Day 06 - Hollywood Studios

Summary:

Up to the sound of the Star Wars Theme tune. Headed to Galaxy’s Edge via Star Tours when we got to the park and went on Smugglers Run. A ride where you get to pilot the Millennium Falcon - every Star Wars fans dream! And then you have Rise of the Resistance, which is probably the most in depth and technical ride Ive ever been on, but ‘ride’ doesnt do it justice, it was an immersive experience and gave me shivers down my spine. All of it from the rides down to the details in the world is sublime. We did do other rides in the park, including the new Slinky Dog coaster and Mickey & Minnies - another new one, which pretty much transports you into a cartoon. Very good indeed. Did a few other classics including Indy, Toy Story Mania and Frozen but returned before we left to do both Smugglers and Rise again. Had to be done. The kids built their own droids, which they loved and left me with the logistics of getting them home! Buffet for dinner on the road home and then the pool for the last hour it was open. Full day, loved it all 10/10!

Today’s the day. First day I’ve struggled a little to get up and snoozed my alarm (just the once), was out a little later last night which may be a contributing factor. The kids got up to Star Wars (Main Title) at full blast, followed by Imperial March :D

Custom Star Wars t-shirts and Star Wars cap on today, though I have about half a dozen other Star Wars tees to choose from. Got to the park just after opening, and headed towards Galaxy’s Edge. Park has changed a lot since last time but still knew where the main areas where so we decided we would go to Star Tours first as it only had a 5 minute wait. Changed days, this ride used to have 60+ min queues for most of the day but it was pretty empty all day. It’s still a great ride and they’ve updated to include Ahsoka and the space whales. There are different rotations so although we only ended up on it once today, hitting that several times with a 5 minute wait would actually be good to try out next time we’re here.

- Gerry: 8.5
- Ann: 8
- Patrick: 8
- Robert: 8
- Grace: 8

Left via the gift shop and Grace had to have a shoulder buddy, alll the rage here - put a small magnet underneath your t-shirt at your shoulder and sit your favourite character on top. Grace picked up Baby Groot last night but she wanted a Star Wars one for today, so a Porg it was. And it makes noises too! A little bit of a conflict considering she had a Chewie t-shirt.

And then we entered Galaxy’s Edge and from the moment we stepped through the archway it was just incredible. Everything was so well thought out, they had droids and authentic scenery dotted all over, a Resistance X-Wing, Kyle Ren’s Command Shuttle and other craft and that was mostly on the outskirts of the outpost. When you got inside it felt like it was a bustling putpost in the Star Wars Universe. All the cast members were dressed in authentic garb and there were stormtrooper patrols marching from place to place. They use a language in Star Wars called Aurebesh and they had it written across everything. So cool, well for me it was…

We wanted to go on Rise of the Resistance first but it was temporarily closed for a few hours in the morning so instead we headed to the back of the park for Smugglers Run. As we turned a corner to get to the line, it opens up to a space port and the Millennium Falcon is waiting in all its glory. Absolutely jaw dropping. We stopped to take a few photos with out tshirts before heading to Smuggler’s Run.

She's the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy!

So on Smugger’s Run you get to be part of the crew of the Falcon, as you enter you actually board the ship itself, all of the corridors, the holochess board, the cargo hold, its surreal. When you enter the ride itself, you are in the actual cockpit. You get assigned positions, Pilot, Gunner and Engineer, all who have different responsibilities for our mission. Grace and I were the pilots, we were going to fly THE FREAKING MILLENIUM FALCON!!! Ann and Patrick were the Gunners, who were to shoot down any enemy fighters and Robert the Engineer to repair the ship and securing any cargo we “acquired”. We all had to work together and you get a score at the end to tell you how well you did. The thing is, Grace didnt understand that pulling down made the ship fly up and vice versa, so we ended up crashing it to everything. Lets just say Chewie wouldnt be too impressed by her piloting skills…We earned the rank of scoundrel with a score of 3059. We will do better next time, obviously without Grace at the helm.

