Disney Hollywood Studios
A while back we went to Disney Hollywood Studios on a Friday night after my husband got home from work.
This is not my favorite Disney Park, but it does have my two favorite Disney rides, Rockin' Rollercoaster and Toy Story Mania, which makes the visit worth it.
Rockin' Rollercoaster launches from 0 mph to 65 mph in just about 3 to 5 seconds, and the G-forces are just enough to make you feel like you are going to pass out. Once you realize that you might pass out, you are floating in the dark through corkscrews and revolutions through a dark flourescent lit California highway with Aerosmith blasting in your ears.
This may not sound like it should be fun to a conservative 50 year-old who is not a fan of Aerosmith, but there are many things about the whole ride for me that is reminiscent of my teenage years; the music, the corkscrews and revolutions, and the flourescent California highway signs. I grew up during this Aerosmith era in California. Hence, the ride, while making me for a moment feel like I could care less whether I stayed alive or not during the launch, brings back old memories of a happy time of my life, when my husband were teenagers and dating. Plus, I really enjoy the "loop dee loops" as my kids call them.
For me, Disney Hollywood Studios is a half-day park. It makes for a very good park to visit for an evening. We have never spent more than three or four hours here.
It has the better shopping than the Magic Kingdom and Epcot, in my opinion. I have been able to find what I'm looking for at Disney Hollywood by way of jewelry and sugar free candy, which I haven't been able to find at the other parks, and I guess it's a pretty good place for Disney Dining, but because of the tiered Fast Passes, it's hard for me to get my two favorite rides for one day.
This leaves me with either Rockin' Rollercoaster, or Toy Story Mania. Toy Story Mania always has a long line, so you need a FastPass. I've been able to get on Rockin' for less than 45 minutes without a Fast Pass, and the Single Rider line is doable for most riders and shorter.
I'm not a fan of Tower of Terror because I am old enough to remember when the Twilight Zone music was playing in the background during bedtime when I was little, and it brings up scary memories for me, but my kids love it not having the same association that I do with it.
Star Tours, let's face it, makes me sick. I'm a slow learner and everytime we go to DHS, my kids want to ride Star Tours, and almost everytime I go on it with with them, and everytime, I get sick.
I've tried many different methods to deal with my Star Tours motion sickness from violently chewing minty gum, to shutting my eyes, to stiffening my forearms and pushing my body off of the chair. Violently chewing minty gum, while not a cure, has helped the most. This past time that I rode it, I didn't have any minty gum, so I got really, really sick, and it took the whole evening to recover.
My husband also rode the ride, and he hasn't done this in very many years. He tried it out to see if he could handle it, and he also got very sick. His face was literally green. Neither one of us felt quite right when we got done with the ride. This should be a warning to middle age adults. My husband and have always been able to keep up with the kids on the roller coasters, but the ride is becoming off limits for us. 😖
While my husband and sons were riding Tower of Terror at our last visit, we also did not have Fast Passes, but the standby wait that was posted was for 30 minutes, turned out to be a one hour wait.
While waiting for DH and the older boys, I took a lot of pictures and there were quite a few nice Kodak opportunities, but I am struggling to find the files!!!!!
Anyway, after riding Rockin' Rollercoaster, it was time for us to go home. Interestingly, my body was over-reacting to the stimulation from riding Star Tours and Rockin' Roller back to back, and on the way out to the parking lot, my heart went in to an alternative beat pattern called supraventricular tachycardia.
So there I was was stuck in bumper to bumper traffic in the parking lot with no way to get out with my heart beating 170 beats per minute at rest. After 30 minutes of dealing with this cardiac nonsense, my heart finally found it's way to it's normal rhythm and I was fine.
I think that's the last time I'll be riding both Star Tours and Rockin' in the same trip!
In summary, I have to say that Disney Hollywood Studios really isn't a park for little kids, and really isn't a park for older people. It's a park for teenagers and young adults. Sure there are some things for the little kids to do like the Muppet 3D show, the Honey I Shrunk the Kids Play-yard, and Toy Story Mania, but this really isn't much of a park for little kids, and with that I would also warn do not take your little kids on the Great Movie Ride. My nine-year-old still has nightmares from it.
Also, if you go in the evenings, there are cool fireworks shows like Fantasmic, and the Star Wars Galatic Spectacular Fireworks which pales in comparison to the Magic Kingdom fireworks, and Epcot's Illuminations. If you go in the evenings, you really end up deciding between riding the rides, or watching the fireworks, so if you want to do both, I'd recommend getting there about 4:00 and riding the rides via Fast Pass before dinner, and and watching the Fireworks after dinner.
Anyway, that's my report on Disney Hollywood Studios, and If I find my files, I'll post my other pictures below.....
This is not my favorite Disney Park, but it does have my two favorite Disney rides, Rockin' Rollercoaster and Toy Story Mania, which makes the visit worth it.
