A Closer Look at Animal Kingdom

It's hard to believe I'm doing my last write up on a specific Disney park.  It's also hard to believe it's only 30 days until our trip (but who's counting?).  The irony of this post is that while I'm writing about Animal Kingdom last, it's actually the first park we're going to on our trip.  A lot of that came down to where we wanted to eat our first day of vacation (more about that later), along with when Disney has Extra Magic Hours.

First, a tiny bit of history about Animal Kingdom.  The idea for an animal-themed park originally came up in the late 1980s after Disney opened MGM Studios (now Hollywood Studios).  Since this park involves large amounts of living, breathing animals, there was extensive research necessary.  Additionally, Imagineers traveled all over the world observing animals and collecting artifacts that could be used throughout the park to create as immersive an experience as humanly possible.  The majority of this planning, research and travel was spearheaded by Joe Rohde.  If you've ever seen a documentary about Disney World, he's the one with the huge earring (you'll know who I'm talking about as soon as you see him).  It took a little over ten years, but the park finally opened in 1998.

So much about Animal Kingdom has changed since the last time we went fourteen years ago (moreso than Epcot and Magic Kingdom but definitely not as much as Hollywood Studios).  I also feel like there's a lot that there was there when we went fourteen years ago that we didn't do because we just did the rides.  A lot of that comes from the fact that Animal Kingdom is so much more than a park, and in order to get the full experience, it's important to not only know that but also take advantage of it.  Like I said before, we just did the rides last time we went to Animal Kingdom, and it sounds bad to say this, but that caused us to miss huge parts of the park that are absolutely amazing.  On top of that, there are plenty of new rides and attractions that have opened in Animal Kingdom, including a whole new part of the park.

Animal Kingdom is broken into seven distinct areas: Discovery Island, Africa (including the fictional port city of Harambe), Asia, DinoLand USA, Oasis, Rafiki's Planet Watch and Pandora.  Just like the lands in Magic Kingdom, each of these areas is unique and provides visitors with a different experience.  Originally, Imagineers also wanted to include a part of the park that focused on fantasy animals, but this was eventually discarded, although Pandora can be considered an area that focuses on fictional creatures.

First, I want to talk about the few things I've done previously in Animal Kingdom that I can't wait to do again.  First and foremost is Kilamanjaro Safari.  This is what Walt Disney originally wanted for the Jungle Cruise in Magic Kingdom; a place for guests to real animals in their natural habitat.  When Disneyland first opened in 1955, it was deemed an impossible task, which is why the Jungle Cruise has animatronic animals.  Kilamanjaro Safari is one of the main reasons Animal Kingdom is so huge, it covers approximately 110 acres, or about 19% of the entire Animal Kingdom.  The safari is set up judiciously where animals appear to be wandering around at their leisure, but they're actually separated by natural barriers (so you don't have lions attacking and eating zebras in front of small children) and are lured out closer to the path with things such as food and air conditioning.  Guests catch a ride on safari truck where a cast member serves as your guide.  Unlike the Jungle Cruise where the cast member (aka the "Skipper") feeds you cheesy jokes, this time you're told factual information about the animals as you cross them.  The one risk with this ride is you never know what you're going to get, you might see a lot of animals, you might not.  Disney does work hard to ensure you see as much as possible.

Another attraction I'm excited to see is housed in the main focus of Animal Kingdom: the Tree of Life.  Pictured above, the Tree of Life looks like a solid structure.  Up close, however, guests realize that all sorts of animals are carved in intricate detail into the trunk and branches, 325 carvings in all.  It's absolutely gorgeous, and it's easy to spend ages just looking at all the detail.

While the tree looks like a large, solid structure, underneath the roots is actually a 428 seat theatre where guests can watch the 3D production It's Tough To Be A Bug! based on Pixar's 1998 movie A Bug's Life.  At first, Imagineers struggled with how to build a large tree with a theatre underneath that could not only support the weight of the tree on an average day but also withstand the potential winds and rain from hurricanes.  Eventually, they decided to use an oil rig, which was perfect to withstand the weight and stress.

