Disney Hollywood Stdios

Eureka!!! We finally had the sort of fun family day at a theme park I had been fantasizing about. Partially it was my plan to go in later in the day, giving the kidlets plenty of time in the morning to laze about, watch the Disney channel and eat their breakfast croissants in bed. None of the usual morning shananigins.

We also got our FastPasses (all two of them) first up as we've learnt they go fast (ha ha). This was done while Jay was lining up for an HOUR to get the kids photos taken with Buzz and Woody.

This park is more about shows than rides and we enjoyed the Muppets 3D movie, the car stunt show (both almost identical to MovieWorld on the Gold Coast), the back lot tour. I didn't go but the others loved the Star Tours ride and Jay said the Rock'n'Roller Aerosmith Rollercoaster was quite good but not full on enough for him.

For me the highlight of the whole day was the '50s Prime Time Diner where we had dinner. I chose it because I thought it might be a Happy Days style cafe but it was so much more.

For a start it's done up exactly like a '50s house; the details are amazing - the furniture, the knick knacks, the b&w tvs playing original programs. The menu is a throwback too, with meatloaf and pot roast and fried chicken.

The best part was our waitress who called us "kids" and told us the "rules: no elbows on the table, napkins on our laps, no talking with our mouths full, no arguing, no dessert if you don't eat your greens". She was hilarious!

The kids (and us) were enthralled with her persona and she had us in stitches each time she came past. The food was really good and it was a super fun experience. Like everything at Disney the details couldn't be faulted.

Then we did the film tour and headed off to Fantasmic which is their big light and musical spectacular (we can see the fireworks for it from our window at night). It was chockers and we ended up right at the back but it was very beautiful and worth seeing. Getting out was a pain in the bum but that's the price you pay.

A bit of shopping and then a long wait for the shuttle home (which was fine as we got to meet a sweet young family from Utah who were very nice to talk to).

Finally home after 11pm feeling tired but satisfied and very happy....especially when I checked the news and saw that Bob Brown had resigned (sadly it wasn't following an unfortunate incident with a goat as I had predicted). Bonus!

As a PS I have to comment on one family group I saw (and you do see more than your average amount of freaks at theme parks). This particular mother had thoughtfully dressed her three daughters (ages approximately 7, 10 and 14) in identical, very fetching ensembles of smocks made of Buzz and Woody curtain fabric with matching frilled pantaloons. I tried to take a discreet non-identifying photo but it was too crowded. I'm sure the older girl in particular would have been thrilled. Being the perfect parent myself I can sadly say "some parents are just cruel".