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Once we decided that we would be unable to make the trip to Yellowstone this year, I decided to look for some part-time work which quickly became fulltime at the Omni
Orlando Resort at Championsgate (Omni) as a
front office agent. This Four Diamond
resort has 720 rooms, 60 villas, is surrounded by two Greg Norman designed
championship 18-hole golf courses, and is known for its high end customer service. It’s only about 15 min. away and so far it’s
been going great, learning a lot, and making new friends.
Of course we still find time to visit the parks, and right now it seems we've been spending a lot of time at Hollywood Studios. We arrived late afternoon one day just as the street performers, the Public Works Crew, were driving by...and darn, we had just missed their hilarious act!
As we made our way down Hollywood Boulevard, the full scale reproduction of Grauman's Chinese Theater (which houses The Great Movie Ride) stood majestically in front of us. As you may remember, in years past its view was blocked by the giant Sorcerer's hat. We had a FastPass for the Toy Story Midway Mania ride (of course!) but had a little time to kill beforehand so decided to take
one last stroll through the Streets of America. This area is soon to be demolished making way for the new Star Wars Land and the expansion of Toy Story Land. The Streets are where the Osborne Spectacle of Dancing Lights have been at Christmas for 20 years but now will no longer be. Ah, such is progress, and it's virtually impossible without change.
After I skunked Russ on the Toy Story game, we wandered over to the Star Wars Launch Bay where a couple of Stormtroopers patrolled the area outside sometimes being engaged by a member of the young Rebel Alliance! J Inside we had arrived just in time to catch the 10-minute film celebrating the creation of the Star Wars saga.
It runs continuously throughout the day and features interviews interspersed with clips from the films. Leaving the theater takes you into the museum part of the Bay complete with replica
props, models, costumes, artwork, and artifacts from the Star Wars
films. There's an interactive video game area but no instructions and a little
hard to figure out. There are also a couple meet and greets you can do with Chewbacca and/or Darth Vader (two different hidden areas so you can't see them), but the lines were too long. However as we came around a corner right in the middle of everything, several folks were getting their picture taken with a yellow-eyed jawa but alas another long line. This all leads out into a gift shop, of course, where you can pick up an authentically detailed Darth Vader costume for a mere $4,000!!
Once again we had perfect timing, arriving at another theater that was just ready to start another 10-minute Star Wars film titled Path of the Jedi that is basically just a compilation of clips from the entire saga thus far. After the film, we walked outside and spotted the Earful Tower in the distance. This faux
water tower stands 130 ft. high and has been an icon at the park since opening day in 1989 but will soon be removed making way for Toy Story Land. As you can guess, our main purpose for going to Hollywood Studios later in the day was so we could catch those amazing fireworks! The perfect ending to an enjoyable evening!
Of course we still find time to visit the parks, and right now it seems we've been spending a lot of time at Hollywood Studios. We arrived late afternoon one day just as the street performers, the Public Works Crew, were driving by...and darn, we had just missed their hilarious act!
As we made our way down Hollywood Boulevard, the full scale reproduction of Grauman's Chinese Theater (which houses The Great Movie Ride) stood majestically in front of us. As you may remember, in years past its view was blocked by the giant Sorcerer's hat. We had a FastPass for the Toy Story Midway Mania ride (of course!) but had a little time to kill beforehand so decided to take 
one last stroll through the Streets of America. This area is soon to be demolished making way for the new Star Wars Land and the expansion of Toy Story Land. The Streets are where the Osborne Spectacle of Dancing Lights have been at Christmas for 20 years but now will no longer be. Ah, such is progress, and it's virtually impossible without change.
After I skunked Russ on the Toy Story game, we wandered over to the Star Wars Launch Bay where a couple of Stormtroopers patrolled the area outside sometimes being engaged by a member of the young Rebel Alliance! J Inside we had arrived just in time to catch the 10-minute film celebrating the creation of the Star Wars saga.
It runs continuously throughout the day and features interviews interspersed with clips from the films. Leaving the theater takes you into the museum part of the Bay complete with replica
props, models, costumes, artwork, and artifacts from the Star Wars
films. There's an interactive video game area but no instructions and a little 
hard to figure out. There are also a couple meet and greets you can do with Chewbacca and/or Darth Vader (two different hidden areas so you can't see them), but the lines were too long. However as we came around a corner right in the middle of everything, several folks were getting their picture taken with a yellow-eyed jawa but alas another long line. This all leads out into a gift shop, of course, where you can pick up an authentically detailed Darth Vader costume for a mere $4,000!!
Once again we had perfect timing, arriving at another theater that was just ready to start another 10-minute Star Wars film titled Path of the Jedi that is basically just a compilation of clips from the entire saga thus far. After the film, we walked outside and spotted the Earful Tower in the distance. This faux 
water tower stands 130 ft. high and has been an icon at the park since opening day in 1989 but will soon be removed making way for Toy Story Land. As you can guess, our main purpose for going to Hollywood Studios later in the day was so we could catch those amazing fireworks! The perfect ending to an enjoyable evening!
