SimplyGoofy
"You are not Mickey Mouse... you are a rat!"
- Joined
- Jul 31, 2011
Toy Story Midway Mania, Take Two
Day 8 – Saturday, February 11th
The day no one likes was here – it was the last full day of our vacation.
No crying (and no sleeping in!) for us - we were going to use every minute of our last full day! We were going to start with bang with the extra magic hours at Hollywood Studios. We needed to improve on our Hollywood Studios experience from Tuesday!
Due to the early hour we didn’t have a fancy breakfast that day. We stopped by the Mara and picked up juice, milk, a fruit cup (Anika), and a yogurt parfait (me). We were waiting at the Animal Kingdom Lodge bus stop just before 7:30.
We made it to the park at a decent time. There weren’t TOO many people in front of us :
Once the gates opened, our first stop was to grab a Fastpass- for Toy Story Midway Mania. We would’ve jumped in line to ride it, but unfortunately the ride was down. Since Toy Story was out, we hightailed it over here:
Nothing like a jump start to make sure you’re fully awake!
Our next stop should not surprise anyone that’s been following along:
It wouldn’t be a complete morning at Hollywood Studios without a ride on our beloved tower!
The lines were pretty short this morning, so we were able to go twice in a row. I captured a few details from the inside of the attraction:
As well as the outside (so tall!):
Not only are the story, perfectly-in-character CMs, and actual plunge of this attraction awesome, but the props and details in this attraction are also perfect. I love this tower!
We planned to head over to Star Tours next, but walked over via Pixar Place to see if the ride had opened.
It had! Even better, as the park had only just opened to the non-Disney resort guests, the line wasn’t even too long! We jumped right into line and managed to experience the entire queue.
To top off our good luck, my score was better than last time! Hooray!
Our meandering toward Star Tours took us through the Streets of America:
And past my favorite fountain:
Anika tried really hard to get a perfect picture with Miss Piggy facing us. Unfortunately, people kept walking between us so this was our best result:
As it’s still me and my Muppet fountain - I’ll take it!
Next up was finally our journey to another galaxy:
I'm pretty sure we got the pod race. Again.
I love the lighting in the exit for this attraction. So blue!
Our Fastpass time was now open for Toy Story Midway Mania, so we headed back to Pixar Place.
No shock here as Disney takes a theme and runs with it, but I love how they decorated this area:
Did anyone else remember these from their childhood? I never had a Mr. Spell but my friend owned a Speak and Spell (which is essentially the same thing). I remember making that thing speak a lot!
They also have several games featured, from a barrel of monkeys to this classic:
For the record, although I adore most board games, I HATE Scrabble. To my parent’s credit, when we were growing up they never “let us win” board games. If we wanted to win, we had to figure them out, get better, and win legitimately. This worked very well for most board games (Monopoly, Sorry, The Game of Life, etc.), but not quite as well with Scrabble. When you’re ten years old and playing with your super-smart, attorney father who has 30 years on you… you lose. You lose BADLY. Due to this childhood experience Scrabble has never been my favorite (even though now I could likely hold my own against my dad).
Nevertheless, I do love this touch in Pixar Place.
After taking in the sights, we headed into the attraction.
The result? (Other than more wrist pain? )
An even higher score! And even better (despite the fact that it’s hard to see…)
BEST IN VEHICLE! Woo-hoo!!!
We followed up our excellent showing on the midway with a favorite Disney snack:
I swear, Disney popcorn must have crack in it. Or something like that. It’s just the best popcorn in the world.
We digested our crack-covered popcorn while walking through another favorite attraction at Hollywood Studios:
I’ve said it before, but if you’re at all a Disney fan (which you must be at least a little bit if you’re in a Disney park!), you MUST visit One Man’s Dream! It has so many photographs and such great memorabilia – it’s like a dream for any Disney fan. What really kills me the most is the movie at the end – I cry. Every. Single. Time. What a wonderful tribute to Walt.
