Ratsmith
Dare to be Stupid
- Joined
- Apr 6, 2015
So I wrote this for a friend that loves Disney, she suggested I share this with the board.
Even though I'd planned to visit Disney later; I discovered Captain EO was ending its run in Epcot in December. Since the last time I saw this show was at Disneyland in the 1990's when I was ten I lamented the fact that I'd miss it.
Then I discovered I could do a round trip from Sioux Falls to the Orlando area for $155 bucks. That was three weeks out.
Really now, how could I not go?
This would be my second trip to Walt Disney World. I was there this past spring on a family trip and we ended up missing a lot of stuff due to issues that probably always arise to Rookie Disney Guests. I swore I would come back, maybe multiple times. So going now solo would operate as my test run to get a feel of the parks, of the hotels, of driving through some of the Orlando Areas.
Disney Trip Report: Day One
Thursday Dec 3, 2015 - Travel
I worked over the previous weekend to my trip so I wouldn't burn any vacation. I worked the night before the flight. I left work early (I work overnights) and drove to Sioux Falls. I padded my driving time by several hours in order to compensate for potential bad road conditions from the snowfall we'd just had.
This was overkill. I ended up waiting four hours for the plane in the terminal.
The flight was perfect: clear skies, just a touch of exciting turbulence, and zero problems with boarding.
I haas an Alamo car rental waiting for me. Even though I was only supposed to get a tiny economy vehicle the Alamo rep said choose whatever I wanted (sans convertibles or sports cars which didn't interest me). I chose a car I had been interested in buying making this trip a test drive opportunity as well.
I hit the Orlando area tollways about four. Which was the one aspect of the trip I was most nervous over. (I'm used to driving in a much smaller town) Fortunately Driving went off without incident.
I made it to the Wyndham Lake Buena Vista and checked in smoothly enough. This hotel is right across the street from Disney Springs. Easily accessible via a walking bridge over the road.
My original plan was to hit up Disney Springs that night. However by that point I'd been awake over 24 hours and wound up crashing in my room about 6:30 pm.
That was day one of my trip.
Disney Trip Report: Day Two
Dec 4, 2015 - Epcot
One of the downsides of falling asleep so early is waking up too early.
I'm in an unfamiliar place and don't want to spring for food and bottled water at Disney prices. At least I don't want to spring for it until I'm in the actual parks.
It's about 2:30 am at this point.
Everything seems closed but after asking around I'm pointed to a gas station a couple blocks away. The road there is under construction including the sidewalks. So I slog over muddy ground in order to get to there. The place is packed with construction workers; I guess they encourage construction overnights in Florida.
The station doesn't have a great selection but I grab a water, a couple of donuts and slog my way back to the hotel.
At this point I wait until the first bus arrives at the Resort for Epcot.
Busses from the Disney Springs Area resorts start one hour prior to the opening of the park they arrive at. This allows me time to get to the park before it opens. About fifteen minutes prior to the opening time guests were allowed into the park and past Spaceship Earth to where a rope stopped us from going to the East or West Areas of Future World. I queued up with the folks on the West Side hoping to get to the attraction I wanted to see as fast as possible.
The opening message came over the loudspeakers with a lot of fanfare and good morning being spoken from each language or intonation from the different world showcases. Then the ropes dropped and a cast member led our crowd into the Western Part of Future World. At one point I realized that we seemed to be going the wrong way though. I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to keep following the group or if I could just start walking south through unblocked paths to my destination. That was when I realized that the cast member was leading us to The Land. More than likely for Soarin’.
I split away from the group and was the first person to show up for Captain EO’s first show of the day. Only three others showed up for that show. I came back later in the day and many more folks were at that show.
I can’t remember the exact order I did things that day so I’ll just list off the stuff I did with a short thought about them:
* Spaceship Earth: I love this ride, its worth at least one ride through as it is slow but interesting. Plus Spaceship Earth is something I tend to really associate with Disney World. My formative Years were spent seeing images of this icon because I was very young when Epcot opened. I’m surprised Disney hasn’t created a Green Screen Photo op that would put you on the top of Spaceship Earth Waving the Way Mickey Mouse always did in the old commercials. This is a great example of Disney doing something which I noticed in a lot of things at Epcot, balancing
* Captain EO: I rode this twice. I still have a fondness for MJ. There was something special about the brand of Magic he offered the world. Like Walt Disney he has a dark side that slightly tarnishes his memory but I’m more interested in the glowing performances than getting into that stuff. The show shows its age, but it has an Eighties Retro Charm. I’m glad Disney Brought it back, but understand why it cannot stay. The beginning and endings are the strongest. The beginning is a straight up science fiction space battle and the ending is classic Michael Jackson song and Dance magic. I also find it interesting that Michael Jackson Defeats Star Trek’s Borg Queen long before she was put into Star Trek. One other note, I’m not a fan of 3D. Of all the 3D options at Disney I find it hard to focus my eyes to make the objects on the screen really pop. This becomes worst the closer the filmmakers try to push the object into your face.
