Photo TR: Walt Disney World

We arrived in Florida a day before some tropical storms broke out, but my dad made sure he looked his touristy best

 

After a few days of off and on heavy rain,

We saw a break in the clouds and figured that this was our chance.

 

Walt Disney World (Yes, WALT Disney World) was just a quick ten minute drive away. When I got there, I look behind me and suddenly these people start following me around.

Hmm....

 

First stop was Magic Kingdom. Because it's so similar, I felt compelled to compare it to Disneyland Park. Although, I shouldn't have out of respect.

 

What? We can't walk into the park? We have to cross a lake?

Okay, whose brilliant idea was this? Make us wait in even more lines before we get into the park? Why would the build a freakin' lake in front of theme park gates?

 

Some call it theming, I call it a waste of time.

 

Y'know I have the right mind to go.....

Ohhh! Pretty!

 

Okay, so far the score is 1 Disneyland, 1 Magic Kingdom.

 

Hey! Water is only two dollars at Disney parks!!!

 

The first ride we hit, was the greatest ride ever...

The Haunted Mansion

Needless to say, I was pleased.

 

I dislike the Mansion Facade, here....I like Disneyland's better...and I miss the changing portrait gallery.

 

Splash Mountain was one of those next....

Haha, a lesson that all coaster enthusiasts should learn.

"Laughin' Place? We got your laughin' place, right up here...."

"Ahhhh!"

"Yep.....I'm wet....."

 

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad only had a fifteen minute wait (which it did most of the trip)...

This is a tough one. It's almost just like Disneyland's only mirrored. This one has a few cool new effects, though..... Let's ask these guys what they think....

Hmm..... that's what I thought.

 

Yar!

 

Too much fun with potato head

 

Wowzers....Space Mountain is huge....

 

Whoa, so is the Autopia.....

 

 

Hey, cool. They're filming something here....

 

I admit it, I like WDW's castle better than Disneyland's.

 

 

Although, it's hard to make this picture work, now....

 

See the difference?

 

"Uhm....Minnie, does Mickey know you're over here "schmoozing" with Roy?"

 

Okay... While Magic Kingdom is muchly fun and alot bigger, I still prefer Disneyland to it. It's got alot more to do. Maybe if Magic Kingdom had Indianna Jones Adventure, I'd reconsider it.

 

Time for E.P.C.O.T.

Y'know, I've waited a long time to see this giant golf ball. I think just to see what the hell it is.

 

Spaceship Earth was our first ride. It was very cool. Very Old Skool Disney.

 

Then my dad's all....

"What the hell is that noise?

 

And I'm like....

Hey! It's Test Track!

My dad isn't exactly a, uh..... fan of thrill rides....can you tell?

"If I live, I am going to kill you."

 

Did he live? Yes. Did he enjoy it? Hmmm.... You decide.

http://www.lundopictures.com/images/wdw/testtrack1.MOV

http://www.lundopictures.com/images/wdw/testtrack2.MOV

(No sound)

 

CHOMP!

 

Hey, a ride I didn't ride! No one else wanted to go....

 

So, after we walked around Epcot a bit, saw a show or two, and found that Journey into the Imagination was closed, we hopped back on Test Track.

 

There's that golf ball again.....let's call it a night.

 

::sleep::

 

Hey! Awake again!

We start today off with a visit to WDW's newest park, Animal Kingdom.

 

Wow, the theming here really surrounds you.

 

And that tree looks really tree-like.

 

Wow...

It really looks like it's way out there....

 

The hour wait in line for Everest provided some decent photo opps

Excellent theming.

Disney's lines are great. They actually keep you entertained.

STEAM!

"Hahaha! We're gonna die, aren't we?"

"Yes we are!"

"Wow, we're up higher than I thought we'd be" says I.

Uh oh!..... WEEEE!

"AHHHHH! Dear God help me! We're gonna die!!!"

"That was awesome."

 

Hmm.... wasn't he just screaming bloody murder a minute ago?

 

As we walk toward Dinoland, I noticed that they were building something...

Maybe it's a new resort hotel?