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| Even my husband, my calm cucumber looks like he's suffering at the moment that we feel the g-force impact of the launch. I'm sucking lemons here. |
Rockin' Rollercoaster launches from 0 mph to 65 mph in just about 3 to 5 seconds, and the G-forces are just enough to make you feel like you are going to pass out. Once you realize that you might pass out, you are floating in the dark through corkscrews and revolutions through a dark flourescent lit California highway with Aerosmith blasting in your ears.
This may not sound like it should be fun to a conservative 50 year-old who is not a fan of Aerosmith, but there are many things about the whole ride for me that is reminiscent of my teenage years; the music, the corkscrews and revolutions, and the flourescent California highway signs. I grew up during this Aerosmith era in California. Hence, the ride, while making me for a moment feel like I could care less whether I stayed alive or not during the launch, brings back old memories of a happy time of my life, when my husband were teenagers and dating. Plus, I really enjoy the "loop dee loops" as my kids call them.
 |
| Minutes after riding Rockin' Rollercoaster. |
For me, Disney Hollywood Studios is a half-day park. It makes for a very good park to visit for an evening. We have never spent more than three or four hours here.
It has the better shopping than the Magic Kingdom and Epcot, in my opinion. I have been able to find what I'm looking for at Disney Hollywood by way of jewelry and sugar free candy, which I haven't been able to find at the other parks, and I guess it's a pretty good place for Disney Dining, but because of the tiered Fast Passes, it's hard for me to get my two favorite rides for one day.
This leaves me with either Rockin' Rollercoaster, or Toy Story Mania. Toy Story Mania always has a long line, so you need a FastPass. I've been able to get on Rockin' for less than 45 minutes without a Fast Pass, and the Single Rider line is doable for most riders and shorter.
I'm not a fan of Tower of Terror because I am old enough to remember when the Twilight Zone music was playing in the background during bedtime when I was little, and it brings up scary memories for me, but my kids love it not having the same association that I do with it.
Star Tours, let's face it, makes me sick. I'm a slow learner and everytime we go to DHS, my kids want to ride Star Tours, and almost everytime I go on it with with them, and everytime, I get sick.
I've tried many different methods to deal with my Star Tours motion sickness from violently chewing minty gum, to shutting my eyes, to stiffening my forearms and pushing my body off of the chair. Violently chewing minty gum, while not a cure, has helped the most. This past time that I rode it, I didn't have any minty gum, so I got really, really sick, and it took the whole evening to recover.
 |
| The ATAT Walker is pretty cool. |
 |
| This little room gets pretty hot and claustrophobic a few minutes into the ride. It jostles you around as you watch the 3D Star Wars scenes in front of you. |
My husband also rode the ride, and he hasn't done this in very many years. He tried it out to see if he could handle it, and he also got very sick. His face was literally green. Neither one of us felt quite right when we got done with the ride. This should be a warning to middle age adults. My husband and have always been able to keep up with the kids on the roller coasters, but the ride is becoming off limits for us. 😖
While my husband and sons were riding Tower of Terror at our last visit, we also did not have Fast Passes, but the standby wait that was posted was for 30 minutes, turned out to be a one hour wait.
While waiting for DH and the older boys, I took a lot of pictures and there were quite a few nice Kodak opportunities, but I am struggling to find the files!!!!!
Anyway, after riding Rockin' Rollercoaster, it was time for us to go home. Interestingly, my body was over-reacting to the stimulation from riding Star Tours and Rockin' Roller back to back, and on the way out to the parking lot, my heart went in to an alternative beat pattern called supraventricular tachycardia.
So there I was was stuck in bumper to bumper traffic in the parking lot with no way to get out with my heart beating 170 beats per minute at rest. After 30 minutes of dealing with this cardiac nonsense, my heart finally found it's way to it's normal rhythm and I was fine.
I think that's the last time I'll be riding both Star Tours and Rockin' in the same trip!
In summary, I have to say that Disney Hollywood Studios really isn't a park for little kids, and really isn't a park for older people. It's a park for teenagers and young adults. Sure there are some things for the little kids to do like the Muppet 3D show, the Honey I Shrunk the Kids Play-yard, and Toy Story Mania, but this really isn't much of a park for little kids, and with that I would also warn do not take your little kids on the Great Movie Ride. My nine-year-old still has nightmares from it.
Also, if you go in the evenings, there are cool fireworks shows like Fantasmic, and the Star Wars Galatic Spectacular Fireworks which pales in comparison to the Magic Kingdom fireworks, and Epcot's Illuminations. If you go in the evenings, you really end up deciding between riding the rides, or watching the fireworks, so if you want to do both, I'd recommend getting there about 4:00 and riding the rides via Fast Pass before dinner, and and watching the Fireworks after dinner.
Anyway, that's my report on Disney Hollywood Studios, and If I find my files, I'll post my other pictures below.....
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