Day 5 of 5 at WDW: Disney's Hollywood Studios

August 28, 2013

I know Hollywood Studios isn't everybody's favorite, but it has a special place in my heart. It is my youngest daughter's park--she did her College Program there a few years ago, and we all visited her for Christmas while she was working there.

It's the home of Star Tours and Indiana Jones and the Muppets, and it's just got that cool old Hollywood vibe. And it closes early, so you can get off your sore feet and out of the stifling heat before you turn into a pumpkin. And this time, I was finally going to get to go to the restaurant I've been wanting to go to since it opened--the Sci-Fi Dine-in Theater!

The Sci-Fi Dine-in Theater did not disappoint, at least not as far as theming and atmosphere are concerned. It transported me directly back to the drive-in theaters of my youth as we listened to the crickets chirping around us and watched the cheesy black and white film on the giant "outdoor" screen. I actually had to explain to my girls what the paraphernalia hanging on the side of the car was for and how it worked. We got to sit in a car, too, which is what I was going for. It was all just perfect, perfect, perfect. And then the food arrived. 

For the money, the food was no better than the cheapest counter service lunch in the parks. Dry sandwich, plain salad, frozen fries. Major disappointment. But I'd still go back! It would be worth it to hear those crickets and sit in the twilight in my car table and listen to the tinny little speaker that transports me back to my childhood. But next time I'll get what my sister told me to get: a cheeseburger and a shake. That's all they can make, she said. If only I has listened to her. So I pass that on to you.

I talked everybody into going to see the Beauty and the Beast show again this time and they were amazed at how good it was. Watching the Jedi Training Academy was also a treat. My son would have loved to have become a Jedi Knight at Hollywood Studios when he was a little guy! So looking forward to a Star Wars Land now that Disney owns Lucasfilm. The 3D Muppets show, one of our favorites, was closed for refurbishment, but we found the key under the mat and waved across the walk at Pizza Planet, where my daughter used to work. 

We had to go through Honey I Shrunk the Kids to take photos of my youngest re-enacting the time she got lost there at the age of three, and to the Writer's Stop to try out their famous Carrot Cake Cookie (it was good, but I could take it or leave it). We managed to get a photo with Mike and Sully ("Act scary!") but didn't see many other characters. It didn't really matter, because we knew we'd get to see them all in Fantasmic. 

To get reserved seats to Fantasmic, we had booked a Fantasmic Dinner Package at Mama Melrose's, which we hadn't tried before. We were very pleasantly surprised. The service was phenomenal, the food was delicious, and the Italian-restaurant-that's-been-an-institution-forever theming was just right. In spite of the good review, I probably wouldn't eat there again. I just don't want to be taken away to an old Italian restaurant when I go to Disney World!

Before we headed to Fantasmic, we rode The Great Movie Ride. I haven't ridden this ride as many times as I have ridden Small World, Pirates, or Haunted Mansion, but I still have the whole shtick memorized. It's corny and it's old news and it really needs to be updated, but it's Hollywood. Fantasmic ended my day at Hollywood Studios, but the girls pushed through until closing to ride the Rock 'n Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror over and over again (no thanks). 

There were so many new things on this trip for us. The Fast Pass + system worked beautifully for us and we liked staying at Pop Century with its dedicated bus and good location. We loved the character breakfast at Crystal Palace, the ambiance of the Sci-Fi Dine-in Theater, the food at Mama Melrose's, and the Pop Century food court. We loved having the luxury of being able to spend two whole days in the Magic Kingdom. We loved New Fantasyland and Storybook Circus! I did make a commitment to myself, though, that I will never go back in the summer, or, well, since it's Orlando, in May through September. Too hot for me. The heat really almost made me sick, it was so stifling, and definitely affected my mood and energy level. With the exception of the miserably hot temperatures, it really was a perfect 5-day Disney trip for three grown-up girls.

