Day four took us to Disney's Hollywood Studios. Like every day, I had our itinerary mapped out and knew our plan of attack (using Tour Guide Mike's expertise). This day was the one day of the entire trip that I knew we absolutely, positively had to be at the park at rope drop. We wouldn't have a chance at two rides on Toy Story Mania unless we got there right at opening. The plan was to have J.C. run ahead of us to pick up fastpasses. Then, we would all get in line to ride the ride stand-by. Then we could use the fastpasses to ride again later. I rushed everybody around in the morning to eat a quick meal in the room, get dressed quickly, and get out to the bus stop in plenty of time to make rope drop. We were on schedule, ready to go, and at the bus stop at the right time. Then we waited, and waited, and waited, and waited some more. We kept debating whether to walk to the ticket and transportation center to catch a bus there, but there was always that thought that the second we walked away, the bus would arrive. We kept waiting. Finally, someone got mad enough about the wait that they walked over to the valet and asked him to call transportation. At this point, there wasn't a chance we were going to make rope drop. Every minute we stood there waiting for the bus was another 50 people in line for Toy Story Mania. So much for best laid plans. We finally caught a bus, and J.C. ran off to obtain fastpasses. The stand-by line was already way too long for our taste though, so we spent the morning running around doing other things.
Actually, the next item on the agenda was buying a new memory stick for my camera. This was our forgetful day. I pulled my camera out of my pocket to take a picture only to see "no memory card" flashing on the back. Ugh... there's nothing like paying Disney prices for something as basic as a memory stick to get your day off to a rocky start (especially coupled with the bus fiasco). I suppose I should be thankful they sell things like memory sticks though. Otherwise we would have no pictures from Hollywood Studios.
We went to the Voyage of the Little Mermaid Show, and watched the Disney Channel Rocks show. We met Handy Manny. Addie was thrilled about meeting him. She actually insisted that we go see him a second time later in the day too.
We met Quincy and June, and this was the first time Addie gave one of the characters a hug. She was definitely warming up to the whole character thing.
J.C. insisted on taking this oh-so-lovely picture of me in front of the Modern Family sign. I have a bit of a thing for Modern Family.
We had lunch at the ABC Commissary. Once again, food was sort of "meh". Do any of the parks have really great counter service places? My Asian salad was pretty good, but J.C.'s burger didn't look appealing at all.
Nina was still using Addison's stroller some of the time because of her foot, so Addison decided to turn it into a double. Clever, eh?
After lunch, our fastpass time had arrived, so we were off to Toy Story Mania. We all had a blast. J.C. came away with the highest score in our family, but I was a close second.
Then we headed back to the room for naps because we knew we would have a late night. After naps, it was back to Hollywood Studios where our first goal was to find Buzz and Woody.
They weren't in here...
Or here...
Found them!
The green army men made Addie a little nervous. Can you blame her? He is a bit creepy.
As the sun started going down, we discovered our second forgetful moment of the day. We had only brought a thin windbreaker for Addie, no fleece jacket, no down vest, nothing. Due to that mistake, Addie is now the proud owner of a new Mickey sweatshirt. I'm betting Disney sold a record number of Mickey sweatshirts, hats, gloves, and blankets that week.
For dinner, we had reservations at the 50's Prime Time Cafe. The food was good and the schtick was cute, but I don't think we would go back. My children are completely incapable of speaking, eating, hearing, or communicating in any way when TV's are on. It is a most-irritating zombie-like behavior, but that's how they are. Instead of enjoying our pot roast and meatloaf, J.C. and I found ourselves saying, "Nina, take a bite!", "Elise, chew your food!", "Earth to Nina!", and "Elise! Wake up!" through the entire meal. I think I would enjoy it another time without kids, or possibly with somebody else's kids, but I won't go back anytime soon with my own children.
After dinner, we were off to the Osborne Family Lights. I absolutely loved this. It got me completely into the Christmas spirit! It was really magical and so much fun. I love the story behind it too. In 1986, a man named Jennings Osborne started putting out Christmas lights for his daughter around their home in Arkansas. Each year, he added more and more. He eventually bought the two properties next to him to expand the display. By 1993, his display used over 3 million lights. In 1994, Osborne's neighbors, tired of the traffic and congestion, sued to get the lights turned off. They won their case, and Osborne had to shut down his display. Disney offered to host the display at Hollywood Studios, and Osborne accepted. Now, the display is comprised of more than 5 million lights. The light ropes stretch 10 miles long, and 30 miles of extension cords are used. It takes 20,000 man hours to set them up each holiday season. It is really a sight to behold. Photos couldn't do it justice, so I took a video.
Day 4 Favorites
J.C. - Toy Story Mania
Ann - Toy Story Mania and the Osborne Lights
Elise - Toy Story Mania
Nina - Voyage of the Little Mermaid
Addison - meeting Handy Manny
way cool!
That picture of Addie smiling in the pink tee- she looks a lot like Nina!
Posted by: Robin Blumenthal | Thursday, December 23, 2010 at 12:10 AM
I love Elise in the Space Crane!!
wow...those lights...Vegas Christmas!
Posted by: SMcCoy | Thursday, December 23, 2010 at 12:17 AM