| The plan was that we were going to do Extra Magic Hours (EMH) at MGM in the morning. But, last night we were up pretty late, and this morning had a slow start. We were not at MGM until after 9:30, and completely missed EMH (from 8 to 9).
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| But, the crowds overall were pretty light today, so we still had a pretty packed day of fun at MGM. The boys parted company with us as soon as we arrived at MGM, and Debbie and I pulled a fast pass for Rock N Roller Coaster, and stood in line for the Tower of Terror. The ToT line was well out into the courtyard, but was moving reasonably fast. We were in line for about 45 minutes (the sign was pretty accurate. But, on our way out the posted standby was 15 minutes. Go figure.
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| The ToT at WDW is, hands down, far better than the one at Disneyland. For some reason, they omitted the vertical hallway in the Disneyland version, which really distracts from the ride. There are a few things about Disney in California that are better than WDW, but WDW wins on most counts. ToT is definitely in the win column for WDW. The vertical hallway is a great setup for the thrill ride, and may even be said to be as important as the ride itself. When Nick was a little younger, he would only ride ToT once per trip. He said that the spooky nature of that vertical hallway was what really bothered him, not the drop itself. He has definitely grown out of that hesitation. But, it highlights the fact that the eerie hallway is a big part of the thrills on this ride.
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| We loved the dropping, of course, as always. My seat belt was a bit loose, and I felt like I was flying for a large part of the ride. The element of not knowing when the ride will end (since the number and intensity of the drops is now random) does add an extra edge to the experience. After our ride on ToT, Debbie and I decided to have a bottled water and an ice cream sandwich. To my surprise, Nick and Dalton came up to me as I was standing in the ice cream line (little cart right by ToT). We shared a snack, then they were off again.
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| By this time, Debbie and I were in our window for the FP on RNRC. So, we took our ride. This continues to be a great ride, and this time was a terrific experience. The music and the thrills were both awesome. I have to confess that as I am waiting in that final queue in the alley, I still feel a little nervous about boarding this thing. We floated down to the Villains Store, and were sadly disappointed at their selection of merchandise this time. Even though the Pirates Of the Caribbean was closed the entire time we were at WDW, Pirates merchandise was everywhere (because of the movie coming out this summer). Sadly, the Villains Store was loaded with Pirates stuff, and not much else. On previous trips, I have usually found something great to take home from here.
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| We then wandered over to the Great Movie Ride. There was practically no queue, and we had a wonderful ride. We got the cowboy switch, and the acting was a bit weak. But, the ride was still fun and memorable. If I had to make another complaint, being in the last car is not perfect, because you are kind of out of synch with the announcer at the front of the tram (they are talking about things you are not seeing yet). Nonetheless, this ride remains great. There has definitely been some editing done to the finale, mainly to include some Pirates footage. Nick and I disagreed later about how much had been changed. He thought there used to be a lot more Star Wars, but I do not recall that. He thought the changes had detracted quite a bit from the finale, but I thought they were fine.
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| Debbie and I then sat around in front of the GMR, eating popcorn and enjoying the nearly perfect weather. We stopped in to the Sounds Dangerous (Drew Carey) show. This show holds up well, and I still find it clever and amusing. At this point,we met up with the boys for lunch at the Fifties Prime Time Cafe. The food was very good, but our waiter was pretty weak. He was polite and professional, but did not bring the kind of show to the table that we used to expect at the Prime Time. In fact, it has been a while since we had a really clever waiter at the Prime Time. It is gradually loosing its place as on of our favorite restaurants in the parks.
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| The food, as I say, was really quite good. I had the fried chicken and a chocolate shake. Nick had the meat loaf, Debbie the pot roast, and Dalton some chicken soup. The food got good reviews all around. The four of us then headed over to the back lot tram tour. This was pretty disappointing, I must admit. The new stunt show (Lights, Motors, Action) is smack dab in the middle of where the tour used to go. The houses on the back lot are gone (at least, no longer part of the tour). The bone yard seems pretty squished up. Really, you see the costume/work shops (where they were working, not on movie or TV stuff, but on the Pirates refurb), a bit of the bone yard, Disaster Canyon, and thats it. There seems to be a lot more stop and go, with the stops not in front of anything interesting to look at.
