DrTomorrow
Your Disney friend from the Future!<br><font color
- Joined
- Apr 11, 2003
Day 4 ( Sat 6/3 ): The Wide World of Wookies -or-
Is that a Lightsaber in Your Pocket or are You Just Happy to See Me?
Greetings!
Another early wake up, another spiffy (and cheap) in-room breakfast and we're off in the car for the rope drop at MGM. When we got there, the lines at the entry turnstyles weren't very long, but they made up for that by the, ahem, 'colorful' nature of the inhabitants. This was our first trip to MGM during a SW weekend, and my, oh, my - there are some die-hard Star Wars fans out there. Don't get me wrong: MrsT and I are Sci-Fi fans (I'm an Honor Harrington man, myself) and we enjoy heading out to the Arizona Renaissance Festival every year, but the folks in line were hard core. Good guys with lightsabers, Obi-Wans complete with hooded capes, and one of the bustiest Luke Skywalkers I've ever seen were there in line. The most unfortunate thing was that it was sunny, hot and humid, and SW costumes seem to be the heaviest ones in fandom: layers and layers of thick, woolen cloth, much in dark colors, with every inch of skin covered (no Leias-in-chains, so stop drooling, fanboys). We felt so sorry for them, with such wonderful costumes in that weather. One other amusing thing while in line: they used a scissor-jack platform to boost Imperial Stormtroopers up on the overhead walkways of the entrance area, so that they were looking down on all of us in line. There were pre-recorded bits that they would act out, mocking us a "puny humans" and threatening to blast us if we misbehaved. All in all, a most interesting time in line.
When we did get let in, I noticed what I think is something different. I thought that the rope at MGM used to be accross the main entry road, before you turned down Sunset Blvd. This time, however, they had two ropes: one ON Sunset, near the DVC kiosk, and other blocking off the path to the Big-*** Hat. I'm guessing that this was for some SW-related activities; they had us Sunset folks line up right for ToT, left for RnRC. Sadly, we didn't see the ToT Bellhop CM we usually do: a tall, cadaverous-looking fellow with a grand sense of humor. We were walked down to ToT and, continuing the luck we've had this trip, MrsT and I were the first ones in the library and rode the first car of the day. Row 2, so we were in front - bonus! I love this ride - I later had a discussion with MrsT as to how long I thought I could stay on it with the drop randomizer set to 'continuous' before I would cry "Uncle". We had a great car - just enough screamers to set the mood.
Off ToT and over to RnRC to get a FP, off to ToT one more time, still a walkon. After a Two ToT quick combo, MrsT usually needs a breather, so we did GMR. For the first time EVER, we didn't get the gangsters, we got the western gun fight. This was particularly odd because, once again, we had a trainee, with another CM sitting right up front. So when we went through the "underworld of crime" area and didn't have the shootout, we figured she'd screwed up - seriously, after years of GMR we'd always had the crime scene. So we were quite surprised when we got the gun battle and lost our trainee to a masked cowboy. We did, however, get our trainee back at the 'bad guy gets zapped' scene; she did a very good job, and had that almost-disturbing-yet-exactly-appropriate-for-GMR level of intense perkiness. Back to use our RnRC FP, standby now 30 mintues. We waited 1 extra cycle for the front; I do love this coaster, but I find it a tad jerky; EE was much smoother.
