Pixar Place!

Pixar Place resembles the Emeryville, California campus of Pixar Animation Studios. Its sole attraction is Toy Story Midway Mania!, an interactive 3D attraction inspired by classic carnival midway games, each hosted by characters from the Toy Story film series.

Pixar Place is also the home of Luxo Jr., a six-foot-tall audio-animatronics version of Pixar's desk-lamp mascot.The moving character performs periodic shows throughout the day and evening across from Toy Story Midway Mania.

There is also a meet and greet location where you can taking pictures with Buzz, Woody, and the little green army men of Toy Story.

Sunset Boulevard

As you make the first right off Hollywood Boulevard, you come upon Sunset Boulevard, with its specialized shops that feature gifts themed to classic films and Disney characters.

 

The visual focal point of Sunset Boulevard is The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, a thrill ride based on the classic television series. It is so much fun!

Located nearby is Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith, an indoor roller coaster in the dark with three inversions and a high-speed launch.

Sunset Boulevard has two outdoor amphitheaters for live stage shows. The covered Theater of the Stars hosts Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage, a stage show featuring highlights of the film. 

The open-air Hollywood Hills Amphitheater is the home of Fantasmic!, a nighttime show featuring Mickey Mouse and many other Disney characters in a story filled with fireworks, lasers and water effects.

Streets of America!

At the end of Commissary Lane, turn right onto the Streets of America, which create the illusion of New York City, San Francisco and other cities using forced perspective techniques. The buildings are all facades, but you'll spot a London street, and even a street right out of Chinatown. If you listen closely, you'll often hear the sound effects of a busy city in the background, too.

 

The Studio Backlot Tour features the American Film Institute Showcase, a rotating exhibit of movie props and memorabilia, and a tram ride through the backlot areas and through Catastrophe Canyon, an effects-laden "movie set."  

Kids can play amongst oversized plants and toys at the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids Movie Set Adventure, based on the 1989 Disney film.

 The Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show is a behind-the-scenes look at how vehicle action sequences are created for films. 

Muppet*Vision 3-D entertains you from the moment you get on line all the way through to the show itself. The basic premise is that the Muppets are going to put on a variety show starring the multi-talented Miss Piggy. Kermit tries to make the cast and crew happy, but mishaps get in the way. 

Animation Courtyard

The Animation Courtyard is home to a number of attractions based on Disney characters of yesterday, today and tomorrow. The Magic of Disney Animation is an attraction that examines the development process of an animated character. It also includes interactive games and exhibits, along with meet-and-greet areas for Disney and Pixar characters.

Mickey Avenue, a sub-section of Animation Courtyard, has two walk-through exhibits. Walt Disney: One Man's Dream explores the life and legacy of Walt Disney through photos, models, rare artifacts and a short biographical film narrated by Julie Andrews.

 At "Journey into Narnia," guests can see props and set pieces from the "Chronicles of Narnia" movie series and meet the namesake of the series' second film, Prince Caspian.

The Courtyard section also hosts two live shows. Playhouse Disney Live on Stage!entertains guests with puppet characters from the Playhouse Disney block of programming on The Disney Channel, including Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Handy Manny, and Little Einsteins.

Across the plaza, Voyage of the Little Mermaid uses glow-in-the-dark puppets, lasers, music, projectors, human actors and water effects to re-create favorite scenes and songs from the animated Little Mermaid film.

Hollywood Boulevard and Echo Lake!

Hollywood Boulevard serves as the park's main entrance and is lined with stores selling Disney merchandise. Parades such as the Pixar Block Party Bash travel down Hollywood Boulevard on their route through the park, and live street entertainment can be found here throughout the day.

At the far end of Hollywood Boulevard stands the Sorcerer's Hat, the icon of Disney's Hollywood Studios. Behind it, inside a replica of Grauman's Chinese Theater, is The Great Movie Ride, a ride paying homage to several classic films, including The Wizard of Oz. 

Echo Lake is the park's small oval-shaped lagoon. Surrounding it are numerous attractions and services, some in structures designed to mimic the "California Crazy" form of architecture from Hollywood's Golden Age. Look at this dinosaur that is actually an ice cream shop!

At The American Idol Experience, park guests can audition and sing for live audiences, and potentially win a special front-of-the-line pass for the popular TV series' real tryouts. 

Next door, Sounds Dangerous! features a 3-D audio presentation that talks about how people create sound for TV shows and movies.  

Echo Lake includes three attractions based on characters and movies produced by George Lucas' Lucasfilm studio. Star Tours: The Adventures Continues is an upcoming motion simulator ride. It is not open yet, but we will walk by.  

Jedi Training Academy, a live-action stage show, invites children to become "padawan learners" and receive "lightsaber training" from a Jedi master.

Lastly, the live-action Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular! re-enacts various scenes from Raiders of the Lost Ark while talking about how movie stunts are performed.

Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Disney's Hollywood Studios is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort. It is 135 acres in size, its theme is show business, drawing ideas from the Hollywood in the 1930s and 1940s. The third park built at the resort, it opened on May 1, 1989 as Disney-MGM Studios.

