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| Christa Grant's
Trip Report August / September 05 |
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Day 3 - Part 1 Tower of Terror:
Enter with Caution!
Has
an alien ever woken you up before? I had it happen to me this
morning. His name was Stitch. He somehow got our phone number
and decided to phone us at 7am. In the words of the infamous
Delswife, “love ya, mean it”.
Today was EMH at MGM Studios, which meant that we could theoretically ride
Tower of Terror at 8am today. However, yesterday was pretty tiring for our
crew so I decided to let them sleep in. We were at the park at 8:30am.
For
some reason, our crew didn’t consider this “sleeping
in”.
Dapper Dad and Fanlover kindly offered to babysit the boys for a few hours
this morning so that Cocoa bil, ToT sis, Goofy Guy and I could do some of the
more thrilling rides at MGM. ToT sis had made a deal with Splashboy prior to
our trip. She said that she would ride Tower of Terror, if he would also conquer
a ride that he was nervous about too. Splashboy triumphed over Splash Mountain
yesterday, so ToT sis was stuck. Chickening out was not exactly the good example
she wanted to set for her son.
Upon entering MGM, we had to decide whether we should ride Rockin’ Rollercoaster
or Tower of Terror first. Little did we know that this decision could dramatically
affect the rest of the day. Goofy Guy decides to run ahead and get fast passes
for RNC and meet us in line at Tower of Terror. Our logic was that since RNC
goes upside down and Tower of Terror doesn’t, RNC is much harder than
Tower of Terror. We’d warm everybody up with the easy Tower of Terror,
then we’d do the “scary” Rockin’ Rollercoaster.
I
need my head examined.
Everything starts off wonderfully. The hotel lobby amazes ToT
sis and Cocoa bil. As a details man, Cocoa bil is in awe. For
once I was glad that we had to wait in a little line. It gave
us the chance to enjoy the detail. I even had time to show them
some hidden Mickey’s. Life was good.
We entered the library for the pre-show. I noticed, with delight,
that ToT sis was becoming sufficiently spooked. She even asked
me if we have to stand in the elevator. I considered telling her
that we did, but I knew she’d
run people down getting to the chicken exit.
See
how I try to protect you people?
I told her
that you got to sit down, but you had no seatbelt. Her eyes widened
with fear. Life was even better.
It was finally our turn to board the elevator. I was pleased to discover that
we were getting front row seats. ToT sis was even more pleased to find the
seatbelts. Since ToT sis is a bit of a Drama Queen like me, I wanted to make
sure that I sat next to her. If anyone was going to be deafened by her piercing
screams, it was going to be me.
The elevator rises and the ghosts appear. “Cool effect” she says.
The elevator rises again and then proceeds to move forward. “Um, this
is an elevator!!” she cries. “Elevators don’t move forward!” I
guess she didn’t realize this is commonplace for the Twilight Zone.
The moment of truth had arrived. We drop at a rate faster than gravity. Let
the screaming commence. But wait a minute. I can only hear Cocoa bil and he’s
chuckling with delight. How can I hear a chuckle over a piercing scream my
sister was supposed to make? I steal a glance at ToT sis. Her mouth is gaping
open – the perfect condition for a scream. But, nothing. No sound was
escaping from her mouth, not even a whimper. “Don’t panic”,
I thought to myself. Maybe she was saving her screams for the next drop.
I
resume position and prepare for deafness.
But
still, nothing. Oh wait - I think I figured it out. Have you
ever heard of the expression, “frozen in fear”? Well,
look it up in the dictionary – ToT sis’ picture is
there.
We made it to the end of the ride. ToT sis dashes off the ride
first. At least I think it was her. I only saw this blurry vision
run past me. We take a look at our picture before entering the
store. Words cannot adequately describe ToT sis’ expression. Cocoa bil, Goofy Guy and myself were all smiling
sweetly. ToT sis said that based on everyone’s calm expressions, we looked
like we were merely riding It’s a Small World. She and some poor soul
in the back must have been on a different ride. ToT sis defied physics somehow
and opened her mouth wider than the actual size of her head. No really - I
wouldn’t have believed it either had I not seen it.
Cocoa bil bought the picture.
What else was a supportive husband supposed to do in such a
situation? With a few smiles and giggles, we walk outside.
I started to walk towards rockin’ rollercoaster (the
REALLY scary ride you understand), but ToT sis stops me and
sits down on a bench. It is only then that I realize her face
has changed colour. I’ve seen that colour before, but
where? And then it hit me. Goofy Guy looked like that just
two days before on our little plane ride. Could it be that
ToT sis was sick in addition to being frozen in fear? What
have I done?
I learned something else today. ToT sis’ hat, also doubles as a motion
sickness bag. Thankfully she didn’t have to use it, but she had it ready.
It’s always good to be prepared. ToT sis is now lying down on the bench.
Continuing in the supportive husband role, Cocoa bil takes her picture. Okay,
she must REALLY be sick. Had she been well, Cocoa bil would have had a fight
on his hands.
We needed to reassess our day. It looked like the rockin’ rollercoaster
wasn’t going to happen. Heck, I don’t even think the gentle backlot
tour was going to happen either. Then the guilt set in. Had I pressured her
into riding? Should I beg forgiveness now?
No,
we decide to ditch her and go on rockin’ rollercoaster.
Let me explain before you phone 911. We sat with her for half
an hour and realized she was not getting any better. I even suggested
we go back to the hotel, but she thought that if she continued
to lay down for a while, she’d feel
better. I offered to stay with her while the guys go on RNC but she insisted
that we all go since she felt guilty holding us all back. Guilt must run in
the family.
After a bit of arguing back and forth, the 3 of us go to RNC, and ToT sis closes
her eyes and uses her hat/motion sickness bag as her pillow. Who knew a hat
could be so useful. We show our fast pass to the CM and walk past the line.
That feeling never gets old! As we enter the pre-show, the CM tells us to move
forward and use all available space. There was a single line filling up the
row, but all the space was supposed to be used. We did as we were told. Somehow,
Cocoa bil got separated from us. He politely asked two people to excuse him,
as he wanted to join his group. He was unprepared for the response. In short,
these 2 people told him that THEY were there first and that Goofy Guy and I
had butted in line. They were
furious!
I
was dumbfounded. I couldn’t believe it. Since when were
we butting in line by following instructions?? The “single
line” phenomenon still baffles me. But anyway, we were
in Disney so we said nothing and let them go ahead of us and
even let other people go ahead of us too. We
wanted some space between us. I hope they experienced some Disney
magic later that day. The role of Grumpy has already been cast.
Any sore feelings completely disappeared once Cocoa bil saw the
limo! He was psyched. I got the pleasure of riding with him on
this one. He’s usually
pretty laid back, but he let loose today! He loved every second of it! But
we all agreed, TOT sis was likely wise to skip this one for now. I’m
sure her hat moonlights as a very good motion sickness bag, but that was a
theory we weren’t willing to test. We quickly leave the building and
head back towards the bench. Fingers crossed that ToT sis was better. We had
a big day planned of dining in cars and jumping on strangers' laps
Day 3 - Part 2...
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