Show you the World – Walt Disney World Resort, Magic Kingdom, Florida – [01/15/2018]

I thought I was an expert at planning all things Disney…but as it turns out? Planning a few days at Disney World is pretty different than organizing a day trip to Disneyland Hong Kong. I had no idea how big Disney World was, or how high tech it was either…once we got our reservations in, we were presented with the ability to choose our three top experiences to fastpass before we got there (I’m used to luck of the draw when we arrive at the park…the chance to figure out what’s going on before arrival? That was new to me).

So we set everything up; including Amras’ booking of an official Disney Resort hotel (which was a total surprise for me, and caused me to bounce around on the ceiling for a little bit as I’d not stayed at a proper Disney Hotel before), and the next morning we got up ridiculously early and were out the door by 7 in the morning.

And once arriving at our destination, we swiftly found out the big advantage of staying at a proper Disney hotel. Although official check in time wasn’t until 3:30 in the afternoon, they let us check in early, and take advantage of the complimentary hotel parking, and the immediately issued us with what they call “MagicBands”. The little gizmos strap onto your wrist like a watch and they’re linked to your chosen method of payment, your hotel room, and the “My Disney Experience” App on your phone containing your fastpasses and dining reservations. What that all means? Unless you have things to carry, you don’t have to take a purse or anything to the park, everything you need is right there on your wrist; want to buy something? Zap. Want to pay for dinner? Zap. Want to use that fastpass you booked for Star Tours? Zap.

So. Very. Cool.

We only had two days, and one day per park (yes there are five parks, but hitting all five was way out of our budget, so we chose two and that was fine with us) so we ventured to Disney Hollywood Studios first. Neither of us had been there, and it features some of the rides that in Cali are in California Adventure. Loaded up with our new magicbands and preset fastpasses, we zipped through security at a remarkably brisk pace and made our way straight to our first ride choice. And in Hollywood Studios, there is only one first ride choice.

The line for Tower of Terror is usually at least an hour long, even though our fastpass was for 9:30 – 10:30 (and the park doesn’t even open until 9) the line was already starting to snake its way around artfully abandoned corners and cobwebbed lobbies. We tapped our magicbands to the sensor at the front of the fastpass line and were able to bypass the majority of the line, cutting a 70-80minute wait down to just under 20. But I don’t actually mind waiting for Tower, as the queue is amazing – it looks as if a whole hoard of people just up and left out of the blue, food left half finished, dust dripping from massive chandeliers. The place looks both freshly abandoned and as if it has been left to rot for decades. It’s creepy, to say the least. The line switches back and forth until you end up in a library, where a flash of lightening knocks out power to everything except an old-style television set perched near the ceiling

You unlock this door with the key of imagination; beyond it is another dimension, a dimension of sound, a dimension sight, a dimension of mind. You are moving into a place of both shadow and substance of things and ideas. Youve just crossed over into The Twilight Zone.

The time is now, on an evening very much like the one we have just witnessed. Tonights story of The Twilight Zone is somewhat unique and calls for a different kind of introduction. This, as you may recognize is a maintenance service elevator, still in operation, waiting for you. We invite you, if you dare to step aboard because in tonights episode you are the star. And this elevator travels directly intoThe Twilight Zone.

From there you wind your way into the boiler room where solemn looking bellhops seat you in the massive service elevator cars that carry you through the rest of the ride. I’d been on the version in California, before it was changed into the (awful looking) Gaurdians of the Galaxy, but the Florida and California version are different, and after the first lift in the elevator there was nothing I recongized. But any one who rides the Tower knows what comes at the end of it…at least this time I didn’t scream quite as loudly when the doors opened at the top of the tower – before sending us plummeting back down to the bottom.

Ha! I love that ride.

As it turned out, Hollywood Studios is quite a small park, so it isn’t very far to get from one place to another. A quick glance to the left of Tower of Terror showed us that the line for the huge rollercoaster was way too long to brave at that particular moment (110 minutes for one ride? Nope, wait till the crowds die down), so we wandered over to Star Tours instead. One of my favourite rides from California’s Tomorrowland, it was a blast to once again go rocketing through space fighting Siths and Empire lords. The first time I rode Star Tours I was just a little kid and actually had no idea what Star Wars even was, but I loved it even not understanding all of the storyline.

We had never decided what we were doing food-wise, so we just ambled about until we stumbled on something that looked interesting. Actually, as it turned out we had no idea just how cool what we stumbled onto was until we actually got inside…

Drive in and eat in your car? What’s that supposed to be?

