Eric’s not big enough to do RNR, but Aaron is, so I run up and grab FPs for it since the wait is already over 60 minutes. We then stop at Starring Rolls for the first entry in the battle of the best snack at DHS: the Butterfinger cupcake! We walk in just as they were taking the newest batch out of the chiller. We grab some water and a cupcake and head outside. The verdict? Not bad…extremely rich, but not bad. It’s a mess to eat, too, especially when trying to split it four ways. I can’t wait to try the carrot cake cookie to see which is better.
Eric is a total mess, so we hose him down and make our way out. The crowds are really swelling now, and the sun is baking everything in sight, so we decide to look for a long, cool respite. That can only mean one thing in DHS…the Great Movie Nap!!! Wifey was thrilled because we were in the holding room while a lot of Mary Poppins was showing. Eric was so enthralled with the movie that, while trying to walk through the switchbacks in the queue while watching the screen, he missed the turn and face-planted the end of the queue line. The bruise formed immediately. DCFS was almost called.
This is another one of those rides that Sheri likes a lot more than I do. Still, we’re out of the heat, and it’s the first experience for both boys. I’m a little concerned about the Alien scene, but I go along with it. We start off with a female CM for the beginning, and we could barely hear much of what she was saying. We’ve done this attraction probably 3 times (2 times too many for my liking), and we get the Western scene for the first time. The CM swap gives us a guy who we can hear with no problem whatsoever (it was distorted…yeah, that loud)! At Indy, we get the girl again and continue on through. Sheri and the boys loved Oz sequence, and you can’t prove that I sang during this part. The alien scene was fine because we were near the back of the vehicles and weren’t near the scary part. One of my favorite parts of the attraction is the end…no, not because it’s over. I like watching the montage of movies in that last room. I’m still “meh” on the attraction, and, judging by the boys’ reactions, they’re with me on this (though I don’t think GMR is geared toward children anyway).
We head out into the convection oven that is the Florida heat and make our way down towards Muppets! This is Sheri’s penance for making me do GMR…I’ve always loved the Muppets and watched the show religiously in the 70s when it was on (those born after 1974 can keep quiet about this). This is our first experience with the film cleaned up and the new TVs in the preshow area.
WOW!!!
The boys again loved this attraction, and I even think Sheri was a bit impressed with the cleaned up film.
We head out and almost stop for the carrot cake cookie (thanks to Lou Mongello for introducing us to this), but we’re still in a sugar coma from the Butterfinger cupcake, and our pancreas would likely have shut down had we gotten the cookie. I make a mental note to make sure I try this next time I’m in DHS. It’s about 30 minutes before the Star Wars Weekend parade, so we decide to start making our way to our lunch location – the 50s Prime Time Café and watch the parade a few rows back so we can bolt over to the restaurant for our ADRs. A woman with a couple of boys around the boys’ ages notices us behind her and offers to let the boys grab some pavement next to her boys. We weren’t planning on getting up front, but we graciously take her up on the offer. About 15 minutes before the start, 3 families sign an alliance to guard the area around us as there was no more room for anyone, though many were trying (all adults, I might add, except for the family who walked up 2 minutes before the start of the parade and expected to sit up front on the road). They boys don’t know what the parade is about, so we surprised them again. One of my online friends from Lodgeboards was also in the Studios today and, after a few texts back and forth, was trying to get across the street before the parade started. We weren’t able to meet up before the parade, unfortunately.
Now, if you’re a Star Wars fan, you’ll love the series of videos below as well as the pics that Sheri took (it was hilarious…she was taking pics as fast as she could, even though she had no idea who most of the characters were). If you’re not a Star Wars fan, just scroll down about 10 feet to the end of the parade. The video is chronological…the pics, well, I have no guarantees on the order.
Pics:
STOP HERE IF YOU BLEW BY THE STAR WARS STUFF!!!
Sandra and I continue texting to find each other, and we eventually meet up near the entrance to Indy. We talk for a few minutes and introduce the families to each other.
There's never enough time to catch up, especially since this is our first in-person meeting (we've known each other for several years from talking online, so it wasn't like we didn't know each other). After a few minutes together, we say our goodbyes and head over to 50’s PTC before melting commences.
EVERYONE was trying to see if they could get in to dine because of the heat, but only the ADRs could get in (which is why I always tell the folks I help plan trip for to make those reservations EARLY!!). We head inside and wait for our kinfolk to call us to dinner. While waiting, I grab the video camera to zoom into the bar to see what they have on draft.
YES!!!! THEY HAVE BLUE MOON!!!!!
They call the Mushrush kids in, and we’re seated in the kitchen (for those who haven’t eaten there, every dining area is a kitchen/dining area setup from the 1950’s…thus the name).
As we look around, our server, Cousin Nicole, stops by to say “Hi.” As start to say “hi there”, the puts the silverware in front of me and orders me to set the table. Then she walks away.
That’s all the boys needed to see…they were in love with this place. They were even excited to meet a new relative (to this day, they think Nicole is our cousin).
After a couple of minutes, she stops back to ensure that I distributed the silverware properly and then takes our drink order. Both Sheri and I order a Blue Moon, which elicited a long and loud “BLUUUUUEEEEE MOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNN” (a la the Marcels…always loved that song, and it was my first acapella song that I did..yes, I had the “bompapabompabompabombom” part. I’m still waiting for the Dapper Dans to call me).
That’s all I needed to see/hear…I was in love with this place.
While we were waiting, Sandra texted me…just as Nicole walked by. Yes, I got in trouble for having the phone on at the table. The boys wanted Sheri’s phone so they could call me and get me in trouble. They also tried pulling my elbows up on the table every time she walked by.
Brats.
They rewarded the boys with extra straws…check out Eric’s drink:
I ordered the meatloaf, and it was good…not the greatest I’ve ever had, but it’s not bad at all for mass-produced food. Every few minutes, our cousin would walk by and give us another rousing medley of “BLUUUEEEEE MOOOOOOONNNNNNN”. It worked…I ordered another one. Sheri’s chicken was also good…again, not the best, but still pretty good.
Dessert was up next, and the boys got the make your own sundaes (duh). Sheri got the cobbler, and I had a brownie sundae with caramel.
We got a pic with our long-lost cousin:
It was fun…the food was a bit better than anticipated, and the server really did make the experience memorable.
We headed out and started to make our way over toward RNR for the fastpass return. Sheri and Eric bear off of the road and head into a store, more so for the cooler air than anything. Aaron’s already getting a little nervous about the coaster, after thinking back to the terror of Tower of Terror. Still, he’s doing okay as we make our way through the FP return line. We’re in the recording studio within a couple of minutes, and Aaron gets cold feet. When we get into the final queuing line he starts saying that he doesn’t want to ride it. I try talking him down (as do 5 others around us), but his mind is made up. I decide not to push him, and we take the chicken exit out just before our limo arrives.
Sigh…maybe he’ll ride California Screaming next summer. (Foreshadowing for the July 2011 Mushfam trip).
Continued...
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