Walt Disney World 2014-Day 5: Hollywood Studios

Monday, December 15th, 2014

Hollywood Studios

Predicted Crown Level:  3/10

Actual Crowd Level:  4/10

Reservations for the Day: 

Toy Story Midway Mania:  9:55AM-10:55AM

Twilight Zone Tower:  3:00 PM-4:00 PM

50's Prime Time Cafe:  4:00 PM

For the First Time in Forever-A Frozen Sing Along 6:40 PM-6:55PM

This day happened to be one of my favorite.  It was really relaxing, low key, and we just went with the flow for the most part.  We woke up, had breakfast in our room, got ready and headed to the park.  It opened at 9:00 AM and we were there right around opening.  It was another beautiful day too.  

The big thing to remember with Hollywood Studios is that it is mainly a lot of shows.  So you have specific times you had to be at places.  You would think this would be hectic but it wasn't  The first thing we did when we got there was head to Animation Courtyard to Disney Junior: Live on Stage.  Elsie loved this show.  It took place in a theater and you just sat down on the floor.  Which was fine for Elsie and I but John was a bit uncomfortable :).  

The show consisted of different scenes which featured characters from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Sophia the First, Doc McStuffins, and Jake and the Neverland Pirates.  

I think what Elsie loved the most was that throughout the show things would happen like, bubbles would come down on us and it would "rain" gold coins.  And of course it finished with a confetti to celebrate Minnie's birthday.  

After that we made our way to Pixar Place where Toy Story Mania is located.  We had a fastpass for this so we didn't have to wait in line-thank goodness.  This ride is one of the most popular at Hollywood Studios and the lines is almost always and hour or longer.  Elsie had fun on this ride too.  Like Buzz Lightyear at Magic Kingdom, your ride around and it is arcade style ride where you shoot at different things to get points.  The difference is this one is 3-D.  It was a lot of fun. 

After the ride we made our way back towards Animation Courtyard to Voyage of the Little Mermaid.  This was really good too.  It had a live performer singing and also inluded some elements that made you feel like you were "under the sea".  After this we made our way down to Hollywood Boulevard.  

It was 11:15AM so we decided to use some of our snack credits and pick up a couple drinks for lunch.  We actually packed a lunch for today-peanut butter and jelly, carrots, oranges, granola bars (or gorilla bars as Elsie calls them).  I had read that you could bring food into the outdoor theater where Beauty and the Beast performs and eat while you watched/waited so we decided to do that-we enjoyed our lunch while we waited for the show to start and it worked out perfectly.  

Elsie watching the shows

I would definitely say Beauty and the Beast:  Live on Stage was one of the best shows at Hollywood Studios.  It was so good!!  

After Beauty and the Beast we made the long trek to Indiana Jones.  This was one that really dissapointed me. It was kind of boring and there was a lot of down time and fillers.  About half way through Elsie said she had to go to the bathroom and I hate to say it but I wasn't sad to have to leave.  We grabbed some ice cream, walked around a bit and before we knew it, Elsie was taking a nap.  We decided to change our game plan this day and instead of trying to rush back to the hotel for nap, we would try to just let her nap in her stroller.  So I walked around and let John go on some of his rides.  He went on Star Tours, rode Rockin Rollercoaster and used the single rider line, and then used his fastpass for Tower of Terror.  He said that Rockin' Rollercoaster was the best one in all of Disney World.  

John on Tower of Terror

Rockin' Roller Coaster

Elsie napping while John is having all the fun ;).

After the rides, we walked around a little bit, walked through a few stores and Elsie happened to wake up when we were in a Frozen Store.  She ended up buying a Frozen doll with her birthday money.  If you flip it one way it is Anna and then other way is Elsa.  She also found a lollipop.  Something she had been asking for all day long and a good part of the day before.  

We also stopped along the way to get a picture in front of the Sorcerer's Hat.  What I thought was an iconic symbol of Hollywood Studios.  A few weeks ago, Disney announced they would be disassembling the hat and removing it from the park.   