Three Grown Women do Disney World, Day 3: Magic Kingdom Fantasyland and New Fantasyland

Yep, those are Mickey and Donald shirts

Obligatory castle shot after entering

The heart of the magic of Disney World is the Magic Kingdom, and the heart of the Magic Kingdom is Fantasyland. We love the Magic Kingdom so much that we planned to spend two days there and we didn't even have any little kids with us. Since we had the extra day to spend, we decided we were not only going to hit our favorite attractions, the New Fantasyland attractions, the new Storybook Circus area, but also all of the "unpopular" attractions--the ones like Country Bear Jamboree, Hall of Presidents, Liberty Belle riverboat, the Enchanted Tiki Room, and the Carousel of Progess--that everybody usually skips. We planned to split the lands up, with Fantasyland and Tomorrowland the first day, and Adventureland, Frontierland, and Liberty Square the second. We were surprised to find that we only had time for Fantasyland the first day! We were also surprised to find out how much we loved all of the new attractions.

Enchanted Tales with Belle

Our reserved FastPasses for the day were Enchanted Tales with Belle, Ariel's Undersea Adventure, and Space Mountain, so we headed straight to the back of the park as soon as we entered and walked right into Maurice's cottage (have I mentioned how much we loved FastPass+?). I won't go into the minute details about the storytelling experience with Belle, and don't google it or anything, because spoilers abound, and you want to be surprised (there is a magical surprise! And some fantastic animatronic characters--and Belle!) We enjoyed it all the more because we hadn't peeked online at all and had no idea what to expect.

The girls were chosen to take part in the story (my oldest daughter was the Wardrobe, my youngest was Mrs. Potts), and if your kids (or you!) want to get picked, just be sure to be super animated and into it when the cast member is handing out the parts. If you don't get chosen for a main role, don't despair--at the end, they ask if there's anyone who wants to be in it who didn't get a part, and they have multiple silverware and napkin roles they can hand out. (There was a tiny little 3-year-old girl in a Belle costume who stepped forward at that moment and grabbed the silverware prop. Her parents were shocked!)

Belle and her Wardrobe

Mrs. Potts pours (with assistance, hehe)

 If you want your photo taken by PhotoPass with Belle, be in the show. The audience doesn't get a photo op. The whole thing took 20-30 minutes, but we were cycled through three different rooms with three completely different settings, so we were never bored, and Belle's story was charming, mostly because of everybody else who was in the story besides Belle--and because of Lumière, who was amazing. Afterward, Belle really took her time with the "actors" in her story, posing with them, talking with them, and--in the case of the little 3-year-old with stars in her eyes--holding her on her lap and hugging her. It actually was enchanting, just like its name says. It's Disney at its best. Don't miss it because you think it's just for little kids.

We kind of regretted getting the FastPass+ for Ariel's Undersea Adventure because there was no line. We tried to play the crab game in the queue, but we couldn't figure it out, and the ride only took about 5 or 6 minutes. Still, that's pretty long for a dark ride, and I thought it was really a step up from the old classic dark rides like Peter Pan. The girls were unimpressed. I guess Enchanted Tales with Belle was really a hard act to follow.

Be Our Guest
It was time for our lunch reservation at Be Our Guest, so we walked right past everyone in line with umbrellas to keep the hot sun off their heads, and were seated at one of the best tables in the restaurant, in the back of the ballroom by the big windows, with a perfect view of the whole room. We took a few minutes to walk around and check the place out. It was so well done! The ballroom looked exactly like the one in the movie, with the painted ceiling and the huge chandelier. Again, I don't want to ruin the surprises, but watch the windows, the portrait over the fire, and the rose, and wait a little while, especially after the lightning, to see what changes. Disney did such a great job recreating the Beast's castle and we were so glad it was open for lunch or we would never have seen it--dinner reservations are booked up for months ahead of time (we were offered lunch reservations as a bonus for being some of the first people to test MagicBands. Disney magic!)

Watch the portrait carefully!

Our only disappointment with Be Our Guest, and it was a big one, was the food. Two of us got the ahi salad and we couldn't even eat it, it was so fishy and old-tasting. We didn't like the salad dressing, either, and we'll eat anything. The vegetable quiche was bland and unappealing, and it was served with salad with the salad dressing on it that none of us liked. We did like the soups. We tried the potato leek and the French onion and I'd recommend both. If (when!) we go back for lunch, we will only get soup. Also, we thought our seats were in the best location--the beautiful ballroom--because the West Wing was very dark (but that might be nice at night), and the third room, the Rose Gallery, was a yawn (it looked like any other quick service venue). Request the other two rooms if you have a choice.

