Holiday Wishes from the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World
Monday, December 31, 2012
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
EPCOT's 30th Anniversary
October 1 was EPCOT's 30th Anniversary, it was just luck that I was here for that since I planned this trip before I knew. The two days before I had kinda worn myself out a bit so I decided to sleep in this morning. Aside from the exhaustion I really wanted to be there for Illuminations.
When I got into the park I got my Fast Pass for Soarin and then went on line for limited edition merchandise, it was a 3 hour line. Thankfully, most of it was in the shade. At the end of the line were pins, t-shirts and that was pretty much it by the time I got there. The only thing I would have bought that I missed were the Vinylmations, thought it would have been a nice addition to my nephew's collection, but he probably wouldn't have appreciated since he's 13.
In the afternoon I attended a 30th Anniversary talk with Marty Sklar it was a very interesting talk for even just a casual fan of Disney, he had a lot of great history on the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow and Disney in general. I'll share two intersting facts. Some of the pavillions that didn't happen were - Africa and Iran. Iran, that would have been akward, though the images looked really cool. The park entrance was almost in the middle of Future World and World Showcase, which actually kinda makes more sense. But ultimately it came down to the agreements they had made with the CEO's of the future world pavilions that forced them to stick with the entrance where it is.
Illuminations had a a special 30th Anniversary tag at the end. It wasn't like the Christmas tag where there is talking guiding it, it was just a FABULOUS fireworks display. Rumor before was that it was supposed to be better then the 4th of July tag, which I've never seen. I have to say, it had some neat features with fireworks going across the water, but the finale was possibly the best fireworks finale I've seen and I've seen the Macy's 4th of July fireworks from right in front of the barge which was impressive.
When I got into the park I got my Fast Pass for Soarin and then went on line for limited edition merchandise, it was a 3 hour line. Thankfully, most of it was in the shade. At the end of the line were pins, t-shirts and that was pretty much it by the time I got there. The only thing I would have bought that I missed were the Vinylmations, thought it would have been a nice addition to my nephew's collection, but he probably wouldn't have appreciated since he's 13.
In the afternoon I attended a 30th Anniversary talk with Marty Sklar it was a very interesting talk for even just a casual fan of Disney, he had a lot of great history on the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow and Disney in general. I'll share two intersting facts. Some of the pavillions that didn't happen were - Africa and Iran. Iran, that would have been akward, though the images looked really cool. The park entrance was almost in the middle of Future World and World Showcase, which actually kinda makes more sense. But ultimately it came down to the agreements they had made with the CEO's of the future world pavilions that forced them to stick with the entrance where it is.
Monday, December 24, 2012
Friday, December 21, 2012
Things NOT To Do On A Plane
On my last flight home from Disney World I was sick, so sick I just wanted my bed and the only way I was getting there was on that plane. This didn't make me feel too charitable.
Before our flight my sister got called up to the podium, they were looking for people willing to change seats to put a family together. Now, while I am more then happy to help out a family (as long as I keep an aisle or window seat) this case seemed a little silly. It was 4 adults with 1 child. The child should absolutely be kept with an adult, maybe even 2 adults. The rest are ADULTS. Anyway, my sister said she would move if she could keep her aisle seat and so she got moved from row 16 to 6 and said I would be happy to move too if they needed it and was moved from row 16 to row 10 (an exit row with extra leg room).
Of course this was the wackiest boarding I have ever seen in my flying life. Boarding took over a half hour. The line stopped for a full 5 minutes early in the process. Then just before I got on a guy accidentally used is Delta boarding pass from his flight down to Orlando. This was a Jetblue flight. Then when I'm in the exit row getting the exit row speech one guy just gets up and moves. He never came back so I'm guessing he was in the wrong row. Then they moved a woman from the "family" that had to be together into the exit row. But that didn't last long as she was not comfortable helping in the event of an emergency. So, she had to be moved. I have no issue with people saying they are not willing or able to help, I would rather find out before then during an actual emergency. Amazingly we only landed 5 minutes late.
But when I got to my seat the guy in the middle seat, who was traveling with a girl, had his stuff under the middle seat, but was sitting in my aisle seat. Not in the mood for this, I immediately pointed out that he was in my seat. He moved over and offered a weak apology. Seriously, he couldn't even wait until the plane was boarded before spreading out? Incase you're wondering, there was 1 empty seat on this flight and there was a hoard of people trying to board before boarding began, it obviously wasn't going to be a roomie flight.
But, that's not what made me want to cough all over him and give him my disease. Sitting on the aisle, I am happy to give the middle person the armrest; however, that does not mean you can invade my personal space too. He was a skinny little thing with boney little elbows that kept jabbing into me.
And so, here is what I learned not to do on a flight:
1. If you're a group of adults you do NOT need to sit together. Buy a book or a magazine or watch the TV. Yes, it's nicer to sit with friends and family but you don't need to make the plane into musical chairs right before boarding. If it's that important to you, pay the money for the seats up front.
