thejens
06-09-2007, 05:17 PM
Second Trip to the World, Day 9
Saturday, June 2, 2007 MGM Star Wars Weekend
What fun to find Storm Troopers :trooper:guarding the entrance to the Studios while Star Wars music filled the air. Of course we headed first to Star Tours, not bothering with the lines for fast passes for autographs with the stars. The kids did become caught up with getting autographs from the fun characters. Queen Amidala was the first time-sucker. Excited by the sounds of the crowd and music near Star Tours, the kids finally were guided to wait for the next Jedi Training session. It is wise to be up front if you want to be picked. I observed all the kids with light sabers and worried that they would be required to use their own saber (they are not!) So I ran to a nearby vendor and bought two ten dollar sabers (not the coolest kind that makes noise and lights up, but DS3 was ecstatic by his purple light saber and DS9 loved that the red saber was the color of Darth Vader.) When the Jedi knights came to recruit potential Padawans I was terrified our kids wouldn’t be chosen. I think it would really be sad for those not picked, so consider yourself forewarned. I told the kids to holler and jump and wave and it worked. DS9 and DN6 were selected. I felt it was not necessary for DS3 and DN10 was unsure about it. I have never seen anything cuter than our boys’ serious faces as they tried to master the light saber moves taught by the Jedi Knight. Then the scary Darth Vader music played and out came the heavy breathing Lord of the Dark Side! He entreated the kids to join him on the side of evil “with our powers combined we could rule the universe!” The Jedi Knight insisted that none of his apprentices could be turned to the dark side. The children looked a bit daunted, but gamely agreed to battle the powers of Evil. Darth Maul appeared to more fanfare and took on one group, while Vader challenged the other. The previously learned choreography worked well and each child had a turn defeating the powers of darkness. Darth Vader kept us all enthralled with familiar exhortations such as “never underestimate the power of the dark side” and “the force is strong with this one.” It was thrilling and fun. Each child received a certificate (which is extremely hard to keep from getting crumpled in the park) and a little plastic toy. We then headed on to Star Tours again. DS3 appeared to be the right height on the outside measuring stick, but seemed just short inside. The CM wavered, but let him in. He loved the line and pointed out C3P0 and R2D2. The ride was certainly safe enough for him, but a bit too intense for a 3 year old. I don’t think he understood that we really were not in space. I held his hand and he was a trooper and didn’t cry, but afterward told me that it was too scary for him. My DS9 loves it, DN6 liked it, but DN10 chose not to ride it a second time, finding it a bit scary. I like this ride a lot. Thought you might like to know the varying fright levels for this family!
Next, we headed to the 50’s Prime Time Diner for lunch. It was fun. I forgot our waiter’s name, but he was a perfect mixture of fun without being actually annoying. He was a bit sarcastic and made fun of our kids’ poor eating habits. He looked at each barely touched plate and rolled his eyes when they wanted dessert. He seemed to sense the fatigue level of all of us and did not make anyone stand in the corner or anything like that. Truthfully our whole crowd was tired and I think DS3 was beginning to get sick since he whined a bit and clung to me and wouldn’t eat at all. Nonetheless, I really enjoyed my delicious pot roast and helped my mom eat a yummy brownie sundae. Everyone seemed revived after the meal. This was a good thing because we needed stamina to stand in lots of character autograph lines. The adults had successfully discouraged most of this time wasting through out the trip, but the kids were just too excited by Darth Vader, Darth Maul, the Emperor, Chewbacca, Anankin, and various other strange looking space creatures! We have lots of fun photos. We did manage to see the Little Mermaid, which was cute and rode the Great Movie ride. I think the GMR is getting a bit stale. I snuck into One Man’s Dream and watched the movie while the others waited in autograph lines. My sister and boyfriend rode the TOT while I took line duty. We all took the Back Lot tour. The water and fire effects are fun, but this is a bit lame since there really isn’t any actual “back lot.” They seemed to recycle aspects from Lights, Motor, Action. This park continues to underwhelm me, but the kids really enjoyed the Star Wars theme. The characters stayed in character beautifully. Darth Maul was quite menacing and Anakin stayed brooding, evil simmering under the surface. This “face character” really looked the part. DS9 has mastered the intimidating expression of Darth Maul in a way that is a bit disturbing to Mama. I must wholeheartedly pan the Star Wars Hoopla. In retrospect, the juxtaposition of the terms Star Wars and Hoopla should have made me suspicious. First, it is hard to see the “stage” so we tried to get there