Day 4 of our WDW/Cruise Adventure! HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS!

Day 4 of our WDW/Cruise Adventure! Hollywood Studios!

Ok, so here we go!  Again, sorry for the long delay in posting this.  It's really a shame how life gets in the way some times, isn't it?

The 4th day of our trip was spent at Hollywood Studios.  We were joined for the day by a very old (not OLD) friend from my home town of Munster, Indiana Cathy, and her husband Bert.  Cathy and I had not seen each other since we graduated from high school 35 years previous.  Uuuuhhh... YA!  That is a long time!  1976 seems like forever ago.
We had reconnected with each other on Facebook a couple years ago, and have been in constant contact ever since.  She belongs to my Disney page, and Disney group, and we belong to several other Disney groups as well.

As Paul and I were tired from being out late the night before, we did not get as early a start as we had planned for.  Cathy and Bert beat us to the park and were able to obtain the ever popular Fast Pass for Toy Story Midway Mania at 1:55pm.  By the time we got over there to get ours, the return time was already after 5:30pm, right at the time for our ADR for dinner.  They were kind enough to offer their passes to us since we only had a short time to be at WDW.  We are forever grateful!

After making our way out of the PIXAR area, we headed right to "Walt Disney- One Man's Dream."  This area has always fascinated me as there is so much to see.  I always feel like there is something that I missed from the last visit.  The one item in this collection, is Walt's desk.  Just the thought of him sitting there, working, creating, dreaming, imagining.  Wow........  Also, the area covering the information about the multiplane camera that Walt invented.  A genius in 1937.

Next we headed to "The Voyage of the Little Mermaid."  I really enjoyed this the last time I saw it a couple years ago.  Cathy and I are both musically inclined, and have a real ear for music.  We were both cringing during the entire show as Ariel was so totally off key, I wish I had worn ear plugs.  I can't say that about my experience in 2010.  I guess we all have our off days.

We we left the show and worked our way to Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular, we stopped over to see our friend Gertie the Dinosaur.  We did not have any ice cream, but wanted to get a picture in front of Gertie.    Indiana Jones is a favorite for both of us, so we all enjoyed the ever perfect performance.

We moved right over from earthy action, to action in space as the "Star Wars Nerds" took a Star Tour!  I am not ashamed to admit that I am a Star Wars nerd.....maniac, whatever you want to call it.    This was our first time on the attraction since it was refurbished into "The Adventure Continues."  All I can say here is AWESOME!!!!!!!  I can't wait to go again in May!

After we left Star Tours, Cathy and Bert headed to the Droid Factory that is located in Tatooine Traders to build a droid.

Paul and I made our way over to Toy Story Midway Mania for our Fast Pass return time.  First, he posed with the Green Army Man that was standing outside.  Last visit we got a similar picture, but it was raining so Paul was wearing a poncho.

  This picture was much better.  The only thing bad about a Fast Pass is not getting to take in the entire queue area and really enjoy all there is to see, getting that great interaction with Mr. Potatohead, etc.   As we boarded, I told Paul that I was going to kick his butt.......and I beat him by over 50,000 points.  My score was not my best, but I did get high score for that session.  So, as Carl the greens keeper would say, "I got that goin' for me."

We went over to The Great Movie Ride after this.  We had some time to kill before meeting back up with Cathy and Bert, and they had already been on the ride before we met them in the morning.

After we finished there, we stopped for a Mickey Ice Cream Bar...........yumm.....

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Then started walking over to meet up with them at the Muppet Vision 3D Miss Piggy Fountain.  As we walked into the lobby, we checked............YES!  The key is really under the mat....as a matter of fact, in the carpet!  Those crazy Muppets!  In the queue area, "A Net Full of Jello" is our favorite site/prop gag.

After our fun with the Muppets, we strolled over to see Beauty and the Beast-Live on Stage.  It never gets old to me, and I still cry every time.  I absolutely love this, and the 30 minute performance goes way too fast.  I wish they would add about 10 minutes to it.

Our next stop, was the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror.  I got some great shots in the queue area, but I was a chicken and did not ride this attraction.  I will on my next trip though, so watch for that report in May!

The team who did not chicken out is pictured here.  Bert, Cathy and my husband Paul.

Cathy and I also had to stop for a picture in front of Carthay Circle, since the marquee read "Once Upon a Time," my favorite show!

We also stopped in several shops on our way to our dinner at Hollywood and Vine.  We had the Fantasmic! dinner package with priority seating for the show.   I had never dined at Hollywood and Vine before.  I was very surprised and pleased.  This is one of the best buffets I have even experienced.  All hot, fresh and delicious food......and many great choices.

Stuffed to the gills,we made our way over to the special waiting area for the priority seating for Fantasmic!......we waited..........and waited......................and waited some more.  "Technical difficulties" one Cast Member said. " Major delays " said another.  All in all, we finally got in about an hour later.  I was starting to get a bit concerned as we had plans to meet up with some other friends back at our resort.

