MGM..enough to do??

[HamHam]

Just wondering if anyone else has ever felt the way we did after visiting last month. We spent 5 days at WDW last month during the week of my hubby's 40th birthday and had a great time as usual. We spent our last full day in the parks at MGM and man...it was hard keeping busy. Several attractions were either gone (Hunchback) or under renovation so the crowds of people were all trying to cram into the same places such a Beauty and the Beast which has been there for a very long time. The parade was cancelled that day due to rain so that was out; the lines for ToT and RnRc were HUGE and the FP return times were hours later. I don't know it just seemed like there wasn't enough offered for people to see or do for the price is cost to get in there.

 

[CamColt]

We kept busy there, for just about a full day last month. We were there from 10:00am-6:00pm and still missed stuff we had hoped to get done. We didnt watch the parade, we missed RNR, Great Movie Ride, and the Little Mermaid. We went back another night for the parade, dinner, and Fantasmic.
My problem with MGM is with there being so many shows, some only at specific times, its tough to schedule them all around each other, and fit the continously running attractions in between them. But, we did enjoy our visit there.

 

[barbeml]

It's a half-day park for us, this year especially since Animation Tour will be closed.

I would like to do Great Movie Ride, Mermaid and Muppets again this trip, and finally see Fantasmic. Problem is, we have always run out of things to do long before Fantasmic and headed back to resort.

 

[mickeysaver]

We always find it hard to make it all the way through all our must do's without running out of time. We like to take our time though. We enjoy shopping and collecting pressed pennies and pins too now. Take in the little side street performances, it's well worth the time. Mickey

 

[cd&kids]

Tower of Terror at least twice....Backstage Tour...Indiana Jones...Great Movie Ride....that's about the only "musts" for us. We usually time it with a Sci-Fi lunch or a Mama Melrose dinner and turn it into a half-day event...maaaaaaaybe two-thirds of a day if we're in slow motion!

 

[Pooh67_68]

This is our favorite park and we always manage a full day there.

 

[WDWAurora]

Wow, we spent 2 full days, back to back there in August...A day and a half in March and a full day in May....But I love MGM!! I find tons to do there...And I love ToT! I could ride it all day, over and over, and still be completely satisfied.

 

[jann1033]

we spend a day there and leave at closing but we usually don't go back for any length of time the second day( we always go one whole day to all the parks,except we add a couple nights to epcot also, then split the last couple days between what we want to do again) and the list is usually short for MGM (probably tot,rnr, star tours, maybe gmr, not usually any of the shows) sometimes we have skipped going back the second day.

my least favorite park by far, most things I don't want to do over and over the same trip

 

[QuickGold]

Depending on how many attractions appeal to you(not everyone loves RnR or ToT), the park can last you anywhere from done at lunch time to barely done by closing. If you experience everything once, then it should easily last you into the evening.

 

[SnoWhiteRabbit]

We have little ones (4, 2, and 10 months on our last trip) and here's what we enjoy at MGM:

Voyage of the Little Mermaid (one of my Disney favorites!)
Playhouse Disney
Muppet Movie
Great Movie Ride
Beauty & the Beast show
Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground
50's Prime Time Cafe
character interaction
the parade
Fantasmic

I would like to try the Sci Fi Drive In, too, at least for milkshakes.

This fills about a day for us -- we usually do it in two half days (And that's without Tower of Terror and the Rock n' Roll rollercoaster...)

 

[sm4987]

It's a half day park for my family. I love MGM, but we cannot find enough to do there. It is such a shame too. Disney has so many movies out, that you would think that there would be a greater variety of things to do at the park.

 

[legs22]

MGM drove me nuts with trying to shedule and make all the different show times. My shedule was thrown off after the first show and then it was a lot of walking back and forth across the park. It was exhausting. MK is still my fave.

 

[jgates]

I can spend at least 2 1/2 days at MGM. It is my favorite park. This last year we didn't even make it to Indy or Star Tours!

We did:

Great Movie Ride
Backlot tour (1 or 2 times)
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (about 5 times)
Magic of Disney Animation (excellent)
One Man's Dream (2 times- skipped the movie 2nd time)
Beauty & Beat Live
R n R (?6 times?)
T o T (4 or 5 times?)
Fantasmic
Hollywood & Vine for supper
Prime Time Cafe for lunch
Pizza Planet Arcade
Stories Behind the Magic (under hat)

So we missed a ton of other stuff too!

 

[CourtasanSatine]

full day for me

I did:

Tower of Terror(several times
Rock N Roller Coaster(several times)
Star Tours(several times)
Backlot Tour
most of the shows
skipped parade to hit thrill rides
dinner at Sci Fi
Lunch at Mama Melrose's
snack at 50's Prime Time(tip: get the cheese fries)
snacked my way through the carts
Great Movie Ride
Sounds Dangerous


But then I'm a film buff

 

[cinmell]

We have no problem keeping busy at the Studios and we visit this park a couple of times per vacation. We do Rock N Rollercoaster and Tower of Terror several times, Star Tours, Muppets, Playhouse Disney, Little Mermaid, Fantasmic, parade, great movie ride and the shows if we can fit them in. This is my second favorite park with Mk being my favorite, Epcot 3rd and then Animal Kingdom (which we skipped in May).

 

[kalamazoo]

It would be nice if they offered some itinerary suggestions as to when and in what order to see all the shows. Sea World does this and I have found it very helpful. That's not to say you would have to follow it exactly but it just gives you a clearer picture of what's going on all day (kind of like the charts they have for shows in the TV guide).

 

[MrsMud]

Kalamazoo:
Funny you should ask, I just found this last night and printed it out:
http://www.mgmstudios.org/dayguide1.html

Or, if you have young kids try this one:
http://www.mgmstudios.org/dayguide2.html

 

[kalamazoo]

Thanks for the links MrsMudd. I'll have to add them to my list of WDW resources. They are, however, not exactly what I had in mind as they do not list the times at which the shows are playing. What I was thinking was a chart that showed what times the shows were playing so that no matter what time you arrive at the park you could see exactly what was playing when, what shows were playing at the same time or too close together to see one right after the other, kind of like the chart they have in the tv guide.

 

[ead79]

For me personally, Disney-MGM Studios is a half day park. I don't do thrill rides (motion sickness and I'm a wimp, lol!), so RnR and ToT are out. I do really enjoy the Muppet 3D movie, Fantasmic, and Who Wants to Be a Millionnaire - Play It, the Great Movie Ride, and the Osborne Lights at Christmas. I usually spend my morning at AK, then move over to MGM for the evening.

 

[docsnort]

Our family doesn't spend as much time at MGM since the Hunchback show closed. This show was our families favorite and once it closed it seems now we just hit a few of the major rides right away in the morning and then we leave. A couple of hours at most and we're gone. The current live shows are geared to younger children and our teens are just not interested in seeing them anymore. We still hold out hope that Hunchback may return someday!