As I fell out of bed into the shower, Frank took our mugs to Melody Hall and got us some caffeine kick-starts (he drinks coffee, I chose hot chocolate instead). Once I'd finished washing off two days worth of grime, and we both got sufficiently wired on Disney caffeine, we jumped in the van and headed out to the Disney MGM Studios. Parking there was a little odd: every time I've ever been to MGM, I've been directed to the right side of the tram lanes, but today we were sent off to the left. No farther away than I'd previously parked, but in a completely different area of the lot. Close enough, in fact, that we didn't need to take the tram; we simply walked to the gate, passing the MGM Guest Services windows, Kennel Club, and the outside-the-gates restrooms.
A word here about rude guests. It was one thing when the young woman rushed past us, bumping a few people in her haste to get to the front of the line (I laughed out loud at the poetic justice of her being forced to wait for the rest of her party). But the moment her butt hit the seat, she started screaming at the top of her lungs like it was a real Aerosmith concert. And she kept on screaming through the entire ride! Not 'Whoo-Hoo! or Yippeee!. No, she screamed like someone falling off a cliff; she screamed like Jamie Lee Curtis in a cheap slasher flick; she screamed so loud, and so long, that I literally could not hear the Aerosmith music during the ride. It was beyond annoying, it was physically painful. How anyone could be so rude to an entire 'limo' of fellow guests is beyond me.
After we got off RnR, and our ears cleared a bit, we browsed the omnipresent gift shop for a few minutes, then went outside. I posed for a couple of pictures under the giant guitar, then followed Frank reluctantly to the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. ToT had a small line; it was about five minutes before we were safely seated in our 'elevator.' I used the time to brief the guest who was in position to get the Death Seat on what he was about to experience. For those of you unfamiliar with the ToT, the Death Seat is the one seat in the back row of each 'elevator' car which sits between two lap bars. Stuck in the middle as it is, the Death Seat is equipped instead with only a seat belt, like the back seat of a car. For those who enjoy a good ride, the Death Seat is a prized position. For those, like me, who don't enjoy zero-G free-fall, it is... somewhat less attractive. It was my good fortune, several years ago, to get stuck in the Death Seat on my very first ride in ToT, making it a most memorable experience. This time, of course, I rode in a standard seat with a lap bar. And I had my camera; I lost count of how many times we bounced up and down, but on the first and second bounces, I snapped pictures. I would later discover, after getting the film developed, that I had taken two fantastically clear pictures of the working studio buildings, with the Earful Tower standing proudly in the background.
After ToT, I wanted to go to Star Tours; but on the way, we stopped at the end of Hollywood Blvd. where the giant sorcerer's hat was in the final stages of construction. I took a few pictures, including one through a star-shaped window in the construction wall; we moved partway down Hollywood Blvd. to get a couple of forced-perspective shots. Then it was on to Star Tours.
Star Tours gives Frank a headache.
After Star Tours, I was getting a little hungry, and had something cool to share with Frank, so we went to Backlot Express for lunch. Here's the cool secret: after you get your food, go back out the doors to the outdoor seating area. Hang a right, and go all the way over to the rail, then make another right. There's an area of seating that's wedged between the some old equipment (looks like oil tanks and boilers), and a fence line. All the way in the back, in the corner formed by the fence and the Backlot building, is a roped-off stair, leading down to a locked gate. Behind that gate can be seen the backstage area of the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular. For those who love this attraction, it's just the coolest thing to look over the gate, through a narrow opening in the fence, and see set pieces, performers, and props moving around, and to hear the mighty whump of the propane explosions during the show. The music and amplified dialogue can also be heard, if the crowd in the eatery is not too loud. And best of all, this out-of-the-way portion of the seating area is often empty, even when the rest of the eatery is full. I make sure to sit there every time I eat at Backlot Express.
Upon leaving the Gallery, we both looked at the line for the Animation Tour and said, "Nah." I love that tour, especially the Robin Williams parts ("Look everybody, I'm a corporate symbol!"), but we just weren't in the mood for it right then. We figured to come back to it later. Instead, we took the Backstage Pass tour. Both of us enjoyed the Bette Middler short film, 'The Ticket', which had been retired for a time, but was brought back as part of the Backstage Pass pre-show. I particularly enjoyed the changes made to the first part of this attraction. Instead of a generic 'war movie', it now focuses on the film Pearl Harbor, losing the Miss Fortune tug and replacing it with a PT boat set. Improvements have been made to the water cannons and sound effects, too, making the show much more enjoyable to me.