Don’t know, but it looks like food, want to check it out?

Sure…

So we asked for a table and followed a chirpy young car-hop down the hall

I’ll be your guide for the next 30 seconds as we go back in time to the 1950s, welcome to our drive in…

And we turned the corner into a huge semi-dark room with a massive flickering movie screen at one end, lined with row upon row…of cars! 1950s thunderbird style cars! With tables in them! It was a drive in! Very cool, and very yummy, one of the best milkshakes I’ve ever had.

Of course, when visiting Disney in any shape or form, one has to meet the mouse himself. The line to meet Mickey and Minnie was surprisingly short (although I think fewer people were out because of the weather, it was cold) – we collected our hugs and high-fives and zapped our magic bands to have the photos logged in our Memory Maker account (best purchase ever!) and then were free to wander around looking for more characters – I’m always on the look out for more characters – before making our way to our next FastPass at the Beauty and the Beast stage show…

Unfortunately, that one was not to go so smoothly. Three quarters of the way through the show, just as Mrs Potts was about to start singing about how fanastic it would be to be human again, the sound cut off, the curtains closed, and an announcement came across the PA stating that the performance was concluded. Now, Amras and I both have been in entertainment long enough to know the difference between a technical glitch that causes a sound error, and something that has actually stopped the show cold for another reason. This was the second option. Sure enough as we made our way through to exit the theatre, there was a medical team at work nearby. I dearly hope that whoever it was that was affected was okay, but of course there’s no way to find out such things…

With the show cancelled, we were left with a block of open time, and there was one ride we had not yet managed to get ourselves on. A quick check through the Disney App told us that the wait time for the Aerosmith coaster had dropped from the 100+ it had been at all day to only 75. Trust me, that’s worth it. Plus the queue for the ride is full of recording memorabilia and musical instruments so it’s not as if we didn’t have something to look at. We loaded into the “stretch limo” coaster cars and sat for a moment while a road-style electronic sign flashed instructions at us (it looks like the kind of sign you see at construction sites telling you to go slowly)

Traffic bugging you? Then STEP ON IT because the car pool lane is open WIDE open

And then you’re off…fast.

The coaster itself was brilliant, the launch is so fast it steals your breath, and it’s a dark coaster, so you truly cannot see what the next high speed corner is going to bring. One of the many reasons I love dark coasters. The fact that this one fires around the corners to the soundtrack of a massive live concert is just another perk.

There was one more reservation we had left, and it was one I had made when I booked the park tickets. Disney Hollywood Studios houses the huge specially constructed outdoor theatre that shows Fantasmic, and if you’re going to view Fantasmic, the only way to do it is with VIP seats. Amazing desserts, and brilliant seats only two rows from the front as Mickey battles it out with the forces of evil. And the show was as breathtaking as I remembered, and different from the one in California, so it was seeing something old and much beloved as something new, which is a brilliant thing. And sharing it with someone I love? Even better.

Sure, you get a little damp from the misters, and sure it was cold (I was shivering by the end of the show) but it was amazing. And finally I got a pair of “glow with the show” ears, so as we were sitting there watching the princesses float across the rivers of America, the ears were pulsing pinks and lavenders, and as the dragon rose out the shadows, they flashed vivid villain green. So much fun!

And at the very end of the night, I had what can only be called a Disney moment. You see, when we were on our way into Fantasmic, I suddenly reached up to my head and gasped…

My ears! Where are my ears???

I had bought a pair of classic Mickey ears at the beginning of the day, even had my name embroidered on the back in fuschia thread. With a heart-sickening moment I realized that I had left them on the floor of the Tower of Terror souvenior shop when I had gone in there earlier in the evening to try on a bellhop dress. Anywhere else in the world?  Those ears would be long gone, they’re not particularly cheap and kids love them and my name is not all that uncommon…but wouldn’t you know it…when we walked back into the store and made our way up to the counter we had barely gotten half-way through our explanation…

Excuse me but…we’re pretty sure she left her ears here…classic style….

Yup! They’re in the back

And they were! I got my ears back! Because someone turned them in or some cast member picked them up. I can’t say how giddy that made me.

It was a long day, and by the end of it we were a little footsore and a lot cold, so we made our weary way back to the Disney Art of Animation Resort…ready to wake up the next day to start all over again at the Magic Kingdom…

I…love this place.