Mantis Miscellany--Walt Disney World Part 4: Epcot

Originally Published May 14, 2013

Time for my favorite Disney World park. We went to Epcot on three of our days, though one of them was just for lunch, one was for half a day, and the other we made a brief detour to the Polynesian Resort for dinner (see part 1 for more on the Polynesian). As such, this will not be chronological like the posts for the other parks. And it is a lot longer than the others, so beware.

Although Animal Kingdom is the biggest Disney World park, Epcot has the most walking ground open to guests. It is divided into two parts. Near the entrance is Future World, which features pavilions containing rides, shows, and exhibits focusing on science and technology. Further in is World Showcase, where pavilions for eleven countries surround a 40-acre lagoon. Each country’s pavilion features shops, eateries, and live entertainment, and a few also boast rides, films, and shows (though nothing on an E-ticket level). The two areas don’t really go together, but the park is so big that visual thematic jarring is minimized. The circumference of World Showcase’s lagoon is 1.2 miles according to the Unofficial Guide, and though Future World looks small on the park map, it still covers a decent amount of ground.

Future World is divided into two halves, an east side and a west side. Upon entering, you are facing south (the opposite of Disneyland and Magic Kingdom where you are facing north), so east is to the left and west is to the right. Just inside the entrance and past a group of triangular sculptures is the park’s icon, a giant golf ball that holds a dark ride, Spaceship Earth (more on this later). On the other side of the golf ball is a plaza with two large crescent buildings on either side. These structures, which we did not explore, contain a quick-service restaurant (Electric Umbrella), the Mouse Gear store, and Innoventions, a collection of high-tech interactive exhibits (the Disneyland version is in Tomorrowland’s old Carousel of Progress building). Straight ahead are a fountain and the World Showcase lagoon, while to the left and right passages in the middle of each building lead to Future World East and Future World West.

Future World East (to the left) includes three pavilions. Straight through the passageway is Test Track, Epcot’s headliner attraction and the basis of the technology for California Adventure’s Radiator Springs Racers. Although I went on the ride three times, we never waited in the regular standby line; we either used Fastpass or the single rider line (as an aside, I’ve never waited in the standby line for Radiator Springs Racers either).

When Test Track opened in 1999, it was sponsored by GM. In 2012, Chevrolet took over sponsorship, and the ride underwent a drastic re-theming (though the track itself is the same). I haven’t been on the original, but from what I’ve seen on YouTube, it looked like a much more informative and less random ride, as monitors explained the various tests as your ride vehicle performed them. As the ride is now, you basically explore a rather sparse looking version of TRON-land.

In the queue, you scan a card and use a computer console to design your own car out of preselected elements. Before boarding, you scan the card again and throughout the ride, monitors display the ranking of how each rider’s vehicle performed in the tests. In practice, this doesn’t work too well; every time we rode, each monitor showed a different set of cars. In addition, Fastpass guests and single riders aren’t given the chance to design cars (though I personally couldn’t give a whit about that).

The ride vehicles are, well, cars with two rows of three with standard shoulder-and-lap seatbelts. The first part of the ride is completely indoors. After the safety check, the vehicles ascend a ramp (this used to be the hill test, but now it’s just a ramp. The former block test that used to follow is omitted). For the weather test, the cars accelerate forward on a lit track before swerving suddenly in front of projected rain. They then make a U-turn and accelerate again, slowing in front of a projected lightning bolt (this used to be the ABS braking test). Aerodynamics are tested as the cars pass through three chambers, one of which has a mirror that displays a stream of air moving over the car. In the handling test, the cars move rapidly through a series of tight hairpin turns, nearly crashing into a truck at the end. The former barrier test is gone, and instead you accelerate toward a pair of doors that swing open at the last second as the cars speed outside. There is a brief straightaway, and then the cars loop around a circle of display cars. Then there’s another straightaway, and the cars accelerate dramatically back toward the ride building, then make a deeply banked loop all around its circumference before dipping back down into the building into the loading station. And again, on one of our rides, the ride had a minor breakdown right at the end, though we were not evacuated and thus not given re-ride passes. Bummer. After getting off, it takes forever to exit back outside, as you walk through a series of rooms and corridors with Chevrolet-based video games, then to a showroom with Chevrolet vehicles, and finally to the Chevrolet gift shop before you get back outside.

Test Track is a lot faster and more kinetically thrilling than Radiator Springs Racers during the outside portion. However, it is not as well themed, especially in the newest incarnation where the tests aren’t really explained. The visuals, reflecting the virtual test theme, are very minimalistic and almost cheap looking. Sure, the original ride may have needed updating, but making it “virtual” is almost a cop-out, as basically all the Imagineers had to do was make everything black, and then add some neon lights. It’s still a great ride, and the thrill of the outside part is excellent. But a perfect ride of this type would have the inner theming and racing element of Radiator Springs Racers and the speed of Test Track.

To the left of Test Track (facing the entrance) is Epcot’s newest original ride, the notorious Mission: Space. The ride has a reputation for extreme intensity and potential for motion sickness. Disney now offers two versions of the ride: the less intense Green and the original Orange. At every time of the day, the wait time for Green was 5 minutes and Orange was either 5 or 10 minutes. It looked like there were four simulators, but whenever we went there was just one for each version running.

