meeko_33785
<font color=teal>Surrounded by characters<br><font
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2000
- Messages
- 5,491
The planning was done, the waiting was over, and the trip had officially begun. It was just a little after 9am when I arrived at Pop Century for the very first time. I had never before stayed at a Value Resort at WDW so I didnt know what I was expecting. It was certainly colorful enough and interesting. Still, there wasnt any time to stand around and gawk. The parks were already open, and I wanted to get to Disney-MGM Studios as soon as possible to get a FastPass for the 11am performance of Lights, Motors, Action. A quick visit to the check in desk, grab a map and entertainment schedule at the desk, and it was off to the bus stop. A word of warning to everyone who is use to the Moderate and Deluxe bus stops and is use to a covered pavilion with a few benches: the bus stop here is much larger that any of these. The size seemed, to me, as comparable to what you would find at the parks or the TTC. Theres a roped queue that you stand in (no waiting while sitting in benches) and minimal to no shade or covering. This is also the only bus stop for the almost 3,000 rooms in the resort, so everyone who goes to the parks comes here first making it more crowded than what you might be use to with a deluxe or moderate resort. It was ok, but I cant imagine what you would do if it rained! OK, enough with the bus stop commentary. The bus came and it was off to Disney-MGM Studios.
It was a pretty quick bus ride to the park and, after exchanging my 3 Day Play voucher for a real ticket, it was right into the park and straight back to Lights, Motors, Action to pick up a Fast Pass. The return time was at 10:35. That was about half an hour away so there really wasnt enough time to do any other attractions, so just took it easy and looked around the San Francisco Street and Muppet Courtyard. As I did, some music that heralded the arrival of the Power Rangers started to play. As I was walking over to San Francisco, a door opened from behind the scrim and out ran the Power Rangers right in front of me. Hmm they were shorter than I had thought they were. Off they ran to greet their fans at Tri City Plaza and do some ninja poses. Its funny. I remember back in the 90s when the Ninja Turtles were doing the exact same thing there. How times change. From Frisco it was off to the Muppet Shop to look around. If you read part one of report, youll know all about my Photo Scavenger Hunt I had planned for this trip to help take some different sort of photos on my trip. Well, earlier that morning, I drew the three things I would be looking for in the park today:
#1: Pressed Coin Machine. Easy to find. Theyre in practically all of the gift shops around here I think.
#2: Hat. I could go for the obvious big blue one here at the Studios, but well see if I can think up something more unique.
#3: Movie Tie-In. Shouldnt be any problem here. This is the Studios after all.
As I was looking around the Muppet shop, I saw a Pressed Penny Machine that looked pretty interesting so I took its picture.
#1: Pressed Coin Machine: Stage 1 Company Store, Disney-MGM Studios
So its not Cinderella Castle. Its an ok picture. Doesnt even matter that it was out-of-order at the time. Hopefully the photos will get a little more interesting as the trip goes by. My FastPass time was coming up for the Stunt Show, so it was back to Tri City Plaza. When I got there, there was quite a crowd already. A long line already stretched from the theaters entrance all the way to the Singin In The Rain Umbrella and then doubled back up towards the entrance. This must be the Stand-By line, I thought. I headed past the line and up to the entrance where I discovered that that was the FastPass line.
Everyone was confused as they went back and forth, people were screaming to their families that they are in the wrong line, and there were no CMs in sight doing any crowd control. What a mess! People just couldnt wrap their head around that the FastPass line would be so much longer than the Stand-By one which was short and moved quickly. The line began moving and soon the line began moving pretty quickly and by the time the line made it to the theaters entrance CMs came and told people that all guests with FastPasses would be guaranteed seats while Stand-By was not. Maybe they should rename the FastPass system at this show. After all, people are use to FastPass meaning youll have little to no line. This is really more of a reserved seating system.