Inedible ahi salad but yummy potato soup

Boring quiche and salad

Beast's castle is in the "distance." Guffaw.

I also just have to say that the outside version of Beast's castle, which is supposed to look like it's in the distance, just looks like a dinky little toy castle. Remember the first time you saw the far-away version of Hogwarts at Universal and it took your breath away? Don't expect the same reaction to Beast's castle. We snorted. We also weren't crazy about all of the fencing around the New Fantasyland area, hiding the construction sites, but appreciated the holes in the fence, high and low, for taking peeks at what was going on.

It took us almost until sunset to ride all of the Fantasyland rides, meet the Fairy Godmother, Peter Pan and Wendy, and dance with Goofy during the Move it! Shake it! Celebrate it! Street Party. One of our favorite magical moments of the day was when Goofy saw my oldest daughter from his float in the parade and swooned over backwards, leaning on the railing for support and reaching out to her with his arms. She had worked with Goofy when she was "best friends" with Pluto at Disney World years ago when she was a cast member. As soon as the float stopped, he jumped down and hugged her and they danced together in the middle of the street. And I took a hundred pictures of it. It was so fun, so funny, so magical (although the little kids who were desperately trying to get Goofy's attention might not have thought so). So much Disney magic in one day!

Storybook Circus

Interactive Dumbo queue with games & AC!

The last area we visited was the Storybook Circus. We had mixed emotions about even seeing the whole place, especially since it replaced Toon Town, which my kids grew up with, but mostly because we knew it was really designed for younger children. But Disney did it again. And we loved it. It might even be my favorite spot in the whole Magic Kingdom now. The theming was so immersive that you felt like you had walked back in time into the 1940's when the circus was in its golden age. Instead of buildings, there were circus train cars and big top tents, and there were two Dumbo rides, with a fantastic interactive queue inside a big top tent in the A/C!

The Dumbo attraction cast member costume

Peanut shells and elephant hoof prints!

And instead of looking costume-y and forced, everything looked real, and as if it had been there forever--the vintage posters, the signs, the cast members' costumes, even the cement sidewalks (which had "peanut shells" in them). We rode Dumbo and Goofy's Barnstormer (which is the same ride, except for the location of the queue, but is now called The Great Goofini) and checked out the Big Top Souvenirs and Pete's Silly Sideshow, where you can meet Donaldo, Goofini, Minnie, and Daisy, although we chose to skip that line. We didn't want to leave, but it was finally time to wrap up our day and go to the Wishes Dessert Party at the Tomorrowland Terrace.

Wishes Dessert Party
The dessert party is something I'd been wanting to do for years and could never either afford or get reservations for, so I was thrilled when it was available our first night in the Magic Kingdom, but I'm just going to say in all honesty, it was not worth the wait. True, we had an unobstructed view of the fireworks and could sit down right up until the minute they started (when everybody moved to the railing), but the desserts were just so-so, the atmosphere was very fast food-ish, and the view of the fireworks was from the side, so our grand photos of fireworks above the castle turned into photos of fireworks to the side of and behind the castle. It was definitely the best view of Tinkerbell I've ever had, though. For the three of us, it was 83 bucks, and I would rather have spent that on something else. We are happy just standing in the middle of Main Street with the crowd, watching the fireworks above the castle, and that view doesn't cost any [extra] money.

Our first day in the Magic Kingdom would have been a frantic, rushed day if we had only had one day to spend there, but knowing we were returning the next day gave us the freedom to take our time, meet characters (Fairy Godmother was a first!), have plenty of PhotoPass pictures taken, dance in the parade, and enjoy our meals (we especially loved our seats-with-a-view in Pinocchio Village Haus at the window above It's A Small World and sipping on La Fou's Brew at Gaston's Tavern). It ended up being my favorite day of the five we were at the World. I'm not a kid any more, and I didn't have any young kids with me, but the Magic Kingdom makes me feel like a kid again. And it almost, just ALMOST, made me forget about the heat. But not quite.

LaFou's Brew was delicious but the cinnamon roll was meh

The view from our table in Village Haus

Ta-dah! We did it!