- Gerry: 9.5
- Ann: 10
- Patrick: 9
- Robert: 9
- Grace: 9.5

We will be back on this again very soon.

We managed to grab a couple of Photopass opportunities around Galaxy’s Edge too, it was too good to pass up.

We stopped by the blue milk stand to try it out, but got side tracked by the coke bottle being shaped like thermal detonators, EEEK! Patrick opted for the blue milk so got to try it and it was pretty good, but I needed to get a diet coke bottle as did everyone else. Disney Parks also have souvenir popcorn buckets and each of the parks, related to their rides or characters. For Hollywood, Galaxy’s Edge specifically you could get a popcorn bucket that was a scuffed up stormtrooper helmet! So that was also a must buy. And the thing is, apparently the stormtrooper popcorn bucket hasnt been available for a long time, and is quite rare so we got quite a few stares and questions about it - result.

Still waiting for Rise, we had some time to kill so hit the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular. I remember this from when I was a wee boy and it hasnt changed all that much but still a great attraction. They dont ask for volunteers anymore though, which is probably a post covid thing, but makes it flow a little better. Patricks loves Indy so rated it slightly higher than the rest of us.

- Gerry: 8
- Ann: 8
- Patrick: 9
- Robert: 8
- Grace: 8

Popped into Slinky Dog on the way to Rise of the Resistance (finally). I thought it was a wee kiddie coaster, but actually turned out to be a little more than that. Not of the same levels as say Velocicoaster or even Hagrids, but big enough to be a little more enjoyable for the big kids like me. Well themed and a decent wee coaster with a few rolling hills and drops.

- Gerry: 8
- Ann: 7.5
- Patrick: 7.5
- Robert: 7
- Grace: 7

Resistance is futile

And the time had come to become a member of the Resistance. Its a mix of a full Star Wars experience as well as a ride, but from start to finish I was in awe. Right from the beginning, you get to meet all the main characters in the story - Rey, BB8, Finn and Poe and even NIEN NUNB, you get caught by General Hux of the First Order and have to escape the clutches of the evil Kylo Ren! You get to ride on a cruiser, to get caught in a tractor beam, you get imprisoned on a Star Destoyer, you get hunted by a Probe Droid, you get dwarfed by huge AT-ATs, and see scores of stormtroopers across the ship - its flawless and the interaction between the you and First Order officers looking to hunt down the Resistance spy (while keeping you in the right lanes), is so funny even as the try to keep in character. I had goosbumps several times during it and the results speak for themselves. Its now not a Virtual Queue either, so we can ride it multiple times a day! Happy Gerry, and everyone actually with 10;s across the board.

- Gerry: 10
- Ann: 10
- Patrick: 10
- Robert: 10
- Grace: 10

A nice relaxing ride after that in Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway. You get transported into a cartoon and go on a crazy adventure with Mickey, Minnie and the gang. The special effects are amazing, and you can tell this is a new ride, the technology is unbelievable at times. We went from watching a Mickey Mouse short on a small cinema screen to the actually screen blowing up ehich ew then walked through! A lot like Remys adventure, with physical scenes interspersed with animatronics and animated screens. I love it and thought it slightly edged Remys, but most of the others though the opposite. I was a big fan of Mickey Mouse (and my favourite character Donald Duck) since I was tiny, which probably accounted for it.

- Gerry: 9
- Ann: 7
- Patrick: 8
- Robert: 8.5
- Grace: 8.5

Do you wanna build a snowmaaaan? Part II

Just in time to catch Frozen Ever After Sing Along Celebration, a show were you participate in singing all the songs from Frozen. Ann and Grace were singing all the songs, and I did not sing any, nope one word (oh if you see the videos of me doing so, just assume they’re deepfakes). It even snows in the theatre at the end.

