We are finally here. After safely arriving at the Shades of Green Resort the previous day, we were well-rested and ready to get the main event of our vacation underway by visiting Walt Disney World and Universal Studios theme parks. Based on multiple factors, Hollywood Studios was the first park in the chute, which included Toy Story Land, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, and several other areas we were set to enjoy. Grab your ears, themed t-shirts, and Republic credits, because we were excited to jump to lightspeed for the next level in our vacation!
Although the girls got to choose which parks we were going to visit (Animal Kingdom was sadly, yet expectedly, left out of the mix to make way for our day at Universal), I chose the days to line up with expected crowds, early entry and extended hours, and when each park fit best within our preferred schedule; Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World (WDW) met all the criteria for our first day at the parks. As per the norm, I got up about an hour before the girls to get everything ready before I woke them. This included packing the travel backpack with water, snacks, and medicine, reaffirming our Lightning Lanes, and getting the girls’ outfits ready.
As soon as this all was completed and we were about 30 minutes out from when we wanted to arrive at the bus stop, I woke up the girls and helped them get ready. Unlike later days in the trip, they hopped right out of bed, full of excitement and anticipation; they were just staying up too late and far too tired later in the trip to get excited about a 6:30am wakeup. Although getting them up early is never a fun thing to do, it is still my job to keep this vacation on schedule for them to have the best possible time, and they will certainly thank me later for it.
Because we were still feeling out how the rest of the guests were going to plan and arrive, we were about 15 minutes too early for the bus on day one. Which was good, because it not only allowed the girls to sleep in a little bit more the next few days, but also gave me a chance to better work breakfast into the schedule. On previous trips to WDW, breakfast consisted of mostly granola bars, gummies, or chips simply because the girls preferred to snack, whereas this trip I had bananas, mandarins, and oatmeal as well. Thankfully, and this was a big plus for Shades of Green, there was a full Starbucks inside from the bus stop, so my daughters were able to get a butter (Gabby) or chocolate (Elaina) croissant every single morning.
As the girls ate their breakfast, the bus arrived on time and we were off to the park.
Taking actions my social Dad would be proud of, I immediately began making friends with those close to us, offering my seat (which they did not accept) and to take their picture (which they did, and returned in kind). As I tell the girls, we are never going to see any of these people again, so nothing wrong with being overly social and a little crazy.
No issues with our MagicBands or tickets, so once the rope dropped for early entrance, we were on our way to Slink Dog Dash, hoping to then hit up Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance immediately after and before the park opened to everyone.
This was especially important to Gabriella, as it was a promise to her three years in the making. At the end of our last trip to WDW, Slinky Dog Dash was the last line we were waiting in on our last night in the parks; because it was already late and the girls and my parents were exhausted, we opted to not stay in the 90-minute line for the final ride of the trip. I told Gabby it would be the first ride we would go on once we got to Hollywood Studios and I delivered.
As anticipated, we all absolutely loved it. In a preview of things to come, the girls told me the ride had changed since we were here last; sorry, girls, but it had not. This would later be said about It’s a Small World, Space Mountain, and Journey into Imagination. Foggy memories aside, we were off to a great start.
Getting off Slinky Dog Dash before the park opened to everyone at 9am and with the wait at only 30 minutes, we hurried over to Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, trying to knock out the park’s two best rides in the first hour. And thankfully, this ride has one of the better queues, so the girls were occupied with looking at the scenery almost the entire wait.
Once the ride started, I was back in my Star Wars world, which was fantastic. Although the girls are not as into it (as in, not at all), they still loved the ride and let me have my nerdy fun.
Even though Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance was no longer new to us, we still had a really great time. With less than an hour in the parks, we had already gone on the two best rides, and with Lightning Lanes reserved for the next two best rides (in my opinion), Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway and Toy Story Mania!, we were set for the rest of this day to be fun and stress-free.
Which was a good time to get some food. Elaina opted for mini churros and Gabriella got her souvenir bucket of popcorn, with the latter getting $2.25 refills for the week, of which we took full advantage.
Seeing that the wait for Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway was only 20 minutes, we hopped in line, finished our food, and got another thrilling ride under our belt. While I do not particularly like using the My Disney Experience app throughout our entire trip (you would not believe how much I am on it checking wait times, Lightning Lane openings, or ordering food), it definitely helps when you find a great time to jump onto a quality ride with minimal wait.
To celebrate already crushing Hollywood Studios, the girls asked for a Mickey Pop and I obliged. They were being so good and it was still early in the trip, so let us splurge a little (for better or for worse, this splurging did not stop for the rest of the trip). After a few bites, Elaina realized she did not like them anymore, so I got a most of a Mickey Pop too; I think she was just saving up her calories for tomorrow’s beignets.
