Rock 'n' Adventures, Epic Stunts, Jedi Training, & Muppet Madness at Disney's Hollywood Studios

On Wednesday, right after our visit to Epcot and the Magic Kingdom, we headed right over to Disney's Hollywood Studios.  During my Florida trip in 1986, Hollywood Studios didn't exist, so needless to say, this was my first visit right along with Hubby and Little Lewie.

The two Lews were probably most excited about visiting Star Wars Launch Bay along with watching the Jedi Training and going on the FastPass+ attraction, Star Tours--The Adventures Continue.  (Star Wars Galaxy's Edge would not be open yet.)  However, I was most excited about seeing the Muppets and checking out Toy Story Land.  In both cases, our "inner-child" ruled that day as we all got to live out our childhood memories and fantasies.

We started out the day on "Sunset Boulevard" where Big Lew and Little Lewie went on the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith.  Knowing it was a real-deal roller coaster, I skipped out and instead, used the time to check out the gorgeous scenery, which, of course, was even more spectacular with the holiday decorations.   After the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster ride, both Lews felt a little lightheaded from all the loops and twists, so they were happy to hear that we had some tamer adventures ahead.

Our next FastPass+ ride was the Muppet Vision 3-D Theater on Grand Avenue.  Just as I had hoped, the theater looked just like the one from Jim Henson's TV sitcom, The Muppet Show.  My inner-ten-year-old came out as I laughed hysterically at all the antics from Gonzo, Miss Piggy, Sam Eagle, Beaker, the Swedish Chef, and of course, the two old men in the audience, Statler and Waldorf.  Kermit, of course, was the star and main character of the attraction.  I repeatedly told Lewie how this was one of my FAVORITE shows when I was his age.  Thankfully, the humor is timeless.  He loved it just as much as I did.

Next up was the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular at Echo Lake.  The 30-minute show provided a "behind the scenes" look at how the movie's stunts and fighting scenes were pulled off in real life.  We watched as stage props were switched, stunt doubles performed gymnast tricks, and live explosions went off.  My favorite part was when a 12 foot rolling bolder chased "Harrison Ford" out of the temple.  When the director instructs "Harrison Ford" to do the scene again, he easily pushes the bolder (probably made out of styrofoam) right back into place!

Once the Indiana Jones demonstration ended, we headed to the Prime Time Cafe for our lunch reservation.  Although we arrived early, the cafe was so busy that we actually ended up waiting a bit past our reservation time to get seated.  A friend of ours recommended the restaurant, saying her kids had a blast.  It ended up being one of our favorite experiences at Disney, too!

The cafe, designed to reflect what family kitchens looked like circa 1955, offered seating by old fashioned TVs showing blank and white sitcoms.  Our waitress repeatedly reminded us to "watch our manners" at the table.  She scolded Little Lewie for putting his elbows on the table and slurping his milk shake.  My husband, in typical fashion, made a mess at the table.  I told the waitress to get him in trouble, and instead, I got in trouble!  She retorted back, "No one likes a tattletale.  Remember, snitches get stitches!"  Oh, how we laughed.  I tried telling on him again (after all, my husband was grabbing food off my plate without permission).  Again, I got scolded for tattling.  The food was delicious; Big Lew chose Cousin Megan's Traditional Meatloaf while I selected Dad's Stuffed Pork Chop.  Little Lewie, the picky eater that he is, asked for a special plate of buttered noodles.  Still, it was the experience and non-stop laughter that made it so memorable.

With full bellies, we headed to watch some Jedi Training and a Star Wars show, which brought Big Lew (yes, Big Lew) to tears.  Nostalgia from his early Star Wars memories, particularly of the movies in the 70's and 80's that he first watched with his dad, took over.  "You don't understand," he said, wiping the tears away.  "My dad and I loved Star Wars so much that he would take me to the theater four, five, or six times to watch the same movie."  Our next FastPass+ ride was Star Tours--The Adventures Continue, where we rode on a "StarSpeeder," a type of flight simulator, which took us on a fast-paced, somewhat turbulent adventure.  It was probably my next-favorite experience--after the Muppet Vision 3-D Theater, of course.

While the boys chose to explore the Star Wars Launch Bay, I ran to Toy Story Land to catch the Toy Story Mania attraction.  The ride wait time had dropped from an hour to 30 minutes, and quite honestly, the line ended up being shorter than that.  In less than 20 minutes, I was on the ride using my toy cannon to aim virtual pies, rings, and darts at screen targets.  It would have been more fun for all of us to do the ride together, but by then, the two Lews had lost steam.  The Slinky Dog Dash was right around the corner, but the wait time for that ride never dropped past 90 minutes.

On my way back to the Sunset Boulevard entrance, I took as many photos as I could, trying to savor my last views, sensations, and impressions of the park.  It was a spectacular day, and we all agreed that our experience at Hollywood Studios was"the most sensational, inspirational, celebrational, Muppetational" just like "what we call the Muppet Show!"  (If you're hearing the Muppet Show theme song in your head now and smiling, then you're welcome.)

