day at the studios

our first full day in florida started off with quite a bang, because that morning was when acceptance notices for the high school that the bean had applied to (and really, REALLY wanted to attend) were posted.  we weren't sure what time they'd be up, especially since we were three hours ahead, but it was pretty much impossible to avoid looking as soon as we woke up.  and all of our wishing and praying paid off when she clicked on the button and the first word on the next screen read "congratulations!"

she burst into tears of excitement, joy and relief (i may or may not have shed one or two myself), and while we knew it was crazy early at home we called the hub to share the news.  while he was obviously half asleep, he was thrilled to hear the good news and we hung up pretty quickly so as to let him get back to sleep.

our favorite park at disney world is hollywood studios, and so that's where we'd made our first reservation.  looking out the window, we could see the tower of terror off in the distance.

we decided to try taking the water taxi from the neighboring dolphin hotel to the park, and we headed on out to start our day.  the dolphin is a really big property, and in fact we were transferring over there halfway through our visit because that's just how the availability happened to work out for us.

luckily, it wasn't a very long wait for the boat to arrive.

it was a nice, relaxing ride and we were inside the park in no time.

she loves the blue milk in galaxy's edge.

and toy story land is always a good time.

we caught a parade as we went off in search of lunch, and waved happily at all of the characters.

the newest pixar movie, "turning red," was scheduled to be released the next day via disney+, and we stopped in the theater to watch an extended sneak peek of it.

slinky dog dash is one of our favorite rides in the park, and so we got in line despite the rather long wait time quoted on the sign at the entrance.

considering the fact that i didn't have to drive anywhere, i sprung for a "kahlua-tini," an iced coffee spiked with kahlua and vodka.  it was delicious.

we took this for the old lady.  she loves this ride (as do we).

it had started drizzling pretty steadily, which we didn't exactly hate.  it was a nice break from the oppressive humidity, and while i headed into a shop to buy a poncho the bean was perfectly happy to just let the raindrops cool her off as we walked along.

we passed these statues on our way to pick up a s'mores cupcake that the old lady had seen on instagram.  she'd given us instructions to find it and try it on her behalf, which we were only too happy to follow.

the bean was scheduled to meet up with her team at the ESPN center for a quick practice since the first day of competition was the next morning.  and so we left the park with plans to return later that evening, opting to walk along the path back to the hotel.

practice was short and sweet, and when we got back to the park i decided i needed another coffee.  this time, i opted for the "round 'em up latte," which was cookie butter and dulce de leche flavored with whipped cream, sprinkles and an animal cookie on top.

we didn't ride it again, but slinky dog dash looked really cool at night.

since we'd never actually eaten there before, we decided to have dinner at woody's lunch box.   the bean had a bbq brisket sandwich, while i chose the "totchos," a generous serving of tater tots topped with chili, cheese, corn chips and sour cream.

with the park closing within the hour, we hopped in line for the tower of terror, making it our last ride of the day.

and then we headed back to the hotel to shower and get ready for the next day.  we'd had a full day of fun, and now it was time to put in some work.  day one of competition, coming up next!