Prepping for Disney World By Binging Movies

I can't believe I'm almost done with my pre-trip Walt Disney Wednesday posts, I only have two more left (I may have misspoken last week and said there two more left then, and if so, I apologize).  This week's post is one I originally planned at putting towards the beginning of my Walt Disney Wednesdays, but I thought it was better suited for the end.  Let me start out by saying that I have absolutely no idea how I convinced Bryan to watch pretty much nothing by Disney movies with me for the past two months.  If I knew, I would tell you, but he has the patience of a saint and put up with it without too much complaining.  For those of you wondering just how many Disney movies we've watched to prepare for this trip, the answer is a whopping 43, and we still have one more left to watch tonight.  We also skipped over Lion King because we got to that movie right after my dad died, and I just couldn't watch it, although we saw the new one over the summer, so we're counting that.  Now, we didn't watch all of those in the past two months, we watched a few last year before we knew we were going on our trip and a few over the summer before Disney+ came out.  Once Disney+ came out, though, it was all over, and that's pretty much all we've watched since.  It'll be weird not watching that.

When we first started out, watching movies, we watched in any random order; he would pick one, then I'd pick one, and we went back and forth like that for a while until I picked Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and commented how it was the first Disney movie.  From then on out, we pretty much went in chronological order, which I found fascinating because it showed the development and growth of Disney movies.  Not only did the animation and special effects improve, but Bryan and I both commented on how the role of the female characters changed as well.  In Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, you have a fourteen year old girl who runs through the woods screaming and then spends the rest of the time cleaning and taking care of the men.  By the time you get to Aladdin, however, you have a strong female character in Jasmine who knows what she wants and isn't afraid to take no for an answer.  Up until she met Aladdin, she even refused to get married because she didn't meet anyone she liked.  I wish we had started watching that way from the beginning, but that's fine.  I was going to list all the movies we watched, but, like I said, it's quite extensive.

Believe it or not, there were several Disney movies that we watched that I had never seen before, albeit not that many.  Bryan's list is significantly longer, and we can't even really remember which ones he had seen and hadn't seen.  As for me, there were only eight movies we watched that I had never seen before: Avatar, Robin Hood, Monster's University, Brother Bear, The Good Dinosaur, Ratatouille, Wreck-It Ralph and Ralph Breaks the Internet.  For the most part, I greatly enjoyed all the new ones I saw, although I didn't like The Good Dinosaur at all, I thought it was weird and just a bit too out there.  It was easy to see why it is the least popular Pixar movie.

Okay, time for me to talk about my top three movies that we watched.  Two of these really shouldn't be a surprise, but the third one is a new movie for me, and I was surprised at how much I loved it.

Beauty and the Beast has always been one of my favorite Disney movies.  I think it's because I could relate to Belle so much, especially given her bookish tendencies.  Let's also talk about that library the Beast gave her.  It has always been a dream of mine to have a library like that, although I also know the likelihood of me getting a library like that is pretty much nonexistent.  I also adore Belle's personality.  She knows what she wants, and she's not afraid to say it.  If anything, she's one of the earliest Disney princesses who really stands up for herself.  Ariel has a little bit of this, but she's also a flighty teenager who falls in love with someone she's never met.  Belle, on the other hand, isn't afraid to stand up to the Beast and brings out the best in him.  I know some people say she has Stockholm syndrome, but if she did, then she wouldn't have run away and wouldn't have stood up to the Beast and pointed out his faults to him.  She simply fell in love with him by bringing out his true personality.

This is another movie that shouldn't be much of a surprise at all either.  I love Stitch so much.  Yes, he's chaos and havoc all rolled into one, but just look at that little face!  He's positively adorable, and I can't get enough of his face.  Don't even get me started on Lilo.  Her tirade about Pudge the fish is one of my favorite Disney movies because on its surface it appears to make absolutely no sense, but once you learn that Lilo's parents died in a car crash during a storm, suddenly you understand why it's important for her to keep Pudge the fish happy so he'll make the weather nice.  Nani is also a wonderful character.  She might look like she's losing control of the situation with Lilo, but you have to take into consideration her age and the trauma both of them have been through.  Nani's about nineteen years old, and she's trying to take care of her five year old sister who has a wonderful spirit, so she's trying to keep her in line while simultaneously encouraging her keep up that wonderful spirit.  The underlying message of "ohana", or family is amazing too.  It truly shows that family doesn't have to be related by blood.

