Aimee and Lauren's Split Year Split Stay Part Two- Disney August 2016- Day 4

[xAimeex]

Hi guys! Another update in a week, I'm on a roll! I'm sorry, I know I haven't replied to all your lovely comments on Day 3 yet! I will reply to them all as they've really spurred me on this week, it just meant I could get this day out a little quicker! A slightly shorter day today just over 6000 words and maybe 190 photos hehe. Hope you enjoy!



Wednesday 17th August 2016- Hollywood Studios, Mama Melrose and Star Wars Fireworks.


I woke up at around 4 today and was awake for about 45 minutes before going back to sleep until 6. Lauren was up not long after and Mum and Dad woke at around 6:30.


We all got ready and left the villa at 7:30.


As we were off to Hollywood Studios today Lauren and I had both gone for Star Wars themed outfits!





Lauren’s cute BB8 ears!


They only had this top left in a small and it was super tight and this early in the trip was the only time I fit into it


My R2D2 bow!



We walked to the Turtle Pond bus stop. The live wait times board said a HS bus was due at 7:37 but it actually turned up at 7:45.


After driving round the other bus stops we left OKW at 7:55 and were pulling in outside Hollywood Studios at 8:05 (it was a non extra magic hours day so we were actually super early but knowing what the rush is like to get to the 3 big rides at this park we find it's always a good idea to get here as early as possible!)



I love the art deco style of the signs etc here!





There was only a few people in the lines for bag check which made a nice change compared to the Animal Kingdom bag check back on our first morning!


The security guard who searched our bags thought we were Australian. He said the accents sound the same hehe.


Lauren was the only one selected to go through the scanners today so the rest of us headed towards the lines to get in and she caught up after.


We were about 4 parties back from the tapstiles but the lines were filling up fast even this early! We spotted 2 little sisters dressed up in matching Rey costumes from Star Wars! They even had their hair done properly like hers, it was really cute!


We passed the time chatting about our plans for the day! Mum and I had promised Lauren that we would both go on Rock 'n' Rollercoaster this trip which was really brave considering Mum hadn't enjoyed Expedition Everest much on our first day. For me it would be a huge achievement as I've never in my life gone properly upside down on a rollercoaster and I've always had a real mental block about it so it was a big thing for me.


Unfortunately my big achievement didn't happen today as while we were waiting here I bottled it and decided I wasn't ready yet! Watch this space though .


Mum however was still keen to give it a try!


They opened the tapstiles early at 8:30 and we headed in but they held everyone behind a rope outside Keystone Clothiers. In recent years they'd done away with rope drops like this as it just tended to cause a massive crush of people and could be quite dangerous.


They'd bought it back today though, it reminded me of the old Toy Story Mania fastpass run back in the days of paper fastpass.



I miss cloudless blue skies!





We hadn't booked Rock 'n' Rollercoaster fastpasses so the others were planning to power walk over there once the rope was dropped to ride standby.


As I'd changed my mind about riding today and didn't need to rush over there I decided to make the most of browsing the shops while they were quiet and taking some photos!


I arranged to meet up with the others later and headed off to the cool calm of the shops lining Hollywood Boulevard!












One thing on my shopping list this year was a Hollywood Studios pin as I have one for all the other parks!


I spotted one I liked so headed to pay for it. It cost $13.84 with tax.






As I had another wander around the shop they played Somewhere Over The Rainbow from the Wizard of Oz which is one of my all-time favourite songs! I'm sure I was walking round with a big cheesy grin on my face but I couldn't help but smile!



Loved this mug!




I was so tempted by this!




Some of the cast of Finding Dory hehe















As I left, the others were still waiting along with a large crowd of people at 8:45, it was already heating up out so it can't have been an overly pleasant wait.



Mum, Dad and Lauren were somewhere near the front of this



My next stop was Starbucks which was on the other side of Hollywood Boulevard so I meandered my way through the crowd and into the Trolley Car Cafe.







I wanted to cross another item off my shopping list next! Last year I'd started buying the Starbucks 'you are here' park mugs! I'd intended to buy them all but had run out of space so only managed to bring back the Magic Kingdom and Epcot mugs so I was keen to complete my collection this year!