I haven’t really gotten motion sickness from a ride (The Simpsons Ride got me the closest), but I do get carsick if I read. We opted for the Green version first. Now, the Green version isn’t exactly Dumbo; the ride is still a simulator and it’s comparable to Star Tours. But what the Green version doesn’t do is spin to simulate the heavy g-forces a space flight experiences during lift off and landing. After riding, we then opted to try the Orange version.

At the entrance to the ride building, cast members ask what version you want, then hand you a “ticket” and show you what line to get in. The tickets are printed with all sorts of health warning and disclaimers, especially the Orange one. Inside the building, the queue passes by a large, round model of a space station module set up on its side, and then passes by a Mission Control center.

You are then directed into a briefing room, which holds ten groups of four. Monitors introduce you to Lieutenant Dan, I mean Gary Sinise, who not only has legs, but also is your team leader for your mission. You are on a mission to Mars. It might be the first, though there is already a base there when you land, so maybe not. Anyway, “It is intense,” Sinise warns before you are admitted into a long, curving corridor that actually surrounds the simulator itself. Your group of four waits at a door, and Sinise appears on another monitor where he explains that each of you has a special role: commander, engineer, navigator, and pilot. Anyhow, there are two lit buttons that you’re supposed to press when he tells you. Another technician says that if you start to feel sick, keep staring straight ahead. Do not close your eyes or look to the side. I’m guessing that doing one of these things could make you aware that you’re actually spinning, and disorient you even more. Even if there is no line, like there was when we went, the two pre-shows still take about ten minutes.

When the doors open, you enter the simulator room. The simulator itself is not a single cabin like in Star Tours. A central column has arms that attach to ten small cabins, each of which holds a group of four. You enter the cabin and bring down the over-the-shoulder restraints, and a cast member closes the capsule, which brings the controls and viewing screen towards you. Handy barf bags are provided. There are lots of little buttons, switches, and a joystick, but they don’t do anything during the ride. In fact, the two buttons you’re supposed to press don’t really matter either, as you’ll soon find out.

The ride starts with a launch. In the Orange version, you can definitely feel the g-forces, and I haven’t been on a roller coaster yet that pushes you back that hard into your seat for so long. “Gnarly” would be a good word for how it feels; I could feel my carotid arteries pumping harder, and though I could lift my hands, it felt very peculiar. It’s an adrenaline rush, in any case, and a unique experience for those of us who are not pilots or astronauts.

At various points during the rest of the ride, the voice of Mr. Sinise tells each person to push a button; the navigator is asked to fire the boosters at one point and the engineer to send the crew into hypersleep. But if you take too long or if no one’s sitting in the appropriate seat, the “autopilot” does it anyway. I rode by myself one time, and the other two people with me didn’t push any of the buttons when they were told to. As a result, the ride got confused and the autopilot began to do everything, so when I pushed my buttons, nothing would happen, and then the autopilot would take over.

Anyway, after the launch, the rocket curves around the moon, justifying some more intense g-forces, and bypasses the earth. We are then put into cryogenic sleep before the ship emerges in the midst of a meteor shower. Surviving this, the ship descends to the Martian surface with even more g-forces, then zooms and twists through a canyon before making a rough landing on the base. There’s a fake-out as the ground crumbles in front of the ship to reveal a precipitous drop; alas, you don’t fall and the ride is over.

Mission: Space Green isn’t too different from any other simulator, though you are in a small cabin with only four other people. But the Orange version is something else entirely. The g-forces are created by spinning, but you can’t really tell that you’re spinning and the effect is at once both exhilarating and almost otherworldly. I myself didn’t get motion sickness, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. And I’m sure Mr. Gump would be proud to see how far his old friend has gone.

To the left of Mission: Space is the closed Wonders of Life pavilion that used to hold a simulator ride (Body Wars, directed by Leonard Nimoy), an animatronic show (Cranium Command), Martin Short’s sex-ed film The Making of Me, and other minor attractions. To the left of that (and actually near the entrance, though it’s inaccessible from here) is the Universe of Energy, a combination theater film and ride starring Ellen DeGeneres, Bill Nye the Science Guy, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Alex Trebek (who has a mustache). The whole thing lasts about 30 minutes not counting the preshow, and the nature of the attraction makes it impossible to get off outside of an emergency. And Disney does not consider needing to take a dump or a piss an emergency.

The preshow introduces Ellen on a series of screens, and we are introduced to her and a dream she has which form the plot of the attraction. She dreams she’s on Jeopardy against Albert Einstein (who doesn’t do much of anything during the whole ride) and Dr. Judy Peterson (Curtis), Ellen’s childhood nemesis. The topic is energy (the attraction was originally sponsored by Exxon, after all), and Ellen is no match for Judy. She pauses her dream to ask help from her neighbor, Bill Nye the Science Guy. He invites her to learn about energy, and then the doors open to the actual theater.

The theater is divided into six large sections (one of which was covered up when we went) with doors at the end of each row. The seats are benches and not individual chairs. Once everyone is seated, the sections immediately start rotating. Bill Nye narrates a brief history of the universe (nothing to do with Stephen Hawking, though), and a large screen shows the Big Bang and its aftermath. The pair then travels to the time of the dinosaurs to explore the origin of fossil fuels. A large door in the side of the theater opens, and each section then travels through, one after the other, to the ride portion of the attraction.