Like I said before, I had never seen Avatar before.  Personally, I thought it was overrated, and I hated that they kept releasing it in theatres with a few extra seconds of footage and then claiming it's the highest grossing movie ever (for the record, when inflation is taken into account, it doesn't even break the top ten).  I also hate that I love this movie because I feel like I'm jumping on the bandwagon here, but since I'm over ten years later, I feel like it's not that bad.  First of all, I thought this movie was absolutely gorgeous.  The scenery was stunning, and I can't wait to stand in Pandora in Animal Kingdom and get as close to being in the movie.  I also love Jake's fighting spirit.  It doesn't take long for him to have an appreciation for the Na'vi people and the nature.  He showed tremendous growth as a character and learned to live with nature, not fight against it.

As can be expected, I also asked Bryan for his top three favorite movies that we watched and why he liked them.  Unfortunately, he just couldn't decide, which honestly surprises me.  I thought that he just went through the motions of watching the movies to appease me, but it would seem that he actually enjoyed watching many more of them than I originally thought.  Glad to know I'm getting my boyfriend into enjoying Disney movies.  There's hope for him yet!

Of course, we didn't like all the movies we watched.  We agreed on some of most of our bottom three movies, but there were some we disagreed on as well. 

Neither of us liked The Three Caballeros.  Both of us found it incredibly weird.  For those of you wondering if it's even a Disney movie, yes, yes it is.  And if you're wondering why in the world we watched it, it's because the characters, Donald Duck, Panchito and Jose lead guests through the ride at the Mexico Pavilion in Epcot.  The movie focuses on Donald, who receives gifts from his friends, Panchito and Jose, and with the help of those gifts, he learns about the beauty of Latin America.  Disney created this movie as propaganda of sorts to teach its viewers about how wonderful Latin America is to boost its image during World War II and get people on board with allying ourselves with Latin American countries.  Bryan and I both found this movie incredibly strange.  It was a blend of animation and live action, not that that is a downside, if done properly.  Bryan was particularly not fond of the ending, which was simply Donald chasing a bunch of women in bikinis around the beach.  Yes, that's a great thing for children to see.  We both thought so highly of the movie that I fell asleep, and he almost fell asleep.

Neither of us were particularly fond of Pinocchio either.  Personally, I thought it was a movie that didn't know what it wanted to be.  You have a puppet who becomes a real boy, and the next day, the dad immediately sends him off to school without showing him around the village or spending time to teach him the ins and outs of existing in the first place.  Bryan's complaint with Pinocchio stemmed from the third act, which he said was "literally hand waved  with a note saying his dad had been eaten by a monster unseen or talked about before this very moment."  It was as if they didn't know how to wrap up the movie within the time or budget allotted, so they threw in the giant whale to bring it all to a close.  Had they at least mentioned the whale earlier, it might not have been so bad.  For me, however, it really stemmed from the fact that the movie was all over the place.  You had Pinocchio coming alive, then working in a sideshow, then turning into a donkey, then getting swallowed alive by a whale.  It's a mess.

Even though we didn't have to watch The Good Dinosaur to prepare for our trip, Bryan absolutely loves dinosaurs, so we watched it.  Like I said earlier, it's easy to see why this is the least successful Pixar movie.  It focuses on the concept of what it would have been like if dinosaurs hadn't gone extinct and instead become intelligent creatures, while humans are more similar to animals in terms of habits and intelligence.  I know, it's super weird.  It tried really hard to teach lessons of being yourself, bravery and friendship, and I can see small children quite enjoying it.  As adults, however, we thought it was just strange and a little bit too out there, even for a Disney movie.  Despite my complaints, I did think Spot was rather adorable, and I wished there was more of him.  Arlo the dinosaur, on the other hand, I found whiny and annoying.

Bryan's final least favorite movie we watched was Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and I can see where he's coming from, but I just love the dwarfs so much.  While he does admit that it's a classic, he didn't really care for the overall plot (it is Disney's first movie, so they were just getting started on telling stories, and it makes a lot more sense than Pinocchio in my opinion).  He also complained about "the rampant sexism", which I also understand.  I'm not making excuses, but the movie did come out in the 1940s when you didn't have nearly as many strong female characters as you do today.  I know I talked about this already, so I'm not going to go into more detail.  Personally, I didn't find the movie awful, although it did bother me that the dwarfs spent all the time looking after Snow White and killed the Evil Queen to save her, and the Prince shows up, and she immediately runs off with him as soon as she wakes up.  It's like she didn't even care about what the dwarfs did for her.

