Hollywood Studios: Our Final Day - WDW 2012 Day 6 (and 7)
Saturday, October 27th
I'm not sure why Hollywood Studios is always the last day of the trip. No matter what we do, we always end up being here on the last day. So every picture ever taken of me at Hollywood Studios is a picture of exhaustion. Maybe that's why we didn't take any pictures of ourselves at this park today.
We didn't start out the day at the opening ceremony at the park. Nope. Today, we opted for breakfast "out." Which basically meant, we didn't eat breakfast at our hotel. We went to the Polynesian Hotel and Kona Cafe. I've seen this restaurant for years and have heard nothing but raves for their food. There was this thing called Tonga Toast which was French Toast-y, but rolled in cinnamon and sugar. It was almost a mandatory order, except that the toast was stuffed with bananas. Grr!! Not cool. But I did end up with Pineapple Pancakes with Macadamia Nut butter. Totally loved the choice. Plus, I was able to have tea for the first time in almost a week. I missed you so, tea!!
After a severe case of gluttony (at least on my side of the table...those pancakes were GOOD!!), we ambled our way to the park. And so there are no surprises, my guess is that 90% of this commentary will consist of how tired we were. I'm kind of sorry about that. And by we, I mean me. Most definitely me. Scott was also tired, but I was draggy today. I'll try to keep the whining to a minimum. I'm in Disney Freaking World. There's no whining in Disney World. Unless you're a kid. Or in the middle of a family meltdown. Or apparently dealing with exhaustion...
The first stop was Toy Story Mania. On the way to the park, we were checking the Disney World app to see where they were in the Fast Pass Distribution point. Toy Story Mania always "sells out" of Fast Passes, so we either had to get one or we had to wait in a 100 minute line. We didn't want to wait in a 100 minute line. So we walked as quickly as we were able immediately as we went through the turnstiles for the park. We took a right at the Sorcerer's Hat, took a left at the Little Mermaid show, and found the line for the Fast Passes. There was a sigh of relief that they had not sold out. Our return was between 650-750p. Considering the park closed at 9p, I think we did pretty good. Now, we just had to figure out what to do.
Next up was the New Star Tours. It was new as of mid-last year. I think we just missed it back in our February 2011 visit. The ride is pretty much the same. Jostling car, makes you think you're flying. But this time...it's in 3-D!! The cool part of the ride is you have different movie scenes each time you go. This time, we had pod-racing (Episode 1) and...I want to say the Death Star. Then again, I don't entirely remember. We thought about going on the ride later in the day, but Scott was pretty much done. I don't blame him. I don't know if I could have done it either.
The remainder of the day consisted of the same old rides and shows as last year. There was Indiana Jones. Beauty and the Beast. The Stunt show with the cars. This brings me to my only negative with the parks. Now, I say this with love AND as someone who goes once a year to the parks. Some of the parks (Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom, definitely) just feel a little...stale. There's nothing new and exciting. The last big thing that was opened in Hollywood Studios was Toy Story Mania. It is a great ride. But there's a reason the wait is 180 minutes. There's not much else. Now, we didn't go on Tower of Terror or Rockin Rollercoaster (I blame Scott), but again...they're the same. I don't expect any theme park can reinvent themselves every year. And they don't need to. But...there is just something slightly missing right now. Sure, if I didn't go very often, this wouldn't even be noticed. So I'll get off of my soapbox. Never mind...
The decision had to be made. Fantasmic was at 730p. Our Fast Pass was basically for 7p. Did we have enough time to go through Toy Story Mania AND get back to Fantasmic to actually see the show?? Or were we going to have to wait until 9p?? Waiting until 9p was barely an option. We could hardly function at this point. So we decided to try. Toy Story Mania, then a quick walk to see if there was enough time for Fantasmic.
We were a little early, so we ended up hanging out in the One Man's Dream "attraction" for a few minutes while we waited for our Fast Pass to be valid. At this point, we were a little jumpy. We didn't have time to waste. Eventually, we walked up to the Cast Member and got into the queue. And so the ticking clock began...
And...we were freaking out about the time for no reason. We got through the line quick. Really quick. By the time we got out of the ride, it was only 705p or 710p. Plenty of time to get to Fantasmic. Which we definitely did. But before it gets too far...
I totally won. Scott and I both made the same "AWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!" sound at the same time. For different reasons. Scott was leading in the game. Until one fateful round. The final score was a surprise. And so very close. I'm happy to say my winning streak CONTINUES!! (full disclosure, he did beat me at the second Buzz Lightyear game that I failed to mention a few days ago. But I had already reached the highest score possible, so I'd like to say I didn't try that hard to beat him the second time...)
The best part of getting to Fantasmic with 15 minutes to go is...we didn't have to sit for hours and deal with the pre-show. It actually was perfect. We weren't front and center, but who cared?? Fantasmic is always great. Though I will say, some morons decided to get up right as the finale started. Really, people?? Really?? I did get a little mouthy (SIT DOWN!!), but I am happy to say...no profanity. Cause I'm a classy lady...
We dragged our tired bodies back to the hotel and started packing. The wake-up was early in the morning. My flight was in the 7a hour and we were taking the bus. We weren't going to have much time in the morning.
Sunday, October 28th
And we really didn't. The morning routine, we basically had down to a science by the end. I was shoving the last of my crap into my suitcase a few minutes before we had to walk out of the door. I wasn't sure what to expect for the ride back to the airport. I had problems from the beginning with Disney's Magical Express. Scott's info was there, but not mine. It was the same again today too. But I was let on the bus. I could go home!!