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| They still do have the little demonstration of the naval battle before you board the tram. The only problem is that the monitors where they show the final product dont do that well in the bright sunlight. OK, one neat thing was the addition of the plane Walt used when scouting Florida for WDW. This is cool, I do not recall it being on the tour before. The AFI display at the end of the tour remains pretty neat (some nice dark villainy is featured. But, they could use some new content here. And the store, just like the Villains Store, was flooded with Pirates stuff. This got real old by the end of the trip. We rested up and took some photos around this area of the park.
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| By way of information, the shop near Muppetvision that features Muppets merchandise (though they had Pirates stuff here as well) has a nice selection of over the counter drugs. Dalton had developed quite a headache, and we were really glad to find some pain relievers here. While down in this area, we walked over to the Lights, Motors, Action show, and got a Fast Pass. They were being handed out by a CM, who did not check our gate media in any way. We also were not asked for our FP when we returned for the show. So, this seemed like a strange and futile exercise to me.
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| Dalton went with me on Star Tours, while Debbie and Nick rested on a bench near Muppet Vision. I was really surprised that Nick did not want to go, as this has been a consistent favorite of his. But, when Dalton and I got back, we found that Nick was asleep! Yes, asleep! Can you believe it? Right there on the bench! Asleep!!!
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| The Star Tours line was extremely short, but we enjoyed the very end of the queue, and had a great ride. This ride is still fun to me, and the queue remains fun as well. I remember that Debbie and I rode this ride the year it opened in Disneyland. It is strange to think that this was right about 20 years ago. After we woke Nick up, we went into Muppet Vision 4D. This is still a clever show, and we all enjoyed it very much (first time for Dalton, of course). According to what was said on the tram tour (a tid bit I did not remember being mentioned before), this was the last project that Jim Henson was personally involved in before he passed away.
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| Right after this, we did the Lights, Motors, Action! stunt show. This show was very good, featuring a lot of cool (or hot) pyrotechnics, and a great deal of fancy driving, spinning out, jumping ramps, and stuff like that. It was definitely worth seeing. The climb to our perch, I have to warn you, was pretty substantial. But, we were rewarded with a nice panorama of the landmarks of MGM. Quite a skyline.
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| We had a meal at Pizza Planet afterwards, because our plan was to join the queue for the first showing of Fantasmic! Even though we did not mess with the arcade this time, the Toy Story atmosphere of this place is really a lot of fun. The pizza itself was not great, but was OK. At this point, we walked down to Fantasmic!, and were very disappointed to learn that it was not showing tonight, due to some kind of technical difficulties. We have been there before when it was canceled for weather, but it was a perfect, clear evening. So, there must have been some type of mechanical problem.
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| We made up for it by seeing the Beauty and the Beast stage show, which we may have missed otherwise. Don't worry, we did catch Fantasmic! on another evening. If you have not seen the Beauty And the Beast show, the next paragraph might be a spoiler.
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| The pre show for Beauty and The Beast is delightful. All of us except Dalton had seen it before, but it is still a fun act to watch, as the accopella group pulls the audience in by first pretending to be a bunch of stage hands. These guys are great, pitch perfect, and very funny. The costumes, Disney classic music, and performance of the Beauty and the Beast show are really top notch. We all enjoyed this show very much. Maybe the technical difficulties with Fantasmic! were serendipitous for us.
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| Even though it was early, and we had started the day late, we decided it was time to head back to the room.
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| On the way out, we stopped by the corner store across the street from the Villains, where Nick, Debbie, and Dalton bought some very silly round pillows. They were intended to look like Disney characters. The Stitch pillow (Dalton) was pretty recognizable, and the Mickey pillow (Debbie) was definitely (a strange) Mickey. But, the Pluto pillow (Nick) required some imagination. Later in the week, Debbie found a Minnie to go with Mickey, and I will mention where later, if I wrote it down.
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| When we got back to the room, the kids took advantage of the pool near the room (just across the street, not the main pool near the hospitality house). Debbie and I took advantage of the in-room hot tub. Even though it had been a short day, this was a welcome relief.
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| A did a bit of computer stuff before going to bed (photos and trip report notes).
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| It was a short but very fun day. Near perfect weather and a lot of neat memories.
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