Christmas 2012 - Disney's Hollywood Studios.

I can't help but take a picture of the tree.

Eight years after Epcot Opened in 1981,  Disney Imagineers had a new treat for the people that loved Disney World and movies.  That was the year that Disney's Hollywood Studio's opened.  The park was Originally named Disney - MGM studios and was originally conceived as a working Movie and Animation studio.  The movie Ernest Saves Christmas and Newsies along with the Mickey Mouse Club were filmed on sound stages at Disney MGM and animated features such as Mulan, Lilo and Stitch and Brother Bear were produced there.  My first visit in 2000 featured a tour of the costume and animation departments of the studio and the back lot tour included film sets of neighborhood streets. After all, one of the things Disney does best is making movies.  As the years passed the working studio portions of the park gave way to more attractions that, while related to the movies, were not directly involved in their production.   The park is now divided into 6 sections. Hollywood Boulevard, Echo Lake, Streets of America, the Animation Courtyard, Pixar Place and Sunset Boulevard.  Each section has a different flavor and has a different variety of attractions.

Muppit Vision..3D!!!

Hollywood Boulevard extents from the park entrance to the Sorcerer's hat and is lined with lots of shops and a few attractions.   Before the Sorcerer's hat was unveiled in 2001, the Iconic image of Disney's Hollywood studios was the "Earful Tower", the water tower with the mouse ears that can be seen from pretty far away.  visitors can still tell when they are getting close to Hollywood studios when they see the Earful Tower.  The Sorserer's hat was built as part of the 100 years of magic celebrating Walt's 100th birthday.  The 100 years of magic was celebrated through the year 2002. Walt's actual birthday was December 5, 1901. Other than the Sorcerer's hat and all the shops the main attraction on Hollywood boulevard is the great movie ride that is housed inside the replica of  Graumans Chinese Theater.  The theme of the Great Movie Ride lives up to its name. The attraction features animatronic scenes from some of the classic movies over the years.  The Great Movie Ride pays tribute to James Cagney in one of his many Gangster movies,  Judy Garland in the Wizard of Oz, along with more modern classics like Start Wars and Aliens.  From Westerns to Musicals to Sci Fi no genre of  movie magic is missed and your hosts on the ride get involved in the action as well.  The attraction doesn't grab you with excitement but seeing the old movies is fun and the sketch the guides do is entertaining. Once again its a great way to cool off and be entertained at the same time.

The Sorcerer's Hat Down Hollywood Boulevard.

Hollywood Boulevard is sort of like Main Street USA in the Magic kingdom and the plaza where the sorcerer's hat is located is similar to the the plaza in front of the castle in the Magic Kingdom an just like the plaza in front of Cinderella's Castle, musical reviews take place at the plaza in front of the Sorcerer's hat on a regular basis. The area at the Sorcerer's hat, is also the central hub for all of Hollywood studios. Very similar to the plaza in front of the Castle in the Magic kingdom, visitors can access almost all the different area's of Hollywood studios from the Sorcerer's Hat.  Located right behind the Great Movie Ride and just off of of Hollywood Boulevard, Pixar Place is the home of one of the most popular attractions in all of Disney World.  The Toy Story Mania attraction entertains young and old with a 3D arcade experience that changes each visit to the attraction.  It is a lot of fun and everybody who goes to Disney World knows it.  Fast passes for the ride run out early and standby ride times easily top an hour even at times when the crowds are not as big.  Since we went to Hollywood Studios our first day there, We really didn't have any sort of chance to ride on Toy Story Mania.  We didn't get to the park till the afternoon and by that time all the fast passes were gone and the standby line had grown well beyond anything we were willing to stay in line.  I believe the Standby Wait time was listed as around 75 minutes.  However,  I bring this attraction up because you can, if you are a little crafty, get to ride this ride twice early in the day.  Once again, if you get to the park when it opens and go first to Toy Story mania, you can get a fast pass and then ride standby.  Often you can walk off the ride and get into the fast pass lane right away.  Toy Story Mania is worth doing more than once if you can manage it.

Younglings Learing the Ways of the Force.

