The Mousekafreak Returns to the World!

[Linzybrooke]

Alright, alright! I've got the next installment ready and just have to add the pictures!!

 

[Linzybrooke]

Act Five:
Scene One:
Location: MGM Studios

The day started out cloudy and a little drizzly. The weather called for sun so we just went out business as usual. By the time we got to MGM it was drizzling a little harder but we could see the sun trying to peak through the clouds so we headed straight in and went towards Tower of Terror to get it out of the way. I usually hang out in one of the shops on Hollywood Blvd. while Chris rides, but the standby line was only 5 minutes so I walked through with Ashley. I hadn’t walked the ToT que line since the ride opened and I had forgotten how neat it was. I was getting a little apprehensive even though I knew I wasn’t going to actually get on the ride. I’m always afraid that I’m going to get up to the front, ask for the exit and they are going to tell me there isn’t one and I have to ride. Well, Ashley got this genius idea to get a picture of me getting into the elevator to try to fool Chris with at home and that made me more nervous! I just knew I was going to put my foot and the bellhop was going to push me and laugh as I screamed my fool head off…

But, they let Ashley take her picture and I did indeed make it to the chicken exit and down to wait for Ashley by the pictures.

After ToT we sat down for Beauty and the Beast; which was just about to start. We had great seats and enjoyed the show. Those of you that do the “theatre thing” might have noticed that Belle and Gaston are live singers but the chorus isn’t. We thought that was sort of weird. I did miss the group that used to perform before the show started. That always made the wait time go by so much faster!

By the time the show was over we had about 45 minutes until our noon ADR at 50’s Prime Time so we headed to The Great Movie Ride. Our guide was really good. She was a cowgirl and was very into her position. In all my times on this ride I think she was the most enthusiastic and the best actress I have ever had on it. I’m glad they have started updating the movie clips at the end of the ride!

We headed over to the restaurant and were promptly seated. Our Aunt Theresa, whose nametag said Michelle, was our server and she started out great. Ashley and I set the table before she came over and she was, of course, impressed with us. Then she brought us our drinks and gave us some homework to do while we waited on our dinner. We had to name the 13 single-word Disney animated features. Sounds easy, but its harder than it looks. We had 15, but 2 included the word “the” and one was, apparently, not released in theatres. I’m going to have to check on that. The last one, the one we were missing, is the hard one! So, I put you to the challenge…can you do it?

Anyway, our service from Aunt Theresa went downhill from there. We never saw her, someone else brought our food, we never got our drink refills and when she finally came to take our plates she asked if we wanted dessert. We order the Dad’s Super Sundae (because what is a trip to 50’s without one?) and then 10 minutes later she came back and asked if we wanted dessert! We told her we had already ordered and she just acted stunned. We did, however, enjoy our sundae and our food. Service, not so much. When she brought our check she asked me for my ID. I handed her my drivers license, had no idea why she wanted it, and she said, “no, your Disney ID.” I told her I didn’t work for Disney, but worked for TDS and don’t have a Disney ID. She said, “No, you work front desk at Pop.” I assured her I did not but if she wanted to give me a discount anyway I wouldn’t turn it down. She walked away acting very confused and kept turning back to look at us. It was a bizarre end to our meal.

 

[Tinkerbell_Girl]

Great installment Lin! The waitress was crazy! That's too funny she thought you worked at POP!

 

[lyzziesmom]

You must look an awful lot like someone who works at POP - maybe you can get someone to stake it out for you! Twins, separated at birth??

 

[Linzybrooke]

Act Five:
Scene Two:
Location: Still MGM

After lunch we decided to take in Voyage of the Little Mermaid. Well, I should say we tried. There was a show just starting so we went to the animation store to wait for the next one, which we missed by a couple of minutes. So, we grabbed fast passes and went shopping some more. We didn’t notice that the Little Mermaid fast passes only have a ten-minute window! So, we went back to use our fast passes and had missed the window by two minutes, and the guy was not going to budge. So we grabbed fast passes for the next show and wandered down Mickey Avenue.

The wait to meet Mickey was not bad, and we figured we had just enough time to get in and get out before our fast pass time. So, we hopped in line. No sooner had we done so than Mickey had to take a cheese break. The grandmother in front of us was not happy about and spoke loudly about it until he came back from his 5-minute break. She was embarrassing her two young granddaughters something terrible and I felt so bad for those girls. Anyway, we got up to The Mouse, had our pics taken and were done with 5 minutes to spare.

We made this performance of VotLM and were happy to report that Ariel could sing! On both of our last trips Ariel’s voice was quite lacking. The little girl next to me was so excited she couldn’t sit still. It was very cute.

After the show we went back into the animation store to look around some more and we both fell in love with an etched glass drawing of Cinderella Castle. I called Chris, she called Andrew and we determined that the boys had decided to unanimously tell us no for anything we wanted to buy. It was only 125! If I hadn’t bought anything else on the trip I would have gone ahead and purchased it. Now I’m just hoping it shows up for my birthday in August.

