Monday 5 November
Julie (38) - demented planner
Brian (40) - planning, whats that?
Michael (11) - quiet, clone of his Dad, hormones just starting to kick in, auditioning for Snow Whites 8th dwarf, Grouchy
Andrew (5½) - not quiet, mummys boy, very fussy eater, favourite saying of the holiday Excuse me, is this ride scary?
The Plan - Busch Gardens
As today started off very grey and cloudy and the forecast was for it not be get much better we decided to try to book a character breakfast at Hollywood & Vine, MGM. We had one character breakfast included as part of our 10 day world pass and all the PSs I had made for breakfasts up to now had been cancelled for one reason or another.
Arranged this no problem as there was a Disney desk in the lobby of our hotel, and was given a PS time for 10.00 am.
We expected MGM to be quite busy today as the Super Soap Weekend had been on for the previous 2 days so the (revised again !!!) plan was to get to MGM for opening, maybe see Voyage of the Little Mermaid and then go for breakfast. After breakfast potter around for a while and then go to Disney Quest for the afternoon.
Arrived at MGM around opening time and we were right, it was absolutely packed and it took us about 20-25 minutes to get in. One CM at the gate said that everyone had been in the park within 5 minutes last week and we could verify that, we were there.
By now it was too late for the first show of the Little Mermaid and a lot of the other attractions didnt open until 10.00 so we wandered around the shops for a while and then went to queue up outside Hollywood and Vine. We were horrified at the number of people waiting outside the restaurant but the announcement Casting Davies family, party of 4 came within about 5 minutes and we were in. Minnie was at the door meeting and greeting in her posh sequinned frock and we were taken to our table. It was absolute chaos in here but thankfully the characters - Chip, Dale, Goofy and Pluto were all over at our side of the restaurant so as soon as we sat down they came to visit us in quick succession. This meant that we could then take our time and eat some of the delicious food on offer without having to stop to take photographs, collect autographs etc which was nice. Favourites were the chocolate French toast and the Mickey waffles - yum.
Finished our breakfast at about 11.00 and once again there were LOADS of characters around the hat so we got a FP for the next Millionaire show and went back to add to the boys rapidly growing collection. Did the Millionaire show again but none of us got on the leader board this time, then we decided that much as we could have spent another full day here (and I had promised Mike and Juliet that I would go on Tower of Terror !!) it was very busy. We had promised the boys a visit to Disney Quest so we would leave and come back another day, maybe on our last morning. Unfortunately we didnt make it back to MGM which is one of my biggest regrets.
Got to Disney Quest just after 1.00 pm and the boys were in heaven. This place is serious headache making material though so be warned. It was extremely LOUD. Not relaxing in the slightest. Brian and I enjoyed playing on the old computer games from our youth like Pacman and Space Invaders and the boys went straight to the high tech racing car games. If you had teenagers who were old enough and responsible enough to be left I am sure they would be quite happy here for the day while you went off for some adult quality time.
Michael thought the roller coaster simulator was excellent where you design and build your own coaster and then ride it in a simulator - very realistic except that you dont get the wind in your face.
We all enjoyed the Pirates of the Caribbean ride where you are on a boat and shoot at other boats but we were pathetic at it, the Aladdin virtual magic carpet ride where you can fly magic carpets in teams of 4 looking for jewels, but we didnt really think the virtual raft ride was worth queuing up 10 minutes for. You have to sit in a rubber dinghy with paddles and try to steer the dinghy by paddling furiously while watching a film on a screen in front of you. Dont know if it was just us, but we seemed to have no control over the paddling at all and it was really really hard work.
Left Disney Quest at about 7.30 pm, although the boys could have stayed a lot longer, and decided to try the Golden Corral just off the 535 at LBV for dinner. This was really good value and had a much bigger and better buffet selection IMHO than the Ponderosa. In addition to a huge selection of the usual buffet food including freshly grilled steak, there was a carvery with a selection of several different cooked meats, really nice pizzas and a big choice of pies and cakes for dessert. All the food was hot, fresh and tasty.
Really full after all that food we waddled back to the hotel and were all tucked up in bed by 10.00 pm. I have never been to bed so early on a holiday before !!!!
