After unpacking our room we hurried to get to the buses for Hollywood Studios. We were in line for the bus by 1.
Because of the craziness to change rooms, we ended up skipping lunch and hadn't eaten since breakfast at the hotel around 7 am. As soon as we got in to the parks, we grabbed some nachos to split and looked at our game plan for the afternoon.
I had the following set up:
Toy Story Mania Fast Pass: 1:55 to 2:55
Star Tours Fast Pass: 4:00 to 5:00
Sci Fi Drive In Theater Reservation: 4:45
Frozen Sing Along Fast Pass 6:00-6:15 for 6:30 show
Star Wars Dessert Party Reservation: 7:30
It worked out really well and while I wish I hadn't scheduled the Toy Story fast pass so soon in the day, we ended up making it with time to have the snack beforehand.
We arrived at Toy Story by 2:30 and were able to ride quickly with our fast pass even though the stand by line was around 95 minutes.
We ended up getting out of there so quickly (I thought with them having 1 track down while they get ready for the new Toy Story land opening this summer it would take us longer) I modified our Frozen Sing Along fast pass to the 3:30 show. So we walked right over to Frozen to get that fast pass out of the way.
Our kids were probably the only two in the entire theatre not singing any of the songs and they know the words by heart. They just weren't feeling this show. Paul thought it was just okay, he wanted to see more characters acting things out, and not just watch a screen for the majority of the time with the sing-along songs you can see on youtube. The jokes were funny when being narrated, but it wasn't enough to really offset the time that you sat and watched the songs if not singing along.
We hurried out of frozen and went right over to Star Tours for that fast pass by 4:15. And then checked in for dinner at sci-fi drive in at 4:35. We were seated right on time and had a car for just the 4 of us. It was a really cool atmosphere, and we really enjoyed the food. However, they really could do a better job on which clips they include because I think some of them are just a bit too scary for kids still! Ally hid behind her menu for some of it.
We ordered the fried pickles for an appetizer. Paul and I both go the BBQ burger (really good), Sam got a cheeseburger, and Ally got the Mac and Cheese. We paid for this meal out of pocket to keep our more expensive meals on our dining plan.
After dinner we ran over to go meet Olaf. His wait was maybe 5 minutes which was perfect. After his meet we went over to get our pictures with Cruz. This is just a car in Pixar.
I would have loved to meet Buzz and Woody, but their wait was around 45 minutes and kids just weren't feeling it. So we skipped it (hope to do next time) and went to see the 6:45 Voyage of the Little Mermaid. I loved this one! It is only 15 minutes, but has comfortable seats in air conditioning. The kids loved it as well so we will be putting this one in our to visit next time. Due to the show being so short, we had plenty of time to go see Star Lord and baby groot. The kids have never seen guardians of the galaxy, but baby groot was awesome. Ally absolutely loved him and we will make sure we do that meet and greet next time!
After this it was finally time for our dessert party. We decided on the Star Wars dessert party for Paul's birthday due to the fact that when we were at Hollywood Studios last time (October 2016) we hadn't spent much time in the park, and none at all in Star Wars launch bay. The kids and I have never seen a Star Wars show, but you don't need to have watched a show to appreciate the desserts, characters, and the fireworks.
The dessert party includes appetizers, desserts, alcoholic and non alcoholic drinks. It has a reserved viewing area for the movie magic and Star Wars laser/fireworks show. It also comes with a special mug/stein and you get a bottle of water to take out to the fireworks.
We checked in at 7:30 and found a table. There are not chairs with the tables, so we went for a lower one that the kids could stand at. We had plenty of time to fill our plates full of desserts.
Storm troopers were wandering throughout the party and it was really cool to just watch them walk around and interact with guests.
We had until 8:40 before we would be moved to our viewing section for the fireworks so we had plenty of time to explore the launch bay. It wasn't crowded at all, so we went to go meet BB8 and Chewbaca and explore all the movie related items that were in the launch bay.
We ran to do quick bathroom breaks before being moved over to the viewing area, and Hollywood studios was deserted due to everyone else moving over to find a spot for the fireworks.
While Paul and Sam were in the bathroom, the storm troopers were still walking around. Ally was not making eye contact at all, because she wanted nothing to do with them. I am not sure if they picked up on that and that's why they came over, or what happened, but they came over and interacted with her a lot. They have set sayings that they do, and with those set sayings had her stand in a certain spot and had me take her photo with them. She warmed up as the interaction went on but was a bit scared to start.
At 8:40 we were marched over to the viewing area by the storm troopers. Our spot was right up front and while they didn't have seating, we were able to get right up front so the kids could stay seated the entire time. The viewing area is extremely close to the display, so it's hard to take it all in at once, but we loved not worrying about finding a spot.
Ally has always been scared of fireworks, so one of the best things we purchased before we left were noise canceling head phones. She was able to use these and enjoy the show so much more. It doesn't cancel out all the sounds, but gives her enough of a mute on the fireworks that she isn't in tears or stressed out.
After the fireworks we headed out to catch our bus back to our hotel for our first night to sleep at Art of Animation.
It was an extremely packed day, but I am pretty sure Paul had an amazing 40th birthday. How our day ended up from original plan:
STEP TOTAL - 16,523 steps ACTIVE MINUTES - 99
7am - Breakfast at hotel in Valdosta, Georgia
11:30 am - Arrived at Art of Animation
1pm - On a bus to Hollywood Studios
2pm - snack
2:30pm - Fast Pass Toy Story Mania
3:30pm - Fast Pass for Frozen Sing Along Show
4:15pm - Fast Pass for Star Tours
4:45pm - dinner reservation for Sci-Fi Drive In Restaurant
6pm - met Olaf
6:30 - photos with Cruz from cars
6:45pm - Little Mermaid show
7:15pm - Met Star Lord and Baby Groot
7:30pm - Check in for Star Wars Dessert Party
8:00pm - wondered Launch Bay, met BB8, Chewbaca, storm troopers
8:40pm - walked over to private viewing area
8:55pm - Hollywood Studios Movie Magic show
9:15pm - Star Wars Galactic laser and firework show
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