Category: Photos

When we last left our intrepid Disney World vacationers, they were headed for the Tower of Terror.  As you may or may not know, the Tower of Terror is basically a thirteen story elevator shaft that you get dropped down – repeatedly.  Now, I have a fear of falling.  Not heights, just falling.  I’m fine behind the window of a 20th story building, but put me on the edge of a 2nd story balcony and I get nervous.  Naturally, then, a ride whose sole purpose is to make you fall multiple stories over and over wouldn’t appeal to me.  Indeed, when we went to Disney World in 2001 for our honeymoon, I refused to ride on it with B.  Why did I go on it this time, then?  Simple, because NHL had declared that he was going on it and I couldn’t let my 5 year old show me up.  Macho pride prevailed over plummeting phobia.

Nevertheless, I began to get nervous as we wound our way through the corridors, past the "story room" (where the back-story to the Tower of Terror is revealed) to our elevator.  I was quite happy to see the seats, actually.  For some reason, I thought that we would be standing when we dropped.  In hindsight, it was a stupid thing to think.  Imagine the liability of dropping an elevator full of standing (read: not buckled in) people even 2 stories.  Disney would be paying out millions in injured back, broken bone, and whiplash claims.  So we sat in our seats and I braced myself.  At first, we went up slowly and were "treated" to some more setup story.  There were ghosts, thousands of stars, and lots of other creepiness which served as a distraction to the fact that you were climbing ridiculously high up.  Finally, we were shown that we were, indeed, high in the air.  Then, we weren’t.  We plummeted down and I tried (unsuccessfully, I think) not to scream.  Then we shot back up again.  And I mean shot.  This was no mere elevator rising, but more along the lines of "falling up."  Then we fell back down again.  Then back up again.  Then back down and up.  Then, finally, back down.

Eventually, our elevator car came to rest and the doors opened to let us out.  The only reason my legs consented to carry me out was that, had they refused, I’d likely be forced to go up and down a few more times.  As I struggled to walk normally, I asked NHL if he thought it was scary.  He didn’t think so.  He didn’t want to go back on, but he wasn’t scared.  That tears it.  My son is braver than me when it comes to rides.  (This much I’ve known for quite some time.)

After we got off the ride, we met with B, B’s mother, and a now-awake JSL in front of the Beauty and the Beast stage show.  We quickly took our seats and while I fed JSL an apple (he missed lunch while sleeping, remember), the show began with a loud *BONG*.  A *VERY* loud *BONG*.  Everyone jumped and JSL got quite afraid.  They soon stopped the show, announced some technical difficulties and had us wait while they fixed them.  A few minutes later, we were watching a "tale as old as time, song as old as rhyme."  The show itself was quite nice, touching on all of the major points of the movie while cutting it down to stage show length.  Some things were cut, of course, such as Belle’s father.  She was just said to have wound up at the castle due to "an amazing series of events."  The only remnent of Belle’s father in the stage show is a line from the movie where the Beasts’ servents say that Belle has lost her father and freedom in the same day.

After the stage show, B and her father went on the Rockin’ Roller Coaster again.  We stayed to see the photo taken during the ride, got our photo taken in front of the guitar, and then headed right for The Little Mermaid show.  This show was indoors (always nice to get out of the hot Florida sun) and the boys enjoyed the songs and story.  It was over pretty quickly and, after a little shopping, we headed for the 50’s Prime Time Cafe for dinner.

This restaurant was quite appropriate for Mother’s Day dinner as the whole setup is that you’re sitting down for dinner at "mom’s house" circa 1950.  The waiting area has a bunch of old black and white TVs for you to watch and old-style furniture.  Your server takes the role of "Mom", telling you to keep your elbows off the table, eat all of your vegetables, set the table (take the napkins and silverware from a central backet and place them out) and do your homework (decide what to order).  It was quite funny to watch one of the cast members (pretending to be a cousin, I think), doing the "airplane manuver" to get a woman at another table to eat her veggies.  (They don’t push it too far, of course.  Just enough to be funny.)

After our dinner with "Mom", we headed to Downtown Disney to do some shopping.  Here is where NHL finally got to see the long-promised World of Disney.  If you have never been there, the World of Disney is the world’s largest Disney store.  The shop is so large, that I’ve gotten lost in it.  You get turned around and can’t figure out which way you turn to get to Plush Animals from Mensware.  After the World of Disney, we stopped by Goofy’s Candy Shop, but didn’t buy anything there.  Finally, exhausted, we made our way back to the hotel for a good night’s sleep.

Hey all.  Due to a hectic work schedule (both work at work and at home), I took a week off of blogging.  Now that I’ve cleared a few things off my plate, I’m ready to resume my tale of our Disney World trip.

When I last left, we had just enjoyed the Toy Story Mania ride.  After leaving that, we walked around for a bit and eventually wound up by the Muppet Vision 3D theater.  B and I had seen this show when we went to Disney World on our honeymoon.  We knew that the kids would love it too and they definitely did enjoy seeing the 3D exploits of Kermit, Fozzie, Gonzo, and the biggest Muppet star of all: Ms. Piggy!

