Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Walt Disney World’s Hollywood Studios: Thrilling Universal Studios Copycat (Walt Disney World Orlando Series 8)

Walt Disney World’s Hollywood Studios 
Thrilling Universal Studios Copycat
(Walt Disney World Orlando Series 8)

It was our 7th day at the Walt Disney World and we
are scheduled to visit Disney’s Hollywood Studios,


… the fifth and the last Disney park that we
would be visiting on our first week in Orlando.

 

The kids seem to be experiencing theme park
fatigue already as everyone woke up late so
we arrived at almost noontime at the park.

 

Hollywood Studios looked a lot like the

…as guests enter through the main entrance gate,
which resembles the Pan Pacific Auditorium.



Near the park's gate is a recreation of
the Crossroads of the World Tower,

 

…that leads to Hollywood Boulevard,
inspired by Los Angeles streetscape,

 

… lined with themed buildings that houses
various stores selling Disney merchandise.



It is dedicated to show business, inspired
by Hollywood’s 30’s and 40’s heyday.

 

We immediately proceeded to the far end
of Hollywood Boulevard where a replica
of the iconic Chinese Theater is located,



…which houses the Great Movie Ride,

 

…an indoor tram ride paying homage
to mostly MGM/Turner classic films. 

 

…as the park was originally known as
Disney-MGM Studios when it opened,

 



…until it was changed to its
present name several years ago.

 

 

After the Great Ride, we watched the
Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular,



that re-enacts various scenes
from Raider’s of the Lost Ark,

 

…and a the same time demonstrate
how professional film stunts are done.

 

The Indiana Jones stunt show is located
at the Echo Lake section of the park,

 

… together with the exciting 3- D motion simulator
 ride Star Tours- the Adventure Continues based
on George Lucas’ popular classic film, Star Wars


From the Echo Lake, we went
to the Animation Courtyard,

 

…where the Star Wars Launch Bay is found.


Also in the Animation Courtyard is
the Voyage of the little Mermaid.

 

We accessed the lovely Sunset Boulevard,
from one end of the Animation Courtyard. 

 

This zone was inspired by the popular
boulevard in LA bearing the same name.

 

The main attraction at the Sunset Boulevard
is the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror a thrill
ride based on the classic horror TV series.


Located nearby is Aerosmith’s Rock n’ Roller Coaster
an indoor roller coaster with three inversions and a high-
speed launch, themed to the music of the popular rock band.

^^^ Photo Source: LINK

We decided to eat lunch at the Fairfax Fare,
Sunset Boulevard’s expansive food court,






…before heading to the Theater of the Stars a covered outdoor 
amphitheater that hosts the Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage.

 

After the Beauty and the Beast show, we returned to the
Animation Courtyard to watch Disney Junior Live on Stage.





We later visited the Pixar Studios,

 

…and queued at the extremely
popular Toy Story Mania Ride.

 

We then walked our way back to Echo Lake just in
time for our late afternoon Fast Pass at Star Tours.

 

After the ride, we headed back to Sunset Boulevard where
the open-air Hollywood Hills Amphitheater is located,

 

…home to Fantasmic, a nighttime show featuring
Mickey Mouse and many other Disney characters
in a story with fireworks, lasers and water effects.

 

We concluded our theme park visit watching the
spectacular Star Wars themed fireworks display.

 

This would be our last night at the WDW and
concludes our first week in Orlando, but that’s
okay as we still have another week in the city. 

 

We would be moving on the a non- Disney
affiliated hotel and we expect more fun and
excitement at the Universal Studios nearby.

Saturday, June 25, 2016

Walt Disney World’s Typhoon Lagoon: Tsunami Waves, Fun Filled Wavepool (Walt Disney World Orlando Series 7)

Walt Disney World’s Typhoon Lagoon 
Tsunami Waves, Fun Filled Wavepool
(Walt Disney World Orlando Series 7) 

We intended to visit Disney’s Hollywood Studios on our 6th day
in WDW, but there has been frequent thunderstorms for the last 
three days, so we decided to go to Typhoon Lagoon instead. 

 

Disney's Typhoon Lagoon is a is one of two
water parks at the Walt Disney World Resort.

 

The water park theme was the imagined "Disney legend" of
a super typhoon that wreaked havoc to a  tropical paradise.





The park was decorated with ships, fishing gears and
surfboards that were supposedly strewn by the storm.





The centerpiece of the park is "Miss Tilly," 
a shrimp boat impaled on Mount Mayday,
that erupts a 50-foot geyser every 30 minutes.

 

We have included Typhoon Lagoon in our itinerary since the kids wanted 
to experience the huge tsunami- like waves reaching up to ten feet at the giant
 wave pool.(as seen from a video I borrowed from a you tube channel below.)

Source: LINK

Of all the WDW parks that we visited,
we enjoyed Typhoon Lagoon the  most,

 

…unfortunately we lost all our photos as they were accidentally 
deleted on the waterproof camera that we used during our visit.