Just wanted to pop in and say that our second trip to Disney World went magically! I've been back for a week now (well, a week tomorrow), and can't believe that this week has flown by. It already feels like we had just first arrived. I was a little jet lagged from all of the sleep recuperation and catching up at work that followed, but now I'm itching to resume posting again.

I was asked if I will now begin detailing my latest trip, to which I replied:
No! I haven't even finished talking about the first one!

So it may take a while before I reveal how my second trip went specifically, but I am anxious to talk about many rides that were new to us this time, and I'll get to those eventually. Also, be on the lookout as I revisit my previous "DL vs WDW" posts. I actually was FAR more observant this time around, especially since we got to spend plenty of time in each park. I also went with more of an eye on paying attention to differences between the parks, and realized that I was WAY off on some of the things I had written the first time.

Finally, I will leave you with a list of the attractions we visited during each day of our trip. Have a great day!

Magic Kingdom (Sunday 10/31: 9am-12:30pm)

Pirates of the Caribbean
Big Thunder Mountain
Splash Mountain
Tomorrowland Transit Authority
Space Mountain
Snow White's Scary Adventures
..........6 rides in 3 1/2 hours

Downtown Disney (Halloween: 7pm-9pm)

Epcot (Monday: 10am-8pm)

Test Track
Spaceship Earth
Test Track
Maelstrom
Reflections of China
American Adventure
..........6 rides in 10 hours

Disney's Hollywood Studios (Tuesday: 10am-6pm)

Great Movie Ride
Toy Story Midway Mania
Rock 'n Roller Coaster
Tower of Terror
..........4 rides in 8 hours

Epcot (Wednesday: 11am-9pm)

Mission: SPACE (Ana only)
Test Track
Journey Into Imagination
Impressions du France
Gran Fiesta Tour
The Seas with Nemo & Friends
Test Track (mike only)
Spaceship Earth
..........8 rides in 10 hours

Magic Kingdom (Thursday: 11:30am-9pm)

Walt Disney Railroad (Round Trip)
Stitch's Great Escape
Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters
Carousel of Progress
Space Mountain
Autopia
Mickey's Philharmagic
"it's a small world"
The Haunted Mansion
Liberty Square Riverboat
Big Thunder Mountain
Splash Mountain
Peter Pan's Flight
Aladdin's Magic Carpets
Jungle Cruise
Tomorrowland Transit Authority
..........16 rides in 9 1/2 hours

Animal Kingdom (Friday: 10:30am-8pm)

Expedition Everest x2
Dinosaur
Primeval Whirl
Dinosaur
Expedition Everest
Kali River Rapids x2
Kilimanjaro Safari
Dinosaur
Primeval Whirl
Expedition Everest x2
..........13 rides in 9 1/2 hours

Magic Kingdom (Saturday: 10am-1:30pm)

Snow White's Scary Adventures
Peter Pan's Flight
Haunted Mansion
Big Thunder Mountain
Splash Mountain
Pirates of the Caribbean
Jungle Cruise
Swiss Family Treehouse
..........8 rides in 3 1/2 hours

We are about to disembark on our second trip. The time is nearing, and Ana and I will be flying out of California this upcoming Saturday night. We are taking a "red-eye" flight, and will touch down in Orlando early Sunday morning. This is our itinerary for the moment on how each day will work out.

(Note: We are spending two extra days at the Kingdom this time around)

Sunday Oct 31st - Magic Kingdom (9am-7pm) then Downtown Disney
Monday Nov 1st- Epcot (9am-9pm)
Tuesday Nov 2nd- Hollywood Studios (formerly the MGM Studios)(9am-7pm)
Wednesday Nov 3rd- Epcot (9am-12am)
Thursday Nov 4th- Magic Kingdom (8am-9pm) - subject to change to Universal Studios
Friday Nov 5th- Animal kingdom (9am-8pm)
Saturday Nov 6th- Magic Kingdom (until 1pm)

You can follow Ana and I on our trip over at twitter.com/mikeatwdw and twitter.com/anaatwdw

The cast members running "The Hall of Presidents" said that it should be up and running again in about twenty minutes. We decided to make due with that time to stroll through Fantasyland and get a Fastpass for "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh". While the Disneyland counterpart of that ride never really has a wait, we weren't going to take any chances in Florida.



