Tuesday, January 13th, 2004

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Disney MGM:

The joy of being frequent guests to WDW is not having to rush to see it all. Pick and choose some favorites that you always like to do or haven't done in awhile. Don't wear yourself out! For example, we had no wake-up call today, but slept until we felt like getting up.

Must-do list:

Fantasmic Dinner package at Hollywood & Vine

Photo with Mickey! We haven't done this in ages!

My stomach bothers me a bit when I got up so I have a plain croissant for breakfast. This helps as you can tell from the huge lunch I ate.

The cast member who rents us our locker is from our hometown! We can't believe it! Our little dustspeck on the map produced a cast member!

How much can 1 locker hold? Well, we find out by shoving an overnight bag (with long pants etc. for tonight) and our jackets (because now it's nice and warm) into a small locker. We both push the door close, and have to lean our body weight on it to keep it shut until we can get the key.

I traded my last e-Bay pin for a Mary Poppin "Spoon Full of Sugar" pin. I used to sing this song adnauseum as a kid. It's a wonder my mother never pushed me out of the car. (I apologize for the misspelling of e-Bay; my webhost blocks pages with that right name and same with Pay-pal)

As part of our "nostalgia trip", we do The Great Movie Ride. OK, we'd have done it anyway.

We get the Gangster who, as we enter "Alien", says "This looks like Jersey". Unfortunately for him, the car is filled with Jersey people.

In Wizard of Oz section, we're close to the speakers. It makes a faint hum or buzz. I tell John it's all part of Disney magic: a bee buzzing sound effect in the flowers. He tells me I'm full of it.

John starts up again with his "Pal Walty" idea that he first started teasing me with at Christmas time. Not that he hasn't been doing this all week, but the animatronic witch is just another reason to bring it up.

• John says that better than Pal Mickey would have been a little Pal Walt Disney, Pal Walty for short. With the itch's fog drifting everywhere, he whispers "See, you'd get a little cryogenic capsule that you open with all the dry ice fog billowing out. And inside is your very own frozen Walt head that wakes up and tells you about the parks".

• The man is not right. He must have been dropped as a baby. Really.

You can tell my stomach feels better because we pig out at Rosie's! Veggie cheeseburgers, fries for me, onion rings for John! All happily eaten listening to the screams from Tower of Terror.

On Rock & Roll coaster, I noticed something I hadn't before: there's a dancing flower in the studio as Aerosmith listens to the playback! Also on this ride, at the end where you have the photos, two teens pretend to be asleep for their photos! Looks hysterical!

We get bottled water at the Coaster snack bar and meet a wonderful cast member, Christina.

Now that we've been in the Grand Marshall car, we wave and yell hi like idiots to the parade cars. And then you can't stop there, you have to wave to everybody because you don't want those characters feeling left out! It's a lot of waving, but grin and remember: it's less than the marathon!

We see our friend from Epcot with her broken foot and a big grin. She's not letting that foot stop her from one second of good time!

A little girl goes by with a birthday pin: Happy Birthday, Leia. Star Tours should give her a discount for that name!

In the Villain's store, the cast member at the register admires my pins. I tell him I especially brought to MGM my Runaway Brain figure (because the last time I was here, the CM and I had a long talk about wanting more RB stuff in WDW). This cast member looks at me and says, "What's Runaway Brain?" I should have taken his WDW name badge away from him for that!

OK, in the MGM parade -- I'd make a 100 times better Princess Leia. I've never seen 2 more bored looking Cast Members in my life. How did they get their jobs? Not only am I a brunette and petite, I have my own laser rifle and interactive R2 unit. I would rock!

You remember the big "Crane Incident" where John proved he doesn't listen to me? OK, in one day, he proved it again 5 times!

• Coming to MGM, I told him that if he entered the road opposite Boardwalk, it was the small entrace to the park, not the big one with the signs of all the characters. But he kept chatting about how he found this shortcut to that main entrance.

• I told him the parade time (I have it on my pocketPC). He stopped and asked a cast member.

• I told him the start time for Millionaire (pocketPC!). He stopped and asked a cast member.

• I told him what time Animal Kingdom opened tomorrow (off of the pocketPC again). He looked it up on the WDW channel.

• I told him the TVs in Mom's lounge have Disney has their brandname. He pointed this out to me right after I told him.