* Journey into Imagination with Figment: I unfortunately missed this the last time I was in the park and very much regret that. My nephew would have have loved it. Right off the Bat in the Queue line you see Robin Williams and Rick Moranis as their Disney Scientist Counterparts alongside Eric Idle as a Scientist you will be seeing inside the Ride. The Ride consists of Eric Idle trying to illustrate the value of understanding the standard Five Human Senses. A little purple Dragon known as Figment of the Imagination keeps interrupting these experiments to demonstrate how they should be used to amplify the human Imagination. This ends with a journey into the crazy world of Figment’s Imagination itself.
I can’t express how much I loved this Ride. I rode it at least twice and everything about it gives me warm fuzzies. I wish Disney would concentrate on creating a full length movie based around Figment. He’s a Great character, and the song he sings is wonderfully catchy.
* Living with The Land: A ride talking about how human agriculture arose to feed the billions of people we currently have on Earth. It gets very interesting when the ride takes you through the actual areas where Disney is using modern and even experimental techniques to grow much of the food used in the restaurants at Epcot.
* Soarin’: I only rode this once each trip. Although I wasn’t as disappointed the second time as I was the first time. I love the mechanics of the ride. Being hoisted in front of the dome screen, being immersed in the view, having the fans blow wind in your face; the ride is very impressive. I also love Patrick Warburton’s short prep video. The downside is the manor in which the flying sequences just randomly jump from one place to another really sucks me out of the experience and there seems to be an issue with dust on the movie screens. Overall its worth at least riding this once per trip.
* Circle of Life: An Environmental Fable: This is ok. Its a straight forward movie with Simba, Timon and Pumba going over how humanity has impacted the Earth with its bad and good habits and how things can get better if we work together. It is ok but I don’t think I will see this one again.
* The Seas with Nemo and Friends: This is a ride where you are taken along in a moving clamshell through scenes reminiscent of the movie Finding Nemo; wherein Nemo has once again run off and all of his family and friends are out looking for him. Lots of animatronics and video screens bring everything to life. It ends with view of an actual giant aquarium and has Nemo and friends swimming alongside real fish. This is a very fun ride.
* Turtle Talk with Crush: This is one of the best little gems that Epcot has in its favor. Its a small space with benches and a section of floor for kids to sit on. Then a video screen shows an aquarium where Crush from Finding Nemo comes swimming in and has a Q&A with us Human Dudes. This is another I wish i’d found the last time I was at the park. Its perfect for kids and allows for whoever is voicing Crush to make the experience that much more magical and funny for guests. It also allows this little happening to be slightly different every time you check it out. I highly recommend going.
* Test Track: I only checked out Test Track twice this trip. Which I really adore. I lost a bit of the experience though by going through the Single Rider Line. This makes it a fast line experience but you don’t get to custom design a car with as much detail as if you’d gone through the Stand By line.
Still, this is a very fun ride and I enjoyed it immensely.
* Mission: Space: Last trip I rode it, this trip I skipped it. I am not fond of gravity rides…even if I think they did a very good job with this one.
* Universe of Energy: Ellen Degeneres and Bill Nye the Science Guy take you on a tour of Energy from the Big Bang at the start of the known Universe to how humanity creates electricity with natural resources today. All while riding ginormous seats through arena sized rooms filled with animatronic dinosaurs. I loved it.
* World Showcase: So the last time I was at Epcot I had my nephew in tow. I made the mistake of going into the World Showcase with him, which he was a little young to appreciate. We had to stop halfway around and catch a boat back to Future World. This trip gave me a chance to check out more World Showcase Pavilions.
* Canada: Had a circle vision movie about Canada staring Martin Short, (A Canadian).
* United Kingdom: This is a lovely little road with some interesting quaint shops.
* France: I didn’t get much of a vibe from France and ended up just breezing through.
* Morocco: I loved the architecture and colorful clothing they had for sale.
* Japan: Only two things kept me from buying everything I could lay my hands on here, the size of my carryon bag and the price of toys.
* United States: I caught a glimpse of Whoopi Goldberg as special guest for a Christmas Concert.
* Italy: I don’t like wine. Though I’m tempted to check out the restaurant in the future to get a pizza.
* Germany: I don’t like beer. Though I liked the model village with the running trains.
* China: The Clay Chinese warrior exhibit was interesting. There was also a Mask Changing performance out front.
* Norway: I didn’t stick around long. I liked some of the architecture though. Unfortunately I never rode the Maelstrom, I’ve heard good things about it. Maybe someday I’ll ride the Frozen ride are working to replace it with.
* Mexico: Probably my favorite world Showcase. I can drink Tequila, admire the colorful clothing and art for sale and ride the Three Caballeros Ride.
I also managed to ride the Monorail so I could get that experience under my belt. I missed out on Illuminations because I wanted to wake up early the next day. I left the park early and headed for my hotel.
I was still a little wired to sleep and in need of something to eat, so I’m exploring the area on Google maps when I discover that there was a McDonald’s not far off. In fact it was right next to a 24 Hour Grocery Store called Goodings. I decided to walk down to them.
I picked up a six pack of water from there and opted for some tacos from Taco Bell then headed back to my hotel for the night. It was only a mile from my hotel, easy walking distance. I’m noting that for future trips, because I really do like the Disney Springs area.
