As a response to my last post, I actually did enjoy the Studios this time! Of course, I still wish those ears/hat would be taken away, but you know, I could deal. The longest line we waited in (in almost our whole trip) was for the back lot tour. Like I had said before, it was much, much too short, but I really liked the displays after the ride.

The first time we were there was in the afternoon/evening of our first parks day. I can't remember everything we did (Lights, Motors, Action!, MuppetVision for sure), but the day ended with us waiting forever for a possibly canceled Fantasmic. Finally, after realizing the bf had seen the show (and didn't really like it) before, we left the theatre only to stumble upon a line-less Tower of Terror. Whew! It was so much fun! Ben decided this experience was his favorite all trip. We then went over to Rock'n'Rollercoaster just to see what the line looked like there. Same thing! I believe those were the last things we did that night.

The other day we went was my birthday. I briefly lost my wallet which caused me to panic and a security guard to run over and see if I was alright. Of course, it was still on the bench where we just were. Thank goodness! The whole time I couldn't decide if I was more upset about my credit cards, $75 gift card from Disney for my birthday, my driver's license (mind you, it was my 21st birthday) or the fastpasses for Toy Story Midway Mania. It could have been an absolute travesty.

We continued on to Midway Mania, which I found out meant we did not get to see Mr. Potato Head. He only entertains the regular queue, apparently, which I thought was the most disappointing part of the ride. The rest was much more fun than I had expected! It made Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin look pathetic. The movement of the ride vehicles themselves are actually quite fun as well. The bf (who has some trouble seeing) thought it was WAY better than BLSRS because it gave you much better feedback as far as hitting your targets.

We spent much of this day kind of relaxing, waited what was probably the longest wait in the history of Disney History of Animation in order to draw our own figure(40 minutes!). We drew Scrooge McDuck. Totally fun!

We somehow missed One Man's Dream, which I've never seen yet, but have always wanted to. We rode the Great Movie Ride somewhere in there, along with Star Tours. The second day we were there we spent a lot of time finding all the hidden treasures of the Studios, including looking at all the sets for Star Wars character meet-and-greets. And the parade was a lot of fun, too!

My goal for our next WDW trip:

I want to fall in love with Disney Hollywood Studios again. Or, as it better registers in my brain, Disney MGM Studios. (I understand they wanted to create the essence of Hollywood in the past and present, but was MGM just too Vegas for them now?)

There are attractions I have always loved:

• Star Tours, of course. By a long shot.
• Muppet*Vision 3-D
• The Great Movie Ride

Doesn't that list seem awfully short? Now, Indiana Jones Epic blah blah blah is great, too. But I can't say I loved it all that much as a kid. I do love Fantasmic and the new(er) Lights, Motors, Action! And I generally won't take a whole lot of time out of my day to watch a show. Ariel was really great when I was a kid and worth the time, but I've seen it so many times, I'm done for now. The backlot tour has just become shorter and less impressive. And of course, the two extreme thrill rides are a blast, if you can stand to wait in line forever or at least get a fastpass which will probably take more than 3 hours.

....it's actually these thrill attractions, which I personally find to be very fun, that may have ruined the park's image for me. Nighttime extra magic hours at DHS tonight? No thanks. It's Friday, and I don't want to spend that much time around smelly teenagers. I am so excited for Toy Story's Midway Mania, and maybe Pizza Planet will be really cool themeing! I am hoping this will save the park for me. With those stupid ears and sorcerer's hat, I'm not too sure. Things just look stupid anymore. What is this American Idol thing? Way to come YEARS too late, Disney. I watched the first before high school started for me, and when I go to the World in May, I will be starting my last year of college. Really, what happened to this idea of behind-the-scenes how things work, idea? I love learning to draw my own Donald Duck and looking at stuff about Walt Disney.

It just doesn't seem like the park has a lot to offer me anymore. When I read about the one in Paris, I am not impressed, either. We shall see what they do. Expand on the Muppets I hope with at least one more attraction, and update the Great Movie Ride.