Being Girls Together at Disney World, Day Two: Snacking Our Way Around Epcot

Epcot or EPCOT?
Epcot originally was written in all caps as an acronym for Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, but now it just has a capital E and everybody says it stands for "Every Person Comes Out Tired," because it's so big. Well, it's not as big as Animal Kingdom, I now know. Although it is no longer marketed as a community of tomorrow, it's still my favorite park, because it combines science fiction/science education with a trip around the world. Unfortunately, my girls are not huge fans, but luckily, they are fans of food, because that's what Epcot is all about for us--snacking.

FastPass+
Our three reserved FastPasses for the day were Soarin', the Character Spot, and Test Track, and I can't tell you how much we appreciated not having to stand in line for any of those. Soarin' (the attraction that takes you "parasailing" over California) is usually something you have to run get a FastPass for as soon as you enter the park and then wait for hours to use. We headed straight to it and sauntered right on. Same with the Character Spot, where we met and were photographed with Mickey, Minnie, and Pluto (and where you used to also be able to hang out with Donald, Goofy, and the Chipmunks. They've streamlined it. Still magical, though. OK, we really missed Goofy).

Test Track Re-Imagined
Test Track got the prize for Attraction of the Day, though (it might have gotten Attraction of the Year in my book if it weren't for Enchanted Tales with Belle in New Fantasyland). We were very fond of the old Test Track because it was my nephew's favorite ride. The test dummies were cute, the cars were cute, and the whole concept of the ride to test for safety was cute. But the new version takes it to another level. I'm going to try to explain it, but I know I'm not even going to do it justice because I'm not a car person. As you enter the queue, you have the opportunity to design your own concept vehicle on a computer screen. You are timed and you choose from a lot of options on different screens, so it happens fast. You're supposed to keep some important vehicle parameters in mind as you're designing, like efficiency and responsiveness and power and I can't remember what else, because we were three girls making a car and all we cared about was what it looked like (it was a beautiful metallic aqua with thin tires. And the tires were big). To the left and right of us, little boys who were barely tall enough to see the monitor were designing their cars to be able to beat our car. As you go through the ride, which is a test of all the cars' performance, there are screens that show you how your car fared in each portion of the test compared to the cars the other people in line with you designed. Our car was always dead last. But it was the prettiest.

When you exit the ride, there is a board that displays all of the results with the images of your car designs, and there are another set of monitors where you can design a new car (or maybe you can choose to do something with your original car, I don't know, we opted out), or race your car against others on one of several virtual racetracks that you could stand around. See, I told you I wouldn't be able to explain it very well. Suffice it to say that it was incredible, wonderful, fantastic, and any other synonym of amazing that you can think of. It is how all Disney World attractions should be. The interactive queue, the opportunity to create, the investment you have in the ride itself, and the chance to apply what you learned after the ride in a new environment make this attraction--magical! And what's really great is that you'd get different results every time you rode it because you could design a different car each time. Bravo, Imagineers!


I think the only other attraction we went on in Future World was Ellen's Energy Adventure, which I can see by the photo I took in front of it is actually called Universe of Energy, because we a) love Ellen Degeneres and b) wanted to sit down in some A/C for 30 minutes or so. Disney, we will continue to visit Ellen's ride about energy out of respect for Ellen, but wow, it is really out of date. I suggest that you get the Test Track Imagineers on it ASAP. And then it was time for a light lunch.

Sunshine Seasons Snacks

Did I mention that the beet salad has candied walnuts

As I mentioned before, the thing we like to do at Epcot is snack, and we spend the whole day doing it, so we don't ever eat any large meals and we pace ourselves. One of our favorite places to snack is Sunshine Seasons in The Land in Future World, downstairs by Soarin'. It has zero atmosphere--again, like the Pop Century food court, the ambiance is sort of school cafeteria-ish--although you can hear the Soarin' music and it has A/C, since you're inside. We think everything they make there is good. We recommend the Roasted Beets and Goat Cheese Salad with Honey Sherry Dressing, but you could get the Seared Tuna Noodle Salad, the Chicken Corn Chowder, the Oak-grilled Vegetable Flatbread Sandwich, or, my oldest daughter's favorite, the Turkey and Monterey Jack on Ciabatta with Chipotle Mayonnaise, and you'd be just as happy. We got the ciabatta sandwich and the beets and split everything between the three of us. Oh, and my youngest got a crème brûlée (it's a tradition), which we also split, while we sat there in the lovely A/C and listened to lovely Soarin' music and smiled at each other. Then we just made a quick stop at Club Cool and guzzled down some free Japanese Coke product called VegitaBeta that tasted a lot like Gatorade, and we were off to the World Showcase (whatever you do, don't let anybody talk you into guzzling the one from Italy called Beverly--it's a trick).

