Post first...pictures forthcoming! Again on Day 3, the touring plans really saved the day -- we didn't wait in line longer than 10 minutes for anything by following the touring plan and using Fast Pass. Unfortunately, there were a couple of things we wanted to do but couldn't because of thunderstorms this day, so this park will be a "must visit again" on our next trip.
Per the touring plan and Tour Guide Mike, today was Disney MGM Studio. Up early, planning notebook in hand, and out the door! It was pretty hot this day…a little more hot and a lot more humid than the day before. We got the MGM just as it was opening and were inside for the “rope drop”. The theming through the entire park is great – for the rope drop they had a “director” and we were all supposed to be movie extras in a big scene. The cast members played their parts well and it was cute. I won’t give a play-by-play of most of the day, but will review the things we did.
We knew we weren’t going to be doing the headliner rides at MGM (Tower of Terror and Rock’n Roller Coaster) so that took some pressure off our touring plans. Thanks to the touring plan, we knew to head straight to the Voyage of the Little Mermaid show and we got right in. This was a really cute show – loved the water and bubbles…the mist felt really refreshing, even at 9 a.m.
Great Movie Ride -- I was quite disappointed. I did enjoy seeing the authentic movie costumes and props in the waiting area – the carousel horse Julie Andrews rode in “Mary Poppins” and some costumes from “Shakespeare in Love” were particular favorites. But the animatronics on this ride were really pathetic. Anyway, it was indoors and air conditioned, so I won’t complain too much!
After that, we consulted the handy-dandy show time listing and decided to go to Lights, Motors, Action (LMA) to get fast passes for the first show of the day (11:40)…but when we arrived we were told that they weren’t using FP that day…but a dream squad member was there…hmmm…I wonder if they’re looking for someone to give a dream to…... I asked when we should come back if we wanted to be sure to get in the first show and the dream squad member asked if we would like to be the “First Family” and open the show! Of course we would! This was dream experience number one on our trip. We got a commemorative certificate and were told to be back at a certain time for instructions. We wandered around a bit until it was time to go back and we had a snack (love Mickey rice krispie treats!) and took some pictures (including Herbie the Love Bug – I love Herbie!), found a really fun, shaded play area (Bug’s Life movie set) and then headed back. We were taken to reserved seating in director’s chairs in a front area and given our lines…we would be on camera (on a really huge screen), introduced to the audience, talk a little with the assistant director, and we would say “Lights, Motors, Action!” in really loud, excited voices and cheer a lot. By this time it was INCREDIBLY hot and humid and we were sitting directly in the sun. We were burning up – really burning up. We got to meet the director and a couple of crew members, and then it was time. They put us up on that huge screen…in all of our hot, sweaty glory. Not looking so good, but it was pretty neat! I wish we had a tape of it. After we intro’d the show they moved us to some reserved seats in the shade which was much more comfortable. The show was awesome – definitely one of our favorites of the whole week. It was loud and fast and really fun – we enjoyed seeing how they do a lot of the car stunts.
Indiana Jones Stunt Show – we used fast pass on this. The show was great, with lots of audience participation. Even in the shade it was really hot and humid, but it was still fun and we all enjoyed it.
One thing we noticed, at MGM especially, was the tour groups from Argentina and Brazil. I wonder if it’s a rite of passage for parents in Argentina and Brazil to send their teenage daughters to Disney World on a summer vacation…without adult supervision (or very little!). We saw at least eight separate tour groups, made up almost entirely of teenage girls. Only a couple of groups had any boys in them. The tour guides didn’t look much older than the kids! They were well-behaved but very loud…singing their national anthems at the top of their lungs, which I thought was nice except that it got really loud when they tried to out-sing the other groups, which happened anytime they were all together in a large area…like waiting for Lights, Motors, Action to start…and Indiana Jones…and Fantasmic….
Due to a thunderstorm we couldn’t do some other attractions we wanted to do so we headed to the hotel for a break. At the hotel we bought refillable mugs which came in really handy since you can refill them for free at the hotel during your trip. We had lots of Icees that week, which were really good in the hot weather. Definitely a good investment!
We headed back to MGM for our dinner reservations at Hollywood and Vine. It is a traditional buffet and the food was o.k., but really nothing special…other than the dessert buffet, which had these fabulous little dark chocolate cups filled with chocolate mousse. I ate a few…Yummy! And a few other yummy and beautiful desserts (pictures forthcoming). But for the price ($23 per person) it just wasn’t really that great, especially compared to Coral Reef the night before. It was loud, crowded, really no ambience or neat theming. It was ok but I don't think we'll go back.
Muppets 3-D – this was a really fun show. I remember watching The Muppet Show with my family when I was a kid and I loved it. My girls thought it was going to be dumb but they really enjoyed the show, too. There were lots of things going on in this show, and not just on the screen, so you really felt like you were in the middle of it!
Sounds Dangerous with Drew Carey. This was kind of different as it mostly took place in total darkness -- it was an audio show with some video. It was o.k. but not great. However, it was really hot and humid outside and so the airconditioning and little bit of mist during the show felt great! I've heard that a lot of people take the opportunity to catch a quick nap in this show. LOL I can understand why. It just wasn't our kind of thing, but it was a good break.
We wandered around a bit before it was time to head to the outdoor theatre for Fantasmic. I was really, really, really looking forward to this show and had heard great things about it. But wait – what’s that in the sky? Thunder clouds? I hear thunder…and here comes the rain. Never fear – we have rain ponchos. We are prepared! But wait – what’s that I see? Lightning? Uh-oh…that’s not good! They ended up cancelling the show and there was a mass exodus from the amphitheatre in pouring rain, thousands and thousands of people (seriously – that amphitheatre is HUGE) with water literally running through the sidewalks and pathways, so deep it most places that it was up to our ankles. The thunder was loud and the lightning was close by and the girls definitely didn’t like it! We found out later that lightning actually hit the Tower of Terror. We were absolutely soaked to the bone by the time we got back to the hotel – it took 2 days for our tennis shoes to dry out. Good thing we all had extra shoes with us (sometimes it pays to be a heavy packer).We decided that we wanted to add another day to our Disney stay instead of going to Sea World – there was just so much to see and do at Disney. And Sea World tickets were going to be $230 for four of us for one day…but adding on one more day at Disney was only $13.84! Duh – that’s a no brainer! So I went down to the concierge, added another day to our tickets, and we all crashed in bed and slept soundly, with visions of tomorrow’s upcoming adventures at Animal Kingdom dancing in our heads…
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