Walt Disney World: A Round Up of My Thoughts

Several years ago, I did a countdown to a Disney trip I was taking by writing something about the park each day for like 100 days. It was massive and I think I had to backdate a few posts but I did it!

However, it was several years ago and Walt Disney World has made a lot of changes since then.

I recently got back from Walt Disney World and I thought I would discuss my thoughts on some of the latest changes and additions to the parks.

Here we go!

Disney Awards

I’ve locked the doors to the internet so you can’t run away! You will read my latest Disney-inspired post!

*Insert evil laugh here*

We all have taken out our old yearbooks from time to time. And one page we’ve gone back to for laughs—the “awards” section. You know—who was “Most Likely to Succeed”, “Most Likely to Live in a Trailer Down by the River” or who had the “Best Smile”? My yearbook had that section. Only our yearbook staff was crunched for time and had us make up our own.

And guess who just returned from a Walt Disney World vacation? That’s right! So, I decided to apply these to the different aspects of the Walt Disney World Resort. Why Disney World? Because I’ve only been to Disneyland once, meaning I’m more acquainted with everything down in Florida. 

Let’s begin!

A Blast From the Past

As I sat in Newark-Liberty International Airport, the snow was falling so thick we could hardly see the runways outside. Our plane was originally schedule to depart around 11:30 AM. By that time, it had already been pushed back to 12:54 PM and my family had been at the terminal for nearly three hours. But as noon approached, the snow relented and a plane was soon spotted taxi-ing to our assigned gate. By 1 PM, the JetBlue staff started to board us. Once everyone was seated, we pulled away from our gate, but we were nowhere near departure.

Because of the weather, the plane had to be de-iced. That was slated to take about another twenty minutes, according to the pilot. While that was finishing, he came on to tell us a mechanical problem had been discovered and needed to be addressed before we could depart. And so, an hour after boarding the plane, we finally took off from Newark-Liberty International Airport and left the frozen tundra that was New Jersey and New York City behind us.

Our flight was uneventful and thankfully, we did not hit any turbulence. The complimentary beverages were fine as were the snacks (I had ginger ale and munchies). My only complaint was with the TV at my seat. One thing that makes the delays more bearable is the fact you have your own TV to watch while waiting, or you could listen to music as well. There is a control panel on your arm rest to allow you to do so. Mine was broken. I was stuck in sports channels and could move sometimes if I pressed hard enough. When it switched over to the TV after takeoff, I was stuck watching Maury. After find out who was and who wasn’t cheating with random girls out of town or their fiance’s mother or confirming they were the baby-daddy, I decided just to spend the rest of the flight listening to my iPod and reading my Kindle.

The sky was clear and the sun was starting to set as we touched down in Orlando International Airport. As we had signed up for Disney’s Magical Express, we didn’t have to pick up our luggage—a cast member would do that for us and bring it to our room. We proceeded straight to the Magical Express check in and were able to board our bus immediately. I read that there was a decline in Magical Express ridership and I find that odd. It makes everything easier—no need to worry about your luggage and direct transportation to your hotel.

After a stop at the Caribbean Beach Resort, our bus pulled up to Pop Century Resort. My mother and I went to check in and soon we were on our way to our rooms. This time we’re staying in the 90’s, which we’ve nicknamed “Guam.” After putting our stuff in our rooms, we returned to catch the bus to the Magic Kingdom. We go there at the start of every trip and ride the WEDway People Mover—but last time we went, it was closed due to the refurbishment of Space Mountain.

After dinner at Cosmic Ray’s and a spin on Buzz Lightyear, we hopped from monorail to monorail to go to Epcot, which had the magical hours that night. (It was one of the monorails specially designed to promote Tron Legacy). We quickly found ourselves on Space Ship Earth before going to see how the lines looked at Mission: Space. The green team line was short and after, we ran over to Test Track. We were actually able to get on the stand-by line and ride together, and then hung out in the show room to wait for some friends who had come down a few days earlier than us.

