disney

Epic Mickey: Hooray For Hollywood Studios

April 24, 2012 By Blonde Mom 7 Comments

The iconic landmark Crossroads of the World, a great place to grab info and a souvenir, greets you as you enter Hollywood Studios.

We headed to Hollywood on our last day at Disney World—Hollywood Studios to be precise.

Although this was our last day at Disney we still had plenty of time to explore one last park as our flight didn’t depart until after 6 p.m. After a quick breakfast at Starring Rolls Cafe in Hollywood Studios (a great quick service option on the Disney Dining Plan) we headed to the Indian Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular. We’re big fans of all the Indiana Jones flicks so I didn’t doubt that this was a show we needed to check out, provided there were no live snakes or hostile natives with poisonous dart shooting blow guns. We all loved it. It had action, pyrotechnics, and plenty of humor weaved throughout to keep us entertained the entire half hour.

Fun special effects and explosions were on hand during the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular.

Disney World Tip: Make plans throughout your Disney parks experience to enjoy some of the shows. This is a great way to sit down and chill out temporarily (quite often literally from the Florida heat) from the crowds and ride madness. Plan on arriving at least 15 minutes before show time, however, in order to snag a decent seat. Be sure to research times in advance, too. If you’re on Verizon, the Mobile Magic App is a must for your phone and provides daily show times for each park.

We’re big Star Wars fans so we had Star Tours on our “must do” list at Hollywood Studios and we had grabbed Fast Passes prior to the Indiana Jones Spectacular. As luck would have it, when we left the Indiana Jones show we spotted a Jedi Training Academy session outside Star Tours and heard the undeniable sounds of light sabres. The Force. It was with us. We loved Star Tours. It’s definitely a must do ride for Star Wars fans, young and not so young. (I remember having a HUGE crush on Mark Hamill in the Empire Strikes Back days).

Stormtroopers on alert during the Jedi training show.

I’m a huge chicken when it comes to thrill rides. Let’s just say that during all my Disney World family vacation planning I may or may not have Googled things like “scary rides to avoid at Disney” and “Disney rides that will make you pee your pants and cry for your mama” to ensure I’d come home in one piece. Neither hubby or I like heights so we knew we didn’t want to ride the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror with Miss C and even she had heard from enough friends that it was really scary so we enjoyed the polar opposite of thrill seeking terror at the Muppet Vision 3-D show. Very cute and entertaining for Muppet fans of all ages. I mean who doesn’t love Kermit and Miss Piggy? I was also feeling a little green after riding Star Tours. I blame having an empty stomach. It’s not easy being green, is it Kermit?

One ride we didn’t get a chance to check out with the girls was Toy Story Mania! If you have kids, especially ones 12 and younger, it’s a must do on my list. I’d had the chance to check it out on my Traveling Mom travel blogger retreat in February 2011. It’s very similar, however, to Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, which we’d ridden when we’d gone to the Magic Kingdom.

We got in more exploring time after a quick lunch at the ABC Commissary and then it was time to head back to the hotel and quickly hit the lobby souvenir shop before catching a late afternoon shuttle to the airport. Miss C picked out an adorable stuffed Mickey Mouse and Miss A chose a Disney character charm bracelet (which honestly surprised me as she’s not such a girly girl) and a cool Wizard Mickey comic book.

One thing to note about the resort checkout experience is that Disney World strives to make so many of these travel details as streamlined as possible. We were flying on Southwest Airlines and we were able to check in our luggage directly at All Star Movies Resort. This was a nice perq to staying on Disney property as we didn’t have to worry about our luggage once we left our hotel.

Lights, camera, action!

Of all the Disney world theme parks, Hollywood Studios was probably our least “must do” park but, as with all things Disney, we loved it!

What are your must dos at Hollywood Studios?

I’ve been writing about our first ever Disney World family vacation. Check out my previous posts!

Day 1: Magic Kingdom

Day 2: Animal Kingdom

Day 3: Epcot

Day 4: Magic Kingdom

Check out all my Disney World pictures on Flickr.

Filed Under: Travel 7 Comments

Epic Mickey: Swashbuckling Pirates, Splash Mountain, And Wicked Stepsisters

April 12, 2012 By Blonde Mom 10 Comments

Another beautiful day at the Magic Kingdom.

No matter how big, or small, a kid you are, you can never get too much of the Magic Kingdom. On our fourth at Disney we headed back to the Magic Kingdom as we had visited the park on day one of our vacation but didn’t arrive until late afternoon. I hadn’t purchased the Park Hopper option for our tickets and that ended up being fine as we had five days to explore all the parks.

