Return to Walt Disney World, Part 3

The last time we went to Walt Disney World two of the parks were completely new to us and our goal was to see as much as we could possibly fit in. This time we had our list of favorite things to do and wanted to slow down the pace to simply enjoy ourselves. This didn't always work out due to FastPass times, showtimes, and dinner reservations, but we still enjoyed ourselves.

Nate was the least able to remember things from our last trip--he was five then--but once he saw a ride or show it all started coming back for him. He was apprehensive about some of the roller coasters, but Vicki got him to ride several and his favorite is Space Mountain.

MAGIC KINGDOM. I think this is the favorite park for all of us though Epcot runs a very close second. There are so many things here that we all enjoy that we made it a point to spend two days here. I won't run down all our favorites, but I will share two cool aspects of this park for this trip.

First is that Fantasyland has been expanded. They have reclaimed the space once occupied from the old 20,000 Leagues ride to create this new area which features a restaurant (more on that next time) and the Under the Sea ride as well as shops and things to do for younger children. Early on we had hoped the Seven Dwarves Mine Train ride would be operational but it was still under construction and should open soon. This area will fit in with the original area nicely once construction is finished.

The other neat thing to tell is that we signed up for a Youth Education Program class which saved us $250 on our tickets. The particular class we took was Physics: Waves and Energy. It's not every day that you get to take a class with a theme park as your classroom and we really enjoyed it. This particular course was an introduction to sound and light waves and took us on three attractions (Stitch's Great Escape, Mickey's Philharmagic, and Haunted Mansion) as examples of how they use these concepts to create Disney magic. The coolest part of the course was getting to go back stage in the Haunted Mansion to see how the Pepper's Ghost illusion is used to create the ballroom scene. (This is the largest example of this illusion in the world.) We got to stand below the Doom Buggy track and see the actual ghost animatronic figures as they danced around, ate at the banquet table, and played the organ. (We got another chance to go back stage when a short cut to Tomorrowland was opened behind Main Street USA during a parade. Nate was surprised that the back sides of the buildings don’t have the same decorative facade as the front.)

EPCOT. We devoted two days to this park as well, and as I said above, it runs a close second to Magic Kingdom for us. There are a lot of fun things to do here, Soarin', Test Track, Mission Space, and Spaceship Earth being among our favorites.

One neat attraction I should mention here is Turtle Talk with Crush. In this show a digitally animated Crush swims up to the screen and interacts with the audience (especially the kids). Crush is essentially a computer generated puppet and I'd love to see how the puppeteer makes him work. They do the same sort of thing in Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor over in Magic Kingdom.

One thing I've always wanted to do is slowly meander around all the countries in World Showcase. This has never worked out due to time constraints or the attention span of young children, until now. It took the better part of two afternoons but we got to poke around and get a feel for each country that is represented.

ANIMAL KINGDOM. We enjoyed this park a lot more this visit. Looking back Vicki and I think it was because the last time we were at this park it wound up being a hot day which shut both of us down. This time it was pleasant enough that we enjoyed observing all the animals. I think our favorite was watching the hippo swim by at an incredible rate of speed and grace for an animal that size. Another animal that sticks out in my minds are bats that are larger than footballs sleeping from tree limbs. Then there were all the other animals you'd expect to see from Africa or Asia.

Vicki and the kids rode Expedition Everest several times (thanks to the single rider line) and the boys got on Kali River Rapids once. We also saw the Finding Nemo and Birds of Wonder shows which are favorites, but the Lion King show was closed because that area of the park is getting a complete overhaul.

HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS. We enjoyed this park but were worn out by the time we got there (our fifth day). Vicki and the kids rode the Rockin' Roller Coaster and Twilight Zone Tower of Terror early in the day while I went for FastPasses.

Unfortunately all the FastPasses for Toy Story Mania! were gone within 15 minutes of the park opening (I learned two large tour groups got most of them). This is our favorite ride in all the parks so the boys and I braved the hour wait in the standby line. Unfortunately, Vicki and Jenna never got to ride this. After checking the app several times over the last few days we were lucky to only wait an hour for this ride. I think they could build another one and not serve all their guests. We also rode Star Tours a couple of times which is a motion simulated Star Wars flight. I learned that there are 52 scenarios for this ride so it is unlikely anyone would have the same experience twice.

Vicki and Jenna took in some shows while the boys and I were in line for Toy Story Mania! When we hooked back up we saw the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular; MuppetVision 3D; Lights, Motors, Action!; and Fantasmic! which was the best by far.

DOWNTOWN DISNEY--or as Jenna who was having a BBC/PBS moment called it, Downton Disney--is Disney's shopping area. We treated ourselves at Ghirardelli Soda Fountain & Chocolate Shop while there and then browsed in the Lego and Disney stores.

The kids, especially Nate, had enjoyed pin trading all week, but the Disney pin store here was their capstone experience in trading. Both boys got some pins they were looking for and I think one of the next projects out in my shop will be to help them make shadow boxes for their pins as well as their Cub Scout things.

This is a good place to stop for now. I'll finish up next time with the restaurants where we ate and a few loose ends. Then it will be back to life here in Tennessee.

Joe