Disney Day 5

Wednesday 24 Jan 2007

We were up bright and early Wednesday morning to make it to our 8:05 breakfast reservations with some Playhouse Disney characters at Hollywood and Vine in MGM Studios. The highlights of this breakfast were the Mickey shaped waffles, and getting to meet Leo and June, two of the Little Einsteins. The kids are big fans of their work, and so were very excited about this. JoJo and Goliath were also there, but they were not interesting enough to take Alex away from his waffles.

The kind waitress also provided the kids with tatoos to match their shirts.

Breakfast was over about the same time the park opened, but even so, there were hardly any guests. The kids met Mickey (again) and Pluto at the base of the giant hat.

We then walked right on to the Great Movie Ride. I’d call it the Pretty Good Movie Ride, if for no other reason that it seems to hardly have changed since the first time I rode in many years ago. Speaking of attractions that could use an update, it was then on to Muppet Vision 3-D, which was a state of the art (for 1990) 3-D movie. The best part was still the old guys in the balcony. There were still no crowds, so we walked on to the Backlot Tour, which was a letdown. Maybe because there were only about 20 people on it, but the special effects people phoned in their parts, and the tram tour was abbreviated. Yawn.

Next we had to actually wait 15 minutes for the Voyage of the Little Mermaid, but only because we just missed the 11:30 show. The woman who played Ariel did a great job, and Ella really enjoyed it.

Next up was the coolest thing we saw in MGM. It was the world famous race car Lightning McQueen and his best buddy Mater. These were full size, drivable vehicles that looked totally authentic (considering the “real” versions of these were computer generated). From the moment they drove up to the moment they drove off, Alex was captivated. Other kids came and went, but Alex did not leave the side of 95. This was to be his second biggest thrill of the trip.

Wednesday night, we left the kids with my folks and headed back to Epcot. You might guess by the fact that this was our third visit there this trip, that this is our favorite park. Epcot was uncrowded enough that we were able to ride Soarin’ and Mission to Space with hardly any wait. Both rides were still very impressive.

It was then off to World Showcase, for what has become our traditional meal at the Rose and Crown Pub. We like this place because the food is tasty, the beer is superb, and it offers an excellent view of the fireworks extravaganza. Once again, the Rose and Crown did not let us down. We were also very thankful for some crucial time away from the kids.