Anita Talk

AllEars Team Member Anita Answer files this report:
Just back from a quick Mothers' Day weekend trip to the World, and wanted to share a couple of things:

New Fastpasses: Saw them at the Safari and Everest. They're about 1/3 bigger, on heavier stock. The issue date is BIG now, so no cheating! The new FPs also reference the pass you used to get them, and have a ref number printed at the bottom as well as bar code on the sides. I think this foreshadows some other changes coming to the FP system in the near future, but I'm not really sure yet what they may be.

New Show at the Safari: First ride on the Safari on Sunday morning was the old show (Miss Jobson, Wilson, Big Red, Little Red, Shifty- eyed Crocodiles, etc.) I asked an area coordinator when the new show was starting as I thought it already had. He said there are 3 shows right now as they phase the new one in: The old one, the new one with a recorded spiel, and one where the driver does the whole thing. He asked if we wanted to check out the new show (Uh, let me think...YEAH!) and he back-doored us back onto the ride and made sure we got a truck with the new show. By the way, the trucks now have 2 extra rows on the back and a canvas roof. Anyway, back to the new show. Miss Jobson has been made redundant, Wilson has had a voice transplant and now sounds like Mr. Bean imitating Wilson. I was on the floor of the truck I was laughing so hard. It's unintentionally hilarious. What can I say? I'm easily amused.

In the new show, the driver handles most of the spiel now, and the poacher/dead elephant story has been relegated to the back page, with more emphasis on the animals now. Bottom line, the old show was silly and probabably needed some work. The new show is just...blah. The animals are spectacular as usual. Several times during the ride, we were eye to eye with rhinos, giraffes, and ostriches.

Saw the new Monsters, Inc. show. It was not an E Ticket, but not as bad as I had been led to believe. I thought it was cute. The audience interaction was very funny and entertaining.

Saw the new Three Caballeros ride at Mexico. Also cute and well done, but the boat goes too fast for you to catch on to what's going on in the story. You may have to ride it a few times to figure it out.

New queueing in Rock 'n' Roller. The queue is completely different from the entrance to the load zone now. There are three lines: Stand- by, Fastpass and Single Rider. The pre-show area has been rebuilt. The upper tier is now much smaller and for Fastpass guests. The lower tier is larger, and for Stand-By guests.

I rode Everest 12 times on Sunday. This is not my personal best, however, which is 29 times in one day during the first day of previews.

Saw the Nemo show again, and they've changed Crush's human's costume. I liked the old one better (dreds, board shorts, sandals). Now he wears one of those body suits the other puppeteers wear, and it's kind of a washed-out mottled khaki. Now it looks like there's another turtle riding on Crush's back. I thought it looked odd. Bring back the original costume, please?

Went to have lunch with friends yesterday (May 15) at the Yacht Club Galley and found it closed and under rehab! The hostess told me they had only found out at 2:30 on Friday they were closing. They'll re-open on May 23. Meanwhile, lunch is being served at the Yachtsman Steakhouse. The menu is the same. Lots of changes happening to the World's restaurants these days!

Stayed at Shades of Green for the first time and it was pretty much a bust. Although the resort is absolutely gorgeous and the rooms are huge, pretty and spotless, the restaurants were awful, and the guest service was worse. I started my stay on Saturday at lunch in Evergreens where I had an entire glass of iced coffee dumped on me by the server. Did she apologize? No. Did she offer to get me a towel to clean up? No. She didn't offer a free drink to replace the one I was now wearing, and in fact I had to ask for a replacement drink four times from two servers before I got it. Some of my clothing was ruined and my capris were soaked through to my skivvies.We didn't have a room yet, so it made for an uncomfortably damp coffee-scented afternoon. It did not set a good tone for our stay.

Although SoG is located right next to the Poly, it's impossible to get anywhere easily without a car. It's also impossible to park at the TTC and try to get back to SoG without going about 20 miles (slight exaggeration...) out of your way unless you know the Super Secret exit that will not put you on World Drive going south. I knew it was there, but could not find it at 1:00 am Sunday morning in the dark. After three loops around the parking lot, I gave up and went all the way down World Drive and turned around and came back. Frustrating, since you can see the
resort, but you can't get to it! By the way, it costs $5 a day to park at SoG, and your park parking is not covered. Parking is also in a garage, and the rows are so narrow you can't back out without doing a five-point turn.

