Mize Family Trip Report Tuesday April 23rd, 2002 #5 of 9
Cast: Bonnie and David, both 44, and granddaughter Erika, 9
Tickets: Disney CRO and WDW Travel Co.
Stage: All-Star Music (ASM), for the third time
Entrance: America West Airlines, assisted by National Car Rental
ShowTime: 4/19 - 4/27. This is our sixth trip since 1986.
Out-takes:http://www.imagestation.com/member/index.html?name=dmize&c=201
==============================================
Up at 5:00am for the restroom- up for the rest of the day. Showered &
dressed quietly, then snuck out to the food court for breakfast at
6:00am. Cooler this morning, and I had a very pleasant meal at a table by
the pool. Finally went back to the room at 7:30am and woke the family.
While they got ready, I called Epcot's Mexico and made 11:30 lunch PS. We
got to Epcot by 10:00am, and went to the Living Seas, one of Erika's
favorites. We spent quite a while here, photographing many interesting
fish and other creatures. No diver activity today. Then we headed for The
Land, and walked right into the Lion King conservation show, which we all
enjoyed. Next we crossed over to Metropolitan Life's Body pavilion, where
I went onto Body Wars alone- still a great ride! Bonnie and Erika did
other exhibits while I rode. This has never been one of our favorite
pavilions, but I respect the amount of work that went into it.
Finally I hopped onto Test Track- a first for me. This ride was broken
down every time I went near it three years ago, except once, when it was
2 1/2 hours wait. This time, I walked into the single-rider line, walked
all the way to the front of that line, and directly into the pre-show.
This ride was great and I enjoyed it a lot, although I decided my family
wouldn't. Some of the tests are pretty rough, and the final lap is
breath-taking. After this, we went to the San Angel Inn at Mexico for our
lunch. Wife and I each had a combination platter, which we shared with
Erika- decent food, but not great. Sure like the atmosphere, though, and
the boat ride afterwards was enjoyable. Then we left for swim time at the
resort.
Off to MGM by 4:30pm and the Backstage Tour. Erika didn't remember this,
so was surprised by Catastrophe Canyon- but she really enjoyed it. Then
off to our 6:10pm PS at Hollywood & Vine- our first since they changed
formats. Very good food! The old cafeteria never thrilled us, but the
quality has really gone up. A curious thing happened here- we were given
Fantasmic dinner passes, without asking or having reserved them. They
didn't ask, and neither did we. We were instructed to be at the gas
station at the entrance by 8:00pm for seating. The passes had the seating
mapped out on them, in the next to the last section on the right. They
didn't look too good, so we decided to enter the theatre normally & see
for ourselves. We got there a little after 7:00pm, and people were being
seated down front, just left of center- we quickly joined in, and got 7
rows back- perfect! We noticed that the Fantasmic section was indeed
pretty far over, and preferred our own seats. Everything was darn near
full by 8:00pm- is this show never crowded? On our last visit we got
seated over two hours early just right of center, and it filled up fast.
As expected, Fantasmic was stunning. The way they use lasers, fire and
projections on water is incredible, and the crowd loved it. My only
problem was that it was a little breezy that night; it felt good, but it
also blew water all over us. I had to stop filming and put away both
cameras, as they were getting too wet. I gave them a good rubdown
outside the stadium. When the show ended, we stayed seated for just a few
minutes, which helps a lot with the crowd. Then we walked on out and
began shopping our way to the park entrance. We returned to the resort by
10:00pm- temp around 70, low humidity, a gorgeous night. A little too
cool for me to swim, but Erika went right in. Wife & I relaxed poolside
watching Erika, and we got to bed by 11:00pm.
Cast: Bonnie and David, both 44, and granddaughter Erika, 9
Tickets: Disney CRO and WDW Travel Co.
Stage: All-Star Music (ASM), for the third time
Entrance: America West Airlines, assisted by National Car Rental
ShowTime: 4/19 - 4/27. This is our sixth trip since 1986.
Out-takes:http://www.imagestation.com/member/index.html?name=dmize&c=201
==============================================
Up at 5:00am for the restroom- up for the rest of the day. Showered &
dressed quietly, then snuck out to the food court for breakfast at
6:00am. Cooler this morning, and I had a very pleasant meal at a table by
the pool. Finally went back to the room at 7:30am and woke the family.
While they got ready, I called Epcot's Mexico and made 11:30 lunch PS. We
got to Epcot by 10:00am, and went to the Living Seas, one of Erika's
favorites. We spent quite a while here, photographing many interesting
fish and other creatures. No diver activity today. Then we headed for The
Land, and walked right into the Lion King conservation show, which we all
enjoyed. Next we crossed over to Metropolitan Life's Body pavilion, where
I went onto Body Wars alone- still a great ride! Bonnie and Erika did
other exhibits while I rode. This has never been one of our favorite
pavilions, but I respect the amount of work that went into it.
Finally I hopped onto Test Track- a first for me. This ride was broken
down every time I went near it three years ago, except once, when it was
2 1/2 hours wait. This time, I walked into the single-rider line, walked
all the way to the front of that line, and directly into the pre-show.
This ride was great and I enjoyed it a lot, although I decided my family
wouldn't. Some of the tests are pretty rough, and the final lap is
breath-taking. After this, we went to the San Angel Inn at Mexico for our
lunch. Wife and I each had a combination platter, which we shared with
Erika- decent food, but not great. Sure like the atmosphere, though, and
the boat ride afterwards was enjoyable. Then we left for swim time at the
resort.
Off to MGM by 4:30pm and the Backstage Tour. Erika didn't remember this,
so was surprised by Catastrophe Canyon- but she really enjoyed it. Then
off to our 6:10pm PS at Hollywood & Vine- our first since they changed
formats. Very good food! The old cafeteria never thrilled us, but the
quality has really gone up. A curious thing happened here- we were given
Fantasmic dinner passes, without asking or having reserved them. They
didn't ask, and neither did we. We were instructed to be at the gas
station at the entrance by 8:00pm for seating. The passes had the seating
mapped out on them, in the next to the last section on the right. They
didn't look too good, so we decided to enter the theatre normally & see
for ourselves. We got there a little after 7:00pm, and people were being
seated down front, just left of center- we quickly joined in, and got 7
rows back- perfect! We noticed that the Fantasmic section was indeed
pretty far over, and preferred our own seats. Everything was darn near
full by 8:00pm- is this show never crowded? On our last visit we got
seated over two hours early just right of center, and it filled up fast.
As expected, Fantasmic was stunning. The way they use lasers, fire and
projections on water is incredible, and the crowd loved it. My only
problem was that it was a little breezy that night; it felt good, but it
also blew water all over us. I had to stop filming and put away both
cameras, as they were getting too wet. I gave them a good rubdown
outside the stadium. When the show ended, we stayed seated for just a few
minutes, which helps a lot with the crowd. Then we walked on out and
began shopping our way to the park entrance. We returned to the resort by
10:00pm- temp around 70, low humidity, a gorgeous night. A little too
cool for me to swim, but Erika went right in. Wife & I relaxed poolside
watching Erika, and we got to bed by 11:00pm.