We made our way to 50's Primetime Cafe.  We wanted an early dinner since we knew we would be having a lighter lunch and wanted to get dinner out of the way so we could enjoy the evening activities.  This restaurant is themed around a 50's era home and your waitress is called "mom" who will be quick to correct your manners.  The food was really good.  I ordered the Mama's Favorite Sampler which had meatloaf, pot roast, and fried chicken.  You can't go wrong with any of those.  John got the chicken pot pie and Elsie ordered the chicken fingers-and didn't eat hardly at all.  

This was the decor from the "Living Room" aka the waiting area.  The dining room looked much like you would see in a traditional 50's home kitchen.  

After eating we made our way to For the First Time in Forever:  A Frozen Sing Along.  We chose to go to the 6:00 show vs. wait until the 7:00 show and use our final fastpass for the day.  This show was actually one of the biggest disappointments of Hollywood Studios.  It was recently added due to the whole "Frozen Frenzy" and you can tell.  It is pretty much just sitting there and there are two "historians" who talk you through Frozen and when the time comes for a song they play clips from the song on the main screen and the lyrics on the two side screens.  It barely featured an characters from Frozen except the first five minutes and the last five minutes at most.  Elsa doesn't show up until the final minutes of the show.  Elsie enjoyed it because it doesn't make much to make a three year old happy but I thought it was poorly done, especially compared to the Little Mermaid show and Beauty and the Beast show.  

Terrible pic of the show but the only one I got-well because up until the very end there was nothing to photograph.  

When we walked out of theater we were so turned around.  It took awhile to find our stroller because they moved them all from the entrance to the exit which was in different locations.  And we walked right out into Osborne's Spectacle of Dancing Lights.  We had planned to see this next so it was convenient to be right in the middle of it all.  Let me just say this was one of my favorite parts of the trip and made going during Christmas time so worth it!  I just loved it!  There were lights everywhere and the pictures just don't do it justice.  

We finally let Elsie enjoy her lollipop and boy did she ever :)

I just loved how the lights coordinated with the music and it was just so festive!  I could have just say here and watch all night.  But of course, we couldn't.  We wanted to get to Hollywood Studios nighttime show:  Fantasmic which was all the way at the other end of the park.  

After reading some reviews I had heard that this is kind of a "dark" show that highlights some of the villians of Disney.  It starts with Mickey all happy, and then the bad stuff happens and ends with Mickey overcoming the bad people and being all happy again.  So, we prepped Elsie a little and told her that everything is just pretend, even the scary stuff.  The show uses pyrotechnics, fireworks, and water displays during the show and was pretty cool.  It was definitely more "dark" than other Disney stuff and Elsie seemed to do okay but she didn't like how loud it was.  Also to avoid the whole wanting to buy things, we packed some glow sticks for the night and she loved playing with those while we were waiting for the show to begin.  She had quite a few and was so sweet wanting to share with all the kids around her.  '

I didn't take too many pictures during the show but the above two were all that I really got.  

After the show the park closed and it was time to make our way back to the resort.  It was close to 9:00PM and we were ready to climb into bed anyways.  Like I mentioned before, this ended up being one of my more favorite days.  

Walt Disney World 2014-Day 4-Epcot & Elsie's Birthday

Sunday, December 14th, 2014

Epcot

Reservations for the Day: 

Soarin: ' 10:00AM-11:00AM

Turtle Talk with Crush:  11:35-12:35

The Seas with Nemo and Friends:  12:55-1:55PM

Akershus Royal Banquet Hall 6:30PM

What a very special day this was!  It was Elsie's 3rd Birthday!  Epcot probably isn't the park that I wanted to celebrate her birthday at but it was the park that had Akershus Royal Banquet Hall which is where the princess dinner was located so we didn't have much of a choice.  

We decided that this particular morning we were just going to take it easy and not "rush" to get to the park by opening.  We were all up by 7:00 AM anyways but we leisurely got ready and was to the bus stop by 9:00 AM heading to Epcot.  The park opened at 9:00 so really we weren't that late getting to the park.  I think we were getting our first picture taken at Epcot at 9:45.  

Elsie waiting for the shuttle.  

