It's hard to believe that merely one month ago, less 3 days or so, that I was thrilled about my trip to Walt Disney World. Thrilled to the point of making plans for 2010, heck, to infinity and beyond. I'm really glad we didn't make any cash deposits.
The trip had amazing potential. Lauren and my cohorts were a couple who we had worked with in Anaheim, and had on many occasions gone out for dinner and other social events with. They were big Disney geeks, we are big Disney geeks. The timing worked out right, so that as I was experiencing the kind of withdrawal that happens when you want so much to return to a place, but have no plans to do so.
Therefore, when I got a call inviting Lauren and I to join J+C on a random, spur of the moment trip back to Disney World, we were sold. Well, I think I was sold first, but Lauren tends to worry more about "Can we afford rent/food/real lifey type things." I was able to run the numbers and with the Cast Discount on the room and using frequent flier miles from my parents as an early Christmas present (We love you, Mom and Dad!) and various other sordid money grubbing, we somehow managed to make it work financially.
So here we were. Despite it being a "free dining" promotion, equating to significantly higher numbers of people dining at restaurants within the resorts and the fact that the trip was quite literally put together in less than a month, I was able to arrange one sit-down meal for us per day, including a Saturday breakfast at Chef Mickey's. During the trip, Epcot was also holding the annual Food and Wine Festival, offering 25 different booths, dedicated to 25 different countries, offering small samplings of several of the local flavors from each nation. Lauren and I were thrilled about this concept and knew that our culinary needs would be very well taken care of.
Lauren and I had been excited about possibly attending the initial D23 Expo, held locally in Anaheim, but when we saw the price of the tickets for non-D23 members, we quickly put that idea out of our heads. Fortunately, Disney made tickets available to its Cast Members for $5. How could we refuse? We initially only bought tickets for Friday and Saturday, but when we heard that there was going to be a special Muppet panel on Sunday, we decided to pick up tickets for that day as well.
Thursday, before the Expo I had read on the Disney Commuter Assistance webpage that a shuttle was going to be available from the Cast Parking lot to the Convention Center, about 2 miles away, to allow Cast Members to avoid paying the $12 parking fee. It seemed like a good idea for us, and so we took Disney up on their offer.
As we arrived in the parking lot that Friday morning, we were hassled by a power tripping manager type who asked if we were Cast Members. We had our IDs at the ready and after looking at them, he asked if we were working at the Expo that day. I said no, but that the website had said that we could park there. He glared at us, but that was the end of it. Also, over the next three days we saw many people who were not working use the shuttle, so even if we were misinterpreting what Disney was saying, we were not the only ones.
We entered the Convention Center, got our wristbands and proceeded to wait until we were able to enter the Convention floor. Once the floor opened, we instantly went to queue up for the Dave Barry/Ridley Pearson book discussion, but unfortunately it had filled up with D23 members who were allowed on the floor an hour early. We weren't too upset, and decided to go and look very briefly at the exhibit from the Disney Archives before we joined the hordes waiting to enter the Disney Movie Magic presentation. We turned in all of our electronics and were seated approximately 15 rows back and to the left side of the stage. Unfortunately, we were surrounded by a less-than-desirable people, but on a positive note, John Tartaglia, of "Avenue Q" fame stopped by talk to some people, which was sort of neat. After sitting for about an hour, the lights dimmed and the most impressive movie montage that I have ever been witness to began. Filled with mini-montages of various themes (pirates, love stories, action etc.) and accompanied by a live orchestra and amazing vocalists, the approximately 30 minute presentation was well worth the price of admission alone. Little was I to know that this was just the very tip of a most amazing iceberg.
First on the stage was Dick Cook, the now former head of the Walt Disney Studios to present some behind the scenes footage of Robert Zemeckis' "A Christmas Carol," and when the lights came up, Cook introduced Zemeckis himself who spoke briefly on the film as well as officially announce the Disney remake of the Beatles "Yellow Submarine" film.
Next, Cook presented the trailer for the Robin Williams/John Travolta film, "Old Dogs." As the trailer came to a close, I was hoping for an appearance by newly-appointed Disney legend, Robin Williams. That was not to be, but John Travolta appeared, flanked by wife, Kelly Preston and daughter Ella Bleu Travolta, both of whom appear alongside John in the film.
