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9 Apr 19, 02:34 PM |
#1
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Apprentice Imagineer
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Team Groves are Florida Bound! October 2017 Day 5
Day 5:
Tuesday 10th October 2017 Hollywood Studios We were off to Hollywood Studios today. On our trip in 2016 this had been the kids favourite park and we’d spent a lot of time there. We left the villa at 8.30 and were parked and heading into the park at 9am. It didn’t seem too busy at all. I know that the focal point in Hollywood studios is a point of contention and lots of people have strong opinions, personally I miss the Sorcerers Hat. It was there the first time I visited the park and it doesn’t seem the same without it. The Chinese Theatre just doesn’t seem to have the same impact for me. Anyway, our plan was to go and visit Woody and buzz as I know the queue for this builds quickly and moves slowly! We were there within minutes and were meeting them both by 9.10am. The meet and greet was a lot of fun. These characters always seem to make a lot of effort and the kids had a blast. Both buzz and woody really liked their pages in the kids autograph books. As we came outside we came across the Green army man so we stopped to say hello and to get his autograph. The kids were on a roll now with characters and so we walked around to the Star Wars Launch Pad where we knew there would be characters. The shortest queue was for BB8 and he is Mileys favourite so we went in that direction first. We were in to see him at 9.35am. This was probably the worst meet and greet of the holiday (and we met a lot of characters!) i know they are limited with what they can do but it was just awkward. The kids had no idea what to do and neither did me or Simon really. They really need a speaking character to be paired with BB8 to make it easier. (The same way they have Star Lord and Groot together) You can tell from the photos that the kids just felt awkward. I’ve never seen them stand to attention like this before. After this we lined up for Chewbacca, this took a bit longer as he’s obviously very popular. We once again ended up in the line ahead of Phil and Sarah just be chance. We got into see him at 10.05 so it had been about a 20 minute wait. This was great fun! To start with Simon took Grayson up to meet him as Miley had stated she didn’t want to meet him as he was too big so she’d stay with me by the cast member taking photos. Chewbacca interacted with Grayson for a minute and had him laughing out loud, he then really made a big effort to get Miley to join in as well. Honestly it didn’t take much encouragement and so me and Miley joined in the photo too. I’m so glad as it’s one of my favourite photos from the holiday. We came out and waited around in the launch pad for Phil and Sarah to have their turn as we knew they’d only be another 15 minutes or so. During this time Grayson decided he wanted to show his tshirt off to the patrolling stormtroopers. They are such good characters and he’s always had such great interaction from them. Today was no different and they spoke to him for a minute before moving on. Miley having cuddles with Daddy Phil and Sarah came out of meeting Chewbacca and they’d had a great meet with him too. We all decided it was time to get a drink and an ice cream to cool down. So we walked over towards Starring Rolls and bought some ice-creams. I really can’t remember what the problem was but I remember Grayson had a bit of a moment and got moody. I don’t think he could decide on an ice cream when we bought them and it became a bigger issue than it really was. It was all fine in the end though and we enjoyed our mini break. Our first fastpass of the day was for Star Tours, Miley decided she didn’t want to go on it, so Simon, Grayson, Phil and Sarah went off to do this together. Me and Miley went and had a look around the shops and watched the Stormtrooper March into the park. Soon enough everyone else was back and they had all enjoyed the ride. Simon said they had been sat in the front row and Grayson had loved it. Up next was the Indiana Jones show. We queued up and then Went in and sat down. Unfortunately as we were sat for quite a while with nothing happening it gave Miley too much time to stare at the stage and the props. Namely the skeletons! And she freaked out. She became convinced that it was going to be a scary show and no amount of reassurance could convince her otherwise. So Simon left with her she said he’d meet us outside when the show ended. Poor Miley, I felt so bad for her as she’s such a sensitive little soul. Simon made sure she had fun anyway as he took her across to meet Olaf. He said she was still a bit anxious when they went in but he said it was a nice meet and greet. After that he made her day as he found a room where there were lots and lots of computers that people could play on. So Miley went around trying different games and she then relaxed. Incidentally this is where we found them when we were finished. Anyway, I stayed with Grayson, Phil and Sarah for the show. Grayson absolutely loved it. He was totally entranced from the first second it started. When they asked for volunteers to take part in the show he raised his hand! And he was completely serious! He wanted to be in that show! His confidence levels always blow me away! About halfway through the show they had technical difficulties and some of the set pieces broke down so they couldn’t finish the show and we had to leave early. I’m pretty sure that we got given an extra fastpass on MDE for this. Once we had found Miley and Simon and dragged Miley away from the computers, Phil and Sarah went to do some bigger rides. We decided it was time to get some lunch. Now we’ve never really found anywhere in Hollywood Studios that we love. So as it was new we decided to try Pizzerizzo for lunch, at this point it was about 12.50. Whilst we were queuing up to order and pay Grayson was sat on the floor (there was nobody around him so we wasn’t in the way). He somehow managed to make friends with a cast member who went and sat on the floor with him. He really does charm people wherever he goes! I’ve honestly no idea how he manages it! We ordered a pizza each, either cheese or pepperoni. They came with little salads and the kids had juice whilst we both had diet cokes. Downstairs looked really busy and the cast member Grayson was talking to told us upstairs always had loads of space. So up we went. She was absolutely right and there was tonnes of space up there and we easily found a booth table we liked. The food was simple but good and we all enjoyed it and there definitely wasn’t much left over at the