Our Final Trip to "Disney-MGM" Studios- With Pictures! December 2007 Trip Report

[meeko_33785]

Our Final Trip to...

Welcome to the trip report! Back from another fun time at Disney, and ready to start yet another trip report. Let’s begin by introducing the cast:



* Meeko: Me- college student and the author of this report. As you can guess, I enjoy theme parks, especially the ones at WDW. I like the rides and shows, but I enjoy getting pictures of the characters just as much. My family is pretty patient with all my quests for character photos and autographs in the park when we go to WDW all together. On top of theme parks, I also enjoy musicals and singing.


* Buzz: My brother and one of my best friends. He’s an artist and works primarily in photography. Buzz likes also cartoons, especially Disney and PIXAR ones (I think he has practically every cartoon with Mickey and/ or Goofy in it on DVD). Buzz is at least as big of a Disney fan as I am and enjoys both the big attractions as well as the little things that the parks have to offer.


* Mom: Mom’s smart and always passionate. She has a number of hobbies including cooking, sewing, and scrapbooking, and she loves to learn about history and cultures. She likes the rides and attractions well enough, but I’d say that the things she really enjoys about the parks are the entertainment- especially at World Showcase- and the dining.


* Dad: Dad’s kind of goofy sometimes, but he’s really cool in his own ways. Dad's into history too along with gardening and anything relating to The Nightmare Before Christmas. I think he enjoys relaxing the most about our trips nowadays. Dad can find an open bench faster than anyone else I know and can often be found sitting on them and taking everything in.




To kick off the Holidays, the whole family took a quick trip to Walt Disney World to see some of the festivities and spend time together. For more info on the planning of the trip (or pics from past trips and a report of Buzz and my trip to Busch Gardens earlier in the month), feel free to check out the Pre-Trip Report. Otherwise, here’s a rough look at the planning.

• Spend a day at Disney-MGM Studios (our final trip there before its name changes to “Disney’s Hollywood Studios”, hence the title)
  
  
• Lunch at Mama Melrose Restaurant Italiano (ADRs made for noon)
  
  
• See all the park’s Christmas festivities (Osborne Lights, Harlem Gospel Choir, Hollywood Holly-Days Parade)
  
  
• Find some new characters I haven’t gotten pictures of yet (Remy & Emile from Ratatouille and Mike Wazowski from Monsters Inc. were at the top of my list)
  
  
• Overnight stay at Pop Century (reservations made for two rooms- one for the parents, one for the brothers)

Everything was going extremely smoothly until two weeks before the trip. Buzz got had a little accident while cutting mats for a photo display and sliced off part of his thumb! Because of the incident, he was told by the doctors that he needed to keep his thumb bandaged and elevated to help the blood flow at least through Christmas- including our time at Disney. This means the jerky thrill rides like Tower of Terror that could aggravate the thumb are out, and he will be wearing a sling to keep the thumb elevated.


I think that’s about it as far as the intro. Stay tuned for the beginning of our last trip to “Disney-MGM” Studios.

 

[meeko_33785]

After a morning drive, we all arrive at Pop Century resort a bit after 9am. To give a little bit of background, for most of the week leading up to this, the weather in Florida has been almost like summer- continually 70 or 80 degrees or more. Today as we walk to the Pop Century lobby, the temperature is in the 40s! Seems like we seemed to have chosen Florida's coldest day of the month to go to Disney. Time to pile on the jackets and enjoy the day come what may. First stop- off to the lobby to check in. On the way in, I stop to check out the fairly good-sized Christmas tree that stands in the center of the lobby.

Pretty soon, Dad and I get in line to get checked-in to our rooms. Apparently, we arrived just after the Magical Express bus dropped off a bunch of guests from the airport which coupled with a shortage of CMs working the desk, causing a long line at check-in. Within a few minutes a few more windows with CMs are opened and the line begins to move quicker. While we’re waiting, I take the time to take some pics of some of the displays in the lobby that I could see from the line.

We get to the front of the line. Unsurprisingly considering the amount of people in line before us, our rooms weren’t quite ready yet, but we were told that we would be in the 70s building with the giant Mickey phone. With the check-in process complete, we head off to the Bus Stop to wait for the bus to MGM.


