ransom
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- Aug 2, 2006
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Chapter 9: More Tears, But Not of Joy
We woke up a little bleary-eyed the morning after MVMCP and so many days of running around. But we knew that night would be a relatively early one, since Fantasmic! is run so early in the evening. Then, the next day we planned to sleep in a little.
We did the usual morning routine, this time getting a breakfast plate, apple danish, and oatmeal for me, while DW had a bit of oatmeal, some of my bacon, a little orange juice, and coffee. The apple danish was very good. Very, very good. In fact, I'd love to have one right now, as I write this. Mmmmmm...apple danish.....(drooling sounds)....
After eating that high-calorie, high-fat, and high-pleasure breakfast, we went down to the bus stop. We got there around 8:10, which happened to be just when the bus to Disney/MGM arrived. For the first and only time, we were the only two passengers on the bus! Try that in mid-July!
The bus arrived at Disney/MGM at 8:30, and after going through security, we were only a few people back in the queue at the turnstiles. Even as they began letting people into the park, the queues were only a dozen or so people deep. And I have video to prove it!
When they let us into the park, I had a chance to get right up front for the opening ceremonies. Instead, I hung back, trying to get a good position. Why? Because I hadn't filmed a single one of the opening ceremonies we'd seen so far. Not Animal Kingdom, and not even the one at the Magic Kingdom that made us cry.
This time, I wanted to make sure that I not only filmed it, but that I filmed it well.
The couple from Iowa that got the "starring roles" did a good job playing along, and the director and gossip columnist had us all laughing. Thank goodness I got it on tape!
Once "Hollywood, here we come!" had been shouted, we headed around the corner and down the street to Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, where we were able to walk on. The preshow was great, the first few seconds of acceleration were great, but the rest of the ride was . . . all right. I mean, it's a nice coaster and all, but it's not very Disney to us. Okay, it's in the dark -- but road signs as theming?!?
Since DW also wasn't impressed with that attraction, I started wondering if Disney/MGM was worth our time. It was supposed to be one of the two super headliners at the park, but it'd left us cold. I thought, maybe MGM is just a half-day park for us.
Feeling a little let down, we proceeded to the Tower of Terror. The queue was empty as usual, so we didn't get to experience much of the exterior theming. Inside, though, it was very good. Sort of like an updated Haunted Mansion. And the boiler room! Wow, what a cool concept for the final portion of the ride queue!
The above is what I was thinking about as we were going through the process of getting to the elevators. DW, however, wasn't thinking of much beyond her fear of being dropped in an elevator. I had forgotten she had that fear (it hasn't come up in years and years), but of course it was foremost in her mind at that point. But she was a trouper, ready to test her mettle against the ride.
When we were seated and the doors had closed, DW was looking a bit scared. By the time we saw the ghosts, she was really frightened, not knowing when we'd be dropped. So I put my arm around her to comfort her.
After the ride vehicle moved through the hotel and set itself up for the drop, DW was tensed up. I heard her groan, and then we dropped!
I tried to comfort her, but my arm kept lifting off from around her shoulders as we descended faster than the speed of gravity!
When the ride ended, DW was in tears.
So we never rode it again.
Right? Wrong! Unlike with me and Dinosaur, DW wanted to ride Tower of Terror again. In fact, it was DW's favorite attraction in all the parks. Her favorite coaster is Expedition Everest, but her favorite attraction of all is Tower of Terror. I know this because she told me so - through bleary eyes and mussed mascara. Go figure!
On the way out, we bought the ride photo. It's too bad that some folks were taking photos at the time of the shot - it kind of ruins the effect. But those of us who were actually paying attention to the ride have some fun expressions on our faces. One young woman has her mouth wide open, screaming, her eyes showing her terror. In fact, I remember that scream, because she was sitting to my right (DW was on the left). People like her make the ride more fun for the rest of us, by getting into it and thereby leading us further into the illusion as well.
After leaving the haunted hotel, we went back up the street toward the hat. On the way, we were tempted by the smells coming out of the eateries. I almost bought something at the bakery, but decided to be good. At the end of the street, we hooked a right and headed for the Great Movie Ride.
