'Once in a lifetime' trip - WDW onsite & DDP Feb 2019 - Day 3 - Hollywood Studios, Hollywood & Vine

[Scarla]

Welcome to day 3 My index can be found here

Our plans for today:

Fast-passes:
Star Tours - The Adventures Continue at 1:05pm
For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration at 3:00pm
Slinky Dog Dash at 5:50pm

ADR
Character Dinner at Hollywood & Vine located at Echo Lake at 4:30pm for Fantasmic priority viewing


We started the day off today at a slower pace as it was going to be a late one as we had Fantasmic planned for later.

We were still all up pretty early but after a breakfast at OPR we spent a few hours just chilling at the resort. Darren spent the morning reading in the room & me & the kids explored the grounds then headed over to the quiet pool for a couple of hours, which was deserted so nice & peaceful.

Then mid-morning we caught the bus to Hollywood Studios, we caught this from OPR again as that stop was closer to our room than the Barbados stop so made sense. As we had missed the main rush for the parks the bus was practically empty which was a bonus as we could all get a seat, we had all realized yesterday that the best place to head for is the back as less people head that way when boarding so it doesn't tend to get as crammed.

We arrived at HS at about midday, had a look around & posed for some pictures with the photopass photographer

We then headed for our first fast-pass, Star Tours.
Now tbh, its only really me who is the star wars fan, although i am trying my best to get the kids into it, so there was a bit of complaining until we actually got on the ride, which was brilliant! It was our first experience of simulation rides but we all loved it, especially as it was my picture they showed on the screen as the escaped rebel which the kids found very amusing. After the ride Darren complained a bit about feeling a bit sick due to the ride, but in true Disney spirit, we all ignored him & told him to 'suck it up'

Next we headed over towards Frozen Ever After for our next fast-pass. To be honest, this one wasn't really worth fast-passing as it didn't really matter too much where you sat & we had to wait ages before we could go in, although it did get us out of the sun for a bit. Me & Scarla both absolutely loved this & were singing along to all the songs & by the end i was in tears, much to everyone's embarrassment but i am a sucker for all the Disney films so they should have been expecting it really. i also loved the snow at the end

After this we had an hour or so to kill so had a wander around, grabbed some cold drinks using our snack credits & familiarized ourselves a bit with the park, mainly so we knew where to go later for Fantasmic

Next up was our ADR at Hollywood & Vine for priority seating at Fantasmic. When booking our ADR's there was a bit of a choice for the dining package but we picked this over Brown Derby mainly for the character interaction for the kids.
This is a buffet restaurant, so was much easier for the kids to pick what they wanted, once they had got over the excitement of the characters.
Alex had gone all shy & decided that he didn't want to meet Mickey so it was left to Scarla to get his autograph.

After this i could hold the kids back no longer & we headed to Toy Story Land.

Just as we went in there was the queue for Buzz which didn't seem too long so we joined & were almost at the front in about 20 minutes.

Just as we got to the front a cast member approached us & asked if i would mind letting a young boy go ahead of us as he was on a make a wish trip, which of course i said was fine, however, Scarla couldn't really understand why i was letting this young boy go in front of us & started to have a bit of a meltdown.

Fortunately, she was soon distracted as Buzz was now free & was beckoning the kids over.

Next it was Slinky Dog Dash, Darren had chickened out on this ride so it was just me & the kids & Scarla wanted to sit with the random single rider, she really does surprise me sometimes

After this Scarla wanted to do Alien Saucers but as we couldn't get a FP for this we used the DAS which gave a return time of about 40 mins so we stopped off at Woody's lunchbox to grab a drink, we opted for the Mystic Portal punch which was very tasty & cooled us down while we waited.
It was also right opposite the ride so was a good place for Darren to wait while we headed over at our allotted time.

After this we took a slow walk along to Fantasmic as it was way too hot to rush.

It was definitely worth doing the dining package for this as our seats were brilliant, not too near the front that we got soaked but not too far away either.

By the time Fantasmic was finished we were all pretty exhausted so headed out of the park to the CBR bus stop (which always seemed to be the furthest away, no matter what park we were at!)

then it was a quick wash & bed for the kids, while i sneaked out to put the bunting up ready for Alex's birthday in the morning

i hope you have enjoyed day 3, next up:

Day 4 - Alex's birthday, Animal Kingdom, Disney Springs & Dinosaurs

[LottiesLot]

Great day! You had things planned out really well. What dates were you there?

[Palm trees]

Sounds like a great day! I loved the Frozen show too.

[Th1nkT1nk]

Another great day interesting to know that you felt the dining package for fantasmic was worth it- I may look into that.
Toy story land wasn’t open when we last went, I think dd (who will be 8) will love it

[collybird]

I love Hollywood and Vine so a great choice for your TS meal for today, I completely agree about the package seating being the best at F!.

[GezzasGem]

I love the Frozen show too and admit there was some welling up occurring! 😁👍

[PixieBoot]

What a lovely day! Your Grandaughter’s pics with Mickey are precious ☺️ Great report, thank you.

[kansaskitty]

For first timers I think this holiday was planned so so well! You must have spent so long researching and planning and it really paid off to give the kids a great time!

[Scarla]

Its all thanks to the dibb & lots of hours on youtube

[Florida1972]

Great day, perfect ending with Fantasmic 🙂