Like Frontierland the night before, we really didn't get to see as much of Fantasyland because it was dark and we were just too excited to notice many of the details. As we made our into Fantasyland we noticed the old building that used to house one end of the Skyway. It's interesting that the Fantasyland stations at both Disneyland and the Magic Kindgom are still standing - over a decade after the closure of the ride. Ana has always had a fascination with the Skyway buildings since she never had the chance to ride it - thus, she wanted a picture with it behind her. Seeing remnants of past attractions always strikes me with a weird feeling of nostalgia, intrigue, and a little bit of frustration. Despite the building still sitting out, it blends into this area better than the Disneyland version (which is starting to look like some forgotten project hidden behind an overgrowth of trees).



I knew what to expect of Fantasyland long before we embarked on our trip. I knew that it would have more of a medieval renaissance faire feel (reminiscent of the architecture throughout the film "Sleeping Beauty"), and less detailed buildings than Disneyland's Fantasyland. (Note: What I'll eventually delve into in a later post is that this is actually very similar to how Disneyland's Fantasyland looked prior to a major facelift it received in 1983.)

What surprised me though is that there WERE fully themed Bavarian/Swiss styled buildings, and the entire land wasn't a bunch of tents (which is how I had always pictured it). These buildings were beautiful, and gave us an early indication of how the theming around Epcot was going to be.



Somehow it was all less tacky than what I had expected going in, and again, the fact that it wasn't 100% Tentland really helped. If anything, it really had me excited for the upcoming Fantasyland expansion that's in the works.





A major disappointment I experienced was with the facade of "it's a small world". As we walked by it, we were really underwhelmed by the entrance, as well as the fact that the huge loading area was actually on the inside of the building. I've always seen "it's a small world" as a main attraction within the parks, and Disneyland does a much better job of showcasing it.



One aspect the Magic Kingdom DOES emphasize well is it's castle. As we continued our way through Fantasyland it was if we could turn around at any given point and see Cinderella's castle looming in the sky.



The thing I really loved about this Fantasyland was the size of it. There was plenty of space to walk around, and while there were a lot of other guests in this area, it never felt crammed.



Ana and I made our way over to Winnie the Pooh and got our Fast Passes. There was a printer error though, and only her pass printed. A nearby Cast Member signed it for us and said it would still be ok to use. It had been a few minutes, so it was time to head back over to Liberty Square for a second attempt at "The Hall of Presidents".

A simple outline of our itinerary:
Sunday, Oct. 31st - Magic Kingdom (arrive in Florida at 6:30am)(9am-7pm)
Monday, Nov. 1st - Epcot (9am-9pm)
Tuesday, Nov. 2nd - Hollywood (9am-7pm)
Wednesday, Nov. 3rd - Epcot (9am-12am)
Thursday, Nov. 4th - Magic Kingdom (8am-9pm)
Friday, Nov. 5th - Animal Kingdom (9am-8pm)
Saturday, Nov. 6th - Magic Kingdom (a few early hours)(plane leaves at 6:10pm)

We're trying to see if we can work a day of Universal Studios Islands of Adventure into that so we can visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Might as well since we'll be out there, you know?

I wanted to reiterate the reasoning behind what this blog is all about. I want it to be a sort of travelogue not only for myself, but also as a reference point for people who have never visited Walt Disney World. Over here in California, EVERYONE is very familiar with Disneyland - as it's an ingrained part of our culture. There's a lot of mystery still surrounding Disney World, and a lot of misconceptions about what it has to offer.

There are a million other resources throughout the web, but I know there are many casual Disney goers who may not spend as much time online scouring website after website in search of the differences between parks (they really are two different beasts). I'm also trying to give a sense as to what it's like for a set of fresh eyes to visit the WDW Resort when the only thing to compare it to is Disneyland. Is it worth it? What is it like to spend a day at one of the WDW Parks?

