Our Final Trip to Disney-MGM Studios- December '07 Pre-Trip

[meeko_33785]

Our Final Trip to Disney-MGM Studios​

Introduction


Hey everyone. Well, it's been almost a week since I finally finished my last trip report, so it's about time to start up the new one for our December trip. Before we go any farther, let's start by intorducing the family:




* Meeko (Me): A 20-something college guy and the author of this report. As you can guess, I enjoy theme parks, especially the ones at WDW. I like the rides and shows, but I enjoy getting pictures of the characters just as much. My family is pretty patient with all my quests for character photos and autographs in the park when we go to WDW all together. On top of theme parks, I also enjoy musicals and singing.


* Buzz: My brother and one of my best friends. He’s an artist and works primarily in photography. Buzz likes also cartoons, especially Disney and PIXAR ones (I think he had practically every cartoon with Mickey and/ or Goofy in it on DVD). Buzz is at least as big of a Disney fan as I am and enjoys both the big attractions as well as the little things that the parks have to offer.


* Mom: Mom’s smart and always passionate. She has a number of hobbies including cooking, sewing, and scrapbooking, and she loves to learn about history and cultures. She likes the rides and attractions well enough, but I’d say that the things she really enjoys about the parks are the entertainment- especially at World Showcase- and the dining.


* Dad: Dad’s kind of goofy sometimes, but he’s really cool in his own ways. Dad's into history too along with gardening and anything relating to The Nightmare Before Christmas. I think he enjoys relaxing the most about our trips nowadays. Dad can find an open bench faster than anyone else I know and can often be found sitting on them and taking everything in.




This December, the four of us will be returning for a quick visit back to WDW as we usually do around Christmastime. For this trip, we decided early on to make visiting Disney-MGM Studios the main priority. It’s been about a year and a half since any of us have been to the park (we all skipped when we went in August), and we haven’t been there at Christmastime since 2004! Plus since the park will be renamed Disney’s Hollywood Studios in January, this is the last chance to have one last trip to the park as Disney-MGM Studios (hence the name of the trip report). We’re also defiantly wanting to see all the Christmas events the park has including the Osborne Lights, Harlem Gospel Choir and the Christmas Parade.


Because the trip is centered on our day at Disney-MGM, we decided to stay at Pop Century this time around since it’s close to the park. We got a fantastic deal and were able to get two rooms at Pop for less than the price of one standard room at a moderate resort! Works for me! We’ll be staying one night at the resort and then hanging out there for the morning before we leave. We didn’t make any requests for what building we’d like to be in, but I’m kind of hoping for either the 50s or the 80s. We stayed in the 60s last time we were there, but I think it would be fun to try out a different decade.


Besides all that, we’re still working on the plan- and working on it long-distance between Buzz and I and Mom and Dad back at home. I’ll be sure to update as the trip comes together. We’ve got a month now to get everything ready. Hope you'll join me to see how it all comes together.

 

[meeko_33785]

Where To Eat?


The planning continues! Right now, we’re still working on figuring out where we should eat while we’re at MGM. As soon as the date for the trip was in place, I got a call from Mom asking if I had any ideas. I hadn't really thought about it. Dining is rarely one of my first priorities with planning, but the trip is coming up so quickly that we should probably get ADRs soon if we want any. I began to check the menus of a lot of the restaurants at MGM online to see if anything stuck out to me.



Checked the Sci-Fi first. I like the restaurant; the themeing is fun. The only thing is the menu had become way too ambitious. Nothing really looked worth it for the amount of money they were charging. I really miss the days where the menu was mostly burgers and they had pop corn at every table. That was fun.


Next, 50s Prime Time. It’s another theme restaurant and is usually ok. The menu looks alright to me, but not spectacular. Buzz is not interested in it though because he really doesn’t like the shtick with the waiters who hassle you pretending to be “Mom” “Uncle Charlie” or whatever.


We actually liked Hollywood and Vine when we ate there last time, but lunch is a character meal with the Little Einsteins and costs more than the dinner we had does! Nobody seems to be going for that.


I can live with the Brown Derby since I like the old Hollywood theme of the place, but nobody else is really into it. Mom and Dad have mentioned numerous times how they feel the restaurant is too pretentious for a theme park and have had bad experiences with the waiters before on multiple trips, so that’s on the “pass” list too.


That leaves with Mama Melrose’s. We all like it, so it looks like it’s going to be the front runner if we decide to go the whole ADR route. Otherwise, we may just get a quick meal somewhere.



