When we left for Florida our plan was to spend two days at the Magic Kingdom since that was what we thought our four-year-old son and two-year-old daughter would enjoy best. But, plans changed and boy am I glad that they did!
While we were standing in line to meet Tinkerbell (otherwise known as my daughter's idol) at Magic Kingdom, the mom behind us was telling us how her son got to fight Darth Vader as part of the Jedi Training Academy at Hollywood Studios. DING, DING, we have a schedule change!
Our son is Star Wars obsessed, so we knew we would take him, the question was if we'd also take our littlest Macaroni, who we didn't think would enjoy much at the park. There was no way Grandma was leaving her home, so off we all went.
By 9:45 (you do need to get signed up early or you could be out of luck), our son had secured his spot in the afternoon Training Academy show and it was off to ride Star Tours for the first of four times that day. I didn't ride Star Tours, but my son and husband both loved it and thought it was cool how each ride featured a different story and experience. (Important note here, there is a good-sized Star Wars store where you come out of the ride, so if you have a Star Wars fan, expect to spend a small fortune on stuff. We were lucky to escape with a build-your-own lightsabre and hoodie.)
While he was living his Star Wars dream, my mother-in-law and I took our daughter to play at the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground where she could run and explore and have a blast. It also had some great shade, so would make a nice escape in the afternoon sun.
From there, my son, who is a pretty adventurous rider for a young age, was very excited to ride Tower of Terror, which I told him was like a giant FrogHopper. We had gotten fast passes earlier that morning (definitely recommend having one person in the group be the fast pass runner like we did), so the wait was minimal and he even got to ride twice since my parents ventured to the Rock-n-Roller Coaster. The queue for the Tower of Terror was really entertaining, even if you've never seen The Twilight Zone.
We took our daughter over to The Art of Animation building (again a good escape from afternoon sun) for character meet and greets with the Incredibles, Sorcerer Mickey and Winnie the Pooh. On the way over, we also stopped to meet Jake from Jake and the Neverland Pirates.
It was here where we heard that fast passes for Toy Story Mania were gone (and later learned that fast passes for this do go VERY QUICKLY). My husband and son waited in line for an hour to ride the 4-D arcade-style attraction and said it was fun, but not worth the wait, especially since we had done the Buzz Lightyear ride in Magic Kingdom earlier in the week.
Other attractions we experienced were the Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show, which I thought was long and drawn out and my son got a bit bored between stunts. But, if you have a Lightning McQueen fan, he does make a special appearance. We also saw Muppet Vision 3-D, which was just ok, but I would rate Mickey's Philharmagic at Magic Kingdom as significantly better.
We ran out of time to see some of the shows, like Disney Junior - Live on Stage, which I know my kids, who watch those cartoons a lot, would both have enjoyed. We also heard good things from other families in the park about it.
The best chance to see your favorite characters was definitely in the Pixar Parade in the afternoon, which had characters from Monsters, Inc., Up, Toy Story, The Incredibles and Ratatouille. Cars was not included.
We also got lucky that it was a nice night, so we could stay and enjoy Fantasmic, which is their signature show projected on a small lagoon. If you have kids who scare easily, there is a section with villains and a dragon, but my two-year-old didn't mind it mixed in with everything else. If you are planning to see this show, they recommend getting there an hour before. We got there about 30 minutes before and were seated in the next to the last section, so we were glad we weren't any later since if it gets to capacity, they won't allow anyone else into the ampitheater.
We did manage to squeeze in a quick stop for lunch at the Sunset Ranch Market near the Tower of Terror, which had great burgers and hot dogs. Dinner turned out to be soft pretzels and popcorn that we took along to see Fantasmic (and also kept the kids entertained during the wait for the show).
If you have a vacation coming up and have a question about the park that I didn't mention, feel free to shoot me an email at alisonw@macaronikid.com. And, if you've been to Hollywood Studios, tell us in the comments below about your favorite attraction!
DISCLAIMER: We paid for our tickets and did not receive any compensation for this review. All opinions expressed are my own.
Article originally published February 2012.
