Life is a Highway

A Day at the Studios

On Thursday, our second full day in the land of the Mouse, we went to Hollywood Studios. Formerly called Disney's MGM Studios, this was the third theme park built at Disney World. Designed as a sprawling Hollywood set, it's the most visually pleasing of the parks. Upon arrival, our eyes were drawn to the iconic wizard's hat in the middle of the park. As with much of Disney's later parks and resorts, supersized is the norm.

It's amazing how early it gets hot down here - we got to the park at 9:00 and the sweating commenced immediately. We made a beeline for the Muppet Show - in glorious 3-D AND air conditioning. I don't think they've changed this show in 20+ years and it still makes us laugh. And the 3-D effects are amazing. After that we did the Backlot Tour, which showed how movies are made and demonstrated special effects such as explosions, floods and fires. Poor Meghan - the flood and fire erupted on her side of the tram, prompting the first of many "Is that real?" questions and a quick seat change. Next, Connor and I headed off for the Hollywood Tower of Terror (manly ride) while Meghan and Marie went to the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids playground (serious fun). Below is Connor walking to his doom at the Tower of Terror.

The premise of the Tower of Terror is that 5 people fell to their deaths in a hotel elevator back in the 40's. Upon entering the haunted hotel now, guests enter the Twilight Zone and retake the fatal ride. After riding the elevator to the top of the hotel, the doors open and you find yourself looking out onto the park from 13 stories up. There are several short drops and rises before the fateful fall of 13 stories in around 2 seconds. It's scary and exhilarating at the same time. While Connor enjoyed the ride, he decided he didn't want to ride it again.

Next we went to eat lunch at the Sci-Fi Cafe, where we sat in booths shaped like 50's cars at a Drive-in and watched old horror films. We had a fun lunch and great milkshakes and, again, it was AIR CONDITIONED. Here, the kids pose outside the cafe.
After lunch, we headed back to the hotel for some pool time. And once again, after a relatively short time, we endured another Florida thunderstorm of amazing proportions. The wind howled, bending and stripping the palm trees. Lightning crackled and thunder roared, and the rain came in torrents. After more than an hour, the storm relented and we were able to head back to the park.

Once again, we split into manly and artistic pursuits. Connor and I headed for the Aerosmith Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, which combines incredible speed, loops and twists combined with 5 speakers of Aerosmith music in each car. Now that's entertainment! BTW, this is the first Disney ride to turn guests upside down (except, of course, to empty their wallets). Meghan and Marie went to the Beauty and the Beast stage show. From the smiles on all of the faces, it's hard to tell who enjoyed themselves the most. Connor had a tough time deciding on purchases in the Aerosmith gift shop - fortunately, he did NOT make the following purchase.

Meghan, on the other hand, knows exactly what she wants down here.

After one more ride on the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster (awesome!), we went to the Voyage of the Little Mermaid, which Connor did under formal protest and the rest of us fully enjoyed. After a quick stop for more sugary treats, we hopped on the boat and headed back to the hotel for a well-deserved rest.

Tomorrow - Typhoon Lagoon!!!!

Two rules ...

... I've learned on this trip:

1) It's not feasible to try to blog daily when you're traveling with a 10 year old and a 5 year old, especially to Disney World. As a result, I'm catching up with a couple of postings today.

2) The good Lord and Banana Boat didn't make enough sunscreen to protect us from the hot Florida sun.  The kids did okay, but Marie and I are a bit crispy after our day at the water park. More in the following postings.

Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo-tique

Our second day at Disney World went much smoother than the first. We took the bus to the Magic Kingdom and got there in time for the 9:00 opening. We spent the morning riding all of the classic rides - Dumbo, It's a Small World, Peter Pan's Flight. Connor was gritting his teeth. His one bright spot was Pirates of the Caribbean. We deftly moved from one ride to the next with the help of a software program called RideMax, which helps you plan your day based on observed crowd patterns and the rides you want to see. You really need help navigating the Disney parks as they are almost always very crowded. Good trip decision #2.

