Saturday was our last day at Walt Disney World. We headed out early and made it to Animal Kingdom shortly after it opened. It’s the largest of the parks, although it doesn’t have TOO many things to do just yet, being the newest park and all. After walking through the zoo section at the front of the park, we started out the day watching the Lion King show, which we were practically ushered into. It was actually pretty entertaining, and we learned important things like how a giraffe makes a sound like a sheep. Who knew??
From there, we headed into Discovery Island where we admired the beautifully carved Tree of Life and wandered around the many trails. Then it was off to Dinoland U.S.A., where we rode the incredible DINOSAUR dark ride. Talk about intense!! It was really incredible, and I dragged Nate back to ride it a second time. Sadly, we discovered that Primeval Whirl, the double spinning mouse coaster, was down due to maintenance, so that’s an important reason to come back. Beyond that, we played around in the Boneyard, attempting to slide down slides and all that good stuff. We’re definitely kids at heart!
After Dinoland, we were off to Asia where we approached the most obvious attraction in the park: Expedition Everest. You just can’t miss this ride. An enormous replica of Mt. Everest climbs magnificently into the sky, and every now and then you see a train of people ascending its dizzying heights followed by screams of terror and delight. I knew about this ride, but I hadn’t bothered to read up on the details, so I went in not knowing what to expect…and what a treat it was! You start off climbing a ridiculously steep lift hill, and then you do a few gentle turns and twists before coming up to another lift hill that takes you…wait…where’s the track?? It appears that the track has been twisted and broken by the Yeti! What do we do?? “Aaaaaahhhh!!!!” The next thing you know, you’re plummeting backwards through utter darkness, twisting and turning and dropping until you reach another lift hill-like area. You get pulled up backwards, and the train stops as you watch the Yeti on the screen in front of you rip up more of the coaster track. Then the train is released and you plummet out of the mountain. After a few more twists, including a close flyby of the Yeti himself, you arrive back at the station. It was a really exciting coaster, and more so when you don’t know what’s coming! (Sorry for the spoiler!)
Then we headed over to Kali River Rapids, which I was hesitant about riding once I saw all the drenched people coming off. It was pretty chilly out, so that might not be the best plan of attack. Well, we did ride it, and everyone on the raft got soaked…and when we returned to the station, the ride op asked if we’d like to go around again…and we DID! Luckily the water seemed warm, but it didn’t help for the rest of the day, walking around with soaked jeans and a damp t-shirt. It was worth it, though, to experience one of the few raft rides with a substantial drop. What fun!
From there, we were off to Africa where we took the safari tour through the savanna, seeing all sorts of antelope, giraffes, elephants, lions, and rhinos, among other things. It was a pretty good ride, but nothing spectacular, really. I think Busch Gardens’ is better, actually. We then took the train to Rafiki’s Planet Watch, where we toured the exhibits and had some ice cream. Then it was off to the 3D show “It’s Tough to Be a Bug,” followed by Everest and Dinosaur re-rides. Then it was back to Epcot for us!
We arrived back at Epcot pretty early – around 3:30, I think. We started our adventure in Future World, visiting everything we missed the night before. Among our adventures were the Living with the Land ride, which took us through some incredible greenhouses where they grew plants that required minimal soils and actually procured tomato trees, which last about 3 times as long as regular tomato plants. Much of what they grow is used at the park, too. They also raised tilapia and shrimp and alligators. It was just fascinating to see the incredible things they’ve come up with. Then we rode the Nemo ride, which was ok, though I understand it was better before they Nemo-fied it. It was situated in an aquarium, so the animated characters took away from the sea life in the background. I’m still kicking myself about not seeing the Journey Into the Imagination Ride, which we didn’t even realize was there, especially because its host is a dragon. Ah well, I’m sure we’ll be back someday!
After enjoying Future World, we headed off to the World Showcase. We had no idea that the Food and Wine Festival was going on, but what a lucky turn of events! Besides the already astounding number of countries and foods available when the event is not taking place, there were kiosks all along the lakefront, representing even more countries and culinary delights, each of which was quite affordable. It was like visiting the Taste of Chicago, in fact! We flitted from booth to booth, sampling all sorts of treats…spanakopita from Greece, escargot from France, chorizo quesadillas from Mexico, sushi from Japan, cheeses from Holland, Durban spiced chicken with coconut milk infused root vegetables from South Africa, seafood gumbo from Louisiana, meze from Turkey, various wines, including a wine sampling of Melbourne Australia area wineries, and that’s just what we tried! There were many, many more booths and foods to sample. It was incredible!
