WALT DISNEY: Day 7 HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS

Day 7: Disney Hollywood Studios: Terrifying drops, fast roller coasters, Star Wars invasion and bigger than life toys!

Up and at em! Today we are headed to Disney's Hollywood Studios! I love this place but it's been awhile since we were there last. My favorite rides of course is the Tower of Terror and Aerosmith's Rock n Roller Coaster! I knew that Sakari was going to love these rides! My little extremist. I have to say I was a little worried because everyone talked about it's best to go on a week day and less crowded. I just really didn't want to do back to back theme parks and Hollywood is a VERY busy place and hard to book at times. When we booked our reservations, Saturday (today) was the only available day for Hollywood within our time frame they gave us to go on our tickets. With it being a Saturday, I just knew the lines were going to be longer than we had experienced at the other parks. But, I was keeping my fingers (and toes) crossed that this 35% capacity was going to work in our favor! I would prepare myself for the worse though. ​

We had breakfast and piled in the van and was so excited to see where our GPS would take us this time. #rollseyes Off we headed on our little adventure. Eureka! It actually took us a way that we had been before. Whaddayaknow!​

We pulled up to Hollywood and was directed to the VIP section for parking...just like the stars we are! Front row parking and all I had to do was tell them I was Mitsugirly! Well that and flash them my handicapped sticker...but I'm sure they knew who I was. ​

We headed off to the entrance to flash them our VIP cards in hand that we obtained our first day at Walt Disney and in we went.

But first, I needed my people mover. We stood in line and I was a little shocked to see there were quite a few others that wanted one of these contraptions to run people over with. ​

I paid my $70 and it was time for instructions how to operate this new aged vehicle. Here is the button you push to warn people that you are running them over, this is the boost button so watch out you will go fast (not), put your personal belongings in the hold nothing bin in front and make sure if it's of any value you forget about it when you turn the buggy in, and above all....no piggyback riding! ZOOOOOOMMMM off we went. ​ 

I had my premade map that showed me where we wanted to go and what the people mover access rules were to each ride. I knew that the ride we needed to go to first was the Tower of Terror. It's a popular ride that would get busier as the day went on. I checked my Mickey app and seen that the lines were forming and we needed to get there soon. Beep beep! Here I come. No one could escape the zoom mobile who

wrecked havoc on anyone that got in my way.

I loved all the Christmas decorations everywhere especially the cute little trees on the light posts. 

There is was in all it's glory! Standing tall and spooky and ready to accept us hauntophobia humans. We got in line and let the anticipation build! 

The line wasn't too bad. I guess the haunting sounds and screams from within might have scared a few mortals off. We were in line by 9:35am...wow, did it really take my people mover that long to make it there? I need an upgraded turbo on that thing! We made it all the way through the mansion and up to the elevators to take us on a haunting tour by 9:43am. Not too shabby. ​

History: The plot of The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror follows the tragic night of Oct. 31, 1939, when lightning struck the building. Five people were aboard an elevator as the building was struck, causing the elevator to free-fall.​

Disney decided they needed a haunted hotel, 1930's style, to draw in crowds. They didn't just want the attraction to consist of a free-falling elevator, it needed to drop at a rate faster than gravity. The results were the elevator being pulled down at around 30 mph. To add more thrills and spooks, themes of "The Twilight Zone" were added to the design of the hotel and the imagineers actually watched 156 episodes of the series to be as accurate as possible!​

This attraction opened on July 22, 1994 and the 199 foot tall attraction, which makes it the tallest attraction at Disney, was instantly popular! Two additional drops were added to the elevator after it opened. Then, after refurbishment in 1999 more drops were added. In 2002, Disney added advanced computer technology, allowing completely random drops controlled by the attraction. You'll always get a different experience each time and it's the only place to offer this. ​

As we entered through the hotel's front doors, it looked as if the hotel's maids had been on vacation for many years. Everything was covered in dust and cobwebs. I would hate to see the spiders living in this place! ​

After check-in, we were advised that our rooms were not ready yet and was told to wait in the library. More cobwebs and dust would cover the area and I wondered if I pulled on one of these books would a secret escape door open for me to get out now before it's too late or would it gobble me up and I would never be seen again. I decided not to touch anything since it appeared that someone had already tried it and was never to be seen again (he left behind his cane and hat).

