"Hey Ma! I Can See EPCOCK From Here!" UD 11/26: The Legend of Puffie

[Neeny17]

Thanks!

 

[LondonUnderground]

Haha, of course! My dad has a ton of RS shirts. And Bruins shirts. And Patriots shirts.


Thanks, Eimmy-ear!

your dads shirts are extreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeemely epic.

its okay! you aaaaaare prettyyyy!

 

[AmandaSparks730]

your dads shirts are extreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeemely epic.

its okay! you aaaaaare prettyyyy!

Oh, yes, my Dad is famous for wearing his Big Papi jersey

 

[AmandaSparks730]

MGM, Part 2

Or

Lights...Camera...ACTION!

So, where to go for lunch?

I did give you a hint last time, mind you, when I said "blasting off into lunch".

Yep, we were headed around the corner from Indy to TOY STORY PIZZA PLANET! Om nom nom nom. I hadn't been here in years; we hardly eat in MGM, anyway.

I snagged an outside table and began soaking in the atmosphere of my beloved MGM. I window shopped from my perch and checked out some of the cute clothes in the stores over by It's a Wonderful Shop. Of course, I snagged a table right next to the door, and was met with wonderful blasts of cold air. How I wish I was there right now, instead of in dreary RI.

But I digress.

Mom and I had individual cheese pizzas (actually, we had the kid's, haha!), and Dad had the individual pepperoni. The kid's size was actually the same as the individual, just cheaper! Anyway, our pizzas were rather good, as was the view.

Of COURSE, we had to go to MuppetVision 3D after! If you've read my 2008 TR, you already know that MV3D is my favourite of the WDW 3-D movies. And one of my top attractions! Nothing like some good Muppet humour (and A/C) to soothe one's soul.

After our romp with Kermit and Friends, we headed to do the Backlot Tour, something we hadn't done in a very, very long time.

So we get in the queue and the CM asks for 4 volunteers, at least 16 years of age.

HEY! I'M 16 YEARS OF AGE!

Mom immediately volunteered us. Of course.

"Let's do something fun and different".

Oh, lawd.

It ended up being us and another man, whose wife was watching their young daughter. He was very friendly and good-natured about his task.

So let's assume you know how the Backlot Tour works.

And you know what the pre-show is, where they show you different water effects (Pearl Harbour, anyone?).

Mom and I were assigned the roles of the bumbling crew on the ship. Dad was the captain of the ship. And our dear friend, whose name I have long forgotten, was the mechanic. Poor dear, he had the 100,000 gallons of water dumped on him! It was a very hot day, though, so I'm sure it felt good.

It was fun. Luckily, there weren't many people there watching, so I wasn't as embarrassed. Mom and I listened to our instructions/saftey rules very carefully, and played our roles to the best of our ability (I think Mom had more fun with it than I did!).

So if you were at MGM on July 28, 2010, and you went to the Backlot Tour around 1:00, that was us!

I wish we'd gotten a Magical Moment certificate or something, but I suppose VOLUNTEERS don't get those!

Anyway, we continued on with our Tour!

Can I get one for my yard? :

COSTUMES! :

More costumes! :

I'll have me one of these, too... :

Backside of LMA :

"Mickey One" :

Catastrophe Canyon:

Castastrophe Canyon 2:

More of the "Mickey One" :

Next, we used our FastPasses for TSMM!. I went with Mom, and Dad went behind us. We got the Wood Car; Mom wanted Bo Peep and I wanted Wheezy. I liked the new characters; or rather, Trixie and Rex's Balloon Pop instead of Bo Peep's.

I'm blacking out a bit on what our next ride was...I want to say we used our FastPasses for Tower of Terror. Yes, I believe that's what we did.

And don't ask me what time it was, because I sure as hell don't remember.

But anyway. I LOVED the new effects on ToT! So cool! I won't spoil them, in case you didn't see them, but wow! This ride can't ever get old. It really can't.

