Take me back to Disneyworld Florida – Part 1
Now that I have dealt with the lodging, it is time to have some fun and visit the site! The theme parks to be precise.
The oldest is Magic Kingdom. Its emblem is the Cinderella Castle that was totally re decorated this year for the 50th anniversary of Disneyland. To many people it is THE emblem of the entire Disney world.
Magic Kingdom is the place to start when you visit for the first time with small children. It is all romance and fantasy…Main Street starts at the entrance and goes straight to the castle. It is lined with shops. The theme or style of the storefronts is supposedly inspired by the city where Walt Disney grew up in. This is where the daily parades takes place every day.
There is a little train that runs all around the park, a good idea to get your bearings when you first get there.
The park is divided into sections or “worlds”. There is Fantasyland, Frontierland, Tomorrowland, and Adventureland. The rides, restaurants and shops in each section fit the theme.
There is a lovely old style carousel, with very expressive horses.
One of the most well known rides is “It’s a small world”. It is a very quiet boat ride amidst vignettes representing different countries all filled with costumed and animated dolls. The tune plays endlessly…. It is old fashioned compared to some of the modern techno rides, yet I loved it…again…. I find it refreshing and soothing.
Another popular ride of a different kind is “Space Mountain” (which I have never been on and never will); it is an exciting, fast paced roller coaster type of ride.
The haunted mansion is not that exciting but provided a cool haven for a few minutes, as did the Pirates of the Caribbean.
Splash Mountain is a popular plume ride with lots of water splashing. Stitch’s great escape is one of the newer rides, it did not thrill me but the kids seem to like it. Mickey’s PhilharMagic is a show rather than a ride with both animated and real actors, music and special effects. I enjoyed it.
There are many different shows in the Magic Kingdom, Cinderellabration takes place on the castle steps and re-unites all the princesses, and it is considered cheesy by the guys but precious by the little girls. The parades are also very popular as are the fireworks at night.
The next theme park we visited was the Animal Kingdom. It is relatively new. Its emblem is a huge tree: the tree of life.
As the name indicates, this park is all about animals, it is a zoo and more…this is the coolest park because it is shady; there is a lot of vegetation. Thus a good choice on the hottest days. It is never open late though. The different constructions and decorations that set the themes are interesting and believable…
This park too is divided into sections: DinoLand U.S.A., Rafiki’s planet Watch, Asia, Africa Camp Minnie-Mickey and Discovery Island.
One of the most famous rides is the Kilimanjaro Safaris, in the Africa section. You are driven through a pseudo savannah where animals seem to roam free. I was intrigued by the perfect timing of their apparition, but it seems that although they are real animals, the landscape is rigged in such a way as to encourage the animals to be where they can be seen, either with hidden feeding stations or with artificially cooled areas. In any case it makes for interesting viewing…and in true Disney fashion the animals all look clean and healthy,
The Pangani Forest Exploration Trail is another zoo type activity that you do on foot. I was very impressed by the Gorillas.
In DinoLand, the Dinosaur ride is fun!
Next we visited Epcot. This is one of the older parks. Its emblem is “Spaceship Earth”
There are basically 2 sections to this park: The World Showcase, with Pavilions of different countries and Future World with themed scientific attractions.
It is probably the most interesting architecturally speaking, but it is also very hot as there is a lot of concrete and pavement and not much shade.
The world showcase is interesting for the outside appearance of the buildings, and the restaurants, but the displays are mostly commercial…and little more than gift shops. Fun to walk by, but not necessarily to enter…there are often shows and concerts going on in front of the different countries.
Future world offers many themes: energy, space, earth, the seas, the land, the body and imagination. We were all amazed by the ride called “Soarin” where you feel like you are hang gliding all over California… Living with the land is a ride I remembered form 18 years ago and I still enjoyed it as it goes through experimental nurseries where scientists are trying to grow fruits and vegetables in unorthodox ways. Such as these hanging squash with exposed roots. And this Mickey shaped pumpkin…
They also raise fish and alligators
“Journey into imagination with figment” and “Honey, I shrunk the audience” were OK…there were hands on experiments afterwards that seemed fun.
Of all the nighttime shows, the one at Epcot is by far my favorite. Called IllumiNations, it combines music, lasers and fireworks over water. A MUST see.