Following the Travoltas was a 3-D trailer of Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland," which I thought would be the perfect opportunity for an appearance by Johnny Depp, rumored to be in attendance, but alas, it was not to be. Tim Burton was Cook's special guest, which was really cool in and of itself. He seemed like the type of person that I'd like to have a long chat with some time.
As Burton left the stage, Cook mentioned the upcoming Muppet movie, "The Cheapest Muppet Movie Ever," which showed up on the screen above the stage, handwritten on a crumpled sheet of notebook paper. A voice suddenly came from nowhere and Pepe, Gonzo and Fozzie appeared on the screen. After talking for a moment, the curtain on stage parted and the three Muppets appeared on a scale replica of Disneyland's Mark Twain riverboat. They began singing parodies of Disney songs and then introduced Miss Piggy, who sang a song as well. The four realized that it really wasn't much of a presentation without Kermit, who then appeared in the Twain pilot house, holding a banjo and began singing "The Rainbow Connection." At this point, Sweetums appeared, pushing the Twain further out on the stage, to reveal all of the significant Muppets of the past 50 years on board. From the Electric Mayhem to Robin to Beaker to the orchestral penguins, they were all there. I literally began crying to see them all there in person, singing their most iconic song. It killed me that we had to turn in our cameras on the way in, but Lauren and I agreed that even if we walked out of the Expo at that moment, having seen the Muppets like that, didn't look back and never returned, we would consider the whole affair a huge success.
As we regained our composure, the lights dimmed again and we saw the trailer for "Prince of Persia," which I remember as an 8-bit computer game, and were then treated to an appearance by Jerry Bruckheimer. With a nice segue, we were next shown some behind the scenes footage of the Bruckheimer/Nicholas Cage's "The Sorcerer's Apprentice." I had been unimpressed with the general idea of this film, but after seeing the footage, I decided that this looks like a fun romp of a movie that I am excited to see.
Disneynature and its beautiful film, "Oceans," was the next trailer to be shown and I, for one, cannot wait to see this film. Unfortunately there were no special guests for this presentation, though I was hoping for some sea turtles or otters or something.
The trend of absentee guests continued with Gullermo del Toro and his filmed message from New Zealand, where he is filming "The Hobbit," and he announced a new Disney label called "Double Dare You," which will feature some more mature family horror/suspense films, including the first film to be released, del Toro's own "Troll Hunters," his next project following "The Hobbit."
The next movie to be discussed is Nicholas Sparks' "The Last Song," starring Miley Cyrus, and, big shock, Ms. Cyrus stepped on stage, to the tepid response of the mostly adult audience, though the two pre-teen girls sitting in front of Lauren and I were awed. Cyrus told the audience that she had just finished principle photography on the film and had just picked up the book and was really excited to read it. Really? Are there any big surprises coming? Hey...psst....the Titanic sinks too.
Cyrus next performed the hit song, "The Climb," looking like she was either possessed by demons or having a seizure. Again, the performance received a tepid response and Cyrus exited the stage, looking relatively unhappy.
The next project presented was much better recieved, as "Tron: Legacy" is much more the adult audience's alley. This film looks like a lot of fun, and will be great when it finally comes out. As far as full trailers and behind the scenes looks are concerned, "Tron: Legacy" was the finale, but Cook continued to talk of some films that are not yet beyond the pre-production phase, such as "John Carter of Mars," and "The Lone Ranger."
As the presentation seemed to be winding down, many of the people in the arena began to sneak out early, but they would soon regret that decision. Cook stated that though he had discussed most of the movies, he felt like he was forgetting something, as the theme from the "Pirates of the Caribbean" began and the logo for "Pirates of the Caribbean 4: On Stranger Tides" came on the screen, to the screams of the audience, which grew to a deafening roar as a pirate ship appeared on the stage with a familiar silhouette against the sail, and the ship turned to reveal Johnny Depp in full Captain Jack Sparrow regalia.
Johnny, in complete character, began asking the audience if they had seen a talking frog. He was finally lured off stage with promises from Cook about rum, and claimed that was why he was there.
Trying to leave the theater was a bit of a hassle as everyone tried to claim cameras and cell phones, but at least the hordes were polite and relatively decent to all of those waiting.
After grabbing our things, we realized how hungry we were and stepped out to grab some lunch at the BBQ stand, where we ran into a few friends and colleagues and joined our friend, Ross to eat. The food was good, but as was the theme all weekend, grossly overpriced. We chatted with Ross for a bit and briefly toured the "Parks and Resorts" pavilion, before hitting the floor and checking out all of the booths, including my friend, Lou Mongello's, where he gave me a copy of his magazine and invited me to write and article for him. Done deal!