 

Oh wow, the air conditioning is grown naturally in park soil.

 

Countdown to Ext.....I mean, Dinosaur was next.

"Steroid impact?"

 

I liked it, aside from being very very very loud. Aslo, I noticed it had the exact same track layout as Indianna Jones Adventure.

 

Haha! It's funny because Pooh is about to be mauled to death.

 

Now it's on to Disney/MGM Studios!

Hmmm.... I think I'm gonna like it here.

What's with the hat blocking the Chinese Theatre, eh?

 

I look to my right, and what's that I see?

T-t-t-t-ower of T-t-t-t-error?! OOOH ho ho ho ho!

 

Oh, it's so beautiful.....of terror.

 

He just stood there for about ten minutes debating weather or not to ride.

Eventually we just pulled him on....

 

Oh, this is cool....

Hmmm.... So far, inside is just like DCA's.

Whoa, scratch that.

 

See, right about here, I would have the hillarious on-ride photo that we bought. But as luck would have it, there's no scanner to be found.

 

But it was great.

 

I love this ride. I think it's my new favorite non-Haunted Mansion ride. This one is sadly much better than the Californian version. Us Californias always get jipped with Disney's new rides.

 

The park was almost empty. There was enough room to put my arms out.

 

We walked around a bit, ate food, saw Fantasmic, and then decided to drop out on the Tower again.

A few times, actually......

 

It was very fun....of terror.

 

 

Then, we headed back to our resort of terror.

 

::sleep again::

 

Whew.... this is a lot of theme parkage... I don't think it's even healthy to visit four theme parks in three days....

 

We came back to MGM to check out the things we missed

Like palm trees!

and that thing...

 

Oh, and Rock 'n' Rollercoaster

It was alright. Not the greatest ride in the world like some make it out to be, but I enjoyed it. AND I didn't slip into a VeComa....ha....yeah...sorry...

 

Hmmm.... now what..... OH I KNOW!

13 minutes? How lucky!

 

After one or two drops, we got some eats. It would've been okay, but someone stabbed my burger.

 

Back at Magic Kingdom,

We got the WORLD'S GREATEST ICE CREAM

 

Hey, that was great ice cream! Now what do you guys wanna do?

 

....No.....NO! Anything but THAT!

"Help me."

 

Whew, that was close.

 

And even though, you're no where near it, I betcha the song is in your head RIGHT NOW.

 

Okay, I feel scared....I need to calm down back over at The Haunted Mansion.

"Is this haunted room actually stretching? Or is it your imagination, hmmm?"

 

Wow,

The audio-animatronics get more and more real every year.

 

Okay, enough fooling around. We've only got a few hours left. It's time for the mountain.

In side, it was already different than Disneyland. Below us there were these weird playplace balls everywhere

Wow, very different.

Wow wow! Weird!

 

Still, a great ride. Tottally different than Disneyland, though.

 

Wow, that was an amazing three days. We were able to ride Tower of Terror (of terror) a total of eight times. Yeah....

 

Man,

I'm exhausted.

 

Goodnight.

Great TR! The lift hill shot of EE was awesome!

First stop was Magic Kingdom. Because it's so similar, I felt compelled to compare it to Disneyland Park. Although, I shouldn't have out of respect.

 

What? We can't walk into the park? We have to cross a lake?

Okay, whose brilliant idea was this? Make us wait in even more lines before we get into the park? Why would the build a freakin' lake in front of theme park gates?

 

Some call it theming, I call it a waste of time.

 

 

And yet some even say you could take the monorail around it too. Or did I just completely miss your sarcasm...if so, sorry. The seven seas lagoon, or lake, if you will, was the result of digging up land to build up the foundation for the Magic Kingdom. The land was built up in order to hide underground tunnels used to facilitate daily operations out of sight from the park's guests. Not exactly "theming. I think it also helps "pace" the crowd that would stack drastically at the front gate if they didn't have to ride the tram and then take the monorail/ferry from the ticket/transportation center.

 

 

 

Either way, glad you enjoyed your trip, and nice pics.

