Okay so we had just screwed up and missed the parade. I was really so upset with myself.
But no crying over spilt milk or missed parades right?
So off we went. By now it had to be going on 3:30 or so. The plan was originally to stick around for the 8:30 Fantasmic but I could tell that was going to be a stretch. It was a warm day, the park was crowded, people were getting tired. This might not work.
For now we walked towards Tower of Terror again.
Don't you just love seeing that? I know I do! And wasn't the sky just so blue that day?
We were getting hungry since we had not eaten since our late breakfast so we decided on counter service at Rosie's All American Cafe. Looked harmless enough. Well Grumpy got the Double Cheeseburger, I got the regular one and they were, well they were awful. They just tasted like amusement park burgers. I would have rather had McDonald's. Not happy with this meal. Belle had Macaroni and Cheese and the other two had Chicken if I recall. We let them eat the Chocolate Cakes from our meals as already the sight of Sugar Free Jello was wearing thin.
At this point the girls really wanted to ride Rock'n'Rollar Coaster. We did not have a FP for it but the wait only said 20 minutes. I decided to sit this one out and wait with Goofy. Grumpy and the girls got in the standby line.
Most of the time it seemed standy times were actually less than what was posted. This was one of those instances where it seemed like it was longer. I think they were gone 30 minutes. Goofy and I just sat on the wall by the exit and it was actually kind of nice to just chill out with him. He was happy to just sit/lay there and listen to the music cranking. And who doesn't love people watching at Disney, simply the best.
When they exited they went on and on about how awesome it was, they all loved it. I would have to wait till tomorrow to ride because I was not going to get in that line and leave Goofy sitting around again. He did so well waiting for them, I didn't want to push it you know? Not always easy being 41 inches tall.
We still had Tower of Terror FPs in our pocket from the morning. Bashful was dying to go again but Belle and Goofy were not interested. Dissention in the ranks! So we decided that Grumpy would take Goofy and Belle to Star Tours to ride again. I would take Bashful on TOT. We would meet at the hat, everyone would be happy.
So we went to get in the FP line and the standby line was like 50 minutes long. Thank goodness for FP! I had extra and found a couple to give them to. They were headed right for the standby line. I said "Here you can have these FP, we don't need them". I don't know if they spoke English because they took them but didn't say much to me and looked awfully confused. Oh well, I tried to pixie dust someone!
TOT did not disappoint the second time around. That ride is just FUN!
We headed towards the hat, pitstopping on the way to the restroom. Bashful feels the need to check out every bathroom at every place we go.
The line for the Great Movie Ride did not seem long so we hopped in. Well that was decieving. We got in the room where they show the movie clips and the queue zigs and zags and zigs some more and it seemed like we weren't moving. We saw the each clip at least twice and it was just beginning to make me wish we did not get in this line. They should redo that film they show you too. Not change the movies as most are classics but just refinish or refurbish the film if they can, it just looks scratchy and old.
Finally we boarded and off we went. I wasn't sure how the kids would enjoy this one. They love Wizard of Oz so I knew they'd like that but many other ones I was afraid would either be snoozeville or terrifying (Alien). Our guide was sweet and quite peppy and perky. The ride was fine, we had the gangster, and the kids liked the part where the guide came back. We warned them about the Aliens section and so they did okay. Wizard of Oz as expected was well received.
Overall though this was not a family favorite. It just needs a big refurb I think. It sort of screams "DATED". I love movies and there is so much that could be done with this. Methinks it is time!
Well we were thinking we should just go home now. Staying for the late Fantasmic was definately not going to happen and I was sad about that but knew it was best for the group. I really wanted to see the Osbourne Lights though. So we decided to trek down for that.
We walked alot today. Even though MGM is fairly small going back and forth a few times will tire those leg muscles. But the lights were worth it. The "snow" was falling (heck it was more snow than we have had here in MA all winter!) and the lights were dancing and the music was playing and it was just really amazing to see! If you are there at Christmas time you have to go. I can't even imagine that this was all at some man's home at one point!
I must say Belle did bring other clothes. She has several of the same pair of jean shorts and I only packed one zip up sweatshirt which she wore a lot so it appears in all these pictures that she is wearing the exact same clothes! She is not in case you were thinking "Poor girl, always wearing the same clothes"
So having had enough of lights we began the shuffle to the exit. We found our bus and were on our way. It is not a long ride to Pop from MGM at all which was nice.
On the way to the room the girls saw that the hair wrap lady was still open and almost done her one client. We told the boys to go on ahead and we stopped so they could do this. Stephanie was her name and she was very chatty and friendly. She works for a hair wrap company that leases the space from Disney. She wears a Disney name tag but is not employed by Disney. She told me she used to work for Disney, she "helped" Minnie Mouse. Anyway, these things can get pricy with the beads and all and times 2 girls well I was not feeling in the mood to spend $50 on hair wraps. So I told the girls string only, no beads. They were cool with that. Belle chose pink/black/white and Bashful picked white/green/red for Christmas colors. It took about 30 minutes to get them both done. As we left there were 2 other girls lined up and a man was signed up to get his very long goatee done. I would have liked to have seen how that turned out!
We got the kids ready for bed quickly. PJs, teeth, hop in! Bedtimes were pretty easy on this trip, I think they were just so tired by day's end it worked out. They rotated sleeping in the two beds and took turns having the bed solo.
Grumpy and I are notorious late night snackers. We love a good bowl of chips and a mango salsa or salsa con queso or cheese and crackers or a huge Hershey bar or you get my drift? We often find ourselves snacking around 9pm and vacation was no different. Off to the food court (3 minute walk, not far at all) and I came back with our mugs filled with what we like to call "the nectar of the Gods", you might call it Diet Coke and Coke, and an order of nachos for Grumpy and a Shrimp Lo Mein for me. So, so good. Hot, fresh and I ate every bite with my chopsticks.
Time to hit the hay! We were planning on rope drop in the morning at MGM and at night an Illuminations Cruise with a family I met on the TGM boards!