Like I said before, It's Tough To Be A Bug! is a 3D show where the characters from A Bug's Life explain the hardships and struggles they endure being bugs.  The point is driven home with special effects such as smells for the stinkbugs, air that feels like bugs crawling up your legs and even something that comes out of your seat and pokes you in the back to feel like a stinger.  It absolutely terrifies children, and there's always children screaming who have to be taken to the back of the theatre of comforted.  I remember the first time we went to Animal Kingdom in 2000, and I had heard that the show can be a little intense.  I was a bit of a wimp at the time and didn't want to sit down.  Disney is always wonderful and accommodating, however, and a cast member kindly stood in the back of the theatre with me.  When we went in 2005, I did sit in a seat and enjoyed the show.

The last thing we did last time we went to Animal Kingdom I want to do again is Festival of the Lion King.  I've heard this show compared to seeing Lion King on Broadway, but since I've seen Lion King on Broadway, I'm having a little bit of a hard time swallowing that.  I remember it being a lot of fun and there being a lot of color and beautiful dancing.  Unlike the Broadway show, however, Festival of the Lion King uses fur characters similar to the costumes used for characters around the park, not puppet-like costumes you see on Broadway.  It's an abbreviated version of the movie that focuses mainly on the music, with four story tellers filling in the rest of the story as you listen to the music.

Like I said before, there's plenty that's either been added to Animal Kingdom since we last went or that we didn't do last time that I would like to do this time around.  Perhaps the biggest change to Animal Kingdom is Pandora, based on the movie Avatar.  Now, it's important to note that at this point, I haven't actually seen Avatar, but it's on our list of movies to watch before we go on our trip (more about that in a few weeks).  This Pandora includes the floating mountains, exotic plants and sounds.  At night, everything lights up to look like bioluminescent plants.

There are two main rides in Pandora: Flight of Passage and Na'vi River Journey.  Flight of Passage is similar to Soarin' in Epcot where it feels like you're flying through Pandora while in front of a giant screen.  When you ride Soarin', however, you're simply sitting in a seat.  On Flight of Passage, however, you ride one of the banshees from the movie.  The banshees even feel like they're breathing as you sit on them!  The detail is supposed to be amazing, and I've only heard great things about this ride.  FastPasses for this ride are difficult to come across, but we're fortunate enough to have gotten one for our second day at Animal Kingdom.

The other ride in Pandora is Na'vi River Journey.  I've heard this ride isn't as good as Flight of Passage, but I still want to ride it.  As the name implies, this is simply a slow, leisurely ride through Pandora where you can even meet a Na'vi shaman.  When I watched Imagineering Story on Disney+ (which I can't recommend enough), they talked about creating this shaman.  When Disney parks first opened, the motors used in the animatronics were significantly larger, which is why you don't see a lot of changes in emotions on rides such as Pirates of the Caribbean.  Now, however, the motors are incredibly small, meaning animatronics are capable of changing their emotions and having many more fine motor movements.  In Imagineering Story, they demonstrate this by showing the shaman from Na'vi River Journey.

The realism in the shaman is beyond amazing.  When I showed this clip to Bryan, he immediately got excited and started asking if we were going to be able to see the shaman up close.  It also reminds me of the conversations we have about "Uncanny Valley", which is the concept that if something looks far too realistic, the brain pretty much short circuits as it tries to comprehend the fact that what you're seeing isn't real even though it's comprehending it as something that is in fact real.

In addition to Pandora, Asia has expanded in Animal Kingdom to include a new roller coaster: Expedition Everest.  On this ride, you are traveling through the Himalayas in search of the elusive Yeti.  Things go wrong, however, when they track you're riding on has been ripped up by the very Yeti you're looking for.  As you zoom through the mountains, you even briefly encounter the Yeti.  The building of this ride is absolutely fascinating.  The Yeti, track and mountain are all so large they had to built in tandem instead of building one, then another, then the last one.  This was, understandably, a logistical nightmare.  The video below goes into more detail about this, including the research done to make the ride look as culturally accurate as possible.

I'm also looking forward to seeing Rivers of Light, which is the night show at Animal Kingdom.  Unlike the other shows in Disney World, there are no fireworks in this show so as to not to scare the animals.  Instead, gorgeous boats with colorful lights and scenes from Disney movies projected on them float along the water, along with fountains, all to music.  It looks absolutely gorgeous and like a wonderful way to end a day in the park.

