meeko_33785
<font color=teal>Surrounded by characters<br><font
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2000
- Messages
- 5,491
My last report had the first half of my day at Disney-MGM Studios. As you can expect, this one has the second half.
By this time, I had a reservation for Mama Melrose in about an hour so there really wasnt enough time to go do an attraction on the other side of the park and then come back to the Muppet area. I decided to take this time to take a quick look around the Writers Stop shop and check out the AFI Showcase. The Showcase still had the same Villains exhibit thats been there for the past few years. The Witchs hat from Wizard of Oz was on display, so I thought that maybe that would be a good photo for Hat, but the lighting in there is so dark that I just couldnt make any look good. Oh well. Im sure theres other hats around here. I headed outside and saw some of Mulch, Sweet, and Shears performance. If you haven't seen them, they're the new rock band that performs near the Lights Motors Action entrance. I'm not exactly a rock kind of person, but I can tell that they're good at what they do.
After the show, I went over to Als Toy Barn to see if any of the Toy Story characters were out. Buzz, Woody, Jessie, and a couple of Army Men were all out doing greets. In all my years of meeting characters, Buzz was one character that I had just never managed to meet before, so maybe I could finally do that now. Then again, it was getting terribly hot and Buzzs line was the longest yeah I think that maybe Ill just meet some characters some other time. Therell be time for characters later. Instead it was on to Mama Melrose to see if was possible to get a table a little early. No problem. I was seated right away. I had the four cheese flatbread and it was absolutely delicious. Good service, good food, pleasant atmosphere. Mama Melrose is defiantly a winner in my book.
Next, it was over to the other side of the park for Voyage of the Little Mermaid. Grabbed a FastPass , but the time between then and the start of the window was not too long. I just spent the time checking out some of the gift shops in the Animation Courtyard and snuck into the Magic of Disney Animation from the back and saw some of the exhibits and concept art of some of the upcoming films. The new ones look interesting, but I can't wait for Rapunzel to come out. Everything I've heard about it is great, plus Kristin Chenoweth (my current favorite actress) is signed on to play the lead. It won't be out until 2009 though. Just four years to go. Chicken Little was suppose to be around doing meet-and-greets, so I thought Id stick around and see if I could get a short line. After all, the movie isnt even out yet. No one knows who the character is! Well, when I got there, Chicken Little was taking a break, but he still had quite a line. By the time he and Abby Mallard finally came out, my FastPass window for Little Mermaid opened so I left.
After arriving at Mermaid, I waited about 20 minutes or so before everyone was let into the theater. Once inside the theater, everything went normally. The obligatory announcements were made about eating, smoking, flash photography, etc. The lights were dimmed, and it looked like the show was about to start. Suddenly, the lights came up and an announcement was made that this performance had been delayed. After five minutes or so, the show started abruptly into the Under the Sea number. From there on, everything seemed to go well. Ariel was absolutely wonderful this time around. She had a gorgeous singing voice and had plenty of spunk. Great show, and definatly worth the delay. With that I managed to finish everything that I had wanted to do in the park, so I decided to look around some of the shops and call it a day. While on Hollywood Boulevard, I got my second photo for my photo scavenger hunt:
#2: Hat: Mickeys of Hollywood, Disney-MGM Studios
I have never seen his hat at Disney World before, and I was so tempted to buy it. Then, after a while, I started to realize that Im really never going to wear it when I get home and probably wouldnt even wear it in the parks. Im just not a hat sort of person. I compromised, just got a picture of it, and moved on before I end up spending all my money on character hats Ill never wear. Next was a quick look through the Sunset shops and a stop for a pin purchase at Hollywood Junction. Its of Belle (of course) dressed her blue village dress standing on the ladder in the bookshop. Finally a pin of Belle in her village dress with her books! Nothing against all the pins of Belle in her princess gowns, but its great to see a pin that portrays her as the intelligent bookworm she is instead of just a princess in a fancy dress. Enough shops; Im ready to head back to Pop Century and get all my stuff into my room. On the way out, I took a little walk past Hollywood and Vine to get the last photo I needed for the days scavenger hunt:
#3: Movie Tie-In: Hollywood and Vine, Disney-MGM Studios
Ever notice Who Framed Roger Rabbits Eddie Valiant has his office right over the Hollywood and Vine restaurant? If you never have, check it next time youre in the area. You never know what youll find on some of the second story windows around the parks. With MGM behind me, it was back on the bus and back to the resort.
