Bornieo goes to Disney World - The Official Trip Report

[Bornieo: Fully Loaded]

Walt Disney World Impressions

I’m trying to pinpoint exactly what my experience of my first trip to Walt Disney World is - and in beginning this report, I am truly unsure what that is exactly. For the last 30 years I’ve been told about WDW, seen thousands of pictures, heard stories, seen video and watched all the specials that have been on tv. Yet nothing could prepare me for what I experienced over the 10 days in Florida. Nothing was what I felt I knew it would be. I guess there was no real way of explaining it - one had to experience it.

So, here’s just a small bit of what happened.

Day One:
After spending the day at Disneyland, I flew out of LAX on the 9:20pm plane to Orlando. This was officially the 2nd time I’ve flown in my life and I spent the next 5 hours trying to sleep. I was stuck in the middle of a three seat row with little ability to move - which sucked. The movie for the flight was "Evan Almighty" which wasn’t any better without sound.
I arrived at Orlando International Airport at 5:30am, their time, and proceeded to the Magic Express area where I would be taken to the resort. Unfortunately my bags were miss marked because since I had added days to the trip, the new tags to the All Star Resorts had not arrived in time. But I was told to let the people know and they would see it changed. Mistake #1

It was a nice ride to the resort, but it was dark out and the bus was a "Everest" clad bus so it was hard to see out. I did see the lighted up "Welcome" sign and I knew I was home.


http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_3088.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_3105.jpg
Nice Maracas!

I stayed at the All Star Sport for the first few days. My building was by a big football and helmet. I was pleasantly surprised to find my room available at 8am when I checked it and before I knew it I was settling in for a short nap. Then after a couple hours of sleep, I took a walk around the resorts and had some lunch in the cafeteria type place they had. I was waiting for my bags which had failed to show up. I called and they had ended up a the other hotel. So I waited patiently - so I could get cleaned up for the afternoon at Magic Kingdom and dinner at the Hoop Dee Do Revue at Fort Wilderness.


http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_3097.jpg

But the bags still did not show as of 2pm, so I headed out to the Magic Kingdom.

Very cinematically, I arrived by bus and walked thru the gates to Main Street. It seemed so familiar with the music, but it wasn’t my Main Street but some dream like/ bizzaro version. It was just beautiful. The biggest chore was, of course, figuring out what would be my first ride. I went with a classic from my youth - the Country Bear Jamboree. Thank god it was the original show and it was just like being in an old bed from my childhood - I knew all the words and knew the show like my own reflection. It was a joy but so very sad to see it in the delapidate state it was in. It wasn’t as bad as I expected but during the finale the music wasn’t coming thru, for whatever reason.

I only had a few hours to spend, so I ogled the castle - rode Space Mtn, the Tomorrowland Transit, sat thru Carousel of Progress, Mickey’s Philharmagic and Hall of the Presidents. I caught a small part of Dream Along with Mickey - the show where the mouth and eyes move. It was very cool to see in person and really placed the character’s by having the movement.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_3369.jpg

I had reservations at Fort Wilderness for the Hoop-Dee Doo Revue dinner show, so I took a boat over. It was a nice ride where you can see the Contemporary Resort and all the DVC construction going on. The show itself was a corny Revue show with singing, dancing and comedy. The food was surprisingly very good with buckets of Fried Chicken, mash Potatoes, BBQ Ribs, Baked Beans, giant slab of Corn Bread, Salad and an awesome Strawberry Shortcake for desert. It was a good show, but extremely corny - one of the cast really looked like DLRP_Bopazot’s double. ;)

After the 2 hour show/ dinner I made my way back to MK which was in full swing with the Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party. The fireworks had just began as I rode the bus back to my hotel to meet up with DLRP_Bopazot and hopefully my luggage. Lucky both were there and me and Louis headed to Downtown Disney for a look-about. The DTD area is much broader that ours and was pretty cool. After touring the area I headed out - I was in need of some sleep having stayed up during the flight and only having a short nap earlier.

DAY TWO!-
Today was Universal Orlando - I met up with Louis, and later Figment1986 - for both parks and the Halloween Horror Night. The parks are really well done - especially Island of Adventure. The themeing rivals a lot of what Disney has and the details are just amazing. The Spider-man ride is just a marvel (No pun intended) and the Men IN Black ride puts Buzz to shame.

The whole Lost Continent area is probably the best themeing ever in a park and the Poseidon show, though lacking in any substance is just amazing to look at. At the Studio Park, Jaws was a lot of fun and a nice change from the tour we have here in LA. The worst ride I have ever been on was the Jimmy Neutron simulator ride which is nothing but a paint shaker made up to look like a space ship. You are thrown in all directions and reminded me of a quarter ride you’d find outside of Thrifty’s but stationed somewhere in Hell. There was nothing redeemable about that ride.

The Horror Night was a huge disappointment also. The place was jammed packed with drunk guests and very very long lines. Most of the mazes were 120 minutes and didn’t let up at all. There were Jello-Shot girls every 5 feet and trash everywhere. The mazes were good if you could get into them and the scare zones were as vacant as DCA on a Tuesday. It was way far below what I had expected and had been told about. The only highlight was the ride on E.T. who didn’t speak my name, damnit!! And the Bill and Ted stage show, which was a scream. The youtube is making the rounds.

It was a late night and I didn’t get back until almost 3am, since the Mears transportation I was using stranded me there. After repeated calls they sent a Taxi. That was the worst transportation issue I had thankfully.
More to come...

[keith - SuPeR K!]

I'm glad you got to experience Spiderman! Nothing compares to the awesomeness of that attraction...

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Very cinematically, I arrived by bus and walked thru the gates to Main Street. It seemed so familiar with the music, but it wasn’t my Main Street but some dream like/ bizzaro version. This was exactly how I felt at DL Paris - bizarro world Disneyland, especially Main Street.

Glad to hear you're having fun (and your bags showed up, too!)

[Snowflake]

Great Borneo! More when you get a chance and keep having a wonderful time!

Glad the baggage showed up!

[BarTopDancer]

Very cinematically, I arrived by bus and walked thru the gates to Main Street. It seemed so familiar with the music, but it wasn’t my Main Street but some dream like/ bizzaro version. It was just beautiful.

That is exactly how I felt when we went in June. It's the same. But completely different.

Looking forward to the rest of your report :)

[Gemini Cricket]

How exciting! :)

[figment1986]

DAY TWO!-
Today was Universal Orlando - I met up with Louis, and later Figment1986 - for both parks and the Halloween Horror Night. The parks are really well done - especially Island of Adventure. The themeing rivals a lot of what Disney has and the details are just amazing. The Spider-man ride is just a marvel (No pun intended) and the Men IN Black ride puts Buzz to shame.

The whole Lost Continent area is probably the best themeing ever in a park and the Poseidon show, though lacking in any substance is just amazing to look at. At the Studio Park, Jaws was a lot of fun and a nice change from the tour we have here in LA. The worst ride I have ever been on was the Jimmy Neutron simulator ride which is nothing but a paint shaker made up to look like a space ship. You are thrown in all directions and reminded me of a quarter ride you’d find outside of Thrifty’s but stationed somewhere in Hell. There was nothing redeemable about that ride.

The Horror Night was a huge disappointment also. The place was jammed packed with drunk guests and very very long lines. Most of the mazes were 120 minutes and didn’t let up at all. There were Jello-Shot girls every 5 feet and trash everywhere. The mazes were good if you could get into them and the scare zones were as vacant as DCA on a Tuesday. It was way far below what I had expected and had been told about. The only highlight was the ride on E.T. who didn’t speak my name, damnit!! And the Bill and Ted stage show, which was a scream. The youtube is making the rounds.

It was a late night and I didn’t get back until almost 3am, since the Mears transportation I was using stranded me there. After repeated calls they sent a Taxi. That was the worst transportation issue I had thankfully.
More to come...

ET said my fax name... though you didn't give the card till you got in... maybe the "bikes" behind us said it...

if you were stranded you could have called bopazot as soon as the bus wasn't showing up...

[Prudence]

More More More!

[Gemini Cricket]

I can't wait to read the Unofficial Trip Report. I hear that version contains details about Bornieo's adventures with Ariel. I hear body shots were done.
Signed,
Perez Cricket
:D

[katiesue]

I'm with Perez, let's hear the good stuff :)

[mousepod]

Keep posting! I love hearing about someone's first trip to a Disney park.

[Gemini Cricket]

Keep posting! I love hearing about someone's first trip to a Disney park.
Me too.

zapppop and iSm popped my DLP cherry. Lots of fun.

I'd love to do WDW again.
:)

[Bornieo: Fully Loaded]

GC - body shots with Ariel - hmmmmm - I have poloriods - they're hard to scan . ;)

Meantime, some more pics of the first two days...

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_3156.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_3140.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_3327.jpg
Heading out via boat to Fort Wilderness

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_3385.jpg
It's time to Hoop-dee- DOO!

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_3413.jpg
The Hoop-Dee FOOOOOD!

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_3415.jpg
What is DLRP_Bopazot doing on stage????

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_3419.jpg
Mmmmmm - Strawberry Shortcake!!

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_3524.jpg
The GOOD Mummy Ride!

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_3588.jpg
Stopped by for a six-pack of DUFF!

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_3565.jpg
The shuttle is a model and the building is real - trick photography! Can you tell the difference?

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_3686.jpg
Frozen Knight in the Dueling Dragons que.

And some character pics:

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_3652.jpg
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http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_3720.jpg

More to come...

[Gemini Cricket]

(Darn work firewall. I can't look at the pics until I get home...)

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Yay, it's been ages since I've seen a good photo report :snap:

[Snowflake]

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_3327.jpg
Heading out via boat to Fort Wilderness
More to come...


That photo is breathtaking! Much like you posing with the characters! :snap:

Looking forward to more!

[innerSpaceman]

There's nothing like walking into one of the other Main Streets for the first time and having that bizarro dream sensation.


Tee Hee, can't wait to read more!

[Bornieo: Fully Loaded]

Day Three:

So, Day three was spent at Disney MGM Studio for the better part of the day and the evening at the Magic Kingdom. DMS closed early and MK stayed open until Midnight.