Finally, the Disney-MGM studios is the last of the four theme parks. Its emblem is the blue wizard’s hat.
The big attraction here is the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. As the wait was very long and it was already too late for a fast pass we skipped it. We did get to see “Fantasmic” a laser, lights, dancing fountains and special effects show. It is quite spectacular although I did not enjoy the violence and stereotypes.
I caught the great movie ride, which was fun…. I did not have much time to spend in this park as opposed to the others so it is hard to talk about it much, but it seemed lively. The Rock’n’Roller Coaster ride is a lot of fun apparently.
There are a lot of vintage cars on the site. One of which is even hanging upside down over the street. This one was nicely parked by the curb as if waiting for some passengers from the 40s…
There are two other areas that are part of the Disney property: the water parks and downtown Disney,
There are two water parks called: Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach. They offer everything from wave pools to incredible water slides.
As for Downtown Disney, it is an area of restaurants, shops and night time activities: nightclubs with dancing for all ages groups and tastes, bars, comedy clubs…These are mostly located on pleasure island. It is a lively area after dark and boasts the largest Disney store ever… so if you saw something on site that you wish you had purchased, this is the place to find it.
When I tell people I went to Disney, I get a kind if disappointed if not disdainful look…like this is not exotic enough or fancy enough…
The reason I chose to go, was to re-acquaint myself with the property as I had not been there in 18 years…and, like it or not, it is still a very popular destination for a lot of people. And I must say I was not disappointed. Granted it does not offer the history of Europe or the exotism of Asia, nor the relaxation of the Islands, but it offers a variety of experiences in a setting that is incredibly well organized.
What we are dealing with is a philosophy, if not a religion or a sect… it is:
The Disney “M A G I C”!!!!
Everything is thought out and planned to make your stay pleasant and enjoyable if not really magical.
The employees are called cast members, probably to avoid any thought of slave labor…they are forever smiling and pleasant, dressed impeccably in whatever costume fits their position. There are 5000 of them, we were told…
Needless to say the place is kids friendly. They rent strollers everywhere and provide stroller parking too! The Disney strollers differ according to the park they belong to. Here is an Animal kingdom one, with a definite safari flavor…
The highlight of the trip for many is meeting the characters. They stroll the grounds…
But if you want a sure hit you must book one of the numerous character breakfast or teas. Then you are assured to meet personally and get your picture taken WITH your favorite characters…
Some people go as far as booking a character wedding! You can get married at the Disney wedding chapel or in one of the hotels and have Mickey and Minnie as attendants…(35,000 couples have chosen to tie the knot that way).
Some might say it is close to brain washing…maybe…It became a joke among us to locate the hidden Mickeys on wall paper or carpeting, lamp finials and of course … food… Mickey is everywhere!
I was surprised to see the variety of pins on sale, and then to discover pin trading spaces… they have pins for all occasions, even international agent training!
Yet Disney is probably the best-organized place I have ever seen. Thousands of people go through the turnstiles every day, they get their bags searched, their cards swiped, their fingers measured, all in a surprisingly short time. The public transport is fast and efficient…the premises are clean, everywhere! They have refined the reality of waiting in line to an art form. The corridors are made in such a way that you cannot see how long the line is. They post the waiting time, but usually you get in faster than anticipated which makes people happy. You can obtain fast passes for the more popular rides which saves you from waiting in line altogether… most of the rides have you sitting in an air conditioned environment which is very pleasant in the Florida heat. You can use your hotel key card (IF you are residing on Disney property) as a credit card to purchase souvenirs or food and drink. It will get charged to your room. They also offer a food voucher plan that allows you to choose from a very acceptable list of menus.
Come to think of it…this is very Club Medish in some ways: no handling of money. You really get the feeling that your enjoyment is their priority.
Walt Disney’s vision is intact and his philosophy is still being applied…
To surprising extremes at times. I was in a store about to buy a set of Mickey Mouse shot glasses. When the clerk rang it up he said:
“You DO know what you are buying mam?” (with a glint in his eye)
I said: “You tell me…”
He pulled out the printed receipt and said:
“You just purchased six toothpick holders…Mickey does not drink liquor…”
And so the Disney magic goes on…
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