Yesterday, they left our bill on our door. We opened it and noted that they had charged the wrong rate. We also noted that there was a room service charge we did not make. Then we noted we had been given the next room's bill! So...downstairs my friend goes, which was ok since she had to pick up a package we had delivered from Epcot. The front desk was less than helpful and had to be begged for a new printed copy of the bill. The desk clerk seemed unconcerned about privacy and identity security issues (at a military hotel!? ) and told her not to worry about who might have her bill. The the clerk then rolled her eyes at my friend as if it was all her fault!

Now it was time to get the package...which they had lost. Nowhere to be found. They said if they found it they would call and she could come get it! Uh, no! Shouldn't they mail it at their expense since they lost it? They finally found it and called, shortly before we were due to leave for the airport. "It was sent over to Saratoga Springs. You can pick it up there." Why did they send it to SSR? Needless to say, we both agreed that no matter how inexpensive it was to stay there or how lovely the resort was, we would never ever- did I mention NEVER?- ever stay there again. DND (Definitely Not Disney). It remains to be seen if the package ever makes it home.

The Flower and Garden Festival has certainly been pared down this year! The grounds are stunning this year, but the "Festival" part is lacking. The Odyssey Festival Center contained a demo area, a display of arrangements and about 3 vendors. We kept asking if we were missing the rest somehow, but were assured this was pretty much all there was. Outside, there were some kiosks along World Showcase Plaza, and that was about it. They extended the show, and then got rid of 1/3 of it? That didn't make sense to me, but I'm not in charge of Epcot Special Events either.

Yak & Yeti - Second floor is taking shape, but still no roof. I don't think they're going to make that July 2007 deadline for opening. Had a "Farewell To Tusker House" breakfast on Sunday. Goodbye, old friend...

The Magic Kingdom Noodle Station is open 5pm to 9 pm daily. El Pirata in the Magic Kingdom has been open for lunch.

Apparently, the exhorbitant shipping costs did not go over well with guests and shipping costs are back to normal again. I didn't experience this personally, and I'm just repeating what my friend told me she learned when she bought something at Downtown Disney and had it shipped home. YMMV.

Saw the Animal Kingdom Lodge models and chatted with the sales people. I loved the layout, and especially the master bathroom in the new bigger 1 br. (there are two full bathrooms and the unit sleeps 5!) I did not like the general decor, however. Animal prints and dark woods are not to my taste. By the way, the dining table only seats 4, but the unit sleeps 5. Guess someone didn't think that one through?

Saw Davy Jones on Sunday! We were so close to the stage we could almost touch him. Woohoo! For a 61 year old man, he sure looks good! He can also sing and dance just as well as he could when he was 21. Amazing. Can you believe the Monkees TV show is 40 years old? Special guest was his sister Hazel, sitting two rows behind me. He sang a Swing song for her, and a young couple began swing dancing near the back. He called them up on stage, but they didn't hear him as they were concentrating on their dancing. He walked all the way out into the audience and brought them onstage, then brought his sister out of the audience to dance with him. It was a really nice moment, and nice way to end my Epcot visit.

Now it's back to reality until my next trip.

Anita
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Those of you who read my column regularly may have noticed that I do not care much for the Magic Your Way Dining Plan and believe that it will soon be the downfall of civilization as we know it. Well, OK, maybe it's not quite that bad, but it certainly has caused dining at Disney's table service restaurants to become difficult at best and a completely unpleasant experience at worst. Reservations are hard to get and walk-ups are virtually impossible these days. Tables are packed in too close for comfort. Service has declined in some eateries to the point where it's almost non-existent, and worst of all, food quality and selection has dropped to college cafeteria levels. I've found myself going off-campus more and more lately just to avoid the hassle.

