Disney Day 4: Hollywood Studios & Downtown Disney

Day 4 at Disney was a bit unique because we didn't have any reservations for the entire day, which meant we could do whatever we wanted. We had booked a dinner show for the following evening that used two of our dinner tokens each so we didn't have a sit down meal for Wednesday. 

After taking all of this info into consideration, we decided to hit Hollywood Studios and then continue the theme through dinner by going to Planet Hollywood in Downtown Disney. This was a really awesome day (I say that every day, don't I? But they all really were...) and we absolutely loved this park. 

It had more of the Magic Kingdom ambience due to the store facades, cast members dressed in character on every corner and the way the theme was carried out everywhere...and I do mean everywhere...and it is one of the cooler parks so that's always a plus, right?

We got there right as the park was opening for Extra Magic Hours (after a super breakfast in the food court at the hotel - Tay loved their apple turnovers and pretty much had one every day) and headed straight to the Hollywood Tower of Terror as this was one of our "must do" attractions. Due to the name, Miss Taylor was not entirely sure about this ride. And by "not entirely sure" I actually mean somewhat terrified. 

However, she did go on the ride and she absolutely loved it. Well, she loved the ride itself but not so much the scary story line. It was kind of like the Twilight Zone for a minute and I'm pretty sure she closed her eyes through that part. Not to fear, though, because the actual falling of the elevator made it worth her time...

See - doesn't it have that Magic Kingdom type of feel?

After Tower of Terror, we headed over to our other "must do" attraction, which was Rock 'n Rollercoaster. Can you say tons of Aerosmith goodness? Well, the line was a bit long so we decided to grab Fastpasses instead of waiting and headed off to find something to do with our time...

We walked into the Beauty and the Beast stadium but then realized it was 30 minutes from starting and it was outdoor so Tay and Dave decided surely there had to be a better option...and there was...

First up was The Little Mermaid show, which was really cute...but it was almost pitch black, the characters were moving really quickly and I couldn't use a flash so the pictures aren't good at all...

Then we headed over to an animation demonstration that was really interesting...the evolution of characters throughout the process is amazing to one who can't draw a straight line with a ruler (that would be me)...

And we ran into Sorceror Mickey...once again, Tay wanted a picture OF him but not WITH him...

Next we saw a show on the history of Walt Disney. Very informative and interesting...and it was air conditioned so you know that was a good thing!

Then it was time to head back to Rock 'n Rollercoaster. We had the same song and dance with Miss Tay trying to decide if, indeed, she was going to ride...and she did...and she loved it. It truly was an amazing rollercoaster and we pulled some serious G's. And Aerosmith was blasting out of a speaker right by our head the whole time. What could be better than that?

We strolled through the center of the park where we caught a bit of the High School Musical show. Tay wasn't very interested in seeing much of it because she's a stickler for it being the exact same people as it was in the movie...and obviously it wasn't...but we did find another cute topiary...
Then we decided to go on The Great Movie Ride. The pre-show for this attraction was great as you got to see props from famous movies and then, when you got closer, you watched trailers from the classics. 

The ride itself was awesome. Each car had its own guide and you rode through actual scenes of some of the best movies of all time - Wizard of Oz, Indiana Jones, John Wayne westerns, some sci-fi movie I'd never seen and lots of others as well...and there were actors who did a little show in conjunction with our tour guide. Awesomeness!

Then we hopped over to The Backlot Studios Tour. We got to see a special effects show as part of the pre-show and then hopped on a tram that took us through some of the backstage areas of the park. This is where the water tower with Mickey ears lives...
...and they have a special section where you get to be part of a special effects scene with lots of water and fire...it was super cool...


...we also saw the original Disney plane that Walt flew around on when Disney World was just a dream...
Our next stop was the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground. This was a great (and shaded) place to play for a while. All of the structures were giant so you actually got the feeling you were tiny...and any time I get that feeling, I'm a happy girl...