There are a few things that were available when we went to Animal Kingdom last time, but we skipped them.  First and foremost is the ride Bryan's probably looking forward to the most: Dinosaur.  I, however, have some much different thoughts about this ride.  On this ride, you're sent back in time to retrieve a specific dinosaur egg.  As always, however, things go wrong when you're there, and the meteor shower that killed the dinosaurs starts.  It's a loud, intense ride that includes dinosaurs roaring at you while you scream in terror.  I'm convinced I'm going to die on this ride.  To make matters worse, this is the very first ride we're going on in Disney World, so I keep saying that anything we plan after that is useless, as I'll be dead.  Bryan thinks this is hilarious (isn't he the best?).  I did buy earplugs for this ride, so let's hope they work.  The good news is you get a photo from this ride, so that should be amusing.  I did watch a few videos of this ride ahead of time so I would know what to expect, and it's pretty much just darkness and screaming, which doesn't bode well for me at all.  We'll have to see how this goes, although Bryan seems excited.

Recently, as in the past week or two, Bryan and I have decided to add Rafiki's Planet Watch to our trip.  In order to get to this part of Animal Kingdom, you have to ride a train.  This area includes a petting zoo, conservation efforts and drawing classes (which is the main reason we want to go).  While it sounded interesting, it wasn't really a top priority for us, it seemed like something more geared towards small children.  I recently saw a TimTracker video, however, that showed his visit to Rafiki's Planet Watch and the drawing classes they have up there.  Just like Art of Animation, these are free, and they provide all the supplies.  With the help of a Disney animator, you learn to draw an animal from a Disney movie.  Now, I'm an absolutely terrible artist, but it seems like fun and a cool, free souvenir to take home with us.

Like I said before, Animal Kingdom is so much more than a theme park, it's also a way to appreciate animals in as close to their natural habitat as possible.  There was a lot of controversy when this park first opened with accusations that live animals were being used simply to amuse people.  That definitely isn't the case, however, these animals are probably treated better than if they're in a zoo, and extensive research went into creating the park.  Even Jane Goodall gave her stamp of approval, which is good enough for me.  In order to be more than just a theme park, Animal Kingdom has Gorilla Falls Exploration and Maharajah Jungle Trek.  As the name implies, Gorilla Falls Exploration is an opportunity to see gorillas up close on a trail of sorts that winds through the park.  Maharajah Jungle Trek is similar, although its main focus is tigers, along with other creatures from Asia (such as komodo dragons).  Both of these seem like a great way to spend some time and to get some fantastic photos of some animals.

Compared to the other Disney parks, there aren't as many characters that I'm looking forward to meeting in Animal Kingdom.  Even though Chip and Dale are available in other parks, I really want to make sure we see them in Animal Kingdom since they wear adorable dinosaur outfits.  I think they're so cute, and Chip and Dale are always fun to interact with (although my mom would tell a different story).  They're such flirts.

Even though I'm not a huge fan of the movie Up! (please don't hate me, I know most of the people out there absolutely love that movie), I do want to see Russell and Dug.  Russell is quite a piece of work, and Dug reminds me of my dogs, especially his love for squirrels.  Baxter's always chasing squirrels, even though he has yet to catch one.  I also want to meet Pocahontas.  We have photos of us seeing her and Meeko somewhere around our area over twenty years ago when the movie first came out, but that's the only time I've met her.  I know they've updated her costume to make it more culturally accurate, but I still like her old one, as it was simpler and just like the movie.  I'd also like to meet Tarzan.  I've never met him, so I can't really speak to what he's like as a character, so we'll just have to wait and see.

Finally, I really want to meet Mickey and Minnie.  While Mickey and Minnie are available to meet in many places throughout all four parks, this is actually the only place you can meet them together.  I love their safari outfits, and I really want a nice picture of Bryan and I with Mickey and Minnie together.  I don't want to talk a lot about what photographs I want, however, as that's going to be our topic for next week's Walt Disney Wednesday, our photo package that I insisted on getting.

Like I said at the very beginning of this post, this is the first park we're visiting.  This decision came from the fact that we're celebrating Valentine's Day a day late and wanted somewhere nice to go for dinner.  After doing some research and asking around, we decided on Yak and Yeti, which is an Asian restaurant.  It's one of the two table service restaurants we're visiting (the other being Sci-Fi Dine-In in Hollywood Studios).  From what I've seen and heard, the food is delicious, and the atmosphere is amazing.  I did want to do a few more table service restaurants, but they're expensive and take up a lot of time, and I'd rather be on rides and experiencing the parks than sitting in a restaurant.  I'll be sure to let you know how the food is and take lots of pictures inside the restaurant.

