Cast of Characters:
Me, Lori, 36. Disney nut and compulsive planner. Starts planning the next trip before the last one is over.
DH, Craig, 37. Not as crazy about Disney as the rest of us, but has recently stated his intention to become a bass fishing excursion guide at Ft Wilderness when he retires. Im sure I can be talked into retiring to Orlando
DD, Jessica, 9. Also a Disney nut, needs to be talked into going on the big rides, but would discover that Rock n Rollercoaster was actually a FUN ride this trip. DD is part fish and will give the pool slides a workout.
DS, Ryan, 5. Loves Disney, but would happily spend his entire vacation in the pool. Also not the bravest child on the planet when it comes to rides, but loved Mission Space (go figure).
DSIL and DBIL, 30-somethings (technically DBIL just turned 40, but close enough). Big Disney fans, recently purchased DVC points at Saratoga Springs, so this will be their last non-villa Disney stay.
Day 7, Thursday May 13th
Today was to be MGM day. We decided to drive and save some time, so we left at 8:45 and got to the parking lot just after 9. We headed straight to Tower of Terror, which had a 13 minute wait time posted. It ended up being a bit longer. Only DH, DSIL, and DBIL rode this, as the kids couldnt be talked into it. After the Lapu Lapus from the night before, I was quick to volunteer to sit that one out.
I bribed DD into riding Rock n Rollercoaster with me while DH sat out with DS who isnt tall enough. DD was very nervous, but was all smiles at the end and now lists it as one of her favorite rides. Next up was the animation tour. I find this to be very sad, especially walking through the hallway that used to look into the studio. They really need to do something with this area. We all got to try our hands at drawing Goofy at the end of the tour.
We had fast passes for Who Wants to be a Millionaire, but we didnt really need them as they were grabbing people off the street and trying to get them to come into the show. Its a slow day in the Studios. DH was #10 on the board after the first fastest finger question, putting the Great Lakes in order by size. Two women from Pennsylvania made it to the hot seat during that show. I was number 3 on the leader board when they checked it at the second womans 1000 point mark. Then I blew the next question (how many eyes does a bee have?), and the show ended when the contestant blew it too. I could get addicted to this show. Its a good thing DS is bored and will only tolerate it once. I guess its not very exciting when you cant read.
DD and I caught a showing of Muppets while DH and DS sat and had a soda and pretzel. I dont know why DS didnt want to do this one. We had a PS at Sci Fi Dine In. We checked in a bit early, and were seated early, even though they were telling walk-ups it was an hour wait. This is an interesting little restaurant. The kids sat in front and were so busy watching the movie clips that they actually managed to keep their hands to themselves for the entire lunch. Normally its not a good idea for them to sit next to each other. The milkshakes and onion rings here were excellent, but the entrees (we had ribs and chicken sandwiches) were just okay.
We had originally planned on an afternoon break and then coming back here in the evening, but we all decided wed seen enough and that Fantasmic! could wait until next trip, so we left MGM for the day. I had really wanted to see the backstage tour and the Indy show, but didnt feel like waiting for the next show times. Back at the hotel DD and I swam in the pool and she got her hair wrapped, while DS took a very long, much needed nap of almost 4 hours. He woke up very well rested. We got a quick dinner at Captain Cooks and decided to check out mini-golf.
We played the Fantasia course a few years ago and werent all that impressed with it, so we thought wed try Winter Summerland this time. We played the winter side. This is a really neat mini-golf course with lots of things that pop up, squirt water, and play music when the ball lands in the hole. If it werent so expensive, we might have played the other side as well.
We went back to the hotel. Since DS had missed the afternoon of swimming, we went for a late night swim. This was the first night we noticed mosquitoes. We talked about what to do the next day, our last full day. We always leave the last day on the itinerary open to go back and do what we missed or redo favorites. The kids said their favorite thing of the week was Typhoon Lagoon, so we decided to forgo the theme parks and try Blizzard Beach. Then we could do some shopping at Downtown Disney. I made a PS for Portobello Yacht Club for dinner, since we really liked it there on a prior trip.