If you’ve never seen Pop Century’s bus stops, they’re huge. The area more closely resembles a bus station at the theme parks than any other resort bus station I’ve ever seen. We join the queue and wait for the bus. By 10am, we’re on the road, heading to Disney-MGM Studios as we listen to the overture from Mary Poppins and the automated bus spiel.


Next up: Arriving at MGM and more photos!

 

[meeko_33785]

After a short bus ride, we’ve arrived at Disney-MGM Studios. First stop- checking out the tree at the entrance.

I still miss the tree being at the end of Hollywood Boulevard like it was before they put the Sorcerer’s Hat there.

We grab the tickets and head for the entrance. As we wait, the Christmas song “Sleigh Ride” was playing over the intercom. Buzz and I have a running joke that during the holidays, no matter what park you’re at, “Sleigh Ride” is played everywhere on nearly every holiday loop. Not sure if it gets played more than any other Christmas song, but if feels like it. Good thing I like the song. We joke about it (filling Mom and Dad in on the joke) and head into the park.

As we’re entering the park, some of the Citizens of Hollywood are out doing their shtick. Rosie the Cleaning Lady had paused her routine to sign an autograph for a young fan while another Citizen (in character) rags on her for not doing her job. The Citizens of Hollywood seemed out in full-force today- they were all over the place.

On the way down the tinsel-lined Hollywood Boulevard, Buzz suggests that we check the Tip Board to see how the lines are. While he does that, I head down to the Sorcerer’s Hat to see if there are any characters out. Turns out Mickey, Pluto, Minnie and Goofy in their fine Christmas attire are all getting ready to leave and the crowds are getting lined up for the High School Musical Pep Rally, blocking off most of the Hat Courtyard. According to the Tip Board, Star Tours was down to a 20 minute wait so, after a brief stop to check out the pins shop in the area, we head in that direction. Unlike Tower or Terror and Rockin’ Roller Coaster, this ride isn’t rough enough to where it could cause problems with Buzz’s injury, so it’s going to be our thrill of the day. Plus, Buzz has just finished re-watching the original Star Wars trilogy for the first time in years, so he’s looking forward to seeing the ride after rediscovering the films.


On the way, we stop to check out some crates over near Min and Bill’s Dockside Diner (the snack stand that looks like a boat ). One of the things I like about the Studios is there are so many hidden movie and Hollywood references and trivia throughout the park, and even these crates are no exception. Each of them are addressed to characters from classic films like “It’s A Wonderful Life”, “Gone With The Wind”, and this one:

The crate to George Bailey might have been a bit more Christmassy, but this one was my favorite out of all of them. Plus, the sled works with the holidays too, right?

Off to Star Tours. Had to get a quick picture of the Ewok village on the way in.

The line moved pretty quickly, defiantly not the promised 20 minutes. Just fast enough to be able to see lots of the details in the queue. The ride was fun as usual. As we exit the ride, Mom and Dad notice the Jedi Training Academy going on, so we go check it out. I don’t think they knew that this has been added since none of us had been to the park since it premiered.

The show was similar to the Pirate Tutorial in Adventureland with the kids being trained to be jedi (Jedis? Not sure what the plural of “jedi” is ) instead of pirates. I think I would still prefer the Pirate Tutorial because I thought Captain Jack and his sidekick were a lot more fun than the Jedi masters and Darth Vader from this show. The Stormtroopers were surprisingly funny though, and all the kids seemed to enjoy battling Darth Vader. Seemed like a nice addition ofr kids who liked Star Wars and was kind of a fun diversion for everyone else.


Next: A bunch of characters... but until then, have merry and wonderful Christmas everyone!

 

[Sleeping*Beauty]

Can't wait to see all your great pics!!

 

[tinkerbell87512]

loving your report, can't wait for more!

 

[meeko_33785]

Sleeping*Beauty and tinkerbell87512- Glad you are enjoying it so far, and thanks for the replies. More pics and report is on the way, but not until after Christmas. I'm taking a break to enjoy the holiday, but will get back to work right after it.

 

[meeko_33785]

According to the park Times Guide, it was about time for the Monsters Inc. characters to start their first set on Commissary Lane, so I suggested heading over there to see them. Over the years, I’ve always seemed to have the worst luck finding Mike Wazowski out for meet-and-greets, so I was really hoping that we would be out this time so I could finally get his pic.

