As I mentioned before, we planned this trip around our birthdays. To celebrate, we both got to pick what we wanted to do to spend our special days. Since Mary Ellen’s birthday was actually during the trip, we celebrated her birthday at her favorite park at Walt Disney World, Hollywood Studios. I figured since we spent the day celebrating her, she should be the one to tell us about it! A bit of foreshadowing: what I thought was allergies, but turned out to be COVID, started really affecting me this day and I had try really hard to push through. So without stealing too much of the spotlight, I’m going to let Mary Ellen tell y’all about our day celebrating her birthday! If you want to see videos and more pictures of our day at Hollywood Studios, I have it saved to a highlight on Instagram, which you can find here.
Mary Ellen: July 10, 2022 was all about Star Wars, thrill rides, Cobb salad, Toy Story, and my birthday! I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling…28 (Taylor Swift should definitely write more age-based songs). We each got to choose how we wanted to spend our birthdays on the trip, and for my day I chose to go to Hollywood Studios. Not only does the Studios have Galaxy’s Edge, it also has my favorite restaurant on Walt Disney World property, the Hollywood Brown Derby, and my favorite live show, Beauty & the Beast: Live on Stage. I’ve also become somewhat of a thrill ride enthusiast and I absolutely love the Toy Story movies, so Hollywood Studios was the perfect pick.
Both decked out in Star Wars gear (my ‘fit of the day included my favorite Ahsoka Tano ears from Etsy), we started the day with reusable mugs filled with Diet Coke and a lengthy wait for the bus to the Studios. To pass the time, we amused ourselves laughing at our own jokes from the days before: “What color is the ball?” “I’m nearsighted, not colorblind!” We crack ourselves up, for sure! I’m a firm believer that part of enjoying the Disney parks is being able to find the fun in every situation.
By the time we got to Hollywood Studios, we were primed for some movie magic. We booked it to Toy Story Land first thing to attempt to beat the crowds to Slinky Dog Dash. We saw a large school group taking a picture at the entrance to the land, the sight of which motivated us to power walk (yes, power walk. No running in Disney parks!) to the ride in order to beat them. We were unsuccessful, but still didn’t wait too long to ride. I have to say, even being in the middle of a large group didn’t dampen my birthday spirits. By far the worst part was me having an issue with my contacts while we were in the queue.
By this point in Melissa’s Universal & Walt Disney World series, it’s likely been made clear that the two of us (first me, then Melissa), got Covid during our trip. One of my most prevalent Covid symptom was extremely dry and itchy eyes. It had been an ongoing issue for me since we were in the middle of our day at Animal Kingdom, but by our Hollywood Studios day I was smart enough to bring my glasses along to change into if my eyes got too irritated. Well, by 9:45 in the morning I was in glasses. Maybe I shouldn’t have even tried to put in my contacts in the first place? I didn’t get that savvy until our very last day when I ditched the contacts altogether!
All the Covid business aside, we finally made it onto Slinky Dog Dash. I enjoyed the ride so much! It was such a great start to the day. I would have loved to ride again, but the wait kept climbing throughout the day, so we never got the chance to go on it a second time. The next time I visit Walt Disney World, I will definitely spend more time in Toy Story Land in order to experience everything it has to offer. We came back later in the day to ride Toy Story Mania, but missed the Alien Swirling Saucers. As of now (March 2023), a new restaurant has opened in Toy Story Land as well. It’s called Woody’s Backyard Barbecue. The food and atmosphere look too good to pass up!
At long last, it was time to go to a galaxy far, far away! I had been to the Disneyland iteration of Batuu before, but my amazement has yet to cease. Galaxy’s Edge seriously feels like another world. The Imagineers did an amazing job bringing Black Spire Outpost to life. When I was in Disneyland with my mom in 2021, she commented that Galaxy’s Edge reminded her of being in a foreign country because of the bustling marketplace and signs in other languages. I completely agree, and I absolutely love it. Melissa and I started off our time in Batuu by sharing one of the famous Ronto Wraps (yummy to the last bite) and a watching bit of Melissa’s church’s live-streamed Sunday service.
