The Bear and the Bow: Christmas with the Mouses - Update 9/11

[Merida]

Happy Birthday!!!! Hope you have a fantastic day!! (It's pretty early morning here on the 16th, so you'd have a whole birthday day in NJ ahead of you!!)

ALRIGHT I'll forgive you for wanting to explore other parks than Epcot! No, I do totally understand on a quicker trip wanting to still get a taste of Epcot, but not necessarily explore EVERY nook and cranny.

Did you know that the green roof in Norway is trimmed by hand by CM's with clippers?

Thanks! My birthday was actually Friday, which made work that day go soooo slowly.

I just wish there was something to do. I like poking in the Morocco pavilion, but it almost feels like wasting time, especially when I don't know enough about a pavilion to really ~appreciate~ all the work gone into the design. I need activities! Something like the scavenger hunts Disney does - I would totally do scavenger hunts about all the stuff Imagineers added to the pavilions.

No way! That's so cool, I love really elaborately designed green roofs. I wonder if it's the horticultural team that works on that? I took a flower arranging class in undergrad, so I'm totally qualified to do that job!

 

[marDgreen88]

Happy late Birthday!!!!

Does Kim Possible even come on anymore? If it did, I'm sure people would still watch it!

Love the pictures.

 

[Merida]

Happy late Birthday!!!!

Does Kim Possible even come on anymore? If it did, I'm sure people would still watch it!

Love the pictures.

Thanks!

I'm not sure? We have limited cable (and now that it's, like, 100 degrees outside and we have no air conditioning in our house, we try to limit the amount of electronics we have on!) and I can't keep up with all the Disney channel shows. I always seem to catch the same Phineas and Ferb episode!

Thanks! I actually have tons of pictures edited since I do them in my (blissfully air conditioned) office but our HVAC is on the fritz with the huge wildfire and there is NO air conditioning ANYWHERE for me now. Bear and I keep trading off the iPad for internet usage.

That's really not related to anything, I just can't seem to come up with any conversation that isn't about the heat!

 

[Merida]

We headed into the very much appreciated air conditioning of the Mexico pavilion. As lovely as the World Showcase is, it could certainly do with some more air-conditioned queues! The number of breaks taken plummets when we head to World Showcase; we don’t tend to go inside very much and we certainly don’t hang around in 30-ish minute queues.

San Angel Inn​

All of which adds up to make us (me) slightly crankier at the end of a World Showcase heavy day than at the end of, oh, a Magic Kingdom day.

San Angel Inn​

Plus Bear doesn’t count browsing/’window shopping inside the store’ as an activity, so we also tend to miss all of the neat country-specific souvenirs inside the pavilions. This was the first time I’d gotten a chance to look through the Mexico indoor market since my high school band trip (my group got put in charge of collecting gag gifts for the director/chaperones. Spending other people’s money in the World Showcase is the best).

The Temple​

Bear got us checked in for our San Angel Inn dinner; we had only gotten this reservation after free dining had been announced. I had a few credits that were not yet accounted for and doing a Candlelight Processional package seemed like a good idea. There was a few minutes until our reservation time and an empty line for the Gran Fiesta Tour, so with the hostess’ blessing, we were off on another jaunt on El Rio del Tiempo.

Christmas Deco​

Our buzzer went off about three quarters of the way through the ride (we have excellent timing) and I nearly fell out of the boat trying to figure out a way to muffle the noise. Those things are annoying.

People eventually stopped giving me dirty looks (can you even turn the pagers off? Or is it some wizardry that only the front of the restaurant people know?) and we docked soon after. Bear and I hustled over to San Angel Inn, where we were quickly seated.

Our dinner here was a riot – on one side we had a larger southern family, where an uncle was rather boastfully lecturing on etiquette the entire meal. On the other side, a family who had no idea what was going on with their Candlelight Processional package and had no intention of listening to our (very sweet) waitress explain things.

I’m pretty sure our waitress was relieved to come over to our table; we were just happy for some food! I’ve read a lot of conflicting reviews on San Angel Inn – we were lucky to be there on a good night with great service. We really enjoyed our food (dulce de leche ice cream, yum) and the ambiance is top notch there!

Skulls​

We slowly made our way out of Mexico, looking through the stalls one more time, watching a kid solve a Kim Possible mission, letting our dinner digest. We had tickets for the late Candlelight Processional and wanted to get as far around World Showcase as possible; we had a Duffy to complete.