Once we get to the Monsters’ area, Roz points out where to begin queuing up, and I notice that both Sully and Mike Wazowski are out today! Even Buzz wants to get in line to meet them and he rarely wants to join me in getting character photos. The line is fairly short and moves quickly, so the two of us get a chance to meet the two in no time.

Next, we head over to the Streets of America area. Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable were appearing in front of one of the facades with practically no line, so I head over there to get some pics while the rest of the family goes off to take pictures of all the sights in the MuppetVision/ Pizza Planet area of the park.

Kim and Ron were both a lot of fun to meet and to interact with the guests in front of me in line- defiantly two of the most underrated characters in the park. They probably had the shortest line I saw in the park all day. By the time I had finished getting their pics, Buzz was still taken pictures of all the details in the Muppet area, so I headed over to Al’s Toy Barn to meet another Buzz.

Once everyone was ready, we regrouped to figure out what to do. We considered doing MuppetVision, but there didn’t seem like enough time before our ADR at Mama Melrose to see it. We decided on heading over to the AFI Showcase exhibit and looking around there for a while before lunch.

While walking over there, we decide to check out the construction on Mickey Avenue. Mom and Dad weren’t really familiar with what was going on , so we tried to explain what we knew about the upcoming Toy Story Mania ride that’s replacing Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. It’s beginning to look a lot different than it did before.


The AFI Showcase was still dedicated to props and costumes from movie Villains as it has been for the last few years. Seemed like they changed out a few things since I saw it last though.

Cruella De Vil from the live-action 101 Dalmatians.

Captain Barbosa from Pirates of the Caribbean.

The Witch from Chronicles of Narnia.


After going through the exhibit, I noticed that the Power Rangers were outside doing greets, so I headed over to see what was going on while the others finished looking at the AFI Showcase and shop (which had a bunch of Nightmare Before Christmas stuff to keep Dad’s attention). In past trips, I’ve never bothered with the Power Rangers since I haven’t really watched anything with Power Rangers since I was 10 years old and know nothing about any of these new Rangers and because their lines are always ridiculously long. Surprisingly though, the lines weren’t very long at all, so I figured that since the lines and I had the time, I'd meet a couple of them.

The Green Ranger was the first Ranger I happened across and had one of the shortest lines of the ones out, so I got in line to get his pic and autograph.

The Yelllow Ranger was nearby and also had one or the shortest lines of the bunch, so I went to get her pic and autograph as well. At this point, the rest of the family was done with AFI, so we headed towards Mama Melrose for lunch.

 

[heaven2dc]

Just found your report - love the pics! Also love your character photos - I am so hyped to go next month after 10 years of waiting!!

 

[crgfsu1]

Great start to a great report!! I'm in! I'll be waiting for the next update. I wonder if Kim & Ron have short lines because to the non-Kim Possible viewing public, like me, they look like regular people and I might not have noticed that they were characters....just a thought.

Anyway, great photos!!

Cathy

 

[meeko_33785]

Just found your report - love the pics! Also love your character photos - I am so hyped to go next month after 10 years of waiting!!

Hi. Glad you're enjoying the report and the character pics.

Great start to a great report!! I'm in! I'll be waiting for the next update. I wonder if Kim & Ron have short lines because to the non-Kim Possible viewing public, like me, they look like regular people and I might not have noticed that they were characters....just a thought.

Anyway, great photos!!

Cathy

Thanks Cathy, glad you're onboard. And yes, I figure that's probably part of why Kim and Rom don't seem as popular in the parks. Last year, they had a big set-up for them on Mickey Avenue with a bunch of Kim Possible signs and posters to make it a bit more clear that they were characters, but now they're just in front of one of the facades on the New York Street with only one small Kim Possible sign so they're not as obvious anymore. They definatly don't stand out as much as Mickey or any of the others.

 

[meeko_33785]

When we get to Mama Melrose, they had just begun to let guests start checking in for noon ADRs. We head in and wait in the lobby for a few minutes, checking out the decorations and photos of stars on the walls (half of whom I think I’d forgotten before coming to the restaurant ).

