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The 4F Trip Report
Day 07 - 03-Jul-2009 - Hollywood Studios and Spirit of Aloha
Today's trip report is not recommended for anyone on a dial-up link. There are going to be a lot of photographs here. When I started editing them I found that I took just over 1,200 today, and I have edited that down to 215 "good 'uns". We'll see how many of those make it into today's trippie!
Okay, this was Saturday 3rd of July, and it was down in the calendar as being mostly free. I say "mostly" because we had ADRs for the Spirit of Aloha dinner show in the evening.
Marie felt that she wanted to go to Hollywood Studios, and since nobody had any objections, that was where we went.
We could see that the crowds were getting a little heavier, but I still feel that they are considerably lighter than they were three years ago when we were last in WDW. The recession, it seems, is real!
It was quiet enough that Marie had one of those "alone in the crowd" moments, though I think that this was probably just a fleeting moment!
The first thing we really noticed was the High School Musical 3 show. This was performed just in front of Mickey's hat, and it was loud! Maybe too loud? Or is that just me?
The kids didn't seem terribly interested in watching the show, which surprised me a little. Jenni, in particular, loves watching stage shows. But neither she nor Cameron wanted to stay for the rest of the performance, and so we went instead to the Indiana Jones show
This was its usual excellent self, and we thoroughly enjoyed it. How these people manage to perform the show day in, day out, three or four times each day, and still remain so fresh, I don't know. Full credit to them for doing it, though!
Jenni was very unconvinced about the show, however. She had taken a bit of a dislike to loud noises and anything else that could be considered remotely scarey. So this was just not for her, and she spent most of the time cuddling in to mummy. So when we came out and suggested going to Motors, Camera, Action! she "gracefully" declined.
Uncle John and the parents-in-law went to see the show anyway, and when I tried to persuade Jenni to go with them she got distinctly huffy. It was clear that mummy was the friend of the moment, and so when mummy took Jenni to the Honey I Shrunk The Kids playpark, I went to get Fastpasses for Toy Story Mania instead.
Well, that was the plan. There were no Fastpasses left for the day, so instead I went on Star Tours. Now, it may be a sign of how empty the parks were that I was able to do a walk-on without really pausing except to take the odd photograph:
The theming is great, but what you end up in is a simulator ride - a kind of sub-Soarin' where you are given to feel that you are travelling in space and taking part in certain scenes from Star Wars. Which is good, but did tend to leave me feeling a little motion sick. Oh well, such is life.
I came out and watched a Jedi Academy session
Cameron and the in-laws arrived, so I felt that I had to take a picture of him getting shot at by a Walker
Jenni and Marie arrived, with Jenni opining that the play area wasn't up to much. Lunch seemed like a good distraction activity at this point, so we went to the Backlot Express, where we had a very nice meal. Towards the end of it, I asked if anyone cared to go on Tower of Terror with me. Silence. I was on my own. Okay, no problem - please excuse me while I go and get a Fastpass - you sit here and have coffee.
On the way, I heard the announcements that the Block Party Bash was about to start. A frantic phone call to get everyone out of the restaurant and to the parade route, and I completely forgot about my Fastpass.
I stopped to ask a Cast Member about the parade route, and she explained that it stops every so often throughout the route to do a little show, before moving on to the next location. Since I read on her badge that she was from China, I said "Xie xie" to her (pronounced sheeyah-sheeyah) - it's "thank you" in Mandarin. She seemed totally delighted that someone would know even that from Chinese, and was keenly trying to have a conversation with me. Which was lovely, and normally I'd have been delighted to converse with a pretty Chinese girl. Except that I needed to round up my family and get them to the right place for the parade now!
There were a lot of Chinese cast members this year. I hope that they are paid the same as cast members from anywhere else, and that this is truly internationalism and not something akin to outsourcing.