After a full morning at the Studios, it was time for lunch! It was time to travel back in time…
Up Next: Lunch at 50’s Prime Time Café
Day 8 – Saturday, February 11th
The day no one likes was here – it was the last full day of our vacation.
No crying (and no sleeping in!) for us - we were going to use every minute of our last full day! We were going to start with bang with the extra magic hours at Hollywood Studios. We needed to improve on our Hollywood Studios experience from Tuesday!
Due to the early hour we didn’t have a fancy breakfast that day. We stopped by the Mara and picked up juice, milk, a fruit cup (Anika), and a yogurt parfait (me). We were waiting at the Animal Kingdom Lodge bus stop just before 7:30.
We made it to the park at a decent time. There weren’t TOO many people in front of us :
Once the gates opened, our first stop was to grab a Fastpass- for Toy Story Midway Mania. We would’ve jumped in line to ride it, but unfortunately the ride was down. Since Toy Story was out, we hightailed it over here:
Nothing like a jump start to make sure you’re fully awake!
Our next stop should not surprise anyone that’s been following along:
It wouldn’t be a complete morning at Hollywood Studios without a ride on our beloved tower!
The lines were pretty short this morning, so we were able to go twice in a row. I captured a few details from the inside of the attraction:
As well as the outside (so tall!):
Not only are the story, perfectly-in-character CMs, and actual plunge of this attraction awesome, but the props and details in this attraction are also perfect. I love this tower!
We planned to head over to Star Tours next, but walked over via Pixar Place to see if the ride had opened.
It had! Even better, as the park had only just opened to the non-Disney resort guests, the line wasn’t even too long! We jumped right into line and managed to experience the entire queue.
To top off our good luck, my score was better than last time! Hooray!
Our meandering toward Star Tours took us through the Streets of America:
And past my favorite fountain:
Anika tried really hard to get a perfect picture with Miss Piggy facing us. Unfortunately, people kept walking between us so this was our best result:
As it’s still me and my Muppet fountain - I’ll take it!
Next up was finally our journey to another galaxy:
I'm pretty sure we got the pod race. Again.
I love the lighting in the exit for this attraction. So blue!
Our Fastpass time was now open for Toy Story Midway Mania, so we headed back to Pixar Place.
No shock here as Disney takes a theme and runs with it, but I love how they decorated this area:
Did anyone else remember these from their childhood? I never had a Mr. Spell but my friend owned a Speak and Spell (which is essentially the same thing). I remember making that thing speak a lot!
They also have several games featured, from a barrel of monkeys to this classic:
For the record, although I adore most board games, I HATE Scrabble. To my parent’s credit, when we were growing up they never “let us win” board games. If we wanted to win, we had to figure them out, get better, and win legitimately. This worked very well for most board games (Monopoly, Sorry, The Game of Life, etc.), but not quite as well with Scrabble. When you’re ten years old and playing with your super-smart, attorney father who has 30 years on you… you lose. You lose BADLY. Due to this childhood experience Scrabble has never been my favorite (even though now I could likely hold my own against my dad).
Nevertheless, I do love this touch in Pixar Place.
After taking in the sights, we headed into the attraction.
The result? (Other than more wrist pain? )
An even higher score! And even better (despite the fact that it’s hard to see…)
BEST IN VEHICLE! Woo-hoo!!!
We followed up our excellent showing on the midway with a favorite Disney snack:
I swear, Disney popcorn must have crack in it. Or something like that. It’s just the best popcorn in the world.
We digested our crack-covered popcorn while walking through another favorite attraction at Hollywood Studios:
I’ve said it before, but if you’re at all a Disney fan (which you must be at least a little bit if you’re in a Disney park!), you MUST visit One Man’s Dream! It has so many photographs and such great memorabilia – it’s like a dream for any Disney fan. What really kills me the most is the movie at the end – I cry. Every. Single. Time. What a wonderful tribute to Walt.
After a full morning at the Studios, it was time for lunch! It was time to travel back in time…
Up Next: Lunch at 50’s Prime Time Café