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You are here: Home / Blog / Great Movie Ride, Muppet Vision 3D, Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater Review, LITERALLY THE WORST PICTURES OF FOOD YOU’VE EVER SEEN (Other than the DIS), We Only Come Out at Night – Studios – 3/17/13

Great Movie Ride, Muppet Vision 3D, Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater Review, LITERALLY THE WORST PICTURES OF FOOD YOU’VE EVER SEEN (Other than the DIS), We Only Come Out at Night – Studios – 3/17/13

March 21, 2013 ~ 13 minutes read46 Comments

We’ll head out to Hollywood Studios on the evening of March 17th, 2013.  This is exactly one week after the last time we visited.  Hollywood Studios was the most recommended Park both times.  Last week, the overall crowd level was a “9.”  Today, it’s a “7.”  If you really want to confuse things, the crowd levels on this website sort of work like a bell curve, where there are more fours, fives, and sixes than there are 1s, 2s, 9s, and 10s.  That’s an attempt at showing the extremes on either end of the spectrum.  It also means there’s more of a difference between a “7 and a 9” than there is between a “4 and a 6.”  I don’t know if this makes mathematical sense, but this website isn’t run by a fake statistician out of Ontario.  You get what you pay for.

Walls remain up at most of the Studios’ turnstiles.  This is the last major chunk of turnstiles still closed.  We’ll visit Animal Kingdom next, where there are no walls, just like there are no walls at Magic Kingdom.  Epcot still has a few turnstiles behind walls.  Beginning yesterday, March 20th, Annual Passholders could begin exchanging their Tyvek (paper) Annual Passes for the plastic RFID tickets that work on any turnstile.  I’m happy to report that it looks like that’s going off without a hitch.  For you Premier Passport Passholders, it sounds like you’re going to have to wait a little longer.  Disney forgot about you.

It’s 5:45pm, which is about an hour later than our last arrival.  I’m not exactly sure what’s going on here.  The wait times haven’t been updated in at least a half hour, as you can see the FASTPASS return times are for 6pm – 7pm.  Which is impossible, since the earliest they could be right now is 6:25pm – 7:25pm.  By the time we get over to Tower of Terror at 7:30pm, the posted wait will be 20 minutes.  But as I mentioned a few weeks ago, Tower of Terror is having some serious problems and often runs at half capacity (or worse).

Word on the street is that Disney Channel Rocks! and the 3pm Parade, Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun! will have their last performances on April 6th.  There are no replacements, meaning the Studios will not have a daytime Parade after April 6th.

I teased a major announcement last week.  I probably shouldn’t have.  I don’t like to discuss rumors because so many turn out to be untrue.  And the, “Well, things changed” excuse is as lame as it gets.  Two days after I mentioned a major announcement coming in the first week of May, Disney dated a two-day media event coming up on April 25th – 26th, or the week before.  These “media events” are hit or miss.  From the description of the event, it sounds like media fluff.  But at the same time, it seems unlikely Disney would fly in people only to discuss the Mine Train Coaster for the upteenth time and a Monsters University promotion this summer.  Disney is about to throw 500+ million dollars at the Studios.  The question is when they’ll announce.  And that’s a tougher date to pin down.

Last week, the line for Great Movie Ride was lined up all the way outside.  Today, it looks like we have a straight shot.

This is a new addition to the queue.

A chess table.

Let the Wookie win.

I wish Disney had more movie paraphernalia available for guests to look at.  Hollywood Studios would be a lot more interesting if they had a warehouse or two full of movie stuff that was changed out every few months.  Imagine being able to walk through Pirates of the Caribbean movie sets or look at costumes from whatever that new Wizard of Oz movie is called.  The Orlando Science Center has a traveling Star Wars exhibit that people are willing to spend $27/head to experience at the moment.  Just imagine all the stuff Disney has in the vault.

Great Movie Ride will have to do.  It’s a walk-on with around 15 people in line.

One more rumor for you just because I like people telling me how stupid I am and how terrible this website is and how I’m desperate for traffic which is why I don’t promote the site at all and don’t have any advertisements and hide a one sentence teaser in the middle of a post with 7,000 words and 108 pictures.  Instead of Great Movie Ride getting a modern makeover, I’d look for it to get a (Turner) Classic Movie makeover.