German Moose​

We had done the China, Norway, and Mexico Duffy stations before dinner. There was two or so hours until we were supposed to be in line for the Candelight Processional. We first hit up the Germany pavilion; it was packed with people waiting in Karamel Kuche or for Biergarten. I’d spent a considerable amount of time in there on previous visits so we moved on quickly.

Ornaments


Masks​

Italy was next; this is one of the Pavilions I never remember much about. I remember the masks but none of the architecture. It’s just not very remarkable, I suppose; I always confuse it with France and United Kingdom.

Masks II​

The KidCot woman was new to working at Disney and wanted to chat. Normally this is very nice but we were on a time limit and had Duffy stamps to collect! And Bear wanted to check out the coffee sign – he likes fancy coffees (like French press, not frappachinos. I don’t drink coffee so he doesn’t make it very often. A full pot is too much for just him!).

Italy​

After hearing a few more trivia facts about the Italy pavilion (promptly forgotten, it’s the Italy pavilion curse), we escaped to the Italy shops. I think Bear was suitably impressed with the masks and various Italian paraphernalia and thus we will spend some more time in the stores next trip.

We headed out of the Italy pavilion to the American Adventure; I wasn’t sure if there was a KidCot station (there’s not). One of the American Adventure shows was about to begin so we decided to wait.

Liberty​

My favorite colonial era flag!

American Adventure


AA Hosts


The Family


Chief Joseph


Votes for Women
​

Technically, the American Adventure show is truly outstanding. The content isn’t my favorite. I rather facetiously told Bear I could guess 75% of the tableaux to be presented – I think I actually did better. It’s just such a generic look at (white) American history. I mean, your entire section on the Civil War is based on a white family? That’s all you could come up with?

And the Chief Joseph formal declaration of surrender is given without any context. Honestly, the way the US government treated the Nez Perce is absolutely wretched and it’s entirely glossed over in a pretty speech based on an urban legend. I know it’s a theme park attraction but it’s so reminiscent of every history lesson ever, it’s just frustrating.

Totoro


Blossoms


Fish Plate


Japan​

Look, Japan! The next stop on our grand World Showcase tour. We were starting to get pressed for time and the typical Mitsukoshi crowds weren’t helping. And we got lost – I’d never been back in the KidCot part and we kept getting turned around. I would love to visit Tokyo and TokyoDisney but I feel like I would spend at minimum of 60% of my time utterly lost.

(Tangent: Speaking of Asia Disney parks, have you seen the Shanghai Disney castle?? It looks AMAZING. I need to see more concept art of this park - I love comparing the concept to the finished and Disney always finds the best concept artists.)

We finally got Duffy stamped (the girls here were the best; Bear and I were sharing a Duffy so my translated names were on one half and his on the other. They drew a little Minnie and Mickey on our respective sides to help us remember. I’ll have to take a picture some time). At this point, we were getting very close to the time to get in line for the Candlelight Processional. We had watched some of the show while waiting at the American Adventure pavilion and now we had to decide whether to go or not.

 

[marDgreen88]

Italy, you have failed us again. I want to get a Duffy mask!!! That sounds like so much fun.

Oh man, I'm glad you posted that link to the Shanghai concept art because I haven't looked at it forever and now I'm impressed all over again. Beautiful.

So, MERIDA, have you had a chance to see Brave yet??

 

[Merida]

(This isn’t my best writing, sorry! There’s.. just not much we did? And it seems like they get really long and that rambling on about some tiny detail is making things overly long. Oops).

The Kingdom of Morocco​

The debate on whether or not we should go to the Candlelight Processional started as we headed to Morocco. Pros pretty much consisted of “we paid for this and got a ticket!”; cons of “well, it was free” and “it looks boring” and “but what about my Duffy? “ and “but it’s so far awaaaaay.” But we paid for it! And it seemed like something you had to do for Christmas in Disney – despite the fact that we aren’t particularly religious. And that I prefer the Hanukkah story to the Christmas story.

So to delay a decision (paying for something is a huge draw to cash poor grad students, what can I say?), I took an impromptu lighting tour:

Morocco Lights


Morocco Lights 2


Morocco Lights 3


Morocco Lights 4​

I love the lights in Morocco. So geometric and graphic and bright. Perfection.

The Morocco CMs were more distracted than the ones in Japanese; I don’t think very many people go back there and they were involved in something else. It was a nice change; we were running low on time and going through the labyrinthine Morocco pavilion took longer than expected.