There was a few people in here purchasing their morning caffeine fix but I was just after the mug as we were planning breakfast at Starring Rolls when the others got back!


I noticed that the mugs had gone up in price this year (so even more of a shame I couldn't buy them all last year hehe). They cost around $16 last year I believe but today it cost me $18.10.








I noticed the crowd start to move at 8:50 so with my mug safely stored away in my backpack I headed out onto a now much quieter Hollywood Boulevard so that I could take some pictures!


Again I just wandered happily listening to the music and snapping away!


















A CM came over and asked me if I was a lost princess hehe. He probably found it bizarre to see someone who wasn't rushing off to Toy Story Mania, R n R or Tower of Terror at rope drop! I explained I was just enjoying the peace and quiet and making the most of getting some quieter park photos!


I wandered over to Sunset Boulevard to have a look in the shops there!





Sweet Spells!










This was a record I think, they had a few Disney ones



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[xAimeex]

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I came across a shop called Ninety-four which was a Star Wars shop! I had a good browse of everything in there!













I especially loved these Droid dresses! They were for kids but the sizes came up quite big so I was tempted by the R2D2 one but didn't end up buying it.






At about 9:05 I headed over to Starring Rolls to wait for the others.



Lauren and I have stopped here a couple of times before as a photo opportunity but it’s a seating area for Starbucks now







As the park had only officially been open for 5 minutes it was still really quiet in there so I grabbed us a table in the shade outside (Starring Rolls only has outdoor seating).


The others arrived at 9:10 and Mum said she'd really enjoyed it, much more the Expedition Everest! She said if she could do it then I'd definitely be ok on it which reassured me a little. We had fastpasses booked for it later in the trip so I knew I had another opportunity to try it!



Look how brave Mum is!



The CM in Starring Rolls loved Mum’s top! Lauren and I had it too so had to make sure we didn’t all wear it on the same day hehe



We left Dad and Lauren at the table while we went to get the food.



How cute are these Minnie Bow cupcakes!



Mum was having a well earned cinnamon roll while Dad and Lauren went for the healthier option of a bagel each with cream cheese.








I, of course was going for the unhealthiest option of them all! A Darth Vader cupcake!






I'd had one of these a couple of years ago when we came in May as they use to be an exclusive snack for the Star Wars weekend events that used to take place in that month.


I knew it was unlikely we'd be coming in May again so I'd resigned myself to not having another Darth Vader cupcake for a while so I was thrilled when it was announced that Hollywood Studios was becoming a permanent home for Star Wars, mostly as Lauren and I are both fans of the films but also because it meant Darth Vader cupcakes would be available year round!


With my Darth Vader cupcake in hand we headed over to pay. The total would have been $16.79 out of pocket but we used 4 snack credits (bagels aren't the best use but we had a lot to use).


We all enjoyed our breakfast! The cupcake didn't disappoint in all its chocolatey peanut buttery goodness! It's extremely rich though but very delicious!


After breakfast we headed over to Star Tours. We had a fastpass for this at 10 but wanted to ride standby first.








We got there around 9:40 to see it listed as a 10 minute wait, hooray!


It was actually a walk on up to the pre-ride video which was an even bigger bonus!









Lauren and I really hoped we'd get to see some of the updated scenes they've added from The Force Awakens. As it turns out we needn't have worried as every time we rode this it started with the scenes in Jakku haha. We loved the BB8 hologram!


After leaving Jakku we were chased by Boba Fett and taken to the Death Star! Now Lauren and I have extended our knowledge of Star Wars the ride was even more fun!


We had a few minutes to kill before we could use our fastpass so we had a look around the shop!





Lauren and I really wanted something BB8 related but nothing really caught our eye.


As soon as we were 5 minutes off our fastpass time we headed over to scan our magic bands!


The line had built up a bit more by now so we actually waited longer with our fastpasses than on our standby ride. We were still on in under 5 minutes though!


As we waited to board the little girl behind us said she liked Lauren's BB8 ears!


We started in Jakku again this ride before go to Coruscant.


We talked about heading to the Great Movie Ride next as due to it being a tier 1 attraction we didn't have a fastpass for it. However when we checked the wait times on MDE we saw it was a 45 minute wait! I adore this ride but even I wouldn't wait 3 quarters of an hour for it!