early to get a front spot at the rope. The kids managed to do this and the adults stood behind to allow other kids up front too. After what seemed like forever at the end of a long day on our feet, the pre-show comedy routine began. At this point I realized all the humor was directed at adults and the theme was 70s era Star Wars combined with a spoof of the disco era. This is not really appealing to kids. Unfortunately they then dropped the rope (I suppose to allow for more room) which created a sudden and scary rush toward the stage. I could not see any of our kids and several other parents went into a real panic about this. Kids were able to squeeze forward more easily than adults (who had better manners and bigger bodies.) We finally confirmed our kids were safe at the front while some parents had to enlist the help of CMs to find their kids. The best part of the entire hoopla was that minor characters (sand people, for example) mingled in with the crowd and stayed in character. The show itself began and was sort of funny I guess, but it bothered me that the characters my children are awed by and had devoted so much time waiting to see were suddenly performing silly, out of character, disco routines. I was greatly relieved when it ended. I had expected much more from Disney. This was a hokey, suburban fair type of show. Some parents were expecting a laser show with fireworks, while others expected a show as good as the Lion King or Mermaid. Do not expect much if you bother to do this. I certainly won’t again.
We headed back home by boat. The children really loved their Star Wars day. We planned to eat dinner at Beaches and Cream, but couldn’t bear to wait an hour for the table service meal so we got sandwiches from the gift shop and ate in the serene courtyard patio. The ham sandwiches on multi grain bread are the tastiest in my opinion. There is not much of a selection of counter service, but it sufficed. We then headed back to B&C for ice cream. Only a limited menu is available to take-out. Alas, not the kitchen sink! That will have to wait for next time. We enjoyed ice cream by the pool before heading to bed. It was a fun day, despite the anit-climactic finale.
Saturday, June 2, 2007 MGM Star Wars Weekend
What fun to find Storm Troopers :trooper:guarding the entrance to the Studios while Star Wars music filled the air. Of course we headed first to Star Tours, not bothering with the lines for fast passes for autographs with the stars. The kids did become caught up with getting autographs from the fun characters. Queen Amidala was the first time-sucker. Excited by the sounds of the crowd and music near Star Tours, the kids finally were guided to wait for the next Jedi Training session. It is wise to be up front if you want to be picked. I observed all the kids with light sabers and worried that they would be required to use their own saber (they are not!) So I ran to a nearby vendor and bought two ten dollar sabers (not the coolest kind that makes noise and lights up, but DS3 was ecstatic by his purple light saber and DS9 loved that the red saber was the color of Darth Vader.) When the Jedi knights came to recruit potential Padawans I was terrified our kids wouldn’t be chosen. I think it would really be sad for those not picked, so consider yourself forewarned. I told the kids to holler and jump and wave and it worked. DS9 and DN6 were selected. I felt it was not necessary for DS3 and DN10 was unsure about it. I have never seen anything cuter than our boys’ serious faces as they tried to master the light saber moves taught by the Jedi Knight. Then the scary Darth Vader music played and out came the heavy breathing Lord of the Dark Side! He entreated the kids to join him on the side of evil “with our powers combined we could rule the universe!” The Jedi Knight insisted that none of his apprentices could be turned to the dark side. The children looked a bit daunted, but gamely agreed to battle the powers of Evil. Darth Maul appeared to more fanfare and took on one group, while Vader challenged the other. The previously learned choreography worked well and each child had a turn defeating the powers of darkness. Darth Vader kept us all enthralled with familiar exhortations such as “never underestimate the power of the dark side” and “the force is strong with this one.” It was thrilling and fun. Each child received a certificate (which is extremely hard to keep from getting crumpled in the park) and a little plastic toy. We then headed on to Star Tours again. DS3 appeared to be the right height on the outside measuring stick, but seemed just short inside. The CM wavered, but let him in. He loved the line and pointed out C3P0 and R2D2. The ride was certainly safe enough for him, but a bit too intense for a 3 year old. I don’t think he understood that we really were not in space. I held his hand and he was a trooper and didn’t cry, but afterward told me that it was too scary for him. My DS9 loves it, DN6 liked it, but DN10 chose not to ride it a second time, finding it a bit scary. I like this ride a lot. Thought you might like to know the varying fright levels for this family!
