Disney Adventure – Day 3: Hollywood Studios

I know I have mentioned it before but just to remind you, I had been planning this trip for almost a year so while some of the details were still very fluid, other parts were set in stone, or at least in the reservation system. One of those details involved us eating one buffet (aka Character meal) per day for a few reasons. The first being that I knew at least one meal per day would leave everyone full and with lots of healthy options. Second, we could see the main characters and not waste park time standing in line (2 year old triplets do NOT wait patiently, but then again, neither does their 4 ½ year old brother and much older father!). Third it was a chance to celebrate each of the boys’ birthday, as an individual instead of one lump like will happen every other year!

Outside the Hollywood Studios entrance

Fantasia garden

With that said, we set off on Day 3 for Hollywood Studios. I knew there weren’t a lot of ‘rides’ that we wanted to do but this is where the Disney Junior show would be on stage as well as a Lightning McQueen car spectacular. For these items alone, we made the trek (well, took the 10 minute bus ride).  The weather was perfect. We got there just as the park was opening so the crowds were minimal and the day seemed perfect. That is, until Jason tried to read the park map. Now, I don’t have many criticisms of Disney-related items or the parks but this map left much to be desired. After trying to first determine where we were eating brunch (that alone took almost 15 minutes of 2 intelligent adults looking together and then finally having to ask park personnel) we set off toward our first destination. Pictures with Mickey Mouse – take 2. We headed that direction and found Mickey with relative ease (but not without asking questions first) and got in line. As we headed toward Mickey my first wave of disappointment hit, the Disney Junior Live on Stage was closed for refurbishing! NOOOO! This is where we were going to see all our favorite Disney Junior Characters singing and dancing which would make the little boys extremely happy. Okay, breathe, all is not lost. We can still get pictures with them, right? Yes, but still not the same! So we set our course for pictures with characters and then to brunch at Hollywood and Vine.

Reservations for all meals had been made 180 days in advance – yes, literally as soon as I was allowed to make them. Why? 3 high chairs, a large group (since a couple of the meals were being shared with another family we were meeting), making sure I used ALL of the meal plan combined with my intense need to plan make for interesting events if I don’t make them. Even with all the planning, we still waited for another 15 minutes at Hollywood and Vine beyond our reservation time with some impatient people who were now getting hungry. Insert excited mom over the fact that it was a buffet so I could get food as I was walking to the table if I needed too! The good news, no great news, is that once we were inside this was THE BEST meal of the week! The characters were great (Handy Manny, Special Agent OSO, June –from Little Einsteins, and Jake from Jake and the Neverland Pirates – friend of Peter Pan and foe of Captain Hook). They danced, sang songs, did conga lines with the kids and my kids LOVED it. Even Jack, my most hesitant child in new situations, was out there dancing and clapping with the songs. Disney Junior my friends, it’s what all the cool kids watch (or at least my kids because I know I will approve of all the content!)

Everyone with Mickey - Fantasmic!

Jake and Chase

G, Jason, A, C, Handy Manny, Melissa, J

Handy Manny and Chase

Mike, Chase and Sully from Monsters, Inc.

Dancing at brunch - Chase is there and so is Jack, although he kept a little more distance between he and the characters!

Special Agent OSO and Chase (brunch)

Jake and Chase (brunch)

Handy Manny and Chase (brunch)

June from the Little Einsteins and Chase (brunch)

Anthony is excited to be celebrating the fact he will be 2!

After brunch we headed off to make Chase’s day by watching the Lightning McQueen Ready, Set, Action! show. The premise was the filming of car chase and stunt scenes from a movie and they were going to tape it live in front of us and then show us the tricks and the final edited film. I won’t ruin the surprise of the show itself but I will tell you that all four of my boys sat enthralled for the entire 45 minute show (and this was in the heart of what I was hoping would be a nice little nap in the stands!) When it was over, the triplets kept signing and saying, “more” and Chase just sat eyes wide open, mouth gaping, speechless. My boys and cars….the fun is just beginning.

Coolest part of Hollywood Studios

From there we wandered around to a few more things and then grabbed some dinner so we could kill some time to see the Fantasmic Fireworks show at dark. Now the good thing about this plan is that the fireworks started at 6:30 pm because the park was closing at 7:00 pm! Score an early night for the adults and happy kids who got to “stay out late and see fireworks”. Everything was going according to plan until the show started. Little did I know, and I did my research people, that this was NOT for young kids. While the setting is amazing (a light show off a huge rock and cliffs sitting behind a mini-lake and the lights and effects were initially pretty cool, the story was SCARY! You see, Disney tried to get ALL the characters it possibly could into this extravaganza – good and evil. Mickey gets lost and the “bad guys” try to get him and that is all I can tell you. There were Indians (Pocahontas) and mean witches (all from the princess stories) and they were projected on water and the cliff while loud, scary music was played. I wasn’t too worried when the triplets climbed into laps for comfort – they weren’t even 2 yet so new things tend to make them a little cautious. But when Chase snuggled into my armpit with his hands over his ears and squinted his eyes, we knew it was time to go. Good thing – we beat the crowd of people out of the park and got prime seats on the bus back to the resort. Bad thing – poor Chase spent the entire bus ride talking about how the “bad guys were trying to get Mickey”. Uh-oh. Time for some damage control. We talked to him about what parts scared him and then luckily for us were able to remind him that Mickey is a good guy and he is always okay in the end. (Sidebar – I know that isn’t the case in real life but in Mickey’s Clubhouse, Mickey always wins so in our world that is all that matters! Besides, I had a scared 4 ½ year old that I needed to sleep that night!) We went back to the room, took our baths, read some books, watched some special cartoons and played and luckily for us, everyone slept just fine. Crisis averted!

What did the next day have in store? NOTHING?! No parks, no schedule – well, except for Breakfast with Goofy, Daisy and Donald and Cape May Café on the Boardwalk – remember, a buffet every day! Stay tuned for our day of rest to see what adventures we had.