• I started making things up and chatting about them nonstop like the 100 men I was having an affair with, just to see at what point he'd listen.

• John pinches me; I give him a purple nurple back. It's a good thing we're mature.

We look and look but can't find the Hidden Minnie in the loading area of Great Movie Ride.

Expecting the worse of the new Animation Tour, I'm happily surprised by the first part. I love the movie "Mulan" and enjoy this new segment with Mushu. But as we leave this for the next part, John talks about how sad this is in comparison to what it used to be, especially with the animators gone. I'm so depressed - this animation team gave me 2 of my favorite movies after all (Mulan and Stitch) -- that I leave before the drawing portion and have a cloud hanging over me for some time.

I am thrilled to get my favorite tram guide: Jen!! You know she must be good by the fact that I actually hope to get her tram! I remember her from the first time, years ago, I got her and she did her routine of "Let's get that parking lot number into your subconscious!" And then whispering ‘subliminally', "Sleepy 35... 35... 35. That's Sleepy 35." Now to add to it, they have the soldiers from Toy Story out to entertain people. Their sergeant is so funny, I end up videotaping

I can't tell you how many times people stop me to make the following joke about Kahlúa: "Hey, did you know you have a bear climbing up your back?" So as not to ruin their fun in thinking they're the only ones to think of this joke, John and I gave the following responses back with big grins.

• Me: "They told me not to lean out of the truck on the safari ride!"

• John: "She just got the monkey off her back and now there's a bear!"

As we walk past the B.A.H, Megorah's song from Hercules "I won't say I'm in love" plays over the PA system. Coincidentally, Megorah is signing autographs. She starts lip synching to the song, even as she signs. Then, seeing a few CMs laughing, she moves over, still singing with the CMs playing the part of the Muses and they do the whole number to the delight of the guests.

In the Villain's store, I try on a long sleeve T-shirt. Since I'm in the store, I pull it over my own T-shirt, but as I try to get it off, I pull my own T-shirt off too, and for a second, I'm stripped down to the bra -- right in front of the shop window!! A guy walking by does this HUGE double take! John and I scramble to get me covered, laughing hysterically, and a cast member goes by and says, "You know, we have dressing rooms."

A woman walks by us, carrying her daughter. She jokes, "Remember this when I'm old and gray, and you have to push me around in a wheelchair."

On NY Street, we glance around at the construction.

• I love the signs surrounding the one building, asking you to use the entrance at 5^th Ave. Now how many guests go looking for that entrance, thinking they're missing an attraction?

• I also like the "Historical Preservation at work. Making your tax dollars history!"

• Those must be animatronic construction workers, not real one. They don't whistle or make one lewd comment to the women going by!

• A cast member tells us the different streets will offer different cities: NY still, San Francisco, and Chicago. John says we'll be sure to see it, we come to WDW often enough. The cast member eyes me in pins, Pal Mickey, and Kahlúa and says, "Yeah, I guessed."

At the next table to us at Hollywood & Vine, a family of four includes, besides Mom and Dad, their two sons looking about 14 and 12. The teen is all mopey, slumped in the bench seat against the wall, obviously feeling the weight of the world on his shoulders because he has to be with his stupid family on this uncool vacation. His younger brother, on the verge of being a teen himself, copied his attitude. I couldn't believe what happened:

• His mom came back from the buffet and saw how he was acting. Instead of getting angry at this sulky, unappreciative kid, she gave a big, mock sigh and said: I really feel your pain, Buddy. Stuck here with us.

• The husband now comes up and said, "Who's in pain?" His wife pointed out their mopey son. The father immediately joined in: "You poor sucker. Having to endure this living hell."

• Mom jumped in: "What if it got worse? What if, god forbid, we SING?! Who's the leader of the club that's made for you and me?" Dad sang with her: "M-I-C-K-E-Y..."

• Little Brother can't help it. After all, it's much more fun to laugh at your brother than it is to maintain pre-teen angst. He points and laughs at his brother.

• Dad now yells, "Look! Crayons! I can draw a picture and you can show it to all your friends when you get home!"

• I don't believe it, but the teen breaks. He grins as his parents draw on their placemats. With a huge smile, he tells them they're lame. They nod in agreement and the family finishes their meal.

