Anna and Elsa’s Royal Welcome parade featuring Kristoff Frozen

Anna and Elsa’s Royal Welcome and Parade featuring Kristoff

We arrived at Hollywood Studios about 10:20am with the goal of watching the Anna and Elsa’s Royal Welcome and Parade which begins at 11:00am.  We scouted a spot near the entrance.  It was directly across from the gates from which the floats and characters appear.  There was a rope, but you’re asked to stand along a brass line on the ground.

We chatted with Deb from allears.com, who is a wonderful lady and offered some sage advice.  We stood under a nice cloud cover and a breeze, so it wasn’t as brutal as it usually would have been.  After standing there quite a while, mommies began sticking their little kids at our feet without our permission.  I tolerated the little girl in front of us and didn’t cause a scene.

An apparently British lady felt rather strongly that her lovelies deserved a last minute spot in front of another family and threatened to hurt the father.  It wasn’t the bright, beautiful scene one would love for a Disney Park.  Cooler heads prevailed and the parade began.

Click on a pic for a much larger image.

Frozen Summer Fun Premium Package at Hollywood Studios offers welcome procession, sing-a-long and fireworks reserved viewing areas.

Frozen Summer Fun Premium Package

Hollywood Studios has just announced today that they are going to offer The Frozen Summer Fun Premium Package.  The package will offer reserved viewing locations for Anna & Elsa’s Royal Welcome procession and show at 11:00am, a reserved seat for one showing of For the First Time In Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration which takes place at the following times:

• 12:30 PM – 12:50 PM
• 01:30 PM – 01:50 PM
• 02:30 PM – 02:50 PM
• 03:30 PM – 03:50 PM
• 05:00 PM – 05:20 PM
• 06:00 PM – 06:20 PM
• 07:00 PM – 07:20 PM

and a dessert party and reserved viewing location for the Frozen fireworks.  The reserved viewing location will be available from 8:30 to 10:00pm with the actual fireworks show at 9:45pm.  Wheelchairs and ECVs will be accommodated

Guests who book this package are asked to check in near Min and Bill’s Dockside Diner beginning at 10:30am.  The package will be available from July 5 through September 1, 2014 but is not available August 23.  The cost is $59.00 per adult and $34 per child including tax.  There are no discounts available.  Book this package now by calling 407-939-1939

This package is very similar to the Star Wars Premium package that was offered weekends during Star Wars Weekends. You might want to check out my reviews of these experiences before choosing whether you wish to book this or not:

• Parade review
• Fireworks review

(Note: Guests will receive a credential for identification during the Royal Welcome procession viewing. If you are not able to attend the Royal Welcome procession viewing, please visit Guest Relations to check-in between 12 p.m. and 8 p.m. and select a show time for the sing-along celebration. After 8 p.m., please check-in at Min and Bill’s. Credential identification is non-transferrable and will not be replaced if lost or stolen.)

My Star Wars Dine-In Galactic Breakfast review

My Review of the Star Wars Dine-in Galactic Breakfast at the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater at Hollywood Studios

Update 5/10/14  Added examples of the bonus content photos you receive to the bottom of the post.

Our day began by arriving at Hollywood Studios about 7:30 am.  We saw that there were two signs in the character meal area on the far left of the entrance points.  We headed for the right line for the Star Wars meals.  A few other people lined up behind us and a couple were in front.  A guy in front said one lady told him to get in the back of the single line on the left and another lady told him to get in the Star Wars line on the right.  

 

I told him that someone will come tell us to get back into the long line and a few minutes later a lady will come tell us to go back to the line on the right.  I’m such a prophet 🙂

KennythePirate’s Hollywood Studios Map including Fastpass plus locations, rides, shows, characters, dining and shopping

Links to all my custom maps!

• Animal Kingdom map with Fastpass+ locations, Character locations, Rides, Shows and Dining
• Epcot map with Fastpass+ locations, Character locations, Rides, Shows and Dining
• Hollywood Studios map with Fastpass+ locations, Character locations, Rides, Shows and Dining
• Magic Kingdom map with Fastpass+ locations, Character locations, Rides, Shows and Dining

The Best Disney World Hollywood Studios Map!

I just completed my all-new Hollywood Studios map that includes character locations, fastpass+ kiosk locations, rides (and whether the ride uses FP+), shows, dining and larger shopping locations. I hope you find that this is the best map of Hollywood Studios and that this helps you in your Walt Disney World planning.

You’ll also be able to find these maps under the MAPS tab at the top of the blog.   It will also be included in all Hollywood Studios Touring Plans that I create in the future.

