Vacation Day 16: Disney MGM Studios w/Uncle Robert

We got up bright and early to get ready for Disney MGM Studios. It was amazing that we got out of the house on time (mostly), because we were up so late last night. We accidentally missed our exit on the freeway, so it took us a little longer to get there. Maria was mad because the parking spot we got was at the very end of the row, furthest from the Tram. But once we got toward the gates, we were excited, because the crowd was very thin! We were there right as the gates opened, and there were barely any people in front of us!




Vavu and Vavo in front of the Christmas Tree at Disney/MGM Studios


We followed the touring plan that Maria figured out from touringplans.com, heading straight for Tower of Terror. Maria went and picked up FastPasses for Aerosmith’s Rockin’ Roller Coaster with the kids while Vavu, Uncle Robert and Andrew rode Tower. After getting the big kid rides taken care of, we went over to Voyage of the Little Mermaid. Jeremy must be getting used to the loud noises a little more, because he didn’t cry during the show. But he has figured out how to cover his ears now, so he’ll either do that himself or grab Mommy or Daddy’s hands and put them over his ears if it’s too loud for him. Poor kid has super-hearing, and he really doesn’t like the loud noises we’ve been encountering in so many of the shows.




Tower of Terror





Voyage of the Little Mermaid


After Little Mermaid, we spent some time in the gift shops and animation areas, waiting for the next showing of Playhouse Disney, Live on Stage. Vavu and Andrew went back to ride Aerosmith’s Rockin’ Roller Coaster, because the window for the FastPasses was available. The kids had a lot of fun in the gift shop. Aiden kept asking, “Mommy, can we take this one home?”, and saying, “Mommy, I want to buy this one”. The thing they were most enthralled with was the penny press machine, which squishes a penny to make a souvenir. You could see the gears through the front of the machine. And this little girl came up and squished a penny, and they were just standing there with their mouths open, watching the gears turn and the penny go in. Vavo and Uncle Robert and Mommy teamed up to come up with 4 quarters and 2 pennies so the boys could make their own. Aiden chose to squish his penny to make a Hercules souvenir, while Jeremy chose to make a penny with Mickey, Goofy and Donald on it.
Aerosmith's Rockin' Roller Coaster



Aerosmith's Rockin' Roller Coaster





Souvenir Shop





Smashed Pennies


When it was time to see Playhouse Disney, we got back together and went in for the show. The show is like the one in Disney’s California Adventure, featuring Bear in the Big Blue House, JoJo’s Circus, Stanley, and Winnie the Pooh. The kids really enjoyed themselves this time during the show. They stood up and danced and jumped and clapped along with the other kids. They are finally old enough to want to join in on these kind of activities! Yay! It was nice to see them having fun. Especially Jeremy, because he’s not had as many opportunities to do things as Aiden so far this trip.








Playhouse Disney Live on Stage


After the show, we had planned to go on the Great Movie Ride, but we would miss our lunch reservations if we did that, so we decided to just go early to our lunch instead. We had priority seating arrangements today at the SciFi Dine-In Theater. That was definitely one of the highlights of today’s park visit. It’s so neat inside. You eat in booths that look like cars that are set up facing a big screen, simulating a drive-in movie theater. It was so neat! Very well themed. Our server told Aiden that if he finished his pizza, he would earn a driver’s license. That must have really worked as motivation, because Aiden ate the whole pizza! We had a good time there, enjoying milkshakes and burgers and such, watching cheesy B-movie horror flicks from the 50’s and 60’s, like Attack of the 50ft Woman. At the end of lunch, our host presented Aiden with a little souvenir driver’s license. Aiden was very excited. He put it in his pocket, along with the squished pennies.






Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater

After lunch, we headed back to the Great Movie Ride. This ride was very impressive! Much more than just a dark ride, it had real actors interacting with the animatronics. It is a tribute to big hit films like Casablanca, Wizard of Oz and Singin’ in the Rain. It did get a little on the scary side for a bit, when we went through the movie scene for “Alien”, but that part was short-lived.






Uncle Robert and Jeremy in line for the Great Movie Ride


Our next stop was “Lights, Action, Motorcars!”, a stunt show in the back of the park. We arrived just as the show was starting, and boy was it loud walking in! The stunt cars are REALLY loud! Amazingly enough, Jeremy fell asleep during the show. It was crazy, because the cars were so loud, and he hates loud noises so much, it would seem impossible for him to sleep. But apparently fatigue wins out over all.

