We had the kids miss school on Friday March 3rd so we could use it as a park day. When Kye decided on Disney for his birthday he wanted to do Hollywood Studios to experience all the Stars Wars stuff (which, btw, there is a TON of it even without the Star Wars Land being there yet!). We decided to add on a second park day for Magic Kingdom because Tess had only gotten one MK day on her first visit and we always do two MK days for a first visit trip 😉 That first day at Magic Kingdom is overwhelming for a kid who hasn’t ever experienced Disney so I like a second day where they have the hang of everything and can really enjoy it all fully!
I know you can’t fully see their outfits in this pic but I wanted to go ahead and say where we got all our clothes for this day at the park! Kye shirt is personalized (“The Force is Strong with Kye”) and I ordered it from Jane. I’ve never really bought much from there but happened to see it and it was an awesome birthday gift! His hat came from Zach and mine outlet shopping trip. Lids Outlet had a $10 sale so I grabbed him a couple Star Wars hats, also as gifts 😉 Britt’s dress is from h&m that I randomly got a couple years ago on super clearance, her sweater is Target. Tess’s dress is from Gyspy Kids on FB for $16! Mine and Zach’s shirts are both Kohls 🙂
As always the kids had a little treat bag from us to open with goodies 🙂
Our big mission for the morning was to get Kye signed up for Jedi Training. Here are some pointers if you’re wanting your child to participate in this experience:
1. Be at the park an hour before it opens. Typically Hollywood Studios lets you through the gate and into the park 30 min prior to opening and you want to be up front and ready to get in!
2. Once in the park look for signage from Cast Members as to which way to go for Jedi Training Sign Up (it’s by Indiana Jones Stunt Show)
3. RUN.
4. Be sure to have one adult and the child wanting to participate. The child MUST be present to sign up.
5. If you’re like me and like a well-planned itinerary then plan for a later in the day time slot for the Jedi Training. We went with the 12:40 time slot which was the 3rd or 4th show of the day but I didn’t want to risk planning for something earlier than not getting it.
Zach and Kye had no issues getting the 12:40 time slot we were wanting! They were able to walk straight back to the signup as soon as the doors to the park opened (30 min prior to actual park opening time) and were done signing up about 10 min prior to park opening. They were even decently far back in the line and still didn’t have issues getting the time slot we wanted!
We always let the kids bring along ONE small toy to the parks to keep ’em happily entertained!
I found these notebooks at Target Dollar Spot and they were a HUGE hit!
I adore this 🙂 After having been sick for most of her first Disney trip I was SO PUMPED to see Tess be her normal, happy, self on this vacation!
When we were allowed into the park the guys rushed for the Jedi Training sign up. I planned for their morning to flow from there and go ahead and knock out some of the thrill rides that the girls and I don’t do. It was pretty funny because this was our first “outnumbered” trip. First trip as a family of 5 with JUST us (Mrs Charlotte came last trip for Tess’s first visit). I kept telling Zach that the outnumbered situation really only affected ME. He and Kye went off and did their big rides and it was a lot of me and the girls solo time. Which I didn’t mind one bit. We had a BLAST that morning and I felt super chill and relaxed. I knew the guys had long lines ahead of them so the girls and I just took our time, knowing the attractions we were wanting wouldn’t be nearly as crowded.
We only had a 20 min wait for Moana! Even though we met her last trip, both girls really wanted to meet her again (supposedly she’ll no longer be available at this location starting in April?).
Mom fail moment…I let the girls color on their notepads while in line and then Tess didn’t wanna give hers up when we met Moana…and then she wanted Moana to sign it too haha. Everyone in line was having a good chuckle at the situation 😉 I took three videos of our meeting Moana: 1, 2 and 3!
They had some items from the new live action Beauty and the Beast movie on display, including Belle’s dress!
After Moana we headed over to meet OLAF!!! I love solo Mom time with my kids as it just brings out my silliest side and we always get super pumped about everything. The line for Olaf was also super quick which was great 🙂
Olaf doesn’t give autographs and when we showed the cast member at the front of our line our autograph books she then gave us a card with a picture Olaf drew for us. It was a self portrait with his name. I’ve heard rumors that this may be a change across the board for character meetings…they may do away with signing and instead hand out signature cards. It would speed up the lines and personally I wouldn’t mind it as the signing of the kids books takes away from the interactions they have with the characters in my opinion! Here’s our Olaf video!
Silly girl time!!!
One of my personal favorite things about Hollywood Studios is the Storm Troopers roaming around. They are AWESOME and SO fun! We saw them TONS of times throughout our day and had some pretty great interactions with them.
Can you spot the hidden Mickey in the sign for The Little Mermaid?
The boys were hitting up some of the bigger rides that morning so we planned it out where the girls and I would meet Moana and Olaf and then head over to see The Little Mermaid. We’ve never gotten to sit so close to the front and it was great!
The guys did Rockin’ Rollercoaster
And Kye’s first time doing Tower of Terror. Zach said it was the funniest ride experience he’s had because all these teenage girls were freaking out. It def made Kye be tougher and he said it wasn’t even scary 😉
When we got out of Little Mermaid the guys were already lined up to get into Disney Jr Live on Stage. I wasn’t sure if they’d be able to make it or not and I’m super glad they did. Even at 8 years old, Kye still really enjoys this show and Tess and Britt LOVE it so I was happy Zach got to be part of it!
Love seeing her SMILE!!!