We are then taken to the boiler room to use the service elevators. I assume that the regular elevators were out of service and this was for this VIP service, only I waited for Freddy to jump out at me at any moment now.

As we made it up to our place in line at the elevator...we watched in fear as the previous victims took their place in the elevator and the doors slammed shut. They rose to the 12th floor and then the elevator comes flying down for its next victims. Those victims would be us.

Then our journey began. I'm not sure why they decided to stick us in the front row. Maybe I looked as though I could fight off any ghosts that we would encounter. Our elevator doors slammed shut and up we went. As we moved from floor to floor we experienced a lot of weird things in this "Fifth Dimension".

"One stormy night long ago, five people stepped through the door of the elevator and into a nightmare. That door is opening once again, and this time, it's opening for you." We visited the hotel floors and then we were back in the elevator again and we hear "You are about to discover what lies beyond the firth dimension, beyond the deepest, darkest corner of the imagination, in the Tower of Terror"

The doors to the outside opened and I could see the onlookers outside. They grasp their face with their hands and gasped as they watched us 12 stories up, knowing they would never see us again. And then....

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuggggggggggggggghhhhhhh, weeeeee, ooooohhhhhh, gassssssppp, belly in throat, no wait throat in belly, oh I was right to begin with and belly was back in my throat within inches of piercing my brain. ​

Whew! Were we all ok? Were we now a permanent resident of the hotel? I wasn't really sure at this point. I was busy trying to get my body parts aligned back in the right place with my body.​

"A warm welcome back to those of you who made it, and a friendly word of warning, something you won't find in any guidebook. The next time you check into a deserted hotel on the dark side of Hollywood, make sure you know just what kind of vacancy you're filling. Or you may find yourself a permanent resident... of the Twilight Zone." I guess that meant we made it. Whew!

Well, my people mover was sitting outside waiting on me, so I guess we are still here on earth.​

Right around the corner was Aerosmith's Rock n Roller Coaster. Mickey said it was about a 25 minute wait to ride and I was good with that.

Within 15 minutes we made it inside where you wind in and out of rooms with studio equipment and artists promotions.

Then another few minutes and we were in the loading room.

History: Opened in July, 1999. This ride propels riders from 0 to 57 mph in 2.8 seconds. You will experience up to 5 G's and include 3 inversions, which include a sea serpent roll and a corkscrew while you listen to Aerosmith songs. In each car train, there are a total of 120 speakers. There are 5 speakers surrounding each rider.

The crowds were somewhat thick in this area. I had been watching my Mickey app for several weeks prior to getting here and it seemed like the longest line at Hollywood was always the Slinky Dog Dash. I wasn't quite sure why. When I looked it up online, it looked like a kiddie roller coaster and I wasn't really sure if Sakari would want to go on it. As a matter of fact, I didn't even mark it on "my" map.

However, when Sakari seen it, she said she wanted to ride it so we quickly got in line for it....which was a mile long of course.

Standing in line felt like we were small toys in this area. They really did this area up and went all out. It was quite AMAZING! So many small (well big in this case) details. I was simply amazed at everything. It definitely gave us a lot to look at as we stood in line.

I'm pretty sure every time my husband spoke, it sounded like Tom Hanks at this point. Bigger than life toys really brought back child hood memories...especially from back when my oldest kids were little. They had so many of these.

The green men were hard at work building more on to this place while Jessie was decorating the area. Rex...well he was just being Rex and hanging out watching everyone on the Jenga blocks.

At this point, we had been in line for 20 minutes and we were slowly making our way to the staging area entrance beside the attraction. You know, the lines that weave in and out that's the actual "lines" on a regular day of say....only 10% capacity instead of 35%. #rollseyes Although the lines are long, it is so beautifully themed that it kept you busy exploring everything.