From there we wandered out towards the other side of MGM. The Osborne lights were still up all over the Streets of America and it was neat to see, even though they weren’t turned on and wouldn’t be that night. But, I was crushed when I saw that they have now completely removed the Singin’ In The Rain light post. All that’s left is the piece of metal on the ground that you used to be able to step on to make rain. I’ve been worried that this would happen for a few years. First they removed it from the spot that used to say Mount Olivet School of Performing Arts, or something like that, then the rain stopped, and now its gone forever! I have a picture of me on the post every trip I have taken…except our honeymoon because it was behind some Osborne lights, so I have a picture of the post behind the lights. It was my favorite photo tradition.

We then went to see Muppets 3-D, our favorite of all Disney 3-D shows. It was just as funny as usual. “A Salute to all nations, but mostly America.” Bwah-ha-ha-ha!!!

Then it was time for a cool down with a Mickey Ice Cream bar. We also got to check out Lightning McQueen and Tow Mater while we snacked. Then it was time for some shopping while we waited to get hungry for dinner and for Fantasmic.

We decided to eat dinner at Sci-Fi Drive In and it was very good. We walked in and the lobby was EMPTY. 3 cast members and a manager. That was it. They seemed so happy to see us!

We were seated promptly in our car and this time we had a great waitress. I think her name was Natalia… She was great with us, very attentive and especially great with the father and kids in front of us who were confused about the changes to the dining plan. It was the best service of the trip.

We walked around after dinner and took some pictures of the park. It was completely empty. Between our restaurant and the Sorcerer Hat two teenage boys were running around singing the Mission Impossible theme and hiding in corners. It was hilarious!

Then it was onto Fantasmic where we were informed it was standing room only…but it wasn’t. The whole right hand section was empty and they were sending us all there. I had never seen it from that side and its pretty good. Except that when Snow White and Prince Charming go by on their float the lights aren’t on yet.

 

[Linzybrooke]

You must look an awful lot like someone who works at POP - maybe you can get someone to stake it out for you! Twins, separated at birth??

You up for the challenge? hehehe. This was the second of three times one of us was mistaken for a CM.

 

[lyzziesmom]

Darn, I was looking forward to finding that umbrella - I didn't know about until I started DISing last year, and then I couldn't find it because I forgot where to look!

It's funny that you mention Ariel singing... the first time I saw that show, Ariel messed up the lines to the song. She covered it very well, but being that Little Mermaid is one of my favorite movies (I actually saw it in the theater on my very first date) I knew that she skipped a line, and then picked up in a different place and repeated about 1/2 a verse. I guess if you didn't know the song that well you wouldn't have noticed.

 

[Linzybrooke]

Act Five:
Scene Three:
Location: Animal Kingdom Lodge and DTD

MGM was closing at 7 that day and we weren’t ready to go to the resort. This was our last night in WDW and we were going to make the best of it! We decided to head over to Animal Kingdom Lodge for a drink. This is where Ashley and Andrew had stayed on their Honeymoon and she also wanted to see if they had a 2006 AKL Christmas Ornament on sale in the gift shop.

So, we boarded the bus and sat next to a family with two boys. The boys were singing Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer complete with the interjections kids are so fond of. The older of the two boys asked his mom what history was. She told him it is something in the past, actually gave a very good description to a 5 year old! Anyway, she was telling him that George Washington was from a long, long time ago. He looks at her and says in complete seriousness, “I know, he’s buried in a cemetery in Virginia”. The look on moms face was priceless. She had not expected him to say or know that. She asked him how she knew and he told her that dad told him once. It was precious.

When we got to the lodge we found Ashley’s ornament in the gift shop and headed upstairs to the bar for a drink. They were just what we needed! I couldn’t tell you what we had, but mine had coconut in it and that’s all that was important!

Then we headed down to the Mara to try some of the famous Zebra Domes. They were pretty tasty, but I’ll be honest, I don’t get the big deal.

From there we headed to Downtown Disney and did some more browsing around. We weren’t feeling tired and we enjoyed just wandering the shops and taking in the atmosphere. Ashley got some Mickey head egg thingies (cookie cutters with handles essentially) and we spent a bunch of time in the Pin store looking at pins and then in the Christmas store looking at Christmas ornaments.

Then we figured we should go back to the resort and at least try to pack some before morning came…so off we went to our last night at Pop!

 

[YourMajesty]

Lin...what a great trip. I've really enjoyed your report and pictures!

 

[DonnaLeah]

Thanks for sharing the great trippie!!!! I'll miss you while I'm gone. I had to go out and buy two bags of cherry cordial kisses yesterday......I packed one bag in my suitcase!!!

 

[pozey]

Great job Lin!!

But it sucks trying to read it here at work. They've changed all these Internet filters here at work and I can't see your pictures. I'll just have to check it out at home!!