It was about this time that we were due for our first Lightning Lane. For those unfamiliar with WDW’s new system, this is the next iteration of the pay-to-play FastPass. By paying an extra fee for each ticket, which was about $10 to $15 each a day, we could reserve rides in advance for one top tier ride and for two lower tier ones. Once we used our first Lightning Lane for the day, we could reserve seats on any three available which we had not already used a Lightning Lane on. It is a little more complicated than that, but it should help you understand the basics. We met up with the Rowans outside of the theater for Indy, and as soon as we scanned our MagicBands at the attraction, we immediately booked our next Lightning Lane (I think it was Star Tours). The show was amazing (as always) and the girls enjoyed it a lot more than we expected, but things were going too well so they had to get into a little argument. Doing my best to make sure these expected flare-ups do not ruin our vacation, the issue was solved and they both were good by the end of the show.
This is where our day took an amazing an unexpected turn. The Rowans headed to their Lightning Lane for Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith while we hopped into a ten-minute Star Tours line, when I got a text from them that one of their children did not want to ride it and they had an extra Lightning Lane. Elaina (literally) jumped at this opportunity and so we quickly left the Star Tours queue to catch up with them. While I was happy for Elaina to go on the ride with them, I was using her to test if she thought it would be too much for Gabby.
While they rode the roller coaster, Gabbs and I headed to the center of the park to get more popcorn and some pictures together.
We have too many pictures of me in the center with the girls on each side of me, so it was good to get some different ones. And since Elaina is not as into the picture thing anymore, Gabriella was more than ready for her time in the spotlight (it was either at Hollywood Studios or Magic Kingdom, but at some point when trying to get pictures together, Elaina half-jokingly yelled to me “We’re not your little picture puppets anymore!”).
Elaina absolutely loved the coaster and, telling Gabby it would not be too much for her, asked me to get it on a Lightning Lane for us. I immediately switched out our Star Tours one for it (got another one later, so no big deal) which was only an hour or so away, leading the girls to think getting and using Lightning Lanes was a very quick turnaround (not usually). The Rowans wanted to go again, so we quickly got in line for the coaster. And Gabriella loved it, which was great, because now the girls are into real coasters; we would test this to the limit at Universal, but it definitely opened up a whole new world as far as the thrill rides we could go on.
Since we were already way ahead of where I thought we would be by this point in the day (as far as attractions we had been on), we just enjoyed a leisurely stroll through Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. While not as amazing as the first time we experienced it, I still love just walking around this area and taking in the sights. And certainly was not going to pass up the opportunity to add another thermal detonator to my collection. But no blue milk this trip, as I was not going to spend $10 for a glass of colored horchata.
We eventually ended up at Star Tours again, this time staying for the ride.
And Gabbs and I had to recreate our famous picture with the Imperial Walker photobombing us. She is getting a lot bigger, and I seem to be getting a lot more wrinkles, but alas, that is life.
We headed back to our Lightning Lane for Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster and the girls had another great time. The coaster was loud, dark, and went upside down, all three things that previously scared Gabriella. Glad to see she is coming out of her shell and the aperture for roller coasters has expanded.
Meeting up with the Rowans again, we synced our Lightning Lanes for Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run so our kids could all be in the same simulator together. The kids had a great time flying together, which I am told excitingly devolved into a lot of yelling and screaming; Elaina said that everyone was yelling at everyone else to hit flashing buttons as fast as they could. Glad they had a good time.
Serving as the (right side) pilot during the “parents ride,” we did not fare so well, getting a lower score than the younger team. I guess all those hours of Mario Kart and Mario Party are paying off for them.
We then headed over Toy Story Mania!, which is probably my favorite attraction at Hollywood Studios, likely because I always get the high score in our car.
The girls were getting hungry, so we stopped at Woody’s Lunch Box for dinner. Elaina ate half a sandwich and tomato basil soup, Gabriella had oranges and chips, and I settled for a Cliff Bar and instant coffee. We all got exactly what we wanted.
Before we left for Florida, I purchased a WDW kid’s book, trying to prepare the girls for what was new in the parks. At the end of the book, there was a page about how to stay busy during the queue lines. We ended up playing trivia on the Disney Parks app and The (Disney) Alphabet Game quite a bit, so we were never really bored (except for our queue when Rise of the Resistance broke down). Elaina had an even better idea to kill time though which made its appearance on day two.
This was truly an amazing first day at the parks. We rode everything we wanted (the girls did not want to go on Tower of Terror or see Muppet*Vision 3D; I was only sad about the latter), usually more than once. We had some fun memories (“Dad, is that real fire?” after giant fireballs felt like it scorched us at the Indy show), some amazing pictures, and all had a really fantastic day. As is the usual, peak efficiency in the morning led to a very relaxing afternoon. This was an excellent start to our four days at theme parks, with Magic Kingdom being next on the docket.
Thanks for checking in on us.
Cheers!
Adventures in Single Dadding 