Despite my fears that perhaps hope was gone, and I would in fact spend my day at the Magic Kingdom bus stop, Sydney and I had rejoined the kpkrew and we had all ventured forth to MGM. The Studios.
On entering the park, we immediately had a brush with greatness. Twice. Three times, even! But we were presented with a grave dilemma.
Jasmine and Too White (Sydneyspeak) were both greeting their fans. But both lines were long. We knew we had no chance of meeting both. A quick family conference determined that we would go see Too White. Because Sydney loved her, and we all hoped maybe shed enjoy THIS character interaction. Based on our past experiences, I would say we were once again being optimistic. But thats ok. Optimism is our way.
Heres Conor explaining to Too White about Sydneys name for her, and explaining Sydneys reluctance to meet characters up close.
As you can see, our optimism was slightly off base here. Again. But she did allow herself to be plastered to me on the side NEAREST the character. Thats progress, folks.
Sadly, Naked Jasmines (We have referred to her that way every since Conor had commented, Why does Jasmine go around, like, almost naked?) bodyguards had closed her line, just as we had feared. So we snagged a surreptitious photo, paparazzi style, and cropped out the kid that was in it with her.
And, to complete our trifecta of character sightings within a 5 minute time span, Doug spotted Poppeeenz (Sydneyspeak). She and her penguin sidekick were about to disappear behind the wall, off to backstageland. Like the great Disney Dad he is, knowing how fond of Poppeeeenz his girls are, Doug shouted, Hey Mary! Just before she opened the door to her midday break, Poppeeeeenz turned to give us a jaunty wave.
Since we hadn't yet introduced our crew to the wonders of autograph books, the paparazzi photos were just as good.
It seemed like a good time to continue the princess (and practically perfect) extravaganza, and having some time to spare before our early, early, open the restaurant PS at the Brown Derby, we decided to go catch the Beauty and the Beast stage show.
It was HOT that day. Very. Not feeling like wandering around in it, we opted to have some cold drinks and just chill while we waited for showtime.
We were at once entranced and disappointed by this show. Disappointed only because it (necessarily) left out some of the richer details of the Beauty and the Beast movie. But entranced, thoroughly, by the costumes, the singing, the dancing, the clever way that they made magical transformations happen on stage before our eyes instead of behind the scenes with tricks of animation. I liken the experience to watching the Harry Potter movies; they are definitely awesome and very much worth seeing, but nothing will compare to the richness of story and the complete immersion in another world that comes with reading the books.
Our next stop was a long-awaited one, for me. Since that first visit to the Studios with our Grad Nite group, I had always wanted to try it. In fact, ever since my very first Disney trip in 1978 I had wanted to be one of those privileged folks dining in leisure at the Disney restaurants. In the childhood trips, we were accompanied by my nana, who had grown up during the Depression and wouldnt tolerate unnecessary expenditures. So
PB&J and baloney sandwiches in the park, at Nanas insistence. For the most part. It will probably come as no surprise to you that my dear sister, The Enabler (who is currently working on her own trip report, by the way! Go see!) arranged our first experience with sustenance, the Disney way. Dinner at Chef Mickeys, for the Grand Gathering (before there was such a thing) of my dad, his wife and her parents, my grandfather, my brother, three sisters, myself and Doug. My sister Kathleen had recently turned 16, so we took the opportunity to celebrate it. It was so much fun! For most of us. Our baby sister, age four at the time, spent much of the evening cowering from the enthusiastic, napkin waving characters.
Anyway. Back to 2005. And this belated trip report.
We were immediately seated in a corner banquette, and Sydney promptly fell asleep on the comfy leather(ish) bench. She has made somewhat of a habit of sleeping through our sit-down meals, including 1900 Park Fare and the Brown Derby on this trip, and again at Alfredos and Marrakesh on our trip in January 2006. (theres a scintillating tidbit to look forward to, is it not? Child sleeps through dinner! Film at 11.)
We shared the Cobb salad for an appetizer, of course. Delish. Yum. I then had the Thai Noodle Bowl with Coconut Crusted Tofu. Double yum. Doug had, I believe, the filet. The kids, the awake ones, had kid food. Hot dog and macaroni and cheese. But a salad, for an appetizer. How fancy of them.
We enjoyed this dinner very much. Were utterly bummed to realize that we couldnt use the DDE card here, because we were doing the Fantasmic! dinner package. And Doug might have mentioned that the portions were a tad skimpy, for the price. So we probably wont be back any time soon.
Our dinner ended just in time for the 3 o clock parade, which at MGM is at 4:30. Stars and Motor Cars. Thankfully, Sydney woke up for it. Because if she hadnt, she wouldve missed seeing Too White drive by. And we wouldnt have gotten this picture:
or this one:
Thats what its all about.
I love the haircut pictures. Salvador gave our little boy his first haircut back in March '05. We went back to the world in Jan. '06 and he did it again. That man is so calm and patient. My little boy sat so still for him.
It makes me think of my children when they were that age. I miss those chubby little fingers and hands. It makes me all sentimental! Where are the kleenex?