As always, I did ask Bryan what he's most excited to see and do at this park.  He did say that out of the four parks, this is the one he's most excited to visit.  Of course, he's extremely excited to ride Dinosaur, and we keep joking about how this ride is going to kill me (which he seems weirdly excited about as well).  This shouldn't surprise me at all, that man is obsessed with dinosaurs, to the point that he wore a dinosaur t-shirt on our first date (it's his favorite shirt apparently).  Bryan's also excited to do the drawing class up at Rafiki's Planet Watch.  When I told him about it, he said he used to doodle all the time when he had to take notes in school, which I didn't know.  Because of that, he's probably going to do leaps and bounds better than me doing this, not that that's very hard.  Finally, Bryan's looking forward to Kilimanjaro Safaris.  We've been to the zoo together here in DC, but that was about two years ago and for something for school, so we were on a mission (not to mention it was pouring that day, and we got stranded in the gorilla house for about half an hour, and if you know me, you know that was torture).  I keep saying we need to go up to the zoo in Baltimore, but I feel like Kilimanjaro is going to be even better.

So, that's it, I've talked about all four parks, what we want to do and what we plan on doing.  Next week, I'll talk about the memory maker photo package that I insisted on purchasing and what I hope to get from it, along with some fun ideas I have that I can't wait to share with the rest of you.  Until next week!

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FastPass Day

Monday was our FastPass day, so I'm writing this a few days after the fact, but I didn't want to jump the gun with my Walt Disney Wednesday post.  I'm glad I checked the countdown on my phone, because I originally thought our FastPass day was Tuesday, so I would have done it a day late.  This wouldn't have been the end of the world, but we might not have gotten everything we wanted when we wanted.

Before the actual FastPass day, Bryan and I spent some time figuring out what we wanted and when.  Silly me, I thought this would be a simple enough activity that would take half hour, forty-five minutes tops.  Yeah, that's definitely not what happened.  When it comes to planning things, I need to be able to move things around, so I got colored sticky notes from the dollar store and arranged them on Bryan's wall in his apartment by date and time.  This gave us the ability to move things around to when we wanted them without erasing or crossing things out.

As I wrote things out and tried to figure out when we wanted to do them, Bryan had a map out on his phone (and another one on my phone), figuring out what attractions were close to each other.  The original plan for our first day in Animal Kingdom involved us zigzagging across the park, which didn't seem like the best use of our time.  This especially bothered Bryan who was determined to find a way to maximize our time.  He was a man on a mission, it was great (but also a little frustrating).  Due to this, we kept moving things around to find a way that got us all the rides we wanted, at times we wanted.  It was a mess.  Thankfully, since we had everything on sticky notes, we were able to move things with ease.  In the end, I was exhausted, cranky, and my legs were killing me.  We had a general idea as to when we wanted to ride each ride.  Of course, the times weren't guaranteed because it would be whenever the FastPasses were available, but we wanted to have a general idea.  We also started talking about some of the quick service food places we wanted to eat.  After about two hours worth of work, we had a plan, and we only changed it up a little bit after that.

Monday rolled around, and my original plan was to get up super early and get to work around 6:45ish so I could do our FastPasses, and then I would just do stuff at school for the next hour until students arrived.  Thankfully, Mother Nature was on my side, and originally we had a two hour delay, but it was changed to a snow day.  This meant I could do our FastPasses from home, which was even better.  Let me start out by saying that FastPass day is incredibly stressful!  It was a whirlwind.  Instead of going day by day, I decided to hit all the big ticket, hard to get FastPasses first, which meant I was jumping from day to day, from park to park like a crazy person.  Then, I went back and got the smaller FastPasses that are much easier to get.  It was insane.  I also kept skipping over one day for some random reason, so I had to go back and fix all of that. 