That was a lot of fun. We both loved that they have real people mixed in with the animatronics. We got the gangster during our ride. Seeing him fried and our regular tour guide revealed was a hoot! In fact, the only bad thing was that I, not being experienced with our new video camera, had been taping the ride but stopped after the third scene. In the viewfinder, it looked like I wasn't getting much. Once we got home, we found that it had been capturing everything as clear as a bell. Lesson learned for next time!
After exiting the Great Movie Ride, we walked around One Man's Dream, then went further down Mickey Avenue, turned the corner, and first experienced the Streets of America. While I'd seen the New York and San Francisco effects online (accidentally; I'd been trying not to ruin anything for myself before the trip), DW hadn't any idea they were there. Seeing it the first time gave her pause as she asked, "Is that real?"
We got a few pictures there (probably like everyone else in the World), then went on down the street, saw where we'd be having dinner (Mama Melrose's), and then ended back in the Echo Lake area. We didn't have an ADR for lunch, but I wanted to try a sit-down restaurant. It was 11:00, so I thought my chances were good of getting something. My first choice was Prime Time Cafe, with second being Sci Fi Dine-In theater (simply for the atmosphere; I'd heard the food wasn't very good).
So we walked over to Prime Time, went in, and asked if they could fit us in. They could! When? Right that minute! So we got immediate seating in Mama's kitchen, with a TV right next to us. The magic continues!
Those of you keeping track of my calories will be shocked to hear I started my meal with a huge chocolate malt. I drank nearly all of it before we'd even ordered our lunch! Our server, Liz, warned me that I'd better have left room for lunch or I'd be in trouble! DW also got a warning - about putting her elbows on the table. She enjoyed playing along with that one.
In fact, it was a very nice lunch. We both had the chicken pot pie, which was pretty good. I had a bit of gristle in mine, but that's forgivable. We frequent family owned restaurants at home, and we'll sometimes run into that sort of thing. I counted it as a bit of authentic theming and went on with my meal (while watching TV, of course).
I ate all of the pot pie, except for the peas. I like peas just fine, but they don't like me. If I ate those, I wouldn't need to take a bus back to the Lodge. I could just lean over and blow myself back there! But I was a bit worried that I'd get in trouble for not eating them. Fortunately for everyone else at Disney World, Liz gave me a pass on that one.
DW ate all of her pot pie, and thought it was quite good compared to what she's gotten at non-WDW restaurants. (DW makes a wonderful turkey pot pie every year after Thanksgiving. She thinks it's just OK, but I absolutely love it. It's my favorite meal. I could eat a whole pie in one sitting if she'd let me get away with it!) DW particularly enjoyed the pastry part of the pot pie.
I haven't mentioned much about DW's impressions of WDW food to this point. She had been expecting fast food quality stuff. We don't eat fast food, so you can imagine she wasn't looking forward to a week of eating at WDW. Boy was she surprised! The only thing she didn't particularly enjoy for the whole week was that dry BBQ pork at MK. Everything else was, as she said to me, "at least two notches above" what she expected. And some, such as the food at California Grill, was excellent in her opinion.
Back at Prime Time, we didn't have any dessert with our meal. Since we were doing this outside of the dining plan (with all our signature restaurant experiences, I didn't want to waste another table service credit on lunch),
Liz didn't try to tempt us into piling a big piece of cake on top of the rest of the calories we (well, okay, I) had just eaten.
After lunch, we took a nice walk to the corner of the park and took the Backlot Tour. Those volunteers during the walking part of the tour sure do get soaked! Watching them put together a movie on the spot was a lot of fun, too. And during the riding part of the tour, we got to see the seamstresses having coffee and cake after lunch. Hey, I wasn't the only one eating sweets after all!
On the way back to Streets of America, we stopped at a cart and DW bought a light-up Christmas tree hat with Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, and Stitch ornaments. Since we've gotten home, she's worn it a couple of times, including on Christmas. My family got a kick out of it.
Next up for us was Muppetvision 3D. We'd already seen Mickey's Philharmagic and Bug's Life, so we were familiar with Disney style 3D movies at that point. But getting to see Sweetums roaming in the auditorium was a great touch! Plus, there's nothing like the Muppet sense of humor. And those guys in the balcony always slay me!
From there, we took a short walk to Star tours. It wasn't walk-on, but we couldn't have waited more than 10 minutes. The queue was only backed up to where the droid is at its desk.
