An Unexpected Journey - Chapter 7

[davealsop]

An Unexpected Journey –Chapter 7

Tuesday September 4th

We decided for an early start today as we thought there would be plenty to get through and keep us occupied in Hollywood Studios so got sorted and headed out in the jeep. It then suddenly dawned on me - today was our last park day and we are going home in just TWO days!

I felt like we had been robbed of a few days as, I’m not sure whether flying mid-week kinda skews your logic and timescales a bit making it feel like the time goes quicker than it does, but it really didn’t seem like we had been here almost a fortnight!

Anyways, we decided to try and make the most of the time we had left.

We got to Hollywood Studios for about 10.30am and headed straight for the Great Movie Ride. I remember this ride being there from the ‘MGM Studios’ days but I really like it. It doesn’t quite have the technological wow factor of other newer attractions but does have a real feel of movie nostalgia about it.

Checking the show timetables we then high-tailed it over to the Indiana Jones Stunt show. Again, a show I’ve seen a good few times before and a very grand spectacle of a show with big sets and stunts but nothing has really been added or changed since the first time I saw it when I was 17. Maybe time for a re-vamp or, dare I say it, even a replacement. And don’t think that’s not hard for me to say as I am a massive Indy fan…

After watching Indy save the day again we then checked out the updated Star Tours ride. I was a big Star Wars fan as a kid (maybe an understatement) and always enjoyed this ride so was looking forward to seeing what had changed. Queue was about 25 mins but we eventually boarded our spaceship and headed off to a galaxy far.. far… away.

Ride was very good (was it always in 3D or was that a new feature?) and Muppets 3D was next. That’s another show that has again been around for a long time but, for me, it still felt current and as good as other 3D shows out there. Funny how some attractions date and others don’t…

We just missed the early Lights Action Motors Stunt Show so quickly headed down for Toy Story Mania – our first ‘first’ of the day (as we ran out of time last visit) and it was a barrel of fun! Lunch stop was next and then it was off on to the Backlot Tour which was as enjoyable as it had always been but, again, maybe could do with dragging in to the 21st Century a little.

After taking in some liquid refreshments and watching some of the street entertainment we caught the late Lights Action Motor show which is always loud, chaotic but very impressive – they had even manages to squeeze in a cameo Lightning McQueen appearance – which was nice.

Now we had never done the Fantasmic show but had heard really good things about it so it was on our ‘firsts’ list. The time was about 5.30pm and we had done about all we wanted to do, and to be honest were quite tired so didn’t know what to do. After a bit of family discussion we decided to hang around and did what we could to pass the time. We headed in to the stadium pretty early and had about an hour to wait before the show started.

About 8pm some Disney cast members started the pre-show entertainment – which passed the time – and at 8.30pm it kicked off. It was all going well, the presentation was very impressive and we were glad we had stayed….

UNTIL….

About half way through the performance the heavens suddenly opened – and I’m not just talking a shower here it was full on torrential tropical storm type rain. They were taking no chances and announce the cancellation of the show very quickly. There was then a mass exodus of the park as some headed for shelter and some just decided to get home as quick as possible. We did the latter and arrived back at the jeep looking like drowned rats.

Good job we hadn’t been pulled over by the cops on the way back as I’m sure they would have been put off their doughnuts to see us all sitting in the jeep in our underwear…..

Bit of a shame as following a long 3 hour wait we never got to see the full Fantasmic spectacle – C’est la vie…

[davealsop]

Wednesday September 5th

Our last full day and all the parks were done so we got up early and got ourselves out on the sun deck… Well you want people to at least notice you have been on holiday when you get back don’t you?

Had a nice chill out, bit of a swim and did some reflecting on another fantastic holiday in our favourite place. After eating whatever scraps were left in the kitchen for lunch (which I think included hot dogs, crisps, choc ices and ice pops washed down with Dr Peppers we started to get our cases packed as we had to be out early the next morning.

Once packed, we got ourselves showered, checked how much money we had left and got ready to go out one last time. Destination was the Orlando Premium Outlet mall and mission was shopping…

When we arrived we shopped til we were about ready to drop and our bellies were rumbling. We wanted to have ourselves a nice last night slap up meal so headed back to the 192 and stopped off at Texas Roadhouse which we had passed many a time during the last fortnight and liked the look of.

It was busy but we got seated straight away. I loved the atmosphere of this place – it really looked ‘all American’. They had shelled peanuts in a bucket on the tables, drinkers sitting round the bar on stools watching football and played country and western music.

We ordered big, and it came big! Waaaaaay to big. We managed the steaks but it was criminal the food we left – couldn’t even accept having it boxed up as we had filled ourselves to the point of bursting. The steaks were decent – but not as good as Longhorns but again, I can’t re-iterate how great the atmosphere was. A fitting end to a great vacation!

When we got back to the villa I cracked open the last of the beers and watched the rest of the NFL Cowboys vs Giants season opener – a moment I would love to capture and replay over and over again. We stayed up as long as we could to make the most of that last night and eventually went to bed…

[Dads_Taxi]

It sounds like an excellent holiday Dave. Great reports, with some great photos, must be a good camera you're using.
I'm sorry to read that you missed out on Fantasmic. You don't want to hear this, but it IS a fantastic show. There's always next time!

Cheers.

[woldm1]

Thanks for all the great reports. Glad you enjoyed your holiday. Due to be there on Saturday. Had a look at the weather reports and it doesn't sound too good as there is heavy rain predicted for all next week. Need to start thinking of what to do in wet weather. We have Discovery Cove booked for next Tuesday, not going to be so good if its torrential rain?

[Jill]

Have enjoyed reading your reports and glad that you enjoyed your holiday. We have also been evacuated from the parks in the past and always use it as an excuse to say it is one reason for going back so we can go back and finish what we missed.

Will have to try the Texas Roadhouse on our next trip as Stuart is a great peanut fan - he goes to 5 Guys for the nuts the rest of us go for the burger.

[kitch50]

Your trip reports have been great Dave, it sounds like you had a fantastic time... time to start saving for next time ???

[LiesaAnna]

Thanks Dave for taking the trouble to write trip reports for us... help keep us sane until we get back to our favourite place, have enjoyed all of your reports, thanks again xxx

[Ian Mcc]

U just canny beat an ice cold beer sitting by your own private pool at a villa after a hard day at the theme parks