Although I consider DMS my "least" favorite of the WDW parks, that is in no way a bad thing. I was surprised at how small a park it was but fairly enjoyed what it had to offer. On this day, I had an early lunch reservation at the "50's Prime-time Café" and although it was a fine experience and the food was good, I was just a bit annoyed by my waiter "Tommy" who was either playing the "bad waiter" or just a really lazy waiter that got away with it because of his character. I had the Meatloaf and it was pretty good. The atmosphere was awesome with the "Leave it to Beaver" motif and the old time tv shows playing on the various set around.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_3931.jpg

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I spent a lot of time after lunch walking around the park, while I awaited the fastpass showing of the Indiana Jones stunt Spectacular, which was a show I’ve been waiting ages to see. I wasn’t disappointed. I got an excellent seat right up front and thought it was typical punch and fall stunt show, the moving sets and the bolder sequence was pretty damn cool.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_4038.jpg

I got a fastpass for Tower of Terror and rode that. Was very impressed with the ride compared to our version and it’s a shame they didn’t continue to use it. It wasn’t totally seamless as I had thought it would but the drops were fun. This time, however, I didn’t get to toss my cookies. :)

The Great Movie Ride was probably my biggest disappointment. The cheesiness of the hosts was just too much and was way, way over the top. It’s a great concept for a ride and what was presented was great to see, even though it looked like it was in major need of a rehab.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_3894.jpg

Like the GMR I was somewhat disappointed with the Voyage of the Little Mermaid - mostly because of the pushy people around me. It was a well done show, but not worth the waiting we did, which was about 20 min.and that was with a fastpass. Plus I’m all for in-theater effects but we were doused with cold water spray that just annoyed the hell out of me.

By this time, the "Stars and Motor Cars" parade was on and I went to go watch that. It’s basically a parade of all the characters that "appear" in the park, including a bad Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia. It’s a cute parade but nothing worth seeing repeatedly. The cool part is after the parade many of the characters appear for a meet & greet.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_4040.jpg

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It was getting late in the day so I wandered over to the "One Man’s Dream" exhibit, which was fantastic. I wish I had spent more time there - there was a lot to see. Including the original "Cabin" model Walt made and the Dancing Man, plus Walt’s office.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_4064.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_4068.jpg


Lastly I rode Rockin’ Rollarcoaster staring Aerosmith. I did the single rider and was fairly nervous because of the "loops." It was a short wait and I got on fairly quick. I really, really loved the ride. I could barely tell you what happened but I really had fun - whatever it was. Had I more time that day, I would have ridden it more. But, I need to be off to the Magic Kingdom for dinner reservations and I was to meet up with Louis!

But, that part of the report will have to wait...

I do, however want to share something pretty cool that happened. Over in part of the park there are bronze like busts of "famous" people and one of them is Walt Disney. What I saw, I thought was kind of touching - since I’ve been reading the Walt Bio and in that book it was written that he would weep when talking about the parks and his plans. I found it to be how I was feeling and took this picture.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_3995.jpg

More to come...

[NickO'Time]

Huzzah!! Great Report B! Look forward to more.:)

[lashbear]

Loving it !! It takes me back

[DreadPirateRoberts]

Bornieo, Great report!

I've never been, so this is a fun read.

[BDBopper]

Great report! I can't wait to see more! :)

[Disneyphile]

More! More!

[Gemini Cricket]

More More More!
Am I the only one on this board who immediately thought "How do you like it? How do you like it?" after this post?

:D

[katiesue]

Am I the only one on this board who immediately thought "How do you like it? How do you like it?" after this post?

:D


No you are not alone :rolleyes:

[Not Afraid]

How do you like your LOVE?

[Bornieo: Fully Loaded]

heheh - I was thinking more along the lines of "And then she cried! More, More More!" from RHPS. ;)

[Bornieo: Fully Loaded]

So, continuing from Day 3:

I left Disney MGM Studios and took the bus to the Contemporary Resort where I got to look around. Of course this place was present in the infamous "Mouseketeers go to Walt Disney World" from the 70's. The murals by Mary Blair are just breathtaking - no picture could show you just how amazing they are.

I then took the monorail over to the Magic Kingdom - of course I didn’t know I got on the one that goes the long way, but that was ok. I got to see the Polynesia Resort and the Big White one across the bay ( I can’t remember the damn name). It was a nice ride - I love how their monorail is so much bigger - I had hoped it was the one that went thru EPCOT but I was trying not to spoil that since I had yet to go there.

I got to the Magic Kingdom and much to my disappointment I was unable to get in. Due to some glitch, my ticket had not been created as a park-hopper, which had been paid for. I called our friends the Wolfy clan who confirmed the retarded people at Disney had not applied it and that I would be refunded. I was also out of luck because I’d have to fork over the $$ to get the park hopper, which I wasn’t going to do since this was the only day I was going to do the "park-hopping" thing. But luck for me, our pal DLRP_Bopazot was on his way and to my rescue! My hero!!

Dinner was at the Plaza restaurant which is hidden at the end of Main Street near Tomorrowland. Seems few knew what/where it was - but it was a nice little restaurant all dolled up like our Plaza Inn but very small. Looked as if it only held maybe 100 people but the food was just perfect. I had the Cheese-steak Sandwich with some fries that were just perfect. As we finished, "Wishes" started and we got out to catch the end, which sounded oddly familiar. ;)

We made our way over thru the crowd to the Haunted Mansion - or did we watch Spectromagic, then go to Mansion - I forget. Anyway, about Haunted Mansion - another fine ride where the familiar was lurking over my shoulder and the new was fantastic. I can’t compare the changes that were recently made but I was very pleased with the "stairs" room, which apparently is new. Very well done. And, like the Disneyland Haunted Mansion, I really did not like the Bride at all. Another shock came when we did the hitchhiking ghosts and there was no exit yet!!

Then or before, we found a spot for Spectromagic over in Frontierland. I was blown away and it made me mad at the same time that Disney can do such an amazing parade. It’s like selective genius. But, yes I was just floored by the parade - the music was catchy and the last section of the parade which changes every so often from white lights to color, was just spectacular. Made me think "Main Street Electrical WHAT?" Wow, wow, wow!

Here are some Spectromagic pictures, but there’s no photo that can bring it all together. I have some video up on my MySpace if anyone wants to check there.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_4224.jpg
Holly Cow! It’s Triton from the Little Mermaid! I want that body suit!!

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_4234.jpg
These Oustrages really have thick ankles. ;)

After a breathtaking parade, we headed thru Fantasyland making a pit-stop at Snow White’s Scary Adventures, which had a 10 min line. Yes, I was expecting a copy-cat of our SWSA. What I got was the 2.0 version with an actual ending to the ride. Not the "Oh The queen just fell off the rock and they lived happily ever after - except for the Queen who’s a splatter at the bottom of the hill. What I got was a Queen who falls back and an ending with waiving Dwarfs. I was giddy.

Making our way to Tomorrowland, we had a short wait for Space Mountain. This time we did the "left" side as I had done the right days earlier. Just like the Right side, it was another ride down the Matterhorn — until - the lights came on! Yes, a 101 and we sailed down the ride with the lights on. Naturally the camera was unreachable, but it was nothing new. Just a lot of screaming and laughing.

The night was over after the ride as midnight passed. We headed out and got a small treat at the hub - I videoed the closing park speech, which was so wonderful - nothing like we get out here at Disneyland. It was a real touching ending to the day. I should have that up on MySpace soon.

On the way out I stopped for a quick chat with Roy Disney.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_4247.jpg
He wasn’t much of a talker.

Up next - Animal Kingdom!!

[dlrp_bopazot]

i didn't know i had someone who looks like me at WDW lol

[Bornieo: Fully Loaded]

Yes, Louis has a twin!

I'm having issues with the Magic Kingdom Closing on MySpace, but seems Photobucket can host the file. Not the greatest sound etc. but...

So, here it is! (click the pic and it will take you to photobucket)


http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/th_100_4246.jpg (http://s15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/?action=view&current=100_4246.flv)

[lashbear]

My Goodness !!! I'm glad I never got to see that, or I would have been almost as emotional as during the MSEP...

[Bornieo: Fully Loaded]

Yes, and we get to cry over "For your shoping conveniance, Main Street will remain open for an additional hour."

[figment1986]

My Goodness !!! I'm glad I never got to see that, or I would have been almost as emotional as during the MSEP...

I'm a local, and I've never had the pleasure of seeing that before... no wonder people get emotional about that if they see it.

[Stan4dSteph]

I'm looking forward to reading what you thought of the Food and Wine Festival. I think it's great, and I may consider taking a trip down during that time again. Between that and the great MNSSHP, I had a fantastic time.

[Bornieo: Fully Loaded]

Well, here we are at Day 4 and I am off to the Animal Kingdom - first, unfortunately, I have to check out of the All Star Sports Resort and transfer to the Port Orleans: French Quarter where I’ll be staying for the rest of the time. I am intrust my luggage with them (hahaha) and I am off and running to Animal Kingdom.


http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_4255.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_4256.jpg
PUSH has a twin tree out front of the Animal Kingdom!!

I have breakfast reservations at Donald’s Breakfastsauras, which for the afternoon becomes a McDonalds. It’s a character meet & greet, which was fun and the food was average buffet style - afterwards I braved Expedition Everest and taking advantage of the Single Rider line. I got seated in the 2nd row for my first time and was very excited - this was one that I was really looking forward too.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_4290.jpg
Me & Mickey!

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_4297.jpg

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Wow! What a short ride! It was a great ride, with a great view and some nice thrills. But, it’s so- so- short and the thrill don’t come until you’re in backwards mode. The Yeti is cool for the 1/8th of a second you see it - (I tried to High-5 it) - I rode it 3 times that day and I thought the back had the most thrills, IMHO. The Que is just spectacular - almost as if they went to all the Yeti stores across the globe and bought EVERYTHING and put it into the Que area. Even the short Single Rider Que had amazing stuff.

I then headed to the Safari with a wait time of 60min. All the fastpasses were gone so I waited - what a long wait. Ugh. But I got on in the front seat of the vehicle and got a great view of the vistas which were just spectacular - very much like being transported to the real African savanna or so I would imagine.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_4335.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_4340.jpg

Sadly I didn’t take a lot of pictures, mostly because I was just in wide-eyed stunned mode. It was a ton of fun.

