faline
09-11-2009, 06:40 PM
Cast of Characters: Gene & Me
Date: Friday, August 21, 2009
Plan for the Day:
Disney Studios
(For some reason I forgot that the ABC Commissary no longer serves breakfast)
ABC Commissary for Breakfast
Hollywood Brown Derby for lunch
LeCellier for dinner
How the Day Really Went: No early dining planned for today. Still, we’re out of bed by about 7. By now, I’ve remembered that ABC Commissary no longer serves breakfast so we stop into Sassagoula for snacks – a bagel and cream cheese for me; muffin for Gene). Coffee for both of us.
We head to the bus stop. Silly goose! I’m waiting at the wrong stop for my destination! Once I get to the right place, we’re on board our bus to Disney Studios by 9:00 a.m.
Once we arrive, we head to Toy Story Mania but standby is already at 80 minutes and fast pass return times are for mid-to late-afternoon. We don’t plan to be in the park at that time so don’t bother to get fast passes. When we walk by around 11:30 a.m., fast passes for the day are gone!
Thought about going to the Indy show but the first show isn’t until 11:30. Instead, we head to Star Tours where the wait is far less than the posted 20 minutes.
http://inlinethumb58.webshots.com/32761/2280327970104031159S600x600Q85.jpg (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2280327970104031159HSCSCn)
http://inlinethumb50.webshots.com/45233/2222373050104031159S600x600Q85.jpg (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2222373050104031159lvcpSW)
We head over to Tower of Terror where we pick up fast passes for 11:15 – 12:15.
From there, we take in Muppet Vision 3D where, unfortunately, we miss half of the pre-show.
http://inlinethumb29.webshots.com/43100/2804616040104031159S600x600Q85.jpg (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2804616040104031159aWdfNG)
We head to the Studio Backlot Tour where we notice they have replaced the water tank backdrop with scenery from Hawaii. Way cool!
http://inlinethumb56.webshots.com/46071/2039265250104031159S600x600Q85.jpg (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2039265250104031159XbHOCU)
http://inlinethumb26.webshots.com/42457/2776185140104031159S600x600Q85.jpg (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2776185140104031159DLOQtB)
http://inlinethumb63.webshots.com/41086/2036922380104031159S600x600Q85.jpg (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2036922380104031159dbweZB)
Next up, Tower of Terror which is my very favorite Disney Studios ride. The standby line is 40 minutes but we bypass the line – thanks to our fast passes. We are seated in the middle row. The family in front of us has stepped aside from being seated on a previous ride so they are sure of being seated in the front row which is fine – I’ve done the same. However, the woman seated directly in front of me raises her arms above her head just before the drops start (as though she is on a roller coaster) and leaves them in this position for the entire duration of the ride. At the end, Gene asks how I liked the ride and I reply “so..so”. He seems surprised. When we get to the area where you can view the pictures from the ride, I ask if he can see me. Nope! And I can’t see a gosh darn thing either – thanks to Mrs. Arms in the Air! Oh well!
Following that, we check Voyage of the Little Mermaid but the next show is 25 minutes away so we enter The Magic of Disney Animation. Is it just my imagination or is the “Magic” missing here? It has been for me ever since this became a museum rather than a real working studio!
We do not stay for the “interactive” exhibits but, instead, cross the park one more time and take in Beauty and the Beast. Ominous clouds are beginning to build.
http://thumb19.webshots.net/t/64/764/3/32/65/2462332650104031159FahMKA_th.jpg (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2462332650104031159FahMKA)
http://thumb19.webshots.net/t/96/96/1/82/2/2771182020104031159judmeX_th.jpg (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2771182020104031159judmeX)
After the show, we report for lunch at Brown Derby and are seated within a few minutes. Our server notices our anniversary buttons and declares the occasion requires a toast with champagne! How nice of her! We share a salad of greens, goat’s cheese and pecans. Very tasty! I have pork and Gene has steak. We are both quite happy with our choices. Lunch is very yummy!
http://inlinethumb25.webshots.com/20632/2045140580104031159S600x600Q85.jpg (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2045140580104031159HiHcaH)
http://inlinethumb03.webshots.com/21762/2775551160104031159S600x600Q85.jpg (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2775551160104031159NJKlAx)
We emerge to big, dark clouds! Still, we head to the Great Movie Ride which is, essentially, a walk on though, earlier in the day, the line was twisting around and about the outside of the pavilion! While on the ride, I take a picture and realize the flash went off! Oops! I’m red! Okay – I’ll put the camera away now!
http://inlinethumb20.webshots.com/24531/2286969820104031159S600x600Q85.jpg (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2286969820104031159uKpmoV)
When we exit, we hear lots of thunder and see many dark, angry clouds. We are exiting the park while we hear an announcement that the parade will be delayed due to bad weather in the area.