Once we were all together, we went to Soarin’, which only had a thirty minute wait (if that). As they had been in the park the entire day, we bid each other a goodnight and they headed to the exit. We, on the other hand, turned to the Imagination Pavilion—it was time to revisit Captain Eo! The movie premiered in 1986 (the year I was born) and was removed in the early 1990s, so I have very dim memories of it. My sister never saw it.

In the waiting area, they play the original pre-show. It is a behind the scenes feature with Coppola, Lucas and Jackson as well as the crew and dancers. During which, all my sister could say was “Look at that 80’s hair!” We entered the theater and sat down to experience “Captain Eo.”

Since we’re talking George Lucas, this is set in space! Captain Eo is part of a group that keeps the universe good. We are told two conflicting details about this captain: that he is a respected captain and that he has bungled a mission or two. So it’s hard to peg him—the efficient hero who gets the job done or the misfit leader who gets by by the skin of his teeth. However, after viewing the whole movie, it seems that they were going for misfit leader with unorthodox ways that gets results. We come into Eo’s ship, manned by robots and rejected Muppets. As they rush around and yell at each other, up rises Michael Jackson. He looks like a mighty hero, a captain you would follow, and just seriously badass.

And then he speaks.

It’s hard to take someone seriously as a serious badass space captain when he sounds like he never hit puberty! Anyway, it is revealed that Eo and his crew are on their way to a planet to deliver a gift to its leader. However, one of the Muppet Reject Crew has lost the map and they’ve been spotted by the planet’s defenses. Once they crash into the homing device, they must get to the leader—which is easy as they are quickly captured.

The planet’s leader looks like a cross between a spider and how you usually find all your extension cords—knotted together in a giant ball. Everything is black, white and grey and she hisses like a snake. Captain Eo calls her beautiful but it is buried, needing to be unlocked. He is going to unlock it for her. As his crew turns into the Muppet Reject Band, the queen sends her robotic forces after him. Once the music begins, the soldiers are turned into dancers wearing orange and yellow costumes. They form a small army behind Captain Eo and start dancing.

And here’s where we get to see Michael relive his glory days, his Thriller success. His dancing ability is mesmerizing and you only watch him (though he is the only one in white). He then starts singing a song with the chorus of “We are here to change the world”. It is such an 80’s sentiment, though it is interesting to note that at one point, the queen calls Captain Eo and the Muppet Reject Crew “Infidels.” As the dancing army continues to sing, Captain Eo continues to convert more of her soldiers into his backup dancers.

Now, he has enough power to convert the queen. In a flash of neon, the wire-spider disappears and in her place we get…well, as my sister said “Angelica Huston?” She doesn’t speak, just waves as Captain Eo realizes his mission is complete. He dances out of the palace, Muppet Reject Crew once again with him. As their ship sails back into the black of space, the Captain Eo logo is brought back up.

Like most Disney 3-D films, this one also has ways of putting you right in the middle of the action. When there are blinking lights on screen, they blink in the theater. As the spaceship engages in battle and swoops through a set that looks oddly reminiscent of the Death Star, the theater rattles as well. When the queen sends out her robotic minions, their whips lash against your own leg as they hit Eo’s.

Overall, it is a very dated piece—and not just by how good Michael Jackson looks. The sentiments and the outfits are clearly from the 80’s. While I wouldn’t mind a return of the former, the latter can stay clearly there. (As you can tell, I’m not a big fan of 80’s fashion). If you find yourself in Epcot one of these days, I definitely recommend a stop to see Captain Eo. If only to just remember what Michael Jackson once was.

47 Days to Go: Top 5 List!

And now we have another Top 5 list...

Top 5 Attractions at Epcot!

5. Maelstrom

4. Test Track

3. American Adventure

2. Mission Space

1. Soarin'

Honorable Mention: Universe of Energy

63 Days to Go: Boardwalk Inn

In the next installment of my Disney hotel series, we go across from the Beach and Yacht Club to Disney's Boardwalk Inn Resort.

