Although, before we did that, we saw the Beauty and the Beast show. This is a great live action musical that takes most of the best parts from the film and condenses it into 26 minutes. Impressive, but not impossible. Well done, considering most of the cast were hidden in giant costumes.
After being reminded that beauty is found within, Joanna and I headed to one of the other things that we were looking forward to here at Hollywood Studios – The American Idol Experience. Now, neither one of us was crazy enough to audition because it becomes an entire day’s worth of singing and waiting and singing and waiting and singing and waiting and never getting a chance to actually visit the park, which was the whole reason you had gone there in the first place.
Well, we walked into the theater and had a sudden sense of déjà vu. Some of you remember that Joanna and I saw the American Idol performance show earlier this year on a night when they were performing standards. That was a very cool experience and this was very similar to that evening. The stage and set looked quite familiar and even the “warm up guy” was funny and got the crowd into the performers for that time slot.
It even worked like the show with an intro by Ryan Secrest and a host and judges that seemed to mimic their onscreen counterparts. The judge with the perceived accent felt like he could be cruel ala Simon Cowell and did a good job at it, earning boos from the crowd each time. Joanna and I picked different people, but my pick managed to beat her’s out, though I wasn’t impressed with any of our choices (faint boo in the background).
No longer Idol’ing, Joanna and I headed to the Studio Backlot Tour. It started with a special effects show and then came the tour, although the tour seemed a little boring and mundane – though the immense heat at the time could have given us that reaction. Finishing the tour, we headed to someplace else that had air conditioning – the Hollywood Tower of Terror. The outside is slightly different, but once you enter, it is fairly the same ride. That is, until you actually get in the elevator car. There is a section that is completely different in the way it takes you from level to level. Until you drop. Amazing and fun. And yes, it is a ride that I enjoy despite the fact that it is something that drops you several stories down.
From the Tower of Terror, we went back to the Rock and Roller Coaster for another thrill ride. And it was a thrill just like before.
By now we had decided that it was time for Toy Story Mania. It’s funny, though, because this ride is at California Adventure and we can never get on it. It just goes to show that you need to travel to Florida in order to ride the good rides. And it is a fun ride. If you are in California, I suggest getting in line now for a chance of riding it before Thanksgiving.
After Toy Story, we wandered into the Prince Caspian attraction where we learned about the making of The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian movie that came out last year. It was very interesting special effects, but there was not much more than a quick video about the effects. We also visited a large hall with the show, “Walt Disney, One Man, One Dream”. It was very interesting about who Walt was and how he came to have all of these creative ideas in his head.
From there, we went to “The Voyage of the Little Mermaid”, which is similar to the movie, but done with a mix of puppetry and live action. And water. Lots of water. And bubbles. And fog. And water. And a small laser show. And water.
With the clouds moving in and lightning off in the distance, Joanna and I didn’t want to get drenched, so we headed out. Mind you, it was not a short day in the least and we managed to fit almost everything from the park into this one day. We’ll be returning tomorrow to finish off the rest and for dinner at the Prime Time Café. More on that tomorrow. For now, it’s bed time.
18,195 steps = 9.7 miles
A little less today, but there was more sitting and standing here than walking. Good night.
2 comments:
Thanks for the updates! Sounds like you're having a blast! I love that you guys are tracking your steps/mileage. That is really neat. And, Chris, I'm very proud of you for going on Aerosmith's Rock and Roller Coaster TWICE! Good job talking him into it, Jo. =) Looking forward to reading more. Love you guys.
WOW, Baby Brother... a Roller Coaster?? Since the carousel I took Ethan on yesterday made me a bit dizzy, I think I may have to hold off on that. I am so glad you are having fun. I am a bit jealous. Enjoy yourselves!
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