We enjoyed a wonderful day at Hollywood Studios starting with a visit to Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy. It was a filled with action and trills. Fun!
Thank you to Disney for inviting me to spend a wonderful day at Hollywood Studios.
It was a happy coincidence to get an invite to get to enjoy Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy at Disney’s Hollywood Studios while my mother in law was visiting. I was so excited to be able to show her all the fun things that Hollywood Studios has to offer. I’m always so happy getting to check out the different sections of the park- so much to see and do.
Plus, it would be so fun for her to get to experience it with Autumn and Hunter. Disney with your grand kids is always so much fun.
Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy
Once our blogger group has all arrives, we headed over to Lighting McQueens’s Racing Academy on Sunset Boulevard to check out the new show.
When we arrived there was a fun dance party happening outside the Sunset Showcase Theater. They were there to pump up the party! It was fun to see, and it gave us a chance to take some fun photos with the cars and murals out there.
Once we took out seats in the theater, we were ready for a great race! We were going to learn how to become champions from Lightning McQueen himself. The really cool simulator was an awesome element of the Racing Academy show.
The wrap around jumbo-sized screen is so cool. It means you basically don’t have a bad seat in the house since you can look all over to see something fun happening on the screen.
It was a fun, faced paced 10 minute long show. It’s great for Cars movie fans of all ages.
(Check out my in-depth Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy recap here!)
While we all had a great time watching the new Lighting McQueen show, someone still was grumpy about having to take a picture with me. She refused and had, what we call, a Mickey Meltdown. hahaha!
On our walk over to Toy Story Land, Hunter reached out to hold my hand. It was so sweet! Man, I love having a little boy. He can be so rough and tough on me at times, but then he reaches out for me or snuggles me extra close and my heart melts.
Animation Courtyard
During our last visit to Hollywood Studios, when we were seeing Disney Junior Dance Party, we didn’t stop for photos with the Disney Junior characters. We just had so much to see and do! But this time, we couldn’t pass up meeting Disney Junior Pals. It was so much fun watching the kids get to meet the characters they love to watch on Disney Junior.
Vampirina
Autumn was thrilled to get to meet Vampirina. She specifically wore one of her Vampirina shirts just in case she got to meet her. I’m surprised she didn’t try to talk me into her wearing a costume.
Sofia The First
Even Sofia liked Autumn’s Vampirina shirt! She motioned ‘fangs’ with her hands at her mouth. Then she motioned ‘flying’ with her hands. It was so cute!
Sofia was also so sweet with Hunter. After watching Autumn meeting Vampirina, he wanted to meet Sofia, so he joined us in line to wait for her. She gave him the sweetest hug when they met. I love those experiences. Just so sweet!
Slinky Dog Dash
After enjoying the meet and greets with Vampirina and Sofia, we headed over to Toy Story Land. Of course, the must do ride is Slinky Dog Dash. It had a 135 minute stand by line when arrived. Thankfully, we had fast passes so Autumn and G-ma were able to enjoy the roller coaster quickly.
I’m sure that Hunter is waiting for his chance to ride Slinky Dog Dash one day! He had a fun time watching the coaster and hearing everyone scream with glee (or maybe that is a bit of fear…!)
Autumn loves Slinky Dog Dash! She has ridden it so many times. It is a must do for her so she was looking forward to riding it. Then she realized she could share the fun with her G-ma so she loved it even more. G-ma was certainly in for a real treat getting on it too.
Alien Flying Saucers
Autumn could have ridden Slinky Dog Dash all day, but I wanted to try out Alien Flying Saucers. Somehow I haven’t ridden it in our prior visits, so I wanted to give it a shot. Even better than getting to experience it solo, was that Hunter just cleared the 32″ height restriction for Alien Flying Saucers. I was so excited that he could enjoy some fun with me, while Autumn had a great ride with G-ma.
Hunter had a blast on the ride. So did I, but the best part was watching him enjoy it. He was cracking up while we went swirling around and around. I love when he gets to enjoy a ride just like that.
Snack Time at Woody’s Lunch Box
Even in April the heat can sneak up on you, so we stopped for drinks and a snack at Woody’s Lunch Box.
