Disney Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom Orlando November 6 & 7, 2012

Tuesday we woke to drizzly rain but headed out to Disney Hollywood Studios anyway. By the time the shuttle delivered us to the transfer station at Epcot, and our bus to Disney Hollywood Studio, the weather was clearing, just cool.

We caught several of the shows, including Indiana Jones and the Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt show. It was really interesting to learn how they do the driving scenes in movies – many of the cars are built with a duplicate car that has the driver facing backwards, but with a face painted on the back of their helmet so they appear to be facing forward!

 They even had a couple stunts where McQueen, from the Cars movie, got into the action.

The Star Tours ride was lots of fun - even Ann and Gary enjoyed it! We had fun with the the 3-D movies and different stage performances. Ann and Gary were good sports and went to the Fantasmic show to save great seats while Tobey and I rode the Rock n Roller Coaster and the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. We all had a great time.
It was fun to see the the streets all decorated for Christmas as we left the park at the end of the evening!
Wednesday we took the early shuttle so we could get to the Magic Kingdom early. It was a chilly, windy morning, but we took the ferry anyway.
We quickly headed to Space Mountain so Tobey and I could either ride or get a fast pass. It was closed for a maintenance issue, so we got a fast pass so we could return later and bypass the lines once it opened. We had fun on Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin trying our luck at shooting our laser guns at the targets. Like many of the rides at the park, they take your picture as you go through. We didn’t buy the picture, but I did manage to take a picture of our picture! Is that cheating?? We got Ann and Gary to go on two different roller coasters with us – the one below is the kiddies’ Barnstormer Coaster.

We rode the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad twice – both times with Ann and Gary. It was lots of fun. We hit many of the classic rides like Pirates of the Caribbean, the Jungle Ride, and the Haunted Mansion. We saw some of the characters including Chip and Dale and Tigger and Winnie the Pooh.

We ended the day early so we could go out to an early dinner.

We found a GREAT Italian restaurant not far from our condo – Bruno’s Italian Restaurant. When we drove up it didn’t look like much from the outside – in a strip mall next to a discount souvenir shop, but when we entered the restaurant, our noses told us we had picked a great spot. The service was really friendly, the garlic rolls fantastic, and the wine was good. We all ordered something different, Tobey had the shrimp Alfredo, I had the veal parmesan, Ann the shrimp Diablo; and Gary had the Brigole. They were all fantastic! We couldn’t stop eating, but we were stuffed. When our waiter came back to see if we wanted dessert, we could barely move, so we all declined. Next time we have to split the entrees so we can try their desserts!

We are heading back to the Magic Kingdom on Thursday and plan to stay late to see the fireworks. We may even get Gary to join us on Space Mountain …