The Cast:
Me (Im not telling my age): Chief decision maker, planner and organiser extraordinaire
Darren (39): Mr. Grumpy, Marathon Man and Map Reader
Mollie (10): Jekyll & Hyde pre-teen and big girls blouse
Kirsty (4): Scaredy Cat and Drama Queen
Day 7 and the troops are slacking, they want to waste time sleeping in! really, I dont think so! They are soon booted out of their pits, quite literally in Darrens case, and on the move. Mr. Grumpy is dispatched to fetch the morning drinks whilst I deal with the girls as usual. Once I have them up and at it its not so bad and in no time at all we are on our way to MGM.
We arrive in time for opening, thats a first, and as soon as we are let in we head round to pick up a FP for me to do RnR. Last time I somehow never managed to fit this in so it was top of my list for this time. I never wanted to do TOT after seeing the planning video as I honestly thought you had to stand up as you were plummeted to certain death below, that was just way to scary even for me but after some careful research I discovered this was not the case but just when I decided it was a must try it was announced this would be closed for refurbishment, drat I thought Ive missed my chance again. However when we picked up the FP for RnR I discovered one side of ToT was open so I also picked up a FP for this too, yeah!!!
FP secured we next had to find somewhere for breakfast. We ended up at the ABC Commissary. It was the usual breakfast offerings, nothing terribly exciting but it sufficed. Tummies now full the adventures could begin. We headed round to catch Muppet Vision. When it came to picking up the 3D glasses Kirsty had a panic attack, Im sure she was having terrible visions of spiders, snakes and baddies worse than Hopper! Somehow I managed to convince her that this one would be okay, none of the aforementioned appeared in this show and with a promise that we would sit at the end and escape if she really wanted to she eventually agreed to come in but she wasnt wearing those glasses, no way! She was obviously convinced in her little 4 year old mind that it was the glasses that made her see the bad things. She never did put the glasses on but at least she stayed in the theatre for the entire show!
My FP time for RnR has arrived so we head on round. Darren and the girls rest for a while with a nice cold ice-cream whilst Im on the ride. RnR what can I say! it is absolutely fantastic! Its such a shame Darren cant do coasters as he really would love the theming, the music and the speed of this ride. I come off the ride absolutely buzzing I just wish there was someone in our little group I could convince to come back on with me as I really want to share the excitement of RnR, alas I have more hope of winning the lottery!
Next we head over to The Little Mermaid but have just missed the next show, the same thing happens with Playhouse Disney, not having much luck here as the queues are way too long to wait. We havent quite got MGM sussed and as you will see we end up missing a lot of things today due to our ignorance and lack of planning but we learn from this experience for next time. Anyway after much deliberating and walking about aimlessly we end up on the Backlot Tour which was fine. When we have finished this we realise that my FP time for ToT has not only come around but I actually only have 5 mins left to get round there so I leave Darren with the girls and do a mad dash. I just about make it. However even though I have a FP with only one side of ToT open it still took ages to get on the ride, I think I queued for 20 mins still that was good as the normal line was showing 120 mins!!! ToT again what can I say? the theming is outstanding, the excitement and fear is almost palpable and the actual ride? well its just brilliant!!!! Its a very close call between this and RnR to which is now top ride but I think ToT just pips to the post. I emerge with just enough time to make my second FP for RnR before it expires. ToT followed by RnR FANTASTIC!!!!!
Well I have been having a great time all to myself but poor Darren and the girls have been doing nothing but hanging around waiting for me (I told you we didnt plan this very well) so now its their turn. We now have time to go catch Playhouse Disney. This is just a little too young for Mollie but Kirsty loved it and danced away. We followed this up with one of Mollies favourites, The Little Mermaid. Fortunately, Kirsty liked this as well although she got a bit frightened by Ursula even though shes watched the video like a zillion times. Next we headed for HISTA playground where the girls went off to run around while Darren and I had a rest. He hasnt really managed to do anything he particularly likes today but he assures me hes still enjoyed himself, never mind Ill make it up to him next time.
It is now time for our FDP at Hollywood and Vine so we go check in, glad we had a booking as it was so packed they were turning people away! We had a 10 min or so wait before being shown to our seat. This was a very enjoyable buffet with plenty of choice for everyone even managed to persuade Kirsty to eat a little, she has eaten in the 7 days we have been here what she would normally consume in 1 day but she seems fine so I cant work out whats the matter, us mothers we just never stop worrying!