I'll just leave off with one more ride: the Great Movie Ride. We took our time looking at the footprints in the cement outside the theatre, before joining a slow...moving...line.

Seriously, this was the WORST line of the day! Arrrgh! They need to show more movies in that loop, or more trailers/different trailers...the first time is cool, the second time is nice, but the third and fourth times are downright annoying!

And I'll just tell you now, I am NEVER seeing Alien. EVER.

Anyway, not only did we have a CUTE tour guide, but we got the cowboy scene! Yes, folks, we got the coveted cowboy scene instead of the gangster!

Happiness, indeed.

Up Next:

BLASTING OFF!...again
Fantasmic! ...or not
POOL TIME! ...but where?

Love, Meg

P.S. Obama came to RI today! As you know, the airport is like, a mile away from me. Mom and I walked down to where the private jets (like the NE Patriots jet!) land, and got great pics of Air Force One! We didn't see Obama himself, we were too far away, but we did see Secret Service agents! It was sooooo cool, knowing that the PRESIDENT was 500 yards or so away from us!

P.P.S. If I can find my camera, I'll take pictures of my dance costume party and my Senior costume party on Thursday/Friday, and give you a quickie update.

 

[Rora]

It's so great you guys got to do the Backlot pre-show!! So much fun!! I've always wanted to do that! I wonder what it feels like to get that much water dumped on you.. hmm..

Isn't ToT great? Best ride there. Love it!

It's fantasticly lucky you guys got the cowboy scene!! We've only had it once. So much better than the Gangster seen. By far.

How neat about Air Force One!! Too bad you didn't seem Obama but at least you got to see the agents! Neat!!

Please post pictures of your dance costume party-- how fun!

 

[johnsonmatt3]

I rode the great movie ride once and got the cowboy, I didnt know he was rare, I just thought it was part of the show

 

[AmandaSparks730]

I rode the great movie ride once and got the cowboy, I didnt know he was rare, I just thought it was part of the show

You either get two hijacking scenarios--the gangster or the cowboy. Most of the time (when the ride isn't at full capacity), you'll just get the gangster (it's the first one you come across). If the ride is running at full capacity/higher crowds/longer lines, they'll break it up and add the cowboy in. One tram stops at cowboy, the next stops at gangster, and so on.

It's so great you guys got to do the Backlot pre-show!! So much fun!! I've always wanted to do that! I wonder what it feels like to get that much water dumped on you.. hmm..

Isn't ToT great? Best ride there. Love it!

It's fantasticly lucky you guys got the cowboy scene!! We've only had it once. So much better than the Gangster seen. By far.

How neat about Air Force One!! Too bad you didn't seem Obama but at least you got to see the agents! Neat!!

Please post pictures of your dance costume party-- how fun!

Haha, we only got a little wet--we were wearing heavy raincoats and boots!

ToT is amazing; love it! Combine the theming of ToT with the thrills of Everest and you get...Tower of Everest? Everest of Terror? Expedition: Terror?

Wait...not Expedition: Terror. That sounds like a haunted house

I was SO thrilled when we rolled right past the gangster scene. I love seeing the shootout and the bank catch on fire during the cowboy scene.

Air Force One was REALLY cool...I half-expected to hear "Hail to the Chief" being played as it landed!

We have a Senior Costume Day at school, so I'm gonna take pictures there, and then post ALL my Halloween pics later!

 

[Rora]

We have a Senior Costume Day at school, so I'm gonna take pictures there, and then post ALL my Halloween pics later!

Can't wait!!

 

[AmandaSparks730]

Can't wait!!

Just got home, but I'll upload later and tell all!

 

[AmandaSparks730]

A SPECIAL HALLOWEEN UPDATE!



Happy Halloween, readers!

This is a special update for RORA, who has been asking that I share my Halloween pictures with you guys!

