July 20th, Saturday, Disney’s Hollywood Studios. 

Late start today: 8am to get out the door. There was more traffic on the Skyliner today – whether that’s because it is Saturday or because we left a bit later I don’t know. 

Got in by 8:30am and rented a double stroller this time. By the end of the day yesterday, Alan was flagging, and so maybe we thought having a double stroller would be helpful. If nothing else, I could put the backpack next to Momo and it would be more stable than if I hung it from the back of the stroller.

First up was the Millenium Falcon smugglers run. Alan and I piloted (Alan left and right me up and down) while Lisa and Momo were gunners. We had auto engineers. Momo didn’t like the ride – too much stress and action I think. I got a little queasy but nothing bad with the Dramamine I had earlier. Just a bit sweaty and queasy but easy to walk off with a drink of water. Also, since I’m a Star Wars fan somehow the content makes it feel less bad. Alan and I definitely didn’t do a great job of driving which didn’t help, and I was reaching back to help Momo with the guns a bit. 

We took some pictures and I foolishly said something about the resistance. The holographer – they take holographer here – chastised me and taught me the right way. Ignite the spark is what we say – resistance should say light the fire back. 

Next up is Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Train via Lighting Lanes. I think this should be ok for me. That was fine – like Pooh’s Hunny Hunt. Screens and a platform that moves around and does some up and down. It was perfectly fine for me, but there was one part where we were t over a waterfall and I did t watch that – I looked down at the floor and the motion that came with it was minor without the visual input. Momo liked it too – so for her I think it is more about the content (scary or not) than the motion. Alan didn’t have any trouble. 

On the way out Lisa spotted Chip and Dale taking pictures so we lined up for that. Afterwards we went to the Edna experience to get pictures with her. We took some additional pictures – Ms. Incredible and Sully – and then went to the 11am showing of the Beauty and the Beast live show. 

Lunch was at the abc commissary. Then we wanted to do the kids dance party but just missed it. So we took pictures. Then I asked if we could check the Star Wars character meet. Surprisingly Momo got super excited to meet Chewbacca and Alan was into all the models and wanted to meet all the characters. So we spent some time here – which is great because it is nice and air conditioned in here. 

Chewy was great – he really liked Momo’s wand. She was a bit scared of him. Alan was too shy, but when I told Chewy my son wanted him to light the spark he got excited and raised his arms. 

Momo does not want to meet Darth Vader. So we did Bb-8 next. Then Alan decided he didn’t need to do Darth Vader if we would just be waiting for him. We went to head out, but Momo wanted to do the dance party that started in 20 minutes or so. Lisa and Momo waited for that, and Alan and I went to meet Darth Vader. He was kind of scary (for me – I don’t know what Alan thought). 

I planned with Alan for a bit, he would like to do Toy Story Mania! (we have lightning lane passes), Rise of the Resistance (we might wait for that), Alien Swirling Saucers, and if there is time Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run again. 

We went to Toy Story Mania! with our lightning lane passes. I got the highest score in our car! It was worth a cat. Alan was a rabbit. I don’t have any trouble on this ride though the fast turns are a bit rough, I know they are coming so it is fine. 

We took some pictures then headed to Alien Swinging Saucers on lighting lanes.  While we were waiting in line a mother and son were having a crazy argument but their English accents were so thick I really couldn’t understand what it was about. 

Alien Swinging Saucers was like the Mater’s Junkyard ride, or Tokyo’s Baymax ride. I don’t have any trouble on those, it was easy. Alan enjoyed it too, and Momo said she did also. 

After Alien Swinging Saucers Lisa took Momo to wait on Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway train, Alan and I went to Rise of the Resistance. We took one picture – I want to get one in front of the Millennium Falcon too, but there was a line. We got there and the wait was posted as 55 minutes. Most of the line is in shade once we got through the early part, then air conditioning.  One thing I like about Edge of the Galaxy is that there is a lot of shade. Toy Story land seems like it lacks shade. That could just be because of our timing though – shortly after noon. 

I had completely forgotten about the first part of the ride. It was great – no sickness problems at all. Really fun and engaging trip too. Alan did ask me how we got to where we were outside the fiction of the story (an elevator I think).  That first drop on the escape pod is hard as is the descent. The rest – the motion in the vehicle – is fine. I had forgotten lots of stuff. Really great ride. I got off with just some sweaty palms, a bit of water and I am fine. It was Alan’s favorite ride today. It has amazing set design, lots of characters show up, animatronics are great, just lots of fun. I think it would be scary for Momo though. 

We went to meet up with Momo and Lisa – they went on to the Frozen musical. That should let out at 5pm, which is right when our reservation at the Brown Derby starts, so great timing. We had about 10 minutes to wait so made use of the air conditioned abc commissary again. 

We went to Brown Derby a bit past 5pm and checked in. I got the Fantasmic package, so they gave us tickets for that – we need to arrive by 8:30pm (where? I need to check on that). I this also will cost us two meal plan tickets so that means we only have one each for tomorrow which is also two. I’ll have to see if we can use them partially in some way. Dinner came at 6pm, so a nice relaxed time. Alan got the Filet Mignon, I got the Root Beer brined pork, and Lisa got the Cobb Salad. Very nice. 

Dinner was very relaxed – we got out a bit before 7pm. We have lightning lanes for Smuggler’s Run again now. We will do the parent swap thing. While Lisa and Alan go on the ride Momo and I wait in line for pictures with Cheebacca and Rey. 

I went with Alan and he wanted to be engineers. I told the attendant that I had a PhD in engineering and she thought that would help. Our pilots were good, and we had two gunners. Alan and I both had 100% with a crew rank of Pirate. Good! Engineer is definitely easier for me than pilot but it is still rough. Definitely harder than Rise of the Resistance. Harder than Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Train too. 

Alan wanted to do Rise of the Resistance again but that wouldn’t work for timing reasons and Momo wouldn’t ride it. She did want to ride Alien Swinging Saucers again and with a 5 minute wait at 20:10 that worked for our 20:30 Fantasmic plan. She rode with me this time. Doing this directly after Smuggler’s Run on a very full stomach was not the best idea, but it was still fine. I’m ok with slow to fast swinging that is consistent and predictable. Ups and downs are much worse for me, as are unexpected and sudden jolting motion changes. 

After that we made the long trek to Fantasmic. We had a package seat from dinner so got pretty good seats. Momo got scared pretty early into the show and wanted to go to the toilet. So I took her there and then she didn’t want to return to her seat so we watched from the top of the amphitheater. The attendants had us move back pretty far, but I put Momo up in my shoulders and she could see ok. She asked me to turn around for most of the show except for the very end. We got on the Skyliner at 21:50 and went back to the hotel where Alan and Lisa later followed. 

It was another tough day, but we did it. I enjoyed Rise of the Resistance a lot. Smuggler’s Run can actually be a bit tougher for me, I’ll have to be careful with that one. I liked that Alan found some rides to get excited about, and was surprised that Star Wars interested him.