Hollywood Studios

Today is a day that will live in all our memories for a very long time. The day began as all the others, beautiful weather, perfect sunny sky and July like temperatures. I have to keep reminding myself that we are on Christmas holidays, not summer vacation! Today I had thought really was going to be a day for Will.

Hollywood Studios has all the Star Wars stuff, the Star Tours ride and the Jedi training camp that young master Will has been squealing with excitement about since shortly after finding out about this trip! I was a bit worried about Nate as I knew a number of the attractions at this park would be a bit on the scary side, I was hoping to avoid the full scale melt downs we had experienced at the Magic Kingdom. Luckily we only had one close encounter with panic mode!

We know the parks would be busy today, being New Year's Day so we avoided the Disney transportation and drove straight to the parking lots. We entered the park only about half an hour after it opened and enjoyed wide open streets and non existent wait times. We headed directly to the most popular attraction in the park, Toy Story for a fast pass, then Will, Ken and Eric headed of to the Star tours ride (Nate had decided it would be too scary) while Jane and I took Nate to the Honey I Shrunk the Kids play area. There are many cool things about this little area, giant blades of grass, stumps that make music when you step on them and a giant spider's web but for the most part, this place was my nightmare. Right in the middle, there was this massive ant hill with a ton of twisty, dark tunnels that were too short for me yet when Nate went off to explore them, I had no idea where he was. After a few heart pounding minutes Nate reappeared and guess what, yes, immediately wanted to head back in. Luckily The other half of our party rejoined us. Nate couldn't wait to show Will all around and we sent in Uncle Eric, he was the right size to crawl around in the hill with the boys!

We finally convinced the boys that there were other things to see int he park and it was time to move on. As we walked, Will was full of stories of the Star Tours Ride, he was quivering with excitement. We did the back lot movie tour which I found to be really interesting. We had one dicey moment with Nate when our tram became part of a special effects scene in a movie that involved a rattling bridge and exploding barrels of oil. Thankfully the scene ended quickly and Nate survived! We then headed to the Muppet Vision 3D movie. It was a great experience for this child of the 80s to sit in the Muppet Theater with the Old Hecklers right over head! We then went to sign Will and Nate for what would turn out to be one of the highlights of the day. As soon as Will found out about this trip he began doing research. He discovered that there was a Jedi training camp at Hollywood studios, this quickly became the number one slot on his list of things to see and do! He could barely contain himself on the walk to the sign up booth. We got a time for later in the day and Will was glowing. By that time we were all feeling a little hot and tired, we made a quick stop for lunch. With full bellies and a top up in energy we were ready to tackle our next adventure. We headed over to see One Man's Dream, the story of Walt Disney, it really is quite something that one man had the vision and determination to make this world of fantasy, a reality. I was surprised by how interested the boys were but they hung on every word. they had quite a few questions after word that showed they were really thinking about Walt's accomplishments.

It was finally out fast pass time at one of the busiest attractions of the park, The toy Story Midway. When we arrived the wait time was 2 hours, insane! We walked right in with our fast passes and we were on the ride with in 10 minutes. God bless the fast pass! I climbed into a car with Nate and we were off, he had the best time firing virtual balls at the objects on the screen, he was firing and firing and giggling and giggling. I could hear Will's squeals from behind us, we all had a great time! Uncle Eric ended up with the highest score with Ken at a close second but I think Nate and I laughed the most! Now it was time for the big moment, Jedi Training Camp, we headed over to the training Camp Headquarters and waited for the camp to begin. Will could not contain himself. to the point that I had to give him a little alone time while he waited because he was out of his mind with anticipation. After a brief trivia session to make sure all the potential Jedi know there facts the trainees were off to the theater. The training took place on a stage just out side the village of Tatoiene, they donned their Jedi Robes and the Jedi master took the stage. Will was focused on every word he said, every move he made. Nate had a hard time getting his light saber to work, at one point I thought he would be the only trainee with out a saber but there were some other very helpful Jedi who helped him, phew! They learned a defence sequence and then troopers stormed the stage closely followed by Darth Vader and Moll who tried to convince the young Padewan to join the Dark side. Clearly, none of them defected so the epic battle began, each young trainee had to fight the Dark side. Will waited patiently and when it was his turn, he very politely tapped Darth's saber a few times and scurried to the end of the line. Nate had been wearing his hat on top of his robe the whole time. When it was his turn to battle the Jedi Master said, "Here comes my fashion statement." Darth instructed Nate to release all his anger, the Jedi Master replied, "I don't think there's much anger in this one!" He was right, he too tapped swords and Darth and danced back to the line. With the force working through all the young Padewan they defeated the dark side and earned their Jedi certificates. We then allowed each boy to buy a light saber as they had rightfully earned onr. This may be a decision we come to regret but, so far so good!

