Today was Hollywood Studios day!
We had breakfast reservations for 8:40am at Be Our Guest in Fantasyland in the Magic Kingdom. We had planned to take the Monorail to MK, unaware at the time of the relative convenience of a walking path from CR to MK. The Disney web site states that the Monrail system runs from one hour prior to the earliest opening of any park to one hour after the latest closing of any park. Since Magic Kingdom opened at 8:00, we expected to be able to ride the Monorail from our hotel at any point after 7:00. When we got to the entrance, we were greeted by a gate, a guard, and a sign indicating that the Monorail opened at 8:30. The guard was helpful in that he pointed out that we could take a bus. So we tried that. After waiting half an hour for a bus that never came, we went back inside and joined the huge line for the Monorail. Result: we were half an hour late for our reservation. They took very good care of us, however!
Breakfast at Be Our Guest was very good. Its a limited menu and they have everything on hand with waitstaff constantly roaming the dining rooms with stocked carts, delivering whatever you ordered. Very efficient! Drinks are self-serve. The food was very good, even if my mood by this point was not.
We left the Magic Kingdom and took the bus to Hollywood Studios. From a design perspective, this is my favorite of the 4 parks. I just love the Art Deco period, and there are so many details! There wasn’t a whole lot of “exploring” this park like there was in Animal Kingdom yesterday. Maybe it’s because I was tired, maybe its because I forgot to have coffee at breakfast; but today felt a little rushed in comparison. When we got there, a performance of the Frozen Summer Spectacular was in full progress, blocking the main street. We skirted it and headed straight for the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular, followed by Star Tours, Beauty & The Beast Live on Stage, (a long) lunch at the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theatre, the Great Movie Ride, “Lights, Motors, Action!” Extreme Stunt Show, and wrapped up with Muppet Vision 3-D. A brief rest back at the hotel and we had dinner at The Wave of American Flavors restaurant in the the Contemporary Resort.
Rides and shows are rides and shows. I don’t have a lot to say about them. The Beauty & The Beast Live On Stage was very good, but not as amazing as yesterday’s similar Lion King performance. The Sci-Fi Dine-In Theatre had good food with a 1950s feel. “Tables” were mock 50’s cars converted to diner tables. Dim lighting and a massive projection screen have the effect of eating in your car at the drive-in. Posts with speakers next to the cars played the sound for what was on the screen: a combination of 50s era cartoons (Chuck Jones era Tom & Jerry), “News of the Future” vintage newsreels, and trailers for really cheesy B-movies from the 50s.
I have decided to get to bed before midnight tonight and am not venturing over to the Magic Kingdom (which closes at Midnight). I am sitting in the Contempo Café writing this post and abusing the privilege my bottomless refill mug affords me. As I have been sitting here, I have been watching one of the workers. The Café is on the fourth floor. The Monorail is above on the fifth. As the express Monorail passes through the building, it has full view of the Café. Each time it does, this girl gets genuinely excited, stops what she is doing, and waves to the train. Disney World IS a magical place, and it’s because of people like her. And now that I’m done with this post, I’m going to walk up to her and tell her I think so!