Come morning I would have to make a decision. Go to the Animal Kingdom which closes early which would enable me to get back to the hotel and have a good night sleep before getting on an early flight Sunday morning, or go to the Magic Kingdom and party until it closes at midnight.
Disney Trip Report: Day Three
Dec 5, 2015 - Magic Kingdom
It was a hard decision when picking what would be my second Park for the trip. I wanted to revisit the Magic Kingdom again because there is more to do there, but the Animal Kingdom is the one park I have yet to experience. Playing around with MyDisneyExperience while waiting for the shuttle to come pretty much settled it for me, I booked three fast passes for Space Mountain, The Seven Dwarves Mine Ride and Peter Pan’s Flight.
Magic Kingdom it is.
The Shuttle from the Disney Affiliated Hotels do not go directly to the Gate Bus Parking lot. Instead it stopped at the Ticket center. The Monorail and Boats were both experiencing some downtime or delays so I ended up getting on another bus with my fellow passengers that would take us around the lake to the Front Gate.
Security really admired the vest I wore, I had it wired with earbuds from my iPod and there are many pockets I could store items in. He thought the vest was cool, but a little annoying to search from his point of view.
After that I was able to experience the Opening Ceremony for the First time. The Mayor of Main Street USA and his friends bid everyone good morning and soon the train with Mickey and Company as well as a special guest family showed up to give us a countdown to the official opening of the Magic Kingdom. I think the only small detail that disappointed me here was the fact that the clock on the train station was completely wrong. I know that is a nit-pick but it really bugged me seeing the clock show about ten minutes after the hour when we were counting down to 8 a.m.
I flowed into the Magic Kingdom with the crowd like water oozing into a dry lakebed; Each of us making rivulets of people finding the paths of least resistance to the rides or shows we all wanted to get to first. I hung a right into Future World so I could get a taste of Space Mountain right off the bat. There was no line to wait in. It was a wonderful start to the day.
One additional note: I walked into the park happily drinking my bottle of Pepsi. It bugs the hell out of me that you can only get Coca Cola at the Disney Parks. I absolutely cannot stand Coca Cola.
I’ll do the same thing as with the Epcot Attractions, the order I talk about them won’t necessarily be in the order I did them with the one exception of my favorite attraction…
Near the end of the night I was unsure of how easy it would be to get back to the hotel so I ended up leaving halfway through the Wishes Fireworks Display.
Luckily the Monorail was running. I hopped onboard to get back to the Ticket Center and transfer to the bus going back to my Hotel.
As soon as I stepped onboard they shut the Monorail off for a system reboot. It only lasted a minute luckily.
There are two bus lines that serve the Hotels in the Disney Springs area. Labeled A and B. I had the B bus. When I first arrived at the bus stop I noticed the A Bus idling there. I waited for the B bus. This ended up being a mistake. Had I hopped on the A Bus I could have gotten off at one of the hotels it stops at which isn’t far from my Hotel and walked to my hotel, not wasting any time.
Instead I waited for the B bus and a crowd gathered around me. After a long wait we ended up getting on a very crowded bus together.
I make it back to my hotel room a little after 11pm. I make sure everything is packed up before grabbing a little shut eye. I have an early flight the next day and still need to drive to the airport.
Disney Trip Report: Day Four
Dec 6, 2015 - Going Home
I had a flight leaving the Sanford Airport at 7:15 am. I wanted to be there two hours early just in Case.
After an exhausting day at the Magic Kingdom going to sleep wasn’t an issue, waking up might be. Fortunately the second of four alarms I set on my phone woke me up.
I gathered my stuff, checked out of the hotel, the Valet got my car for me. I tipped him just a couple of bucks, not sure if that was appropriate or not. I hit up Goodings one last time for some donuts then set Google maps up to direct me to the airport.
Something strange happened; I was being directed down several different side streets. I thought Google would put me right back on the toll roads. It was when I found myself driving right next to the Universal Studios parks that I realized something was really wrong.
I pulled over and checked my phone to discover that Google Maps was set for Walking directions. It also expected me to arrive at the airport in 24 hours.
I switched it to driving directions and it got me back on the main toll road and I got back to the airport with little trouble. Gassed up right before returning my rental car and made it into the Airport and through security with no issues and an hour to spare.
The flight home was great. With the exception that due to some clouds I wasn’t able to watch the countryside during takeoff.
It was very warm in Sioux Falls when I landed, around 26 degrees. I Couldn’t ask for a nicer day for my three hour drive home to Aberdeen.
Disney Trip Report: Final Thoughts
Eating:
I remember being very annoyed at Table Service Restaurants the last time I went to Disney World. Don’t get me wrong, the food was mostly delicious, but the experience of being on time for a reservation and then being presented with a lot of food that bloats me up and makes me unwilling to continue to do rides and adventures at the park is just annoying. This time out I opted for Counter Service and the occasional snacks. My favorite items this go-around was a Pulled Pork on Waffle Fries option I found over in Adventure Land and the Fish n Chips I had at the French Pavilion.
I will eventually give the Table Service Restaurants another try, but will plan them for either very early or very late in the day.
