Hollywood Studios & Happily Ever After Dessert Party - Disney World Diary - Day One
Today's Take-aways:
- The fast pass system isn't nearly as rigid and stressful as it seems
- I'm not 100% sold on the dessert party concept
- Disney is better in the dark
- I love the Memory Maker!
So we started the day in Hollywood Studios and everything went according to plan. We signed the youngling up for Jedi training, walked on Star Tours with no queue enabling me to cancel our fast passes and rode slinky dog, all by 10.30. It was considerably more thrilling than I anticipated, Ella bowed out when she saw the height but Milo seems to be developing a taste for coasters. Good news for Lee who has been waiting 10 years for someone to ride with.
After Slinky dog we got a snack at Woody's Lunch Box (around $35 for the 4 of us) and I had the most delicious "Totchos". It's effectively crispy potatoes, tortilla chips, chilli, cheese and sour cream. I would have happily paid double so it was a great first Disney dining experience since our Paris memories are not good in the food department. TOP TIP: Any quick service restaurant will give you cups of ice water for FREE so unless you really want it bottled save your cash! Milo got a small bottle with his kids meal but the cheapest water we found in the park was $3.50 .. that'll add up!There wasn't much time for anything before Milo's slot at Jedi training so we browsed a little and I took Ella for a starbucks while Lee took him for the preliminary stuff (getting the cloak etc). In case you didn't know (we didn't) the Starbucks in Hollywood Studios is called the Trolley Car Cafe. It's on your right as you walk down the street from the main entrance and it was BUSY. It took 15 minutes to get her drink, I suspect a hot one will be quicker as everyone seemed to be ordering iced.The Jedi training was fantastic. Milo has wanted to try it since he saw it in Paris, he was too young to train then so it was top of our list on this visit. It's pretty intense when they fight the bad guys though, there was one little one that cried when Kylo Ren appeared and an older girl (12 is the upper age limit) who wasn't keen at all. Milo enjoyed it and we got some cute pictures from the photo pass photographer without having to worry about capturing our own.
We had a fast pass for Toy Story Mania (really similar to Buzz Lightyear, if you've ridden that one) and while in that queue we decided to wait in line for Alien Swirling Saucers straight after to round out the land. That wasn't worth the wait time (in my opinion) but I'm glad we did it. ilo wanted to see Muppet Vision (again - not amazing) and I had heard good things about the Frozen Singalong (humourous and is SNOWS at the end) but otherwise we weren't bothered about much else in the park so after the two shows we decided to head back for a break at around 4.We left just after 6 for the Magic Kingdom for our Dessert Party. I booked it because I LOVE Disney Fireworks and nobody else (except maybe Milo) is really all that bothered. It's always so stressful waiting for them and there's so much pushing and shoving, I decided to buy tickets purely for the special viewing area. I'm not a sweet tooth so I didn't partake in the desserts but I can tell you the Cheeseburger Egg Rolls were very nice and I'm told the freshly made Smores were delicious. We each had a glass of sparkling apple cider to 'celebrate' and then we were led to the 'garden' area to watch the show.
If I'd thought it out a little better I would have landed a better spot than I did and I ended up with Milo on my shoulders standing in a crowd of Dads anyway but the wait was far more comfortable and I had a decent amount of personal space. The thing is, you can't discount the obnoxious visitors wherever you go. I like to think I'm fairly thoughtful in situations like this, especially when everyone has paid through the nose for a special view but some people will always be out for only themselves and unfortunately there were a select few of these who dampened the Dessert Party for me a little.I also didn't think the show was as great as 'Dreams' in Paris and it didn't make me cry. I think that's a first. All in all, I don't feel like it was money very well spent but Milo loved the show and the whole VIP thing did feel like a treat.
We decided to hang around a little, thinking the crowds would be leaving straight away and we were being savvy. We got on the teacups on a whim and then I remembered I'd booked a fast pass for Tomorrowland Speedway before we left Hollywood Studios and it was still in effect. That was hilarious. Neither of the kids could steer the car (though Milo will tell a different story) I was in with Ella and couldn't stop laughing. It was a little glimpse in to the future. In 4 years she could be behind the wheel of the real thing, God help us all!I'd read that they will let you ride a ride so long as you're in the queue when the park closes so we ran to the first we could (The People Mover) and made it through the turnstile just as the final 'Goodnight' fireworks were released. I've heard of the ride but had no idea what it was. It's kind of a glimpse behind the scenes of a bunch of different things. An odd one but different and hey, the park was closed, it was a total bonus!
Imagine our surprise when mainstreet was still teeming with people as we rounded the corner from Tomorrowland. It was a long schlep back to the car and the longest day overall. Milo made it to the boat before he fell asleep on my face but he really was a trooper. We have Epcot penciled in for tomorrow, I've already cancelled our dining reservation (I'll talk about that in the next one) so I would imagine it will be Soaring and A LOT of Food & Wine.See you then!