A few more:



Two letters out!  Another example of terrible maintenance!

More peeling posters!

I keep meaning to watch White Heat.

If you do want to discuss broken effects, and I know it’s your favorite thing, this car is supposed to pull forward with the gangsters shooting from inside.  Instead, it just sits there the entire time.

More Clint.

John.

Alien – probably the best scene in the ride, but it’s kind of a shame it’s included.

Alien is the only thing keeping this from being a perfectly family friendly attraction.  It even freaks me out a little bit.  I’d stroke out if I was seven.




Oz the Great and Powerful is doing incredibly well in theaters, despite mixed reviews, much like Alice in Wonderland.

250+ million worldwide so far.

FASTPASS+ at American Idol Experience LOL.  It seems like Disney is planning to use a lot of wheelchair/ECV ramps for FASTPASS+ admittance.  I’m not sure where the 19 people that opt for a FASTPASS+ at American Idol Experience will congregate prior to the start of the show.  I’ll probably just stand there shaking my head.

Feels crowded.

We walked on around 6:25pm with no wait.  The standby wait had bumped up to a whopping ten minutes after we disembarked, but we went on again with no wait.

Fighting the crowds over to Muppet Vision 3D.

The posted wait was 60 minutes, despite the cast member out front letting people know that it was two minutes to show time.

More FASTPASS+.  More head shaking.  As I mentioned a month or two ago, the problem with FASTPASS+ is that it isn’t a capacity-increasing device.  The capacity is the capacity.  So with a ride like Toy Story Mania, there might be 4,500 total FASTPASS+ times available over the course of a 10 hour day.  And 25,000 people visit the Studios on a given day.  So once those run out (quickly), Disney has to have other options, which is the reason why FASTPASS+ is popping up at attractions that “don’t need it.”  Yes, FASTPASS+ is completely unnecessary at Muppet Vision, American Idol Experience, Great Movie Ride, and others, but they’re only added so Disney has something to offer people who show up without any reservations.  Or as we’ll probably see in the future, people staying off-property.

I really like Muppet Vision.  Once or twice a year is enough, but it’s certainly fun!

I think this is the first time I’ve actually heard a cast member say, “Sit wherever you want.”  Usually they’re hellbent on yelling, “EVERYONE PLEASE MOVE TO THE MIDDLE OF THE ROW” even if you’re the only one in the auditorium.  Enjoy your show in the front row on the far right.

You’ve probably seen the Muppets.  If you haven’t – you should.  It blends 3D animation, in-theater animatronics, and Sweetums.

And the Swedish Chef.  Note that they don’t call him the Swiss Chef.

He’s armed, dangerous, and takes sides.  Like Great Movie Ride, Muppet Vision is best saved for the afternoon or evening.

7:30pm wait times, as inaccurate as they may be.  We’re headed down toward Tower of Terror, where the posted wait will actually be 20 minutes.  We’re joined again by Craig and family.  You may recognize him as the moderator of the Photography forum.

As I’ve mentioned before, virtually all of the Studios’ quick services shut down early, often three or four hours before close.  Pizza Planet, Backlot Express, Studio Catering Company and others all shut down at 5:30pm with the 8pm close.

That creates longer lines at the two quick services that are virtually guaranteed to operate through close – Sunset Ranch Market and ABC Commissary.

The 20 minute wait at Tower of Terror.  Craig and family had pulled FASTPASSes for Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster shortly before I arrived, so we headed over there to use them.

Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster’s guitar scrim is down.  We arrived at Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster at 7:35pm and disembarked at 7:50pm.  We’re headed to a 7:55pm reservation at Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater, but we could have theoretically gone back on Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster or over to Tower of Terror for one last ride.  Assuming we got on Tower of Terror, we would have been able to do Great Movie Ride, Star Tours twice, Muppet Vision, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, and Tower of Terror in just over two hours.  That’s with a cumulative wait of around 15 minutes including all attractions.  That’s the way you want to orchestrate a late arrival.  Pull FASTPASSes for a major attraction that still has them available upon arrival, then visit minor/high capacity attractions until 60 to 90 minutes before close.  Then head over to the major attractions when fewer people are around.  In the Studios’ case, people either leave or head over to Fantasmic at the end of the night.

