Subzero MGM adventure - '04 WDW Vacation

Chapter 7.1
12/15/04

Just to recap –

We’re at The Studios and…

IT’S COLD!!!

…and Deanster, Dr. D and I have decided to tough out the night time temps.

As the sun was setting we thought we might shop a bit.

We have a great time at Tatooine Traders. Dr. D eyes the Sith Baseball Jersey with VADER across the back. Long ago in a galaxy far, far away, his nickname at the University was Dr. Death. He has since mellowed – A LOT, but nevertheless, I think it would be terribly funny for him to get it. He starts looking for his size and then notices the price tag - $175. Once I pick him up off the floor and assure him that we can probably find in on Ebay, he feels a little better.

This is the same face he made when he saw the price tag

We still have some time to kill, so I take point position and start toward Hollywood Blvd. Fists jammed into pockets, scarf in a noose around my neck, head down and walking fast.

Dr. D says that I have a super hero attribute of being able to dematerialize at will. He relies on his cell phone at malls, Super Targets and Lowes to locate me on the radar when I do this. I was never aware of my superpower, so obviously I’m not very good at controlling it. It annoys the heck out of him when I disappear.

On a side note, it annoys the heck out of me when he gets LOST!

Well, plummeting temperatures seems to make me even more transparent. I swore that one minute I glanced over my shoulder and he and Dean were 5 feet behind me – and the next I looked, they were gone.

Great – now my plan of ducking into an interesting shop to thaw is now out of the question because then they REALLY couldn’t see me. Dr. D doesn’t have his magic cell phone and Deanster’s roams at about $172 a minute. (We had been warned to use it ONLY in an EMERGENCY! i.e. blood loss, hospitalization or Prince Eric sighting).

So I stand on the sidewalk and wait….

and cough….

and blow my nose…

(feel sorry for me yet? Yeah, nobody else did either.)

They finally show up and Dr. D has made a believer out of Deanster as to the validity of my powers.

I deliver an edict – we HAVE to stay together. I don’t want to wander around in the cold AND the dark looking for them. They vow to stay close and then look at each other and giggle.

Great.

They browse, I defrost and all is right with the world.

Deanster in front of her next camera acquisition

We decide we should do The Osborne Family lights as soon as it was turned on. Even though it had been a light attendance day, we could tell more people were arriving in order to see it and Fantasmic.

Well, let me just tell you about the pride that swelled in the heart of this native Arkansan. Deanster and I were both born in Little Rock and there is nothing like a little Hillbilly excess.

Banjo music please

Dr. D is totally impressed. He believes outdoor Christmas lights and frippery to be an art form unto itself. His ultimate dream is to have a manger scene on the front yard with a motion detector that would activate a pop-up baby Jesus that waves at the passing cars.


That’s just the kinda guy he is.

This is the first and only time that we encounter any kind of crowd. It’s packed. We hug the right hand curb to stay out of the milling throng. Deanster weaves in and out, but does a good job of keeping up with us. (She’s afraid I’ll call her cell phone.) It snows - or rather foams.

You know, it just doesn’t have the same WOW impact in weather that is already conducive to that type of precipitation. On second thought, at what temperature does it foam?

Having had our Griswold Christmas experience fulfilled, we trek back. Deanster has become captivated by Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. She took, hmm… maybe, I dunno, A ZILLION pictures of it throughout the day.

One of my favorites

We are excited about seeing Fantasmic after all the hype and publicity. On the way, it’s time for some warm beverages and a little nosh for me. We grab some coffee, hot chocolate and a kid’s meal at one of the counter service areas on Sunset. It hits the spot – Mac and Cheese, coleslaw, grapes and juice for $3.00. Just right for my very non-discerning and cheap palate. Dr. D just shakes his head.

We do our best cattle impersonation and follow the herd to the theatre. I really didn’t quite know what to expect, but I must say it was worth the cold. Very inventive and imaginative. Can’t you just hear the imagineer that first came up with the idea pitching it to his boss?

“OK – first you build a lagoon that’s big enough for party barges and a steamboat to travel on…then you need, like, a mountain that’s at least 5 stories tall, and then, ok, maybe we can edit all the major Disney movies and project them onto the mountain, nooooo – wait a minute… we spray WATER and show them on that…”




Dr. D got all analytical and started discussing the acting styles and the historical significance of performing in an amphitheatre.

I got all schmoopsie when Snow White showed up and they played “Someday my Prince Will Come.”

We’ve been married almost 18 years. Go figure.

Me and my prince

We now do what we have named the exit shuffle – walk until our teeth chatter, duck into a shop, thaw. Walk until I can’t feel my feet, duck into a shop, thaw. This southern girl just doesn’t handle cold well at all.

The best thing is that the Villains are well represented at MGM. I especially enjoy…




This is by far our favorite park. Dr. D is all about the attention to detail at Disney in general, but especially here.


We are glad that we toughed it out. Fantasmic was great and the park was just beautiful lit up with all the decorations at night. Dr. D and I are looking forward to returning on Friday for our lunch at the Brown Derby with an Imagineer.

On the way back to Coronado Springs, I start thinking about tomorrow. It’s my big day to do the Dolphin Encounter at the Living Seas in Epcot.

Better take a double dose of Robitussin so I can sleep...