In no time, we were escorted to our table in the practically-empty restaurant which filled up as we were eating.

Our table even had its own very own Mona Lisa. Not exactly a da Vinci, but cool.

None of us really got this visual gag of the pizza in the net , but it was interesting. The closest we could come was maybe it's a take off of seafood restaurants' Catch of the Day?


The four of us all ended up flatbread pizzas and some artisan breads and spreads. Everything was great and fresh. Defiantly one of our favorite restaurants at the Studios and a wonderful experience. The only strange thing was that even though it was pretty cold outside, they kept the air conditioning practically at full blast, Our table was warm enough since we weren’t too far from the brick ovens where they make the flatbreads, but I can’t imagine the tables away from the ovens were as comfortable.


After the meal, we decided to head over to MuppetVision. On the way, we looked around the nearby Muppet shop briefly.

I think I’ve said it before, but I think the area around the Muppets has some of the most visual gags and references than any other area in the park. Take for example these lockers near the entrance to the shop. They’re based off a scene from the Muppets Take Manhattan. Inside the shop, there are other sets made to look like scenes from other Muppet movies as well.

We just missed getting into the Preshow for the next MuppetVision showing, so we wait for a few minutes at the front of the line near the Security booth , complete with “Back in 5 minutes, key is under mat” sign. I’d been hearing for years that if you lift up the mat here, there is actually a key under it, but never tried it. Now, since I’m standing right in front of it with nothing else to do but wait in line, I decide to finally check it out.

And here’s the key! Not long afterwards, everyone is lead into the pre-show area. I don’t think I’d ever seen the full pre-show before, so it was kind of neat. There’s no benches around so Dad sits down on the ground to watch the show.

I’d never seen the mummy with the 3D glasses on in the preshow area before. Thought it was pretty funny. The show was good, as usual. For years I haven’t been able to decide which 3D movie I liked better- this one or Philharmagic. Even though I still do like MuppetVision, I think I’d have to say Philharmagic has topped it now.

Having done enough in at area of the park, we strike off to the other half of the Studios via Commissary Lane.

 

[crgfsu1]

I wish I had your referral on Mama Melrose BEFORE my trip. I heard negitive things about it and we opted for Hollywood & Vine - which I didnt care for. Next time I will try Mama's!

Cathy

 

[LilyU]

Enjoying your report and pictures! Thanks!

Lily

 

[meeko_33785]

I wish I had your referral on Mama Melrose BEFORE my trip. I heard negitive things about it and we opted for Hollywood & Vine - which I didnt care for. Next time I will try Mama's!

Cathy

Yeah, we tried Hollywood & Vine last year and likedit, but I thought Mama's was better. Most of the bad reviews I've heard have been about the pasta, so I'm guessing the flatbread pizzas are the way to go.

Enjoying your report and pictures! Thanks!

Lily

Hi Lily. Glad you're enjoying everything.

 

[meeko_33785]

Next, we headed off towards the Magic of Disney Animation. Everyone usually enjoys spending some time here, plus this is where I’d heard the Ratatouille characters were doing meet-and-greets, so I defiantly wanted to check this out. On the way, Buzz stops by the Sorcerer’s Hat, so in the mean time, I went over to get a look of the Mickey Avenue construction from the other side of the street by the One Man’s Dreams and Narnia exhibits.

And I was happy to see that at least one “Mickey Avenue” sign is still left. Always thought that they were cool since they were based on an actual signs from the Disney Studios. Seems to fit well over by One Man’s Dream.

Once everyone was ready, we headed over to the Animation building.

Along the way, we spot this large sign for Enchanted on the side of the Voyage of the Little Mermaid building. I’d seen the movie right when it came out and thought that it was wonderful- great acting, great music, great characters, etc. I had heard that there would be an Enchanted pre-parade staring Giselle before the Hollywood Holly-Day Parade about an hour from this point, so once we were done at Animation, I knew we wanted to get a good spot for the parade so we didn’t miss seeing her since we wasn’t out for meet-and-greets (which is a shame; I bet she and Prince Edward would be really fun to interact with since they were such broad and comic characters in the film)


We bypassed the Mushu movie at the beginning and just entered through the shop. First thing, I headed to the Ratatouille meet-and-greet to see if any of the characters were out and found Remy. He had a pretty good-sized line so I quickly joined it. After a while in line, a CM came to the line and told everyone that Remy would be leaving soon and his brother Emile would be taking over and that Remy may or may not return for sets later in the day. Only a handful of guests got to see Remy before he left, and the rest of us got to see Emile. I was a little disappointed since I would have rather seen Remy, but Emile’s ok. I was hoping to find him too so it wasn't a total loss.