The one thing that I absolutely hated was the tier system in Hollywood Studios.  For those of you who are unfamiliar with how FastPasses work, at Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios and Epcot there is a tier system where the most popular rides are considered tier one, while the rest of the FastPass attractions are considered tier two.  When you first reserve FastPasses, you can only reserve one from tier one and two from tier two.  Once you've used all three, you can book more from whatever is left.  With the exception of Star Tours, pretty much all of the rides at Hollywood Studios is tier one, which means you have to choose between Slinky Dog Dash, Toy Story Mania, Alien Swirling Saucers, Tower of Terror or Rock'n'Roller Coaster for tier one, which is an absurd amount for one tier.  Then, there weren't very many attractions we wanted for tier two because I keep reading that FastPasses for shows really isn't necessary.  This leaves a lot that we want to do for Extra Magic Hours, but I'll talk about that in a few weeks when I write about Hollywood Studios.

Overall, Bryan and I are pleased with our FastPass selections.  I'm getting more and more excited about our trip.  We're less than two months from our trip, and everything is starting to fall into place.

Because Christmas is on a Wednesday next week, I won't be doing a Walt Disney Wednesday post.  My goal is to have a post a few days later about planning a vacation in general, but I need Bryan's help for that (he just doesn't know that yet).  So keep an eye out for that post.

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A Closer Look at Epcot

Today for Walt Disney Wednesday we're going to continue on our closer look at the parks and what Bryan and I are most looking forward to doing at the individual parks.  This will be the last one until next month, as I have something else planned for next week.  There also won't be a Walt Disney Wednesday in two weeks because it's Christmas.  I'll be doing it on Friday instead with Bryan's help (he doesn't know that part yet).  As the title implies, we're going to be talking about Epcot today.

Photo courtesy of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epcot

Epcot opened in 1982 and is twice the size of Magic Kingdom.  It focuses on human achievement, both now and in the future.  The park itself has two very distinct areas: Future World and the World Showcase.  As the name implies, Future World focuses on the future of humans and their technological achievements.  This is also home to the "golf ball" for which Epcot is famous.  This is actually called Spaceship Earth and contains a ride inside outlining the achievements of humans since their beginning.  I'll talk more about this ride specifically in a little bit.  The rear portion of the park is centered around a large lagoon.  There, there are 11 pavilions, each one dedicated to a different country: Mexico, Norway, China, Germany, Italy, United States, Japan, Morocco, France, United Kingdom, Canada.  Each pavilion is a completely immersive experience with replicas of famous landmarks, employees who are from that country, authentic food, shops and art galleries.  You are supposed to feel like you are visiting that country.  When I went with my family in 2000, they also had Millenium Village, which housed smaller pavilions for many more countries.  Although the World Showcase looks incredibly crowded, there's actually room for six more pavilions in case Epcot wanted to expand.

Just like Magic Kingdom, Bryan and I will spend two days at Epcot, although they won't be back to back days.  We also haven't divided up the park like we did with Magic Kingdom, we're just going to play it by ear and eat a lot of food.  There aren't an over abundance of rides at Epcot like there is at Magic Kingdom, but there's still a lot that I want to do.  First and foremost, I want to ride Mission: Space.

The premise of Mission: Space is that you are part of a flight team flying to Mars.  Each person has a different role to fulfill, including buttons to push.  Don't worry, the buttons will light up and tell you what to do.  Even if you don't press the buttons, everything works out, the computer doesn't react or change the story of the ride (I believe there is a similar ride at Hollywood Studios that does react if you don't push a button that you're supposed to).  In order to simulate the G-forces, the ride spins you around at a ridiculously high speed.  This has actually created extreme problems for Mission: Space, including the deaths of two riders.  One was a little boy who was a little too short to ride and also had an undiagnosed heart condition.  The other was a woman who had high blood pressure and died from a stroke.  After both of these deaths, Disney created a less intense version of the ride.  Now, visitors choose between the orange version (the original one) or the green version (the lighter version).  Even though I suffer from extreme motion sickness, I didn't have trouble on this ride in the past.  I'll probably still take some motion sickness medicine before this ride, just in case.

Another ride I've gone on before that I can't wait to do again is Test Track.  On Test Track, you design your own race car and then put it through the tests that cars undergo before determining if they can drive on the road.  It sounds like a nice, calm ride, but it's actually quite fast as you zip around on a track.  When we went in 2005, we were in line forever to get on the ride, then they had to close it for the weather.  We went back later, and the guys in front of us in line were teasing us, saying it looked like it was going to rain again, and the ride would be shutdown.

