Posted on 08/24/2006 8:32:53 AM PDT by Maximus of Texas
It’s been a while since I’ve posted one of my weekend movie reviews so I decided to post a review of my recently completed vacation to Walt Disney World. Yes, I know volumes of books have been written about the place but, as always, my take on things can be somewhat different. You, the reader, as always, are free to share your memories and experiences.
Ok, here we go:
This was a last minute trip so there was really no planning on our part. We booked everything Tuesday morning and showed up Friday. No maps, no “how to” books, nothing. I grew up around Six Flags so I was expecting a nice, landlocked amusement park but soon found a city unto itself. That place is freakishly huge! We soon got accustomed to the buses and the layout of the place.
Extended Park Hours - Not a good thing. A few nights a week, one of the parks will stay open longer for WDW Resort guests. Good thing, right? The whole park just for the WDW folks? Wrong! What happens is that all the WDW Resort guests decend on that one park and create a huge log jam. We hit Magic Kingdom on their extended evening and found more people and fewer rides open. Not a good combo. We left earlier.
Dining Plan - If you eat two full meals a day, this is a good thing but we were finding that we were forcing food down just to take advantage of the thing. Also, no one told us we need to book reservations so far in advance. We had a hard time finding places with spots open but in the end it all worked out. Plan runs $40 per day per person. Would I have spent $160 a day on food for my family? Probably not. We would have been better off eating one large meal per day and snacking the rest.
Epcot – Ok, neat place but the Tour of Countries was a disappointment. Nothing but gift shops. The best part was the Canadian band that rocked out with bagpipes. We had lunch at an English pub (only place with openings, see comments above) and I was reminded why we don’t have English restaurants over here.
Disney Princesses – I heard so much about them and failed to see one. Dangnabit, Max!
Magic Kingdom Parade and Fireworks – Wow! Make sure you are in front of the castle to see the show.
WDW Guests - Humans are weird. And we’re fat! When its hot and you’re at an amusement park, people tend to wear things that show every roll, every flaw, etc. I can say this because I need to lose 25 pounds but we’re a world of fat people! 90% of the people in wheelchairs and scooters were not handicapped but simply too fat to walk. And these folks and their families would scoot to the front of the line. Somtin wrong ‘bout that!
Rides – Some of the rides are dated but overall, all of them were enjoyable. The worst one we experienced was the “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids” 3-D show at Epcot. The show is about 20 years old and needs to be put to rest. The wait directly outside the theater was terrible. No AC and they crammed about 400 people in that room. A lot of the shows/rides were simplistic but when you’re hot and tired, those are welcomed at times. Oh, on the safari ride in Animal Kingdom, our guide, who was acting scared with reports of danger ahead, sounded like she was having multiple orgasisms with her “oh’s”. It was getting somewhat embarrassing.
TV Stations in the WDW Resorts - ABC, ESPN and Disney were your choices (well, a few others but you get the point). We got hooked on the “7 Top Attractions at WDW” loop that featured Stacy. She was high on something. We had her lines memorized by the time we were done.
Weirdest Sight - A group of Hindu Monks in their orange robes and wood sandals in line to ride the Arrowsmith Roller Coaster.
..but you sure highlighted negatives over positives.
We live close enough, our kids grew up with Florida passes for Disney.
The parades are always exceptional, the parks are very clean & well kept, the flowers are bright and beautiful, the cooling jets from the fountains are lovely, especially the splash fountain at EPCOT where the children can run and play.
This year..(kids are grown now) we have seasonal passes to enter the park after 4PM....and enjoy arriving in the cooler part of the day...
..We have twice enjoyed Festival of Foods from Around the World..walking around EPCOT enjoying exotic quisine.
The horticulure shows in the Spring are beautiful....roses of every color, ornamental trees....stunning.
...We've had dinner in Mexico, Canada, England, France, etc......all good.
And our small granddaughter has had her very first 'lunch with the Princesses'....with lots of picture taking.
