Last Day-Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Our final day at Disney proved to be the perfect day, weather-wise.  Our first four days were hot (though most of us were not complaining), the next two days were on the chilly side, but our last day was sunny with temperatures in the high seventies.  It was nice to end our vacation on a positive note. 

Or so we thought.   Dum Dum Duummmm!

We all love Hollywood Studios.  We started off the day by heading to the right when we got into the park to Aerosmith’s Rock’n’Roller Coaster.  Dave convinced Jack to ride this one, because he remembered it as being pretty tame.  “It’s a limo ride, Jack, and you are trying to get to a concert on time and you’ll go fast around the traffic, and up the sides of tunnels!”  I kept giving Dave my “I don’t think this is a good idea” eyes over Jack’s head, because I remembered it as being a fast coaster, but Jack was willing, so I let him do it.

Our “limo” took off and I knew immediately that it was too much for Jack, because it took off like a shot, and then there were a lot of loops.  Dave was right:  it’s a short, smooth ride, BUT I knew Jack would not like those loops!  Because Aerosmith’s music is playing (really loudly) the whole time, and the ride is pretty dark,  I wasn’t completely sure how Jack was doing, but I kept my arm across his shoulders and up around his head the whole time.  When the ride stopped, there were a few tears, and he told us he hated it, but he got over it all pretty quickly. 

At this point, Maddie, Ben and I headed to Tower of Terror, and Jack and Dave went over to Fastpass Toy Story Mania. 

The first time we went to Disney, Maddie (who was 7) and I did the Tower of Terror.  We both hated it.  It was scary and we didn’t like the freefalling.  The next time we went to Disney, we agreed that it would not be on our touring list.  But this time, Ben wanted to try it, so Maddie and I put on our big girl pants and joined him in line.

We were assigned to an elevator car filled with teenagers who all knew each other. They were giddy and excited, and once the elevator car started heading toward the freefall  area (there’s a little bit of traveling to get there, in the dark, with spooky images and sounds, and you never really are sure when the dropping’s going to start) the teens were all screaming hysterically.

Finally, we got to the part where we were pretty sure we were going to fall, the spooky voice even said something like, “Prepare to suffer like the people in the elevator did many years ago!” or something like that, and seriously, Maddie and Ben were gripping my arms and their handgrips so hard, and my palms were so sweaty that I was so worried that when we fell I wouldn’t be able to maintain my grip, and the teens were screaming and screaming and screaming, and we knew we were going to drop!  And then…

The lights came on and a voice said, “Sorry for the interruption.  We will be back online in a minute.”  A minute would have been fine.  We’d have had a little mental break and been ready for our fall.  But it wasn’t a minute.  It was at least ten.  And as we looked around at the teens (who were now screaming that they thought they really were going to die) and the area around us, I realized we were in drop position.  You could see through the floor, which was like a metal grate, and there was a lot of open space under us. I didn’t draw the children’s attention to that fact, but now I was getting nervous.  Also it was really hot.

They were masking their terror with brave faces.

Eventually, the voice told us our ride would begin in a few minutes, and after about five additional minutes it did, AND IT WAS AWESOME AND WE LOVED IT! 

And the best part was they gave us all Fastpasses when we got off to ride again, useable any time that day!  We decided to save the Fastpasses for later so Dave could have a turn. 

We headed over to Toy Story Mania to meet up with Dave and Jack. They had gotten the Fastpasses for Toy Story Mania, and even though they got them around 9:30 in the morning, they were only good for after 3:30!  So get your Fastpasses to that ride early, people!  The wait for Toy Story Mania was already at about 50 minutes!

By the way, I was so amazed that the kids hadn’t asked at all this week to get their photos taken with characters.  As far as I’m concerned, this is a huge time waster, and I will reluctantly wait in those crazy long lines, but luckily no one showed any interest.  Until today.

We waited about a half an hour each for Pooh and Phineas & Ferb, though Piglet and that other dude (who is he?) were a pretty short wait. 

