50s Prime Time - Part 1
We started off our full day at Hollywood Studios by hitting the crazy scrum that is the queue for TSM fastpasses.
We started striding over to
Pixar Place and Ben was laughing at me because I kept saying Its going to be bedlam babe, its going to be absolute bedlam at Toy Story Mania and he reminded me I had said that at each and every park and so far none of the headliners had been anywhere near bedlam! I had to agree with him, Soarin and EE in particular had been dead! So I was starting to think TSM probably wasnt going to be as bad as I was expecting it to be!
OH BOY did I prove him wrong!! As we got closer to TSM the sheer amount of people milling around was INSANE, I feared for my life!! The amount of people queuing for FPs was actually ridic and we thought the actual queue MUST be shorter so we jogged to the entrance
.45 minutes!!! At about 9.10!!!! Dont understand how that actually happens.
Here is the queue when we first arrived
We looked at each other and turned around and ran to get in the FPs queue that was now snaking all around Pixar Place!!! As we stood in the queue panting, Ben was like okay you were right, this actually is bedlam!! Bedlam with a capital B I think youll find there babe. I couldnt believe this was all for ONE RIDE. Not like an unlimited FP for all rides. One tiny ride.
A CM was walking through the crowd asking any parties of more than 1 to leave the queue so that only one person for each set of tickets was waiting. I stepped out and went to stand by the entrance to watch the drama unfold.
Here is a little snapshot of what the entrance looked at while Ben was nearly at the front.
Ben eventually got to the front after about a 10 minute wait, during which time the return time had shot up to about 12.15! Eeek. He said when he got to the front of the line a guy took his FPs and put them through so there wouldnt be any issues. So it really was all very well organized and I think they do the best they can given the sheer amount of people who flock to this one ride all at once.
Holy Fastpasses
After this craziness we did ToT and RNRC in quick succession, woo!
We were then a bit peckish so decided to investigate some breakfast options. As we were walking toward Starring Rolls (where else would you get breakfast!?) I noticed a little Guest Services stand so we decided to just see if there was any availability for 50s PT so we could go there for lunch instead of Sci-Fi. I think we just werent really feeling Sci-Fi I wanted something more exciting than a burger that I could get at a CS (which were really good!!) and I knew they did homemade milkshakes at 50s PT, plus the new veggie option for Benj that Id seen when we were at the Tune In Lounge (spaghetti and veggie meatballs!) which would mean he wouldnt have to have a veggie burger.
I told the guy we had an ADR for Sci-Fi at 12.30 and were looking for one for 50s PT around the same time and as luck would have it, he had a 12.25 available! Boom, well take it!!
We walked toward Starring Rolls, mega excited about our new lunch plans. We decided to have a light breakfast as we wanted to be super hungry and it was about 10.15 already at this point.
Starring Rolls was amazing, everything I thought it would be and more!! Everything looked delicious but obviously being awkward I wanted something savoury as I really do prefer savoury in the mornings so that limited my choices quite a lot! We decided to share a bagel with Philadelphia cream cheese which counted as a snack credit and we got a chocolate nesquik too! Not at all savoury haha! The bagel was MEGA delicious, the phili went all melty and creamy mmmmmm. We briefly rested on a table outside, it was really busy and everyone seemed to be having the huuuge cinnamon buns, how I wish Id been hungry enough at some point in the holiday to sample the baked goods!!
After breakfast we did Star Tours twice and the Indiana Jones show (awful!!!!) and before we knew it, it was 12.20 and time to check in for our ADR!!
Excitement levels were pretty high.
When we entered the restaurant there were loaaaadsss of people sat and stood around waiting eeek! We hoped we wouldnt be too late as we were starving!! We went to check-in and then joined the masses waiting. I took some photos of the adorable décor! Loved it so much!! I absolutely love anything 50's/retro/vintage so I was completely in my element.
After about 10 minutes wait we were called! So pretty much exactly on our ADR time. I have to say, I really dont think we ever waited more than 10 minutes for our ADRs, they were almost always on time! We didnt always check-in early either, a lot of time it was about 5 minutes before and wed go to the bar and get called before our drinks arrived. I was really happy about this but also surprised because I read sooo many times that wed be waiting ages past our ADR time, especially at places like Ohana and California Grill but that just wasnt the case at all
Maybe it was just because we were a two? But well done Disney anyway!
As we were stood waiting a little old guy walked past us and yelled like literally right in my ear, MORGAN KIDS!!!! FOODS READY!!!! which made us burst out laughing haha, how cute!! I tapped the little guy on the shoulder and he laughed and apologized, he was adorable and he absolutely loved us
He kept coming round to check on everyone and going to us, everything okay with your dinner Morgan kids? hahahha ahhhh.
He led us through the restaurant asking if wed eaten at Moms before etc and we were sat in a room near the back of the restaurant. I was initially disappointed that we werent in the main bit and didnt have a TV but it was cool, we had a TV right along from us and could see the main bit through the shelves next to us
I was later glad we werent out there as the server was a legit crazy!!
Spying on the crazy through the shelves
The little old guy told us we were going to have a wonderful time kids and patted me on the back and left us.
We had to set our own table hehe!!
We didnt have to wait long for our server to appear, the legendary Uncle Dale. Im gonna tell you right now that he was the best server we had all holiday, he was just quite literally the best.
He stopped by our table and reeled off this hilarious spiel about Moms kitchen, what their specials were, what he recommended etc and then when he said and my favourite milkshake iss
. all the other people sat in our section went PB AND J hahah!! Which I loved as that was one of the main reasons for our dining at the restauant!! So I obviously ordered one, mmmm. Ben went for a Margarita as he didnt fancy a milkshake (bit weird, I know) and Dale went Ill go get the keys to Dads liquor cabinet hehehhehehe!! We also ordered some onion rings for a starter in a fit of frivolous expenditure.
Mere moments later, Uncle D was back with our drinks, my milkshake was SO HUGE it was incredible and it tasted
.wow. The best milkshake Ive ever had in my life was in DLP in Anettes Diner, PB and chocolate and this one was definitely on a par but I couldnt possibly choose! Although if it came down to sheer size and amount of shake then the 50s PT would win!! You get a whole glass plus whatever is left in the shaker and I sadly didnt realize you could take it with you to go so I forced down every drop and made myself very, very sick. A cautionary tale kids.
I was so engrossed in my milkshake that I barely noticed Bens margarita but he said it was very enjoyable!
And then, our onion rings arrived! OH MY LORD these are hands down the best onion rings weve ever had. Ever. And weve had a lot of onion rings in our lives. The thing is, Im a bit weird with onion rings and although I love them, I also cannot stand that moment when you bite into it and the slimey onion ring slicks out and into your mouth BLERGH so I actually prefer the cheap ones that have chopped up onion in that sticks to the batter and ensures a nice, even mouthful. So I was taking a big risk with these as I was sure theyd be real!
But oh my goodness, they exceeded all expectations. Somehow, the batter was so perfectly cooked that it stuck to the onions which were so perfectly cooked that they broke on impact with teeth, meaning you got a perfect bite of batter and ring and no slimey slippery bits falling out!! It was amazing. They came with a tartare sauce which we were initially wary of but this too was perfect and worked so well with the rings. One of the best starters in the history of starters.
(Continued in part 2 due to excessive photos...)