ScoJo15
There will be days when I don't know if I can run
- Joined
- Jul 26, 2005
- Messages
- 2,535
TR: Father & Daughter Take On The World Day 3 (9/20 MGM)
The Cast:
Me Disney obsessed 34 year old IT Manager from Canton, GA
DD7 7 year old Disney lover with 5 trips to the world already under her belt
Links to the entire report & photos:
POP Century Review
Dining Reviews
Pre-trip Report
Day 1: Wishes & Princesses
Day 2: AK & 48"
Day 3: MGM
Day 4: Incredible MK
Day 5: Epcot & Spectromagic
Day 6: MGM & World Showcase
Day 7: ToT & DTD
Post-trip Report
Photopass
300 Pictures that I took!
Day Three (9-20)
Alarm clock went off at 7am, followed by Mickey Mouse and Stitch telling us to move it! Sound familiar? This morning is an EMH at MGM (should I call it DS?) but we decided to not rush out since wed be at the park until closing and our legs were pretty tired from all of the walking the day before. DD wanted a cookie instead of a pop-tart for breakfast .I agreed .after all, we are on vacation and the cookie probably had the same ingredients as the chocolate chip pop-tart anyway. Our legs only felt like jelly for the first few strides out the door and we made it to the bus stop, again with a bus seemingly awaiting our arrival.
It was a very quick ride to MGM. 20 minutes after walking out of the door, we were posing for pictures in front of the hat. This was my first trip to MGM since they installed the hat and I guess I have mixed feelings about it. I like the way it looks and it definitely brings a Disney style icon to the park, but you totally miss out on viewing the front of the Manns Chinese Theater replica.
I asked DD if she wanted to ride Rock N Rollercoaster first, and she said she wanted to wait a few minutes and do something else first something a little less thrilling. That was fine with me so we proceeded to the Great Movie Ride since it is a nice calm ride through the movies. I told DD when we were walking through the empty queue line that the ride vehicle would get hijacked by a fake robber and that it was just pretend which she seemed ok with. Of course you know what happens next. During the gunfight scene, DD gets a little scared due to the fact that the live robber is holding a real gun and begins ducking down in her seat. Seconds later, when the robber takes over our vehicle, DDs head is buried at my side and she is covering her ears and starting to tear up. I didnt think shed react like she did so I rubbed her back, repeatedly telling her that it was going to be ok and they were just pretending (so much for that non-intense early morning first ride thing). We finally made it to munchkin land where she perked back up and actually enjoyed the remainder of the ride.
Luckily, Chip & Dale and Eeyore were outside by the time we got off of the ride so we stopped for a few autographs to cheer up the mood a little. Since Voyage of the Little Mermaid was nearby, we decided to go see it next. What an incredible show! It is really neat how they get the fish to swim around & anytime that there is a live Ariel around, I am a happy man.
DD then proclaimed that she was ready to rock! so we headed over to RnRC. We discussed the Tower of Terror as we were walking, since it was staring us in the face and DD decided that it would just be too scary for her, she didnt like ghosts and thought she would be scared during the beginning of the ride. I calmly agreed and began mentally conjuring up a plan to convince her to ride
After a quick height check, during which she again hit her head on the 48 bar (yes!!), we zipped through the empty queue line and made it to the pre-ride studio area. The pre-show is cute (uh .make it a super stretch), but once those doors opened and we got our first glimpse of the limo..the excitement definitely intensified. We were queued in the back seat of the second car, where I instructed DD to pull the overhead harness down and keep her head against the headrest, knowing about the 0 to 60 in 2.8 seconds launch. Our limo pulled around the corner and 5 4 3 2 1 suddenly Aerosmith was ripping through Sweet Emotion & Love In A Rollercoaster while we were ripping through three inversions on what appeared to be a runaway highway with lighted street signs around each turn. After finally coming to a stop, I looked over at DD and she had this massive smile on her face. That was awesome! I want to do it again! Lets do it again! I told her we would & we bought a ride photo to commemorate her first looping coaster experience. At this point you can just re-read the same paragraph again because our second ride was just as exhilarating as the first!
