Walt Disney World 12 - 26 October Trip Report

[tloolgb]

Hmm. I don't recall you visiting me.

[Speedway]

Hmm. I don't recall you visiting me.

I asked you in another thread for what person to ask for on the JC if I wanted you as my skipper and I got no reply.

So the day after Blizzaaaaard Beeeeeach, we had a date with the Yeti.

Ooh la la.


The Imagineers didn't pay me nearly enough for growing this baby in my backgarden for them.


Oooh Asia... I bet you're thinking I'm off to see the truly breath-taking Flights of Wonder...


Oops.


Pfft. What Yeti?


I wanna know what's so special about TDLFAN that Joe Rohde asked him to pose for some artwork.

Well Everest is truly a masterpiece. A fantastic E-ticket in a fantastic theme park, based on original material (namely, not a Disney character in sight!), and made with the hands of some of the most talented Imagineers. Wow. I spoke to friends from school who have been on it, and they went on it expecting a rollercoaster rivalling the likes of what they have at Busch Gardens - I had a tough time trying to explain to them the importance of 'show', but what can you expect. They're normal people. Only Disney geeks understand.

I came across a fantastic piece of artwork in the Art of Disney store of this exact shot.

My mum has a slight fetish for Disney theme park parades, so naturally we couldn't leave without watching the Jammin' Jungle Parade, but it isn't a bad parade (just not a good one ). It's very catchy and I don't find it a chore watching it.

When the Kingdom closed promptly at 5pm (I always think that's such a crime for a Disney theme park to close before 9pm - that goes for the Studios and Disneyland Paris as well) we took a drive back over to Epcot for the Beach Boys who didn't turn out too bad.

I like this photo.


Oh dear. Was I under the influence of something?


I wish they all could be Californiaaa

I think I've already professed my love for Soarin' in this thread, so I won't bother again, but it's so strong I went over for the third ride of the holiday so far at about 8:20. When the wait was still 75 minutes. Don't believe me? Thank God we had FPs.

Am I the only one gobsmacked at this?


I love this queue.

The next day, we went to le Kingdom de Magique for reservations at the Crystal Palace with erm... Pooh. There's me, strolling through the TTC ready for my first sight of the Castle... deep breath... what. A giant crane sits behind it, little did I know at the time that it was painting the castle salmon, but we'll come to that later. Luckily the crane was disassembled around lunchtime so we could take some photos.

I know I can't complain, but still... Ah well, it's gotta be done some time or another.


Can you see the pink?


Wow... I think the Imagineers chose a look a bit too modern for the Castle in this refurb...


The breakfast was fantastic as always.

[Mr. Lightyear999]

Sorry we did not meet you Speedway while the MC West Coast Invasion was going on. It looks like you had a great time though. Maybe next year.

[figment1986]

whats with the Spaceship earth tiles in place with a caption about the castle...

SE aint modern, it's retro....

[Speedway]

Sorry we did not meet you Speedway while the MC West Coast Invasion was going on. It looks like you had a great time though. Maybe next year.

It turns out that I was at the Halloween Party the same night as you guys - how the hell I missed you lot is beyond me. It does feel like being kicked in the gut though to know I was so close to seeing you guys!

whats with the Spaceship earth tiles in place with a caption about the castle...

SE aint modern, it's retro....

Look, all I did was take a close-up of the turret they were painting. Don't blame me, blame WDI!

[TDLFAN]

I wanna know what's so special about TDLFAN that Joe Rohde asked him to pose for some artwork.

Well... Joe probably likes "Bears" of which I am one of them...

My mum has a slight fetish for Disney theme park parades

You should take your 'mum' to TDL, where Disney's best and most lavishly themed parades play regularly.

[lisaboo]

So glad to hear of more people expressing appreciation for AK and Everest. They were my favorites of the whole trip. I agree that it needs to stay open later as well. Thanks for sharing your pics.

[MasterGracey]

Great report! Can't wait to see more...

But when are you comin' to California?

[NeverNeverland]

SO SAD that I didn't get to meet you!!
Great trip report so far!

[BigPigletFan]

Speedway, that "kid" looks like Bill who used to post on Micechat WDW all the time. Did you happen to say hello? He might have seen some Micechat sign on your cloths or he had met you at a previous meet.

Somehow I have a feeling that he knows that as he met him last year and he was a part of the meet this year too. That's just a Brit trying to be funny.

Well... Joe probably likes "Bears" of which I am one of them...



You should take your 'mum' to TDL, where Disney's best and most lavishly themed parades play regularly.

