Weekend Update: Winter Summerland; Signs of Disneyland Paris; Belmont Park
Are you going to the D23 Expo? I'm looking forward to attending on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Hopefully I'll have the chance to meet some of you there.
SummerInFL brings us a complete photo report on Winter Summerland, a Disney owned and operated miniature golf course in Orlando. This is one of those things that I keep meaning to do while I'm in Orlando, but never seem to accomplish. These photos have served to whet my appetite to experience Disney's version of this great American pastime. Maybe Summer will go with me!
We have more signs from Disneyland Paris courtesy of Ian Parkinson. I find the signs in the foreign parks so intriguing. How do they decide which signs are in English and which signs are not?
CaptPhoebus spent last weekend in San Diego. (I had the privilege of joining him for part of it.) I think you'll enjoy his photos of San Diego's littlest amusement park – Belmont Park. Then we wind things up this week with a vintage post card folder from Disneyland.
Here we go....
Winter Summerland
Walt Disney World
Here is some more from our day trip over to Epcot and Winter Summerland mini golf at WDW. I think people will like that it's an overlooked attraction.
My daughter and I went over to WDW for the day. She wanted to play some miniature golf so we opted the Winter Summerland mini golf that's located next to Blizzard Beach.
I have never played any of the courses available at WDW, so this was an added treat for me as well.
The fun begins!
According to our scorecard, here is the official story behind this location.
Quote:
On a moonlit Christmas Eve, Santa Claus discovered the perfect vacation spot for himself, Mrs. Claus and the elves. Everything was perfect. From towering palms and sandy beaches to majestic sandcastles and powdery snow....SNOW! In Florida?
Yes, the myth about Disney's Blizzard Beach Water Park was real, and that gave Santa a wonderful idea. Snow and sun! What a great combination for a vacation!
In no time at all, Santa and Mrs. Claus moved their trailer down and built a barn for the reindeer and a toyshop. The elves, somewhat split over whether to build a snow and sand miniature golf course, built both. The Snow course was just like bing at home. And the Sand course was...er...well, it was Florida. They built the best of both worlds and called it their Winter Summerland Miniature Golf Course.
Yes, the myth about Disney's Blizzard Beach Water Park was real, and that gave Santa a wonderful idea. Snow and sun! What a great combination for a vacation!
In no time at all, Santa and Mrs. Claus moved their trailer down and built a barn for the reindeer and a toyshop. The elves, somewhat split over whether to build a snow and sand miniature golf course, built both. The Snow course was just like bing at home. And the Sand course was...er...well, it was Florida. They built the best of both worlds and called it their Winter Summerland Miniature Golf Course.
Some holes were interactive and had great introductions posted before each hole.
Down the middle gives you a special surprise.
Cookies! Plastic even!
I loved some of the details around the course, it would be easy to look past them but you can definitely appreciate the attention to detail here.
I had the most difficult time with this one.
Squirty the Snowman
Mickey in the box? Somehow doesn't sound the same.
It ends with a special message from Santa.
Ian Parkinson has some more photos of signs from Disneyland Paris. Some of the signs are obviously from an overseas park – some of them not so much.
Belmont Park
San Diego, California
CaptPhoebus shares a bit of his San Diego weekend.
Heading off the beaten path this week, a recent visit to San Diego had me stopping by this lesser known attraction known as Belmont Park, home to the Giant Dipper, one of the last beachfront wooden coasters on the West Coast.
Quote:
Belmont Park is an historic theme park located in the Mission Bay area of San Diego, California. Located on the beach, it attracts thousands of people each year. The attractions and rides include the Giant Dipper, a roller coaster that opened in 1925, a Tilt-A-Whirl, a three-story drop tower (the "Vertical Plunge"), the Liberty Carousel, the Wave House Athletic Club, and The Plunge, an historic indoor swimming pool that opened in 1925 and features a "Whaling Wall" painting by artist Wyland titled Orcas off Point Loma.
The Wave House Bar and Grill overlooks the ocean and features two artificial waves. The larger wave is called "Bruticus Maximus" (or "bmax") and features an 8' barreling wave. The other wave is a smaller sheet wave known as a flowrider.
The Wave House Bar and Grill overlooks the ocean and features two artificial waves. The larger wave is called "Bruticus Maximus" (or "bmax") and features an 8' barreling wave. The other wave is a smaller sheet wave known as a flowrider.
The welcoming banners
The entrance area to the Plunge
Rides at the park include, the Crazy Submarine
Tilt-a-Whirl
Bumper Cars
Krazy Cars
Thunder Boats
Chaos
Beach Blaster
Liberty Carousel
Mmmmm, tasty fish
And of course, the reason of the visit, the Giant Dipper.
They also had a little museum dedicated to the Giant Dipper, which was a nice little surprise to find
It's definitely worth the side trip to visit, and enjoy a ride on a great wooden coaster. Stay tuned in the coming weeks for more San Diego highlights.
Looking for up-to-date reports from Disneyland
including photos, gossip, park schedules and more?
including photos, gossip, park schedules and more?