We then decided to wander over to Star Tours to see what mayhem was being wrought; on the way out of Sunset Blvd, we chatted with the DVC Kiosk girl - she had no new info, but said that she checks the DIS for the latest unofficial information. Somewhere during my MBA studies I think they called that "Informal channels of communication"
. Anyway, the SW crazyness was in full bloom; there were different lines to wait in to get signatures and/or pictures with Star Wars folks. Warwick Davis (Wicket the Ewok?) was there - at least that was someone I'd heard of. There were others that reminded me all too much of "Galaxy Quest"; while they couldn't get the real stars, they had no problem getting "Imperial Patrol Officer #2" to sign and pose. Another empathy for the heat: some of the characters had heavy latex appliances on - one had about a dozen tentacles coming out of his (her? its?) head - and they were in bright late-morning sun. I guess it's worth it for a weekend of 'being someone' at WDW. ST itself was a 40 min wait with FP not until around 2PM - not worth it to us. We walked around a bit, then did the back-lot tour (this trip we ended up doing a lot of the things we don't do every trip, like the tour, Indy, FOTLK, etc.). We walked slowly to the exit, and once again mourned the absense of Sony SuperStar TV (yeah, I'm old. But DS was Gilligan once, and was one of the Foley artists next door, too). Tram to car to SSR to AC comfort (oh, the Power + Down Arrow bypass works just fine). We did lunch and while I did laundry, MrsT went to the CP quiet pool to soak and read.
This evening was the least pleasant of our entire trip. We headed out for dinner at Macaroni Grill near Crossroads Shopping Center. It started out great - Jaimie was a pleasant and smiling waitress, the free bread and the sangria we orded were good. But then it went downhill. First, MrsT had ordered a "Mama's Trio" - a sampler of three items - one of their specialties, the menu said. But a manager came over and said they were out of one of them and would fettuchini alfredo do? Not her favorite, but we're easy going. But our salads had come and been eaten a while ago, and no food yet. We finally had to ask, and everyone seemed to think someone else had handled it. Finally the food came, but the other two items on her plate were burned underneath (I suspect they got lost in some oven). Plus, the portions were huge - we're trying to lose weight, and there was too much food! I shared some of mine with her, but we left disappointed and with a touch of indigestion. Too much food, the alcohol, the fouled-up order didn't react well with the evening heat and humidity and we were both a bit off. Thankfully, this was already scheduled to be a 'light' night at DTD, so we walked there from our SSR building and staggered around from DM to WE. Warning: Pleasure Island is a PIT! There is a lot of construction, entire buildings ripped out, and the covered safety fencing makes walking from DM to WE constricted and very unpleasant. We used to LOVE PI - we'd hit a comedy show, then spend hours at AC - now it looks like a half-done construction site. I did get a kick out of the fact that they still had Jello-Shot girls roaming the place.
We walked and window-shopped until we got to the WE dock, then took a boat back to the DM dock. Of note was the fact that the captain actually slowed down the boat until all the children had heads and arms inside the boat - he made that announcement 3 times. In fact, we noticed this several other times this trip: on the MK train and TTA; I wonder if there's a crackdown in place (or an incident occurred that we didn't hear about). We were able to get on the boat to SSR pretty quickly, then got off at our dock. This is when we chatted with the store manager about the new SSR Pool (bigger than quiet pool, not as big as HRS), the fact that it will have a pool bar and "To Go" food, and that SSR management is pushing for more dining options at the resort (SSR folks eating at DTD just isn't happening enough). Turf Club should be opening soon - it looks almost done from the outside - no idea what the kitchen looks like.
Headed back to the room; we walked along the Springs lake, and saw a lot of wildlife: about a dozen bunnies (with very short ears) and 5 or 6 toads along the sidewalks edge. Very, very peaceful place to walk at night, as it reminded me a bit of the paths at the Polynesian; the landscaping at SSR is growing in very nicely and losing that 'new subdivision' feel. We got to bed at the amazingly early time of 10:30!
I'm going to take this moment to discuss some things that extend beyond any one day.
Cell phones: My goodness, but they were everywhere! And I found myself getting a big annoyed. I realize that they are a part of the culture of a different generation (MrsT's grandmother didn't like it when DS had his GameBoy), and that it is a great thing to be able to contact a parent/child, or arrange to meet someone somewhere. But some things seemed over the top. One young lady (12-14) had a row to herself on Splash Mtn (her parents were in front of her) and she spent the entire ride chatting on her phone. Later that night we saw Wishes from in front of Splash/BTMRR, and a father with two teen boys were nearby - all three were on cell phones, talking loudly during Wishes! (Related: we had a night-time Jungle Cruise ruined by a guy who had a digital flash camera in one hand and a video camera in the other - once he flashed my eyes in the dark tunnel). Not sure what can be done - they can't even stop the dreaded "Flash Photography" - just a little rant.