Designed to evoke the feel of the 1900s, the Boardwalk was designed after the boardwalks that sprung up in Atlantic City and Ocean City, which grew in popularity as people flocked to the Jersey shore in order to escape the heat and crowds of the city. The rooms are built around the boardwalk, which over looks the lagoon that separates it from the Beach and Yacht Club as well as the back entrance to Epcot.

Even if you don't stay at the Boardwalk, I suggest a visit to it. Along the boardwalk are several restaurants, including the ESPN Club and Big River Grille and Brewing Works. My family loves to eat at the Big River Grille, which also houses its own brewery. You can dine and watch them brew the beer at the same time. The last time we went, the building was under refurbishment so Big River had been relocated to the Atlantic Dance Hall (which turns into a dance club every night). My mother and I had grilled chicken over penne covered in marinara sauce which was delicious.

The Boardwalk is listed as an Epcot resort and falls under "Deluxe" on the pricing list.

64 Days to Go: Disney's Beach and Yacht Club

Continuing with my Disney hotel series, I've finally moved on to the Deluxe level of hotels--for those who want to pay the big bucks and/or make the most of their Disney vacation. First up is the Beach and Yacht Club.

These are technically two separate hotels but share amenities and staffs. They are often combined in reference as well. The Beach Club is styled to look like a turn-of-the-century seaside resort. There is also a fifth floor concierge level for those willing to pay the price and want to be treated like VIPs. One of the main attractions of the Beach Club that I want to go to is the Beaches & Cream Soda Shop. It is a burger joint and ice cream shoppe. They have a specialty called "The Kitchen Sink Sundae" because it includes everything plus the kitchen sink (no joke, the ice cream is served in a kitchen sink). I don't have a big enough stomach to handle such a task (unless about ten people want to split one with me. Any takers?) so I'll just have a regular sundae.

The Yacht Club is designed to make guests feel like they are staying aboard a ship. The hotel comes with a fancy restaurant called the Yachtsman Steakhouse and a less-formal dining experience called the Captain's Grille. It also shares Stormalong Bay with the Beach Club, a beach along one of the lakes inside Walt Disney World.

Besides the bus to and from the parks, you can also reach the Beach and Yacht clubs by boat. A ferry runs between the hotels, the Swan, the Dolphin, the Boardwalk, Epcot and Hollywood Studios. Epcot is also a five minute walk from the hotels. Guests can access the park via the International Gate. This will lead you to an area between the France Pavilion and the United Kingdom pavilion. Because of this, the resort is labeled an "Epcot" resort.

70 Days to Go: Disney Memories (#1)

I figured I'd share with you some of my favorite Disney memories, every ten posts.

The first one is actually one of my earliest, from when I was a little girl. It's of an Epcot restaurant called the Odyssey. Designed in a futuristic decor, the restaurant also provided entertainment. You could watch Disney characters (Mickey, Minnie, Donald, etc) dance around in space suits that looked like they were made from tin foil. Since I was so young when I went, I can hardly remember the music or the food served, but I do remember that I loved to go there. And that lasts longer than anything else. It tugs my heart every time I pass the building that housed the restaurant, now vacant.

Dear Disney, Bring it back! Love, Me.

81 Days to Go: World Showcase

It's time to go around the world in 80 minutes!

The World Showcase in Epcot was created to promote cultural understanding...and tourism. Eleven countries make up the showcase, with America at its center. The other ten countries are Mexico, Norway, China, Germany, Italy, Japan, Morocco, France, United Kingdom and Canada. Germany, Italy, Japan, Morocco and the United Kingdom don't have attractions but do contain examples of the country's architecture, goods and food.

I have never seen "Reflections of China" and "O Canada!" because they are 360s. My mother gets motion sickness and now I fear I will get it too. The last time I saw "Impressions de France," comprised of various scenes of France set to famous French compositions, I was dizzy even though it's a 180! If these viewing styles do not bother you, I suggest you see all three films.