This area was no let down either...the DETAILS...oh my goodness! So many games to play. As our line moved 6' by 6' I reflected back on days gone by and playing these games with my kids and coloring and crafts. It brought a tear to my eye thinking back how long ago that was but yet it seemed like yesterday. There are some older toys that would have come way before Andy's time as well.

​Items in the queue include: Lincoln Logs, A Peter Pan Viewmaster Reel, Dominoes, Candyland, chutes and Ladders, Crayon, Playing cards, and a barrel of Monkeys (who escaped).

A few fun facts: First opened June 30, 2018

*More than 400 toy blocks fill Andy's backyard

*Andy's footprint is about 25 feet long (equivalent of a size 240 shoe)

*It would take a Green Army Man roughly 12 steps just to travel the length of one of Andy's shoe prints

*You would need a backpack the size of a school bus to carry the Buzz and Woody figures that tower over Toy Story Land

*The Rex and Jenga tower are as tall as 7 1/2 Green Army Men standing on top of one another.

*The seats in the area is made to look like used Popsicle sticks, dominoes and huge wooden train tracks crafted from Lincoln Logs.

*Mechandise carts are oversized Fisher-Price toys

*The height requirement figure is a replica of a game piece from Candyland

We approached our line for the ride and in came Slinky.

It took a total of 32 minutes and we were on the ride. I guess that's not too bad after all. When I would check Mickey's app, it would usually give times around 75 minutes! We were getting lucky!

We took our place on the coaster and off we went!

Oh my gosh weeeee. It was so much fun and Sakari was enjoying herself. Up and down, up and down with Slinky's little tail wagging the entire time. So cute. ​

Pulling back in to the loading area, we have Wheezy singing "You got a friend in me". Awww, I love Toy Story. Always have. I'm so glad we decided to ride this ride.

Now one of the things I did have on my map was Toy Story Mania. It is a 3D ride and you shoot items and score points. Once again, I'm very competitive and this would be my chance to redeem myself from bowling the other night.

So we headed over to the ride and it was just as cute as the Slinky Dog Dash ride. We morphed into miniature sized toys and admired all the games we wanted to play while standing in line. Little Bo Peep, giant Crayola chalk, tinker toys, games pieces, view finder reals, etch a sketch, cards, Uno and so much more. Someone had a wild imagination when building this area.

Fun Facts: Opened May 31, 2008​

*The artists that painted the artwork wore 3D galsses while they painted. They wanted to make sure they got the same perspective as the guests

*It cost Disney $80 million to build this pretty impressive attraction.

*You get more points if you can locate the hidden Easter eggs

*The ride is about 4.5 minutes long with each game lasting about 30 seconds.

*There are more than 150 computers that communicate with each other to keep all of the games and ride components functioning.

We boarded our ride, but it was only 2 people in each side. So, we were back to back. I rode with Sakari and daddy got stuck alone. :( But, it really wouldn't matter because we would have our 3D glasses on and be so into the ride and trying to score that we wouldn't really realize who was beside us.

The ride starts and takes you to 6 different rooms where there's a story and then the fun begins. You are shooting everything for points. We were firing away and racking up the points. Game on Sakari and daddy!!! I'm a good aim, no denying that. ​

In the end, I was the winner, as predicted. It was a lot of fun and I redeemed myself.

On the way out, the exit was just as cute as the entrance with barrel of monkeys, more building blocks, army men, kinex, dice, checkers and domino chairs. It was so cute.

Goodbye Toy Story Land. It's been great and honestly I could spend the entire day here just looking at all the details of this imaginary land of becoming a toy and understanding their point of view.

Since we were already toward the back, we headed back to Star Wars area. I'm not really a Star Wars fan, but man! This place is crazy!

All the details that went into this place was awesome. They had characters come out every so often (up on the stage to avoid COVID).

CHEWBACCA!

