We were spoiled with a direct ride to the park by a cast member who got us into the parks every day of our trip. I didn't realize that of the ~50,000 people that work for the parks (I never did get an accurate count, but based on the amount of workers from the rides to sweeping the street...) they ALL get free park tickets and discounts. Fortunately we were able to as well.
The lines for MGM looked fairly long, but it was for those that were not staying at the resorts. We went EE and were able to by-pass the long lines to the parking lot. Getting in to a bit of time, as we were resort guest getting in with a cast member, but once in, feet beware. We didn't realize how much our feet could hurt in a short period of time.
Did I mention it was also Star Wars weekend? The last one, so I imagine this added to the crowd scene we saw at the gates. We did not see any characters as we made our way to RR rollercoaster. We probably would never have seen crowds if we would have stayed there the entire day. That ride was great!! DH still is raving about IOA's, Dueling Dragons, but I figure he will relent and agree that the theming of Disney rides are equally enjoyable. RR rollercoater was our favorite, and we would return to MGM just to ride it.
We had obtained a fast pass to ToT, and those passes are the best, if you time them correctly. We, again, by-passes a line (30) minutes and entered the hotel immediately. The ride was as I remembered from our trip in 98, but I didn't expect the huge lift out of my seat!!!!
As these are the main rides in this area, we decided not to wait for Beauty and the Beast (I recently saw a traveling production and well, I was good to miss it this time in MGM). I wanted to become a millionare, so off we went to find the show. It took us about 2 hours to find the show, as we never found Mickey Lane. Silly us saw a short line for TGMR (it had just reopened, and I don't think many knew it yet) so we went in, turned right from there and found us in the streets of NY. We snaked around towards Pizza Planet, thought about the Muppets, but there was a long line there, saw some Jedi, thought, "Sure, I will try Star Wars" fully remembering I hated that ride only to confirm that I really HATE that ride. Makes my head wobble. Weaving like I am drunk without alcohol, we obtain a fast pass for Indiana Jones and still, alas, no Millionaire show was found. Oh, sure, a map would have been very beneficial.
Long walk throughout the park of MGM and another hour later, but tummies satiated with Hercules pretzels, we find the show!!!! Only to arrive just as a show was beginning. Sad, as we had the fast passes for Indiana, we would not be able to get one for Millionare. But, this was the trip we would be gifted alot, and the cast member handed us two passes for the next show!!! Wahoo.
We did get in, a bit later than normal, as there was a winner in the show before us. Wow, I was ready to get in that hot seat. No hot seat for me, but I did get my number in the top 10. Figured that would be my claim for the day and it was fun to have strangers around me high fiving me for that. It was very festive and fun.
Off to Indiana Jones with about 10 minutes left on fast pass. Do not show up late for this show. I know they say that there are no bad seats, but I like to be a bit more centered. Enjoyed the show, but love The Lion King more....
All stars parade with Star Wars stars happened just after the Indiana show. I am not a big fan of Star Wars, so I could give or take, but we were there at the right time, so...as in space do like jedi? Something like that. It was amazing the intensity of some of the fans. "This parade is worth a million dollars..." Brought a smile to my face, as we all have quirky things that make us smile. Who am I to begrudge their love of Star Wars? I love the Green Bay Packers
Hm... Green Bay could be a great place to plan a trip.....
We left the park, as I wanted to get to explore another park. We took advantage of the Friendship ferry and had no wait or lines. I cannot tell you how wonderful those ferries were. We got off at Epcot and went to DH's favorite: The Land. We love that ride, others say "Yuck" I just think it is beautiful, call me quirky! Then we went to Test track and went single rider, as the wait was 5 minutes. Now I ask, why not do the single rider? DH and I were in the same car this time, just not next to each other. If you want to save time, go single rider. Best advice I can give you for this ride. We did not do the simulated ride after TT, but did drool over the corvette. Actually, just DH drooled over the yellow corvette.
okay, my rambling is getting long, so we left Epcot, hopped on the monorail, no wait, were gifted again with the front cabin with the driver and went to MK. Took the ferry, no wait, and entered the park around 6:00. Waited the longest for any ride: Thunder Mountain (45 min) and walked around. We really didn't need to ride anything, as we were going to E-ride in a few days. We got the bodacious turkey legs and sat down watching the tired kids and parents walk by.
It was a spectro magic parade night, so we hung out, found a great place at the end, enjoyed the parade and began our exit. Pirates of Carribean had no line at the end of the parade, so we snuck in there. The fire works were going off by that time, and we enjoyed watching from Adventureland. It was another great day.
