Hollywood Studios (Day 17)

Early start to get ahead of the weather but slept in slightly - partly due to me having a very surreal dream experience about the new Star Wars movie, it wasn’t just that the movie had come out, I was actually in the Star Wars Universe as it was happening! Im such a geek :) Soooo… breakfast at the hotel and headed for Hollywood Studios. At the moment there is a lot of Frozen related stuff happening at Hollywood which we missed out last time so that was our priority today.

We had Beauty and the Beast Live Show as out first fast pass no long after we got there, not a show I’ve seen so good to get it done today. Got in early due to FP+ and got some good seats (for photos, obv). Show started and they went through the story of Beauty and the Beast, singing the songs and dancing as they went. It was great, proper people singing and dancing, its amazing how they can do this day in, day out. Everyone loved it so good start to the day.

Let It Gooooooooooooooo, Let It Gooooooooooooooo

We then had to rush back right after the show to the centre of the park in time for the For The First Time In Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along celebration. As you can imagine, it was a show were you sing along to the songs of Frozen. Now most people would probably turn and run at the though of hearing those songs again, but not me I cant get enough (and not just because I fancy Elsa), and I was unashamedly singing along with Grace to most of the songs. There were a few characters including Anna, Elsa & Kristoff as well as a few Arendelle citizens who really brought it to life and injected a huge amount of humour to the show, which showed songs from the movie, in between live character interaction. Grace was the star of the show though, she just sung her little heart out, actions and all (and that was with her sitting on my knee). They made it snow in the theatre too, it was pretty brilliant :)

Fell out of that attraction and on to the streets and only had a small amout of time to grab some Frozen treats before the Frozen parade started. Aaaaand there are the songs again! :) Anna, Elsa, Olaf & Kristoff with a host of floats and dancers made there way up Hollywood boulevard. The kids were loving it, singing along (again) and high fiving the dancers and characters as they went past. Also got some proper good looks from Elsa (which you can see from my poor out of focus image below, but Im putting it in anyway just coz she’s awesome). She must fancy me too ;)

Oh look, she did it again… ;P

Next up Star Tours, no singing and dancing there which I was a little relieved about. Slightly different situation from last time (no Boba Fett this time, but was involved in a heavy firefight over Coruscant). Gracie really likes this one as her favourite character Threepio was piloting the ship (I may have mentioned that before, but she doesn’t let me forget it). As you exit via the Gift Shop, which is pretty standard for most attractions, you really need to resist the temptation of the ark side to just spend all your money, they even have build you own lightsabres! We did well enough though persuading the kids Id buy them there Harry Potter wands instead (by this point, only PG has money left, though I think Grace thinks I’m just a bank who gives out unlimited money for ponies).
Toy Story Midway Mania next and this s now just a full on competition not just to beat everyone, but to beat your last score too. I was on my own last time, so Grace took pity on me and was my cowgirl for the ride. Its funny, ever since I was able to pull up the scores from two years ago, we are all eager to remember and get our scores recorded. Scores for the final round, as follows…

GG - 143,000 (UP, previous 141,400) - YASSS, retaining champion and new High Score!!! WOOT!

AG - N.A (–, previous 102600) - Ann gave up her spot for one of the kids to shoot, I think she was just scared! ;)

PG - 72,500 (DOWN, previous 94,100) - Complained of a sore arm afterwards which is why he didnt do too well (yeah, yeah P).

RG - 69,900 (UP, previous 66,100)

WG - 86, 000 (UP, previous 61,000)

SG - 18, 000 (DOWN, previous 38,000)

GG2 - 21,000 (UP, previous 10,000) - well done Gracie! :)

So I continue to hold the shoot-em-up crown, until next time! :P

On our way out of the park, we caught Olaf’s Summer Cool Down (we had the stunt show, but everyone was a little hot and tired so wanted to head). This was Olaf and a few others, singing not just Frozen songs but also a mix of summer and beach classics. They even threw green and white beach balls out to the audience which reminded me of Celtic in Seville all those years ago! :) Kids were dancing and singing along and really ended the day at Hollywood on a high note.

Home to the hotel and then a little rest before going out for the last meal with my mum and dad, who wanted to go back to Millers one last time. No problems with that and they had a full rack of ribs on special for only $10.99! I opted for the seafood pasta though, though did manage to pinch one or two of Ann’s ribs to try, nom nom…

We had bought tickets for Sealife prior to coming over (as well as Orlando Eye, part of the Merlin group, but it was a little stormy tonight and dark for that), so after a wee visit to some local shops for gifts, we went there before going home for the night. I was really surprised, as I didn’t expect much from it, but the kids were given a logbook which they received a prize if they did some interactive tasks, which included touching a sea star! Seen some sharks and jellyfish too, it was really good, so glad we went! :)

Mum & Dad head home tomorrow and then its a countdown for us, so just need to get the last few things ticked off that’s on the checklist before Friday! :)