The time crunch was actually the deciding factor in our Candlelight Processional debate – I love Morocco and really wanted to spend time in there but Bear had to keep pulling me along. This was our last chance to go through the World Showcase and we still had three countries plus some of Future World. In no way was the Candlelight Processional was a higher priority than those things.

France Pavilion​

We kept trying to give away our CP tickets as we worked our way over to France. It was ridiculously hard – either people weren’t a group of two, they already had tickets, or didn’t want to see the show (not that I blamed them!). But we eventually found a very nice older couple. Hooray! Now we could run around and explore the World Showcase: Nighttime Version!

Soleil et Lavande​

And of course, the best way for two twenty-somethings to enjoy late night World Showcase is to play gotta catch ‘em all with signatures.

France was dutifully collected and we were on to the last leg.

Epcot Christmas​

Realizing that we had time to go on a few rides before Illuminations spurred us on. We had made the rookie mistake of thinking we needed to go to Canada; the Duffy had come with a Canada stamp so all that was left was the United Kingdom.

Fangirls​

The pavilions with Latin script are way less interesting than non-Latin-script-pavilions. I have very little interest in finding out my ~Italian name~. (Spoiler alert: it’s the same as my American name). I’d rather see how to write my name in Arabic (Japanese, Chinese, etc). So the United Kingdom was a quick in and out (plus we had explored earlier).

And it was time for rides! It had been hours since the Gran Fiesta Tour. So we decided to experience the high speed, thrills and chills of…

The Seas​

The Seas, with Nemo and Friends.

Everyone’s favorite Epcot E ticket!!

School of Fishes​

In all seriousness – Both Bear and I have a soft spot for this ride. It’s just so dang cute with its clammobiles and little baby Nemo and Mr. Ray. And there’s an aquarium at the end! Can’t beat that.

Finding Nemo Queue​

I love the queue as well, I just wish I had time to explore it! Every time we get in line there’s a group behind us and we rush through. It’s so frustrating because I thought no one liked this ride? Or something?

Coral Caves​

Beware of jellyfish!!

Jellies​

See? I told you there were jellyfish around. I can’t remember if these are real jellies or the ones from the ride; I’m leaning towards the ride because I remember taking a picture at that spot… pretty sure they aren’t real.

Fish 1


Fish 2


Fish 3


Fish 4​

These fish, on the other fin, are most definitely real. The sea horse is my favorite; I love watching them float around. I’m sure fish get stressed (all those kids banging on their windows?) but they certainly don’t look like it! It’s so serene and blue in aquariums – one of my favorite environments.

The Caterpillar​

But a Disney vacation is not a time to relax! We stopped in Mouse Gears to check out the Vinyls and do another trade; Bear wasn’t attached to our Caterpiller (we had traded for him earlier). Unfortunately, our new Vinyl was even weirder, all red and black and intense.

Spaceship Earth​

But my dear Caterpiller was gone forever into the mysterious black box and there was nothing left to do but a consolatory ride on Spaceship Earth.

 

[Merida]

Italy, you have failed us again. I want to get a Duffy mask!!! That sounds like so much fun.

Oh man, I'm glad you posted that link to the Shanghai concept art because I haven't looked at it forever and now I'm impressed all over again. Beautiful.

So, MERIDA, have you had a chance to see Brave yet??

I love the cardboard Duffys. The old masks never really did anything for me – they were too small to fit all the stamps/signatures so I would end up with like five masks and then would lose them all. I can hang on to one Duffy!

Shanghai just looks so pretty. Disneyland Paris levels of pretty (I loved the birthday cake overlay so I am predisposed to lovely pink castles). Mash together Shanghai Disneyland and Tokyo Disney Sea and you would create a park that I would never, ever leave.

We did see Brave! The Saturday it came out, which is very out-of-character for us but it was surface-of-the-sun hot and I needed air conditioning. We decided last minute to go and were in the very front row of the theater but whatevs – still a great movie!

HERE THERE BE (very poorly organized, rambly) BRAVE SPOILERS.​

1. Honestly, once I realized that the driving plot of the movie was Merida and Elinor’s relationship, this movie could literally do nothing wrong. The fact that Pixar FINALLY did anything with female relationships shocked me so I am completely biased that way! It does irritate me that a lot of the reviews say that the story isn’t groundbreaking as most Pixar films; I find that a lot of Pixar films have rather simplistic stories and it is their sincerity – not plot complexity – that makes them so lovable. Plus this wasn’t a complaint with Finding Nemo, which is Brave with a father and son underwater (and Finding Nemo itself didn’t have a ~groundbreaking~ storyline either. PLUS the animated short La Lune is pretty much the same basic story as well. So suck it critics, exploring mother/daughter relationships is as unique and heartwarming as looking at father/sons).