We wait a full 30 MINUTES at the bus stop. We watch buses come and go from EVERY other stop – with some stops seeing more than one bus pickup while we continue to wait. I certainly do not understand Disney’s bus on demand system! A woman in line at our stop flags down a bus passing by to ask why we have been waiting so long even though she has not been waiting nearly as long as we have. A few minutes later, a bus finally arrives. There are now so many folks waiting at our stop that the bus is as crowded as it would have been at park closing!
When we emerge at our resort stop, we note the ground is wet so it has clearly rained here.
No pool time today! We retreat to our room to relax for a bit. While watching tv, we note there are severe thunder storm warnings in the area. Strangely, the weather channel reports there are currently tornado watches at home in the Northeast!!!
We hang out in our room for a while and then head off to Epcot. It’s beginning to rain as we arrive at Epcot. Spaceship Earth is a walk-on so we do that. Although we have ponchos with us, we can’t stand the thought of donning them on this very warm night so, instead, we head into Mouse Gears and purchase umbrellas (I knew I should have bought those $1.00 umbrellas at Target a few weeks ago!). Instead, we pay $20 for 2 new umbrellas – at least they have a Disney theme on them!
Umbrellas overhead, we circle World Showcase, stopping in various shops along the way. It’s raining the whole time. We arrive at the Canadian pavilion around 8 where we are warned that we will not be seated earlier than our 8:40 p.m. dining reservation time. That warning holds true.
We are still recovering from our large lunch at Brown Derby so opt to skip appetizers. I order the Filet Mignon while Gene has Scallops. We are both way too stuffed for dessert so our desserts are packed “to go”.
Finally, we encounter a server who knows how to create a separate check for the dining experience and the Tables in Wonderland discount! Yippee!!
It’s close to 10 p.m. when we leave Le Cellier and this park closed at 9. It’s no longer raining so we slowly stroll out of Epcot and onto the bus waiting at our stop. We’re quickly whisked back to the French Quarter where we retreat to our room.
Miles Walked: 6.38
New Today: Hmmm…actually, we haven’t done or experienced anything today that we have not done before!
Date: Friday, August 21, 2009
Plan for the Day:
Disney Studios
(For some reason I forgot that the ABC Commissary no longer serves breakfast)
ABC Commissary for Breakfast
Hollywood Brown Derby for lunch
LeCellier for dinner
How the Day Really Went: No early dining planned for today. Still, we’re out of bed by about 7. By now, I’ve remembered that ABC Commissary no longer serves breakfast so we stop into Sassagoula for snacks – a bagel and cream cheese for me; muffin for Gene). Coffee for both of us.
We head to the bus stop. Silly goose! I’m waiting at the wrong stop for my destination! Once I get to the right place, we’re on board our bus to Disney Studios by 9:00 a.m.
Once we arrive, we head to Toy Story Mania but standby is already at 80 minutes and fast pass return times are for mid-to late-afternoon. We don’t plan to be in the park at that time so don’t bother to get fast passes. When we walk by around 11:30 a.m., fast passes for the day are gone!
Thought about going to the Indy show but the first show isn’t until 11:30. Instead, we head to Star Tours where the wait is far less than the posted 20 minutes.
http://inlinethumb58.webshots.com/32761/2280327970104031159S600x600Q85.jpg (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2280327970104031159HSCSCn)
http://inlinethumb50.webshots.com/45233/2222373050104031159S600x600Q85.jpg (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2222373050104031159lvcpSW)
We head over to Tower of Terror where we pick up fast passes for 11:15 – 12:15.
From there, we take in Muppet Vision 3D where, unfortunately, we miss half of the pre-show.
http://inlinethumb29.webshots.com/43100/2804616040104031159S600x600Q85.jpg (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2804616040104031159aWdfNG)
We head to the Studio Backlot Tour where we notice they have replaced the water tank backdrop with scenery from Hawaii. Way cool!
http://inlinethumb56.webshots.com/46071/2039265250104031159S600x600Q85.jpg (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2039265250104031159XbHOCU)
http://inlinethumb26.webshots.com/42457/2776185140104031159S600x600Q85.jpg (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2776185140104031159DLOQtB)
http://inlinethumb63.webshots.com/41086/2036922380104031159S600x600Q85.jpg (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2036922380104031159dbweZB)
Next up, Tower of Terror which is my very favorite Disney Studios ride. The standby line is 40 minutes but we bypass the line – thanks to our fast passes. We are seated in the middle row. The family in front of us has stepped aside from being seated on a previous ride so they are sure of being seated in the front row which is fine – I’ve done the same. However, the woman seated directly in front of me raises her arms above her head just before the drops start (as though she is on a roller coaster) and leaves them in this position for the entire duration of the ride. At the end, Gene asks how I liked the ride and I reply “so..so”. He seems surprised. When we get to the area where you can view the pictures from the ride, I ask if he can see me. Nope! And I can’t see a gosh darn thing either – thanks to Mrs. Arms in the Air! Oh well!
