Disneyworld, part 1: MGM Studios - Porter loves the Swedish Chef

Our first day at Disneyworld was actually our second day in Florida. We didn't try to hit the parks as soon as we hit the ground although I know that's what some families do. But the first Day One wasn't terribly interesting. My kids are surprisingly good travelers - no one threw up, hooray - and Porter fell asleep while eating ice cream at dinner. It was pretty funny but I didn't have the camera with me, so I'll have to carry the mental image of him rousing only long enough to take another bite.

So, we started out with the theme park soon to be formerly known as Disney MGM Studios, on the grounds that it's the smallest park geographically and our feet would get plenty tired as the week wore on. Also, MGM Studios is the one that has Muppets.

We made a beeline for the 3-D Muppets show as soon as we got into the park, pausing only to take some pictures outside. (I always have to have a picture by the Muppet fountain. It's just a thing I do in the, you know, THREE times I have been there in my whole life.) To my surprise, the kids didn't really enjoy the show all that much, I think because they had a hard time keeping the 3-D glasses on. (Big heads though they may have, they are not adult sized.) But that's okay, because the kids did like the gift shop.
The gift shop had stuffed muppet characters: Fuzzy Bear (no, not Fozzie, Fuzzy), Miss Piggy, Mort Mort (that would be the Swedish Chef), Meemee (Beaker to the uninitiated), although curiously no Kermit. I let Porter pick one and he had a hard time choosing between Mort Mort and Meemee (he even had them doing Eskimo kisses at one point, he said they were 'stuck') but ultimately he went with the Chef. Good choice, I think, because Beaker is skinnier and thus a lot less cuddly. So he was pretty happy with his new toy, until I dared to take it away from him so that I could pay.

Betsy had her choice between a stuffed Muppet and a princess set - little princess figurine and rubbery dresses that are really hard to get on and off, plus accessories, in a heart-shaped case - and for her it was no contest. Actually she wanted the Little Mermaid first, but I said no. (Have I ever mentioned how I feel about that movie? No?) So, she picked Sleeping Beauty, because Sleeping Beauty's case is pink, and she toted it around all the rest of the day. She even wanted to go back to the "otel" early so she could play with her new toys, but obviously we didn't go for that.

The surprise hit of the day was Star Tours, a motion simulator ride loosely based on the Star Wars trilogy (the original trilogy, you know, the one that didn't suck). Betsy made the height requirement so Matt took her on it and honestly, I thought she would be scared. She wasn't. She loved it, and she ended up going on it three times while I hung out in the gift shop (yes, every ride has a gift shop) and watched Porter play with the Yoda puppets.

While we were waiting for lunch, Mom called to say that Emily had her baby. Two nephews in one week! Can't wait to see him.

I picked our lunch venue based solely on the fact that it was a buffet (we had the free Dining Plan so we ate A LOT that week, as you'll soon see) and only later found out that it's a character meal. The characters were all from Playhouse Disney, which is on cable so we never watch it (although Charlie and Lola is another Playhouse Disney show - we discovered that one while we were on vacation once and thus had cable) so the kids didn't really recognize anything. I only vaguely knew who they were supposed to be, although the clown Porter is poking in the eye is apparently Jojo.
Any day that you get to poke a clown in the eye is a good day in my book. Also, the food was really, really good (and free). Waiting for lunch was probably the longest we had to wait for anything that day (it turns out someone stole our reservation, grrr). Even though it seemed like there were a lot of people in the park, we never had to wait very long for anything. We were able to do everything that we had planned, some more than once. (Betsy went on the Star Wars ride three times.) We saw most of the shows: Beauty and the Beast (loved it), the car stunt show (Matt loved it, I found it noisy and hot), and even the Little Mermaid show (see, I am not a totally mean mother). We actually skipped the Indiana Jones show which I think MGM Studios is most known for, because Matt and I got picked as extras when we were there on our honeymoon and we knew we could never top that experience. Plus, I don't think the kids would have liked it.

We left the park right as it started to rain - everyone says that in Florida, it always rains in the mid-afternoon, but most of the days we were there it rained in the evening instead - and gave the kids a bath so they would be ready for the next day. Also, that second night I figured out that the people who snore (Betsy, Matt) should share one bed, and the person who does NOT snore (yours truly) should get one all to herself. You know, just in the interest of fairness.