Hollywood

Bob still wasn’t feeling good this morning but not as bad as yesterday so thought he could make it through the day with us. It’s funny, early in the week we were leaving the condo much earlier – we got a little later with each day. I guess that’s exhaustion talking. Cari and I were really excited about riding the “Rock’n Roller Coaster” again this time. I didn’t remember much about it except it was pretty much in the dark most of the way. That’s another ride where the lines fill up fast so we made a bee-line to get Fast Passes. Along the way we passed random acts in the street, Dorma Nesmond (she was a hoot) and Eva somebody with her director. Honestly, I think I could’ve made a day out of just walking the streets and watching those little random acts. They were very entertaining.

After getting our Fast Passes, we headed to the theater to wait for “Beauty and the Beast,” a 30-minute musical performance. As always, the talent was amazing, the costumes incredible and the whole show was wonderful. Surprisingly, I got some decent shots – the lighting was so bad I really wasn’t very hopeful. Once again it was time to eat so we found a little place and got some lunch.

We still had time before returning to ride the coaster so just walked around to see what jumped in front of us. The tribute to Walt Disney jumped. I remember going in there before but, again, there’s never enough time to see everything. It was fascinating to walk through and read the trivia about the man himself and how it all began and see the artifacts preserved from the beginning. Then we were ushered into a theater to watch a 30-minute documentary, narrated by Walt Disney, about his life.

Bob, Cari and I had been through building before (didn’t see the film though) and were still awe struck at the ingenuity and creativity of this man. To think about how he changed the world with his dream and his vision is mind-boggling. To see the beginnings of Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy & Pluto – well, it just makes you smile. This was yet another spot we could’ve spent way more time in had we had it. There was so much to see and read, but the Rock’n Roller Coaster was calling our names …

I won't lie, I was a little - just a little - apprehensive about riding it. Not enough to not do it but I did have butterflies. Those butterflies multiplied as we got closer and saw the "limo" take off. OMG, it goes from 0-60 mph in 2.8 seconds. That's how the ride starts. Whew! Alrighty then. And that's also when they take your photo. Needless to say, I lived through it - and enjoyed it! Bob had gotten Fast Passes for all four of us knowing he and Mom wouldn't ride, so Cari and I took theirs and immediately went again! Since we knew when the photo was going to be taken we were ready ... and the result was priceless. One more thing we could cross off our list. :)

While Mom and Bob were waiting for Cari and I to ride … twice … they each struck up conversations with others waiting. Mom talked to this older lady beside her who had such a fascinating story. I don’t know how old she was but I’d suspect in her 70’s. She was there with her daughter and kids and visits Disney quite often. In fact she said she had ridden the “Tower of Terror” just three years ago. Good for her was all I could say. I won’t even ride it – neither will Cari. She said once was enough. LOL She spoke perfect English, not a trace of an accent, so we were surprised as she was telling us she only learned English as her children did. Her parents were Canadian and only spoke French. Said her mother was beautiful and lived to be 87 years old (I think). Said she was married at 15 years old, started having babies soon after and had one child a year for 22 years! Can you believe that? That woman gave birth 22 times! Um, ouch! I can’t even imagine! She still has eight siblings alive and they are all close. Oh and there are 57 grandchildren. I can’t even wrap my head around that.

The timing was just about right to catch the street show, “Disney Channel Rocks!” so we started walking in the direction of the big hat to, hopefully, get a good spot. I didn’t know many of the songs since I don’t watch the Disney Channel very often these days, but still enjoyed the performance. The main stars were paraded into the area on a rolling stage preceded by backup dancers/singers. Towards the end they asked the kids in the audience to join them and they had a ball.

The “Extreme Stunt Show” sounded interesting and fit into our schedule so we started walking in that direction. Thank goodness we got there as early as we did because the stadium filled up while we sat waiting for the show to start. I don’t know what I expected but it certainly wasn’t what was delivered. There was so much to see as the cars darted in and out from different directions, spinning around, burning rubber and squealing tires! I think my jaw dropped at the beginning and stayed dropped throughout the show. It was like watching a well-choreographed dance team, except instead of dancers it was drivers with cars – fast cars. And these drivers knew exactly how to execute their maneuvers, within inches of where they needed to be. I have never seen anything like it in my life. Ramps, fire, explosions, jet-skis and more were involved. At the end of the show they showed the clips of a real movie using the scenes we just saw. It gave us a new appreciation of what goes into filming these kinds of scenes. There are tons of cameras, people and equipment. They way they customize the cars was fascinating. They had the engines mounted in the back and taken all the fluff out so they were light in the front, which makes the car able to spin and maneuver easier. One of the cars went backwards at a high speed during the chase. We watched in amazement as this driver spun around, went up ramps, in between buildings and back out again. I’m telling you, it was unbelievable. Towards the end they showed us what made all of that more feasible – the engine was in the back and the driver was facing the back. Too cool!!

“Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular!” would be the last thing we could cram into our day and it was located close to the exit, which worked for us. A “cold front” came through on Thursday and the high temps were in the 60’s. As the sun started to set this afternoon and the winds kicked in it was downright cold … at least for Florida. We just had our new hoodies on and we were freezing! The show was okay. I’d give it three stars out of five. I guess after the stunt show we just saw it would be hard to measure up. There were three different scenes involving stunts from the movie, “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” They picked quite a few members from the audience to play extras and they things they had them do were pretty funny. By the time it was over we were tired, hungry and freezing and we still had to ride the tram to the car, then find something to eat on the way home.

You wouldn’t think finding a decent restaurant to eat dinner in would be such a feat. Obviously it is. An hour after we left the park we pulled into Subway. It was the easiest, healthiest thing we could find. We still had to go back and pack since we’re leaving at 7am in the morning.

Top 3:

Mom - Walt Disney, Stunt Show, Beauty & the Beast

Cari - Rock'n Roller Coaster, Stunt Show, Walt Disney

Me - Rock'n Roller Coaster, Stunt Show, Walt Disney

Bob - Stunt Show, Walt Disney, Indiana Jones

Loot List:

Nada - we're all broke