Next was the Festival of the Lion King, and like everything else, I had an idea what to expect, but nothing prepared me for it - so I found out. Wow - the second the show started and the floats came in - the whole place came alive! It was just a fantastic show. The singers were great and the performers just enthralled me and the audience. For me that was the best show, and the next one I saw was the Finding Nemo: the Musical show - which I am less than enthusiastic about. The theater was packed and I got a seat way up top, which was fine. The look of the show and the puppets used were just wonderful - as were the performers. My problem was that I hated the music. Now, we know I’m not a huge musical fan, but I just thought it was terrible - nothing catchy, just annoying "In the big blue world" song - I think it really was low on the scale of music I’ve heard from these type of shows. If there was a highlight it was Crush’s part of the show, with a "Beach Boys" type number that was moderately good. It was beautiful in looks but just fairly soulless.

Kali River Rapids was nothing more than the baby brother of Grizzly River Run. It was fun and I got soaked but it was extremely short. The look, like Grizzly was just phenomenal in the details including the burning trees. The difference was the drop was just a little slide into a gush of water and that was about it.

I then wandered over to Dino-land (aka DCA) to check out Primeval Whirl which had intrigued me because of the spinning coaster aspect. The area was beyond cheesy and is as cheaply put together as you may have heard. Here I got my first encounter with a bad castmember who directed me to the Single Rider line that was up the exit - only there wasn’t a single rider line - only a surprised grouper. They were kind enough to fit me in, which I do regret now because this is the worst ride in a Disney park I have ever been on. It is the same basic track as Mullholland Madness with the same jarring curves and drops - only this time around you’re seated next to the other four spots and are literally thrown from side to side with nothing really to hold onto but the lap bar, which was being shoved into my **** with every turn by the others who had nothing else to hold onto. The spinning part wasn’t bad - that was the fun part, just when the corners or drops would come you’d either slam in to the sides or the lapbar. It was not good.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_4383.jpg
Worst ride EVER!

So, after checking to see if "all" were still there I limped my way over to the Tree of Life seeing that the park was closing at 5pm sadly. Just a beautiful part of the park - nothing like I imagined it would be. Just a lush, green everywhere you looked. Just stunning.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_4396.jpg

I said farewell to Animal Kingdom and headed to my new hotel to settle in before my dinner at Boma. Sad to say, my luggage was nowhere in site and when I called to see where it went - I learned it was still at the All Star Sport Resort. #1 think I learned - the luggage handling at wdw SUCKS!!!

I was told it would be about a half hour for them to deliver it and since I had about 2 hours until my dinner reservation, I waited ---- and waited. I called again "Sorry, it’s not hear yet."

"Can you bring it to my room when it does?"
"Only if someone is there."
"Well I’m off for dinner, I guess I’ll see if its here when I get back."

So, I was running late to my dinner having waited for the luggage to arrive, but lucky me had our friend Louis already waiting at Boma and got our table. I was only about 15 min. late.

Everything I had heard about this meal was true. It was the best meal of the trip. I can’t begin to tell you the names of the dishes I ate because I tried just about everything - but the flavors and the freshness of the food was just fantastic. The dishes at the Buffet line were presented in small containers - I assume to keep them from sitting too long, thus the freshness. It was just a wonderful meal. The deserts were great too, with a couple having "Contains Alcohol" signs posted. The hotel and restaurant itself was just amazingly done and the atmosphere was so very cool. After dinner we walked around seeing the animals out in the back areas and the lobby, which seems to be the Grand Californian with African themeing, where I sat down for a while to watch.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_4413.jpg

So, I called it a night and headed back to the hotel to find the Luggage room closing. Literally lights off and key being turned. The lady, who I assumed I’d spoken too, was nice enough to get my bags and fearing they would be lost between there and my room, I dragged them myself.

Up next - a whole day at the Magic Kingdom!!

[MouseWife]

Am I the only one on this board who immediately thought "How do you like it? How do you like it?" after this post?

:D

LOL Nope, that is exactly what I thought and the tune went through my head....:D

[LSPoorEeyorick]

After dinner we walked around seeing the animals out in the back areas and the lobby, which seems to be the Grand Californian with African themeing,

Technically, I think the Grand Californian is the Animal Kingdom lodge with art deco theme, and the Animal Kingdom lodge is the Wilderness lodge with African theme. But yeah, they're all built in the same style (Wilderness was first.)

By the way, I'm enjoying your report so much that we actually looked at ticket prices yesterday...

[BarTopDancer]

Awesome report! You're making me want to go back!

[lashbear]

What? no Dinosaur ???? Indy with Jaws ??? I'm surprised !

[BDBopper]

Great report so far man! Sorry about all the luggage and ticket issues you had. That stinks man!

[Prudence]

Oh yeah - the Dino area sucks - we went once the first time we were there and never set foot there again.

Wanna hear about EPCOT!!!

[Bornieo: Fully Loaded]

Technically, I think the Grand Californian is the Animal Kingdom lodge with art deco theme, and the Animal Kingdom lodge is the Wilderness lodge with African theme. But yeah, they're all built in the same style (Wilderness was first.)

By the way, I'm enjoying your report so much that we actually looked at ticket prices yesterday...

Yeah, fairly the same grandeur. No doubt they'd reuse layouts again and again. Frankly the layout of the All Star Sports and the Port Orleans are basicaly the same inside and out.

I've been looking at prices too. ;)

EPCOT and Dinosaur coming soon. :)

[Bornieo: Fully Loaded]

Day 5 - the Magic Kingdom!


So, finally I have one full day dedicated just to the Magic Kingdom - it’s Extra magic hour, so I have unti l Midnight to work the park! Arriving at the park I took the horse drawn carriage down Main Street to the hub- I was very excited!


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The big disappointment of the day was missing my breakfast reservation at the Crystal Palace - I was late and was not really hungary so I skipped it and went for a walk around the park - stopping for a Peter Pan fastpass and made a nice slow walk thru the park checking out details and appreciating it.

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Ariel!
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_4452.jpg
Love the old Swan boat docks.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_4451.jpg
The Castle.
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Love this building! Hall of the Presidents.

By the time I reached Liberty Square the Liberty Belle River boat was ready to depart so I hopped on for a ride around the Rivers of America - Not sure if they call it that, but it was a nice ride around and I got to see part so f Tom Sawyer’s Island, which I didn’t go to.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_4475.jpg
Nice two level dock!
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_4494.jpg
Big Thunder - which was closed for Referb.

Oddly, the rumble in my tumble shows its’ face so I head over to the Plaza Restaurant for a quick bite. Still loved this place - quiet, just off Main Street. I had the Cheese Steak Sandwich which was perfect.

[Bornieo: Fully Loaded]

After an early lunch, my Peter Pan fastpass was ready to go, so I hit that. I was very pleased with the ride system and I think it would help the California version. Though the line was around 50 min. I walked in with my fastpass. Some parts I loved better that the Disneyland version (Like the Pirate ship) and some I liked better. It was really wonderful. Then around the corner was Mickey’s Philharmagic, which was just about to go in, so I hit that also. Loved it!! The CG was the best Disney has done, not counting Pixar - of course.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_4416.jpg


Afterwards I head back to Adventureland to see about Jungle Cruise but the line has moved to 40 min. (Good luck seeing that in California) so I walk to Splash Mtn for a fastpass and hit up Pirates of the Carribean.

Apparently the just got the addition of the Jack Sparrow character so I’m not sure what was upgraded but I enjoyed the attraction. The drop is shorter as is the ride as a whole. There are some missing elements from what California has, but I appreciated the position of the Davy Jones waterfall. It was in such a perfect spot. The que was a surprise having been used to the short que we have and seeing the boats and parrot pretty much right away. Their que really set the mood for the ride.

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Next up was the Swiss Family Treehouse, which was great to go thru again since we now are stuck with Tarzan and then moved over to Aladdin’s Magic Carpet Ride! I had looked forward to riding this because of the motion the ride can do - that was fun. I then move over too....

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_4541.jpg

And my reaction...

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_4560.jpg

Nuff Said!

It’s a Small World had a 20 min line so I hit that next.!!

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_4631.jpg

I had heard mixed reviews of the ride and I was very interested in seeing the "flooded" building version. Someone had said that the water made the scenes seem far away - I really didn’t get that feeling as I felt more in the scenes than at the Original. There wasn’t the gully of concrete slabs and lights that Disneyland has but at the same time, it felt a bit too clean. But, I really did enjoy the differences in that the scenes were more joined together and not separate by countries like in the Original - its more of a unified ride.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_4661.jpg
Laugh it up!

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_4662.jpg
Chicken Choking goes on in Florida too!

From there I headed to Tomorrowland and towards Stitch’s Great Escape!

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As it should be with Astro Orbiter on top!
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I enjoyed the show. It wasn’t the greatest thing ever, but it was fun with well done AA’s and a good "story" to the ride. Burping Chilli-dogs and getting squirted wasn’t the best part but it was a fun ‘ride." I had heard about the shoulder bars, so I sat up taller when it came down so it wasn’t daunting on my shoulders - it never did, which was better than I’d heard.

I passed up the Monster’s Inc. Laugh Floor for another time - the wait was 20 min and didn’t seem "worth it" at the time.. Plus I found a Space Mountain Fast Pass on the ground, so I got to ride that again! I got on Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin - which although having the ray-gun bolted to the car, I really liked the layout better than ours. I thought it was more than just a bunch of cutouts - it had some depth and it wasn’t just a track you go around on - it moved and there were things on both sides etc. It was better visually, to me, that the Disneyland Buzz ride.

Working back thru Fantasyland, I picked up a Fastpass for Winnie the Pooh and made my way to Splash Mtn to use that fastpass. The que is fairly familiar and I was fairly pleased with the boats but wasn’t totally able to fit without bumping my knees. The ride itself is just amazing, such an improvement on the Disneyland version and as I was told, you trickle by the scenes as apposed to flying by in the other version. Also, I didn’t get anywhere close to soaked as I do in the California version. Really, really loved the Brier Rabbit hopping along the boat and the little Muskrats singing along.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_4520.jpg

It was now time for my early dinner reservation which were for the Liberty Tree Tavern. It’s a character dinning with Family style service - meaning they bring big plates of food and you dig in. Since I was by myself the waitress just brought me a nice portion of Turkey, Ham, beef, mash potatoes, green beans and some awesome rolls that came with Honey butter. The characters came around, dressed in the period attire, Chip & Dale, Goofy, Pluto and Minnie Mouse all came by. The food was excellent, very fresh and I stuffed myself. I kick myself for not going back on Mickey’s Not So Scary night, more on that later.

