Our Disney Memories: Hollywood Studios - November 2nd

.So here we are on day 4 already! Dominic had 10 1/2 hours of sleep and probably would've slept more had I not woke him up. Dominic had his stuff waiting on the bed again this morning:

Invitations for breakfast at Hollywood & Vine, lunch at 50's Prime Time Cafe & dinner at Hollywood Brown Derby.

We had an ADR at Hollywood Studios before park opening. We headed for the buses.

Dominic was super excited. We were the only ones on the bus!

When the bus driver let us off, he said we were going to be the first ones to see the Christmas tree that was set up last night. Dominic had to get a picture in front of it.

The park was decorated for Christmas & they were playing Christmas music already... love it!

An hour before the park opened, we were let in for our ADR. Dominic ran ahead to get a picture in front of the hat with no one else in the park. We headed straight for Hollywood & Vine and as we walked up, they were calling my name for a table.

We walked into the restaurant and all of the characters & workers were gathered around the entrance.

They made an announcement that we were the first family of the day. Everyone clapped and they gave us this:

The characters started coming around then. First was Handy Manny:

Special Agent Oso:

Leo from Little Einsteins:

June from Little Einsteins:

The beauty of being the first family of the day means we get first dibs on the buffet. Yum!!!

The characters did a bunch of dancing and playing with the kids.

Our plates:

We loved this buffet. Lots to choose from and all of it tasted great. We got out of here just before the park opened and we were in the mad dash for Toy Story Midway Mania fastpasses.

2 Hollywood & Vine Breakfast Buffets

2 table service credits used - 16 table service credits left

Actual Cost - $41.52

Grand Dining Total - $412.23

We rode it first and then got fastpasses for later. After TSM, we headed for One Man's Dream. We needed something that was going to take up some time until the characters were out and we didn't get to see this place last time. It was interesting & even Dominic loved seeing all the model parks.

As soon as we got out of here we headed towards Voyage of the Little Mermaid. We had missed that attraction as well on our first trip. We enjoyed this very much. Just at the end, my phone started ringing (set to vibrate of course) so as soon as I got out, I checked and it was an old ex-coworker of mine. I called her back and she answered with "wow, what some crappy weather we're having huh?" I said back to her "I don't know, it's pretty nice where I'm at right now".. lol. She had no idea we were in Florida. While I was talking to her we spotted these guys:

These guys were MIA on our last trip due to Cars 2 coming out in theaters soon so Dominic was very excited to see them! We got some pictures and then went on to spot none other than...

Phineas & Ferb!

There was no line so we ran over there and they were doing some kind of show while making music so Phineas came over and grabbed Dominic to participate. It was great!

Then they took us first for pictures right afterwards.

We walked around and checked out some decorations quickly...

We quick took a pic in front of Sci-Fi in one of the cars (we ate there on the last trip)

We made our way over to Starring Rolls but quick made a pit stop once we found some Power Rangers... Dominic was so excited!

And finally, Starring Rolls. Dominic got a strawberry parfait & I ordered the famous Butterfinger cupcake. Both were very good.

Dominic & his choice:

Mine:

Half eaten:

2 snack credits used - 9 snack credits left

Actual Cost - $3.99 for the Butterfinger cupcake & $2.79 for the strawberry parfait

Grand Dining Total - $419.01

After our snack, we made our way over to the Animation Building and found this guy:

Then we decided to try a new ride... Star Tours. Last time we were here, it was still closed due to refurbishing... it actually opened the day we left.

I'm not a big Star Wars fan. Dominic has never seen the movies but he loves the "black guy".

Just as we entered the que, these guys were coming in from Jedi Training.

Dominic with his cool glasses on.

The ride made me a little queasy but Dominic loved it. He couldn't wait to go again.

Afterwards, we made our way over to check out the Osborne Lights... in the daytime of course.

Wow.

Then we came across this place:

Yet another attraction we missed on our last trip.

Dominic had fun.

We took a picture (maybe daddy could take a few notes from their decorating skills).

Then I wanted to do the Backlot Tour. Dominic wasn't too thrilled about it but he was a trooper.

The set designing building.

An airplane from Pearl Harbor (movie).

The infamous water tower.

The costuming department.

Another landmark.

This woke up Dominic!

We got a sneak peek at this show... which talked us into seeing it later on.

A costume from Alice in Wonderland:

Then we headed back to the Animation Building and Dominic found this fun game to play with while waiting to meet...

Mr. & Mrs. Incredible!

Show your muscles!

get in the picture mom!

Afterwards it was time for our lunch ADR. Dominic found this guy on our way over to 50's Prime Time and had to take a picture... inside his mouth... ???

Our choice for lunch:

The waiting area:

Super cool vintage tree:

Dominic waiting on the retro couch.

Showing a bit of decor in this restaurant (I loved it!)