Turning left as you face the Sorcerer's hat before, between Echo Lake and the American Idol Experience, passing what use to be Sound's Dangerous with Drew Carey visitors will find one of my favorite shows and one of my favorite attractions. The Indiana Jones "Epic" Stunt spectacular uses fake fights, fire, gun fights and a really big rolling Styrofoam ball to create a wonder filled show that addresses how stunts are done in Hollywood.  The show gets a number of people form the audience to participate in the show as "extras"  Its all great fun.  My wife has been chosen twice to participate and my son was chosen once.  The people that choose are looking for very enthusiastic audience members and my wife is always very enthusiastic.  Anyway, there is a crowd scene and the extras act shocked and scared (etc.) I won't give too much away in case you go to the show and get a chance to see it, but one audience member is in for a shock.  Just a short walk from the Indiana Jones is the Star Tours attraction.  Star Tours recently was re-imagined and reopened last year with C3PO at the helm of your star speeder.  One of the riders is chosen as the Rebel spy and while I didn't get that honor last Christmas, I have been the "Rebel Spy" Twice, on back to back rides in the summer of 2011. I am guessing it was the Mickey T-shirt I was wearing that attracted the camera to me.  Anyway, the attraction is a flight simulator with a 3D movie that is sort of broken into 3 segments.  There are different films for each segment so the ride is probably different each time you ride it.  I was afraid that the motion of the ride would make me queezy but I was pleasantly surprised to find that I had no trouble at all on the attraction.  The Jedi Academy happens right next to Star Tours and its always worth a few minutes to watch little ones learn the ways of the force and do battle with Darth Vader.  If you are hungry, a great place to get a meal is the Sci Fi Dine in theater that close by.  They serve pretty good sandwiches and some really good shakes and deserts.  Over Christmas we went for the shakes.

For a Restaurant We were indifferent about to begin with, We have been back there a lot

Two of my favorite attractions at Hollywood Studios are down Sunset Boulevard not far from the entrance to the park geographically speaking. If you are looking for thrills and no small amount of chills then a the Rock and Roller Coaster and the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror are difficult to beat.  While down at Disney World last December we road the Rock and Roller Coaster twice. Once in the middle car on the train and once in the front.  The attraction is pretty much dark except for a few "street" signs that are illuminated by Black light, and its difficult to see what is coming on the track. Though I must admit, this attraction is better lit that Space Mountain which is in almost total darkness.  The mid train experience is a pretty wild ride.  Even with the speakers playing several thousand watts of Aerosmith in my head I was unable to tell what the song was and was unable to brace my self for the turns.  All in all the mid train ride was very thrilling and most enjoyable.  The next time we rode the attraction we were in the very front of the very first car.  This particular area of any roller coaster is sought out by most coaster aficionados. Personally, think the back cars hold more thrills.  In the back of the train you strap your self down and let centrifugal force and lateral g forces have their way with you. This time, the ride was smoother.  We could see better what was coming up.  Unconsciously, and perhaps consciously we were able to better brace for the turns.  I found myself actually singing along with the sound track.  I thought that riding in the front was a much more rounded experience.   I could enjoy the soundtrack. (I grew up with Aerosmith so yes i like their music) I could let myself become more involved and in the twists and turns of the ride.  Now, I must concede that the experience I found in the front car might have been partially caused by the fact that I had done the attraction already and was better prepared for it.  But I did have more fun on the ride the second time around.

Bonnie Waits for the Rock and Rollercoster.

Every time I visit Disney's Hollywood Studios. I love to ride the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror.  But its becoming increasingly difficult to find someone who wants to ride the attraction with me.  When we first road the attraction back when my kids were 10 and 8,  my daughter swore she would never do it again.  I just recently found out that my wife "isn't a fan of the ride" either. Even my son has told me that he would prefer not to ride this attraction.  This attraction could be thought of as two rides in one and I believe its the first half of the ride that has put my family off from this attraction.  The Hype during the first half of the ride is terrifying. The People, ghosts and special effects are so realistic that you believe the story behind the attraction.  I guess i should have been able to deduce why my wife doesn't like the ride.  She is not at all fond of scary movies.  The Hype for this ride is much more realistic and quite scary.  However, in typical Disney fashion, there is nothing unsavory or gruesome in the hype.  It is just plain scary.  After letting the hype scare you to death, The attraction drops you and raises you up and the length of each drop is random making the experience different each time you ride the attraction.  The attraction actually pulls the car downward making your acceleration greater the the pull of the earth leaving you weightless and floating above your seat for brief periods of time.  I loved it.  However, the whole thing scared the daylights out of my wife.  She has been kind enough to not tell me that she didn't enjoy the ride for all these years, even going so far as to say she really liked riding on it.  She would dutifully strap her self in beside me and experience the attraction.  But at last she confessed that she didn't enjoy it.  She said the hype was too much and too scary. So, I'll ride it alone next time.



Thats a big Guitar!

Bonnie and Her mom with Lightning and Mater.

Disney Uses this to determine Line Wait Times.

Streets of America before the Show Starts.

Hollywood studios hosts some pretty fabulous events one of which is only held during the holiday season.  The Streets of America are adorn with all the beautiful lights of the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights. I have relayed the story of how Disney came in possession of this spectacular display so i won't go over it again here.  However, I did find out a bit of new information the last time we went down to Disney World.  In addition to the amazing displays the Osbornes presented during the Christmas season, the family was fond of decorating their house for Halloween, though not with the same gusto.  When the Osbornes packed the Christmas decorations to ship to Disney, A stray cat found its way into the shipment. Now, each year, the crew that puts up the decorations, delights in hiding the cat someplace on the Streets of America for those in the know to find.  The last time we were on the Streets of America, we didn't know about  the cat but you can bet the next time we go and the Lights are up, we will be looking.