Next, we headed to the 50’s Prime Time Diner for lunch. It was fun. I forgot our waiter’s name, but he was a perfect mixture of fun without being actually annoying. He was a bit sarcastic and made fun of our kids’ poor eating habits. He looked at each barely touched plate and rolled his eyes when they wanted dessert. He seemed to sense the fatigue level of all of us and did not make anyone stand in the corner or anything like that. Truthfully our whole crowd was tired and I think DS3 was beginning to get sick since he whined a bit and clung to me and wouldn’t eat at all. Nonetheless, I really enjoyed my delicious pot roast and helped my mom eat a yummy brownie sundae. Everyone seemed revived after the meal. This was a good thing because we needed stamina to stand in lots of character autograph lines. The adults had successfully discouraged most of this time wasting through out the trip, but the kids were just too excited by Darth Vader, Darth Maul, the Emperor, Chewbacca, Anankin, and various other strange looking space creatures! We have lots of fun photos. We did manage to see the Little Mermaid, which was cute and rode the Great Movie ride. I think the GMR is getting a bit stale. I snuck into One Man’s Dream and watched the movie while the others waited in autograph lines. My sister and boyfriend rode the TOT while I took line duty. We all took the Back Lot tour. The water and fire effects are fun, but this is a bit lame since there really isn’t any actual “back lot.” They seemed to recycle aspects from Lights, Motor, Action. This park continues to underwhelm me, but the kids really enjoyed the Star Wars theme. The characters stayed in character beautifully. Darth Maul was quite menacing and Anakin stayed brooding, evil simmering under the surface. This “face character” really looked the part. DS9 has mastered the intimidating expression of Darth Maul in a way that is a bit disturbing to Mama. I must wholeheartedly pan the Star Wars Hoopla. In retrospect, the juxtaposition of the terms Star Wars and Hoopla should have made me suspicious. First, it is hard to see the “stage” so we tried to get there early to get a front spot at the rope. The kids managed to do this and the adults stood behind to allow other kids up front too. After what seemed like forever at the end of a long day on our feet, the pre-show comedy routine began. At this point I realized all the humor was directed at adults and the theme was 70s era Star Wars combined with a spoof of the disco era. This is not really appealing to kids. Unfortunately they then dropped the rope (I suppose to allow for more room) which created a sudden and scary rush toward the stage. I could not see any of our kids and several other parents went into a real panic about this. Kids were able to squeeze forward more easily than adults (who had better manners and bigger bodies.) We finally confirmed our kids were safe at the front while some parents had to enlist the help of CMs to find their kids. The best part of the entire hoopla was that minor characters (sand people, for example) mingled in with the crowd and stayed in character. The show itself began and was sort of funny I guess, but it bothered me that the characters my children are awed by and had devoted so much time waiting to see were suddenly performing silly, out of character, disco routines. I was greatly relieved when it ended. I had expected much more from Disney. This was a hokey, suburban fair type of show. Some parents were expecting a laser show with fireworks, while others expected a show as good as the Lion King or Mermaid. Do not expect much if you bother to do this. I certainly won’t again.
We headed back home by boat. The children really loved their Star Wars day. We planned to eat dinner at Beaches and Cream, but couldn’t bear to wait an hour for the table service meal so we got sandwiches from the gift shop and ate in the serene courtyard patio. The ham sandwiches on multi grain bread are the tastiest in my opinion. There is not much of a selection of counter service, but it sufficed. We then headed back to B&C for ice cream. Only a limited menu is available to take-out. Alas, not the kitchen sink! That will have to wait for next time. We enjoyed ice cream by the pool before heading to bed. It was a fun day, despite the anit-climactic finale.