One thing that is of the utmost importance for me to do is visit the Christmas shop in the Germany Pavilion.  It holds such a special place in my heart, and it will definitely be an emotional trip for me.  When my family visited Disney World in 2000, my grandparents went with me.  At the time, I had extreme issues with fireworks (I'm still not a huge fan of them, but I've gotten a lot better), and there was no way I could sit through the IllumiNations show (I saw it in 2005 and loved it).  My Pop-Pop decided to take me to the Christmas store in the Germany Pavilion instead.  Even though the store was technically closed, one of the cast members, a young woman from Germany, kept it open just for us.  To help keep me distracted, she took me all through the store, showing me different things and explaining the Christmas traditions attached to them.  My Pop-Pop was German (along with a whole host of other things), so he loved it just as much as I did.  For that reason, I absolutely adore that store, and whenever I think of it, I always think of my Pop-Pop.

There are a few new things at Epcot I want to do.  First of all, Frozen Ever After (of course).  I love Frozen so much, and I've heard the technology on this ride is absolutely amazing.  I've purposefully avoided any videos on YouTube that show the ride, as I want to be surprised when I get on the ride.

Image courtesy of: https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2016/04/frozen-ever-after-attraction-set-to-open-at-epcot-in-june/

Just like many of the rides in Magic Kingdom, this ride takes visitors through the story of Frozen as they ride on a little boat.  This ride replaced Maelstrom, which was a ride that took visitors through Norway as they learned about legends and the culture (similar to Gran Fiesta in the Mexico Pavilion).  I remember enjoying Maelstrom, especially the three headed troll, but I'm also glad to see this ride.  Frozen Ever After is Epcot's first attempt to create rides throughout the park that appeal to smaller children.  Some people, however, aren't happy about this, as they enjoy Epcot because there aren't as many small children as the other parks.

Additionally, I can't wait to check out The Seas with Nemo and Friends.  The Living Seas was at Epcot when we went in 2005, but we didn't really check it out.  The Seas with Nemo and Friends is a ride that takes you through Epcot's impressive aquarium.  As you ride, technology superimposes images of the characters from Finding Nemo onto the glass of the aquarium, making it look like they're a part of the aquarium as well.  It looks like a blast, and Finding Nemo is a bit of an inside joke between Bryan and I, which makes this ride even more special to both of us.

One thing I love about the World Showcase is how immersive the experience is.  Disney really goes the extra mile to make sure visitors feel like they are truly in that country.  For that reason, they always have a wide array of performers at each pavilion, and I want to see so many of them.  British Revolution is a rock group that does a wide range of cover songs from British rock history.  Since that's the type of music Bryan usually likes to listen to (me too), it seems like a fun place to just relax and sit after walking around the park all day.  As you can probably figure out, it's in the United Kingdom Pavilion.  Also in the United Kingdom Pavilion, I'd like to see Quickstep.  They are a quartet that plays authentic Scottish, Irish and English songs.  I absolutely love Celtic music, it's actually a bit problematic.  I've been asking Bryan to go to an Irish pub with live music for a while, but we haven't had a chance to make it to one yet.  If we don't in the near future, at least we'll be able to see this.  I also want to check out the Jeweled Dragon Acrobats.

Photo Courtesy of https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/entertainment/epcot/jeweled-dragon-acrobats/

In college I was fortunate enough to see another Chinese acrobat group in college, and I thought it was absolutely magical, not to mention terrifying to watch.  It reminds me of the abilities people have when they really push themselves.  The amount of perfection is astounding as well.  It makes all other gymnastic acts look like child's play, which is saying a lot.

Matsuriza is another musical group I want to see.  They are a Japanese drumming group.  I've never seen one before, but apparently you can hear them playing from quite some distance.  Additionally, in the Morocco Pavilion, I want to hear Sahara Beat perform.  Sahara beat is a Moroccan band that plays traditional and more modern Moroccan music.  I've never heard Moroccan music, so I'm interested to hear them perform and what the music sounds like, although I imagine it sounds very similar to Middle Eastern music.

