Today we paid our first visit this time to the Hollywood Studios park.  It was another lovely bright day, a little bit warmer than yesterday but still not in the least bit humid and about 10F cooler than normal.  It felt more like California today.  Long may it last but I’m sure the heat is coming back.

Anyway, we set off at about 8ish.  We decided to try and park at the Boardwalk Hotel today to save on the parking costs.  There was no trouble at all, lots of spaces and security let us straight through.  Sometimes if its busy, they won’t let you do it.  We like this whole area and always wish we could afford to stay there.  The Boardwalk area is set around a massive lake with interlinking waterways.  On one side of the lake is the Boardwalk hotel which I believe is now mainly Disney timeshare condos.  On the other is the Yacht and Beach Club hotels, which are my ideal Disney hotels.  They share a particularly nice pool area and you can walk from them to both Epcot and Hollywood Studios in around 10 minutes.  Unfortunately, they have always been too expensive for us so……  There are also restaurants and entertainment bars around the lake edge and the theming is of an old fashioned American seaside resort with boardwalks, carnival style rides, boating…..

It took us about 10 minutes to walk to Hollywood Studios around the waterways.  Its a nice path that people jog on.  We also went past the Swan and Dolphin hotels.  They are Starwood hotels but also official Disney ones.  Rather spectacular from the outside.

The park was quite light attendance wise today, a 3 (out of 10) I believe.  It was certainly very pleasant and we barely queued for anything.  The studio park is in a state of flux at the moment.  Some of the traditional attractions have gone and are being redeveloped.  So for instance, the Backlot tour which took you through a quasi film studio area with city streets, earthquake and flood canyons, homes etc has gone.  The Great Movie Ride which was one of our favourites is being redeveloped too.  In development are two new “lands” within the park: Toy Story Land which looked to be well under way, and Star Wars land which also looked to be far on.  Star Wars is now huge for the Disney Studios and they are very centred on it both with existing attractions and this new world.  It will be great in a couple of years when it is all in place.

So today we started with a ride on Toy Story which is a tour through Andy’s toybox and you swivel around firing laser guns at lots of targets.  I was of course, rubbish.  Bob only has one eye and was wearing 3D glasses which are of no use to him (unlike to me) and he was still better than me.  After that, we visited a Star Wars 3D virtual reality ride (fun), Muppets 3D show (brilliant as ever), The LIttle Mermaid ( a mix of 3D, lighting effects, live singers, puppeteers and film) and we went to visit Mickey and Minnie Mouse in their Hollywood dressing rooms!!!!  They are always very pleased to see us!

Caught a live Star Wars show on the main stage (see what I mean about Star Wars) where they show clips from the films and live actors interact with the films and there are pyrotechnics as well.  It was pretty good.  We then saw the parade which was the Star Wars Troopers marching in formation.  Quite menacing.

Stopped and had a snack lunch in the picnic area.  We shared a children’s meal!  Always the best value and plenty of food and drink.  After that, we walked into one of the main theatres to see the Beauty and the Beast musical show.  It’s been going for some years now but we always enjoy it.  The set and costumes are really good.

Managed to get quite a few pictures taken today.  The Memory Maker pass is a very good deal, well, especially as we got it free with our ticket.  All the photos and little videos are ours to download and keep.  It’s fun to have them taken and then see what the special effects are!!!!

Left the park about 2ish.  We’ll be back on Sunday with Daisy!  Walked back around the lake to our car.  Had a quiet evening at the Grande Vista.  Made roast chicken and added biscuits and gravy for Bob!