Visiting Disney’s Hollywood Studios with kids

There are a bewildering number of theme parks to choose from when planning your Orlando family vacation.  Take Disney’s Hollywood Studios, for example.

While it’s less well known than many of the Orlando headliners, my 8-year-old son and I found it to be pleasantly human-scaled. There are also a lot of fun shows, which worked for us since we’d rather laugh and gasp than scream any day of the week.

Best Rides for Families

1.  Toy Story Mania

This ride is a lot like Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters at Disneyland, but with stunning visual effects and 3-D. You sit two to a car and twist and glide your way through a shooting gallery aiming baseballs, rings, and darts at plates, little green aliens, and sheep balloons .

This was hands down our favorite ride at any of the four parks we visited, and a great one to use your Fast Passes on—especially if you don’t love roller coasters.

2.  Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular

A 30-minute Raiders of the Lost Ark-themed stunt show that brings the audience behind the scenes with a huge rolling boulder, fake fistfights, a market bazaar chase scene, and an explosive finale.

Go early, the theater fills up fast. If you don’t get a seat, it’s worth lurking at the top of the aisle.  Right before the show, ushers move everyone to the left and extra seating becomes available.

3.  Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show

Another eye-popping stunt show, this time with cars and motorcycles. I’m still in awe of the tight maneuvers, spins, and two-wheel driving we saw at this exciting show, not to mention flying cars and flaming people.

And it’s not just tricks either. A host, director, and several cameramen are on stage too, explaining how it’s done.

4.  The American Idol Experience

Major confession: Even though I’ve never watched American Idol on television, I loved seeing three actual park guests compete for a spot on that day’s finale show (the winner of which got a go-to-the-front-of-the-line ticket for any real American Idol audition in any city in America).

Who knew there was so much talent walking among us?  Not me!  This show has it all: snarky judges, amazing amateurs, and audience voting.  Two thumbs up.

Best Places to Rest Your Feet

Theme parks don’t usually devote much space to restfulness, but here are a few things you can do when you’ve had enough sun and fun.

1.  “Honey,  I Shrunk the Kids” Movie Set Adventure

A shady, enclosed playground with huge blades of grass, huge Play-Doh cans, huge bumblebees, huge ants…well, you get the picture. There are tunnels, slides, water features, and—best of all—shade.

It’s not the kind of place that children voluntarily leave, but it’s probably a good idea to station one parent at the exit for peace of mind just the same.

2.  The patio at Pizza Planet

Grab some snacks and (if you can) a seat in the shade. Be sure to sit outside, since the inside of this restaurant is a noisy, busy video arcade and there’s nothing relaxing about that.

Tip: avoid the veggie pizza which is topped with strange marinated vegetables instead of fresh.  The cheese and pepperoni pizza were fine though.

3.  A shady bench on Hollywood Boulevard

There are a handful of shady benches under the 122-foot tall blue and gold sorcerer’s hat if you need a central place to cool off for awhile in the Florida heat.

It’s not an entirely entertainment-free zone, however.  You might be joined by the entire singing and dancing cast of High School Musical 3, which could seriously interfere with your ability to go to your “happy place”.

Only if you’ve already done everything else

1.  Muppets Vision 3-D

Nostalgia propelled me to check out this show (well, that and exhaustion).  This show is not amazing, but it’s appropriate for all ages and especially great for parents who want to lean back and close their eyes for a quick 15-minute nap.

2.  Star Tours

This ride is showing it’s age a little, but it’s still fun to dodge asteroids, elude Imperial forces, and drive wildly off course with a first-time Star Wars droid pilot.

Tip: if you’re susceptible to vertigo (like I am), just close your eyes and the dizziness goes away.  You can thank me later.  If you have any kind of back problems, take a pass on this jarring ride.

Attractions to skip

1.  Journey Into Narnia: Prince Caspian

This was the only attraction at Disney Hollywood Studios that completely missed the mark for us (and we weren’t the only ones, everyone around us was sort of scratching their heads too).

We were ushered into a sort of foyer where we stood and watched what was essentially a souped up movie trailer.  Don’t bother.  Not only was it too intense for my 8-year-old son, we didn’t even get to sit down.

April 19th, 2010 | by Jamie Pearson 8 comments