The ride is a much more elaborate variation of the Primeval World exhibit seen on the Disneyland Railroad. The sections pass by several scenes of dinosaurs doing their thing. An animatronic of Ellen battles a pesky specimen, though Bill Nye is nowhere to be seen (you can hear him, though). At the end, the sections enter another theater where a voice narrates radio reports from various moments in history as we wait for all the sections to get in (they move rather slowly). Then, another big-screen film starts as Bill takes Ellen on a journey showing where other sources of energy come from, including dams, solar panels, and wind farms. The sections then go back into the original theater as Ellen returns to her Jeopardy game. The Final Jeopardy question asks what the only unlimited source of energy is. Ellen gets the predictable Disney-esque answer, which is, of course, human imagination.

Universe of Energy is an interesting attraction with a unique ride/theater system. The dinosaur ride portion, however, ties very loosely with the concept of energy, and the attraction doesn’t clearly explain the connection. It almost feels like Disney had a neat ride segment, and then tried to build a film about energy around it. The film is fairly amusing, though you probably won’t learn anything new (at least I didn’t). But again, the structure of the attraction and the entertainment value from the actors make it worth seeing.

As mentioned before, the huge golf ball near Epcot’s entrance holds Spaceship Earth, a dark ride with constantly moving vehicles like in the Haunted Mansion. Its theme is the history and development of human communication with narration by Dame Judi Dench. As the ride starts, you’re told to look at a monitor, and a picture is taken of your face, which will be utilized later. The ride spirals up the interior of the golf ball, passing by animatronic scenes including early humans making cave paintings, an Egyptian noble dictating to a scribe, the fall of Rome, Gutenberg’s printing press, Michelangelo painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, a television broadcast of the moon landing, and the development of the personal computer. Now at the top of the dome, the ride enters a huge planetarium-like area, with stars projected all around and the Earth right in the center. The vehicles then turn around and descend backward through a blue-lit tunnel. There is no scenery, but touch-screens in the cars ask several multiple-choice questions about how you would like to live in the future (only one screen per two-seater vehicle, so no squabbling). At the end of the questionnaire, the screens show a video of your future, with your heads grafted onto cartoon bodies. At the ride’s exit, you can use computer consoles to find your ride photo and email it to yourself. The email also contains a link to your video (download it as soon as you can because it’s apparently taken off the server after a few days). Spaceship Earth is a fairly edifying ride with some impressive scenes. The descent is visually sparse as you’re supposed to be focusing on the questionnaire; the previous version (1994-2007) narrated by Jeremy Irons had much more visuals as the cars went back down to ground level.

Future World West also has three pavilions. Closest to the World Showcase lagoon is the Imagination pavilion. It has a theater, a ride, and an interactive area. The theater for many years showed Honey I Shrunk the Audience, and it was showing Captain EO Tribute when we went. The ride is the bizarre Journey Into Imagination With Figment. Fittingly, the ride vehicles are slightly strange as well. A train of four large cars travels along the track. But the cars can rotate, and the train stops at several points as it comes to different rooms. The ride is a whimsical ode to imagination, starring Eric Idle as Dr. Nigel Channing of the Imagination Institute. He is trying to show guests several experiments in an attempt to quantify imagination, but this purple dragon named Figment keeps messing things up. For example, in one room, Channing tries to demonstrate something with smell, but then Figment enters and creates a literal stink. Near the end, we travel through Figment’s upside-down house. The finale takes place in a room that starts out fairly nondescript, then there is a flash and it transforms into a saccharine phantasmagoria of rainbows, stars, multiple Figments, and other bright objects. Again, it’s a very bizarre ride. Throughout, Figment sings a song called “One Little Spark,” an excessively charming earworm.

The ride’s exit leads to a room of interactive exhibits. One uses motion sensor technology where you wave your hands around to play virtual instruments. Another is a game where colored panels light up in a specific sequence, and then you try to copy the sequence as it gets progressively longer. There are computer terminals where you can design your own Figment. Here is my masterpiece (the name is an in-joke that literally two people will get, so don’t worry about it. I will say that it has to do with Build-A-Bear Workshop):

To the right of Imagination is the creatively named The Land. The doors open into a large, well-lit atrium with two levels. The upper level contains the full-service Garden Grill restaurant and the Circle of Life show. The lower level has the Sunshine Seasons food court, Soarin’ (identical to the original Soarin’ Over California and thus something we skipped) and Living With the Land (a boat ride).

Circle of Life is a large theater that shows a rather prosaic film starring Simba, Timon, and Pumbaa from the Lion King. Timon and Pumbaa want to build a real estate development, but Simba reminds them of the circle of life and the responsibility that everyone, especially humans, has in protecting the environment. Honestly, this is a very slight show and more like something one would see on TV or playing as a preshow in another attraction. It’s as far from Animal Kingdom’s Festival of the Lion King as you can get.

Sunshine Seasons is a nifty food court with no burgers, pizza, hot dogs, or French fries in sight. There are several food stations, including a salad bar, made-to-order sandwiches, Asian selections, and a grill. The salmon I has was delectable, and I’d put it up there with salmon I’ve had at some other full-service restaurants.

