Day 205- Hollywood Studios

Today it is mostly sunny with bellowing clouds rolling in. Some are beginning to look like rain clouds, so we take our rain jackets. It is hot and humid today; it is going to be 90 degrees this afternoon as we head for Hollywood Studios. Even though it is hot, there is a little breeze to help cool off the afternoon, which is nice.

Once we park, we walk to the front gates. We get our bags checked and scan our MagicBands. It is busy as we enter onto Hollywood Boulevard at Hollywood Studios. I love the excitement as people walk into the park and down Hollywood Boulevard. As you look down the street you can see the Chinese Theater, which houses The Great Movie Ride.

There are so many things to do here. If you are coming to Hollywood Studios, be sure to check out all of the different rides and various shows. There is even a Disney Junior show for the little ones!

Our first stop is going to be at the Trolley Car Café, where I order an iced green tea lemonade with peach syrup. We get our Starbucks drinks and find a place to sit while Twinkie’s tea finishes brewing. As I step up to a table, I hear two of the Citizens of Hollywood performing on Sunset Boulevard. There they are! It’s Sonny Burbank and Evie Starlight! They are so fun to watch, so we join the huge group of people watching their performance. There are so many people watching that the circle of people gathering around crosses the entire street. People are still joining over the next few minutes. While Sonny is talking about the extravagant date he plans to take Evie on, Evie comes over trying to find a way to escape, and Twinkie gets a fun picture of her as her Coffee View of the Day. (Twinkie has started documenting her “Coffee View of the Day” on Instagram, you can find more of them here:www.instagram.com/twinkiemiller)

The crowd is laughing and enjoying this amazing show! I see a dad in plaid pants bending over because he is laughing so hard. Others are laughing so hard that they can hardly stand it. It is so funny! This is one of their best shows ever! I wish you could hear this funny list of places, foods, animals, and activities that Sonny has lined up for the date (all of which are audience suggestions!). Sonny is remembering a list of about 20 things and repeating them back to the audience; each person laughs as he calls out their suggestion.

As Evie and Sonny finish their skit, there is a huge round of applause! The crowd is so happy and still chuckling over this funny skit! I love watching the Citizens of Hollywood and seeing how much fun the visitors have watching and participating in the skit.

Wow, I had no idea how hot it is in the sun. I was laughing with the kids when I crossed my arm across the metal decoration on my shirt and it is burning hot! Oh, I think I am going to find some shade and cool back down with my iced tea.

After a short beak, we walk around for a bit, and then head for the front gates. We see plenty of cast members trading pins, so we trade a couple with them. They are so gracious and kind.

There are many groups coming in, and it is busy as we are leaving. I see a couple of the cute cars carrying the Citizens of Hollywood on Hollywood Boulevard. These little trucks and the cars are so cute! There is a cool breeze blowing and the clouds look like there could be rain soon. We get out to our car and it begins to rain right after we exit the parking lot.

It has been a fun day, and it is always fun to see the Citizens of Hollywood. I had a really fun afternoon at Hollywood Studios!

Day 88- Hollywood Studios and Sci-fi Diner (Picnic Burger!)

What a sunny day! It is cold enough to wear our Mickey sweaters. It is very breezy and a fun day to go to Hollywood Studios. Hollywood Studios is always so exciting to visit! You never know who you will see today; they have so many fun skits that go on down the streets of Hollywood Studios!

When we arrive, it is busy as we get our bags checked, but there is only a short line to scan our MagicBands. I love looking up and seeing the entrance, it is beautiful and there are so many things to see. The Stroller Rental is in a gas station on the right. Too cute!

Baymax is a must find today! Well, we are looking for several things, but the Baymax souvenir mug is at the top of our list. So, we are off to Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater and we find Baymax at the popcorn stand to the left of the giant hat! The kids stop to get one, and I go on to Sci-Fi to check-in. The line to check in at Sci-Fi is usually pretty long, so I wait in line until they can join me, just about the same time I step up to the check-in station. The attendant was very nice when he told us that allergies are of the utmost importance to the chefs and they will take great care to make sure you are taken care of. I like that he was so concerned and made sure that we were comfortable with eating here. It made me feel like they were truly looking out for us.

