My new pal Roz

Tower of Terror may be my new favorite ride. It’s possible I like it even more than Soarin’, and that’s saying something. I’m definitely surprised how much fun it was.

My mom and Brandon liked it quite a bit also, though maybe not to the point of raving over it like me. I know Brandon is proud of himself for finally facing the ride that frightened him away so many years ago.

My dad’s reaction is cooler, and a bit perplexing. He liked it okay, but seems disappointed that “once it got going, it was just up and down until you were done.” Ooookay. I thought that was the whole point of the ride. Maybe I can get him to ride it again when they reprogram the elevators to travel diagonally, in circles, and upside down.

Brandon and I look around the gift shop on the way out, and he finds a pin he wants as a souvenir of his ride. It’s like a miniature “Do Not Disturb” door hanger with the Hollywood Tower Hotel “HTH” logo.

Okay, time for us to split up. Brandon and my dad will head back to Paradise Pier and my mom and I will stay in this area. We agree to meet back at Soarin’ Over California at 4:00 – if its line is not too long, that will make a great “last ride” before we break for supper.

My mom and I amble down the street towards the Monsters Inc. ride. Everyone else rode it on the first day, of course, but my mom’s a good sport about doing stuff again so I don’t have to ride alone.

I suspect she’s enjoying our time together a bit nostalgically – when I was growing up and we’d visit Elitch’s amusement park in Denver, my two older brothers would ride things together and my mom would ride with me. Then one day I decided I was old enough to tackle the thrill rides alone, and she was left without a riding partner. She still tells that story, by the way, overacting the desertion she felt to get a laugh. I’m glad I can be her riding partner again.

Monsters Inc. Mike and Sully to the Rescue is showing a 15 minute wait time. The queue is themed to a Monstropolis transportation center, and we are in line for our own “taxi.” Once indoors, I wish the line moved more slowly. There’s a dispatch office with a lot of notices posted on it, and they’re fun to read. I only have time to read the first in a list of taxi regulations, something about monsters being allowed to ride on the roof of the cab so long as they are so big that they dent the roof. The line keeps us moving – not a bad thing in itself, but I’m not able to read any of the other rules.

We load into the front seat of a cab. The ride is, well, pretty much what I expected, a dark ride retelling of the Monsters Inc. story – with Boo getting loose in Monstropolis, and Mike and Sully trying to return her to her room while avoided the sneaky Randall (somehow I’m partial to that villain’s name!). There are some great effects – Randall changing colors to match the background, and flying through the massive chamber of doors in particular.

All ends well, and as we approach the unload area, Roz is there in her CDA “Number 1” yellow outfit, talking to each car as it passes. We pause in front of her, and I take the opportunity to strike up a conversation. “Hey Roz, how’re you doing?”

She replies “Hello” in her droning voice.

Me: “You’re beautiful, you know that?” I’m lying, of course.

Roz: “So where’re you from?”

Me: “Dallas.”

Her: “Whatever.”

Our cars moves on. Okay, it wasn’t conversation on the level of My Dinner with Andre, but it was still funny.