We got seated........the are in about row 5..........the wind is very breezy.........we get very wet.........  It was all worth it!  I had never seen Fantasmic! before due to bad timing, and inclement weather.  I was a happy camper this trip as I finally got to experience this wonderful show!

We got out of the show fairly quickly and said good bye to Bert and Cathy, and went to board our bus.  We made it back to the resort and met up with my Disney pals Beatrice, Nick and Barbie and Brent at River Roost to catch Yehaa Bob Jackson's show.  What a hoot!  We all had a blast.  Some of us did the "train" around the lounge, the guys did YMCA, and we had some great laughs and a couple cocktails as well. Got a great group shot with Bob, and some others as well.  We said good night to our friends as we had a big day coming up on Saturday, with our Wild Africa Trek and our day at Animal Kingdom.

Day 5 to come soon!

Sorry for the long delay......

I know it's been forever since I posted anything on the blog.  Life gets in the way.  With the Christmas season working in retail I was just too tired to post.  My brain was usually fried by the time I got home.  Also, not feeling my best was not helping with the creative process.    So, here I am feeling back to normal and planning another trip to Walt Disney World.  I wrote a new story for Disney By the Numb3rs, and the link is below for anyone who has not read it. 

 http://disneybythenumbers.com/blog_files/Planning%20a%20solo%20trip%20to%20WDW%20By%20Kris%20Banas.html

I will be doing a follow-up story for this after I return.  In the mean time, I will continue my posts from our last trip.  So, please.......stand by!  They will be starting shortly! 

Thanks!

Day 3 of our WDW/Cruise Adventure! MAGIC KINGDOM! (Section two)

Day 3 of our WDW/Cruise Adventure! MAGIC KINGDOM! (Section two)

Sorry for such a long delay in my story, but with the holiday season in full swing, and working in retail, I am so tired when I get home, I can hardly think, let alone think, and type.  I have also still not been feeling well with the allergic reaction I had to the sea-sickness patch from the cruise.  I have my good days, and bad.  Things are starting to get better though, so thank you for your patience!

The second half of this day consisted of returning to our resort to rest a bit, and change into our pirate costumes we would be wearing for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party.  Back to Magic Kingdom we return with party tickets in hand, and through the turnstiles we go.  The first thing we said to each other is, "WOW!  Look at how many people are here." It was only 4:30, so we figured that many guests were still there and would be clearing our at the time of park closing at 7pm.  Well.....were we ever wrong, and we will get to that shortly.
The first thing we did was head to the meet and greet for Mickey Mouse.  We got our picture taken with him as we were dressed in costume, because how many times does one get their picture taken with Mickey when you are dressed like a pirate?  There was only about a 10 minute wait.                                                 

We then made our way down Main Street, U.S.A toward Tomorrowland.  We did not spend any time here earlier in the day, so we definitely wanted to get over there and get on Space Mountain, and of course one of my favorite things, the TTA People Mover, and Buzz Lightyear Space Range Spin.  I did terrible and Paul kicked my space behind! When we exited the attraction, low and behold who was there for a picture session?  The one and only Buzz Lightyear!  He is one of my favorite Toy Story characters, and Paul's as well.......so of course we had to get our picture taken!

Now, my negative perspective on the Halloween party.  THERE ARE WAY TOO MANY PEOPLE!!!  I thought with spending $55.00 each to go to this party, that there would be limited guests here (which is what you are told.....that they only sell X amount of tickets), so you could actually enjoy your time.  We were overwhelmed with the sense of disappointment in that aspect.  Don't get my wrong, the fireworks were spectacular....

the Villan's stage show was totally awesome ...

We got our picture taken with Cap't Hook after the Villan's show was over.....

The Boo to You Halloween Parade was absolutely everything I had thought it would be.........

but it was WAY too crowded!  Many guests who are there during the day, were NOT asked to leave.....so they were able to take advantage of the parade, stage show and see the fireworks.  The only thing they could not do, was go on rides or trick-or-treat.  They took up all the good spots for the parade, and got in the  front row for the show at the castle because that was all they could do.  It's not fair at all.  I usually never say anything negative about my favorite place in the world, but to me, this was a huge disappointment and we will never do the Halloween party again. 

We finally did get to Mickey's PhilharMagic

Paul tried his hand at the Magic Sword.......to no avail........(probably because he was dressed as a no-good skallywag!)

We also made it only It's A Small World with no waiting..........

Later in the evening we made our way over to the NEW Dumbo, got to ride twice and there was no one else around....

Then we headed over to the Barnstormer......only waiting about 5 minutes for our turn!  How fun!!

We ended our evening with a photo session with Merida!  How exciting that was, as we love BRAVE!

We finally left the park about 11pm, and basically did a "crash and burn" on the bus.  I can't remember being that tired in a long time.  I could hardly walk back to our room from the bus stop after we got back. 

All-in-all, a great evening except for the disappointing amount of people.  Our next day, was at Disney's Hollywood Studios, and more friends!  Watch for my next post with details.  Also, coming up in the next month.....planning my "solo" trip to WDW!  YES!  It's booked!