2belles'mom
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Feb 24, 2000
- Messages
- 406
Cast:
Me--Disney Addict!
David, DH--Disney Addict NOT
Katja, DD--7
Annika, DD--4
Part 7--Day 5, December 30--MGM STUDIOS NIGHTMARE!
Mickey called at 5:30. I popped out of bed and marveled at my ability to do so. At home (where it was actually 2:30 AM), I find it nearly impossible to drag my bum out of bed when the alarm goes off. In fact, I am the queen of the snooze button, hitting it up to 5 or 6 times, and then running around like an insane woman to get ready for work and out the door in the 10 minutes I have remaining. But not here in the World. I calmly went about preparing a pot of coffee, getting dressed, and getting our things ready for the day. I rolled the girls out of bed, rousted David, and we were all at the bus stop (did I mention we couldnt have a closer room to the bus stop???) by 6:15 a.m. The bus came shortly thereafter, (I was amazed at the number of people--the bus was completely full at this ungodly hour) and we were waiting at the MGM turnstiles by 6:45.
At 6:55 they opened the turnstiles--I think because there was such a huge crowd gathering. But they didnt let us all the way in the park--no, no, no. The CMs held us back with the infamous rope, for the rope walk. I knew at this point that MGM Studios early-entry was a BAD, VERY BAD idea. There would only be four rides operating: Tower Of Terror, Rock-N-Roller Coaster, Star Tours and Muppet 3-D. As if people would beat feet for the Muppets! No I dont think so. This theory was confirmed by the Cms, who announced which CMs to follow for R&R and which ones to follow for T&T (no mention of Muppets!). In essence, there were only two rides open. Not good, not good at all with this crowd (imagine! Such a crowd and it wasnt even 7 a.m.!). Well, too late now--we were here, better make the most of it. (I did, however make a note to myself--dont EVER do MGM on early entry, AVOID on EE days and go AT OPENING on non-EE day.)
When the CMs finally led us away, we went with the crowd to ToT. Luckily, we were at the front of the rush, and it was a walk-on. Annika was a trooper. She wasnt the least bit afraid. The other riders got a kick out of how small she was, and how brave. After ToT, we went to RnR for Katjas much anticipated ride (last year she was SO disappointed to miss the height requirement by a mere ½ inch!). Unfortunately, there was already a 45 minute wait! Well, this was to be expected, given the circumstances. Instead of riding, we got R&R Fast Passes with a return time of 8:30-9:30--not bad at all. It was extremely congested in this part of the Studios, and we were glad to reach a less crowded area of the park. There was a zero minute wait for Star Tours, so we enjoyed that ride, and then proceeded to Muppets 3-D, which also had no wait. After that, we wasted some time waiting in line for the Back Lot Tour--it took us 10 minutes to realize that the attraction wouldnt open until 9:00 (it was only 8:40 when we discovered this fact). Since our R&R FP time had arrived, and if we waited to ride Back Lot (a 35 minute attraction) we would miss it, we bailed out and headed back to the congested zone. Too bad--this is a great ride, and we doubted it would be on our agenda later.
We got child-switch passes and David and Katja got in the R&R Fast Pass line. Annika and I went over to ToT and got Fast Passes with return time of 11:30. Then I took her into the gift shop and got her some candy to make up for the fact that she was missing out on the fun. She takes her inability to ride the tall rides remarkably well--perhaps it is because that has been the norm since her first trip to WDW at age 4 months! When David and Katja were done, I took the rider-switch pass and Katja and I rode. There was only about a 5-minute wait in the Fast Pass line. (The great thing about child-switch is that Katja gets to ride everything twice in a row!)
Next, we walked through the Walt: One Mans Dream exhibit. It was very well done. I was braced for a lot of whining from the princess-brats, but Katja actually was very interested in everything there ( I think I am bringing up another Disney Addict! Yeah!). She especially enjoyed the movie, and asked a lot of questions. Even four year old Annika was fairly interested in the exhibit. It was 10:30 when we were finished.
I had an 11:00 PS for 50s Prime Time Café, but everyone was getting hungry, so we decided to see if we could get in early. There was a fairly good line formed outside, but it moved quickly. After we checked in, it was only about 5 minutes until we were seated. The Café is set up like a 50s diner, with a TV showing Black and While TV clips at every table. The wait staff is very bossy and interactive--they put on a great show. Our waiter, Robert, was great. He scolded David for wearing his hat, and informed our children that they were cranky, very, very, cranky. This caused Katja to furrow her brow and declare that we had a very mean waiter. We told her that in that case, she had better be on her best behavior. We all wound up having a great time, and the food was pretty good too. The girls had some type of glowing drink--the glow coming from a glow-in-the-dark plastic ice cube that we are still using in their drinks here at home!
After our early lunch, we went back to ToT, where we used our Fast Passes and avoided the 140 min (GULP!) stand-by wait. We only waited about 5 minutes with our FPs. It was about half past noon by the time we were done, and the park was clogged beyond comprehension. As we made our way to the exit, we stopped at a kiosk where Katja picked up a Minnie Mouse Hat, and Annika got pink rhinestone sunglasses. Then we battled our way through the crowds and hopped a bus back to Wilderness Lodge.
Back at the Lodge, we hit the pool again. The girls made friends with a boy named Andy from Ohio, and had gobbs of fun with him. We all took a break for dinner, and the girls spent some time playing Barbies in the room. Then we all went for a night swim. I enjoyed the hot tub (ever so divine!), while David and the girls played games in the pool. We swam until 9:00 (I was hoping the marathon swim session would exhaust the girls to the point of falling asleep standing up, but no such luck), then called it a night and returned to our room.
