Day 5: Hollywood Studios, Chill and Disney Springs

Today we had a lie in and didn’t wake up until 6am. I was awake in the night with sinus pain that made me want to rip my cheeks off but I took some tablets and the pain had pretty much gone by this morning. God bless America and it’s lax medication regulations! Also my voice is coming back so regular moaning service can resume!

We decided to head to Hollywood Studios for Extra Magic Hours. We had some fast passes and plan on doing multiple visits to this park so were waiting to see how we felt this morning. We were up and ready in 30 minutes which we seem to have down to a fine art now. Whilst getting ready Winnie was debating taking her Toy Story plushies with her. I pointed out that she could accidentally leave them somewhere and they may get stolen (mainly to talk her out of taking something else I knew that I’d end up carrying!) This then led to a big discussion about the fact that there may be some bad people in Disney, and that you can’t always tell who is bad by looking at them. Winnie turned around and said ‘that isn’t true mummy. I can tell who the robbers are as they’ll be wearing a fat necklace on with a big S on it’. After puzzling for few minutes before almost spitting my tea out when I worked out that she actually meant a $ sign I did my best to put her straight regarding stereotyping based on how someone looks! I’ve no idea where she’s seen a robber dressed in that way, but it wasn’t a conversation I planned on at 6.30am on a Disney morning! 

After looking on the app we discovered that there was no Hollywood Studios bus until 7am from the hotel. This was fine for us, but if we’d been wanting to rope drop Slinky Dog it was too late to get a spot close enough to the front of the crowd to really decrease the queue length. I think resorts need to consider putting on earlier buses for morning extra magic hours parks. If you did want to guarantee an extra early arrival, I’d suggest taking an Uber or a Lyft. The bus was rammed full. Even though we were one of the first families waiting at the bus stop loads of people jumped on ahead of us which I find really rude. Even the girls know that if someone is there before them, they are to let them get on first. Unfortunately, Disney does bring out the worst in some people. We also had to stand on the bus which I don’t mind at all, but there were loads of people who could have given up their seat to the girls (I understand hidden disabilities but the chances of the whole bus having one was pretty slim). Still, the girls now have the wide leg balance nailed so it was all good. We also had an interesting talk about Boris Johnson and possible no deal Brexit (no idea how we got onto that topic but after attempting to explain it to Polly she said, ‘so essential, Boris Johnson is winging it just like you are!’ Never thought I’d see the day when I was compared to Mr J!

We arrived at the park around 7.20. It was already incredibly hot and very busy. We had a fastpass for Slinky Dog so weren’t worried about rushing there, but you still end up stuck in a huge crowd which is never the easiest with two little people (especially when their shoes appear to be magnets for buggy/ scooter wheels!) At HS rope drop they let you through the turnstiles before holding you at the rope just outside Starbucks, so we decided to divide and conquer. Steve was sent for coffee (of course) and breakfast snacks (the girls love the ham and cheese croissants) and we planned to do character meets once we reached TS land until Steve arrived with food supplies, at which point we’d queue for Toy Story Mania and Alien Swirling Saucers together (well, not entirely together. I can happily take on any roller coaster but spinny rides are the devil’s work. I struggled to walk properly for half an hour after going on the carousel the other day!) The plan worked brilliantly. We met Buzz with no queue at all (although the light from the sun was so bright that the Photopass photographer gave the girls sunglasses to wear! They looked hilarious! I really think they missed a trick when they built Toy Story land as they could easily have created an indoor area similar to Pete’s Silly Sideshow at Magic Kingdom where you could meet all the characters in a cool environment. The queues as we left were easily an hour long, and in boiling sunshine that isn’t good for anyone. We then queued for Woody & Bo Peep for around 15 minutes. It would have been shorter but Woody has apparently reached an age similar to Steve where he needs to go for a toilet break every 20 minutes!! Steve arrived whilst we were queuing with breakfast which the girls ate in line (they’re always incredibly hungry in the morning due to the time difference). We then did Toy Story Mania (I got the highest score in the car…not that I was being competitive or anything!) and Alien Swirling Saucers and were off just in time for our Slinky Dog 9.15am fastpass. We were completely done and dusted with Toy Story Land by 9.30am with the only thing we didn’t do being the Jessie character meet as the queue was right in the sun and the girls weren’t that bothered.

We did have a fastpass for Rock & Rollercoaster which Winnie apparently maybe wants to try (I’ll believe it when I see it!) and Tower of Terror (I get one every time hoping Polly will decide this time she’ll say yes to it!) but it was so incredibly hot and busy, and we had already fit so much in that we decided to call it a day and head back for some much needed chill time. 

We spent the rest of the morning/ early afternoon by the pool. By early afternoon we’d had enough (well, after about 10 minutes of sitting I’d had enough. I start to think of all the other things I could be doing and basically fail epically on the relaxing front! I’m the same at home though so Steve and the girls know just to stay away before I start suggesting 100 other things to try!) so we had a quick service lunch following our Pearson motto, ‘if in doubt, flatbread!’ Steve was going to take the girls back out to the pool but it was blisteringly hot and no-one was that bothered so we ended up coming to the room. Now I know there are a million exciting things to do at the most magical place on earth but there are times when all you want to do is chill out and have a snuggle with your special people, and that’s exactly what we did. We all lay on one bed and did some Disney quizzes/ played some Disney games and it was so nice. I know some people may think it was time wasted and that we could do all that when we are at home, but in reality we don’t get time to do it at home as there are always 100 jobs that need doing. Today what the Pearsons wanted and needed was simply some slow-down time, and we had the loveliest few hours doing pretty much nothing.

We then decided to head to Disney Springs. Now, I’m no shopper. At home if it can’t be ordered online without ever actually setting foot in a shop it doesn’t get bored (I’m sure I shopped myself out as a teenager!!) but we thought it might make a change. I honestly didn’t think the girls would want to go out after chilling for so long (they are pretty much the human equivalent of slugs!) but when Steve suggested we should go they were more than happy to get ready. I’m thinking their new Forky shoes and promise of a trip to Goofy’s Candy Store to spend a few snack credits may have won them over. They also love the meatballs at Wolfgang Puck Express (once you’ve surgically removed every trace of green! I mean, who’d want to actually eat something healthy here?!)

We only spent around 2 hours there but it was nice to have a look around. We also went in the PhotoPass studio which is fun. They basically super impose your photos onto different Disney backgrounds (apart from the Chaise Longe pictures which were just pure 80s heaven…a bit like Polly’s Liono hair that clearly caused a few issues with the green screening. She looks like she has a cosmic glow going on!!)

We were back to the hotel and in bed by 7.30pm which was great timing as the heavens opened and an almighty storm ensued (even the giraffes ran for cover!). The girls consumed enough sugar to start their own sweet shop whilst waiting for the bus, but were still out like lights (after Polly had told Winnie a bedtime story…these two melt my heart).

The plan was for Universal tomorrow but I’m not feeling up to such a full day so we may switch it around depending how we feel in the morning. 

Until tomorrow!