Leave his "mum" out of this!!!

Mr. Speedway, where is the rest of it? I also missed you.. but I thought of you as I went into the "very tourist-like" phone booths that you love so much.

[Speedway]

Somehow I have a feeling that he knows that as he met him last year and he was a part of the meet this year too. That's just a Brit trying to be funny.

Ah, I tried.

Mr. Speedway, where is the rest of it? I also missed you.. but I thought of you as I went into the "very tourist-like" phone booths that you love so much.

Hehe. I missed you too, meeting Bill in Epcot just wasn't the same without you, but he kind of made up for it with his funky baseball cap.

Oh, and here it is
So back to the Magic Kingdom. I've been dying to see Pirates, so naturally we went straight to Caribbean Plaza from the Crystal Palace.

Caught the Rod Miller wannabe cranking a tune out, the crowd seemed to be having fun.


Excited excited excited!


Indeed.


It was absolutely packed.

I was quite impressed. I didn't go in there with high expectations because I knew WDW got the kinda rough end of the deal in the WDI spruce-ups of the American Pirates rides, so I don't know if that helped - but my parents and brother came off the ride raving about it and I can honestly remember them coming off it last year and asking me why I took them on it.

"Come on, they only added Jack Sparrow," you say.
That's what I thought. It still baffles me but the ride just seemed generally better. Did they put new audio in? I know they did in Disneyland, but I'm unsure about WDW. The Barbossa scene is certainly a lot more action packed then the old Captain one. Everything seemed a lot more vibrant and colourful - I wonder if the AAs were all given a clean over and spruced up. Anyway, I loved it. I would have gone on again if the wait wasn't 40 minutes.

The B-E-A-youtiful Liberty Belle back in action.

[captsmith84]

Hehe. I missed you too, meeting Bill in Epcot just wasn't the same without you, but he kind of made up for it with his funky baseball cap.

Aww Speedy, it's okay! If you would have just stayed a day longer you could have seen both Bill and BigPigletFan at the same time! And even more Mice Chatters! But I know Bill enjoyed seeing you and your cool cell phone. Good times! And by the way, that's no baseball cap, that's a Fantasmic! hat! Very rare. It's as rare as a Stitch hat in VMK!

[Fantillusion]

Good job Speedwayfor catching the very essence of WDW. Are you a proffesional.

[kcnole]

Did they put new audio in? I know they did in Disneyland, but I'm unsure about WDW. The Barbossa scene is certainly a lot more action packed then the old Captain one. Everything seemed a lot more vibrant and colourful - I wonder if the AAs were all given a clean over and spruced up. Anyway, I loved it. I would have gone on again if the wait wasn't 40 minutes.

We got new audio but only in the captain Jack scenes, the rest is old although Al reports that we should get all new audio during the next supposed refurb. All of the AA's were spruced up and I believe given new clothes if needed, the lighting was also reworked.

[Speedway]

Right, I've finally found the energy to finish this bloody trip report off! It seems such a long time ago now. I wish I was in Florida for Christmas.

Good job Speedwayfor catching the very essence of WDW. Are you a proffesional.

I wish! They were all taken on my cell phone

So. Where were we?

The Haunted Mansion. Great on the outside, awful on the inside. Really. Really. Really awful on the inside.


This is the view stage performers get.


Reminds me of a vintage picture of Disneyland's Town Square.

We decided to make our way over to the Disney-MGM Studios. Well I can't actually remember if we went straight from the MK, but it doesn't really matter if I didn't.

C'est excellente! I loved these guys!


Oooooh....


They should have built this as a new castle at Hong Kong Disneyland instead of carbonating Disneyland's.


Pink. Blech.

I had missed Beauty and the Beast the previous year and had wanted to catch it. I wasn't missing out on much. Entertaining, but no longer a must see unfortunately.

Woooooooooooooooo


Obviously, this would not be complete without the cliche hand gestures.


Walt Disney World did recognise their 35th anniversary! With pins.


I had never seen this plaque at the Magic Kingdom before. I thought it only existed at Disneyland and Hong Kong Disneyland. How wrong I was.

Yeah, somehow I'm back at the MK again. I think these pictures are from the Halloween night, at which the rest of MiceChat was also at - I didn't know they were going to be there.

Picture of the holiday.


I guess you've seen this before.










As old as it is getting, I still find SpectroMagic entertaining and am always in awe of the sudden burst of colour when changing from the golden floats.

That's all for now. Expect the next installment some time in 2011.
Only kidding. I think.