DAY 2 (HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS)

Night one. I didn't sleep well. It wasn't the bed or the house or even being away from home. I felt more at home there than I do in my own home. We lived in complete luxury and those that know me well know that I am not used to that at all. 10 days of the year??? SURE! I'll take it!!!!

This was the moment I had been waiting for my entire life. I was so excited!!! I was going to Disney World!!! I wish that every mother could take her children. It is too bad that everything is so expensive that the general population can't afford to go. Transportation alone is UNREAL!!!! But enough with the negatives...I was up @ 6. I think I finally fell asleep @ 3. Surprisingly the kids were still asleep. This confirmed that I was FAR more excited than they were. However...it didn't take them long to get up and get around.

I very seldom cook @ home but the idea was to eat breakfast in the pool house so that we could save money for lunch and supper meals. On this particular morning, I fixed french toast and bacon. YUMMY!!! Of course I didn't eat much (RARE) I was ready to go! I wanted to be sure to be at the park @ 830 like my Passporter book recommended. I had reviewed my book the night before and had a plan.

Everyone piled into the car. We had no trouble finding the world. It is 10 minutes away from our pool house and there are signs everywhere!!!(coming home is a different story)
Here we are! We made it. I made it! I did it. I got my family here. It truly was a dream come true.
Decked out in our Disney attire, we were on the tram, tickets in hand,(I had checked 10 or 12 times to make sure they were all there) we were ready to hit the park full force. Surprised @ the relatively short line when we arrived @ the gate @ promptly 8:20. It didn't take long for people to pile in behind us. We watched the cast perform a quick show while we waited for the gates to open...then they did.
We were in. So much to see. So many things to do. It just seemed we couldn't get them done fast enough. People (who had obviously been there before) were running past us to get to their favorite rides. On my list first was the Tower of Terror.
I was happy to find that the line was again short. We moved quickly into the hotel. Watched a precursor of the Twilight Zone. Prompted to move ahead, we were all thinking "was that it???". I would have been happy if that was it. It wasn't. We were then moved into an elevator. I should have flown out of there when they instructed us to put our seat belts on. I didn't. The doors closed. They began to show these awesome special effects with the stars and such. PRETTY!!! All the sudden..we shot up 156 ft. They opened the window so we could see out(how kind). Then we dropped all the way to the bottom. They continued to shoot us up and down but after the first drop, I closed my eyes. I opened them a few times to check on my baby as I knew if I was terrified, she must be wetting her pants. Luckily the ride was over pretty quickly. The elevator doors opened and although we were sitting in the back. Kate was the first one off. She quickly un-buckled her seat belt and flew out screaming "I will NEVER ride that again". Because she enjoyed it so much. I even bought her a t-shirt to remind her of the wonderful experience we had! LOLL
Kate wanted to see Kim Possible so bad. We waited for a bit but never did run into her. Snapped this cute photo instead.
We actually got the fastpasses for Star Tours and as we progressed through the line, I noted a sign on the wall cautioning those with heart problems and motion sickness. It didn't take me long to escort the whole family out. After the Tower of Terror. We couldn't be too careful!
One thing (there are many) that I love about the Disney parks is how organized everything is. There was no chaos at all. NONE! We were given a schedule @ the front of the park defining all the shows and what times we could catch them. Kate is a huge HSM fan so of course we had to stop in the heat to watch. It was WONDERFUL! Hard not to praise these kids for what they did. I know I wouldn't get out there and dance in the blazing heat.
Ahhhh, Lights, motor, action was was one of our very favorite shows. Everything looked so real. I really believed all of the stunts were real until they showed us how every one of them worked. Even after all of that, at the end of the show, this guy was on fire and the audience was completely silent. I know I wasn't the only one who thought something had gone wrong. It was all pre-meditated.
We were up @ the top for the finale but could still feel the heat from the explosion. Very entertaining. I enjoyed every show I saw @ Disney. My favorite in this park was Muppets 3D. So funny and I have always been a muppets fan.
Downtown Disney. I had been wanting to go to the marketplace because there were several shops I wanted to hit. If it hadn't of been so stinking hot. This would have been more memorable. It didn't take us long to establish a schedule to avoid the heat. This pic was taken in one of the DTD shops. Andy wanted to be sure I got him with the Scream guy. We had just watched the trilogy before we left on our trip.
I had seen pics of these things but nothing compares to seeing them in real life.
My kids fit right in with this family!
Almost as tell as my baby girl.
Always a dream to eat @ Planet Hollywood. We were afraid we would have to wait as reservations are recommended for lunch and supper is walk ins only. We got right in but didn't have much of a chance to look @ all the memorabilia. By this time, everyone was hot and cranky (2pm)
Love the little PH guy. Dean was checking the place out. There was even a Chucky doll there!!!
The outside merchandise shop was covered in these blocks that celebs. had signed. I knew a lot of them. I grew up watching Patrick Swayze and have been very upset about his recent illness. I can't tell you how many times I watched Dirty Dancing. I know every song on the soundtrack (1 and 2).
Finally. I finished a LO for Day 2. It takes a bit longer to create because I am trying to journal all of my Disney LOs. I don't want to forget a second.