As the floor closed at 5pm, Lauren and I decided that we were done for the day and headed back to the Cast lot for the car, with absolutely no incident. All in all, the first day was amazing and left us even more excited for day 2.
That's right folks, in exactly one month, Lauren and I will make our triumphant return to Walt Disney World, a little sooner than planned. 2 friends of ours were going and asked if we wanted to go along. Duh.
Flash forward one week and the airplane tickets have been purchased, the deposit is down for the Beach Club and money is being hoarded away in such a measure that my Scotch ancestry would be proud. Now all we need is to get the official OK from work, but we won't know that for at least 2 weeks. It is the off-season though, so we aren't concerned. Now, we play the waiting game.
Seriously. We were going to see the Indiana Jones Stunt Show. For real this time. We, AGAIN went over to open the Studios and headed straight for the Indiana Jones theater. We didn't care that it wasn't going to open for another hour at least. We wanted Fastpasses and we needed them for the first show.
We decided to camp out next to "Min and Bill's Dockside Diner," where we could keep an eye on the theater, without being too intrusive. Since we were sitting there, we needed to get something to eat of couse. I don't remember what Lauren had, something legitimate, no doubt, but I had the breakfast of champions! Hooray for vanilla milkshakes first thing in the morning!
As soon as it looked like the Fastpass was opening up, we bolted over and got the first tickets to the first show, occurring in about an hour and a half. The host told us that if we were there about one half hour or so before show time, we would be in great shape.
We took his word for it, and hustled over to the Rock'n'Roller Coaster one last time. It was as good as always, though I did, again, get yelled at for having my video camera out. Whatever.
We made it through in a surprisingly brisk manner and realized we had time to do Star Tours. Again, normally this wouldn't be a huge priority for us, but since we did have time to kill, we might as well enjoy the cool queue that the Studios has. As opposed to walking through what is essentially an intergalactic flight terminal, here, we walked through an Ewok village, complete with AT-AT which evidently shoots water during the warmer times of the year.
The ride itself was identical, with Rex getting us lost and almost killed by the Death Star and all that jazz. I don't know why the keep reprogramming that guy! Just break him down for parts and get us a decent pilot! I needed to be on the Moon of Endor. Sigh!
When we were done checking our Tattooine Traders, again an upgrade on our boring Star Traders, we decided that it was a good time to return to the Indy theater.
We wound up being darned close to the front of the line and getting some great seats, right behind the soundboard. I tried my best when they were looking for volunteers, but unfortunately was not selected. I still am making it my goal to be chosen to be in another show at Disney World. When I was seventeen I was selected to participate in a performance of "Doug Live!" as the drummer for the band, The Beets, and I've always wanted to do something like that again. Alas, this was not the time.
The stunt show is always fun, and this time it seemed like there was a lot more explanation into how the stunts were actually performed. A bit hammy, of course, but it was all in fun and some of the stunts were truly impressive.
FINALLY we were able to check that off of our list and feel a bit accomplished.
After catching a bit of the performance of "High School Musical 2" (OUCH!) while buying some popcorn, we went out and caught the "Friend Ship" over to the International Gateway to actually make those last few purchases that we had picked out the day prior. We were also able to sneak in one laaast ride on "Maelstrom" and had the trolls force us "back, back! Over the falls!" one more time.
It was sad leaving Epcot one last time. If we had a home park during the trip, this was it, and it was nice to be able to have our first park of the vacation also be our last.
Knowing how I was feeling personally, and looking at Lauren's face too, I knew that we would be back soon. I love Disney World, and though she may be hesitant to admit it, for fear of cheating on Disneyland, I know Lauren did too.
We made the sad trudge across the Boardwalk, and into the lobby, where we had stashed our bags and headed out to meet the Magical Express for our trip to the airport.
At the airport, we decided to check one bag so that the carry-on situation would be much easier on us, and I think that might have been the smartest decision we made all trip. It really was no hassle at all.
We got through security with no problems, a pleasant surprise since I am always the one "randomly" selected for further search. I wonder if my pseudo-"being wanted by the FBI thing" has anything to do with it. Hmmm....
