Doing Disney Part 2: Hollywood Studios & Epcot

April 9, 2013
This series is going a lot slower than I anticipated. I apologize for the delay. I blame pregnancy, family Seder, furniture ordering and delivery, and a second recent family visit. I’m exhausted. But that’s no excuse for slacking!
On we go!
In Doing Disney Part 1, I told you all about The Art of Animation. The good and the bad. The pretty and the ugly. Today let’s talk parks. First and foremost, we didn’t get a chance to go to Animal Kingdom. A lot of the reviews I had read prior to our departure hinted, or said outright, that it wouldn’t be as enjoyable for a preschooler as it would be for a 5-6 year old. So we skipped it this time around.
Choosing Which Park To See
We chose the parks we visited based on several Walt Disney World crowd calendars (all available online). There are many reputable sites, all of which steered us in the right direction. They are, in no particular order: 

I’m not going to waste your time and tell you the exact order of rides, or how long our waits were for each one (mostly because I can’t remember!) but what I will say is that with some careful advanced planning, you will certainly be able to see all of the sights and ride all of the rides and see every show you’d like to see, with time to spare.
Hollywood Studios
We drove to Orlando, so our first and last days were shortened. We opted to go to Hollywood Studios on these days. It was a great decision. There isn’t a ton of stuff for a 3 year old, so we got to meet Mickey Mouse and Woody and Buzz, see the Disney Junior Live on Stage! show and eat at Pizza Planet on the first half day, and ride Toy Story Mania! and the Backlot Tour and eat at the 50s Prime Time Cafe on the last half day there. We also went to see Mickey Mouse one last time, as well as give Minnie a big farewell hug. It was definitely a great start and a great finish to an amazing trip.

