Heading into this park and knowing about all of the closures of various attractions, I really thought that Hollywood Studios (or MGM, as Joy prefers to call it) had turned into a half-day park. I was wrong. There's still plenty to do and there's actually quite a bit to keep your attention, particularly all of the Star Wars stuff that seems to be going on everywhere. I guess it's mainly limited to the stage area where the Sorcerer Mickey's hat used to be and the Animation courtyard but still, it seems pretty ubiquitous.
Speaking of Star Wars, though, I was really impressed by the Star Wars Launch Bay. This sits in the structure that used to be Disney's Magic of Animation and I went into it thinking it might be similar to the Chronicles of Narnia mini-attraction that was at the Studios back in 2007 but I was totally wrong. This was actually a very cool experience. First, you are treated to a short film about the Star Wars universe. The film is mainly clips of interviews from various producers, directors, artists, etc., that have either worked on the Star Wars films in the past or are working on current Star Wars projects. Oddly enough, George Lucas was not one of the people that was interviewed, although they did show a few clips of him filming the original movie.
Anyway, leaving the movie, there is a small museum of Star Wars ships, costumes etc. When we visited, you could also go on and meet Chewbacca and Kylo Ren (we opted for Chewie). Those queueing lines also had some cool Star Wars paraphernalia and there were television monitors that were displaying Star Wars trivia questions. All very cool.
The coolest part of our experience yesterday in the Launch Bay, though, was meeting the Jawas. These two guys were kind of hanging out in an area that was probably supposed to be Mos Eisely Cantina-esque but what was neat was that they would trade with you. What would they trade? I'm not sure what the rules exactly were but, when I gave Sophie a penny to trade, it was gestured to me that they could not accept actual cash. So, Sophie had the idea of giving them the lid from one of our apple sauce to-go pouches and they inspected it (hilariously) and, in exchange, gave Sophie...a scrubbie sponge. She loved it and thought it was great. Here's a bit of the Jawa decision-making process that I captured while they inspected the apple sauce lid:
Aside from Star Wars, we made it to my favorite attraction: Twilight Zone's Hollywood Tower of Terror. I won't go into detail as to why I think this attraction is still one of the best in Walt Disney World but I will sum it up in word again: theming. In a sort of bittersweet twist, we had fast passes for the ride so I didn't even get to enjoy the theming all that much. But, wow. Still love that attraction.
Just a cool shot of the external exit area of the ride. Also known as the "gift shop".
Didn't do a very good job here but, I was trying to capture the cool area music that I so love around the Tower of Terror:
Naturally, we also rode Toy Story Midway Mania which was a blast. That ride is so simple and, even though I've ridden it before, I used to wonder why it was so popular. But now I've confirmed the reason: this gallery shooting game is just so darn fun! I was also super excited to ride with my son and see this (even though he points out that his accuracy was better than mine. But then, why is "accuracy" at the bottom of the screen? ;-) ):
Now, let's get to the low of the evening and then we can get back to the highs. Rock n' Roller Coaster. Sophie has wanted to ride this since she found out that she was tall enough. Sadly, we didn't get a Fast Pass for it but we figured we wouldn't mind the wait. This is where the dilemma began because this was the first ride of our vacation so far that we couldn't all ride together (Lily's not tall enough yet) so it took some work to settle who was going with whom. Caleb did not want to ride it but Lily wanted to ride Tower of Terror again. I insisted that it would be better to keep the group in even numbers so we didn't have an odd man out on the roller coaster.
Anyway, Molly and Caleb got in line with Sophie and me for the 60 minute wait. Which turned into a "temporarily closed" wait, to a 110 minute wait, back to a 85 minute wait. During this, I worked out with Joy that when she was off the Tower of Terror, Molly and Caleb could just walk off the Rock n' Rollercoaster in lieu of waiting the whole time. After 40 minutes or so, Joy and Lily got off their ride so Molly and Caleb went to meet them. Sophie and I hung out the whole time in the line and I really enjoyed being with her but, she kept telling me while we were in line, "I have to go to the bathroom!" To which I would reply, "But you just went with your mom! Can you hold it? We've already waited so long!" She repeatedly said, yes, she could hold it but, she was getting kind of danc-ey.
When we finally made it the last line area, when were the VERY NEXT RIDERS to get on, Sophie turned to me and said, "I have to go to the bathroom now! I can't hold it!" She was visibly upset. "Sophie," I said. "We are the very next people to go! Can't you hold it? If we get off now, we won't be able to get back on! It's already been over an hour and a half!" But, she couldn't wait so, I found a cast member and said we had to leave. We took the "chicken door" and I took Sophie to the bathroom.
Now, I really thought this whole "bathroom" thing was a ruse. I really thought she just got scared and didn't want to ride but, she did in fact really want to ride. I'll leave out the unpleasantness but, suffice it to say that Sophie and I ended up riding it a little later.
Now for the bright side: we saw Fantasmic and had really great seats! It was a really good show and, even though we saw it back in 2007, I couldn't remember much of it. I mean, I remember all of the music but, that's mainly because of our strange obsession with continuously listening to Disney World theme park music.
Anyway, today is our "off" day which just means no theme parks; just pool, resort, and photography.
Hopefully, tomorrow's summary of today's events won't include any strife.