Morning touring vs evening touring vs EMH: This trip was quite odd. Due to scheduling, changing resorts and the Homosexual Invasion </sarc> we ended up going to parks for the first time at night, instead of in the morning. Usually we hit a park in the AM first (EMH, if possible) and get a lot of stuff done, then when we go back at night, we're more relaxed and stroll-ready. This trip, we hit EP, MGM and MK at night before we hit them in the AM, and since they were all EMH-PM, our 'wanna ride the rides' urge went frustrated. I'll note to avoid this in the future. Scoring: Morning touring = great! EMH-AM touring = also great (assuming you leave by noon or so)! Evening touring with EMH = No! Bad! Uck! Danger, Will Robinson! Reverse the Polarity of the Neutron Flow! Evening touring withOUT EMH = pretty good, the later the better.
Weather: During the days it was hot and humid - June in Florida, no surprise. What was pleasant was that, in the evenings, the clouds helped cool things off and there were frequent cool breezes. Still, us transplanted desert-dwellers prefer that "dry" heat.
Standby times inflated: We noticed that, particularly in the evening, but sometimes during the day, that the standby times were inflated - sometimes quite a bit. One night Splash said 20 minutes, but when we got in line we didn't stop until we were in sight of the load area: 4 minutes, tops. I assume they do this to get folks to say "oops, too busy - let's just call it a night"; they used to do something called "Stacking the line" to get the same effect.
Gay Days: No impact on us, except that we avoided the GD park (to avoid crowds, not for any other reason). We did have a few humorous sightings: the GD hotels were DTD hotels, so when we drove from SSR along Hotel Drive, we'd often see couples walking about - once, we saw two guys in studded leather outfits - almost stereotypical. But we noticed nothing inappropriate in the parks we were at - actually, some of the SW folks were a bit scarier....
Stay tuned - there's more to come!
Is that a Lightsaber in Your Pocket or are You Just Happy to See Me?
Greetings!
Another early wake up, another spiffy (and cheap) in-room breakfast and we're off in the car for the rope drop at MGM. When we got there, the lines at the entry turnstyles weren't very long, but they made up for that by the, ahem, 'colorful' nature of the inhabitants. This was our first trip to MGM during a SW weekend, and my, oh, my - there are some die-hard Star Wars fans out there. Don't get me wrong: MrsT and I are Sci-Fi fans (I'm an Honor Harrington man, myself) and we enjoy heading out to the Arizona Renaissance Festival every year, but the folks in line were hard core. Good guys with lightsabers, Obi-Wans complete with hooded capes, and one of the bustiest Luke Skywalkers I've ever seen were there in line. The most unfortunate thing was that it was sunny, hot and humid, and SW costumes seem to be the heaviest ones in fandom: layers and layers of thick, woolen cloth, much in dark colors, with every inch of skin covered (no Leias-in-chains, so stop drooling, fanboys). We felt so sorry for them, with such wonderful costumes in that weather. One other amusing thing while in line: they used a scissor-jack platform to boost Imperial Stormtroopers up on the overhead walkways of the entrance area, so that they were looking down on all of us in line. There were pre-recorded bits that they would act out, mocking us a "puny humans" and threatening to blast us if we misbehaved. All in all, a most interesting time in line.
When we did get let in, I noticed what I think is something different. I thought that the rope at MGM used to be accross the main entry road, before you turned down Sunset Blvd. This time, however, they had two ropes: one ON Sunset, near the DVC kiosk, and other blocking off the path to the Big-*** Hat. I'm guessing that this was for some SW-related activities; they had us Sunset folks line up right for ToT, left for RnRC. Sadly, we didn't see the ToT Bellhop CM we usually do: a tall, cadaverous-looking fellow with a grand sense of humor. We were walked down to ToT and, continuing the luck we've had this trip, MrsT and I were the first ones in the library and rode the first car of the day. Row 2, so we were in front - bonus! I love this ride - I later had a discussion with MrsT as to how long I thought I could stay on it with the drop randomizer set to 'continuous' before I would cry "Uncle". We had a great car - just enough screamers to set the mood.
