Bonus Sunday - Mini Reviews and Maps

My focus of this trip was of course the Magic Kingdom, but I did visit some other parks as well, so let’s take a little look at those too.

First let’s talk about EPCOT. I did like the park, but I can’t really say it was very photo worthy.






I liked “Test Track”, I think this is what Disneyland’s Rocket Rods were supposed to be like. They had this neat “prototype car” in the exit area; I think I’ve seen this in some older photos, still looks neat however.





The rest of EPCOT was good if not remarkable. The Universe of Energy was campy yet fun. Spaceship Earth was neat and reminded me of a 1964 worlds fair ride, not sure why. Soaring is the same as DCA and super fun. “Living with the Land” was neat also, very entertaining and educational, the kids seem to like it also so it works on many levels.

Journey into Imagination was also cute if not a bit dated. Honey I shrunk the Audience sucks just as bad as it does at Disneyland. Worse actually because, once again, 400 people have to cram thru 4 sets of small doors, push and shove time, bad show on top of a bad show. I never made it to the “Seas” as half the attractions close at 6pm!

The World Showcase is interesting, if not a bit contrived. Having only a few hours to visit was not enough. It seems geared towards adults and each area is themed nicely. I would definitely like to go back and spend the entire afternoon and evening there, it seems to have a lot of potential.






I had lunch in Italy and it was fantastic, everyone enjoyed their meals, I had this great chicken dish, yummy!






I think this was Japan!






Here is the big map of EPCOT. Kevin Yee did warn me this is really two parks in one. He was right; I should have allocated more time to see the whole place.

Animal Kingdom; It rained most of the day so I have no photos, sorry about that! The park is themed better than any Disney property I have ever seen. If you like animals and nature, you will LOVE this park. The Safari trip is amazing and a must do if you visit this park. Its 400 acres of wildlife in an amazingly realistic setting. There are some great shows too and lots to look at.

Expedition Everest is a blast. Think Matterhorn, mixed with Thunder Mountain, with a Dash of Viper from Six Flags. The whole “backwards” sequence is mind blowing, lots of screams! I did need to sit for a moment after riding this one.

Here is the map of Animal Kingdom. The huge tree in the middle is a bit out of place because everything else in the park is real. The food was decent and here’s a tip; if it’s raining after 6pm (the park closed at 8pm) they start giving away ice cream, for real! The vendor carts are just handing it out, pop corn too! Good show Disney!

Now for a couple “off site” parks. First up Universal Studio Florida. This park was fun and better than the Universal here in California. It only lacks an actual tram tour, which is fun in California, but since there is no real studio here I am not sure how they would do it. The neat part here is all the city streets (New York, San Francisco, Beverly Hills) are open and you walk on them. Universal California only takes you thru those streets on the tram.

They do have separate shows for some of the tram tour elements. Jaws gets its own attraction with a boat ride (Similar to the Jungle Cruise in size). It’s great, you see the shark about 5 times and he gets “toasted” in the end, just like in Jaws 2! There is a “your in the movie” show that ends with you going in a subway car and going into the earthquake subway station with the fire, flood and collapsing street, its fun to be an actual subway car and not the tram!

The Mummy was fun (duplicate of Universal CA.) The Simpsons ride was great, they play Simpsons episodes in the queue lines, especially the ones that parody theme parks, those crack me up!

Here is the front and the giant Universal Globe.






I found a couple familiar friends on the streets of Universal!







Here is the Guide Map for Universal Florida. You will have to turn you monitor upside down to read some of it, sorry.






No photos because it was raining again, here is “Universal's Islands of Adventure”. This place was great, it’s really an extension of Universal Studio’s, but has a separate gate. All the action takes place in this park. The Hulk and Twin dragons are wicked inverted roller coasters. The Spiderman show is super, think Indiana Jones mixed with 3D (hey, that would be an awesome update to add 3D to Indy at Disneyland).

They also have the Jurassic Park Ride. The lands are all themed rather well, and the Seuss Landing area is pretty amazing, it’s very well done and immersive. The Trolley ride is fun too, it offers “PeopleMover” style views of the Seuss Landing area as well as the lake.

If you have kids 11 to 17, they will like Islands of Adventure more than Universal. The food was good, but some restaurants close at 6pm, huh?







Last up here is the Guide Map from the Magic Kingdom.

I had a great trip to Florida, it could not have been better. I would recommend taking the trip to Florida at least once. While at times it seemed not so fun (the humidity takes some getting used to, if ever) and the crowds were HUGE compared to little old Anaheim, in retrospect I had a very enjoyable time and I might even go back some day.

The Magic Kingdom - Trip report Part 2

Let’s get started with a tour of the West side of the Magic Kingdom. Adventureland is directly to your left from the hub and sports this dated looking entrance. I suppose the Adventureland entrance is Disneyland is dated too, just a different decade!






How about a ride on the Jungle Cruise? I really enjoyed this version, it’s of course bigger than Disneyland’s and even includes an indoor sequence that made me feel like Indiana Jones should have been close by. We had a great female skipper (skipperette?) she was funny and charming.






The weather in Florida fits the Jungle Cruise nicely, sticky and hot! This camp site got sacked by a Gorilla, I wonder if he blogs? Nah, Gorilla’s Don’t Blog!






A pet zebra, how cute. Don’t these look a little too plastic?






The Rhino looks upset. Notice how green it is in Florida, it works very well for this attraction.