We then decided to check out the Beauty and the Beast show since it was getting ready to start and was in the same area of the park. On the way over, I started chanting Tower of Terror .conquer your fear .tower of terror ..conquer your fear as part of my subliminal mental plan to get DD on it, but she would have none of it. Oh well, there is plenty of time left in the day now on to Beauty and the Beast. The show was pretty neat, with the Be Our Guest routine easily the highlight. I wouldnt say its equivalent to a Broadway style production, but definitely worth checking out and very entertaining.
Since we had an early dinner scheduled (5:00), we decided to go ahead and eat an early lunch. We went back over to the ABC Commissary (see dining reviews) and grabbed a nice lunch. During the meal we took out the map and showtimes and came up with an afternoon gameplan. DD wanted to see the stunt show (which I thought was odd) and it was getting ready to start so we were going to see it and then Millionaire followed by the Backlot Tour (again what I thought to be an odd choice for her).
The Lights! Motors! Action! Extreme Stunt Show was pretty cool. It was really neat to see how some of the stunts are performed (backwards car & remote control car). DD said that she really liked it also.
Next up was Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. DD was a great sport here (you do things that I want to do, so Ill do things that you want to do) and we had a great time. The set is just like what you see on TV and it was exciting to be a part of the action. I did make it on the leaderboard at the #9 position, but unfortunately we only had time for one contestant. I was a little disappointed that we didnt get to see at least two people in the hot seat, but oh well. DD got a few questions right and said that she had fun and would do it again later if I wanted.
We went right next door afterwards and got our photo taken with Sorcerer Mickey (Yensid) and then noticed that the Backlot tour was posting a time of 45min. We figured out that another stunt show had just completed and apparently everyone went to the Backlot tour. We decided to come back to it and go see Muppetvision 3D instead.
The muppets were awesome as always and DD really enjoyed the show. I still think they need to modify the pre-show somehow and get rid of the 10 minute Kodak commercial. There has to be a way that Kodak can be a highly visible sponsor without subjecting us to a super size length commercial. I think they should play the Kodak video in the lobby and move the lobby video (you know, the funny and entertaining one that is hard to hear when all the people crowd in and are talking & not paying attention to it?) to the pre-show area.
I knew that DD didnt really want to ride Star Tours, but I asked her if we could walk over and take a few photos of the at-at and speederbike. She agreed and while taking the photos, asked about the ride again. I told her it was like Body Wars, only going through space. She then said she wanted to ride it! Once again, there was no wait so we went right up to the staging area for the ride. While talking & waiting for the doors to open, DD kind of got a startled look on her face and stared behind me. I turned around and there was Darth Vader walking through a CM only door. I found that pretty odd since the other CMs said that no Star Wars characters were signing today and it was still 2 hours until the parade. It was pretty cool to see though, and kind of gave us the feeling that we were aboard his ship. Anyway, the ride was great and DD really liked it.
We then headed back to the Backlot Tour which now was a walk-on with no wait (cheer!). Catastrophe Canyon was cool, but the rest of the tour has suffered a lot since the new stadium was built for the stunt show.
With about an hour before the parade start time I left it up to DD to decide what was next and she opted for two more rides on the Rock N Rollercoaster! This time we decided to sit in the front seat. I have to say that Ive ridden a lot of coasters in my time and this one definitely ranks up there among the best. I noticed that there are two different soundtracks you get while riding. Once is a huge dose of Sweet Emotion and the other one ends with Love in an Elevator (which they change at the very end to Love in a Rollercoaster).
It was now time to find a seat for the parade. We found a great front row spot underneath a rope right on the main drag & close to the 50s PT Café so that we could easily make our ADR time. The parade was really neat. All of the cars were themed to each batch of characters & it was cool to see R2D2, Vader and the Muppets walking around.