We figure we’ll just eat a late dinner at Pop Century after we come back from the park so no ARD will be necessary for that. We’ll probably have breakfast there too unless by some strange twist of fate I can convince them to visit another resort before we leave and do character breakfast. We did 1900 Park Fare a few years back and everybody liked it, but nobody else has really seemed interested enough to try another. At this point, I'm not sure if any of the Character Breakfasts would still have ARDs available.


And that pretty much does it for dining. Supposedly, we’ll be finalizing the plans regarding ADRs by the end of the week. If anyone has any input, please feel free to reply. I definatly wouldn't mind getting some.

 

[meeko_33785]

Photos: Disney-MGM Studios 2006


Well, I haven’t posted any pics yet, but I thought that I’d pause from planning for a bit to post a few pics from the last time I was at MGM. Maybe that will make the report a bit more interesting/ pleasing to the eye. All these photos are from August 2006.

Hollywood Tower Hotel flags at the exit of Tower of Terror.

Chip, Dale and Clarice! It was so cool to see all three of them together. Never thought I'd see Clarice doing meet-and-greets.

I think the area around MuppetVision has the most amount of puns and sight gags of any area in WDW.

Cars was the newest Disney movie when I was there last. I think it's even more popular now that it was then!

Next time we see this, it will be covered in the Osbourne Lights.

The Witch's hat from The Wizard of Oz was on display at the AFI Showcase. (Is it still a villains exhibit?)

Lilo and Stitch in the Stars and Motor Cars Parade.

Last but not least, Mickey and friends in the parade's finale. Definatly looking forward to seeing the Christmas version of this.


I think that I’ll be posting more pics from past trips as we go along just to make thing a bit more interesting.

 

[meeko_33785]

ADR Update


Well, we all managed to decide on what ADRs to get for the trip. We all decided that out of all the offerings at MGM, Mama Melrose sounded the best, so we got an ADR for lunch there. We’re planning on having the rest of the trip’s meals at the food court at Pop Century. Now that dining is taken care of and we know when ADR is, it’s time to work out the rest of the day around it.


On a slightly off-topic note, I got to see “Enchanted” this weekend and thought it was fantastic. One of the most fun and enjoyable times I’ve spent at the movies in a while. Everything was great… the acting, the animation, the music, all the little Disney in-jokes peppered throughout the film. Definitely a must-see for all Disney fans. Apparently Giselle will be appearing in the pre- parade before the MGM Christmas parade this season, so that should be fun to see since she’s quite a character in the film. Too bad it doesn’t seem like there are any “Enchanted” characters doing meet-and-greets anywhere. Giselle and Prince Edward would be hilarious characters to interact with.


Well, that’s about it for now. I’ll post more updates and photos as we go.

 

[meeko_33785]

Characters


As the trip approaches, it’s time to start seeing what characters to keep an eye out for this trip , specifically characters I’ve yet to get photos of in the parks. I’ve been checking out websites that have listings of what characters are more commonly out and checking the DIS for info to see if there are any characters that are at least occasionally out at MGM that I don’t have a photo of and here’s the list I came up with based on the info I found:

• Remy and Emile: The stars of Ratatouille. I haven’t been to the Studios since the movie premiered so I haven’t gotten a chance to get a photo of either of them. Apparently, they’re still doing greets at the Animation building throughout the day. Finding these two is definitely my #1 character priority for the trip.
  
  
• Mike Wazowski: Not really a new character to the park, but he’s one I’ve always missed. Every time I’ve passed by or visited the Monsters Inc. location they have over by the Commissary, I’ve only seen Sully- no Mike. Hopefully this time, he won’t be MIA and I’ll be able to get his pic.
  
  
• Playhouse Disney Characters: There’s a ton of them now- Little Einsteins, JoJo and Goliath, Handy Manny! However, I’m definitely not in the age demographic to know who these characters are or find them particularly interesting. Normally, for the Playhouse Disney characters, I might see them if they have little to no line (this past summer for instance, I met Stanley at AK since there was no wait to see him), but otherwise, I pass on them. I don’t consider myself a character photo completist so if I don’t have every character’s photo or autograph, it’s definitely ok with me.
  
  
• Power Rangers: Pretty much the same deal with the Playhouse Disney characters. If the wait is short (which it never seems to be with these characters), I might get a picture, but otherwise, I’ll skip them.

In addition to the new characters, I’ve also heard that since I was at MGM last, they’ve added a new meet-and-greet after the Parade that sometimes includes some more hard-to-find characters, so I’d like to check that out to see who I can find. It’s usually at 4:15pm after the High School Musical Pep Rally ends. We were planning on seeing the 5pm Harlem Gospel Choir performance, so hopefully the meet-and-greet won’t interfere and I’ll be able to get a few character pics and still get good seats for the show.


