Hollywood Studios

 

We started our trip off at Hollywood Studios and this and Magic Kingdom were my favourite parks. We spent 2 days here. We had fast passes to Star Tours, Tower of Terror, Toy Story Mania, Slinky Dog Dash and Toy Story Mania. 

Our favourite rides were –

Alien Swirling Saucers – this was one that everyone could ride and everyone loved it. We never had a fast pass but didn’t seem to wait too long despite certain times of day having 60+ minute waits.

 

Star Tours – my (older) boys and hubby loved this however, once it was my turn as a rider swap, I felt sooo sick and closed my eyes until it was finished. The 3D Motion/Thrill ride was very clever but it made me feel pretty awful and so I never attempted another ride. I’d say it’s great for Star Wars fans (or not) but not for those who get any amount of motion sickness unless you have taken something!

 

 

Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy – everyone LOVED this! It was a really fun 10 minute family show and a must for any Cars fans. My 2 year old in particular was enthralled with his seeing his favourite characters of McQueen, Mater and Cruz.

 

Tower of Terror – my oldest loved it, middle child not so much! Infact, the whole ride, he never made one peep until it finished and then he burst into tears VERY loudly which we found pretty funny (#badmumaward) but it is still as great as when I first rode it at age 16. Maybe it didn’t help him that we rode with a bunch of high school kids that were scaring each other and in turn scaring everyone?! 

Toy Story Mania – Another 3D ride that the whole family can go on and enjoy (minus the motion sickness!)  My 2 year old didn’t ‘shoot’ the targets but loved watching everyone else do it and there’s so much going on the entertain him without needing to shoot anything. Just make sure your arms have been working out in the weeks leading up and be prepared for a repetitive strain injury from constantly relaunching your shooter but it’s all worth it! 

 Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular – This was the evening show and it was pretty impressive with fireworks and special effects. Because of the schedules, we could only choose this or the Fantasmic show (which they ran at the same time.) We were torn but chose the Star Wars one and weren’t disappointed. I’ve heard a lot of good things about the Fantasmic show though so…another reason to return! 

Slinky Dog Dash – I was surprised that this roller coaster was so fast for the height requirements but no one was complaining with my boys! They LOVED this! The wait for this was always really long no matter the time of day (or night) so I’d recommend getting a Fast Pass for this or riding first thing in the morning/last thing at night.

One thing we found out quickly at Disney Parks – 1. Ice cream melts VERY quickly so avoid anything on a stick and stay to ice cream in a cup, otherwise you’ll have a huge mess and upset children. 2. Take the (metal) water bottles that you can carry around and refill at the numerous water fountains throughout the Parks. With the heat and humidity, everyone will be downing water like nothing else and finding a bottle of drink or pop costs over $8 will quickly add up. 3. Don’t spend $25 on a water spray/fan on the first day and then never take it back into a park.