Lots of Walking…
No, I mean loooooots of Walking. I put in around 12 hours at Epcot and around 14 hours at The Magic Kingdom. Almost exclusively on my feet. I sat for attractions and a couple of quick meals but never took a serious break from Park Enjoyment. I ended up paying for it at the hotel room, once I put my feet up for an hour getting back on them would make them severely hurt. But a few hours of sleep helped get them back in good order.
Now that I have a better familiarity with the layout of the parks I’m more inclined to actually take a much longer respite; Maybe a couple hours somewhere in the middle of the day. I also will never attempt this kind of Marathon Park Enjoyment if I’m not alone. I have a job where I’m on my feet for many hours at a time, and I used to jog five miles a day.
Crowds
Crowd management is needed more the further you progress into the day. The morning was very light and waiting for even the popular rides didn’t take long at all. Come mid afternoon I could see that was shifting. By the time the sun had set there were quite the crowds around, especially lining up for parades and it didn’t seem worth it to get in line for some of the more popular attractions.
Something occurred to me when I compared the crowds in the latter part of the day to the near emptiness of the early morning. The layout of the park seemed larger and more confusing with all the people there. I wonder if there is a word for how a large body of people can make a room seem even bigger than it really is. (this was just a weird thought that occurred to me)
Going Solo
Being alone makes it easy to get a lot more done. You can weave through a crowd and not worry about losing your friends or family in tow. It’s easy to choose to do something on a whim if you see it has little to no line involved. I can also see where Park Hoppers are handy for a guest has some knowledge of the Parks. After all Epcot and Hollywood Studios are connected via walkway or boat, and there is a Monorail running from Epcot to the Magic Kingdom.
Some future trip I should give the Dolphin or Swan a try where I can really hop between the parks with a nearby place to cool off or even take a quick nap.
The Future
I’m going back.
I’m going to have to replenish my savings first, but I’m definitely going back. I feel I’ve learned so much about how to prepare and what to expect. I can’t wait to put new plans into action. From timing cheap flights, to figuring out which hotel to use, to maybe even overcoming some of my phobias about driving in bigger cities in order to explore more of the Orlando area.
Currently I’m planning on an April Trip with my parents into the area. We are going to meet up with my brother and his wife who lives in Georgia and probably hit up Universal Studios, so that will be an entirely new land to explore. After that…who knows.
But I will be back.
Even though I'd planned to visit Disney later; I discovered Captain EO was ending its run in Epcot in December. Since the last time I saw this show was at Disneyland in the 1990's when I was ten I lamented the fact that I'd miss it.
Then I discovered I could do a round trip from Sioux Falls to the Orlando area for $155 bucks. That was three weeks out.
Really now, how could I not go?
This would be my second trip to Walt Disney World. I was there this past spring on a family trip and we ended up missing a lot of stuff due to issues that probably always arise to Rookie Disney Guests. I swore I would come back, maybe multiple times. So going now solo would operate as my test run to get a feel of the parks, of the hotels, of driving through some of the Orlando Areas.
Disney Trip Report: Day One
Thursday Dec 3, 2015 - Travel
I worked over the previous weekend to my trip so I wouldn't burn any vacation. I worked the night before the flight. I left work early (I work overnights) and drove to Sioux Falls. I padded my driving time by several hours in order to compensate for potential bad road conditions from the snowfall we'd just had.
This was overkill. I ended up waiting four hours for the plane in the terminal.
The flight was perfect: clear skies, just a touch of exciting turbulence, and zero problems with boarding.
I haas an Alamo car rental waiting for me. Even though I was only supposed to get a tiny economy vehicle the Alamo rep said choose whatever I wanted (sans convertibles or sports cars which didn't interest me). I chose a car I had been interested in buying making this trip a test drive opportunity as well.
I hit the Orlando area tollways about four. Which was the one aspect of the trip I was most nervous over. (I'm used to driving in a much smaller town) Fortunately Driving went off without incident.
I made it to the Wyndham Lake Buena Vista and checked in smoothly enough. This hotel is right across the street from Disney Springs. Easily accessible via a walking bridge over the road.
My original plan was to hit up Disney Springs that night. However by that point I'd been awake over 24 hours and wound up crashing in my room about 6:30 pm.
That was day one of my trip.
Disney Trip Report: Day Two
Dec 4, 2015 - Epcot
One of the downsides of falling asleep so early is waking up too early.
I'm in an unfamiliar place and don't want to spring for food and bottled water at Disney prices. At least I don't want to spring for it until I'm in the actual parks.
It's about 2:30 am at this point.
Everything seems closed but after asking around I'm pointed to a gas station a couple blocks away. The road there is under construction including the sidewalks. So I slog over muddy ground in order to get to there. The place is packed with construction workers; I guess they encourage construction overnights in Florida.
The station doesn't have a great selection but I grab a water, a couple of donuts and slog my way back to the hotel.
At this point I wait until the first bus arrives at the Resort for Epcot.
Busses from the Disney Springs Area resorts start one hour prior to the opening of the park they arrive at. This allows me time to get to the park before it opens. About fifteen minutes prior to the opening time guests were allowed into the park and past Spaceship Earth to where a rope stopped us from going to the East or West Areas of Future World. I queued up with the folks on the West Side hoping to get to the attraction I wanted to see as fast as possible.