2. And seriously, the arc of the relationship (the heart of the entire movie) was perfect. They couldn’t communicate or agree on things but they loved each so much (which, sadly, is rare in movies!). The scene where the tapestry/bow were destroyed was pitch perfect – they were both so angry and then utterly devastated on how they acted on that anger and frustration.

3. I liked the way they did Merida’s character a lot! I was worried that it would be too second-wave-feminism-y where Merida was rejected traditional feminine things because they were ~too girly~ and thus weak (nope!! Such a tired, worthless cliche). It wasn’t that she hated dresses/dancing/feminine things, just that she and her mother had different ideas on how she should express herself (and NOT that one way was intrinsically better than the other).

4. Elinor was wonderful! Ladies wielding political power A+++++ Totally in charge of everything in the kingdom and everyone knew that and respected that. The whole family was too precious (especially Elinor/Fergus).

5. Also perfect: the use of storytelling (legends are lessons). Elinor’s belief in the legends and how they shape present culture and morals was wonderful (they didn’t even have to be true! Just the fact that she acknowledged that there are important lessons to be learned from stories!!)

6. And the witch woman wasn’t evil!! I really like the way they took her character (feeling guilt/regret over Mor’du; I wonder where her bear affinity came from and whether it was before or after Mor’du) and don’t mind at all that she left rather quickly.

7. And the Mor’du/Merida parallels! I thought it was interesting that Mor’du’s request was for a spell to change himself while Merida’s was to change her mother. Mor’du wanted to dominate his family and Merida was looking for a more diplomatic solution (she did listen to Elinor!! At least a little!)

8. The music and the scenery were lovely, Merida’s hair was a work of genius, can’t say too many good things about the aesthetics.

 

[Merida]

Sponsored by Siemens​

Can’t lie, I would stand in one of those massive, beginning-of-the-day lines for Spaceship Earth. I just love it so much. Of course, during the last CP of the day and prime Test Track ride times, the line is slightly shorter than early morning.

SSE 1​

Hey look, some guy from the past! I kid, I kid. Spaceship Earth is what I want American Adventure to be.

SSE 2​

Partly because it includes my very favorite period of science history ever (ancient Islamic) and partly because it’s legitimately better (the animatronic part, not the touch screens) than American Adventure.

SSE 3


Renaissance Musicians​

Spaceship Earth features a much more diverse cast and – unlike AA – they aren’t nearly as token-y. I love the Renaissance lady musician with all my heart; best Spaceship Earth animatronic because it’s such a natural inclusion in the scene.

Christmas Topiaries​

We exited Spaceship Earth at one of those awkward times; too late for a prime Illuminations spot but too early to save a mediocre spot. But there are only so many topiaries you can look at – and for so long – and we made the decision to scout out Canada.

Preparing for Illuminations​

Our spot was decent; right at the front of the Canada terrace (and I could sit on the ledge! A+). I must have fallen asleep or something during Illuminations because I don’t remember much (like the Christmas tag?) and I have no photos.

I’ll assume that Illuminations did happen and went pretty much as normal – lots of fire, a spinning globe, and explosive fireworks.

Stitch


Stitch 2


Stitch 3
​

Bear must have shaken me awake eventually because my pictures pick up as we walked out. We were both enthralled by this topiary (the late hour may have had an effect on our moods) and I have about twenty Stitch pictures. Stitch in lights – more interesting than Illuminations!

Monorail Christmas​

And we still had to walk back to our car! I love having our own car down at Disney but I really, really missed monorailling out of Epoct. It’s much better than having to drag oneself down acres of blacktop, trying to find an incredibly bland and average rental car in the dark.

Masks


Port Orleans French Quarter​

As a reward for finding our car (and remembering our parking spot) and not giving up and monorailling around, we decided to head to French Quarter for some beignets.

Make a Wish


Port Orleans Christmas​

This is more than likely going to be the next Walt Disney World resort we stay at (technically our next one is Paradise Pier in Disneyland). It’s such a great theme and resort but… a little intense for late night snack runs.

Sun Lion​

So many bright colors and weird sun/lion hybrids. Just slightly overwhelming for some three blinks from passing out on the floor.

