Except for my free birthday admission in 2009, I hadn't been to Disney since my last seasonal pass expired in Spring of 2008. Yesterday, I returned, and the birds sang, the flowers smiled and rainbow-colored fairies lifted me off the ground and I flew around the as the crowds cheered my triumphant return!
Well, not really, but it was still quite a lot of fun indeed...
I chose Disney's Hollywood Studios as my park for the day. Though I have more energy now than I have had in more than a couple of years, thanks to being some 40 pounds lighter, I still haven't the spirit or stamina for multi-park days (never mind doing all 4 in a day like I used to when I first came to Florida over a decade ago).
I arrived around 9:30, went to the ticket window and they handed me my weekday only season pass. No weekends, blackout dates apply and no free parking, it still cost a pretty penny ($190 and change). At over $500, there's no way I could afford a premium annual pass.
Once inside I made a B-line for the newly revamped Star Tours attraction. The pre-ride queue decoration and theming changed a little but only in minor ways. The ride itself was still in those big boxes on hydraulics made to look like the inside of a space transport craft. But once they opened the view screen I saw the changes immediately. The screen was much bigger now and the whole plot and movie was new. It looked much more like an actual Star Wars film and the 3-D was great. Very nice job!
I watched a little of the Jedi Training Academy routine, a guest interactive show outside the Star Tours facility featuring guests' kids dressed in brown Jedi youngling cloaks and being trained in stuff like light sabre fighting. Cute!
Next I wondered over towards the Muppet Vision 3D theater and thought about going in but I had seen this show several times before and it's good but nothing spectacular, I skipped it for today.
Toy Story Midway mania, another newer attraction I wanted to hit up was closed for some reason so instead I made my way into "Walt Disney: One Man's Dream". This walk-thru museum-ette featured artifacts from the early years of Disney such as rare Mickey Mouse toys and working prototypes for what would become animatronics to the present day Disney empire highlighting the various films, animation, TV productions and international theme parks we're all familiar with now. It was capped by a short bio-pic narrated by none other than Walt Disney himself. (Maybe it was his frozen head speaking?)
It was close to the 11:30 showtime for Beauty and the Beast so I walked briskly through Hollywood and popped into the Theater of the Stars for this live action musical performance. Here is some video I took highlighting two of the hit songs from the film:
After the show, it was time for a beverage. Beer prices seem to have remained pretty much the same as 3 years ago ($5.50 for a 16 oz. Bud Light) but food prices are now freakin' crazy! The one-time lauded "deal" of the theme parks, the big smoked turkey leg, used to be a relatively great value back in the day for less than $5, now they're over $9!!
I meandered back toward the center of the park and came across one of the great little improv skits the "Olde Hollywood" type actors do. This one was a Barney Fife-ish cop (equipped with a banana in his holster) and a fancy wannabe Hollywood elite insider. They were done up in the period (Hollywood Golden Age) costumes and were poking fun at various members of the assembled audience and innocent passers-thru. The lady even picked on me saying I was giving her "the snake eyes" (I was wearing a black T-shirt with a silkscreen graphic of a motorcycle and a pair of dice that had the words "Snake Eyes" on the top).
Next up, one of my all-time favorites, The Great Movie Ride. Our tram driver was really great (I hate when they're too scripted sounding) and the gangster was terrific! For some reason I totally forgot about the Alien section of the ride, though I confirmed with older YouTube videos that it was there all along.
Tummy was growling so I opted to fork over the $8 something they wanted for a "gourmet" hot dog (topped with mac and cheese and truffle oil) and another beer, thank you. The dog was in a tasty bun, mac and cheese on it seemed average but it had bacon bits, not truffle oil. And though it was supposed to come with coleslaw, I was given a bag of chips. Eh, it was okay. Over $8 okay? Not really.
The wait for either the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster and the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror was too long (over 30 minutes) so I made my way towards American Idol Experience but it had just started and the next show wasn't 'till 4:00. I browsed through a few shops, contemplating buying some Disney swag and it started to rain.
I decided to sit through the Magic of Disney Animation presentation. It's okay. A good place to wait out the rain. The only problem I had with it was it featured the animated dragon from Mulan called Mushu. I don't even remember this character, but the live actor "animator" presenting and interacting with the cartoon stated he was a lesser known character at the top of the show.
The rain had died down a bit and since the Tower of Terror had been closed during the downpour (yes, of course there was lightning...hello, it's Central Florida!) the queue time dwindled down to just 15 minutes.
Having had a couple of cups of coffee this morning, the 2 beers hadn't been enough to settle my nerves yet so I was actually a little scared on the ride. The drops seemed really fast and at the end they opened the doors and played a bit of the ending Twilight Zone hologram...but it was a trick! The elevator shot right back up and dropped us down as fast! Good one!
Before you know it, 3:45 came around and I made my way over to the American Idol Experience. I have to say this was the best of the day!
The theater looked just like the one on TV used for the real show. The guy who was our warm-up was super great with lots of energy and the host looked and sounded so much like the real Ryan Secrest it was scary! The judges were great, especially the Randy-like black guy who had a few cute one-liners too.
But it was the three performers who blew me away. They were just ordinary guests who went backstage to audition earlier in the day and were selected for the show. They were really good. They each could have easily been on the real show.
The last of the three, a blond 30-something dude, probably from New Orleans though they neglected to state where he was from (he had a "'Datman" T-shirt and his last name is Cajun-French) was phenomenal. He could definitely be pro! (Then again, I'm sure they don't do a ton of background checking on guests who audition only that morning so maybe he was.) Of course, he won.