After a fantastic dinner at the café (see dining review for details), DD decided to get in another Rock N Rollercoaster ride before grabbing a seat for Fantasmic. We were talking to a few others in line (was a 5 min wait this time geesh), and the little kids were asking DD if she had ridden Tower of Terror yet. They were saying how cool it was and how she wouldnt be scared at all (the Disney gods were shining down on me!). So after our ride, we were walking out when she said lets do it .lets ride Tower of Terror WOW! I got excited so we walked over to the tower and noticed that the wait time was 20 minutes. It was 7:20 and we wanted a good seat for Fantasmic. Hmmm Fantasmic or ToT? DD kind of got that dont want to wait in line look and I gave her the choice. She chose to get a good seat for Fantasmic & I went with her decision. I told her that we had some extra time on Friday & Saturday and if we wanted to come back to ride ToT, that we could and she said that sounded great.
So we ended up getting a great seat for Fantasmic. We were about 10 rows up in the middle of the seating. It had rained for a brief time in the a.m. while we were watching the mermaid show and was threatening again. I knew that inclement weather could delay or cancel the show, so we prayed to the Animal Kingdom Minnie Mouse that DD carried with her all day that we would get to see the show. Needless to say, the show went off right on time. It was by far one of the best shows Ive seen at Disney. Seeing all of the characters on that boat was impressive and Sorcerer Mickey really kicked some tail! On our way out, DD really wanted to buy a Sorcerer Mickey to go with her AK Minnie so she used some of her Disney Dollars that the grandparents gave her to take our hero home with her.
So after a shaky start to the day, we ended up having a blast at the Studios. Every show and attraction was really great and we once again had no wait for the bus to take us back to POP.
I asked if DD wanted to go swimming again, but she clutched her Mickey & Minnie tightly and said that she would rather just go back to the room. We grabbed drinks from the food court and made our way back to the room where DD proceeded to set up her own Fantasmic show on her bed. Sorcerer Mickey put on another great performance & ended up watching over DD as she drifted off into dreamland.
I quickly checked the weather to monitor the hurricane in the gulf & noticed that we may be in for some rain showers in the days ahead. Good thing I packed those .88 cent wal-mart ponchos! So I set the alarm & wake up calls for 7am and it wasnt long before I fell asleep myself.
Next day would bring us to the Magic Kingdom, DDs first ride on Space Mountain and her first encounter with the Haunted Mansion.
The Cast:
Me Disney obsessed 34 year old IT Manager from Canton, GA
DD7 7 year old Disney lover with 5 trips to the world already under her belt
Links to the entire report & photos:
POP Century Review
Dining Reviews
Pre-trip Report
Day 1: Wishes & Princesses
Day 2: AK & 48"
Day 3: MGM
Day 4: Incredible MK
Day 5: Epcot & Spectromagic
Day 6: MGM & World Showcase
Day 7: ToT & DTD
Post-trip Report
Photopass
300 Pictures that I took!
Day Three (9-20)
Alarm clock went off at 7am, followed by Mickey Mouse and Stitch telling us to move it! Sound familiar? This morning is an EMH at MGM (should I call it DS?) but we decided to not rush out since wed be at the park until closing and our legs were pretty tired from all of the walking the day before. DD wanted a cookie instead of a pop-tart for breakfast .I agreed .after all, we are on vacation and the cookie probably had the same ingredients as the chocolate chip pop-tart anyway. Our legs only felt like jelly for the first few strides out the door and we made it to the bus stop, again with a bus seemingly awaiting our arrival.
It was a very quick ride to MGM. 20 minutes after walking out of the door, we were posing for pictures in front of the hat. This was my first trip to MGM since they installed the hat and I guess I have mixed feelings about it. I like the way it looks and it definitely brings a Disney style icon to the park, but you totally miss out on viewing the front of the Manns Chinese Theater replica.
I asked DD if she wanted to ride Rock N Rollercoaster first, and she said she wanted to wait a few minutes and do something else first something a little less thrilling. That was fine with me so we proceeded to the Great Movie Ride since it is a nice calm ride through the movies. I told DD when we were walking through the empty queue line that the ride vehicle would get hijacked by a fake robber and that it was just pretend which she seemed ok with. Of course you know what happens next. During the gunfight scene, DD gets a little scared due to the fact that the live robber is holding a real gun and begins ducking down in her seat. Seconds later, when the robber takes over our vehicle, DDs head is buried at my side and she is covering her ears and starting to tear up. I didnt think shed react like she did so I rubbed her back, repeatedly telling her that it was going to be ok and they were just pretending (so much for that non-intense early morning first ride thing). We finally made it to munchkin land where she perked back up and actually enjoyed the remainder of the ride.
