Grow: MGM/Hollywood Studios

I am starting off my Disney picture posts with Day 2. I had planned on putting all of my pictures in one blog post, but I have way too many, so I am doing this backwards...

We went to Hollywood Studios (which I grew up knowing as MGM) on Sunday. The first day the kids and I rode the shuttle from our hotel over to Disney. We stayed at a hotel near the PMA, and the website for the hotel said that it is 4 miles from Disney World.

Yeah right.

The shuttle only drops off at Epcot, and then we had to buy our tickets, get on a monorail to the ticket and transportation center, get on another monorail, and then finally arrive at the Magic Kingdom a little over an hour after we set out. That was Day 1, and I realized there is definitely something to be said for staying on Disney property.

On Day 2 we realized that we could drive and park at The Grand Floridian where my parents were staying and just hop on the bus with them. Much, much easier...

But on to pictures...

Bubba was really excited to get to "meet" Lightning McQueen. So excited, in fact, that he climbed right on top of Lightning. All of the Disney Cast Members immediately freaked out and asked me to get my son off the car. So, for the rest of our turn at getting our picture taken/getting to meet Lightning, I followed Bubba around the car, asking him to please just stand still and smile for a durn picture! He finally did.

Bubba also loved the big dinosaur in the pond in the middle of MGM. He wanted to get his picture taken with it while he roared. So, if you live anywhere in the southeastern US and you heard some very loud R-O-A-R-I-N-G on October 17, don't worry, it was just Bubba. He did it for a good five minutes or so! (Notice Bubba's Lightning and Mater shirt in the pictures. Grandmama and Granddaddy got it for him, and he wanted to wear it immediately!)

I have to say my favorite meal while we were there was our lunch at Hollywood Studios. We went to the 50's Prime Time Cafe, a kitchenette themed restaurant complete with black and white tvs and waiters who tell you how to mind your manners. The food is all home-cookin', and my dad and I both had the best. fried. chicken. ever. While we waited for our reservation, they had some hula-hoops outside for the kids to play with...and it was all fun and games until someone lost an eye...or at least, until Miss Priss whacked Sassy in the eye with her hula-hoop. Then both girls started crying, and we decided to wait inside. (And Sassy still bears that battle scar a week later.)

Hands down, the highlight of the day was getting to meet Mickey Mouse. Bubba told me that morning that he wanted to meet Mickey, so that was our mission for the day. I was a bit worried that we wouldn't see him, but thankfully we did! Disney World is one of those working vacations for adults -- there is a lot of carrying of children, dealing with whiney kids and meltdowns, etc. There are plenty of moments when you wonder why in the world you thought it would be a good idea to even come to Disney in the first place when you could have gone on an adults-only vacation to someplace tropical. But meeting Mickey was one of those moments (and there were plenty more of them, I promise!) that make a Disney trip totally worth it. To see the look on my little three-year-old's face was just priceless. The girls loved getting to meet Mickey, too (I know they don't seem to be getting much mention in this post), but Bubba is just at that age where he just believes and it is just so magical for him. It really made the day.