I'd been warned on the DIS that the movie for Star Tours was seriously degraded, with pops, cracks, and scratches. Since I'd last seen it when it debuted at Disneyland in 1988, I was a bit bummed at the prospect of DW's first experience with it being disappointing.
But when the ride started up, we didn't notice any problems with the film. Maybe we were too busy enjoying it to notice, but I can definitely say there were no major problems with it. And the ride was as fun as ever! (And now that I've ridden Body Wars, it's nice to be able to compare the two. Personally, the mythos of the original Star Wars trilogy still has an effect on me, so I prefer Star Tours, but Body Wars is at last equal in terms of the simulator effects.)
After that, it was already time for dinner! How? Well, I'd wanted to do the Fanstasmic! dinner package, so I'd signed up for Mama Melrose's. The best time I could get was 3:30. At the time, I figured we could just get a snack before Fantasmic! started if we got hungry later. (But what are the chances of me being hungry?)
We made it to Mama Melrose's right on time, but they didn't have a table ready for us quite yet. DW headed to the bathroom, and just as she went in, I was told our table was ready. D'oh! Luckily, we were seated right after DW got back.
Our meal was pretty darned good. I wasn't expecting much (again, based on the mixed reviews I'd seen on the DIS), so I was impressed by the atmosphere as well as the presentation of the food. DW ordered tomatoes and fresh mozzarella as her appetizer, while I had the bruschetta. She adored hers (it's one of her favorite things to eat), and I very much enjoyed mine. We both had hot italian sausages over pasta for our main dish. It was good, but I'm not a fan of very finely ground sausage; I prefer a bit courser texture. Flavor-wise, it was very good. For dessert, we each had crema limone, which was very nice!
After dinner, we went on Tower of Terror for a second time. We were dropped more often and for longer falls this time, but DW liked it even better! We were tempted to buy the ride photo again, but ultimately decided against it.
To celebrate our luck at getting even more drops this time (and DW's delighted/terrified response thereto), we made our way back to Mickey Avenue and bought DW a back scratcher, a sorcerer's hat Christmas ornament, and a Fantasia stuffed Mickey. On the way, we got to enjoy some streetmosphere as the boss plumber and his crew argued whether they were spending too much time in the candy store instead of on the job. It was a great bit of street theater! (Oh, and we also got to see Tow Mater.)
From the merchandise cart where we bought the souvenirs, it was back around through Streets of America to the Echo Lake region again to see Sounds Dangerous. Unfortunately, the show had just started, so we weren't able to see it. D'oh!
But right across the street, Indiana Jones was only a few minutes from starting. So we went into the theater, took off our shoes, and made ourselves at home.
No, really! Our feet were hurting, so after I took off my shoes, DW did likewise. What a relief! And I didn't get any complaints, so I don't think they were stinking.
We both enjoyed the stunt show, but DW much moreso than I. Still, it's a must-do to both of us for our next trip. I know people complain about how it hasn't been changed since it opened more than a decade ago, but for us newbies, it's quite a treat and I'm glad Disney's kept it around. Watching the stunt people at work (not to mention the explosions) is a really great experience.
Once Indiana Jones let out, it was 5:45 and almost time for the Osborne Lights, so we went back to the Streets of America. We were able to get a good spot at the top of the rise so we could see everything. Once it started, I was able to get pretty good video of it. DW and I both enjoyed the dancing lights very much, and rewatching that at home has been extra magical.
Once the lights stopped dancing, we grabbed a snack (a shared bag of chips), then went to the special "dinner package" entrace to Fantasmic!
Once we got to the cast member who was checking everyone's tickets, I realized my mistake. Back at Mama Melrose's, the person seating us gave us the ticket and told me to make sure that our server signed it. Well, I had completely forgotten to get that signature!
So as I pulled it out, I got worried we would have to go all the way around to the other side and take whatever seats were left. But the cast member said it was no problem so long as we had our receipt from dinner, and we were allowed to proceed! Yes!
After a short walk, we were in the Fantasmic! theater for the first time. It's an impressive place, with seemingly good views from all three sides. We had seats about half way down the bleachers from the rope dividing the package seats from the regular seats. Not dead center by any means, but far enough over that we could see what was happening on the main stage with no problem.
