Thursday at Hollywood Studios

Thursday morning we headed to Hollywood Studios.  My mom was feeling even worse so she stayed in the hotel with a bottle of Robotussin to get some rest.  We drove to Hollywood Studios and arrived not too long after opening.  On our way to the back of the park, we saw Minnie.  Of course we had to stop for a picture with our favorite mouse.

Toy Story Mania was destination number one.  None of us had ever been on this ride and it notoriously runs out of FastPasses.  The standby line wasn't terrible so we queued up.  We shuffled along past all of Andy's treasures.  It's great how Disney works to keep you entertained while you wait. 

When it was our turn to load, we put on our 3D glasses and got our guns ready.  We were all set to ride through the very cool shooting arcade.  Ryan and my dad were on the back side of our car.  Mr. Competitive, aka Ryan, issued a challenge to see who would be the high scorer in the car.  Tessa and I blasted flying dishes, bullseyes and all kinds of other things for points.  I did much better on this ride than I did on the Buzz Lightyear ride.  I never can find where my laser is pointing on that ride.  Yes, I am admitting I am inept on a children's ride.  We all have our failures in life.  Anyways, of course, Ryan was the high scorer but we all had tons of fun.   

We left my dad in the super long and very slow moving Woody and Buzz line so that we could see Sorcerer Mickey. 

Then we waited in line for Ralph and Vanellope, characters from the new movie Wreck it Ralph.  None of us had seen the movie yet but we had read the book.  We ended up buying the movie and making it a movie night when we got home.  It's cute, especially for those of us that played video games in the eighties.   

We headed back to where my dad was making progress in his line.  We hopped in for pictures with Woody and Buzz. 

Somewhere around here, my mom arrived.  She was feeling better and had taken the Disney bus from the hotel.  Note to self, even though my travel book says your own car is faster, the Disney bus was apparently very easy and dropped her off right at the entrance.  After a few confusing group texts we found each other.  I was the youngest of the four group texting and I am the one who screwed it up.  That's a sad testament to my phone skills.  We bumped into one of the green army men from Toy Story.  Tessa pretended to march with him and then gave me this sharp salute.  Adorable. 

My parents went to ride Tower of Terror and we went to get seats for Beauty and the Beast.  The live production of Belle's story is so pretty, I love the costumes especially the dancing spoons and ice cream sundae.  My mom and I giggled because Gaston could have doubled for a Vegas Elvis.  We had reservations at Hollywood and Vine for lunch with the Disney Junior characters.  We saw Handy Manny, June, Jake and Agent Oso.  The characters had dance parties in the aisles where they sang familiar Disney Junior songs.  Tessa loved it.  This buffet was yummy with some not-your-average food choices available.  Plus a couple of margaritas always help.  Our waiter helpfully told us we could even have to go cups if we wanted.  Totally!     

We needed a picture in front of Mickey's hat, the symbol for Hollywood Studios.  It turned out pretty great.  Disney photographers are the best. 

Next up was our favorite attraction in Hollywood Studios, Disney Junior Live on Stage.  This puppet show is the only place to see the newest princess, Sofia the First.  My parents took Tessa and saved front row seats while Ryan and I used our FastPasses for Tower of Terror.  That is an awesome ride but Tessa is definitely not ready for it yet, even if she is tall enough.  We barely squeaked into the playhouse before the show started.  Tessa sang along, clapped, danced and thoroughly enjoyed herself.   

We watched most of the afternoon parade before going to Voyage of the Little Mermaid.  Two years ago, Tessa was scared of the huge Ursula in this show.  So I was surprised when she asked to see Ariel.  Of course, she cried and hid under her seat once the show started.  I should have listened to my instincts and not done this show again.  After that, we were pretty much done with Hollywood Studios.  We went back to the hotel and took a little break before going to Epcot for dinner.  

We ate at The Land, a revolving restaurant that takes you past the different scenery from the Living the Land ride.  Farmer Mickey visited us along with Pluto, Chip and Dale.  Chip got his feelings hurt when Ryan couldn't tell which chipmunk he was.  Tessa and I explained that you can always tell Chip because his nose is black like a chocolate chip.  Silly Daddy.   

Time for one last photo before we call it a night.  And this is a nice one, right in front of the Epcot Ball.