Let's start with a few pictures from our dance party on Thursday night:

Taylor:

Kerri (wearing my fancyyy witch hat!) :

Mirror shot:

This was my last Halloween party at dance ever . We played freeze dance and Dead Fish, and told paranormal stories. Kerri, Julie, and I made a Dunkin Donuts/Ronizo pizza run before tap, which was super-fun to do in our crazy costumes!

I wasn't feeling my best on Thursday, though, because we were administered our flu shots at school, and not only did my arm hurt, but I just felt tired and blah.

Friday, though, I was up early to get ready for our Senior Costume Day at school!

There were some funny costumes, some weird costumes, some lame costumes, and some...well...inappropriate...costumes. Even some of the teachers got in the spirit!

I took almost 70 pictures in school, and most of them didn't come out good or were of the same people/costumes, so I'll only post my favourites and the best of the best.

Annie was Katy Perry:

Victoria was Snooki (of Jersey Shore fame) and Jake was...well, we'll get back to that later, as his was part of a group costume:

Group shot of my Human Geography AP class:

Zach B as Gingy from the Shrek series:

And Zach C as Charlie Brown from the It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown! special:

Selina as the Corpse Bride:

Nicole as the Fashion Police:

Paul as Willy Wonka (from the original movie, mind you!):

We had our Costume Parade/assembly from 9:15-10:15, and it was superfun! Anyone who wanted to could go up onstage and compete for different Single Costumes or Group Costume awards.

My friend Ellen won "Funniest Single" for her crazy cat lady costume (you'll see that picture in a few moments!). Selina won "Scariest Single" for her Corpse Bride, and someone else won "Most Creative Single" for his Captain Communism costume.

The groups were hit or miss. There were some really good/creative ones, and some lame ones.

My friends were the hit of the group category with their idea. They dressed up as the characters from the classic game CLUE!

Jake was Mr. Green, Tori was Mrs. White, Courtney was Coronal Mustard, Sam (Courtney's twin sister) was Mrs. Peacock, Tereasa was Professor Plum, and Alyssa was Miss Scarlett. They did a GREAT skit where they looked for clues and tried to solve the "case" (it ended up being Mrs. White with the candlestick, haha). They had the cards from the actual game, the envelope with the clues in it, and even the weapons (minus the revolver)! So clever.

Anyway, would it surprise you if I told you that they won Most Creative Group? Well, they did!

A group that portrayed a Zombie attack won "Scariest Group", the Fashion Police (Nicole and her friend Sara) won "Funniest Group", and a group of girls who dressed up as the avatars from the hit movie Avatar won "Best Overall".

Here's a quick vid of my friends winning "Most Creative Group" :



And a picture of them with their award:

And finally, a quick and amusing picture from lunch:

A very fun day, but we're not sure it was worth all the hype and the waiting four years for. It was cool, though, and we're looking forward to Spirit Week next week!

I'll update in a week or so with the rest of our MGM day, but for now, have a Happy Halloween and Election Day!

Love, Meg

 

[MickeyisBeast]

Love the Halloween pictures!
Our school didn't have a senior costume day, not like it matters to me, what with being a freshman and all (;

 

[Rora]

What great pictures!! I love the Clue group! What a fantastic idea!!

It looks like you had a lot of fun!! Thanks for the shout out! !

Well, are you doing anything fun for Hallowen tonight?

 

[AmandaSparks730]

Love the Halloween pictures!
Our school didn't have a senior costume day, not like it matters to me, what with being a freshman and all (;

Haha, it's a tradition at my HS, and a fun one at that. We were like "yay, it's finally here!" but at the same time it only made us realize even more that we're Seniors!

What great pictures!! I love the Clue group! What a fantastic idea!!

It looks like you had a lot of fun!! Thanks for the shout out! !

Well, are you doing anything fun for Hallowen tonight?

Thanks!

I know, weren't they fabulous? Love them!

And you're quite welcome for the shout-out!