Pirates of the Carribean had been closed temporarily for maintenance on our arrival day and was on our must do list so we headed straight to Adventureland to check it out and get our Jack Sparrow on! Adventureland ended up being one of our favorite areas of Magic Kingdom. As luck would have it, a pirate show was going on (and who can turn down a good pirate show?) and while hubby and the girls enjoyed all the swashbuckling fun, I headed to Splash Mountain for Fast Passes. It finally had clicked in my brain that the key to avoiding lines for your “must do” ride was to immediately high tail it to that ride as soon as you entered the park to snag Fast Passes. Then you can enjoy some other rides and activities and plan your day accordingly.

Honestly I tried not to plan our daily Disney agenda to death even though I can be a complete control freak. At one point when we were in line to get Snow White’s autograph I noticed the woman in front of me had a laminated schedule timed down to the minute for their day. Now THAT is a planner. We had our ideas of the must do things we wanted to hit but we could have easily spent another full day at every park. There’s just no way to do it all and I resolved to be all zen with Mickey Mouse about it.

Is that Johnny Depp or Jack Sparrow? Either way, I just had to take his rogue pirate’s picture. Ahem.

One thing you can definitely plan on is getting wet during the grand finale 52-foot plummet on Splash Mountain. Actually hubby and Miss C were seated in front and got soaked! Miss A and I escaped without getting too wet. Splash Mountain was one of our favorite rides. I loved the Song of the South theme and at 11 minutes it was one of the longest rides at Disney. We also rode the Walt Disney World train ride that encircles the Magic Kingdom, which was a nice slow change of pace, and got a sneak peek at some of the construction for the new Fantasyland area, scheduled to open in 2013. The new area will feature an Ariel ride, Belle’s cottage, and more. The conductor and tour guide did an excellent job of giving us some scoop on all of the new rides and attractions being built during this expansion project. This fun time-lapse video from April 10 posted on the official Disney Parks blog gives a sneak peak of the progress being made. And so of course all this means we MUST GO BACK to Disney, right?

Getting ready to get soaked on Splash Mountain!

We enjoyed lunch at Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn, which didn’t make my favorite restaurant list. The food is decent enough quick service for a fast burger but isn’t anything to write home about, quite honestly. Because I’d done a lot of research, though, I knew that the food at Magic Kingdom is not the best the parks have to offer. But it’s fine for fast, family fare. The girls loved it. Plus we had dinner reservations that evening at 1900 Park Fare.

After lunch we headed to Future World and went exploring. Tomorrowland Speedway was our final ride for the day at Magic Kingdom and we loved it! I felt like Danica Patrick with the wind whipping my hair. OK not really. I think we went 5 MPH. The girls drove the cars, though, and it was a blast.

Tomorrowland Speedway

We headed back to the hotel early afternoon as we were all a little worn out. The weather was breezy and temperatures were in the 60s so it was a tad too cool for extended pool time but we did lounge poolside for an hour or so before relaxing a little in our room and getting ready for dinner at the beautiful Grand Floridian hotel. All Star Movies does a great job of planning fun organized poolside games for kids.

A little piece of advice for ya’ll. You can consult all the books and websites you want but you will always get the best advice from friends who have been to Disney multiple times! A friend told me that we should definitely take the water taxi over to the Grand Floridian which launches near the entrance to the Magic Kingdom. The boat ride back over to Magic Kingdom late that evening was a tad chilly but it was such a special way to end our last evening at Disney.

The Grand Floridian is one gorgeous Disney property. It reminded me of the Hotel Del Coronado in California. I had made dinner reservations for the Cinderella character dinner back in December. Although my girls are way past the Bibbitty Bobbitty Boutique age and dressing up like little princesses, they absolutely loved interacting with the characters during our buffet dinner. I highly recommend Cinderella’s Happily Ever After Dinner at 1900 Park Fare for a fun character experience and a great meal. The girls got autographs from Cinderella, Prince Charming, and the wicked stepmother and stepsisters (who were absolutely hilarious in character.) Plus you get to see an incredible upscale Disney property. After dinner we walked on the beach and enjoyed the water parade, minus the crowds.

It was hard to believe this was our last full day and night and Disney, but we had the entire next day to spend at Hollywood Studios.

That crazy Anastasia with the girls

I’ve been writing about our first ever Disney World vaca. Check out my previous posts!

Day 1: Magic Kingdom

Day 2: Animal Kingdom

Day 3: Epcot

Next post: Last day at Disney…Hooray for Hollywood! Hollywood Studios, that is.

Filed Under: Travel 10 Comments

Epic Mickey: Lunch In Italy, $8 Beers In Germany, And Soarin’ (Day 3)

March 28, 2012 By Blonde Mom 3 Comments

It’s not every Monday that you tell your kids you’re going to Italy for lunch.

We headed to Epcot on day 3 of our Disney World family vacation and I was pleasantly surprised at just how much my girls loved it. Epcot, in fact, ended up being one of their favorite parks. We covered so much territory and so many cultures I could write even more than I have, but I’ll just hit the highlights. And you can’t read highlights about Epcot without mentioning food!

