Going Places: Disney World Hollywood Studios

The best vacation day in recent memory, and possibly ever, was the day I spent last winter at Disney World's Hollywood Studios with my family. I can't quite put my finger on what exactly made it so wonderful, but it must have been the famous Disney magic of the "Happiest Place on Earth"--the cleanliness, the helpfulness, the other happy families--combined with great weather, small crowds, Star Wars, family togetherness, and a desire to have fun.

If you know me, you know how much I love Star Wars, so the first stop was Star Tours. We walked right on and rode a total of five times during the day. None of those times required a long wait in line because the line was short or because we used fast passes. Fast passes allow you to make reservations for rides that have long lines. Once you have made your fast pass, you go and do something else and come back to the ride at your designated time (you have have an hour after your time because it can be hard to time things perfectly when you are dealing with ride lines). Then you go in a special entrance with a much shorter wait. This allows you to maximize the things you can do in a day instead of spending it all in line, though not all rides have fast passes are there are limits to how many you can use.

Outside Star Tours is Star Wars themed.

Inside you will see C3P0, R2D2, other robots, and Mon Calamari.


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http://www.endorexpress.net/database/employees/mon-calamari/

The ride itself is a simultor set up like a starspeeder. It is in its second incarnation. The first opened in the 1989 and it was redone in 2011. It is in 3D. First you board the starspeeder for your trip. C3P0 is with you (under protest) on the trip which may take you to Hoth, Tatooine, Coruscant, Naboo, the Death Star, an Asteroid Field and Kashyyk. You may meet Darth Vader, Yoda, Princess Leia, Admiral Ackbar, Han Solo, or Stormtroopers. There are a total of 54 combinations, so even though we rode five times, each experience was different. During the flight, the empire is searching for the rebel spy, which is a lucky person on the ride whose photo appears on the screen.