It was getting later in the day, so I picked up my wrist band for the Extra Magic Hour and worked my way thru Fantasyland towards Mickey’s Toontown fair. While there I got a picture of the Castle that is my favorite picture of the trip. Just beautiful -
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_4711.jpg

My fastpass for the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh was up - so I went to that next. Our Pooh sucks, their Pooh is a wonderful ride. The differences just astound me in that we have such a cardboard, lame version of this attraction and the Magic Kingdom has such a broad complete, interesting, "wow" attraction is just amazing. Just a wonderful experience.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_4436.jpg

The Toontown fair was nice but packed. I rode Goofy’s Barnstormer, which is a version of our Toontown’s Gadget’s Go Coaster and a very short thrill for the 30 min wait. Donalds Boat, the play areas and Houses were all standards and lined with people. I hopped on the Walt Disney World Railroad at the Toontown Fair station. While waiting I had a nice conversation with the CM there. I was wondering how late the trains ran, he told me they close early because they shoot fireworks off on the tracks. He was surprise to hear how much of Disneyland closes down for the Remember fireworks.

The WDWRR was a nice ride around the park with nothing really more to offer than a ride. No diorama but a nice time to reflect and rest my feet. :)

It was getting darker by the time I got back to Toontown Fair and I wanted to catch Spectromagic again, so I got an excellent spot in the Hub facing towards the Main Street Train Station. I really really loved this parade, can’t say enough about it. After it was a few minutes until Wishes fireworks and I got a fine spot there in the hub.

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The finale video is on my Myspace - www.myspace.com/40909299 (http://www.myspace.com/40909299)

It was very remanisant of Remember, Dreams Come True from Disneyland and a lot of the same music. Tinkerbelle flies (Tink Taco) from the top of the castle overhead towards Main Street. As usual, the fireworks, though familiar, were awesome and equally beautiful.

Like in Disneyland, the post fireworks means people leave and this was a nice chance to roam hitting the rides I had missed earlier. The Country Bears were first and I had hoped sitting in another part of the room would make the sound better, but it wasn’t too be. Its still great though.

Peter Pan had a 30 min wait, so I hit up Snow White’s Scary Adventure again, then Dumbo and a ride on the Carousel. Really liked Their Carousel because of the music. Over to Mad Tea Party - which spins and spins WELL. Not like ours, it was a simple turn of the wheel and I was moving! Then hopped on the Tomorrowland Indy Speedway. The evening ended with another viewing of Mickey’s Philharmagic.

Like at Disneyland, I like to spend closing in Town Square watching people leave. Sadly, there are no benches in Town Square at the Magic Kingdom, so I leaned on a rail until most everyone was gone and then left myself.

What an extraordinary magical day!

Next up : day 6 - EPCOT and Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween!!

[innerSpaceman]

Whew, I'm exhausted just from reading your trip report.


Thanks so much for sharing. It's great to read about your first reactions to Disney World.

[lashbear]

You were very brave to do Stitch alone !! Alien Encounter was terrifying.

[Bornieo: Fully Loaded]

Yes, I braved Stitch without you Lash - it was hard but I got thru it. ;)

[CoasterMatt]

hehehe, you just said you were hard without Lash...

[Snowflake]

In the words of Madonna, I want more!

:snap: Borneo!

[Nephythys]

Awesome report-bring it on!

(in my head I am plotting ways to get my family out there)

[Bornieo: Fully Loaded]

Day 6 - EPCOT

The day began at EPCOT and it was so amazing seeing the giant Spaceship Earth peaking over the horizon. Unlike the other parks it was pleasant to see that the main icon of the park was at the front and since it wasn’t open due to the referb, I sadly missed seeing all that was inside the spheres. I just can’t imagine what fits inside but hopefully one day I will see it. The future world area was all that I’d hoped it would be. My absolute favorite aspect of this area is the walkways - it seems so "80's" but I just really loved the stilted walkways above the water and how everything was just so open.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_4817.jpg
Aww, welcome!!
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My first attempt at attractions at EPCOT was Test Track and as I figured there was a long wait time and oddly enough the Fastpass’ were already gone - so I made use of the Single Rider line, which went pretty fast. I got placed up front of the car and I was off. Having no experience to compare this too, since I’ve never ridden the previous attraction that was there - I thought it was very educational and interesting and had a nice little thrill to it. It wasn’t a massively wonderful experience but I was satisfied with what happens.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_4856.jpg
Test Track!

Next, I wandered over to Mexico and began working my way around the large mass of water. It was a beautiful sight to see all the "countries" surrounding the lake. Earlier I had purchased my EPCOT Passport to have stamped at the different countries - which was pretty cool - but I missed Morocco and Japan, so I’ll have to get those two next time.
In Norway I rode Maelstrom, which was a bit of a disappointment in that it was so very short, a slight slide, I won’t even call a drop, and a bunch on the history of Norway - which is fine, but I was surely expecting more of a thrill from what I gathered from the descriptions. After the exit of the ride, I knew I was in for an eyeful of "Education" when the little theater contained a large group of Senior citizens and Me. Seemed like everyone else had made for the exit. But it was a beautiful film about the country and I was glad I saw it.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_4991.jpg
Food & Wine!

My first experience with the Food and Wine Festival, which was limited this day, was at the Ireland exhibit - I got a very butter/ greasy Potato Pancake and a small cup of Baileys frozen Irish Coffee topped with whipped cream. The Potato Pancake was greasy with a small cube of butter on top. The Baileys was very YUM! But a bit pricey ($7) for just a small plastic cup. As I ate, I got a message from Louis (DLRP_bopazot) that the shuttle was launched from the nearby Cape Canaveral and I looked toward the sky and only caught the cloud that still hung in the air from the launch. I was so sorry I missed seeing it go up.

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Next I breezed thru the other countries and made my way to the American Adventure, which I had heard so much about. Animatronics walking up stairs etc. and I was very eager to see this show. The building was just glorious and the whole rotunda waiting area was just stunning. The paintings on the walls from the likes of Herb Ryman -a Disney Imagineer were just beautiful and the exhibit "National Treasures" contained artifacts like Lincoln’s Hat and items from the Space Program. The main show was just a glorious celebration of the American History and it was all that I had hoped for. I’m not a hand over your heart patriot at all really, but it was very touching and the seeing the various animatronics was awesome.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_4932.jpg
Me and the American Adventure!
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The Rotunda

On the way out I had a real odd moment - some dude was walking out with the crowd, came walking next to me and asked me if I liked pictures. The guy reeked of creepy and I could swear I saw him on To Catch a Predator - because he says something like "I"m Joe Bob from Tennessee. Can I take your picture?" and then without waiting for a response, he takes his disposable camera and shoots a flash picture of me. Then starts blabbering on about liking to take pictures and was asking me where I was from with a strong southern accent. It was very weird and I "lost" him when I went to get my Passport stamped.

I skipped thru Japan and Morocco and headed to France where I knew Louis was working Impressions de France. Nearby I spotted Sleeping Beauty standing around, so walked over and got a picture with her. If you notice the low angle of the picture - her "handler" was a midget.

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I didn’t spot Louis, so I went into the pre-show, which was filled with many photo’s of France and then into the theater where the host for the show was Louis! He gave his spiel and the it was time for the ½ circle vision presentation. Such a beautiful show and at the end Louis came out and told us all to get out. I congratulated him on his performance and we walked out together. Lucky a passer-bye’r was nice enough to snap a picture of us - then I got to witness his work in the preshow area.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_4957.jpg
There’s Louis!

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_4958.jpg
Me and Louis!

It was now time for Lunch and I went to Chefs de France to check out the menu. It was pretty easy for a party of 1 to get a seat and I got a nice table right by the window where you could see the pavilion and the waterway. I ordered for what amounted to a toasted Ham & Cheese sandwich, with a salad and bread. Keeping with the atmosphere I chose the "recommended" wine, which name I could not remember and it was a nice peaceful meal truly filled with French atmosphere. The waiter, accent and all, introduced himself and told a small bit about his hometown in France, somewhere along the boarder in the mountains, if I recall correctly. Lunch ended with an very, very tasty Creme Brulee that was just unbelievably perfect.

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I want one of these!!

[Bornieo: Fully Loaded]

Time marched on as I moved quickly thru the UK and to Canada, which is the only place I’ve actually been too (Besides "America") that is in the pavilions. Just a beautiful area and I went to see the circle-vision 360 "O’ Canada" and to get my book stamped. The show was pretty funny if you can stand Martin Short. He’s funny, but can cross that annoying line quite a bit. It was so wonderful to see circle-vison again. If I can say I was disappointed in anything was there should be more of the area I’ve been too before, Calgary, Alberta and the Banf National Forest - which saw little in the movie. So more of that - less Martin Short.
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Canada!

I had time now to explore more of Future World in the Imagination area. I skipped HISTA for all the obvious reasons and went on the Figment ride. I need to find a YouTube of the previous version because this was just annoying. Yes Figment is a cute character but this was just a bit too much. Sadly, the walk around wasn’t around because I really wanted my picture with Figment. :(

The Land is next, having skipped over the area with Body Wars and the such which was being used for the Food and Wine Festival. I skipped Sorin’ for the obvious reasons, but when/ if I go back I would like to see the que at least - from what I hear. I too the trip on the boat "Living with the Land" which was really informative/ boring but was a bit disappointed when there were no singing vegetables. Yes, I had seen pictures and I guess they were taken out for the Sorrin’ entrance. I wanted to see the singing Fruit’s and Vegetables. Oh well.

The whole make up of the Land was interesting and different. It was like a giant food court with a few rides off to the side. It was just a bit bizarre.
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Imagination!
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Test Track - Love the walkways over the water.!!