Melissa, being the fabulous friend that she is, knew two of the ways to my heart: Cobb salad (more on that later) and not having to wait in long lines. My sweet friend got up before 7am and snatched an Individual Lightning Lane for Rise of the Resistance for us. What a feat! Let me tell you, Rise of the Resistance is a massively impressive attraction. It’s no wonder that it’s won the Golden Ticket Award for Best Dark Ride for multiple years in a row. I’m not a huge fan of the sequel Star Wars movies, but I still really enjoyed this ride. I also enjoyed the fact that I got to hear one of my favorite voice actors, James Arnold Taylor, as Lieutenant Bek. For any other Star Wars nerds out there, you might recognize him as the voice of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Jedi Master Plo Koon in the series Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
Melissa: Just wanted to pop in with a comment about Rise of the Resistance. It was by far one of the best rides in the whole park! It’s half walkthrough and half trackless dark ride with so many cool effects and technical elements. If this ride is any indication of what the future of dark rides will hold, count me in! One of my favorite parts of the ride was getting to walk through where all the storm troopers are lined up. It was supposed to be a walk through after we were captured, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to take a selfie with them!
Mary Ellen: Our adventures in Batuu continued with Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run. My mom and I had ridden this twice the previous November in Disneyland, and I was so excited to get back in the Millennium Falcon. I can proudly say that I’ve now performed all three roles: engineer, gunner, and pilot, which is arguably the best. I mean, I got to make the jump to lightspeed–does it get any better than that? Melissa and I rode this single rider, but ended up in the same ride vehicle with a family of four who were super fun to ride with!
Is it controversial to say that I didn’t like the green milk? I’ll own it and say that floral flavors aren’t my cup of tea, but I have a rule that I’ll try anything once. Pro tip: If you’re with a group who wants to sample the blue or green milks without committing to each finishing a whole glass, get one and split it amongst your party. They’ll give you a few extra cups if you ask!
Before leaving the Star Wars bubble, we rode Star Tours: The Adventures Continue, which is always a favorite of mine. Unfortunately, I was not selected to be the Rebel spy — there’s always next time!
We walked over to the Chinese Theatre to look for the golden 50th Anniversary statues (as mentioned before, we are unsure if they are keeping these statues up after the end of the 50th Anniversary Celebration) . We were so lucky to be able to visit Walt Disney World during the resort’s 50th anniversary celebration! From someone who has been to Walt Disney World many times, including during the 25th anniversary (at age 3 I loved the birthday cake castle), it was extremely special to be there during the 50th. The golden statues that are in Hollywood Studios are Frozone and Edna Mode from The Incredibles, Joe from Soul, Flounder and Sebastian from The Little Mermaid, R2-D2 and BB-8 from Star Wars, and, last but not least, Woody and Bo Peep from Toy Story. Our search for the statues was interrupted by the Pixar Pals motorcade. We got to see all of our favorite Disney-Pixar characters including Sully, Mr. and Mrs. Incredible, Buzz, Woody, Jessie, Edna Mode, and the Green Army Men.
After enjoying the motorcade, which was a fun throwback to our childhoods, we checked in for our lunch reservation at the Hollywood Brown Derby. I’ve said before that I have a few meals that haunt my dreams. The Brown Derby Cobb Salad is most definitely one of them. We both ordered salads and thoroughly enjoyed them. If you’re like me and love the Cobb Salad so much that you want to make it at home, you can ask your server for the recipe. It comes printed on a cute cutout of a derby hat! In addition to the Brown Derby being one of my favorite restaurants on property for food, it’s also a favorite of mine for atmosphere and service. The staff here is always amazing and goes out of their way to make your day more magical. Given that we had hit a wall, a fun and relaxing table service meal in the middle of our day was just what we needed to recharge for what was up next.
In an attempt to let our lunch digest, we opted to see my favorite show at the Studios: Beauty and the Beast: Live on Stage. They were still observing Covid restrictions at the time, so the choreography was different than I’d seen in the past, but it was still an amazing show! I love the beautiful costumes and Broadway-style singing and dancing. Beauty & the Beast has been my favorite Disney movie since I was little (I wore out multiple VHS tapes of the movie as a child), and this production at Hollywood Studios has been on my Hollywood Studios itineraries for as long as I can remember. It was so special to see it again!
