Beach Club Babe
09-09-2012, 06:29 PM
Saturday, August 18th, 2012
This is probably my favorite day of the trip! Today is the day we get to see Courtney! Now Ron & I got to see her for a few days at the end of May beginning of June, but the rest have not seen her since Christmas!
Courtney has had a very stressful week with her job one of those in charge of orientation at Florida Tech, and had a deservedly good time last night. So we didn't have a problem letting her sleep in and meeting us at her leisure.
It was to be a Studios day today. It was also EMH here as well but since we would be having pretty much a full day here, we were in no real hurry. Normally, I would not choose a park with EMH if we had no intention of taking advantage of it but it was the only option that really worked for our needs today.
Still, without really trying we managed to make it to the park by 8:30, so we still had half an hour up on the rest of the park goers. First we split and got some fastpasses for ToT and some for RNR since we have some that will ride one but not the other or neither. Since everyone was starving, we stopped for some breakfast at Starring Rolls before we really got going.
Everyone but myself went to see One Man's Dream. Our fastpass window would open already in 10 minutes, so I just hung out and waited til it opened and then got some more for Toy Story Mania. By the time the others emerged from One Man's Dream, the rain had start to come down. About this time we had heard from Courtney and Jason. They thought they should be arriving by 10 AM or so and it was almost that time. We went inside some shops to wait for them and for the rain to stop. Since Jason doesn't ride ToT or RnR, and Courtney doesn't really get a chance to ride these when they go, we thought she could use Jeff's fastpass since he also wouldn't ride either of these. Unfortunately, it didn't quite work out that way. Jason was in need of a monster so they had stopped at the Hess Station across the street and also had forgotten to mention that he needed to stop and buy a new ticket. We rode without them, but by the time we were exiting they were heading right towards us. Lot's of hugs were exchanged right there in the middle of Sunset Blvd!
Luckily, for the moment at least, the rain had subsided. By the time we were exiting Muppetvision the skies had opened up again. Now it was absolutely pouring and everyone was huddled on the exit ramp trying to stay dry.When it slowed, we headed on out and found a 10 minute wait at Star Tours. Ashleigh thought that the line looked longer than that, so she and Jeff did not want to wait. They watched Hallie so the rest of us all could ride. Afterwards we decided on lunch at Backlot Express. Neither Courtney and I were that hungry so we shared our meal. While lunching we also tried to decide on what to do next. All the show times were not very conducive with our plans and Jason does not like The Great Movie Ride and too long to make him wait for us, so we headed on into the Animation Tour. We haven't seen the movie with Mushu in quite a while anyway. of course afterward, we had to give Emily a few minutes to play around in the various stations. I was going to head out to use the restroom with Hallie, but we ran into Jake from Jake and the Neverland Pirates with no one in line and Hallie was practically squealing with delight. Jake spent quite a bit of time with her so she was in all her glory. Once again, we attempted a restroom break, but then we ran into Belle and Captain Jack Sparrow the latter being an absolute must for Ashleigh. Now finally I was able to get to the restroom!
We went and got some more fastpasses for ToT and RnR again, then headed over to Toy Story Mania to use those fastpasses. Ron and Matt agreed to stay off this time in order to let Courtney and Jason ride. Jason had never ridden it before and Courtney was excited to not only ride it with him, but to ride it once again since she had the opportunity to meet the imagineer who had designed most of the computer programming for the ride. She had attended a team building workshop in Epcot back in May for her summer job. She got to backstage at The Land, The Seas with Nemo, and the Imagination pavillion. As a surprise, they got to meet this Imagineer and ask him questions. Since the others didn't have that many it was almost a private conversation between Courtney and him. Of course Courtney had the high score but Jeff was right behind her. This was definitely one of his favorites.
Next up was Tower of Terror for Courtney, Emily, and I. Emily wasn't so sure about this as she only rode once 2 years ago and didn't like it much. But I'm happy to say this time she loved it! The same can not be said for the family in the row in front of us. As they started to enter the elevator, the woman was screaming, "No! I can't ride this! NO NO NOOOO!" The husband insisted and she entered and as she was sitting down, started up again "No I changed my mind, I don't want to do this!!!" But still she sat down and buckled up and when the doors closed, again she freaked out, "No, let me off! NOOO I don't want to ride let me out let me out let me out! now her daughter had joined in and they were both alternating between praying and asking for the ride to stop and let them out! Of course, once we started to drop and shoot up she kept right on screaming. We checked out the photo and it was so funny with the two of them facing each, mouths wide open, eyes popping, and the women's hands up in a defensive position. It was made more funny by the fact that the woman actually bought this photo and was laughing so hard at herself. The daughter wanted to go again.
I wasn't sure of our exact time of our ADR at Hollywood & Vine for the Fantasmic Dinner Package, so I decided to walk over to the restaurant and double check on it. Good thing I did! When I got to the podium, the CM told me they were currently closed due to technical difficulties. They had no idea when they would re-open. It could have been an hour, a few hours later, or not until tomorrow. This also affected the Tune In Lounge as well as 50's Primetime Cafe. She gave me our voucher for the Fantasmic Dinner Package anyway and advised me to try a counter service meal since the other restaurants were being flooded by everyone from those two restaurants. The idea of two counter service meals at the Studios just did not appeal to me, so I suggested a few options we might have in the Boardwalk area. Everyone agreed on ESPN Club so we caught the boat, got off at the Swan & Dolphin and walked over to ESPN. It actually worked out for all of the picky eaters in the group. Hallie decided to fall asleep somewhere between Swan & Dolphin and Boardwalk and slept all through dinner. Jeff especially enjoyed his dinner and his surroundings.