I'd been told that this was the best night time show at WDW, so I pulled out the video camera. I shot the whole thing without a monopod or tripod, and my hand was shaking uncontrollably by the end as my muscles were about to give out. I kept at it, though, even though the viewfinder made it look like I wasn't getting much. I just wanted to get whatever I could, because I thought DW might like to re-experience it when we got back home.
Boy, did she! When Sorcerer Mickey appeared near the end, DW cried. It put a lump in my throat, too. What a great play! It has all the right messages, plus a fun story and plenty to see along the way. And those water "screens" they project onto! That's a great idea, and just the kind of thing you'd expect from Disney Imagineers.
Oh, and the home movie? It looks great! Sure, it's only a single camera angle, but I got all the action and the sound is perfect. DW loves re-watching that more than anything else. I'm so glad I kept my hand up there, despite the muscle spasms. (Oh, and as for that - the optical image stabilization feature of the camera must have taken care of that, because it seems rock-steady on replay.)
Once Fantasmic! was over, we made the long trek out of the park. As with Animal Kingdom, we felt we'd given MGM short shrift. We had a blast there, but there just wasn't time enough to do everything. We missed Sounds Dangerous, the Narnia display, and almost all the shows. We resolved to spend at least a day and a half at Disney/MGM next time. So much for my worries that Disney/MGM would turn out to be a half-day park. It sure beats the heck out of Universal Hollywood during the 80's!
On the way out of the Studios, DW took several pictures of the park's icon, Mickey's sorcerer hat. Can you tell that's her favorite Disney animated feature? Or, as she calls it, Mickey's greatest role.
We took the bus back to WL, and were there by 8:15, which is when we stopped at the mercantile to pick up our packages from AK (Everest photos) and MK (DW's pirate hat -- hey, how many hats *did* she buy on our vacation, anyway? You know something? The one hat she didn't buy was the Sorcerer Mickey style one. Boy does she regret that oversight!).
After relaxing a bit, we were in bed shortly after 9 PM. We'd decided to get a late start the next day for our second day of touring Epcot (since we planned to be up late watching Illuminations that night), so set the wake-up call for 7:30 rather than 6:00 AM.
Next: They don't cancel Illuminations, do they?
We woke up a little bleary-eyed the morning after MVMCP and so many days of running around. But we knew that night would be a relatively early one, since Fantasmic! is run so early in the evening. Then, the next day we planned to sleep in a little.
We did the usual morning routine, this time getting a breakfast plate, apple danish, and oatmeal for me, while DW had a bit of oatmeal, some of my bacon, a little orange juice, and coffee. The apple danish was very good. Very, very good. In fact, I'd love to have one right now, as I write this. Mmmmmm...apple danish.....(drooling sounds)....
After eating that high-calorie, high-fat, and high-pleasure breakfast, we went down to the bus stop. We got there around 8:10, which happened to be just when the bus to Disney/MGM arrived. For the first and only time, we were the only two passengers on the bus! Try that in mid-July!
The bus arrived at Disney/MGM at 8:30, and after going through security, we were only a few people back in the queue at the turnstiles. Even as they began letting people into the park, the queues were only a dozen or so people deep. And I have video to prove it!
When they let us into the park, I had a chance to get right up front for the opening ceremonies. Instead, I hung back, trying to get a good position. Why? Because I hadn't filmed a single one of the opening ceremonies we'd seen so far. Not Animal Kingdom, and not even the one at the Magic Kingdom that made us cry.
This time, I wanted to make sure that I not only filmed it, but that I filmed it well.
The couple from Iowa that got the "starring roles" did a good job playing along, and the director and gossip columnist had us all laughing. Thank goodness I got it on tape!
Once "Hollywood, here we come!" had been shouted, we headed around the corner and down the street to Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, where we were able to walk on. The preshow was great, the first few seconds of acceleration were great, but the rest of the ride was . . . all right. I mean, it's a nice coaster and all, but it's not very Disney to us. Okay, it's in the dark -- but road signs as theming?!?
Since DW also wasn't impressed with that attraction, I started wondering if Disney/MGM was worth our time. It was supposed to be one of the two super headliners at the park, but it'd left us cold. I thought, maybe MGM is just a half-day park for us.