With all that known, you would probably be surprised to hear that I used the Dining Plan once again on my last trip in mid-September, and actually had some good experiences. I had an opportunity to try out the free dining program that is offered during the very slow times of year (making them not so slow anymore!) so who was I to turn it down? Free food? I'm there!

We were staying for three nights and four days, so my friend Flo and I decided we wanted to dine at one old favorite table service restaurant (50's Primetime Cafe) and one new-to-us Signature restaurant (Artist Point at the Wilderness Lodge) to use up each of our three allotted TS credits. (Signature restaurants and some dinner shows require two TS credits for those of you who have never used the Dining Plan.)

About two months before our arrival, Flo called Disney Dining and made our Advance Dining Reservations. Once again, I realize I sound like a broken CD, but I really dislike having to decide what I want to eat months before I eat it. I like spontaneity in my trips, and the dining plan rips that right out of my touring plans. But free food is free food, and besides, it was all in the name of research, right?

We arrived for our ADR for 50's Primetime about 15 minutes early. Actually, we arrived twice--The first time we were an entire hour early because someone writing this blog got her times confused, but hey, better to arrive really really early than late, correct? So, anyway, the second time when we arrived at the correct time, we had to wait in the very very crowded lobby, but only for about 20 minutes. After we were seated, I was surprised to see several empty tables when the lobby was so crowded and the hostess was turning walk-ups away. It's my understanding that many WDW eateries are quite understaffed at the moment, so that explains the empty tables...I think.

We had a friendly and efficient server named Carole. She took good care of us, answered all of our menu questions, and didn't hesitate to ask the kitchen about a sugar free milkshake for me. Our tea and water glasses were kept filled, our food was served promptly and dishes were quickly removed when we were finished.You can't ask for more that that.

Flo ordered an adult beverage from the bar, "Grandma's Picnic Punch" made with peach schnapps. I was driving, so I shared a sip or two (or three...) of her drink. Yum yum yummy! Tasty and refreshing! Next time, I'm ordering that and somebody else can do the driving. It came with a glow cube, which we had entirely too much fun playing with at the table.

For our appetizers, I ordered the shrimp cocktail, and Flo ordered the fried herb cheese. I never met a shrimp I didn't like (well, maybe once at Captain Jack's,) but I wasn't enamored of these. The "jumbo" shrimp weren't, and they were obviously thawed out after living at the bottom of the freezer for a couple of months. They just drooped forlornly over the side of the serving dish which also included a bed of limp lettuce.They were as flavorless as they were limp. It wasn't the appetizer I was dreaming of. Flo's fried herb cheese was tasty, but was nothing you couldn't easily make at home. After the disappointing appetizers, we were hoping it would get better, and it did!

For our entrees, we both ordered the Old Fashioned Pot Roast, which turned out to be delicious. It was fresh and hot, with just enough gravy. Our only complaint was that it came with julienne-style vegetables and there weren't enough of them. There was plenty of meat, however! So much that it got me into trouble. Our served asked the entire dining room to make airplane noises as she made me eat some more of my meat. Even my protests that I had eaten ALL of my veggies went unheeded.

The last couple of times I've eaten here, the servers weren't really into their roles, so this was a fun moment for me! The increase in the meat portion was a pleasant surprise for me, as the last time I had dined here in the summer of 2006, the plate held a tiny bit of meat and a plateful of gigantic chunky vegetables. Now, if they could only combine the new meat with the old veggies, it would be heavenly.

For dessert, we ordered chocolate milkshakes to go. Mine was made with sugar-free vanilla ice cream and not enough chocolate syrup. I think the chef was trying to err on the side of being sugar-free, and it ended up fairly tasteless. It was also quite frozen, so I almost turned my face inside out trying to get it to come up the straw. I finally gave up after 30 minutes and tossed it away. I had to give the chef points for attempting a sugar-free milkshake, even if the finished product was only so-so. Flo had the regular chocolate milkshake, which was delicious as usual. Over all, the meal earned a B+ for food, and an A for service. Better than my last experience there, but not as good as the "good old days" BDP (Before Dining Plan.)