Both boys were so proud of themselves, they were glowing. The wait at the Star tours ride was quite short and now that Nate was a real Jedi he was no longer afraid so we all did the ride together. It was now only about an hour away from dusk and the attraction I really wanted to see. At Christmas the Streets of America are drenched in lights, even during the day you can see stand ofter strand of lights coating every building. Ken and Eric had fast passes for the Rockin' roller coaster so we agreed to meet back at the light display after Jane the boys and I saw an animation demonstration. We arrived at the meeting spot first and grabbed a great piece of curb to wait for Ken and Eric and the beginning of the light show. I must admit at this point I was exhausted and grumpy, I had had two boys pulling my arms and stomping on my feet for most of the day, I was ready to go home but I knew the light show would be worth the wait. A lovely Disney cast member came over to talk to the boys, she asked where they were from and if they were celebrating anything. Will and Nate were their usual charming selves, they provided her with the blow by blow of our trip so far and Will added that it was almost his 7th birthday. She chatted away with them for a while and then gave them each a Mickey sticker, I thought that was pretty lucky but that was only the beginning. The Jedi training had paid off because the force was most certainly with us. After Ken and Eric had rejoined us, the woman returned and told the boys that since they had come from so far away and that it was almost Will's birthday they could flip the switch that would turn on all the lights! I think we all had looks of shock on our faces and then we were excited, this was going to be fantastic! She led us down the street and into the roped off area where the show coordinator welcomed us and told the boys exactly what would happen. They would stand in front of the giant switch (it takes a big switch to turn on 5 million lights!) and after the introduction he would say, "lights on" and at that point they would flip the switch. They both listened intently to the instructions and when their big moment came they were ready. "Lights on" and the boys together turned on all the lights in the display, it was a beautiful moment, the whole street became alive with dancing lights. We got to stay in the ceremony area to watch the lights dance in choreographed precision to the music. The Disney staff handed us a certificate and then we were on our way. We walked down the street and admired the glow. As the boys passed the different displays they said, "we turned that on, and that on, and that on . . ." It was a very sweet moment.

I have been thinking about my Mom a lot on this trip. The Christmas that Nate had just been born and Will wasn't quite two, she talked about talking the boys to Disney when they were about 5 and 7, she thought that would be the perfect age (she was right). I was surprised at that statement because when I was growing up she said that Disney was the last place she wanted to go, when I pointed that out she said, "Yha well, it's different when you're a grand parent!" The funny thing is, I mostly have been thinking about how much she would have hated Disney, she couldn't stand crowds, heat or rides. The past few days have been all about crowds, heat and rides! I do know that she would have loved watching the boys experience everything, she loved them fiercely! As we walked back to where the Disney cast memeber had found us, I realized we had been sitting under a hundred angels, that now lit up glowed white and blue. I'm sure my mom had a hand in arranging this experience for us, she always loved Christmas lights.

We all walked slowly back to the car. Will and Nate were asleep before we hit the highway. Tomorrow is our last day the the parks, look out Epcot, here we come!