The Mexican Pavilion is designed to resemble a Mayan temple on the outside, but a plaza on the inside. Souvenirs are sold like in a market place while the San Angel Inn allows diners to always have an open-air, evening dining experience. My father and sister will be dining there this time while my mother and I are dining at the Rose and Crown over in the United Kingdom. The attraction was recently updated from the old "River of Time" to "Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros." Panchito and Jose take you on a search throughout Mexico to find the wayward Donald, the third Caballero. The ride ends in Mexico City, perhaps during a Cinco de Mayo celebration, and a concert by the Three Caballeros.

The Norway Pavilion evokes a Norwegian village, complete with the replica of a stave church. The main attraction here is Maelstrom, a boat ride through Norway's history and mythology. It does have some high speeds and a drop, but it is a fun ride. At the end of the ride, there is a short video about Norway. And trust me, this is the reason why my family wants to go to Norway. We watch it at least once a trip. The exit is through a series of souvenir shops filled with Norwegian goods. I have to hurry through this as there is one section dedicated to perfumes, which I am allergic to. My mother, though, often stopped to sample some of the perfumes. She liked one in particularly and finally treated herself to a bottle the last time we were there. She was using it sparingly, so when a family friend asked if we wanted any Christmas presents from Disney, my dad gave him money to buy another bottle for my mother. She was surprised and thrilled to open that present!

The American Adventure plays at the American Pavilion, a thirty-minute show zipping through American history. While it jumps over things and tends to gloss over, it does show slavery and our harsh treatment of the Indians. Hosted by audio-animatronic figures of Ben Franklin and Mark Twain, paintings, songs and other audio-animatronics tell America's story from the arrival of the Pilgrims to World War II. After that scene, a final musical montage takes over, entitled "Golden Dream." It covers the last half century of American history, important events and people. It was recently updated in 2007 to address recent events, such as 9/11 (portrayed using the shot of the firefighters raising the American flag over the rubble that once was the World Trade Center and a shot of Peter Jennings reporting that day). They also added important Americans such as Rosa Parks, Sandra Day O'Connor, Tiger Woods, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Lance Armstrong, Yo-Yo Ma, Oprah Winfrey and others. If you go see the American Adventure, try to get there early enough to hear the Voices of Liberty, Disney's a cappella group. They perform songs from America's musical history and explain certain events. I love listening ot them.

The American Adventure is where we also eat in the World Showcase, featuring good old American food. I have also eaten in the Chinese restaurant, but was sick so I can't give a good review.

The last thing you should do in Epcot is stay for Illuminations, a fireworks and lights display promoting global unity. It's a beautiful presentation and they light up the entire World Showcase. Good views can be scene from the United Kingdom as well as Future World.

82 Days to Go: Future World (Epcot)

Everybody has their favorite park. My dad loves the Magic Kingdom. I myself prefer Epcot Center. EPCOT--or Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow. Walt Disney imagined EPCOT as the ideal town, a future utopia. This original design can be seen on the WED-way over in Tomorrowland, housed inside the Carousel of Progress. Overtime, EPCOT became Epcot, a place where the world of today met the world of tomorrow.

The world of tomorrow is represented in Future World. The center piece of this world and the symbol of Epcot is Spaceship Earth--AKA the Giant Golf Ball. It houses its namesake ride, a journey through the history of communication. This is one of my favorite rides...and yes, I was a communications major. Though only a few years ago did I realize that in the Ancient Greece scene, the play being performed is the tragedy Oedipus Rex--particularly the scene where Oedipus learns he killed his father and married his mother! Spaceship Earth has gotten an update, replacing the narration by Jeremy Irons with Dame Judi Dench (I love Irons' voice and am going to miss it) and putting an interactive ending. For us who remember Horizons, it will be a trip down memory lane.

The Land promotes going green and has done so long before it was cool. In Livin' with the Land, we follow the history of man's relationship with the land as well as the different ecosystems found on the earth. The ride ends with a tour of Disney's farming labs, where they are working on different ways to improve farming so as not to disturb the ecosystems. They also have sustainable fish farms, which helped me pass my Environmental Studies final. In fact, this entire ride helped me pass. Everything grown in this farm is eaten in Disney restaurants. Also in the Land is "The Circle of Life," billed as an "environmental fable." Simba (Matthew Broderick reprising his role) tells Timon and Pumbaa (Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella) a story about how human progress destroyed the environment in order to explain how important the circle of life is. It ends with humans realizing we were wrong and trying to right it. All footage is from 1994, so the latest green fad is not included.