Back at Pop Century, it was time to bring my luggage into my room. I was in the Play Dough building in the 60s with an upgrade to a pool view. Nice spot, and really close to the main pool and the food court. Hows that for convenient? The rooms were smaller than what you would expect from a moderate resort, but I didnt really miss the extra space. This works for me. After a little relaxation time in the air conditioning and watching the Top 7 on TV (Stacy just isnt as good as Kryssa was), I set off to take a walk around the resort.
Pop Century may not be as much of an immersive experience that takes you to another place as some of the moderate or deluxe resorts, but it is still a lot of fun. Everywhere you turn theres either another giant icon of Disney characters, toys, or other vintage items or phrases like Groovy or Totally Awesome in giant letters across the building. From the 60s, I took a walk through the 70s, 80s, and 90s area, soaking up the vybe of each decade along the way and taking some photos of the different icons. I had planned on swinging back and checking out the 50s section afterwards, but before I could, it started to storm and I headed back to my room before it got worse.
After a while, the weather let up enough that I could get down to the Everything Pop food court for a late dinner. Because of the rain, the place was packed. It looked like a combination of people who were at the pool when it closed and ran to the food court for shelter and families who decided not to battle the rain and skip the parks for the evening. Instead of battling the crowds for a table, it seemed easier just to get something to go. When I got up to the register I asked if there was a box of cover I could get to take it back to my room. Apparently there isnt, but I can have a bag from the gift shop to slide over the tray and take it back to my room that way. A little awkward, but I made it. I had the Cheesesteak Wrap which was fresh off the grill and very delicious- possibly the best counter service meal of the trip. I had an early morning at Magic Kingdom the next day, so it was time to get some sleep and rest up for the next day.
By this time, I had a reservation for Mama Melrose in about an hour so there really wasnt enough time to go do an attraction on the other side of the park and then come back to the Muppet area. I decided to take this time to take a quick look around the Writers Stop shop and check out the AFI Showcase. The Showcase still had the same Villains exhibit thats been there for the past few years. The Witchs hat from Wizard of Oz was on display, so I thought that maybe that would be a good photo for Hat, but the lighting in there is so dark that I just couldnt make any look good. Oh well. Im sure theres other hats around here. I headed outside and saw some of Mulch, Sweet, and Shears performance. If you haven't seen them, they're the new rock band that performs near the Lights Motors Action entrance. I'm not exactly a rock kind of person, but I can tell that they're good at what they do.
After the show, I went over to Als Toy Barn to see if any of the Toy Story characters were out. Buzz, Woody, Jessie, and a couple of Army Men were all out doing greets. In all my years of meeting characters, Buzz was one character that I had just never managed to meet before, so maybe I could finally do that now. Then again, it was getting terribly hot and Buzzs line was the longest yeah I think that maybe Ill just meet some characters some other time. Therell be time for characters later. Instead it was on to Mama Melrose to see if was possible to get a table a little early. No problem. I was seated right away. I had the four cheese flatbread and it was absolutely delicious. Good service, good food, pleasant atmosphere. Mama Melrose is defiantly a winner in my book.
Next, it was over to the other side of the park for Voyage of the Little Mermaid. Grabbed a FastPass , but the time between then and the start of the window was not too long. I just spent the time checking out some of the gift shops in the Animation Courtyard and snuck into the Magic of Disney Animation from the back and saw some of the exhibits and concept art of some of the upcoming films. The new ones look interesting, but I can't wait for Rapunzel to come out. Everything I've heard about it is great, plus Kristin Chenoweth (my current favorite actress) is signed on to play the lead. It won't be out until 2009 though. Just four years to go. Chicken Little was suppose to be around doing meet-and-greets, so I thought Id stick around and see if I could get a short line. After all, the movie isnt even out yet. No one knows who the character is! Well, when I got there, Chicken Little was taking a break, but he still had quite a line. By the time he and Abby Mallard finally came out, my FastPass window for Little Mermaid opened so I left.