^Yeah, I figured it was for croud purpouses....but I really don't like it. Especially when it's late and your tired and want to get out of the park really bad and there's an hour line just to get on the monorail/ferry.

^ Yeah, and especially as a kid, the one thing my brother and I always hated was standing in line for the monorail after the crowds from the Main Street Electrical Parade and fireworks were filtering out. But then again, if there was no Seven Seas Lagoon, there'd be no kick arse monorail......and the Simpsons may never have had the song my wife loves to annoy me with.

and there's an hour line just to get on the monorail.

 

Never. It may look like an hour, but it NEVER takes that long. I have been to the park for the Forth of July at max capacity and you can still get out in about 20 minutes.

 

Those things hold almost 400 passengers per train, and at close they run back to back on two sides.

 

// "Por favor mantenganse alejado de las puertas'"

Good Trip Report! A Few notes..

 

-I personally prefer having to take the Monorail/Ferryboat to the MK over DL's "hey - we can see a Denny's from the Bus Drop off area!". I also think it is a great and relaxing way to start a day there...but thats just me!

 

- It's not E.P.C.O.T. and has not been since 1994ish. That is when they changed it from an acronym to a proper name.

 

- You are very lucky you got to see steam on Everest.... The construction you took a photo of next to it is for the enclosure of the Theater in the Wild for a new Finding Nemo show.

^Speaking of Denny's, there are about seven of them on the way to Walt Disney World.....crazy old people.

Awesome photos and TR! But... shame on you for using a flash in the Haunted Mansion

Haha, it was before the ride started, I swear.

 

Is that the Marriot Grande Vista????? We have a time share there.

 

And I agree with Wally, shame on the use of flash in the Haunted Mansion....tsk, tsk.

Yes it is, actually.

I've stayed there before too.

 

We got to see Sea Worlds firework show from our balcony. Pretty nice place too.

Did you enjoy your ride in hell? =

^^ I'll make sure to take a photo from our place when we go in October.

 

Gotta love being able to get Pizza Hut delivered by golf cart.

^^ Care to elaborate on that one?

You didn't go on Ellen's Energy Adventure? Shame... it's worth going on to see exactly how terrible it really is (before it gets torn down).

 

No Mission: Space? Sigh... people make that thing out to be the most intense thing in the world. It really isn't. The only real intense part is the launch, which lasts about 15 seconds. I can't do spinning rides, and I was fine on that- you don't even feel like you're spinning. It really is a cool ride, though.

 

Great TR!

^ I know I was thinking the same thing. NO MISSION SPACE? If you should have done single rider! Its not the world's best ride but its a unique experience you can say that you've done. Next time...RIDE IT! haha

 

I was also wondering if you did Mickey's Phillarmagic at Magic Kingdom? That's a fun 3D/4D movie that I think some people just going for thrills overlook. Its a cool show, in air conditioning nonetheless!

 

Also, what about Malestrom in Norway at Epcot?

Oh yeah, we only went to future world.... We didn't really have enough time to see the whole park.

 

And as far as Mission Space goes... Rides aren't as fun alone

 

Yes we saw Phillharmagic. Amazing show.

Ice cream, Hot Dogs and Burgers.....Where were the Turkey Legs?? U Can't go to WDW and not buy a Turkey Leg....

^Since 1974 I've been more times than I even care to try and count, yet never had one turkey leg. Anyway, it's not the turkey legs......the frozen chocolate covered bananas are what it's all about.

When I saw the picture of Pump It Up in the arcade, I thought, how could Disney get rid of the DDR Disney's Rave, arcade machine since a Disney DDR game fits in with Disney World a lot more than Pump It Up. I just looked and found out it was moved to the back of the arcade.

 

Nice pictures, I like that one of Space Mountain at the end where it looks like the front of the rocket is glowing

Awesome i liked the captions, very TPR like

While I was there, a friend/cast member told me the Millionare attraction is going bye bye.....

 

 

....just so you all know....

^ Most of the soundstages in that area are being used for a new attraction... a new Toy Story attraction, which is also going to DCA in the PP area.

 

http://jimhillmedia.com/blogs/jim_hill/archive/2006/05/16/2407.aspx