We had breakfast reservations at Hollywood & Vine at
8:15. This reservation was primarily so
we could sign Dakota up for Jedi Training and still get into the park before
lines got crazy. Once they finally let us in the gate, we headed straight for
the Outpost to sign up Dakota for Jedi Training. We were only the 2nd or 3rd
kid to sign up for the day so we pretty much had a pick of times. I knew we had a fast pass for Star Tours
around 2:10 so we signed up for the 1:40 show, knowing the show would be right
next to the Star Tours entrance. We then
headed back to Hollywood & Vine.
Hollywood & Vine is a decent breakfast. We liked it, but it was pretty standard. Sarah was still a little nervous around the
characters but finally would get down and stand by them by the time Handy Manny
came around. I enjoyed seeing Doc McStuffins. She’s probably my favorite from that
breakfast. When my son was little, I was
excited to meet Handy Manny. Sarah
didn’t really know who he was this time, but still agreed to get a picture with
him.
After breakfast, my original plan had us going to Toy Story
Mania with about a 20-30 minute wait. We
arrive about 30 minutes ahead of schedule, shortly after rope drop (maybe 10-15
minutes) and the line was already at 95 minutes. We decided we were not waiting in that line
and instead turned around and headed back to Voyage of the Little Mermaid. Jon and Dakota went in Launch Bay while Sarah
and I did the Little Mermaid show. I
always liked Voyage of the Little Mermaid.
Sarah liked Ariel but she was terrified of Ursula. She’s not a fan of Ursula AT ALL. But really,
who is?
After the Little Mermaid, we headed for our first FPP of the
day – Tower of Terror. It was scheduled
for some time around 10:15am. I love Tower of Terror. Jon hates it.
He has ridden it before but now refuses.
Luckily, I have my little dare devil in tow and he rides with me. He was scared, but loved it. And he loved to brag to his dad about how HE
rode Tower of Terror and his dad was too scared.
After Tower of Terror, we had a little bit of time before
our FPP for Rock N Roller Coaster, so we swung by the Beauty and the Beast
theater and watched the stage show. The
amphitheater was cooler than outside and it was a nice break. The show is wonderful. The kids enjoyed it –
Sarah kept asking where the beast went every time he left the stage.
Next was Jon and my favorite: Rock ‘N Roller Coaster staring
Aerosmith. Jon rode with his dad the
first time and he loved it. Next, was my
turn with rider swap. I absolutely love
this ride. I love the take off, the
music, the scenes – just love it. This
is probably my all-time favorite roller coaster. By the time we were through
with the roller coaster, we didn’t have a ton of time until Jedi Training. I tried to make it to the Frozen show before
it began but the theater was already full.
While the guys picked up Starbucks, Sarah and I relaxed at the tables
next to the Frozen ride. By the time the
guys joined us, she was asleep.
We hung out drinking our mocha frappucinos until it was
almost time to go to the Outpost. Here’s
where I about lost it thinking I was the worst mom ever. I remembered reading that he needed to line
up closest to the audience. I’d thought
that was once they got to the theater.
From what I’d read, the one closest to the audience fought Darth Vader
and the other fought the Seventh Sister.
Dakota did not want to fight a seventh sister and was devastated when he
realized he was in the wrong line. I was
devastated too. Jon talked to him and
convinced him to try. He did and I was
proud of him. Then, they brought out who they would be fighting. To my surprise, he wasn’t fighting a seventh
sister…he was fighting Kylo Ren! He was so excited and was perfectly fine with
not fighting Darth at that point. Memory
Maker provided us with some awesome shots of him fighting Kylo Ren.
Once we were done with Jedi Training, it was about time for
our last fast pass plus. Jon and Dakota
went on first. By this time, we’d decided we’d go back to the room for a nap
after this. While waiting, I discovered
there were some Toy Story Midway Mania fast passes later in the day. As soon as I scanned in for Star Tours, I
started looking. The earliest I could
see was at 7:10pm. I knew that would
push it for Fantasmic, even with the dining package, but really wanted to ride
Toy Story Midway Mania. I kept trying
later and eventually got one for 7:00pm.
After some rest in the room, we headed back to Hollywood
Studios. Just past security, Dakota
announces that he’d left his MagicBand in the room. Instead of going back to the car, he and Jon
hopped the bus back to get his MagicBand while Sarah and I went in begin
exploring. We stopped 3 different times
for photopass pictures and got some awesome pics. We then went to the Frozen Ever After Sing
Along. It was very cute. I wish Jon had been able to see it with
us. He would’ve loved the jokes. Sarah kept asking where Anna was after she
left stage. She wasn’t a huge fan of the
snow falling at the end of the show.
By the time the show was over, the guys were back waiting on
us. The show lasted a little longer than
expected so it was already time for our Toy Story Midway Mania fastpass. We got there and had to wait a bit, even in
the fastpass line. It was a very cool
ride, but by the time we got out, it was time to be at Fantasmic. They’d told us to be there at 7:30 and it was
very close to 7:30. I stopped for a very
quick bathroom break and we booked it.
By the time we got in and up the ramp to the theater, it was maybe 7:40
or so. The dining package section was
extremely full. We couldn’t find seats
anywhere. I heard another guy
complaining that these were supposed to be reserved seats. I would expect it you had paid extra (or not
if your using the dining plan) for a dining package, those seats would be
limited to those with dining packages and more seats would not be sold than
available. However, we were told by the
not so great cast member that they’d let people come in from the night
before. He said there were seats but we
didn’t see any – everything we saw was being “saved.” He said there were some
earlier down near the bottom of the theater.
By this time, I was almost in tears.
I told Jon I didn’t think I could walk down those steps and then turn
around and walk back when there was nothing.
Luckily, this family sitting near the top offered to make room for
us. I was so thankful to that family. I hope they received plenty of Disney magic on
their trip.
As for Fantasmic – I didn’t recall being terribly impressed
with it before but have seen so many people talk about how great it was, I
wanted to see it again. Sarah was
terrified of this show. After about 10
minutes, we were getting bored and Sarah was terrified so I walked out with
her. We walked out of the theater and I
found a place across the street to get a drink. While waiting on the drink, Sarah said
something to me about being terrified and I mentioned to the cast member
working that Fantasmic had scared her.
She asked Sarah if a cupcake would help and gave her a free
cupcake. More Disney Magic!
Shortly after we’d taken a seat waiting on the boys, Jon and
Dakota came down – they’d gotten bored with the show as well. We sat there for a bit watching the Star Wars
Fireworks from a distance and let some of the crowd get out. We finally decided to battle the rest of the
crowd back to the room.
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