Of course I want to see characters in Epcot as well.  Most importantly, I want to meet Anna and Elsa.  I'm a little bit torn, however, because now Anna and Elsa are in their costumes for Frozen II.  I think the costumes are absolutely gorgeous, but I had an image in my mind of meeting them in their outfits from the first movie.  I do have to admit, however that the new wig for Elsa looks beautiful, much better than the original wig.  I also love Elsa wearing her hair down in general, but I talked about that in my Frozen II blog post last week.

I do want to brag a little bit right now.  The one thing Bryan has not been able to get on board with is meeting characters.  I'm so excited to meet them, get autographs, take photos and talk to them.  He, on the other hand, keeps arguing that they're just people in costumes, not the actual characters.  When talking to Bryan today, however, I was teasing him about meeting Anna and Elsa.  After we saw Frozen II last week, he started referring to Elsa as the Avatar, just like Avatar: the Last Airbender, and he said he's always excited to meet the Avatar.  I wondered how Elsa would react if he referred to her as the Avatar, and he said there was only one way to find out.  This is the closest he's come so far to being interested in meeting the characters in any capacity.  Hey, if that's what it takes for him to get excited about meeting the characters, I'll take what I can get.

I'm also excited to see Mulan.  The only place you can meet Mulan is in the China Pavilion.  Like Anna and Elsa, Mulan costume has been updated in the past few years, and I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it.  Her costume doesn't look anything like her outfits from the movie.  I remember there was quite a bit of an uproar after the costume change.  In Disney's defense, the costume is more accurate and closer to traditional Chinese dresses.

Of course, no trip to Disney's Epcot would be complete without seeing Belle.  When it comes to the Disney Princesses, Belle is definitely my favorite.  She doesn't need anyone to save her, she's willing to stand up for herself, and she's a bookworm just like me.  She's definitely one of my favorite Disney characters and is my favorite Disney princess (maybe with the exception of Kida from Atlantis).

Rumor has it Stitch can also be found near the entrance of Epcot.  Of course I plan on meeting Stitch at Magic Kingdom, but there's no such thing as too much Stitch.  I absolutely adore him, but I already talked about that in my Magic Kingdom post last week.

When it comes to the last three characters I want to meet, I'm not entirely sure if they'll still be there when we go in February.  The Future World part of Epcot is undergoing a lot of renovations right now, so some things won't be open or available.  This includes the meet and greet for Joy and Sadness from Inside Out.  I wasn't a huge fan of the movie, but I love Sadness so much.  I think I relate to her because I've struggled a lot with depression, especially in the past year, and Sadness reminds me the importance of expressing my emotions and the fact that it's perfectly fine to be sad every once in a while.  I'll also admit that the movie Inside Out has grown on me since the first time I watched it.

Photo courtesy of https://hiveminer.com/Tags/baymax%2Cface

Finally, I want to meet Baymax from Big Hero 6.  This movie was definitely not what I expected, but I loved it because I love superhero movies so much.  Also, it's technically a Marvel movie, which makes it even better.  Baymax is so adorable and pure.  My favorite Baymax moment, however, is when he's running low on battery.  It reminds me so much of a drunk person, and I find it absolutely hilarious that Disney included it in the movie.  Unfortunately, I'm not sure if I'll be able to meet Joy, Sadness and Baymax, as their meet and greets are closed, and I haven't heard anything about them moving to another part of the park during the renovations.

Just like last week for Magic Kingdom, I asked Bryan what he's most looking forward to doing at Epcot and made him do a little bit of research.  He said he's most looking forward to riding Mission: Space.  I don't know if he wants to ride the green or orange one though, I'll have to talk to him about it before our FastPass day next week.  He also wants to check out the Mission: Space Advanced Lab Training, which I didn't even know about until he mentioned it.  When I looked it up, it looks like a hand's on activity center for all ages where you can participate in more interactive simulations like when you ride Mission: Space (minus the spinning) and send digital postcards to families and friends.  Bryan also said he's interested in (and this an exact quote), "All the coral reef stuff".  I'm assuming he means The Living Seas with Nemo and Friends and Turtle Talk with Crush, which is similar to The Living Seas with Nemo and Friends and Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor where they use similar technology to project Crush on the tank where he interacts with the audience just like Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor.

Tuesday is our FastPass day, so I figured Wednesday would be a good day to talk about the process and what FastPasses we got.  Everyone cross their fingers for us for Tuesday so we get all the FastPasses we want for our trip.

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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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