Empty nest trip by Barb - October 2001

Monday Oct. 1st......we did Disney Studios all day. Caught the first bus out of All Star Movies with no problem....

Started out at the "hat" and picked up our interactive buttons.

From there we saw the Indiana Jones show (it was closed last May when we were there, for rehab). This is one of our favorites.

Next stop was Muppets 3-D, another favorite. I also got a great photo with Kermit himself! We then watched the Hunchback show, I think this is one of the best shows in all of Disney. From there we went to Millionaire show, I thought it was ok and my husband thought it was a waste of touring time?? Also popped into the Walt Disney life show and it was really interesting.

We then did the Backlot tour, the new Pearl harbour preshow was a little better then what was there before, going through the backlot we saw them stringing up the lights and christmas stuff for the Osborne family display, tons of lights!! We love the Castastrophe canyon.

Lunch time so we head for the backlot resturant (next to Indiana Jones) we always eat here, you can have a burger and fries and make a simple salad with the fixings and get full on that. They have melted cheese for fries and that really is a good idea too.

From there we grabbed seats (actually standing) for the new parade. I love this parade, it is the best they have ever offered at MGM, with all the favorite movie characters included.

Next was the Great Movie ride, another favorite because I love Wizard of Oz and my husband is a John Wayne and Indiana Jones fan, so we both get our movie fixes. We never tire of this ride.

We then move to The Little Mermaid show, it never disappoints either.

From there we head over to Beauty and the Beast show which is also great.

Now it is time to hunt for a seat for Fantasmic show!!

We absoutley love this show!! I have never been to it that it hasn't bee completely full and then standing room. Before the show the audience gets a "wave" going and it never ends! It just goes on forever and ever.

Finally the big show and of course it was fantastic! We do exit a little early to catch the bus back to Movies with no wait.

We jumped in the car and ran to papa john's for a pizza....
We are beat already.....early morning tomorrow...

Mickey woke us this morning for early entry to Epcot! Caught the first bus and arrived around 8:00 am. After doing this we realized there was no need for early entry, not crowded at all. Besides there really is nothing open early that we couldn't do at the regular time.

Anyway we rode test track with no wait. We love this ride it is so much fun. Next we checked out Innovations and then did Energy ride with Ellen. Then moved on to the Shrunk the Audience, another favorite we always do.

We then caught the monorail to Magic Kingdom for our Keys to the Kingdom tour at 1:00. First stop was at city hall to get my Birthday button. The C.M. made me take an oath that I would wear my button all day and I told him I intended to wear it all week! We had some time to kill so we decided to grab something to eat before the tour, Casey's corner for fries. The C.M. saw my button and said Happy Birthday and gave me a brownie! This was just the beginning of my Birthday greetings for the week! Still had a little time so we took the train ride around the park, relaxing and entertaining.

Back to city hall for the tour. Our guide was Tatianna, she was from a south american country and had a slight accent. We introduced ourselves (only 9 total) and went walking. This is a very informative tour and we felt so special, everyone stared at us.A C.M. stopped me in front of the castle and said Goofy wanted to talk to me, but the tour guide said we didn't have time, I never did get my call from Goofy!! We finally went to the utilidors, it really isn't a tunnel at all, actually Magic Kingdom is built on top of it, (i'm sure most of you knew this). We then rode on Haunted mansion and then had lunch at Harbour House (it was ok) Then rode Pirates, again no wait. This ended our tour after 5 hours of walking, it was a lot of fun.

We then headed back to the monorail (got to ride in the front, that is so great!!) to Epcot and walked around World Showcase until Illuminations. What a great show!!

Thanks for the tips about the Birthday button and riding in front of monorail!!
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