Finally, we had to bus it back to The Dolphin. Might I mention again, NO lines for the bus.
The lines for MGM looked fairly long, but it was for those that were not staying at the resorts. We went EE and were able to by-pass the long lines to the parking lot. Getting in to a bit of time, as we were resort guest getting in with a cast member, but once in, feet beware. We didn't realize how much our feet could hurt in a short period of time.
Did I mention it was also Star Wars weekend? The last one, so I imagine this added to the crowd scene we saw at the gates. We did not see any characters as we made our way to RR rollercoaster. We probably would never have seen crowds if we would have stayed there the entire day. That ride was great!! DH still is raving about IOA's, Dueling Dragons, but I figure he will relent and agree that the theming of Disney rides are equally enjoyable. RR rollercoater was our favorite, and we would return to MGM just to ride it.
We had obtained a fast pass to ToT, and those passes are the best, if you time them correctly. We, again, by-passes a line (30) minutes and entered the hotel immediately. The ride was as I remembered from our trip in 98, but I didn't expect the huge lift out of my seat!!!!
As these are the main rides in this area, we decided not to wait for Beauty and the Beast (I recently saw a traveling production and well, I was good to miss it this time in MGM). I wanted to become a millionare, so off we went to find the show. It took us about 2 hours to find the show, as we never found Mickey Lane. Silly us saw a short line for TGMR (it had just reopened, and I don't think many knew it yet) so we went in, turned right from there and found us in the streets of NY. We snaked around towards Pizza Planet, thought about the Muppets, but there was a long line there, saw some Jedi, thought, "Sure, I will try Star Wars" fully remembering I hated that ride only to confirm that I really HATE that ride. Makes my head wobble. Weaving like I am drunk without alcohol, we obtain a fast pass for Indiana Jones and still, alas, no Millionaire show was found. Oh, sure, a map would have been very beneficial.
Long walk throughout the park of MGM and another hour later, but tummies satiated with Hercules pretzels, we find the show!!!! Only to arrive just as a show was beginning. Sad, as we had the fast passes for Indiana, we would not be able to get one for Millionare. But, this was the trip we would be gifted alot, and the cast member handed us two passes for the next show!!! Wahoo.
We did get in, a bit later than normal, as there was a winner in the show before us. Wow, I was ready to get in that hot seat. No hot seat for me, but I did get my number in the top 10. Figured that would be my claim for the day and it was fun to have strangers around me high fiving me for that. It was very festive and fun.
Off to Indiana Jones with about 10 minutes left on fast pass. Do not show up late for this show. I know they say that there are no bad seats, but I like to be a bit more centered. Enjoyed the show, but love The Lion King more....
All stars parade with Star Wars stars happened just after the Indiana show. I am not a big fan of Star Wars, so I could give or take, but we were there at the right time, so...as in space do like jedi? Something like that. It was amazing the intensity of some of the fans. "This parade is worth a million dollars..." Brought a smile to my face, as we all have quirky things that make us smile. Who am I to begrudge their love of Star Wars? I love the Green Bay Packers
Hm... Green Bay could be a great place to plan a trip.....We left the park, as I wanted to get to explore another park. We took advantage of the Friendship ferry and had no wait or lines. I cannot tell you how wonderful those ferries were. We got off at Epcot and went to DH's favorite: The Land. We love that ride, others say "Yuck" I just think it is beautiful, call me quirky! Then we went to Test track and went single rider, as the wait was 5 minutes. Now I ask, why not do the single rider? DH and I were in the same car this time, just not next to each other. If you want to save time, go single rider. Best advice I can give you for this ride. We did not do the simulated ride after TT, but did drool over the corvette. Actually, just DH drooled over the yellow corvette.
okay, my rambling is getting long, so we left Epcot, hopped on the monorail, no wait, were gifted again with the front cabin with the driver and went to MK. Took the ferry, no wait, and entered the park around 6:00. Waited the longest for any ride: Thunder Mountain (45 min) and walked around. We really didn't need to ride anything, as we were going to E-ride in a few days. We got the bodacious turkey legs and sat down watching the tired kids and parents walk by.
It was a spectro magic parade night, so we hung out, found a great place at the end, enjoyed the parade and began our exit. Pirates of Carribean had no line at the end of the parade, so we snuck in there. The fire works were going off by that time, and we enjoyed watching from Adventureland. It was another great day.
Finally, we had to bus it back to The Dolphin. Might I mention again, NO lines for the bus.
