Disney Day 3 - Hollywood Studios

Day 3 of our Disney World Experience was a hot one (like literally....it tied the 1st day we were there with miserable temps)! We spent the day at the super cool and fun Hollywood Studios. 

Photo Op Outside of Entrance
My Boys with Buzz Blasters

Sand Olaf - Too Cute!

After a bit of a circuitous route, we got to one of the far corners of the park to hit the thrill rides first. Now, Mike and I have been to DisneyWorld twice. Once the summer after we got married and once when Dylan was 18 months old. Both times, the Aerosmith Rock N Roll Roller Coaster was closed. Boo! However, this time it was actually open! Yay! The thrill seekers in the group (Mike, me, Mimaw and Bumpa) went to it. And....it was AWESOME! Riding a stretch limo roller coaster to Sweet Emotions was pretty, well, sweet. 

Then it was on to the ride next door - the Tower of Terror!! Dylan went on it at Disney but didn't care to try it again. So Pipaw and Nana stayed with Cade and Dylan while the rest of us went on that ride. We all loved it, of course. I wanted to take Dylan through the line since the spooky stuff was right up his alley, but the wait counter flipped over to 20 minutes the second I talked him into it and I promised to take him back later, which we never did. Mom promise fail but in my defense, one of the opportunities that we could have done that, he said he didn't want to go right then. Oh well.

Next up was heading over to make our fast pass time slot on Toy Story Mania. This ride always has a long wait and I just read this week that Disney is experimenting with having the ride a fast pass only ride (ie, no "general public" wait line). We waited longer than an hour for the ride at Disneyland last summer which was no fun. Waiting 10 was much better. It's a fun 3D experience ride where you get to play all kinds of Toy Story themed games in a fair\Midway fashion.

As our group gathered outside after that ride, we saw a building with a skull and crossbones on it for the Legends of Jack Sparrow attraction. We were first in line for the next show and the show coordinator asked the the boys if they wanted to be part of the show. Dylan declined but Cade was all for it. I, and the rest of the group, were his assistants for his duties - to hold the key and answer "Aye!" when prompted and hand over the key. Cade followed instructions very well and made a very cute little pirate and was enthralled watching Captain Jack Sparrow. This is called foreshadowing for Halloween (stayed tuned for that)....

Skeletons!

Cade With Key

We ran into an army guy on the street!

Also in this section of the park was an opportunity for pictures with Woody and Buzz. Cade wanted to wait to see his buddy Buzz again (and see Woody for the first time). Dylan was happy to go off with the grandparents. So Cade, Mike and I waited for a good while. Luckily the line had some fun photo ops to keep us occupied. Even though Cade doesn't look particular happy in any of these pictures, he was eager to do each and every one.

In Buzz's Box\Spaceship

The Claw!

With the brief appearance of Dylan

Strapped to a flying rocket!

Evil Emperor Zurg!

In the Prospector's Box

In the Luggage

After a very patient wait, Cade finally got to see his buddies! He got autographs and looked at them in awe. I think he was pretty pleased with the result of his long wait.

You've Got a Friend in Me

We rejoined the rest of the group and kept wandering.

I had to drag the boys into the Honey I Shrunk the Kids play area. I thought they would be excited about it since it's a movie they've seen and love but they weren't for some reason. Sure enough, once in, they loved it and didn't want to leave!

All of us shrunken under the grass

Cade riding the ant....Dylan under the oatmeal pie just behind

But we had to drag them out for our next fast pass at Star Tours. If we had been more diligent and checked wait times, we would have known that they could have played longer since there was absolutely no line. Oops. Dylan loved Star Tours and Cade hung outside eating popcorn with Nana.

Cheesy Hands and Face

Now we had been going pretty hard for a few days. At this point we had hit most of what we wanted to do at the park. My magical wishes for the week including having a date night with Mike (which we sort of got the previous night) and seeing fireworks (which just wasn't going to happen). The compromise was to try and make the Fantasmic Show that night at Hollywood Studios. It is one of the earliest night time performances. With naps, there was a bit of a chance it would work. So we headed back to the hotel to do just that.

While our family trip had lovely moments riding rides and experiencing the park, some of the most memorable moments were the times in waiting and in transport. That's when we got a chance to slow down, have conversations, and the kids got to just play with their grandparents.

Mimaw and Dylan

Cade Just Loves His Papaw

All of us got a nap that afternoon. Then Mike, Dylan, Cade and I had dinner with Nana and Bumpa at the hotel. The food was really delicious there! We also took a little time at the look out spots to gaze at the animals.

Giraffe Grabbing a Leaf

We did make it back to the show. Mike did a lot of prep work and planning for this trip. One of the "little things" he did was get some glow sticks for the boys to wear for such an occasion. They loved them for that but they also came in very handy as nightlight in their room each night.

Pipaw Pushing the Boys to the Show
Did I mention that Cade would only let Papaw push the stroller most of the week?

Despite the naps, the boys were very tired at show time. It started at 8 which is usually when they're getting tucked into bed at home. Obviously, it being Disney, the professionals on catering to kids, it was a great show and it had them enthralled. However, they were also very clingy. Dylan wouldn't leave my lap and Cade wouldn't leave Mike's. So the above is the only picture from the night. After the show, we flooded out of the park with the rest of the crowd and we and got back to the hotel to get in the boys in bed at 10. That's a very late night for these little guys. All things considered, they did extremely well.

And that was the end of the trip with the grandparents. We said goodbye to Mimaw and Pipaw at the bus stop and Nana and Bumpa back at the hotel. They caught the Magic Express back to the airport the next morning. We had 1 more day with just our little family to enjoy at the park.