Well, that's it for now.  There are only two more Walt Disney Wednesdays until we leave on our trip.  Next Wednesday will be our single digits day, and I'll talk about what I'm looking forward to the most in all the parks as a whole, so be sure to check that out.

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A Closer Look at Magic Kingdom

Ahh Wednesday, before you were simply a day I had to get through to be halfway done with the week.  Now, however, I have the opportunity to discuss some of my exciting Disney plans!  This week, I'm focusing entirely on Magic Kingdom and our plans for the oldest and most classic Disney theme park.

For those of you unfamiliar with Magic Kingdom, it is the oldest of the four Disney theme parks and is home to many of the classic rides and attractions you think of when you think of Disney World.  Opening in 1971, this was the only park in Disney World until Epcot opened 11 years later.  When you first enter the park, a turn of the 20th century street called Main Street, USA full of shops and restaurants leads you to the park's most famous attraction: Cinderella's Castle.  While you can eat in the castle, that's about it.  Most people simply take pictures in front of it and move on.

Magic Kingdom itself is broken up into six different areas: Main Street, USA, Fantasyland, Tomorrowland, Adventureland, Frontierland and Liberty Square.  Each one is themed differently and has rides, shows and other attractions surrounding that theme.  The fact that the park is broken into five different parts made our job a little easier, as we simply decided to do Tomorrowland and Fantasyland one day, then Adventureland, Frontierland and Liberty Square another day.  We have yet to figure out which day we're doing the fireworks and the parade, although that might be dictated by our FastPasses.  While we're spending two days at each park, Magic Kingdom is the only park we're visiting on back to back days.  We also have no table service reservations for this park, so we'll be doing a lot of snacking and quick service meals (but more about that later).

Magic Kingdom is home to some of my favorite rides in Disney World that I can't wait to ride again.  Let's start with one of my all time favorite rides: Haunted Mansion.  I tend to stay away from things that are overly scary, I don't do jump scares.  When I watch horror movies, I tend to watch them in the middle of the day, with all the lights on, the volume way down low and close captions on.  What I love about Haunted Mansion is that it's more of a fun scary without anything that's overly scary.  Plus, it's a classic that just celebrated its 50th anniversary a few months ago.  I even made a "Beware of Hitchhiking Ghosts" decoration for Halloween this year.  Before, rumor had it that if you asked a cast member at the beginning of the ride of a death certificate, they'd print out one with a funny death on it (similar to the tombstones outside the ride), and you could pick it up after the ride.  Apparently they don't do that anymore, which is a bummer.

Across the park in Tomorrowland, I also love Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin.  In this ride, riders get in little cars and go through the galaxy fighting the evil Emperor Zurg and competing against each other to hit the most targets with these little laser guns attached to the front of their car.

Photo courtesy of https://d23.com/this-day/buzz-lightyears-space-ranger-spin-attraction-opens-at-walt-disney-world/

As someone who is incredibly competitive, this is right up my alley.  Additionally, with a few rare exceptions, this is one of the closest things to a game throughout the parks (there's a similar ride in Hollywood Studios and a shooting arcade in Magic Kingdom as well).

Also located in Tomorrowland, I'm looking forward to Space Mountain.  I didn't ride it when I was younger, because I used to have this intense fear of roller coasters.  I still have that "oh crap, what am I thinking?" moment when I ride roller coasters, but I always enjoy them and almost never regret them.  Space Mountain is a blast.  In the complete dark, you're whipped all over the place with lights flashing while you ride in these surprisingly small rocket ships.  It's always a fun ride to go on, even if the tiny little rockets make you feel like you're going to fall out.

Pirates of the Caribbean is another ride I've gone on in the past and can't wait to ride again.  Part of this comes from the fact that they've updated the ride to include Jack Sparrow and Barbosa.  While I'm glad they did that, because there are definitely people who visit the park now who only know the movies and don't know that the movies were inspired by the ride, not the other way around, I'm also a little bummed because I liked the original better.  I'm not going to pass judgement, though, because I haven't actually been on the ride since they updated it.  I'm going to stay optimistic, because I doubt Disney would ruin such a classic ride.

Photo courtesy of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrdQ34PIdoA

Located in Frontierland, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (another one of the "mountain" rides scattered throughout the park) is another fun roller coaster.  This one is an outdoor roller coaster where you're riding on a runaway mine train through a frontier town.  As you zip along the tracks, you're surrounded by the remnants of an abandoned town, including buildings, personal effects and animals.  It's a short but exciting ride that's always a good time.  Its facade, along with Splash Mountain, dominate Frontierland.