Here's a recap of where this WDW Trip Report is at currently: We arrived in Florida and spent only a few hours at the end of the first night at The Magic Kingdom park. I'm actually not even half way through covering our first full day at the park - but you need to remember that there are still THREE OTHER PARKS that we went to over the course of our stay (so this trip report WILL get lengthy). In order to keep everyone updated on where we've traveled, I have now included a map at the end of each blog posting. These maps will recount where we've gone so far within that park as well as the end point for that blog posting. Also keep in mind that we ended up circling the Magic Kingdom quicker than we thought, so we did eventually cover nearly every point within the park a second time. So if you think I may have glossed over something - that's probably true, but I will cover things more in depth later. By the way, I took over 1,251 pictures during our 5-day adventure.

I had also started a few posts comparing similar rides that are at both Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom. There will be more of those as well, but have decided to put those on hold for the moment. The reason being that they require a bit of photo digging and additional research in order to write a full and accurate detail of ride differences.

If you ARE a reader of this blog, feel free to comment on anything you see. I'll continue posting in hopes that somebody out there is reading this, haha.

Finally, my next WDW trip is only 12 days away! Wish me luck.
-Michael

As I said in my previous post, Liberty Square is Walt Disney World's version of New Orleans Square. Almost immediately upon entering this quaint land was a strong feeling of patriotism, and I really felt as though I had been whisked away to a colonial town with a vast history. What helped to further this feeling were the replicas of the Liberty Bell and Liberty Tree - ideas borrowed from the abandoned Liberty Street project originally intended for Disneyland. Also of note was the representation of several important flags from American history surrounding the Liberty Bell.



Directly behind the Liberty Bell is the Hall of Presidents. The building entrance is yet another example of how the Imagineers are able to fool visitors by making the facade appear as nothing more than a small city hall. However, once you step inside, you realize that it's much larger than you might have initially expected.



I've been looking forward to seeing the Hall of Presidents since I was a kid. I'm not typically patriotic, but I love AA figures and was always impressed by what I imagined the scale of the show to be. Having so many animatronic figures on stage at once seemed like a spectacle to me, and I was excited to finally get the chance to see it.

The two of us entered the main waiting lobby for the Hall of Presidents, and just as soon as found ourselves walking in, we were walking right back out. The show had been halted due to technical difficulties and we were all told to come back later to catch a later show. Ana and I decided that we would have to venture back over to Liberty Square a little later in the day to make a second attempt at watching the show.

There was also a set of stocks set up as a photo op. Another guest offered to take this picture of us, and he remarked "you're not supposed to smile in the stocks!" I said, "well, we're on vacation and the sun is in my eyes." HAH!



I also want to point out that near the far side corner of Liberty Square lies The Haunted Mansion. It sits on a hill and has an other worldly quality about it. Rather than seeming to fit in as the New Orleans Square Haunted Mansion does, this version of the ride seems eerily out of place within Liberty Square. To help it maintain a bit of consistency with the land however, the architecture diverts from the Louisiana mansion style. From Wikipedia: "This Mansion was given a Dutch Gothic Revival style based on older northeastern mansions, particularly those in older areas of Pennsylvania and in the Hudson River Valley region of New York. The mansion is surrounded by large oak trees donned with spanish moss, red maples, and pines, all of which are native to Florida."



The next closest land was Fantasyland - so we figured we would head over there and hit some of the rides we didn't go on the previous night before we would head back to Liberty Square.

Last Friday, Ana and I headed over to Disneyland for the first night of the new nighttime "elecTRONica" party - a replacement for the more recent GlowFest which had previously taken over California Adventure's Hollywood Backlot. I was looking forward to several of the exclusive events taking place, but did "elecTRONica" live up to the hype?

We arrived at the park at 6pm - 45 minutes before the planned opening ceremony. Immediately we noticed a lot more people than normal entering California Adventure. ElecTRONica is a great way for them to draw people into the neighboring park while Disneyland closes at 7pm for the Mickey's Halloween Trick or Treat Party. There was a large crowd already in attendance for this event, and everyone was gathered around the Tron stage set up around the hub.



While everyone waited, the speakers played Daft Punk's "Discovery" album - which ties in perfectly since Daft Punk scored the soundtrack to the upcoming Tron Legacy film. Performers dressed as combatants within the world of Tron enticed kids to try out the light-up hoola-hoop. Things finally got started around 6:50. The preshow started with highlights from the original movie on the large screen set to Journey's "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)". Feux arcade machines popped up on stage, and a bunch of performers dressed in 80's clothes did a choreographed dance. It was a bit cheesy, and while it was a great nod to the "way things were before", it was too long and a little embarrassing to watch...