Related Links:
Anita Does the Dining Plan Part 1
Anita Does the Dining Plan Part 2

With Disney-MGM Studios' renaming to Disney's Hollywood Studios recently, what better time to talk about my very first trip to that park?

Turn the clock back. It's 1989.

Mr. Answer and I had not gone back to the World since our 1986 honeymoon, and we were ready to go again. Not having to follow school schedules, since Minnie Answer wouldn't make her debut for another year and a half, we decided to take an early October roadtrip.

Our first stop would be in Atlanta for a long visit with our close friend and former roommate, who had recently relocated there. The plan was to leave Atlanta and drive down to Orlando for the second part of our trip. We had booked a few days at the Radisson, just outside of property. At the last minute, Ms. A decided to join us.

The drive seemed interminable, because we were so excited about seeing the parks again! This was Ms. A's very first trip, so she was doubly excited. Truth be told, I remember very little of this trip other than the Studios and the hotel! The Radisson was nice enough, though not fancy.

I longed to stay at one of the glamorous Disney Resorts, which by then included the Grand Floridian and the Caribbean Beach, Disney's very first moderate resort. Being poor newlyweds, that dream would have to be put on hold for another few years, however, so there we were at the Radisson. I believe we picked the Radisson from a AAA hotel guide. Can you imagine even trying to plan a trip without the internet? Thank goodness Al Gore had the foresight to invent it a few years later! (Just kidding...)

We purchased 4 Day Passports for around $100 each. $100 was a hefty sum for us, but well worth it. We had to buy a 4 Day because the 3 Day Passports didn't include Disney-MGM! We planned to use 1 day for each of the parks, and the remaining day to revisit a park, but as it turned out, after the 4 days, we didn't want to leave, and extended our stay and our tickets for another couple of days. Hey, it's only money, right?

As I mentioned earlier, I remember little of the Magic Kingdom and Epcot on this trip, probably because so little had changed since our 1986 trip.

At the Magic Kingdom, a new land had opened (Mickey's Birthday Land), but the village of Duckburg held little of interest for anyone over the age of 6.

EPCOT Center had a few exciting additions, including a new World Showcase Pavilion (Norway), a 3-D movie (Captain Eo,) and an almost-finished Future World Pavilion, Wonders of Life.

Wonders of Life didn't officially open until a week or so after we went home, but I have vague memories of touring the pavilion on this trip, which may or may not have happened. Those particular braincells are stored in the back of the vault, if you get my drift. Also at EPCOT, IllumiNations had made its debut.

The star of this trip, however, was definitely the Disney-MGM Studios Theme Park, which had opened on May 1, 1989, a few months later than its original targeted opening of Oct.1, 1988.

In those days, Disney-MGM actually was a working production facility as well as a theme park. The focus at the park's beginning was on a "living movie set," according to early park guides. What we see on the Backstage Tour now is a pale imitation of the original, where you actually might have seen a TV show or film in production.

Much later, I was lucky enough to work very briefly behind the scenes on one of the last TV series produced there before the soundstages closed forever to be turned into first the Millionaire attraction and now into Toy Story Mania.

In 1989, the animation tour featured what at least looked to me like real animators working on real animated films. To clarify, animated films were definitely produced there, but I don't know if the people I saw during the tour were really animators or actors. I suspect they were low level members of the animation team, since they did appear to be working. Animated features produced at the Studios included "Mulan" and "Lilo and Stitch."

But let's get back to 1989. So, there we were, three young adults about to experience a brand new park. We walked under the Art Deco archways housing the ticket booths, and through the turnstiles. The park was divided into three main areas: Hollywood Boulevard, Lakeside Circle/Backlot Annex and the Production Center/Backlot area.

Hollywood Boulevard was much like it is today, with an avenue of stores designed to resemble early 20th Century Los Angeles, with the crown jewel looming at the end of the street: A wonderfully detailed replica of Grauman's Chinese Theatre, home of the Great Movie Ride.

Today, there's a...um...rather large, out of place and obtrusive hat blocking the view of the theater, completely ruining Hollywood Boulevard's intended sightline. Sure wish we could just airlift it out of there and put it someplace else, say near the Animation Courtyard, or perhaps outside of the park in the entrance plaza, but as usual, I've taken a side trip from my subject.