Fully stuffed we head on round to the amphitheatre for Fantasmic. Whilst waiting we are persuaded to part with some cash as the girls must have one of those luminous wavy things then popcorn then drinks (wish this show would hurry up and start before we go bankrupt). When the Mexican wave has died a death through natural causes Kirsty decides to give an impromptu performance to keep the waiting guests amused, we are sitting at the end of the bench so she stands up, moves over onto the passageway and starts singing a song from The Little Mermaid! Now as Ive said before I love my baby more than life itself but not even mother love is totally deaf and under no circumstances would I ever dream of subjecting poor innocent bystanders to what Kirsty believes is singing but which is, in actual fact, more akin to the noise one would imagine a cat would make on being skinned!!! Still she gives a performance Shirley Bassey, Madonna or Britney (most age groups covered) would have been proud off however I think the applause at the end was due to everyones relief that the din had finally ceased. Anyway the real show finally begins and it was, well Fantasmic! We all really enjoyed this spectacular show which was even better than I had imagined. Again, catching Fantasmic was a first for us and was definitely worth it. Tired but happy bunnies we head for home where theres a surprise awaiting.
Every time we have gone back to our room housekeeping have arranged the girls collection of stuffed animals on the bed in a different position each time so each day they have looked forward to getting back to see what the animals have been up to that day. They have also been arranging their balloons for example one day we got back to find Tinkerbelle under the covers and Mickey/Minnie in the bath. Tonight we got home to discover that Tinkerbelle had been multiplying, we have been taken over by the invasion of the balloon snatchers, instead of one Tinkerbelle in our room we now had not 2, not 3 but 4 all floating around the girls bed. Would the real Tinkerbelle please stand up!!!! Needless to say the girls thought this was great but you couldnt move for balloons. Now you know that those balloons you leave behind get passed on to a good home.
Tomorrow were going offsite to US so goodnight for now.
Kirsty Fav Thing: The Little Mermaid
Lease Fav Thing: Muppet Vision
Mollie Fav Thing: Fantasmic
Least Fav Thing: hanging around (oh what a selfish mother I am)
Darren Fav Thing: Fantasmic
Least Fav Thing: Playhouse Disney
Me Fav Thing: Today this is quite a hard one but in no particular order it would have to be ToT/RnR/Fantasmic
Least Fav Thing: Backlot Tour
Annmarie
Me (Im not telling my age): Chief decision maker, planner and organiser extraordinaire
Darren (39): Mr. Grumpy, Marathon Man and Map Reader
Mollie (10): Jekyll & Hyde pre-teen and big girls blouse
Kirsty (4): Scaredy Cat and Drama Queen
Day 7 and the troops are slacking, they want to waste time sleeping in! really, I dont think so! They are soon booted out of their pits, quite literally in Darrens case, and on the move. Mr. Grumpy is dispatched to fetch the morning drinks whilst I deal with the girls as usual. Once I have them up and at it its not so bad and in no time at all we are on our way to MGM.
We arrive in time for opening, thats a first, and as soon as we are let in we head round to pick up a FP for me to do RnR. Last time I somehow never managed to fit this in so it was top of my list for this time. I never wanted to do TOT after seeing the planning video as I honestly thought you had to stand up as you were plummeted to certain death below, that was just way to scary even for me but after some careful research I discovered this was not the case but just when I decided it was a must try it was announced this would be closed for refurbishment, drat I thought Ive missed my chance again. However when we picked up the FP for RnR I discovered one side of ToT was open so I also picked up a FP for this too, yeah!!!
FP secured we next had to find somewhere for breakfast. We ended up at the ABC Commissary. It was the usual breakfast offerings, nothing terribly exciting but it sufficed. Tummies now full the adventures could begin. We headed round to catch Muppet Vision. When it came to picking up the 3D glasses Kirsty had a panic attack, Im sure she was having terrible visions of spiders, snakes and baddies worse than Hopper! Somehow I managed to convince her that this one would be okay, none of the aforementioned appeared in this show and with a promise that we would sit at the end and escape if she really wanted to she eventually agreed to come in but she wasnt wearing those glasses, no way! She was obviously convinced in her little 4 year old mind that it was the glasses that made her see the bad things. She never did put the glasses on but at least she stayed in the theatre for the entire show!
My FP time for RnR has arrived so we head on round. Darren and the girls rest for a while with a nice cold ice-cream whilst Im on the ride. RnR what can I say! it is absolutely fantastic! Its such a shame Darren cant do coasters as he really would love the theming, the music and the speed of this ride. I come off the ride absolutely buzzing I just wish there was someone in our little group I could convince to come back on with me as I really want to share the excitement of RnR, alas I have more hope of winning the lottery!
