Monday July 29
Another great night's sleep. We get up around 7am get dressed, make sure we have everything in the packs and head to the bus stop for the MGM bus. Not a very long wait at all. We board the bus and then head to FW for pick up there. Wasn't too bad as we used the service road. After picking up a rather loud group from FW, we were on our way. Ride was fairly short and that was good, because this group was annoying everyone with how loud they were.
We arrive at MGM around 8:30am and stand in the shortest line we can find. It never fails that while in line, you see other people go to the empty turnstiles and wait until a CM tells them that it is not open. Do these people really believe the other 1000 people standing there in long lines are that stupid to just leave a turnstile open? Anyway, I digress. After about 20 minutes the turnstiles are open and we herd in like a bunch of cattle. I have one goal in mind this morning and that is to ride RNR and ToT. Since DW is expecting, she can't ride and that makes it easier for me to get to them. She can take a leisurely walk while I make a beeline for that area. Well myself and about 100+ others walk toward RNR & ToT. We are then stopped just short for the rope drop. After about five minutes the CM's at the rope ask that everyone walk behind them once the rope drops and to my surprise everyone seemed to obey. Of course they were walking at a fairly brisk pace, so one would have had to be in a run to pass them. First stop RNR. Walk right on and able to get in the second car out. Love this ride. Went streaming off into the dark with "Dude Looks Like A Lady" playing all around. After RNR, DW is waiting with a fastpass to ToT for me, but didn't need it. Stand by was only 10 minutes, so off I go. Another great ride, not as rough as some other dropping rides I have been on. After the ride, I meet DW and DD and we head for the rest of the park.
First stop is the large Sorcerer Hat. I had a certificate to get a free pin there and I wanted to get that out of the way. It was a nice pin, Sorcerer Mickey sitting at a computer and the 100 years logo is on the screen. Had a lot of people ask to trade for it, but no dice. Sorcerer Mickey is my favorite. We then head towards the Little Mermaid show. Already a long line and the show is still 45 minutes away. OK, our first opportunity for FastPass. With FP in hand, we head to Playhouse which is close to starting and the line is considerably shorter. This was a great show. DD loves watching Playhouse Disney on TV and playing the games on her PC. Once the show is over, we walk out and our FP time is starting so we go right into Little Mermaid. We are like two people back from the doors when they open to let everyone into the theater. We got great seats, pretty much in the middle front to back and left to right. Another great show. I recommend these two shows to anyone going to the world with small kids.
From here, we head toward Muppets. Dw and I first saw this show on our honeymoon and we had to see it again. When we got there, the line was quite long, so we decided to eat at Pizza Planet since it was right there and nearly lunch time. They have really good pizza to be counter service. After eating and promising DD that we can play video games later, we go get in line for Muppets. Our luck holds out, just as we are getting in line, they open the doors and it starts to move. Good thing, it would have been hot standing in the sun. Muppets again did not disappoint. It was a real blast to watch DD reach out to grab things as they came toward her. About half way through, the would look at something and then take her glasses off to see if it were real. As we exited Muppets, Jessie, Woody and Buzz were at Al's Toy Barn, so here we go to get their autographs. Boy is it getting hot. MGM has to be the hottest park in WDW, with all the buildings around, there is hardly a breeze or any air movement at all. Our only other attraction to see, Beauty and the Beast was closed that day, so we were done. I know a lot of people like MGM and that's fine, but I don't think we are one of them. It just seems real hot and crowds are forced to stay together, not as open as other parks. Next trip, MGM may be an evening adventure when it is cooler. RNR, ToT and the shows are great, just not an all day park in my opinion.