Fantasyland is where you find many of the classic, kid-friendly Disney attractions: Dumbo, It's a Small World, etc.  This is also where you'll find the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.  On this ride, which replaced Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, you adventure through the 100 Acre Wood with Pooh, Piglet and all their friends.  It's absolutely adorable as you sit in a "Hunny Pot".  My favorite part of the ride is when you meet Tigger.  There, your pot bounces up and down with him as he explains why Tiggers are the best creatures ever.  It may be a ride more geared towards children, but I love it nonetheless.

Photo courtesy of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5s-RZ3cEPbs

There are also two shows I'm looking forward to that I've already seen in Disney World.  The first is Mickey's PhilharMagic.  This was fairly new last time I went to Disney World, and I'm super excited to show it to Bryan.  I know he's going to complain about me using this phrase, but this is my blog, not his, so I don't care, but this is a 4-D attraction.  Although Mickey's name is in the title, it's Donald Duck who is actually the main attraction.  You arrive as guests to hear Mickey conduct an orchestra, but when the curtain rises, all you see is Donald, who hasn't unpacked any of the instruments.  Mickey tells him to do so while simultaneously making the mistake of leaving his sorcerer's hat behind.  Donald takes it upon himself to put on the hat and try to use magic on the instruments.  Chaos ensues.  The show includes 3-D effects, along with scents being pumped into the theater as a medley of Disney songs are played.  It's a lot of fun and definitely much more kid-friendly than Disney's other 4-D show: It's Tough to Be a Bug.

Finally, the last thing I've done in Magic Kingdom that I can't wait to do again is the Enchanted Tiki Room.  I'm especially excited to do it because I've heard some rumors that it might close down, although I haven't heard anything concrete yet.  In this attraction, over 150 animatronic birds, tiki masks, etc. entertain guests with a variety of songs.  For a while, Zazu from Lion King and Iago from Aladdin were also part of the performance, when the ride was advertised as being "under new management".  They have since been removed from the show, and it has reverted back to its original form.

         

The most famous part of the show is the always annoying ear worm "Enchanted Tiki Room", which is the attraction's theme song.  All it takes is for me to think about the song for it to be stuck in head for hours on end.  Still, it's a lot of fun and a great chance to sit down for a little while in the parks if you've been walking around a lot.

Since it will be almost fifteen years since the last time I went to Disney World by the time I go in February, there have been a fw new attractions added to the parks.  The list for Magic Kingdom is fairly small, especially when compared to parks such as Hollywood Studios, which got an entirely new name since I last visited, but there are still some new attractions I want to visit.

First and foremost, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.  Similar to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, this ride takes guests on a whirlwind of a ride on runaway mine machinery.  Unlike Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, however, you're riding underground through the mine that the seven dwarfs work in during the day.  While I've seen brief videos about this ride, I'm trying to see as little as possible because I want to be surprised.  I've heard that the special effects are absolutely amazing, and I can't wait to see them all for myself.  I've also heard that the wait time can be quite extensive and FastPasses difficult to get, so we may have to work a little to get on this ride.

I'm also looking forward to trying out Under the Sea ~ Journey of the Little Mermaid.  Just like Peter Pan's Flight and The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, this takes riders through the story of The Little Mermaid in a little purple clamshell.  Just like The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, this looks like an adorable ride, not to mention nostalgic as you travel under the sea.

There are also two new shows I'm excited about seeing in Magic Kingdom.  The first is The Muppets Present...Great Moments in American History.  This is a short little show on the streets of Liberty Square where the Muppets recreate events from early American history.  As a fan of the Muppets, a history grad student and US history teacher, I just have to see this show, no matter how juvenile it may be.  It looks like a lot of fun and an attempt to build up Liberty Square, which is fairly small.

In Tomorrowland, I'm also looking forward to trying out Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor.  This is supposed to be one of the more cutting edge attractions.  Using motion capture, actors behind the scenes portray monsters from the Monsters, Inc. universe as they collect laughs to power the city.  Since it's technically actors, each show is different, and the monsters interact with the audience from up on the screen.  My cousin has highly recommended it, and it sounds like a lot of fun, not to mention a great break from all the walking.

While Bryan has been struggling with getting into the whole "meeting characters" thing (he keeps arguing that they're just people in costume), I'm 100% behind it and even have a list of characters I'm determined to either meet or try to meet in each park.