Besides the amazing cuisine, there were also the various shops, restaurants, shows and rides smattered throughout the World Showcase. Incredible replicas of famous buildings like the Eiffel Tower, stood regally along the waterfront – it really did feel like visiting a number of countries all in a few hours. We saw the 360 degree show about China, which could make a person dizzy, but was completely worth it, followed by Norway’s Maelstrom – a boat ride through Norse history complete with a tiny, though unexpected drop. Finally, we rode gondolas through Mexico, which felt more like Italy, save for all the stucco. Once we had made a loop of the Showcase, we headed back to Test Track for one more spin, this time entering the single rider line and getting on within five minutes. After a quick trip to the gift shop, we headed over to the lagoon to watch the incredible “IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth” show. This was an incredible fireworks show featuring an electrical globe in the center of the lagoon that would change images with the music. It was absolutely spectacular, and easily one of the best shows in the park. It was a perfect way to top off the trip, and I’m glad we stuck around.
Jeez, I feel like I must be forgetting something! There was just so much we did, it’s hard to tell anymore! Regardless, after we left Epcot, we managed to make it over to the bar that claimed to be tiki, next to our hotel. It was open this time, but unfortunately they don’t serve tiki drinks every night. Nor is it at all tiki themed. Regardless, we had a good time chatting with the bar tender, who just happened to be from Chicago! We had two drinks and headed off, exhausted from our adventures.
Our flight was at 8:30, so we were up before 6, just to get ready. Luckily, the flight back was uneventful, and we got back around 10:30, Mountain Time. I was absolutely exhausted the rest of the day and wound up passing out by 7! If that’s any measure of a good trip (which I think it is), it says a lot. This had to be the most “normal” of any of our vacations, by other peoples’ standards, but it was also an incredible one. It’ll be a while before we return to Disney, but in the meantime, we have a lot of magic to relive.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Disney Adventures Part 2
On Friday, we arose to the lovely sound of our wakeup call at 6:30. We had to be up at our timeshare meeting at 7:30, so we rushed to get ready and headed over there. Basically, it was a timeshare pitch for some Sheridan-owned company in which you could stay anywhere, anytime, blah blah blah. We went along with the pitch, and even toured around this location on a golf cart, but in the end, we managed to get out of being suckered in. It took about 3 hours, but for $100 off our tickets, it was worth it! Plus, we got free breakfast out of the deal. Too cool!
Once we escaped, we flew over to Disney, this time heading to the Magic Kingdom. I was excited to see that the boat ride to the entry gate was not a figment of my imagination, so our mini sailing trip was quite nostalgic for me. Once at the park, we started our trip counterclockwise, beginning at Tomorrowland. We started out with the Stitch ride, an all-senses show in which Stitch escapes wreaks havoc on the audience. I think I would have enjoyed it more before it changed from Extraterrestrial Encounter, but it was still amusing. Beyond that, we rode the Carousel of Progress which documented technological achievements over time. I swear the voice of the guy from the show belonged to Norm MacDonald, which was amusing. We also rode the Astro Orbiter, a simple ride in which you can control your ascent and descent, which is found in many forms throughout the parks (Dumbo, Aladdin’s Carpets, and a dinosaur one at Animal Kingdom). Next up was Tomorrowland Transit Authority, which takes you around and through many of the rides. We did another Toy Story-themed ride that involved shooting with a laser gun, but it wasn’t nearly as fun as the one at MGM. Finally, we headed over to Space Mountain, which had been down, much to our chagrin, and took a spin on that. I somehow wound up with the front seat, and the ride was just incredible from there! It was much better than I remember Disneyland’s to be, since, with the lighting of the stars, you could actually see a thing or two. There were a few neat head chopper effects and some nice drops. A very fun ride indeed!
After this, we decided to get a FastPass so we could ride the other track, and we headed over to the Speedway, where we tooled around to kill some time. Finally, it was back over to Space Mountain, where we got our second ride, this time with Nate in the front. What a good time!
After we’d seen all of Tomorrowland, we headed up to Mickey’s Toontown Fair where we rode The Barnstormer, another roller coaster. This was a fair-sized family coaster, though not all that memorable. From there, we toured Mickey and Minnie’s houses before hitting the road down to Fantasyland. As a child, this is the place I remembered most, and I recognized the midway immediately. We took a spin on Winnie the Pooh first, which was a confusing and very trippy adventure. It’s sad that they replaced Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride for this, although I wouldn’t doubt that they’re both equally as trippy. I guess in this case, the lead character doesn’t wind up in Hell, which is probably why they changed it to begin with!