Also housed in The Land is one of Epcot's three big rides--Soarin'. Imported from California, Soarin' puts guests on gliding seats that take off over a giant screen. You are then "flown" over California, flying over Death Valley, Monterey Bay, and others. The ride ends, naturally, in Disneyland just as the nightly fireworks begin. It is a definite Fast Pass ride as this one can have a waiting time of 3 hours! The other two big rides are Test Track and Mission: Space. Test Track, once sponsored by GM (which they recently pulled for obvious reasons), allows guests to experience the tests their cars are put through before they get out on the road. The highlight of this ride is the 60 mph hairpin turns. Test Track does have a history of breaking down, so be careful. If you can't Fast Pass this lane and your group is full of older guests who wouldn't mind being broken up, go on the single rider lane. It's faster than stand-by. Mission: Space takes you on a journey to Mars, guided by Gary Sinise. There are two versions of the ride. In the Orange version, you will experience all the feelings astronauts feel in outer space thanks to g-forces created by spinning. The green ride is the same with just simulations and no spinning. You will want to Fast Pass the orange ride, but the green ride generally has a five minute wait period.

Epcot also hosts The Living Seas with Nemo and Friends, Journey into Your Imaginations, the Universe of Energy, Honey, I Shrunk the Audience, and Innovations. In the Living Seas, you board a clam mobile to try and find Nemo. In the end, images of the characters appear to be swimming with the actual fish living in The Living Seas. I love just watching these fish swim about. There is also Turtle Talk with Crush, like the Monsters Inc Comedy Floor. It allows the audience to interact with the sea turtle of the movie. Innovations holds different inventions and interactive activities for children to do.

Journey into Your Imagination takes guests on a tour of Imagination Labs, dedicated to the study of the imagination. However, the planned tour is hijacked by Figment, the purple dinosaur, and he reminds us what using your imagination is all about--thinking up new things and looking at the world in a different way. This replaced Journey into the Imagination, which was quickly shut down as guests complained how bad the ride was crafted--an expample of Disney screwing a ride. The original Journey into the Imagination featured Figment with the Dreamfinder, a man who traveled the universe to find things that could spark a person's imagination. It's song "One Little Spark" remains one of my favorites to this day. Next to this is Honey, I Shrunk the Audience. It replaced Magic Journeys and Captain Eo (starring one Michael Jackson in his "Thriller" days). Wayne is receiving an award but due to some mishaps, shrinks the audience. It is 4-Day, so you do feel some of the effects. My family hasn't done this in a while as it is an old attraction and you can only see it so many times.

The Universe of Energy plays "Ellen's Energy Adventure," starring Ellen Degeneres. She dreams she ends up on Jeopardy! (On the real set, circa the mid-90s, hosted by Alex Trebek still sporting his mustache) competing against Albert Einstein and her old college roommate (Jamie Lee Curtis), an expert on energy. All the categories are about energy and Ellen is losing by the time Double Jeopardy comes around. She freezes her dream and neighbor Bill Nye the Science Guy pops by to see Einstein. He offers to help Ellen, bringing her back to the start of time to see where energy comes from. He tells her about the different energy options humans have, from coal to water to wind to solar to nuclear. This ride is informative without being preachy and the journey through the world of the dinosaurs is a thrilling experience.

Foodwise, you can eat in the cafeteria of the Land, with some healthy and delicious offerings. There is also the Garden Grill, which rotates and allows views of Living with the Land. Because it rotates, we've never eaten there. The Living Seas has a seafood restaurant I heard is great (I don't eat seafood). My family, though, usually ends up at the Electric Umbrella. It once served pizza, but now is hamburgers and chicken. Or it was the last time we went--menus at Disney change constantly.

Tomorrow: We cross the bridge into the World Showcase. Bring your passports!