Day 1-Hollywood Studios

We started our Monday with the plan to spend the day at Hollywood Studios. I woke up at 6:50 am to buy Genie+ for the day; this is a "line skipping" feature that Disney now offers for a cost per person. ($15 plus tax) One can select a ride at 7 am and depending on how quickly you click the buttons or what your cell phone signal is you are given a reserved time to experience that ride. We were able to book Slinky Dog Dash for 12:30 pm. 

We left our hotel room around 7:45 or 8 am to get in line for the Skyliner which takes us from our resort directly to the park. Our hotel room was close to the Disney Riveria Hotel and so we got on the Skyliner from that spot and then transferred to the main hub where there was already quite a bit of a line but it moved quickly and we were walking into the park at 8:30 am for early entry. We were all pretty excited so I encouraged the kids to run to Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway for our first ride; we then all found out there is no running at Disney World, as a couple cast members kindly called out to us. 

We all loved this ride! It was so fun and cute. 

We had reservations at Oga's Cantina at 9 am but didn't finish with our first ride until 9:15. I wasn't too worried about our time slot as I had heard as long as you show up they will still let you in. The only issue was in Star Wars land nothing is labeled so we had to keep stopping and asking cast members which way to go to get to Oga's. We finally got there at 9:30 and they sat us at 9:45. 

Oga's Cantina is a bar designed after one of the Star Wars movie. We weren't necessarily feeling like having a drink that early in the morning and told our waitress we really just wanted to look around. Everyone really enjoyed the detail and of course DJ R3X in the corner. 

After Oga's we spent time just walking around enjoying the design and detail that made you feel like you were really in a Star Wars movie. We saw Storm Troopers, Chewbacca and Rei and loved how they all interacted with the audience. Liam had a huge smile on his face the entire time. 

We decided to catch The Muppets 3D Show next. That was a lot of fun and a nice break from the walking we had already done. 

While waiting in line to meet Minnie Mouse the kids ate their PBJ sandwiches and I was able to book our next Genie+ ride, Toy Story Mania for 3 pm. 

We then decided to walk down Sunset Boulevard and see Tower of Terror. 

We headed over to Toy Story Land to get onto Slinky Dog Dash next. Lucy and I rode up front, Caroline and Evan were next and Liam and another kid were in the 3rd car. Slinky Dog is a roller coaster and has a bit more bark to it then other Disney roller coasters. Liam, Caroline and I loved it and Lucy spent most of the time telling me that she didn't like it and wanted it to stop right now. Evan's face in our ride picture doesn't look too thrilled either. It took Lucy some time to recover from Slinky Dog and she still likes to tell us that "its the worse ride ever!" Caroline said it was her favorite ride of the day. 

We then headed to the Frozen Sing Along Show which was a lot of fun. 

We met Olaf, headed back to Star Wars land to walk around. Got on Toy Story Mania ride, had some pop tarts for a snack, saw a Calvacade with Mickey and Minnie Mouse, checked out Lightning McQueens Racing Academy, built Light sabers for the kids, checked out Indiana Jones Stunt show, went on Alien Swirling Saucers Ride and saw Goofy as we were walking to dinner. 

We ate dinner at Prime Time Cafe where we had yummy milkshakes, pot roast, meatloaf and fried chicken. 

We then decided to ride Toy Story Mania again (although Lucy and I had to leave while waiting in line because she needed to use the bathroom). This was deemed another favorite ride of the day by many of us. 

At 8:30 pm we had to make a decision, either get in line for Tower of Terror, Rise of the Resistance or Smuggler's Run. We decided since most people say Rise of the Resistance is the best ride that Disney World has right now we had better do that one. Wait time wasn't too bad but unfortunately the ride broke down while we were in line and we probably waited an hour in total before it got up and running again. They let us on the ride and we probably got through half of it before it broke down again and this time since it was already 10 pm and the park closed at 9 they kicked us off the ride with a lightning lane added to our magic bands to use on Tuesday only. We got back to our hotel around 10:30 that night and everyone was exhausted. We all slept well that night!

*Most of the rides at Hollywood Studios this day had a 60-240 minute wait time. We were only able to book 3 rides with our Genie+ which did not make me very happy. It was very busy. However, I do think we picked the right ride to go on at the end of the night even with it breaking down. Smuggler's Run most likely would have made half our party motion sick, we thought that Liam, maybe Caroline and I would do Tower of Terror but Evan and Lucy were going to take the exit after exploring the lobby. (we had heard that most likely one of the elevators was not working hence the long wait) 

The part of Rise of the Resistance that we did see was pretty amazing.