Next up we took a spin on the Snow White dark ride, which was pretty fun, and much like the one in California. We attempted to do Peter Pan next, but the line was exceptionally long, so we got a FastPass and headed over to find Small World. In doing so, I was absolutely perplexed! At Disneyland, Small World is this enormous building at the far end of the park, extremely elaborate and mechanical and saccharine and really hard to miss. Since Magic Kingdom is so similar to Disneyland, down to the placement of most of the rides, I expected no less here. Well, oddly enough, the entire ride is crammed into a row of shops and restaurants, almost easy to miss. However, once you enter the queue, it’s just as cloying and elaborate as that entire building at Disneyland, with much of the same decor. Only you can’t escape! We waited in the 15-or-so minute line, singing along and annoying all the parents around us, I’m sure. It was great! Then we amused ourselves on the ride, trying to determine which country was which, which was actually not as easy as you’d think in some cases. Luckily, we got through the ride quickly enough to avoid going crazy, and we moved on to the next thing…Frontierland. While there, we avoided getting caught up in the parade by hoofing it over the adjacent boardwalk. From there, we boarded a raft and sailed over to Tom Sawyer Island where we explored the forts and windmills and other attractions. We also ate lunch at a seafood restaurant, where I was able to get the clam chowder I’d been longing for. Sadly, unlike Disneyland, they don’t serve it in a bread bowl, but it was still quite good.
At this point, it was time to get back to Peter Pan, so we rode that. I can see why I’d have liked it so much as a kid, as flying was always something I’d wanted to do, and it emulates it quite well, but it was incredibly short. It was identical to the one at Disneyland, too, from what I could tell.
After this, we headed over to the Haunted Mansion, where Nate was handed a timekeeper pass. Basically it’s just a lanyard you take with you to the front of the line so they can determine how long the wait is. It’s funny because Nate wanted to experience that and had actually mentioned it prior to getting in line. Unfortunately, the ride op who was supposed to take it was busy talking to someone and Nate had to bring it back to the cast member outside. No worries…he was asked to (successfully) do the same thing three more times on the trip. I guess he looks responsible or something. ;)
Haunted Mansion was fun – much like the one at Disneyland – probably identical. We did get stuck on it at one point, but not for too long. It’s always fun to see the ghost accompanying you in your car at the end of the ride.
After this, we headed over to Frontierland again to obtain another coaster credit on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. It’s really a solid ride and a lot longer than it appears. We wound up in the first row, which was all well and good until I remembered that the guy who got killed at Disneyland’s BTMR was sitting in the same spot – one of the components of the “engine” car broke off and killed him. So that’s what I was thinking about the whole time. Still, it was a fun ride – maybe I’d prefer being further back next time, though.
Then we rode Splash Mountain, which is the same as Disneyland’s. Lots of great animatronics and a good splashdown. I’m actually surprised it’s still there, though, as it’s about as non-PC as you can get, and since they’ve stopped selling and showing Song of the South, I’m not sure that most people recognize the characters anyway. It’s still a fun ride, though.
Finally, we ended up in Adventureland, where we climbed around in the Swiss Family Treehouse, which was a lot of fun, and inspiring to me, as I could see living in a tree one day. It was much better than Disneyland’s recreation into a Tarzan treehouse. They should just leave well enough alone! From there, we rode the jungle cruise, which is hokey as ever, followed up by the Enchanted Tiki Room. All I could think about was what a mess all those birds would make if they were real, not to mention how you’d have to cover your drinks the whole time. I was lucky enough to see this at Disneyland in its original form, but now they have recent Disney bird characters in on the act, which is rather annoying, but whatcha gonna do? After this, we went to do Pirates, which was lame because it seemed like they’d removed some original theming, and now Captain Jack Sparrow is a part of it all. Oh well.
Our last ride of the day was a lap on the train, which was ok, but not spectacular. Then we boarded the monorail and took it over to Epcot for the evening. On the way, I saw an armadillo rummaging in the grass below, which was pretty neat. Never saw any gators, though, sadly.
What can I say about Epcot? It’s one of the most unusual and imaginative parks I’ve ever seen. I think it was both Nathan and my favorite, in fact, and that’s saying a lot, as there are no roller coasters there! Our first night at Epcot was a bit truncated, as we only had about 3 hours before close. We rushed around, starting the night off with Mission Space, which is touted as being one of the most intense rides in the park. It’s a flight training simulator, supposedly designed by NASA. You sit in a rather claustrophobic flight bridge with three other people, and each of you is assigned a duty. You’re supposed to press buttons while the ride goes, simulating launches and shields and all sorts of things. The ride is a centrifuge, pushing you back against the wall as it rotates, simulating an extreme launch. I think it does some other simulator motions as well, but that is the most intense. It was an interesting ride, but not nearly as exciting as I’d been told.
