Day 3: Hollywood Studios!
This day loomed large in my mind. I knew it was a day that could be hit or miss surrounding One. Big. Event. -- Jedi Training Academy! From the moment Chad and I started planning our trip, we knew the Jedi training would be right up our boys' alley! They are huge into Star Wars, though Charlie hadn't yet seen it, and Luke had. BUT, we heard you had to be on your toes in order to get into the training. Like, get to the park 30-45 minutes before it even opens, on your toes.
So by golly, we were there early! Only, everyone else was too. And, even though the opened the park early, we picked the wrong entrance line. It moved SO slowly. Once we were in the park, we sprinted to the Jedi Training to find out. . .we made it! They told us once we signed in that if it rained, they cancelled the show and you missed your spot. There are training sessions maybe every hour to hour and a half, so they told us we could try to find an alternate spot, but chances were slim. So, we hoped for sunshine. However, as they boys were lining up to make their way to the training, the skies opened up. Cancelled. They got to take their pictures with Darth Vader, but no Jedi training, no certificate, no show. The boys were bummed, particularly Luke. I think we were more bummed for him because we knew how excited he was! He kept a great attitude, but kept asking us to try back throughout the day to see if he could find another spot. We kept trying, but no such luck.
In the meantime, we rode Star Tours---I think one of our crews' top ranked rides in all of Disney, but definitely in Hollywood Studios. We were able to ride it 4 times too, which was fun, because each time we rode it, we had a different scene to fly through! We also rode Toy Story Mania, and if we had a chance, we would have done it again after the learning curve! We walked around and watched Voyage of the Little Mermaid, a fun stage show, met Phineas and Ferb, saw the Muppet show and caught Beauty and the Beast live on stage! I was in heaven and trying hard not to belt out the songs at the both shows. Our boys enjoyed the shows too!
We still dodged the rain here and there, but we finally had one last chance to catch the Jedi Training Academy before our dinner. We showed up as they were lining up and figured we missed our chance, but there was one alternate spot open! Turns out, Charlie decided he wasn't feeling the training, so Luke jumped and squealed, literally, before getting slightly nervous about taking on the "real" Darth Vader. And let me tell you, it was awesome! There was a Jedi trainer, full of wit, and just the right amount of realistic attitude to make the entire event. Music, light-saber training and reinforcement of fighting for the good side and opposing the dark side all made the crowd AND our padawans pumped up!!
Tip #7 --Jedi Training Academy is definitely worth trying (especially if you have little ones interested in Star Wars)! And once we had that taken care of, we went to Mama Melrose for our dinner reservations. Also a great meal, good service and a nice place to get warm from the rain! After dinner, we made our way to find seats for Fantasmic! Tip #8 --Check out this show! Fantasmic was recommended to us, so we even switched our park days around when making reservations, just so we could make sure to see this! It was great! We had Fast Passes to it, which guaranteed us a good spot. However, as part of this tip, I would recommend you not sit in the center two sections near the front. There's a pole that could block part of the action going on, but it didn't bother us once the show started. There's so much to watch and look at! Mickey is busy fighting the villains from the Disney movies and the show is full of music, lights, colors, fireworks, and it was awesome! Thankfully, the rain held off, as it's an outside amphitheater! A fun way to end our night!
So by golly, we were there early! Only, everyone else was too. And, even though the opened the park early, we picked the wrong entrance line. It moved SO slowly. Once we were in the park, we sprinted to the Jedi Training to find out. . .we made it! They told us once we signed in that if it rained, they cancelled the show and you missed your spot. There are training sessions maybe every hour to hour and a half, so they told us we could try to find an alternate spot, but chances were slim. So, we hoped for sunshine. However, as they boys were lining up to make their way to the training, the skies opened up. Cancelled. They got to take their pictures with Darth Vader, but no Jedi training, no certificate, no show. The boys were bummed, particularly Luke. I think we were more bummed for him because we knew how excited he was! He kept a great attitude, but kept asking us to try back throughout the day to see if he could find another spot. We kept trying, but no such luck.
In the meantime, we rode Star Tours---I think one of our crews' top ranked rides in all of Disney, but definitely in Hollywood Studios. We were able to ride it 4 times too, which was fun, because each time we rode it, we had a different scene to fly through! We also rode Toy Story Mania, and if we had a chance, we would have done it again after the learning curve! We walked around and watched Voyage of the Little Mermaid, a fun stage show, met Phineas and Ferb, saw the Muppet show and caught Beauty and the Beast live on stage! I was in heaven and trying hard not to belt out the songs at the both shows. Our boys enjoyed the shows too!
We still dodged the rain here and there, but we finally had one last chance to catch the Jedi Training Academy before our dinner. We showed up as they were lining up and figured we missed our chance, but there was one alternate spot open! Turns out, Charlie decided he wasn't feeling the training, so Luke jumped and squealed, literally, before getting slightly nervous about taking on the "real" Darth Vader. And let me tell you, it was awesome! There was a Jedi trainer, full of wit, and just the right amount of realistic attitude to make the entire event. Music, light-saber training and reinforcement of fighting for the good side and opposing the dark side all made the crowd AND our padawans pumped up!!
Tip #7 --Jedi Training Academy is definitely worth trying (especially if you have little ones interested in Star Wars)! And once we had that taken care of, we went to Mama Melrose for our dinner reservations. Also a great meal, good service and a nice place to get warm from the rain! After dinner, we made our way to find seats for Fantasmic! Tip #8 --Check out this show! Fantasmic was recommended to us, so we even switched our park days around when making reservations, just so we could make sure to see this! It was great! We had Fast Passes to it, which guaranteed us a good spot. However, as part of this tip, I would recommend you not sit in the center two sections near the front. There's a pole that could block part of the action going on, but it didn't bother us once the show started. There's so much to watch and look at! Mickey is busy fighting the villains from the Disney movies and the show is full of music, lights, colors, fireworks, and it was awesome! Thankfully, the rain held off, as it's an outside amphitheater! A fun way to end our night!
Click here if you missed Day1: Magic Kingdom
and click here if you missed Day 2: Animal Kingdom
Day 4: Epcot and Day 5: Last Day of Disney coming soon! Trying to wrap up before the holidays!
1 comment :
Looks like they are having a fab time! Love the family picture.
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