Day Six:
The weather was beautiful. Finally cooled off to a nice 72 degrees, slightly cloudy.
Had breakfast at Whispering Canyon. Omelettes made to order and not too bad. Jordan loved the Lincoln Log Table, but we’re still working on sharing skills so she got kind of grabby, nothing unusual for her.
Drove to Disney-MGM Studios. This was our first sight of the Hat. I don’t particularly care for it. I much prefer seeing the Chinese Theatre at the end of the Street. Got there at opening and of course everybody was rushing toward RnR and ToT, so we went on the Great Movie Ride with a 2 minute wait. Got to see the Holographic Chess Board from Star Wars in the queue which was really cool. Not having learned our lesson about ride with the daughter yet we braved it. Not quite as dark so we thought she’d be ok. No such luck. She really didn’t seem to care for it, although she did recognize Singin’ in the Rain to some extent. Otherwise she was a mess. Yes, we are horrible parents, but we can’t learn what she likes and is scared of without some experimentation. Jordan survived and we went in search of the Playhouse Disney show. I forgot to grab a map of the park and we ended up wandering around New York Street and went the opposite direction, but it worked out. Playhouse Disney was great except for one thing. I forgot to pack my second charged battery for the video camera. ARRGGHHH! The whole reason we bought a new battery and I forgot to put it back in the pack before we left. Beat myself up all day about that stupid mistake. Learn from my mistakes, always put your second battery directly back in the bag after recharging!
We were lucky enough to find a nice hidden little treasure at MGM. Across from the ABC Commissary in a little nook, hidden behind some bushes is a small garage. Look for the Scream Canisters in the pushes and the very small roped off queue area with the garage door having the Monsters Inc logo on it. No times are posted and I don’t think it’s on the park map. We were lucky enough to wander by and see the scream canisters. Stopped and heard something banging on the door. We waited a few minutes and the door opened. Behold! Mike Wazowski! What a treat. It’s just a tiny little room and it’s pictures only, no autographs. They told us later in the day Sulley might be there. Jordan loved meeting Mike, gave him a big hug.
We had lunch at the Prime Time Café which is always delightful. The food is never fantastic, but it’s decent and the atmosphere and theming are the best. We were greeted warmly as usual and our server was one who knew how to perfectly balance the role. She played it loosely as a “cousin” and didn’t slam it down our throats, which is what I like. On prior trips I’ve seen some CM’s who take the role way too far for my tastes. I had the Open face Steak sandwich which was a little fatty, but otherwise decent. My wife had the Turkey Sandwich, which was so large she left half of it and Jordan had what else, the Macaroni and Cheese. Finished it all off with the Lemon Meringue Pie in honor of Walt.
After lunch we headed toward RnR, which was down for technical problems, so we baby swapped ToT. No wait, but it was still nice to have the Fastpass Babyswap ticket anyway. Jordan and I had fun sitting outside the Hollywood Tower Hotel waiting on mommy and then I got to go. This was my first experience with the random drop sequence and it was great fun. Can’t wait to see the new one starting in January, but that’s a long way off for us.
RnR was still down so we gave it up and headed back to see if Mike and Sulley were out again. Got there just as they were cutting off the line. I understood the necessity, wasn’t happy, but knew we’d just come back. My normally sweet, kind wife turned into ferocious protective mother cub and started grumbling, but I got her away before she could properly start berating the poor CM. It worked out because they told us what time they’d be back. We had time to do Muppetvision which I think Jordan liked, but she didn’t want to keep the glasses on, go figure!
After Muppets we headed back and waited first in line for Mike and Sulley. A nice English couple stopped by and asked what we were waiting on and they decided to stay. We finally got to see both Mike and Sulley and we all had great fun with it.
From there we headed back to the resort. Jordan was in desperate need of a nap. We took advantage of the time to shower and relax.
We had PS at Restaurant Marrakesh, which we should have known was not necessary, but we were cutting it close on time. Drove to Boardwalk thinking to outsmart Disney by parking there and boating to World Showcase. Found out why they had a sign up saying they couldn’t allow parking for MGM, or Epcot, we tried it anyway. Not a parking place to be found. Circled around four times and finally played vulture to an older couple walking to their car. Felt like a stalker, but you do what is necessary. We were running late, which for us means only fifteen minutes early, at this point. Decided not to wait for the boat and took off walking around the Boardwalk. Of course after we left the boat dock the boat turned the corner and headed toward dock. We kept going across the bridge and just barely made it into the gate ahead of a tour group of 182 people. We raced across the second bridge and into France and made our way breathlessly to Morocco with one minute to spare. Didn’t matter of course. They had plenty of seating available. We took a minute to go get Jordan’s picture with Aladdin who was in the shop directly across from the restaurant.
At dinner ordered the Marrakesh Feast. Brewats rock! Jordan really liked them so we ordered those for her dinner. The feast consisted of Brewats, Lemon Chicken, Beef kabobs and vegetable couscous with assorted baclava pastries for desert. We both tried the mint tea, which I loved. We were seated right next to the small stage and enjoyed music and the belly dancer. Jordan really liked the music and watched the dancer intently.
After dinner we walked around Morocco for a while. This has always been my favorite country. It’s usually overlooked by people which is a big bonus. There are so many details to see. I was disappointed that the carpet weavers were not there, but there’s a lot more to see. We left Morocco and found a seat on a bench with another nice family and waited for Tapestry of Dreams. It got a bit chilly that night and we were glad we switched to jeans and jackets. Tapestry of Dreams was great. Not as good as Tapestry of Nations, but still very enjoyable. Most importantly Jordan went nuts over it.
After the parade we went back to Morocco to look around a bit more which was great because nobody else was there, we had the place all to ourselves and it was quiet. Didn’t stay for Illuminations because Jordan was really starting to drag, so we boated back to Boardwalk I was happy to see they fixed the K in the Boardwalk sign. We stopped at Seaside Sweets and got some chocolate covered pretzels and a Mickey Cookie for Jordan. The cookies were very stale.
We went back to WL and got off to bed to end a perfect Disney day. Again the crowds were bad, but no lines. It was disappointing that RnR was down, but that happens. World Showcase is best experienced at night in my opinion. It just seems so much more magical to me at night.
Stay tuned….