Next, we ran over to Test Track. This ride takes you on a journey through a vehicle testing facility, where they subject you to the things a car would experience during the process: uneven road surfaces, skidding, maneuvering wildly, heat, cold, slamming through a brick wall (or so you think), and speeding along upwards of 60 mph on an outside track. It’s probably my favorite ride in the park, actually.
After that, we went to Spaceship Earth, the ride that resides within the famous Epcot orb. It was a neat journey through the history of mankind and into the future. One neat aspect of the ride was the interactive component. At the end, the computer in your car asks you questions about your ideal future and then puts together your answers to create it for you. Plus, it takes your picture and inserts your faces onto the characters. Later, you can send e-cards to people (if you remember their addresses!) with your faces. Ours were hilarious. I looked devious yet bored, and Nathan had this maniacally happy expression. Good times!
Our last ride of the day would be Soarin’. This is a show in which you sit in seats that raise you above the ground, with your feet dangling. You’re positioned in front of a huge screen, and you watch images of California go by, simulating flying, complete with the smell of oranges and gusts of wind. It’s really an incredible ride, and exactly the same as the one in California. It was a relaxing way to top off the day.
On our way out, Illuminations, the finale, was already going on, so we decided to wait to see it the next day. We beat the crowds out of the park and headed over to the Disney Boardwalk where we ate dinner at the local brew pub. It had a much different atmosphere from the western brew pubs we’re used to, but the beer was good, and so was the food, so we were happy. We wanted to try the “tiki” bar near our hotel that night, but sadly, it was already closed by the time we got over there, so instead we played a few rounds of pool at the local pool hall. On the way over, I noticed that most of the tiny ponds in the area warned not to feed the alligators. That was a bit disconcerting, but I would hope that any gators that live in those small ponds are small themselves. Still, we never saw any.
Once we escaped, we flew over to Disney, this time heading to the Magic Kingdom. I was excited to see that the boat ride to the entry gate was not a figment of my imagination, so our mini sailing trip was quite nostalgic for me. Once at the park, we started our trip counterclockwise, beginning at Tomorrowland. We started out with the Stitch ride, an all-senses show in which Stitch escapes wreaks havoc on the audience. I think I would have enjoyed it more before it changed from Extraterrestrial Encounter, but it was still amusing. Beyond that, we rode the Carousel of Progress which documented technological achievements over time. I swear the voice of the guy from the show belonged to Norm MacDonald, which was amusing. We also rode the Astro Orbiter, a simple ride in which you can control your ascent and descent, which is found in many forms throughout the parks (Dumbo, Aladdin’s Carpets, and a dinosaur one at Animal Kingdom). Next up was Tomorrowland Transit Authority, which takes you around and through many of the rides. We did another Toy Story-themed ride that involved shooting with a laser gun, but it wasn’t nearly as fun as the one at MGM. Finally, we headed over to Space Mountain, which had been down, much to our chagrin, and took a spin on that. I somehow wound up with the front seat, and the ride was just incredible from there! It was much better than I remember Disneyland’s to be, since, with the lighting of the stars, you could actually see a thing or two. There were a few neat head chopper effects and some nice drops. A very fun ride indeed!
After this, we decided to get a FastPass so we could ride the other track, and we headed over to the Speedway, where we tooled around to kill some time. Finally, it was back over to Space Mountain, where we got our second ride, this time with Nate in the front. What a good time!
After we’d seen all of Tomorrowland, we headed up to Mickey’s Toontown Fair where we rode The Barnstormer, another roller coaster. This was a fair-sized family coaster, though not all that memorable. From there, we toured Mickey and Minnie’s houses before hitting the road down to Fantasyland. As a child, this is the place I remembered most, and I recognized the midway immediately. We took a spin on Winnie the Pooh first, which was a confusing and very trippy adventure. It’s sad that they replaced Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride for this, although I wouldn’t doubt that they’re both equally as trippy. I guess in this case, the lead character doesn’t wind up in Hell, which is probably why they changed it to begin with!