I ordered Dominic a Mickey's Be-Bop Drink... once the table next to us saw it, they ordered one as well... lol, I should've received commission on that!

He loved it! and we got to keep the cup & ice cube. Then it was time to eat! I got...

Blue Claw Crab Cake - lump crab cake served with succotash with chili sauce and crispy onions $9.49

A Sampling of Mom's Favorite Recipes - Crispy-fried Chicken, Fork Tender Pot Roast, and Traditional Meatloaf with all the fixings $19.99

for dessert I ordered the Peanut Butter & Jelly milkshake - $4.99

Dominic ordered chicken nuggets & french fries for $8.59

and for dessert he got the ice cream sundae:

I loved EVERYTHING I got... the sampler platter was the best. We already made reservations to go back here. Dominic loved it all as well. The waiters and waitresses were hilarious. My husband called me on his lunch break and I got yelled at by a waiter to hang the cell phone up.. lol...

2 table service credits used - 14 table service credits left

Actual Cost - $60.32

Grand Dining Total - $479.33

After lunch, Dominic wanted to go use up another fastpass for Star Tours. So we did.

Since there are over 50 different ride scenarios, we didn't get the same one as before. Dominic loved it just as much and we got another fastpass to ride it yet once again later on. Then we found a spot for the parade. We actually got a bench seat! I know! I thought, "wow, we are sooo lucky!" Not so much. That bench was the most uncomfortable thing I have ever sat on! I was so glad when the parade was done.

Dominic picking up the fastpass for Star Tours:

finally getting the pic he was waiting for all day...

Then we went off to ride Toy Story Mania again with our fastpass.

Yay! I got best in vehicle!

After we got out of TSM, we saw these guys walking around:

Then we headed over for a snack.

Apple Chips with Caramel - $3.49

1 snack credit used - 8 snack credits left

Actual Cost - $3.49

Grand Dining Total - $482.82

After our snack we headed over to Lights Motor Action & got in line. The line seemed to take FOREVER to let into the stadium. We got a front row seat (behind the handicapped row where there were people who were NOT handicapped sitting of course) and then the show began.

Then Lightning McQueen made an appearance!

Dominic loved it! I know my husband would love this show so no matter what, next time we go, he has to make time for this.

Then it was just about ADR time for dinner and we were still NOT hungry. This was also a 2 credit restaurant :( We went to check in at Hollywood Brown Derby.

All the decor:

Sitting at our table:

Our bread & sea salt butter. The bread was really hard.

I explained to our waiter that we were really not hungry at all. We were on the deluxe dining plan and we had 2 meals prior to this today. I went ahead and ordered the

Our Famous Brown Derby Cobb Salad - with finely chopped greens, turkey breast, egg, bacon, tomatoes, crumbled bleu cheese, avocado, chives and Cobb dressing $15.00

I had heard good things about this salad and rather than getting an entree, I thought this would suffice for my meal. I told our waiter that I would not be ordering an entree or a dessert because we were simply too full.

That's a picture of the salad before the waiter tossed it all together. It was okay. I wasn't super impressed by it by any means but it was very large and I didn't need anything else to fill me up. In fact, I was miserable when we left the restaurant.
Dominic ordered Chopped Salad - with tomato, cucumbers and carrots $3.00

It was HUGE for a child. Almost as big as my Cobb salad. Then for an entree he ordered:

Grilled Cheese on Whole Wheat Bread - with Granny Smith apples $6.00

He said it was good but he was full 1/4 of the way through the meal. Our waiter INSISTED that he eat more or he wouldn't give him dessert. He didn't even WANT a dessert. The waiter kept coming by and saying "3 more bites"... seriously? Then he brought out a dessert but showed me behind Dominic's back and put it on the ledge so I could give it to him when I wanted. I got up and gave it to him right away. It had chocolate on it. Dominic hates chocolate. I just don't get why he even brought out a dessert and then one that my son doesn't even like. Our waiter did pay a lot of attention to a table right behind us though. There was a man from a different country with his daughter... the waiter even brought out other workers from the kitchen to talk with the man about visiting from his country... Needless to say, his tip was not outstanding.

4 table service credits used - 10 table service credits left

Actual Cost - $33.01 (this total should've been so much more had I ordered my FULL meal! Darn!)

Grand Dining Total - $515.83

Once we FINALLY got out of Brown Derby, we headed over to ride Star Tours one more time. Dominic wanted to get his picture taken with Walt.

Again, we got a different scenario on Star Tours. Very cool.

Then we did some shopping... all of these Christmas ornaments were just awesome.

Dominic trying on different hats.

We got some Photopass pictures taken before leaving the park:

We made our way out of the park and could hear Fantasmic starting up in the distance. It made me wish we had gone to see it. Oh well, next time! Dominic had to get his picture taken by the tree at night.