After getting an autograph and pic, the rest of the family and I check out some of the other exhibits around the area. I even manage to find a tiny Remy trapped in a jar in the Ratatouille display. Poor guy.

All of us had done the Animation Academy drawing lesson last time we were here and really enjoyed it, so we defiantly wanted to try it again. By now, it was thirty minutes before parade time, and I wasn’t sure if we’d be able to get through the lesson, get to the parade route and get a good spot in that time. Buzz assured me that it’s just a 5 or 10 minute show and we’d have enough time to get a good spot, so we give it a shot. This time around, we learned how to draw Pluto who we were told was one of the easier characters. It was fun, but throughout the lesson, I continued checking my watch. After 15 minutes had past, I was beginning to get a little nervous that we were going to miss the Holly-Day Parade. Not long after, we finished our Plutos and headed for the parade route. Here’s how mine came out:

The area on Hollywood Boulevard and near the Hat were pretty full, so we headed towards the Sounds Dangerous/ Indiana Jones area. There wasn’t really any front-row curbside seating, but we could find some spots where we could stand a couple rows in from the curb. Definitely better than nothing. A few minutes later, the Parade started, lead by the Enchanted Pre-Parade.

Banner carriers.

Royal court dancers.

The star of Enchanted in her horse-drawn carriage.

Giselle!

Next: More Hollywood Holly-Day Parade

 

[crgfsu1]

And I was happy to see that at least one “Mickey Avenue” sign is still left.

that sign is pretty cool - I've never noticed it.

Not long after, we finished our Plutos....

wow, your pluto came out perfect!

Giselle!

she's very pretty! I havent seen the movie yet, but have heard good things about it!

Great update!!
Cathy

 

[meeko_33785]

that sign is pretty cool - I've never noticed it

I thought it was pretty cool too. There use to be two or three before they started the construction on Toy Story Mania and the new PIXAR area.

wow, your pluto came out perfect!

Thanks. Don't know about perfect, but I definatly thought he turned out better than the Donald Duck I tried to draw last year that I thought looked more like Daffy Duck than Donald.

she's very pretty! I havent seen the movie yet, but have heard good things about it!

You should see it. It was so much fun and has something for everyone (and is loaded with a ton of Disney references and in-jokes). Definatly one of my favorite movies of the year.

 

[meeko_33785]

After Giselle and her pre-parade pass, it’s time to start the Hollywood Holly-Day Parade.

Santa Goofy marches by as the parade begins.

Grand Marshalls Mickey and Minnie in glamorous Hollywood style.

Buzz and Woody.

The Penguins looked great in their matching hats and scarves.

More Penguins!

Mary and Bert having a Jolly Holiday.

Miss Piggy seemed a bit pre-occupied with Holiday shopping.

Giving orders to her entourage behind the car carrying her shopping bags.

Mulan.

Mike and Sully. The earmuffs were a nice touch.

Aladdin and Jasmine.

Cruella seems happy.

The queens did not.

The one float that had the most guests asking “ Who is that? ” Nobody seems to remember Hercules anymore.

Mele Kalikimaka Lilo and Stitch.

Stitch tried to steal Lilo’s candy cane. Hope he didn’t end up on the naughty list.

Ariel and friends celebrate under the sea.

Snow White- just a few days shy of her film’s 70th anniversary.


With the parade over, we follow it down the street until breaking off at the Animation Courtyard.

 

[meeko_33785]

Happy New Year everyone. Here’s hoping for a great 2008. Now, let’s get back to the report:


After the parade we headed back to the Animation Courtyard to see Voyage of the Little Mermaid. It’s been a few years since any of us have seen it, and after rediscovering how much I liked the music from the film after all the hype about the Little Mermaid coming to Broadway, I decided to put it on our “must-see” list for the trip.

