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Disney-MGM Studios Information Guide

Ask Matt

November 7, 2006 - #1

Every week I’ll be answering any question about the Disney-MGM Studios from planning questions to “what happened to...” questions.  So if you’ve got something you’ve been wondering about or simply need clarification, please feel free to email them to me. 

This week’s questions weren’t actually sent to me.  Being the first week of this column, I had to get some questions first. So these are questions taken from a popular Disney discussion message board but by next week, we’ll hopefully have questions to answer that were actually sent to me.

Would you go to Disney Studios on a Wednesday (in December)?
Generally speaking, Tuesday and Thursday are the best days to go to the Studios, with Thursday being the best.  December is an odd month to predict. The first 3 weeks are fairly quiet and not many crowds at all and I wouldn’t worry about crowds on Wednesday if you must go then.  However once you get to December 22 and for the rest of the month, the Studios (along with all of Walt Disney World) becomes a mad house due to the Christmas and New Years holidays.  If you were going then, I would defer to Thursday, as it will be a better option (especially since December 27 is an Extra Magic Hours night).

Osborne lights, I have no idea? Where are they at?
Well it’s an annual event with Ozzy Osbourne flies down from the Sorcerer’s Hat, bites the head off of Pal Mickey and starts playing his greatest hits.  Ok, obviously I’m kidding.  The Osborne Lights are an annual event, with no relation to Ozzy Osbourne, which play from November 13 through January 6.  It’s a gala of Christmas lights displayed in the Streets of America area each night, starting at 6pm, with “snow” falling, Christmas music playing and new this year, the lights will dance to the music once every 20 minutes or so.  For more information on the Osborne Lights, go here.

Need a little help with planning. I need to make an ADR for 50's Prime Time for the day we're at MGM. We want to have dinner there and need to coordinate it around the Osborne lights and Fantasmic. If I'm getting the correct info, I think Fantasmic is two shows that day at 7 and 8:30. I'd prefer to do the second show and hit the lights before (and maybe after too!). So when should I get my ADR at 50's for? I'll need time to join the Clean Plate Club of course. 5:30-ish or will I be cutting it too close? Thanks for the help!
Interesting question. Ideally you would have an early dinner, like 4:30ish, be done with dinner around 5:30 or so, then go to the Osborne Lights at 6pm and then make your way over to see Fantasmic!.  The problem with that plan is some people cannot fathom the idea of eating at 4:00 being under the age of 70.  The problem with a 5:30 ADR is that you’ll likely finish dinner around 6:30-7 (depending on how fast or slow you and your party eat) and you maybe a little rushed.  It’s doable but eating earlier, would be more ideal.  Eat an early lunch (11ish) and you’ll be hungry around 4.

I was sure that I had read something awhile back that Rock ‘n Roller Coaster was closing sometime soon for refurbishment. Anyone out there know the answer about this?? Our boys are hoping it will be open when we visit. Thanks for the insight.
The information I have is that Rock ‘n Roller Coaster will be closed for rehab January 7 through February 10, 2007.  At this time, Disney doesn’t have anything posted about it but Disney is notoriously slow posting this information.  I’ve had the information verified on other Disney sites and my sources tell me that cast members at Rock ‘n Roller Coaster have been told of this rehab.  And for those curious, nothing major will change; it’s the usual cleaning and organizing kind of rehab.

We will be at WDW at the end of Nov/early Dec, and everyday that we are there MGM will close at 8pm (except for extra hours, but we won't be doing those). Will the Osbourne Lights be turned off right at 8pm, or will they stay on a bit longer?
The lights are not turned off immediately at park closing; rather, they remain on for effect. The good news, most of the time cast members will allow guests to tour the lights. At park closing time, there isn’t some sort of lock-down mechanism that is engaged or a master power switch that is flipped like is commonly thought. In fact, you have 3 options at park closing time: Leave the park (duh), buy something from the shops or see the lights.  Assuming there’s no after hours event going on, you should be able to tour the Osborne Lights at park closing.  The main reason for allowing this is because folks who see Fantasmic! need to have the opportunity to see the lights.  I can’t absolutely guarantee you will be able to see the lights after closing but there is a higher chance of you being able see them than not.

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Page Last updated: 11/07/06