Now one thing you have to be aware of in Star Wars is that their new ride, Rise of the Resistance, can only be rode if you sign up. Here are the rules....at 7am and 1pm you go on the Mickey app and try to get in a que to ride. They fill up quickly and by quickly I mean 6:59am and 12:59pm. #rollseyeshard ​

So 7am rolls around and absolutely nothing available. 1pm rolls around and all filled up. This is seriously ridiculous. So guess who's NOT riding this new ride. Like I don't know how people get a place because it was full instantly. ​

So that meant we were going to head to Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run instead. The line was long and by long I mean L O N G ! ! ! I don't really remember the time we spent in line here but it seemed like forever. ​

While we were waiting in line, you would hear engines start up and then something flying over head. Everyone would look up and you could here spacecraft fly over us outside. It was the strangest thing. Like every time it happened I would look up for something. Something was never there. The speakers and effects they had for this area made it so real. Space ships flying over top of us and then off into the distance. So cool.

Millennium Falcon: Take control of the fastest ship in the Galaxy. Ride in the famous cockpit of the Millennium Falcon on a daring flight-whether you're a pilot, engineer or gunner, every role is cruicial. Then engines rumble as it blasts off, pushing you and your crew back into your seats when you jump into hyperspace towards adventure. Along the way you'll face danger at every turn. Will your mission succeed or fail? It's up to you-find out if you have what it takes to outmaneuver the odds aboard the Falcon.

Well, we have never flown in a space ship and the odds of us coming back alive were slim to none. But, we were willing to give it a shot!

Making progress....we finally made it inside and watching the "pre-show"

Just when we thought we were almost there...

There was yet more rooms to explore before getting to the ride.

WE FINALLY MADE IT TO OUR SPACE SHIP!! Woo Hoo!

We were placed in our very own space ship with the hubby as the pilot, Sakari as the co-pilot and I took a back seat as...I don't know what my position was...just that I was the button pusher is all I could figure out and I didn't figure that out until way into the ride. We took off and was chasing things and running from things and shooting things and whoa. We were all over the place. It was so life-like and felt just like you were in a spaceship and flying around in this galaxy. I was so amused at my pilots that they had to keep saying "push the button mom!" "Oh yea, that's my job right?!

When we returned my chariot awaited me.

Fun Facts: Opened Dec 5, 2019​

*Star Wars is the largest single-themed land expansion in Disney history.

*There are 2 rides here

*The Millennium Falcon docked in the Black Spire Outpost Spaceport measures more than 100 feet long and the first time a full-sized, 100% complete one was ever built.

*There's more than 200,000 sq ft of rockwork and 260,000 sq ft of themed plaster.

*More than 7,000 props​

We came in for our landing and we were all safe. I'm pretty sure my button pushing skills is what saved us because I'm thoroughly convinced that the drivers had no clue what they were doing!​

Did you know that there are hidden things you can do on this ride that instead of the "voice" telling you what to do, you can push all these buttons and hold down a control and then disregard the instructions and it will put it in to "Chewbacca" mode the entire ride. LOL

The ride was fun but worth the wait for it...I'm not really sure. It lasted 4 minutes and 30 seconds. The simulator was magical...just like Disney.

As we walked out of the ride area we ended up in this shopping area only to be told which way was OUT! Then once we went out, against the traffic, I noticed this very very long line to get IN to the shopping area. Say What?!? You had to stand in line just to go into this outdoor shopping area. It was insane! A LOT of Star Wars fans wanting to buy memorabilia.

The fam was crying about being hungry. I don't know why they think they gotta eat all the time but I guess I had to feed them. We looked around for places to eat within the Star Wars area. We found a place called Ronto Roasters and they served wraps. We decided why not.

Their wrap consisted of: Roasted Pork, Grilled Pork Sausage, Peppercorn Sauce and Tangy Slaw wrapped in Pita Bread. It sounded pretty good so we ordered 3 of them=$41.51 and that didn't include a drink either.

It was "ok" but not something I would ever order again. It just had an odd taste to it. Maybe it was the sauce or because the slaw was tangy.

Ok, so the fam had their bellies full and I was ready to hit the rides again. So much to do and so little time.

The next Star Wars attraction was the Star Tours 3D and we headed that way.

We made it to the building and had a pre-show with R2-D2. The lines moved quickly, 6' by 6' by 6' for social distancing.

History: The original Star Tours was opened in 1989. This closed in 2010 and was reopened as Star Tours: The Adventures continue in 2011.