Living With the Land is not a thrill ride, but I really enjoyed it nonetheless. It starts out as a dark ride, traveling through sets representing different environments, including a jungle, desert, rainforest, and plain. After going through a corridor with props and monitors showing farm scenes, the boats enter a real greenhouse. A bevy of edible plants are grown here and labeled. The boats then go through a fish farm, passing tanks with fish and other aquatic creatures used for food. Another greenhouse contains giant versions of plants such as pumpkins and lemons. The final greenhouse has more specimens planted via techniques like vertical growing, aeroponics, and hydroponics. Maybe the reason I liked this ride is because it had so many elements; it starts out as one thing, and then gets more interesting as the ride progresses. It’s especially nice that there are no barriers between the boat and the plants (though most of them are far enough away to be unreachable).

The final pavilion in Future World West and the nearest to the entrance is The Living Seas With Nemo and Friends. To the right of the entrance is the Coral Reef Restaurant. The entrance leads to the queue of the Nemo ride. It’s a continually moving ride in clamshells like The Little Mermaid. The indoor queue area is rather long, but it was empty when we went in the early afternoon. The clamshells pass by projections of characters and situations from Finding Nemo, and then go through the pavilion’s massive aquarium where characters are projected on the windows among the real fish. They sing the “Big Blue World” song from the musical in Animal Kingdom.

The ride exits into the pavilion, which is basically a small aquarium, though it features a tank that’s probably larger than may aquariums’. A viewing area provides 360-degree views of the tank, which includes fish, sea turtles, and dolphins. Another area has specimens from Finding Nemo in their own small tank. Especially nice is a two-level manatee tank. We got to see the handlers feed the manatees romaine lettuce, which they gobbled up. Monitors throughout inform guests about sea life, narrated by Mr. Ray (Nemo’s teacher). Turtle Talk With Crush is also in this pavilion. The aquarium pales in comparison with, say, the massive Monterey Bay Aquarium. But it’s well done, and even Monterey doesn’t have manatees and dolphins (as of this writing). There is, of course, a gift shop at the pavilion’s exit.

We didn’t thoroughly explore all the pavilions in World Showcase, but I will go over what we did see. I’ll start on the east side with Mexico, and then go clockwise around the lagoon.

Unlike all the other pavilions, Mexico is all inside. The building is a large pyramid, and right inside the entrance is a small museum. It then opens up into a nighttime scene in a village square, complete with stands selling items, other shops, and a restaurant along the banks of a boat ride (shades of Disneyland’s Pirates of the Caribbean.)

The boat ride is the Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros. There are a few Small World-esque puppets, but the ride consists primarily of large video screens. The boats pass by the restaurant and a pyramid before passing by screens that show parrot Jose Carioca (the green one) and rooster Panchito (the red one) as they look for Donald Duck in Mexico.  As the Unofficial Guide notes, only Panchito is Mexican; Jose is Brazilian and Donald is from Duckburg (which, if you’re wondering, is in the US state of Calisota). The three are shown interacting with live-action Mexican scenes. Donald, as is expected, is infatuated with the country’s girls. A room midway through features random dancing doll figures, and the finale mixes screens, dolls, and fiber optic fireworks. It’s fairly pleasant, if short, though the ride in Norway next door is even shorter.

Norway features a troll-obsessed shop, a princess meet-and-greet buffet restaurant, and a scatterbrained, disjointed, and very brief boat ride called Maelstrom. The ride had a fairly long (15 minute) line, which is not justified by the actual ride, which does have some interesting elements, but is much too short and falls flat. It starts by going up a lift, and then travels past some scenes of ancient Viking village life. A troll appears and sends the boats backwards over a drop. The boat, still going backwards, passes by nature scenes and a polar bear. The boats stop (with a brief view outside if you look back) and go forward down another drop to a storm scene with a huge oil rig. Then, the ride is over. Again, there are some interesting elements that could work given a longer and more coherent ride, but it doesn’t come together. At the exit, you can watch a tourism film about Norway.

The China pavilion has a Circle-Vision film (Reflections of China) that we didn’t see, as well as some restaurants. There is a small museum, which when we went featured displays on the Terra-Cotta warriors, including an impressive replica of some of the figures. The large House of Good Fortune features Chinese items and merchandise.

After a small dead area with stands selling African jewelry, there is the Germany pavilion. There are no rides, but a definite highlight is the Karamell-Küche store featuring all kinds of scrumptious sweets and baked goods dipped in caramel. We ate dinner at the Biergarten restaurant, a buffet with sauerbraten, breaded pork schnitzel, hot potato salad, and a vast variety of different sausages. The dining space is themed to an outdoor celebration of Oktoberfest in a village square at night. A stage showcases a German band, which plays songs from guess-where as well as popular drinking songs (a surprisingly large number of people joined in the latter songs).  Alphorns and a glockenspiel player were featured when we were there, along with the more traditional brass and accordion ensemble. Guests are also invited to dance at points. The food was okay, though it could have used some more flavor. The German pavilion features another gem: an outdoor model train set with several tracks and intricate landscaping.