The opening message came over the loudspeakers with a lot of fanfare and good morning being spoken from each language or intonation from the different world showcases. Then the ropes dropped and a cast member led our crowd into the Western Part of Future World. At one point I realized that we seemed to be going the wrong way though. I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to keep following the group or if I could just start walking south through unblocked paths to my destination. That was when I realized that the cast member was leading us to The Land. More than likely for Soarin’.
I split away from the group and was the first person to show up for Captain EO’s first show of the day. Only three others showed up for that show. I came back later in the day and many more folks were at that show.
I can’t remember the exact order I did things that day so I’ll just list off the stuff I did with a short thought about them:
* Spaceship Earth: I love this ride, its worth at least one ride through as it is slow but interesting. Plus Spaceship Earth is something I tend to really associate with Disney World. My formative Years were spent seeing images of this icon because I was very young when Epcot opened. I’m surprised Disney hasn’t created a Green Screen Photo op that would put you on the top of Spaceship Earth Waving the Way Mickey Mouse always did in the old commercials. This is a great example of Disney doing something which I noticed in a lot of things at Epcot, balancing
* Captain EO: I rode this twice. I still have a fondness for MJ. There was something special about the brand of Magic he offered the world. Like Walt Disney he has a dark side that slightly tarnishes his memory but I’m more interested in the glowing performances than getting into that stuff. The show shows its age, but it has an Eighties Retro Charm. I’m glad Disney Brought it back, but understand why it cannot stay. The beginning and endings are the strongest. The beginning is a straight up science fiction space battle and the ending is classic Michael Jackson song and Dance magic. I also find it interesting that Michael Jackson Defeats Star Trek’s Borg Queen long before she was put into Star Trek. One other note, I’m not a fan of 3D. Of all the 3D options at Disney I find it hard to focus my eyes to make the objects on the screen really pop. This becomes worst the closer the filmmakers try to push the object into your face.
* Journey into Imagination with Figment: I unfortunately missed this the last time I was in the park and very much regret that. My nephew would have have loved it. Right off the Bat in the Queue line you see Robin Williams and Rick Moranis as their Disney Scientist Counterparts alongside Eric Idle as a Scientist you will be seeing inside the Ride. The Ride consists of Eric Idle trying to illustrate the value of understanding the standard Five Human Senses. A little purple Dragon known as Figment of the Imagination keeps interrupting these experiments to demonstrate how they should be used to amplify the human Imagination. This ends with a journey into the crazy world of Figment’s Imagination itself.
I can’t express how much I loved this Ride. I rode it at least twice and everything about it gives me warm fuzzies. I wish Disney would concentrate on creating a full length movie based around Figment. He’s a Great character, and the song he sings is wonderfully catchy.
* Living with The Land: A ride talking about how human agriculture arose to feed the billions of people we currently have on Earth. It gets very interesting when the ride takes you through the actual areas where Disney is using modern and even experimental techniques to grow much of the food used in the restaurants at Epcot.
* Soarin’: I only rode this once each trip. Although I wasn’t as disappointed the second time as I was the first time. I love the mechanics of the ride. Being hoisted in front of the dome screen, being immersed in the view, having the fans blow wind in your face; the ride is very impressive. I also love Patrick Warburton’s short prep video. The downside is the manor in which the flying sequences just randomly jump from one place to another really sucks me out of the experience and there seems to be an issue with dust on the movie screens. Overall its worth at least riding this once per trip.
* Circle of Life: An Environmental Fable: This is ok. Its a straight forward movie with Simba, Timon and Pumba going over how humanity has impacted the Earth with its bad and good habits and how things can get better if we work together. It is ok but I don’t think I will see this one again.
* The Seas with Nemo and Friends: This is a ride where you are taken along in a moving clamshell through scenes reminiscent of the movie Finding Nemo; wherein Nemo has once again run off and all of his family and friends are out looking for him. Lots of animatronics and video screens bring everything to life. It ends with view of an actual giant aquarium and has Nemo and friends swimming alongside real fish. This is a very fun ride.
* Turtle Talk with Crush: This is one of the best little gems that Epcot has in its favor. Its a small space with benches and a section of floor for kids to sit on. Then a video screen shows an aquarium where Crush from Finding Nemo comes swimming in and has a Q&A with us Human Dudes. This is another I wish i’d found the last time I was at the park. Its perfect for kids and allows for whoever is voicing Crush to make the experience that much more magical and funny for guests. It also allows this little happening to be slightly different every time you check it out. I highly recommend going.
* Test Track: I only checked out Test Track twice this trip. Which I really adore. I lost a bit of the experience though by going through the Single Rider Line. This makes it a fast line experience but you don’t get to custom design a car with as much detail as if you’d gone through the Stand By line.
Still, this is a very fun ride and I enjoyed it immensely.
* Mission: Space: Last trip I rode it, this trip I skipped it. I am not fond of gravity rides…even if I think they did a very good job with this one.
* Universe of Energy: Ellen Degeneres and Bill Nye the Science Guy take you on a tour of Energy from the Big Bang at the start of the known Universe to how humanity creates electricity with natural resources today. All while riding ginormous seats through arena sized rooms filled with animatronic dinosaurs. I loved it.
