Disney's Hollywood Studios, Day 6

This was our last day at Disney. We did visit Hollywood Studios on my birthday but that was just for dinner and the lame show, I mean, laser show. In other words, we didn't really ride anything or get to enjoy the park. Michanne was super excited about The Tower of Terror and I didn't want her to ride it alone. So, I had an ultra light breakfast of cheerios and a banana, anticipating that I might lose it. We caught the bus for Hollywood Studios and I took a picture of the famous hat.
It's the one Mickey wore in Fantasia. Then we headed straight to the Tower of Terror.
That's Ralph with the awesome yellow backpack.
The folks didn't want to ride (shocker) so it was just me and Michanne. It said we had a 13 minute wait. On all the other rides it was a wait in 5 minute increments--I think it was a trick to make you scared. It's a ride that ties in with The Twilight Zone. You wait in separate rooms and then walk on to lines to sit on the "elevator". We waited in the library and watched a little Twilight Zone intro and then got in line. I was getting really nervous and Michanne and I were seated in the front row. The elevator was pretty spooky. It seated about 20 people and there were NO handrails. Only seat belts. Nothing to hold on to, nothing. I was in panic mode now as the elevator started to move forward. We saw some scenes of former guests at the hotel dying in the elevator. Then the real fun started. We shot up faster than you could imagine and then dropped, shot up again and dropped again. Then we shot up very far and it stopped at the top of the ride and you could see outside--you could see everything in the park from that height. I opened my eyes for about 1 second and then closed them tight just as we dropped again. It was totally awesome and I was gripping that seat belt like my life depended on it. Michanne was lifted off her seat but my seat belt gripping action kept me from that sensation. I'm glad I had a small breakfast. It truly was a heart-stopping, exhilarating ride. Next came the Rock n' Roller Coaster with Aerosmith.

I'd ridden this one before and knew it would be a rush. It goes from 0 to 60 in like 2 seconds. We only had a 10 minute wait and then screamed our heads off. Because the wait was so short we rode it again and this time we got to hear a few others scream like crazy before it was our turn again. It was a very fun and very loud ride. Two times was more than enough and it gave me a slight headache. We went in a couple shops as we headed to the Great Movie Ride.
Mickey and the brooms from Fantasia.
Another picture of the famous hat. My camera fogged up a little because of the Aerosmith ride. It was frigged cold in there and muggy outside.
The movie ride.
This was 22-minute tour ride showcasing some Hollywood classics. I would have to say that this was one of the worst rides of the entire week. Our guide was terrible and it was so embarrassing watching and listening to him. We walked to the Star Wars simulation ride Star Tours but it's closed until next summer.
Star Wars ride.
I remember it being pretty good. The gift shop was still open and they had some really hilarious shirts and souvenirs there. I can't remember the exact sequence of the next few things we did but we went to the Studio Backlot Tour and saw some behind the scenes stuff for movie stunts and props. It was mildly enjoyable except for the fact that I got a little wet. We also saw Muppet Vision 3D which was a short Muppet movie. It was really cute, those Muppet's are so funny. Here's the hilarious Miss Piggy--a childhood favorite of mine.
Next I think we went to the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular. I've seen this like 4 times. It never changes, ever. So, remember when we tried to have pizza on my birthday dinner and couldn't get in because we didn't have a reservation? Well, while we waited for the laser show to start that night I called and made a reservation for lunch on Saturday. That's were we headed after the Indiana Jones show. It was really good. I ordered a pasta dish as did Mom and Michanne ordered an artichoke and arugula pizza. It was great too. I forgot to mention that at most meals I ordered sprite to drink because the water in Florida is dis.gus.ting. This meal was no exception and I enjoyed my sprite and my chocolate gelato (I believe it was just chocolate ice cream, but it was yummy) dessert. All in all, the meal was pretty dang good. After lunch we decided to head back to the bus stop to go to the resort and get the truck. I had a quick picture with Mickey in the lobby of the resort before we got in the truck.
Random pictures around the park...
Random...
Random...but with my parents too!
Me and Mickey!
It was time for miniature golf! We went to Fantasia Gardens, one of two miniature golf courses at Disney.
We tried the tough course first. They weren't kidding. This thing was way hard. It was called the Fairways course and "provides the challenging thrills of a full-sized course, pure golf on a small scale." So hard.

This is Ralph after his hole in one. He was the only one that got a hole in one on that course. Here's the final tally: Me--77, Michanne--73, and Mom and Ralph tied with 80. So bad! We did see lots of wildlife on this course.


We wanted to redeem ourselves by playing the kiddie Gardens course so after some refreshments we got started. Described as "miniature golfing into a symphony of fun with eighteen whimsical challenges." It was hard as crap too!