She'd just been soaked by a giant Super Soaker, lol...

We strolled through the various streets of the park and they had skylines from New York and San Francisco. They were so realistic you felt like you were there...

We also ran into Lightning McQueen and Mater...she didn't have a choice in this one as Dave is a HUGE fan of these two...so she begrudgingly posed for a picture...

Buzz Lightyear was overseeing the courtyard...

We decided to take in the Muppet Vision 3-D show...super cute...and brought me straight back to my childhood...click on the picture of the fountain because it's really funny....

Then we headed to Star Tours, which is a Star Wars simulator type ride. The line was long so we grabbed some Fastpasses again and headed off to lunch at the Pizza Planet Arcade. We didn't play any games but did have an absolutely wonderful meal that included pepperoni pizza, green salad and giant chocolate chip cookies for dessert.

We went back to Star Tours and really enjoyed the ride. The effects were amazing...

We started heading back to the front of the park about this time. We thought about going to the stunt show and/or the Indiana Jones stunt show but decided against it. Tay did pull the rope by the Indiana Jones entrance, though, and it made a really loud noise. You should've seen her eyes!!

There's a restaurant in that boat...a seafood restaurant, I believe...it's in the middle of Echo Lake...
Because it was almost time for the Block Party Bash (the Hollywood Studios parade) and Dave was able to find a spot for us under some shade, we decided to stay...Tay and I killed some time in the gift shop. She was searching for the perfect Mickey ears this day...she tried these on but then decided against them...

She hopped up on the ledge of the window...can you see my reflection in the window as I took the picture?

Then the Citizens of Hollywood started coming out to entertain us for a bit before the parade began. This is Frances.
Frances was stinkin' hilarious. This is his truck.

And then it was time...


I actually have tons more pictures from the parade but this is already quite long so I'll cut it off at a few...

When we got back to the hotel, Tay's dog (who she renamed Perkie for this trip because she missed her little dog) was hanging in our window...with her two towel creations from our first day...

This was laundry day so we headed over to the laundromat, which was in the '90s courtyard. It had a pool shaped like a computer and we cooled off there while Dave did laundry...

Here are a few pics of the sculptures in this area...

These are back over in the '70s area where we were...

This Big Wheel said "weight limit 877 pounds"...lol

We had one of these Mickey phones in our room the first time I came to Disney...and that was in the '80s so I'm not quite sure why this was in the '70s area...

Tay decided to play in the Goofy Fountains for a while...

This was our stairwell...our room was on the corner on the second floor...

After folding and putting away laundry (and Dave and I making up from a bit of a spat earlier), we headed to Downtown Disney. We had received a $15 off voucher for Planet Hollywood with our vacation package so we'd been planning to eat here anyway. Tay and I had never been to one and Dave had never been to this one, which is the largest PH in the country.

Anyway, when we got there the line was super long so we applied for a PH credit card in order to get VIP seating, $20 off our meal and $20 in coupons for the gift shop. No, we were not too proud to give up our social security numbers to get off of our feet...

The shrimp boat from Forrest Gump...

We had a great meal and a couple of cocktails before heading out to conquer Downtown Disney. I'd read in one of my books that there was a shop here where you could custom make Mickey ears. Well, apparently that shop has closed since publication but we did scour ever shop in the area. I had a sad little kid on my hands but we promised to take her over to the Magic Kingdom the next day so she could make some...

My book also said the Lego store had giant Legos you could play with...wrong...they have giant bins of regular sized Legos to play with...Tay was not impressed...

But she was impressed with this guy who was made entirely of Legos...

...and the giant Tinker Toys...

...and the Dumbo hot air balloon...especially because we'd seen it flying while we were waiting for our table at Chef Mickey's the day before.

It was getting dark and the party crowd was beginning to come out (you know, the crowd we would've been with had we been sans kiddo) so we headed back to the hotel and planned Day 5...

Next up: Epcot and Mickey's Backyard BBQ