* World Showcase: So the last time I was at Epcot I had my nephew in tow. I made the mistake of going into the World Showcase with him, which he was a little young to appreciate. We had to stop halfway around and catch a boat back to Future World. This trip gave me a chance to check out more World Showcase Pavilions.
* Canada: Had a circle vision movie about Canada staring Martin Short, (A Canadian).
* United Kingdom: This is a lovely little road with some interesting quaint shops.
* France: I didn’t get much of a vibe from France and ended up just breezing through.
* Morocco: I loved the architecture and colorful clothing they had for sale.
* Japan: Only two things kept me from buying everything I could lay my hands on here, the size of my carryon bag and the price of toys.
* United States: I caught a glimpse of Whoopi Goldberg as special guest for a Christmas Concert.
* Italy: I don’t like wine. Though I’m tempted to check out the restaurant in the future to get a pizza.
* Germany: I don’t like beer. Though I liked the model village with the running trains.
* China: The Clay Chinese warrior exhibit was interesting. There was also a Mask Changing performance out front.
* Norway: I didn’t stick around long. I liked some of the architecture though. Unfortunately I never rode the Maelstrom, I’ve heard good things about it. Maybe someday I’ll ride the Frozen ride are working to replace it with.
* Mexico: Probably my favorite world Showcase. I can drink Tequila, admire the colorful clothing and art for sale and ride the Three Caballeros Ride.
I also managed to ride the Monorail so I could get that experience under my belt. I missed out on Illuminations because I wanted to wake up early the next day. I left the park early and headed for my hotel.
I was still a little wired to sleep and in need of something to eat, so I’m exploring the area on Google maps when I discover that there was a McDonald’s not far off. In fact it was right next to a 24 Hour Grocery Store called Goodings. I decided to walk down to them.
I picked up a six pack of water from there and opted for some tacos from Taco Bell then headed back to my hotel for the night. It was only a mile from my hotel, easy walking distance. I’m noting that for future trips, because I really do like the Disney Springs area.
Come morning I would have to make a decision. Go to the Animal Kingdom which closes early which would enable me to get back to the hotel and have a good night sleep before getting on an early flight Sunday morning, or go to the Magic Kingdom and party until it closes at midnight.
Disney Trip Report: Day Three
Dec 5, 2015 - Magic Kingdom
It was a hard decision when picking what would be my second Park for the trip. I wanted to revisit the Magic Kingdom again because there is more to do there, but the Animal Kingdom is the one park I have yet to experience. Playing around with MyDisneyExperience while waiting for the shuttle to come pretty much settled it for me, I booked three fast passes for Space Mountain, The Seven Dwarves Mine Ride and Peter Pan’s Flight.
Magic Kingdom it is.
The Shuttle from the Disney Affiliated Hotels do not go directly to the Gate Bus Parking lot. Instead it stopped at the Ticket center. The Monorail and Boats were both experiencing some downtime or delays so I ended up getting on another bus with my fellow passengers that would take us around the lake to the Front Gate.
Security really admired the vest I wore, I had it wired with earbuds from my iPod and there are many pockets I could store items in. He thought the vest was cool, but a little annoying to search from his point of view.
After that I was able to experience the Opening Ceremony for the First time. The Mayor of Main Street USA and his friends bid everyone good morning and soon the train with Mickey and Company as well as a special guest family showed up to give us a countdown to the official opening of the Magic Kingdom. I think the only small detail that disappointed me here was the fact that the clock on the train station was completely wrong. I know that is a nit-pick but it really bugged me seeing the clock show about ten minutes after the hour when we were counting down to 8 a.m.
I flowed into the Magic Kingdom with the crowd like water oozing into a dry lakebed; Each of us making rivulets of people finding the paths of least resistance to the rides or shows we all wanted to get to first. I hung a right into Future World so I could get a taste of Space Mountain right off the bat. There was no line to wait in. It was a wonderful start to the day.
One additional note: I walked into the park happily drinking my bottle of Pepsi. It bugs the hell out of me that you can only get Coca Cola at the Disney Parks. I absolutely cannot stand Coca Cola.
I’ll do the same thing as with the Epcot Attractions, the order I talk about them won’t necessarily be in the order I did them with the one exception of my favorite attraction…
- •Space Mountain: I was able to ride three times this day. I enjoyed this immensely last March and have a very warm nostalgic memory of riding this in the nineties at Disneyland. This ride appeals to me on so many levels, the Design of the exterior and interior is retro-futureish, the Music is soothing and inspires the feelings of space and exploration, the ride is very intense, but not so intense that it leaves me too rattled to want more, the mechanics of the ride are very interesting as well. I love the fact that the ride is rather slow; but being enveloped in darkness and carefully positioned fans blowing on the rider give a sense of great speed.
- •The Railroad: I was in Frontierland in the middle of the day and wanted something to side on for a little bit that I hadn’t done yet. So I hopped on the Railroad and took the ride to the Circus Area where I could get back to Future World. I’m glad I did and look forward to riding the entire circuit someday. There are some special scenes behind the trees that can only be seen from the Railroad.