In front of the iconic Spaceship Earth

Another View.  

The first ride we went on upon arrival was Spaceship Earth.  This is a really slow-moving ride inside the "big ball".  It takes you through stages of history and technology.  When you are riding you have a little speaker behind you narrating the ride.  When you first get on you get to select what language you want to have it narrated in so of course I picked English.  Towards the end of the ride I noticed John and Elsie's sounded nothing like mine-they got to listen to the whole ride in Chinese.  Elsie must have hit the button before John even knew you could select one.  

Inside on the ride.  

After Spaceship earth we made our way to the Land Pavillion where Soarin' was located.  This was one ride that John and I could both do and we were hoping Elsie would reach the 40" height requirement but she fell just a tad bit short-maybe an inch if that.  Oh well, so John went first and then he was going to let me know if he thought I could handle it with motion sickness and see how long it took.  The wonderful thing about Disney is they have something called "Child Swap" where if you have a young child the first person can go through, wait in line, etc and the second adult gets a fastpass to use whenever they want so that both adults can ride just at different times so that an adult can be with the child that can't ride.  While John was on the ride Elsie and I wandered around the pavilion, rode the escalator a few times, found this little photo op area.  

After that we went to the exit area for the ride where there were tons of little kids and parents who were also utilizing the "child swap" feature and they had a big open area for the kids to play around in.  It was nice.  Well when John got out he said the ride was really neat and that I should go on it but we were kind of short on time so I decided to pass on it-maybe next time :).  

After Soarin', we rode on Living with the Land which was a really neat ride.  Elsie loved seeing all the different fruits and vegetables that she could recognize.  AFter that we headed over to the Living Seas area of Future World.  We made our way to Turtle Talk with crush and that was really neat. And the waiting area had a bunch of aquariums to look at so that kept Elsie busy before the show started.   Then we were a few minute early for our Nemo fastpass but they let us in early so that was nice.  They normally say five minute before your fastpass reservation time begins you can get let in but this guy let us in 15 minutes early.  This ride I thought was okay.  I actually barely remember it which I guess means it didn't leave me with that strong of an opinion.  

For lunch we headed back over the Land Pavillion and ate at Sunshine Seasons.  They had such a good variety and in fact, some of the things they grow there are served in this restaurant.  I had the Mongolian Beef and it was pretty good.  John had the stuffed pork chop and Elsie had a chicken leg (her new favorite way to eat chicken is off the bone-she says it is how big people do it).  After lunch we ended up making our way back out to shuttle to take off for an afternoon break back at the hotel.  It was right around 2:00 PM.  

Elsie's Birthday picture for the day :)-My big Three year old!!!

This afternoon we had 4.5 hours before we had to get back for our dinner reservations so it wasn't quite as rushed and in fact we made it back around 5:30PM.  We didn't have too much time but we had another picture taken, this time at dusk.  

Those are fountains in the background on the right. 

Then we made a quick stop at the Character meet and greet at Epcot.  The sign said it was a 35 minute wait but it didn't hardly look like anyone was in line so I asked if it was really a 35 minute wait and she seemed surprised that it said that long so we jumped in line and once again it was maybe 5-10 minutes to see Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy.  We hit the timing perfectly!  

Goofy photo bombed our picture with Mickey :)

More autographs-I think we have like 4 or 5 of Mickey Mouse :) 

After doing the meet and greet we finally made our way to the World Showcase.  John and I both decided that someday it would be fun to come here adults only, enjoy different types of food, and enjoy the drinks offered by the different countries.  For this trip though the few hours we spent here was enough and hardly kept Elsie's attention.  

Our first stop was Akershus Royal Banquet Hall for Elsie's Birthday dinner with the Princesses.  This restaurant was located in Norway. When you first go in, you get your picture taken with Belle which is the featured princess for this dinner.  Included in the dinner you get an 8 x 10 and 4-5 x 7 printed out and delivered before you leave.   

I think Elsie was in a bit of shock during this whole things-ha! 

