Disney parks part deux: Hollywood Studios and the Magic Kingdom
Onwards and upwards, then, the ovenbus led us merrily on to Disney’s Hollywood studios:
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- Hollywood Studios
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- Rock’n’Rollercoaster
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- The Tower of Terror
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- High School Musical street celebration
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- Hollywood Studios street scene
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- American Idol
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- The Magic Kingdom
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- Giant Toy Story Characters at Pixar Place
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- ‘Move it, Shake it, Celebrate it’ street parade
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- Mr Incredible
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- It’s a Small World
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- The Wishes fireworks display
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- Mickey’s Spectromagic
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- Mickey’s Spectromagic
…where I chose the moment two seconds before we rocketed off into hyperspace to mention to Lovely Disney PR Lady/ Sarah/Mary Poppins that I’d actually never been on a rollercoaster before. Her sweet little face was an instant terrified picture of a PR nightmare and she was probably playing scenes of vomiting bloggers over and over in her mind. No matter, I clutched doggedly onto Linda‘s arm (it’s okay, the nail marks have faded now), and we merrily screamed our way around ridiculous bends and gurned as the bloody thing chucked us upside down and basically tried to force our dinner out of us.
Therapy over (we decided that every mental hospital should have a rollercoaster - ain’t no getting depressed when you’re being hurled around at Mach 5), it was on to Pixar Place and a go on the awesome Toy Story Midway Mania - a nutty shoot-em-up game where all sorts of things seem to come at you in 3D (and yes, Bugs, it does strangely make you want to shout DIE M*THERF*CKERS, DIE!’, even when seated next to pigtailed 6 year olds - even gentle Alice‘s face was scrunched in concentration as she tried to murder the little aliens). Calming ourselves down, then, we headed off for a nice little Muppet 3D show. This was great fun and even had the old guys up in the theatre box commenting on the performance - watch out for the Swedish Chef appearing at the back of the theatre too!
No getting away from it, it was finally time, much to Erica‘s complete horror, to check out the Tower of Terror. And after several ‘no I can’t/yes I can/ no I really can’t’ conversations with herself, which ended about half a minute after she got on, we spent another happy ten minutes being hurled about again - this time up and down in the broken lift of the old Twilight Zone hotel, cackling and screaming like a bunch of cat women off the Simpsons. Cracking.
After dinner at the Brown Derby, we enjoyed a very real American Idol Experience, merrily yaying and booing (the yaying was for a UK contestant - somewhat bewildered when 7 random women in the third row got up and clapped her performance - and the booing was for the dreadful Simon Cowell-alike) along with the other 993 enthusiastic audience members. Stopping off for mojitos, crap Craig, the cocktail waiter made us late for the showing of Fantasmic and you know the rest.
The next day saw a hungover and somewhat shambolic pack of bloggers head to the spa for a little detoxing, then on to The Magic Kingdom, where after watching the ridiculously energetic High School Musical 3 concert, we got our hands in by killing lots of stuff with lasers on Buzz Lightyear’s Laser Blaster (not a patch on Midway Mania, but still good fun). Then we stood and frazzled in the sun and watched the ‘Move It, Shake It, Celebrate It’ parade. Again, I defy anyone not to enjoy this sort of stuff - the sun’s shining - everyone’s dancing and laughing - it’s absolutely full of energy and fun. Lulu danced with Donald (it’s his fluffy bum, apparently), Jane and I did the mashed potato and even Mr Incredible got in on the act by flexing his considerable pecs for us. Next came Peter Pan’s Flight, a lovely, more sedate glide across a miniature London and beyond, and a go on Disney’s first ever ride, It’s a Small World, which I actually found quite strangely sinister and Bride of Chucky-like, but very nice, nontheless. In the evening, the beautiful ‘Wishes’ fireworks rounded off the evening , along with an alarming ‘elbows out’ battle across a packed park to a very nice VIP seating area to watch the brightly lit Spectromagic parade. No mojitos (The Magic Kingdom is alcohol free), but all in all, pretty darn magical. Next up, it’s the Animal Kingdom and Epcot. Don’t go away!
Paddy: Meh. I lied.
Jay: It was lovely wasn’t it. And did you go on ‘Soaring’ where you’re on a simulated hang glider whizzing over Florida? I loved that x
DBM: Yes probably. Although ours was mostly swearing. I know, sad isn’t it. I’m really not that fond of rides (cough) so Walt Disney World was a bit of an eye opener!
Towny: Yup, definitely avoid it. They all seem to be looking at you *shiver* x
Are you serious about never having been on a roller coaster before? Where have you been all your life!?!?!?
I loved the Peter Pan ride. I think it was the very first one I went on in a Disney park. I was enchanted!