We didn’t really explore the Italy pavilion. The American Adventure is an elaborate animatronic/film show that we didn’t get to see and one I hope to get to next time. The half-hour shows are every 45 minutes, and we got there just as a show started. There’s also an outdoor stage where the Voices of Liberty perform; for an a cappella group, they could get impressively loud.

The Japan pavilions has no attractions, but does have a trio of restaurants, a large pagoda, a garden with waterfalls and a koi pond, and the sprawling Mitsukoshi Department Store. All manner of Japanese goods are sold here, from snacks and kimonos to vintage action figures and manga. A counter sells pearls from oysters. There’s also an impressive liquor selection along with a tiny bar.

Next is Morocco, which we didn’t really look at. The France pavilion has a (non-accessible) Eiffel Tower replica, some fancy restaurants, and a panoramic film (Impressions de France). Down the pavilion’s winding street is an indoor area with a store and the Boulangerie Pâtisserie bakery, which sells baked goods and sandwiches. The toasted ham and cheese croissant sandwich is one of the simpler offerings, but it counts as a snack under the meal plan and tasted great.

Last are United Kingdom and Canada, both of which we saw in passing. The latter does have another Circle-Vision film (O Canada!) featuring Martin Short. Between World Showcase and Future World West was a path that had promotions for Oz The Great and Powerful, including posters, midway games, and a playground. I only mention it because we ended up traversing this rather narrow path several times.

Closing off the Epcot day is Illuminations, a nighttime spectacle that takes place on the World Showcase lagoon. We got to the area 10 or 15 minutes before it started and still got to stand right in front of the railing; it was nowhere near the madness of Disneyland’s Fantasmic (neither was the post-show exit). It’s a fairly short show, but it has fireworks, flares, flames, and a large, spinning globe with video projections of human achievement that floats on the lagoon’s surface. The pyrotechnics are impressively close, and many of them are launched from right in front of you. The proximity of the fireworks is neat, though most of them go off at the beginning and at a point about two-thirds through the show. One barge is devoted to flames, and the heat is palpable. You can pay to have a boat take you out in the lagoon during the show, and I can only imagine how the heat feels that much closer. As a finale, the globe opens up to reveal a flaming torch within, which shoots of fireworks of its own. The story and theme of the show is vague, and much of the show seems to be nothing but the globe spinning and displaying stock imagery. But as mentioned, the closeness of the fireworks and the in-the-round nature of the show take it up a few notches.

Epcot is a massive park, and we didn’t get to see all of World Showcase. But the variety of the attractions and its difference from the California parks made it my favorite of the Disney World parks. Disney admirably mixes entertainment, education, and thrills into a sometimes overwhelming, but still brilliant amalgamation of science and world culture. On a future trip, this is undoubtedly the park where I would personally like to spend the most time. There is nothing at the Disneyland Resort like it. Well, except Soarin’, but that was copied from California Adventure anyway. And Turtle Talk With Crush and the Captain EO show, but those are among Epcot’s more minor offerings. To many others, the Magic Kingdom will be the best Disney World park, but for me, Epcot takes the prize.

Next: Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Mantis Miscellany--Walt Disney World Part 3: Animal Kingdom

Originally Published May 11, 2013

Animal Kingdom is a zoological park which focuses more on animal exhibits, trails, and shows than on rides, though a couple of the rides are truly spectacular. We spent our second full day at Animal Kingdom, and it was the only day where we stayed at a park all day without leaving until closing time. As a result, we got to do pretty much everything we wanted to do except the Maharajah Jungle Trek (a walking trail with tigers, bats, and komodo dragons that closed before we could experience it). Our full-service dinner did eat up a lot of time, and we probably could have seen it had we eaten a quick meal.

Animal Kingdom is arranged in a hub-and-spoke layout similar to Magic Kingdom and Disneyland. The Oasis funnels guests into the hub, called Discovery Island. From there, one can go to four different lands: Africa, Asia, Dinoland USA, and Camp Minnie-Mickey.

We again arrived before opening, and were let into the park at about fifteen minutes before 9. Right inside the park is The Oasis, a lush, heavily vegetated area with meandering paths, rock formations, and waterfalls. At the end is a bridge to Discovery Island, the park’s central hub with shops, restaurants, and the Tree of Life, a gigantic fake tree with the images of various animals sculpted into its plaster “bark.” Inside is the 3D show It’s Tough to Be a Bug, a clone of which exists at California Adventure. Here, we were again held at a rope until 9 and we, along with half the crowd, rushed toward Expedition Everest in the Asia theme area.

We were among the first twenty or so people to get in line. But guess what? That’s right, the ride was broken! We wasted half an hour standing there before they finally got it running and opened the queue (luckily right before the Fastpass return opened). The mostly-outdoor queue is elaborate, winding through a Nepalese village before entering a museum devoted to the legendary yeti. The line then exits the museum to the ride’s loading area.