We pretty much by-passed the stores, as we were being drawn to the beautiful theatrer at the end of the street. (This is why Walt Disney and the Imagineers call park icons like Cinderella Castle and Spaceship Earth "wienies" -- they draw you deeper into the park.)

Speaking of Hollywood Boulevard, if you turned those early Studios park maps upside down, you would have seen that you were standing in the middle of the World's largest hidden Mickey! The plaza in front of the theater comprised Mickey's face, Echo Lake formed one ear and the area by the tipboard and the Brown Derby formed the other ear. With the addition of the...um...rather large and obtrusive hat and the development of the Sunset Boulevard area, this cool "secret" is pretty much gone now. What a shame.

We entered the queue area of The Great Movie Ride, and ooh'ed and ah'ed at the movie prop and costume displays. In the theater area we watched the same clips we're watching today. As far as I can tell, this has never been changed. Once on the ride, we marveled at the moving theaters, gliding silently through movie scenes. Everything but the final film clips is the same as it was then, with the exception of the Busby Berkeley scene, which used to rotate.

What to do next? There wasn't much to do attraction-wise here on Hollywood Boulevard; only The Great Movie Ride and a stage show in a tiny outdoor amphitheater called "Theater of the Stars" that was squeezed in between the Brown Derby and the shops on Hollywood Boulevard. In 1993, it was moved to it's current and much larger home on Sunset Boulevard, where it now houses the Beauty and The Beast Live On Stage show.

We skipped the show, and headed for Lakeside Circle/Backlot Annex to see Superstar Television (where the currently unused ABC Theater is now, and where the future American Idol show will go.) I was picked from the audience to be in the show to be part of a girl-group trio called "The Vonzels." We sang "Da Doo Ron Ron" on the Ed Sullivan show. It was the beginning and the end of my onstage showbiz career. Some people would call that a blessing.

Also in Lakeside Circle, next to Superstar Television, was the "Monster Sound Show," where audience members added sound effects to a hilarious "horror" film starring Chevy Chase and Martin Short. "Sounds Dangerous," which is in that spot now, isn't even remotely as entertaining as "Monster Sound Show" was, and in fact after I experienced it once, I have never been back. I went back to see "Monster" over and over again before it closed in 1997.

We also spent some time in the post show area, "Soundsations," which today is pretty much the same as it was back then. We wandered back a bit and saw the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular, which I'm fairly sure hasn't changed since then either. Maybe with the new Indy movie opening this summer, we might see something new? By the way, one of Mr. Answer's life's goals is to be chosen to participate in this show, but so far, no offers. Showbiz is so fickle!

After stopping for lunch at the Backlot Express, we found our way over to the Backstage Studio Tour. In the early days of the park, the Backstage Tour was at least two hours long and divided into two parts: the tram tour and the walking tour. This attraction was so long, guests were encouraged to make a potty stop before beginning the tour.

The tram tour took you through Costuming, the Scenic Shop, the late, lamented Residential Street (where Lights, Motors, Action! is now,) Catastrophe Canyon, and New York Street (now Streets of America.)

The walking portion of the tour began with the Water Effects Tank (you know, where hapless guests get completely drenched,) the Special Effects Workshop, the Soundstages where you might see an actual production being shot, Post Production Editing and Audio department, and finally a film with clips of upcoming movies presented in the Walt Disney Theater.

Our final attraction for the day was the Magic Of Disney Animation Tour. The old tour started with a hilarious film called Back To Neverland, which featured the voices of Robin Williams and Walter Cronkite. Next was a tour of the Animation Studio, which showed the various processes necessary to bring an animated film to life. Finally, clips from favorite Disney animated films were shown in the Disney Classics Theater.

Our first day in the Disney-MGM Studios was over. Reluctantly, we went back to our hotel, and Immediately began to plan out our extended stay so we could go back again!

Special thanks to Jack Spence for the loan of the pictures of the Disney-MGM Studios.