I think that’s about it character-wise for now. Hopefully I’ll come back with some character photos for the report.

 

[disneygirlinnj]

sounds like a great trip so far!

 

[meeko_33785]

sounds like a great trip so far!

Thanks. Hopefully it will be a lot of fun. Thanks for replying.

 

[DisneyDadFaNaTic]

You have it down to a science!! Your plans look great as do the photos! Mike Wazowski is going to be a toughie! We have seen him twice by the Commissary, but we have taken 5 or 6 trips since the movie came out. We haven't been since Ratatouille came out, so I have no idea where they would be.

It sounds as if you have it well in hand! Good Luck!

 

[meeko_33785]

You have it down to a science!! Your plans look great as do the photos! Mike Wazowski is going to be a toughie! We have seen him twice by the Commissary, but we have taken 5 or 6 trips since the movie came out. We haven't been since Ratatouille came out, so I have no idea where they would be.

It sounds as if you have it well in hand! Good Luck!

Thanks. After 7 years of the DIS and many years beyond that of experience, it does sort of get down to a science. It actually makes it a lot easier.

Yeah, I feel the same way about Mike. He's going to be the more difficult of the bunch to find. Hopefully he'll be out this time and I won't miss him again, but who knows. He seems so elusive you just never know if he'll be out or not.

 

[meeko_33785]

Photos: Pop Century 2005


Thought I’d add a few pics of Pop Century to the pre-trip. These are from August 2005. The quality isn’t great since they were scanned and not digital, but hopefully you enjoy them.

 

[meeko_33785]

December is Here!


Welcome to December everybody! At last I can finally say that the trip is this month. It’s no single digit dance, but it’s still great to say. Just a few more weeks!


Not too much else to report for now. According to the entertainment schedule, the Harlem Gospel Choir started performing at MGM last night, so it’s only a matter of time before we find out how popular this is and whether we’ll need to get there incredibly early to get a seat (like at Candlelight Processional or Nemo) or if this is something we can get to 15 or 20 minutes beforehand and get a good seat. Once we know that, planning should be a bit easier. Until then, we’ll just have to wait and see.


Hopefully, I’ll get some more pics up in the next few days. I’ve scanned in some older photos of the park from the 1990s so I think I’ll make posting those my next priority once I get the time.

 

[meeko_33785]

Photos: Retro Disney-MGM Studios


Since this is our final trip to “Disney-MGM” Studios, I thought it might be fun to give a little history by posting some pictures of some photos from the past. All of these pics are from the 1990s. Hope you enjoy them.

Notice something missing from this picture? I'm starting to get more use to the big blue Hat , but I really do miss the view of the Chinese Theater from Hollywood Boulevard.

Residential Street from the Backlot Tour. Wish I had gotten a better pic than this. Who would have guessed they'd tear it all down? Don't remember which house this was.

One of my earliest memories of Disney-MGM Studios- The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Here they are doing their show while April O'Neil sings their theme song before heading out for meet-and-greets.

Star of the Day! I don't think they really do this anymore. Here's Mickey with actress Ann Miller (from Easter Parade and On The Town among others) on their way to the Theater of the Stars. Over the years, we'd also see CHiPs' Erik Estrada and a pre-American Idol Paula Abdul.

When MGM first opened, Who Framed Roger Rabbit was the biggest movie Disney had going. There were signs of him all over the park (only a few still remain), and he did meet-and-greets. I still consider him one of my rarest character photos and autographs.

Aladdin's Royal Caravan was the first full parade I think MGM had, and was the beginning of a string of parades based on newly-released Disney films. Here's Prince Ali and Jasmine riding Abu the elephant.

Toy Story Parade! Here's Woody from the final float. "You've got a friend in me!"

Herc and Meg in the Hercules Zero to Hero Victory Parade. Unfortunately you don't see too much of these two in the parks anymore.

Mushu from Mulan: The Parade. This one was undoubtedly Mom's favorite of the MGM Parades.

Who could forget the stage shows from the Backlot Theater? "The Spirit of Pocahontas" and "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" were both very well done, thought I think I preferred "Pocahontas" (maybe because I liked the film better).

Doug Live was another cool show. It had some nice original songs and some neat effects that put animated backgrounds behind the characters. It didn't last very long though, I think 2 years or maybe less.