Jeremy Fell Asleep Even Though the Noise was Deafening

We were all getting pretty tired after the show, so we decided to go home for naps. It was also really hot by this point – 84 degrees to be exact! Jake and Laura stayed in the park while Vavo, Vavu, Uncle Robert, Maria, Andrew, Aiden and Jeremy went home for naps. We crashed the instant we got home, and woke up just in time to leave to meet Laura and Jake back at the park for the Beauty and the Beast Show. We were in a hurry, because we didn’t want to miss the start of the production, and we also didn’t want it to fill up without us. So we dashed off to the park. When we got to the entrance gate, the cast member who takes the parking money looked in our car and asked us if we had any little ones with us. We told him we did, and he caught a glimpse of Aiden – he had fallen back asleep! Then he told us, “You’re the car of the hour”! We said, “Gee, thanks”, and started driving. He told us to wait. Then he handed us a certificate and said it was our Year of a Million Dreams certificate and gave us two exclusive Pixie Dust Trading Pins and said “I believe if you follow that blue line on the road, we will have a very nice parking space for you”. So we followed the road and got to park in amongst the handicapped section. We were SO close to the entrance! It was just perfect, too – because we were in a hurry, and Maria had been so bitter earlier in the day for having to park so far away. It was just a really nice treat.

Million Dreams Certificate



Beauty and the Beast was a really nice production. It’s a full-scale show, with dancing and singing and special effects. Disney does such a good job on their stage shows. Jeremy still covered his ears sometimes, but he enjoyed it, too! He would clap at the end of each song or scene, and he was in a good mood – very excited.







Our last item for the evening was viewing Fantasmic! This show is done in Disneyland as well, but it has it’s own stadium and a few extra special effects at the DisneyWorld version. We went in and got seats and started eating junk food. We had popcorn, cotton candy, pretzels, and ice cream, compliments of Uncle Robert. Thanks, Uncle Robert! Mmmmmmm....cookies and cream! When the show started, there was a big black cloud over us. Lucky for us, we used our new stroller cover before we went in...because about halfway through the show, it started to rain. By the end of the show, it was really coming down! Maria used a nacho tray to cover Aiden’s head, and Maria and Andrew wrapped their arms around the kids to keep them warm and at least partially dry. Vavo and Uncle Robert went back to the stroller and retrieved our jackets so we could put on our hoods. But Laura and Jake didn’t have hoods – and boy were they soaked! But it wasn’t a cold rain. For the most part, it was still pretty warm outside, so the water wasn’t really that bad. But there sure was a lot of it!








We left the park after Fantasmic, with the kids underneath the stroller cover, shielded from the downpour. We picked up some pizzas on the way home, came home and changed into pj’s and watched “Santa Claus 3”. After the kids went to bed, Maria and Andrew, Laura and Jake, and Uncle Robert stayed up to play the Disney Pictionary game that Laura and Jake bought the Pascoals as an early Christmas present. It was a lot of fun! But turns out we don’t know as many Disney movies as we thought we did. For instance, did you know there was a Disney movie called “Ghosts of the Abyss”? Maria didn’t! And that was the card she pulled and had to draw. She had no idea how to draw an abyss, so she drew a ghost and then drew a guy peeing for “piss” and lips for “kiss”, and hoped that someone would guess. But of course they didn’t. They just laughed! As did she!

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The best part of day 16 was being “Million Dreamed”, “parking” at the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater, getting a lot accomplished, the Beauty and the Beast show, seeing the new stuff that didn’t used to be at MGM Studios.

The worst part of day 16 was how everything was wet when we got home, including the stroller, the stuff in our bags, and us!

What we learned on day 16 was rain covers are good for strollers, 30% chance of rain means bring your umbrella, Star Tours has lost it’s Draw (it was so empty today), Ghost of the Abyss is a Disney Movie, but Ghost of the Piss is not.

The weather on day 16 was hot, 83 in the day, then raining in the evening.

Our character sightings on day 16 included Sully and Mike from Monsters Inc, Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald and Pluto, Kim Possible and some dude (sorry dude). :-)

The crowd level today was better than the other days so far.