Expedition Everest is a themed roller coaster that has no inversions, but is nevertheless one of the most satisfying thrill rides I’ve been on. After a short lift, the train circles a small field before ascending the real lift through an ominous shrine and into the 199-foot tall mountain (the tallest in Florida, Disney boasts). The train curves and goes through a short tunnel before climbing again to a dead end. An incredible force has ripped the track ahead. After a brief pause (look behind to see the track in the tunnel flip), the train drops backward into pitch black. The train whirls around in a very tight and exhilaratingly intense vortex, still going backward, pushing you down into the seat. The fact that you can’t see anything at all adds to the fun. The train stops, still inside, and we see the shadow of the yeti ripping another set of track. Then the train launches forward and exits the mountain, dropping steeply and looping around to enter the mountain again. Once outside again, there is a long vortex that slowly ascends before entering the mountain one last time for an encounter with the huge, animatronic yeti. Unfortunately, he wasn’t moving when we went, though there were lots of strobe lights flashing on him.

Expedition Everest is a very impressive ride, one of an admittedly long list of favorites. That backward vortex in the dark is really something, even though many roller coasters offer more objectively intense physical thrills (like X at Six Flags Magic Mountain). Best of all, there’s a single rider line for those who value their time over sitting with their party (which is a smaller number than you’d think).

We backtracked to Dinoland USA, which mainly consists of a few unremarkable carnival rides, including Triceratops Spin (a Dumbo clone) and Primeval Whirl (a wild mouse coaster like Goofy’s Sky School in California Adventure, but with two tracks and cars that spin around). We walked past them to Dinosaur, an indoor thrill ride that uses the Enhanced Motion Vehicle system and the same track layout as the superior Indiana Jones Adventure at Disneyland.

The line winds through a dinosaur museum and a rotunda with an educational video featuring Bill Nye the Science Guy. Then it’s on to the preshow area, where we basically learn that a scientist named Grant Seeker (really) wants to use the museum’s Time Rovers to send us back in time and, against protocol, bring back an iguanodon from the Cretaceous. The iguanodon happens to be D.B. Sweeney, I mean Aladar, the dude from the movie Dinosaur (hence the ride’s name; before the film came out, it was called Countdown to Extinction). In any case, D.B. Sweeney fans should temper their expectations; Aladar appears only briefly and he doesn’t talk.

Although the ride follows the same layout an Indiana Jones, it is more enclosed and much darker. You bump through the forest, encountering various dinos as fiber optic meteor fragments light up the night around you. The menacing carnotaur seems hell-bent on damaging your eardrums, and at one point pops out of nowhere on the right side, making everyone look at him and thus providing a perfect ride photo that you can buy after disembarking. Instead of diving under a giant boulder, the finale has the jeep diving under the front of the carnotaur, very much like the top of the big drop on Universal’s Jurassic Park: The Ride. After riding, you can see Aladar walking around on the security monitors. Dinosaur is plenty thrilling, but rather visually sparse, and pales overall to similar rides such as the aforementioned Indiana Jones and The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man at Universal’s Islands of Adventure.

Following this, we headed over to Africa to go on what was, until Expedition Everest opened, the park’s main draw: Kilimanjaro Safaris, a 20-minute trip through an impressive animal reserve. There had been no waits for the previous two rides (if you discount the 30 minutes Everest took to get running), but the Safaris already had a 40-minute wait. Luckily, there were Fastpasses for exactly 40 minutes later, so needless to say, we got those and walked along the adjacent Pangani Forest Exploration Trail.

The trail winds through various outdoor animal habitats. It starts with a view of some okapi, then heads to an aviary with birds probably more colorful than the ones found in your birdbath (unless you live in Africa or the Galapagos). There’s a small insect zoo with tarantulas and everyone’s favorite, the mighty cockroach. There’s also a glass –walled naked mole rat colony and a hippo pool with views both above and below the water. A rotunda looks out onto a vista of meerkats (or Timons, as everyone calls them upon first sighting them). Finally, you get to see a troop of lowland gorillas. Some were playing with various implements and vegetation, while one, who could’ve been the leader, sat stoically in full view but with his back towards the pesky humans.

By the time we had walked the trail, it was time to go on the Kilimanjaro Safaris. Now, it’s nothing like a real safari, but it’s probably closer to it than anything outside Africa. Guests board open-air, canopied trucks that cast members drive (not on a track) into an animal-filled area of more than 100 acres, according to the Unofficial Guide. Our chirpy hostess pointed out the animals along with a wealth of fun facts that I have forgotten. The truck drives on a bridge over a pool teeming with crocodiles and into the savanna, where we could see a black rhino over the crest of a hill. One area had several horned animals hanging out together, including the eland, bontebok, addax, ankole cattle, eastern bongo, and greater kudu. There were giraffes too, and elephants, including a young one hiding behind its mother. Just to add some physical excitement, the truck drives over a “collapsing” bridge at one point. The truck drove right by an ostrich that just sat and stared at us with its eyes bigger than its brain. The lion area was Pride Rock-esque, with one lion sprawled out on top, dead to the world. Finally, the trip ended with a visit to a herd of zebras. Although certain animals obviously have to be separated, Disney does an extremely good job of giving the illusion that you are traveling through one huge savanna. It’s not Africa, but it’s also much more than a zoo.

We headed back to Discovery Island for lunch at Flame Tree Barbecue, which had very good food for a counter-service eatery. Barbecue ribs, smoked chicken, and barbecue chicken salad were among the appealing choices. I had the barbecue pork sandwich, which hit the spot for me. Then it was back to Dinoland USA for the decidedly non-Dino themed show Finding Nemo: The Musical.

