Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Subways, Men on Fire and Games

On Thursday, June 4th, we met up with my best friend Mimi and her two boys. We headed out to Disney Hollywood Studios (formerly known as MGM Studios) or DHS for short.

I like some of this park, but most of it is just filler or non essential stuff for me. I have my favorite things to do in this park and then I'm done. I prefer Universal Studios for my movie based theme park, thankyouverymuch.

However, the attractions I DO like in DHS are amazing.

On the way to try to find something to do, we ran into a New York city street! Right in the middle of Florida! WTH?

LOML decided to take the subway to Toy Story Mania based on the theory that it would be faster than walking.





For the first time ever, we managed to catch Lights, Motors, Action.

Wow. I can not believe I've never seen this show before. I've caught glimpses of it when doing the Backlot Tour, but I've never actually seen the full show.

Here's a pic of one of the stunt men on fire.

I was so impressed with how long he stayed on fire before they put him out.

I was even more impressed when they showed us all the work that goes into this 30 second fire fest.





Here's two short vids of the stunts they do:








and




We had Fastpasses for Toy Story Mania which is a new show that they opened just this past year.



This is my new favorite ride at DHS. I love it! It's set up like a midway and you get to "shoot" balls and darts and other items at the screen and you rack up points based on how many targets you hit.



Here's a pic of the ceiling of the queue line.



The whole queue is decorated as board games and other childhood games. Chutes and Ladders, Candyland, Scrabble, crayones, Monkeys in a Barrel, etc....



It's visually stunning.






Here's the score from the first time I played. I rode with my mom and totally kicked her ass.



I'm player 2.





After we went and drew several times at the Animation Academy, we decided to leave the park for a while to rest. On the way out, we ran across this very, very famous (only in her head) actress.



The Streetmosphere characters are brilliant. They really get you involved in their scenarios. Lots and lots of character interaction at this park.





Later, we headed back to DHS and took a chance to ride Toy Story Mania again. This time, without a Fastpass. The line really wasn't that long. We got on pretty quickly.



Here's the kids playing while in the queue.




LOML and Mimi's two boys got along so beautifully. She really took to her oldest son (who's 11 going on 12). After that first day, they pretty much declared that they're going to ride every ride together. They talked and giggled and played. It was so awesome to watch.




Here's a vide of them playing while in the queue.





And here's the Mr. Potato Head interactive "character". He can "see" people out in the queue and will call out specifically to people. He'll say "Hey, you in the pink shirt with the green stripes" and people are always astonished to hear him speak directly to them. It's cool.



This next time, I rode with Mimi's oldest and managed to beat him. How I beat an 11 year old at an interactive game, I'll never know. I'll chalk it up to luck.



Again, I'm player 2. See how much better I did? LOL!






We finished off the night looking for some hidden Mickey's. We found one, but I don't think it's an official hidden Mickey since it can be found on several manhole covers throughout the park.



It's still neat, though.






Later,


Mama Dawg

12 really cool people who give a rat's patootie:

Jess

CHUTES AND LADDERS!!! OMG! I love that game!!! This trip was totally a blast...I am just enjoying reading about it! I WANNNAAAA GOOOOO WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

Keys to the Magic Travel

Oh, I just cannot wait for our trip. The toy story mania ride is new for us, too. And I think I have finally convinced my girls to do some things we've never done. Like that Lights Motor Action. Or the Indiana Jones stunt show. Or even the backlot tour...

All they usually want to do is ride Tower of Terro. Over. And over. Again...

unmitigated me

The Aerosmith Rockin' Roller coaster is my favorite EVAR!

Bobby G

I loved MGM back in the day, DHS sounds like an upgrade tho!

scargosun

You guys look like you are having so much fun!

Captain Dumbass

Next time you go can I come?

Swirl Girl

Great ride! I , or should I say , we did it at Disney California Adventure ! Total blast!!

Irish Gumbo

Streetmosphere? Did they really call it a Streetmosphere?

Another word I won't get to invent...

You guys had a lot of fun. And FIRE!!!

Pseudo

I can't beleive how much more there is in Florida than the LA Disneyland.

Twenty Four At Heart

How fun! Our summer just began last thursday when the kids got out of school. I can't wait to hit up a few amusement parks!

Momo Fali

I am way jealous. Way.

Sprite's Keeper

Pseudo linked you on her Travel Tip Thurs post and I had to see your virtual trip through Disney. Great post! I used to work at that park on the Great Movie Ride and Little Mermaid and loved it while I worked there. The manhole covers are definitely not Hidden Mickey's, but the island of landscaping in front of the Great Movie Ride is part of the park's largest Hidden Mickey which makes Mickey's nose. In fact, if you look at a map, you can make out his features. There are Hidden Mickey's all over the place!

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