It was scorching out already today so Lauren and I decided we would head over the Star Wars Launch Bay as we really wanted to meet Chewbacca plus it's inside so had the bonus of air con!


Mum and Dad didn't fancy it so they headed off to get a drink at Starbucks instead.


As we headed over to the Launch Bay we passed the line for the Great Movie Ride and it was out the door so certainly seemed like the listed wait time of 45 minutes was correct!







The outdoor part of the GMR line!







We headed inside LB and headed right as we only wanted to meet the characters rather than watching the film today (which we meant to go back to see but never got around to it .)








The theming inside the launch bay was brilliant! We took a few pictures but it was fairly busy in there. One of the CM's liked my t-shirt (which was good as like I said it was so small this would be the only opportunity I got to wear it this trip hehe).



It was always so busy in here that I never managed to get a good photo of this carpet!







The wait for Chewy was listed as 20 minutes but we only waited 15.


We both had Chewy hugs! The meet was fairly quick though as with a long-ish wait for it you could tell the character handlers where trying to get people in and out as quickly as possible.



The photographer didn’t get a picture of my hug, we found that with a lot of the photopass photographers, they often took a photo of one interaction and not the other
















Despite his t-shirt it looked like this kid was with the resistance hehe



We headed to meet Mum and Dad over at the Hyperion Theatre just before 11 as we had fastpasses for the 11:30 showing of the Frozen Sing-along!


As we walked over the wait time for Great Movie Ride had risen to 50 minutes!



The never ending line for the Great Movie Ride! You can tell how hot it was out by those people desperately making the most of that tiny bit of shade under the tree hehe




We scanned our magic bands and headed into the holding area for the show. This is outside but thankfully under cover with large fans so it wasn't too hot to be waiting out!






They opened the doors at 11:15. I was pleased to discover that they stop those with fastpasses 2/3 of the way along the row rather than making you walk to the end. They then fill up the last 1/3 of the row with people turning up later standby. It ensured that you got a good central view by booking a fastpass!



Our view

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[xAimeex]

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Lauren and I absolutely loved this show last year but Mum and Dad hadn't seen it yet so we were excited for Mum to see it. We didn't think it would be Dad's thing as he hasn't seen the film although having Lauren and I as daughters he does know some of the songs hehe.


However we were pleasantly surprised as both Mum and Dad really enjoyed it!


They both found the historians of Arendelle who lead the show really funny! They even had Dad laughing out loud!


They really have been well cast and add the right amount of in jokes for the adults that go over children's heads! They both had such good comic timing too!


One of our favourite parts was when the man pretends to be shocked when he finds out Anna and Elsa's parents die and then goes on to recite a long list of Disney movies where a parent has died (which is basically all of them with the exception of some of the more modern films).


We laughed as well when Kristoff came out and the woman started singing Justin Beiber sorry. There were some cheesy jokes too but as I said their comic timing was spot on!


The show of course also features appearances from Anna, Elsa and Olaf too and you can't beat the ending where it snows whilst everyone is singing let it go!














Even if you're not a massive fan of frozen or like me have been forced to listen to the soundtrack on repeat in the car for 3 years (the oldest one I nanny for grew out of it and now the youngest one is obsessed, as much as I love the film the cd may mysteriously disappear soon I feel hehe) don't be put off as it really is a funny show!


As we exited the theatre everybody randomly broke out into a mass chorus of Let it Go again so we joined in haha, only in Disney!


It was 12:05 by the time we got out and our ADR for Mama Melrose was booked for 12:00 so we headed straight over to check in.


At this point of the trip Muppet Vision 3D was closed for a refurb and the entire Street's of America section had already been closed off to make way for Star Wars land (which put an end to our traditional Singing in the Rain umbrella photos ). They were also doing work on the new Muppets restaurant so this whole area did feel somewhat like a building site even with the hoardings Disney put up as there's not much they can do about all the noise from the drilling.


It felt eerily deserted as we wandered up there as unless you were eating at Mama Melrose or wanted to go to the Muppets gift shop or It's a Wonderful Shop then there was really nothing else to draw people to this section.


