Disney World 2023/Day 2, Part 1/Hollywood Studios

Finally, our first day at a Disney park - Hollywood Studios!!

 

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 Before I start talking about everything we saw and did on our vacation, I want to preface that I am NOT a Disney expert by any means. There are so many people who know so much more than I do about Disney World. There are people who visit every year, several times a year. But after all the studying we put in - we managed to ride almost every ride we wanted and ate at some pretty cool/fun restaurants too - I do kind of feel like I (and Doug) aced the Disney test.

I will also add that it was pretty cool visiting Disney World during the 50th Anniversary Celebration. It started back in 2021, but it goes through March 31, 2023...

Doug turned 50 in January and I turn 50 in June, so it was quite appropriate to visit during this time!

  (Our first day at HS was pretty long and I feel the need to split up the day into three separate blog posts. Just a FYI.) 

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Doug, Bri and I were up really early to head to the first park. Hollywood Studios opens daily at 8:30am, so that meant Hollywood Studios early entry was at 8am, which meant we wanted to be at the entrance gate around 7:30am or so. (We opted to drive to Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom that week and decided to take the monorail on our Magic Kingdom and Epcot days.)

 Doug, Bri and I got in our car at 6:50am so I could concentrate on getting lightning lanes. I had already purchased the Genie+ service at midnight. I just needed to reserve our lanes via the app while sitting in the parking lot before we drove over to HS. I know this all sounds completely insane - believe me - I thought the same thing when I first read that people actually do this. But it works, it really works. I became one of the "in the know" Disney people that week.

Lightning lane reservations did open at 7am sharp. My plan was to pay for an individual lightning lane for Rise of the Resistance and schedule a regular lightning lane for for the Smugglers Run ride. I had studied up on what I needed to do to ensure getting a good time for lanes. I refreshed my app right at 7am.

I went for Rise first. Got a good time - locked it in. Paid for it. And then I went for Smugglers. Got another good time. Locked that one in. We were GOOD at this point. I was so happy to have that done. I knew I would be able to schedule another lightning lane at 10am - two hours after the park open (you can schedule lightning lanes every two hours or you can choose another lightning lane right after you scan first lightning lane entry). Does your head hurt yet? I don't blame you if it does...

My only conflict issue - I had a lunch reservation for Oga's Cantina in Galaxy's Edge for 11:15am that day. With these ride times locked in, lunch at the Cantina just wasn't going to work. I immediately canceled our lunch reservation. (Good news - I had Oga's scheduled for Thursday as well because we were going to return to HS, so cancelling wasn't a problem. It was my backup plan. Just know though if you have a reservation at a Disney restaurant, you need to cancel no less than two hours in advance or they will charge $10 a person.)

I could finally breathe knowing I had gotten the rides we really wanted and then we drove to the park.

We got a really good parking space due to being there so early, and we walked toward the Hollywood Studios entrance...

I have to admit, there was an undeniable buzz going through the crowd as everyone waited for the park to open. Hollywood Studios actually let the crowd in around 7:45am so everyone could walk to their destinations as the rides opened right at 8am.

This is how our day ended up going...

 

 Tower Of Terror
Minnie and Mickey Runaway Railway
Star Tours
Alien Swirling Saucers
ABC Commissary (Lunch)
Rise Of The Resistance
Smugglers Run
Toy Story Mania
Muppet Vision 3D
Indiana Jones Stunt Show
Vacation Fun With Minnie and Mickey Short
Mama Melrose’s Italian Restaurant (Dinner)
Fantasmic

Time for our next strategy - Briana really wanted to ride the "Tower of Terror." This is another one of the super popular rides at Hollywood Studios. I wasn't going to be able to get another lightning lane selection for two more hours and by then, the lightning lane times for the Tower would be later in the day. So we decided to "early entry" that one - hop on it via standby line first thing. If you don't have early entry access, the first ride you hit once the park officially opens to everyone is called "rope drop."

Once the park opened, we were off to the Tower of Terror...