Snacking our Way Around the World Showcase

P for perfect

The World Showcase is kind of a blur to me, mostly because it was either so hot I was desperate for shade and could think of nothing else, or because of the torrential downpour that lasted for hours on and off and trapped us inside various buildings where we may have dozed a little. We started out in the United Kingdom, which is backwards for us (we usually take the countries clockwise, starting in Mexico), because Alice in Wonderland and Mary Poppins were due to appear there. By saying we started in the United Kingdom, it implies that we skipped Canada. We did. Sorry, Canada, but the only food people recommend in your pavilion is the expensive steak at Le Cellier and that would blow our whole snacking experience.

Adorable raspberry macaron

The girls got some good face-time with the characters while I took photos and sought shade, and as we headed to France to check out the newly-renovated bakery, the heavens opened up, and we ended up camping out in the Les Halles bakery, enjoying the pastries and the atmosphere for about an hour while it poured buckets outside (I ran out to the crêpes cart for my favorite chocolate crêpe made by two charming young people with charming accents. I think listening to the accents is my favorite part about getting a crêpe).

Voilà!

The rain finally let up, but only long enough for us to find cover in Morocco in a quaint little area next to the quick-service restaurant that just happened to have a table, three chairs, and an outlet to re-charge our phones (which were doubling as our cameras) while we waited out the storm. Magical! (Look around Epcot the next time you go--there are very few places to sit down that are not restaurants. Only a few ledges and hardly any benches. And most of them are outside in the sun, or in this case, the rain. This is an intentional design feature of the park so people will keep moving. So finding seating inside is rare.) This also put us at the front of the line to see Aladdin and Jasmine. After the rain finally ended, we made our way through the rest of the pavilions, munching as we went, on:





Japan: Rice candy, mochi balls, and Pocari Sweat. The sushi is good here, too. And cheap.
America: Sometimes we get funnel cakes here, but we had been stuck in the French bakery so long we had eaten way too many pastries already, so we passed 
Italy: Wanted to try the Italian ice, but we were still full of French goodness
Germany: The thing to get here is a brat, but we couldn't fit it in. I've also heard rumors about a really delicious buttery pretzel here, but no room.
China: Had to have some egg rolls and dumplings 
Norway: There was no line for Maelstrom, one of my favorites! Still full of Chinese, we passed on the food. Plus if you've had School Bread once, you're good.
Mexico: This is where we lost our heads and got both a plate of mini churros and a plate of nachos to share. They had changed the restaurant and the menu on us and we panicked. (Just FYI, this was a day of too much food. I blame it on the rain and the new French bakery.) The mini churros were actually better than I thought they'd be, and the dipping sauce was divine. But the nachos were just so-so.
BTW, France: Try the crepes from the cart outside, but don't miss the bakery. We love the Croque Monsieur (a grilled ham and cheese with béchamel sauce), the macarons, and the chocolate croissant.
And not to leave out The United Kingdom: Best snack here is fish and chips, but we were off our game, having just eaten lunch, so we passed this time. It's fun to get English candy bars here, too, like Pepperment Aeros and Cadbury Flake bars.

Illuminations, Reflections of Earth: Best Seats in the World?
In Mexico, at the new quick-service restaurant, La Cantina de San Angel, we nabbed a lakeside table with what, we had been told, would have the best view of the fireworks in the park. The view was good, but the roof over the area prevented us from seeing the tops of the fireworks, so I'm not giving it the Best View award. If you try this strategy, get a table at the very end of the covered area, so that the roof will not obstruct your view (we were on the side). And you'll have to get it at least an hour before the fireworks. But it was worth the wait because it was so nice to be able to sit and relax and eat and smile at each other, as we love to do while we're at Disney World, while we waited for the fireworks--instead of having to jockey for a standing position amidst a hoard of people with their kids on their shoulders in front of you. It was a great way to end the day. We didn't walk as many steps that day as we did at Animal Kingdom, but we only walked 82 steps less. The way I see it, we walked off all that food!

Leaving the park as Illuminations winds down