After arriving at Mermaid, I waited about 20 minutes or so before everyone was let into the theater. Once inside the theater, everything went normally. The obligatory announcements were made about eating, smoking, flash photography, etc. The lights were dimmed, and it looked like the show was about to start. Suddenly, the lights came up and an announcement was made that this performance had been delayed. After five minutes or so, the show started abruptly into the Under the Sea number. From there on, everything seemed to go well. Ariel was absolutely wonderful this time around. She had a gorgeous singing voice and had plenty of spunk. Great show, and definatly worth the delay. With that I managed to finish everything that I had wanted to do in the park, so I decided to look around some of the shops and call it a day. While on Hollywood Boulevard, I got my second photo for my photo scavenger hunt:
#2: Hat: Mickeys of Hollywood, Disney-MGM Studios
I have never seen his hat at Disney World before, and I was so tempted to buy it. Then, after a while, I started to realize that Im really never going to wear it when I get home and probably wouldnt even wear it in the parks. Im just not a hat sort of person. I compromised, just got a picture of it, and moved on before I end up spending all my money on character hats Ill never wear. Next was a quick look through the Sunset shops and a stop for a pin purchase at Hollywood Junction. Its of Belle (of course) dressed her blue village dress standing on the ladder in the bookshop. Finally a pin of Belle in her village dress with her books! Nothing against all the pins of Belle in her princess gowns, but its great to see a pin that portrays her as the intelligent bookworm she is instead of just a princess in a fancy dress. Enough shops; Im ready to head back to Pop Century and get all my stuff into my room. On the way out, I took a little walk past Hollywood and Vine to get the last photo I needed for the days scavenger hunt:
#3: Movie Tie-In: Hollywood and Vine, Disney-MGM Studios
Ever notice Who Framed Roger Rabbits Eddie Valiant has his office right over the Hollywood and Vine restaurant? If you never have, check it next time youre in the area. You never know what youll find on some of the second story windows around the parks. With MGM behind me, it was back on the bus and back to the resort.
Back at Pop Century, it was time to bring my luggage into my room. I was in the Play Dough building in the 60s with an upgrade to a pool view. Nice spot, and really close to the main pool and the food court. Hows that for convenient? The rooms were smaller than what you would expect from a moderate resort, but I didnt really miss the extra space. This works for me. After a little relaxation time in the air conditioning and watching the Top 7 on TV (Stacy just isnt as good as Kryssa was), I set off to take a walk around the resort.
Pop Century may not be as much of an immersive experience that takes you to another place as some of the moderate or deluxe resorts, but it is still a lot of fun. Everywhere you turn theres either another giant icon of Disney characters, toys, or other vintage items or phrases like Groovy or Totally Awesome in giant letters across the building. From the 60s, I took a walk through the 70s, 80s, and 90s area, soaking up the vybe of each decade along the way and taking some photos of the different icons. I had planned on swinging back and checking out the 50s section afterwards, but before I could, it started to storm and I headed back to my room before it got worse.
After a while, the weather let up enough that I could get down to the Everything Pop food court for a late dinner. Because of the rain, the place was packed. It looked like a combination of people who were at the pool when it closed and ran to the food court for shelter and families who decided not to battle the rain and skip the parks for the evening. Instead of battling the crowds for a table, it seemed easier just to get something to go. When I got up to the register I asked if there was a box of cover I could get to take it back to my room. Apparently there isnt, but I can have a bag from the gift shop to slide over the tray and take it back to my room that way. A little awkward, but I made it. I had the Cheesesteak Wrap which was fresh off the grill and very delicious- possibly the best counter service meal of the trip. I had an early morning at Magic Kingdom the next day, so it was time to get some sleep and rest up for the next day.
) Off to read the next part,