Next up we took a spin on the Snow White dark ride, which was pretty fun, and much like the one in California. We attempted to do Peter Pan next, but the line was exceptionally long, so we got a FastPass and headed over to find Small World. In doing so, I was absolutely perplexed! At Disneyland, Small World is this enormous building at the far end of the park, extremely elaborate and mechanical and saccharine and really hard to miss. Since Magic Kingdom is so similar to Disneyland, down to the placement of most of the rides, I expected no less here. Well, oddly enough, the entire ride is crammed into a row of shops and restaurants, almost easy to miss. However, once you enter the queue, it’s just as cloying and elaborate as that entire building at Disneyland, with much of the same decor. Only you can’t escape! We waited in the 15-or-so minute line, singing along and annoying all the parents around us, I’m sure. It was great! Then we amused ourselves on the ride, trying to determine which country was which, which was actually not as easy as you’d think in some cases. Luckily, we got through the ride quickly enough to avoid going crazy, and we moved on to the next thing…Frontierland. While there, we avoided getting caught up in the parade by hoofing it over the adjacent boardwalk. From there, we boarded a raft and sailed over to Tom Sawyer Island where we explored the forts and windmills and other attractions. We also ate lunch at a seafood restaurant, where I was able to get the clam chowder I’d been longing for. Sadly, unlike Disneyland, they don’t serve it in a bread bowl, but it was still quite good.
At this point, it was time to get back to Peter Pan, so we rode that. I can see why I’d have liked it so much as a kid, as flying was always something I’d wanted to do, and it emulates it quite well, but it was incredibly short. It was identical to the one at Disneyland, too, from what I could tell.
After this, we headed over to the Haunted Mansion, where Nate was handed a timekeeper pass. Basically it’s just a lanyard you take with you to the front of the line so they can determine how long the wait is. It’s funny because Nate wanted to experience that and had actually mentioned it prior to getting in line. Unfortunately, the ride op who was supposed to take it was busy talking to someone and Nate had to bring it back to the cast member outside. No worries…he was asked to (successfully) do the same thing three more times on the trip. I guess he looks responsible or something. ;)
Haunted Mansion was fun – much like the one at Disneyland – probably identical. We did get stuck on it at one point, but not for too long. It’s always fun to see the ghost accompanying you in your car at the end of the ride.
After this, we headed over to Frontierland again to obtain another coaster credit on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. It’s really a solid ride and a lot longer than it appears. We wound up in the first row, which was all well and good until I remembered that the guy who got killed at Disneyland’s BTMR was sitting in the same spot – one of the components of the “engine” car broke off and killed him. So that’s what I was thinking about the whole time. Still, it was a fun ride – maybe I’d prefer being further back next time, though.
Then we rode Splash Mountain, which is the same as Disneyland’s. Lots of great animatronics and a good splashdown. I’m actually surprised it’s still there, though, as it’s about as non-PC as you can get, and since they’ve stopped selling and showing Song of the South, I’m not sure that most people recognize the characters anyway. It’s still a fun ride, though.
Finally, we ended up in Adventureland, where we climbed around in the Swiss Family Treehouse, which was a lot of fun, and inspiring to me, as I could see living in a tree one day. It was much better than Disneyland’s recreation into a Tarzan treehouse. They should just leave well enough alone! From there, we rode the jungle cruise, which is hokey as ever, followed up by the Enchanted Tiki Room. All I could think about was what a mess all those birds would make if they were real, not to mention how you’d have to cover your drinks the whole time. I was lucky enough to see this at Disneyland in its original form, but now they have recent Disney bird characters in on the act, which is rather annoying, but whatcha gonna do? After this, we went to do Pirates, which was lame because it seemed like they’d removed some original theming, and now Captain Jack Sparrow is a part of it all. Oh well.
Our last ride of the day was a lap on the train, which was ok, but not spectacular. Then we boarded the monorail and took it over to Epcot for the evening. On the way, I saw an armadillo rummaging in the grass below, which was pretty neat. Never saw any gators, though, sadly.
What can I say about Epcot? It’s one of the most unusual and imaginative parks I’ve ever seen. I think it was both Nathan and my favorite, in fact, and that’s saying a lot, as there are no roller coasters there! Our first night at Epcot was a bit truncated, as we only had about 3 hours before close. We rushed around, starting the night off with Mission Space, which is touted as being one of the most intense rides in the park. It’s a flight training simulator, supposedly designed by NASA. You sit in a rather claustrophobic flight bridge with three other people, and each of you is assigned a duty. You’re supposed to press buttons while the ride goes, simulating launches and shields and all sorts of things. The ride is a centrifuge, pushing you back against the wall as it rotates, simulating an extreme launch. I think it does some other simulator motions as well, but that is the most intense. It was an interesting ride, but not nearly as exciting as I’d been told.