Anyway, we were there in plenty of time for the flight. The Southwest virtual check-in makes it all so easy with boarding groups. We didn't NEED to camp out in the line to try and be first on the plane, our seats were already essentially set for us. We grabbed a nice "delicious" McDonald's lunch and just kind of sat quietly and looked back on the trip.
The flight was non-eventful. We flew over New Orleans, which was neat and had a layover in Phoenix, which was not so neat. That is, it was here that we realized that Lauren had left her credit card at Disney World, on a counter in the Japan shop, which made for a lot of stress at the very tail end of the trip.
Needless to say, the card was recovered by Disney, but since they can't send it through the mail, it was destroyed. Not to worry, another was ordered right away and at least we didn't worry about credit card fraud or identity theft.
We were the last plane into John Wayne airport that night and it was virtually deserted. We barely caught the last shuttle back to the parking lot, which could have made things very difficult had we missed it. The car was there and so was our apartment. Just the way we left it.
I can't wait to go back.
FINAL REFLECTIONS:
I can't wait to go back to Disney World. There is so much stuff there that we were barely able to touch the tip of the iceberg.
As soon as I can save up enough money, I am going to buy into the vacation club.
Seeing things through the eyes of someone who has never been there before is amazing, be it a child or an adult.
There was really not too much that I would have changed about this trip. I'm glad that at least this trip was just the two of us, it made things really special for me and hopefully her.
There is nothing wrong with carrying a cane for the heck of it! You never know what's going to happen.
Finally, go into vacations with the mindset that the trip and the time being spent is going to be good and amazing. Will things go wrong? Undoubtedly. But if you go into anything in life, especially a great trip or some wonderful time together with someone special to you, with a good mindset, even the 'bad' things have a way of being fun. Did I love walking back to the resort with wet heavy jeans? Nope. But I had fun, because I said that I was going to. Especially working at Disneyland, I see a lot of people who seem to try and find anything to complain about, and they generally have a miserable time. I also see the opposite side of the coin. The family who says "Oh? Ride's broken down? OK, well we will try back later." Guess which of the two seems a lot happier to be there?
Anyway, several several months in the creation, that was our trip to Disney World. I hope anyone out there enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed experiencing and then writing about and sharing it.
The stupid cheerleaders had screwed us up with all of our careful careful planning for this vacation by taking up the stage at the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular and having the shows cancelled for the entire day that we had designated as "Studio Day" thus forcing us to return in order to see Indy. It was a high priority for us in our initial planning, thus requiring us to return to the Studios again.
Today, as our last full day in the parks, was to sort of be a "what did we miss/best of the best" day. Unfortunately it looked like we would not be able to return to Animal Kingdom, but we were finally going to be able to see the Indy Stunt Show...right?
Again, we made our way to the Studios and, again, upon arrival discovered that we needed to eat. Starring Rolls had worked for us the day before, and it looked like it was going to work for us again! Unfortunately this being a Sunday during the football playoffs, as my Chargers were playing the New England Cheat Squad, the whole place was filled with lousy New England-ers. Gross.
Anyway, I think I got a cookie and Lauren had a turnover that she had quite the adventure eating. Most of it did eventually make its way into her mouth, so hooray for that!
Upon arriving at the park, we grabbed a show guide and checked for the timing of the first Indy show of the day. The paper said noon. We said, great, and went about our business getting the other attractions we wanted to do, out of the way.
We started at the "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" playset. This was something that I had seen in ads for Disney World since I was young, I remembered having seen the movies in the theaters, and it really did not disappoint. Sure it was designed for people decades younger and feet shorter than I was, but we were certainly not going to let that ruin our fun!
The slides and actual play area were a bit too small for us, but we had fun anyway.
Since the play area is very near the entrance to the Backlot Tour, and since we had missed it on the previous night, we hopped on over to the waiting area and our tour began a few minutes later. What to say about the tour? Ummm. Well. We...uhhh...liked the part where they showed about how to set water on fire and make it seem like a fighter plane was strafing us. That was cool. We liked the Catastrophe Canyon segment, where the very very briefly explain how some of these more elaborate disaster effects are done in the movies. As for the rest? Well, they took away the Residential Street Segment where several exteriors of "famous" TV residences were located. We saw Herbie, the Love Bug but he was the new Herbie from the Lindsay Lohan movie. Seeing the "Earful Tower," was pretty neat, until I dropped my lens cap never to be seen again. Yeah...this tour just plain kinda sucked.