After getting seated you could help yourself to a salad bar that is Norwegian inspired.  I really enjoyed the menu for this although if you had picky eaters it might not be the best option.  Dinner was then ordered off the menu and brought out to your table which was different than most of the other character meals.  We felt like we could relax a little mroe than rushing up to the buffet so we didn't miss a character stopping by our table.  

First to stop by for a visit-Aurora from Sleeping Beauty.  Despite not having seen Sleeping Beauty Elsie still knew who she was from books and us talking about her.  

The came Cinderella!  She just loved up on Elsie :).  This was also our second time meeting Cinderella since we had met her the day before at Magic Kingdom.  

Ariel in her ballgown.  John and I both swear that this was the same "Ariel" that we met the day before at Magic Kingdom when she was in her grotto with her fins on.  

For some reason, Elsie was really excited to meet Snow White again.  There were certain characters throughout the trip she just latched on to and they weren't necessarily the ones that we expected her to be excited about.  Elsie would point out and get excited about Snow White every time we would meet her and during all the parades. Now at home, she loves to watch Snow White and we have to read the book over and over again.   This was our second time meeting Snow White but the first time Elsie was a bit of a grump.

After meeting all the princesses, our server (who spoke with a very thick Norwegian accent) brought out a special birthday cupcake and another birthday card-this time signed by all the princesses.  

Then, like at Chef Mickey's they did another little interactive thing between the characters and the guests.  They had a little Princess and Prince Promenade where each Princess took a section of the restaraunt and gathered all the little ones and paraded around the restaurant to royal themed music.  

Elsie, just by chance got to hold the hand of Snow White and carry her flower basket during the promenade and she thought this was pretty special.  After dinner we headed out and walked around a bit and made our way towards the American Pavillion where we ran into the line to meet Santa Claus. We thought we would give her a chance to ask Santa for something new since the first time she saw Santa she asked for a Frozen blanket and she actually ended up getting that for her birthday from Grandma Bev and Grandpa Dale.   

It was a  little funny when she went to sit on Santa's lap her hoop skirt from her dress kept flipping up.  We finally got it to settle down a bit for the pictures ;).  

While John and Elsie were waiting in line to meet Santa, I ducked out to check out the Candlelight Processional.  If we ever go back to Disney over the Christmas Season I would love to actually see this show.  It is the Christmas Story told by a celebrity narrator along with choirs who sing the most beautiful versions of Christmas songs.  I only watched for a few minutes since I didn't have a seat or a good place to stand but from what I heard it is just beautiful. 

After meeting Santa we stopped for a pic in front of the Christmas tree and then headed to Mexico to ride Gran Fiesta Tour which is a little boat ride-which is one of the few rides in the World Showcase. It was entertaining enough and I think Elsie liked it.  We got right on-there was absolutely no wait.  By this point is was almost 9:00PM.  Walking back through Mexico I spotted these ponchos.  One of my memories of coming to Epcot when I was in fourth grade was wanting one of these ponchos so bad and my parents wouldn't get one for me-ha!  

After leaving Mexico we were one a mission to find a good place to watch Illuminations-Epcot's nighttime show.  This show was FANTASTIC!  We didn't end up finding that great of a place to watch but the show was nicely done.  There was a special holiday addition to the end of the show.  I highly recommend this to anyone who goes to Disney. Definitely worth staying in the park late for. .  

Watching Illuminations on Daddy's shoulder.   We had brought along a new light up wand for Elsie and she was just so excited about it!  This really helped eliminate the requests for us to purchase glow wand, etc there at the park

After Illuminations, the park closes for everyone so we made our way to the exit. As you are leaving and looking at the back of Spaceship Earth, they project "goodnight" in all the languages that are featured in the World Showcase.   

All in all we had a great day at Epcot.  We did feel a little rushed and we missed out on a lot of rides because we chose to arrive late and leave for the afternoon for a nap.  A lot of people say that it isn't that great of a park for kids but I know we could have spent a lot more time exploring than we did. 

I also want to add that Elsie had a very special birthday!  I am so happy that we had the opportunity to be here for her birthday and to be able to celebrate the day like we did.  A special day for a special girl!