If you’re planning on visiting Hollywood Studios, definitely ride Toy Story Mania!. It was a great ride. Much better than I anticipated. I would recommend getting a FastPass because this ride is definitely one with a longer wait. (More on the FastPass later…)
The Backlot Tour was fun. I remembered it from my childhood as well. I was nervous that Boo wouldn’t enjoy it as much as my husband and I would, but I was pleasantly surprised and he had a great time! The kid really amazed me during this vacation. So well behaved and enthralled in everything. 
If your kids are older, or you’re going sans kids, definitely do Star Tours. We didn’t get to ride it this time around but I remember it being a lot of fun. You might also want to try to do more of the shows. We really wanted to do the Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show but it wasn’t going to show until 3 on the day we were leaving town, and unfortunately that was too late for us. We also stood in line for the Great Movie Ride but once we got up to the front and I had a chance to read about it (thank you, Disney iPhone apps), we decided we shouldn’t ride it because it said something about being scary for young audiences and we definitely didn’t want to traumatize our 3 year old on his first Disney trip!
Where to eat? Well, there are a bunch of options. On our first night in town, we had pizza at Pizza Planet (from Toy Story). It was underwhelming for adults, and a little pricey for the food we got, but Boo seemed to really have a blast, so it was worth it. The pizza was pretty good (hubs wasn’t impressed) and I got a salad which I enjoyed. I would definitely go back because it was a fun experience.
The character dining at Hollywood Studios is Hollywood & Vine. There are a bunch of the Disney Junior friends that visit while you’re eating. Thankfully I had been to Hollywood Studios when I was younger (anyone remember when it was MGM?) and my family and I had eaten at the 50s Prime Time Cafe, and I had such great memories from there so that’s where I made our reservations. As it turns out, Boo really wasn’t too keen on some of the characters throughout the parks, so he might not have fared so well at Hollywood & Vine. Oh, and definitely make a reservation in advance. 
There’s a lot more at Hollywood Studios than I’ve reviewed here. I would recommend checking out some websites and other reviews if you’re planning on spending a full day or more there.
Epcot
Epcot is often overlooked as a somewhat boring park at Walt Disney World. Thankfully I highly disagree, and I honestly think we had the most fun at this park out of all of them. In my humble opinion, Epcot is horribly underrated for all that it has to offer. 
The World Showcase, however, is not my cup of tea. I have boring memories of it from when I was little, and ironically, I have somewhat boring memories of it as an adult as well!
Having said that, let’s get back to the point. Epcot. In all it’s glory, Epcot is low key, not nearly as busy and hectic as Magic Kingdom, and boasts some of the most unique rides and attractions of all of Disney World. If you have little ones, here are some attractions not to be missed:
  • Captain EO — we skipped this one because it was going to be too loud for us, but we will be sure to do this next visit.
  • Journey Into Imagination with Figment — we skipped this one, too. I really wanted to do it but we decided Boo was having such a grand time that we didn’t need to push him to do anything that wasn’t of particular interest to him.
  • Living with the Land — a must see. This was not only a cool ride, but it was educational as well. Epcot is busy growing their own food inside of the park! Amazing, earth-friendly, sustainable and much more than I expected.
  • The Seas with Nemo & Friends — we rode this… three times? Maybe only twice. Pretty sure it was three. It was by far one of the highlights of Boo’s time at Disney. He still talks about it.
  • Soarin’ — we didn’t get to ride this because I’m pregnant and Boo wasn’t tall enough. Next time, for sure!
  • Turtle Talk with Crush — we didn’t technically stay for the “talk” but we did get to hang out and learn all about jellyfish, sharks and other sea creatures. It piqued Boo’s interest into learning more about aquatic animals.
  • Spaceship Earth — the highlight of the trip for me. I have amazing memories of this ride from when I was a kid. I loved it. It is updated and a little different but just as cool. Boo hated it. Go figure!
  • Character Spot(s) — there were several character spots throughout Epcot. If you are a Chase cardmember and have a Disney credit or debit card, I would highly recommend going to the private cardmember location (more on that here). It will be worth your time if you have a kiddo who simply cannot get enough one on one character interaction. And you get a free 5×7 photo! The other character spot we visited housed Pluto, Mickey and Minnie. It was perfect. So many friends in one day!
    Where to eat at Epcot? Well, we hadn’t planned on two huge meals the day we were there, but we so happened upon them. First, we had lunch at Via Napoli Ristorante e Pizzeria. It was really, really good. Also a little pricey. But did I mention it was delicious? I ordered a caesar salad and minestrone soup, and my husband had the chicken parmesan. Both phenomenal.
    Our dinner at Epcot was by far the priciest of all of our meals at Disney. It was one million percent worth it, though. And here’s why: If your child is Obsessed (with a capital O) with Mickey, this is your place. Don’t bother with any other character dining in any of the parks. I probably shouldn’t be spilling the secret, but this restaurant/character dining spot is so underrated that the characters spend an enormous amount of time with each child. It truly is a one of a kind place where your child will feel like a million bucks. Ready to know where I’m talking about? The Garden Grill. Go there. Eat well. Be happy. Oh, and definitely make a reservation. 

    All in all, we spent 99% of our time in FutureWorld, with the exception of lunch. We walked to Italy for lunch, and decided to take the ferry back afterward. The ferry was definitely enjoyable and I would say pretty underrated! We did check out Innoventions West, which was pleasantly appealing for all of us. (This was where the cardmember location was — not sure if it changes, so you’ll definitely have to do some research before you head off.) Boo got to run through what to do in case of a fire, as well as get his picture taken posing next to a fire engine. He had a blast running around the pretend house with the other little boys while the fire alarm was sounding and they were trying to escape to safety!
    We didn’t end up staying for the nighttime show, IllumiNations, though I’ve heard it is very good. We were just too worn out after dinner (and riding Nemo for the third time that day). Plus we had to save up our energy for the next two days at Magic Kingdom!
    I almost feel like I can devote an entirely separate blog post to Magic Kingdom. We spent two days there. I’m going to take a break and get back to you on the Magic Kingdom. Just reliving our vacation at two parks is making me exhausted! 🙂 See you soon…

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