So I headed back home around 5:00 grinning from ear to ear. I indeed had a magical day!
Well, not really, but it was still quite a lot of fun indeed...
I chose Disney's Hollywood Studios as my park for the day. Though I have more energy now than I have had in more than a couple of years, thanks to being some 40 pounds lighter, I still haven't the spirit or stamina for multi-park days (never mind doing all 4 in a day like I used to when I first came to Florida over a decade ago).
I arrived around 9:30, went to the ticket window and they handed me my weekday only season pass. No weekends, blackout dates apply and no free parking, it still cost a pretty penny ($190 and change). At over $500, there's no way I could afford a premium annual pass.
Once inside I made a B-line for the newly revamped Star Tours attraction. The pre-ride queue decoration and theming changed a little but only in minor ways. The ride itself was still in those big boxes on hydraulics made to look like the inside of a space transport craft. But once they opened the view screen I saw the changes immediately. The screen was much bigger now and the whole plot and movie was new. It looked much more like an actual Star Wars film and the 3-D was great. Very nice job!
I watched a little of the Jedi Training Academy routine, a guest interactive show outside the Star Tours facility featuring guests' kids dressed in brown Jedi youngling cloaks and being trained in stuff like light sabre fighting. Cute!
Next I wondered over towards the Muppet Vision 3D theater and thought about going in but I had seen this show several times before and it's good but nothing spectacular, I skipped it for today.
Toy Story Midway mania, another newer attraction I wanted to hit up was closed for some reason so instead I made my way into "Walt Disney: One Man's Dream". This walk-thru museum-ette featured artifacts from the early years of Disney such as rare Mickey Mouse toys and working prototypes for what would become animatronics to the present day Disney empire highlighting the various films, animation, TV productions and international theme parks we're all familiar with now. It was capped by a short bio-pic narrated by none other than Walt Disney himself. (Maybe it was his frozen head speaking?)
It was close to the 11:30 showtime for Beauty and the Beast so I walked briskly through Hollywood and popped into the Theater of the Stars for this live action musical performance. Here is some video I took highlighting two of the hit songs from the film:
After the show, it was time for a beverage. Beer prices seem to have remained pretty much the same as 3 years ago ($5.50 for a 16 oz. Bud Light) but food prices are now freakin' crazy! The one-time lauded "deal" of the theme parks, the big smoked turkey leg, used to be a relatively great value back in the day for less than $5, now they're over $9!!
I meandered back toward the center of the park and came across one of the great little improv skits the "Olde Hollywood" type actors do. This one was a Barney Fife-ish cop (equipped with a banana in his holster) and a fancy wannabe Hollywood elite insider. They were done up in the period (Hollywood Golden Age) costumes and were poking fun at various members of the assembled audience and innocent passers-thru. The lady even picked on me saying I was giving her "the snake eyes" (I was wearing a black T-shirt with a silkscreen graphic of a motorcycle and a pair of dice that had the words "Snake Eyes" on the top).
Next up, one of my all-time favorites, The Great Movie Ride. Our tram driver was really great (I hate when they're too scripted sounding) and the gangster was terrific! For some reason I totally forgot about the Alien section of the ride, though I confirmed with older YouTube videos that it was there all along.
Tummy was growling so I opted to fork over the $8 something they wanted for a "gourmet" hot dog (topped with mac and cheese and truffle oil) and another beer, thank you. The dog was in a tasty bun, mac and cheese on it seemed average but it had bacon bits, not truffle oil. And though it was supposed to come with coleslaw, I was given a bag of chips. Eh, it was okay. Over $8 okay? Not really.
The wait for either the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster and the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror was too long (over 30 minutes) so I made my way towards American Idol Experience but it had just started and the next show wasn't 'till 4:00. I browsed through a few shops, contemplating buying some Disney swag and it started to rain.
I decided to sit through the Magic of Disney Animation presentation. It's okay. A good place to wait out the rain. The only problem I had with it was it featured the animated dragon from Mulan called Mushu. I don't even remember this character, but the live actor "animator" presenting and interacting with the cartoon stated he was a lesser known character at the top of the show.
The rain had died down a bit and since the Tower of Terror had been closed during the downpour (yes, of course there was lightning...hello, it's Central Florida!) the queue time dwindled down to just 15 minutes.
Having had a couple of cups of coffee this morning, the 2 beers hadn't been enough to settle my nerves yet so I was actually a little scared on the ride. The drops seemed really fast and at the end they opened the doors and played a bit of the ending Twilight Zone hologram...but it was a trick! The elevator shot right back up and dropped us down as fast! Good one!
Before you know it, 3:45 came around and I made my way over to the American Idol Experience. I have to say this was the best of the day!
The theater looked just like the one on TV used for the real show. The guy who was our warm-up was super great with lots of energy and the host looked and sounded so much like the real Ryan Secrest it was scary! The judges were great, especially the Randy-like black guy who had a few cute one-liners too.
But it was the three performers who blew me away. They were just ordinary guests who went backstage to audition earlier in the day and were selected for the show. They were really good. They each could have easily been on the real show.
The last of the three, a blond 30-something dude, probably from New Orleans though they neglected to state where he was from (he had a "'Datman" T-shirt and his last name is Cajun-French) was phenomenal. He could definitely be pro! (Then again, I'm sure they don't do a ton of background checking on guests who audition only that morning so maybe he was.) Of course, he won.
So I headed back home around 5:00 grinning from ear to ear. I indeed had a magical day!