Our MAIN mission for the day was to do everything Star Wars possible. We went straight from Disney Jr to line up to watch the March of the First Order. It’s a VERY quick march of storm troopers. I recommend it even if you’re not a Star Wars family because it’s a fun experience and my girls even loved it even though they’ve never seen Star Wars 🙂
I took a couple videos: 1 and 2
Some of the attire people where to the parks is pretty awesome.
Kye was so serious 😉
The storm troopers march down and go on the stage and then march back. If you’re lining up for it (you only need to be a couple minutes early) then I do think it’s smart to line up near the stage so you can see that portion of it!
The boys had a fastpass for the Star Tours ride so we all headed there together and the girls and I just checked out the gift shop while we waited 😉 Zach said it was the best time they’ve ever ridden as Kye got chosen as the “spy” or something as part of the storyline and the ride said his name and everything! Super cool!
We walked through the gift shop and Britt declared she wanted to spend her chore earning money to build a light saber like Kye’s. They have a spot to do this at the gift shop when you exit Star Tours but they also have it at Disney Springs so I encouraged her to wait until then!
I asked on a Disney FB group about the BEST things to do at HS for a kid who loves Star Wars and someone suggested taking photos at the gift shop at Star Tours (I believe they also have this at Tomorrowland in Magic Kingdom in a gift shop). It was an awesome experience! Kye got to pick three scenes out to have himself placed in the photo. Then we got to see all three and he chose which one he wanted to purchase. I did get my Annual Passholder discount on the purchase, but it still wasn’t what I’d consider a bargain. However for a birthday present it was a great one! He has it in his room and loves it!
Our Luke Skywalker!
We had a strange amount of time left before Kye had to check in for the Jedi training. We hung out by the Muppets “ride” which I guess is where they are expanding for Star Wars land as they have a HUGE wall up with a big Star Wars sign. Britt was so crunk about it 😉
We ate some snacks, took a potty break, and just relaxed a bit. Of course a cast member came over and visited with us too, which I’m always a fan of 😉
The boys headed over to sign in for Kye’s Jedi Training (they want you there roughly 20-30 min before the show). You have to have ONE parent with your child at all times so it’s best to have one parent go with the Jedi child and the other one get a good seat to be able to see the show. I was seat duty 😉 I took my time getting the girls ready to go and let them both just walk over to the stage. Britt was so funny wanting to lead us in a “Storm Trooper March”
Our storm trooper leader 😉
We had PLENTY of time. If I knew then that’d we’d have so much time I would have gone and gotten a snack or something to pass the time with. We were literally the first ones there for the show and had our choice of where we wanted to stand.
Notepads for the win 😉 The girls never once complained about the wait! And I passed the time by talking to cast members 😉 We also saw a Make a Wish family and I straight up CRIED. I had to turn away b/c I was crying so much watching them on the stage. I talked to a cast member who we had met earlier at Olaf (Greer was her name…cool name, right? I liked it a lot!) and she said it’s often hard to keep the emotions in check when helping Wish families have a magical trip. I’m sure it’s SO hard not to get super emotional over it!
Britt was asking how to spell princess names and was writing them all down (glad we had cast member friends to help out on the spelling b/c Rapunzel gets me every time!). Tess was, of course, copying Britt and asking how to spell things. She asked how to spell “Moana” so I said “M” and I swear she drew a PERFECT M!!!! It was CRAZY! Greer saw it too so she can vouch for me that it happened!!! #geniuschild
An advantage of being early (or if you just happen to walk by the area when a show isn’t taking place) is that they have photo pass people there to take some super cute pics!
The force is questionable with this one 😉
The photo pass guy also became a fast friend and took some candids of us while we waited 😉
Zach got some pics of Kye while they waited for the show! They got the kids all ready in their jedi gear 🙂
I love seeing him so happy and making friends (kinda like his mama huh?)
They do a neat march of the Jedi coming from where they get ready to the stage!
The show is pretty simple in format…the lead male character was great but the female could use some help in the acting area 😉 It was NOT a super exciting show to WATCH. Like if you don’t have a child participating then def don’t plan to just view it. It’s focused on the kids who are IN the show which is awesome b/c it gives those kids a great experience. I personally enjoyed the Captain Jack’s Pirate Tutorial Kye was part of better than this one but I’m pretty sure if you asked Kye he’d say he liked this best 😉
The kids all got to learn their Jedi moves!
I love how concentrated he is and how seriously he took it. He can remember the exact moves and has taught them to Britt 😉
Kye got to battle against the Seventh Sister. Who I have NEVER heard of? Maybe she’s from the TV show? I’ve seen all the movies and I don’t remember her at all. I was a little bummed he didn’t get to fight against Darth but I did like that he was on the lower stage (easier to see) than the upper one! He did great though!!!
Kylo Ren came out at the end and no one fought him directly, they all used the powers of the force to fight him 😉
After the show the two birthday boys got to stay behind and get a special photo with all of the cast!
Each child was given a special pin to wear and it got Kye a lot of attention the rest of the day from cast members who congratulated him on his Jedi Training completion 🙂 Kye was grinning from ear to ear and said he LOVED it. Britt has already said she wants to do it next time with him! The photo pass photographer takes a TON of pics (as you can see from above) so you really can just focus on watching the show. They hand out cards to everyone at the end (similar to Enchanted Tales with Belle) and you can upload them once you get home. We loved the whole experience and it’s a for sure “must do” for a Star Wars fan! It’s especially a great idea for a birthday celebration!!!
As you can tell, we had an AWESOME morning! And the amazing day only continued into the afternoon 🙂 More to come!
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