Bright Suns from Disney’s Hollywood Studios! We arrived at the parks bright and early and caught a glimpse of some last-minute touches being made at the parks’s Skyliner station.
Next, we headed into the park to check on the progress of the Mickey’s of Hollywood refurbishment.
Not much has changed over the past few days ever since a majority of the barriers were removed from the exterior of the store.
All the windows are still covered with black decals from top to bottom, leaving no spots to peek in.
The roll-away bushes that were previously blocking these doors have been removed.
Through these doors we got a small glimpse inside, the lights were on, but no one was home. The store still had no merchandise or fixtures inside and appeared to still be in need of some more paint and fine detail. There were however some counters placed inside for register stations.
Across the street at The Darkroom, the new Arendelle Aqua backpack pin is now available to purchase. Retail price is $15.99.
Next, we went to check out the newly-refurbished version of Keystone Clothiers, which was transformed into a Star Wars merchandise location. Upon entering, we quickly discovered the latest addition to the store, the arrival of select creatures from Galaxy’s Edge! These creatures were thought to have been exclusive to the “off-planet” area of Batuu! Popular choices such as the Tauntaun and Wampa were among the variety offered in this location.
Let’s hope that Wampa stays in his cage!
It’s still technically Extra Magic Hours, but not for much longer. This is what the crowd level looked like about 15 minutes prior to all guests being let into the park.
We headed into the Trolley Car Cafe next, also known as Starbucks. Note the free water station is still available, as well as the sign urging guests to not use the station to fill their personal water bottles, which has become a reoccurring problem.
After Starbucks, we went to check out the current offerings at the first popcorn stand you encounter when you enter the park at the corner of Sunset and Hollywood Blvd.
These are currently all the offerings from the popcorn stands at Hollywood Studios.
It is now 9:00am and all day guests have been released into the park! This crowd is headed right for Galaxy’s Edge! Still not too bad for a rope drop.
The next main stop on our route is Galaxy’s Edge, however along the way, we stopped to admire a lot of the small attention to detail the Imagineers have made across the park. This artifact station across from the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular is just one of these details that comes to mind.
The Indiana Jones Jeep which is parked right next to the station pictured above.
We had to stop and say hello to Gertie the Dinosaur. This is one character that had better not be going anywhere!
The latest craze Arendelle Aqua Merchandise has made its way into the merchandise location outside the Frozen Sing Along theater.
More Arendelle Aqua Merchandise.
Next we headed over to the Star Tours Area. This construction project seems to be moving along quickly, much of the exterior has begun to be painted. It appears to be a restroom expansion, but that has not been confirmed.
Side view of the building’s construction.
Next, we headed into Galaxy’s Edge where we encounter Chewie and a friend working hard to fix sort of problem going on with this electricity tower.
Just shortly past Chewie, we went to check out any changes to the upcoming Rise of the Resistance attraction. This is where we discovered that the walkway pictured above that was previously being blocked by roll-away plants, was now visible!
One of the locals we talked to said there had been issues with visitors wandering down the path, which is why the planters were in place initially. Why they were removed remains unknown.
Next stop, the Black Spire Marketplace.
Right when you enter the marketplace section of Batuu, from the end closest to the restrooms, look to your right. You’ll see a woodcarving station. I always stop to check out this amazing area of detail, I spot something every time!
Woodcarving of a Lothcat and… is that Dok Ondar?
Over at Kat Saka’s Kettle, you can find extremely well themed Coca-Cola products… these are one of the best-themed items on Batuu.
Here at Ronto Roasters, these creatures weren’t as lucky as the ones down at the Creature Stall.
Once again, amazing detail. Here is the Ronto Roasters chop shop, this can be found within the eating area at this food location.
Next, we headed over to Dok-Ondar’s Den of Antiquities. Do you see what we see hidden in this rock structure?
Dok was very active this morning. He was kind of restless as he stood up and even threw a fit at one point! Every time we go to visit him, it’s a different experience.
That statue sure does look familiar… Is that Jar-Jar Binks? There are a lot of Star Wars fans who might not like to see that, they’d better keep it up there!
The one and only “Black Spire” centric to the area, which is where the name “Black Spire Outpost” came from.
We can never get enough of this view!
Crowd levels seem to still be manageable. This was at about 10:00am. The wait for Smugglers Run was at 60 minutes.
There was a decent line for Blue and Green Milk this morning.
If you have the My Disney Expience app, mobile order is the way to go for sure!
The 360-degree PhotoPass opportunity has returned after being gone for a couple of days.
There was quite a crowd this morning at Savi’s Workshop. The lightsaber building experience seems to be quite the hit, despite the $200 price tag.
As much as we would like to stay in Galaxy’s Edge all day, there is still more to explore in the rest of the parks. This above is one of my favorite Easter eggs at the park. You can find it at PizzeRizzo. Can you spot it?
We sure wish this merchandise was actually for sale! Someday…
The water station at Pizzerizzo is still in place, again, with the same signage urging guests not to fill personal water bottles!
Those clouds sure don’t look good!
A day at Walt Disney World would not be complete if it weren’t for a slight rain shower. The Star Wars stage show was abruptly ended due to rain. We caught Darth Maul headed back inside, despite his efforts to control the weather, not even the Sith can do that in Florida!
After about 10 minutes, the weather cleared, and it was business again as usual, plus the humidity of course.
That about wraps up our visit here at Hollywood Studios for today. Til the Spire!
I give up – what was the Easter Egg in the PizzeRizzo picture?
it reads “Pizza Planet” if you look at the larger words, which was what there before Pizzerizzo
Oh yeah, thanks.
What better person to give such a detailed tour. Thoroughly enjoyed this adventure thru your eyes!!!