Craig had invited me out to dinner that afternoon and I popped online to see what reservations were available.  There were dinner reservations for all of the Studios’ restaurants, including Fantasmic packages for Brown Derby and Hollywood & Vine for that evening.

Like most Disney restaurants, Sci-Fi offers one menu all day.  Thank the Dining Plan.  But it also means some inexpensive items appear on the dinner menu as well, including three entrees under $13.

Standard 350% markup for wine and a boring cocktail list.

Sci-Fi is located in between the Writer’s Stop and ABC Commissary in kind of an awkward location near Star Tours and the Streets of America.  The lobby of the restaurant is as unassuming as it gets with just this little kiosk greeting guests.  Along with some movie posters:










Yes, these are all real things.

The nondescript entry sets you up perfectly for one of Disney’s best-themed restaurants.  It’s like a real drive-in!

With an authentic snack bar (kitchen) in the back.

Seating may be described as a bit awkward.  Each car has three rows that each seat two people.  If you have a party of six, you can forget about the people in the front seats talking to the people in the back seats without relaying information through the middle row.  And if the people in the front row want to talk to the people behind them, they’ll have to turn around to do so.  There are also some picnic tables in the back that would make conversation easier, but they lose some of the ambiance.  Seating shouldn’t be a deal breaker, just be aware of how it’s set up.

While you dine, movie trailers play on-screen in the front of the theater.

Being mostly 1950s B movie horror flicks, the trailers are more campy than scary.  I don’t think there was anything here that would startle or offend most sensibilities, but you’re welcome to weigh in if you feel differently.

I started with what turned out to be a $4.99 Chocolate Shake.  It didn’t occur to me at the time that I had ordered the Oreo.  Nevermind, it was an old-style shake made with thick ice cream and blended well.  It was barely possible to drink through the straw, which is the perfect consistency in my opinion.  Recommended, though it was not served with a spoon.

We started with the $8.49 Crispy Onion Rings with Horseradish Sauce. This is one of those rings.  There were probably a dozen more, most larger than this.  They were lightly fried and had a crisp onion flavor – nothing overpowering.  The horseradish sauce seemed tangier than the one served at 50s Prime Time Cafe, but that may just be my perception at the time.  They were very good, but probably not awe-inspiring.  I would like to try the Fried Pickles and Ribs if anyone else wants to go.

The lighting in Sci-Fi is terrible and I forgot my flash, so just pretend like these are iPhone 2 cell phone pictures or it’s 1992 or something.  I ordered the Picnic Burger – Flame-broiled Angus Burger Patty topped with Grilled Hot Dog, Sauerkraut, and Sauteed Onions, crowned with a Pickle Spear served with a choice of Cucumber Salad or French Fries – $15.99.

haha.  Wow that looks gross.  Wow.

Let’s scroll a little bit.

 

 

 

 

 

Okay.  The server asked how I wanted my burger cooked, which seemed like a good sign.  I replied, “medium,” and she seemed to oblige.  The burger came well done, dry, and mostly flavorless.  It reminded me of a Dairy Queen patty that was cooked to death and then broiled again for good measure.  The burger was begging for a slice of cheese.  As it stands, it was okay.  The sauerkraut, meat, and hot dog combine to make for a very salty meal, especially when you’re adding 100% of your day’s sodium from the pickle on top of the french fries.  It was a little much.

The fries were good though.  Disney would be wise to serve these at their quick service outlets.  Overall, it was worth $5 more than an ABC Commissary burger, which is really what we’re talking about here.  You get the addition of the ambiance, a smarter burger, and better fries, along with a wider options of drinks and free refills if you go for a fountain beverage.

Craig ordered The Reuben – Corned Beef, Sauerkraut, Swiss, and Thousand Island Dressing on Marble Rye Bread served with Pickle Spear and choice of Cucumber Salad or French Fries – $12.49.  Pictured is only half.  This looked to be a hearty sandwich, but Craig thought it lacked flavor and the corned beef was on the dry side.  Still, for two bucks more than a quick service sandwich, it’s a good value – especially with better fries.