Can you Imagine this on your Street?

This was just amazing.

It Just Blew Me Away!

We had planned on going to the Lighting of the Osborne's Spectacle of Dancing Lights on the first day of our vacation and we were lucky enough to arrive on the Streets of America just before the lighting ceremony started.  We were not in a place where we could actually see the characters but were could see all down the street and allof  the square in front of the Lights Motors Action! Extreme stunt show.  The whole square is covered with lights and moving decorations.  Looking down the streets of New York we could see hundreds of thousands of dark lights waiting to be lit at Goofy and Minnie's command. During the pre-lighting show "snow" begins to fall and you could see if you look at the roof tops the "snow" making machines shooting what really resembles snow out on the street.  Until the snow actually landed on you or got close enough you could actually see the individual "flakes" you would be hard pressed to tell the difference.  I've been down in central Florida when it has been cold enough to snow but still its a very impressive effect.  And after about 15 minutes of the inevitable Disney ceremony, the lights were lit and the music started and thew whole thing was off and running.  Each strand and each display is computer controlled to change in synchronization with the music.  The effect is quite breath taking. Once again I was giddy and smiling form ear to ear as I watched in amazement the moving colors and lights. soon we started to walk down the street and explore other nooks and crannies of the display.  Everywhere you turned there were more lights and more displays, all were dancing and moving with the music.  Christmas trees sparkled and angels danced across the sky.  Santa and his sleigh were  being pulled by his reindeer across the roof tops and through the sky. The very best part is,  this was included in the price of admission.  There were no standby lines and no dinner packages to purchase that will get you a better seat.  A visitor can find  no better place to see the display, than by simply strolling down the street while the lights dance around you.

Millions of lights over several City Blocks.

Down Sunset Boulevard, just past Beauty and the Beast is the entrance to Fantasmic.  For the those that don't know, Fantasmic is a water and fire based show that tells the story of Mickey Mouse combating his nightmares with the help of many of his friends.  The show is truly spectacular.  Having taken the time in the previous paragraph to extol the virtues of an event that was included in the cost of admission, I am now going to talk about how wise it is sometimes to include a dinner package with some of the shows you attend.  I'm absolutely sure you can get a great seat if you come early enough to stand in line for Fantasmic.  The amphitheater has plenty of seats and all of them have a great view of the stage. But, If you are willing to combine the show with a fantastic meal at one of Hollywood studio's that  offer packages, you can find your self, like us, on the front row center of the stage.  We had staked our claim to a bench that was just off center when a group of people rudely took our seats and wouldn't budge when we mentioned it.  But even that turned out for the best.  We were closer to the center of the stage when we moved. During the pre-show, I was chosen to participate in one of the pre-show games.  The game was "Finish the Line"  the sound person would  play a few bars of a song and the player would sing the remaining part of the lyric.  Lucky for me, I got New York, New York and was able to belt it out, much to the surprise of the audience and the hosts of the pre-show.  I have to say,  hearing thousands of people cheering you after singing is amazing.  Hearing cheers and applause like that could go to your head if your not careful.  I however kept mine and we sat down to enjoy the show.  I will admit that the little plastic trophy they gave me for participating in the show has a place of honor in our curio cabinet in our dinning room. The show itself is a pretty amazing experience.  Disney uses projectors to display scenes from Disney movies on water falls.  The fireworks are big and colorful and sometimes fill the sky.  There is even a full grown dragon that wraps the mountain of a stage in its coils during the show.  Fiery sparks shoot from mickeys fingers. Once again i was impressed how brave the cast members are asked to be though i'm sure everything was done in the safest possible manor.  All in all it made for a delightful evening and a fitting close to our trip this time.

Thats Me... Singing!

Hollywood studios was conceived and continues to be a very different experience that the rest of the parks.  There are many other TV and Movie related attractions that, while i won't spend a lot of time talking about them here are at least worth mentioning.  Muppet Vision 3D was one of the first 3D movies that used the new polarized lens technique and is worth a look.  The Little Mermaid has a 20 minute show and The American Idol Experience is available for music lovers and those who want to Audion for a chance to be on the show.   My wife and I sat onetime outside the American Idol Experience and watch the finals on a big screen outside the attraction and really enjoyed it.  I think it was one of the rare warm nights we had during our 2010 Christmas Trip.  If you have little ones,  then Disney Junior has a show.  My kids were too big for Disney Junior so I never had a need to go see the show there.  I've seen the Lights Motors Action show a couple of times.  That is always worth a look.  Even the abbreviated back lot tour can be a bunch of fun and a rest for sore feet.  Hollywood Studios is a great park with a big variety of things to do.  Some attractions will get your hear pounding.  Some attractions draw a tear or two.  Some make you feel like you have gone back in time.  This is the Hollywood that never was but how we remember it being.  This is the Hollywood that should have been.