It was time to face Melissa’s fears and ride the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror and Rock’n’Roller Coaster starring Aerosmith. It was Melissa’s first time on both rides. We got a fun distraction in the queue for the Tower of Terror: Goofy and Max were in the line greeting guests! Both the Tower of Terror and the Rock’n’RollerCoaster were so fun, but I think that we enjoyed the Tower of Terror more. I’m always a big fan of drop rides, and the detailed story behind this one only adds to the scare factor! The Rock’n’Roller Coaster was definitely in need of some TLC (which it is now receiving), but it was still a rockin’ time. You can’t go wrong with the music of Aerosmith!
Melissa: We waited in the single rider line for the Rock’n’Roller Coaster thinking the wait would be shorter. I honestly think the wait was just as long, if not longer, than the regular standby line. There was a point in time right before we boarded the Rock’n’Roller Coaster when the cast members working the loading area weren’t calling any single riders because the groups in standby were either even numbers or the perfect amount to fill a section. It works sometimes, but it’s never guaranteed that the single rider line will be quicker than the regular standby queue.
Mary Ellen: While standing in line for the Rock’n’Roller Coaster, I caved and bought us Genie+ for the day so we could grab a Lightning Lane for Toy Story Mania. With us not feeling well and having limited time at the park, this was the best option for us. We paid $15 each to have Genie+ for the day (at the time of travel, Disney had not introduced surge pricing for Genie+). Toy Story Mania is one of my favorite rides! I wasn’t the highest score in the car, but I did get the highest score in our party. After I beat Melissa on Toy Story Mania, we stopped at Woody’s Lunchbox to have a mid-afternoon snack. Their lunchbox tarts were on my list of must-try eats for the trip. I ordered the raspberry tart. I think the best way to describe it would be that it tastes like a British classic, the Bakewell Tart. I highly recommend it if you’re a fan of raspberries and pastries! Melissa had the banana and peanut butter tart and thought it was just okay. She wished she had gotten the raspberry tart as well!
Before heading to our last ride in Hollywood Studios, we took a must-needed air conditioning break in the land of Arendelle at the Frozen Sing-Along Celebration. The emcees were hilarious, and we had a ball belting out our favorite Frozen tunes. It even “snowed” at the end!
Our last ride at the Studios was going to be Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, but while we were in line, the ride broke down with no set time to reopen. Being that I was still a little sore about it replacing the Great Movie Ride (RIP), I was okay to skip it and head to Epcot. Melissa did stop to take a picture of Audrey Hepburn’s handprints in front of the replica of Grauman’s Chinese Theater.
Fun fact: Walt Disney World is the only place that you will find Audrey’s handprints! When creating her prints for Hollywood Studios, she became emotional and revealed that no one had ever asked for her handprints before. The real Grauman’s in Hollywood, California quickly invited Hepburn to add her prints in front of their theater, but she declined, saying that her handprints were in the only place that they needed to be.
We took the Skyliner over to the International Gateway at Epcot. The International Gateway is the “back entrance” to Epcot, and is easily accessible by boat and Skyliner from Hollywood Studios. The entrance is between the United Kingdom and France pavilions. I have to say, I love the Monorail, but it has some stiff competition for the best Walt Disney World transportation method. Even after all of the movie magic at Hollywood Studios, riding the Skyliner was still one of my favorite moments from the day. Just like on the Monorail, we were treated to occasional narration and facts about the Walt Disney World Resort. Not to mention, the views were incredible!
On our way to Epcot, I booked a Lightning Lane for Soarin’ Around the World using Genie+. Even though we got a bendy Eiffel Tower (IYKYK), we loved the ride so much we ended up riding it again the next day! Ever since I first heard the soundtrack for the original ride, Soarin’ Over California, I’ve been such a big fan of the ride. After Soarin’, we closed out the night in Epcot with a delicious taco dinner from La Cantina de San Angel in the Mexico pavilion.
Our favorite unexpected moment of the day was definitely the Cobb Salad at Hollywood Brown Derby. It came when we most needed it, and gave us the energy to conquer the rest of the day. Looking back on my 28th birthday, I am so grateful for being able to spend it with my best friend at Walt Disney World. I had the most wonderful birthday in the most magical place on Earth!
Some more shots from our day at Hollywood Studios:
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