Okay, on to the parade. It was led by the soldiers from Toy Story and had lots of dancing, singing and a mobile trampoline on which a group of fit young men did acrobatics. Probably easier to let the pictures tell the story:
The 4F Trip Report
Day 07 - 03-Jul-2009 - Hollywood Studios and Spirit of Aloha
Today's trip report is not recommended for anyone on a dial-up link. There are going to be a lot of photographs here. When I started editing them I found that I took just over 1,200 today, and I have edited that down to 215 "good 'uns". We'll see how many of those make it into today's trippie!
Okay, this was Saturday 3rd of July, and it was down in the calendar as being mostly free. I say "mostly" because we had ADRs for the Spirit of Aloha dinner show in the evening.
Marie felt that she wanted to go to Hollywood Studios, and since nobody had any objections, that was where we went.
We could see that the crowds were getting a little heavier, but I still feel that they are considerably lighter than they were three years ago when we were last in WDW. The recession, it seems, is real!
It was quiet enough that Marie had one of those "alone in the crowd" moments, though I think that this was probably just a fleeting moment!
The first thing we really noticed was the High School Musical 3 show. This was performed just in front of Mickey's hat, and it was loud! Maybe too loud? Or is that just me?
The kids didn't seem terribly interested in watching the show, which surprised me a little. Jenni, in particular, loves watching stage shows. But neither she nor Cameron wanted to stay for the rest of the performance, and so we went instead to the Indiana Jones show
This was its usual excellent self, and we thoroughly enjoyed it. How these people manage to perform the show day in, day out, three or four times each day, and still remain so fresh, I don't know. Full credit to them for doing it, though!
Jenni was very unconvinced about the show, however. She had taken a bit of a dislike to loud noises and anything else that could be considered remotely scarey. So this was just not for her, and she spent most of the time cuddling in to mummy. So when we came out and suggested going to Motors, Camera, Action! she "gracefully" declined.
Uncle John and the parents-in-law went to see the show anyway, and when I tried to persuade Jenni to go with them she got distinctly huffy. It was clear that mummy was the friend of the moment, and so when mummy took Jenni to the Honey I Shrunk The Kids playpark, I went to get Fastpasses for Toy Story Mania instead.
Well, that was the plan. There were no Fastpasses left for the day, so instead I went on Star Tours. Now, it may be a sign of how empty the parks were that I was able to do a walk-on without really pausing except to take the odd photograph:
The theming is great, but what you end up in is a simulator ride - a kind of sub-Soarin' where you are given to feel that you are travelling in space and taking part in certain scenes from Star Wars. Which is good, but did tend to leave me feeling a little motion sick. Oh well, such is life.
I came out and watched a Jedi Academy session
Cameron and the in-laws arrived, so I felt that I had to take a picture of him getting shot at by a Walker
Jenni and Marie arrived, with Jenni opining that the play area wasn't up to much. Lunch seemed like a good distraction activity at this point, so we went to the Backlot Express, where we had a very nice meal. Towards the end of it, I asked if anyone cared to go on Tower of Terror with me. Silence. I was on my own. Okay, no problem - please excuse me while I go and get a Fastpass - you sit here and have coffee.
On the way, I heard the announcements that the Block Party Bash was about to start. A frantic phone call to get everyone out of the restaurant and to the parade route, and I completely forgot about my Fastpass.
I stopped to ask a Cast Member about the parade route, and she explained that it stops every so often throughout the route to do a little show, before moving on to the next location. Since I read on her badge that she was from China, I said "Xie xie" to her (pronounced sheeyah-sheeyah) - it's "thank you" in Mandarin. She seemed totally delighted that someone would know even that from Chinese, and was keenly trying to have a conversation with me. Which was lovely, and normally I'd have been delighted to converse with a pretty Chinese girl. Except that I needed to round up my family and get them to the right place for the parade now!
There were a lot of Chinese cast members this year. I hope that they are paid the same as cast members from anywhere else, and that this is truly internationalism and not something akin to outsourcing.
Okay, on to the parade. It was led by the soldiers from Toy Story and had lots of dancing, singing and a mobile trampoline on which a group of fit young men did acrobatics. Probably easier to let the pictures tell the story:
They are great though.