- •Swiss Family Treehouse: I loved the movie as a kid and remember climbing this thing in Disneyland back in the day. Its starting to lose some of its appeal though. I kind of wish it had a something a bit more interactive. Strangely enough, in my memories I thought this was a children’s play structure, not just a walking/climbing tour of the treehouse. It’s still cool, but if I didn’t need to kill 20 minutes waiting for one of my fast passes I wouldn’t have climbed it again this trip.
- •Enchanted Tiki Room: Birds sing to you, followed by flowers, statues and eventually the entire room erupts in celebration before bringing down the wrath of the rain gods. I like this a lot. It’s a classic attraction to the park that I think still holds up very well. Some of the Animatronics could do with a tune-up or upgrade, but I hope they never replace the fake exterior outside the windows with video screens.
- •Jungle Cruise: I hate to admit I skipped this attraction this time out. Even though I’ve only been on it twice in my life I feel like I have it memorized. Though I do want to ride it someday while listening to Skipper Dan by Weird Al Yankovic on some Earbuds while slowly shaking my head in sadness at the Skipper.
- •Pirates of the Caribbean: Not sure what I can say about this ride. It’s a bit more exciting than the Jungle Cruise, and has the same classic nostalgia going for it. It’s also in a cool indoor setting making it a great ride to ride while waiting for a fast pass for another ride.
- •Splash Mountain: I got stuck for a few minutes on this ride. That was kind of fun a Traffic Log Jam.
- •Big Mountain Thunder Railroad: Decent roller coaster. I only went once because I didn’t feel like waiting in line too long.
- •Country Bear Jamboree: I checked this out on Youtube, but seeing it in person is much more interesting. It’s corny, it’s lame, it’s fun. All designed that way. I picked up on a more of the adult humor in the show when I was there in person.
- •Haunted Mansion: I managed to get three rides on this one; the third time I was fortunate enough to be stuck in front of the singing busts for a few minutes. It gave me plenty of time to soak in a lot of the details.
- •Peter Pan’s Flight: A pretty typical dark ride where your suspended pirate ship flies over the Darling Children’s room, out over the london skies and through various scenes of Neverland culminating on a pirate ship where Peter Pan is battling Captain Hook. Very enjoyable.
- •It’s a Small World: Yes, yes it is.
- •Mickey’s PhilharMagic: I hadn’t seen this one before and it is now one of my favorite shows in The Magic Kingdom. Its a 3D performance like Captain EO, or more closely to the Muppets Stage Performance over in Hollywood Studios. There is wind blown on you, water squirted at you, lots of rumbling beneath the ground and also has a movie screen that expands to three times its original size.
- •Under the Sea - Journey of the Little Mermaid: Another standard Dark Ride taking you through scenes from the Movie The Little Mermaid. The animatronics in this are amazingly well done and fun.
- •Seven Dwarfs Mine Ride: This ride combines the storytelling aspects of Splash Mountain with the ride excitement of Big Thunder Mountain to create an exciting new ride based on the movie Snow White. The animatronics are awesome and utilize a new technology Disney made where they project animation onto the faces from the inside of the animatronic. I rode once earlier in the day when the line was short but needed a fast pass for later in the day when the lines for this get quite long. One of the rides I took I was paired up with a woman who was very afraid of roller coasters. We chatted a little bit and I gave her encouragement throughout the ride. She walked off happy that she had finally tried a roller coaster but swearing she never would do one again.
- •The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh: Another standard Dark Ride moving you through scenes from the Winnie the Pooh cartoons/books. It was very fun, especially when Tigger is introduced and the Huney Pot you ride in starts bouncing up and down.
- •Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress: This is a very unique and interesting ride that combines a bit of education into entertainment. The ride features six stages in the center of a circle, four of the stages are filled with animatronics centered around a man talking about human technological progress from the start of the 1900’s thru the future. The audience sits on the carousel part and is swung around from stage to stage watching the show play out.
- •Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin: This is a dark ride that allows you to shoot minions of Buzz Lightyear’s Nemesis Emperor Zurg. You use a laser to shoot little targets and pump up your score. I honestly think this is more fun if you go with someone else and compete with them to get a higher score. I’m not impressed with it myself.
- •Stitch’s Great Escape: This is another favorite of mine for a couple reasons. First I love the concept. The audience is loaded into a circular room with seats facing a center column. A shoulder harness lowers down on you and you watch Stitch from he Movie Lilo and Stitch get teleported onto a podium in front of you. Stitch is a prisoner that quickly outwits the computer controlled guns guarding him, then kills the power allowing him to run around the audience in complete darkness. Due to technological trickery you hear and feel Stitch as he jumps on your shoulders, ruffles through your bags and even burps in your face. I love how actively this ride engages the imagination to bring it to life. I love that this was formerly a ride featuring a much more terrifying alien that they managed to make much more appropriate for Disney by tying it into the Lilo and Stitch. Finally I love how much it evokes memories of an attraction I rode on as a kid at Disneyland Called Mission to Mars that had a similar seating arrangement.
Near the end of the night I was unsure of how easy it would be to get back to the hotel so I ended up leaving halfway through the Wishes Fireworks Display.
