The Adventure of a Lifetime, Pt. 4

I'm excited for this day. Normally, I would not look forward to the day we have to go home. But this day we are going to Disney-MGM Studios. We're going for two reasons: to ride Twilight Zone: Tower of Terror, and Rock n Roller Coaster starring Aerosmith. We said our goodbyes to the Ulrichs in the hotel lobby, along with Tom Kelley, Curt Hassinger, Mark Gobat (who I inadvertently left out of the previous days' adventures), Max Cannon and Chris Pearson. Our group on this day would consist of the following RRCers: me, Susan, Cindy Stout, Chris Hartman, Chris Lucht, Spatch and Glenn Payne. We made the short drive into Disney World, parked in the appropriate lot, and five of us took the tram to the gate. The other two, Glenn Payne and Chris Hartman, were waiting for us just inside. Chris Hartman pisses me off! The first thing he says to me? Not "good morning!" Not "hello, Mark!" No. "I'M HUNGRY!" Wow, Disney-MGM Studios has a beautiful entrance. The park is awash in art deco construction, and beautiful Floridian colors. For some reason though, this does not seem like any kind of amusement park. We walked immediately over to Rock n Roller Coaster, where we used the Fast Pass system. A brilliant, much needed service, you insert your admission ticket into an electronic ticket taker and receive, along with your admission ticket, an additional ticket with a time listed that you may present at the ride's entrance and avoid waiting in line. You have a one hour window in which to use the pass. In addition, you can choose to wait in line if you wish, which might allow you two rides in the time you would normally wait for one! Brilliant!!! We opted not to ride the roller coaster first, but instead head over to Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. To quote Susan: Photo courtesy of Glenn Payne WOW!!!!! What a ride! What an amazing, incredible, dazzling experience! This isn't just a ride, it's an attraction and an experience. First of all the Hollywood Hotel is a sight to behold. It sits high on a hill and is absolutely authentic looking. The bellman inside directs you into your room, and from there I will not divulge what happens. Now, most people know that this is a drop ride. But it is SO much more! I was blown away by the entire experience. And the drop! No, it isn't the biggest, it's just the best. I really had low expectations for this ride because I thought the height of the drop would not be terribly unique. It is. We then walked over to Rock n Roller Coaster and waited in line. The wait time was listed at 30 minutes, unusual for 9:30 in the morning. Unfortunately, Robert Ulrich warned us that we might fall victim to something called "Celebration Sundays" whereby guests staying at Disney hotels are allowed inside the park one hour earlier than the rest of us scum. Yes, Robert, the park was *mobbed* and QUIT LAUGHING! Anyway, the wait for Rock n Roller Coaster didn't really take 30 minutes. And once inside the building, time became meaningless. You walk inside and immediately above you is a huge vinyl 45 single on the ceiling. The doors are made of marble. No, I mean *real* marbles. Thousands and thousands of little marbles that you can roll around inside the door! There are also all kinds of great recording artifacts and displays, including several old carrying cases used to store 45 singles. We used to have one when I was a kid. Photo courtesy of Glenn Payne Here's the scenario of the ride: You enter Aerosmith's recording studio and watch them interact with one of the engineers. Live technicians mill about, moving Aerosmith's equipment in and out of the recording studio. Aerosmith's manager, Ileana Douglas, shows up and tells them they're late for their concert. Well, Aerosmith isn't about to leave their fans all alone in studio, why doesn't she give them backstage passes to their concert! "Well how am I gonna get em there?" "Order another limo!" So she gets on the phone, counts all of us waiting, and orders a "really big one." Okay guys, I've gotta go, but don't worry, I got you a REALLY fast car! Open sesame, and voile, you've entered a backstreet alley at night. This, folks, is TRULY brilliant. Everything about this ride, I loved. The limos pull up and they are, indeed, stretch limos!! The longest trains I've ever seen. And they make real automotive noises too. They stop on a dime, and peel out making a loud screech. You hear and see all the typical sights and sounds you would actually see on any normal street. When it's time for your ride, you pull up to the tunnel, which warns of a detour and instructions for an alt. route. Then......from inside your car, AEROSMITH. "How you doin' everybody?!!! Here's a little something while you wait!" SCREEEEEEEEEECH!!!!!! And off you go! Through the streets of LA, heading off to an Aerosmith concert. You pass traffic signs and signals, neon palm trees and other LA sights. I particularly liked going through the donut!!! You come up over a hill and get honked at by an irate motorist. And all the while, Aerosmith plays *loudly* in