We are super excited for Star Wars land when it eventually opens but I can't pretend that I'm not totally gutted about the demise of Streets of America! I know it was really only a walk through but I always loved the atmosphere and photo opportunities here!

























PizzaRizzo’s in progress















We checked in at Mama Melrose at 12:10 and fully expected to wait a while to be seated as we were a few minutes late and they're often running late in here anyway from what I've read/our experience in the past.


Our buzzer went off after 2 minutes though and we were shown to a nice booth table in the back room!



Lauren and I have eaten here on our own a couple of times and last year it ended up being one of the stand out meals of our trip so we were really excited for Mum and Dad to finally try it!


We were just having a regular meal again this time rather than a fantasmic package meal like we did in 2013. As I mentioned in yesterday's report the scheduling of Fantasmic and the Star Wars fireworks meant that you couldn't see both on one night and tonight was the night we'd planned in the fireworks having seen Fantasmic the night before (and still managed a good central view even without the priority seating).


We could see why we hadn't waited long to be seated as it was half empty in there. I've never seen it so quiet before (granted we've only been twice ) but due to the Fantasmic package it's usually a popular ADR and Lauren and I last year struggled to get a later ADR when we realised we needed to change our original booking.
















We had a lovely server here! She came over to take our drink order and was really chatty and knowledgeable about the menu! She was also really quick with drink refills throughout the meal without us even having to ask!


She brought over some warm ciabatta rolls and mixed up a herb and olive oil dip at the table! Lauren and I absolutely loved the breadsticks they served here last year so we were a bit disappointed at first but the ciabatta rolls were absolutely lovely too and I had to be careful not to fill up on bread before our mains came!








Our server returned to take our order. Lauren and I already knew exactly what we'd be having as we enjoyed it so much last year!


The charred strip steak with 4 cheese macaroni and pancetta! This is served with balsamic-shallot butter and a chianti wine reduction.


Having heard us rave about it Mum and Dad also went for the same!


Lauren, Dad and I ordered ours medium while Mum went for medium rare.


Even with it being so quiet in the restaurant today there was still a lovely atmosphere! I love that it almost feels like you're dining outside on a terrace with all the twinkling fairy lights and the low lighting! There's also so much on the walls to look at, we really like the theming!


It wasn't long before our food was being served! It didn't disappoint!







So good it deserved 3 pictures!



The pancetta macaroni cheese is just absolute heaven and a perfect accompaniment for the steak!


The steak was also delicious again! Lauren and I did come to the conclusion though that we actually liked steak medium rare (not that's it something we eat often). The steak was cooked absolutely perfectly in the middle, melt in the mouth perfect, but was a little tougher on the outside whereas Mum's was perfect all round so for the rest of the trip when ordering steak we asked for it medium rare instead!


Mum and Dad both absolutely loved the food and couldn't believe this was a one table service credit meal! Dad literally finished every last bite and said it was better than the steak he and Mum had at The Palm restaurant at Hard Rock Hotel which cost them around $240 (including tip)!


It really was a good plate of food!


I'd been planning to order the chocolate cherry torte I'd had last year too but after eating so much bread, pasta and steak I was just too full up for something so rich! Instead I picked the cannoli as a lighter option.


It was just fine, probably my least favourite dessert this trip but I don't think it was anything wrong with the dessert I just don't think I'm a massive fan of cannoli.








Lauren isn't too keen on the dessert options here apart from the chocolate gelato so that was what she picked!


Dad was also really full up after clearing his plate so he went for a simple vanilla gelato.



Lauren’s looked the same but chocolate hehe



Mum couldn't resist the tiramisu so she ordered that!






The others all enjoyed their desserts!


Overall it was a brilliant meal yet again which was a relief as we'd been really worried it wouldn't live up to our expectations after last year!


The total out of pocket would have been $183.14 (the steak is a bit pricier than some of the other menu items) but we used 4 table service credits.


We all agreed that our server had more than earned a 20% tip as she'd been really great (and also didn't explain tipping to us when she brought us the bill hehe). We left $35 and she offered to get us change! We told her it was all for her as she'd done such a great job!



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[xAimeex]

…Continued


We rolled ourselves out of the restaurant at 1:10. We had one last fastpass to use today and that was for Toy Story Mania!