Didn’t notice this when we were over in the area earlier to see the Animation exhibit, but this time, Buzz pointed out that the “Disney-MGM Studios” logo on the arch was gone now! I was actually hoping to see it one last time before the park’s name change. Oh, well.

On to Little Mermaid. In the past, the lines here have been pretty ridiculous without using Fastpass, but today it was a walk-on! I couldn’t believe it. This alone was the clearest sign so far today of just how low the crowds were today. Maybe the cold weather was keeping people away, or maybe it was because most schools (including local schools) weren’t out for winter break yet. Whatever the reason, it was nice to have some small crowds and short lines. The show was great- maybe better than I remembered. I think it still holds up pretty well after all these years. Ariel’s transformation from mermaid to human is still one of the nicest effects in any Disney theme park show. Even dads in the audience audibly gasped during the transformation.


Before leaving for this trip, I had been reading that a bunch of characters do meet-and-greets at the Hat around 4:15 between High School Musical shows. While the rest of the family took off to check out the shops on Hollywood Boulevard and watch some of the Citizens of Hollywood shows, I stayed over by the Hat to see if I could get in a couple of character pics.
When I got there, the High School Musical 2 show was still going on. It was pretty cute- nice singing, nice dancing. I enjoyed it, and I didn’t really like the High School Musical 2 movie that much (sorry HSM2 fans; I did like the first one).

“You Are The Music In Me”

“I Don’t Dance”. The baseball and swing dancing was a lot of fun here, which was ironic since I thought it was one worst numbers from the film (again, sorry HSM2 fans).

The stage parades down Hollywood Boulevard. “What Time Is It?”


After the show, I waited around the Hat for a bit to see if any characters were coming out. While I waited, I tried to get a good picture of the Hat.

After waiting for a while, the CMs started getting people lined up for the next High School Musical, and it was pretty apparent that no characters would be coming out. Either it had been before the 3:45 High School Musical and I had missed it, or there wasn’t a meet that day. That left all of to figure out what to do next. We had been planning on going to The Harlem Gospel Choir’s Joyful Holiday show at 6pm, but there wasn’t a whole lot else we were interested in doing, so we talked about just going to the 5pm show instead. I was hoping to go back to the Animation building to see some of the things I had missed the first time and still wanted to see (including meeting Remy, who the Times Guide said would not be out past 6pm). Eventually, we decided to split up again. I’d head to Animation and we’d meet back up together to see the Harlem Gospel Choir afterwards. Hopefully, this would work.

 

[meeko_33785]

Back to Magic of Disney Animation! Remy was back doing meet-and-greets, but just to be safe, I checked with a CM how long he would be out. Turns out that even if I got in line right at that moment, Remy would more than likely be gone by and replaced by Emile by the time I got to the front of the line. However, Remy would be out for one final set around 5:30. Well, the plan of seeing Remy first and seeing the Harlem Gospel Choir didn’t work, so how about we switch it? Soon, we all head down to the Theater of the Stars and get seats for A Joyful Holiday with the Harlem Gospel Choir.

I know that this had gotten mixed reviews on the DIS, but I thought it was pretty good. I think that most people who didn’t like it went into it with expectations that it would be something that it’s not (namely the Candlelight Processional). All in all, it was a great concert with a lot of spirit. It was a great opportunity to enjoy some beautiful music and take some time out to remember and ponder the meaning of the holiday.

As soon as the show was over, I left the theater and quickly made it back to the Magic of Disney Animation and got right into Remy’s line.

One of the beautiful pieces of art on the walls of the queue. All the amazing views of Paris were one of my favorite parts of Ratatouille.

After three attempts to meet Remy, I finally got his pic and autograph. Third time was the charm!


After meeting Remy, I headed over to the booths with the “What Disney Character Are You?” quizzes that I meant to try earlier. Apparently, the character I’m not like is…

Tarzan? Didn’t see that one coming, and I’m still not sure if I see any similarities between the two of us. By now, Mom, Dad and Buzz had caught up with me after checking out the Animation shop and gallery, so we joined back up together to check out some more of the exhibits. Buzz even pointed out a real-life copy of Gusteau's book from Ratatouille.

By now, it was beginning to get dark, so we left the Animation building and headed off to see the Osborne Lights.