There wasn't a ton of time between the time we got to the airport and when my flight took off. Scott and I went different directions to check our luggage and expected to meet in the middle. Which would have been fine...except for the fact we were on different airlines in different hubs. My hub was apparently the busy one as the security line was a bit of a cluster. I was paying close attention to the time and as I left security to find a massive line at Starbucks. By the time I got through the line, I basically walked on the plane. So it was kind of perfect time.
And so ended the Orlando Journey. It ended with a little bit of a whimper, but overall a good trip. We didn't discuss when we would go back. We know it'll happen. But when...when?? Hmmm...
I'm not sure why Hollywood Studios is always the last day of the trip. No matter what we do, we always end up being here on the last day. So every picture ever taken of me at Hollywood Studios is a picture of exhaustion. Maybe that's why we didn't take any pictures of ourselves at this park today.
After a severe case of gluttony (at least on my side of the table...those pancakes were GOOD!!), we ambled our way to the park. And so there are no surprises, my guess is that 90% of this commentary will consist of how tired we were. I'm kind of sorry about that. And by we, I mean me. Most definitely me. Scott was also tired, but I was draggy today. I'll try to keep the whining to a minimum. I'm in Disney Freaking World. There's no whining in Disney World. Unless you're a kid. Or in the middle of a family meltdown. Or apparently dealing with exhaustion...
The first stop was Toy Story Mania. On the way to the park, we were checking the Disney World app to see where they were in the Fast Pass Distribution point. Toy Story Mania always "sells out" of Fast Passes, so we either had to get one or we had to wait in a 100 minute line. We didn't want to wait in a 100 minute line. So we walked as quickly as we were able immediately as we went through the turnstiles for the park. We took a right at the Sorcerer's Hat, took a left at the Little Mermaid show, and found the line for the Fast Passes. There was a sigh of relief that they had not sold out. Our return was between 650-750p. Considering the park closed at 9p, I think we did pretty good. Now, we just had to figure out what to do.
Next up was the New Star Tours. It was new as of mid-last year. I think we just missed it back in our February 2011 visit. The ride is pretty much the same. Jostling car, makes you think you're flying. But this time...it's in 3-D!! The cool part of the ride is you have different movie scenes each time you go. This time, we had pod-racing (Episode 1) and...I want to say the Death Star. Then again, I don't entirely remember. We thought about going on the ride later in the day, but Scott was pretty much done. I don't blame him. I don't know if I could have done it either.
The remainder of the day consisted of the same old rides and shows as last year. There was Indiana Jones. Beauty and the Beast. The Stunt show with the cars. This brings me to my only negative with the parks. Now, I say this with love AND as someone who goes once a year to the parks. Some of the parks (Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom, definitely) just feel a little...stale. There's nothing new and exciting. The last big thing that was opened in Hollywood Studios was Toy Story Mania. It is a great ride. But there's a reason the wait is 180 minutes. There's not much else. Now, we didn't go on Tower of Terror or Rockin Rollercoaster (I blame Scott), but again...they're the same. I don't expect any theme park can reinvent themselves every year. And they don't need to. But...there is just something slightly missing right now. Sure, if I didn't go very often, this wouldn't even be noticed. So I'll get off of my soapbox. Never mind...
The decision had to be made. Fantasmic was at 730p. Our Fast Pass was basically for 7p. Did we have enough time to go through Toy Story Mania AND get back to Fantasmic to actually see the show?? Or were we going to have to wait until 9p?? Waiting until 9p was barely an option. We could hardly function at this point. So we decided to try. Toy Story Mania, then a quick walk to see if there was enough time for Fantasmic.
We were a little early, so we ended up hanging out in the One Man's Dream "attraction" for a few minutes while we waited for our Fast Pass to be valid. At this point, we were a little jumpy. We didn't have time to waste. Eventually, we walked up to the Cast Member and got into the queue. And so the ticking clock began...
And...we were freaking out about the time for no reason. We got through the line quick. Really quick. By the time we got out of the ride, it was only 705p or 710p. Plenty of time to get to Fantasmic. Which we definitely did. But before it gets too far...
The best part of getting to Fantasmic with 15 minutes to go is...we didn't have to sit for hours and deal with the pre-show. It actually was perfect. We weren't front and center, but who cared?? Fantasmic is always great. Though I will say, some morons decided to get up right as the finale started. Really, people?? Really?? I did get a little mouthy (SIT DOWN!!), but I am happy to say...no profanity. Cause I'm a classy lady...
We dragged our tired bodies back to the hotel and started packing. The wake-up was early in the morning. My flight was in the 7a hour and we were taking the bus. We weren't going to have much time in the morning.
Sunday, October 28th
And we really didn't. The morning routine, we basically had down to a science by the end. I was shoving the last of my crap into my suitcase a few minutes before we had to walk out of the door. I wasn't sure what to expect for the ride back to the airport. I had problems from the beginning with Disney's Magical Express. Scott's info was there, but not mine. It was the same again today too. But I was let on the bus. I could go home!!
There wasn't a ton of time between the time we got to the airport and when my flight took off. Scott and I went different directions to check our luggage and expected to meet in the middle. Which would have been fine...except for the fact we were on different airlines in different hubs. My hub was apparently the busy one as the security line was a bit of a cluster. I was paying close attention to the time and as I left security to find a massive line at Starbucks. By the time I got through the line, I basically walked on the plane. So it was kind of perfect time.
And so ended the Orlando Journey. It ended with a little bit of a whimper, but overall a good trip. We didn't discuss when we would go back. We know it'll happen. But when...when?? Hmmm...
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