Christmas Balloons​

But there are adorable balloons and beignets, which are wonderfully cozy and beneficial to a good night’s sleep.

 

[Merida]

Wow, I’m on a posting roll! Apparently the gymnastics Olympic trials inspire me to do something with my life? (Also they’re talking about Jordyn Weiber and boring.)

Jambo​

We were up bright and early – again – for a Boma breakfast!

This was the ADR I was most looking forward to; new restaurant, my favorite resort (that I had never visited), and the possibility of adorable animal pancakes. So we of course ended up being late – I couldn’t remember if Boma was in Jambo or Kidani (I actually had no idea) and we chose the wrong building.

But we did get a really great tour of the Lodge.

Antelope​

See? So pretty. I just want to stay in a Savannah view room and spend an entire vacation creeping on the savannah animals. No parks required, just lots of meals at Boma and Jiko and Sanaa and the Mara.

Because obviously, we loved Boma. Despite there not being any animal pancakes, which says quite a bit about how great our experience was. We had great servers across the board during our trip, but our Boma server was in the top 5 of Best Servers. She kept our juice cups brimming, suggested food, and had the right balance of chatting and giving us privacy.

Flowers​

In fact, she was so on top of things we were done with Boma and getting in line for the MGM turnstiles way early. We never plan to be places before rope drop because I need my breakfast and it can be incredibly crowded in that first rush.

Tower of Terror​

But we were with the masses this time, lining up thirty minutes before park opening. Thirty minutes! And that includes a tram ride.

Hollywood Christmas


MGM Gates by wingsfive, on Flickr


MGM Gates 2


Hollywood​

Rope drop was, of course, jam packed. I wanted to ride Toy Story but the dash wasn’t part of my plans. We were both nervous as we slowly shuffled forward.

Streets of Hollywood​

It wasn’t any better when we were in the park; there was the annoying MC trying to get people energized for non-Toy Story rides and several strollers around us. Bear and I agreed to see what was going on with Toy Story.

Wait Times​

After all, there’s no wait right now. How bad could it be?

Bucket of Monkeys​

The answer: Bad. By the time we figured out where Toy Story was, the fastpass line was back past Little Mermaid and the standby line was quickly growing. We had no idea what to do; I had wanted to get here slightly after rope drop when the crowds had died down and the initial Fastpass rush was over. Bear talked to a Cast Member who thought that the Fastpass line was between 30 and 45 minutes and the standby line at least 70 minutes.

Rocket Launch​

I know now – by reading other people’s experiences – that the Cast Member was grossly overestimating the wait times. I’m sure if we had gotten in line – any line – we would’ve figured this out but Bear didn’t want to stand in such a long line so early.

And we had all day.

Washer Brooms​

So naively sure that we would have another shot at Toy Story Mania, we headed off to Sunset Boulevard. Bear had convinced me to try both Tower of Terror and Rock’n’Roller Coaster, two rides I had avoided on previous trips.

Rockin' Roller Coaster​

Unfortunately, while we dithered at Toy Story Mania, the lines down the Boulevard had grown. We decided to grab Rock’n’Roller Coaster fastpasses and do Tower of Terror instead.

Hollywood Tower Hotel​

The best part of Tower of Terror is the queue; not a big fan of broken elevators simulated or not. The movie is rather embarrassing as well.

In the Garden


Statuary​

But the grounds. I’d go on the ride just for the ability to wander through the gardens. Utterly perfect themeing in every way.

Checking In​

As much as I adore MGM’s Tower of Terror, I think that DisneySea’s Tower has the edge in themeing. And I’ll go on that one (whenever we get to Tokyo) as well, teeth gritted and crushed against Bear because I’m a schmuck who loves 1930s era haunted hotel buildings.

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

I love meandering around the World Showcase, I can definitely see how that got top priority over the CP! Glad you were able to find people to give your tickets to!

Boma breakfast really is great, isn't it? I'm sorry you weren't able to get the animal pancakes you were hoping for! (I'm pretty sure those are only made for special allergy concerns.)

I'm glad to hear you enjoyed Merida! I haven't seen it yet, but it looks great!

 

[marDgreen88]

No animal pancakes? Sad day.

Glad you liked Brave. I've already seen it twice... hah. The bad reviews bothered me too. I think the reviewers thought it was going to be an entirely different movie, and instead of judging it based on what it ACTUALLY was, they judged it based on what they THOUGHT it would be. Dumb. I don't really listen to reviews anyway though.

