Hollywood Studios

DHS used to be called Disney's MGM Studios or some such. I'm not sure why the name changed, but it did. Whatever - it still has the same rides and attractions as before.

We arrived later than I would have liked, but still before the park opened. I understand there will always be crowds, but our 15 minute late departure yesterday (8:15 am as opposed to 8 am), plus having to wait a while for a bus, it really put us at a disadvantage. We were deep in the park opening crowd and that is never a good thing.

By the time I got around to the Toy Story Mania fast pass area, there was already a long line snaking down the street! Just to get the fast passes. The best I could get were for returns from 10:55 to 11:55 (keep in mind: I was at the fast pass kiosk and inserting our tickets at around 9:20). But, that ride had no less than a 40 or 50 minute stand by time all day, so I was pleased to have my set of passes.

After I hooked back up with the Evil Twin and kids, we ran over to Aerosmith's Rock n Roller Coaster. The Evil Twin and Buddy rode that. It's a corkscrew coaster and I just can't handle that. We arrived early enough that the stand by lines were at 20 minutes.



We then booked it to the nearby Tower of Terror - stand by time also 20 minutes. Buddy and I screwed up our courage and got in line. Oh my word - it was terrifying! But, fun in a way, too. I don't think I'll do it again. :-)

So, with the big three out of the way, we had the rest of the day to do just whatever. We were lucky in that we hit the attractions at the right times and had almost no waits for any of them.

Dinner reservations were at the Sci Fi Dine In. It's extremely cool. Diners sit in 50's style cars to eat all while a large theatre screen ahead shows old movie trailers. The food was amazing, the service was perfect and it was just a good meal all the way around. I even met one of my online friends from Tour Guide Mike's site there. I knew we had ressies around the same time, but was so surprised (and happy) when she recognized me while we were waiting to be seated.

In my TGM profile, I use a picture of myself as my avatar (stuck up as that may seem, but that's just the way I roll - it's me, I don't mind showing my face). She came over and we had at least 10 to 15 minutes to chat before her family's table was ready. How cool is that? It's a small world after all... La la la la la la. (Magic Kingdom is today and we'll ride "it's a small world" hee hee - I couldn't resist!).

Anyway, I was really shocked she recognized me because in my pic, I have my hair down - the way I normally wear it. But, about midway through the days here, I've been pulling it up into a pony tail - with my dark hair, I just get too hot to leave it down.

Here in Disney, they have Mousekeeping (instead of Housekeeping - get it?). And your Mousekeeping maid sometimes will leave little towel animals or other intricately folded items for your amusement (plus, we leave tips everyday!). Last night, after a VERY long, sweaty, tiring day, we got back to our resort to find these:



And:



How cute are those? Little washcloth bunnies on each sink faucet. I haven't had the heart to take them off yet. She also did a glass cup with a decorative washcloth inside (folded around all pretty-like) and placed our toothbrushes in it. I also took a picture of that, but not until I uploaded the other pics, so it will have to be included next time.

By the time you read this, we'll be deep into the Magic Kingdom!