The Sea’s with Nemo was the next place I went and I wish I had taken more time to explore the tanks and such but I took the Nemo Clam ride which is pretty much everything that’s in The Subs here in California. There are some differences but basically the same. Naturally the clams are less problematic than the subs - one is not cramped into a sub, nor do they have to wait 2 hours.
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Having some more time to kill, I swung back over to Mexico and took the Grand Fiesta Tour. It was a cute little boat ride, very much It’s a Small World but with all Mexico. I always like the Three Caballeros and I was hoping the walk arounds would be there, but nope. It was a nice integration of the film and the sets. ‘
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_5043.jpg
I then skipped over to China and caught the other Circle-Vison Reflections of China, which, again, was such a thrill to see Circle-vision again and such beauty all around the theater. Just spectacular.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_4878.jpg

My time at EPCOT was coming to an end since I had tickets for Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween that evening, so I slowly exited but not before taking some time to admire Spaceship Earth. and the fountains.
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Me!

On the way out I found the dedication plaque which was dated October 24, 1982 - which was cool since the day I was there was October 23, 2007 - almost 25 years to the date.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_5076.jpg
Next - An evening at Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party!!

[lashbear]

Love it !! Keep going !!!

...Wasn't the angler fish on the robotic arm great?

I nearly fell over during O Canada! (not used to CircleVision, I guess). Were the "Victorian Gardens" at the Canada exit in full bloom??

[Bornieo: Fully Loaded]

Yes, the Angler fish was very well done. It get's a better reaction then the Submarine version.

Honestly I know nothing about being in Bloom, so I can't say they were - they might be - but the garden and "Canada" as a whole were beautiful.

[Bornieo: Fully Loaded]

Day 5 - Con’t
Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party

After leaving EPCOT I took the Monorail over to the Transportation Plaza and grabbed the Ferry Boat over to the Magic Kingdom.
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Ferryboat Dock
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_5102-1.jpg
Ferryboat
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Coming up on the Magic Kingdom
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The Polynesian Resort

What a beautiful ride as the sun was setting behind the clouds. Great view of the Polynesian Resort, the Contemporary and the Other fancy one who’s name I can’t recall. But it was nice approaching the Magic Kingdom - seeing it get bigger and bigger.
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Lion King Clouds

I didn’t take a lot of pictures that night for several reasons we’ll go over further down. First off, when I got there I got my map, my bag for candy and some mouse ears. Some of the MC folks had planed to dress like Mouseketeers and I can’t pass up that opportunity. So I met them all in the Hub and then changed into my MMC shirt, which I didn’t get pictures of me in. I then met up with the group again in Frontierland’s Peco’s Bill Tavern where I regretfully ordered the Taco Salad. The worst meal I had on the trip and to top that off, while I was in line I could see the "cooks" opening "Bag o Meat" and dumping the content into a warmer. Very appealing and why I will stick with sit down restaurants.

The group with me in tow ransacked several candy depots and filled out bags with goodies and then went for a quick ride on Pirates of the Caribbean and Splash Mtn. We were briefly stalled in Adventureland because of the first Halloween parade. We then sailed around to Toon Town Fair and collected some more candy before rushing to the Tomorrowland Terrace Noodle Station to view the special Hallowishes fireworks. Sadly this was a bit of a bad choice because of 1 disgruntled employee who was screaming at people who were "moving" the chairs in the noodle station to get a better view and 2nd was it just wasn’t a good place to watch the fireworks but I got to see them anyway and they were extraordinary. Haunting music and fireworks firing in every direction, shape and size - just an assault on the senses and just a purely amazing display. (There is some video up on my Myspace)

The next parade time was approaching, so we gathered in front of the castle. The view changed drastically when the asshats who were siting in front of the group decided to stand blocking a lot of the view. Morons.
The parade began in the best possible fashion with the Headless Horseman galloping down the parade route. The parade was just a joy with floats (apparently) taken for various old parades and featured just about everyone in costume and a soundtrack that just sits in your mind and replays at any time. It was very catchy. Here are a few pics that came out...
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_5146.jpg
Beware of Hitchhiking Ghosts!
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_5144.jpg
Gravedigger dude!
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_5149.jpg
Haunted Mansion Gravedigger troop

And the parade went on FOREVER! It was float after float afer float - just an amazing parade. After it eventually ended, the group headed out to get more candy, ending up in the Alice in Wonderland path where Tweedle Dee and Dum were passing out candy - that was cool because the CM’s were all dressed like cards. The path ended in Tomorrowland where everyone said goodnight but I wasn’t ready to leave quite yet so the last remaining few made way to the Haunted Mansion. While in line the heavens opened up and it was a downpour!
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_5171.jpg
Raining like Hell at the Haunted Mansion

But, with some luck we were under the covering and by the time we got out of the ride, the rain had stopped. Just outside the exit were CM’s handing out the last bit of candy before midnight hit. Actually more like taking large handfuls of left over candy and dumping them in our bags.

All in all, Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween is a billion times better than anything in California. Having gone to the DCA version where its basically trick or treat time, I can say that the Florida party is so very much worth the extra money and there was tons I didn’t get to see like a Villain’s stage show and meet and great. I know if I ever do go back, going with the group really slowed things down and I missed quite a bit. No offence to those who were there but I really would have rather been exploring on my own - seeing the things I wanted. But, the Mouseketeer outfit was awesome (That was Rixter, a real nice guy - who I know lurks on LoT! HI!) And it was kinda nice to see people I knew as it sort of made thing more "real."

Next up - Day 7 and Universal Studios, IOA and a night trip to Animal Kingdom!

[Nephythys]

I believe the hotel you can't recall the name of- the large white one- is the Grand Floridian. Very victorian- Rose and I were there several times when we were at WDW. Rose had a tea party there with Alice and the Mad Hatter and we also had a tea party with Princess Aurora.

I love your report-can't wait for more!

[Chernabog]

Wooo I love reading your TR Bornieo, you got some REALLY good shots there!! Hey did you ever do Mission : Space? I didn't see it in your report and was wondering what your opinion was.

[Matterhorn Fan]

I'm glad you didn't skip El Rio del Tiempo Gran Fiesta Tour. You skipped right over Mexico there and I thought, "he'd better have gone back to Mexico!"

I love Donald, and I think they did a great job with that one.

[Bornieo: Fully Loaded]

Thanks for the kind thoughts.

I didn't do Mission Space until day 9 - my opinion on that soon.

Yes, Grand Fiesta Tour was a nice fun ride. I'd rather have seen some animatronic figures in this but...

Day 7 coming up

[MouseWife]

I love your pictures!!! Thank you!!

[Bornieo: Fully Loaded]

Day 7 -

A bit apprehensive I went with the other MC folk to Universal on Day 7. There still was so much I hadn’t seen of Walt Disney World but I had already purchased a multi-day ticket so I went anyway. With luck I hitched a ride and spent the first part of the day over at Islands of Adventure.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_3740.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_5186.jpg
With the group we hit the Amazing Spider-Man first which had a very short line as opposed to my previous visit. It still is an incredible ride and just takes you to a whole new level of experiance. After, I split from the group so’s to take more pictures of the park and hit some things I wanted to see.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_5173.jpg
Me and Spidey!
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_5193.jpg
Sub-Mariner picture over the restrooms - irony
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_5178.jpg
Also ironic that Electro recently "came out" in the comics - I guess the designers didn’t see that comin’

My first stop was Rip Saw Falls, which is a water/log type ride that absolutely soaks you to the core. The que was a lot of fun keeping in tune to the whole animated theme of Dudley Do Right. I understood that they had added lapbars to the "logs" and they weren’t kidding. I barely fit into the seat and the lap bar had no use other than to land squarely on my chest preventing me from moving anywhere. It was extremely uncomfortable and lucky for me, no one was seated in the first row (I was in the 2nd and two other people sat behind me) The ride itself is very well done and takes you from scene to scene with Duddly’ Do Right and cast. By the first drop I knew I was in for a soaking wet ride. The finale to the ride is a 75 foot plummet with a couple of bunny hills (Similar to the Bear Butt drop on Splash Mtn) that left me so wet I could not see as my eyes were filled with the spraying water. I was drenched and laughing all the way back to the dock. Sadly, since I couldn’t see anything, I’m not sure how the ride ended beyond trying to get out of the log.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_5213.jpg
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http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_5219.jpg
Jurassic Park soak

Soaked to the bone, I made my way thru Jurassic Park area to the Lost Continent and Poseidon’s Fury, which both puzzled and surprised me. The outside is just an amazing structure and detail. The show itself is kind of a walk-thru with a Fantasmic ending and getting to the end was really, really cheezy. The end has a wow factor that has to be seen at least once. I won’t spoil it.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_5240.jpg
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Suess Landing was up next and I wanted to catch "The High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride" which is a nice little train that goes around the Seuss Landing area and is maybe 10 - 15 feet above the ground. It’s themed so very well with all the great look of Seuss. Even the tops of the buildings below were in-theme which is just amazing. It was a nice little ride. Some video is on my Myspace.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_5257.jpg
Trolley loading area
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_5266.jpg
The nearby roof.

It was time for lunch and reservations had been made for Mythos! Voted best theme park restaurant and they weren’t kidding. The themeing was ok - someone in the group said Al Lutz was quoted as saying that Universal can’t do rocks like Disney can or something like that but it’s true. It looked very play-dough to me. A choice for what to eat was very tough - there were many things I would’ve liked to order and I know I’m somewhat of a picky eater. I ordered the "Buffalo BBQ Fried Chicken Wrap" which was just phenomenal. It was a wrap with boneless fried chicken bathed in BBQ sauce with lettuce, shredded cheese and mashed potatoes all wrapped up. It was just fantastic.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_5232.jpg
Mythos - front entrance.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_5183.jpg
Mythos - Lake view

After lunch the group made its way back to Marvel Island and some of them rode The Hulk, which I passed on and we eventually made our way over to Universal Studios. There we breezed thru the Mummy, which is just a great ride and Men in Black which lead us out the exit and back to the parking structure. It was time to head to Animal Kingdom for a rare extra evening at the park and one that I didn’t want to miss.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_5299.jpg
There’s not really much to say as the group met up with other and we rode Expedition Everest a few times, some braved the Rapids and for me, finally, a ride on Dinosaur! I really loved the ride and thankfully it wasn’t as jaring and spastic as Indiana Jones. It was a lot of fun.

