Walt Disney World: Day Six -- Giving the Park-Hopper Option a Work-Out

Last Day. I couldn’t help but sigh as I woke up on Thursday. Sure, we still had a full day at the World. But it was the last one. Still, I was very excited as we approached MGM, even if it was for the last time this trip.

As I mentioned, on Tuesday, the Disney reservations folks had re-scheduled our lunch at the Sci-Fi Drive-In for Thursday, so we figured we’d start the day at MGM, eat lunch, then head over to Epcot to hit the Pavilions in the World Showcase that we’d missed. After that, I had noticed that they were doing the Spectro-Magic parade on Thursday evenings at the Magic Kingdom at 7:00, followed by the fireworks at 8:00. It sounded like a good itinerary to me!

First things first at MGM. Sue and I wanted to do the Rock ‘n’ Roller coaster one more time, so we headed down Sunset once again. As we walked, Sue and I gently raised the prospect of – perhaps – trying the Tower of Terror together, with Jake. Jake kept telling us that he didn’t “think so,” but I could tell that, inside, he was trying to talk himself into it. So, as we walked through the line at the Coaster, we said he could do the exact same thing at the Tower: walk through the line, and then, if he changed his mind, bail out at the end. We also drew some comparison between the Tower and a similar – though far smaller – dropping ride he’d tried on the Boardwalk in Point Pleasant. By the time Sue and I got through the coaster again, Jake was about three-quarters convinced that he would at least do the line for the Tower.

Well, the Coaster was tremendous – again. It is such a great ride! We could have done it a few more times, and would have, if Jake was interested in riding it with us. But we didn’t like making him wait, so after the ride, we wandered in the general direction of the Tower. And – lo and behold – Jake said he’d do the line with us. So in we went.

As I mentioned before, they do a great job setting the ride up, and make it especially eerie for a ten-year-old who’s still not convinced he should be doing this. Jake was like a frayed nerve ending, all jittery and jumpy by the time we got to the “basement” of the hotel, where they load the ride, and I could see that he was torn. He really wanted to try the Tower – and he also wanted to run screaming from the place – all at the same time.

The “basement” of the hotel has some very real-looking boilers chugging away near the freight elevators, where the cars in which you ride are located. There is definitely an ominous feeling in the basement as you wind your way through. To his credit, Jake was very brave. We got to the loading area for our car, and Jake was just about ready to ask to step out, but something kept him in line, and we boarded together. (I should point out that Sue was not really looking forward to this ride either, but she was doing it so that Jake would do it. She was not at all sure she wanted any part of the “dropping and falling” thing. But she didn’t even bat an eye as we walked through the line.)

We had seats in the back row, and as we listened to the instructions and belted ourselves in, Jake finally cracked. “I think I want to change my mind,” he said. Sue and I looked at each other, then at him, and said, “Sorry buddy, but it’s too late now.” He gritted his teeth and settled in, clamping his hand on my forearm.

We went through the build up, as the elevator raised up through the floors. Then, at the top, as the windows open, and the car drops, I heard Sue scream “This is AWESOME!” and I felt Jake’s grip tighten on my arm. My stomach finally caught up with the rest of my body, and I looked down at Jake, his entire face squeezed shut at the thrill, and the fear, and the fun, and it really was awesome!

We finally came to rest, and Sue and I couldn’t have been more proud. Seriously. This was a huge thing for Jake and he really overcame his fear by riding a ride he really, really, really didn’t want to ride. It was good for him, and we were so glad that he’d done it. As his reward, he got a Tower of Terror t-shirt, which he still wears proudly to school about twice a month.

After recovering from the Tower, we wandered up and down the streets, visiting some shops, and taking in some of the sights that are unique to MGM. For instance, we got a great shot of Jake standing in San Francisco.



We also got a shot of me, making like Gene Kelly.




And we got Sue and Jake standing on a New York-ish street corner. (Check out the store name!)




It was a great morning at MGM, capped by a very tasty lunch at the Sci Fi. If you haven’t been there, make sure that you go. While you can request table service (and you should if you want to face your dining companions), most of the fun comes from sitting in a mock up of a 1950s sedan, pulled in at a drive in theater. Everyone faces the screen, where you can see trailers from a couple dozen “B” and “C” movies that you’ve probably never heard of while you order and eat your food. Mixed in with the trailers are those famous “Intermission” clips that anyone over 40 used to see at the drive in between reels. I actually remembered having seen some of those from my drive in days as a kid.





The food itself is good; plentiful, basic, and well prepared. No, it’s not gourmet by any stretch – but it’s precisely what you expect, and it’s not unreasonably priced, considering where you are and all. The Sci Fi Drive-In is well worth a stop.

After lunch, we knew the time had come to say good-bye to MGM. We wanted to get to Epcot, both to visit the pavilions we’d missed, but also so that we could get our photo CD. (This is the CD of all of the photos that the Disney photographers took of us at various locations during the day. Check out my explanation of this tip on Day Two: Magic Kingdom, if you missed it.)

When we got to Epcot (at about 3:00, and we parked right in row 2!), we walked right up to the Kodak Photo Kiosk, on the left side of the big golf ball. They were very nice, and very accommodating and, as I mentioned, it’s well worth your while to get your Disney Photo Pass photos done here. We then headed out to hit some things we’d missed.

