Missing The Hat

Back in Dec. we attempted to visit Disney’s Hollywood Studios, but it was so crowded that traffic to find a parking spot was backed up all the way to the entry kiosk and we simply made a U-turn and left.  So late one afternoon we finally headed back over, and once inside the main gates, something was missing even though we knew to expect it.  One of the iconic items the last several years at the Studios has been the 122 ft. tall Sorcerer Mickey hat located at the far end of the main street.  It was installed in 2001 as part of the park’s “100 Years of Magic” celebration and was supposed to only be
temporary.  Evidently a lot of people have complained that it blocks the view of the full-scale replica of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre which houses The Great Movie Ride.  Granted, you do have a clearer view of it just behind the walls where they’re doing some work, but we miss the hat.

With some time to kill before our first FastPass, we decided to go on The Great Movie Ride.  This 18 minute tram ride takes you through scenes from some of the most famous moments in movie history and features nearly 50 Audio-Animatronic replicas of legendary movie stars and scenes from some great movies. (It’s very dark inside and hard to get really good pictures.)

Then it was off to use our FastPass on Star Tours – The Adventures Continue, a 5 minute motion-simulated space flight. The queue resembles a spaceport terminal for all of us boarding space travelers, some of it overseen by R2D2 and C3PO.  There are 50 different story combinations that can happen so each ride is a different experience.

We wandered through the Streets of America which recreates the streets of New York City and San Francisco.  Our main reason for heading over to this area was because I wanted to see Cinderella’s carriage that is temporarily on display.  It was custom built for the movie, is covered in gold leaf, measures
10 ft. tall x 17 ft.  long, and weighs nearly two tons.  I thought I could get a picture of me in front of it but didn’t realize it was a special Disney photo op with a long line of folks waiting to hold the glass slipper on a pillow in front of the carriage.  Oh, well, at least I got a picture of it all.

One of the cutest food/drink kiosks in Disney is shaped like a 6 pack of Coca Cola bottles, and standing next to it is a giant Coca-Cola bottle that sprays out a mist every few minutes…great on a hot day!

It was time for our next FastPass, and we headed to Toy Story
   Midway Mania! Most of you know that it’s basically a virtual 4D shooting gallery of carnival games where guests wear 3D glasses and ride in rotating vehicles that take you through the fast-paced maze of 5 different games featuring characters from the Toy Story
    films. As each game/section is completed, your vehicle quickly rotates and slides into the next game.  Russ may have been beating me this season on Buzz Lightyear, but this time on this game I was the undisputed champ (Player 2 in the photo)!

 

The sun had set, and we had a great view of the Tower of Terror as we made our way over to the Hollywood Hills Amphitheater.  We came over so late this particular day so we could catch the 8:30 evening performance of Fantasmic!, a 30 min. “nighttime spectacular”.  It’s been a few years
   since we’ve seen this show and had heard that there had been some changes.  Basically it’s Mickey’s wild and colorful imagination come to life with lots of Disney music, characters, lasers, dancing fountains, scenes projected on water screens, boat parade, and so
  much more.  His imaginative story includes scenes from various movies and villains including Maleficent who turns into a larger than life fire-breathing dragon and sets the lake on fire (those sitting close can feel the heat!)  Of course, Mickey saves the day by creating a wall of water to smother the flames
and defeat the dragon.  The major differences we noticed were fewer fireworks and the big steamboat at the end on which all the characters rode around the lake was now replaced with everyone standing on the “mountain stage” dancing, singing, and waving ribbons.  It’s still a good show and well worth seeing despite the changes.

 

      The only other event this week was my annual St. Patty’s Day tradition of cooking corned beef, cabbage, and potatoes served with some rye bread…one o’ me favorite meals!  I even enjoyed a wee bit o' green beer!  We invited our neighbors, Joe and Nancy, to join us, and she brought a yummy cheesecake variety sampler for dessert.  Another fine evening with good friends.