There was also a neat exhibit at the end of the tour which featured props and effects from "AFI's Top 100 Villains." That was a neat exhibit with things such as the White Witch's sledge from "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" and Darth Vader's costume from "Star Wars." That was about it.
I don't know. Again, maybe we are just movie snobs and having done real backlot tours we were not exactly the audience that the tour was targeting, but a lot of the information seemed very patronizing and overly simplified. It just sort of left a bad taste in our mouths, which is too bad. This actually used to be a signature attraction in the park, but now seems like just an afterthought. I hope they can fix this up in the next few years and bring it back to it's former glory.
We still had some time to kill until the first Indy show, so we headed down to guest relations to report my lens cap or possibly purchase a new one. Obviously it hadn't been turned in, nor would it be during the trip, but they also weren't selling any sort of lens cap in the camera center. So, I wrapped the extra lens in one of the merchandise bags and we went up to the Indy theater. Turns out that we had underestimated the popularity of the show and did not know quite how to work the system. Essentially it seems that the way to do it is to grab a show Fastpass (which we do not have in California), queue up at the designated time, go in and get seats. Do not try the stand-by line. It will not work.
Unfortunately, this was the only show that we could really do today due to dinner plans and the desire to get other things done on our last full day. Sooooo, it was to be another morning in the Studios tomorrow, to ensure that we see this darned show before we leave!
We exited the park and decided to take the bus over to Epcot. Why? I'm not entirely sure, but we did, and got to wait with a bunch of obnoxious self-centered jerks, who berated the bus driver for taking a few minutes in order to assist a guest with a wheelchair. It grossed me out to be on the same bus as people like that.
I made some remarks as we left to head into Epcot, I don't think they were heard, but it made me feel better about the whole incident. Sometimes I just wonder if these people realize what jerks they are being or if they are just oblivious to the world around them. Either way, it's sad.
One of the reasons we took the bus over was to enter Epcot proper and get our pictures right in front of Spaceship Earth. Photopass to the rescue and we got some nice photos there.
We stopped in to grab another quick "pick-me-up" at Club Cool, where Lauren declined the Beverly (go figure!) and continued into World Showcase.
The main reason that we were here was to get any last minute shopping for family out of the way. Namely, we wanted to go and explore Norway, Japan and Morocco a little more for a few things that we had seen briefly earlier in our trip. I actually like shopping for things for other people and we had fun picking between the assorted gifts for people and just seeing more in depth the amount of different things that these three varied countries had to offer. Having tapped out my personal budget for the most part, I certainly came across several items that will be coming home with me in the next few trips.
We made those few purchases, had to sleep on one or two absolutely last minute things (giving us an excuse to hit Epcot one last time before we left) and had to run back to the Boardwalk really quickly.
We decided to re-enter through the International Gateway to get to the monorail, in order to head to the Magic Kingdom for our dinner reservations at Liberty Tree Tavern. I love the fact that in Florida, the monorails are used as legitimate sources of transportation, as opposed to Disneyland, where they are mostly a novelty at best.
After turns on monorails purple/gold, we were dropped off outside of the Magic Kingdom, where decorations for the Pirate and Princess Party were in place. Unfortunately, they were to begin after we had departed, so there was another excuse to head back!
We made it in and after several photo breaks, found ourselves in front of Cinderella's Castle with a Photopass photographer. He was a very nice guy who had been a portrait photographer in his "real life" and helped us get some really nice photos.
He tried directing us to another photographer over in the rose gardens next to the castle claiming that we would get some amazing shots from over there. Unfortunately, we could not find him in a timely manner, and needed to get over to Liberty Tree, so, again, something to do on a future trip. Plus I'm no slouch with a camera myself and got some nice shots off on our way over.
We made it to Liberty Tree right on time and sat down, waiting for the Petersen party from the great territory of California to be called. There was some incident with people who were late/had left trying to be seated, which added on a bit of time for our wait, but it was at least an entertaining boisterous location to keep our attention.
We were finally called and were led up to our dining area, which I believe was the "Washington Dining Room." Almost immediately, the rolls and the incredibly flavored butter were right on the table for us. Our drink orders were taken and the main course was on the table in almost no time at all.