I’d made lunch reservations for Via Napoli back in December after reading several incredible reviews of Epcot’s newest Italian restaurant. We arrived at the park mid-morning and started working our way around the countries as we headed toward Italy.

Our first Disney princess we spied was beautiful Mulan from China. She was gracious and friendly and the girls loved meeting her. My girls are well past the Disney Princess age, but this was one princess they could relate to. Girl power rules! Speaking of girl power, as I was fumbling around in my bag for my camera because PRINCESS SIGHTING! I somehow managed to pop the button on my shorts. So classy ya’ll!

The girls with Mulan. They had a great conversation about Nashville!

In all seriousness, here’s a great travel tip for you if you head to Disney in early March. Epcot’s annual International Flower & Garden Festival’s official kick off date was March 7 but we were in the park March 4 and all of the incredible character topiaries were already on display. We may have missed the related festival events, but we got to see these topiary masterpieces minus the extra crowds. And every time you avoid huge crowds at Disney an angel gets her mouse ears, or something like that.

Yes it’s Tow Mater and Lightning McQueen as you’ve never seen them before. This seriously cracked me up.

The weather was also absolutely picture perfect. We couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful day.

Donald and Daisy in flower form.

We logged plenty of walking time before our 11:30 lunch reservations at Via Napoli. The restaurant had just opened for the day for lunch and our food was absolutely incredible. The oven fired pizza was amazing and so was the ambiance. Even though we felt like we’d been transported to Italy, the subtle Disney touches that keep that magic going were there. The balsamic oil in vinegar for dipping bread was even artfully added in the shape of Mickey’s iconic face and ears by our server. Via Napoli is definitely one of my must do dining experiences at Epcot.

Are we in Italy? Because it sure feels like it.

Reservations are a must for Via Napoli, one of our favorite dining experiences at Epcot.

After lunch we explored more of the country expo areas but we eventually made our way to Soarin’. We didn’t have a Fast Pass (they were gone by the time we arrived) but we decided it was well worth the 40-minute wait and it was. Soarin’ simulates hanggliding and you really feel like you are flying thanks to the biggest movie screen I’ve ever seen. This was the longest wait for a ride we encountered during our 5-day vacation but as I mentioned, it was well worth it!

Speaking of Fast Passes, as luck would have it we struck up a conversation with a couple as we were leaving Soarin’ and they just happened to be leaving the park for the day so they gave us their THREE Fast Passes to Fast Track. Cha ching! We headed over to Fast Track and while hubby and the girls basically walked right in, I wandered over to the Fast Pass dispenser and grabbed four more for later in the evening as I really wanted to ride Fast Track. It ended up being one of our favorite rides, ranked up with Soarin’ in the top 3.

More topiary cuteness near England. Pooh!

After I snagged four Fast Passes to Test Track with our park tickets I trotted over to Mission Space to check out the wait time, which was less than 10 minutes. Miss C (my 9-year-old) and the hubby opted for the more intense ride, while Miss A and I opted for the less intense version. Maybe because every sign at every turn warned against claustrophobia and motion sickness, but I wasn’t so keen on Mission Space. The girls loved it, though, especially Miss C.

Mission Space, one of the coolest ride exteriors at Epcot.

We ended up circling back around to the World Showcase area and headed into Mexico where we rode the Gran Fiesta Tour inside the giant Mexico pavillion. It was honestly a tad hokey, but was a pleasant change from Future World and all of the space and technology theme attractions. An added bonus was spying Donald Duck in a full on sombrero! Photo op and autograph time again. We also rode another indoor ride, Maelstrom, a Viking inspired ride in Norway.

All the walking was making us thirsty and hungry so after wandering around aimlessly in Germany looking for beer (only half way kidding!) we headed to the Japanese Pavillion for dinner as I’d read that it was a good choice for a quick service meal (remember, we were on the dining plan). We sat outside by a beautiful koi fish pond and enjoyed a live show not far from Katsura Grill at dusk. Really pretty amazing scenery.

We walked around even more (I wish I’d worn a pedometer) and ended up closing the evening with The Seas with Nemo & Friends, a sweet ride suited for really young kids, Turtle Talk With Crush, and then finally used our fast passes for Test Track, which I loved! This was hubby and the girls’ second time on Test Track and my first. It’s a thrilling fast vehicle simulation ride (that sped up to 60 MPH) and another must do, along with Soarin’. It’s a 5-minute ride and I highly recommend grabbing a Fast Pass for either it or Soarin’ as soon as you arrive in Epcot.

I don’t have photos to do it justice, but Epcot closes with the 14-minute IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth fireworks and laser show and it was a highlight of our trip. We honestly liked it even more than Wishes at Magic Kingdom. The show and music were incredible!

Day 1: Magic Kingdom

Day 2: Animal Kingdom

Next post: Return to the Magic Kingdom and dinner at the Grand Floridian with Cinderella, Prince Charming, and those wacky wicked stepsisters.