Luckily, Chip & Dale and Eeyore were outside by the time we got off of the ride so we stopped for a few autographs to cheer up the mood a little. Since Voyage of the Little Mermaid was nearby, we decided to go see it next. What an incredible show! It is really neat how they get the fish to swim around & anytime that there is a live Ariel around, I am a happy man.
DD then proclaimed that she was ready to rock! so we headed over to RnRC. We discussed the Tower of Terror as we were walking, since it was staring us in the face and DD decided that it would just be too scary for her, she didnt like ghosts and thought she would be scared during the beginning of the ride. I calmly agreed and began mentally conjuring up a plan to convince her to ride
After a quick height check, during which she again hit her head on the 48 bar (yes!!), we zipped through the empty queue line and made it to the pre-ride studio area. The pre-show is cute (uh .make it a super stretch), but once those doors opened and we got our first glimpse of the limo..the excitement definitely intensified. We were queued in the back seat of the second car, where I instructed DD to pull the overhead harness down and keep her head against the headrest, knowing about the 0 to 60 in 2.8 seconds launch. Our limo pulled around the corner and 5 4 3 2 1 suddenly Aerosmith was ripping through Sweet Emotion & Love In A Rollercoaster while we were ripping through three inversions on what appeared to be a runaway highway with lighted street signs around each turn. After finally coming to a stop, I looked over at DD and she had this massive smile on her face. That was awesome! I want to do it again! Lets do it again! I told her we would & we bought a ride photo to commemorate her first looping coaster experience. At this point you can just re-read the same paragraph again because our second ride was just as exhilarating as the first!
We then decided to check out the Beauty and the Beast show since it was getting ready to start and was in the same area of the park. On the way over, I started chanting Tower of Terror .conquer your fear .tower of terror ..conquer your fear as part of my subliminal mental plan to get DD on it, but she would have none of it. Oh well, there is plenty of time left in the day now on to Beauty and the Beast. The show was pretty neat, with the Be Our Guest routine easily the highlight. I wouldnt say its equivalent to a Broadway style production, but definitely worth checking out and very entertaining.
Since we had an early dinner scheduled (5:00), we decided to go ahead and eat an early lunch. We went back over to the ABC Commissary (see dining reviews) and grabbed a nice lunch. During the meal we took out the map and showtimes and came up with an afternoon gameplan. DD wanted to see the stunt show (which I thought was odd) and it was getting ready to start so we were going to see it and then Millionaire followed by the Backlot Tour (again what I thought to be an odd choice for her).
The Lights! Motors! Action! Extreme Stunt Show was pretty cool. It was really neat to see how some of the stunts are performed (backwards car & remote control car). DD said that she really liked it also.
Next up was Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. DD was a great sport here (you do things that I want to do, so Ill do things that you want to do) and we had a great time. The set is just like what you see on TV and it was exciting to be a part of the action. I did make it on the leaderboard at the #9 position, but unfortunately we only had time for one contestant. I was a little disappointed that we didnt get to see at least two people in the hot seat, but oh well. DD got a few questions right and said that she had fun and would do it again later if I wanted.
We went right next door afterwards and got our photo taken with Sorcerer Mickey (Yensid) and then noticed that the Backlot tour was posting a time of 45min. We figured out that another stunt show had just completed and apparently everyone went to the Backlot tour. We decided to come back to it and go see Muppetvision 3D instead.
The muppets were awesome as always and DD really enjoyed the show. I still think they need to modify the pre-show somehow and get rid of the 10 minute Kodak commercial. There has to be a way that Kodak can be a highly visible sponsor without subjecting us to a super size length commercial. I think they should play the Kodak video in the lobby and move the lobby video (you know, the funny and entertaining one that is hard to hear when all the people crowd in and are talking & not paying attention to it?) to the pre-show area.
