The BIG Florida Surprise - Day 8 - Sunday 23rd August 2015

[smithlane]

Hollywood Studios today.
Woke up after having a not so great sleep. With having Hope one side of me snoring and Jim the other snoring louder I was thinking it wasn't such a hot idea of mine that we booked the hotel and not stayed in the villa! Don't get me wrong the hotel was beautiful we had a great view, just all of us in one room, a small one at that wasn't ideal! Maybe it would be easier with younger kids but with us all having to use one bathroom in the morning made it quite stressful to get out on time! We were truly spoilt by the size of our villa and to make it worse we originally had it for 2 weeks but it was my bright idea to move onto the hotel to experience the whole Disney Magic, and without the free dining we were paying out of pocket for every meal as I didn't find the Dibb until February this year so I didn't have a clue about the free dining plan until it was too late! Turns out Jim was also feeling like this and wasn't in the best of moods this morning which made me feel worse as clearly it was 'all my fault'! Bloody men! 😠
Anyway enough of my moaning, we still had a fantastic week staying there, we now know though that we are definitely villa people so will be sticking with that for 2017.

Back to the day!

After running half an hour behind we left at 8.30 and decided against the buses and to drive, parked up by 8.45 in Stage 45. We were let straight into the park so we hot footed it straight round to Rock n Roller coaster.

The wait was already showing 30 mins but we only waited about 15 which was handy.

Met Bill and Sylvia outside Tower of Terror, our first fast pass opened at 9.20 so perfect timing. Sylvia sat this one out so the rest of us went on. I was screaming like a baby. Really enjoyed it though!

Stopped off at Starring Rolls Cafe for breakfast as stomachs were rumbling. I had what most people have on here... The Butterfinger Cupcake!

Suitably fed and watered, we walked around to Voyage of the Little Mermaid next, show was starting in 20 minutes so we waited for this. Jim point blankly refused to watch it he was still being miserable, but the joke was on him as Ariel was gorgeous and she sat there in her bikini the whole time
I loved it, was singing along to all the songs!
We caught the 11.15 Indiana Jones Stunt show after. Huge fans of the film! Sam really liked this one and has now declared he wants to be a stunt man when he grows up

I did have to duck out about halfway through to take some pain killers as my hip was starting to really play up which is weird as I've never had hip pain before always get it in the lower back, but must be all the walking we were doing as I'm normally a lazy so and so! Jim kept saying I should hire a mobility scooter but that wasn't happening, I would be a liability
Time for our early lunch ADR at Mama Melrose with the Fantasmic package.
Got seated in a booth and given our menus.

Our server was a little miserable but decided to ignore that as most of the CMs we came across were brilliant! Jim who was still in a bit of a mood declared he didn't like the menu even though I showed him the damn menu back home when I booked it 😡😡, then it seemed Sam was being a little moody which is very unlike him! Not a great atmosphere around the table especially in front of Bill and Sylvia. So eventually I chose the minestrone soup to start with and the chicken parmigiana for main, Jim the calamari to start with and the meat flatbread for main course. Sylvia had the Caesar salad and chicken parmigiana and Bill the same as me. Hope got the meat pasta and Sam the cheese pizza. Starters were ok but nothing special, the bread and oil they brought over was lovely though.
Then it all goes downhill! The mains came out and instantly we knew we weren't going to like them. We were assured from our server that there was only a little Parmesan cheese in the breadcrumbs and that if you want more they bring it to the table but the whole dish was covered with it, it was so over powering it smelt like sweaty feet!
Fair enough if you like that strong cheese taste but we don't. It says mozzarella on the menu so that's what we were expecting! I ate about 2 mouthfuls and I was done, everyone else was the same. For the money they charge $37.99 per adult so not cheap we were so disappointed.
The waiter came to clear our plates and it clearly looked like we didn't like it but at no point did he ask if there was anything wrong. To be fair we should have said something but being British we didn't!
The bill came to a whopping $220 which is a huge amount when you've hardly eaten. So that's 2 Italian meals we've had that have been awful, must be us. Sorry no photos of the food either I was too annoyed!
Once outside I had a word with Sam, basically along the lines of 'listen stop acting like a spoilt brat, most of your friends would take off their right arm to come to Florida and here you are being a moody sod so buck your ideas up' in that talking through gritted teeth mums do! To be fair it did the job he was fine from there onwards.
Bill & Sylvia left the park now to go back to the villa but we had a few more rides we wanted to do. We agreed to meet up again later for Fantasmic and would call each other when we got back into the park.
Up next the big one, Toy Story Midway Mania!