Next we head over to The Little Mermaid but have just missed the next show, the same thing happens with Playhouse Disney, not having much luck here as the queues are way too long to wait. We havent quite got MGM sussed and as you will see we end up missing a lot of things today due to our ignorance and lack of planning but we learn from this experience for next time. Anyway after much deliberating and walking about aimlessly we end up on the Backlot Tour which was fine. When we have finished this we realise that my FP time for ToT has not only come around but I actually only have 5 mins left to get round there so I leave Darren with the girls and do a mad dash. I just about make it. However even though I have a FP with only one side of ToT open it still took ages to get on the ride, I think I queued for 20 mins still that was good as the normal line was showing 120 mins!!! ToT again what can I say? the theming is outstanding, the excitement and fear is almost palpable and the actual ride? well its just brilliant!!!! Its a very close call between this and RnR to which is now top ride but I think ToT just pips to the post. I emerge with just enough time to make my second FP for RnR before it expires. ToT followed by RnR FANTASTIC!!!!!
Well I have been having a great time all to myself but poor Darren and the girls have been doing nothing but hanging around waiting for me (I told you we didnt plan this very well) so now its their turn. We now have time to go catch Playhouse Disney. This is just a little too young for Mollie but Kirsty loved it and danced away. We followed this up with one of Mollies favourites, The Little Mermaid. Fortunately, Kirsty liked this as well although she got a bit frightened by Ursula even though shes watched the video like a zillion times. Next we headed for HISTA playground where the girls went off to run around while Darren and I had a rest. He hasnt really managed to do anything he particularly likes today but he assures me hes still enjoyed himself, never mind Ill make it up to him next time.
It is now time for our FDP at Hollywood and Vine so we go check in, glad we had a booking as it was so packed they were turning people away! We had a 10 min or so wait before being shown to our seat. This was a very enjoyable buffet with plenty of choice for everyone even managed to persuade Kirsty to eat a little, she has eaten in the 7 days we have been here what she would normally consume in 1 day but she seems fine so I cant work out whats the matter, us mothers we just never stop worrying!
Fully stuffed we head on round to the amphitheatre for Fantasmic. Whilst waiting we are persuaded to part with some cash as the girls must have one of those luminous wavy things then popcorn then drinks (wish this show would hurry up and start before we go bankrupt). When the Mexican wave has died a death through natural causes Kirsty decides to give an impromptu performance to keep the waiting guests amused, we are sitting at the end of the bench so she stands up, moves over onto the passageway and starts singing a song from The Little Mermaid! Now as Ive said before I love my baby more than life itself but not even mother love is totally deaf and under no circumstances would I ever dream of subjecting poor innocent bystanders to what Kirsty believes is singing but which is, in actual fact, more akin to the noise one would imagine a cat would make on being skinned!!! Still she gives a performance Shirley Bassey, Madonna or Britney (most age groups covered) would have been proud off however I think the applause at the end was due to everyones relief that the din had finally ceased. Anyway the real show finally begins and it was, well Fantasmic! We all really enjoyed this spectacular show which was even better than I had imagined. Again, catching Fantasmic was a first for us and was definitely worth it. Tired but happy bunnies we head for home where theres a surprise awaiting.
Every time we have gone back to our room housekeeping have arranged the girls collection of stuffed animals on the bed in a different position each time so each day they have looked forward to getting back to see what the animals have been up to that day. They have also been arranging their balloons for example one day we got back to find Tinkerbelle under the covers and Mickey/Minnie in the bath. Tonight we got home to discover that Tinkerbelle had been multiplying, we have been taken over by the invasion of the balloon snatchers, instead of one Tinkerbelle in our room we now had not 2, not 3 but 4 all floating around the girls bed. Would the real Tinkerbelle please stand up!!!! Needless to say the girls thought this was great but you couldnt move for balloons. Now you know that those balloons you leave behind get passed on to a good home.
Tomorrow were going offsite to US so goodnight for now.
Kirsty Fav Thing: The Little Mermaid
Lease Fav Thing: Muppet Vision
Mollie Fav Thing: Fantasmic
Least Fav Thing: hanging around (oh what a selfish mother I am)
Darren Fav Thing: Fantasmic
Least Fav Thing: Playhouse Disney
Me Fav Thing: Today this is quite a hard one but in no particular order it would have to be ToT/RnR/Fantasmic
Least Fav Thing: Backlot Tour
Annmarie
