Day 5: Hooray for Hollywood

Alright, after a brief break, I'm ready to move along. I don't even know if anyone is still reading this at this point, but if you are, thanks :).

It was our 4th day, which meant it was time to hit up the 4th park- Disney's Hollywood Studios. I'm not gonna lie, I don't know why the changed the name a few years ago. I still call it MGM most of the time.

MGM (aka: Disney's Hollywood Studios)

Either way, this park isn't really at the top of my list. I mean there's some cool stuff here and there, but all in all, I find it really hard to spend an entire day there. But, it's still Disney, and damnit, we were gonna do every last bit.

My hero.

So, for whatever reason, I was miserable. My feet had swollen to about twice their normal width and my ankles were completely gone. My knee was so freaking painful, but I really hated the brace, too. I probably should've broken down a while ago and gotten a wheelchair, but I'm an idiot and decided to power through it. Not my best decision, but at least I can admit that. Even with all of the pain, I was determined to have a good time. I needed to.

Mickey atop the Crossroads

The BFH

We arrived at the park (at the last dang bus stop, as usual) and headed toward Star Wars since none of us had any real plan for the park. We knew what we wanted to see, and as long as we saw it, we were good. Since Hubby and I are pretty big Star Wars geeks, I was over the moon. I really, really wanted to see the new ride and I was really excited to see what series of adventures we'd be going on. I REALLY wanted to go to Hoth so see some AT-AT's, but it was not in cards. We got on the ride pretty quickly (thanks, GAC!) and ended up going to Tatoine and Naboo. It was good, but I've gotta admit, the 3D aspect was a bit disorienting. I enjoyed the ride, but I felt pretty awful since E and Z weren't feeling all that well afterward. I felt like each time to persuade poor Z to do a ride it ended up making him sick. :(

So the next step was something that wouldn't make Z end up face first in a garbage can. We headed over to bestie's favorite: Muppet's 3D. I always loved this show, and this time was no different. It was interesting to see how many more people were there this time though. Maybe the Muppet Movie reminded people how great they are, so the older generations starting  passing down the memories to the youngins. I can only hope!

We ate lunch and hit up the Great Movie Ride, which was...uh...interesting. Normally, I really enjoy this ride. But this particular time, we learned the importance of a good tram operator. The second person who comes in after the shoot out was AWFUL. I hate to be critical, but seriously, it was painful. The lines were delivered like she was reading a eulogy or something. I remember that the last time we were on it, the actor was awesome and he totally got into it. It was actually pretty convincing! Not so much this time around. Either way, it gave stomachs a chance to settle down, so it was worth it.

The Great Movie Ride

Next we hit up Toy Story Mania. This opened back when Hubby and I were there with his family back in 2008, but the lines were so insane we didn't get a chance to go. Then, when we went to Disneyland in 2009, THOSE lines were too insane (and FastPasses are gone by noon!) so we didn't get to do it there, either. This time though, we had the GAC.

And it's a good thing we did, not only was the stand by time over 100 minutes, but the line goes up and down stairs. Not possible at this point. I was lucky I was even walking. Stairs were completely out of the question at that point.

So, we got to take the Handicap enterance. Now that ride has got it figured out. I'll write a review about it here pretty soon, but the loading and unloading was probably the best I've ever seen. The ride itself was AWESOME. It was actually longer and E and I got to ride together. I have awful aim, but I thought it was a blast. E ended up getting a rabbit at the end, and I got a beaver (not the naughty kind.) I have no idea what either of them mean, but we had a blast. If you get a chance to ride this...do it. You wont be sorry.

Toy Story Mania

Since we were in the neighborhood, we headed over to One Man's Dream, (presented by D23!) which is an amazing museum all about my hero, Walt Disney. They had so much awesome memorabilia in there that I couldn't keep up with everything! I have about a bajillion pictures from inside the museum, so be prepared for that. The display ended with a great movie about Walt. I immediately turn to mush at the very sight of him, so needless to say that I cried throughout the entire movie. I just love Walt's story. I love how hard he had it, and how hard he had to work to build his dream. He had so many struggles, and yet, people all over the world flock to the very place he had dreamed of for so many years. Now that, ladies and gentleman, is a legacy.

Walt and I

Walt's Desk from the Studios

After that, Hubby had finally guilt tripped me into agreeing to go on Rockin' Roller Coaster. Generally, I really like this ride. I really hate the take off, but after that, I usually have a great time. This time around, I was really concerned with how my knee was going to do with all of this. Then, there was my precious camera. Would the flimsy bag at the front of the cart keep it safe? I had reservations, and ended up pinning my poor camera inside the bag with m bad leg for the entire ride. All I kept thinking is "@#$%! is my camera coming out!?" I wasn't able to enjoy it as much this time around, but it did make me feel better that I was able to do something with E and Hubby that they really wanted to do. But, always one for payback, I made Hubby promise to watch Beauty and the Beast with me. And so, we headed to the stage to get sears for the show.

Rockin' Roller Coaster

Of course, the show is one of my favorites. It's certainly dated in many ways (the screaming pink dresses with cone hair is...ummm...interesting.) but all in all, I was just happy to infuse my day with some Beauty and the Beast in some way. Also, the girl who played Belle was fantastic. She sounded like Paige O'Hara (Belle's voice) and was gorgeous. She was also NOT a beanpole like so many of the performers at Disney. She may have even been my size, which made me love her all the more.

Awesome Belle and hilarious Gaston

After the show we were all ready for a frozen coke (which are delicious) so we walked around in search for the stand which would contain our delicious treats. As we walked and talked, we ended up strolling into the Streets of America, which is essentially, one giant set. It really is so impressive what they were able to do with everything!

Singin' in the Rain

We next headed to dinner at the Sci-Fi Drive In. While I wasn't completely blown away by the food (in all fairness, I had a burger) but the atmosphere is seriously awesome. Bestie also ordered this absolutely delicious drink with a glowy ice cube (what was that called, E?). We had a great time just enjoying being off our feet and being with great company. It was a great night.

Goodnight, DHS!

After dinner, we noticed that time had gotten away from us. We headed over toward Fantasmic as a voice came over the speakers letting guests know that the performance was standing room only. Yeah, that wasn't going to happen with a bum knee and all of our feet killing us. Instead, we head to the buses and go back to the hotel. The boys grab some liquor from the shop at Port Royal and we all agreed to meet back at our little table in 10 minutes.

The rest of the night we hung out, iced our feet and just had an awesome time doing nothing but enjoy our vacation together. Honestly, that was some of my favorite time.