Off ToT and over to RnRC to get a FP, off to ToT one more time, still a walkon. After a Two ToT quick combo, MrsT usually needs a breather, so we did GMR. For the first time EVER, we didn't get the gangsters, we got the western gun fight. This was particularly odd because, once again, we had a trainee, with another CM sitting right up front. So when we went through the "underworld of crime" area and didn't have the shootout, we figured she'd screwed up - seriously, after years of GMR we'd always had the crime scene. So we were quite surprised when we got the gun battle and lost our trainee to a masked cowboy. We did, however, get our trainee back at the 'bad guy gets zapped' scene; she did a very good job, and had that almost-disturbing-yet-exactly-appropriate-for-GMR level of intense perkiness. Back to use our RnRC FP, standby now 30 mintues. We waited 1 extra cycle for the front; I do love this coaster, but I find it a tad jerky; EE was much smoother.
We then decided to wander over to Star Tours to see what mayhem was being wrought; on the way out of Sunset Blvd, we chatted with the DVC Kiosk girl - she had no new info, but said that she checks the DIS for the latest unofficial information. Somewhere during my MBA studies I think they called that "Informal channels of communication"
. Anyway, the SW crazyness was in full bloom; there were different lines to wait in to get signatures and/or pictures with Star Wars folks. Warwick Davis (Wicket the Ewok?) was there - at least that was someone I'd heard of. There were others that reminded me all too much of "Galaxy Quest"; while they couldn't get the real stars, they had no problem getting "Imperial Patrol Officer #2" to sign and pose. Another empathy for the heat: some of the characters had heavy latex appliances on - one had about a dozen tentacles coming out of his (her? its?) head - and they were in bright late-morning sun. I guess it's worth it for a weekend of 'being someone' at WDW. ST itself was a 40 min wait with FP not until around 2PM - not worth it to us. We walked around a bit, then did the back-lot tour (this trip we ended up doing a lot of the things we don't do every trip, like the tour, Indy, FOTLK, etc.). We walked slowly to the exit, and once again mourned the absense of Sony SuperStar TV (yeah, I'm old. But DS was Gilligan once, and was one of the Foley artists next door, too). Tram to car to SSR to AC comfort (oh, the Power + Down Arrow bypass works just fine). We did lunch and while I did laundry, MrsT went to the CP quiet pool to soak and read.This evening was the least pleasant of our entire trip. We headed out for dinner at Macaroni Grill near Crossroads Shopping Center. It started out great - Jaimie was a pleasant and smiling waitress, the free bread and the sangria we orded were good. But then it went downhill. First, MrsT had ordered a "Mama's Trio" - a sampler of three items - one of their specialties, the menu said. But a manager came over and said they were out of one of them and would fettuchini alfredo do? Not her favorite, but we're easy going. But our salads had come and been eaten a while ago, and no food yet. We finally had to ask, and everyone seemed to think someone else had handled it. Finally the food came, but the other two items on her plate were burned underneath (I suspect they got lost in some oven). Plus, the portions were huge - we're trying to lose weight, and there was too much food! I shared some of mine with her, but we left disappointed and with a touch of indigestion. Too much food, the alcohol, the fouled-up order didn't react well with the evening heat and humidity and we were both a bit off. Thankfully, this was already scheduled to be a 'light' night at DTD, so we walked there from our SSR building and staggered around from DM to WE. Warning: Pleasure Island is a PIT! There is a lot of construction, entire buildings ripped out, and the covered safety fencing makes walking from DM to WE constricted and very unpleasant. We used to LOVE PI - we'd hit a comedy show, then spend hours at AC - now it looks like a half-done construction site. I did get a kick out of the fact that they still had Jello-Shot girls roaming the place.