2. Don't jump in other peoples seats before the flight has fully boarded, or at least do a good job of playing dumb when you're caught.
3. If you're a skinny little dude in a middle seat there is absolutely no reason to be invading other people's space. Karma obviously put you next to a sick person for a reason....
Have you had any really bad seat mates?
Before our flight my sister got called up to the podium, they were looking for people willing to change seats to put a family together. Now, while I am more then happy to help out a family (as long as I keep an aisle or window seat) this case seemed a little silly. It was 4 adults with 1 child. The child should absolutely be kept with an adult, maybe even 2 adults. The rest are ADULTS. Anyway, my sister said she would move if she could keep her aisle seat and so she got moved from row 16 to 6 and said I would be happy to move too if they needed it and was moved from row 16 to row 10 (an exit row with extra leg room).
Of course this was the wackiest boarding I have ever seen in my flying life. Boarding took over a half hour. The line stopped for a full 5 minutes early in the process. Then just before I got on a guy accidentally used is Delta boarding pass from his flight down to Orlando. This was a Jetblue flight. Then when I'm in the exit row getting the exit row speech one guy just gets up and moves. He never came back so I'm guessing he was in the wrong row. Then they moved a woman from the "family" that had to be together into the exit row. But that didn't last long as she was not comfortable helping in the event of an emergency. So, she had to be moved. I have no issue with people saying they are not willing or able to help, I would rather find out before then during an actual emergency. Amazingly we only landed 5 minutes late.
But when I got to my seat the guy in the middle seat, who was traveling with a girl, had his stuff under the middle seat, but was sitting in my aisle seat. Not in the mood for this, I immediately pointed out that he was in my seat. He moved over and offered a weak apology. Seriously, he couldn't even wait until the plane was boarded before spreading out? Incase you're wondering, there was 1 empty seat on this flight and there was a hoard of people trying to board before boarding began, it obviously wasn't going to be a roomie flight.
But, that's not what made me want to cough all over him and give him my disease. Sitting on the aisle, I am happy to give the middle person the armrest; however, that does not mean you can invade my personal space too. He was a skinny little thing with boney little elbows that kept jabbing into me.
And so, here is what I learned not to do on a flight:
1. If you're a group of adults you do NOT need to sit together. Buy a book or a magazine or watch the TV. Yes, it's nicer to sit with friends and family but you don't need to make the plane into musical chairs right before boarding. If it's that important to you, pay the money for the seats up front.
2. Don't jump in other peoples seats before the flight has fully boarded, or at least do a good job of playing dumb when you're caught.
3. If you're a skinny little dude in a middle seat there is absolutely no reason to be invading other people's space. Karma obviously put you next to a sick person for a reason....
Have you had any really bad seat mates?
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Deadwood, South Dakota
In the final installment of our day out while in Keystone, SD we went to Deadwood the place here Wild Bill Hickok was killed. We had 3 hours here, but would have been happy with one hour.
The city is about 3 blocks long and consists of shops, casinos, restaurants, bars and hotels. I was surprised by the number of casinos in the town, though if I had thought about it in the frame that Wild Bill was killed here gambling it might have been a little more obvious. Most of the casinos were just slots, only a couple places had table games. The shops consisted of cheesy western merchandise and some expensive high end stuff too.
There appeared to be a few other activities outside of the town, but you needed a car to get to them. Otherwise there didn't seem to be much else to do. We did attend the western shootout, twice. It's a cheesy little show they do on the street simulating a shoot out. It was entertaining the first time, less so the second time. Deadwood seemed like a nice place to stop for dinner or maybe a night while traveling through the area, but I'm not sure there is much else in the area to really entertain you if you've already been to Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse.
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| The Saloon where Wild Bill was killed |
Monday, December 17, 2012
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Crazy Horse
Crazy Horse Memorial is the Indian response to Mount Rushmore. For the past 64 years the Korczak family, Ziolkowski family and the Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation have worked at building this monument to Crazy Horse. It's been a slow process, to say the least, but they want to do this with private funds, they have even refused offers from the Federal Government for money for the project.
The memorial set up is very nice. When you enter you see a video about the project and then there is a museum and shops selling authentic Indian products, as in made by Indians, not made in China. A nice option if you want to purchase authentic products vs the cheap fake stuff that is sold in many of the gift shops in the region.
Although I think the Indians have bitten off more then they can chew with this memorial I do appreciate the effort; but, I don't think my children will ever see this completed. If you're in the area, it's certainly worth the visit. I would budget 1-2 hours, not including lunch. If you are eating lunch here then avoid the pre-made food, it looked and tasted gross. The food in the restaurant was ok.
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| What it will look like when it's done |
Monday, December 10, 2012
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
The New Fantasyland
In November I was the lucky getter of a ticket to the Fantasyland Annual Passholder review. I had tickets for Saturday night, November 10.