your ears. Twice I got "Dude Look Like a Lady" and "Love on a Roller Coaster" while others got "Sweet Emotion." Photo courtesy of Glenn Payne This coaster ROCKS!!! It is the *perfect* coaster to bring Disney into the thrillenium. It's also the best themed coaster ride I've ever seen. The ride itself is great. Very smooth up front, a little bangy in the back. I like the front better simply because you experience the visuals and sound effects better than in the back. If this track were outside I'm not sure anybody would find it all that amazing, but inside, with all that theming and Aerosmith blasting away, this is one fun coaster! We rode the coaster several times, as the wait grew increasingly longer. We finally saw Jerry Danes in line, but never saw Craig Arbor nor Jeff Johnson, who unfortunately I didn't get to spend much time with at IOA. Because we were pressed for time we opted to hit the other attraction that was on our must do list, and that was The Great Movie Ride. This ride is a flop. It looks SO GREAT on the outside, you're expecting something really big inside. What you get is a badly narrated, poorly acted, cheaply designed history of the movies. The animatronics were typical Disney, but not really appropriate for this level of attraction. This *looks* like it should be one of the signature attractions for this park. Instead it's one of the lamest. The western shoot out was just dumb, and the girl playing the bandit induced more cringes than the final episode of Seinfeld. What a horrid actress. About the only thing I liked on this ride was The Wizard of Oz. This was delightful, very entertaining, and reminiscent of the charming quality in It's a Small World. If only the rest of the ride were half as entertaining as The Wizard of Oz section I would have been able to recommend it. Even the finale was disappointing - I've seen better montages on Academy Awards night. Why not fill the *entire* room with the movies? As it is, I would not want to ride it again. And I am a *big* movie fan! Definitely the most disappointing attraction of the trip. I was also disappointed by the ABC commissary. We tried to get a table at the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theatre Restaurant, but they were booked for the entire day! So we were forced to eat in the commissary, and I found it slightly annoying. The room was fairly non-descript, even bland. An "ABC program highlights" video runs continuously on a jillion video screens, and the effect is an aggressive effort to suppress any attempts at conversation. Fortunately we were able to carry on quite a lively critique of ABC's shows, which, I suppose, is their goal. B'aaaa. B'aaaa. Look at the little sheep grazing in the commissary. By the way, did you know Sela Ward is from Miss-a-pee-pee? Glenn Payne swears she's a good ole boy, but I just don't believe him. She seems Europeeun to me, and I'm sorry but I just can't see her saying "I tell you what!" And I just don't understand that wierd show she's in. It's stupid, but Susan loves it, and so does Cindy. As they explained to me "they're real, and they're in real pain!" Moving right along, we entered a backlot, where we saw the Muppets in 3-D. Now THIS is a GREAT SHOW!!! The pre-show alone is hilarious. There's also a huge portait of Jim Henson as a Muppet hanging from the ceiling. The show itself involves 3-D film, animation, live action and special effects. I just loved Miss Piggy singing "Dream a Little Dream of Me" and the critics, who have their own box seat in the balcony. This show is flat out funny, and only the Muppets would blow up the entire theatre! We then went back to Tower of Terror and Rock n Roller Coaster, the real stars of this show. We also did Star Tours, which I like, but think the movie screen is too small. It needs to be more immersive. And we ended our visit at Disney-MGM with The Adventures of The Little Mermaid Stunt Show, an action packed, high-energy explosive extravaganza. Poor litle Ariel, how she got out of the way of that big rock I'll never know. Disney-MGM Studios is a nice park, but it needs more rides. Rock N Roller Coaster is a huge step in the right direction, but they need more. Even some flat rides themed to the movies would be nice - how about a Busby Berkeley fun house? With that, our time in Florida had come to a close. We hugged everybody goodbye, including Glenn Payne, who gaves us his best and sincerest "Boo hoo hoo" hysterics until he'd given his last hug, then it was "all right, let's go." Glenn, Spatch, Cindy, Chris and Chris, thanks for spending the day with us, and thanks for spending most of our weekend with us. We consider all of you good friends, and we really love your company. I hope you all had as much fun as we did. (user shakes Susan's hand) Another job well done. And to everyone who was a part of this weekend: thank you. I hope your weekend was filled with unforgettable memories. Being forty isn't easy, but sharing experiences like this with friends makes the journey not a struggle, but a wonderful adventure. It was the adventure of a lifetime.