The kids got to see characters from some of their favorite cartoons, and I got to watch all the parents around me singing the words to all the theme songs.  We are a sad bunch.

Of course a Disney Day isn't complete without a Disney parade! 

Tim and Liam were ready for some "big kid" rides, and unfortunately Ainsley wasn't tall enough for them.  (do you see my sad face?)  So while they went to conquer the Tower of Terror and Rock 'n' Roller coaster, Ainsley and I were able to watch Beauty and the Beast live on stage.  I don't know who was more excited... but it was SO fun!  The music and costumes were amazing and just the overall show was wonderful!  I think we were both smiling the whole time.

After our show we met up with the boys and they told us all about their thrilling rides!  The Tower of Terror is like an elevator that goes up to the top of the building and then drops 13 stories.  Tim thought Liam would be scared, but as soon as they were done he wanted to do it again!

The Rock 'n' Roller coaster is a roller coaster in the dark that goes upside down and as Tim would say, "goes 0-60 mph in nothing".  Liam was so excited to do this one and he was the smallest person on the ride by far.  He loved it, and when they got to look at their picture at the end, Tim and Liam were the only ones in their coaster with their hands up in the air. 

Before our day was over, we went to see the Indiana Jones stunt show which Liam really enjoyed!  And let me tell you that we could feel the heat of that fire... and it was one of many!

We were also able to get into the most popular ride out of all the Disney parks... the Toy Story Midway Mania ride.  Thankfully we were able to get our fast pass around 10:00 AM... and got a slot on the ride for 7:00 that night.  (yeah... it is that popular). 

I don't know if it would be worth waiting 80 minutes to ride (for people without a fast pass) but it was super fun! 

It was an amazing day full of family fun and making memories with each other.  We feel blessed to be able to have this time away together and so thankful that we were able to do it!