Hollywood Studios with Trina & Angie Part 1

The New Year brought a New Name to a park that originally opened its doors May 1, 1989 (13 months before the Other One). Disney's MGM Studios has become Disney's Hollywood Studios because Hollywood is what it has always been about.

Today we accompanied Trina and Angie to The Studios. A major player in the movie Fantasia, Magic Kingdom's 3-D Mickey's Philharmagic and the Fantasmic! evening ending show at The Studios, Mickey's sorceror's hat is the focal attraction of the center of the park.

First, we headed on over to take a Star Tour in our cruiser guided by trusty and probably rusty R2D2.

One of the most recognizable icons of the United States, The Statue of Miss Piggy, greeted us in the courtyard outside the venue for the hilarious Muppet Vision 3D.

We had a fantastic buffet at Play 'n Dine at Hollywood & Vine. We dined and played along with several Playhouse Disney characters.

Marlon and Goliath pose for a shot on the way to the food.

JoJo and friend lead the entire restaurant in a rousing rendition of "Hot Dog". Don't know the song? Check it out in this You Tube video, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wePMYM4av6Q .

Trina learned a thing or two from that smarty-pants Leo (short for Leonardo), one of Disney's Little Einsteins.

Another of Disney's Little Einstein's, June, stopped buy for a visit.

We left the Play 'n Dine just in time to catch the High School Musical 2 Live production staged in the center of the park by the sorceror's hat.

Then it was on to The Great Movie Ride, one of the attractions which has endured since opening day.

For a video highlight of The Great Movie Ride, click below.
Excited tourists prepare for the Studio Backlot Tour and a visit to Catastrophe Canyon, where a demonstration of special effects may cause some tourists to get wet.

I wonder what movie this jet fighter was used in...

Everyone's favorite Love Bug was there...Herbie.

After the tour we ran into Mike Wazowski (with one "I") and Sulley, a couple of our friends from Monsters, Inc. Be sure to visit them and Roz over at the Magic Kingdom at The Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor.

The Streets of America feature New York...

and San Francisco (as well as Chicago).

One of the stars of the classic Disney movie, Fantasia, was in charge of cleaning up around the flower beds of The Studios.

For more of our visit to Disney's Hollywood Studios, check out the next blog entry.

To be continued...