Lorana
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 30, 2001
- Messages
- 3,308
DAY 9: AUGUST 26, 2001 - Disney MGM Studios, Nap Time, DisneyDollarless Meet at Boma's
The dreaded alarm clock woke us up at 6:00am, and it was quite a struggle to
bring ourselves awake. Our bodies were truly feeling the exhaustion now,
and the five hours of sleep we got last night just wasn't enough.
But my dad was coming by at 6:30am to get the dress, and we were meeting
Bryan and Sharon for breakfast, so we didn't really have much time to dally.
Finally we pulled ourselves out of bed and got ready, and then went down to
the lobby with my gown to wait for my dad.
He was prompt as always, and found John and I curled up on a couch,
half-asleep. I sat up and gave him a huge hug and thanked him for being a
part of my wedding and told him how much I loved him. I was really sad to
see him go home. It was, in some ways, an ending to our wedding vacation.
He and my Dad then hugged, we gave him the gown, and he was gone.
We went back upstairs to finish getting ready, and John walked across to the
other side to knock on Bryan & Sharon's door. A few moments later they
emerged and we headed downstairs for breakfast. Since concierge was closed
right now, Disney Guest Relations had offered us free breakfast every
morning of our stay. I had hoped it would be good at the Whispering Canyon
Café, but they were only redeemable at the Roaring Forks. Still, free
breakfast is free breakfast!
We piled up on food, and then sat down, chatting and enjoying our morning
together. I had several cups of tea, partly because I love tea and it makes
me feel good, and partly because I was trying to pump as much caffeine into
my system as I could. Boy, did I need some sleep!
After we were done, we headed out to the bus stop to catch the bus for MGM
studios. We didn't wait long before a bus pulled up, and we were off to the
park.
We walked into MGM studios and drank in the sites. We then looked for all
the people we were suppose to meet - we had generally agreed to meet near
the entrance - but after about twenty minutes, we determined that either
they were not showing or had gone on without us, and we moved into the park.
We headed first towards the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror and the
Rock'n'Roller Coaster. We decided whichever had the longest wait we would
fastpass, and then go on the one with the shorter wait. The Tower only had
a wait of 10 minutes, whereas the Coaster had a wait of 45. So we grabbed
FastPasses for the Coaster, and got into line for the Tower. Bryan tried to
convince John to go on with us, but he refused. He had gone on once before
and once was more than enough for him. I felt bad leaving John behind, but
John assured me - as he always does - that he enjoys people watching as much
as he does going on rides, and was perfectly content to wait outside and
watch people.
We moved quickly to the front of the line, which was great, though it didn't
really give Bryan and Sharon a chance to enjoy the scenery. Before we knew
it, we were on our way up the Tower. We had great fun, and were dropped
four times. We all had a blast. We decided not to buy the picture, because
Bryan wanted to convince John to go on for a foursome shot. I laughed,
knowing he wouldn't succeed.
Since we still had time before our FastPass time came around, we headed over
to Star Tours and took our tour to Endor. We then ran back over to get on
the Rock'n'Roller Coaster.
This was our first time on the rollercoaster, and though we had heard some
stories about it, we didn't really know what to expect. The pre-show with
Aerosmith was fun, and then we were standing in line to get on the coaster
ourselves. It was designed to look just like a rockstar's car, and we
watched as the next coaster got ready to go through the tunnel. All of a
sudden we heard the sound of tires squealing, and then the coaster literally
zipped into the tunnel. It moved so fast, like a bolt of lightening,
disappearing into the tunnel! You blinked and it was gone!
We gaped at the vacuum left by the coaster for each other, and then John
gave me a silly grin. "I think I'd like to get off now," he said,
half-joking.
Our wedding ears worked wonders for us, and we were given the first car when
we finally got on. Bryan really wanted the front, and John wasn't sure he
was so keen on it, so we left them take the very front seats and got in
behind it. Though my ears were secured to my head with a half-dozen bobby
pins, I took it off. I didn't want to risk losing it.