Me, Lori, 36. Disney nut and compulsive planner. Starts planning the next trip before the last one is over.
DH, Craig, 37. Not as crazy about Disney as the rest of us, but has recently stated his intention to become a bass fishing excursion guide at Ft Wilderness when he retires. Im sure I can be talked into retiring to Orlando
DD, Jessica, 9. Also a Disney nut, needs to be talked into going on the big rides, but would discover that Rock n Rollercoaster was actually a FUN ride this trip. DD is part fish and will give the pool slides a workout.
DS, Ryan, 5. Loves Disney, but would happily spend his entire vacation in the pool. Also not the bravest child on the planet when it comes to rides, but loved Mission Space (go figure).
DSIL and DBIL, 30-somethings (technically DBIL just turned 40, but close enough). Big Disney fans, recently purchased DVC points at Saratoga Springs, so this will be their last non-villa Disney stay.
Day 7, Thursday May 13th
Today was to be MGM day. We decided to drive and save some time, so we left at 8:45 and got to the parking lot just after 9. We headed straight to Tower of Terror, which had a 13 minute wait time posted. It ended up being a bit longer. Only DH, DSIL, and DBIL rode this, as the kids couldnt be talked into it. After the Lapu Lapus from the night before, I was quick to volunteer to sit that one out.
I bribed DD into riding Rock n Rollercoaster with me while DH sat out with DS who isnt tall enough. DD was very nervous, but was all smiles at the end and now lists it as one of her favorite rides. Next up was the animation tour. I find this to be very sad, especially walking through the hallway that used to look into the studio. They really need to do something with this area. We all got to try our hands at drawing Goofy at the end of the tour.
We had fast passes for Who Wants to be a Millionaire, but we didnt really need them as they were grabbing people off the street and trying to get them to come into the show. Its a slow day in the Studios. DH was #10 on the board after the first fastest finger question, putting the Great Lakes in order by size. Two women from Pennsylvania made it to the hot seat during that show. I was number 3 on the leader board when they checked it at the second womans 1000 point mark. Then I blew the next question (how many eyes does a bee have?), and the show ended when the contestant blew it too. I could get addicted to this show. Its a good thing DS is bored and will only tolerate it once. I guess its not very exciting when you cant read.
DD and I caught a showing of Muppets while DH and DS sat and had a soda and pretzel. I dont know why DS didnt want to do this one. We had a PS at Sci Fi Dine In. We checked in a bit early, and were seated early, even though they were telling walk-ups it was an hour wait. This is an interesting little restaurant. The kids sat in front and were so busy watching the movie clips that they actually managed to keep their hands to themselves for the entire lunch. Normally its not a good idea for them to sit next to each other. The milkshakes and onion rings here were excellent, but the entrees (we had ribs and chicken sandwiches) were just okay.
We had originally planned on an afternoon break and then coming back here in the evening, but we all decided wed seen enough and that Fantasmic! could wait until next trip, so we left MGM for the day. I had really wanted to see the backstage tour and the Indy show, but didnt feel like waiting for the next show times. Back at the hotel DD and I swam in the pool and she got her hair wrapped, while DS took a very long, much needed nap of almost 4 hours. He woke up very well rested. We got a quick dinner at Captain Cooks and decided to check out mini-golf.
We played the Fantasia course a few years ago and werent all that impressed with it, so we thought wed try Winter Summerland this time. We played the winter side. This is a really neat mini-golf course with lots of things that pop up, squirt water, and play music when the ball lands in the hole. If it werent so expensive, we might have played the other side as well.
We went back to the hotel. Since DS had missed the afternoon of swimming, we went for a late night swim. This was the first night we noticed mosquitoes. We talked about what to do the next day, our last full day. We always leave the last day on the itinerary open to go back and do what we missed or redo favorites. The kids said their favorite thing of the week was Typhoon Lagoon, so we decided to forgo the theme parks and try Blizzard Beach. Then we could do some shopping at Downtown Disney. I made a PS for Portobello Yacht Club for dinner, since we really liked it there on a prior trip.