The park consists of six themed areas. Unlike the other Walt Disney World parks, Disney's Hollywood Studios does not have a defined layout; it is more a mass of streets and buildings that blend into each other, much like a real motion picture studio would. We will learn more about these areas in the coming days. They are called:

Hollywood Boulevard

Echo Lake

Streets of America

Animation Courtyard

Pixar Place

Sunset Boulevard

Like the Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom parks, Disney's Hollywood Studios also runs daily parades down Hollywood Boulevard. The "Pixar Block Party Bash" parade features Pixar film characters performing in a street party along Hollywood Boulevard and near Echo Lake.

Several times each day, the "Disney Channel Rocks" show will travel Hollywood Boulevard before performing a live street show in front of the Sorcerer's Hat. Stay tuned for more information about this fun place-- we are going here on our first full day in Florida!

 

Rafiki’s Planet Watch and Discovery Club

Rafiki's Planet Watch is the one section of the park not connected to Discovery Island, Rafiki's Planet Watch is instead connected to Africa. Guests board the Wildlife Express Train for the short trip to and from Planet Watch, which consists of three distinct areas. 

Guests first encounter Habitat Habit!, where they can see cottontop tamarins and learn about the efforts to protect these endangered primates in their natural homes. Along the way, guests can also learn how to provide animal habitats in and around their own homes.

Conservation Station showcases the various conservation efforts supported by the Walt Disney Company. It also gives a behind-the-scenes glimpse into Disney's Animal Kingdom's animal care facilities, including a veterinary examination room complete with a two-way communications system so the veterinary staff can answer guest questions. 

Outside, Affection Section is a petting zoo featuring goats, sheep and other domesticated animals.

Kids Discovery Clubs are fun-filled activity stations for kids of all ages located throughout Animal Kingdom theme park.

There are 6 Kids Discovery Club outposts where kids can explore and discover nature's wonders through hands-on experiences such as constructing a dinosaur from a pile of bones, going on a scavenger hunt, becoming a wildlife detective and viewing the world from a bug's point of view.

After completing each activity, kids receive a stamp. Once they collect all 6 stamps, they can receive a special bonus for completing all the activities.

Africa

Africa is the largest “land” within Animal Kingdom and it is centered around the town of Harambe. The buildings of Harambe are all based on actual African buildings. Everyone here calls out “Jambo!”, which means “Hello” in Swahili (a language spoken throughout Africa).   

Africa has two major attractions.

Kilamanjaro Safari—this ride imitates actual safaris in Africa. We will ride in an open air jeep and travel through the wild looking for animlas. We will see things like rhinoceroses, giraffes, elephants, and lions. While on the safari, we need to look for a baby elephant who was stolen by poachers! 

Pangani Forest Exploration Trail—After we leave the safari, we will encounter the entrance to the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail. This trail is a lot like the Maharaja Jungle Trek. However, instead of seeing Asian animals, we will see animals from Africa. We will see gorillas, hippos, and naked mole-rats! There is a huge pond with brightly colored fish as well!

Asia

When you cross the bridge from Discovery Island into Asia, you enter the town of Anandapur. This town is based on real places in India, Thailand, Indonesia and Nepal.  Like Dinoland, Asia has four major attractions. 

Expedition Everest—This is Paula’s favorite ride at Disney World. The waiting area takes you through a Nepalese village and their temple. You will also travel through a museum with artifacts relating to the Yeti living in the forbidden mountain.

Once you get to the ride, you board a steam train to take you up the mountain to Everest. However, along the way you encounter broken train tracks. You must escape the mountain before the Yeti gets you!

Flights of Wonder—is show featuring real birds where you learn about the natural talents and abilities of birds. The show tells you about a variety of birds and how they survive in the wild. 

Kali River Rapids—This is a ride where you sit in a large, circular raft and “float” down a river with white water rapids!  You will float through a dense rain forest past waterfalls, temple ruins, and bamboo thickets. We plan to wear ponchos on this ride so we don’t get too wet!

Maharaja Jungle Trek—this is a nice nature walk where we can see animals who reside in Asia. We will see tigers, komodo dragons, fruit bats, birds and asian deer. We will get a map that takes us through the trail and tell us about the different animals we will see. 

Dinoland, U.S.A.

Dinoland, U.S.A. is a cross between an archaeological dig site (a place where they dig up dinosaur bones) and a roadside carnival. It is home to a children’s play area, a nature trail, a thrill ride, and a 1500 seat theater (where Paula’s favorite show is located)!  

There are five attractions in Dinoland, but one (called Primeval Whirl) will be closed when we go. The four that we can experience are:

The Boneyard—This is playground designed to look like a dinosaur bone dig site. You can swing, slide and climb on dino skeletons. You can also dig in sandpits for dinosaur bones and fossils! 

Dinosaur!—This is a ride where you travel back in time on a search and rescue mission. We need to find a dinosaur and bring it back to modern times with us. We will need to be careful, though… there are meat-eating dinosaurs along the trail! 

Finding Nemo—The Musical—This is Paula’s favorite show!  The show has dancing, special effects, on-stage human performers that tell the Nemo story though puppets! This show is wonderful!

TriceraTop Spin—In this ride, you climb inside a Triceratop and fly into the air. The ride is a lot like the Dumbo ride. You can control your dinosaur, making it fly up and down in a circle.