The most important character is Stitch.  I absolutely love Stitch!  I think Lilo and Stitch is a blast, and I love Stitch and the fact that he simultaneously represents family and complete and utter chaos.  I also adore Lilo, she way more dramatic than I am, which is quite impressive.  From what I've heard, you can find Stitch in Tomorrowland, near his attraction, which is considered a flop and is rarely open.  Even so, I still love Stitch, and I can't wait to meet him.

I'm also really excited to meet Cinderella.  Although my hair is now very dark brown, I am a natural blonde.  When I was little, a neighbor used to call me "Cinderella" because I had blue eyes and blonde, curly hair.  My hair is still curly, and my eyes are still blue-ish, but the blonde hair is long gone.  I know you can meet Cinderella at one of the princess meet-ups in the park.  I'd also like to meet the Fairy Godmother from Cinderella, although I've heard she's a little harder to find.  If I don't meet her, I'll be disappointed, but it won't be the end of the world.  There are plenty of other characters I want to meet.

Keeping in the theme of princess, there are a few princess whose movies have come out since the last time I went to Disney World, and I'd love to meet them.  First of all, Merida.  Bryan has really enjoyed the movie Brave, and Merida is a wonderful character.  As dorky as it sounds, I really want to ask her how her brothers are doing; they're my favorite part of the movie.  I also can't wait to meet Rapunzel and Tiana.  I know you can meet them both in the same line, which is perfect.  I love the personalities of both of them; Rapunzel is so carefree and fun, while Tiana is so determined and dedicated.  I feel that both are wonderful role models.

Jack Sparrow is also a new character you can meet in Adventureland, conveniently near the Pirates of the Caribbean ride.  Jack Sparrow is so quirky, and I imagine that he's a wonderful and fun character to play as an actor.  Another character that is probably a blast to play and meet is Peter Pan.  To be honest, I'm not even a big fan of the movie, but I've heard so many fun and crazy things about meeting Peter Pan, that I simply have to meet him myself.  Based on what I've seen, you never know what he's going to say or do, which makes it all even more exciting.  I can get past the fact that I don't really like the movie for that reason alone.

When it comes to Magic Kingdom, and Disney World in general, something else I'm looking forward to is the food.  I'm thoroughly convinced I'm going to gain so much weight while I'm there because there's so much delicious looking food.

Of course I have to try Dole Whip.  Nando's here has it, but I refuse to eat it there because it's a strictly Disney treat in my eyes.  Oh top of Dole Whip, I also want to try the Peter Pan float, it sounds delicious and looks adorable.  It's a key lime pie soft serve mixed with Sprite, and there's a little red feather in it made out of chocolate.  Ever since social media came out, Disney has been trying to make more "photo worthy" snacks that are more visually appealing, and this is definitely an example of that.

Also in Fantasyland, I want to head over to Friar Tuck's and try out the loaded tater tots.  The flavors rotate, so I'm not entirely sure what they'll have there, but they look and sound amazing, so I'll definitely swing by and try those out.

Speaking of rotating food options there's also an eggroll cart in Adventureland that has unique flavors that rotate.  In the past, I've heard of bacon mac and cheese flavor and cheeseburger flavor.  I don't eat cheeseburgers, but the bacon mac and cheese sounds beyond amazing, and I definitely need some of that.  I just hope that's the flavor they have when I visit.  Like I said, it's a lot of snack foods while we're there, which is perfectly fine with me.  We'll also bring our own snacks into the park, but I want to try as much food as humanly possible while we visit.

The last thing I absolutely have my heart set on, probably more so than most of what I've already talked about, are the Tangled Lanterns.  At dusk near the Tangled themed bathrooms in Fantasyland, guests can have their picture taken with the lanterns from Tangled, and the photos are absolutely gorgeous!  I already have a feeling that the pictures are going to be some of my favorite from our entire trip (I hope they live up to my high expectations).  I'm so excited to do them with Bryan and get some beautiful pictures on our trip.

Not surprising, when I asked Bryan what he was excited about for the trip so I could include it in my post, it took ages to pull an answer out of him (don't even get me started on him telling me what he wanted for Christmas, it was awful!).  Magic Kingdom is the only Disney park he's ever visited, so he has a basic idea of what's there, and he's been more recently than me, but it's still been a while for him.  He said that he's looking forward to Space Mountain, it's pretty much the only ride he remembers riding last time he went.  He's also looking forward to the Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor.  My cousin really talked it up last time we saw him, and Monster's, Inc. is a fun movie.  Overall, Bryan said that he's most looking forward to exploring the park and really taking it all in.  Since we have two days dedicated to the park, I think we'll definitely have a lot of exploring, not to mention tons of food and rides.  I can't wait!

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