In any case, the evening was mostly spent admiring the park that is Animal Kingdom from the night perspective and it is just a spectacular looking park at night. I wish I had a decent camera to capture it but here are a few pictures that seem to come close to what a sight I saw.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_5302.jpg
Dusk settles in on Animal Kingdom
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_5311.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_5310.jpg
wow, wow wow!

After the closing of Animal Kingdom I went with the group to Downtown Disney for some dinner at Earl of Sandwich and then back to the hotel. It was a fairly early evening in, and I took advantage of it to get some rest.

Next: Disney MGM Studios with the Fantasmic buffet!

[LSPoorEeyorick]

I LOVED the Earl of Sandwich. The Earl's Grey Lemonade, yum.

Still lovin' your report!

[Stan4dSteph]

The Earl is the best deal on property, hands down. I bought the kid's grilled cheese and it looked to be about the same size as the adult sandwich. I wasn't in the mood for bacon on my grilled cheese.

Cool photos of Animal Kingdom. What all is open during Evening EMH?

[CoasterMatt]

not in the mood for bacon? Heretic :p

[Bornieo: Fully Loaded]

Yeah, Earl of Sandwich was great - I had the Meatball sub.

Animal Kingdom had all the major attractions open except those that had live animals. The group had hoped the Safari would be open for a nice Sunset Safari but that was closed.

[figment1986]

Yeah, Earl of Sandwich was great - I had the Meatball sub.

Good thing Tampa has one now... Not far from one of my campuses as well...

It is a great gourmet sandwich shop.

I think Monday i will get a cannon balls... or a Hawaiian BBQ...


Oh... and they dont do many sunset safaris in the off season... they want to be as safe as passable.

-jealous on mythos.. i've never been-

[Bornieo: Fully Loaded]

Day 8
Disney MGM Studios - The full day.

I had a fairly full day at Disney MGM Studio back on Day 3 but I’ve returned to do the things that I missed the first time around and for the Fantasmic Buffet that was part of my "package" trip.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_5324.jpg
Tower of Terror!

First off, I went to Tower of Terror and got a fastpass for later on and then headed to the New York area to get some pictures of the streets. Disney Channel "Star" Kim Possible and some other dude were just standing around so I got a picture with them. I don’t watch the show, but c’mon - I just don’t like face characters of cartoons. Works for the princesses but I would’ve rather seen a big head.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_5327.jpg
More characters here than any given time at Disneyland!
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_5330-1.jpg
Kim Possible

The streets of the world were cool to see and the Osborne Christmas lights were already up. I headed to the Back lot Tour next which started in a building that had props and models from Pearl Harbor. Most of them were just shells and not in very good shape but I guess you have to look at something. The next exhibit was a water tank where they filmed some guest doing various things and Inner-cut it with some real film footage. Water tanks, bullet hits and minor explosion. Everything I’ve seen before, but was nice to see this show. Then we were moved to the prop warehouse and onto trams to take us to the back-lot.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_5349.jpg
Water Tank.

The back-lot consisted of passing by prop cars, thru a warehouse with costumes and thru Catastrophe Canyon, which was kind of cool. Albeit very simple setup, it was one of the best parts of the tour. The coolest part every was Walt Disney’s personal aircraft, so they say, on display. This one would have been fun to be able to board and check out. Very cool
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_5388.jpg
Walt’s Wings


Also caught a glimpse of the Herbie split car used in the Motor Cars Stunt show.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_5365.jpg
And one from Herbie: Fully Loaded
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_5556.jpg
This was cool. They had a Snowspeeder and one of Jabba’s Skiffs from the Star Wars Films.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_5554.jpg
After a painfully short back-lot tour, we were dropped off at a exhibit featuring some of the movies greatest villains. There were various costumes and props on display, but for the Star Wars geek, these were the coolest!
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_5397.jpg
Vadar costume and a Tie-Fighter model
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_5399.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_5400.jpg
And part of the Death Star surface molding. Very, very cool!!

By this time I still had about an hour until my Lunch reservations at The Sci-Fi Diner, so I did some looking around and went on the "Sounds Dangerous" with Drew Carey show, which is just basically a sound demo/ film where you sit in a theater to watch a "pilot" where we follow undercover cop Drew Carey. Its like the recent version of Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln where you get your hair cut and the such. It was a time killer but I was glad to see it – once.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_5427.jpg
Me and At-At - keeping the Star Wars theme.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_5433.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_5410.jpg
Nice touch!
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_5445.jpg
Mickey’s Hand prints at the Chinese Theater - oddly done on my 19th birthday!!

[Bornieo: Fully Loaded]

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_5456.jpg
A visit with Mike and Sully.

The meet and greet with the Monsters Inc. guys was so well planed. There was a door with the logo that would open and the characters would be there and there was a roped line with instructions posted on the M&G. AND a CM dedicated to keeping everyone informed. There was no chaos, no screaming kids or parents shoving their kids in front of you. It was a nice thing to see. Plus the "Mike" was just a total schmuck. After the picture, he walked away and started pushing around the cameraman.

By now, I was hungry and it was time for my lunch reservation at the Sci Fi Diner! I was surprised the outside was just a simple "sound stage" but I guess it was in keeping with the studio theme. I was seated in the backseat of a car and the atmosphere of the restaurant was wonderful. Big screen showing trailers and short subjects. They even had a section from one of the Walt Disney episodes featuring the Aliens that live among us cartoon. I just had the typical Cheeseburger, which was good and ended with a Sundae. It was very "diner."
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_5466.jpg
Alone in the back seat again!!

After, I went on The Great Movie Ride again, and caught some video of the Wizard of Oz segment. Naturally, not my favorite film at all, but it was the best scene in this ride. Plus I had heard that the Wicked Witch was one of the best AA’s around.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/th_100_5469.jpg (http://s15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/?action=view&current=100_5469.flv)
This is a link to the video.

Next was Tower of Terror, using my fastpass and then got another fastpass for Rockin Rollarcoaster! The Beauty and the Beast stage show was up next and I was a bit weary because of the previous trip to the Studio to see the Voyage of the Little Mermaid, which was disappointing. This show was terrible. I got in to the Theater and found a pretty good seat down front about 10 rows back from the stage on the end. A great view. Although it was nice to see the walk about characters and the dancing and music, this was barely a clif-notes version of the film. The major big scene of the film, the ballroom scene isn’t in the show at all and the rest were just very brief songs, with Be Our Guest being the big number, which wasn’t very "big" at all. Now I’m not stage/ Theater critic, but with the Aladdin show at DCA and even the really terrible Snow White show at DL, this was total garbage. Yes, there’s only so much time, its aimed at kids etc. I was just floored at how bad this was.
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The Animation Courtyard area with the Magic of Animation was next. I understand in its glory days, this was the heart of the park and I could tell that its just been glossed over with some props, a store, some drawing and some character M&G. I can imagine it was really wonderful at one time and it’s all to sad to not be able to ever see that.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_5482.jpg
Rats in the Animation Building!

The Light’s, Motor Action stunt show was next. Wholly Cow was this a humongous outdoor venue. The view stands was like something you’d see at a real raceway and I got to walk all the way up to almost the top of the venue. The show was neat but nothing more than what you’d expect from a stunt show. Lots of dead time where they set things up and they have "directors" explaining what they’re doing. Plus there’s a big screen so you can see things fairly up close and they go into some detail about the cars they use. That was pretty fascinating.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_5528.jpg
Out come’s Herbie who splits after a bit.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_5543.jpg
They set a guy on fire!

It was a fun show and the finale was full of explosions and cars flying everywhere. It was quite a spectacle.

After waiting to exit and seeing everyone spilling out into the park from the stunt show, I made my way to the Rock ‘n’ Roll Coaster - which broke down just as I was next to get onto the ride. There was a lot of running around by the CM’s and some people in suits ordering them around. They cleared the ride and gave everyone passes to come back to the ride when it was "fixed." I was pretty disappointed that I didn’t get to ride it again, as the day wore on, I had to meet the group for the Fantasmic buffet and show. I had some time to take some pictures before the meet up.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_5572.jpg
Coming soon to DCA! I wondered if anyone knew what this place was?

The group met for the Fantasmic Buffet and we were taken backstage by our own personal CM (With lightsabre flashlight) to the private viewing area in the back of the Theater. We entered back behind Tower of Terror - "No pictures please" we were told - so it was interesting to see the back area I guess. Nothing too amazing.

The "Private" area was just a platform behind a railing that sat right next to the control booth. It was just high enough to see over the heads of the people sitting in the stands. The food was a pretty nice spread with Chicken and Beef skewers, Sesame Chicken, various cheese and bread, fruit and sodas. The show started and we all lined the railing. Now, I’d see the show on YouTube so I knew what to expect. There are things I really liked about it, but for the most part the Disneyland version is superior in many ways. The layout of the stage was awesome, I like having the Sorcerer Mickey on top of the rock and I loved the water fountains. The Aladdin and Lion King scenes were nice - especially the animals of the Lion King. On the bad side, Pochahantas goes on forever - the bubbles go on forever - the Peter Pan segment is sorrily missed and is the spectacular Mark Twain ending. I do understand the cartoony boat at the end and it has some impact on the show, but it reminded me of a milk carton floating downstream.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_5577.jpg
My one good picture of the show.

Still, it had most of the heart of what I love about Fantasmic and that got me thru it.

The park was closed now and I limped my way back to the hotel thanks to a ride from Rixter and MickeyMax. My feet were raw by now and I still had a whole day at EPCOT and the evenings event at Pleasure Island!

To be continued...

Next - Pleasure Island, Mannequin Dance Club and the Adventurers Club!

[lashbear]

Keep up the excellent updates Mark It reminds me of lots of good stuff, I might even post my own one day :rolleyes:

(and I'm capturing video as fast as I can)

[Snowflake]

This has been a great report so far, more please!
Really, it makes me want to go to WDW, soon!

[NickO'Time]

Ah cool the Flight of the Navigator ship next too the Snow Speeder and the skiff! Nice shots and trip report, I want more!

