Disney Hollywood Studios- Thursday, July 14, 2011

There are no more teenagers in Brazil. There can’t be. They’re all here, going to Disney parks in enormous tour groups. They’re all over the place. They travel in groups of 30 or more, and each tour group has special t-shirts in their own distinctive bright colors. We couldn’t count how many different tour groups we saw, but at times, it seemed like they were making up half of the people in the park. If Disney isn’t considering building a park in Brazil, they should be. [We found out later that the school year is 200 days long in Brazil, about a month longer than here. They have three weeks for “winter break” in July.]

Grandpa and Grandma Wright went with John and his family to Epcot today, but we went to Disney’s Hollywood Studios (the park formerly known as Disney MGM Studios). We arrived at there with a plan. Julie and the girls were going to head to the Rockin’ Roller Coaster, while Scott went to get Fast Passes for the new Toy Story ride. The Toy Story ride is so popular that when Scott got there, the passes were already up to 4:00 in the afternoon. He got them and went to watch for the girls.

Julie, Anna, and Emma saw the brightly colored herds of Brazilian teenagers heading towards the Rockin’ Roller Coaster and raced them so they wouldn’t get stuck waiting behind them. Emma later laughed about how Mom dragged her along. Julie had never been on this roller coaster before. It always seemed to be closed, or we’d run out of time, so she really wanted to do it. It is synchronized to a soundtrack by Aerosmith. It shoots you out on an indoor track, but Anna said it turns you upside down six or seven times. Anna loved it and said it was a high for her for the day. Emma, not so much.

When we parted the sea of bright Brazilian t-shirts and found each other again, we then made our way together to the Great Movie Ride. It’s housed in the model of Grauman’s Chinese Theater, and is the usual starting point for us because it sets the Hollywood mood. It’s a favorite of Julie’s. We took some time to look at the footprints out front after the ride. Anna stood in the prints of the ruby slippers from the Wizard of Oz.

We went to a performance of the Voyage of the Little Mermaid. Emma had us laughing in line as she was trying to keep cool with the spray bottle. We were in the first row for the show. It highlights songs from the movie with live actors, puppets, and special effects. After lunch at the Commissary, we took the Backlot Tour, because it’s the thing to do at a “studio park,” but it was a bit disappointing this time. The narration was taped and seemed impersonal and generic. They also need to bring in some new things. Featuring movies like Pearl Harbor and the Rocketeer are making it seem dated. We suspect that they were filming something that shortened our tour, because we didn’t see the soundstages that we have before. They were filming “From the Earth to the Moon” miniseries here one time, but this time we saw nothing of the sound stages and the pre-recorded narration didn’t tell us anything about why. Anna saw the chicken coop that Hannah Montana built in her movie. We also got to see some cool things as we came through the exhibits after the attraction. Darth Vader’s costume and costumes from Enchanted, Pirates of the Caribbean, and the Chronicles of Narnia movies.

We had our family portrait taken with Mike Wazowski, from Monsters, Inc. We then waited in line for Anna and Emma to have a picture with Phineas and Ferb. It was a long line, but they’re the new family favorites. We all like them. Anna and Emma were sharing an autograph book for the characters, but it was accidentally left at the house today. Dad bought them another one, in the hopes that we would fill it. A “Make a Wish” family got their pictures with Phineas and Ferb just before Anna and Emma.

“Muppetvision 3-D” was next. It’s losing a little bit of its sparkle because 3-D movies are so common now, but it still has all the extra effects. Scott wanted to go to “Walt Disney: One Man’s Dream,” about Walt’s life story. It’s a new movie, not like the others shown in the park, but the exhibit before it is what’s really interesting. We had to come back and finish it later in the day in order to see all of the things on display. We especially liked seeing Walt’s office from Burbank, and the models for various buildings in all of the parks, including Disney’s California Adventure and Disneyland Paris. We got a few more hints about what the new Fantasyland will be like—heavy on Disney’s Princess franchises. The air conditioning in the movie was nice and Emma took the opportunity to take a nap. From here, we went next door to “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.” That was a disappointment. It was really just an extended trailer for the movie. You had to stand for it, and it’s not even the most recent or the best movie in the series. You did get to see some costumes and props from the movie, but we probably saw more at the exhibit that recently came to the Buffalo Science Museum.

Our Fast passes were coming up for “Toy Story’s Midway Mania.” It’s in the new Pixar section of the park. They took the basic idea of the popular Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin ride from Tomorrowland and applied it to the rest of the Toy Story characters. You ride a vehicle through to different 3-D animated stops where you shoot a pop-gun at arcade style targets. The ride is certainly a lot of fun, but we’re glad we didn’t have to wait in the long lines for it.

We were starting to wear down, so it was looking like shopping time. The girls bought some Disney trading pins underneath the giant Sorcerer’s Apprentice hat. As we passed by the “American Idol Experience” there was immediate seating for a show that was just about to begin. We weren’t going to go in, since there was no wait, we figured “Why not?” There were three contestants who were people that were drawn from the park attendance that day. There were buttons built into the arms of the seats to register your vote. Anna and Emma liked a fourteen year old girl who sang a Demi Lovato song, but he winner was a woman who sang “Black Velvet.”

Our last official stop of the day was a Fast Pass to the new and improved Star Tours. The ride has always been a fun trip into the Star Wars Universe, but they recently added several new features to it. First, they made the movie 3-D, but since the ride rocks you around to the motion of the action anyway, it wasn’t as big of a change as you might think. What is innovative is that they have made several parts of the presentation variable, so you never know what trip you’re going to take. We went to the ice planet Hoth, got a message from Admiral Akbar and then went through the second Death Star, under construction. C-3PO also had a much bigger role than he has in the past. It would have been fun to ride again to see a different trip, but none of us wanted to stand in line for it.

We had planned for this to be a shorter day at the parks. We got back to the house in time for dinner from Papa Johns. We enjoyed a refreshing dip in the pool and Anna caught a newt that was climbing the screens around it.