Disney Recap: Hollywood Studios

We went to Hollywood Studios, or Hello Studios if you ask G, on our first day at Disney. Also, the day that it poured down rain in the morning.

We skipped this park all together last time, so this was her first time ever going there.

Since it was pouring down rain when we got there, we found someplace dry to park the stroller and headed to see the Ariel show. (which, freaked G out for some reason) and then to the Disney Junior show.

She is just about three and a half and has been watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse for just about that same length of time.  We are big Disney Junior fans so we figured she would really enjoy the show.

We were right.  There was a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Little Einstein’s and Jake and the Neverland Pirates part. Lots of singing and dancing. Very cute show for the kids and adults.

It was still raining after that so we went and checked out the Animation Courtyard. And BECAUSE it was raining, there were a LOT of characters inside. There is a lot to do in here too – it’s a nice place to cool off, unwind, kind of decompress from the park if you need too.  they have coloring stations and different animations stations for the kids to play on.

The rain finally stopped so we explored more of the park before we had lunch.

Our reservations were for the Sci-Fi Drive-In and I am so glad we ate there! It was a really fun experience and the food was AWESOME!

You eat in cars, like at the drive-in and they play B movies. G thought that was the coolest thing ever.

We did some more stuff (the Muppets 3-D was a huge hit), saw some more characters and a few shows the rest of the afternoon. I took G to see the Beauty and the Beast show while Mike rode some big kid rides. She LOVED it and it is so worth seeing when you go.

The Buzz and Woody meet and greet area is really fun – and there are lots of photo op’s.

We went back to the room to rest for a little bit. G decided that was an AWESOME time to get really wound up, so there was no napping. But we had fast passes for the toy story ride, so we grabbed a snack and headed back to the park a little later.  That ride is so much fun, and she LOVED it a lot – especially playing the games and getting points!  (a tip for this one, get the fast pass as soon as you get in the park – they are usually all gone before 11am. and the wait is usually over 100 minutes for a ride that is less than 5 minutes long!)

We basically just hung around the park, hula hooped,

saw Sorcerer Mickey,

listened to some music, 

Mike rode some more rides and G and I people watched while eating popcorn.

We decided not to stay for Fantasmic because she was pretty tired, but having seen it before – it is worth it if you can get your kid to stay awake AND keep their sanity past 8pm! (another tip: this show has a max capacity – so if you want to stay and watch, plan for it. there are also only a select number of seats and otherwise it is standing room only). 

Also, she passed out pretty quickly after this picture was taken. see……

Overall – it was a good start to our vacation. Mike got to enjoy some rides, G enjoyed lots of shows and characters, and we all really enjoyed the day (and our lunch!).  It’s not the best park for really little kids, but G still got a lot out of it (and got to see lots of characters!) and had a fun day.