..The princesses, btw, are adorable and beautiful and sweet and charming.
I could go on and on, but this is a small sample of 'the other side of the story'.
I agree. We had a great time! Would I go back? Not sure but I'm more educated now than I was before. Do I wish I had taken my daughter when she was around 5? Hell yeah.
I really don't think Walt would approve beer being sold at the parks....sad, with all the children around....
..but they do....and there are wine tasting events, etc.
I did enjoy the part in MGM Studios that gave a history of Walt and his vision. We need someone like that today instead of the ones we have designing these "rape and kill" video games.
Dog!
I guess so. They are only fignewtonal charactres anyway
I prefer the term "KD" to "dog", thankyouverymuch.
People who can't tell the difference between a child and an animal irk me.
SD
Well, what do you expect in WDW where people dress up as animals.
As someone who was born in Central Florida, went to high school in Central Florida, lived 37 years in the Orlando area, several pre-dating Disney World -- and as someone whos livelihood has never depended on Disney or any post-Disney firm or company, I say Pbtbtbtbtbtbtbtbt!
It seems chic in some circles to blame WDW for all of Orlando's ills and to allude to some sort of Disney Mafia that holds the town captive. Hogwash! I remember, as a child, the lovely drives from Winter Haven to Sanford -- when all you saw for most of the way was citrus trees and cow pastures. It was beautiful. I'm nostalgic for those days. But if WDW had not come to Central Florida, it would have stayed pristine only a few years longer. Don't kid yourself -- those groves and pastures would be lost eventually, anyway, and perhaps for even less attractive things, like strip malls or mobile home parks.
Walt Disney World didn't make Orlando or ruin Orlando. It certainly has been a significant player in the direction Orlando has taken in the state and even the world. Some of the effects have been negative, most have been positive. And I think, for all it's weaknesses, it is a fun and magical place. (Just not in July or August!)
SD
Did why did you recommend that I go in August?
And I get a 25% kickback from the Disney Mafia on those squirt bottle fans.
"90% of the people in wheelchairs and scooters were not handicapped but simply too fat to walk. And these folks and their families would scoot to the front of the line. Somtin wrong ‘bout that!
We noticed that too. "
Here's the thing - anyone can rent those stupid things from Disney. There is no medical form, dr. note, nothing. So the key to Disney is have someone rent those scooters and wheelchairs because you can 1) go to the front of the line and 2) mow down everyone in you path (I can't tell you how many times I got run over by those things and the HUGE deluxe child coaches. Too big to be called strollers)
He'll have photos just as soon as he airbrushes you and himself out of them.
I certainly hope you gave them the appropriate beatings.
I am ready for global cooling to begin. And you? : )
"I know another lady whose child was kidnapped at Disney. He was around 5 yo as I recall and was actually tethered to the mom with one of those springy child leashes. She looks down and the leash was cut and the kid was gone.
(snip)
The security guy said for her to look at all children's shoes as they are leaving the park. Sure enough she spots her kid's shoes and the kidnapper had already changed the kid's clothes and DIED his hair! She was one of the lucky ones. "
This happened to that person's child? Really? Because what you've just described is a fairly well-known urban legend. (Although the last time that I heard it, it was at Wal-Mart, not Disney, but the mom still identified him by the shoes.) It showed up in "The Vanishing Hitchhiker" and there was a Law and Order episode with that plot as well. I think that if you talk to that person again, you'll find that it didn't really happen to them, but to "someone they know."
This happened to that person's child? Really? Because what you've just described is a fairly well-known urban legend. (Although the last time that I heard it, it was at Wal-Mart, not Disney, but the mom still identified him by the shoes.) It showed up in "The Vanishing Hitchhiker" and there was a Law and Order episode with that plot as well. I think that if you talk to that person again, you'll find that it didn't really happen to them, but to "someone they know."
Why look at the shoes? Why not just look for the kid with dead hair?
SD
YES! It's like the surface of the sun here!
I did. I beat them with my Mickey Mouse hat.
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