With all the hoardings up it was a little hard to get our bearings (probably didn't help that we were all in massive food comas hehe) but we eventually got back to where we needed to be.











Love the attention to detail!



We made it to TSM at 1:20 which was 5 minutes after our fastpass window closed but they give you a 15 minute grace period so we were fine. We waited about 5 minutes in the fastpass line!







Hidden Mickey!


I’ve literally never noticed before that the exit looks like the door for Andy’s room!



As we got into our ride vehicle the CM said good luck toys which was cute!


I went against Lauren and no surprise she beat me as she always does on this ride hehe.












Mum and Dad were on the other side of the ride vehicle. Dad won with 93,500 to Mum's 75,000.


We headed out after this as it was so hot out now and we all needed a rest.


We stopped off to see what the wait time was for the Great Movie Ride but it was still 45 minutes!


While we were here the Star Wars show was happening on the stage and we could see all the characters waiting backstage which was cool!


Kylo Ren spotted us in our Star Wars outfits and pointed at us menacingly hehe. It was a cool spot to stand for a bit of extra character interaction!







The picture went blurry but Lauren managed to get it on video on Instagram!








As we walked towards the shops lining Hollywood Boulevard a poor little girl took a nasty tumble and had a big scrape on her knee. Her brother (I assume) and a CM helped her up but the parents were literally nowhere to be seen! The kids were only about 7 and 10.


We stopped in a couple of the shops but didn't buy anything. We eventually left at 1:50 and headed towards the bus stop to find an Old Key West one just pulling in which was a result!






We all agreed it had been another brilliant morning with another yummy lunch!


We got back to OKW at 2:10. Lauren and I got off at Hospitality House as we wanted to pop to the shop to grab something for dinner as we were 'cooking' in the villa tonight!


We said last time we stayed at OKW in a villa that it was a shame we'd never got round to making use of the kitchen!


Don't get me wrong, we didn't have grand plans of cooking a proper meal from scratch as nobody wanted to cook on holiday but we thought it would be fun to grab a frozen pizza and sit and watch a movie while eating it!


The gift shop (as with all Disney resort shops) has a small food section with cereals, drinks etc. and as the villa fridges have a freezer compartment they also sell frozen food here.


We grabbed a large pizza for all of us to share. We debated getting 2 but after such a big lunch we really didn't need a huge dinner too. This cost $6 which we thought was fairly reasonable by Disney price standards!



Sadly we didn’t have time for a run hehe but for those of you who can run they have a proper trail to follow!






Cute photo frame in the gift shop!


Our friends have the Tower of Terror Clue game! We played it recently, it’s really good!











It was absolutely scorching as we headed back to the villa. As we walked along by the river I was bitten on my leg which was the first time I realised how useless the jungle formula spray was!










As we passed the Peninsular Road bus stop a bus pulled in and I really wanted to hop on as it would take us a couple of stops to Old Turtle Pond but Lauren was keen to keep walking so we carried on.


By the time we got back we were both melting! We really could have used another afternoon storm today!


Mum and Dad were already in bed when we got back so we collapsed on our beds and turned the air con right up!


Lauren slept from 3 to around 4:30 but I just couldn't fall asleep today even though I was quite tired. It was really nice just to lie down and relax though so I made the most of that.


I ran a bath but had to wait until Mum and Dad woke up at 5 to turn the jacuzzi on as the jets are really noisy!


Luckily the shower and jacuzzi are in separate rooms so Lauren was a able to shower at the same time.


Mum and Dad decided they were still full from lunch and didn't fancy any pizza (thank goodness we didn't buy 2) so Lauren worked out how to turn the oven on to cook the pizza for us.



Just in case you were curious about what a frozen pizza box looks like hehe



It didn't take long to cook but poor Lauren burnt her finger on the oven shelf while getting it out. She ran it under the tap but it did leave a little mark.


I sliced the pizza and served it up and we sat down at the table to eat it. We had planned to watch something on the TV but as the TV is in a cupboard the doors blocked our view but it was actually nice to sit around the table together pretending this was actually our home hehe.






Eventually it was time to get ready to head out again! We were heading back to Hollywood Studios tonight as we were planning to watch the Star Wars fireworks!


