The day started really early. The alarm clock rang at 4:15am for my flight to Florida. The plan was that I would fly into Fort Lauderdale, pick up my clothes (I unexpectedly spent the month of August 2006 at dad's after his surgery. I had to buy all kinds of clothes and toiletries since I had planned and therefore packed to only be there for three days), and we would drive to Orlando. The day was going quite smoothly, we got on the road quickly and were making good time until we hit the traffic from an accident just north of Yeehaw Junction. We spent the next hour and twenty minutes crawling about 5 miles. We thought at first that we would be very early for the 4pm DVC check-in time. As it turned out, we arrived closer to 4:30p.m.
The Carriage House was actually quite busy with others also checking in so it seemed like we got the bum's rush from the Front Desk Cast Member. I had to ask her to point out which was our building on the resort map. Our room, 7114 in 'The Carousel' was ready for us.
After we settled in and washed up, we drove over to MGM as we had Priority Seating (or is it Reservations once again) for 50's Prime Time. I ended up purchasing the Annual Pass for a bit over $300 with the DVC discount. It ended up being more economical than the 7 day Park Hopper with park hopping and the no expiration options. Since we would be here 4 days and I hope to be back at least that over the next year, it seemed to make the most sense.
One notable difference at the entrance turnstiles- the multi-finger readers have been replaced by single finger biometric scanners. Seems to go a bit faster as there are guides at the top to help you position your finger. We walked up Hollywood Boulevard and through some of the shops. I started scoping out items for Karen who was stuck in the never-ending winter in the Northeast.
We made our way to the 50's Prime Time and had to wait only a few minutes for our table. We both had the Caesar Salad and Pot Roast. I was really hungry and so finished all of my dinner but was disappointed that they were no longer handing out clean plate club stickers. We both skipped desert but both were full.
We left 50's Prime Time and wandered past Indiana Jones and towards Star Tours. Seems the never-ending winter is here too as we were both a bit chilly (even in late March) with long pants and sweatshirts on.
After riding Star Tours (dad's first time) we made our way up Streets
of America and through the Honey I Shrunk The Kids Movie Set and towards Little Mermaid. This part of the park was empty and it was very nice just strolling around. It seemed that most had abandoned the park that night. Those that were brave and stayed were at Fantasmic. As we talked through, they had closed down 'Streets' as well as the area in front of Backstage Tour for what looked like a special event. I took pictures in front of the new Narnia display and we finally ended up on the Great Movie ride. For our ride though, it should have renamed the longest Movie Ride. The car we were in (only about 15 of us) kept breaking down. We were literally stuck in the gangster section for what seemed like 20 minutes. The Cast Member that came on board
was really trying to entertain us but failed miserably. After finally making it through, we ended up meeting the Fantasmic crowds that were getting out. We made our way back to Saratoga and back to our quiet 'vacation home'.
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