Disney Vacation Day 3: Hollywood Studios

Our third park was Hollywood Studios. It was so neat! The streets were set up to look like 1940's Hollywood! There were street performers everywhere! We headed straight for the Toy Story Mania ride. Very fun! It's a 3-D ride shooting different targets. The decor just in the waiting area was phenominal!! It was set up to look like Andy's Room--from the Toy Story movies. The floor was the Candyland board and the Chutes and Ladders board was on the ceiling, along with Scrabble. There was a huge Tinker Toys container--so neat! We took in several shows in Hollywood Studios....the Great Movie Ride--honoring classics throughout the years, Lights, Motors, Action--a car stunt show, Indiana Jones--the boys LOVED this one. They reinacted several scenes from Indiana Jones and demonstrated the stunts they do in the movies. We had a great lunch at the 50's Prime Time Cafe, which was decorated like a home kitchen right out of the 50s. When they were ready to seat you, they would yell out "MOM!! The Herndon kids are ready to eat!" It was so much fun!! We welcomed a big rain storm that actually cooled things off a bit! The clouds stuck around the rest of the day--which was so nice, it made things much more tolerable! The last big ride we took in was the (Twilight Zone) Tower of Terror. (Rod Serling from the Twilight Zone, sets up the story, that you enter this hotel, where in the 40s, a family checks into the hotel and during their elevator ride, the tower is struck by lightening and disappears. During the prep for the ride, we see the family beckoning us into the hotel. ) It's a ride that takes up up several stories and then it will drop "unexpectedly" and then go back up (short pause) and drop and repeat about 5 times before finally descending. It's a lot of fun! The boys were a little weirded out b/c of the dark setting, but we explained it's all to make the ride more fun. They immediately loved it and wanted to go on it again! I didn't get as many pictures here as the other parks, b/c the battery on my camera died. I forgot to charge it the night before. So frustrating......I come from a family of picture takers!! We closed down the park, but Nathan and I are ready to go back b/c there's so much we didn't even get to see!! A view of the Hollywood streets. The sorcerer's hat is the "icon" for this park.

A toy soldier at the Toy Story ride. They were great! Real men dressed and painted--they looked so life like. Some of them even had platforms on their shoes to look just like the "bases" of the plastic toy soldiers. Disney has such great attention to detail!Across from the TS ride, in Pixar PlaceThe beginning of the waiting area for Toy Story ManiaMore of the waiting areaPart of the ceiling.This is more waiting area....the Tinkertoys container and scrabble ceiling and barrell of Monkeys, monkeys!Posing w/ a talking Mr. Potato Head. Can you see the sweat on us? Did I mention it was hot? :o)Posing with Pooh and Piglet. They happened by us. Deric didn't want to pose.

Posing w/ Donald and Daisy in the HOT SUN!!!A section of the 50's Prime Time Cafe. This was right behind our table. They have all kinds of old knick-knacks on the walls. All the TVs played 50's shows. So neat!!Our table.This was what you see when you walk in....set up like "mom's kitchen". There's an old "icebox" style fridge to the left and there's also a "living room" complete w/ shag carpet and a "starburst" clock on the wall to the left as well. This is Nathan and Joe as extras in a "special effects" demonstration on the Backlot Tour. They were taking cover from enemy fire in Pearl Harbor. When they would "fire" water would shoot up from the lake in front of the boat. I would have taken more pics, but my camera battery went dead on me!Car stunt show. They demonstrated how they film action scenes with cars and stunt men.