Nope, nothing fun tonight. Thursday night was enough for me

 

[KathyRN137]

Hey Meg... reporting for duty and all caught up now!


Kathy

 

[AmandaSparks730]

Hey Meg... reporting for duty and all caught up now!


Kathy

Hurrah! Thanks for stopping by!

 

[AmandaSparks730]

MGM Day, Part 3

or

Blast off!

So where I last left you, we had lucked out with the cowboy scenario on GMR. What to do now?

Hmmm...well, we have almost an hour til dinner. What's around there that we can enjoy?

Well, we ended up going to catch a performance of the American Idol Experience. It was our first time doing this, and we ended up sliding in with 5 minutes to showtime.

The first contestant was a 14 year old girl who sang "This Is Me" from the Disney Channel hit movie, Camp Rock. She was okay, but was obviously young.

The second contestant blew us all away. She was 16/17, and gave a wonderful rendition of I Hope You Dance. She was simply fantastic, and the judges loved her.

The last contestant was a 30something year old mother from the UK. She gave a decent rendition of Hot Stuff.

The second contestant won, and was thrilled. She was by far the best; I wonder how she fared in the final showdown of the evening.

With 5 minutes to our dinner reservation (at the odd time of 5:35), we dashed around the corner to the Sci/Fi Dine-In.

This was our first time at this restaurant. I was excited to try this one out, even with reviews that the food was mediocre at best.

I loved that the hosts/hostesses were on roller-skates. It definately added that touch of 50s/60s that was needed.

The main dining room--wow! I was impressed with the cars and twilight setting. We were given a "car" to ourselves. Mom and Dad let me sit in the front, and the waiter made jokes about me being the designated driver.

I LOVED the movie clips. So funny, and so terrible. Lovely things like The Blob and other such horrible B-list movies, not to mention the "from the future!" comercials.

I forget what Dad got, but Mom and I split a chicken sandwich. It was decent, I suppose, as far as chicken sandwiches go. I was tempted to order dessert, but Mom said we could get something at the Writer's Stop to bring back to the hotel.

All in all, I loved the Sci/Fi Dine-In, and would definately go again!

We popped in to the Writer's Stop next, to look for a little somethin' somethin'. Didn't find any food, BUT I DID find the Fantasmic! soundtrack. And it had both the WDW version AND the Disneyland version on it! What luck! This is such a great little shop; so many good books and CDs, and so cozy.

I wanted to take a spin on Star Tours before it closed for the major upgrade in September, so Mom and I headed on in. A 5 minute wait was posted--5 minutes? Ha! More like "3 minutes to walk the queue and then 5 minutes to wait for the previous cycle to end".

We were seated in the front row. Harrumph. I would've preferred the back...y'know, get a little shaken up? But nooooo. Ah, well. Can't argue with one of the Shortest Wait Times Ever. Especially considering that the wait time earlier that day had been 40 minutes.

So what to do now? Well, let's see what the wait for ToT is. 40 minutes? No thanks!

Mom and I had METICULOUSLY planned this trip, so that we'd be in the parks for such events like Fantasmic! and evening EMHs. And the WDW website HAD STATED THAT Fantasmic! would be playing on this particular night, due to EMH.

But noooooooo! No Fantasmic! tonight. And if you know me, you know Fantasmic! is my most favorite WDW nighttime show of all time.

Meg. Not. Happy.

To soothe my frazzled Fantasmic! lack-of-ness, we got some snacks at the place on Sunset Blvd. Is it called Scary Apothecary? Well, that place that's connected to Villians in Vouge (which had a shocking lack of Maleficent merchendise. It was all Nightmare Before Christmas (which I do love) and Cheshire Cat, or it was a group of villians). We got some chocolate covered pretzel rods and marshmallows to-go.

That, and the promise of a trip to the Kidani Village pool, and the thought that in my bag was not only a Mr. Pricklepants pin (from TS3!) but also, the Fantasmic! soundtrack, calmed me.