And then the coaster took off.. it REALLY took off! They aren't kidding
when they say it is FAST! We were zipping through the darkness, taking
sharp turns and up and down hills, and flying all over the place. The
entire coaster is in the dark, with street signs and such in blacklight
whizzing by you. It's a really neat effect.
When we got off, a little unsteady on our feet, we instantly began laughing
over how much fun it was. Even John, who normally dislikes rollercoasters,
loved it, and we vowed to do it again. The picture of us came out great,
and as the only photo of the four of us, we had to get it. Bryan bought us
one when he bought his.
We then left, grabbing fastpasses for the ride again on our way out. We
then headed over to see the Muppet 3D Vision show. I love this show, and we
had a lot of fun. Bryan and Sharon talked about how they wanted to bring
their kids to see this one.
Sadly, we just missed the beginning of the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular,
which Sharon had really wanted to see. To be honest, I cannot recall now
what ride we went on instead, but we had fun on whatever one we went on.
Our lunch reservation time was now rolling around, and we headed over to the
50's Prime Time Café. I had never eaten there before, and was really
looking forward to it. Unfortunately, our FastPasses were during the same
time as well. John and I decided to remain and wait for the reservations,
while Bryan and Sharon went to ride the Rock'n'Roller Coaster again. In the
end, we should have gone with them, as it took them about 40 minutes to seat
us, and Sharon and Bryan were back by then.
After what seemed an endless wait, we were finally seated. I couldn't help
but look at my watch and notice the team. We were having dinner at 6pm at
Boma's in the Animal Kingdom Lodge at the DisneyDollarless meet, and the
endless delays in getting seated for lunch was putting us too close to
dinner time, in my opinion.
We sat down at our kitchen table, and our waitress was very friendly and
motherly when she came to take our order. I made the mistake of ordering an
appetizer - I saw "French fries and gravy" on the menu, and just had to have
it! By mistake, I mean that it was a LARGE appetizer, as I was about to
discover, and filled me up so much that I had no room for my dinner! We
were all starving, and had been able to look at a menu while waiting, so we
placed our orders immediately. I ordered the meatloaf, as I heard it was
really good.
The restaurant was so crowded that we had a bit of a wait before even our
appetizers arrived. We had fun hanging out and soaking in the atmosphere,
but on retrospect we wish we had skipped lunch. It ate up about 2 ½ hours
of our day. Our appetizers were at last brought out, and we dove into them
with a frenzied hunger. Shortly thereafter, our lunches were brought to us.
I tried to eat as much as I could, but I really had no appetite for my food.
The appetizer had done me in. The meatloaf was pretty good, though. It
turned out none of us had a huge appetizer; not one of us belonged to the
clean plate club. Our waitress came by again after we were done, and
scolded us for not finishing our food. She let John and I off easy because
we were newlyweds. She saw that Sharon hadn't touched her vegetables, and
so picked up the fork, speared some veggies, and said, "Come on, you have to
eat your veggies. Big mouth, now! Chugga-chugga-choo-choo!" and played
"train" with her food. Sharon just stared at her in amazement, and then
obediently opened her mouth and ate the food. Afterwards, she just said,
"Well, what could I do? I had to eat them." Our waitress also harassed
Bryan, but he would have none of it.
Afterwards, we went on one more ride before we parted ways. Bryan and
Sharon went back to the Wilderness Lodge, and John and I headed to the
Animal Kingdom Lodge. It was still fairly early and the dinner wasn't for a
couple of hours, but we wanted time to just enjoy the resort again.
We got onto the bus and sat down, and immediately our exhaustion overwhelmed
us. We had full tummies and were seated, and started to doze. When we got
to the resort, we were determined to take a nap and catch up on some sleep,
and looked for a place where we could rest. We walked around for a bit,
took some photos, and enjoyed the resort, before finding a place to sleep.
We wound up in the Sunset Room - a beautiful large room, with many couches
and best of all, pillows! - and stretched out on couches and went fast to
sleep.
I am not a heavy sleeper normally, and I certainly wasn't here at the
resort. Aside from the fact that I was determined not to sleep past our
dinner time, every time someone walked into the room, I awoke. John, who
normally is a heavy sleeper, was also sleeping lightly. We only napped for
an hour, and it wasn't a continuous hour, but it still did us good!
