Trip Report: Hollywood Studios (2017)

May 22, 2017

Our 2017 Hollywood Studios visit was a bit of a mess. It was a bit of a rough day with many hiccups and one minor catastrophe.

Diva and I had a breakfast reservation at Trattoria al Forno. Really, it was for the entire family but the boys decided to sleep in and just meet us at Hollywood Studios. We ate our breakfast and were right on schedule for a short boat ride to Hollywood Studios. As we got on the boat Grumpy sent a text to say that he and Peanut didn’t make it to the bus on time and had to wait for the next one.

We procrastinated by taking pictures in front of the park. Before marching in. I mean literally marching. I wish I had the camera ready as she strutted her stuff down the red carpet laid out right before the gates.

We were really killing time because the boys had just boarded the bus when we entered the park. She chased bubbles as we walked down Hollywood Boulevard. We walked by Echo Lake, she played around in Animation Courtyard, she followed some Stormtroopers on patrol, and then we finally took a seat just outside the area to wait for their arrival.

The plan was to meat Chewbacca first, but Peanut decided he wasn’t interested so we shifted our focus to meeting Olaf. We entered the line and already couldn’t wait to be inside where it was cool. It wasn’t even 10:00AM but it was already showing signs of being a toasty day. We were going to need to Frogg Toggs out early today. Olaf was fun. The kids were excited to give him warm hugs right away. It was nice and cool at Olaf’s beach and we could have stayed there for a lot longer.

Next stop, Peanut and I are going to ride Star Tours. Grumpy said it triggered his motion sickness last year so he’s going to pass on riding again. I don’t get motion sickness, but I completely understood why he wouldn’t take a second ride. It would be definitely be something I could skip if it wasn’t for my kid wanting to ride.

While we were on Star Tours and checking out the gift shop Grumpy and Diva went on search for fun and came up with one of her favorites: Goofy!

It was getting hotter. But our next two FastPass+ are inside so we think we’ll be able to manage a little while longer. First we get to Toy Story Mania with perfect timing at the end of the FastPass+ window. The line moved so quickly and it was over in almost no time. Onto the Disney Jr. Show– we scanned in and then suddenly it was a potty break emergency. The Cast Member was helpful getting me in and out of the line. I always worry about looking rude and like we’re cutting in line. We got back JUST in time to enter the building.

Ah, there’s air condition. The room quickly packed full. Everyone was a little restless. It was taking a while to get started. But Finally they came on stage. Then stopped. Now a second try. All the kids get wound up and yell their name…. and then the host disappears again. Hmm… I haven’t seen this before. One more try…. and fail! “We’re sorry, but due to technical difficulties this showing of Disney Jr. is cancelled.”

So far we’ve been about 30 minutes late starting our day, changed our plans, I’ve been jostled around on Star Tours, Disney Jr. was cancelled, and the heat is showing signs of wearing us out really early. This day is not comparing well with last year’s 14-hour visit. Let’s just take a break and regroup. We grabbed lunch at ABC Commissary and decided it’s best to hit the pool for the main heat of the day. We’ll come back for the evening.

After a long break we made it back to the park around 4:00PM. We walked into the March of the First Order. Perfect timing. It’s looking like it’ll be a better afternoon. 

Next, we’ll try to find the same character meeting we did last year. Another success. We missed out on pictures with Robin Hood, but my daughter was having so much fun with Goofy’s son, Max. They even shared a dance. The Evil Queen was there again and tried to teach the kids her evil ways. Minnie was trying to get Grumpy’s affection, but he just thought she was shaking hands. Finally he gave her a peck on her hand and she blushed. And Aladdin wanted to take us away on to a far, far away land.

The dancing was so sweet:

And Minnie was too funny:

We’re all set for dinner at Hollywood & Vine. Dinner was good but this is where our catastrophe begins. We sit down at the table and Grumpy looks at his phone. The screen says it’s restoring data. Huh? It’s been in his pocket most of the time we’ve been at the park. It shouldn’t be restoring anything. He’s kind of a techie guy so he tries a few things. Suddenly he’s locked out of his phone. This causes a distraction during dinner but we make it through.

Peanut really wants to see Indiana Jones. We have a FastPass+ booked.

Diva really wants to see Minnie again at the restaurant. She has put her Minnie dress on and needs a picture.

Grumpy is frustrated about the phone.

I haven’t had nearly enough time to enjoy the dessert buffet.

Time to split up. But that’s not so easy when suddenly we have no communication. So we go old-school and pick a specific time and meeting location.

It works out. We find each other. Peanut raves about the Indiana Jones show.

We need to make some calls. Verizon, LG, and Google all keep blaming the others and basically saying there is absolutely no way to unlock the phone for 24 hours. 

24 HOURS!!! We’re in Disney. There are tens of thousands of people. We are splitting up again tomorrow for different activities. Holy cow, how did anyone do anything in crowded places before cell phones! This is a real damper on our mood.

Oh yeah, and it’s about to get really damp outside too. Here comes a storm. We hid from the rain at the Great Movie Ride and then took shelter outside the ride until the rain slowed. We tucked the kids under the rain cover and rushed to Toy Story Mania. There had been a FastPass+ available that I grabbed after the Great Movie Ride. One ride down and the standby line wasn’t too long so we jumped back in. At the top of the stairs before the loading area the ride came to a  halt. We waited. And waited. Then the inevitable came the ride was closing for an undetermined amount of time. We saw EMTs entering the building as we were lead out the entrance.

The rain was a very light drizzle now but there was some lightening.

We decided to try another phone call to see if we could get the phone unlocked while we walked towards Fantasmic. With the rough day we had we couldn’t wait to see the show. While on the phone with LG we heard the disappointing news announced over the speaker system– Fantasmic is delayed.

Sigh… it’s time to give up on the day. We’ll try again tomorrow at Epcot.