I do not like rides that drop dramatically, so Doug and Bri rode that one. Doug wasn't super thrilled to go on it, but he took one for the team...

 

As you can see behind Doug and Bri, there was a long line already building for Tower of Terror. And this was early entry people only. 

 

Doug and Bri headed for the ride, and I sat on a bench and people-watched as I listened to the screams of crazy park goers in the distance freefalling for 13 stories. 

Briana absolutely loved the ride. Doug not so much. He said he couldn't feel his legs afterward for a little while - heh.

Next, we moved on to "Minnie and Mickey's Runaway Railway"...

This ride is also really popular, but the standby line wasn't too bad for this one - it was still quite early. It was really cute, but I sure do miss the "Great Movie Ride" which this ride replaced.

Next, we did "Star Tours." This is the one Star Wars ride not in the Galaxy's Edge section and it has been in the park forever. We had never been on it. We hadn't visited Hollywood Studios since Bri was 4 (we went to Animal Kingdom instead when Bri was 7) and Bri wasn't into Stars Wars back then.

 

Star Tours...

 

Picture taken from the internet...

This ride is a flight simulator with 3D video and surrounding special effects and music. Honestly, this was one of my least favorite rides at Disney. It felt a bit dated to me. There was someone looking at her phone in front of me the entire ride which was a bit of a distraction, but it still was a bit underwhelming for me. With all the bells and whistles of Galaxy's Edge, I'm not sure why Star Tours is still around.

We still had a bunch of time before our entrance time for the Rise of the Resistance ride, but we were very ready to check out Galaxy's Edge.

Grand Avenue leading us to Galaxy's Edge...

We got really excited when we entered all things Star Wars...

 It was really something to see.

 

We still had a bunch of time to kill before our Rise of the Resistance and Smugglers Run rides, so we hopped over to Toy Story Land (which is right next to Galaxy's Edge), so Bri and Doug could ride the Alien Swirling Saucers - there was a bit of a wait for that one on standby...

 

 

It was finally time to book another lightning lane and we booked "Toy Story Mania" for right after Smugglers Run.

 

We were getting pretty hungry at that point. We never ate big breakfasts at the hotels or parks that week - we opted to grab granola bars in the mornings so we could just get going. Since I canceled our Oga's reservation for lunch, we headed over to the ABC Commissary instead (no reservation needed). It was more like a brunch than a lunch for us...

Doug had a chicken sandwich, I had a buffalo chicken grilled cheese, Briana had pork tacos and a yummy mousse type dessert. It was all quite tasty...

I think this is a good place to stop for part one of Hollywood Studios. We had done a lot already and it was almost 11:30am when we got done with lunch. Time for Rise!

Part 2 of our Hollywood Studios visit next!

Disney World 2023/Day 1/Travel Day and Contemporary Resort

We headed out to Disney World first thing in the morning on Saturday, February 18th. It was the very first day of Briana's winter break. I use the word "winter" mildly because we were heading down to Florida and it ended up being one of the hottest weeks in February in Orlando in decades. It felt more like summer than winter.

The drive was long that day and we hit a few traffic hiccups on the way, but the weather was good and we got there late in the afternoon. I had dinner reservations at our hotel that evening, so I was happy we got there with enough time to get settled and relax a bit before dinner.

Driving up to Contemporary Resort...

The lobby...

Our home away from home for 6 nights...

 The hotel theme is "The Incredibles"...

Bri's bed for our stay (the couch turned into a bed - she said it was quite comfortable)...

View of Magic Kingdom from our room...

 

We rested a little while and the sun started to set...

It was time to head to dinner. The view from right outside our room (overlooking the shops)...

Steakhouse 71...

Briana's drink (it was very sweet, she didn't love it)...

My delicious dinner (one of the best Caesar salads I've ever had - top 5 for sure)...

A little shopping after dinner...

As we were exploring the shops, the Magic Kingdom fireworks started going off (they go off around 8)...

It was very windy and actually a bit cool that evening - the only evening it was. So we didn't watch very long...

Then it was back to the room because we had a very LONG day ahead of us at Hollywood Studios and we needed to rest.