We love the pop tarts so we got a Chocolate-Hazelnut Lunch Box Tart (Chocolate-Hazelnut stuffed Pastry coated in Maple Fondant and Candied Bacon – $4.29). The Raspberry one was all sold out. boo!! The but chocolate one is
We also enjoyed a Grown-Up’s Lemonade (Three Olives Cherry Vodka, odwalla® All-Natural Lemonade and Black Cherry Purée- $10.25). One of my favorite
While the kids split a Mystic Portal Punch (POWERade® Mountain Berry Blast with flavors of Lemon-Lime and Tangerine – $4.49) It’s cold and refreshing, but I love that the Powerade helps keep them energized and balanced with its electrolytes.
Visiting Pixar Place
It was time for a 1960’s dance party in Pixar Place!!
We headed over to Pixar Place, which had a refresh back in January. I wanted to go during our last visit, but we ran out of time. There is just so much to see and do in Hollywood Studios!
When we arrived there was a fun dance party going on at the end of the alley. The dancing and singing was fun, but it was fun to watch Frozone from the Incredibles bust a move too. He did a great job dancing around. ha!
I love when Disney Cast Members interact with the kids. This awesome dancer chatted with Autumn about their purple clothes. Autumn was so proud since she picked out her shirt to wear for the day and she got a compliment on it.
Then we took some fun photos on the fun Pixar Wall.
Autumn was loving getting to
I was really expecting there to be a crazy line there to be able to take pictures. Thankfully, we got there at a great time and we didn’t have any wait. It was fun to be silly and take lots of pictures, without feeling rushed either.
Of course, I had to grab a Num Num Cookie at Neighborhood Bakery. A big, warm cookie tart is just too irresistible to pass up. We snapped some fun pictures with it too. But really, hunter was just ready to sink his teeth into it.
It was fun taking a few minutes to take some color pictures in front of the fun purple wall too. I always mean to get in front of the camera, then forget all about it. So it was fun to hire out my Instagram Husband for a few. ha!
It was hard, but I resisted eating some then so I could save it for a snack to enjoy later on in the day. We enjoyed some of the Num Num cookie while we waited in line later on. It was still so ooey gooey! It is large, and great to share, but let’s be real… I didn’t want to. ha!
Lunch at Backlot Express
Before we knew it, it was time for lunch. We wandered around browsing the menus at ABC Commissary and day dreamed about going to Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater Restaurant. We decided on Backlot Express because it was a good quick service option that we thought would satisfy everyone.
Price and his mom each got a Backlot Burger (1/3 lb Angus Beef Burger topped with Barbecued Pork, Pepper Jack Cheese, Lettuce, Tomato and Pickles served with French Fries- $13.99) and I ordered a Cuban Sandwich (Classically-pressed Roasted Pulled Pork, Sliced Ham, Swiss, Pickles and Mustard served with French Fries- $11.99). The kids shared a Chicken Tenders kids meal (Two Chicken Tenders served with a yogurt smoothie, fries, and a chocolate milk- $7.19).
We enjoyed taking a break in the AC and enjoying some good food.
We walked around for a bit checking out some shops.
Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular
I always remembered watching the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular as a kid. It was a blast! So, I was so excited to take Autumn and Hunter to it. Granted Hunter wouldn’t remember it like I did, but I knew he would enjoy the action.
Thankfully, he loved it because before it started he was having an epic meltdown on my lap once we got seated. But, once the show started, he chilled out and watched the fun stunts. Even watching the tractors move the sets around was thrilling with his “beep beep!” shouts. ha!
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
Every time we drove by The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror sign on World Drive, Autumn would exclaim that she wanted to go on the ride. Well, she lucked out today as she went on it twice.
First, Autumn, Price, and G-Ma went on the ride with her. I got to sit back with a beer while Huner snoozed in his Colugo stroller (love that stroller!)
It was then, when we returned to Price and Elaine, that I got the full recap on how horrified Price was- holding on to his mom’s arm for dear life. hahahaha!
After being thoroughly scared for our lives, we decided it would be best to wrap the day up before Autumn tried to talk her way onto it again. ha!
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We had a wonderful day at Hollywood Studios! Seeing Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy was a wonderful family experience and great way to start our day at Hollywood Studios.
Disney invited me to Hollywood studios to see Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy as part of a Media Day Event. While my tickets and lunch were provided for the day, all opinions are my own.
This sounds like a great way for young and old to share really good times together.