back lots of hollywood

On our second day in Orlando we went to Disney Hollywood Studios! Of course, as soon as we entered the park the first thing we had to ride was the Star Wars 3D ride! It had NO line yet and so we basically walked right on! It was a really cool ride! The entire line is decorated with Star Wars characters and scene sets! It was awesome! Definitely a boys' heaven!

We had a very disappointed Maddox on our hands when we found out that you had to sign up to participate in the "Jedi Training" at the park. By the time we found this out and then found the kiosk where you could sign up for a training session the only spot available was at the very end of the day and unfortunately we had movie and dinner reservations already scheduled. Maddox was bummed and I was just as (if not more) bummed for him...

 

we somehow convinced Maddox, though, that getting his face painted like Darth Maul would be an acceptable alternative to Jedi Training. This lady was GOOD too! When he was finished Maddox looked exactly like Darth Maul! And he took it very seriously! Maddox spent the rest of the day in the park worried that his face paint was going to sweat off and constantly asking us to check different spots and make sure nothing had changed. He is a true fan!

I thought it was really neat how the entire Hollywood Studios park was decorated and themed like a Hollywood set or lot! It actually felt like someone could be filming a movie around every corner!

I'm pretty sure us grown ups were nearly as excited about the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground as the kids were! We didn't get to go down the slides or crawl through the tunnels but just to feel teeny tiny below enormous blades of grass and pet "anty" from the movie was crazy fun!

Surprisingly, one of the coolest things we saw at Hollywood Studios was the Indiana Jones live show! It was put together like you were watching the filming of a real movie! We got to see the behind the scenes action, all the stunts and all the explosions!

 

We were all impressed with the show!

 

Before we moved to the other side of the park the boys wanted to go back and ride the Star Wars 3D ride one more time! Of course, we did! During our second ride Ashtyn was actually chosen as part of the ride! There was a portion of the ride where they reveal a spy who is on your ship and put their picture on the screen and Ashtyn's picture popped up! It made his day! After the ride we let the boys build their own lightsabers! It was really cool!

 

Thankfully, when we first arrived at Hollywood Studios early in the morning we had thought ahead to get fast passes to ride the Toy Story ride. We knew it would be a popular ride and, in fact, when we went to get our fast passes bright and early the first time they had available to ride was 4PM!!!! I'm glad we thought ahead! We may never have gotten the chance to ride!

As we were waiting for our time to get in the fast pass line for the Toy Story ride the boys got to meet a real life green army man from the Toy Story movie! He was awesome! The boys had just gotten their custom lightsabers and so when the army man saw them on the street he challenged them to a duel. Maddox wasn't sure what to do but what was hilarious was that when Ash saw the challenging stance of the army man he walked right up to him, sword extended and gave him a good whack on the leg! A real hit! Ha! The army man, who couldn't actually speak and did everything through actions and body language, made it look like he was crying (which he may have actually been...it was a hard hit!) and so Seth gave him a hug to cheer him up! Ha! I bet that army man will think twice before challenging boys with lightsabers next time!

Thankfully the green army man forgave us and let us pose for a picture anyway!

The line for the Toy Story ride was decorated to the nth degree! It was crazy! There were oversized toys everywhere and the ceiling was painted to look like a Chutes N Ladders board game! The attention to detail was amazing!

The Toy Story ride was one of my favorites for the entire trip! You sat two people per car and were each armed with a gun. As the car swiveled and moved through a different set of screen simulated screens you shot your gun at a variety of targets. Throughout the ride there were even moments when bursts of air or splashes of water would hit you in the face to make the ride a bit more realistic! If the line hadn't been two hours long I would have done this again!

After riding the Toy Story ride it was time to head back to the car and get to Downtown Disney so that we could go to a movie and eat dinner all in one! These movie theaters are quickly becoming one of our favorite things to do! We chowed down on cheese fries, chicken strips and chips n dip while watching Wolverine. It was a great, relaxing and air conditioned way to end the day!