Today we had a mission: get on the Seven Dwarves Mine Train.

The Magic Kingdom had an early magic hour, so we got into the park at about 8.30am and marched straight over, expecting to find a relatively short queue.. We found a queue working all the way round the outside of the ride, as far as Ariel’s Grotto. Luckily (sort of), however, the queue was this length due to the fact the ride wasn’t open yet, and therefore no one was in the main queue area, so once the ride opened we flowed fairly quickly. Once inside, the queue was fairly entertaining, with plenty of interactive activities and fabulous surroundings. The ride itself was a nice combination of rollercoaster (think Big Thunder Mountain), and classic ride along (Winnie the Pooh style) inside the mines, and the whole time we spent at the ride was about an hour; queuing and the ride itself.

Mission completed, we had a wander around Main Street USA, stopping for a treat in the confectionery shop and grabbing a drink from the Main Street Bakery, and even managed to squeeze in seeing the Move It, Shake It Street Party before hopping on a bus to the next park..

Hollywood Studios afternoon!

We had all our Fastpasses for the day booked for the studios, as well as dinner, and got into the park just in time for the first: Indiana Jones stunt show. Personally I enjoyed this a lot more than Lights, Camera, Motion! as it was more personal; volunteers were picked out of the audience, the cast of the show explained how stunts are shot for real movies etc. We headed straight from there to Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage, our second Fastpass. Another great production, it summarised the film (one of my favourites!) into a short and sweet 30 minute show while keeping all the key aspects of the story, and most importantly: the songs!

Onto dinner: 50’s Prime Time Cafe!

The restaurant was a great atmosphere, and we had a fabulously funny waitress, Mary Ann, who made sure we enjoyed our meals as well as maintaining our manners – no elbows on the table, pleases and thank yous etc. At this point in our trip, a major flaw in the dining in Disney World is really emerging: absolutely no variety in kids meal choices. Our poor youngest two of the group are being subjected daily to three options in almost every restaurant – mac and cheese, chicken nuggets and burger/hotdog/pizza with either fruit salad, apple slices or ice cream for dessert.

With everything at the park completed, we’re drawing a line under Hollywood Studios for the rest of our trip; its not quite as kid friendly and there’s nothing else we’d go back for now.

°o°