 

[meeko_33785]

First Harlem Gospel Choir Reviews


Well, I saw that the DIS posted a review of the Harlem Gospel Choir on their main site. Unfortunately they didn’t seem to give it a very good review. I think the reviewer was expecting it to be a mass choir along the lines of Candlelight instead of a 7-piece choir. All in all, the show sounds a little similar to the shows that American Vybe use to put on a few summers back at the stage in American Adventure- nothing big or showy but good music and good singing. The good news is that based on the reviews, it sounds like it shouldn’t be hard to get seats. Practically everyone who has seen it so far has said that the theater didn’t fill up when they saw it (most likely because a majority of the park would be seeing either Fantasmic or the Osborne Lights while the shows are in progress). Despite the mixed reviews, I still think it will be fun. Still on our “to-do” list.

 

[meeko_33785]

Photos: Christmas at the Other Parks


Since the report has been pretty MGM heavy so far and since the majority of the report will likely be photos of that park, I thought that I might break things up with some photos of some of the other parks at Christmastime. Enjoy.




Magic Kingdom:

EPCOT:

Animal Kingdom:

 

[meeko_33785]

Oh No!


Well, this should prove to be an interesting visit to MGM in one more way. A couple of days ago, Buzz had a bit of an accident while cutting mats for a photo display. A bit of his thumb got in the way and the cutter ended up taking a slice off the side of his thumb. He ended up having to go the emergency room to get a bunch of procedures done to get it cleaned up, bandaged up and stop bleeding. After another appointment, he has been told to keep the thumb bandaged and elevated until his next appointment after Christmas. Therefore, it will have to be bandaged and elevated throughout our two days at Disney as well.


Buzz is really taking all of this amazingly well considering that it can’t be easy on him, especially since he can't really use one of his hands since he has to keep it elevanted above his chest. As far as Disney goes, his one request is skipping Tower of Terror and Rock ‘n Roller Coaster. Not sure if either of these rides could cause him any problems or aggravate his condition, but better safe than sorry. He says he’s still up for Star Tours though since it’s not as rough.


Anyway, hopefully Buzz will be alright and his thumb will heal well.

 

[meeko_33785]

Photos: Christmas at Busch Gardens


We’re in single digits everyone! It won’t be long now!



Buzz and I went over to Busch Gardens in Tampa over the weekend to see what was going on for Christmas. Thought I’d include some pics on the pre-trip to show what Christmas is like in another theme park.

When we got to the park, Buzz and I split up. Because of his thumb injury, he would be passing on all of the coasters today, so while I went on Montu (the inverted coaster they have for anyone not familiar with the park), he headed to the Edge of Africa trail. Montu had no line so I hopped right on. After the ride, I met up with Buzz at Edge of Africa and watched the animals there for a bit.

Next, we headed through the Crown Colony area (which was all decked out for the Holidays) and went to see the chimps and gorillas at Myombe reserve. Buzz wanted to check out the Field Station in Nairobi afterwards, but it turned out to be closed for refurbishment.

By this time, the Christmas shows were about to start. There were two new Christmas shows at the park this year. The first was Christmas From The Heart which featured a group of singers performing gospel Christmas songs. The show was actually really good.

The second new show this year was Christmas On Ice. I thought that this was another nice addition to the Christmas line-up at the park. The skaters were fantastic. I could hardly believe some of the stunts they did! The show seems to be really popular too. By 15 minutes before show time, the theater only had standing room left which I’ve never seen happen at Busch Gardens before.

After the show, we continued to walk around the park checking out the decorations and animal exhibits. Buzz and I split up again so he headed back to Myombe and Edge of Africa while I went on Gwazi, the park’s dueling wooden rollercoaster. Again, there was no wait.


Well, that’s just about it for the day. It was defiantly a lot of fun. The park seems to have really increased the amount of shows and decorations for Christmas this year. It was fun and hopefully a good warm-up for next week.

 

[meeko_33785]

Almost Ready!


Well, we’re almost ready! Our trip to Disney-MGM Studios is only a few short days away. Buzz and I are home for the Holidays with Mom and Dad and ready for a vacation. Pretty much everything is ready for us to get to Disney, but there’s still a few more things to do, mostly packing. Since we’re only staying one night on this trip though, I’m sure packing will go by fairly quickly.


Beside that and a few more odds and ends (charging batteries, printing out entertainment schedules, ect.) we’re all ready!

 

[disneygirlinnj]

yayyyy! cant wait to hear all about it!

 

[meeko_33785]

yayyyy! cant wait to hear all about it!

Great. Hope you enjoyed the pre-trip, and hopefully the full report will be even better.

 

[meeko_33785]

I'm back! We had a great time, but I'll be getting into that on the Trip Report. I've started it over on the Trip Reports board, so feel free to check it out. The first post is mostly a review of the Pre-Trip, but I'll be posting about the trips and plenty of pics soon.

Here's the link to the report: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1664968