Feeling a little let down, we proceeded to the Tower of Terror. The queue was empty as usual, so we didn't get to experience much of the exterior theming. Inside, though, it was very good. Sort of like an updated Haunted Mansion. And the boiler room! Wow, what a cool concept for the final portion of the ride queue!
The above is what I was thinking about as we were going through the process of getting to the elevators. DW, however, wasn't thinking of much beyond her fear of being dropped in an elevator. I had forgotten she had that fear (it hasn't come up in years and years), but of course it was foremost in her mind at that point. But she was a trouper, ready to test her mettle against the ride.
When we were seated and the doors had closed, DW was looking a bit scared. By the time we saw the ghosts, she was really frightened, not knowing when we'd be dropped. So I put my arm around her to comfort her.
After the ride vehicle moved through the hotel and set itself up for the drop, DW was tensed up. I heard her groan, and then we dropped!
I tried to comfort her, but my arm kept lifting off from around her shoulders as we descended faster than the speed of gravity!
When the ride ended, DW was in tears.
So we never rode it again.
Right? Wrong! Unlike with me and Dinosaur, DW wanted to ride Tower of Terror again. In fact, it was DW's favorite attraction in all the parks. Her favorite coaster is Expedition Everest, but her favorite attraction of all is Tower of Terror. I know this because she told me so - through bleary eyes and mussed mascara. Go figure!
On the way out, we bought the ride photo. It's too bad that some folks were taking photos at the time of the shot - it kind of ruins the effect. But those of us who were actually paying attention to the ride have some fun expressions on our faces. One young woman has her mouth wide open, screaming, her eyes showing her terror. In fact, I remember that scream, because she was sitting to my right (DW was on the left). People like her make the ride more fun for the rest of us, by getting into it and thereby leading us further into the illusion as well.
After leaving the haunted hotel, we went back up the street toward the hat. On the way, we were tempted by the smells coming out of the eateries. I almost bought something at the bakery, but decided to be good. At the end of the street, we hooked a right and headed for the Great Movie Ride.
That was a lot of fun. We both loved that they have real people mixed in with the animatronics. We got the gangster during our ride. Seeing him fried and our regular tour guide revealed was a hoot! In fact, the only bad thing was that I, not being experienced with our new video camera, had been taping the ride but stopped after the third scene. In the viewfinder, it looked like I wasn't getting much. Once we got home, we found that it had been capturing everything as clear as a bell. Lesson learned for next time!
After exiting the Great Movie Ride, we walked around One Man's Dream, then went further down Mickey Avenue, turned the corner, and first experienced the Streets of America. While I'd seen the New York and San Francisco effects online (accidentally; I'd been trying not to ruin anything for myself before the trip), DW hadn't any idea they were there. Seeing it the first time gave her pause as she asked, "Is that real?"
We got a few pictures there (probably like everyone else in the World), then went on down the street, saw where we'd be having dinner (Mama Melrose's), and then ended back in the Echo Lake area. We didn't have an ADR for lunch, but I wanted to try a sit-down restaurant. It was 11:00, so I thought my chances were good of getting something. My first choice was Prime Time Cafe, with second being Sci Fi Dine-In theater (simply for the atmosphere; I'd heard the food wasn't very good).
So we walked over to Prime Time, went in, and asked if they could fit us in. They could! When? Right that minute! So we got immediate seating in Mama's kitchen, with a TV right next to us. The magic continues!
Those of you keeping track of my calories will be shocked to hear I started my meal with a huge chocolate malt. I drank nearly all of it before we'd even ordered our lunch! Our server, Liz, warned me that I'd better have left room for lunch or I'd be in trouble! DW also got a warning - about putting her elbows on the table. She enjoyed playing along with that one.
In fact, it was a very nice lunch. We both had the chicken pot pie, which was pretty good. I had a bit of gristle in mine, but that's forgivable. We frequent family owned restaurants at home, and we'll sometimes run into that sort of thing. I counted it as a bit of authentic theming and went on with my meal (while watching TV, of course).
I ate all of the pot pie, except for the peas. I like peas just fine, but they don't like me. If I ate those, I wouldn't need to take a bus back to the Lodge. I could just lean over and blow myself back there! But I was a bit worried that I'd get in trouble for not eating them. Fortunately for everyone else at Disney World, Liz gave me a pass on that one.