[Bornieo: Fully Loaded]

Day 8 Continued:

So, after a full day at Disney MGM Studio’s I headed back to the hotel to get ready for the late evening events. I heard from our pal Louis, who was going to meet me in Downtown Disney. I got fixed up and took the bus and met him at McDonalds. From there we went to the Adventurer’s Club, which I’ve heard a great deal about. Initially I was disappointed because it just seemed to be a bar. But after a few drinks and meeting up with some of the MC folks, the place came alive.

I didn’t get any pictures from the club, but it was really entertaining. The "Cast" of characters were just a riot and we sat thru 3 shows including the big finale, a swearing in as new members and a hysterical lounge act by the aging diva explorer - if that could describe her. This went on well after midnight with the big finale that closed the night.

Still energized from the Konga-Loosh (No idea how that’s spelled) drink (I think I had 4) which was a slushy type alcohol laced drink that was just awesome, the group made it’s way to Mannequin which was the hip dance club at Pleasure Island. It had a rotating dance floor, a wall of lights, a booming sound system and was populated that evening by the local gay and lesbian castmembers. (Louis had some explaining to do to his fellow castmembers, heheheh) Anyway, the group (or what was left of it) finished the evening there at 2am when the lights came on and the music ended. Not a place I’d like to spend many hours at but it was a real flashy club that I would never get into even in Los Angeles.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_5585.jpg

So, I made the trek back to the room and bed only to wake only a few hours later for a day at EPCOT and some tasting at the Food and Wine Festival.

That’s next...

[figment1986]

Comedy Club warehouse and Adventurers club are my favorite PI clubs, The others are flashy and crowded and loud... esp Mannequins...

Comedy Club Warehouse is improv, complete improv with audience participation... think of it as Whose Line is it Anyway, live... but with the occasional adult subject thrown in...

and Adventurers Club is well... fun!

[CoasterMatt]

It's KUNGALOOSH!!! :cheers: :D

[Bornieo: Fully Loaded]

Kungalooooooooosh!!!:cheers:

[Bornieo: Fully Loaded]

Day 9 -

EPCOT & the Food and Wine Festival

The day started later than I’d hoped due to getting back to the hotel at 3am, but I got to EPCOT about 10pm and made a direct line to where you rent the ECV’s or "Meat-wagons." My feet were beyond raw and it was just way to difficult to walk around the whole day so this seemed to be the best way to go.
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Today was going to be an all day journey here at EPCOT thanks to the Extra Magic Hours, so the park would be open until Midnight! I made my way to The Land pavilion where the group was meeting up to do a "Sip and Nibble" around the world. I got a score card and a little glass to sip from and the group headed to the first stand of the Food and Wine Festival.

"Champagne" was booth #1 where there was various wines to taste. I can’t tell you what one I tried but it was good, as was the wine from the 2nd booth, Chile. I’m not even anywhere near a wine expert, so I’m not one to judge anything beyond it being "good." hehe - Also in "Chile I tried what I believe was "Tomatican" with Manchego Cheese. I am guessing because I’m going from the guide the park was passing out that lists the foods served at the different venues.

Next was Argentina where I tried the "Spicy Beef Empanada" and the "Grilled Beef with Chimichirri Sauce." The Empanada was very good but not very spicy and the Beef strips with the "Chim-Chim-Cheerie" sauce was very salty.

I skipped eating at the Mexico pavilion, which had Quesadias and the such, and the group rode "The Grand Fiesta Tour" filling 2 boats. (No sinking, thank you)
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_5596.jpg
Donald get’s wacked!

Ireland was next and they were sadly out of the "Baily’s Frozen Irish Coffee" so I got some "Chilled Potato Leek Soup with an Irish Cheddar Cheese Stick" which was basically cold soup. Spain was skipped over by me also but next in the China venue I had some excellent "Chicken Sha Che", "Pork Pot Stickers" and finished with some "Caramel Ginger Ice Cream." To drink I tried the "Green Tea Plum Wine Cooler" which was very refreshing. The Ice cream was good and the beef and chicken were tasty. In India I just tried the "Coconut Rice Pudding." I was actually getting full from the food, so I took a break and took some pictures.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_5606.jpg
Doppy in Germany!
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_5611.jpg
Beautiful Flowers

I came across this awesome little display of model trains and villages in the German Pavilion.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_5612.jpg
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http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_5621.jpg
Spaceship Earth from across the lake.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_5624.jpg
Italy
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_5636.jpg
Lovely park in the UK Pavilion.

The only other stop made for the Food and Wine Festival was at the French pavilion at the behest of Louis after we parted ways from the Group. That was a small glass of "Coupe de Sorbet Champagne" which was a very tasty layered frozen sorbet. I wanted to try more, but I was just too stuffed and I wanted to save some room for an early dinner at Biergarten.

I wanted to spend some more time in Future World checking out the other pavilions I’d missed before, so we breezed by the Universe of Energy and the Wonder’s of Life Pavilion which was now transformed into an area used for the Food and Wine Festival.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_5644.jpg
Cool building
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_5646.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_5650.jpg
No Body Wars for me today!

We passed by Mission Space, which I rode later.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_5659.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_5658.jpg
Not yet!

[Bornieo: Fully Loaded]

Along the way, we met up with Sadako and we went to a highlight of the day, which was the "EPCOT 25th Anniversary" exhibit, which was nicely tucked away in the Character greeting building. It wasn’t even listed on the map, but Louis knew where it was.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_5662.jpg
There is Louis! Can you spot him?
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_5664.jpg
Louis taking a picture of his picture.

It was a very small are with some display cases and pictures on the wall, as well as a short video clip of the opening day ceremonies. The room was maybe the size of the Model area of the 50th Exhibit at Disneyland. They had some nice stuff - models, merchandise, costumes and the such.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_5672.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_5669.jpg
Costumes
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_5668.jpg
Model of Spaceship Earth
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_5673.jpg
Time marched on and it was time for the reservation at Biergarten. Both Louis and Sa dako joined me and we got a nice table practically in front of the stage. Most of the pictures came out blurry or dark, so I’ll spare you. One thing I learned is that I don’t like German food. Lots of Sausages and bland tasting meats - so sadly I’ll have to say this was the worst meal of the trip. The atmosphere was nice and we sat at a big table with another family and a CM and daughter. The CM was getting toasted, so that made for some interesting conversations. She was not very happy with her job, and wasn’t shy about telling us. The band showed up finally before our meal was just about over, so I got to see a bit of the "Om-Pa-pa" band. And there were no hot German chicks with their boobs hanging out - so that was a negative for me.

Afterward, Louis had to go meet some friends, so me and Sadako rode "Ellen’s Energy Adventure." I know this has gotten a lot of flak and it’s understandable. There’s a 20 min (or so it seems) presentation in the lobby featuring Ellen, Bill Nye and the Jeopardy guy that really goes on and on. Then we’re let into a large theater with the giant people movers. Minus Ellen, I thought it was a wonderful ride with the giant screens and the dinosaurs. I really got giddy when we started moving thru the pavilion. It was very, very cool and the Ellen animatronic made me laugh out loud. I would hate to see EPCOT loose this attraction and I hope it can remain but I would hope they would make some changes to the pre-show.
Now, it was finally time for a ride on Mission: Space!!
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_5693.jpg
Oooh, pretty!

First, after hearing about the ride and the reported deaths, I thought it best to ride the easy "Green" side first to gauge how I would like the ride. First off, the building is just beautiful - especially lit up at night. The inside que area reminded me so much of Mission to Mars, it was a nice tribute to see. We lined up and I got to be part of a 3 man crew. (Sadako chose the Red side having been on this already) So, I was to do 2 duties. Gary Sinise and his bad toupee, which is worse that I’d seen gave us the drill and the anticipation was there. In other words, I’d wished I’d spent more time drinking before but I digress. The capsule had more room that I had anticipated, so I was glad I fit into the ride with no trouble at tall. The door closed and we went on our mission, which you’ll be glad to know, was a success. It was a thrilling ride that is hands down the best simulater I’ve been on. It was smooth and moved very well and I was very happy with the ride. The sensations were all there and everything worked great. So, now I was (somewhat) prepared for the Red side!!

To be Continued...

[lashbear]

No Body Wars for me today!

We passed by Mission Space, which I rode later.( Not yet!)

very WISE. :D

[dlrp_bopazot]

i really like the exhibit they made for the 25th . I wish they had the same at Disneyland Paris for the 15th aniversary .

[Bornieo: Fully Loaded]

Day 9 - Continued...

Ok - my memory is fading - The events happened as stated only BEFORE we rode Mission Space, we made our way over to the Japan Pavilion to was Illumination... so let’s pick it up there.

So, after The Universe of Energy we made our way to Japan on the way moving thru a typical crowd that gathers to see the display. The best part of moving thru the crowd on the ECV / Meat wagon was this woman grabbed her kid yanking him out of my way and screaming "Jesus Christ!" when I was no where near hitting the kid nor going an any kind of speed - she acted like I was in a flaming Dump truck barreling down on her child.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_5708.jpg
Paris at night.

So, we got a real nice spot in Japan right near where the large globe sits waiting for the show. All in all it was a nice show but not as great as I had hoped. The pyro was nice and seeing the fire etc. was well choreographed to the music, which was just ok. The other big downer was the globe, which was spinning around but it was just small enough and just far enough away where I couldn’t really make out what was on the globe. I saw people’s faces, which I guess is all that shows up. Also, I’m unsure whether I got the full show because it started drizzling and I overheard someone saying it was cut short. I loved the fire and the pylons around the lake and the glittering buildings but it was just ok for me.

So, THEN after that we headed to Mission Space where I rode the Green side. Then Louis and his friends from Paris met up with us and we rode the Orange extreme side of the attraction.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_5693.jpg
The ride is exactly the same as GREEN except for the intense spinning the little pod does. I"m not quite sure how it works but during the lift off there is this intense pressure you feel while you are launched into space. For me, initially it wasn’t that bad - it made the launch more realistic but it just didn’t stop and it got to a point where it was just way too much for me and I really started hating it. I didn’t feel nauseated but I did feel extremely lightheaded towards the end. That area of your temples where sometimes you get a headache felt like fingers pressing against it and it was very uncomfortable for me. I felt my eye start to cross so I doubt I will ever ride the Orange side again. It really, really worked for the launch but it just went on way longer that I thought it should to the point where I could say "Enough already!" I don’t think the green side is any worse for not having the spinning and I really enjoyed this ride.