Next, we ran over to Test Track. This ride takes you on a journey through a vehicle testing facility, where they subject you to the things a car would experience during the process: uneven road surfaces, skidding, maneuvering wildly, heat, cold, slamming through a brick wall (or so you think), and speeding along upwards of 60 mph on an outside track. It’s probably my favorite ride in the park, actually.
After that, we went to Spaceship Earth, the ride that resides within the famous Epcot orb. It was a neat journey through the history of mankind and into the future. One neat aspect of the ride was the interactive component. At the end, the computer in your car asks you questions about your ideal future and then puts together your answers to create it for you. Plus, it takes your picture and inserts your faces onto the characters. Later, you can send e-cards to people (if you remember their addresses!) with your faces. Ours were hilarious. I looked devious yet bored, and Nathan had this maniacally happy expression. Good times!
Our last ride of the day would be Soarin’. This is a show in which you sit in seats that raise you above the ground, with your feet dangling. You’re positioned in front of a huge screen, and you watch images of California go by, simulating flying, complete with the smell of oranges and gusts of wind. It’s really an incredible ride, and exactly the same as the one in California. It was a relaxing way to top off the day.
On our way out, Illuminations, the finale, was already going on, so we decided to wait to see it the next day. We beat the crowds out of the park and headed over to the Disney Boardwalk where we ate dinner at the local brew pub. It had a much different atmosphere from the western brew pubs we’re used to, but the beer was good, and so was the food, so we were happy. We wanted to try the “tiki” bar near our hotel that night, but sadly, it was already closed by the time we got over there, so instead we played a few rounds of pool at the local pool hall. On the way over, I noticed that most of the tiny ponds in the area warned not to feed the alligators. That was a bit disconcerting, but I would hope that any gators that live in those small ponds are small themselves. Still, we never saw any.
Disney Adventures Part 1
After years of visiting Florida and having its most famous tourist attraction elude me, I finally had the opportunity to head down to the Everglades State and partake in some Disney Magic. I actually had gone to the Magic Kingdom once when I was really little, and I don’t remember much from that trip, save for the Dumbo and Peter Pan rides, both of which I adored. I also remembered arriving at the gates of the Magic Kingdom by boat. I wondered if that were even true, though, as I thought it odd to not just walk to the gates from the parking lot…but I have to remember, this is Disney, and it isn’t like most other parks.
Other Florida trips saw us focusing heavily on things like Busch Gardens and Islands of Adventure, but Disney just never seemed to play into it. Things changed, however, when Nathan made plans to attend an engineering conference in town. We decided this would be an ideal time to check the parks off our list and see what all of the hullabaloo was about.
Nate arrived for his conference on Monday, and spent the next two days attending his conference and not really seeing much of the area. I arrived on Wednesday, and I settled into our hotel. He and his coworkers wound up staying at the Crowne Plaza Hotel right off of International Drive. As if that hotel weren’t nice enough, they were out of the regular rooms, and he wound up with a posh room on the executive floor. From 6 to 8, they have free beer and wine and fancy cheeses and shrimp to nosh on in their executive lounge, so as soon as we got there, we partook in those luxuries. We also had a stunning 14th story view (for a ride enthusiast) – we could see the bungee towers and even Universal’s Dueling Dragons roller coasters right down the street. It was splendid!
After indulging, we decided to see what International Drive had to offer. We walked down the touristy road, considering several restaurants before we wound up at Ming Court, an incredibly themed Chinese restaurant, where we shared some incredible sushi. Then we worked our way back, stopping at Bahama Breeze to sample their tiki drinks. It was ok for a chain restaurant, but no one can compare with Hala Kahiki. After that, we stopped in to Friendly’s for some ice cream. I had oddly been craving Friendly’s earlier that week, so we were pretty excited to see there was one in Orlando. Sadly, they didn’t have the turtle sundae I had last time, but our five scoop banana split was amazing! After all the scarfing, I was glad we walked – talk about needing to work off the calories!
On Thursday, Nate still had to attend more of his conference. We’d decided the day before to start with Disney this day, since he’d be done around noon, and I’m so glad we did because we wouldn’t have seen it all, otherwise. After taking it easy that morning, I eventually packed up and met Nate around 12:30. We drove off to the Comfort Inn, where we’d spend the rest of our stay, and checked in. We also inquired about Disney tickets, and it turned out that they had a deal going on – we actually saved $100 on our tickets in exchange for attending a timeshare pitch the next morning. Sounded like a good enough deal to us!
