Sunday at Hollywood Studios

Sunday was another early day with the alarm going off at 5:45 so that Chuck could make it onto the airport shuttle. One of the monitoring projects he is responsible for leading for the Lansing office usually gears up this time of year, so (short of still having snow on the ground) it would be next to impossible to have him stay the week with us. Little did any of us know, but Lansing was in for several inches of snow by Monday morning and he wouldn't be out sampling anyways...

One thing that I was sure to do for this trip was to pack food and snacks. This worked well for the long drive down, with us avoiding the temptation of fast food during fill-ups. So, Sylvain and I enjoyed cereal and fresh fruit for breakfast, then headed to the bus stop for the Hollywood Studios park.


We arrived just after the park opened and headed straight to the Sunset Boulevard area. Since it was early, the lines were only 10 minute waits. I made a screaming fool out of myself on both the "Tower of Terror" ride (being dropped several floors multiple times) and the "Rock 'n Roller Coaster" (going 0-60 mph in less than 3 seconds).


Afterwards, we toured Animation Courtyard and picked up Fast Passes for the "Toy Story Midway Mania" ride. Next, we took the "Backlot Tour" and Sylvain surprised me by wanting to check-out the "Honey I shrink the kids adventure play park". I guess you're never too old for over-sized playgrounds. By lunchtime, we were both pretty hungry, so we took the suggestion of our guidebook and headed for the Backlot Express cafe. I had the grilled vege sandwich & Sylvain had a double cheeseburger. I'm not sure that I would rate this place as high as the authors had, but I'm also not a bonafide critic....

After lunch, we did "Star Tours", "Muppet Vision 3D", "Lights, Motors, Action" stunt show, "Sounds Dangerous (with Drew Carey)", and "The Great Movie Ride"; all of which I'm sad to say that Sylvain didn't seem to enjoy. I like the Muppets and feel that they're lost to his generation, and thought for sure that he'd like the stunt show, but the wait killed that for him.





Shopping in and out of the many stores was interspersed between the shows, so 6pm quickly rolled around and that was the time for our reservations at the Sci-fi Diner. I'm not really sure what we were expecting, but let's just say it wasn't anything like what we thought it would be. I would not advise anyone to go to this restaurant. I had the shrimp bowtie pasta (minus the shrimp, so it had artichoke, spinach, and roasted red peppers); Sylvain had the ribs (which it seems to be one the menu for him for the third night in a row).


After dinner, we had just the right amount of time for the "Midway Mania" ride, which is an interactive "4D" video game. We both thoroughly enjoyed this ride and, if we have time, will definitely ride again. By the time we were through, we were both pretty tuckered out and ready to head back to our room. Sylvain took a dip in the pool and I sat pool-side, sipped wine, and started reading our book club book. Overall, Disney Day 2 was a pretty good day.