After exiting the Muppet Vision 3D theater, we noticed that a few Disney cast members were setting up the Cars meet and greet area.  Here you could get your picture taken with Lightning McQueen and Mater.  There was a very short line, so we joined it and before we knew it, NHL was posing between the two stars of Cars.  Then the rest of us (B, JSL and I) joined in and got some photos of all of us.  While NHL was excited, JSL wasn’t too sure about the whole setup.  Mater was making far too much noise for JSL so we had to move him more to Lightning’s side.

After Cars, we headed back to Toy Story Mania for our Fast Pass ride.  This time, I took JSL with me and B took NHL.  Following the Toy Story Redux, we split up.  B’s parents went off to Fast Pass Aerosmith’s Rockin’ Roller Coaster and generally walk around.  We wandered around until we came to the Playhouse Disney – Live on Stage show.  The line for this was short and the show was about to start, so we got on line.  Once inside, we took our places on the floor and waited for the show to start.

The show started out with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse – a favorite in our house.  Mickey, Donald, Goofy and Daisy were planning Minnie’s surprise party.  They split up to do various tasks (write a song, bake a cake, put up a banner), but needed some help.  In true Mickey Mouse Clubhouse style, they called upon Toodles to assist them with some Mouse-ka-tools.  The Mouse-ka-tools took the forms of stories from the characters from Handy Manny, Little Einsteins, and My Friends Tigger and Pooh.  NHL and JSL watch all of these shows at home and they enjoyed seeing the characters come to life in front of their eyes.

After the Playhouse Disney show, we met back up with B’s parents.  While B and her father went on the Rockin’ Rollercoaster, I got Fast Pass tickets for the Tower of Terror.  Then, JSL, NHL, B’s mother and I went to find a place to eat lunch.  After a few less-than-perfect possibilities, we settled on the Backlot Express.  JSL fell asleep during the walk over there, so NHL, B, B’s parents and I ate lunch.  Although, it was hot out, I opted for a veggie ciabatta, cheesecake and lemonade.  The entire meal was tasty and we left ready to do more.

Unfortunately, on our way back towards the Tower of Terror, B noticed that her glasses were off.  A quick glance showed that a nose pad had fallen off.  We searched the immediate area, but it was quite obvious that we wouldn’t find it.  After all, it was a small, transparent nose pad and Disney’s Hollywood Studios was so big.  So, with B putting up with the annoyance of cockeyed vision, we continued on to Tower of Terror.

We spent our first full day (Mother’s Day) at Disney World in Disney’s Hollywood Studios.  We arrived before the park opened and waited for the gates to open.  Our plan was for everyone to walk through the gates, hand me their passes, and then I would run to Fast Pass the Toy Story Mania ride.  The plan didn’t work out quite that way, however.  As we walked through the gates, I collected the cards.  Meanwhile, B and B’s mother were handed flowers for Mother’s Day.  After I had all of the cards in hand, I wound my way through the crowds to the front of the pack.  Then I hit the rope.

Apparently, when they open the park, they don’t *really* open the park.  They just let people in so they can see the opening ceremony.  In it, a "casting agent" drove up with two audience members (possible honeymooners).  He introduced the "director" who drove up in another car.  The director, in turn, introduced us to his "stagehand" and told us that we were part of his latest film.  We were instructed to say our lines and then *WALK* down Sunset Blvd.  He couldn’t stress enough that we would all *WALK* down the street.  At his signal ("1… 2… 3…"), we all chanted "Light, camera, action!"  The two chosen audience members then shouted "Hollywood, here we come!"  The director, stagehand, casting agent, and two chosen audience members drove off and we were allowed to *WALK* into the park.  To make sure no running was involved, Disney employees walked in front of us with their arms outspread.

At one point, I thought I spotted a shortcut and made a break for it.  Unfortunately, I was told by a Disney employee not to go that route.  (Plus, I stepped on a woman’s sandal on the way, causing it to pop off.  I fought the crowds to retrieve it for her.)  After returning to the crowd, I made my way back towards the front.  I got to the Fast Pass and got our tickets just as B and everyone else caught up with me.

Since everyone else was Fast Passing Toy Story Mania, the actual line for it was quite small.  We decided to take advantage of this and go on the ride right then and there.  The entrance/line area was amazing.  Tons of giant toys were scattered everywhere.  Everything from Bucket Of Monkeys to Candy Land to drawings by "Andy."  At one spot was a giant talking Mr. Potato Head telling jokes.  ("I’m a potato.  I comment on things.  I guess you could call me a commentater.")

I got in a cart next to NHL and we went for a ride.  It was NHL’s first real Disney World ride and it was amazing.  You ride on a cart with a gun mounted in front of you and 3D goggles on your head.  By pulling the string in front of you, the gun "fires" off rings, balls, or pins (depending on the section of the ride).  The game is a series of carnival games.  In some, you are popping balloons.  In some, you are firing off rings to loop around the little three eyed aliens.  In some, you are tossing balls to hit targets.  In all, you are having a ton of fun as balloons and other objects fly past you (complete with little breezes of air).  Needless to say, everyone had a blast.  (I was very pleased to hear that they’re working on a version of the ride for the Nintendo Wii complete with 3D effects.)  It was a very nice introduction to the kinds of rides that we would experience on our Disney World trip.