So after we got our tickets, we motored off to Disney’s MGM Studios, which is actually called Hollywood Studios as of this year, but it’ll be MGM in this story because it’s easier to type. It cost $12 to park, which is a bit hefty, but actually better than I expected. Once we arrived, we took the tram over to the entrance and got our tickets. We spent most of the day wandering around between FastPass acquisitions. (For those who don’t know, FastPass is a system in which you get a time to return to the line, bypassing waiting in the queue when you do, so you are free to do other things in the meantime.) I felt that MGM was rather incomplete in many ways, with a noticeable lacking of rides. We did do Tower of Terror, which we both enjoyed tremendously. It differs from the one in California in that there is a track that you ride along before arriving in the drop shaft. Each ride was different because it runs a number of programs, so you drop at different times from different heights. I am NOT a fan of drop rides, but I really enjoy Tower of Terror for some reason. It’s just so well themed and is one of the few rides that still makes me nervous.
The other major ride was an indoor coaster called Rock n’ Roller Coaster. It’s themed to Aerosmith, and the cars have little speakers behind your head so you listen to their music as you ride. It was an amusing little coaster, and though it had a loop, it was pretty tame. The scenery consisted of black lit road signs and such, but it wasn’t that spectacular. Still, it’s not every day you get to ride a roller coaster, hearing “Dude Looks Like a Lady” pounding in your ear!
Beyond that, there was an interactive shooting game themed around Toy Story that was actually pretty darned good – you ride around in little cars and stop in front of various screens where you pop bubbles and “throw” rings on the computerized characters. Plus, you didn’t use guns – instead, it was some sort of makeshift slingshot contraption, which was pretty unique. It was unusual to man at first, but really fun once you got the hang of it. It was a blast!
Beyond that, there were a lot of shows. We’re not big into shows, but we did see the Little Mermaid, which was “meh.” We also did the Great Movie Ride, which took you past scenes of old time movies. That was neat, and particularly funny when the guide got involved – it was just too hokey! Sadly, the back lot tour was closed, but we did have a fun time running around the “Honey I Shrunk the Kids” play area. I swear, sometimes those play areas are the best things in a park…luckily, you don’t need to have a kid with you to enjoy the ones at Disney. Haha! We also saw the Prince Caspian show, which was pretty lame, Star Tours, which I bet was good about 15 years ago, and then topped off the day with Fantasmic, the finale in which Mickey wards off his nightmares with a spectacular light show. It was pretty good, but I’m not sure that fighting the crowds was worth it.
So MGM wasn’t really that impressive to me, and I’m glad we did it on our shorter day. Had we not wanted to wait around for Fantasmic, we’d have probably left early and spent some time at a different park.
That night, we would seek out the Polynesian Resort because I’d heard a rumor that there was a tiki bar on the premises, and far be it for us to pass up a tiki bar. We eventually found the place, and after wandering around the grounds a while, we made it up to the bar. While the resort was extremely tiki-themed, sadly, the Tambu Lounge wasn’t THAT much so. Still, they had some good drinks on their menu, including the Lapu Lapu, which is served in an actual pineapple, and the Backscratcher, which comes with (get this!) a backscratcher! We had a fun time imitating Peter from “Family Guy” much of the night…”Backscratcher? Backscratcher!” Haha. After that, we stopped for dinner at McDonalds for some reason…I think it was all that was open. Sooo disappointing to not have green chile cheeseburgers on the menu, as it’s about the only thing from Mickey D’s that I’ll get, but at that point, a double cheeseburger really did hit the spot.
Other Florida trips saw us focusing heavily on things like Busch Gardens and Islands of Adventure, but Disney just never seemed to play into it. Things changed, however, when Nathan made plans to attend an engineering conference in town. We decided this would be an ideal time to check the parks off our list and see what all of the hullabaloo was about.
Nate arrived for his conference on Monday, and spent the next two days attending his conference and not really seeing much of the area. I arrived on Wednesday, and I settled into our hotel. He and his coworkers wound up staying at the Crowne Plaza Hotel right off of International Drive. As if that hotel weren’t nice enough, they were out of the regular rooms, and he wound up with a posh room on the executive floor. From 6 to 8, they have free beer and wine and fancy cheeses and shrimp to nosh on in their executive lounge, so as soon as we got there, we partook in those luxuries. We also had a stunning 14th story view (for a ride enthusiast) – we could see the bungee towers and even Universal’s Dueling Dragons roller coasters right down the street. It was splendid!