Jump to 2010 - the arcade machines spun around to reveal the NEW world of Tron - the Tron that we knew has evolved. New performers took to the stage, displaying choreographed fight moves while a glimpse at the new movie was shown above.



A robotic female narrated how the world has changed, and said that with the evolution of the games within the world of Tron, there has also been a need for "Users" to relax. Enter: the End of the Line Club. Our host for "elecTRONica" took to the stage, along with several female dancers. He did his best to smooth talk the crowd in order to hype us up for what "awaited us beyond." It was still a little cheesy, and based on what I heard people around me saying, the crowd had a unanimous "let's get going already" feeling. Eventually the host led us all in a countdown before the gamegrid world came to life. Once we reached zero, a giant laser hanging under the Hollywood Backlot archway came to life and "digitized" us. It was the first sign that the event itself was going to be a massive marketing endeavor, and in all serious: it was pretty awesome.





We made our way through the main street of the backlot, and ominous music played throughout. Projections of the gamegrid world took over all of the buildings, and Light Cycles whizzed around us. Around the corner heading to Monsters Inc was where the REAL party was. After passing underneath one of the Recognizers from Tron (which scanned us and permitted us to enter), suddenly dance music filled the streets, and the ominous feeling faded away giving way to over the top indulgence. Ana decided we should head into the Muppet Vision theater first, since they were going to be showing a 3D "sneak peak" of Tron Legacy.



The queue actually led us into the exit of Muppet Vision, and we were in the first group to head in and experience it. On screen was the film logo, which drenched the theater in blue - it was an easy transition and immediately made me cast my feelings of "but this is supposed to be the Muppet theater" aside.



The sneak peak was about 8 minutes in length, and showed longer clips from the first few moments within the movie. I was already excited for the movie, and while this furthered my excitement to see it in December, it did a better job of setting the mood for the night than the opening ceremony did earlier.

We exited the theater and headed into another world. It was California Adventure...but it just didn't feel like it. Glowfest did a great job of bringing along a party vibe - but I still felt like I was at an amusement park. This event was something else entirely. They clearly put as much as they could into this, and the entire area was transformed completely. I had never seen this area of the park with more than a handful of people at once, so to see it this full and alive was great.

Our next stop was what I anticipated the most: Flynn's Arcade.



As we headed over there however, our attention was diverted...by...

LASERMAN!



After exiting the first showing of the sneak peak, we passed a high-rise DJ stage complete with a hanging futuristic chandelier, and heard the host from earlier announcing that LaserMan was about to perform.



People earlier had joked about their reason for coming was to see LaserMan, but I think that everyone was secretly looking forward to this. While it seemed ridiculous at first, we were both won over by his show. It was unlike anything I had ever seen, and was worth the few minutes it lasted. His show really made the opening dance act seem like a trainwreck in comparison, as his performance was well thought-out and choreographed to awe the crowd (which it did).

Now, where was I...oh yes! We need to go to Flynn's Arcade!



Right outside (near the exit of the Monster's Inc ride) was the End of the Line Club. It's a smaller version than the one built earlier this year for the San Diego Comic Con, but it still did well functioning as a lounge area as well as a bar (the crowd of people on the rightside of the picture is actually the line to get drinks).



Around the entrance of Flynn's Arcade were Wii kiosks set up (complete with Tron theming), in which people take the upcoming Tron game for a test drive. While it didn't interest me, the Wii game was pretty popular.







(The area above the "FLYNN" sign was a changing projection that would alternate between a facade of Flynn's Arcade and a gamegrid world skyline)





The highlight definitely was the arcade. Modeled to resemble the arcade from the first Tron film, this arcade is filled with 37 classic coin-op games (and while Disney boasts that each of these games was period specific, there were several from the late 80's). At the back of the wall was the actual "TRON" game, which gathered a huge group of onlookers.







The great thing that Disney has done with this arcade is provide an abundance of machines while also making them playable for only $0.25! I wasn't able to get tokens at the time - a long line, and one machine had already run out of tokens - but Disney has exclusive TRON tokens for this event.