We check in and go to sit outside until our buzzer goes off. It is a beautiful day to sit with Baymax in hand. A girl came up to us and asked where we got our Baymax. We told her, and she was off to find him! Soon, she came back with her very own Baymax. Yay!

We are called to be seated, and we will be on the second row of cars in our very own 50s car. The waitress is quick to get our drinks and soon the Chef comes out to help us with our order. We are going to get burgers today! I am getting a gluten free cheeseburger, and Tooti and Twinkie are splitting the Picnic Burger.

The movies they play are vintage sci-fi clips, and I remember many of them from my childhood. We watch as we wait a few minutes… and our burgers arrive! OMGoodness, they are out of this world! The buns are toasted and the meat is seared nicely! The french fries are perfect and all of this is gluten free! We didn’t talk much at all as we totally enjoyed the burgers. The Picnic Burger includes the classic burger patty, sauerkraut, grilled onions, and even a hotdog. It is one of the most delicious burgers that the girls have ever had. The Picnic Burger definitely made it onto our favorite dishes list.

After our meal, we are looking for a particular Olaf pin, so we turn down Sunset Boulevard and we see one of the Citizens of Hollywood, hiding behind a map. Twinkie sneaks over and asks if she can take a picture with him. He agrees, so we snap a pic and say, “Thank you!” We check the shops for the pin and head back down Sunset Boulevard. I can hear the Citizens of Hollywood doing one of the street shows, singing the 12 days of Christmas. Paige Turner is singing, “8 handsome men [Lords a leaping], 8 men, oh, I want 8 men, I love men! (Giggle, giggle, snort, giggle!)” The crowd roars with laughter, it is so funny!

We turn the corner and step onto Hollywood Boulevard. I love the Art Deco buildings. Of course, we have to step into a few shops to look for pins on the way to the entrance. It is a beautiful day, a little chilly, but just warm enough with the beautiful sunshine! We are soon on the tram and on our way out to our car. What a wonderful day it has been, very relaxed and fun.

Day 13- Dapper Day at Hollywood Studios

Best day ever!!  We headed for Hollywood Studios for Dapper Day.  It was so much fun to so many people in their vintage finery!  When we arrived in the early afternoon, the parking lot was already filling up!  There were Dapper-Dressed Ladies and Dapper Men everywhere you turned!  So fun!  We boarded the tram and headed towards the park entrance, chatting with a bunch of people around us about what Dapper Day is about.  You can read more about it at www.dapperday.com. Oh, look!  We got photo bombed by a really great couple!

As we walk down Hollywood Boulevard, we see more Dapper Day Ladies!  The park is beautiful and I love the deco buildings.

The first ride is Toy Story Mania, one of my favorite rides!  The whole time you are walking through the line, it is like you are walking beside giant toys.  You get to wear 3D glasses, which look great with my Dapper Day dress.  Tooti won the game today, Twinkie came in second, and I came in third place.

The Citizens of Hollywood were gracious as always, and we took a picture beside Mimi Kaboom in her beautiful car.  Our next destination was the 50s Prime Time Café!  We called ahead so we could have Gluten Free Fried Chicken!  We were seated and the people eating in that area were so funny; we had a blast!  The décor there looks a lot like Great Grandma’s kitchen did.

We went to the Star Wars section and found the Speeder Bike for pictures!

The Streets of America were so amazing with Dapper Ladies and Gents posing with groups of people.  We were stopped several times as we were invited to take pictures with curious onlookers.  It was just so fun!  As we headed for the Studio Backlot Tour, we saw the perfect picture: a lovely lady and her brother-in-law talking next to the fountain!  Cute! (Later, we saw her and her husband on the Backlot Tour, too!)

