Kings of SF: Disney Trip Part 5 -- the last one :-)

We had planned to go to Animal Kingdom on our last day but there were thunderstorms in the forecast so we decided to go to Hollywood Studios instead, where you can have lots of fun at many indoor attractions. Unfortunately Mae was sick (maybe too many Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans!) so she stayed home with Kristin and Natalie. We were very excited to go to this park and I just kept a positive attitude about the day and it turned out great. As usual, we headed straight for the best rides when we got there: the Aerosmith Rockin' Rollercoaster and the Tower of Terror. We got fast passes for the Tower of Terror (more on this later) and got in the "singles only" line for the Aerosmith ride so it was super fast.

I took a couple of pics of us whizzing by everyone else with our Fast Passes for the Tower of Terror. I'm glad I did because something really weird happened; as we walked by this one kid yelled out, "Alright!" and started clapping. Then everyone around him started clapping and cheering. The applause continued until we were almost at the front of the line! There were lots of groups there that day (schools, churches, etc.) and I thought maybe a teacher told the kids to clap for the Fast Pass people. Then I took a look at Mara and changed my mind; they were obviously clapping for the gorgeous blonde girl :-)

By the time this day rolled around we had the whole baby feeding thing down to a science. We scoped out the Baby Center and they dropped us off while they went on a ride. We had a nice little private room and Skyla had a good time being silly.

One of the reasons we were happy to go to Hollywood Studios is that we had gone there together in college (back when it was called MGM Studios) and we had a great time. Because Tory knew all the secrets to each park back then, he arranged for us to be in a stunt show, where we got drenched with tons of water for a laughing audience to see. It was much more fun watching someone else go through it this time, and they improved the attraction a lot; we actually got to watch a scene for an action movie being filmed and then they showed us the results right away. On the same ride we also got to see lots of other cool things like where they make all the costumes for Disney productions and how they can create the look of a huge flood of water with special effects. It was a great because we all got to go on it together and Skyla slept the whole time!

The highlight of the day for sure was an attraction we weren't even sure we were going to see, but it fit in our schedule so we did it. It was The American Idol Experience and it was awesome! We got to be in the audience and they had it set up just like the real Idol set, with a host just like Ryan Seacrest and 3 funny judges. There were 3 performers: a young girl who was "just alright for me dog," a teenage girl who was beautiful and sang a country song very well, and a Scottish guy who belted out Daughtry and totally rocked it! We got to vote with these things on our armrests and we were careful to pick who we wanted without letting Skyla hit one of the other buttons. Mara and I voted for the 2nd girl but the Scottish guy ended up winning. The coolest part: he was sent to the final round, and the winner of that gets a golden ticket, which automatically moves them to the front of the line at any American Idol audition!

After Idol we went to lunch at the awesome restaurant Tory and I ate in years ago. It's indoors but they make it look like you're at the drive-ins, it has a total 50's theme, and they only show clips of old science fiction movies! The food was delicious and the atmosphere was totally cool. We were pleasantly surprised to see that the 2nd Idol contestant was sitting in the car right next to ours with her family! I asked Tory to get her autograph, and he did, telling her that we had all voted for her. It totally made her day!

Our last event was going to see The Muppets in 3D. Before we got inside we had another close encounter with an Idol contestant: the Winner, Lee English! Mara had him sign Mae's autograph book and we also told him that we all voted for him. He was very happy and his whole family was really proud! I can't say that the Muppets were as exciting though -- I fell asleep about 5 minutes into it. I think it had a lot more to do with the fact that we had done 3 parks in 3 days. Time to go home!

We went to Ft. Lauderdale to visit friends (that's in another post) and had originally planned to go to Tampa afterwards. However, I got really sick, and since we had to go back through Orlando anyway, we decided to just stay there. We had a feeling there would be some extra days on the Disney tickets Brenda bought us, but we were shocked at what we got: Tory presented all the cards, and we somehow got 6 adult tickets and 2 child tickets extra! That meant we got to go to 3 parks, but for much shorter visits. I wrote about Epcot earlier, but we also returned to Hollywood Studios. We were only there for a short time but we got to go to the American Idol finale, and it was so much fun! They had 5 performers, and the man who won was a pastor who promised that he would give his "golden ticket" to his son, who had wanted to try out but had been stricken with cancer but now he is all better. Amazing! We also got to see the Beauty and the Best show, which was great. It really felt like the movie had come to life:

The big trip of this return to Orlando was Animal Kingdom. We were happy that we were able to go there since we couldn't do it before, and we had a great time. We started at the Lion King show, and Tory snuck us into seats right near the front. Below that check out the pic of the "Tree of Life," which is basically a gigantic sculpture with every animal you can think of on it.

Someone told us the baby center at this park was great, and it was. We took a nice long break there because it was so hot and Skyla got a chance to play.

One of the main reasons we wanted to go back to Animal Kingdom was to go on the safari. Unfortunately the line didn't give us an accurate idea of the wait and it took well over an hour. We were so sick of waiting that when we got to the front and they asked if there were any parties of 2 we jumped at the opportunity to hop on. What a mistake! The guide was literally the most f*&%$in annoying person I've ever encountered in my entire life. Her voice sounded like the receptionist on Office Space had a child with Minnie Mouse, and she made extra effort to make everything she said cutesy-wootsy. The worst part was these 3 ladies in front of us who kept laughing at every stupid joke she made, and when it was over the applauded her and said, "Best ever! Easily, the best ever!" I tried to ignore her as much as I could so I could enjoy the animals, and boy were they beautiful.