*You will get a different experience each time you ride. There are 54 unique ride sequence combinations.

*Pee Wee Herman (Paul Reuben) is the voice of Captain RX-24 (Rex) and the pilot talking to R2-D2

*One of the longest ride attractions at Disney at 7 minutes long.​

Heading into our Starspeeder 3000 simulator.

Then we took our position, once again in the front row, and put on our stunna shades. Oh wait, those were the 3D glasses.

I can honestly say that I don't remember what it was all about but it was 3D, so I'm sure I liked it. I like anything 3D. There were dips, sharp turns, climbs, and all kinds of movements to make you feel like you are really in the scene. The ride lasted 7 minutes.

As we came out of the ride we headed back to the main area and I decided we'd do the Runaway Railway with Mickey and Minnie. I knew it wasn't really the type of ride Sakari liked but it was cute and why not experience it right?

We were walking down the street back toward the area we needed to be in and we noticed an American type burger joint and really wished that we would have known it was right around the corner to Star Wars and ate there instead. It looked really good and I sure could have went for a hamburger and fries.

I really thought the name of it was unusual....is this where criminals eat? The commissary? Really? They couldn't have come up with a different name? I know it means different things, but when I hear it, I think of people in jail that go to the commissary to buy their goods from the money they have on their books. I've watched too many criminal shows I guess. LOL

We had made it....

We managed to find the end of the line and quickly got in it. Most of the line winds back and forth outside and you get the impression that you are about to enter the building and then you get on the other side only to find out that there's a huge line on the other side you have to wind around in. This was a popular ride. The line was huge. ​

There were some really odd looking trees while we were standing in line. I couldn't figure out if they were real or man made that way.

20 minutes of waiting outside and we had finally made it in! At least they moved quickly.

History: This attraction replaced The Great Movie Ride in the Grauman's Chinese Theatre and opened March 4, 2020.​

*This was the first ride-through attraction at a Disney theme park to be themed to Mickey Mouse.

*It is a trackless dark ride with a themed film premiere of "Perect Picnic" with Mickey and Minnie.

*New technologies allowed them to create depth to 2D environments, which made it more 3D-like without having to wear 3D glasses.

​

After making our way to the train, we are ushered into our cars behind the locomotive. Goofy is in charge of the train and Mickey tells Goofy to take good care of us. Goofy responds with "Gawrsh, they're with me, what could possibly go wrong?" He asks if we are ready for a tour around the park and off we went.

All of sudden the lever fails and disconnects the cars from the locomotive. Of course it would just be our luck that our car went a separate way than Goofy's and off we went, unknown to Goofy that he just lost his tourists. Mickey and Minnie are trying to save us but seriously what can a little mouse do? They chase us through the desert trying to round up the cars we are in.

Then on to an amusement park. What could possibly go wrong in such a fun place? But all of a sudden a Twister logo on the side of the roller coaster comes to life! Now we have already been in a hurricane and earthquake at the upside down house (WaterWorks) at the beginning of our vacation...now we have to experience a tornado as well? This is just our luck!

Mickey and Minnie are washed down into the stream where we are following behind them. Then here comes a waterfall where we will plummet to our deaths. Wait, this is Disney, they won't let that happen!

But this time it was ok...we ended up underwater in the sea with beautiful fishies and coral. 

Our beautiful surroundings quickly ended and we went down the sewer drain and ended up in the city where we encounter Pete with a jackhammer and Donald in a delivery van honking at us because we were all in the way.

We transition into a ballroom with Daisy, which I did not see the correlation, but we started to dance the Waltz....back and forth we went never missing a beat.

Our perfectly choreographed Waltz turned into a Congo line. I wonder where we were dancing to?

THE SMASHER! That's what we were headed to!

No worries Mickey and Minnie managed to save the day and shuts it down. Hooray!

​We ended up back at the park on a moonlit night and Mickey and Minnie were having a picnic. Hey, they deserve it after saving us right?

Somehow we end up reattaching to Goofy and the locomotive just as he turns around and his guided tour has ended and waves goodbye to us.