Now, I love Finding Nemo, the movie. And I want to stress that the show itself is perfectly commendable. But we were all tired, and the indoor theater was very comfortable, and the show, at 40 minutes, is probably the longest at a Disney park. So some members of our group took the opportunity to nap. I didn’t, but the show did have some slow moments. Anyway, the show follows the plot of the film with fully visible actors holding elaborate fish puppets. It’s actually interesting as you get to see the acting of both the actor and the puppet as they bring the characters to life. Crush the turtle hovers over a four-wheeled bicycle (a quad-cycle?) The school of moonfish is especially well done, each actor having a fish prop in each hand. Several plot points, especially regarding Nemo in his tank, are truncated. And the musical numbers mostly go in one ear and out the other, though the theme song, “Big Blue World,” is catchy. Well, maybe “earworm” is the more appropriate word, though not on the level of “It’s A Small World.” But the show isn’t on the level of Disney’s Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular at California Adventure. Even if you take out the Genie, that show is still better paced with more spectacle, though that story probably is more suited to the stage than Finding Nemo.

Back in Asia is another show, this time in an amphitheater, called Flights of Wonder. This was very entertaining, featuring birds both exotic and familiar as they performed tasks showing off natural talents they use in the wild. Okay, so there is a parrot who sings “Camptown Racers,” but that was it as far as novelty went. In an amusing turn, when the trainer told the parrot to sing another song, it stopped midway through to scratch itself. The trainer then told it start again, and it started “Camptown Racers” again. There’s a mild plotline when a “tour guide” interrupts, and then the trainer invites him onstage. The brash tour guide then reveals that he’s afraid of birds, which leads to some amusing scenarios; one bird steals the tour guide’s flag, for instance. But most of the show features birds gliding low just over the audience’s heads, looping, and catching items in midair.  

The tour guide eventually learns about the value of birds and conservation, including protecting endangered species. At this point, another trainer brings out a bald eagle, though it doesn’t do anything besides sit there and look impressive. No wonder it’s our national symbol. (Joking, bald eagles actually are capable of performing nifty aerial maneuvers in the wild. I also don’t mean to put down all fellow Americans, but I definitely just sit there a lot, although I look far from impressive. And if I do eventually go bald, that’s one more thing we’ll have in common.) And just to show that birds will be birds: In one routine, a bird flew out to a trainer in back of the audience, then back to the stage. When asked to do so again, the bird refused, loitering around and clearly wanting to go backstage. This show was another little gem and I was definitely glad that we got to see it.

In Africa, there’s a science/research facility you can explore called the Conservation Station. To get there, you have to take a train. The trip is fairly short, and it passes through the backstage areas of Kilimanjaro Safaris where you can see the pens where they keep the animals at night. After disembarking from the train, there is a path that winds past a tamarin habitat before reaching the building. There is a petting zoo, and several windows where you can see some of the park’s operation facilities, including cameras and animal trackers. There’s also a surgery bay, but unfortunately there was nothing going on when we were there. A guide is on hand to showcase a particular animal every half hour or so; he was showing off a small crocodile during our visit.

The highlight of the Conservation Station, the park, Disney World, and indeed, any theme park on earth, is here and it is truly magnificent and spectacular. It is seriously worth ten times whatever you pay for your whole Disney World vacation, an extravaganza featuring the height of Imagineering and human achievement. It will move you to your core.

Just what is it? There are a group of doors, each opening up to a very small chamber. Once inside, you close the door; lights on the outside will mark that it’s occupied (like a PortaPotty, and the room is not much bigger than one). Six people or so sit in the dark and put on a set of headphones and listen to Grandmother Willow drone on about saving the rainforest, with a few sound effects. And that’s it. No visuals at all, certainly nothing worth shutting yourself in a small room for. What’s odd is that there were about half a dozen of these chambers, and almost every one was occupied. Either guests were, like us, snookered into this time-waster, or they were following their more passionate inclinations. Well, now that I’ve helpfully informed you about the true nature of this “attraction,” you can now use it with one with whom you feel a true attraction.

We took the train back to Africa and then went back to Asia to ride Expedition Everest again, using the single-rider line, which had no wait. There’s another ride here called Kali River Rapids, a raft ride that’s basically a drop-less version of Grizzly River Run at California Adventure and not something that interested us. Then it was time for another lengthy, full-service dinner at the Yak and Yeti. It’s a truly impressive, two-story eating space, with artifacts imported from different Asian locations. The Asian fusion food was somewhat disappointing. I had baby-back ribs, but I honestly thought the sandwich at Flame Tree Barbecue was better (and much cheaper). And yes, I do love ribs. To our vast amusement, the “sticky rice” as advertised on the menu was no such thing, but rather mere short-grain white rice. By the time we were done with dinner, the Maharajah Jungle Trek trail was closed, so we missed doing that (all animal habitats, including Kilimanjaro Safaris, close early. When we went, the park closed at 8, but the trails and the Safari closed at 5:30.)