There were no less than 3 different types of meat: ham, turkey and flank steak, mac and cheese (a collective personal favorite of ours), potatoes and gravy, green beans and a delicious apple cobbler for dessert. I'm getting hungry just thinking about it! We ate a ton of food, but took a few breaks throughout, when some colonially-dressed characters were to stop by!
These were by far some of my favorite interactions that I have ever had the pleasure to experience.
There were lots of hugs exchanged, including at least one of the chipmunks trying to steal Lauren from me. Seriously, what is the deal with all of these characters trying to take her? Do I really look like that much of a pushover? DON'T answer that!
Goofy happened to notice that I was wearing my Chargers cap and went all out trying to give me an update on the score. I am not so good with the sign language, but was eventually able to figure it out.
Unfortunately, we were not winning at this point so it was somewhat bittersweet. Also, in this same vein, Minnie was evidently a Patriot fan and was pleased to see the Chargers losing. I now hate Minnie Mouse.
The character interaction here was great, and not just because of our unique experience. In fact, I feel that we ate fairly quickly, but were still able to have the characters stop by our table twice. Much more efficient than the Crystal Palace, which we also enjoyed a great deal.
On their second visits, I tried to get some video of each character including a great one of Pluto hamming it up for my camera,
and some unfortunate footage after I had informed Goofy that our Chargers had lost. He wept. I almost did too. There is nothing like weeping in the arms of a large cartoon dog. It is cathartic.
We left our new friends and decided that a great spot to go after a colonial American meal, was the Hall of Presidents to re-enforce our patriotic spirits. I always enjoy the show, again, being a sap for the schmaltzy type of sentimental shows that Disney is oh-so-good at creating. Time-wise we realized that we really probably would not be able to see Spectro-Magic, but again, gives us something to look forward to. So, after seeing the leaders of this great country, what was the logical next step?
Why, the Country Bears, of course! I really do love and miss this show. Is it hokey? Sure. But is it an entertaining show that has proven to last the test of time? Absolutely. I recorded the whole thing, just in case Disney ever decides to make a mistake and evict the bears in Florida, like they did in Disneyland, I will always have them!
We finished the show and decided to try and get a spot to watch Wishes, figuring that we would only be able to get a really crummy view. Not quite. We were basically right in front of the castle about 200-300 yards back. Essentially a perfect viewing spot.
We happened to be between two families and kind of started chatting with them a little bit, only to discover that the fathers of both families were "watching" the two games, via PDA's. We all were standing there, waiting for the fireworks in front of Cinderella's Castle, people from different corners of the country, bonding over football games, occurring hundreds of miles away from us. What a time that we live in!
The fireworks began and it was a nice show. I think our "Remember" fireworks beat them hands down, but we did enjoy them and we did take a ton of pictures. Let me tell you, processing hundreds of pictures of the fireworks was a wee bit tedious to say the least, but at least we got some nice shots of them.
As the fireworks ended, our football buddies went their separate ways and we went ours, never to see eachother again. Well, we will always have football and fireworks.
We decided to take our time on the way out of the park and take a long, meandering walk around. We waited until they opened up the castle and walked through into Fantasyland.
I made a point of stopping by the Cinderella water fountain to show Lauren the trick of kneeling by the children's water fountain and looking at the statue to make the crown appear on her head.
We poked around the shops and headed down into Liberty Square, en route to Adventureland and our trip aboard the World Famous Jungle Cruise.
It had gotten a bit chilly and I let Lauren wear my Jungle Cruise 50th anniversary jacket, which has a huge pile of skulls and "Jungle Cruise" in a large font on the back.
As we entered the queue, there was a pair of skippers greeting guests, who of course noticed the jacket and commented on it. We chatted with them a bit and they actually knew one of my friends who had been down there several months prior and referenced a greeting card that I had contributed to. It was a nice talk, and I always love the camaraderie between cast members, regardless of what park we work in.
The jungle was good, personally I like ours better. I really like the pygmy beach, the giant temple and the crashed airplane by the hippo pool, but in general, Disneyland's version wins. Hands down.
We were pretty beat by the time we were done avoiding Chief Namee(Trader Sam is better), we were ready to head back to the hotel and our nice hot tub. The bus ride back seemed to take awhile, but not long enough at the same time, as we knew that we were heading back to pack up all of our junk and go to sleep for the last time in Disney World. At least for now.
