disney World, Day 3 (part 4) (Hollywood Studios)

At the pace and amount of details I add, I'll be writing about this trip until we go the next time! But it was so much fun, I want to capture every moment so we can relive it.

So Kathryn was the queen of scoring us fun meal reservations. At Hollywood Studios, she got us a reservation (two months in advance) at the 50s Prime Time Cafe. It's basically what the title says -- a diner-themed place set in the 50s with old classic TVs and TV shows running.

They make you feel like your in "mom's house". The waitresses tell you to get your elbows off the table. They look for "clean platers". They even "do the airplane" to make Mom eat her greens if she hasn't eaten then when she comes to clear the table.

We had a great waiter who was in character, but not over the top -- which is good because I don't know how the kids would have reacted. But he did ask Caroline and Joshua to set the table. He was originally from Long Island, so we bonded on the NY front. Matthew didn't eat much, but boy was he creative playing with his action figures, gold fish crackers and silverware. It was good food and fun, and came at a good time in the day. I'd go back again. We had S'mores for dessert. Oh yeah, and a vanilla Coke. THAT was needed.

Refreshed and with the hottest part of the day behind us -- and the crowds majorly thinned -- we used our fast pass for Toy Story Mania (at about 5:45 p.m.). Even more fun the second time. That's one ride they've really nailed it terms of perfection. Too bad the line is so long.

It was too early to go wait for Fantasmic, so we had a little time to kill. This would have been a perfect time to do the Back Lot Tour, but alas, it was closed (though it hadn't been scheduled to be closed). That's a good attraction, but we didn't majorly miss out.

So we took the kids on the Great Movie Ride. It's entertaining and relaxing and fine. We had chosen to avoid it because I remember Alien being in there and it was pretty gruesome. We figured the kids would just need to deal with it because we needed something to do. So we warned the kids. Caroline scrunched up next to me as we got closer to that part. Josh was OK. Matthew kept saying "Where's the alien!" He couldn't wait to see it and was very excited at the prospect. (Being a Jedi, I suppose...) The good news is it's not as bad as I remember and you only see him up in the ceiling. So I'm glad we went.

If I'm not mistaken, it was now about 6:45 p.m. and the parks and attractions were fairly quiet. We literally walked right on Star Wars. I mean NO ONE in front. I took Josh and Matthew (his third trip.....he seemed to memorize it because he does repeat the phrases now).

With Fantastmic at 8:15, we decided it was time to go to the arena. Glad we did....getting there an hour early and we sat in one of the last available sections on the far left side. You'd think one hour early would be plenty early but no. The time went relatively quickly with the kids playing games on my phone and Josh/Matthew playing with the action figures.

Fantasmic is great. Matthew fell asleep for it (of course). I wish Disney wouldn't make it so gruesome. The dragon couldn't be larger or scarier. Tone it back a bit!!! But definitely worth seeing. (Turns out they had not been doing shows every night the week we were there....Disney cutting back on performances to save money, so we were lucky).

Then the obligatory exodus with crowds and Matthew asleep in my arms. Easy exit and drive home (no need to take a parking shuttle).

Next up: Friday's second visit to Magic Kingdom....and it was a great one. Then Saturday at Animal Kingdom, which was Kathryn's favorite park.