This morning Grandpa Gary & Grandma Terry drove up to pick up
Drew, Jayden, and myself for a day trip to Disney Springs and
Disney's Hollywood Studios. Samantha had to work until 1pm today,
but she planned to drive up to meet us after she finished her day.
Our first stop was at Disney Springs, and we only had one
destination in mind - 'Disney's Wonderful World of Memories' shop to
pick up the newest passholder magnets. We did walk through the
'World of Disney' shop on our way, but there were no other detours
today. Once we picked up our magnets we headed back to the car to
make the short drive over to Disney's Hollywood Studios.
Our first stop inside the park was at Oscar's Super Service to
rent a wheelchair. We then found our way to a table near the
Dockside Diner where we ate the lunches that we packed. We had a
longer than usual drive over today thanks to traffic, so by this
time it was already our normal lunch times anyway.
Since we were so close, we decided to head over to see the For
The First Time In Forever-A "Frozen" Sing Along Celebration
show, as it is scheduled to close for a refurbishment soon. This
show always takes me back to when the kids were little - hearing how
excited the kids in the audience get during the show reminds me when
Tyler, Sam, Drew, and Jay used to get excited about these types of
shows themselves. Of course they don't quite give that same reaction
now, and it brings me to tears at times thinking about how those
days have passed. It was certainly fun while it lasted!
We then headed over to see the Muppet*Vision 3D show, as
we were able to time it just right to walk right in to the theater.
Although I still enjoy the show, I would love to see the film
updated in some way, as it is definitely showing it's age.
We next headed over to Star Tours - The Adventure Continues.
Although this is definitely the oldest Star Wars attraction in the
park, we still love it. This is one attraction that they have done a
good job keeping up to date, and the fact that it varies each time
you ride it makes it all the more enjoyable.
We decided to see the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular
next, but we had some time to kill while waiting for the next
showing, so we decided to watch the Vacation Fun short movie
in the nearby theater. The show was a cute little cartoon short
about Mickey and Minnie mouse packing for and going on a vacation.
Pretty cute, but definitely not one I feel the need to see
repeatedly. We made it to the Indiana Jones theater in time to see
the show, which is still enjoyable, and pretty much as I remember it
from the last time we saw it.
Sam arrived while we were watching the Indiana Jones show, so we
met up with her outside the theater once it was over. We headed off
to Sunset Boulevard to hit up The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
ride. We - minus Grandpa Gary & Grandma Terry - got to experience a
first (for us) on this particular ride - as we made our way to the
drop tower, the ride stopped. Shortly after stopping the lights came
on, and we waited to see if we would be evacuated or if we would get
to finish the ride. After a short wait, we were allowed to continue
the ride - but with the lights on the entire time! Definitely an
interesting experience, to say the least.
While we were nearby, the kids and I headed over to the Rock
'n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith, which turned into another
interesting experience. We waited through the line, making it nearly
to the point where we were ready to be loaded into the car, only for
them to announce that the ride was experiencing difficulties. We
waited a brief moment before the emptied the loaded car that was
waiting to take off. I think we assumed they would send that car on
its way and then load the next one. Instead, the sent everyone to
the exits, giving them a "Fastpass" on the way out to use at
(almost) any ride in the park, including this one if it reopened.
We instead decided to use our pass on Toy Story Mania!, as
it is a ride that we all enjoy. Unfortunately, because we used our
passes, Grandpa Gary & Grandma Terry had to sit this one out as
well. Like usual, Drew beat us all at this ride game. One of these
days I will find a way to best him!
We headed from Toy Story Land to Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge. Due to
her own traffic issues coming over, Sam didn't get a lunch today, so
we stopped off at Docking Bay 7 Food and Cargo for her to grab a
bite to eat. We then decided to get on the Millennium Falcon:
Smugglers Run ride. There is supposed to be a "cheat code" that
you can use for this ride, but I apparently screwed up our
opportunity to try it out all because I hit one of the buttons
before I was supposed to. Regardless, we actually had a pretty good
run on the Falcon today, as I think we set a personal record for
ships captured!
Once the ride was over, we had to decide what to do next. Since
Sam arrived to the park late, she wanted to continue at the parks.
The rest of us were getting a bit tired, plus I had to work tomorrow
morning, Drew had a tee time for golf, and Grandpa Gary & Grandma
Terry got up early to make the drive to pick us up. It was decided
that Sam and Jay would park hop over to Disney's Magic Kingdom, and
the rest of us would make the drive home.
We ended up stopping at Red Robin for dinner tonight - a change
from our usual dinner at Chili's. We had stopped coming to this
location for a while as the service hadn't been great on our
previous visits, but tonight was good all around. Prompt service and
good food - what more could we ask for? We headed home once our meal
was complete.
The girls enjoyed their time at Disney's Magic Kingdom from what
I was told, riding both Splash Mountain and Big Thunder
Mountain Railroad.
I can't wait for the opportunity to do it with them all once
again. What a great day! |