As a long-time Home Improvement fan, I also enjoy the next segment, although Frank misses the original Honey, I Shrunk the Kids themed segment, where a guest could actually ride the giant bee. To each his own, I guess. The 101 Dalmatians stuff can be a little boring at times, especially the static set pieces, but that part of the tour is quick, and the robot dogs always get a laugh. The riding portion of the tour hasn't changed much over the years, except for a few additions to the Boneyard; Catastrophe Canyon is always fun (I wish the CMs weren't so stiff when yelling their lines, though.)
A word here about Mickey bars. On this, my 11th trip to Walt Disney World, I had resolved to try to do some things I'd never done before; two that I'd put near the top of the list were, get a Mickey Bar, and get a turkey leg. Well, here was my first Mickey bar. I found it delicious, and enjoyed it thoroughly, although I must admit that it wasn't the religious experience for me that it seems to be for so many others.
The rain just wasn't slacking off, so we decided to brave the elements and get ponchos from the little cart across the street. Of course, I had to wander about among the little racks in that tiny cart/shop, looking at the merchandise. I don't know when or how, but sometime in the past 11 years, I got hooked on shopping at Disney; I simply can't pass even a single rack of merchandise without giving it the once-over. Partly it's experience, because, after so many trips, I know that Walt Disney World's immense size, and incredible variety of merchandise, makes it easy for little trinkets to slip through the cracks and show up one place and not another. Nothing illustrates this better than my experience in 1997 when I flew down for the Disneyanna convention; while browsing the gift shop at the Contemporary, I found the most beautiful Snow White watch, in a fantastic wooden box, with a painted tile cover. At $90, it was my most expensive Disney purchase ever, and was my first true collectable. It's still one of my most favorite and prized Disney possessions.
Since the rain continued steadily, we made our way back to Hollywood Blvd. and browsed some more in the shops there. One purchase each of us made was a small plastic bookmark. Frank's, of course, was Tigger, while I chose Mickey. We bought them not for the bookmarks, however, but for the plastic pouches the bookmarks came in. They were just the right size to fit a park pass, a room key, whatever. Frank was dubious, but I knew we'd found the perfect plastic pouch for his lanyard.
For dinner that night we chose Sonnys BBQ; on 192, not far from the 192 Flea Market, Sonnys has been a favorite of Franks for years, because they used to have all-you-can-eat pork ribs. Nowadays, they only have the ribs one night a week (not tonight!), so the appeal isn't as great, but the food is still good, and the price reasonable. That night they did have a special: all-you-can-eat BBQ chicken and sliced pork. The pork reminded me a little of the prime rib served at Chef Mickeys, and the chicken was pretty good, too. A choice of Mild, Hot or Sweet sauce (in bottles on the table, self serve) made the meal even better.
Now we were full. Bursting. Ready to fall asleep with all the pork and chicken. But the day wasn't over yet... Frank wanted to go to Pleasure Island. Okay, I was a little tired, but not nearly as much as I would have been after a full day in the parks. Having left so early in the day, I still had some energy to burn. So we went back to ASM, waited in the nice, empty, Guest Services line, and got PI tickets. Since it was nearing 7pm, when PI opens, we jumped in the van and headed right out. Yeah, we drove, because neither of us are heavy drinkers; in fact, it's a rare occasion when I drink anything stronger than a Coke, and the last time I got truly smashed was 1993! So we felt pretty safe driving.
Then, finally, it was off to the Adventurers Club. During the opening of the show, we did get a couple of drinks; I can't remember the name of it, but it's slushy, tastes like strawberry, and is the strongest mixed drink I've ever had. I nursed that one for about two hours, and still I felt pretty buzzed when I was finished. Although Frank is not a heavy drinker, he miss-spent quite a bit of his youth, and so has a higher tolerance for alcohol than I have, so the drink didn't hit him as hard, but I was wobbling by the time we left the Adventurers Club. I won't include all the details of the show here, but suffice it to say that I really, really liked that place, and plan on returning later. We didn't even bother with any of the other clubs.
Since there were no fireworks that evening (I assume because of the rain), we wound up calling it a night around 12:30.