It was finally time to take on the Studios, whatever name was being thrown around this week. Seriously, it's like Prince and Puff Daddy got together and decided to get the Studios into all of the multinonymous fun. Whether the term "multinonymous" is a real word is in and of itself another discussion, but I digress.
In the past, the Studios had always been one of, if not solely, my favorite parts of Disney World. I don't know if it was just the vacation fatigue setting in, or because I had been to the "real" Hollywood (yuck!) but the appeal was somewhat lacking on this visit.
We decided to walk over, since it was mere minutes from our room at the Boardwalk and probably the most direct route, since in order to take the boats available, we would have needed to walk to the other side of the hotel. I'm lazy, but smart lazy. The heck if I'm going to add extra walking in order to do it!
The walk was nice, I had my cane/walking stick and we waved at all the people on the assorted watercraft. It is kind of funny how friendly everyone is within the "World."
We made it to the Studios within minutes of opening and we were pretty hungry. Rather than racing to the rides, we decided to stop into "Starring Rolls" and grab some pastries for breakfast. They were enjoyable and certainly served their purposes.
After we ate, we went over to "The Great Movie Ride." Since Lauren and I are both movie buffs, we figured this would be a good way to start our day. Having the cane and preying on people's assumptions once again paid off, as, without saying a word, we were ushered up the side of the queue and allowed to board much more quickly than our non-cane wielding counterparts. Also, we were boarded right up front, behind our driver/host, so perhaps my cane investment was well worth the pittance I paid for it!
The ride is a true classic, and while I do not wish for them to remove any of the classic scenes--after all, a classic is a classic forever--I would like to see some new, post 1990 movies added. However, it is still a must-see attraction at the Studios.
As we exited, we made our way over to Sunset Boulevard, since that is the home of the "Rock 'n' Roller Coaster," however, along the way, we saw that it was nearly time for the Beauty and the Beast stage show. Lauren loves Belle and Beauty and the Beast and I thought this might be a good place to take a bit of a break. She wasn't feeling too well and the bits of the show that she did see, was not impressed.
I thought it was pretty good but that was neither here nor there. I guess after the Aladdin show in DCA, anything is kind of anti-climactic.
I only hoped that the "Rock 'n' Roller Coaster" would live up to the hype. I really didn't need to worry.
I love the "Rock 'n' Roller Coaster." It introduced me to the music of Aerosmith and the first time I rode it with my dad, he said that the initial take-off was very very close to the take-off of a fighter jet from an aircraft carrier. That's a pretty good endorsement. It also happened to be the first upside-down loop I had ever ridden. Overall, just a great ride. The queue, while basically utilitarian, has some really cool old concert posters once the line enters the "recording studio."
In addition to the amusing elements designed by Disney, Lauren and I found great entertainment in the T-shirt of the boy in front of us in line. Apparently, this young man had been to something called "Deer Camp." I have absolutely no idea what "deer camp" is, but suffice it to say that there were many jokes about being "fawn-dled." Ahh, people. So oblivious sometimes!
The coaster was great, like always, despite the fact that they wouldn't let me video it--despite the fact that my brother had done it in the past. They were pretty rude about making me put it away too. I can totally understand that there are rules and I try to abide by them, but bad attitudes are unnecessary.
We grabbed Fastpasses to come back later and headed down to visit the Muppets. Now, you may be asking why we didn't check in to the Hollywood Tower of Terror while we were already right next to it. Well, long story short, it makes Lauren deathly sick, so there would be no Tower for us on this trip. No big deal.
Yes, I know that we have a "Muppetvision 4-D" in Anaheim and that to save time, we were mostly ignoring rides that are bi-coastal, but the whole Muppet plaza area is really cool! Being big Muppet aficianados, I figured that we would get a kick out of the area. I was correct.
While the two shows are virtually identical, Lauren's opinion was that she liked the exterior of Florida's version better, but preferred our interior.
Another major coup for Florida was their Muppet shop. Whereas DCA has a little stand outside of the attraction, which in recent years has began just stocking generic Disney merchandise, there is a whole room dedicated to the Muppets here. Not only was there neat things to buy (we each got a Muppet shirt) but the store was themed to the "Happiness Hotel," from "The Great Muppet Caper," while the entry was the bus station from "The Muppets Take Manhattan." It was all very very cool.
As we further explored the area, we found that Al's Toy Barn lay right on the outskirts and who was there, but old friends, Buzz and Woody.
We had to stop by for some photos.