There basically isn’t even a point in showing this disgusting looking glob of Grilled Chicken served with Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans and Carrots, and Sliced Apples – $8.99.  This is one of the new “Mickey Checks” meals for kids and I give Craig’s daughter, Courtney, credit for trying it.  She described it as very good and one of the better meals she’s had on property.  It certainly is a healthier seeming meal than your typical Mickey burger and fries.

Craig’s wife, Tammy, ordered the Build Your Own Angus Chuck Burger – $14.99 and thought it was one of the best burgers she’s had on property – even better than the defunct Le Cellier Burger.  Going cheese may be better than going hot dog.

Overall, Sci-Fi was satisfying.  I would have been more impressed had the burger been prepared to spec, but that’s probably more of a bad luck thing.  The ambiance is certainly a lot of fun and destroys what you’d find next door at ABC Commissary.  I don’t have any qualms about recommending Sci-Fi if you’re looking for a fun, inexpensive meal.  Just be aware that the food isn’t going to garner a Michelin Star and it may be difficult to chat up people behind you.  But chances are you’re sick of talking to your mother-in-law anyway, so this is a good excuse to point at the screen and say “Zip it, I’m trying to watch ‘The Curse of the Living Corpse’ here.”

Sci-Fi was taking walk-ups right through Park close and it seemed like they were taking a couple soon after that.  Consider visiting right before close to maximize Park touring time.  A lunch reservation to rest up and get out of the sun is also smart.

One of the fun things about a dining reservation right before close is that when you’re done, you’ll be walking around a theme park that’s virtually empty.

Commissary Lane.

While walking around the Streets of America, a manager-type came over and warned us about an impending cheerleader parade that would be coming through “in about five minutes.”

This seemed like “one of those lines,” but there were indeed a thousand-or-so cheerleaders huddled around the Sorcerer’s Hat, prepping to practice their parade of fear.

Hollywood & Vine. You’d think they would switch out the characters or something.  So much potential.

Not a whole lot going on at the Studios at the moment, but I would expect that to change in the imminent future.

One last chance to race ECVs up Hollywood Boulevard.

Bye.

Next up we’ll see some of the detailed analysis for October 2013 and visit Animal Kingdom.

Last modified: December 14, 2015 Filed Under: Blog

Comments

  1. Paige says

    March 21, 2013 at 9:43 am

    My girls have been terrorized by the Alien scene. Otherwise, they would love the ride. When that part comes, we have to close eyes and plug ears.

    Reply
  2. John says

    March 21, 2013 at 9:50 am

    Wow, too funny. I was on RnRC at the same time on Sun night. Didn’t see you but ran into two other online friends who are locals. Man, if only I could have seen the Almighty Josh! We were off RnRC at 7:50 and went to ToT. They closed the line behind us and said only one elevator was working so the wait would be a little longer but we would all get to ride. Took 15 mins.

    Reply
  3. Cat says

    March 21, 2013 at 9:57 am

    We love Sci-Fi and it is a must do for us traveling with 2 kiddos! Both girls were nervous about the movie clips at first but quickly realized they were nothing to be afraid of- then again they were both really quiet during the meal. Highly recommend! Your photos are great -well except for the gross food one, which is yes quite disturbing…. 😉

    Reply
  4. tanya says

    March 21, 2013 at 10:08 am

    The other day my daughter actually asked me “what’s a pay phone?”

    Reply
  5. JT says

    March 21, 2013 at 10:19 am

    Did the alien that emerges from the roof used to come down farther? Maybe it was just my 10 year-old sensibility but I had this image in my head of myself literally ducking and cowering in fear on the floor of the ride vehicle when that thing popped out back in the day.

    Reply
  6. Ben says

    March 21, 2013 at 10:23 am

    Last August we took our nearly 5-year-old son on The Great Movie Ride (by his choice), with the warning that there was a scary part. We covered his eyes & ears during the Alien scene, and he loved the rest! He was a bit apprehensive when the gangster “kidnapped” us (we were in the front row), but the Cast Member did a great job of making sure he was not overwhelmed/scared.

    Reply
  7. cgulls says

    March 21, 2013 at 10:27 am

    wait, Fred’s not real?

    Reply
  8. Tracey H says

    March 21, 2013 at 10:58 am

    ha…love your style! Love the hint too 😉

    Reply
  9. Sarah says

    March 21, 2013 at 10:58 am

    “haha. Wow that looks gross. Wow.

