Hollywood Studios

Today Chris and I visited Disney's Hollywood Studios, and it was awesome!  Shortly after arriving, we ate lunch at a restaurant filled with authentic1950's era furniture, decor, and architecture.  This was super fun for me as I love, love, love the designs of the furniture, architecture, clothing, and advertisements from the 1950's.  Not so fun was our waitress, who summoned the attention of the whole dining room and then spoon fed me my peas when I failed to clean my plate.

The waiting area was staged like a 1950's living room.

The dining area was staged like a 1950's eat-in kitchen.

I was surprised to find myself thoroughly entertained by the stunt shows at Hollywood Studios.  I always assumed that stunts were performed in small, safe segments using deceptive camera angles and then cleverly pasted together to create a seemingly impressive, albeit fake, stunt segment.  I also expected all stunt shows at a theme park to be somewhat lame and rinky-dink.  Then I watched the extreme stunt show at Hollywood Studios.  During one segment referred to as a ballet chase, six little cars sped around, jumped off ramps, and weaved just inches within each other for almost three full minutes.  One car raced around and jumped a ramp backwards.  This was not lame or rinky-dink at all, and it was not performed in small, safe segments using nothing more than tricky camera angles.

The large stunt show set with the stunt cars in front.

I was so impressed by the stunt show that I wanted to have my picture taken with two of the stunt car drivers after the show ended, and I'm sure that I annoyed the people in line behind me as I asked the drivers a number of silly questions like, "Did you go to a special driving school?" and "Does it get hot in those cars?"

The stunt drivers - they were covered in sweat!

In addition to cool restaurants and stunt shows, Hollywood Studios has a ride called Midway Mania that is unlike any other ride I've been on.  It is not a roller coaster, a thrill ride, or a simulated 3-D experience.  Instead, it it most comparable to a spinning, quick moving video arcade game.  Like stunt shows, I have never been a fan of arcade games.  This ride, however, was so much fun that I wanted a picture with the ride entrance at the conclusion of the ride.

Look at all the fun toys at the entrance!

Notice in the upper left-hand corner of the picture that there is a wait time of 85 minutes posted in green.  That is one of the longest lines I saw for any ride at Disney World, which should explain just how unique this ride is.  Don't worry though, I did not have to wait in line for 85 minutes thanks to my magic band and a little thing called a fastpass.   

During the afternoon, Chris and I sat in a 30 minute animation class where we followed an animator's step-by-step instructions for drawing Eeyore.  I was surprised at how well my drawing turned out, and I really enjoyed the simplicity of the class when compared to the other big, over-stimulating attractions of the day.

My Eeyore drawing - not bad at all!

Outside the animation class, I met Mr. Incredible and Frozone from the movie The Incredibles.  I asked Mr. Incredible if we could arm wrestle.  He obliged my request and even let me win.

Mr. Frozone insisted that I pose like that - it looks ridiculous.

The day ended with a live water show, which I liked a lot better than the cheesy parades at the Magic Kingdom.

Fantasmic: the only place I saw all the princesses with
their princes.

Hollywood Studios was so much fun that Chris and I stayed all day and into the evening.  It was a long day, but a fun day that really surprised me.  That's what I call Disney magic.    

We entered late in the morning.

We left late in the evening, after almost everyone had
exited the park.