Orlando August 2010 Part 2

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Day 2 - August 16 - Disney Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom

For day 2 the plan was to go to Disney Hollywood Studios (DHS) in the morning and Magic Kingdom (MK) in the evening.

The view on my walk

One of the things I really enjoy about staying at Disney's Boardwalk Villas (DBV) is that I like to take a walk in the morning and the walk from DBV to DHS is a beautiful and pleasant walk. So, our first morning at Walt Disney World I was very much looking forward to that walk. As always the walk was beautiful... but not so pleasant. Orlando. August. Even at 7:00 in the morning it was HOT! I made it to DHS and back, but barely.

I got back to the room and made breakfast for the kids. Another great thing about staying at  DBV (or any DVC property for that matter - actually any timeshare resort) is the kitchen. I love being able to get breakfast and coffee without leaving the room. Anyway, we had a nice breakfast and were out of the room by 8:00. We went down to the boat dock and caught the boat to DHS. We were in the park at 8:30.

One thing I had really been talking up to the kids was Toy Story Midway Mania (TSMM). After we entered the park I suggested we go straight to get FastPasses (FPs) for TSMM. As we were walking there one of the kids said "Did you say Toy Story midway Mania? Because there was a sign that said it was closed." I asked a Cast Member (CM) who was taking pictures and she confirmed TSMM was closed. I asked for how long and she said 2 weeks. Bummer. No TSMM this trip.

twinsies

"Understand the Gravity of the Situation"

TSMM or no TSMM, as always the first order of business is to go on as many rides as possible and get as many FPs as possible. We turned back and headed down Sunset Blvd toward The Hollywood Tower Hotel and G-Force Records. We picked up FPs for Rock 'n Roller Coaster (RnRC) and rode Twilight Zone Tower of Terror (TZToT). After riding Nat and Marie found it necessary to by matching T-shirts in the gift shop. I should point out that I find the TZToT gift shop to be one of my favorites and I always spend at least a few minutes there after riding. We then hit The Great Movie Ride (GMR) and headed back to use our FPs at RcRC. I should point out here that Gabby had always been hesitant to ride roller coasters. RnRC is a pretty radical one for someone who is not a big coaster person but she rode it and loved it. After some deliberation (another RcRC FP or a TZToT FP?) we got FPs for RnRC. The line was short at TZToT but Charlotte and Gabby were not interested in riding again, so while Nat, Marie and I did that Charlotte and Gabby went into full regression mode and visited The Honey I Shrunk the Kids Movie Set Adventure (HIStK).

It was now about noon and we were getting hungry, so after we finished TZToT we collected Charlotte and Gabby from HIStK and headed over to The 50's Prime Time Cafe (50sPT). Our reservation was not until 12:25 but were were pretty much able to get in right away. Though the food is mediocre I've always felt that the main attraction of 50sPT is the "show" not the food. As always we had a blast and the kids really enjoyed being "abused" by the CMs. The cost of lunch was $73 including tip.

After lunch we rode RnRC again, then enjoyed the shopping along Sunset Blvd and Hollywood Blvd. We left the park about 2:30 and headed back to the room. We napped, relaxed, swam and, in the case of Charlotte and Gabby, watched "The Goofy Movie". I can't tell you how many times over the course of the next few days that I heard one of them say "The leaning tower of CHEEZ-A!" followed by much laughter. 



On Main Street

 We had dinner in the room, left about 7:15 and started on our way to The Magic Kingdom (MK). We arrived at about 8:00. It was a hot night and the park was crowded, but there's just something about showing up at MK for the first time on a trip and seeing Cinderella Castle again that just puts a smile on your face. I actually purposefully made sure our first time in MK for the trip would be at night because there is something especially magical about the park at night. For everyone in our party except me it had been a while since their last visit and I really wanted to see their faces light up when seeing the park for the first time, in all it's night-time glory. Actually - I have not mentioned this yet - this was Gabby's first trip to WDW. We had been seeing the celebration buttons all over ("It's My Birthday", "It's Our Anniversary", etc) and we realized we needed to get Gabby a "1st Visit" button - so we went to Guest Services and got one. And of course the rest of us got the "I'm Celebrating" button (which, to me, is a bit like those "I'm With Stupid" shirts...)


Anyway, we headed to Adventureland where we went on Pirates of the Caribbean (PotC) and Haunted Mansion (HM). On our way our of Adventureland we stopped and got Dole Whips. (I recently read that D23 had a survey of the favorite WDW snacks and the Dole Whip won, I mean... what else?) Anyway we headed over to Tomorrowland to ride Space Mountain. We also did the Autopia - which is especially fun with a group (OK I know that's not what it is called but it will always be Autopia to me).

Finally we went to Main Street for some shopping, and I stopped at Casey's Corner for a "Grand Slam" hot dog. We headed out of the park about 11:00 and went back to our hotel.