Day Four: Disney-MGM Studios (Porkchop)

This morning, all of the excitement of our Disney vacation hit us like a ton of bricks. When the wake-up call jolted me out of bed at 6:45am, it felt more like a dreaded workday than a fun vacation day. If I were at home I would’ve hit the snooze button. Instead, I just set the alarm for 8:45 and went back to sleep.

I don’t know what it was about today. Maybe those three early mornings and late nights at the parks finally caught up with us. Or maybe it was the sinus congestion (me) and sinus drainage (Carrie) that is sapping our strength. Or maybe… just maybe… it was the fact that we were headed to Disney-MGM Studios today. Maybe I was just trying to avoid going on Tower of Terror just a little bit longer.

Yes… the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. The first few times I was at MGM after it opened, the rest of my family was uninterested and I was able to avoid the ride without really thinking about it. The last time I went, I was able to use the excuse of keeping an eye on my niece while my brother and his wife rode. But this trip, I knew it was finally time to face my fear of falling and get on ToT.

I am definitely not the biggest fan of falling rides. I don’t know if something traumatic happened when I was a baby or something. Maybe my Dad dropped me at some point. Normally, I avoid bigger coasters with sizable drops. I scream like a little girl during the little drops in Space Mountain and I get shaky-nervous before Splash Mountain. But Tower of Terror is a different beast. The whole point of the ride is that it drops you.

I’m not sure what convinced me that I finally needed to go on Tower of Terror but when we got to the park today, that was the first thing I headed for.

After sleeping in and eating breakfast, we rolled into the park around 11:00 this morning. The crowds were starting to get heavier and we decided to get a Fast Pass for Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster before tackling the 30 minute standby wait at Tower of Terror.

When we finally snaked into the building I had watched several dozen groups go up and scream their way down the elevator shaft. My heart was beating fast, but I wasn’t as sickly nervous as I thought I’d be. I think it helped that I watched a few versions of the ride on YouTube. It helped me a bit to know what was going to happen and at what point the big drop would take place. Here's a picture of me while I was waiting in line for the ride:



I was surprised how quickly the cue for the drop came. I clutched the handles and closed my eyes and off we went. Up and down several times before we finally rested at the bottom and the elevator door opened. It all happened so quickly that I barely had time to feel bad during the drops. Honestly, they didn’t seem that bad. Dare I say that it was almost…. fun?

Here's a picture of the triumphant Porkchop after ToT:



Carrie was a little disappointed with the tame nature of our drop sequence, but I thought it was perfect for my first ride. When we got to the gift shop, I finally got to buy myself a Tower of Terror pin as a reward for my accomplishment. It’s a pin of the elevator with little doors that slide open and Stitch dressed as a bellhop inside.

At some point we stopped in at the ABC Comissary and shared the Curry Chicken bowl and some fruit.



In addition to food, they also had some stuff from LOST on display there:




Because of our late arrival at the parks, we were pretty much screwed for the rest of the day in terms of lines and waits. We tried to stick to the UG itinerary, but there were many things that we either didn’t care to do or didn’t have time to do. Neither of us had seen the Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show, so we made that a priority.



We also took Carrie’s favorite Backlot Tour and rode on the Great Movie Ride. After ToT, we used our Fast Passes on Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster. We were in the very last seats in the limo and it was a rough ride! Both of our heads hurt afterward and I think it detracted a bit from the excitement of Carrie’s first RnRC ride.

The sun was blazing today with no clouds in sight and we got fairly hot and uncomfortable in the shadeless streets of the Studios. We were desperate for some sort of frozen drink and wandered around until we found a frozen lemonade stand. With our drinks in hand, we hurried back to The Muppet 3D Show which let out just in time for our 5:40 ADR at Mama Melrose’s.

The dinner at Mama Melrose’s was quick and tasty, but I was so worried about getting an upset stomach that I wasn’t able to enjoy my meal as much as I would have liked. I had the bruschetta for an appetizer, the chicken flatbread for dinner, and the spumoni for dessert. By the time dinner was over, we were able to check out a few shops before getting our seats for the 8:30 Fantasmic show.

We had used the Fantasmic Dining package for dinner and got a voucher to get reserved seats at the first show of the evening. While the seats were on the far right side of the theater, I thought they were pretty good. We were about six rows back and had a good view of the characters as they came by on their boats.





The only bad thing about the show was the swarms of gnats circulating through the crowd. It wasn't pleasant.



They were having Extra Magic Hours at MGM tonight, but we opted to leave after Fantasmic ended. Tomorrow morning we have our Keys to the Kingdom tour and we don’t have the option of sleeping in late! I’m excited for the tour and for the possibility of going to Typhoon Lagoon in the afternoon.