Lauren and I wanted to fit a couple of character meets in first so were leaving a bit earlier than Mum and Dad. We arranged a general area to meet up in later (somewhere on Hollywood Boulevard) in time for the fireworks!



Lauren went for a retro Minnie themed outfit tonight


I went for a Frozen themed outfit with my Cinderella ears hehe I think they fit both films!



Lauren and I left the room at 7 and walked to the Old Turtle Pond stop. On the live wait times board, Hollywood Studios was listed as arriving at 7:16 but it actually turned up at 7:06 which was a pleasant surprise!


By the time we'd gone to the other bus stops we left OKW at 7:15 and were pulling in at HS at 7:25!


The bus driver drove round to the furthest away bus stop so it was a bit of a trek over to the park entrance.


Similar to last night bag check was really quiet at this time. The security guard who checked our bags said it was the law that we kept our Minnie ears on all night!


I was selected to go through the scanner but we were soon on our way!


Once we were through the tapstiles we headed over to our first stop! Meeting Olaf!






This was our first trip since he'd been given his own character meet and greet and we were both in need of a warm hug! (Even in the height of August hehe).


He has his own meet not far from the Indiana Jones stunt show so we wandered over that way passing Gertie the dinosaur on the way!












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[xAimeex]

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The wait was listed as 10 minutes so we jumped in line! The queue is mostly outside although under cover thankfully. It was still pretty hot out but at least we weren't out in the sunshine.


The line actually took 25 minutes which was a bit frustrating but at least the last part of it is inside with air con!


It was finally our turn and Olaf was really cute! He was excited that he was on my shirt! We both got warm hugs!








The character handlers and photopass photographer in here were super grumpy though! We noticed it with the way they bossed about a Mum and her little girl in front of us.


We experienced similar with the character handler (an older lady) getting frustrated at us for putting our bags in the wrong place.


She was also trying to get everyone in and out as quickly as possible and we felt that she rushed us even more as we didn't have a child with us.


Despite that though it was a cute meet! We checked MDE after to have a look at the photos and we couldn't help but laugh at the unfortunate angle of Olaf's hands! You'd have thought the photographer could have told him to lift his hands a little so it didn't look like we were being touched up by Olaf hehe.



Do you wanna b…e touched up by a snowman? Haha



Next on our list was to meet Minnie and Mickey! This meet and greet is just around the corner from Olaf. They greet in separate rooms and you meet Minnie in her red carpet outfit and Sorcerer Mickey!


With the Olaf queue taking longer than listed the line for Minnie and Mickey had jumped up to 35 minutes which was longer than we really wanted to wait but we didn't have anything else we needed to do so we jumped in line. Our only concern was finishing in time to get back and grab a good spot for the fireworks.








The line was fairly slow moving but we did get chatting to a UK cast member called Bonnie! She was from Camberley and it was really interesting to hear what it was like working for Disney!


It took about 30 minutes until we were shown into the room to meet Minnie!


She looked really cute in her dress and was really excited that Lauren had retro Minnie Mouse ears on! She liked the sparkly gems on mine too.



As with my Chewy hug in the morning the photographer didn’t capture Minnie looking at Lauren’s ears






It was a really nice meet and we got some cute photos!


After seeing Minnie we were shown down a corridor to the line to meet Mickey.


This looked quite busy and we thought it would probably take another 10 minutes at least. It was 8:40 by now and we were a bit worried about missing a good spot for the fireworks as you often get people waiting for Disney Fireworks/parades at least an hour in advance!


We made the decision to get out of line, we asked a CM and they said we could head back through Minnie's room and out of the entrance.


We intended to go back on another day as we really wanted to meet Sorcerer Mickey but we never got around to it unfortunately.


We headed back towards the Chinese theatre. The taped off viewing area went about 10 metres or so back from the stage (which isn't used in the fireworks, all the projections are on the theatre). Then there is a roped off section for the dessert party (where we would be standing later in the trip!) and then you could view it behind the roped off area all the way up Hollywood Boulevard.


If you don't have the dessert party booked I'd say the best place to view it is in front of the roped off area for it.



Our view!



