Once at MGM we headed straight for the The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror as we never got around to this ride on our first visit a couple of days before. We used our Disney Vacations fastpass card and got onto the ride within minutes.

This would have to be one of the best rides in all of the Disney parks if you like that sort of thing….which we do. The ride starts in an elevator. You are actually seated inside the elevator and then taken up to various floors where the doors are opened and you see some spooky looking figures swarming around. The doors close and you keep going up further and then suddenly, without warning, you drop a few floors! You can’t help screaming when this happens. You go up again and then drop again. This happens 7 times and it is always random so when you take the ride a second time (which we did) then you experience a different sequence of drops.

As we had run out of time this was all we did at MGM on this night so we went out to the shuttle buses to make our way back to Epcot.

As it was almost 9pm, we headed off to try and get a good viewing area for the nightly fireworks. It was already packed with people and although we managed to get up close we were behind a dock so we didn’t really end up with a very good view at all. Even so, the fireworks were fantastic. I would think a better place to view them would be over at the World stage area rather than at the entrance side of the park. Someone else might have some better suggestions.

Once the fireworks were over we headed out with the thousands of others to our respective forms of transport. We had parked the car in the huge car park that morning and fortunately we remembered that we were parked under the monorail track so we didn’t have too much trouble finding it.

Wanda seemed to be getting used to driving on the other side of the ride by this time but that didn’t stop us from getting lost as we tried to make our way back to our hotel. Somehow we ended up at Animal Kingdom and then kept going round in circles but eventually we made it.

Once we got back to the hotel we packed our bags as we were leaving the next day to head back to New York. This was no mean feat as the bags we brought with us were essentially not much bigger than an overnight bag and we had bought lots of souvenirs and various other things during our stay.

Next stop - New York.

Meanwhile Paula was operating the bowser. After putting in the credit card we couldn’t work out how to operate the fuel line. So once again we asked another customer and it appears you pull out a lever for the octane you want.

So at last the tank is full for when we return the car tomorrow morning before heading off to New York.

On our way to Epcot we just followed the Disney bus until we found where we were heading.

Okay, onto the security gates for the customary bag search and finger print scan. This is a requirement for every entry into Disneyworld.

As soon as we got into the park we headed straight for the Test Track. This is one of the most popular rides in the park so we knew the queue would be long but instead of waiting we picked up a fastpass ticket so we could come back at another time.

We then made our way over to Mission: Space. The wait was only 10 minutes because we chose the less intense ride as we both don’t like spinning rides. We were teamed up with a lady and her son, the idea being that each of you is part of a team on a mission to Mars. This is a simulation ride and is of a medium intensity. It was a lot of fun and well worth the wait.After the ride we headed back to the Test Track ride. Even though we had the fastpass ticket we still had to wait for a while and then just as we were about to get on the ride it malfunctioned and we all had to exit as they suspended the ride until further notice. Apparently this happens often with this ride because of the complexity involved, and the staff did give us a fastpass ticket to enable us to get back in later.

Our next stop was the Nemo ride. This is a nice little ride where you sit in a clam shell while winding around a track through animated scenes from the movie, and it is great for the little ones but we found it a little timid for our liking. It was great to rest our feet though.

After the ride we took a walk through the enormous aquarium to look at the dolphin, groper and the other fish. We also saw some Manatee, which are herbivores that are on the edge of extinction because the sea grass that they feed on is being destroyed in the wild.

Disney have permission to have a couple of these gentle creatures as part of their reseach program.

We then made our way up to the ‘Soarin’ ride. This is extremely popular and we can see why. The wait was 50 minutes but we used our Disney Vacation fastpass on this one so we got in immediately.

Once inside we were seated intp the seats and lifted up so that our feet were dangling over in the air. A film was played on the large screen in front of us as we proceeded to ‘fly’ to Los Angeles. It was like being in a hang glider, and it was amusing to see people lift their feet as we soared over trees and water

After lunch we headed back to the Test Track and this time we managed to get in. This is one brilliant ride. You are seated in a test car with 5 other people and the car goes around a winding, twisting track where it is put through a series of breaking, swerving and speed tests. The final race around the track at high speed is definitely the highlight.

As you can see the kid next to me wasn’t gonna show any emotion or fear. Gotta luv them teenagers. No way he was going to enjoy something that old people thought was fun.

The day was very hot and it pays to drink heaps of water, we were grateful that we had purchased one of the plastic bottles that is a fan and water spray combined.

There a lots of cooling off stations around the park where you can stand and have a fine mist of water spray over you.

Next stop was the 3D presentation “Honey I Shrunk the Audience”. This was another interactive fun presentation

Towards the end of the park is the walk around the World stage area. This section is huge and contains features from about 8 counties including England, Italy, Morocco and France. It is set up to resemble the real thing so you can walk past the Eiffel Tower, watch Romeo and Juliet in Venice and have real fish and chips in England.