Phineas and Ferb were really nice, if a mute costumed character can be really nice.  Jack saw a lot of other kids getting their autographs and he decided he wanted one.  When I explained that those kids had brought autograph books and we definitely weren’t buying one for just one autograph, he thought maybe Phineas and Ferb could just write it on some scrap paper.  I scrounged around in the backpack and came up with an advertisement for somewhere that had a blank side and a pen.  When we got up to them, Jack immediately gave Phineas the paper and pen, and Phineas looked at it but didn’t sign it.  He walked over to his handler and mimed to her that he needed another paper and pen.  She didn’t understand, but after a lot of miming and subsequent guessing on her part, she scrounged around and found a Hollywood Studios brochure and a Sharpie, which both Phineas and Ferb signed.  I wondered if maybe he thought I was trying to get him to endorse a product?  Which is pretty funny that the pretend character of Phineas played by a random dude’s signature would actually be taken so seriously.  But I appreciate that he didn’t just refuse Jack but tried to get him what he wanted.

We also did The Muppet 3D Adventure which was terrific, The Great Movie Ride, which was also good, and the new and improved Star Tours which was EXCELLENT!  The old one was so-so.  The new one is a definite must see!  We had a forgettable lunch at Min and Bill’s Dockside Café (we’ve previously eaten at both the Sci Fi Dine-In Theater and The 50’s Prime Time Café, which we love, but it was so busy we couldn’t get in this time).  After lunch we saw the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular which really hasn’t changed much, but is still an exciting and funny show.

By now it was time for Toy Story Mania.  This is a super fun ride, and even with the Fastpasses we still had about a 15 minute wait.  The poor people in line though had a 90 minute wait by this point!

Poor Daddy. No one wanted to sit with him.

After that Dave and the big kids used their Tower of Terror Fastpasses and then we realized we were pretty much ready to go.  We got snacks to prolong the inevitable  departure (here’s Jack with a Mickey Ice Cream, and Ben got popcorn, but Maddie hit the lottery…she decided on a milkshake from Min & Bill’s and it was huge and thick and delicious!)

We said goodbye to Disney World and headed for our car.  (Sob!)  So long Mickey and you stupid Kali River Rapids and Phineas and Ferb and Dole Whips and that crazy Goofy-like character who we don’t know!  We love you!  We’ll miss you!  Don’t forget about us! 

But that’s not, unfortunately, the end of this story.  We decided to head to a Mexican restaurant near our hotel, El Patron, for supper.  Everything was absolutely delicious, and our waiter told us that everything is homemade there, even the sour cream.  We ordered a shrimp cocktail as an appetizer, and the shrimp arrived in a delicious, chunky, fruity yet zippy salsa.  Yummo.  All of our meals were also excellent, and we left full and happy.

We headed back to the hotel where we proceeded to pack up everything, as our flight home was scheduled for 8:30 in the morning.  Jack told me he wasn’t feeling well, but I brushed it off.  I figured his belly was a little full, and told him maybe he just need to poop.  We all know that sometimes a little bowel movement can work wonders, now, don’t we?

By bedtime, he still didn’t feel right, so I set the garbage can next to his bed.  I climbed into my own bed and settled down with a little Words With Friends.  All of a sudden, Jack was in our bedroom running for our bathroom.  He threw up so much and so long, but I promise I won’t give you any more sordid details than that, because I’ve already used the words poop and bowel movement in this blogpost  and I don’t want to alienate any readers more than I have to.

After I hugged him and cleaned him up a bit, I noticed his face was very red.  And when I got him in some better light, I realized it was red because his face was covered with tiny pinpricks of red.  Had the strain and stress from all of the vomiting broken blood vessels?  Had he had an allergic reaction to something in his dinner? If it was an allergic reaction, was anaphylactic shock the next step?  We called Urgent Care. They were open but promised us a four hour wait.  We gave him some Benadryl and decided he would sleep between us where we could keep an eye on him.  He said he felt better, he fell asleep quickly, we made our flight in the morning, and I called our doctor when we landed.

                                    I took this at the airport the next morning.  Poor little fella.

The doctor thought it was an allergic reaction, probably to the shrimp he had at dinner (even though he’s had shrimp before), so now I’m worried about him having seafood by accident again, and what that may do to him.  Boo.

And that’s how we finished our week in Disney!