Hollywood Studios Touring Plans

Click on the image for the full size version.  It’s a REALLY large map

 

 

Symphony in the Stars Fireworks to be featured during Star Wars Weekends and anniversary celebration

Disney’s Hollywood Studios will begin featuring the very popular “Symphony in the Stars” fireworks during Star Wars Weekends in May and June.  Hollywood Studios will feature Star Wars Weekends May 16-18, May 23-25, May 30-June 1 & June 6-8.  “Symphony in the Stars” Fireworks will be shown behind the Sorcerer’s Hat each night at 9:45 PM.  This is sure to be a big hit among Star Wars Weekends attendees and I advise that you find your favorite viewing location at least 30-60 minutes prior to the fireworks show as views are pretty limited at Hollywood Studios.  I’ll be updating further details on Star Wars Weekends as details are released.

In addition, Hollywood Studios will offer “Special Fireworks” at 9:30 PM on May 1st, which is the celebration of the park’s 20th Anniversary.  Disney even extended the park hours to 9:00 AM – 11:00 PM for that date as well.  Here’s hoping that they will bring out a bunch of their old characters to celebrate!

KennythePirate’s unofficial Doc McStuffins excuse from school or work and prescription forms

When meeting Doc McStuffins the other day at Hollywood and Vine Play and Dine character meal, my brother “Bootstrapbob” came up with what I thought was a great idea.  He said we should have a cool formatted prescription for people to download and print from home for a great character autograph.  I thought it might be fun to include an excuse from school or work.  You take it to the Doc for the signature and she will grant you time off work or school or give you the needed prescription.  You can even have Doc sign two, so your boss or teacher can keep one!

What do you think?  Would you like to have Doc McStuffins sign one for you?  Click on a pic and then right click to print or save!

Doc McStuffins excuse from school or work (blank):

Character Palooza at Hollywood Studios on Streets of America January 26, 2014

Character Palooza can be like shooting at a moving target at times.  Cast Members are instructed to act as if it doesn’t occur until they characters actually appear and the schedules aren’t published publicly except on my site and others who borrow it.  I’m able to get basic schedules from an uncredited friend because the friend wants guests to be able to access these characters.  Sometimes the schedules that I’m provided can be adjusted slightly based on conditions and desires of the Character Palooza team.  I try my best to keep the schedules updated, but recommendation is to arrive a little before the times I list and wait around.  Characters will NOT appear during inclement weather.

Here’s a link to the Character Palooza schedule and location information.

Here’s who we visited yesterday:  Belle, Mulan, Snow White & Snow Queen Grimhilde, Green Army Men, Penguin, Mary Poppins, Stitch, Genie, Chip n Dale.   Belle didn’t return for the second set and the third set was cancelled after only a minute or two on stage due to rain in the area.

(Click on a pic for a larger image.  Sorry some of the photos are a little blurry, it was user error on my part)

The highlight of recent Character Palooza meets has been seeing Snow White and the Evil Queen Grimhilde in the same meet and greet!

Belle didn’t offer a set meet. She took the hand of this little girl and walked around with her introducing her to the various characters with no waiting in lines. Way to go Belle!

Doc McStuffins and Sofia the First join Hollywood and Vine Play and Dine character meal at Hollywood Studios

We had the opportunity to be among the first families to meet Doc McStuffins at her new home at Hollywood and Vine today at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.  We made an 8:00am breakfast reservation in order to meet her today.  We had a great time meeting Doc McStuffins, Sofia the First, Handy Manny and Jake.  The entire experience took about one and a half hours.  We were waiting on Doc to make her way over to us.  The meal appeared MUCH more popular than it was when Secret Agent Oso and June met there.

I personally think this is a great mixture of characters.  There’s two male and two female characters and many little boys like Doc McStuffins.  The characters are willing to spend as much time with your family as you’d like to interact and Doc was uber popular, so don’t expect to run in, consume some egg dish and run out in 30 minutes.  I think one to one and a half hours is reasonable for this and any character rotation meal.

HANDY MANNY

We began with meeting Handy Manny.  Not a lot to say.  The guy loves tools, so he and I have a lot in common.  We’ve seen him a number of times in the past when he offered the in park meet and greet.  I need to get one of those pencils though.

Pirate in the Parks: Hollywood Studios January 17, 2014 farewell fastpass, toy story midway mania, buzz n woody, rock n roller coaster, tower of terror and sci fi dine in theater

My kids are out of school on January 17th and I’m off work, so let’s go to Disney’s Hollywood Studios!  You’ve heard me say many times that effective park touring begins with arriving at least 30 minutes before park opening (45 minutes or more during the busy seasons).  Here’s the line as we walked up at 8:32 am. And here’s the line at 8:45 am.  The park opened about 8:45 and the line was already beyond the ticket booths.  Why would that matter?  The new Mickey Touchpoints move people through much faster than previously.  Well, it’s because we want to be among the first to go straight to Toy Story Midway Mania for a short wait.

Bellhop on duty. One of my favorite photos I’ve ever taken.

Justin is one of the best current creepy bellhops that work the Tower of Terror in Walt Disney World’s Hollywood Studios. Here’s a pic I go as he was about to close the elevator doors