Disney World! - MGM
So today was our first day at Disney World. It was much better than I expected. We went to MGM today, and got off to a late start, but everyone is so sore from walking any longer would have been too much.

Some highlights.

Mandy, Teresa, Jason (my brother) and I did a "Rockin' Rollercoaster". I normally hate rollercoasters, but this one was fun! It was fast and smooth, upside down with no jerky motions. Mandy was laughing at the end, but then I think the fear caught up to her and she started crying and shaking... she probably won't do another. We have some pictures we bought of the ride, but I don't have them online yet.

My Dad, Jason, Teresa, and I did Tower of Terror -- a haunted house ride with several free-fall drops down the hotel elevator shaft. I found it boring. You leave your seat when the drop starts, but there is nothing really scary or exciting, at least for me. The others thought it was great though.

Teresa, my Dad, and I also did Star Tours -- a motion simulator ride that made it look and feel like you were flying through space. I liked that one a lot, but Teresa though it a bit lame. I could have swore the thing was moving like a roller coaster, but it wasn't.

We also sat through a simulated filming of Indiana Jones. Lots of great live effects and stunt man action there. That was fun.

My favorite part though was the Muppets 3D movie. That was awesome 3D and so funny. The show was mixed with great animatronics (electronic puppets of Statler and Waldorf making their usual great jokes, Swedish Chef in the back running the camera) and live action and effects (when they spray you with water in the movie, water really sprays on you when they're blowing bubbles they drop from the ceiling; and a live action Sweetums character was involved in costume). It was just way cool. I love Muppets.

The light show at the end was also great -- Phantastic I think it was called. They made three huge sprays of water up into the air that they projected parts of a Fantasia-type movie onto, mixed it with live Disney characters and some effects (like a huge dragon animatronic that breathed real fire and lit the lake in front of us on fire -- the heat was almost blistering).

Other than those shows and rides, we did a lot of walking, browsing shops, and stopped to see the characters so Mandy could get autographs and pictures. Some pictures of the characters and stuff follow. I think we all had a good time, and tomorrow we will go to Animal Kingdom which Mandy is really looking forward to.
- posted by Tim Stewart @ 9:05 PM