Our Walt Disney World 50^th Anniversary Celebration vacation was almost over and we were feeling tired. On our second day in Hollywood Studios, it was raining from the start. Since we had done Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and Toy Story Land on our first day here, we focused on Sunset Boulevard.

{If you would like to catch up on our trip, be sure to read about our first day in Magic Kingdom here, our first day in Hollywood Studios here, Epcot here and Animal Kingdom here! The Magic Kingdom post has a primer on how to use Genie+ and Lightening Lanes}.

Sunset Boulevard is home to Rock ‘n Roller Coaster and Twilight Zone Tower of Terror {my absolute, all-time favorite ride ever}. My daughter was unsure about either of these rides. She had seen a YouTube video where someone said you black out on Rock ‘n Roller Coaster {don’t believe everything you see on the Internet,} and she has never expressed interest in riding Tower of Terror. So, here’s how the day went!

What We Did

On this day, we switched hotels, so we said goodbye to Disney’s POP Century Resort and hello to Disney’s Contemporary Resort. We spent the morning at the hotel packing and I was able to get a Lightening Lane {LL} for Tower of Terror and Rock ‘n Roller Coaster for later in the morning.

At check out, we took our bags to Bell Services where we told them we were transferring resorts. He took all of our bags, had us list our valuables {computers, iPads, etc.} and gave us a claim ticket. We were told our bags would be at the Contemporary by 5 p.m. and we were free to go enjoy the day at Hollywood Studios. Super easy.

We took the Skyliner for the last time, and headed to the park. It was still raining and we had time before we could redeem our LL for Tower of Terror so we ducked into some stores to get out of the rain. When it was time to redeem our LL and Ella decided she did not want to ride Tower of Terror.

She stayed with me through the line, but right before we boarded the elevator, a Cast Member escorted her to a waiting area where she could stay until the ride was over. I rode by myself and when I came off the ride, she was waiting.

After we redeemed our LL, I tried to book another one to Meet Olaf, but was having difficulty. The Cast Member told me I couldn’t have more than one at a time and we still had one to redeem for Rock ‘n Roller Coaster. This was false information because we had been doing more than one at a time all week. It ended up being the two-hour rule. It hadn’t been two hours since I booked the LL for Rock n’ Roller Coaster.

So many rules! It’s a very confusing system that some of the employees don’t understand themselves.

We had some time before our next ride so we ate ice cream for lunch. Ella decided she didn’t want to ride the roller coaster and I decided I didn’t want to ride by myself {it’s not my favorite and I was going to ride it for her.}

It was still raining and it felt like we were just wandering around with nothing to do. I think we were just tired. Since I had gotten to ride my favorite ride, I decided I needed something to help make Ella’s day better.

Because she didn’t get her sushi in Epcot, I asked if she wanted to eat sushi at California Grill, the very fancy restaurant on the top floor of the Contemporary. Luckily, I was able to book an early reservation for 5 p.m. We went to meet Olaf and on the way, we caught the Pixar Cavalcade!

We waited about half an hour to meet Olaf and then we left the park, hopped on the bus and headed to the Contemporary. The time was tight, so we prayed our luggage arrived early, or we would be going to a fancy dinner in cut off shorts.

We got to the Contemporary and our luggage was there, but our room wasn’t ready. We did a little shopping and then hung out watching the monorail drive through the hotel. I got a text that the room was ready, and we had our magic bands, so we just walked to the room and unlocked the door.

We LOVED this hotel. I will do a more in-depth post on it, but we absolutely loved it. The room was spacious, had a theme park view, and while it was decorated with The Incredibles, it was done tastefully and had some really cute touches.

We went and had dinner at California Gill and then we went back to our room to watch the Magic Kingdom fireworks from our balcony.

We were also able to catch the Electrical Water Pageant on the Seven Seas Lagoon. Next time, I would love to walk down to the lagoon and watch closer, but we were so tired, we watched from afar.

We also wanted to go to bed early since the next day was our last and we had a busy day planned at Magic Kingdom.

What We Ate

Everything POP – We had breakfast here before checking out, eating Mickey waffles in the cafeteria.

Hollywood Scoops – Ice cream for lunch! Yum! I had a scoop of strawberry this time.

California Grill – We were early, so it wasn’t too busy and were able to get a seat next to the window with a view of Magic Kingdom. They had a special 50^th Anniversary Celebration prix fixe menu which was a 3-course meal.

Some of the dishes were inspired from 1971, when the restaurant opened.

For starters, Ella had the California Grill Sushi Classics Trio and I had a salad. For our entrées, we both had the Oak Fired Filet of Beef. It was delicious. Then for dessert, we both had the 5 Magical Bites 50 Years in the Making.

This was a great call on my part, saved our day and I am so glad we were able to get a last minute reservation because that isn’t always the case. It was delicious and we can’t wait to go back. It was expensive, but at the end of the day, the experience was priceless.

Stay tuned for our final day of vacation, day two at Magic Kingdom!