Mickey Mouse, Here We Come!!

After a long and exciting day at Epcot, I wrongly scheduled the three of us to go to the Magic Kingdom the very next day.  My intuition told me that Tuesday might be a good day of the week with shorter lines, but the rationale side reminded me that we hadn't exactly had a chance to recuperate from all the walking we did the previous day.

Oh well!  FastPass+ attractions were already scheduled and so was our breakfast at Be Our Guest Restaurant, located right inside the enchanted Beauty and the Beast castle.  Our breakfast was scheduled for 9:15 a.m., but we arrived late, not realizing it would take some time to get through the long entrance lines along with the monorail ride from our parking lot to Disney.  Thankfully, our reservations were still honored, and we were quickly led to a table in the Grand Ballroom.  I tried to make-believe I was a princess eating among royalty, but my two boys were out of sorts.  "This is the meal?" my husband complained; he chose the Beast's Assorted Charcuterie, a very skimpy platter of assorted cured meats and cheese.  "I don't have any butter," my son whined, refusing to eat a bite of his French Toast until someone brought it.

Unfortunately, the restaurant is/was so popular that there were hundreds of patrons walking in and out at any given moment.  The staff appeared to be overwhelmed by the sheer volume and so the butter arrived 20 minutes later--that is to say, 20 minutes after hearing my husband and son complain about the service and how they couldn't believe the breakfast was costing over $100 for the three of us.  "Well excuse me for thinking it might be cool to eat inside a Disney castle," I retorted.  It was obvious I was the only one excited about being there.  I made Lewie walk around with me, so I could get some photos, but he wasn't impressed either.  They would have been happier if I brought them to a food stand.

After breakfast, we headed out to go on some attractions before our FastPass+ reservations.  Having downloaded the Disney App, I could see the wait-times for the rides.  Attractions like Space Mountain, Peter Pan's Flight, and the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train were either not running or had 90+ minute wait-times all day long, so we headed on the less popular ones that, of course, were still fun.

Our first one, It's a Small World, was right in Fantasyland.  I remembered this ride back in 1986, and I insisted that the boys had to come with me because it was a classic.  My husband and Lewie chose to make jokes during the entire 10 minute ride, but I was just as entertained as I was at age 11.  I took dozens of pictures.

Right after It's a Small World, we headed to Tomorrowland.   There, Lewie and I chose to go on the Tomorrowland Speedway and the Tomorrowland Transit Authority Peoplemover.  The speedway reminded me of many other speedways we've been to at regular amusement parks, but the Peoplemover was cool. On board, we tranquilly glided above the Tomorrowland part of the park, which gave us outdoor views and even a brief indoor view as we passed through Space Mountain.  As we moved along the outdoor track, Lewie and I used the opportunity to scout out a place that sold popcorn.  Score!  We took mental note of its location and found it once our feet touched the ground again.

In Adventureland, it was time to go on our first FastPass+ ride, Pirates of the Caribbean.  I LOVED this part of the park!  We moved pretty briskly as we didn't want to lose our reservation, but still, I took mental note that I wanted to come back to look at food choices and to explore the Swiss Family Treehouse.  Pirates of the Caribbean was fun and probably my favorite ride inside the Magic Kingdom.  I was bummed that my pictures didn't take, but I have a great one of Lew pretending to bite Lewie with a plastic snake in the gift shop.  "Annette, can I have money to buy this snake?" my husband begged.

"No," I answered, envisioning it positioned under one of my bed pillows.  There was no way I was going to set myself up for years upon years of snake pranks.

Liberty Square was next followed by Frontierland.  First, it was our FastPass+ ride in the Haunted Mansion and then the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.  While on the Haunted Mansion ride, there were a few technical difficulties, and twice we were stopped along the track with ghosts and ghouls around us.  It was not the type of creepy that would give me nightmares, but it was the type of creepy that made me want to jump out of my seat when we were stuck in these rooms for twenty+ minutes.  I didn't now how many more eerie creaks, moans, laughs, and whispers I could take!!

Being afraid of roller coasters, I bypassed the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad ride.  I knew the reviews said it wasn't particularly scary, but I decided better to be safe than sorry.  I used the time to go back to Aventureland to explore the Swiss Family Treehouse and then to get myself a Rockyroad shake!  I even had a chance to watch some of the brave souls go down Splash Mountain before reuniting with my boys.  It was a 60 degree day in the Magic Kingdom, so we opted to stay away from water rides.

At 4 p.m., I was outvoted to leave the park.  Big Lew and Little Lewie were pretty tired and sore from our almost 12 hour day at Epcot, and we all knew that the Magic Kingdom would be closing down at 5 p.m. anyways.  I made us take a few more iconic pictures of Main Street and the Cinderella Castle, and then we called it a night.  Visiting the Magic Kingdom was amazing, but we all agreed it was much busier than any of the other parks.  We would rest up for the rest of the night and get ready for Hollywood Studios and then Universal Studios for the next two consecutive days.