(for an in-depth look at each arcade machine, head on over to: Classic Games at Flynn's Arcade)

After exiting Flynn's, we headed over to the other side of the park for some bread, and then headed back over to elecTRONica to eat it and hang out.



Throughout California Adventure it was packed beyond any capacity that I had ever witnessed. None of the annual passes were blacked out, and again due to Disneyland closing early, it was pretty apparent that California Adventure had many factors playing into it's success for the night. Overall I would have to say that Disney did an excellent job with elecTRONica. Not only does it capture the feel of the movies well (which does a great job to immerse the guests), it delivers the spectacles that we expect from Disney rather than the cheapness that came along with GlowFest. We're looking forward to going again and trying out some of those arcade games as soon as we have the chance.

The one thing this has left me thinking about is the poor excuse for an arcade over at Tomorrowland. With games that are heavily dated but missing that nostalgic factor, there really is no reason to visit what's left of that arcade. Once this promotion is over, what's next for Flynn's? Only time can tell...

Walt Disney was always fascinated with American History. Walt did his best to sprinkle bits of Americana throughout his Disneyland park, with Main Street and Frontierland showcasing various stages of America in it's development. It's also well known that he greatly admired President Lincoln, and was responsible for having his Imagineers create the first Audio-Animatronic Abraham Lincoln. This figure debuted to stellar reception at the 1964 New York's World Fair, and would later help to solidify Disney's future lifelike animatronic work within attractions such as Pirates of the Caribbean and The Haunted Mansion. Believe it or not though, Disney had larger plans for Disneyland prior to the development of the Lincoln project.



He originally wanted an additional street to run between Main Street and Tomorrowland, which would have been called International Street. This street was actually a small precursor to today's World Showcase at Epcot. In it you would have found yourself venturing amidst international architecture and eating foods from around the world. Plans to debut International Street were eventually set aside as the park opening neared so that Walt could focus on making sure Tomorrowland was ready to open (which still mainly consisted of half completed exhibits). There was even a banner up for the first year and a half promising that International Street would open in 1957. When the idea became too expansive, Walt decided it would be out of place on Main Street and instead would be better suited elsewhere inside the park (though it was never built).



Walt's next idea was to replace the concept of International Street and split it in half. These two new sections would have a focus on Americana, which fits Main Street's turn of the century feel perfectly. The first addition would have been Liberty Street. This area was to run halfway behind the length of Main Street buildings that are on the right side as you walk towards the castle. Inspired by the days of colonial America, Liberty Street would have included Paul Revere's Shop, a wharf complete with a docked colonial barge, a diorama on the Declaration of Independence, a recreation of the Libery Tree that stood in Boston, and the main attraction: The Hall of Presidents. The second area, a cul-de-sac known as Edison Square, was also planned to exist behind where the Corn Dog Truck sits near the end of Main Street today. This area was to have focused more on the dawning of the electrical age - and would instead find itself incorporated into several exhibits throughout Tomorrowland.









The Hall of Presidents (or One Nation Under God, as Walt referred to it) was an ambitious project in itself, but no project was too ambitious for Walt Disney. He envisioned a giant hall with wax figures of every President throughout American history. While Walt continued to dream, wax figures made way for possibilities of Presidents in animatronic form. What's more, he wanted each of them to showcase their personalities through their movement and speeches.



The Hall of Presidents and Liberty Street continued to get pushed back, as money was spent elsewhere and audio-animatronic technology became more viable. Years passed, and Imagineering continued to work on the ideas they had for this upcoming section of the park. Eventually Walt abandoned the project entirely. Instead, he focused on a revamped version of Tomorrowland which saw the addition of the Disneyland Monorail, the Matterhorn, and the Submarine Voyage in 1959.



Years later, Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln was so successful that it became a permanent show within the Main Street Opera House in 1965.



When Walt died in 1966, plans for Walt Disney World continued without him. As Imagineers attempted to craft an even larger version of Disneyland, they decided to not include New Orleans Square due to the real New Orleans's proximity to Florida. Instead, they looked back at design work done for Edison Square and Liberty Street, and after much revision, the outcome was Liberty Square.

(Various bits of information were gathered from around the web including Wikipedia, ImagineeringDisney.com, and http://www.mouseplanet.com/8167/The_Liberty_Street_Story_1959)