That’s a fine “how do ya do”!





There is a wrecked plane that looks pretty convincing.








The natives get shade and protection from the sun and rain.






Next up, the Swiss Family Tree House. I must confess I have an “issue” with heights, I did the best I could with taking pictures while not stopping in one place for too long, a lot came out blurry because I was obviously in a hurry. Trust me it’s in great shape and is a complete flashback to the Disneyland version. Why Tarzana ever moved in I will never know, it’s time to evict him!






The Tree House is surrounded by tons of old plant growth; it mixes very well with the artificial tree making it hard to tell it’s not real.






Oh boy, I forgot how high this thing is, I almost think the Florida version is higher?






Vertigo anyone?






It looks as if the family will be returning any minute.






The boy’s room, I bet they are out racing ostrich’s!






We made it to the top!






The view from up here is amazing, sorry I did stop to take more and better photos, I was starting to get that same feeling when I rode the “Parachute Drop” at Knott’s!






Back on the ground we get a nice view of the kitchen.






See I told you they are coming back soon; the table is all set and ready to go.






You can’t see it very well do to the grown, but there is a stream here that feeds the water wheel which was broken so I didn’t take a picture of it!






This is the moat that surrounds the Tree House and connects to the moat at the Hub and in front of the castle. When they had the Plaza Swan Boats, you would board near the Tomorrowland entrance and sail all the way to here to go around the Tree House, boy that seems like the coolest thing to me, too bad it’s gone.









The Enchanted Tiki Room, and “Under New Management” yet. Well, I have read a lot about how the new management ruined the original show and it seems logical to me. Maybe because I never saw the original show in Florida, but this one didn’t bother me. It was actually kind of funny. Of course if they did it to Disneyland, I would cry foul and demand a return to the original, go figure. Anyway, I think once is enough for this show, so WDW should put back the original show.








The Building is big, with a semi-enclosed queue line. The actual theater seems a little larger than Anaheim's, but not much. The air conditioning was not so good in this attraction, I was surprised.






Pirates of the Caribbean. The outside has all the charm of my local Mission Burrito restaurant. An hours worth of the queue line is inside, which is great because it's air conditioned, but not much theme involved, basically like a long dungeon walk thru. When you approach the load area it’s weird and small. No high ceiling, no Blue Bayou. The ride itself is good, and basically the same as Anaheim from the Mayor dunking scene to near the end. It’s shorter for certain, not much of the cave sequences and the fort/ship battle scene seemed small and hurried. Honestly, I felt cheated after waiting 50 minutes to ride this attraction.






I caught Peter Pan on his way somewhere in Adventureland? I think I got his shadow too!






Passageway to Frontierland from Adventureland. This beats walking all the way around, it’s a lot further than you’d think.






Frontierland is fun and well themed.






This trio played great music, it really added to the atmosphere. Disneyland could use a few more of these and a few less pirates.






Now you KNOW you are not in Anaheim, I only found a few ducks in Florida, mostly they have these guys.






It was raining slightly when I took this photo; the river barely seems wide enough.






Tom Sawyer Island. I never got time to check it out, but it looks original as day one. It also seems a bit smaller that Disneyland’s Tom Sawyer Island. Note the lack of Pirates, I love it!






Splash Mountain is neat, and big! People did not seem to get as wet as Anaheim’s version.






This is looking the opposite direction from the Splash Mountain picture above. I like this view and this photo; this is how I will remember this section of the park.






Liberty Square and the Hall of Presidents is a great part of the park. It has a super themed feel to it and the Hall is detailed and rich in person.






Nice carpet in the Hall of Presidents waiting area. There was a great Cast Member in the waiting area that knew TONS of Presidential Trivia; he went on for 15 minutes! He was charming and entertaining. Good show Disney!






The silhouette shop is in Liberty Square, where it seems to fit just fine.






The Haunted Mansion.






The queue setup was not so good for this attraction. While it is covered, it’s a snake of line, then you just sort of enter thru a side door and into the stretching room, I’m not even sure if you are even in the Mansion itself? Once I stepped out of the stretching room I was faced with hundreds of people packed in like cattle to squeeze into MORE queue lines. No casual walk, no changing scaring portraits (that comes later on the ride). Once again, tons of people were crushing down into a slim area, inch and push, shove and wiggle, bad show!






The ride itself was good. It had a weird “which way is up” room with stairs in all directions and a library that handled the changing portraits and statues that stare are you. Otherwise the ride was much the same as Anaheim’s and I was pleased with it.






The Country Bear Jamboree was playing as good as ever. I sure do miss this show at Disneyland. My camera was getting full so I only got one picture and a short video. I wonder what they did with the bears at Anaheim? Are they in storage somewhere? I hope they bring it back some day (soon!).

The firehouse, I wonder what’s upstairs, Roy’s apartment?






The interior of City Hall, just for you Jason!






The train station at the end of a long, wet day.





In summary, I liked the Magic Kingdom. I was sad to leave on the last day, knowing I would probably not be back for while. Is this how out of towners feel after they visit Disneyland?

The Magic Kingdom has its good, bad and ugly, just like Disneyland. I can see how if you grew up going to the Magic Kingdom you would consider it to be “the park”, and I respect that, even more having now visited the Florida Property. Of course, Disneyland will always be “the park” to me. It’s nice to know that my park has a great sister out in Florida.

Check back later today for a Bonus Sunday Special mini reivew of the other parks and all the guide maps.