The admission started at 5:00 PM, but first you needed to get your wrist band at the Ticket and Transportation Center. I found this to be a complete pain in the butt! I was staying on property so took a bus to the Magic Kingdom and then had to take the Monorail to the T&TC to get a wrist band and then took the boat back to the Magic Kingdom. Of course all of the transportation was running slow adding to the frustration.
But once there everything went smoothly.
My first order of business was to get a reservation for Be Our Guest. While waiting for the bus I heard people talking and saying that had gotten same day reservations for the restaurant so once I saw the line at the entrance to the restaurant I jumped on it and got an 8:15 reservation. I also did the walk through of the quick service ordering area, which was really cool. You walk through a hallway with armor, and the "knights" talk to each other. The room where you order is a room from Beast's Castle, which is of course the whole theme of the restaurant.
After my walk through I went to Gastons Tavern and had the La Fou drink, very tasty, but it is sweet, more of a kids drink. The souvenier cups were kinda cheap though. In the front of Gaston's was Gaston himself. I did get my photo with him while he told me what I pleasure it was for me to get my picture with him. Very nice job! Inside the tavern there were animal heads and anything that Gaston could think of to promote himself, very fun. I did think the seating here was limited though, I'm sure it will be insanely crowded when this area opens for the public.
After Gastons I partook in some Little Mermaid; first I rode the Voyage of the Little Mermaid ride, twice. The queue was well themed but I thought there might be a little more interaciton in it. But its fine for adults with iPhones as long as you get a signal, which I didn't always have. The ride has the same set up as the Finding Nemo ride in Epcot, including the clam shell ride vehicles. On the ride you go "under the sea" and go through the story of the movie. They use a bit of video, music, and mostly animatronics or as I think of them, moving action figures. It's a nice ride, particularly for kids. Though I did get a bit sick of it after riding the 4th time. There was no line so I figured I had to take advantage of the opportunity to ride it as much as possible.
Next I waited 20 minutes to get my photo with Ariel, another nice queue but with nothing interactive. Ariel was quite nice and even hugged me.
Finally it was time to wait in line for Enchanted Tales with Belle. This is a very different attraction, it was fun and interactive and I think will have VERY long lines when this section opens to the public. After waiting 30 minutes you get to Belle's house, which is decorated in the typically well themed style that you would expect from Disney, including lots of Belle's books. The pre-show has 2 stages. The first stage you are you Maurice's work room and get an introduction to the experience. From there you go to another room with Wardrobe. Here a Cast Member assigns roles to members of the audience, I would estimate about 1/3 of guests are assigned a role, such as Mrs. Potts, Chip, a guard, or the beast. Mostly they use kids, but some adults were used too. The benefit was that anyone who participated got a picture with Belle after the show (and any little kids who were in the audience.)
The theme of the show was a surpise to Belle of telling a story, incidently the story of Bell and Beast and is narrated by Lumiere. The guest perforformers are prompted by cast members for their parts as Lumiere tells the story and Belle acts fascinated by the whole event. It was actually a lot of fun and well done. It's also a completely unique experience at the parks.
My last mission in Fantasyland was to eat at Be Our Guest. My waiter was Chris and other then the service being on the slow side for a single person dining alone, it was a great experience. I was seated in the ballroom section of the restaurant, which was themed after the, you guessed it, the ballroom! There is also a West Wing (the one Beast flips out in) and another room that I couldn't place the themeing of, but looked very nice. One of the waitresses there said that they weren't going to use that room for dinner, only for lunch. I had the grilled strip steak, which was delicious and the strawberry cream cheese cupcake which was good but had a weird wrapper.
Finally, I want to say that the overall themeing of Fantasyland was very Fantasyland like. I expected the area to be a bit bigger, but when you consider the mine ride and the enchanted forest are not yet completed, and if you add in Storybook Circus the area is actually HUGE. I think it will be a very crowded area when it opens for quite some time and for good reason. If you can get into Be Our Guest, I think you'll enjoy the experience, but again I think you'll need to get there early for lunch and you'll need to call first thing in the morning for a dinner reservation.
Enjoy!
The admission started at 5:00 PM, but first you needed to get your wrist band at the Ticket and Transportation Center. I found this to be a complete pain in the butt! I was staying on property so took a bus to the Magic Kingdom and then had to take the Monorail to the T&TC to get a wrist band and then took the boat back to the Magic Kingdom. Of course all of the transportation was running slow adding to the frustration.
But once there everything went smoothly.
My first order of business was to get a reservation for Be Our Guest. While waiting for the bus I heard people talking and saying that had gotten same day reservations for the restaurant so once I saw the line at the entrance to the restaurant I jumped on it and got an 8:15 reservation. I also did the walk through of the quick service ordering area, which was really cool. You walk through a hallway with armor, and the "knights" talk to each other. The room where you order is a room from Beast's Castle, which is of course the whole theme of the restaurant.
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| Hey, she's kinda cute! |
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| The room where you order during lunch |
Enjoy!
Monday, December 3, 2012
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