We left the park in the quest of making a trek over to the Kidani pool.

It was about a 5 minute (okay, more like 10) walk over, and then a mission in itself to find the pool. But when we DID find the pool, this is what we saw:

It was movie night, and the movie happened to be Tinkerbelle. Hmmmph. I was opposed to Tink being nice and being able to talk from the get-go, so I would've preferred a different movie.

Still, the pool was nice. And the slide! Oooh, the slide was niiiiiiice. I liked how it had a stoplight letting you know when it was safe to travel down. It had twists and turns, and was pretty dang good for a hotel pool slide!

So after a nice hour or so of pool time, we took a quick bus trip back to Jambo House. Some TV, a shower, and it was into bed for us!

Up Next:

"Epcock" day!

Love, Meg

 

[MickeyisBeast]

I want to eat at Sci Fi... just to sit in a car! That is the only reason I'd want to eat there It just looks so fun

I love movie night at the Disney pools. I am with you, I'm not a big fan of the Tink movies. I like it better when she liked Peter, not Terrance. When she didn't talk, she just made a bell noise and pixie dust flew everywhere. And when she wasn't all nice to people, she got angry very easily The Tink movies ruined her image.

 

[AmandaSparks730]

I want to eat at Sci Fi... just to sit in a car! That is the only reason I'd want to eat there It just looks so fun

I love movie night at the Disney pools. I am with you, I'm not a big fan of the Tink movies. I like it better when she liked Peter, not Terrance. When she didn't talk, she just made a bell noise and pixie dust flew everywhere. And when she wasn't all nice to people, she got angry very easily The Tink movies ruined her image.

Nice Tink doesn't sit well with me. I prefer sassy, 'tude Tink.

Although, Kristin Chenoweth provides the voice of Rosetta, and I do love me some K-Cheno.

 

[Rora]

I've never done the AIE-- sounds fun!! How do the performances work? Do potential performers have to get picked from the audience of the show, or do they audition before-hand sometime?

Isn't SciFi fun?! It doesn't have a great reputation here on the DIS but I just love it!!

The Fantasmic soundtrack was a nice find!!

I wonder why Fantasmic wasn't happening that night even though it was supposed to..?? Weird.

Ehh.. I've never been a fan of Tinkerbelle. The nice or sassy version of her. She's a little too extreme for me- either nasty or too sweet.

I'm excited to hear about the pool!! DH and I are going to MVMCP this Friday and staying at AKV! If it's not too cold, maybe I'll take a dip!

Can't wait to hear about Epcock!

 

[AmandaSparks730]

I've never done the AIE-- sounds fun!! How do the performances work? Do potential performers have to get picked from the audience of the show, or do they audition before-hand sometime?

Isn't SciFi fun?! It doesn't have a great reputation here on the DIS but I just love it!!

The Fantasmic soundtrack was a nice find!!

I wonder why Fantasmic wasn't happening that night even though it was supposed to..?? Weird.

Ehh.. I've never been a fan of Tinkerbelle. The nice or sassy version of her. She's a little too extreme for me- either nasty or too sweet.

I'm excited to hear about the pool!! DH and I are going to MVMCP this Friday and staying at AKV! If it's not too cold, maybe I'll take a dip!

Can't wait to hear about Epcock!

Hi!

You have to audition to perform in the AEI. You pick a song, perform it for the judges as a preliminary round, and hope you make it to one of the shows!

Sci/Fi was awesome! I quite liked the atmosphere, even if the food was just okay.

I literally jumped in excitement when I spotted the Fantasmic! soundtrack, and bought it on the spot. I was even more thrilled that they have BOTH versions on there--both are unique in their own ways; different villians and whatnot.

Ooh, I hope you had fun! The pool was just the right temperature, especially for at night, and the slide isn't JUST for kids--my parents went down it and liked it!

Epcock will come later this week; just wanna get this Senior Research Paper out of the way first!