Dribs and drabs:
- It was our first full day at WDW. Hot. Humid. And, being Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, it was crowded.
We decided to go for a “less” popular park, Disney-MGM Studios. The overall crowds would be less there — but, conversely, because it’s a smaller park, it turned out to still feel more crowded.
- Katherine had been talking about one thing as what she was most looking forward to — the Tower of Terror. So we made a beeline there and … well, the ‘rents weren’t thrilled about being hurled up and down, so they gave it a pass, so Margie and Kitten and I did it.
And, yes, it’s still a fun ride, and smooth enough that it would probably have been okay, but there you go. Great environmental setup for the hotel as you queue up, which is a Disney specialty. I understand the Anaheim version is not nearly as well done.
We FPed the Aerosmith Rock-n-Roller Coaster, too, but never quite made it on there.
- We wandered over to the other side of the park from there. Margie peeled off to grab a stroller — we’d passed on entering because of the long line, but it was clearly worth it either to carry Kitten, baggage, or both. When she rejoined us, we got in line for the Indiana Jones Stunt Show.
Now, we went to this on our previous visit, and it was basically a walk-in to a decent seat. Well, on this day, the stand-by queue was full, the FastPass queue was full, and we had seats way over to the side. Still good views, and it’s still a very nice show. They asked for a number of volunteers from the audience — all of which were picked from the stage left side, not the stage right or even center side — which, alas, ruled me out.
- Went to the Hollywood and Vine restaurant for lunch. After that, we went over to Star Tours (passing by a big “Star Wars Weekends – Jedi Training Academy” thang going on outside — it was hot, the crowd was huge, and I wasn’t in a great temper). From there we went over to the Backstage Tour, which, Universal Studios-like, takes you through various production buildings, through some back lots, past lots of prop vehicles rotting in the sun, and is a moderately pleasant way to burn an hour or so.
We didn’t do the new Lights, Motors, Action car stunt show, as the timing just didn’t work for us.
- And, with that, we headed back to Port Orleans. Once there, we changed into swimming duds and headed over to the Old Man Island pool. Katherine continued to become more comfortable swimming under the waterfalls, but, for some odd reason, continued to balk at the water slide. Afterwards, we went back to the hotel rooms for cocktails and …
- … well, okay, the timing was going to be a bit tight, but not overly so. We had reservations for the ‘rents and Katherine on a nice horse-drawn carriage ride around Port Orleans (Riverside and French Quarter) at 9:30 p.m. We had reservations at the Boatwright Restaurant at 8:30. We got there a scosh early, at 8:25. “We’ll seat you shortly, here’s a pager.”
Looked around, and the place was half-empty, with tables unoccupied or unoccupied and uncleared. We went outside and chatted (as the waiting area is in mid-hallway and always crowded).
At 8:45, I ducked back in to find out the status, feeling kind of worried. At least one table that could seat 7 was empty to my quick glance, but they had another in mind, and I was told it would be just a few minutes as they got the table cleared.
At 9:00 we went in again. Still clearing, I guess. We made noises about how long we’d been waiting, how we had other things scheduled … and got a big fat nothing from the waitress. The place was a bit busier, but the waitstaff — and the front desk especially — were not showing miuch hustle.
At 9:05, we bailed and dashed over to the food court. Of course, there was a massive crowd there, and it took another 15-20 minutes to get meals pulled together (not helped by a Laurel & Hardy routine behind the steam tables as some folks tried to figure out how to open up the bag of Alfredo sauce).
Margie went and talked to the carriage lady, who was quite understanding. As long as nobody came and grabbed an ad hoc ride, we’d get on. And, in face, by quarter of, Margie and I were able to send off the ‘rents and Katherine on a nice ride, while we got one of our brief interludes together alone, to just walk and be together.
We got back to the hotel shortly before the others did, and then the whole crew went to sleep.
Posted 6 June, but backdated to the end of the day it covers.