Day 1 in the parks Hollywood Studios
So after our rough start, we were still ready to hit the parks. We got on the bus about 8am to go to Hollywood Studios. Our plan was to RD TSM or Slinky if crowds weren’t crazy. I told my family the park usually opens before 9, but I was very wrong. They didn’t let us back until about 9:05. First time seeing Toy Story Land and it’s cute. Katie liked seeing Slinky go around. Seeing the crowds build, we went for Toy Story Mania to avoid the Slinky crazy (we had a FP for the end of our trip). We’ve always loved the TSM queue and were one of the first ones to ride. Uploading: EB540CFD-2E9C-4D56-BAC5-4128EEE41038.jpeg… Katie didn’t like or dislike Toy Story Mania, but it was easy to take her on. We enjoy it, but I still can’t believe how long lines used to be.
Then we went off to do Star Tours, our first RS. It helps to know what you’re doing and have the 3 bands that need to be scanned ready to go. I stayed behind first and poked around looking for juice and checking out the gift shop. The first group was off quickly and then it was my turn. It was great as always. We then went to meet Olaf (posted 10 mins), but there was no one inside. Katie’s first character and she did great. Cute meet and easy to do. We did this as Ingrid’s request. I usually don’t like to wait for characters when we could be doing rides.
Then it was time for our first FP Rock n Roller Coaster. Let hubby ride twice and I went the second time. Love this ride! Aerosmith is our favorite. Katie did a short stroller nap. I asked the RS cast member if I should even get a switch because I had FP and he told me to do it. We did end up with one that would not go away-this happened throughout the trip, but I could still make FPs after. Oftentimes cast members would see a leftover at our next ride and just remove it for me.
Next, we had an Aliens FP. Only one side was running so it took us about 20 mins to get on. Katie is 100th percentile for height so she could ride. Smushed between hubby and I she liked the beginning but then didn’t like it by the time it was over. The adults agreed that it was a one and done-super underwhelming and felt like a local carnival ride.
For lunch we mobile ordered at ABC. We had no issues with Hollywood Studios food and are not foodies. Clicked I’m here about 5 minutes before getting to the restaurant. Having never mobile ordered before, I had no idea where to pick up and the line was out the door. Then realized I just had to go straight to the window. Everything was ready and it truly feels like cheating, but oh so easy! Mom and I both had the Mediterranean salad which was pretty good. Ingrid had the shrimp, which was the best and hubby had ribs, which he enjoyed. Then we booked it to leave for a break.
Did I mention the bus stop to Pop is like 10 miles from the park entrance? This really annoyed my mom. We are not break people but wanted to try it because HS is so close to Pop and having the baby this trip. Plus, we still needed to unpack and get the instacart order. One positive is the bus came right away. Pop busses are truly the best.
Back at the hotel, Katie did nap after a while and we put her in the vanity area. Ingrid and I ran down for a pool dip and to get a flower shower. We then picked up the instacart order and a bellhop helped us bring it up. This was huge as we were running out of diapers. We tipped him 6 bucks, which is the current delivery fee so we were happy it went to him and not to Disney. Our break wasn’t long because our Tower FP was going to expire at 3:30. So we hopped a bus there and did the long walk back into the park.
Finally, I got to ride twice and Tower was great. With one shaft open it took us an hour for both groups to ride. But it’s worth it, we absolutely love this ride! Then we headed to Muppets before dinner. This was Katie’s sleeper hit. We got to the theater and literally walked right into the show, didn’t even have time to look around the pre-show. I am so glad this show is still there, but we truly miss the Backlot Area, SOA, and Singing in the Rain umbrella. Don’t get me started on GMR. But Muppets was great. Katie was literally dancing in the theater and laughing. She just watched without the glasses.
After Muppets it was dinner time at Hollywood and Vine. It took about 10 minutes to get seated. Katie first saw Goofy and was terrified so we thought we were in trouble. But Katie loved seeing her Minnie and was playing and kissing the characters-it was quite precious. Everyone enjoyed themselves-Ingrid got a special drink and saw the characters. The food was pretty good. We enjoyed the pretzel rolls, shrimp, salad, and of course soft serve.
After dinner, we made our first major Florida mistake and didn’t cover the stroller. It was soaked! So we would be carrying Katie the rest of the night ( I think my arms still hurt). We went to try to do Little Mermaid, but didn’t make it into the show so instead we went across to Frozen Sing Along. Everyone enjoyed this and Ben was hilarious!
It wasn’t quite time for our Fantasmic entrance so we poked in shops, but I have to say the shopping this trip was lackluster. Then we headed to Fantasmic. We strung lights all over the stroller so we could find it at the end. At this point Katie was fussy so I took her to walk around until the show started, praying she’d just sleep but no go. Once the show started she was fine and fell asleep halfway through. I should mention she doesn’t really get scared. Loud noises etc don’t bother her. It was actually the kiddiest rides that she got a little nervous on this trip-Aliens, Dumbo, and Carrousel. She loved shows and dark rides.
Fantasmic was amazing. We were a bit confused when they were missing the Snow White float. I got a bit teary at the end-must be the music. When we left I was the one to carry Katie all the way to the bus stop at the other end of the world. I truly felt like one of those warrior people in reality tv. Leaving the park though, there were gorgeous fireworks through the streets as the Star Wars ones were going off. Because of this, the bus line was not crazy and we got back pretty easily, my mom still cursing the bus stop location.
Overall, a productive and great first day.