Waiting across from the Studio Backlot Tour was a Dapper Day meetup as it neared 4PM.  We joined the gathering as we waited to go into the ride.  You see, the Studio Backlot Tour is closing after today, so we had to get a final ride to say goodbye.  You go through the building where they sew costumes, build sets, and keep cool old vehicles from previous productions.  Then you go past the stunt area, my favorite is you get to see the back of the Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show.  The cars were racing into the staging area and it was awesome as they showed their driving skills.

On our way to grab coffee at the Writer’s Stop, what’s that we see?  Oh, look, a Chevy outside of the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater!  After continuing on to the Writer’s Stop, we took a coffee break before we headed over to the Dapper Day meetup at The Great Movie Ride!  We even saw a girl that we actually know… it was so fun to see her!

We strolled around the park and enjoyed the evening.  The Frozen Fireworks were absolutely fabulous, beyond words.  We sat outside of the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular as we watched the Frozen Fireworks; they are so overwhelmingly beautiful, I found my eyes were tearing up!  The last night for Frozen Fireworks is tomorrow, Sunday.  I am truly going to miss them.

Day 2- Hollywood Studios

Hollywood Studios, what can I say about it? It has more fun skits and funny drama on the streets than your average theme park.  We saw Evie Starlight in her cute white car with her driver!  We waited a few minutes watching her hold babies for a picture, little girl climb up and sitting with Evie as she is talking in a 1940’s voice.  We talked for a minute as she asked what Twinkie’s name is, that started a fun exchange!  Then, Tooti went to get her picture and I heard, “Well, if her name is Twinkie, what is your name?”  The driver said, “Zinger?”  “Haha, my name is Tooti.”  Oh, that got Evie to talking and said that she wanted to be in our family, and asked what nickname would we give her.  After a few seconds, I said, “Bubbles!”  She loved it.  Fun time.

We started to walk off when a little dude came from behind me telling her it was his Birthday, she came down and took his little hand and they walked to the center of the road and she yelled, “Hey everyone this is his Birthday, he will be 5.  Say Happy Birthday!”  Too cute, then she told him that was his gift and then, gave him a kiss on his cheek! His dad was out of battery on his phone, so we offered to take the pic, and his mom just walked up as we were getting ready to email it to them!  FUN!

Walked up to the cross street and saw the “Funniest” Citizens of Hollywood, listened to their skit of impromptu jokes, really funny.  Then we looked around at one of the stores nearby.  I love the architectural style of the building!  This store carries a good selection of merchandise, including the Disney Vera Bradley line and Disney bracelets by “Alex and Ani” (made in the USA!).  My girls love their bracelets, especially since they are fun to collect and you can wear different ones at once!

Off to look around in the Animation Building…  There are characters you can meet and lots of fun things to look at!

Before leaving home, we ate a small snacky lunch and we decided to grab a meal at the ABC Commissary.  Disney is testing a new gluten-free menu at a few select locations and this was one of them. (Usually, we have to speak with the chef or a coordinator and they will go over options that we can have and sometimes we have to read the ingredient list from their special binder as well before we make our selections, so this is really nice!) We picked the GF chicken tenders and split two between the three of us since each basket comes with four chicken tenders each… More than enough for one person!

While we had a moment to wait for the food, we checked out the wait times… Got to love this time of year!  Toy Story Mania only had a 45 minute wait… It’s usually at least 90+ mins. during busier times.

We ended up in the Streets of America, I love it, my favorite is all of it, but I love seeing San Francisco.  As we were walking we saw the Frozen Show Ticket for the sing-a-long.  Only about 45 minute wait, so we grabbed a cup of coffee at the Writer’s Stop. We sat for a few minutes as Twinkie browsed the books. Then it was off to the Sing-Along!

As the Sing-Along started, I found myself tearing up.  I thought why am I tearing up so much?  Then, I listened quietly and heard the voices of all the Dads and Granddads singing along with the little ones!  Oh, my!  My tears were huge to hear these mighty voices singing along side their kiddos.  The play is so worth it.  I would not miss this for anything!

What a wonderfully cool day!