Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom - October 2021
We decided our first day would be spent at Hollywood Studios followed by the evening at Animal Kingdom. We opted for Hollywood first for a few reasons. One, we knew we wanted to also do Magic Kingdom and Epcot for sure. And those were fitting on Tuesday and Wednesday. Magic is never a good idea on Monday, and with the Food and Wine Festival going on, Epcot wasn't ideal for Monday either. We love doing Animal Kingdom at night, so that left Hollywood during the day. Melody LOVES Dinoland at Animal Kingdom, and we find it best in the evenings.
We did have the initial hiccup of how to get to the parks when we arrived at our hotel. While I intend to go into more details later, we basically had to schedule a bus time. Well the bus time we wanted was already sold out by the time we knew this. That left getting to Hollywood after opening, or getting there way before opening. After traveling, we really didn’t want to get there that early. Plus we had a stroller being delivered at 7. So catching a bus at 7 was near impossible. So we were forced to drive to the parks. Driving wasn’t ideal, but we made the best of it. From the time we parked, it took 20 minutes to walk, get through security, and in line for our first ride.
Once arriving, we headed straight for Mickey and Minnie’s Railway. It is the one ride that we really wanted to do with all three of us. It was Melody’s favorite on our trip in May. But Brad did not get to ride it with us because he was shopping in Galaxy’s Edge. Our wait was around 35 minutes. I think it was posted at 45. I hated waiting that long, but I also knew we didn’t have much on the agenda. It is such a cute ride, although Melody did panic some during it this time around for some reason.
While in line, I was texting with Emily’s group who was also at Hollywood Studios. Justin was riding Rise of the Resistance, and Emily was with the kids riding Toy Story rides. We decided to definitely meet up for lunch. We opted for Backlot Express since it is inside, offers free refills, and has a good variety of food for everyone. We placed a mobile order for pickup between 11:30 and 12.
After we finished riding the Railway, we met up with Emily’s group in Toy Story Land. Justin had just finished Rise. We took a bathroom break, then we all spilt up in different groups. Brad and Justin went to do Star Tours and walk around Galaxy’s Edge. Emily took Dalton to the baby care center for a break. And I took the two girls to ride Alien Swirling Saucers. We had a 30 minute wait, and the girls had so much fun just being together.
When we finished up, we walked over to Backlot Express through Galaxy’s Edge. I figured it might be the only time we walk through it, and it was surprisingly pretty empty.
We checked in for our lunch right at 11:30. Our food was ready and we were seated by 11:45. We luckily found a large table right near the drink machine which made for easy refills. Melody got the kid’s macaroni and cheese with fries and a milk. I brought her lunch, but I knew she would want fries and milk. It was cheaper to just get the kid’s meal instead of going al a carte. I ended up giving the macaroni and cheese to Lydia. I got the 4 piece chicken fingers with fries, cheese sauce, and a drink. Brad got the burger with fries and drink. We also got the Wookie Cookie. The chicken was actually better than I remembered Disney chicken being, and the cheese sauce was a nice touch for the fries. The cookie was really good, but also really sweet. I think I took maybe two bites.
We finished up with lunch after about 45 minutes or so. Dalton needed a break, so Emily took him back to the room. Justin and Brad wanted to ride Millennium Falcon, so they headed to do that. They actually rode it twice using single rider once. Then I took the girls to ride the Railway. On the way, I stopped to get their picture made.
Again, the wait was around 35 minutes long. The girls really enjoyed it, but afterwards, they were both done.
We grabbed a snack and waited on Justin and Brad to finish up with Galaxy’s Edge. I got the smoked fish dip from Dockside Diner. It was nice because I was able to use mobile order and get the girls set up with snacks at a table while I waited. They also had water setup without me having to ask for water for the girls.
Lydia and Justin headed back to their room to rest. We gave Melody a few options. 1. Head on to Animal Kingdom (it was almost 2, and we would have to drive there). 2. Drive back to the room for a small break. 3. Ride another ride before heading to Animal Kingdom. Melody said she wanted to try Slinky Dog. She was terrified last time, so I hated to not let her. Plus we didn’t have much else to do. Now the negative was the wait. We explained to her the wait was an hour, and she was ok with that. I do wish we would have gotten drinks and a snack to take in line though. It did end up taking about 50 minutes. Melody loved it, and our ride photo was awful because she was on the outside. She screamed like crazy the entire time. She said she hated the parts where she could see down. I think she might have loved it more at night for sure. But she did say she would ride it again.
Once finished, we took bathroom breaks then checked in on Emily’s group. Justin wasn’t feeling great with a headache, so Brad and Melody walked over to their hotel to help Emily get all the kids on a bus to Animal Kingdom. I then went to find our car and head over to Animal Kingdom. After some panic and frantic calling to Brad, I found our car. While I had pictures, we were parked farther down that I remembered, so I couldn’t find it.
I made it to Animal Kingdom and parked by 5 pm. I took pictures of my location then went to find Emily and Brad with the kids. Brad rode Everest, and we took the kids to The Boneyard to play.
We let them play until around 6:15. Then we placed mobile orders for Flame Tree BBQ. This isn’t our favorite, but the negative with nighttime at Animal Kingdom is the lack of food options. Brad got the hot link smokehouse sandwich. He said it was ok, but not his favorite. I got the baked macaroni and cheese with pulled pork. I have a pork allergy, but it is not an “kill me” allergy. It just upsets my stomach and can cause issues long term. So I try not to eat it often. But man it was amazing. I got extra BBQ sauce which was a good choice. Melody just had food we packed along with milk.
Then around 7, we headed back to Dinoland to let the girls ride Triceratop Spin. It is a favorite, and there is literally never a line. I also loved the girls could ride it together. We let them ride it over and over for about 25 minutes before making them stop.
At this point, Emily took her kids back to the hotel. We decided to take Melody on Dinosaur. It is one of my favorites, and I didn't get to ride it back in May.
We rode it three times in a row with basically walking on each time. Melody LOVED it. You might find it hard to believe with some of her expressions below, but she would have ridden it 10 more times if we had let her.
It ended up being a later night than we expected, and we basically closed out the park near 8. But we had the best day. It was so much fun seeing Melody and Lydia experience Disney as kids (we last took them at 18 months old tougher). And it was so much fun seeing how brave Melody was becoming. And I truly recommend Animal Kingdom at night. Like the park was nearly empty for us. Dinoland was a ghost town for sure!
