If you haven’t done so already, make sure to read part 1 and part 2 of my my trip to Walt Disney World.
Day five began just like day four. We headed to the pool for several hours of needed relaxation. These days were some of the hottest days of the week so it was a very good idea to hit the pool during some of the hotter hours so we didn’t get grumpy while at the parks. I think we spent more times in the pool than out.
After the pool we got some lunch at the hotel food court area and headed to the bus stop. Earlier that afternoon we decided to head to the last of the parks, Hollywood Studios. For those of you that don’t know, the Disney/MGM Studios was renamed eariler this year to Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Here is a link to some info on the name change. A part of me will always think of the park as MGM though. I’ve grown up with that name so it will be hard to get my brain to change.
When we got to the park it was already pretty late in the day. We had decided that we wanted to see the nighttime show called Fantasmic and since we were Disney World Resort hotel guests we were allowed to take advantage of one of the coolest features. It’s called Extra Magic Hours and it is only available to guests staying in a Disney hotel. One or two days a week a couple of the parks are open an hour early and a couple of hours later than the normal hours. All you have to do is show your hotel key card and they give you a special wrist band. With that band you can get on rides hours past the regular closing time. If anyone is thinking about going to Disney World, Extra Magic Hours is a very convincing reason for staying at a Disney hotel.
So we got our bands for Extra Magic Hours, which meant we could go to the later Fantasmic show. After that we went and checked the lines for Rockin’ Roller Coaster and the Tower of Terror. Both had really long lines so we decided to do those rides later. Next we headed to the new show Lights, Motors, Action stunt show. It was brought over from Disneyland Paris and was a really good live stunt show with really fast cars doing ridiculous maneuvers. After the show, we decided to head to the newest ride in the park, Toy Story Maina. This ride is very new (opened May 31. 2008) and I guess they were still working out the kinks because the line was ridiculously slow. It took 2 hours to get to the ride and that is way too long for a Disney attraction. Disney is usually very good about managing wait times and this was not handled very well. Also, the fasspass feature only made the problem worse. For the first time in my life, I now think that fasspass is not a useful system and only makes the lines longer.
When we finally got to ride Toy Story Mania, I found out that it was well worth the wait. The ride is similar to the Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin ride at the Magic Kingdom but way better. The ride vehicle navigates you to a series of large screens where there are midway games managed by Toy Story characters. You have a special gun that you shoot various projectiles to gain points. What makes this ride so much fun is the 3-D element. Unlike Buzz Lightyear’s ride where you have to follow your red dot to aim, Toy Story Mania uses 3-D technology to shoot virtual projectiles. This makes it very easy to play. They keep score of each game and a total of the whole ride and you can compare scores with the daily bests and all time bests at the end. This is definitely one of the best rides at Hollywood Studios and one that one one should miss.
By the time we got out of Toy Story Mania, it was getting very late and we still hadn’t eaten dinner. We managed to get into a all you can eat buffet and the was pretty darn good for park food. After dinner, it was just about time to go to the Fantasmic show so we walked across the park top the amphitheater. The Fantasmic show was great and it was much easier to go to the later show because it was after park hours so there was a limited number of people that could be there. After the show we decided to go back to the hotel room rather than attempt to go onto the Rockin’ Roller Coaster or Tower of Terror. We decided to come back to the park the next day and finish it all up.
Back to Hollywood Studios
Day six started with breakfast and then a bus back to the Hollywood Studios. My brother and I went ahead while my parents went over to Downtown Disney to get some dinner reservations and to pick up our tickets to the Cirque Du Soleil (more on that later). We met up for lunch and then headed out to finish up this park. Our first stop was Star Tours. Its a classic ride and I can’t imagine a trip to Disney World without riding Star Tours. I do hope they update it soon though. It is beginning to show its age. Next we headed over to the Rockin’ Roller Coaster, which was great as usual, and then the Tower of Terror. The best part of Tower of Terror is the 5 different drop programs that they have so you never know what ride you are going to get. I think I managed to get a good program because we had lots of good drops. We also were smart enough to fasspass Toy Story Mania to avoid the long lines. We all wanted to ride it again because it was so fun.
By mid-afternoon we had finished up Hollywood Studios and headed back to the hotel to relax and get ready for dinner and the Circus.
Wolfgang Puck and Cirque Du Soleil
My parents managed to score reservations at the Wolfgang Puck Dining Room and boy was the food good. That was probably the most upscale restaurant I have ever eaten at. We were waited on by four people. I only used to one, maybe two. After dinner we headed to the Cirque Du Soleil. The tickets weren’t cheap but if you are at Disney World then you have to go see the Cirque Du Soleil. The show was amazing. It was one of the coolest things I have ever seen. The stunts they perform are mind blowing and the comedy is really good. I say it again: If you are at Disney World, go see the Cirque Du Soleil.
After the show we headed back to our hotel and got some rest for are last full day at Disney World. Stay tuned for my last post where I wrap up the trip and give some reflections and tips on Disney World.
Those Canadians can sure put on a good show, eh?