Visit these MiceChat columns each week:
Andy Castro's Dateline Disneyland
David DarkBeer Michael's In the Parks
MickeyMaxx digs into the shoe box for this vintage post card gem.
A fourteen image post card folder of Pirates of the Caribbean from back in the day when 15¢ would pay the postage.
And that brings us to the end of another week. Our photographers have just enough time to reload their cameras before we see you all again next weekend. Thank you to all of our wonderful readers, and as always, a huge thank you to our amazing team of global photographers, spies, and gossips:
TDLFAN
Denise nbodyhome Preskitt (mousesteps.com)
SummerInFl (wdwfanpics.com)
sir clinksalot
MickeyMaxx
CaptPhoebus
Ian Parkinson
BigPigletFan
Abominable Snowman
Fishbulb
PhotoMatt
Jack Hollywood 1939 Wixom
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Total Comments 19
Comments
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Love the theming for Winter/Summerland!Posted 08-22-2009 at 05:09 AM by Silver7
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The golf course was hysterical. I was debating everyday whether to see it or not when I went to WDW.
The San Diego theme park looks A LOT like the remodeled to SAnta Cruz's Beach Boardwalk. They even have the same name for their wooden rollercoaster, and Beach BLaster is known in SC as FireBAll, which is in the same footprint that Chaos (same ride) was once in.Posted 08-22-2009 at 06:45 AM by Orcatime - Great Update!Posted 08-22-2009 at 09:54 AM by Emmanuel_4
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Great update. I LOVED the Pirates postcards. Fun tour as usual. Thank you Weekend Update crew!!!Posted 08-22-2009 at 10:11 AM by Dustysage -
I had no idea the mini-golf course was so impressive. I'm mentally putting it on my WDW to-do list.
Classic wooden roller coasters are always worth one's time.
Thanks for the update!Posted 08-22-2009 at 10:13 AM by BC_DisneyGeek -
@Orcatime
The Giant Dipper at Belmont Park in San Diego was built by the same person that built the one in Santa Cruz around the same time.Posted 08-22-2009 at 10:35 AM by BassBone - The mini golf - I didn't even know it existed - please bring us more 'overlooked' attractions! The white Mickey and Minnie, though - are they supposed to be ice statues? Or did they get 'flash frozen' in mid-putt?Posted 08-22-2009 at 10:35 AM by Disneykin Kid
- Those Thunder Boats in SD sure look incredibly exciting. Remember the old Sunday morning cartoon with Tom SLick and the Thunder Boat Greaslapper! I miss my youth.Posted 08-22-2009 at 12:31 PM by jaxbistro
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Great update!Posted 08-22-2009 at 12:47 PM by Abominable Snowman - I can understande the woodie, but Chaos and Beach Blaster/FireBall? I'm starting to wonder if the same people own it.Quote:Originally Posted by BassBone
@Orcatime
The Giant Dipper at Belmont Park in San Diego was built by the same person that built the one in Santa Cruz around the same time.Posted 08-22-2009 at 05:15 PM by Orcatime -
I'm pretty sure they are just supposed to be ice statues but you never know. LOLQuote:Originally Posted by Disneykin Kid The mini golf - I didn't even know it existed - please bring us more 'overlooked' attractions! The white Mickey and Minnie, though - are they supposed to be ice statues? Or did they get 'flash frozen' in mid-putt?Posted 08-22-2009 at 08:22 PM by SummerInFL -
@orcatime
Those two rides (and indeed the other rides pictured in the report) are standard, widely used, off-the-shelf rides. I've never been to either park, but I have ridden them multiple times in other parks and fairs. (Knott's and Great America, specifically.) I don't think it's a very big coincidence at all; overlaps in rides from the fairs to the boardwalks to the theme parks is quite large (excluding Disney parks)Posted 08-22-2009 at 09:36 PM by twobluestripes
Updated 08-22-2009 at 09:37 PM by twobluestripes (spelling) -
Thanks for another great update!Posted 08-23-2009 at 01:21 AM by Barbossa -
I love that last postcard. I had never been to Disneyland before the area was rearranged for Fantasmic so it's interesting to see the entrance to Pirates the way it was originally.Posted 08-23-2009 at 07:23 AM by WorldLover71 -
Thanks! Fun to read, as usual.Posted 08-23-2009 at 11:18 AM by LAZ-E -
The rollercoaster at Belmont Park is probably one of the most terrifying rides I have ever been on. I can't believe the state still allows it to run.Posted 08-23-2009 at 09:56 PM by derrickd -
Christmas card
Winter Summerland looks like the perfect family Christmas card photo spot!Posted 08-24-2009 at 09:43 AM by Swice -
Geart Update! (as always). [BALANCE OF COMMENT REMOVED BY EDITOR]Posted 08-24-2009 at 10:53 PM by Sleepy505
Updated 08-24-2009 at 11:08 PM by Weekend Update (Balance of comment more appropriate for Community Outpost) - I've ridden the Giant Dipper in San Diego. It's a nice, scary classic.Posted 08-25-2009 at 05:28 PM by Not My Real Name