Although we had not long had lunch we decided to have some English/Australian style chips. While we wew eating a couple of cute squirrels arrived to look for scraps and although they were fairly timid to start with, one eventually hopped up onto Paula’s lap to take a chip.

On the way through we passed a stage and noticed a sign that mentioned that the ABBA covers band Bjorn Again was playing there in about 30 minutes. We couldn’t miss this so sat down with the other few hundred people to watch them perform. It was brilliant as we were in the second row just to the right of center stage.
Once the show was over we headed over to the shuttle boat to take us to MGM Studios.

We headed straight to Splash Mountain and queued for about 15 minutes. While in the queue Wanda started to feel unwell and felt like she was going to pass out. We hadn’t eaten breakfast yet and she also had a cold so this was understandable. She didn’t want to leave the queue however so we still got on the ride which was fantastic. It was so good we got a Fastpass ticket to come back later.

Meanwhile we are both in desperate need of some breakfast so we wander around looking for somewhere to eat. We were wanting something savory but everything seemed to be sweet. We eventually found something in Fantasy Land. I ended up buying a sweet cream filled bagel which was quite nice and Wanda had a muffin. It was just enough to revive us a bit so we headed over to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad which is a runaway roller coaster ride. We loved this ride.

We then headed back to Splash Mountain and this was as much fun as the first time. Making our way back to Fantasy Land we then went on the Mickey’s Philharmagic 3D show which actually had more of Donald Duck in it than Mickey. This was great fun with Donald throwing his usual tantrums.

The Peter Pan’s Flight ride was next followed by the Pirates of the Caribbean. We thought both of these were just okay. The Peter Pan ride would be great for the kids and Pirates ride was a little disappointing and could have been much more engaging. It was really pretty dreary.

After the Pirates ride we headed to the Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Café for lunch. We ordered a sandwich each but to us it looked more like a burger. Not what we usually think of as a sandwich in Australia.

Since we had a Fastpass for Winnie the Pooh we headed there next. This was another just okay ride which is something the kiddies will enjoy.

By this time we were getting tired so decided to head to the monorail in Tomorrow Land to rest our feet. We couldn’t figure out how to get onto it so had to ask a Disney employee for directions. This is well worth the ride as it takes you around Tomorrow Land and provides you with some great above level photo opportunities.

Since we were in the area we headed over to Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin. We ended up doing this ride three times. The ride involves shooting at targets as you move through and is very addictive. We had to do it again so queued up again but this time the ride malfunctioned half way through. It restarted but Wanda’s shooting score wasn’t working so at the end of it I asked the Disney staff member if we could do it again. He let us bypass the queue and get on again so we had another fun ride.Get the look of concentration, that laser gun was so hard to control.

The wait in the queue was made entertaining as this animated Buzz welcomes all space cadets and quotes his popular lines such as ‘To infinity and beyond’.

The ‘real’ Buzz was obliging enough to come over and have his photo taken and have a chat. Our last stop for the day was Space Mountain. This is an excellent ride but not for the little ones as it is an indoor roller coaster that is mostly in the dark.We headed back to our hotel via the shuttle bus at about 7pm and decided not to go out again. We didn’t want to overdo it like we had done the day before.

We dragged ourselves to the shuttle bus and headed off to the park. We really should have stayed at home as the time at Animal Kingdom had really tired us out and we could barely put one foot in front of the other.

Our plan was to head to The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror but I really didn’t feel up to dropping 13 stories in a ride so we walked around the film backdrops which include New York and San Francisco. The backdrops are realistic looking and you feel as if you are there.

We then headed to the Muppet Vision 3D show. This was okay but we felt it was a bit dated. We preferred the ‘It’s Tough to be a Bug’ 3D show at Animal Kingdom.

We started getting hungry so thought we might have some fries at the mini McDonald’s booth but just as we got to the front of the queue they shut the doors as they had run out of fries. Instead we went healthy and bought some grapes and an orange to share.

Our next stop was the queue for the Fantasmic! Show which is held every night at Disney MGM. On this day they were showing it twice and we queued up for the second show. It would have to be the worst queue of the entire four Disney parks in our opinion. Apart from the fact that we were jammed packed with what felt like thousands of people, it was also hot and sticky and the queue took 45 minutes to make its way to the venue.

Both us and the crowd had had enough at this point as we watched the 10,000 people from the previous show make their way out of the amphitheatre. It was a slow moving process and everyone was hot and tired and in no mood for the constant talk coming from the speakers advising people with babies to park their strollers in the designated areas.

For what seemed like an eternity we waited , then eventually the gates opened and we made our way to our seats and since we were pretty much at the front of the queue we had the pick of the seats and chose the front row.