We placed the pillows back in their original arrangement, and then went down
to Boma's to meet everyone for dinner. Most of the Disneydollarless folks
were there, including Pam & Steve who we met last week. Our friends, AJ &
Mike, were also already there. Although not DisneyDollarless folks, they
joined us for the meet.
We had so much fun! We all sat together at two tables, and talked and
laughed our way through dinner. The buffet was amazing - there was so much
food to try! This place definitely ranks as one of our favorite
restaurants, and you really get your money's worth and then some! We went
back multiple times to try different things, including the AMAZING desserts!
Yum yum! I think I put back on all the weight I lost on this meal alone.
LOL!
The evening went by far too quickly, and before we knew it, it was time to
depart. We all gathered around the table for some group photos to remember
the evening by, and then we were all making our goodbyes and leaving.
AJ & Mike joined John and I in another stroll through the resort, and we
spent a lot of time animal-watching. Finally we went to the Gift Shop and
wandered around, looking at all the neat stuff.
All four of us then went to Downtown Disney, to meet Bryan and Sharon at
DisneyQuest. AJ was feeling a little under the weather when we got there,
but tried to stick through the night. We met up with Bryan and Sharon and
then headed on in, and we took delight at their amazement over this place.
We got into line first for Aladdin's Magic Carpet ride. It was a fairly
long line, but it looked neat, and we were all psyched to go. One of the
CMs looked at John and I in our wedding ears and asked if we had just gotten
married. We beamed our happy smiles and chimed "Yes!" in unison. He then
handed us a helmet and said, "Well, in that case, come on in" and let our
entire group cut to the front. We were surprised and happy, and gladly took
up the offer, though we could imagine the people in line are not entirely
happy about it.
The Magic Carpet Ride is a virtual reality ride, where you sit on a little
contraption with a VR headset and controls, and "fly" the carpet through the
game. It was a lot of fun, and we had a blast doing so. It was very
disorienting for me because my helmet didn't sit right on my head - my head
was too tiny apparently - but it was still fun. AJ wasn't a big fan,
because it sent her tummy spinning.
We went upstairs to play the Extraterroristial Encounter ride, and divided
up into 2 teams, girls and guys. In this, one person is the driver and the
others (up to three) arm the guns. You are in a machine that is supposed to
be like a tank, and your mission is to rescue the colonists on this planet
that has been overrun by aliens, destroying the aliens as you go. We beat
the guys first time around, and they beat us the second time.
We then went to the Ride the Comix ride, and all played superheroes. It was
another virtual reality ride, except in this one you get to swing around
lightsabers. It was also great fun, but the VR didn't sit well with AJ, who
was so ill at this point that she and Mike decided to leave. We said
goodbye and agreed to meet up for dinner tomorrow.
Bryan, Sharon, John, and I then went back downstairs and did the Dinosaur
ride. I forget the name, but you are on a raft - it's an actual raft that
sits on an airbag that actually moves as if you are on water. Water jets
spray you every time you "splash down" in the game. You have paddles that
have wheels on them, and how you paddle determines where and how fast you go
in the game. John loves dinosaurs, so this was one of his favorites.
Finally, we ended the night by getting into the line for the Pirates of the
Caribbean. This won our favorite ride award!! It was so much fun! I
highly recommend everyone try it!
You start by entering a room that looks like the prow of a ship. You are
surrounded on three sides by a VR screen that displays the open seas. One
person is the pilot of the ship (John volunteered for that), and the
remainder arm the six cannons that sit on the sides and front of the ship.
A ghost pirate greets you, and tells you that you need to win the gold from
the pirates, and then a great sea battle begins as you chase after the
pirate ships and shoot them with your cannons to destroy them and steal
their gold. It's a lot of fun!!
We wanted to ride it again, but DisneyQuest was closing when we got out, and
it was time to leave. We caught the bus back to the Wilderness Lodge, and
then bade each other goodnight. We agreed to share breakfast again in the
morning, before Bryan and Sharon prepared to return home.