Back to the lodge for some leisure time. After some down time for everyone to rest, we head for the boat dock to catch a boat to MK. Again, very short wait. We arrive at MK with one thing in mind....TURKEY LEG!!!! It is a must for every trip to WDW. After looking at the map, we find a counter over in Tomorrowland that has them. Off we go. We locate the counter and order the famed delight. UMMM, just as good as we remember. DW and I split one and it is a plenty. By this time, DD has dosed off in her stroller. I guess I should mention that our down time very rarely included a nap, more like just hanging around in the room and swimming in the pool. As we finished the leg, we noticed Buzz had a FastPass time that was not that far off. I scooted over and picked up FP's. Now we had about 45 minutes to kill so we decided to go over and get DD a hot dog for when she woke up. We took a nice little stroll over to Pinnochio's Haus, we knew they had them there and they weren't very expensive. After picking up the hot dog, we walk back over toward Buzz. It is still about 20 minutes left before FP so DW and I find a seat and do a little people watching. DD begins to come out of her comatose state and we have just enough time for her to eat the hot dog before FP time. Now it is time, we head in to Buzz and with FP we walk right on. DW and I are the shooters and DD is the spinner. This makes for a very interesting round. After reading these boards, I knew there was a high score target on the robots arm just as you go in. I immediately start looking for it and UH OH, there goes my sunglasses. They were on top of my head and when I looked up, there they went. Glad they only cost $1. anyway, saw the target, getting ready to fire and ....spin. AHHHH, missed it. Now I am reduced to getting just an average score. Turns out DD just wanted to spin and DW and I could only shoot selected targets. Have to come back and do this again.
After Buzz, we head to FrontierLand. We want to see what the line is like at Haunted Mansion. Twenty Five minutes. We decide to go for it. We don't tell DD what it is so she doesn't get too scared before we get in there. Once we get into the first room, I pick DD up. I figure she could accept things a lot better if I am holding her. She really did great. I could tell she was leary of things but she never really got scared. Dw and I tried to make it fun to keep her from being scared. After HM, we go towards Splash Mountain to get a good spot for Spectro. Plenty of space here and we are on the front and end up watching all of Spectro without one person trying to get in front of us and no one ever stood behind us. It was great. I could stand up for photos and not be in anyone's way. This as it would turn out is the best place to view the parade in our opinion. They come really close to you and it seems more personable.
After Spectro, we head to Ariel's Grotto. Another tip from here, an unobstructed view of the fireworks with little to no crowds. We did see TinkerBell fly from the Castle. That would be the only drawback to this location, she is behind you and a good distance away. Once the fireworks are over, we wait for the masses to clear a little and head for the boats to WL. We then settle in after another action packed, fun day at WDW.
Another great night's sleep. We get up around 7am get dressed, make sure we have everything in the packs and head to the bus stop for the MGM bus. Not a very long wait at all. We board the bus and then head to FW for pick up there. Wasn't too bad as we used the service road. After picking up a rather loud group from FW, we were on our way. Ride was fairly short and that was good, because this group was annoying everyone with how loud they were.
We arrive at MGM around 8:30am and stand in the shortest line we can find. It never fails that while in line, you see other people go to the empty turnstiles and wait until a CM tells them that it is not open. Do these people really believe the other 1000 people standing there in long lines are that stupid to just leave a turnstile open? Anyway, I digress. After about 20 minutes the turnstiles are open and we herd in like a bunch of cattle. I have one goal in mind this morning and that is to ride RNR and ToT. Since DW is expecting, she can't ride and that makes it easier for me to get to them. She can take a leisurely walk while I make a beeline for that area. Well myself and about 100+ others walk toward RNR & ToT. We are then stopped just short for the rope drop. After about five minutes the CM's at the rope ask that everyone walk behind them once the rope drops and to my surprise everyone seemed to obey. Of course they were walking at a fairly brisk pace, so one would have had to be in a run to pass them. First stop RNR. Walk right on and able to get in the second car out. Love this ride. Went streaming off into the dark with "Dude Looks Like A Lady" playing all around. After RNR, DW is waiting with a fastpass to ToT for me, but didn't need it. Stand by was only 10 minutes, so off I go. Another great ride, not as rough as some other dropping rides I have been on. After the ride, I meet DW and DD and we head for the rest of the park.
First stop is the large Sorcerer Hat. I had a certificate to get a free pin there and I wanted to get that out of the way. It was a nice pin, Sorcerer Mickey sitting at a computer and the 100 years logo is on the screen. Had a lot of people ask to trade for it, but no dice. Sorcerer Mickey is my favorite. We then head towards the Little Mermaid show. Already a long line and the show is still 45 minutes away. OK, our first opportunity for FastPass. With FP in hand, we head to Playhouse which is close to starting and the line is considerably shorter. This was a great show. DD loves watching Playhouse Disney on TV and playing the games on her PC. Once the show is over, we walk out and our FP time is starting so we go right into Little Mermaid. We are like two people back from the doors when they open to let everyone into the theater. We got great seats, pretty much in the middle front to back and left to right. Another great show. I recommend these two shows to anyone going to the world with small kids.