end. By now it was 1.30pm and we had toy story mania fastpasses for 2.15pm. So we had a bit of time to kill. Grayson was starting to get a little grumpy so we got him into the stroller and gave him his teddy in the hopes he would take a little nap. Within about 5 minutes of walking he was asleep! We went into One Mans Dream to have a little look around. I do love this place and find it all fascinating. Because the Guardians of the Galaxy meet and greet was at the back of this area, it was now super busy. So Simon stayed outside with Grayson in the stroller. We then walked around for a little bit and went and found somewhere to sit down in the shade. We bought Miley an ice cream and whilst I rocked Grayson in the stroller, Miley and Simon sat and had a little chat. I love these photos as it really showed us just how grown up she was now. Our window for toy story mania opened up at 2.15 but we waited a while to see if Grayson would wake up. I didn’t want him to miss out on it as I thought he’d be sad. But at 2.45 he was still asleep and we were getting hot and tired so didn’t want to wait anymore. I took Miley on to Toy Story Mania with me. We only waited 5 minutes and were soon on the ride. I really love this ride and Miley enjoyed it too although I did have to help her out with the aim etc. I just think it’s such a fun family ride, I’m not at all surprised it’s so popular. Once we were off this we found Simon and a sleeping Grayson and started to walk out of the park. Grayson did wake up at this point but was still very sleepy. We stopped and had a photopass picture done but we left him in the stroller as he wasn’t having any of it! We got back to the car at 3.30pm. Man it was SO hot! Simon actually poured a bottle of water over his head in the carpark! The drive back was uneventful and we spent an hour relaxing at the villa before heading out at 5pm for dinner. Tonight we went to the Olive Garden. Yay! I know some people don’t like this place, but we’ve never had a bad meal here. And I love the breadsticks enough that I’d go just for them! I had a Tour of Italy which was amazing. I couldn’t finish it all but I really wanted to! The kids both had a build your own pasta where they could chose what sauce and what meat etc to have. But I’m afraid I cannot remember what Simon had. We obviously also had the breadsticks and salad. So the big surprise of the day was that Miley ate nearly the entire bowl of salad. She just worked her way through it until it was almost all gone! She’s never eaten salad before. Anyway we were all stuffed so had no room for pudding. But I did order a slice of tiramisu to take away with us. We finished up and left at about 6.45 and headed back to the villa. We got the kids changed and into bed and they were both fast asleep by 8pm. I watched some more of the Fosters and are my Tiramisu which was lovely. But we didn’t stay up late. |
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13 Apr 19, 10:16 PM |
#2
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VIP Dibber
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What a lovely sounding day! Thanks for sharing it all.
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Orlando 1993, 1995, 2005, 2011 Paris 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 Orlando - May 2015, October 2016, October 2017 |
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15 Apr 19, 07:36 PM |
#3
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Thread Starter
Apprentice Imagineer
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16 Apr 19, 08:02 PM |
#4
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Excited about Disney
Join Date: May 16
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Looks like a really good day. Everyone found something to enjoy even if separately. Note to self - you don't have to be together all day for it still to be a fab family day! The food at Olivia's looks delicious
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20 Apr 19, 09:16 PM |
#5
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slightly serious Dibber
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Ahhh Olive Garden... yum yum! We love it there too!
Another fab day. All the character meets sound great, you packed lots in!
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** A Dream is a wish your heart makes ** DLP - Jul '01, Aug '03, Sept '07, Feb '17, Feb '19, Feb '23 WDW - Aug '13, July '22 |
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21 Apr 19, 12:56 PM |
#6
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Imagineer
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great day and fab pics x
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1998 gateway inn 2005 quilty inn plaza 2009 enclave suites, wedding in cypress grove http://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/show...=gonna+get+wed our dreams can come true pre trip report nov 14 cbbr nov 14 |
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21 Apr 19, 09:00 PM |
#7
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Thread Starter
Apprentice Imagineer
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Sometimes it’s definitely better to divide and conquer! I don’t want to force either of my kids to do something they are scared of, but I don’t want the other to miss out. So this way we can make sure they are both happy. We’re never apart for long so it works for us.
Olive Garden is fab! Thanks for reading and commenting Love Olive Garden! Those breadsticks are my fave! Yes my kids do love a good character meet! In 2016 I think we spent an entire day at HS just meeting characters! Lol Thanks, we did have a fun day
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I can't wait any longer - April/May 2016 - Trip Report Team Groves are Florida Bound - October 2017 trip Edited at 09:03 PM. |
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22 May 19, 09:43 PM |
#8
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VIP Dibber
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Another lovely day with some great photos x
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MY TRIP AND DINING REPORTS - July 2023 Ten (Not So) Little Ones Take the Adults ~~ Onsite/Offsite Dining Report - July 2023 - 4 people - £168 budget per day plus tips ~~ Another Birthday Trip, October 2019 ~~ The Land, Sea and Wedding Trip Report, October 2015 ~~. Sept / Oct 2013 Five Little Ones Take the Adults IG - Lisas29 and familyanddisney 00 / 01 / 04 / 07 /Xmas 08 / 10 / 13 / 15 / 17 / 19 / 23 |
29 May 19, 08:35 AM |
#9
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Thread Starter
Apprentice Imagineer
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