Disney MGM Studios

I love this theme park! It's not too big, has lots of sit down shows and plenty for the kids. So this was the first of the parks we hit on holiday. I said yesterday that meeting the Power Rangers was a big draw for Patrick,but I find it hilarious that despite all the kicking and weird Power Ranger stuff, his favourite show at the minute is Little Einsteins! I like it way better. And his favourite is June, the dancer. He had been talking for weeks before we went away about how she was his girlfriend and he was going to give her a kiss. So sweet. So we were very excited when we found out that there was a special area for the Little Einsteins meet & greet.  I walked for ages on my own to find it to make sure we weren't going to be turned away, as we had been a few times already that day. Gone are the days when you could walk round the parks and just bump into a character or two and get a picture. Now you have to go to special locations, get in line and generally get turned away as the 'cast members' will likely die of dehydration after about 20 minutes in those outfits! Anyway, I walked past Jojo and Goliath and saw Annie and Leo, two of the Little Einsteins, but no sign of June. So I ran back, grabbed Patrick, Michael and Lesley and rushed back, just to see them going away! Unbelievable! But the lady at the line assured us some more would be on their way shortly, so we stayed in line, sweated like pigs and listened to the theme tune about 12 times and then out came......June!! Patrick was nearly beside himself! We waited our turn and then he said "I don't want to see June". Well, that was not going to wash with mum! So I said , "But you've waited for ages,and I thought you were going to show her your green Ramone (from Cars, just bought by Auntie Lesley). And that did it. Off he trundled and showed her his car, gave her a kiss and she gave him a hug. Honestly, it was my favourite moment of the whole holiday! What a woose!! She was so great with him, kneeling down to get to his level and really taking an interest. Check him out.

Another highlight of the day was the amazing stunt show with exploding cars, jumps, jetskis and all sorts of excitement. Needless to say Patrick was entranced the whole way through, although there were a lot of questions about how and why and why and why!!

The parade in MGM is called Stars and Cars, so basically all the big characters from the Disney movies drive along in cars. We had a great spot for the parade. No latecoming for us, no way, we had our pitch staked out with the pram (stroller!) in the front row for a good 45 mins before it started. And it totally paid off. We got great views of everything, including the fabulous...M.I.C.K.E.Y.M.O.U.S.E.!!

And had a very close encounter with the Green Power Ranger thanks to some frantic, and slightly embarassing waving by Auntie Lesley and myself! The things you do for your children. He came right over and knelt right down by the boys. As I'm typing this it seems like a pretty silly thing to mention, but you do see these parks through kids' eyes when you have your own with you. It mattered to them, so it mattered to us, well me! I had the wrong lens on the camera to get any really good shots, but that is the bumper bar of our pram at the bottom and the top of Patrick's Pluto hat which we got sucked into paying $20 for!!

I leave tonight with another favourite shot of the day. 'Cars' is still really big in the states and there was a meet & greet with Lightning McQueen and Mater. We missed it once in the morning and made sure we wouldn't miss it again. Lesley did a stirling job of queuing for everyone while I ran around the park trying to find them! And this is the best of the shots. Totally underwhelmed again! I LOVE this little guy!

Who knows what fabulous tales I might regale you with tomorrow!