John and I debated using the Jacuzzi again this night, but when we got into
our room, the bed called sweetly to us, and we fell soundly, deeply asleep,
wrapped in each other's arms.
The dreaded alarm clock woke us up at 6:00am, and it was quite a struggle to
bring ourselves awake. Our bodies were truly feeling the exhaustion now,
and the five hours of sleep we got last night just wasn't enough.
But my dad was coming by at 6:30am to get the dress, and we were meeting
Bryan and Sharon for breakfast, so we didn't really have much time to dally.
Finally we pulled ourselves out of bed and got ready, and then went down to
the lobby with my gown to wait for my dad.
He was prompt as always, and found John and I curled up on a couch,
half-asleep. I sat up and gave him a huge hug and thanked him for being a
part of my wedding and told him how much I loved him. I was really sad to
see him go home. It was, in some ways, an ending to our wedding vacation.
He and my Dad then hugged, we gave him the gown, and he was gone.
We went back upstairs to finish getting ready, and John walked across to the
other side to knock on Bryan & Sharon's door. A few moments later they
emerged and we headed downstairs for breakfast. Since concierge was closed
right now, Disney Guest Relations had offered us free breakfast every
morning of our stay. I had hoped it would be good at the Whispering Canyon
Café, but they were only redeemable at the Roaring Forks. Still, free
breakfast is free breakfast!
We piled up on food, and then sat down, chatting and enjoying our morning
together. I had several cups of tea, partly because I love tea and it makes
me feel good, and partly because I was trying to pump as much caffeine into
my system as I could. Boy, did I need some sleep!
After we were done, we headed out to the bus stop to catch the bus for MGM
studios. We didn't wait long before a bus pulled up, and we were off to the
park.
We walked into MGM studios and drank in the sites. We then looked for all
the people we were suppose to meet - we had generally agreed to meet near
the entrance - but after about twenty minutes, we determined that either
they were not showing or had gone on without us, and we moved into the park.
We headed first towards the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror and the
Rock'n'Roller Coaster. We decided whichever had the longest wait we would
fastpass, and then go on the one with the shorter wait. The Tower only had
a wait of 10 minutes, whereas the Coaster had a wait of 45. So we grabbed
FastPasses for the Coaster, and got into line for the Tower. Bryan tried to
convince John to go on with us, but he refused. He had gone on once before
and once was more than enough for him. I felt bad leaving John behind, but
John assured me - as he always does - that he enjoys people watching as much
as he does going on rides, and was perfectly content to wait outside and
watch people.
We moved quickly to the front of the line, which was great, though it didn't
really give Bryan and Sharon a chance to enjoy the scenery. Before we knew
it, we were on our way up the Tower. We had great fun, and were dropped
four times. We all had a blast. We decided not to buy the picture, because
Bryan wanted to convince John to go on for a foursome shot. I laughed,
knowing he wouldn't succeed.
Since we still had time before our FastPass time came around, we headed over
to Star Tours and took our tour to Endor. We then ran back over to get on
the Rock'n'Roller Coaster.
This was our first time on the rollercoaster, and though we had heard some
stories about it, we didn't really know what to expect. The pre-show with
Aerosmith was fun, and then we were standing in line to get on the coaster
ourselves. It was designed to look just like a rockstar's car, and we
watched as the next coaster got ready to go through the tunnel. All of a
sudden we heard the sound of tires squealing, and then the coaster literally
zipped into the tunnel. It moved so fast, like a bolt of lightening,
disappearing into the tunnel! You blinked and it was gone!
We gaped at the vacuum left by the coaster for each other, and then John
gave me a silly grin. "I think I'd like to get off now," he said,
half-joking.
Our wedding ears worked wonders for us, and we were given the first car when
we finally got on. Bryan really wanted the front, and John wasn't sure he
was so keen on it, so we left them take the very front seats and got in
behind it. Though my ears were secured to my head with a half-dozen bobby
pins, I took it off. I didn't want to risk losing it.
And then the coaster took off.. it REALLY took off! They aren't kidding
when they say it is FAST! We were zipping through the darkness, taking
sharp turns and up and down hills, and flying all over the place. The
entire coaster is in the dark, with street signs and such in blacklight
whizzing by you. It's a really neat effect.