 Night view from our room...

I will say, I was taking steroids the first couple of days at Disney. So sleep for me was fleeting. I was pretty wound up from them, so that is probably what got me through those first days.

 This was our first Disney experience with a teen, so I knew our main focus was going to be rides. Plain and simple. We wanted to get on as many rides per day as possible with the least amount of waiting possible. To do that, you need strategy and money. Lots of strategy and money.

Before heading to Disney, I learned park goers need to purchase Genie+ daily (if you want access to lightning lanes for rides). It's available for purchase at midnight. If you stay on property, you can start trying to reserve lightning lanes at 7am. If you don't, you can start reserving lightning lanes when the park you are visiting opens. Since I couldn't sleep, I purchased Genie+ at midnight the first two nights there. And I was up way before 7 as well to reserve my lightning lanes. Staying on property also gives you access to all the parks 30 minutes early - which we took advantage of. A few of the newest/most popular rides have lightning lanes that are "individual" and aren't included in the Genie+ plus purchase. Those rides cost extra for fast entry. I'll tell you - Disney is in the money making business for sure.

Since it was so unbelievably busy the week we were there (President's Day week), I am sure lightning lanes for the best rides were either snatched up completely or at least the early times were taken by on-property visitors before off-property people could get to them. Genie+ actually sold out the Sunday and Monday we were there - that had never happened before. I made sure I was on my app at 7AM sharp every single day to make sure we got the rides we really wanted. And then every two hours, we would schedule another lightning lane (you cannot schedule a lightning lane for the same ride twice in one day).

We opted not to park hop during our trip - it's just too overwhelming and exhausting for me. You can't park hop until 2PM anyway. I like to focus on one park per day.

So, our main reason for visiting Disney was seeing Galaxy's Edge (Star Wars). So, our first park visit of the week was to Hollywood Studios.

 More on that next...

A This And That Post (The Post Before I Start Posting About Disney)

I wanted to do one last post on a few things we did before heading to Disney - things not holiday related. Then I will delve into all things Disney. We did A LOT at Disney. So I will be posting about it for a while.

 

You will either love all my Disney commentary and soak it all in or you will reluctantly dredge through it or skip it altogether because you are not a Disney fan. Heh...

A few weeks before heading to Disney, Bri and I had a fun girls only mall day (Bri wanted to use some of her Christmas gift cards)...

Doug, Bri and I also finally watched "Wakanda Forever" (at home)...

And went to see "Quantumania" at the movie theater...

Doug, Bri and I saw comedian Jim Gaffigan perform one evening (Ted Alexandro opened for him). They were both freaking hilarious...

 

I gave Briana a sweatshirt I have held on to since I was in college. I loved it and couldn't part with it. I asked her if she wanted it and she did!

 

It was very surreal seeing her in it.

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Before going to Disney - I studied. I studied A LOT. Our family hadn't been to Disney in 9 years and I knew things had changed drastically. I hadn't been there since the "FastPass" days, and I needed to learn all about Genie+ and had to figure out the new Disney app. Doug even studied too. I made all our restaurant reservations 60 days in advance. I signed up for a site that one of my best friends recommended to me that gave me tips and tricks to get through the parks - especially during busy times (it was SO incredibly helpful). I ordered our magic bands and got them all set up...

Getting ready for Disney was exhausting and pretty stressful. We don't have plans to visit again for a long while, so we wanted to get the most out of our trip. I made sure I packed everything we were going to need. 

Irritatingly, I got a really bad cold the weekend before we headed out. I was SO upset. I needed to feel better before I tackled this kind of trip. Thank goodness for antibiotics and steroids. I knew we were going to be visiting during one of the busiest weeks of the year and I had to feel good. Luckily, I managed to feel better and pull it together before getting in the car that Saturday morning we headed out.

Unfortunately, we are still at the mercy of the high school break schedule and have to vacation when Bri won't miss school. School breaks means BIG crowds. And the crowds were definitely big that week - let me tell you.

So get ready. I'm going to blog about our Disney adventure - next...