We left from Seattle on an Alaska red eye flight at around 10:30 PM on the 23rd of January. I like to do the red eye so we can spend more time at the parks, but as I get older it just doesn't work as well. It was a noisy flight and I didn't sleep as well as I could have. We arrived in Orlando at 6:30 AM local time, but 3:30 AM our time. Ugh. After collecting our bags, we went in search of a shuttle. We managed to find a Mears driver and he took us straight to CBR. It's my favorite resort because it' so colorful and it has pirate themes. We had made a mistake booking our room online by one day, but the CM checking us in was amazingly helpful. He got us a refund on the missed night and got us upgraded to a view room near the food court at no extra charge! He even let us have a temporary room to freshen up in until ours was ready. Talk about going the extra mile! We dropped off our bags and headed out to catch a bus to MGM. A side note here. I prefer the bus system to having a rental car. Even though you may have to wait sometimes, there's no getting lost or dealing with traffic. You have the time to relax and watch the world go by. MGM Studios has always been one of my favorite places. Also, Paul had never been there, so it was a good place to start. We did the Great Movie Ride. It's a bit hokey but well done. I was a little disappointed in the performance of the CM playing the gangster this time. I was pleased to see that they keep updating the movie clips at the end. It keeps it fresher. The Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular was great fun as always. We stopped for lunch at the Backlot Express and had fun trying to guess the television theme songs playing in the background. We went to the Muppets 4-D show next. I am in awe of the way they use so many different effects. The whole show just has such great energy. While in line for Star Tours I was given a white plastic card on a lanyard so they would know how long the wait was. I always wondered how they know. Paul loved Star Tours and I did too, but I do wish they could do some different destinations. Variety is the spice of life, right? We had gotten priority seating for Primetime Café at 5:30, so we made our way over there. Paul was impressed with the 50's décor, which they do so well. I hadn't warned him about the interactive portion of dinner. "Aunt Clara" was great. She took very good care of us and all our "cousins". We got glowing plastic ice cubes in our drinks. I had the fried chicken and Paul got the meatloaf. Both were quite good. I love the view master dessert menu. So clever! We were tired out and needed to go get stowed away in our real room, so we headed back to CBR. Our bellhop was very helpful and pointed out that we could see the Illuminations fireworks from our balcony. Unfortunately, we were almost never there at the right time. We changed clothes and headed off to Pleasure Island. I love the Adventurer's Club so we settled in there and watched several of the shows. I am fascinated by how well the CMs improvise and make it seem effortless. Paul bought a drink in a "monkey nut", a coconut carved like a monkey's head. It turned out to be a very popular souvenir. During one song, the Club President Pamelia Perkins started poking Paul with her microphone. It seemed to amuse her greatly. When she tried poking someone else, it wasn't as good for her. Emil Bleehall, newly named Adventurer of the Year, said it was because he made a better noise because he was so dense. He took it well. It's all in good fun after all. We took the bus back to CBR and collapsed.
Day Two
We had breakfast in the food court of CBR. We had shuttle reservations for Mears to go to Universal Islands of Adventure that day. The shuttle was a little late but eventually we were on our way. We got two day passes that would let us in to both parks. They were actually three day passes due to a special they were running but we wouldn't be able to use the last day. We began with what is to my mind one of the best rides so far, Spiderman. The lines were light and we got right on. It's still a good ride, but I think that the 3-D portion may be degrading a little. The story and concept are a little silly, but appropriate for a comic book theme. We encountered Rogue, Storm and Wolverine outside and took their pictures. We chose not to do any of the other rides in this area. I hope I don't disappoint you in this aspect, but I can't really do rollercoasters. It's not fear, they just make me ill. We wandered through the Toon Lagoon and took lots more pictures. Since the weather was not too warm we skipped the rides that would get us wet. Between that and no roller coasters, we went on very few rides. Paul felt that this park was definitely lacking in things to do. I concur. It's incredibly well designed and decorated, but a little empty. We skipped the Jurassic Park River Adventure ride due to the wetness factor. The Triceratops Discovery Trail was closed. We explored the Jurassic Park Discovery Center, marveling at the detail. Then we went into my favorite land, The Lost Continent. It's so beautiful and rich. We had lunch at the Enchanted Oak Tavern. I absolutely love that place! The food is great and the atmosphere is wonderful. There was a Wizard entertaining the guests and I got my picture taken with him. The timing for the Sinbad show wasn't good so we skipped it. We got in line for Poseidon's Fury. The exterior of this attraction is just fantastic. It was cold in the tunnel we waited in and not comfortable. I had experienced this attraction once before a few years back and there were a few things changed since then. They don't do a very good job of "loading" people into the first room, so we missed some of the set up. Now instead of a mysterious old man, you encounter a junior archeologist. He leads you through most of the attraction. He's supposed to be scared out of his wits, but it gets a bit annoying after awhile. If memory serves, the tunnel of water you go through used to be cold and now they heat it. I got much wetter than I really wanted to. The end scenes are new, I think. Since you end up standing a lot, it all seems kind of tedious and long. We had intentions of having dinner at Mythos, but in the off season they close at three. I was disappointed because I'd had it highly recommended. We wandered around Suess Landing, but again found very little to do. The wait for Cat in the Hat ride was rather long so we skipped it. We did a little shopping and caught a shuttle back to CBR. Having our dinner plans ruined we opted to hit the food court. It was decent. We went back to the room to grab a nap but fatigue had caught up with us and we decided to call it a night.