So, after limping out of Mission Space, I saw the gang off, and went around capturing some night time pictures just before the park closed. Here are a few.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_5724.jpg
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EPCOT is just a beautiful park at night with each pavilion lit up and the spectacular Spaceship Earth that was just eye tearing. No doubt it is my second favorite park at WDW and I really felt I didn’t come close to experiencing all that it had to offer. I could spend a whole week there with so many nooks left unexplored.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/100_5743.jpg

So, the night ended and I turned in the meat wagon and made my way back to my room. Tomorrow I’d be going home having only a few hours to spend at the Magic Kingdom..That experiance will be up next....

[CoasterMatt]

wow... You go on and on about loving SpectroMagic, but Illuminations is just meh? Whatever, dude.

[Bornieo: Fully Loaded]

wow... You go on and on about loving SpectroMagic, but Illuminations is just meh? Whatever, dude.

Well, eexccuuuuuuse Meeeeeeeeee!

[BarTopDancer]

Markkkkkkkkk Awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Bornieo: Fully Loaded]

Day 10- The dream ends

So, it now amounts to being the last day I have at Walt Disney World and I chose to spend it at The Magic Kingdom. A someone early start and checking out of the hotel was first on the agenda as I left my bags and headed to Magic Kingdom. My goal was to ride things I had missed and to re-ride some of my favorites.

Upon arrival I headed to Frontier Land and rode the Jungle Cruise. The line was short and I got on a fairly good skippered boat. Its really a step above the Disneyland version in most ways except for the intimacy I find here. I thought the inside temple scenes were great but fairly underused as there seemed to be many dead spots in the ride. But it was a beautiful area and the queue was nicely detailed.

Next up was Big Thunder Mountain, which was in rehab until the day before. The line was small and it was weird being in such a long extended inside queue for BTMRR. The loading area was also fairly bizzare being indoors. The ride itself was bizzaro Big Thunder with elements that are familiar but not quite what I know it to be. It was a quick fun ride and I liked the finale much better there. I missed seeing the goat though...

I headed to the Country Bears to take in one last show and ran into "Woody’s Roundup" which was just a small parade with the Toy Story Characters and some cowboy & cowgirls hoofing around. I didn’t stay to watch. At Country Bears it really took me back to the 70's when I was a kid and it was so sad to see the bears in such a state. TLC is needed badly.

After biding the Bears farewell I went to have an early lunch over at The Plaza Restaurant again. I had my Cheese Steak Sandwich, fries and an Ice Tea, which would be my last meal at Walt Disney World. After a really great meal, I headed to the castle to watch "Dream Along With Mickey" in its intirety. Its really the best Mickey show I’ve seen in forever and the animated heads is just mesmerizing. Seeing it on video doesn’t even begin to give you an idea of how amazing it looks. Its extremely natural - just amazing.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/106_5839.jpg
Mickey and the gang dancing away.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/106_5857.jpg
Melifecent shows up.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/106_5875.jpg
All is well when daytime fireworks go off.

After the show I made my way to Tomorrowland for another run on Carousel of Progress, the Tomorrowland Transit Authority and then back to Main Street where they were having the Family Fun Day Parade which is just a group of families and some characters marching down Main St., from what I saw of it. Sadly, this isn’t something you’d see at Disneyland, I would think.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/106_5886.jpg
Carousel of Progress and Me!
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/106_5947.jpg
Sorry, I love these raised walkways... <3
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/106_5953.jpg
Family Fun Day Parade.

I spent some time at the castle just looking, taking some pictures and admiring it. Inside the breathtaking mural and they had just taken down the walls inside the courtyard where the crane for the Christmas lights was sitting, so I could now walk down the side pathway towards Tomorrowland. The walkway had a "wishing well" of sorts that was pretty neat.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/106_5974.jpg
A well with no echo, nor singing.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/106_5996.jpg
Just a small part of spectacular Cinderella mural.

Fantasyland was pretty busy by now so I re-road "Mickey’s Philharmagic" and headed to Mickey’s Toontown Fair. Mostly just to take pictures but I was on the lookout for a box set of CD’s featuring some of the music of Walt Disney World and I had not remembered where I saw it until I was back there and I found it in the Circus tent store. So, with the box of cds containing "The Festival of the Lion King", "Wishes", "Spectromagic, "Illuminations" and "Disney’s Magic in the Streets", plus a few Pins of the various theme park logos, a Souvenir Picture book and two more CD’s - The Official Soundtrack and the special "Events" CD that has the Hallowishes, and the Dream Along With Mickey Show.

Time went by quickly this day and I had to be back at the hotel for the shuttle back to the Airport. So, with a very heavy heart I made my way to Town Square where I had just enough time to see some of the Disney Dreams Come True Parade. So I waited and the clock ticked and ticked and ticked and the parade wasn’t coming. It was started at the other end of the route and the time was getting to be late, so I moved to just below the train station and the music came on. Down Main Street came Mickey’s float and this would be the last experiance at Walt Disney World (That was "Magic" at least)

I waited until the float was nearby before exiting the park. I got to have Mickey wave at me. (Yes, he did!) And got to hear a bit of the touchingly ironic parade song as I walked out about Disney Dreams do come true, and for the previous 10 days - that’s what I got.

It surely felt like a dream....
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/th_106_6052.jpg (http://s15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/?action=view&current=106_6052.flv)
"Just believe and your dreams will come true"

Though this wasn’t the true end of the trip, I’ll leave this as the cliffhanger...

Next - the insane trip back to the hotel, the flight back home and my final comments.

To be continued...

[Bornieo: Fully Loaded]

The end...

So, 10 days at Walt Disney World came to a close a lot faster than I would have wanted. My trip back to the Hotel where I was supposed to meet up with the Magic Shuttle that would take me to the airport. Of all days, the transportation was wonderful and had really no problems at all. This last day, when I have to be back at 4pm to meet the 4:10pm bus, things made an ugly turn. First the bus shows up, then the lady driver, who was fairly elderly to be driving, starts talking to another driver - time is marching. Then she fills out forms, It’s now 3:45pm. Then she begins to pull away but stops to let other people on, then someone in a wheelchair rolls up and she stops and opens up the back, lowers the ramp and loads the person. Then the ramp, on its return, get’s stuck, so she spends a few minutes fiddling with it. We THEN finally get moving and she ‘s driving extremely slow - other busses are passing us. We finally get to my hotel at 4:00pm, where I have just enough time to get my carry on bag and the Airport shuttle bus then shows up and leaves within a 5 minute period.

It was an odd flight home. I sat next to the window over the wing and saw the sun set and the stars come out. It was a beautiful image.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202007/106_6058.jpg
At the airport - final picture. :(

So, that’s that.

The wrap up:

I would have to say my favorite park is the Magic Kingdom, for all the reasons I love Disneyland. Its like a bizzaro version but takes all the elements of Disneyland I love and appreciate and expands on it in many ways. My favorite ride at Magic Kingdom? That’s a tough one and I doubt I could truly pinpoint just one. If any "The Country Bear Jamboree" was probably my favorite mostly for the nostalgia. Though it was in dis-repair, I was happy to see it again. Mickey’s Phillharmagic was great and as was The Carousel of Progress.

In order of preference:
1. Magic Kingdom
2. EPCOT
3. Animal Kingdom
4. Disney MGM Studio

I will say, there isn’t much between each park and how much I liked them. I think they’re pretty close in my appreciation scale. The beauty of Animal Kingdom, especially at night is spectacular, as is EPCOT on many scales. MGM was also more fun than I thought it would be.

Food - Hands down - BOMA was the meal of the trip with the Hoop Dee Doo Review a close 2nd.

Attractions - Besides those mentioned in Magic Kingdom, Expedition Everest is just a fun ride - short but thrilling and is themeing is amazing. Rock and Roll Rollercoaster at MGM was a ton of fun and I wish I’d rode that more times. EPCOT was great all around, but I enjoyed Test Track and Mission Space totally. Really loved the flooded building of "It’s a Small World."

Parades and Shows - Love, love Spectromagic. The Lion King show was a ton of fun. Wishes and Hallowishes were spectacular. Dream Along with Mickey was so much fun and I loved the moving mouths and eyes.

Highlights:
- Walking down Bizzaro Main Street
- Space Mountain with the lights on
- Spectromagic and the change of lights from white to color and back again.
- Memories of Country Bear Jamboree and The "People mover"
- How large EPCOT is.
- Wonderful food at the Food & Wine Festival
- A great "hard-ticket" Halloween Party with awesome Parade and Hallowishes.
- Animal Kingdom in the evening.
- Tower of Terror
- Huge smile and happiness on day 1 walking into the park and the ride on Tomorrowland Transit.

The down side:
- Disappointed with Great Movie Ride
- Time went by too fast
- Missed a lot at the Halloween Night
- Voyage of the Little Mermaid show sucked
- Studio Tour is short and disappointing.
- Deterioration of the Country Bears

The biggest disappointment of the trip was Photopass. I took about 50 pictures using the Disney system, mostly because I wanted some awesome nighttime shots of Space Ship Earth, Everest, Cinderella’s Castle, Tower of Terror Etc. And what I got were 48 or so really bad pictures. Most of them are just face shots of me and some background. They were all TERRIBLE. I was shocked when I came home and signed on the website and found horrible shots of me. Maybe 2-3 were decent and those shots, oddly enough, were taken by some very cool CM"s who were really helpful and chatted with me, instead of the "Stand there - <Click>" type situation.

So, that just about wraps up my trip report. 10 days at Walt Disney World seemed like 10 minutes. It was a trip long time coming and I look forward to going back very soon. I really missed it after I got back and long for a return. Nothing I was told or learned about WDW over my lifetime so far prepared me for what happend on the trip. It was beyond what I thought it would be and I was not disappointed, although I wish I would have had the opportunity to experiance it as a child and had been a regular visitor to see the many attractions that are long gone as has been the case with Disneyland.

All in all, I give Walt Disney World, as a first time visitor - a solid 9 out of 10. I can’t wait to go back!!

Thanks everyone for reading and commenting.