 

[Merida]

I love meandering around the World Showcase, I can definitely see how that got top priority over the CP! Glad you were able to find people to give your tickets to!

Boma breakfast really is great, isn't it? I'm sorry you weren't able to get the animal pancakes you were hoping for! (I'm pretty sure those are only made for special allergy concerns.)

I'm glad to hear you enjoyed Merida! I haven't seen it yet, but it looks great!

It was fun! Definitely a good choice for us, I don't think we would have enjoyed the Candlelight Processional very much when we really wanted to be walking around.

Aw, nuts. I didn't ask about the pancakes, just didn't see them out on the buffet. I'll schedule a mother/daughter Boma breakfast, so at least my mom can have some of them!

It is really, really good. A lot of the negatives I've seen are weird: it's not a musical (uh, no.. but the score is AMAZING and it wouldn't work as a musical), the men are plot devices (definitely not, I don't think people know what plot devices are?), there's no villain (there is, but more similar to Up or Finding Nemo antagonists than Little Mermaid or Lion King villains).

No animal pancakes? Sad day.

Glad you liked Brave. I've already seen it twice... hah. The bad reviews bothered me too. I think the reviewers thought it was going to be an entirely different movie, and instead of judging it based on what it ACTUALLY was, they judged it based on what they THOUGHT it would be. Dumb. I don't really listen to reviews anyway though.

But there was (lots and lots of) Boma juice!! So definitely didn't miss the animal pancakes.

Yay! I'm so glad you liked it. The reviews really annoy me, especially the ones that say it's not relevant to 50% of the audience (uh hello, I enjoy Up, which has a grand total of ONE talking lady who dies in the first five minutes. And pretty much every Pixar movie, where the ladies are relegated to the position of facilitating the male protagonists' journeys. See: Monsters' Inc, Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Cars, Ratatouille, every Pixar movie ever).

I just hope that this doesn't discourage Pixar from making more female-centered stories (though they did make Cars 2...). I'm SO SAD Newt got cancelled; I'm cautiously optimistic about their 2015 'inside a girl's mind' movie but am not sure about the dinosaur and Dia de los Meurtos movies. There's absolutely no reason why either of the films SHOULDN'T have a female protagonist.

 

[Merida]

Hey look everybody! I updated the Table of Contents!! Now you have easy access to all of my text-y and photo goodness (debatable) for the low, low price of FREE.

I'm also aiming to start up my Disneyland TR soon; I have the rest of my updates for this trip planned out (e.g., I sorted my pictures in folders and not much else) and now I just have to decide which of my ten million rock pictures are best suited for the Disneyland TR opening.

I know, I know, how could I possibly deny people rock pictures?! But I just can't come up with that many rock puns for titles so some will have to get cut. Luckily I have excessive amounts of it's a small world, Soundsational parade, and Pirates of the Caribbean pictures to make up for it!

 

[Merida]

I meant to get this up earlier, but I was too busy having fits over the Legend of Korra finale and the synopsis released for Frozen (THIS IS WHY WE CAN'T HAVE NICE THINGS).

BUT, I still put up (the start of) my Disneyland TR.

Seriously, the Frozen synopsis is terrible, awful, no-good, and very bad. It's just not fair.

 

[Merida]

Stars​

I always feel a little at odds in MGM, like I used to know how to get around and where things were and then they came in and switched up everything. And I can never remember anything’s name! People always remark that they feel like Disneyland/Magic Kingdom are bizarro versions of each other – DHS is my bizarro version of MGM.

Snowflakes​

We continued wandering down MGM Main Street, trying to figure out what to do next. Bear wanted to see a Lights, Motor, Action! Show – we had picked up some Fastpasses from a Cast Member on the way in and he was intrigued.

Charge of the Light Brigade​

I don’t know where this is or what it’s from but I probably took it because Errol Flynn/ Olivia de Havilland is my Golden Age of Hollywood OTP. Especially in The Adventures of Robin Hood. Or possibly because I remain ridiculously attached to The Charge of the Light Brigade and its overly noble depiction of war.

Vinyl 1


Vinyl 2​

We had traded for this little guy the night before in Epcot and he kind of reminded me of a devil (and not in the fun, Screwtape Letters kind of way. More in the creepy, please-don’t-come-near-me Huis Clos kind of way). So we dropped into (the very appropriate) Villians in Vogue and traded.

The Great Movie Ride


Kermit​

But the transaction went very quickly and we were at odds again way too soon. What to do when you’re bored and confused and tired in MGM? Ride the Great Movie Ride, of course! This day was definitely not a ‘most recommended’ day for MGM, a fact made abundantly clear because there was a 20-minute wait for GMR.