Day Three
We caught a bus to Animal Kingdom. The plan was to have breakfast at the Rainforest Café, but we were a little early so we did a little shopping in their shop. Paul was very impressed with the place. I must say it is spectacular with all that greenery and all the animatronic animals. The food was yummy and the smoothies were great. We headed into the park working our way back to the Safari, where I always start the day. The line was short and we got on fast. It's one of the few rides that has a lot of variables. You never know which animals will be out on any given day. We lucked out. They were everywhere. There was an elephant bathing that fell just slightly short of too posed. The lions were less cooperative. Next we roamed Pangani Exploration Trail and watched giant fruit bats and lazy tigers. To my delight the Flame tree BBQ was open for lunch. I just love this place. Great food and it's not the usual fast-food fare. We got seats near the water and contemplated the new construction across the way. The Kali River Rapids were closed, but no great loss. We did Dinosaur next. Twice. I really enjoy this one. It's fast and fun. My only complaint about this ride is that it is just too dark. A little more light here and there would be nice. I realize that it doesn't have the giant cavern that the Indiana Jones ride does, still it could be a bit better. I hadn't been in the newly opened Fossil Fun Games area yet and I have to say, I really hated it. It's exactly the opposite of everything a Disney park usually does right. There's no traffic flow or subtle theming. It's loud, obnoxious and vulgar. We fled Dinoland and headed for It'sTough to be a Bug. I had to work not to give away anything in this show to Paul. It's so full of fun little details that I didn't want to spoil the experience for him. It's one of Disney's best non-ride attractions for me. Clever, detailed, and fun. Afterwards we did a little shopping and we were basically done. I like Animal Kingdom, but it never takes a whole day for me. I've watched all of the shows at least once in the past, but I was not all that entertained. It's a big park with a lot of walking required. It can be a miserable place in the summer due to a suspicious lack of air conditioning. We decided to go back to MGM and see a few things we missed on our first day. We began with the Tower of Terror. Every time I ride this one, they change it a little. I guess people weren't satisfied with how many drops there were, and then they felt it was too predictable so now it makes a random amount of drops. It's not my favorite ride but I can handle it. I wish the seats were softer though. We had PS at Boma back at Animal Kingdom Lodge for 7:00, so we figured we should get a snack. I suggested the Sci-Fi Dine-In Restaurant so we could get off our feet for a bit. It looks like an old fashioned drive in and they show a loop of clips from old sci-fi movies. I had the strawberry shortcake and Paul had onion rings. We got our drinks with glow cubes in them again. It was a pleasant interlude. I always like to check out any movie exhibits so we went to catch the Making of the Haunted Mansion movie. They had a few costumes, sketches and such on display. The main attraction is the ballroom set from the movie. It was impressive to see it up close. Having worked on the perimeter of animation in the past, I always do the Magic of Disney Animation tour. Past trips have always been fascinating, and we usually get to see something new that they are working on. I was surprised to see that they have gotten rid of the old film with Robin Williams and Walter Cronkite. The film replacing it starred Mushu and he interacts with a live animator. It was amusing but not nearly as much fun as the old one. I also felt it was less instructive on animation. We were then led out into the studio. I was stunned. It was deserted. Our tour guide explained that this studio has been closed recently. Our guide also told us that they intended to move toward more computer animation. As an artist I know that a computer can be a useful tool, but I feel that animation will lose its soul if we allow computers to do most of the work. It was so sad to see all the empty desks. The birthplace of Stitch and Mulan was still and dead. I suppose the next time I return; there will be something completely different there. We found a bus to the Animal Kingdom lodge. Dinner at Boma was fabulous. There were so many different kinds of food, it was hard to choose. I especially loved the humus, watermelon rinds and curried salmon. It is a bit noisy and chaotic, but worth it for the food. After dinner we wandered around the hotel. It's very impressive. We caught a bus to Pleasure Island and relaxed at the Adventurers club with a few Kungaloosh, their signature drink. We caught a few of the events and went back to CBR tired but happy.