We walked and window-shopped until we got to the WE dock, then took a boat back to the DM dock. Of note was the fact that the captain actually slowed down the boat until all the children had heads and arms inside the boat - he made that announcement 3 times. In fact, we noticed this several other times this trip: on the MK train and TTA; I wonder if there's a crackdown in place (or an incident occurred that we didn't hear about). We were able to get on the boat to SSR pretty quickly, then got off at our dock. This is when we chatted with the store manager about the new SSR Pool (bigger than quiet pool, not as big as HRS), the fact that it will have a pool bar and "To Go" food, and that SSR management is pushing for more dining options at the resort (SSR folks eating at DTD just isn't happening enough). Turf Club should be opening soon - it looks almost done from the outside - no idea what the kitchen looks like.
Headed back to the room; we walked along the Springs lake, and saw a lot of wildlife: about a dozen bunnies (with very short ears) and 5 or 6 toads along the sidewalks edge. Very, very peaceful place to walk at night, as it reminded me a bit of the paths at the Polynesian; the landscaping at SSR is growing in very nicely and losing that 'new subdivision' feel. We got to bed at the amazingly early time of 10:30!
I'm going to take this moment to discuss some things that extend beyond any one day.
Cell phones: My goodness, but they were everywhere! And I found myself getting a big annoyed. I realize that they are a part of the culture of a different generation (MrsT's grandmother didn't like it when DS had his GameBoy), and that it is a great thing to be able to contact a parent/child, or arrange to meet someone somewhere. But some things seemed over the top. One young lady (12-14) had a row to herself on Splash Mtn (her parents were in front of her) and she spent the entire ride chatting on her phone. Later that night we saw Wishes from in front of Splash/BTMRR, and a father with two teen boys were nearby - all three were on cell phones, talking loudly during Wishes! (Related: we had a night-time Jungle Cruise ruined by a guy who had a digital flash camera in one hand and a video camera in the other - once he flashed my eyes in the dark tunnel). Not sure what can be done - they can't even stop the dreaded "Flash Photography" - just a little rant.
Morning touring vs evening touring vs EMH: This trip was quite odd. Due to scheduling, changing resorts and the Homosexual Invasion </sarc> we ended up going to parks for the first time at night, instead of in the morning. Usually we hit a park in the AM first (EMH, if possible) and get a lot of stuff done, then when we go back at night, we're more relaxed and stroll-ready. This trip, we hit EP, MGM and MK at night before we hit them in the AM, and since they were all EMH-PM, our 'wanna ride the rides' urge went frustrated. I'll note to avoid this in the future. Scoring: Morning touring = great! EMH-AM touring = also great (assuming you leave by noon or so)! Evening touring with EMH = No! Bad! Uck! Danger, Will Robinson! Reverse the Polarity of the Neutron Flow! Evening touring withOUT EMH = pretty good, the later the better.
Weather: During the days it was hot and humid - June in Florida, no surprise. What was pleasant was that, in the evenings, the clouds helped cool things off and there were frequent cool breezes. Still, us transplanted desert-dwellers prefer that "dry" heat.
Standby times inflated: We noticed that, particularly in the evening, but sometimes during the day, that the standby times were inflated - sometimes quite a bit. One night Splash said 20 minutes, but when we got in line we didn't stop until we were in sight of the load area: 4 minutes, tops. I assume they do this to get folks to say "oops, too busy - let's just call it a night"; they used to do something called "Stacking the line" to get the same effect.
Gay Days: No impact on us, except that we avoided the GD park (to avoid crowds, not for any other reason). We did have a few humorous sightings: the GD hotels were DTD hotels, so when we drove from SSR along Hotel Drive, we'd often see couples walking about - once, we saw two guys in studded leather outfits - almost stereotypical. But we noticed nothing inappropriate in the parks we were at - actually, some of the SW folks were a bit scarier....
Stay tuned - there's more to come!
, (respirator breath sound effect)
