Monday, January 19, 2009

Disney Week Day 3 MGM Studios



Day 3 Highlights
This day was probably the best day of our vacation for our family up to this point.

We treated ourselves and slept in until 8AM on the 3rd day of our Disney Vacation. The theme park chosen for the day was one Paula, Michael and I were really looking forward to visiting: Disney MGM Studios. The park is filled with attractions and restaurants themed by all things Hollywood including movies and television both of those entertainment medias are favorites of all 4 of us.

Just as Cinderella's Castle serves as a hub for the Magic Kingdom; a giant version of the hat Mickey Mouse wore in the Sorcerer’s Apprentice portion of the movie Fantasia was the hub of this park.

We spent a fun and full day at MGM studios. We ate at the 50's Prime Time Cafe; saw the Muppets 3D and Indiana Jones Stunt shows and did a whole lot more. The highlight of the day, and one of the top 5 for the entire trip, for me was going to the "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, Play It!" attraction. It took place in a studio that looks exactly like the one in New York where the real game show is taped.

Everyone who gets into the attraction gets the chance throughout the 30 minutes of the show to qualify to be in the "Hot Seat" to play the game. The ultimate prize was not $ million but a Disney Cruise. I stayed for 2 of the games. The rest of the family only stayed for one. During the 2nd show I came than 10 seconds away from qualifying to get in the "Hot Seat"; but I didn't. I was so frustrated that I came so close. I vowed to go back and try again when we returned to "The Studios" 2 days later but I didn't. Nevertheless it was a wonderful experience.

The day ended in a memorable way as well. Back at our resort Michael, James, and I went swimming. The night temperature had fallen into the low 50's but the pool was heated. We played underwater retrieval games with a glowing plastic ice cube that Michael had gotten at the 50's Prime Time Cafe. It was a special time for me with my sons. Also unforgettable for me was the very cold walk from the pool back to my room. Even though it was only about 50 yards to the room it was a walk of misery. The stiffness of my ankles and soreness of my legs from all the walking, over the past 3 days, only allowed me to take baby steps. It was very uncomfortable and cold. I'll always remember that journey.

When I Look Back On It Now...
I can't really draw any dynamic spiritual truth from this day of our dream vacation. The only thing I can point out is that at this point in the week we were all very tired. Paula and I were physically stiff and sore. Nevertheless we kept on going and continued to enjoy our time together.

The "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" experience was truly "once in a lifetime." A little over a year after our visit the attraction closed for good. The studio where it once played is just about to open as an "American Idol" themed attraction.

To sum it all up even though we didn't really enjoy the 50's Prime Time Cafe experience the day at MGM Studios was a day where the entire family enjoyed themselves. We spent most of the day together and had a great time. So much so that we chose to return to "The Studios" again on Day 5.

With visits to the 2 of the theme parks under our belts at the end of Day 3 we set our sights on going to the others. With Epcot on our agenda for the next day I went to sleep that night with the thought: "Today "The Movies"...Tomorrow "The World".

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