Disney- Day 4 Hollywood Studios

Busy weekend, sorry for the delay on the next adventure at Disney.

Hollywood Studios (formerly known as MGM). This park isn't great for rides but has a handful of shows I wanted to see (I mean that I wanted Beth to see).

As was suggested to us, we headed straight for the new Toy Story ride to get Fast Passes. Jamie, do this and/or get in line, it's worth it. When we went back to ride it, it was the best ride of the trip as far as I was concerned. It was so much fun, I laughed out loud a few times. The area where people wait in line was all decked out, even the ceiling, like toys. The ride itself only seats 2 people, so I rode by myself and my "kids" rode together.

We wear 3d glasses. Forgive the picture, my camera doesn't exactly work in 3d. From the car you pull the string to "shoot" rings, darts, etc (just like carnival games) at the targets of varying points. I got over 90,000 points! Kevin got about 70,000, blaming his low score on having to help Beth. Whatever! We tried to ride it later but decided the 45 minute wait was too long (talk about spoiled!). Now, I wish we had ridden again.

The exhibit about Walt Disney was very interesting for me and Kevin, but I don't think Beth can quite appreciate and understand the information. However, she loved seeing the replica of the castle. In the Great Movie Ride, Beth wasn't sure about the mini-show they put on, but she loved seeing Wizard of Oz as part of the ride. That's a movie she knows!

We checked out the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground. Beth didn't care for it. Then again, she hasn't seen the movie. The Muppet 3D show was fun. Beth thought 3D was great (it gave me a headache. When did I get so wimpy?)

Kevin's requests for today were of course the Star Wars ride and the Indiana Jones show. Beth didn't care for Star Wars. Even though it doesn't really go anywhere, the shaking and the video make it seem that way. I had to hold on tight to her :) The Indiana Jones show was good too. Beth keeps talking about how tough that lady was. The Narnia exhibit was pretty lame by Disney's usual fanfare, but I did get to practice photography without flash.

The Little Mermaid Show wasn't running today, but the Beauty and the Beast show was. It was a great show. I couldn't help but sing along. Kevin and Beth just watched and watched. Beth likes to ask who my favorite princess is. I tell her "Belle, because she likes to read like me". Then, Beth declares Belle is her favorite as well.

We stopped for our lunch reservation at Sci Fi Dine In. We happened upon it last time we were at Disney and loved it. The whole restaurant is set up like an old drive in movie (that was a hard concept for Beth to understand). They played HORRIBLE, cheesy sci fi flicks. Beth didn't get those either, but she didn't really watch most of them. The table we were at looked like a car. We had to sit in seperate rows from Kevin, and then they put "hitchhikers" in the back row. Not cool! The food was ok, and dessert was delicious. Next time, we'll just sit at a regular table so we can all see each other, with no other people.

Of course, we were still on the hunt for people characters. Beth "needed" ALL the princesses. Still looking for: Jasmine, Ariel, and Pocohontas (not a princess, but whatever). We hit jackpot by getting to meet both Ariel and Prince Eric. Kevin was disappointed Ariel wasn't wearing her shells. Oh, darn.

This was close enough to the fuzzy characters as they headed for a signing event. Beth wasn't sure about Lightning and Mater until I told her they weren't real, only statues (though they were turned on, like toys, to make noise).

The night fireworks show wasn't running today. BUT, the day Block Party Parade was. We gotourselves some cool drinks and settled into a spot on the sidewalk to watch. This parade was full of Pixar characters- Monsters Inc, Incredibles, Bugs Life, Toy Story. Beth liked watching them jump and dance but hid when fuzzy characters came close. She gladly screamed her head of for collecting screams for Monsters Inc.

When one of the dancers picked us to come out and dance, Beth absolutely hated it. I, on the other hand had a blast. Mostly, I tried to make Beth smile, but she would have none of that.

Some of my favorite pictures of the day were when we were just relaxing, decided what to do for the rest of the evening and waiting for the Indiana Jones show to start.

We decided to head back to the hotel to order in pizza for dinner. What a great idea! It was fun to have a "pizza picnic" in the hotel and get to bed earlier than usual.