Susan


MP Horse​

But we got in line anyway, partly because I really like the GMR queue and partly because we had about 40 minutes until we had to get in line for Lights, Motor, Action! I also thought we might have a change at the elusive Cowboy sequence, given the crowd levels.

Into the Movies


Paper Moon


Singin' in he Rain​

We boarded our movie vehicle quickly enough; I was excited to try photographing in here because I do love a lot of the movies featured and I really like dark rides. The first few scenes went smoothly – I cared for these the most because I love old Hollywood musicals with their self indulgent ballet sequences (my favorite is An American in Paris. I really need to introduce Bear to a lot of these – he hasn’t even seen Singin’ in the Rain! I spent the whole summer after my sophomore year of college watching classic musicals and it was glorious. Amazing how much you can get done when you don’t have Internet!).

Chimney Sweeps


Certificate of Death​

But as we moved through the ride, our skipper kept interrupting his spiel to remind everyone that ‘flash photography isn’t allowed!’ with pointed glares at our part of the car.

“Is my flash on??” I asked Bear multiple times because the announcement would always come after I took a picture.

“No, there’s someone else.” With a flash that I couldn’t see.

Ding Dong


The Group​

So none of my Wizard of Oz pictures – one of my very favorite stories ever, I even recorded my own book-on-tape version as a kid – didn’t really come out. I put my camera away soon after because I still wasn’t convinced he was talking to someone else.

I’m pretty sure that skipper killed what little remained of my photo mojo for the day; I wasn’t feeling very many of my shots in general and I kept feeling guilty of taking pictures. I never get very good GMR skippers – it must be because I always have excellent Jungle Cruise skippers. I’m sure that’s a law of physics, that you must always balance the amount of good and bad skippers experienced at Disney World.

Writer's Stop


MGM​

Apparently we found Writer’s Stop! But we didn’t go in. We also saw Starring Rolls as we walked around but the line was out the door and neither of us felt like cupcakes. Next time!

 

[Merida]

AND!!

I updated my Disneyland TR too!

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

I completely agree with DHS now just feeling strange and bizarre. I always always ALWAYS seem to get lost there, even though we've been there many a time.

 

[__disneygirl]

Whew! I haven't been in here in awhile. But I'm all caught up on your TR now. I know i've said this before but I love your pictures so much! Really great job.

I loved the way you described you and Bear getting together - "through a series of wacky hijinks"... I wonder what Naveen and Tiana would have said if you told them the whole story. haha

I am NOT looking forward to the long line to meet the princesses during MNSSHP, but I *HAVE TO* meet my beloved Mr. Eugene Fitzherbert and Rapunzel. Oh man, I'll probably cry, that's how much I love those characters. Sigh.

I agree with you on Dinoland! I think the bright colored, some may say cheesy, boardwalk-style section of the park is a nice contrast onto the rest of AK.

haha, I recently learned how to do a fishtail braid too! I've become kind of addicted to wearing them now.

You should reallyreally should take the time to explore more at the WS. There is soooo much you are missing out on! I'm actually glad more of the pavilions don't have rides - there are so many special details in each of them that it just isn't necessary.

YAY!! You took a picture of my beloved Our Frogfish Friend at The Seas.

I mostly disagree with your ToT opinions since I find every single atom of that attraction to be the definition of flawless, but boy am I happy someone else appreciates how magnificent the grounds are! I've always been obsessed with the outside of it, and recently I found out you can rent it out for parties/weddings/photoshoots afterhours, and I don't care how much it costs, I am so doing that one day.

You recorded your own Wizard of Oz book on tape as a kid?! That's one of the cutest things I have EVER heard.

Oooh, don't miss out on Writer's Stop and Starring Rolls next time. My mouth waters simply hearing the names.

I hope you'll have time to update again soon - it's been awhile!

 

[Merida]

I really can’t believe that it’s August already! And late enough in August for the Olympics to be almost over (currently watching the team rhythmic gymnastics competition because Russian gymnastics are my favorite). It’s been a busy month, even without the Olympics – lots of parent visits, volunteer work, research work, and even networking (which wow, I hate networking and I still have more to do!!).

LMA​

When we entered MGM that morning, Cast Members had been desperately (?) trying to distract people from the Toy Story mad dash by handing out Lights, Motor, Action! Fastpasses. A surprising number of people didn’t take them, but we are not ones to ever pass up a free thing! Since we were running out of steam on MGM, we decided to head over to LMA’s way for a rest.

