Saturday, December 8, 2012

Disney Day 1: Hollywood Studios + Fantasmic

Our days in Disney start at the crack of dawn, with the littles tugging us out of bed at first light.  And our first park of the trip was Hollywood Studios!!

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We bee-lined for Pixar Place to pick up Toy Story Mania fast passes and our return time wasn’t until around 3p.m.!  After that, we headed right across the street to meet Woody and Buzz and have them sign our books.  The wait for them was pretty long, but the littles entertained themselves with all the fun props along the way.

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Another favorite was Disney Junior Live on Stage.  Both enjoyed this last year and this year was no exception!  Characters from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Jake and the Neverland Pirates, Little Einstein's and Handy Manny act out a cute story.  Right outside we met Handy Manny.  Jake was also there but you do have to make some hard choices while in Disney :-)

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In this same little area is one of my favorite shows – Voyage of the Little Mermaid.  I love that Ariel is “real” and beautiful.

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And in the back of this same courtyard, you can meet and have a variety of characters sign books!  We did Sorcerer Mickey and the Incredibles. 

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After lunch (which likely wasn’t the smartest call), we headed over to some serious rides – Tower of Terror and Rockin Roller Coaster.  Honey (who admittedly doesn’t care for roller coasters) and the baby alike did the Tower of Terror with us.  And it was smiles all around!!

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The Hollywood Studios Pixar and Pals parade is not to be missed.  It has some of my littles favorite characters!

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We had a great spot for the parade right near Star Tours, so that was next up on the list.  We learned a little secret to be the “spy” on board here – don’t put your glasses on until the cast member tells you to and sit looking straight forward so they can snag your mug! 

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After Star Tours, we went back over to Toy Story Mania and hit Muppet Vision 3D (ok show, nice dark place to rest).

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We had dinner reservations at Hollywood & Vine as part of the Fantasmic Dining Package.  The buffet style food was okay, yet pretty pricey.  However, we did have great guaranteed seats for the show that night!  And the show was just AMAZING.  It was truly one of the best we’ve seen at Disney!!  Be warned that parts of it (ie. fire breathing dragon) were a little scary for Whit. 

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We wrapped up a fun filled first day at the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights.  Millions of lights cover the street in Hollywood Studios and are choreographed to holiday carols.  It was stunning and memorable!

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The littles were complete troopers – no strollers, no whining and no crying.  Just a fantastic first day in the happiest place on earth!!

xoxo

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