After visiting our friends, we began to feel a bit peckish. and realized that it was time for lunch. Having just seen Buzz and Woody, eating at Pizza Planet seemed apropos, but after the unfortunate Pizza-fari incident, the concept of eating more "pizza" was not the most appealing to me. However, I was a good sport and we headed in for lunch.
It was swamped. Turns out, that particular day was the finals for some sort of cheerleading or dance competition, and all of the girls seemed to swarm upon Pizza Planet. I thought pizza was a strict no-no for these types. Oh well. The line was quite long, but we decided to stick it out and were eventually served. While eating, we actually saw the team from Lauren's college, but she declined my suggestion to go over and make new friends.
Sidenote: This was not the first time that the cheer/dancers messed with us this particular day. We had really been looking forward to the Indiana Jones stunt show, since as cast members on the Indiana Jones RIDE in Disneyland, we frequently have to deal with confused guests. The stupid competition had taken over the venue for the whole day, causing us to call an audible on our plans for the following days. End of sidenote.
Following lunch we had only a small window of time until the "Stars and Motorcars" parade was to begin. I really wanted to see this, as it was set to "retire" within a few weeks of our departure, to make way for the "Block Party Blast," being imported from DCA, I wanted to take advantage of my last chance to see this parade.
We grabbed great spots for photos and just sort of plopped ourselves down. It's amazing how many great seats there are for parades, when the park is designed for them. Much easier to get seating than in our own Disneyland.
The parade did not disappoint. Tons of characters, cool cars and a very relaxed, classic-type parade. No show stops, nothing fancy. I highly approved.
Following the parade, since we happened to be sitting right there, and with an hour or so to kill before our early early dinner seating at the "Sci-Fi Dine In" we decided to check out, "Sounds Dangerous," featuring the magnificent Drew Carey. Essentially, it was an exercise in audio tricks, but it was actually kind of neat. Basically, you are in a huge dark room wearing headphones and are listening as Carey records a hidden camera show and the camera fails. While not necessarily something that needs to be done on each trip, it was a fun diversion.
At this point it was almost time to check in at the Sci-Fi, so we made our way down there. Again, as we were waiting to be seated a family walked up and tried to be seated. This time they were more rude than the people at Le Cellier, so it was nice to see them rebuffed. People, do your research before your vacation! Don't let this happen to you!
The interior of this restaurant is a blast. Sitting in classic cars, watching horrible B-movies is just so unique and fun! Lauren and I both like "Mystery Science Theater 3000," so many of the titles were familiar but again, seeing them on the big screen was great. The food was good, despite many of the negative reviews that I had read online. Lauren had ribs, I had the burger and the piece de resistance was the cheesecake dessert. It was drizzled with caramel and covered in caramel corn and other assorted candy. That was worth the price of admission alone!
It was getting near closing time for the park, so we decided to try and get on the "Backlot Tour," only to discover that we had missed the final trip. It was getting a bit chilly so we decided to check out "Walt Disney: One Man's Dream" to fill some of our time before we wanted to get in line for Fantasmic!
The exhibit is quite well done, filled with artifacts from Walt's life and career. Even being a big Disney buff, I saw things that I had never seen before.
The exhibit blended interactive and non-interactive together quite nicely, and the crown jewel was the film about Walt. It was very informative and touching as well. You can't help but wonder how vastly different everything would have been, had he lived longer.
We decided that it was about time to head over to the Hollywood Hills ampitheater to get our seats for Fantasmic! We found some pretty good ones, slightly off-center and about 2/3 of the way back, so we settled in to see the show.
Unfortunately, nature had other plans for that particular evening. What she had planned was the single most violent rainstorm that I had ever experienced. Thunderbolts and lightning! (Very very frightening!) We, along with a few other hardy souls sat in our seats until they finally cancelled the show officially. We were drenched to the core, but still laughing about it. After all, I'm dryable.
We were planning to take the "Friend-Ship" home to the Boardwalk, but the line was at least 3 boatfulls long and so we decided just to slog it out in the rain. A lot of people looked at us like we were crazy, but most just laughed along, like the gentleman in the elevator with us at the Boardwalk, who informed us that he had cancelled his dinner reservations at a different resort, rather than brave the storm.
Wimp.
When we finally got to the room, we drew a hot bath, tossed our clothes into the washer and dryer to get them all clean and toasty and began to decide what our amended plans were to be for the following day.