One Little Spark

Okay, so we all fondly remember the original Journey into the Imagination, with crazy little Figment and possibly crazier Dreamfinder.
...or do we?

This was a quintessential Disney dark ride featuring the only "character" in all of Epcot, long before they decided to include logos of country's flags in the shape of classic Mickey ears, and definitely long before Jasmine decided to hang around Morocco and the Three Caballeros decided to invade Mexico.

Journey into the Imagination was by far one of my favorite rides when I was young. It was this early 90s EPCOT which truly defined Disney for me as a place of both long ago and far ahead. When I was six years old, on a trip to Walt Disney World, we were treated as royalty when my dad, an AT&T employee, just had to flash his work badge, and they would take us into a secret place, give us Coke before having us board Spaceship Earth. I remember my dad pointing out that there was a trap door on top of the "golf ball," and when we were inside (and the invisible Eeyore stamp on my hand began to glow) I thought I could point out which "star" in the sky was actually the hole where you could put your finger through and pull up the trap door.

The amount of Animatronics seemed endless in this Epcot. There were dinosaurs, solar pannels, travelling, fish, invention, communication, etc. etc. etc. All the things that made science cool and limitless (until you got to high school and discovered your own intelligent limits). To this day, I still regret not taking math and science more seriously, asking for more help from teachers and peers and my parents, because maybe I would have had a shot at being an imagineer. Maybe I would have had a shot at keeping the Disney out of Epcot and the science and future in!

One day on this trip in '94, a day we were at Epcot, the rain just started to POUR, as it is known to do in Florida. We ran into a shop to "wait it out," when my dad found these panchos for about $5 a piece with Mickey Mouse on the back. Quite a useful purchase (and yes, we still bring them with us when we go!) for the time and forever. We put on our panchos, and just kept going. My dad carried me on his back from one ride to the next so my shoes wouldn't get wet, and we basically had the park to ourselves. This is why rain + Disney= MAGIC, contrary to popular belief.

Back to Journey into Imagination-- I only remember riding this ride twice, but it's possible I rode it three times total. In my life. I went to Disney just before I turned two, and I have no recollection of this trip whatsoever. Even thinking back to our trip in '94, I am fairly certain I didn't even remember it then. I had known I had been to Disneyland, and what kid doesn't get them confused? Anyway, I do remember riding the attraction in '94. We also rode it again when we went back after my sister was born for our '98 trip. On this trip, I bought a plush Figment, about 10-12 inches tall.

Now, of course, my poor, unfortunate sister remembers a very different Disney World than I do. At some point in the late 90's, Disney, including Epcot, took a more character-y turn, and we have been going down that path ever since. While we are big Monty Python fans, and we were very glad to see Eric Idle featured in an attraction, we sat through the new version of Imagination (Journey into YOUR Imagination) rather solemnly in 2000. No Dreamfinder. While everyone loves Figment, it's amazing how annoying he can be without the calm Dreamfinder at his side. Apparently, the original was extremely expensive to run, yet it was the most popular attraction in Epcot. Now, you can just walk right on. No worries. (I am convinced that this is why the Maelstrom is so popular... that little taste of the old Epcot left which kids don't find "boring" *ehem*Spaceship Earth*ehem*) Okay, I love Spaceship Earth. It IS my favorite attraction at Epcot, and I usually ride it about three times while I'm there.

And while we understand the need to replace rides like World of Motion (a definite improvement) and Horizons (I think Mission:Space is a crock of poop), we will never understand what so forced Disney to do away with a truly spectacular attraction such as this to "update" it to be just plain lame. I have faith that someone with intelligence, someone who understands my generation (after all, we are the next set of WDW parents) will bring back the Dreamfinder and will restore this attraction to its original message with the latest technology.
And now, for your enjoyment:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

IMAGINATION, IMAGINATION!