Following that, we check Voyage of the Little Mermaid but the next show is 25 minutes away so we enter The Magic of Disney Animation. Is it just my imagination or is the “Magic” missing here? It has been for me ever since this became a museum rather than a real working studio!
We do not stay for the “interactive” exhibits but, instead, cross the park one more time and take in Beauty and the Beast. Ominous clouds are beginning to build.
http://thumb19.webshots.net/t/64/764/3/32/65/2462332650104031159FahMKA_th.jpg (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2462332650104031159FahMKA)
http://thumb19.webshots.net/t/96/96/1/82/2/2771182020104031159judmeX_th.jpg (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2771182020104031159judmeX)
After the show, we report for lunch at Brown Derby and are seated within a few minutes. Our server notices our anniversary buttons and declares the occasion requires a toast with champagne! How nice of her! We share a salad of greens, goat’s cheese and pecans. Very tasty! I have pork and Gene has steak. We are both quite happy with our choices. Lunch is very yummy!
http://inlinethumb25.webshots.com/20632/2045140580104031159S600x600Q85.jpg (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2045140580104031159HiHcaH)
http://inlinethumb03.webshots.com/21762/2775551160104031159S600x600Q85.jpg (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2775551160104031159NJKlAx)
We emerge to big, dark clouds! Still, we head to the Great Movie Ride which is, essentially, a walk on though, earlier in the day, the line was twisting around and about the outside of the pavilion! While on the ride, I take a picture and realize the flash went off! Oops! I’m red! Okay – I’ll put the camera away now!
http://inlinethumb20.webshots.com/24531/2286969820104031159S600x600Q85.jpg (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2286969820104031159uKpmoV)
When we exit, we hear lots of thunder and see many dark, angry clouds. We are exiting the park while we hear an announcement that the parade will be delayed due to bad weather in the area.
We wait a full 30 MINUTES at the bus stop. We watch buses come and go from EVERY other stop – with some stops seeing more than one bus pickup while we continue to wait. I certainly do not understand Disney’s bus on demand system! A woman in line at our stop flags down a bus passing by to ask why we have been waiting so long even though she has not been waiting nearly as long as we have. A few minutes later, a bus finally arrives. There are now so many folks waiting at our stop that the bus is as crowded as it would have been at park closing!
When we emerge at our resort stop, we note the ground is wet so it has clearly rained here.
No pool time today! We retreat to our room to relax for a bit. While watching tv, we note there are severe thunder storm warnings in the area. Strangely, the weather channel reports there are currently tornado watches at home in the Northeast!!!
We hang out in our room for a while and then head off to Epcot. It’s beginning to rain as we arrive at Epcot. Spaceship Earth is a walk-on so we do that. Although we have ponchos with us, we can’t stand the thought of donning them on this very warm night so, instead, we head into Mouse Gears and purchase umbrellas (I knew I should have bought those $1.00 umbrellas at Target a few weeks ago!). Instead, we pay $20 for 2 new umbrellas – at least they have a Disney theme on them!
Umbrellas overhead, we circle World Showcase, stopping in various shops along the way. It’s raining the whole time. We arrive at the Canadian pavilion around 8 where we are warned that we will not be seated earlier than our 8:40 p.m. dining reservation time. That warning holds true.
We are still recovering from our large lunch at Brown Derby so opt to skip appetizers. I order the Filet Mignon while Gene has Scallops. We are both way too stuffed for dessert so our desserts are packed “to go”.
Finally, we encounter a server who knows how to create a separate check for the dining experience and the Tables in Wonderland discount! Yippee!!
It’s close to 10 p.m. when we leave Le Cellier and this park closed at 9. It’s no longer raining so we slowly stroll out of Epcot and onto the bus waiting at our stop. We’re quickly whisked back to the French Quarter where we retreat to our room.
Miles Walked: 6.38
New Today: Hmmm…actually, we haven’t done or experienced anything today that we have not done before!