    Let’s scroll a little bit.”

    “Literally” lol’d at that one, right in the middle of the library. You’re the best, Josh, no teasing!

    Reply
  10. Marc S. says

    March 21, 2013 at 11:21 am

    I’m guessing the rumor going around is a Star Wars land (or maybe Cars Land). If you’re saying $500 million+, then I’m willing to bet it’s Star Wars

    Reply
  11. Psac says

    March 21, 2013 at 11:47 am

    Sci-Fi has become our go-to lunch at DHS. We both get Bacon Cheeseburgers (from the make-your-own), and it’s very good, although I would disagree with it being at the level of the Le Cellier burger (may it RIP.) The shakes and onion rings are really good, and the screens make for a fun time. The only thing I would hope for would be a refreshing of the material. The loop resets after about 50 minutes (give or take), which is fine, but for those who go there a few times a year, the clips are getting a little stale. I know, boo hoo, poor us. 🙂

    So is $500 million the amount it takes to build a Carsland, a Star Wars world, or both?

    Reply
  12. Psac says

    March 21, 2013 at 11:50 am

    Oh yeah, not just “a chess table,” it should say “THE chess table.” I totally agree, there should be much more of this about and around DHS.

    Reply
  13. Donna says

    March 21, 2013 at 12:19 pm

    “I’d stroke out if I was 7″……….lol

    Reply
  14. mike says

    March 21, 2013 at 12:27 pm

    With surveys going around about star wars I would bet it’s about them. Josh you are excellent at what you do,and don’t let anyone tell you different. Can’t wait for the announcement anytime it comes out. Can’t wait to go on my December vacation staying a week at sports all star. Stayed at pop century,and music and movies. Getting my AP in a couple weeks.

    Reply
  15. Katie says

    March 21, 2013 at 12:55 pm

    On our first visit to WDW (many years ago), the Great Movie Ride was one of my favorite rides. My little brother, who was four at the time, asked my Mom “Am I gonna live?” midway through the alien scene.

    Reply
  16. Dawn says

    March 21, 2013 at 1:27 pm

    Love The Great Movie Ride, thanks for another great post

    Reply
  17. Kevin says

    March 21, 2013 at 1:32 pm

    I took my 3.5-year old on the Great Movie Ride. That was the end of trusting Daddy for a couple days.

    Ilike th eambiance of the Sci-fi restaurant, but it turns out I’m not a fan of 50’s B-movie clips. So I’d rather head to 50’s Prime Time Cafe.

    Reply
  18. Kitty says

    March 21, 2013 at 1:57 pm

    Hi Josh, thanks for another great update!
    We’re doing Sci-Fi for the first time this trip. Doing it our first day as an inexpensive way to sit down properly and eat (with glorious AC), as we’ll be jetlagged (UK) and unadapted to heat (like I said… UK).
    Thanks again for taking the time to do all this!

    Reply
  19. can124 says

    March 21, 2013 at 2:06 pm

    “This Island Earth” was the movie behind Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie – so fantastic they have a movie poster! Great pictures and as always, love the commentary. Very interested to hear what the announcements will be regarding DHS; DHS has so the capability to be so much more than what it is. My husband and kids love this park, I think it’s just ehh. I will miss the Pixar Pals parade though – I know a lot of folks hate it, but it has great colors and you can’t beat the Pixar characters. Hopefully they do something to fill the hole it leaves. Thanks again for all that you do Josh!

    Reply
  20. Figaro says

    March 21, 2013 at 2:13 pm

    …this website isn’t run by a fake statistician out of Ontario.

    Meow.

    Reply
  21. snickers says

    March 21, 2013 at 2:30 pm

    Best. Post. Ever.
    Thank you so much for taking the time and effort to document so much of Disney World for us. I swear it’s the next best thing to being there, and we live and work to be there. The pictures and comments (“You get what you pay for…” hahaha…) are informative, entertaining, and hilarious. This is our favorite site, by far, and check it daily.

    We went in Jan (saw Josh at HS) and haven’t finished our trip report yet, but we followed the advice, recommended parks, and strategies and thought we had the best trip ever. The wife said the Friday at MK was here favorite day ever in Disney World; I can’t thank you enough for helping to make that happen. 🙂
    Sorry to be all rainbows and unicorns on you there.