Things like “Honey, I Shrunk the Audience,” which is the 3D movie for Epcot. As I’ve mentioned a couple of times elsewhere, the best 3D movie in Walt Disney World is Mickey’s Philharmagic, in the Magic Kingdom. I’d say this one is the worst. Oh, don’t get me wrong, it’s not horrible. But after seeing the other three, there was nothing new here. On top of that, it felt dated and tired to me. If you have to skip one 3D movie, this is the one to skip. (My gut tells me that this movie may not be long for the World, but I’m just speculating here.)

We then took the path around the World Showcase Lagoon, starting in Canada. We visited each of the Pavilions in turn, mostly just to check them out, but also, to help Jake complete a collection he’d started towards the end of Wednesday. He’d discovered that they have “pressed penny” machines all over Disney World. (The “pressed penny” machine takes your penny – along with two of your quarters – feeds the penny into a press and imprints a design of some sort by flattening the penny with a “die” bearing that imprint. You’ve probably seen them at various tourist attractions and rest stops around the country.)

Well, as you might expect, Disney’s pressed penny machines are more than just pressed penny machines. Each machine imprints only certain images on your pressed penny. For instance, the machine in the train station in the Animal Kingdom has one set of designs, while other machines have others. Each of the world pavilions in Epcot has its own unique machine, with unique, country-specific designs in each machine. Somewhere along the line, Jake decided he liked these pressed pennies, so we began looking for machines so he could collect them. It was actually kind of fun looking for the machines. We not only got to explore all the nooks and crannies of the various pavilions, but we got Jake some unique – and inexpensive – souvenirs from each country. (Not surprisingly, they carry pressed penny collection books in the gift shops – just so you know.)

Anyway, not only did we hit Morocco, France, England, Canada, and Japan, which we’d skipped before, but we went back and hit the other pavilions so that we could collect pennies. (By the way, if you’re collecting the pennies, you won’t find a penny presser in either China or Japan, for reasons that we never learned. However, the penny presser with the Japan theme is in the gift shop in Showcase Plaza, and the China penny presser is over in the International Gateway (which we never got to)). As we cruised through, we heard a Beatles sound-alike band wrapping up a live show in England, picked up some neat things in Japan, and just had a great time strolling around the world on our last afternoon at Epcot.

We spent about two hours strolling, until about six o’clock. We knew that we should leave about then if we wanted to catch the SpectroMagic parade at 7:00. So, we reluctantly took our last look around as we trudged towards the exit. We’d had such a good time, and we were all sad to go, but we still had more to see.

We hopped into the car and headed back towards the Magic Kingdom. I was actually very happy that we were finishing where we’d started this trip. The Magic Kingdom had been so much fun on the first day, I wanted to catch the spirit of the place one more time before we left. I also really wanted to see the fireworks one more time.

We were able to get parking right up near the transportation center, then hopped the monorail into the park once again. We hit Main Street USA at about 6:45 and found room to stand right in front of Tony’s (where we’d taken our first picture of Jake on the trip!) We met a nice young family and chatted while we waited for the parade to start.

The parade itself was very cool. It was the first time I’d seen it, and it is truly amazing how many different ways they light things up. (I know that lighting things up creatively doesn’t sound very impressive, but it is. You have to see it to get it.) I will concede, however, that the parade is a wee bit long. I could have done with about three fewer floats. But otherwise, I was glad we went.

We next did a little shopping along Main Street, something we hadn’t done on Sunday. We took the time to explore the wide variety of Mickified things, which seems endless. Jake wound up getting a neat bobblehead doll of Mickey in a 1930s era football uniform for his dresser. We also looked at, but finally rejected, about 400 different Disney World hats and t-shirts as we worked our way up Main Street towards Cinderella’s Castle and the fireworks. (We were looking for the “perfect” shirt and hat.)

We finally reached the end of the shops, and settled in for the fireworks, just before 8:00 p.m. The show was once again spectacular, only this time, either I blinked and missed her, or there was no Tinkerbell flying into the trees. (Maybe they only do that on weekends?)

At the end of the fireworks, we strolled slowly back down Main Street, taking in the sights and the sounds for one last time. We talked about how special the whole trip was, and what our favorite things had been, and we made sure to notice all of the details of the shops, and the people, and the characters, as we strolled out.

As we passed underneath the train station, towards the gate, I thought I heard Mickey’s voice from above and behind us somewhere. We turned around and there he was: Mickey was standing on the platform above us, saying thank you to everyone for coming, and waving goodbye. It was a really nice touch to our last day.




From here, we headed back to the car. In all the rushing around, we hadn’t taken time to eat dinner yet. As we climbed into the car, we debated about the possibilities – back to Epcot and a shot at something late there? One of the local chains? There was a Buffalo Wild Wings near the hotel. But we finally decided that we were just too beat to stay out any longer, so we settled on the McDonald’s drive-thru near the hotel. We bought some combo meals, headed back to the hotel, and chowed down on some fast food as we unwound. Perhaps it wasn’t the most traditional of final Disney meals, but it was exactly what we needed after five very full days in the park.