One Big Effing Hat

Each of the four parks has an identifiable thing to call its own.  Epcot, as we discussed, has the giant golf ball.  Magic Kingdom, of course, has Cinderella's castle.  Animal Kingdom has the Tree of Life.  And Disney's Hollywood Studios has a big f*cking hat.

On Wednesday, we headed out to see that 122-foot-tall beast of a hat (that many of us lovingly refer to as the BFH), as well as the park itself.  The smallest and (in my opinion) least exciting of the parks, DHS (formerly known as MGM) was probably the shortest bus ride from our resort (even though Caribbean Beach Resort is in the Epcot Resorts area), and we were there before we knew it.

Since Bestie and her hubby are pretty big Star Wars nerds, we pretty much bee-lined it to Star Tours.  This ride was recently renovated and since none of us had been on it since it got a face lift, we were pretty curious to see the changes.  

Poor Hubby, alas, will never step foot on this ride again.  Star Tours is one of those rides in which you don't actually go anywhere, but you feel like you're flying around the galaxy, bumping into things on different planets and such.  The experience is enhanced by 3-D glasses and sometimes it's easy to forget you're just sitting in a room with a bunch of other folks.  Except that I was already concerned about Hubby after the Expedition Everest experience, so I glanced over at him only to find that within minutes, he was covered in sweat.  

I have to admit that of all the rides we encountered on our trip, Star Tours was the one that actually bothered my stomach a little, and if my stomach was doing flip-flops, I can only imagine how my hubs was feeling.  So, while Bestie and her hubby checked out the shop, Hubby and I went outside and got some fresh air.  We decided something nice and slow (or, not moving at all) would do us all some good after that.

From Star Tours, we headed off to my favorite DHS attraction: Muppet Vision 3D.  This is one of the only things I remember clearly from my first trip to Disney at age 9, and it's probably because I grew up in a very Muppet-oriented family.  We watched The Muppet Show, had all the Muppet movies, and I've probably seen every episode of Muppet Babies at least twice (and had the Muppet Babies keyboard so I could play the theme song!).  DHS is the only place in the parks you'll really get any Muppet love, and if it weren't for this attraction, I might skip DHS altogether.  

We stopped at the Muppets store after the movie and Hubby was nice enough to let me get a Muppets t-shirt and a book.  Yay!  What can I say?  I love me some Muppets!

Again, things get a little fuzzy, but from what I can remember (and what photos help me remember), the rest of the day went something like this:

• Lunch @ the Backlot Express (simple, but tasty).

• The Great Movie Ride (good, but one of the cast members who was part of this was a TERRIBLE actress, and we can only hope she was filling in for someone that day).

• Toy Story Mania! (Hubby opted out of this one, but Bestie, C and I had a blast).

• One Man's Dream (a museum-y exhibit and movie about Walt Disney and how it all came to be).

• Rockin' Rollercoaster (again, Hubby opted out, and Bestie was sort of guilted/bribed into going along).

• Beauty & The Beast (a short live performance created in the 90s when bright pink dresses and cone-style hair were apparently acceptable).

• Streets of America (not really an attraction so much as a place to wander around and chill a bit).

After all of that, it was time for dinner at the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theatre.  I wasn't sure what exactly to expect from this place, but it was a real trip!  Most of the booths/tables are set up as if you were in a convertible at the drive-in; they're made to look like cars and two of you sit in front and two in the back, all facing the screen where they're playing some terrible old sci-fi movies.  We, however, got a table that had a car front and rear end, but the middle was a normal table so none of us would have to turn around to talk to the others.  The food was surprisingly tasty AND I got an awesome drink with a glow cube in it (that I got to keep, thank you very much!).  This was the only place in all of Disney that I got carded, but it was totally worth it.

We had planned to go watch Fantasmic (fireworks DHS-style) after dinner, but as we headed in that direction, the announcement came on that the show was now standing room only.  Since it's a pretty long show, we decided it would be best for all of us if we skipped it and headed back to the resort to chill for a bit.  The four of us had a great time sitting around and talking for awhile before we headed to bed.  The next morning we had early reservations for breakfast, so a good night's sleep was definitely needed.