After indulging, we decided to see what International Drive had to offer. We walked down the touristy road, considering several restaurants before we wound up at Ming Court, an incredibly themed Chinese restaurant, where we shared some incredible sushi. Then we worked our way back, stopping at Bahama Breeze to sample their tiki drinks. It was ok for a chain restaurant, but no one can compare with Hala Kahiki. After that, we stopped in to Friendly’s for some ice cream. I had oddly been craving Friendly’s earlier that week, so we were pretty excited to see there was one in Orlando. Sadly, they didn’t have the turtle sundae I had last time, but our five scoop banana split was amazing! After all the scarfing, I was glad we walked – talk about needing to work off the calories!
On Thursday, Nate still had to attend more of his conference. We’d decided the day before to start with Disney this day, since he’d be done around noon, and I’m so glad we did because we wouldn’t have seen it all, otherwise. After taking it easy that morning, I eventually packed up and met Nate around 12:30. We drove off to the Comfort Inn, where we’d spend the rest of our stay, and checked in. We also inquired about Disney tickets, and it turned out that they had a deal going on – we actually saved $100 on our tickets in exchange for attending a timeshare pitch the next morning. Sounded like a good enough deal to us!
So after we got our tickets, we motored off to Disney’s MGM Studios, which is actually called Hollywood Studios as of this year, but it’ll be MGM in this story because it’s easier to type. It cost $12 to park, which is a bit hefty, but actually better than I expected. Once we arrived, we took the tram over to the entrance and got our tickets. We spent most of the day wandering around between FastPass acquisitions. (For those who don’t know, FastPass is a system in which you get a time to return to the line, bypassing waiting in the queue when you do, so you are free to do other things in the meantime.) I felt that MGM was rather incomplete in many ways, with a noticeable lacking of rides. We did do Tower of Terror, which we both enjoyed tremendously. It differs from the one in California in that there is a track that you ride along before arriving in the drop shaft. Each ride was different because it runs a number of programs, so you drop at different times from different heights. I am NOT a fan of drop rides, but I really enjoy Tower of Terror for some reason. It’s just so well themed and is one of the few rides that still makes me nervous.
The other major ride was an indoor coaster called Rock n’ Roller Coaster. It’s themed to Aerosmith, and the cars have little speakers behind your head so you listen to their music as you ride. It was an amusing little coaster, and though it had a loop, it was pretty tame. The scenery consisted of black lit road signs and such, but it wasn’t that spectacular. Still, it’s not every day you get to ride a roller coaster, hearing “Dude Looks Like a Lady” pounding in your ear!
Beyond that, there was an interactive shooting game themed around Toy Story that was actually pretty darned good – you ride around in little cars and stop in front of various screens where you pop bubbles and “throw” rings on the computerized characters. Plus, you didn’t use guns – instead, it was some sort of makeshift slingshot contraption, which was pretty unique. It was unusual to man at first, but really fun once you got the hang of it. It was a blast!
Beyond that, there were a lot of shows. We’re not big into shows, but we did see the Little Mermaid, which was “meh.” We also did the Great Movie Ride, which took you past scenes of old time movies. That was neat, and particularly funny when the guide got involved – it was just too hokey! Sadly, the back lot tour was closed, but we did have a fun time running around the “Honey I Shrunk the Kids” play area. I swear, sometimes those play areas are the best things in a park…luckily, you don’t need to have a kid with you to enjoy the ones at Disney. Haha! We also saw the Prince Caspian show, which was pretty lame, Star Tours, which I bet was good about 15 years ago, and then topped off the day with Fantasmic, the finale in which Mickey wards off his nightmares with a spectacular light show. It was pretty good, but I’m not sure that fighting the crowds was worth it.
So MGM wasn’t really that impressive to me, and I’m glad we did it on our shorter day. Had we not wanted to wait around for Fantasmic, we’d have probably left early and spent some time at a different park.
That night, we would seek out the Polynesian Resort because I’d heard a rumor that there was a tiki bar on the premises, and far be it for us to pass up a tiki bar. We eventually found the place, and after wandering around the grounds a while, we made it up to the bar. While the resort was extremely tiki-themed, sadly, the Tambu Lounge wasn’t THAT much so. Still, they had some good drinks on their menu, including the Lapu Lapu, which is served in an actual pineapple, and the Backscratcher, which comes with (get this!) a backscratcher! We had a fun time imitating Peter from “Family Guy” much of the night…”Backscratcher? Backscratcher!” Haha. After that, we stopped for dinner at McDonalds for some reason…I think it was all that was open. Sooo disappointing to not have green chile cheeseburgers on the menu, as it’s about the only thing from Mickey D’s that I’ll get, but at that point, a double cheeseburger really did hit the spot.
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