I will have to post the rest of this day in Part 6
This is probably my favorite day of the trip! Today is the day we get to see Courtney! Now Ron & I got to see her for a few days at the end of May beginning of June, but the rest have not seen her since Christmas!
Courtney has had a very stressful week with her job one of those in charge of orientation at Florida Tech, and had a deservedly good time last night. So we didn't have a problem letting her sleep in and meeting us at her leisure.
It was to be a Studios day today. It was also EMH here as well but since we would be having pretty much a full day here, we were in no real hurry. Normally, I would not choose a park with EMH if we had no intention of taking advantage of it but it was the only option that really worked for our needs today.
Still, without really trying we managed to make it to the park by 8:30, so we still had half an hour up on the rest of the park goers. First we split and got some fastpasses for ToT and some for RNR since we have some that will ride one but not the other or neither. Since everyone was starving, we stopped for some breakfast at Starring Rolls before we really got going.
Everyone but myself went to see One Man's Dream. Our fastpass window would open already in 10 minutes, so I just hung out and waited til it opened and then got some more for Toy Story Mania. By the time the others emerged from One Man's Dream, the rain had start to come down. About this time we had heard from Courtney and Jason. They thought they should be arriving by 10 AM or so and it was almost that time. We went inside some shops to wait for them and for the rain to stop. Since Jason doesn't ride ToT or RnR, and Courtney doesn't really get a chance to ride these when they go, we thought she could use Jeff's fastpass since he also wouldn't ride either of these. Unfortunately, it didn't quite work out that way. Jason was in need of a monster so they had stopped at the Hess Station across the street and also had forgotten to mention that he needed to stop and buy a new ticket. We rode without them, but by the time we were exiting they were heading right towards us. Lot's of hugs were exchanged right there in the middle of Sunset Blvd!
Luckily, for the moment at least, the rain had subsided. By the time we were exiting Muppetvision the skies had opened up again. Now it was absolutely pouring and everyone was huddled on the exit ramp trying to stay dry.When it slowed, we headed on out and found a 10 minute wait at Star Tours. Ashleigh thought that the line looked longer than that, so she and Jeff did not want to wait. They watched Hallie so the rest of us all could ride. Afterwards we decided on lunch at Backlot Express. Neither Courtney and I were that hungry so we shared our meal. While lunching we also tried to decide on what to do next. All the show times were not very conducive with our plans and Jason does not like The Great Movie Ride and too long to make him wait for us, so we headed on into the Animation Tour. We haven't seen the movie with Mushu in quite a while anyway. of course afterward, we had to give Emily a few minutes to play around in the various stations. I was going to head out to use the restroom with Hallie, but we ran into Jake from Jake and the Neverland Pirates with no one in line and Hallie was practically squealing with delight. Jake spent quite a bit of time with her so she was in all her glory. Once again, we attempted a restroom break, but then we ran into Belle and Captain Jack Sparrow the latter being an absolute must for Ashleigh. Now finally I was able to get to the restroom!
We went and got some more fastpasses for ToT and RnR again, then headed over to Toy Story Mania to use those fastpasses. Ron and Matt agreed to stay off this time in order to let Courtney and Jason ride. Jason had never ridden it before and Courtney was excited to not only ride it with him, but to ride it once again since she had the opportunity to meet the imagineer who had designed most of the computer programming for the ride. She had attended a team building workshop in Epcot back in May for her summer job. She got to backstage at The Land, The Seas with Nemo, and the Imagination pavillion. As a surprise, they got to meet this Imagineer and ask him questions. Since the others didn't have that many it was almost a private conversation between Courtney and him. Of course Courtney had the high score but Jeff was right behind her. This was definitely one of his favorites.
Next up was Tower of Terror for Courtney, Emily, and I. Emily wasn't so sure about this as she only rode once 2 years ago and didn't like it much. But I'm happy to say this time she loved it! The same can not be said for the family in the row in front of us. As they started to enter the elevator, the woman was screaming, "No! I can't ride this! NO NO NOOOO!" The husband insisted and she entered and as she was sitting down, started up again "No I changed my mind, I don't want to do this!!!" But still she sat down and buckled up and when the doors closed, again she freaked out, "No, let me off! NOOO I don't want to ride let me out let me out let me out! now her daughter had joined in and they were both alternating between praying and asking for the ride to stop and let them out! Of course, once we started to drop and shoot up she kept right on screaming. We checked out the photo and it was so funny with the two of them facing each, mouths wide open, eyes popping, and the women's hands up in a defensive position. It was made more funny by the fact that the woman actually bought this photo and was laughing so hard at herself. The daughter wanted to go again.
I wasn't sure of our exact time of our ADR at Hollywood & Vine for the Fantasmic Dinner Package, so I decided to walk over to the restaurant and double check on it. Good thing I did! When I got to the podium, the CM told me they were currently closed due to technical difficulties. They had no idea when they would re-open. It could have been an hour, a few hours later, or not until tomorrow. This also affected the Tune In Lounge as well as 50's Primetime Cafe. She gave me our voucher for the Fantasmic Dinner Package anyway and advised me to try a counter service meal since the other restaurants were being flooded by everyone from those two restaurants. The idea of two counter service meals at the Studios just did not appeal to me, so I suggested a few options we might have in the Boardwalk area. Everyone agreed on ESPN Club so we caught the boat, got off at the Swan & Dolphin and walked over to ESPN. It actually worked out for all of the picky eaters in the group. Hallie decided to fall asleep somewhere between Swan & Dolphin and Boardwalk and slept all through dinner. Jeff especially enjoyed his dinner and his surroundings.
I will have to post the rest of this day in Part 6