If you have booked the dessert party there's no need to worry about the fact that so many people can stand in front of you. They had taped off the viewing area leaving about 1 metre in front of the roped off section which they kept clear so that the view from the dessert party area wasn't obstructed. They also had a separate roped off area for children in the dessert party section but I'll go into more detail about all that on our dessert party night.


When we arrived the crowd waiting in front of the stage already stretched almost all the way back to the tape but we managed to grab a good central spot just in front of it!


Mum and Dad were due to meet us at 8:45 and messaged to say that they were in the park! Lauren replied and tried to explain where we were sitting and it was impossible to spot them in the dark from where we were. She decided to go off and find them while I kept our spot.


Luckily it only took her a few minutes and she soon brought them over!


When they were all settled I got up to go and grab a milkshake from Min and Bill's Dockside diner! They do seasonal milkshakes here and were serving a blue raspberry milkshake at this time. It sounded yummy so I'd added it to my snack list!










There was a couple of other people waiting for food once I'd ordered and it did take quite a while to get my milkshake. It was such a pretty pale blue colour, it doesn't show that well in the photo though but it looked lovely! It also tasted lovely, although very sickly after a while as it was really thick. I ended up sharing it with Mum and Dad (Lauren wasn't keen).


It would have cost $5.32 but I used 1 snack credit.






I returned to our spot to wait for the fireworks to start. It was super hot sitting on the ground but it was nice not to have to stand the whole time.


One thing we did feel was missing was atmosphere in the build up. As I mentioned in yesterday's report at Fantasmic they had a DJ building up the excitement for the show. Also one of our absolute favourite things in Hollywood Studios last year had been the dance party that had taken place in this area in the build up to the Frozen Fireworks.


We were still really excited but the atmosphere was a little dead without any music or anything playing.


With 10 minutes to go before the fireworks started the CM's had everyone stand up and move forward as far as possible to make room for more people so we had an even closer view which was nice!


It wasn't long before the show started and as has been reported on the dibb many times it was absolutely incredible!


The whole show was completely all encompassing! It was hard to know where to look! The fireworks were just amazing and the projections on the theatre were so well done and almost made me shed a tear! Then there is the effect of the laser guns and lightsaber at the end! Honestly it was so brilliant!


Even if you're not a Star Wars fan I don't think you couldn't find this show fantastic!


As soon as it finished we started moving straight away (along with everyone else hehe). We did the firework exit dodge and weave and made it to the bus stop at 9:55.


There was an OKW bus already waiting but we were at the back of the line.


Luckily we just made it on behind the yellow line!


A few seconds after we got on a familiar face came running up to the bus. It was the mum we'd met with her husband and son while waiting to go to Disney Springs a couple of nights before. We remembered to ask her name this time, she was called Diane! We squeezed up to make room for her too behind the yellow line.


Her son had found the crowds a bit much so had gone back early with his Dad but she had stayed on to see the fireworks so we had another nice chat with her! We chatted about the fireworks and the nice food we'd all been eating on the dining plan. She told us they'd gone to Wolfgang Puck Express for dinner the other night after we'd recommended it and had really enjoyed it!


We were soon back at Old Key West and made it back to the villa at 10:20.


We were all exhausted so got ready as soon as we got in and were in bed at 10:45!


Thanks for reading x

[Dutchdisneyfan]

OHHH Olaf :o

Great day!

[Unexpectedpenny]

Just got to the photo of the mug and had to comment, I've just made a cup of tea in mine to enjoy while reading this! I really didn't have room left in my suitcase in September but had to buy it, it's lovely!

Love your outfits. Now to read the rest!

Edit; That Olaf photo!

[Flimsey]

Another fab report, are you going next year?

[rscxox]

Yay another day posted so quickly!

Shame you didn't get on RnR today, i was looking forward to the ride photo

Your review of Mama Melrose last year and this year has made me desperate to try that steak and pasta!

I understand what you mean about lack of atmosphere before the star wars fireworks, i felt the exact same this year

Looking forward for more x

[Guest]

Loved your update so much! I had such a good laugh at the picture with Olaf!
Sounds like a really fun day at Hollywood studios!
It's such a shame when the photopass misses part of the character interaction! I think it must be because they're looking through the lens so can't see everything that's going on so they miss certain things!
I really enjoyed your report as always! I can't wait to read more!