The Hermit and I returned to the park and did Muppet Vision 3-D. We caught the rest of them in the Streets of America area and, after quickly checking in, wandered on to do the AFI display at the end of the Studio Backlot Tour before it closed. Disney's website claims it's "Villains: Movie Characters You Love to Hate", so I was expecting to see all the stuff I'd been looking forward to in that exhibit -- Darth Vader's costume, Cruella deVille's, Jadis' chariot and costume from
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe -- but it was all lies, LIES, I tell you.
Instead there's a reproduction of Scarlet O'Hara's curtain dress, a life boat from
Titanic, armor from
Gladiator, and various things from
North by Northwest, Casablanca, The Godfather II and
The Sound of Music. *sigh* Great for people who've seen the old exhibit, and actually we thought it was fine, it's just that I would have much preferred the other one because that had a higher percentage of movies I love -- not to mention a higher percentage of movies the Hermit has
seen! If I'd known about the change ahead of time we could have caught up on some of them pretty happily; bugs me that the Disney website isn't up to date on that.
Then we got back together with the troops for a bit, seems like, but split up again because the Hermit and I decided we'd rather do "One Man's Dream" than go to Fantasmic. For some reason I didn't take many pictures after we got back, but I did get some of these adorable Figaro figures:
We had a bit of time before we needed to meet the troops, so we stopped into the ABC Commissary. I know it gets dreadful reviews when it comes to sandwiches, but I'd heard it was fine for desserts, which seems to be the case. We split a chocolate mousse and a strawberry parfait, and although I'd say the mousse was more pudding than mousse, we enjoyed them both.
Then we headed out to meet the troops and quickly realized that I'd managed to suggest a designated smoking area for our meeting place.
But we just moved back on their presumed route and waited for them there, which worked out fine.
Turns out we'd missed quite a lot by not going to Fantasmic -- not the show itself, but what happened beforehand. Most of the family had gone to the stadium early, of course (Mr. Cool wandered in earliest and eventually decided not to try to find a seat by the rest), and as it happened Connor was wandering the audience and recognized Geek Dad, Seaworld Son, Ballet Girl and Warrior Girl, quickly counting them off as: “Giant Camera, Ewok, Tourist, Tourist!”
They got to talking, he eventually called Frank over and at one point they asked for our real family name. Then when they pre-show started, turns out they were hosting it. After directing some games with the audience (Finish the lyric, outscream the other team, etc.), Connor eventually announced a trivia game, and called Geek Dad and crew down. Mr. Cool was still sitting elsewhere by himself and didn't join in. Our last name is the same as a critter from a science fiction series, so when Connor asked them their last name, a lady sitting by Mr. Cool exclaimed, “Oh, come on! That’s not a real name!”
Mr. Cool should have told her, "Hey, we had it first, lady."
Anyhow, Geek Dad and the kids were Team Tangled, they got all their questions right (with hints from Connor on the Tower of Terror one – none of us have even ridden it). So they all got Special Disney Popcorn, which totally Made Their Night. My three youngest were tripping over each other trying to tell me what a terrific time they'd had, and Geek Dad was clearly pleased as well. Even SeaWorld Son was willing to admit that Disney was as much fun (maybe more) as SeaWorld.
I thought Hollywood Studios would be the park that converted Mr. Cool. Far as I can tell, it had no real impact on him.
But he was the last hold out -- it converted everyone else.
Kids with their Fantastic Fantasmic Popcorn -- since we never get them all smiling at once, we just keep clicking...