Luckily the Monorail was running. I hopped onboard to get back to the Ticket Center and transfer to the bus going back to my Hotel.
As soon as I stepped onboard they shut the Monorail off for a system reboot. It only lasted a minute luckily.
There are two bus lines that serve the Hotels in the Disney Springs area. Labeled A and B. I had the B bus. When I first arrived at the bus stop I noticed the A Bus idling there. I waited for the B bus. This ended up being a mistake. Had I hopped on the A Bus I could have gotten off at one of the hotels it stops at which isn’t far from my Hotel and walked to my hotel, not wasting any time.
Instead I waited for the B bus and a crowd gathered around me. After a long wait we ended up getting on a very crowded bus together.
I make it back to my hotel room a little after 11pm. I make sure everything is packed up before grabbing a little shut eye. I have an early flight the next day and still need to drive to the airport.
Disney Trip Report: Day Four
Dec 6, 2015 - Going Home
I had a flight leaving the Sanford Airport at 7:15 am. I wanted to be there two hours early just in Case.
After an exhausting day at the Magic Kingdom going to sleep wasn’t an issue, waking up might be. Fortunately the second of four alarms I set on my phone woke me up.
I gathered my stuff, checked out of the hotel, the Valet got my car for me. I tipped him just a couple of bucks, not sure if that was appropriate or not. I hit up Goodings one last time for some donuts then set Google maps up to direct me to the airport.
Something strange happened; I was being directed down several different side streets. I thought Google would put me right back on the toll roads. It was when I found myself driving right next to the Universal Studios parks that I realized something was really wrong.
I pulled over and checked my phone to discover that Google Maps was set for Walking directions. It also expected me to arrive at the airport in 24 hours.
I switched it to driving directions and it got me back on the main toll road and I got back to the airport with little trouble. Gassed up right before returning my rental car and made it into the Airport and through security with no issues and an hour to spare.
The flight home was great. With the exception that due to some clouds I wasn’t able to watch the countryside during takeoff.
It was very warm in Sioux Falls when I landed, around 26 degrees. I Couldn’t ask for a nicer day for my three hour drive home to Aberdeen.
Disney Trip Report: Final Thoughts
Eating:
I remember being very annoyed at Table Service Restaurants the last time I went to Disney World. Don’t get me wrong, the food was mostly delicious, but the experience of being on time for a reservation and then being presented with a lot of food that bloats me up and makes me unwilling to continue to do rides and adventures at the park is just annoying. This time out I opted for Counter Service and the occasional snacks. My favorite items this go-around was a Pulled Pork on Waffle Fries option I found over in Adventure Land and the Fish n Chips I had at the French Pavilion.
I will eventually give the Table Service Restaurants another try, but will plan them for either very early or very late in the day.
Lots of Walking…
No, I mean loooooots of Walking. I put in around 12 hours at Epcot and around 14 hours at The Magic Kingdom. Almost exclusively on my feet. I sat for attractions and a couple of quick meals but never took a serious break from Park Enjoyment. I ended up paying for it at the hotel room, once I put my feet up for an hour getting back on them would make them severely hurt. But a few hours of sleep helped get them back in good order.
Now that I have a better familiarity with the layout of the parks I’m more inclined to actually take a much longer respite; Maybe a couple hours somewhere in the middle of the day. I also will never attempt this kind of Marathon Park Enjoyment if I’m not alone. I have a job where I’m on my feet for many hours at a time, and I used to jog five miles a day.
Crowds
Crowd management is needed more the further you progress into the day. The morning was very light and waiting for even the popular rides didn’t take long at all. Come mid afternoon I could see that was shifting. By the time the sun had set there were quite the crowds around, especially lining up for parades and it didn’t seem worth it to get in line for some of the more popular attractions.
Something occurred to me when I compared the crowds in the latter part of the day to the near emptiness of the early morning. The layout of the park seemed larger and more confusing with all the people there. I wonder if there is a word for how a large body of people can make a room seem even bigger than it really is. (this was just a weird thought that occurred to me)
Going Solo
Being alone makes it easy to get a lot more done. You can weave through a crowd and not worry about losing your friends or family in tow. It’s easy to choose to do something on a whim if you see it has little to no line involved. I can also see where Park Hoppers are handy for a guest has some knowledge of the Parks. After all Epcot and Hollywood Studios are connected via walkway or boat, and there is a Monorail running from Epcot to the Magic Kingdom.
Some future trip I should give the Dolphin or Swan a try where I can really hop between the parks with a nearby place to cool off or even take a quick nap.
The Future
I’m going back.
I’m going to have to replenish my savings first, but I’m definitely going back. I feel I’ve learned so much about how to prepare and what to expect. I can’t wait to put new plans into action. From timing cheap flights, to figuring out which hotel to use, to maybe even overcoming some of my phobias about driving in bigger cities in order to explore more of the Orlando area.
Currently I’m planning on an April Trip with my parents into the area. We are going to meet up with my brother and his wife who lives in Georgia and probably hit up Universal Studios, so that will be an entirely new land to explore. After that…who knows.
But I will be back.
I hope to go in early December sometime!
