Hollywood Studios

This was the first time we visited Hollywood Studios,
and we all left really big fans of the park.

It was supposed to storm all day -
we packed it all rain boots, ponchos, rain jackets,
stroller covers, hats.
I was expecting the worst
and was just happy that most of the rides were indoors.
You know what...it rained for an hour tops,
most of which was while we were inside.
And then the sun came out,
and it was a wonderful day in every way.
Disney just has a way of making things "work out"!
Lexi was all about the thrill rides this trip,
and Hollywood Studios is certainly the place for them.
She had I went on Tower of Terror
and were both pretty terrified.

You ride up in an elevator to the top of that building
and then go into a free fall -
then back up to the top
where we had a front row view of the entire park
before plunging all the way down again.
On more than one occasion,
I was certain we would fly out of our seats.
It was terrifying,
then five minutes later, you want to ride it again.
Vic, Lexi and I all loved the Aerosmith Rockin' Roller Coaster.
You flip upside down, go from zero to about 100 mph,
twist and turn, all the while Aerosmith is blasting.
Super fun.
Side note - Vic and I spent much of the trip screaming on all these rides.
Lexi always jumped off at the end totally silent.
We couldn't understand how she wasn't scared.
Turns out, the proof is in the pics.
Scared stiff seems to be the story here.

One of Ryleigh's very favorite parts of the day
was dancing with Sophia at Hollywood and Vine.
(we had lunch there and met one of our favorite princesses
along with a few other Disney Jr. characters.)

We all also loved the Frozen Singalong.
Anna and two actors walk you through a pretty funny
overview of the movie,
and at the end, Elsa and Olaf appear on stage
and snow falls from the ceiling.
The crowd was encouraged to sing along,
and we tried our best to make Nanny proud.
The humor is right up a 7 year old's alley.
Lexi was lol'ing the entire show.

The Toy Story Mania ride was also a huge highlight.
All four of us loved it -
you zip through the main scenes of the movie on little carts,
trying to break plates and hit the bullseye and throw rings around
toys, all via 3-D glasses, of course.
We finished up the day watching the Indiana Jones Stunt Show.
Ry was so enthralled with it,
she had to cover her eyes during every fire scene.
And Lexi hung on to every word the director said,
laughing and cheering the whole time.
It was fun to introduce the girls to a movie series we both grew up watching.

We rounded out the day strolling the streets of "Hollywood"
with candy, Bailey's and coffee
and great music blasting from the outdoor dance party.
It was fun from start to finish
and neat to explore a brand new park together.
The girls spent the last hours of the night at our hotel's kids camp.
They baked cookies, enjoyed a visit and skit from Captain Hook,
worked on arts and craft projects and had some pizza
while Vic and I snuck away to a quick dinner
in the Grand Floridian at Narcoossee's.
We were both pretty surprised by how great the meal was.
Seafood and wine was the perfect way to close out another day in Disney.