When we got off, a little unsteady on our feet, we instantly began laughing
over how much fun it was. Even John, who normally dislikes rollercoasters,
loved it, and we vowed to do it again. The picture of us came out great,
and as the only photo of the four of us, we had to get it. Bryan bought us
one when he bought his.
We then left, grabbing fastpasses for the ride again on our way out. We
then headed over to see the Muppet 3D Vision show. I love this show, and we
had a lot of fun. Bryan and Sharon talked about how they wanted to bring
their kids to see this one.
Sadly, we just missed the beginning of the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular,
which Sharon had really wanted to see. To be honest, I cannot recall now
what ride we went on instead, but we had fun on whatever one we went on.
Our lunch reservation time was now rolling around, and we headed over to the
50's Prime Time Café. I had never eaten there before, and was really
looking forward to it. Unfortunately, our FastPasses were during the same
time as well. John and I decided to remain and wait for the reservations,
while Bryan and Sharon went to ride the Rock'n'Roller Coaster again. In the
end, we should have gone with them, as it took them about 40 minutes to seat
us, and Sharon and Bryan were back by then.
After what seemed an endless wait, we were finally seated. I couldn't help
but look at my watch and notice the team. We were having dinner at 6pm at
Boma's in the Animal Kingdom Lodge at the DisneyDollarless meet, and the
endless delays in getting seated for lunch was putting us too close to
dinner time, in my opinion.
We sat down at our kitchen table, and our waitress was very friendly and
motherly when she came to take our order. I made the mistake of ordering an
appetizer - I saw "French fries and gravy" on the menu, and just had to have
it! By mistake, I mean that it was a LARGE appetizer, as I was about to
discover, and filled me up so much that I had no room for my dinner! We
were all starving, and had been able to look at a menu while waiting, so we
placed our orders immediately. I ordered the meatloaf, as I heard it was
really good.
The restaurant was so crowded that we had a bit of a wait before even our
appetizers arrived. We had fun hanging out and soaking in the atmosphere,
but on retrospect we wish we had skipped lunch. It ate up about 2 ½ hours
of our day. Our appetizers were at last brought out, and we dove into them
with a frenzied hunger. Shortly thereafter, our lunches were brought to us.
I tried to eat as much as I could, but I really had no appetite for my food.
The appetizer had done me in. The meatloaf was pretty good, though. It
turned out none of us had a huge appetizer; not one of us belonged to the
clean plate club. Our waitress came by again after we were done, and
scolded us for not finishing our food. She let John and I off easy because
we were newlyweds. She saw that Sharon hadn't touched her vegetables, and
so picked up the fork, speared some veggies, and said, "Come on, you have to
eat your veggies. Big mouth, now! Chugga-chugga-choo-choo!" and played
"train" with her food. Sharon just stared at her in amazement, and then
obediently opened her mouth and ate the food. Afterwards, she just said,
"Well, what could I do? I had to eat them." Our waitress also harassed
Bryan, but he would have none of it.
Afterwards, we went on one more ride before we parted ways. Bryan and
Sharon went back to the Wilderness Lodge, and John and I headed to the
Animal Kingdom Lodge. It was still fairly early and the dinner wasn't for a
couple of hours, but we wanted time to just enjoy the resort again.
We got onto the bus and sat down, and immediately our exhaustion overwhelmed
us. We had full tummies and were seated, and started to doze. When we got
to the resort, we were determined to take a nap and catch up on some sleep,
and looked for a place where we could rest. We walked around for a bit,
took some photos, and enjoyed the resort, before finding a place to sleep.
We wound up in the Sunset Room - a beautiful large room, with many couches
and best of all, pillows! - and stretched out on couches and went fast to
sleep.
I am not a heavy sleeper normally, and I certainly wasn't here at the
resort. Aside from the fact that I was determined not to sleep past our
dinner time, every time someone walked into the room, I awoke. John, who
normally is a heavy sleeper, was also sleeping lightly. We only napped for
an hour, and it wasn't a continuous hour, but it still did us good!
