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2003 04-04 Today began much like yesterday with a forecast of partly cloudy and highs in the low 80s. We ate breakfast at the house again and hit the road for the Disney-MGM Studios. We made a bee line for the Rockin’ Roller Coaster only to discover that it was down with no projected time to reopen.
Disappointed, we headed next door to an old favorite, The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. To me, this ride exemplifies why nobody is better at what they do than Disney. The building looks awful. The entire facility is in such a state of disrepair, it is amazing that anyone would go in. That is the magic of Disney. We rode this ride in its first or second year of operation, and the building looked equally as bad. The design and engineering to build a “new” 70-year old building must be staggering. Once you are past the ride’s gates, everything is flawlessly presented. Currently in its 4th iteration, the Tower has improved, with more ups and downs and was very enjoyable.
We checked the Coaster again, but still no luck, so of to the other side of the park. We walked through the tribute to Walt Disney and the headed for the back lot tour. This has not changed over the years, but still offers an interesting view into the behind-the-scenes world of the movies. We then did the requisite stops in Muppet Vision 3D and the Star Tours motion simulator. I think both are showing their age. We then took a break and enjoyed Sounds Dangerous, the sound stage experience. Lunch called. Since Miranda’s friends had recommended the turkey legs & hot dogs at Disney, that’s what we got. We can also recommend them.
One last stop at the Coaster and still no go for it, so it was go for us. We departed for Epcot. Epcot is the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow. At least that’s the official name.
Unofficially, it is really Every Person Comes Out Tired. We hit Spaceship Earth, which is housed in the highly photographed silver sphere. From there, we zipped over to the GM Test Track. GM Employees get to go in via a special entrance and enjoy a hospitality suite and a cold soda. After that, they get to bypass most of the waiting line. Since Arlona is a GM employee, we took advantage of it and saved about 45 minutes. The ride was as good as we remembered. It is fun whipping along at almost 65MPH around the outside of the attraction.
From there, we walked through the World Showcase, taking in the rides in the Mexican and Norwegian pavilions. We also enjoyed the traveling shows with a juggler in Italy, a mime in France, a fife and drum team in the USA and a comedy troupe in the U.K. Once back in the front of the park, we watched Honey, I Shrunk the Audience in the Imagination pavilion. While still fun, it also is showing its age. We headed into the Innoventions pavilion where the kids had fun with the technology exhibits, designing a cellular phone and making paper. Arlona & Garry checked out the new Segway scooter, in use at Disney. We hear that they are available in Disney’s town, Celebration, just south of Orlando.
It was a long day, so we hit the bus back to MGM to get our car. Once there, we decided to head in to see if the Coaster was finally running, and lucky for us, it was. The line was short, maybe 10 minutes. By the time we were done, the park was closing so we left.
Since everyone was hungry, we stopped at Pizzeria Uno for dinner. After a nice meal, as we were walking to our car, Arlona noticed that there was a Krispy Kreme shop about 3 doors down, even in the same parking lot. Upon closed inspection, we saw the Hot Doughnuts Now sign was illuminated, so we picked up a dozen and ate a bunch right there. Mmmmm. Riding home from dinner proved to be too much for Alex. He was out cold in the car.
We got back and everyone went pretty much straight to bed. Tomorrow’s plan is a lazy morning of swimming and heading to Universal about noon. |
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Please read my disclaimer. This page last updated on Wednesday, April 30, 2003 09:22:52 PM
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