Trip Report Day Two: Hollywood Studios - Lunchtime and Attractions!

So now that we're back on track, and I've remembered what we did when - let's continue!

After we did some shopping, and got our pictures in front of the Tower of Terror, we headed off to another ride!  Noah LOVES Star Wars, so of course the Star Tours ride was on our list.

I don't have a picture, but I wish I would have taken one of the crowds at this point.  It was around 11:30 AM and the streets of Hollywood Studios were PACKED.  I was so glad we had our Fast Passes; we hopped in line and rode - it was awesome!

We then had some time to kill before our last FastPass ride and lunch, so we headed back to the Animation area.  Noah saw on the Times Guide that Fro-Zone and Mr. Incredible were going to be there taking pictures, so we headed over there!

After a quick "Hi, how are you", we did our best superhero impressions and took some pictures.

(I know, I know, we're very scary and intimidating.)

At this point, it was time to head over to Toy Story Midway Mania, our third FastPass for the day.  Instead of waiting in a 3 hour + line for this attraction, we went into the FastPass lane and boarded our cart in short order.

I didn't take any pictures on the ride itself; I was too busy kicking Noah's butt.

Or trying.

Yes, he won.  Crap.

I want a rematch!  

After Toy Story, it was time to grab our lunch at the 50s Prime Time Cafe.  Noah is a meat-and-potatoes guy, so I selected meals that would be sure to have that type of food on the menu.  The Prime Time Cafe is such a place; it's like a 50s-style diner, but with a "homey" atmosphere.  Check out some of the decor!

Also, if you like a little "all in good fun" ribbing, this is the place for you.  Your waiter makes sure you mind your manners, say please and thank you, and NO elbows on the table!

They also have many vintage black and white TV sets that are playing clips of classic TV shows like Father Knows Best and I Love Lucy.

It was time to order!

Remember these view finders??  The dessert menu is listed there.

Noah ordered the fried chicken, and I had the day's special, a beef stroganoff.

We also shared a dessert, a brownie sundae.  We only had about 1/2 of it, even sharing it was HUGE!

Full and happy, we rolled ourselves back to the bus stop.  We had a fancy dinner out that night with friends from home, and wanted a few hours of downtime before we got ready.

As you can see, the sun had some out and the clouds went away!

Back to Pop Century we go!

See ya next time!

Name That Tree!

During our trip to Disney World, we were able to enjoy the amazing Christmas decorations at the parks and resorts.

Below is a picture from one of those trees; can you guess where this beauty is located?

Another day of the Trip Report is coming up tomorrow - Stay Tuned!

Trip Report Day Two: Hollywood Studios - We see an ACTUAL STAR! (Part Three)

So after the last installment, I left you with a little nugget about a certain famous TV star we saw as we walked towards Hollywood Boulevard.  We'll get to that in a moment, but first:

As we made our way to the shops, I grabbed some pictures along the way.

Hello, Kermie!  You're so cute!

Look, it's a Tiny Tower of Terror!  (No, sir, I will NOT be riding on that elevator.  Fool me once, shame on me...fool me twice.....)

Now, onto the shopping!!  There is so much cute merchandise for kids (and adults, of course), you really have to pace yourself.  With nieces and my cousin's little boys living in town, it's SO TEMPTING to just say to the store clerk, "I'll take one of everything."

As we left the store, we stood for a moment and watch the Streetmosphere performance.  All around Hollywood Boulevard, these spontaneous performances will spring up.  They're always super funny!

Then, you guessed it - onto another store.  I always intend to buy another coffee cup, but then I have the "how will I get it home" conversation with myself.  We've all seen how delicately the TSA handles our bags at the airport, so I knew it wouldn't make it home.  Another time, perhaps.  (And yes, you can have Disney ship items back home for you, but I wasn't really wanting to spend money on shipping for just one coffee cup.)

I had to check out the latest Vinylmations; these are 3" collectible figures that I collect, and I wanted to see the new offerings.  (I *might* have some home with about 10 of them after this trip was all said and done.  Ahem.)  I'll dedicate a whole post to the Vinylmations in the coming weeks.

With the new MagicBands that you wear on your wrist (as your room key, charging privileges and Fast Pass redeemer), you can accessorize them and bling them out.  I, of course, chose a few different sets and mixed and matched mine.

See?  Fun, huh?

But I saved the best part for last.  When we were in the Lights, Motors show, our sister texted Noah and said she read on Twitter that Nolan Gould, who plays Luke on ABC's Modern Family, was in Disney World that day!  We thought that was cool, but in a huge place like Disney World, what are the chances you'd run into a bona-fide celebrity?

As it turns out, pretty good chances, actually!  As we rounded the road to head to Hollywood Blvd, there he was, taking New Years promo pictures with Goofy!!

Work it, work it!

It was pretty cool to see a TV star in person!  When we had dinner that evening with friends of ours, they said they saw Academy Award nominated actress Jessica Chastain at the parks, as well, so apparently it was Celebrity Time at Disney.

Coming up next installment - we flex our artistic muscles and draw Dopey (or attempt to draw, I should say)!

Trip Report Day Two: Hollywood Studios - Oops, forgot some pictures!!

So I was really patting myself on the back for remembering so much of "what we did when" on our Disney trip, without notes or anything.

Then I looked at the pictures again and remembered I skipped about our whole first hour at Hollywood Studios.  I am going the blame this slip-up on the fact that I'm moving next week.  My brain is in shambles.

Anyhoo, so we DID head to Tatooine Traders first, but we didn't go right from there to the Lights, Motors show.  One of the best things about the new FastPass system is that you ran reserve them from home, so you don't need to run from attraction to attraction - you know when you have to be at the most popular ones, so you can have your chance to ride, but in the meantime you can stroll about and do whatever you'd like!  Since we had about 45 minutes until the Lights, Motor show, we headed over to the Animation section of the park, to meet some characters and take an animation class.

Since we roused ourselves out of bed and got there early, we were able to get into the first Animation class of the day with no wait!

At varying points in the day, you can go into the Animation building and take a short 15-20 minute class, with about 25 other people, on how to draw one of the famous Disney characters.  The animation teacher takes a short poll at the start of class to see who you want to draw, and from there a decision is made.  This day, our group chose Dopey.

They guide you through all the steps, one at a time, and then you step back at the end and say, "Hey, that kinda resembles the character we were supposed to draw!  How about that!"

My Dopey is above; Noah's is below.  Once I get settled into my new house, I am going to frame this in my office.

There are quite a few free / no cost fun things to do at Disney, and this is definitely one of them.  There is no charge to take the class, but I would suggest getting there and your place in line about 20 minutes before the next class, perhaps sooner at a really busy time.

There are also lots of characters out and about a different times of the day, and you can get your pictures taken!  (Noah had his eyes closed in that first one, but I had to post it because Sorcerer Mickey is my absolute favorite incarnation of Mickey.  How cute is he?!)

We then went into a very posh dressing room for Ms Minnie and had our picture taken with her, as well.

To bring us back to being on track, here are some pictures we got on Hollywood Blvd, with the Tower of Terror in the background.

Pretend you're on the ride!  Woo!!  (If I was really pretending I was on the ride, I'd be in the fetal position on the ground, shaking, but somehow I didn't think that'd make a good picture.)

The photographer then said, "Get really close and hug each other!"  I hope this picture adequately conveys how awkward this moment was.

OK, now we're back on track!  On with the Trip Report!