LOVED IT! I got an impressive 96,000 but Jim beat me getting 114,000, so close!
Went round to the Muppets Show next

Personally I preferred the Shrek show at Universal but I'm not a huge muppets fan so that's probably why.
Our last fast pass of the day was Star Tours. Again not a fan but I can appreciate the films. Hope was chosen as the rebel spy which is hilarious as she didn't have a clue and I know so many die hard Star Wars fans go on the ride multiple times in the hope they will get chosen 😂😂
We decided to head back to the hotel as we had done the rides we wanted to and we're back again later for Fantasmic.
Once back at Coronado Springs we went to the pool for a few hours and chilled out. Just what we all needed! We had an ADR the following morning for Crystal Palace at 8.05 but we came to the decision we all needed a lie in so I cancelled it. I was gutted as I was so looking forward to going but I also didn't want the kids grumpy, this is a holiday after all. Our first fast pass was for SDMT at 11.55-12.55 so would head to MK for then, I definitely didn't want to miss that!
Back to the day. We all got changed and headed back to Hollywood Studios at 7 and were in the park by 7.30.

Went up Sunset Boulevard in the search for a quick bite to eat as we hadn't eaten since our rubbish lunch! Kids wanted hotdogs so went to Fairfax Fare for them while Jim queued up at Rosie's All American diner for burgers for us. The kids both had a chilli hotdog and they looked really good. Met Bill & Sylvia there whilst queuing. My burger was good I wolfed it down I was so hungry! We quickly ate then headed opposite into Fantasmic. It was busy already so sat at the back of the Scar section but had a great view. Not entirely sure it's worth the dining package especially after the lunch we had as they were cramming people in to this section after we had sat down there was barely any room to breathe, they obviously make a lot of money doing it this way. Will definitely just fast pass it next time or show up earlier!
Well what can I say, yet again I loved it and yes I cried a little! Disney sure know how to put on a show.

We walked around towards the entrance and I quickly ran into Starbucks for my You Are Here mug, 2 down 2 to go!

It was really busy with people waiting to watch the Frozen fireworks. We stopped just before the exit and had a fantastic view of them, probably better than up front!

We really enjoyed these me in particular as I love the music! We had prime positioning to get out of the park quickly which is what we did.
Back to the hotel and sent the kids to bed with us not far behind them.
Nighttime view of Coronado Springs, it's very pretty!

Thanks for reading 😀

[Bobby dazzler]

We were disappointed in Hollywood Studios as its been 15 yrs since we last went,and not a lot has changed really.We had a Fantasmic package at Hollywood & Vine and were very dissapointed overall. We should have complained at the time but didn't.
When we came back home,my wife emailed and to be fair they phoned us and refunded the cost of the meal,so worth complaining really.

[smithlane]

Originally Posted by Bobby dazzler

We were disappointed in Hollywood Studios as its been 15 yrs since we last went,and not a lot has changed really.We had a Fantasmic package at Hollywood & Vine and were very dissapointed overall. We should have complained at the time but didn't.
When we came back home,my wife emailed and to be fair they phoned us and refunded the cost of the meal,so worth complaining really.

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Last week Jim did email Disney to complain about the meal and a few niggly things like the golf there and they have refunded the lunch which was handy! Sometimes it does pay to complain! I must say out of all of the ADRs we had they were all ok but nothing like the offsite meals we had. That may have been because we were paying out of pocket for them all and it's certainly not cheap dining!

[collybird]

A real shame about Mama Melrose, it's a favourite of mine.

That is a gorgeous picture of Coronado Springs, really want to stay there one day.

[smithlane]

Originally Posted by collybird

A real shame about Mama Melrose, it's a favourite of mine.

That is a gorgeous picture of Coronado Springs, really want to stay there one day.

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Yeah it was a real shame as there are some great reviews of it on here, I think we must have just picked a bad day to go! Having said that Jim has said he won't step foot in an Italian restaurant in Florida again, after now 2 rubbish meals! 😨
It really is a lovely resort, just make sure you request Cabanas to stay in so its not a trek to the pool! 😀
Have just seen your countdown! Have a lovely holiday, I'm ever so slightly jealous!

[secretivemum]

What a shame about the lunch, glad you got it sorted when you got back!

[Helen0705]

Another busy day with loads of rides getting done .
Pity about your lunch at Mama Melrose though .
Some lovely photos

[smithlane]

Originally Posted by secretivemum

What a shame about the lunch, glad you got it sorted when you got back!

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Yes it was a great shame especially as it cost so much but hey ho 2 bad meals out of 2 weeks isn't bad!

[smithlane]

Originally Posted by Helen0705

Another busy day with loads of rides getting done .
Pity about your lunch at Mama Melrose though .
Some lovely photos

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Yes another good day, I really liked Hollywood Studios
I know a real pity especially as it's so highly rated on here!
Thank you 😃

[Redrach1903]

Oh what a shame about your lunch! I would be mad too, I hate Parmesan - it is stinking!

Love the ride photos! RRC and ToT are two of my absolute faves

I can see a hotel room being crowded for a family. I am a bit worried about it for us and wee are just two, but we too are used to the space of a villa! Sure it will be ok though!

Glad you enjoyed Fantasmic xx