Late in the morning, an innocuous visit to a 10 minute show called "Storytime with Belle" turned fortuitous. Belle, from Beauty and the Beast, comes out on stage and says she needs help telling her story. Next thing we know, Connor is tapped by one of Belle's helpers to play the role of Gaston, her unsuccessful suitor. Meghan is jealous and turns to us saying, "What about me?" At which point she is recruited to play the teapot. Over the next 10 minutes, Connor courts Belle, Meghan dances, Connor fights with the Beast, Meghan dances. Afterward Meghan gets Belle's autograph as well as a picture with her. Also afterward, Connor is mortified at what has just transpired, fearing he has ruined his reputation as a dude.And, of course, Grandma and Pop Pop pinch themselves over what just happened. Good trip decision #3.

 

We went back to our room in the early afternoon to rest up and prepare Meghan for her big evening. She and Marie were booked for a Princess dinner at the Grand Floridian resort. Prior to the dinner, Meg was booked at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique to get her hair, nails and makeup done. After lunch and some rest, we headed back to the Magic Kingdom. While Marie took Meghan to get made up, Connor and I went off to ride some "manly" rides, like Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Railroad. (Now that's manly.)

When Connor and I went back to pick up the ladies, we couldn't believe our eyes. Meghan really looked the part of a Princess. In addition to the makeup, nails and hair, she wore the dress my mom (Meghan's great grandmother) made for her last Halloween. Even her brother had to admit she looked good.

 

 

All of us had a wonderful evening - Meghan and Marie at the Princess dinner, Connor and John riding more manly rides (all told we rode Big Thunder Mountain 3 times and Splash Mountain 2 times - Connor was a happy man). Tomorrow, off to Disney's Hollywood Studios.

In the Land of the Mouse

Okay, first of all let me say it's damn hot down here. We left home on Tuesday as a cold front passed through and landed in 95 degree heat. (And no, it's not a dry heat.) It really takes your breath away when you're not used to it.

That said, things have gone very well so far. Our daughter was worried about how her kids would do on their first plane trip. Best description of their reaction - nonchalance. Ho hum! Connor (10) and Meghan (5) took it all in stride. Upon landing in Orlando, we took a limo down to the Disney Swan hotel, which is right next to Epcot. The limo driver took us directly to the hotel (as opposed to the shuttle buses that stop at every hotel on the way to Disney), with a gratis stop at a grocery store. Glad we rented a limo - good trip decision #1.

Upon arrival, we unpacked a bit and headed off to Animal Kingdom for the afternoon. Bad trip decision #1. It was beastly (no pun intended) hot, and we joined thousands of other refugees wandering around a simulated jungle. The safari was great - saw loads of animals right beside the truck - but the rest of the day just wore us out.

We left Animal Kingdom in the early evening and headed for the pool at the Swan. We all enjoyed the grotto pool with waterfall until a severe thunderstorm approached. Marie and the kids headed back to the room while I went to the pool bar to order dinner. Just as my order was ready, all heck broke loose in the form of a typically ferocious Florida summer thunderstorm. Waves of water and simultaneous thunder and lightning. Stuck at the bar, I struck up a conversation with the woman on the next stool, whose grandfather developed the tiles on the bottom of the Space Shuttle. Go figure! Next thing you know she's sharing her shrimp cocktail with me as the storm rages and water blows in through the open sides of the bar. (Her drinking her Cosmo, me my unfiltered wheat beer. Sounds like there's a short story in there somewhere. I love these chance, out-of-the-blue encounters.) Every time the rain let up a bit, the lightning intensified, and vice versa. Finally, after about an hour, I borrowed two towels - one for my head, one for the food - and waded back to the hotel. Connor, Meg, Marie and I shared each others' dinners and brought the day to a close.

Quite a first day in the land of the mouse.

Weeeee're off to see the ...... mouse

Tomorrow we fly to Orlando for our grandkids' first visit to Disney World. Connor is 10 and Meghan is 5, and they’re extremely excited. I’ll be blogging from Florida so you can experience it through their eyes. Oh, and Marie and I might just have a good time acting like kids, as well.

In any case, it will be interesting to see how we adapt to going from this:

 

to this:

 

YIKES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!