Once getting in the stadium, I got a seat in the center section near the top. Amazing view of both the stadium and the park from up there. You could see to EPCOT from that high up. It wasnt too long until the show had started. Tons of action in this one. Plenty of explosions and car chases to keep you interested. Its not exactly my thing but Im glad I got to see it. After the show, I headed over to see how the wait times on MuppetVision and Star Tours. Neither was too bad, but I got a FastPass for Star Tours and headed over to the Muppets. The line moved quickly and by the time I got to the front, they were already letting people into the theater for the show. Walked right in and got a seat in one of the front rows not far from the Penguins. Fun show, though I can never decide if this one or Philharmagic is my favorite of the 3D shows here. I guess Ill just call it a draw. When the show was over, I headed back to Star Tours and got on it with no wait at all. Got to love Fastpass.
That just about does it for Part Two. Part Three is going to be the rest of the day and will have more photos, I promise.
It was a pretty quick bus ride to the park and, after exchanging my 3 Day Play voucher for a real ticket, it was right into the park and straight back to Lights, Motors, Action to pick up a Fast Pass. The return time was at 10:35. That was about half an hour away so there really wasnt enough time to do any other attractions, so just took it easy and looked around the San Francisco Street and Muppet Courtyard. As I did, some music that heralded the arrival of the Power Rangers started to play. As I was walking over to San Francisco, a door opened from behind the scrim and out ran the Power Rangers right in front of me. Hmm they were shorter than I had thought they were. Off they ran to greet their fans at Tri City Plaza and do some ninja poses. Its funny. I remember back in the 90s when the Ninja Turtles were doing the exact same thing there. How times change. From Frisco it was off to the Muppet Shop to look around. If you read part one of report, youll know all about my Photo Scavenger Hunt I had planned for this trip to help take some different sort of photos on my trip. Well, earlier that morning, I drew the three things I would be looking for in the park today:
#1: Pressed Coin Machine. Easy to find. Theyre in practically all of the gift shops around here I think.
#2: Hat. I could go for the obvious big blue one here at the Studios, but well see if I can think up something more unique.
#3: Movie Tie-In. Shouldnt be any problem here. This is the Studios after all.
As I was looking around the Muppet shop, I saw a Pressed Penny Machine that looked pretty interesting so I took its picture.
#1: Pressed Coin Machine: Stage 1 Company Store, Disney-MGM Studios
So its not Cinderella Castle. Its an ok picture. Doesnt even matter that it was out-of-order at the time. Hopefully the photos will get a little more interesting as the trip goes by. My FastPass time was coming up for the Stunt Show, so it was back to Tri City Plaza. When I got there, there was quite a crowd already. A long line already stretched from the theaters entrance all the way to the Singin In The Rain Umbrella and then doubled back up towards the entrance. This must be the Stand-By line, I thought. I headed past the line and up to the entrance where I discovered that that was the FastPass line.
Everyone was confused as they went back and forth, people were screaming to their families that they are in the wrong line, and there were no CMs in sight doing any crowd control. What a mess! People just couldnt wrap their head around that the FastPass line would be so much longer than the Stand-By one which was short and moved quickly. The line began moving and soon the line began moving pretty quickly and by the time the line made it to the theaters entrance CMs came and told people that all guests with FastPasses would be guaranteed seats while Stand-By was not. Maybe they should rename the FastPass system at this show. After all, people are use to FastPass meaning youll have little to no line. This is really more of a reserved seating system.
Once getting in the stadium, I got a seat in the center section near the top. Amazing view of both the stadium and the park from up there. You could see to EPCOT from that high up. It wasnt too long until the show had started. Tons of action in this one. Plenty of explosions and car chases to keep you interested. Its not exactly my thing but Im glad I got to see it. After the show, I headed over to see how the wait times on MuppetVision and Star Tours. Neither was too bad, but I got a FastPass for Star Tours and headed over to the Muppets. The line moved quickly and by the time I got to the front, they were already letting people into the theater for the show. Walked right in and got a seat in one of the front rows not far from the Penguins. Fun show, though I can never decide if this one or Philharmagic is my favorite of the 3D shows here. I guess Ill just call it a draw. When the show was over, I headed back to Star Tours and got on it with no wait at all. Got to love Fastpass.
That just about does it for Part Two. Part Three is going to be the rest of the day and will have more photos, I promise.