Julie (38) - demented planner
Brian (40) - planning, whats that?
Michael (11) - quiet, clone of his Dad, hormones just starting to kick in, auditioning for Snow Whites 8th dwarf, Grouchy
Andrew (5½) - not quiet, mummys boy, very fussy eater, favourite saying of the holiday Excuse me, is this ride scary?
The Plan - Busch Gardens
As today started off very grey and cloudy and the forecast was for it not be get much better we decided to try to book a character breakfast at Hollywood & Vine, MGM. We had one character breakfast included as part of our 10 day world pass and all the PSs I had made for breakfasts up to now had been cancelled for one reason or another.
Arranged this no problem as there was a Disney desk in the lobby of our hotel, and was given a PS time for 10.00 am.
We expected MGM to be quite busy today as the Super Soap Weekend had been on for the previous 2 days so the (revised again !!!) plan was to get to MGM for opening, maybe see Voyage of the Little Mermaid and then go for breakfast. After breakfast potter around for a while and then go to Disney Quest for the afternoon.
Arrived at MGM around opening time and we were right, it was absolutely packed and it took us about 20-25 minutes to get in. One CM at the gate said that everyone had been in the park within 5 minutes last week and we could verify that, we were there.
By now it was too late for the first show of the Little Mermaid and a lot of the other attractions didnt open until 10.00 so we wandered around the shops for a while and then went to queue up outside Hollywood and Vine. We were horrified at the number of people waiting outside the restaurant but the announcement Casting Davies family, party of 4 came within about 5 minutes and we were in. Minnie was at the door meeting and greeting in her posh sequinned frock and we were taken to our table. It was absolute chaos in here but thankfully the characters - Chip, Dale, Goofy and Pluto were all over at our side of the restaurant so as soon as we sat down they came to visit us in quick succession. This meant that we could then take our time and eat some of the delicious food on offer without having to stop to take photographs, collect autographs etc which was nice. Favourites were the chocolate French toast and the Mickey waffles - yum.
Finished our breakfast at about 11.00 and once again there were LOADS of characters around the hat so we got a FP for the next Millionaire show and went back to add to the boys rapidly growing collection. Did the Millionaire show again but none of us got on the leader board this time, then we decided that much as we could have spent another full day here (and I had promised Mike and Juliet that I would go on Tower of Terror !!) it was very busy. We had promised the boys a visit to Disney Quest so we would leave and come back another day, maybe on our last morning. Unfortunately we didnt make it back to MGM which is one of my biggest regrets.
Got to Disney Quest just after 1.00 pm and the boys were in heaven. This place is serious headache making material though so be warned. It was extremely LOUD. Not relaxing in the slightest. Brian and I enjoyed playing on the old computer games from our youth like Pacman and Space Invaders and the boys went straight to the high tech racing car games. If you had teenagers who were old enough and responsible enough to be left I am sure they would be quite happy here for the day while you went off for some adult quality time.
Michael thought the roller coaster simulator was excellent where you design and build your own coaster and then ride it in a simulator - very realistic except that you dont get the wind in your face.
We all enjoyed the Pirates of the Caribbean ride where you are on a boat and shoot at other boats but we were pathetic at it, the Aladdin virtual magic carpet ride where you can fly magic carpets in teams of 4 looking for jewels, but we didnt really think the virtual raft ride was worth queuing up 10 minutes for. You have to sit in a rubber dinghy with paddles and try to steer the dinghy by paddling furiously while watching a film on a screen in front of you. Dont know if it was just us, but we seemed to have no control over the paddling at all and it was really really hard work.
Left Disney Quest at about 7.30 pm, although the boys could have stayed a lot longer, and decided to try the Golden Corral just off the 535 at LBV for dinner. This was really good value and had a much bigger and better buffet selection IMHO than the Ponderosa. In addition to a huge selection of the usual buffet food including freshly grilled steak, there was a carvery with a selection of several different cooked meats, really nice pizzas and a big choice of pies and cakes for dessert. All the food was hot, fresh and tasty.
Really full after all that food we waddled back to the hotel and were all tucked up in bed by 10.00 pm. I have never been to bed so early on a holiday before !!!!