    Reply
  22. Melissa says

    March 21, 2013 at 2:52 pm

    Took my daughter at age 6 to the Sci Fi for dinner and she HATED the movies. Really bothered her. I could see they were cheezy/campy but she could not. To this day we have not been back and she is 14. I liked the pics, Josh, that you took of after hours studio. I might book Sci Fi for dessert at the end of the night! Nice report AS ALWAYS!

    Reply
  23. Michelle says

    March 21, 2013 at 3:16 pm

    When I read the title I couldn’t help singing ” we only come out at night” which I forgot is such a great song! Also, I forgot about the Alien part and brought my toddler on. Needless to say she was not amused. That quickly became our last ride of the day.

    Reply
  24. TriSeb says

    March 21, 2013 at 4:20 pm

    “had the burger been prepared to spec”

    Shut it down!!! If that chef wasn’t kicked out of the kitchen for it throwing that burger in the bin…

    Reply
  25. Malemm says

    March 21, 2013 at 5:45 pm

    Thank you for this! We were just debating tonight if we should entirely overhaul our plans or stick with just a DHS evening. Seems like we’ll have enough to do and a nice time with an evening visit!

    Reply
  26. Jess O says

    March 21, 2013 at 5:49 pm

    When were there a few years ago one of the disney bus drivers told us that after they finished new fantasy land they were going to tear up Hollywood studios parking lot and add a new coaster or something.

    Reply
  27. Amy says

    March 21, 2013 at 5:57 pm

    My husband would pee his pants if they brought a Star Wars “land” to HS. Keep us posted on what you hear!

    Reply
  28. Anonymous says

    March 21, 2013 at 6:47 pm

    Great post. My DD6 didn’t have much of a reaction to the alien at all on the Great Movie Ride. She did duck down so she wouldn’t get shot during the mobster part. It was pretty funny, actually.

    Thanks for explaining about your numbers. It’s good to know that a 1,2, 9, or 10 are further apart than the others – gives them more meaning really.

    Reply
  29. Phil says

    March 21, 2013 at 6:52 pm

    What’s the issue with Tower of Terror? We noticed that waits on our last trip (a couple months ago) were way higher than usual (generally it is walk right on, but they actually had the line out into the garden… in January). I hope they get it fixed, it’s one of our favorites.

    Reply
  30. Erika says

    March 21, 2013 at 8:00 pm

    Thanks J, we do Sci Fi every trip..but had it off the list this time because we are not on the DP for first time….’ just 5$ more than ABC Commisary’ makes sense…but for my kids it is the perfect quiet time resauraunt 🙂 So its back on the list as a lunch one day…

    Reply
  31. houstonmama says

    March 21, 2013 at 9:19 pm

    MEOW indeed!

    Reply
  32. Ernie says

    March 22, 2013 at 2:42 am

    “One more rumor for you just because I like people telling me how stupid I am and how terrible this website is and how I’m desperate for traffic which is why I don’t promote the site at all and don’t have any advertisements and hide a one sentence teaser in the middle of a post with 7,000 words and 108 pictures.”

    I’m so glad you said this. That other site is getting right on my nerves and the sad thing is your site directed me to theirs, so effectively you increased their traffic by at least one 🙂

    Keep up the great work. I LOVE this site!

    Reply
  33. Brian Noble says

    March 22, 2013 at 5:11 am

    “So is $500 million the amount it takes to build a Carsland, a Star Wars world, or both?”

    Cars Land at DCA was about $200M, though it’s not clear if that is just Radiator Racers or everything. Either way, probably close: Racers is the vast bulk of the land, physically.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disney_California_Adventure#Cars_Land

    Reply
  34. Tom says

    March 22, 2013 at 5:30 am

    I agree, the gangster scene needs a lot of work. And the Alien set is just plain dirty.
    🙂

    Reply
  35. camm says

    March 22, 2013 at 5:33 am

    OMG A Star Wars land would make my family go bananas!!!! That would just be amazing… we are hoping that is a true rumor!!

    PS: In August we tried the fried pickles and they were gross. Don’t bother 🙂

    Reply
  36. Betty says

    March 22, 2013 at 6:19 am

    Thanks for the DHS tease!! That park definitely needs some love.