We placed the pillows back in their original arrangement, and then went down
to Boma's to meet everyone for dinner. Most of the Disneydollarless folks
were there, including Pam & Steve who we met last week. Our friends, AJ &
Mike, were also already there. Although not DisneyDollarless folks, they
joined us for the meet.
We had so much fun! We all sat together at two tables, and talked and
laughed our way through dinner. The buffet was amazing - there was so much
food to try! This place definitely ranks as one of our favorite
restaurants, and you really get your money's worth and then some! We went
back multiple times to try different things, including the AMAZING desserts!
Yum yum! I think I put back on all the weight I lost on this meal alone.
LOL!
The evening went by far too quickly, and before we knew it, it was time to
depart. We all gathered around the table for some group photos to remember
the evening by, and then we were all making our goodbyes and leaving.
AJ & Mike joined John and I in another stroll through the resort, and we
spent a lot of time animal-watching. Finally we went to the Gift Shop and
wandered around, looking at all the neat stuff.
All four of us then went to Downtown Disney, to meet Bryan and Sharon at
DisneyQuest. AJ was feeling a little under the weather when we got there,
but tried to stick through the night. We met up with Bryan and Sharon and
then headed on in, and we took delight at their amazement over this place.
We got into line first for Aladdin's Magic Carpet ride. It was a fairly
long line, but it looked neat, and we were all psyched to go. One of the
CMs looked at John and I in our wedding ears and asked if we had just gotten
married. We beamed our happy smiles and chimed "Yes!" in unison. He then
handed us a helmet and said, "Well, in that case, come on in" and let our
entire group cut to the front. We were surprised and happy, and gladly took
up the offer, though we could imagine the people in line are not entirely
happy about it.
The Magic Carpet Ride is a virtual reality ride, where you sit on a little
contraption with a VR headset and controls, and "fly" the carpet through the
game. It was a lot of fun, and we had a blast doing so. It was very
disorienting for me because my helmet didn't sit right on my head - my head
was too tiny apparently - but it was still fun. AJ wasn't a big fan,
because it sent her tummy spinning.
We went upstairs to play the Extraterroristial Encounter ride, and divided
up into 2 teams, girls and guys. In this, one person is the driver and the
others (up to three) arm the guns. You are in a machine that is supposed to
be like a tank, and your mission is to rescue the colonists on this planet
that has been overrun by aliens, destroying the aliens as you go. We beat
the guys first time around, and they beat us the second time.
We then went to the Ride the Comix ride, and all played superheroes. It was
another virtual reality ride, except in this one you get to swing around
lightsabers. It was also great fun, but the VR didn't sit well with AJ, who
was so ill at this point that she and Mike decided to leave. We said
goodbye and agreed to meet up for dinner tomorrow.
Bryan, Sharon, John, and I then went back downstairs and did the Dinosaur
ride. I forget the name, but you are on a raft - it's an actual raft that
sits on an airbag that actually moves as if you are on water. Water jets
spray you every time you "splash down" in the game. You have paddles that
have wheels on them, and how you paddle determines where and how fast you go
in the game. John loves dinosaurs, so this was one of his favorites.
Finally, we ended the night by getting into the line for the Pirates of the
Caribbean. This won our favorite ride award!! It was so much fun! I
highly recommend everyone try it!
You start by entering a room that looks like the prow of a ship. You are
surrounded on three sides by a VR screen that displays the open seas. One
person is the pilot of the ship (John volunteered for that), and the
remainder arm the six cannons that sit on the sides and front of the ship.
A ghost pirate greets you, and tells you that you need to win the gold from
the pirates, and then a great sea battle begins as you chase after the
pirate ships and shoot them with your cannons to destroy them and steal
their gold. It's a lot of fun!!
We wanted to ride it again, but DisneyQuest was closing when we got out, and
it was time to leave. We caught the bus back to the Wilderness Lodge, and
then bade each other goodnight. We agreed to share breakfast again in the
morning, before Bryan and Sharon prepared to return home.
John and I debated using the Jacuzzi again this night, but when we got into
our room, the bed called sweetly to us, and we fell soundly, deeply asleep,
wrapped in each other's arms.