LMA 2


LMA 3


Flameo Hotman


Flameo Hotman, pt 2​

I liked the fire man the best – how cool is his job?! Bear didn’t like it quite as much as I had expected. He really likes car movies and all that but didn’t really want to learn ALL the tricks on how they’re filmed. I think both the stunts (as filmed) and the methods are impressive but I’m not a car person in the same way Bear is.

Also, neither of really have any feelings on the Cars cars and I think the show would be better without their part (I know, kids like them and all, but.. they look so fake!).

Ducky Momo​

Poor out of focus Ducky Momo. He deserves better.

Phineas and Ferb​

It’s actually really hard to write about our MGM day. I only seem to remember feeling lost and overwhelmed; I seem to be unable to keep a mental map of MGM. Everything just looks the same and there were so many people. I could navigate California Adventure in May better than MGM and I’ve been to MGM multiple times. It was frustrating and neither of us was in the best mood – which also isn’t very conducive to photos.

Magic


Hey Santa!​

These photos aren’t edited very heavily and I’ve been super lazy with them; I really need to get back to MGM and try to get some good pictures! Especially when I compare these December photos to what I’ve been doing this summer, I definitely see an improvement.

Pizza Planet​

Eventually the crowd plus us ended up at Pizza Planet and it seemed like a good idea to stay with everyone. Pizza Planet was a good enough lunch – I had thought I wanted Starring Rolls, but it seemed to be an insurmountable task to go all the way across the park for a sandwich when there was pizza and cupcakes in front of me.

Well, in front of Bear. Pizza Planet was absolutely packed, even though it was barely lunchtime. MGM does NOT handle crowds well and I can’t wait for it to get a DCA-style revamp (no Carsland, though, just more stuff available to soak up crowds). Bear stood in the mind-bogglingly long line while I searched around for a table.

I don’t know who had the worst task – standing in line is boring but finding a table is HARD. Trying to figure out where the were actually people sitting (versus people needed all those extra seats for... imaginary friends, I guess, because there certainly were never actual bodies in the chairs).

Buzz Lightyear, Space Ranger​

I managed to snag a table by the bathroom (prime real estate, yo) and Bear eventually joined me. We ate quickly; Pizza Planet isn’t exactly a comfortable and inviting atmosphere and there was a little girl next to us trying to scrape together enough chairs for her family. Bear and I traded off bathroom breaks and dragging another table over for the girl.

Alien Butts??​

This is the sort of quality photography I was reduced to. 11:30AM was a dark time, y’all.

After creating the Ultimate Family Dining Area in Pizza Planet, we escaped the crowds and noise – straight into an impressively long line for the Muppets.

Mlle. Piggy


Follow the Feet​

I’d never seen a line like this; usually I walk straight into the next show for Muppets. I guess Christmas crowds came early to MGM? And they were all very enthusiastic for some good ol’ 3D humor?

Air Ducks
​

who doesn’t love a good air-conditioning pun??

Ducts


Beaker​

The line at least has lots of good gags, a nice change of conversation from ‘Well what do you want to do?’ ‘Are you sure?’ etc., etc. THANK GOD FOR MUPPETS. I am 100% behind any effort to expand the Muppets part of MGM. There just really aren’t enough ‘classic’ rides in the park and I think the Muppets would make a great modern dark ride.

Costumes


A Fish May Love a Bird


Costumes 2​

I love the preshow room in Muppets 3D even more than the queue, if that’s possible. It’s almost better than the actual attraction! The movie, all the props scattered around, plenty of space, good lighting all add up to an A+ environment.

Muppets 3D Theatre​

I believe Bear hadn’t been to Muppets before this and, overall, got a much more positive reaction than LMA. So now we have scientific proof that Muppets > cars.

(wow am I rusty with writing the ol’ TR. sorry!


PS: If you are not already depressed by the ending of the Olympics, watch this deleted scene from Lilo and Stitch. What a perfect movie, Lilo 4 queen of the universe)

 

[Merida]

I completely agree with DHS now just feeling strange and bizarre. I always always ALWAYS seem to get lost there, even though we've been there many a time.

I don't know what it is! Everything is just so BROWN there. Except Gertie the Dinosaur - I can always find Gertie, Tower of Terror, and the Great Movie Ride. This is possibly why my MGM days are so boring and frustrating, if those are the only three things I can do!