But, we all got a hole in one on this course. Here's the tally for that course: Me--53, Michanne--57, Mom--51, Ralph--53. We decided to haul our tired, sweaty and defeated butts to dinner OFF Disney property. We dined at TGIF. We ordered appetizers and I had fried shrimp. It was really good and we were all stuffed. We all said how much fun we had during the week but Michanne said it best, "It's been really fun but honestly, I'm glad it's over." Disney is exhausting! Shows are on a schedule as are all forms of transportation. You're on a constant time clock and your wallet takes a serious beating there--no matter what you do. We went back to the resort to rest up and re-pack our stuff for the journey home. This military pickle was there to greet us when we got back.
Heinz is a big sponsor at the military resort. I thought it was cute. Ralph also took pictures on the trip so I may have another recap post with more pictures later. It was a great week and I hope that every family has an opportunity to do this some day.

Disney's Epcot, Day 5

This day started off with a bang. I woke up to the alarm and a very intense vertigo attack/episode (whatever). Michanne let me try a zyrtec and we all headed down to the good ol' breakfast buffet. I dined on grits and fruit loops. About 30 minutes later my breakfast joined the ocean and I took a claritin. We headed for the bus to take us the the monorail station. We were about an hour behind schedule due to the vertigo but we still got there around 9am. Upon entering the park we saw the famous Epcot dome.
There is a ride inside the dome called Spaceship Earth and it had a huge line when we got there. We decided to come back to the dome later and went to The Seas with Nemo and Friends which is a kiddie aquarium ride.
It was closed the last time I came to Disney so I really wanted to see it. It was lame, I think even kids would think it was lame. We saw seahorses and electric eels in the aquarium show room though. Also, I did get this cheesy (and unflattering--the sun was in my eyes) picture with Dory after the ride.
After that we rode Living with the Land--a boat voyage through a cool greenhouse and fish farm.
That's a tomato tree. Tree, you say? Yep, a tomato tree.


I really enjoyed this one and I wish I had taken more pictures. I don't imagine many kids would have liked that one. After the greenhouse stuff Michanne and I stood in line, forever, to ride Soarin'. It's supposed to simulate hang gliding over scenic views. It was pretty nice and even had smell-o-vision but I'm not sure if it was worth the 50 minute wait. The lady next to me had ridden it like 4 times and said it was the best ride in all of Disney. Michanne said she hoped not. We were all getting pretty hungry so we took a boat over to Morocco (remember Epcot is the park with all the countries).
Morocco
Morocco
We wanted to have lunch in Italy (must have pizza!) so we walked past Japan, and the American Adventure before we arrived in Italy.
Japan
Japan
Japan
Italy
Italy
We headed to Via Napoli and were seated right away. We ordered a large pizza with parma ham, eggplant, artichokes, and mushrooms. We also ordered limonata drinks which was supposed to be similar to lemonade and Sprite mixed but was just lemonade. The pizza was huge and all the toppings were in four sections on the pizza. The parma tasted weird so I didn't finish that slice. The mushroom was the best of the four and the artichokes tasted (and looked) like green beans. We decided to go for broke and ordered dessert. I tried the pistachio gelato which was pretty bad and I'm 100% sure was vanilla ice cream with green food coloring, crushed almonds and almond extract. I'm not a fan of almond extract. They did have neat ovens though.
We continued to tour the countries of the world; Germany, China, Norway, and Mexico.
Germany
German model train and town
More of the model town
Norway
China
China
Mexico
Mexico
In Norway we rode a really cute ride called Maelstrom which is on a viking boat. It was fun because most of the attractions at the other countries were only a movie and this was an actual ride. We tried to ride the Test Track but it wasn't running. Next came the Mission: Space ride. I got pretty sick the last time I rode this simulation ride and told everyone I wasn't going to do it. It has barf bags for crying out loud! However, they have two versions and one is less intense. So, we rode the green team version and it was the best thing to do because it's a 4 person ride. You sit in a cockpit type chamber and feel like your lifting off to outer space. Then you land on either the Moon or Mars (can't remember) and ride around on one of those space dune buggy type things. It was fun but the barf bags were still there. I held on to mine during the ride just in case. Now I have it as a free souvenir! Next we took another boat ride back to Morocco. France was to the right of Morocco and Belle was going to be there! The times guide said she would be there at 20 after the hour each hour. We rushed to France and I saw a cat from The Aristocats and Princess Aurora from Sleeping Beauty but no Belle. I double checked the times guide and it listed 20 after the hour each hour EXCEPT 3:20pm which is when I was there! Dang it! She's my favorite princess because she likes to read. I was pretty bummed about that.
France. There were no books in this shop.
The United Kingdom
UK
Oh, Canada!
We took some more pictures and then decided it was time to head back to the dome for the Spaceship Earth ride and then back to the resort. We didn't have much of a wait and Judy Dench was the narrator. It was a nice relaxing ride to wrap up the day. We got back to the resort and Mom, Michanne and I decided to try the Italian restaurant downstairs. Ralph was feeling pretty ill so he stayed the room. Michanne and I wanted another crack at good pizza so we each ordered a pizza and mom got some pasta dish. About 45 minutes later (there's apparently never a rush when dinning at Disney) Michanne and I got our pizzas. They were huge! We thought we ordered personal size pizzas. Mom never got her pasta so we shared the pizzas and took the leftovers to the fridge in the room. We pretty much just watched TV the rest of the evening and stayed off our tired feet and legs.