DW ate all of her pot pie, and thought it was quite good compared to what she's gotten at non-WDW restaurants. (DW makes a wonderful turkey pot pie every year after Thanksgiving. She thinks it's just OK, but I absolutely love it. It's my favorite meal. I could eat a whole pie in one sitting if she'd let me get away with it!) DW particularly enjoyed the pastry part of the pot pie.
I haven't mentioned much about DW's impressions of WDW food to this point. She had been expecting fast food quality stuff. We don't eat fast food, so you can imagine she wasn't looking forward to a week of eating at WDW. Boy was she surprised! The only thing she didn't particularly enjoy for the whole week was that dry BBQ pork at MK. Everything else was, as she said to me, "at least two notches above" what she expected. And some, such as the food at California Grill, was excellent in her opinion.
Back at Prime Time, we didn't have any dessert with our meal. Since we were doing this outside of the dining plan (with all our signature restaurant experiences, I didn't want to waste another table service credit on lunch),
Liz didn't try to tempt us into piling a big piece of cake on top of the rest of the calories we (well, okay, I) had just eaten.
After lunch, we took a nice walk to the corner of the park and took the Backlot Tour. Those volunteers during the walking part of the tour sure do get soaked! Watching them put together a movie on the spot was a lot of fun, too. And during the riding part of the tour, we got to see the seamstresses having coffee and cake after lunch. Hey, I wasn't the only one eating sweets after all!
On the way back to Streets of America, we stopped at a cart and DW bought a light-up Christmas tree hat with Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, and Stitch ornaments. Since we've gotten home, she's worn it a couple of times, including on Christmas. My family got a kick out of it.
Next up for us was Muppetvision 3D. We'd already seen Mickey's Philharmagic and Bug's Life, so we were familiar with Disney style 3D movies at that point. But getting to see Sweetums roaming in the auditorium was a great touch! Plus, there's nothing like the Muppet sense of humor. And those guys in the balcony always slay me!
From there, we took a short walk to Star tours. It wasn't walk-on, but we couldn't have waited more than 10 minutes. The queue was only backed up to where the droid is at its desk.
I'd been warned on the DIS that the movie for Star Tours was seriously degraded, with pops, cracks, and scratches. Since I'd last seen it when it debuted at Disneyland in 1988, I was a bit bummed at the prospect of DW's first experience with it being disappointing.
But when the ride started up, we didn't notice any problems with the film. Maybe we were too busy enjoying it to notice, but I can definitely say there were no major problems with it. And the ride was as fun as ever! (And now that I've ridden Body Wars, it's nice to be able to compare the two. Personally, the mythos of the original Star Wars trilogy still has an effect on me, so I prefer Star Tours, but Body Wars is at last equal in terms of the simulator effects.)
After that, it was already time for dinner! How? Well, I'd wanted to do the Fanstasmic! dinner package, so I'd signed up for Mama Melrose's. The best time I could get was 3:30. At the time, I figured we could just get a snack before Fantasmic! started if we got hungry later. (But what are the chances of me being hungry?)
We made it to Mama Melrose's right on time, but they didn't have a table ready for us quite yet. DW headed to the bathroom, and just as she went in, I was told our table was ready. D'oh! Luckily, we were seated right after DW got back.
Our meal was pretty darned good. I wasn't expecting much (again, based on the mixed reviews I'd seen on the DIS), so I was impressed by the atmosphere as well as the presentation of the food. DW ordered tomatoes and fresh mozzarella as her appetizer, while I had the bruschetta. She adored hers (it's one of her favorite things to eat), and I very much enjoyed mine. We both had hot italian sausages over pasta for our main dish. It was good, but I'm not a fan of very finely ground sausage; I prefer a bit courser texture. Flavor-wise, it was very good. For dessert, we each had crema limone, which was very nice!
After dinner, we went on Tower of Terror for a second time. We were dropped more often and for longer falls this time, but DW liked it even better! We were tempted to buy the ride photo again, but ultimately decided against it.
To celebrate our luck at getting even more drops this time (and DW's delighted/terrified response thereto), we made our way back to Mickey Avenue and bought DW a back scratcher, a sorcerer's hat Christmas ornament, and a Fantasia stuffed Mickey. On the way, we got to enjoy some streetmosphere as the boss plumber and his crew argued whether they were spending too much time in the candy store instead of on the job. It was a great bit of street theater! (Oh, and we also got to see Tow Mater.)