We came off the ride and somehow ended back at Toy Story Land and really the only thing that we didn't ride when we were here before was the Alien Swirling Saucers. Mickey said there was only a 15 minute wait so I suggested we check it out since it was such a short wait. I managed to get Sakari to agree and in the line we went.

This ride is like the tea cups ride at Magic Kingdom except you are sitting in spaceships and being pulled around the track by the Toy Story aliens.

​

There were bigger than life toys laying around and it was cute.

The line ended up being a 20 minute wait and we were on the ride.

It wasn't the most exciting ride but had just enough twists and turns to get a squeal out of Sakari a few times and it wasn't a long wait.

​

Plenty of Holly Jolly decor around the park. 

Of course the fam was hungry again. Go figure... so it was snack time. A few pretzels and some popcorn along with refreshing cold drinks would have to tie us over.

We had successfully managed to ride everything on my map and I asked the fam what else they would like to do. Everyone complained of their feet hurting but I just couldn't relate to this thanks to my people mover.

I suggested that since it was still early, we should re-ride the one's we liked the most. Sakari threatened to hitchhike her way home if she had to walk anymore.

Aerosmith had the shortest wait time, which was a LOT longer than it was the last time we rode but still shorter than the Terror hotel. Off to the roller coaster for a few G-force turns that was sure to make our "snacks" we just ate come up. There was a beautiful sunset tonight.

Notice how it was still daylight out when we got in line? Then the picture to the bottom right it is dark already....and we were still waiting in the line. I have always read that it's best to ride the popular rides first thing in the morning and last thing at night for the shortest lines. This didn't seem to hold true at night I can testify to that!​

We rode the ride and had a blast then immediately scooted on over to the Haunted Hotel ride. Now I thought the Aerosmith ride was long but oh em gee....the ride for this was a whole new level of long. Trickery with the family at it's best consisted of me telling them the line starts "here" and just winds around and goes to "here". I wasn't fibbing too much because it did start there and go around (just like it did last time) except now, they had opened up an entire new section that you would also have to complete before making it to the point we were familiar with. What the heck happened to ride a ride before the park closes for the shortest wait times? Everyone must have read about that!​

The hotel was all lit up for Christmas and it was beautiful!

We waited in line for eternity...or is that infinity and beyond if you are at Hollywood? This line went everywhere and Sakari decided she would sit in the middle of this huge circle until we got all the way around for her to get up and follow us. It was really that ridiculous. Since this was one of the rides we had already been on, I didn't take as many pictures but the pictures I did take, the time stamps say it was at least 1 1/2 hours long if not more.

Some areas we had to wait in were pitch black. It was very odd standing in a line with no lights. They had us overflowing into the area of Beauty and the Beast/Fantasmic...which was closed due to the COVID pandemic. It was really hard to see the distance markers in the dark, but I took a picture and my flash lit it up.

Getting closer....just when you thought you were in reach of actually making it to the hotel, the line would swoop you the other way. Darnit

I hated that I couldn't get a clear picture of the hotel because all the trees were in the way. It was just so pretty.

We finally made it inside and on the ride. Thank goodness...my family was not happy with me right now.

After we were spooked and dropped a few times, the ride was over and we were officially ready to leave. ​

Heading out I had to take pics of all the lights along the way. It's so pretty when it's lit up.

I wanted to go over to Echo Lake and get pictures of the lights and tree before we left. I got the approval from the family and was told "We will wait here" and off I went.

It was time to turn in my people mover and get my refund of $20 and the hubby wanted to stop and take pictures at the old gas station beside it. He loved this sign...."NevrNox" (never knocks) "Ethyl gasoline". The hubby converted one of his Audi's to a race car and then had a switch to go from regular gas to ethanol gas (E85) and he got a kick out of this sign. lol

Video from today

We put our address in the GPS and off we went. This time our GPS told us to get on the Mickey freeway and whadda ya know...there was that stinking $1 toll to get OFF of Mickey's freeway. Man they dollar you to death. Of course I didn't have any change and just kept going to my destination. That's how many tolls and tickets I'm up to now? Three maybe?

​

Home, dinner, rinse and repeat the next day. Zzzzzzz