I knew that DD didnt really want to ride Star Tours, but I asked her if we could walk over and take a few photos of the at-at and speederbike. She agreed and while taking the photos, asked about the ride again. I told her it was like Body Wars, only going through space. She then said she wanted to ride it! Once again, there was no wait so we went right up to the staging area for the ride. While talking & waiting for the doors to open, DD kind of got a startled look on her face and stared behind me. I turned around and there was Darth Vader walking through a CM only door. I found that pretty odd since the other CMs said that no Star Wars characters were signing today and it was still 2 hours until the parade. It was pretty cool to see though, and kind of gave us the feeling that we were aboard his ship. Anyway, the ride was great and DD really liked it.
We then headed back to the Backlot Tour which now was a walk-on with no wait (cheer!). Catastrophe Canyon was cool, but the rest of the tour has suffered a lot since the new stadium was built for the stunt show.
With about an hour before the parade start time I left it up to DD to decide what was next and she opted for two more rides on the Rock N Rollercoaster! This time we decided to sit in the front seat. I have to say that Ive ridden a lot of coasters in my time and this one definitely ranks up there among the best. I noticed that there are two different soundtracks you get while riding. Once is a huge dose of Sweet Emotion and the other one ends with Love in an Elevator (which they change at the very end to Love in a Rollercoaster).
It was now time to find a seat for the parade. We found a great front row spot underneath a rope right on the main drag & close to the 50s PT Café so that we could easily make our ADR time. The parade was really neat. All of the cars were themed to each batch of characters & it was cool to see R2D2, Vader and the Muppets walking around.
After a fantastic dinner at the café (see dining review for details), DD decided to get in another Rock N Rollercoaster ride before grabbing a seat for Fantasmic. We were talking to a few others in line (was a 5 min wait this time geesh), and the little kids were asking DD if she had ridden Tower of Terror yet. They were saying how cool it was and how she wouldnt be scared at all (the Disney gods were shining down on me!). So after our ride, we were walking out when she said lets do it .lets ride Tower of Terror WOW! I got excited so we walked over to the tower and noticed that the wait time was 20 minutes. It was 7:20 and we wanted a good seat for Fantasmic. Hmmm Fantasmic or ToT? DD kind of got that dont want to wait in line look and I gave her the choice. She chose to get a good seat for Fantasmic & I went with her decision. I told her that we had some extra time on Friday & Saturday and if we wanted to come back to ride ToT, that we could and she said that sounded great.
So we ended up getting a great seat for Fantasmic. We were about 10 rows up in the middle of the seating. It had rained for a brief time in the a.m. while we were watching the mermaid show and was threatening again. I knew that inclement weather could delay or cancel the show, so we prayed to the Animal Kingdom Minnie Mouse that DD carried with her all day that we would get to see the show. Needless to say, the show went off right on time. It was by far one of the best shows Ive seen at Disney. Seeing all of the characters on that boat was impressive and Sorcerer Mickey really kicked some tail! On our way out, DD really wanted to buy a Sorcerer Mickey to go with her AK Minnie so she used some of her Disney Dollars that the grandparents gave her to take our hero home with her.
So after a shaky start to the day, we ended up having a blast at the Studios. Every show and attraction was really great and we once again had no wait for the bus to take us back to POP.
I asked if DD wanted to go swimming again, but she clutched her Mickey & Minnie tightly and said that she would rather just go back to the room. We grabbed drinks from the food court and made our way back to the room where DD proceeded to set up her own Fantasmic show on her bed. Sorcerer Mickey put on another great performance & ended up watching over DD as she drifted off into dreamland.
I quickly checked the weather to monitor the hurricane in the gulf & noticed that we may be in for some rain showers in the days ahead. Good thing I packed those .88 cent wal-mart ponchos! So I set the alarm & wake up calls for 7am and it wasnt long before I fell asleep myself.
Next day would bring us to the Magic Kingdom, DDs first ride on Space Mountain and her first encounter with the Haunted Mansion.