From here, we head toward Muppets. Dw and I first saw this show on our honeymoon and we had to see it again. When we got there, the line was quite long, so we decided to eat at Pizza Planet since it was right there and nearly lunch time. They have really good pizza to be counter service. After eating and promising DD that we can play video games later, we go get in line for Muppets. Our luck holds out, just as we are getting in line, they open the doors and it starts to move. Good thing, it would have been hot standing in the sun. Muppets again did not disappoint. It was a real blast to watch DD reach out to grab things as they came toward her. About half way through, the would look at something and then take her glasses off to see if it were real. As we exited Muppets, Jessie, Woody and Buzz were at Al's Toy Barn, so here we go to get their autographs. Boy is it getting hot. MGM has to be the hottest park in WDW, with all the buildings around, there is hardly a breeze or any air movement at all. Our only other attraction to see, Beauty and the Beast was closed that day, so we were done. I know a lot of people like MGM and that's fine, but I don't think we are one of them. It just seems real hot and crowds are forced to stay together, not as open as other parks. Next trip, MGM may be an evening adventure when it is cooler. RNR, ToT and the shows are great, just not an all day park in my opinion.
Back to the lodge for some leisure time. After some down time for everyone to rest, we head for the boat dock to catch a boat to MK. Again, very short wait. We arrive at MK with one thing in mind....TURKEY LEG!!!! It is a must for every trip to WDW. After looking at the map, we find a counter over in Tomorrowland that has them. Off we go. We locate the counter and order the famed delight. UMMM, just as good as we remember. DW and I split one and it is a plenty. By this time, DD has dosed off in her stroller. I guess I should mention that our down time very rarely included a nap, more like just hanging around in the room and swimming in the pool. As we finished the leg, we noticed Buzz had a FastPass time that was not that far off. I scooted over and picked up FP's. Now we had about 45 minutes to kill so we decided to go over and get DD a hot dog for when she woke up. We took a nice little stroll over to Pinnochio's Haus, we knew they had them there and they weren't very expensive. After picking up the hot dog, we walk back over toward Buzz. It is still about 20 minutes left before FP so DW and I find a seat and do a little people watching. DD begins to come out of her comatose state and we have just enough time for her to eat the hot dog before FP time. Now it is time, we head in to Buzz and with FP we walk right on. DW and I are the shooters and DD is the spinner. This makes for a very interesting round. After reading these boards, I knew there was a high score target on the robots arm just as you go in. I immediately start looking for it and UH OH, there goes my sunglasses. They were on top of my head and when I looked up, there they went. Glad they only cost $1. anyway, saw the target, getting ready to fire and ....spin. AHHHH, missed it. Now I am reduced to getting just an average score. Turns out DD just wanted to spin and DW and I could only shoot selected targets. Have to come back and do this again.
After Buzz, we head to FrontierLand. We want to see what the line is like at Haunted Mansion. Twenty Five minutes. We decide to go for it. We don't tell DD what it is so she doesn't get too scared before we get in there. Once we get into the first room, I pick DD up. I figure she could accept things a lot better if I am holding her. She really did great. I could tell she was leary of things but she never really got scared. Dw and I tried to make it fun to keep her from being scared. After HM, we go towards Splash Mountain to get a good spot for Spectro. Plenty of space here and we are on the front and end up watching all of Spectro without one person trying to get in front of us and no one ever stood behind us. It was great. I could stand up for photos and not be in anyone's way. This as it would turn out is the best place to view the parade in our opinion. They come really close to you and it seems more personable.
After Spectro, we head to Ariel's Grotto. Another tip from here, an unobstructed view of the fireworks with little to no crowds. We did see TinkerBell fly from the Castle. That would be the only drawback to this location, she is behind you and a good distance away. Once the fireworks are over, we wait for the masses to clear a little and head for the boats to WL. We then settle in after another action packed, fun day at WDW.
