Forever Magical
Page 7 of 7

Day Thirteen
We finally ordered breakfast in the room. The room service server was very friendly. We talked about how long we’d been gone and how after two weeks we were looking forward to going home. He replied that in just two days we would once again be ready to return to WDW for another vacation. We hopped aboard a boat to MGM. It launched from the Boardwalk, traveled along the Swan and Dolphin and then over to MGM. It is a short little ride and a pleasant change. One of my favorite things at WDW is the ability to arrive at the theme parks by various modes of transportation such as ferry, boat, monorail, car and bus.

The Bear in the Big Blue House

Once inside MGM we visited the Bear in the Big Blue House. I’m a big fan of bear and it is great to see how much all the little ones love him, too. The show included many of the other characters from the Disney Channel show so everyone’s favorite seemed to appear at some point including my personal favorite, Luna. The show is setup in a large set building and everyone sits on the floor. At various times in the show everyone is invited to get and dance or sing. I noticed very few parents got up but lots of kids were dancing along with Bear. After we sang goodbye to Bear we were off to get a Little Mermaid FastPass. The return time gave us a big enough window to visit Sounds Dangerous. I’m not really sure what I think of it. I miss watching audience members try to add foley effects. In the previous show audience members would be assigned various sound effects and were asked to provide them at the correct time. Many times they were off just a little or completely missed their cue. It illustrated how important sounds are to the reality of TV. In the current show we entered the theater to see the production of a new undercover show. After putting on the headset as instructed the presentation begins. The headphones provide great surround sound. The show begins with Drew Carey as an undercover security guard unfortunately through his bumbling the video feed stops and we are left in total darkness with only the sounds from the headphones. Most of the remainder of the show occurs in complete darkness so it is just your imagination and the sounds at work. I found parts of it to be unnerving. I kept waiting for a Honey Shrunk the Audience effect for example some crawling over my leg but nothing creepy like that happened. As I sat in the darkness and listened to the sounds I felt transported back to the days of radio drama. I thought of families sitting around the radio waiting to hear what would happen next to the Lone Ranger or the Shadow. Overall it is an interesting experience but I didn’t find it as enlightening as the old show. The foley items in the post show area however are lots of fun and give everyone a chance to add special effects to film. I added bizarre sounds to a scene from Star Tours.

We ended our day with the Little Mermaid attraction and the Indiana Jones stunt show. After boat ride back to the hotel we hopped into the car and drove over to the Grand Floridian for dinner. We visited 1900 Park Fair to experience their Villains Dinner. We arrived as the buffet opened. There were very few families inside. The buffet was beautiful. Emilio, who was cutting the prime rib, was very helpful. As I was putting together my salad he suggested I hold off on adding the dressing and offered me a sample of one of them. I loved it! It was a tangy dressing with an artichoke taste. I can’t remember what he called it. Each time I would come to the buffet table we’d chat a little more. It was great. They had cheese and crackers, salad fixings, pasta with marinara, herb cheese ravioli, various seafood items, and chilled strawberry soup. I know strawberry soup sounds kind of odd so I had to try it. Simply think melted strawberry ice cream but chilled. I enjoyed it.

  

The villains arrived shortly after I’d filled my first plate. Governor Ratcliffe, Captain Hook, Prince John, and the Queen of Hearts appeared. Captain Hook was looking very handsome in his long red jacket and with his hook shimmering in the lights. We had a chance to "chat" with him. He took the opportunity to announce that he was number one; the best villain and the rest of the gang should just go home. He explained that Ratcliffe was too fat. Just then Ratcliffe appeared at our table. He didn’t appreciate Hook’s not so kinds words and invited him outside. Ratcliffe walked out through the door first and Hook simply shut it leaving the Governor outside. Hook laughed in delight. When Ratcliffe finally made his way back inside (o.k. so he simply opened the door but the other sounds so much better) he challenged Hook to a thumb wrestling match which Hook declined. I completely understand. He only has one good hand so he can’t jeopardize it with a game of thumb wrestling. Hook continued to delight us with his villainous antics throughout the meal. Ratcliffe and the Queen did a bit of dancing in the hall. Some families were unable to stay at the buffet as the villainous characters were too scary for their little ones. One of the gentleman working at the buffet told me that used to invite the old hag from Snow White but too many children were diving under the tables for safety.

Hook visited our table a few more times pulling down my hat each time. When the bill arrived he gave it to the table next to us, a family with several children. The father replied yeah, sure I’ll trade you as it was just me and Doobie on our bill I know he was getting the better deal. So we smiled graciously and retrieved our bill. The Villains buffet at the Grand Floridian was one of my favorite times during our trip to Walt Disney World because of the tremendous Villains and the very friendly cast members and the food was delicious. Then we hopped on the monorail and journeyed to the Contemporary to enjoy the wonderful evening view of the theme parks from its 14th floor.

Day Fourteen
Amazingly our trip to Walt Disney World was coming to an end. We visited Olivia’s one more time for lunch. We normally visit the Brown Derby and chat with their very friendly and wonderful piano player Jeff but the food at Olivia’s was so tasty we had to return. We drove back over to the Contemporary Resort to take some photos of the daytime view from the 14th floor. Then it was over to Downtown Disney for more picture taking and souvenir shopping. And our final stop was DisneyQuest, where I once again beat Doobie at head to head basketball.

The view from the top of the Contemporary

Our amazing two week adventure at Walt Disney World was finally at an end. We didn’t see everything but we explored many areas of the World that we hadn’t on any previous trips. We met many wonderful cast members, a few LaughingPlace readers and a couple of really great Disney webmasters. All in all it was a fabulous trip to Florida. The high humidity stayed away our entire trip and rain never dampened any of our plans. I’m looking forward to our return trip because as the bumper sticker that I bought says: Walt Disney World, been there, done that, GOING BACK!.

-- Rebekah Moseley

-- Posted October 26, 2000
-- Pictures by Jonathan Kaplan, Rebekah Moseley and Doobie Moseley