• When they leave, Dad throws his arm around the teen's shoulder and tells him, "Don't worry. Someday you'll have kids to torture." and they leave amidst enthusiastic plans of what to do next.

• If I ever become a parent, I hope I'm as good as those two people.

Quality time at Fantasmic!

• In case I haven't emphasized this enough, I am not good at waiting. I don't want to wait for anything. You can get 5, maybe 10 minutes out of me, then I fidget. However, knowing this, my husband (He Who Should Know Better) says he doesn't want to wait until 6:30 to go to Oscar's (and therefore Fantasmic). We should go now even if it means sitting around for an hour before the show. He tells me it'll be quality time for the two of us, and aren't I always complaining we don't have enough of that?

• So off we go, John saying that Disney should rent Cast Members to do your bidding during your vacation so they could go and save our seats at Fantasmic for us. As we sit on the chilly metal benches, I look at him to provide quality time. Here are the quality things we did:

• John mimics the guy selling light up things from his cart. He says he sounds like Burgess Meredith in "Rocky". And every time John sees this guy balance a lightsaber on his chin, he shoves me, "Did you see that? Did you see that?"

• When I change to thicker socks, John takes video of it saying my feet are dry and crusty. He questions whether I've bathed at all this week.

• I see 2 cute kids in front of us with this toy of Mickey's hand holding a glowing wand. Having now sat for 20 mins, I'm ansy and harrass John about my getting one of these until Fantasmic starts.

• For half an hour, I sarcastically comment off and on about our quality time, and John talks about coming to WDW by himself from now on.

• John takes video of the crowd doing the wave while I put my "Quality Time" speech on video for posterity.

• Denied a Mickey wand, I take out my Nemo flashlight and wave it in the air.

• John asks me why I had the dumb idea of coming an hour early before the show. He thinks this is very funny.

• A few rows in front of us, someone buys the light up sunglasses that John said were too expensive. John questions why he ever got married.

• John goes on again about his Pal Walty and the idea of renting Cast Members. I question why I ever got married.

• The show starts and we have a great time, having not seen it for a few years. At the end, John said Aren't you glad we came early? I said sincerely, "Yes". We had the best seats we ever had and a lot of fun.

He remarks that you might see actual stars/famous people at the Studios. "If you do, pal, could you get an autograph for me -- for Minnie! Yeah, right, for Minnie! I promised her I'd get one!"

Favorite pictures (click thumbnail for larger photo):

It outta be a pin:

Stupid Guest series: when on the Haunted Mansion set tour, not only do the cast members say it, but the video tells you to please wander around the set as they explain details. John and I are the only people to do it, and finally a few others follow suit. But the majority stands in place, staring at the screen. When our time is up, these idiots remarked "But we didn't get to walk around and see things!" For these people who stay oblivious to what's told them, we'll have Goofy asking Mickey what time does the 3:00 parade start.

Stitch long sleeve T: Hey, you can't do a striptease in the Villain's store and then not buy the shirt!

Mickey rain poncho pin: He wears a real poncho! Instead of just painted on metal part of the pin, this is the material ponchos are made from right on Mickey! Plus the cast member points out that since ponchos are now clear -- with no plans to change the pin -- it might be a collector's thing. Still, I get it because I've always admired Kim's and I love that it's a real poncho.

Walt Disney World 2004 logo watch with fireworks center: I know, I know, but I couldn't resist.

Downtown Disney:

Yay! A good show at Comedy Warehouse at last! Matt, Krista, Joy, and Brian are on hand and make a funny show out of telling a story and a running gag over whether Matt is gay.

At the Adventurer's Club, we hang out in the main salon for the whole night, watching people talk with the characters.

When I go to the Adv. Club bar, a woman next to me admires the blouse I'm wearing. We chit chat a bit, and I introduce her to John as she sits down on the poof. Babylonia wakes up, and with Pamelia, they talk to our new friend, Martha. Problem: Martha's a little... tipsy, and keeps looking wildly at us and Pamelia as Babylonia talks to her. She says things like, "Where is she?" and Babylonia answers, "Right here above you. Can't you see me?" Martha: "But you're a rock!" Knowing this is a choice chance to screw with someone, Babylonia and Pamelia chat with Martha for a while as Martha repeats to each question: "This is freaking me out." We were hysterical!

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