    I can’t help but wonder if a full blown Pixar Land was in development on paper (Monsters Inc Coaster, carbon copy of Carsland etc) but perhaps will be scaled back now to include a Star Wars land? Those Star Wars surverys floating around lead me to believe that something will be coming down the pipeline regarding that franchise at some point. But $500M doesn’t seem nearly enough to do all of it…

    Reply
  37. Ana says

    March 22, 2013 at 6:38 am

    I had a “bad parenting moment” on the Great Movie Ride. I had completely forgotten about that scene (how that happened I don’t know) and I took my 2.5 year old on the ride. He had done it before when he was 1 and it didn’t phase him then, but this time, he did NOT like it. His reaction was so sad and cute all at the same time……and yes, I was able to take a picture 🙂 #kodakmoments

    Reply
  38. Brian Noble says

    March 22, 2013 at 7:51 am

    Re: Cars/Pixar vs. Star Wars. They’ve only owned Lucasfilm for five months. That’s not very much time to develop something Really Big unless they had already been negotiating for additional rights and/or already had them by virtue of the current Star Tours license.

    Reply
  39. Psac says

    March 22, 2013 at 8:15 am

    They don’t have to announce details, just a VERY high level timeline, theme and budget, as they did with Avatarland. Five months is enough time for that, plus the Lucasfilm deal seemed to initiate from prior relationships. Maybe they were already working on this park deal already, and it didn’t just come from the Star Tours/Star Wars Weekends relationship.

    Reply
  40. JulieC says

    March 22, 2013 at 10:27 am

    One of my little girls was scared at the Sci-Fi, but she is very easily scared. She cried when she rode Haunted Mansion on a previous trip and refused that and Tower of Terror on our latest trip. If your child is easily frightened by the obviously fake undead, skip Sci-Fi. I didn’t anticipate that, but yeah.

    Reply
  41. Anonymous says

    March 22, 2013 at 1:18 pm

    No more parade at HS? That was my son’s favorite parade! We all loved it actually – but then again the Pixar movies are the kids favorites. Will they eventually get another parade?

    Reply
  42. allison says

    March 22, 2013 at 1:57 pm

    we went the first week of february- i had studied your recs in detail. we were not disappointed!!! at first i was a little bummed because every park was more crowded than i had expected. BUT we stuck to the recommended parks and your strategies- it was great, we got most everything done in each park that we wanted to do (and some that we didn’t because we had time to kill!) and didn’t wait more than 10 minutes for anything at any park! well, except meeting merida (30 minutes), but my daughter would not be denied:) thanks, josh!!!

    Reply
  43. Melanie says

    March 22, 2013 at 2:32 pm

    Josh we LOVE Sci Fi!! I have to say you should have ordered the Shrip Penne pasta. My Mother-in-Law and I had this the last time we were there and it was amazing! I think we had at least 15 large shrimp in our pasta. It was so good!! Give this a try next time! Thanks for the post!

    Reply
  44. KellyG says

    March 23, 2013 at 6:23 am

    Thanks for the details on the Sci-Fi. We were trying to find a new place to dine at HS since 50s Prime has started slipping. Also thanks for showcasing The Great Movie Ride. One of our favorites plus the source of several of our favorite vacation stories. We were stuck on it during a lightning strike power outage once and on another trip had the thrill of seeing the Disney police escort a whole family away when they disembarked. We love your posts and your site!

    Reply
  45. Dawn H says

    March 23, 2013 at 10:31 am

    Hey Josh,
    I wonder if you switched out your annual pass for a new one? And if you have, were you given any indication when the fastpass+ system will be available to you? I know you said you weren’t going to ‘talk’ about it until it happens, but I was just curious about how the three pre planned FP will work with FP pulled in the park, if that will still be an option or not…AND I was also wondering if the VIP seating for parades etc..are “connected” to the FP reservation system, in other words ‘three reservations” means dining, FP OR VIP seating or they are all separate.

    Reply
  46. RB says

    March 27, 2013 at 10:53 am

    I love your writing and photography (not to mention the welcome humor and snark) — feels like I’m strolling through the park myself, every time.

    Reply

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