Me--Disney Addict!
David, DH--Disney Addict NOT
Katja, DD--7
Annika, DD--4
Part 7--Day 5, December 30--MGM STUDIOS NIGHTMARE!
Mickey called at 5:30. I popped out of bed and marveled at my ability to do so. At home (where it was actually 2:30 AM), I find it nearly impossible to drag my bum out of bed when the alarm goes off. In fact, I am the queen of the snooze button, hitting it up to 5 or 6 times, and then running around like an insane woman to get ready for work and out the door in the 10 minutes I have remaining. But not here in the World. I calmly went about preparing a pot of coffee, getting dressed, and getting our things ready for the day. I rolled the girls out of bed, rousted David, and we were all at the bus stop (did I mention we couldnt have a closer room to the bus stop???) by 6:15 a.m. The bus came shortly thereafter, (I was amazed at the number of people--the bus was completely full at this ungodly hour) and we were waiting at the MGM turnstiles by 6:45.
At 6:55 they opened the turnstiles--I think because there was such a huge crowd gathering. But they didnt let us all the way in the park--no, no, no. The CMs held us back with the infamous rope, for the rope walk. I knew at this point that MGM Studios early-entry was a BAD, VERY BAD idea. There would only be four rides operating: Tower Of Terror, Rock-N-Roller Coaster, Star Tours and Muppet 3-D. As if people would beat feet for the Muppets! No I dont think so. This theory was confirmed by the Cms, who announced which CMs to follow for R&R and which ones to follow for T&T (no mention of Muppets!). In essence, there were only two rides open. Not good, not good at all with this crowd (imagine! Such a crowd and it wasnt even 7 a.m.!). Well, too late now--we were here, better make the most of it. (I did, however make a note to myself--dont EVER do MGM on early entry, AVOID on EE days and go AT OPENING on non-EE day.)
When the CMs finally led us away, we went with the crowd to ToT. Luckily, we were at the front of the rush, and it was a walk-on. Annika was a trooper. She wasnt the least bit afraid. The other riders got a kick out of how small she was, and how brave. After ToT, we went to RnR for Katjas much anticipated ride (last year she was SO disappointed to miss the height requirement by a mere ½ inch!). Unfortunately, there was already a 45 minute wait! Well, this was to be expected, given the circumstances. Instead of riding, we got R&R Fast Passes with a return time of 8:30-9:30--not bad at all. It was extremely congested in this part of the Studios, and we were glad to reach a less crowded area of the park. There was a zero minute wait for Star Tours, so we enjoyed that ride, and then proceeded to Muppets 3-D, which also had no wait. After that, we wasted some time waiting in line for the Back Lot Tour--it took us 10 minutes to realize that the attraction wouldnt open until 9:00 (it was only 8:40 when we discovered this fact). Since our R&R FP time had arrived, and if we waited to ride Back Lot (a 35 minute attraction) we would miss it, we bailed out and headed back to the congested zone. Too bad--this is a great ride, and we doubted it would be on our agenda later.
We got child-switch passes and David and Katja got in the R&R Fast Pass line. Annika and I went over to ToT and got Fast Passes with return time of 11:30. Then I took her into the gift shop and got her some candy to make up for the fact that she was missing out on the fun. She takes her inability to ride the tall rides remarkably well--perhaps it is because that has been the norm since her first trip to WDW at age 4 months! When David and Katja were done, I took the rider-switch pass and Katja and I rode. There was only about a 5-minute wait in the Fast Pass line. (The great thing about child-switch is that Katja gets to ride everything twice in a row!)
Next, we walked through the Walt: One Mans Dream exhibit. It was very well done. I was braced for a lot of whining from the princess-brats, but Katja actually was very interested in everything there ( I think I am bringing up another Disney Addict! Yeah!). She especially enjoyed the movie, and asked a lot of questions. Even four year old Annika was fairly interested in the exhibit. It was 10:30 when we were finished.
I had an 11:00 PS for 50s Prime Time Café, but everyone was getting hungry, so we decided to see if we could get in early. There was a fairly good line formed outside, but it moved quickly. After we checked in, it was only about 5 minutes until we were seated. The Café is set up like a 50s diner, with a TV showing Black and While TV clips at every table. The wait staff is very bossy and interactive--they put on a great show. Our waiter, Robert, was great. He scolded David for wearing his hat, and informed our children that they were cranky, very, very, cranky. This caused Katja to furrow her brow and declare that we had a very mean waiter. We told her that in that case, she had better be on her best behavior. We all wound up having a great time, and the food was pretty good too. The girls had some type of glowing drink--the glow coming from a glow-in-the-dark plastic ice cube that we are still using in their drinks here at home!
After our early lunch, we went back to ToT, where we used our Fast Passes and avoided the 140 min (GULP!) stand-by wait. We only waited about 5 minutes with our FPs. It was about half past noon by the time we were done, and the park was clogged beyond comprehension. As we made our way to the exit, we stopped at a kiosk where Katja picked up a Minnie Mouse Hat, and Annika got pink rhinestone sunglasses. Then we battled our way through the crowds and hopped a bus back to Wilderness Lodge.
Back at the Lodge, we hit the pool again. The girls made friends with a boy named Andy from Ohio, and had gobbs of fun with him. We all took a break for dinner, and the girls spent some time playing Barbies in the room. Then we all went for a night swim. I enjoyed the hot tub (ever so divine!), while David and the girls played games in the pool. We swam until 9:00 (I was hoping the marathon swim session would exhaust the girls to the point of falling asleep standing up, but no such luck), then called it a night and returned to our room.
