Day Fourteen – Hollywood Studios & Epcot

Posted on January 20, 2013. Filed under: Disney | Tags: Disney, epcot, Florida, holiday, Hollywood Studios, Windsor Hills |

Today we woke up at 7.30am and had a light breakfast at the villa before leaving for Hollywood Studios. We passed under the Disney Bridge on the way in and it always brings a little lump to my throat.  The Disney Magic is real!

We arrived at HS  just in time for opening at 9am and headed straight to Rock N Roller Coaster for another great ride on our favourite coaster.  10/10

Then it was time for another ride on Tower of Terror.  The theming as you enter the hotel is just fantastic. .

We had another great ride – been better than the others on previous days.  The drops are all different each time you rider which means that the air of suspense is maintained.  On the way out I bought a great ToT themed towelling wrap skirt which will be perfect to wrap round my bikinis when on holiday in Menorca (my other favourite holiday destination).

Next we went to the animation workshop.  This is a great experience where you get to sit with a  Disney animator and learn the tricks of the trade.  They literally talk you through how to draw one of the characters and you get to take away your artwork with you.  Our workshop drew the loveable Pluto.  We had a great animator who asked a question of the audience at the end of the event to win his own drawing. (Q – What type of dog was Pluto originally? A – A bloodhound)

Paul answered correctly so we got to take home a genuine Disney animation! It wasnt quite as good as mine though 😉

We left HS at 11am and headed back towards the villa.  Tasha wanted a Macdonalds for lunch so we stopped on Highway 192 to pick up a meal for her.  Paul and I ate the food we had leftover at the villa for lunch.  We spent a relaxing afternoon reading by the pool which was bliss.  We were really starting to feel tired now after all the very early starts and the hectic pace of the parks.

That evening we planned to eat at Longhorns.  So far we had eaten fantastic meals in all the restaurants so we were staring to get a little anxious going to a new place, thinking that it wouldn’t be as good as the previous places.  However, it just kept on getting better and better.  We headed off around 7pm. It was a lovely warm and balmy evening.  Quite a change for the days earlier in the week.

We got seated fairly quickly and were served a warm loaf and flavoured butter.  For appetizers Paul had chicken wings, Tasha had salad  and I had a Tuna sashmi with wasabi which were all delicious. Our mains were Pork Chop for Paul, chicken salad for myself and sirloin steak with fries for Tasha.

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To finish we all shared a chocolate brownie with cream and ice cream.

We had another superb meal and had really enjoyed our dining out in the second week.

We left the restaurant around 8.30pm and decided to go over to Epcot to see Illuminations Fireworks. It was still lovely and warm as we arrived.  We walked through the park towards the world showcase.  Our preferred spot was to find a table in the Rose and Crown pub area in England.  The seating at the Rose and Crown has a great view over to the fireworks if you are lucky enough to get a table.  Although we arrived around an hour before the show was due to start all the tables were taken 😦

Many people stay there all night with just one small drink so it didn’t seem the best way to run the area!  We went to get ourselves a drink and stood around to see if a table came free.  As we waited we saw a bunny hopping through the gardens!

We got chatting to a group of Americans stood next to us.  It turned out that they were Disney employees on a  special managerial programme that week.  They had been given special effects glasses to use when watching the fireworks which they generously gave to Tasha to use.  It turned the fireworks into lots of mini Mickey shapes. The fireworks and music were spectacular as always.

We left the parks with the crowds and were soon back at our villa.  Windsor Hills is a perfect location – so close to Disney and lots of fab restaurants. I felt a little sad as we left Epcot tonight, knowing that our wonderful holiday was almost at an end and not knowing if we would ever return to the Disney magic.

Thanks for reading along.

Gill x