This was our final park, and there was a palpable sadness (internally, obviously – after all, we are British). At the same time we felt like we’d had a great couple of weeks, and were approaching our limits of theme park stimulation. Hollywood Studios (previously MGM) is Disney’s version of Universal Studios, featuring the usual mix of shows and rides based on films belonging to the Disney Corporation. It’s also a celebration of Walt Disney and the effect that his life made to our TV screens in the 20th century. In fact, the park’s most obvious landmark is Mickey’s hat from the Sorcerer’s Apprentice.

Mickey Mouse's hat from the Sorcerer's Apprentice

The recently updated Star Wars ride was our first port of call (believe it or not, this was a mutual decision and not my doing), which was another simulator. As good as it was, these simulators had a habit of making us both feel slightly ill. They’re almost worse than real roller-coasters, as you have the illusion of movement without actually moving. We then went to the Indiana Jones stunt show, which was absolutely fantastic: you’re given an insight into the way that stunts are executed in films, all within the context of the first Indiana Jones film, and with some amusing audience participation.

Mickey and a broomstick

A stand-out show was “Lights, Motors, Action!”, which featured stunt driving by professionals who do the car chases in films. It was pretty amazing to see how they did certain things: for instance, long periods of driving in reverse were done in a specially modified car that had the driving direction flipped, so that the driver was looking out the back window. Five cars at a time span around at high speed, synchronising their movements to the point where they passed each other with only inches to spare. Plus they had the usual cool stuff like explosions and driving through fire.

Another highlight was the Beauty and the Beast show, which was a beautifully crafted musical following the story of the classic film. As clichéd as it might seem, the best word for it is “enchanting”.

Lots of people holding spoons

The finale was “Fantasmic”, a spectacle containing fireworks, walls of water, giant dragons and everyone’s favourite Disney characters. It was set in an outdoor theatre that held up to 7,000 people, and it was completely full when we were there. Even waiting for the show to start was entertaining, as the crowd managed to get a Mexican wave going: at its peak it looked like everyone was joining in, which is pretty impressive for a group that size. The show was a very memorable end to our theme park visits, and simply defies description (so I won’t try).

I think that we both felt like we’d seen enough after our sixth park. There was no way that we could have visited a park every day and, even though we could have fit another one in before the end of the holiday, we elected to spend the last day and a half by the pool at our resort. We will probably (elbow nudge from Joy) definitely go back in the future, and I’m sure we’ll see some of the things that we didn’t see this time, like the Kennedy Space Centre and Magic Kingdom. We’ve come away with lots of great memories of rest and relaxation, but also of discovery and new experiences.

Fin.