The show turned out to be a great experience with lots of fireworks and Disney characters. There were picture shows in water fountains and the show was full of colours and action all of which made up for the queue experience. As usual we got wet but this is something you have to expect at Disney as it seems every where you go you get sprayed with water. This is a welcome relief however in the terrible summer humidity.

Here is a snippet of the show.

And some of the Disney characters

Snippet of The Finale:

By the time the show finished and we made our way out of the venue it was about 11.30. We practically crawled to the bus as by this time we were ready to collapse with exhaustion. We eventually got back to our hotel at close to 1am and it didn’t take long for us to fall asleep. And Guess What! we had to be up early again for the magic hour next.

There is just so much to fill in the day, so much to see and do.

As we had planned what we wanted to do the night before we immediately headed to the Everest ride which is considered one of the top rides at Disney World. This was a lot of fun and not for the fainthearted.

We didn’t purchase the picture of us coming down the on the roller coaster as there we were, mouths wide open, screaming, hair all over the place. We got over this and later rides will be shown in all their gruesome glory.

Here I am with my 1st visit badge. We really aren’t into this sort of thing as a rule but decided - why not. The Mount Everest Ride is looming in the background. It was awesome and once we had broken the ice with the latest and most thrilling rides we were set to tackle anything.

The next ride was Dinosaur, another roller coaster ride where you are sent back 65 million years to save the last dinosaur. Again a thrilling experience with lots of twists and turns. The picture says it all. This was one scary moment.

We really enjoyed the ride and then it was onto the Kali River Rapids ride. We hopped into a round rubber boat and set off down the waterway and as we twisted and turned through the rapids we got wet, well actually we got soaking wet, but it seems to be the norm to get wet on most of the Disney rides.

Next stop was a 3D show titled ‘It’s Tough to be a Bug’. This was a lot of fun. It was almost 4th dimensional as they emitted aromas in the hall to match what was on the screen and also sprayed water at us at appropriate times. This was very well orchestrated and well worth seeing.

The highlight of the day was the Kilimanjaro Safari where we got into a jeep and headed out on safari. Disney has real life animals in the park so we got a close up look of elephants, giraffes, crocodiles, rhinos and deer.

We returned from the Safari ride which was quite exhilarating as apart from seeing the animals close up we crossed a narrow bridge that was designed to act as if it was going to collapse, so the safari was quite realisitic and not just a casual ride around the park. After hopping off the safari vehicle we went for a walk through the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail and found these amazing creatures.

Well we didn’t find them as such as they were never lost, but we had the opportunity to observe them close up at rest and at play. They are such beautiful creatures.

The final attraction of the day was the Festival of the Lion King. This 45 minute show was filled with music, dance and beautiful costumes and characters. This is a definite must visit show.

Disney call it a Quick Service Restaurant but it isn’t actually a restaurant - it is more of a food court where you select the foods at a counter and then wait as the food is prepared. You then take your meal on a tray to the check-out to purchase it and then make your way to one of the many tables and chairs made available in the hall.

The foods ranged from pizzas, fries, hamburgers, bbq ribs, hot dogs, meatloaf and sandwiches. It is what you would expect at a family orientated resort.

We were told that if we wanted to eat at a proper restaurant we needed to head over to the Port Orleans Riverside Resort which wasn’t far from us. We never bothered with this as although the food at the French Quarter wasn’t outstanding it was acceptable enough for us.

We drove into the main driveway but had no idea how to check-in or where to park the car so I hopped out and asked the guy sitting under the Bell Services sign. With directions in hand we made our way around to the parking area.

Check-in at the hotel was quite pleasant and easy with a nice young man whose name escapes us – Joshua, James, Jeremy? We can’t quite remember but he checked us in smoothly and gave each of us a Disney badge with the words “1st Visit” written across the front as well as a heap Mickey Mouse stickers for Wanda’s grandkids.

We then headed back to our car and drove around to the guest car park which is around the side of the hotel and much closer to our room.

The room was comfortable and clean and we will do a full review later - Once again NO WIFI access.

As we were intending to head out the next day for the Disney parks we headed back to the concierge to purchase our tickets. We decide on a three day hopper pass which allowed us to hop between parks during the day. This was well worth the extra money as we found out later.

You can also purchase your Disney World Tickets online so that you are ready to go the minute you arrive at the park.

Having already read on the internet that you have to plan for each day we proceeded back to the room to do just that. We found that this is definitely a must if you are going to any Disney park as you will have much better success if you plan what you want to see the night before.

We decided on the Animal Kingdom in the morning as it had the early morning hours for hotel guests, and MGM Studios at night. We also worked out all the rides we wanted to go on for each of the parks and marked them on the brochure in order of preference.

Then it was off to bed as we wanted to be up early the next morning to take advantage of the Morning Magic Hours which allows hotel guests an extra hour in the morning to use the park before the general public arrives…another great advantage of staying at the Disney Resort.