So What's It Really Like? - Day 3

[neilhd]

DAY 3 - Walt Disney Studios.

Cast Members:
Neil (Me) - 30, Chief Reader of the Brits Guide,
Ele - 32, Knows every song from every Disney movie.
Jess - 12, Knows every word from every song from every Disney movie.
Joe - 3, Mickey Mouse Mad.

Dates: 7th April 2009 - 10th April 2009

Today we had a lie in - I set the alarm for 06:30 hehe. The reason for this tardiness was because we had a reservation at Cafe Mickey for 08:00. We'd never done a character meal before so we were looking forward to it. We were up and out in good time (the prospect of breakfast with Mickey Mouse is amazingly motivational for kids!). Pluto was doing some pictures in our hotel so we had a quick snap:



and got to the cafe just before 08:00. We were in and seated and had plates full of food in no time. Then King John came out, followed moments later by Mickey, then Friar Tuck and what we thought was Professor Von Drake but who signed the books as "Scruggles". The kids were loving it (so were we!). Mickey was the first to our table and he sat down beside Joe for a picture - he was over the moon! We then had King John, Friar Tuck and Prof. Von Drake / Scruggles come over. Ele teased King John about sucking his thumb - it was great fun. Joe wanted to see Mickey again so Mickey came back over to our table for another photo and a hug. Those characters then went in and a few minutes later out came Goofy and Chip n Dale. We noticed Joe was starting to really be into Goofy and when Goofy came over, Joe even gave him a kiss which I've never seen him to do a character before. All in all it was a great experience and one I'd repeat. The food was quite yummy, too.










We finished our breakfast and went to the Disney store in the Village where we bought a few things and had them sent back to our hotel for collection later. It was then just about opening time for the Studios so off we went. We bumped into our neighbours again inside Studio 1 and had a quick chat and then we rushed off to Tower of Terror for me and Jess and Joe. This was to be Joe's first time and I didn't know how he'd take to it! The queue time was posted as 25 minutes but the ride wasn't actually open yet. Once it did open a few minutes later the queue moved very quickly and we were on in no time. Joe was little scared by the pre-show but was happy enough to be held. We then went through and were soon on the ride... and he loved it! Once he'd got over the initial shock of the first drop he enjoyed himself - so much that he asked to go on again!

In the queue:

[neilhd]

(cont).

We said we'd go back on later, and went to go and investigate the queue time for the Studio Tram tour, which was showing as something ridiculous so we instead checked the show times and realised that the Playhouse Disney show was starting in 20 minutes. So we went inside to the cool waiting room (today was lovely and hot and sunny). Joe was very happy watching the pre-show videos as he loves this channel and watches it every morning. We had stood by the far end expecting that's where we'd go through to the main show, and indeed it was. As we were basically first in we got a seat right at the very front. The show was great and Joe really loved it - especially Handy Manny. I had no idea they were puppets - I was expecting full-size characters - and it worked really well, especially the Tools from Handy Manny.










When the show was over we just had time to leg it over to the Moteurs stunt show. I really wanted to see this as when we went to Hollywood Studios in Florida it was cancelled by the appearance of Tropical Storm Fay. No chance of it being cancelled today, as it was 22 degrees and sunny, so we found a seat in the stadium and five minutes later it started - and it was awesome! Really really impressive. I just want to see it in Florida again now so I can work out what they were saying better.





Ok, who let Ele park?

[neilhd]

(cont).

After that we thought about Rock n' Rollercoaster, but half the stadium had the same thought, so instead we went back to Tower of Terror so Joe could ride it again. This was showing a 5-minute wait so we quickly joined it. Well, Jess, Joe and I did - Ele doesn't like it. Joe enjoyed his second ride though. Once we'd done that we went to Rock n' Rollercoaster which was showing a 5 minute wait but was more like 10. Never mind - this is our favourite ride! Jess and I rode first, then Jess and Ele road with a shorter queue whilst I wandered about with Joe and took some pics with him:




Once Ele and Jess had come out, Jess and I went back on again as the queue was still non-existent. We then decided to go on Armageddon as there were no queues for it - just the wait for the next show to start. This was pretty cool, although the majority were French so the CM did the whole thing in French. Joe was a bit scared of the fire though! Quite an impressive experience though. At least Joe didn't cry, unlike a couple of (older) kids we saw walking out of it just before we went in!

After Armageddon we went to check the queue on the Studio Tram tour again. It was posted as 60 minutes, but looked a LOT less, so we decided to risk it. And it was a good move, too. We just missed getting on the first tram, but got straight on the second one with a total queue of about 10 minutes. When our tram started to drive off I could see the queue had grown huge again, so our timing was very lucky there. I really enjoyed this ride - we hadn't done the Florida one so didn't know what to expect, and it was really good - that water rushing down and over the tram is incredible. Joe was rather wary of the fire from the "Dragon in London" scene though and wanted to sit as far away from it as possible, on my lap!

After we finished that we wandered over to Crush to see the queue was a mind-boggling 75 minutes. No way I'm queueing for that long (why don't they have fast passes for this ride? ) so Jess took Joe on the Flying Carpets ride with only a 5-minute wait. Whilst they were riding I spotted Buzz Lightyear signing at his spot, so we went over there as soon as they were off as Joe LOVES Buzz.



They also got a picture of the thing from Ratatouille (never watched it so don't know his name!)



I started feeling ill for some reason about now, so I sat down for a bit whilst Jess took Joe on the Cars ride and Ele took pictures. We then headed into Animagique which was just starting - they were yelling out there was one minute till showtime when we ran up. We sat quite near the front which was actually a great place to sit. The show was brilliant and held Joe's attention all the way through. It was very clever indeed. Once we'd finished in there, Crush was still 75 minutes, so back to Tower of Terror we went, for a quick almost walk-on ride (I was feeling a bit better!), and then we went into Cinemagique which was also very good and clever. With that done there was time for another whirl around Rock n' Rollercoaster before it was time to go.

We headed out and decided on Annette's for dinner, which was actually great fun. We were seated immediately and the service and food was fantastic. The bill was obviously just as fantastic, but we'd come to expect that now. Overall I much preferred Annette's to Planet Hollywood. It was cheaper, better and more fun. When we came out our next-door neighbours were queueing up to get in! We obviously came at just the right time as the queue was quite big.

Overall I was amazed by our day at the Studios. With the exception of Crush (which we didn't do) the longest queue we did was about 15 minutes all day, and we had several goes on Tower of Terror and Rock n' Rollercoaster, which are both Jess and my 2 favourite rides. I was especially expecting Tower of Terror to be busier.

We went back to the hotel and the kids had a play in the big sandpit whilst I picked up our morning's purchases from the on-site shop.

Last day tommorow so when we got back to the room we packed all the cases back up.

[Lil_Missy]

Disney definately made a mistake at not putting a fastpass on Crush. We didn't get to ride it when we went last December. We liked Animagique and Cinemagique as well. Did you get to do Stich? That was great as well.

[2waterford]

Must say your trip report is doing a lot of good for DLRP.

[mossyflossy]

sounds fab, never done DLRP as never fancied it for a "holiday", but might consider it now for a short break!

[neilhd]

That's exactly right Mossy - it's not a "holiday" destination like Florida is, but as a short-break it's great fun.

[sungiggs]

fab photos

[Strommie]

Another brilliant day

[roonlou]

I'm very impressed that Joe wanted to, and enjoyed riding Tower of Terror! Not one I'm very keen on myself as a supposed grown-up!