- Gerry: 7.5
- Ann: 8
- Patrick: 7
- Robert: 7.5
- Grace: 8

A bit of a ping pong across the park to catch most of the masjor rides, which was due to the delays we had at the start of the day. It was also very hot today, probably the hottest day since weve been here, so went through several bottles of water throughout the course of the day. We brought some reusable bottles, but the water from the fountains tastes ‘metalicky’ so we bought these cool powders which you can add to water to turn it into sometime else - energy, electroyles, juice and tastes great and all sugar free. Weve bought and used loads so far, theyre cheap as chips too so a tonne will probably be going back home with us.

Pew, pew, pew

We cant go end the day without a wee shooter, and today was no exception. Toy Story Mania, the attraction from before Toy Story Land was a thing, was next. Shoot things at a digital screen to earn points, the more your shoot and the more difficult the target, the more points you get. The tide is turning, and restoring the natural order of things - Ill let the scores do the talking…

Gerry: 178,3000, Ann: 113600, Patrick: 130000, Robert: 144500, Grace: 72,000

I leave out the accuracy score

- Gerry: 8
- Ann: 8
- Patrick: 8
- Robert: 8
- Grace: 7

Graces really struggles with 3D specs over her glasses, hence the slightly lower score. Another pit stop to get another snack from the shortlist, Buffalo Waffle Bowl, which was very tasty (though Grace opted for a brownie Sunday because she does like mashed potatoes and it was filled with it).

We missed a few rides and other character meet and greets (as our autograph book was left behind), so we’ll catch them next time. We did however manage to get back on to Rise of the Resistance a second time, just because we could. It would have been more, but you know what they say about variety.

These are not the droid you are looking for

We had booked Ann, Robert and Grace in to build Droids at the Droid Depot late afternoon (had to do this weeks ago, so its been a little bit of a wait). However Patrick who previously declined a droid, now decided after seeing multiple ones across the park, that he might want one. Ann gave up her space for PG, so that they all could build and own a droid. Went to the depot and they chose they droid type, R type, C type or BB type. Grace and Robert wanted the traditional R series, but Patrick opted for something a little different so chose C. BB units would have been good but someone told us previously that there is less choice going through a BB build, so we picked the other two. They all chose they own body, head, legs and flashes. They could also purchase a unique bag and personality chip which they all went for to make their droids unique. Something quite special about the experience and process and they all loved it. Core memory unlocked.

Last stop for the day, Smugglers Run again. We needed to beat our score from this morning and knowing what to expect, we were all a little more prepared. Along with our crew was a girl, who Ann got speaking to, and she said shes been to Scotland on a Golf tour when we told her where we were from. Turns out shes a local, and she just rocks up to Disney Parks whenever she wants - nice. She told us to ask one of the cast member for the Chewie Experience and once we were all buckled up in the cockpit, they came in and press a combo of various switches, which ended in a loud roar from Chewbacca. He was going to be with us the whole trip! It was great, we heard him shouting out orders and instructions all which we couldnt understand of course), but it felt even better than the first time because of it. Thanks Harper! 5125 was the final score and we upgraded our rank to Hot Shot, not too shabby, though Grace did shoot down more TIE fighters than me, but well just not record that particular little detail, shall we…

And with that, Star Wars Saturday was complete, a thoroughly spectacular dayone which we are going to do again next week. There was a few merch items I didnt pick up today (including a sith holocron) and we still have our lightsabers to build and the Cantina to visit, oh and Patricks birthday to celebrate so should be another great one.

On on our way home, we drove to Golden Coral which is one huge buffet, it was needed after today. It has a wide variety of foods, so something for everyone. The server Lola, even spotted that we might need a coffee or two after our day, and remarked that she had to make it a good one as she was Columbian. She was brilliant and I know its in her best interests, but Ill take it and its just another example of the niceness of humans here in Orlando.

Ill leave you with a joke Robert made up today. He asked me if I like Han Solo, Orlando? (Or Lando? Geddit?). Thats my boy. See ya tomorrow.

Todays Stats

- Step Count: 19k
- Starred Rides: Rise of the Resistance, Smugger's Run
- Total steps: 110.5k
- Total miles : 47.7 miles