Trip Log:

Started off the morning heading down to the Mill for a light breakfast and then hopped on a bus to the Studios.  Arrived just after opening, 9am.  Hiked out to Pixar Place and grabbed Fastpasses for Toy Story.  Stopped by the Great Movie ride and then One Man Dream.  Had a few minutes to kill so stopped by the new Lotso Meet and Greet.  Took some pictures then walked past the American Idol and out toward Muppets, which is closed till next week.  Walked around the Streets of America and ended up grabbing an early lunch at the Studio Catering Company (and Pizza Planet).  After lunch strolled around to the American Idol Experience and watched the noon show.  After the show headed out to Toy Story to use our Fastpasses (set the high score of the day to that point) then headed out to Lights, Motors, Action.  After the show strolled back to Hollywood Blvd by way of the Backlot Express and Echo Lake, then down Sunset for some pictures.  Ended up back on Hollywood Blvd in time for the Block Party Bash.  After the Bash hopped on the Friendship Launch to the Yacht Club (others headed by bus to the Animal Kingdom for dinner at Yak and Yeti), we strolled around the resort for a while then decided to head into EPCOT.  Walked around France and then found a nice spot along the water for a while.  Headed back for dinner at the Captain’s Galley.  After dinner hopped on a bus to the Magic Kingdom.  Wandered around Main Street and found our way into Tomorrowland.  Walked on Buzz and the People Mover before walking around to Fantasyland.  Took some pictures of the wall and then stopped by Philharmagic. After the show grabbed Fastpasses for Peter Pan and made our way to the Haunted Mansion, which was a walk on.  After the Mansion walked back and went on Small World before using our Peter Pan Fastpass.  Walked through Liberty Square and down Main Street to find a spot for Wishes.  Watched the show then joined the masses heading for the busses.  Rode back to the Riverside and called it a night.

Notes: This trip we took advantage of the free Dining Plan Promotion Disney had. So we had a standard DD plan.

Thoughts & Observations:

• As we were riding through the Great Movie ride I could not help but wonder when, if ever, they are going to refresh the attraction a bit. Seems in the 20+ years since the attraction opened they can move to put a couple new scenes in. I have heard many theories on why this has not happened over the years but the one constant is that no real changes have occurred except for a couple tweaks to the finale film and some props in the queue.
  
  
• Overall I thought the Studios were really dead/flat. The crowds were on the light side, even Toy Story still had Fastpasses around lunch time.
  
  
• There is a new menu Studio Catering Co, or at least new since December. Some in our group were sadden to see the pulled pork off the menu. The new chicken sandwich got some good reviews though.
  
  
• It is fun to ride the Orlando version of Toy Story. Thanks to the lower number of repeat riders and gamers I can post scores near the top. I was under 300,000 and it was almost 1:00pm but I still managed to get the top score of the day so far. In
  
  
• The Block Party Bash still going strong. Lotso is on the Toy Story unit. He is just integrated like any other character in the parade.
  
  
• We had some time to kill before dinner at the Yacht Club so we walked over to EPCOT. We ended up along the water across from the UK, I am not sure the name of that multi tiered area. It is usually used to catered events in the evening. Anyway the reason I wanted to comment is this is the first time in a long that I could remember being able to walk around there, sit down, and even lean on the rails without having to worry about the birds and their associated mess. We spent a good 15 minutes or so in the area and there was not a bird to be seen. Did they finally figure out a way to keep them away? Now that the McDonalds is long gone are they? Was it due to the time of year/day? Or was it just dumb luck? In any case it was great!
  
  
• Two of us at dinner at the Captains Grille. This was my first time eating dinner here (and first time overall since the name change.. used to eat breakfast there when it was the Yacht Club Galley years ago and think I ate a lunch or two there over the years too). The dinner was great, my only complaint would be the bread. It was a multi grain of some sort and I did not care for it. The other two in our group tried the Yak and Yeti over at the Animal Kingdom. They said it was a great dinner too and they really enjoyed the dessert.
  
  
• After dinner we all met at the Magic Kingdom and we found the park to be as quiet, crowd wise, as the Studios were earlier in the day. It was great to be able to walk onto our choice of attractions for the most part.
  
  
• Took a spin on Buzz Lightyear and it really is calling for some help. After riding the Anaheim version and visiting Toy Story Midway Mania this attraction is crying for an upgrade!!
  
  
• The Fantasyland expansion has started and there are walls up around the area. Not much has changed beyond the re-location of the large tree from the Pooh play area across the way to be near the attraction. Everything else is well hidden from view. There are large prints of some of the concept art up on the walls which was fun to look at.
  

Pedometer Information for the day:

Enough with the text.. onto the pictures

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