Fourth Day: Disney/MGM Studios

First we played at Universal Studios.

Then we spent a day at Animal Kingdom.

On the third day we visited Epcot Center.

On the 18th, our fourth day, we drove over to Disney MGM Studios.

My entries will be shorter because it's taking longer than I thought to put this all in my journal. But I did want to mention the highlights from each park.

We had never visited MGM studios before, so this was our first trip. By this time, we were familiar with using the Fast Pass, and it became something we looked forward to using. We would plan all our activities upon the times we could get and use the fast pass, and it helped us see and do more with the time allowed.

There were two great Stunt shows:

Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular! was my favorite. I wish we had been able to get a seat closer to front and center, but we arrived just minutes before the show began. It was very entertaining. I was surprised they could do so many stunts, change the scenery so many times, and use fire and explosions without anyone getting hurt. Audience is placed far from the action of course, so picture taking wasn't very interesting. I loved all the Indiana Jones movies, so I was thrilled to watch these stuntmen and women in action as they re-enacted our favorite movie scenes. Try to get in early so you have good center row seats for the best view. We had to sit on the endseats. Bummer.

The other stunt show involved fast stunt cars: Lights, Motors, Action! I'm not a fan of fast cars movies, but this show was totally cool! There's the red hero car being chased by the bad guys in black cars, and there's the motorcycle chase, the speed boat chase, bad guys shooting it out with the hero, one stuntman falls from a three story building onto an airbag, and the car stunts were even more spectacular. Ooh-la-la! C'est bonne! Tres bonne!

Our favorite ride had to be the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. It was such a thrill we went back for a second turn with the Fast Pass. This ride puts you in a service elevator of the Grand Hollywood Hotel, placing you in the notorious Twilight Zone during a wicked thunderstorm (chilling backstory comes with the ride) with your travel companions. The elevator ride starts out normal, but you feel anxious if you know nothing about the ride. What's going to happen, I wonder? Suddenly, it shoots up quickly to the top of the building, out of control, then drops the 13 stories. Several times it raises quickly, several times you are dropped from varying heights. You are in the dark most of the time, except for a peek of daylight when you reach the top floor, just to let you see how high you are before the elevator plunges to the ground. Of course, you are well belted in, and there is no real danger. Another nausea producer, but it was such thrill! Get a FastPass and do it again!

One ride I could have done without was the Rock'n Roller Coaster starring Aerosmith, which gave me such a head-ache from all the jerking around and the loud music. The music itself was good rock n roll, but it was so loud, and my neck began to ache from all the jostling. However, two Tylenol extra strength dissipated the ache well enough and I was able to enjoy the rest of the evening.

Star Tours was another thrilling simulator ride. You board a Star Wars style space vehicle with the others in your crew, and quickly find that the pilot of this ship is an android, and it is flying its first mission solo. It makes a round about exit from the Star Base, nearly crashing into walls and cargo, but finally you are flying through space alongside X-wing fighters, right in the middle of one of their battle scenes. It's truly fun. And for me, a nausea producer. I guess I should have taken some dramamine with me. It was mild. Didn't hinder the fun-seeker in me. This is worth a FastPass.

There were oh so many more rides and shows, but we were unable to do them all in one day. Phooey! Journey into Narnia was a magical walkthrough show... I was so tired at the time. Wished it had been a ride through. The Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage performance was fun, but again, we had end seats and didn't enjoy it as much.

 

Disney Survival Tip: Go early in the day, as soon as the park opens, stay until 1pm or 2pm leave the park, go back to your room, have lunch, take a nap, then return after 5 or 6pm and stay until closing for the most magnificent fireworks/laserlight/waterworks show, Fantasmic! with music and live Disney action. It lasted about 25 minutes. You don't want to miss this show! Miss anything else, but not this.

Go early to the Fantasmic! night performance.... we arrived nearly 90 minutes early because we had heard it filled up quickly. We were able to get good viewing seats... must have been 5,000 people there! Well managed crowd control, bathrooms, food vendors. People are very polite in these parks. well,most of them were considerate.

Next, the last Disney Entry: Magic Kingdom