Disney Day 4

      Tuesday was the day we finally got to head to Hollywood Studios.  We were up at 6:30 a.m. to get a start on a day of fun.  We walked over from the Beach Club.  It's a bit of a walk, but so much better than taking buses.

The boys adorable shirts.  They say, "When you wish upon a Death Star"

   Emmy ate her breakfast along the way.  

  Before we knew it, we were at Hollywood Studios.  I just love this park!

    Of course, the kids wanted to do Jedi Training Academy.  Ashlyn was still young enough to do it, but she decided to not do it this year.  Gracie was finally old enough to participate, so of course she wanted to do it.

Signing up

    After we got the kids signed up, we waited a few minutes before they opened the park.  We decided to head to Star Tours.  Of course, there was no one there and we were able to ride two times in a row.  It was Gracie's first time, and she really liked it.

Heading on Star Tours

The boys ready to ride

Gracie all ready to go

  After Star Tours, we had the funniest encounter.  We were walking and saw some Storm Troopers approaching.  I told Gracie to keep walking so they wouldn't stop us.  Of course, they told us to stop.  Gracie was kind of freaked out.  They singled out Ashlyn, and said, "We this one is the suspicious one."  They had to inspect her Magic Band before they let us through . It was pretty funny and a neat character interaction.  

Gracie wasn't going to get near them

They had to check her Magic Band before they let her go

Decked out in our Star Wars gear

  We kind of split up at this point.   The bigger kids were dying to go on Rock N' Roller Coaster.  Unfortunately, Gracie isn't tall enough to ride.  She didn't understand why she couldn't go.  My parents sat with Emmy while we rode . Joey took Gracie to Tower of Terror. She loved it, and they ended up getting to ride twice.  

I love her Princess Leia shirt

Spooky hotel

Lining up to board the elevator

Their ride photo

Taking a quick break while in line

Ride number 2

 While Joey and Gracie were taking a wild elevator ride, the rest of us went on Rock N' Roller Coaster.  Dawson and Ella had never ridden before and they were pretty excited to ride.  It's definitely the most thrilling ride at Disney World.  I wasn't sure what they would think.  They both loved it and wanted to ride again right away.  We ended up riding twice and it was a blast.  Dawson immediately deemed it his favorite ride.  

Ready to rock

The backstage area

Dawson's face is too funny in this picture.  The ride starts by launching you off.  You go from 0-60 mph in like 2 seconds.  It's quite a rush.  Dawson wasn't too sure of it I think.  

   After our rides, we headed over to the new Toy Story Land.  It hasn't been open too long, so it is extremely crowded.  We really didn't get to see much of it because it was so crowded.  We headed over to Toy Story Mania for our fast passes.  

The theming in here is adorable!

Had to take a group photo

We hopped in line and the boys got silly with some of the background pictures.

Glasses ready

Waiting to board

Katy and Ella ready to ride

Joey got to ride with Emmy

Ready to ride

  Bryan was the big winner with a score of 177,000 points!  I asked him how he got so many, and he reminded me that he has played many hours of video shooting games.  I guess that does help a bit.

  My dad had bought all the kids pin lanyards the day before and they all really got into pins and trading.  They bought some new ones to trade.  

Trading some pins

      After Toy Story, we headed back to Tower of Terror for our Fast Passes.  The Leones did the Muppet 3D show because Jameson did not want to ride.  We even talked my mom into riding Tower of Terror.  She said it was fun which was a win!

Emmy was ready for a nap at this point

Group shot, minus Emmy who was sleeping

The Leone family

Emmy taking her much needed nap

    It was finally time for some lunch.  We had reservations for our favorite, 50's Prime Time Cafe.

The boys watching some tv while waiting for our table

 

   Emmy woke up from her nap while we were waiting, so she got a quick snack while we waited.

Gracie was very hungry at this point, and was melting down.  You can tell in this picture.  

    This time, they sat us in our own little room.  It was nice to have our own little dining room.  Our waitress was good, but not as good as some of the ones we have had in the past.  Everyone loves this place and the food was really good.  For some reason, the waitress singled out Ella because she had her elbows on the table and she also singled me out too.  She made Ella and I stand in the corner and sing a Christmas song.  We (well, I, as Ella just stood there) had to sing Rudolph.  Luckily, we were in our own private room.  Ella said afterwards that she hates this restaurant.

Showing off her new ears

Our drinks came with fun glow cubes that the kids loved

That's some serious ice cream eating

     After lunch, it was time for Jedi Training Academy.  Joey went with the kids, and the rest of us got a good viewing spot.  Gracie got to hold the flag because she was one of the littlest ones.  The kids did great and it was fun to watch.  Gracie really liked it.

 

 

 

     After Jedi Training Academy, we had Fast Passes for Rock N Roller Coaster.  Some of us rode that, while the ones who didn't or couldn't ride, went to see the Ariel show.  Gracie really liked getting to see Ariel live.





     At this point, the girls were beat and they both fell asleep in the stroller.  We decided to walk back to the hotel.

Too much fun was had!

 
The Beach Club has an incredible pool.  We knew going in December, we weren't sure if we would be able to go swimming or not.  It was warm this day and the weather was going to really cool down the next few days, and the kids had been begging to go swimming.  We threw on their suits and took them down.  By this time, it was dark outside, but they still had a great time swimming.  They swam for a couple hours.  We ended up grabbing them dinner from the snack bar by the pool.  They had a great time.
 

Eating some food after swimming

   After swimming, Gracie and Dawson were ready for some down time and bed.  Joey stayed back in the room with the kids while Ashlyn and I headed out for more fun.  We really wanted to take advantage of every minute of our time, so spent very little time in our rooms.  

Gracie doing some coloring before bed

   Ashlyn, Steven, Katy, my mom, dad and I walked over to Epcot.  That is the best part about being so close to Epcot.  You can take a short walk and you are in the park.

Ashlyn and I 

   Sadly, food and wine wasn't going on while we were there.  They did have some festivals around the world booths.  We decided to try some different ones for dinner.  Katy and I started with some frozen spiced wine that was really good.  We also got a turkey pot pie in France that was amazing!  We walked around the world showcase and did some eating and shopping.  We even rode Spaceship Earth.  We ended the night by watching the Illumination Fireworks.  They aren't as good as Magic Kingdom fireworks, but still a great show.  It was so neat watching them and then getting to walk five minutes back to our room.  It was the perfect ending to a magical day!

The big tree lit up at night

Having some dinner

Our French wine slushies

Eating some popcorn, waiting for the fireworks to start

   We walked A LOT over the course of our trip.  My brother added up our distance at the airport on our way home, and he calculated we walked about 90 miles over the course of the week.  That is a lot of walking!  On this particular day, we got a ton of walking in because we walked to and from Hollywood Studios and to Epcot.  I had to take a picture at the end of the day of the almost 14 miles we walked that day!  No wonder my bed always felt so darn good each night!