The Brooks Family: Disney Day 5 - Hollywood Studios!

Grey had another terrible night of sleep after Downtown Disney, but we were still down at the bus stop for Hollywood Studios bright and early...

The bus took what seemed like forever to get there, though, so we didn't get to the park until after they had already opened at 8:45. James went through the long bag check line, while the kids and I booked it to Toy Story Mania. We got in line at 8:55, and the line was already 35 minutes (the park doesn't even technically open until 9)! James took longer than I anticipated to get to us, so I had to let several people in front of us, because I didn't want to be in the inside part of the queue where he couldn't see us. I didn't time it, but we probably waited close to 25 minutes...

We weren't able to ride Toy Story Mania on our last trip, so I wondered if it would live up to all of the hype. James and the kids liked it, but I didn't see what the big deal was. I was wearing Grey while we rode, and it kept jerking us around every time the vehicle turned. I think I was too nervous that his little brain was getting shaken around in his skull to be able to enjoy the ride:).

After Toy Story, James and Hunter headed to ride Star Tours, while Charlotte, Grey and I got in line for Sofia. The line wasn't terribly long, but we had to wait about 10-15 minutes. Charlotte did okay, but she could see Sofia and wanted to meet her right then, but it was "taking so looooong". When we were 2 people away from meeting her, Sofia's handler announced that she would be taking a break soon to go feed her pet rabbit, but that she'd be right back. Thankfully, she didn't leave until after we met her. I was a little nervous that Charlotte would have a meltdown if she left right before it was our turn.

After we finished chatting with Sofia, we met back up with the boys to go to the Legends of Jack Sparrow attraction. Please skip it the next time you go because it is laaaaame.

Then, James and the big kids headed back to Toy Story Mania with our fast pass pluses, and I took Grey to go eat. H, C, and J met Grey and I at Starring Rolls for a yummy, sweet snack when they were done riding. We all rushed to finish our treats (Charlotte and I loved our butterfinger cupcake!), because we all had fast pass plus scheduled for the Disney Jr. show, and it would expire soon. We made it to the Disney Jr line just before they stopped letting people in. Since we were running late, we didn't get special seating, but we got to go in front of lots of people waiting because we had out FP+. It was a cute, fun show that we all enjoyed.

When the show was over, we headed back to Mama Melrose's for lunch. The food was good, and we were stuffed after we finished. The kids were getting antsy waiting for the check, so I took them outside to explore while James paid. We found this "snow" outside of a Christmas store...

We were hot, tired, and ready to head back to the hotel for a nap. I honestly can't remember if Grey napped that day. James and Hunter had to leave earlier than the rest of us because we were going to different shows. Lugging the double stroller, the backpack and both kids onto the bus by myself was really stressful, but we made it back to Hollywood Studios, and Grey and Charlotte both did great at the Beauty and the Beast show. While we were watching Belle and Beast sing and dance, James and Hunter were watching the Indiana Jones stunt show. Hunter loved it! It was one of his favorites from the entire trip.

We met up to see Muppet Vision 3d after our shows were over, but Grey was struggling during it, so I took him outside and fed him some dinner. When the bigs were done, we headed to find some dinner for the rest of us. I think Hollywood Studios doesn't get enough credit. Most people are negative about it, but our family really looks forward to this park. The one thing that is a bummer, is that they close a lot of their counter services restaurants early. So we had to run around a little bit to find something for dinner. We finally asked a cast member and headed to ABC Commissary. We got our food to go and ran all the way to the other side of the park to see Fantasmic! My burger and fries were really good, so I wouldn't mind going back there on our next visit. We had the Fantasmic! dinner package with our Mama Melrose meal, so we didn't have to line up ahead of time, but just walked in and got special seating. It's definitely worth it to do that if you don't have a fast pass plus for the show.

We ate our dinner in our seats while watching the preshow entertainment...