From the merchandise cart where we bought the souvenirs, it was back around through Streets of America to the Echo Lake region again to see Sounds Dangerous. Unfortunately, the show had just started, so we weren't able to see it. D'oh!
But right across the street, Indiana Jones was only a few minutes from starting. So we went into the theater, took off our shoes, and made ourselves at home.
No, really! Our feet were hurting, so after I took off my shoes, DW did likewise. What a relief! And I didn't get any complaints, so I don't think they were stinking.
We both enjoyed the stunt show, but DW much moreso than I. Still, it's a must-do to both of us for our next trip. I know people complain about how it hasn't been changed since it opened more than a decade ago, but for us newbies, it's quite a treat and I'm glad Disney's kept it around. Watching the stunt people at work (not to mention the explosions) is a really great experience.
Once Indiana Jones let out, it was 5:45 and almost time for the Osborne Lights, so we went back to the Streets of America. We were able to get a good spot at the top of the rise so we could see everything. Once it started, I was able to get pretty good video of it. DW and I both enjoyed the dancing lights very much, and rewatching that at home has been extra magical.
Once the lights stopped dancing, we grabbed a snack (a shared bag of chips), then went to the special "dinner package" entrace to Fantasmic!
Once we got to the cast member who was checking everyone's tickets, I realized my mistake. Back at Mama Melrose's, the person seating us gave us the ticket and told me to make sure that our server signed it. Well, I had completely forgotten to get that signature!
So as I pulled it out, I got worried we would have to go all the way around to the other side and take whatever seats were left. But the cast member said it was no problem so long as we had our receipt from dinner, and we were allowed to proceed! Yes!
After a short walk, we were in the Fantasmic! theater for the first time. It's an impressive place, with seemingly good views from all three sides. We had seats about half way down the bleachers from the rope dividing the package seats from the regular seats. Not dead center by any means, but far enough over that we could see what was happening on the main stage with no problem.
I'd been told that this was the best night time show at WDW, so I pulled out the video camera. I shot the whole thing without a monopod or tripod, and my hand was shaking uncontrollably by the end as my muscles were about to give out. I kept at it, though, even though the viewfinder made it look like I wasn't getting much. I just wanted to get whatever I could, because I thought DW might like to re-experience it when we got back home.
Boy, did she! When Sorcerer Mickey appeared near the end, DW cried. It put a lump in my throat, too. What a great play! It has all the right messages, plus a fun story and plenty to see along the way. And those water "screens" they project onto! That's a great idea, and just the kind of thing you'd expect from Disney Imagineers.
Oh, and the home movie? It looks great! Sure, it's only a single camera angle, but I got all the action and the sound is perfect. DW loves re-watching that more than anything else. I'm so glad I kept my hand up there, despite the muscle spasms. (Oh, and as for that - the optical image stabilization feature of the camera must have taken care of that, because it seems rock-steady on replay.)
Once Fantasmic! was over, we made the long trek out of the park. As with Animal Kingdom, we felt we'd given MGM short shrift. We had a blast there, but there just wasn't time enough to do everything. We missed Sounds Dangerous, the Narnia display, and almost all the shows. We resolved to spend at least a day and a half at Disney/MGM next time. So much for my worries that Disney/MGM would turn out to be a half-day park. It sure beats the heck out of Universal Hollywood during the 80's!
On the way out of the Studios, DW took several pictures of the park's icon, Mickey's sorcerer hat. Can you tell that's her favorite Disney animated feature? Or, as she calls it, Mickey's greatest role.
We took the bus back to WL, and were there by 8:15, which is when we stopped at the mercantile to pick up our packages from AK (Everest photos) and MK (DW's pirate hat -- hey, how many hats *did* she buy on our vacation, anyway? You know something? The one hat she didn't buy was the Sorcerer Mickey style one. Boy does she regret that oversight!).
After relaxing a bit, we were in bed shortly after 9 PM. We'd decided to get a late start the next day for our second day of touring Epcot (since we planned to be up late watching Illuminations that night), so set the wake-up call for 7:30 rather than 6:00 AM.
Next: They don't cancel Illuminations, do they?
And if there ever were any, I burned 'em all. So forget about it! 