Animal Kingdom has no nighttime closing spectacular like Disney’s other US parks, but we did see Festival of the Lion King before we left. And it does offer as much spectacle as the other night shows, albeit on a more human and less special-effects-driven scale. The indoor theater-in-the-round is located in the land called Camp Minnie-Mickey. It’s basically the only thing there apart from four character-greeting pavilions. There used to be a Pocahontas show there, but it died. The 2002 version of the Unofficial Guide deemed it disappointing, especially compared to the Lion King show. One reader wrote, “Instead of being moved by the show’s message, I wondered how much kindling Grandmother Willow would make” (Sehlinger 567). Apparently, Ms. Willow made very good kindling, though unfortunately her voice lives on in the wonderful Conservation Station attraction. I’d take her any day, though, over the odious Tracy the Tree at Rainforest Café. Thankfully, the one at Disneyland has been destroyed.

Anyway, the show itself, as mentioned, is a theater-in-the-round, divided into four sections designated elephant, lion, warthog, and giraffe. At certain points, you’re supposed to “cheer” by making your animal’s sound. We were lucky enough to be in the lion section. Actors in traditional African costumes introduce the show, and a group of elaborate floats come out, complete with an animatronic Simba. A central float provides a stage where dancers, acrobats, trapeze artists, and a fire-twirler perform. All the songs from the movie are performed in a rousing fashion, including a rendition of “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” where two trapeze artists swing and spin high above the stage. There is no attempt to recreate the movie’s plot, but it’s undoubtedly a colorful, kinetic, uplifting show that, unlike Finding Nemo, has a more reasonable running time of 25 minutes. We were very tired by this time, but this show kept us awake—in a good way. This was a perfect way to end the day at Animal Kingdom.

With its obvious focus on animals, Animal Kingdom is very different from the other Disney parks. At the same time, it transcends being a mere zoo, with not only some great rides, but also innovative and effective ways of presenting the animals. Expedition Everest represents several steps forward in the development of themed roller coasters, something that Universal’s Revenge of the Mummy tried to do, but didn’t live up to (especially given the overblown, self-congratulatory hype. I do like the Orlando version much more than the Hollywood version, but Universal has definitely done better before and since.) With the upcoming Avatar land, Animal Kingdom promises to become even more diverse n the future. Although it requires a somewhat different, slower approach than other theme parks, Animal Kingdom is still mostly excellent, a park to savor.

Next: Epcot

Work Cited:

Sehlinger, Bob. The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World 2002. New York:

            Hungry Minds, Inc., 2001. Print.

Mantis Miscellany--Walt Disney World Part 2: The Magic Kingdom

Originally Published March 9, 2013

I’ve been to Disneyland many times, but I don’t think I’ve been there right at opening. With Disney World, because it was our first time, I wanted to get there as early as practicable so we could get as much done as possible when the lines were short. And though it was tough to get up early, I was thrilled to be able to get on so many rides with no wait (I can’t speak for the thrill levels of the other members of my party, though).

The Magic Kingdom park is similar to Disneyland, so I figured we could spend the first half of the day there, then maybe tour the World Showcase portion of Epcot later (which happened—sort of. More on that later.) Add to that the unfortunate refurbishment of Splash Mountain, and there were really only two big-ticket rides to get on at the park: Space Mountain and Thunder Mountain (properly known as Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, or BMTRR to Disney buffs).

We got on a nearly empty bus for the 15-minute (or so) trip to the Magic Kingdom. Not only is the Magic Kingdom the furthest from most other Disney World locations, but there are some transportation-related quirks as well. Guests arriving by car pay their parking fee at toll booths, which are not right at the entrance to the parking lot, meaning you still have to drive a ways to the actual lot. After parking, they wait for a tram to take them not to the park entrance, but to the Transportation and Ticket Center (TTC). They can buy tickets there, and then take either a ferry or a monorail to the other side of a lake to the actual park entrance. Monorails from the TTC also serve three hotels (Grand Floridian, Contemporary, and Polynesian) and another long track goes all the way to Epcot. The bus from the hotel bypasses the TTC and goes right to the park entrance.

We arrived a little after 8, were let in at 8:30, and held at the tunnel that goes under the railroad station. Just before 9, the train pulled into the station with Disney characters aboard for the opening ceremony. Since we were right up at the rope, we couldn’t really see it, but I for one didn’t really care. At 9, we were let into Main Street.

The first thing one notices, of course, is Cinderella Castle. Sleeping Beauty Castle in Disneyland really is a charming edifice with an unquestionably iconic silhouette, which masks how dinky it really is. Cinderella Castle is impressively large, with a busy, almost cluttered collection of turrets and spires. We would have time to admire it later, as we walked swiftly to Tomorrowland.

The Magic Kingdom has the same basic layout as Disneyland, minus New Orleans Square, Critter Country, and Mickey’s Toontown and plus Liberty Square. But with the exception of Main Street, each land looks different, sometimes drastically so. Everything was in the wrong place! Of course, a frequent Disney Worlder would think the same thing of Disneyland. Both would agree that the Magic Kingdom is much more spacious. The moat in front of the castle, for example, encircles the whole hub.

Our first stop was Space Mountain, which we literally walked on. In Disneyland, it’s on the right as you come in and you go up on a large, elevated balcony before entering the mountain. In the Magic Kingdom, it’s straight ahead at the very end. The mountain itself is actually on the other side of the railroad tracks, so as you enter the queue, you take a short flight of stairs down to a long tunnel. We rushed through it so I don’t remember much, but I do remember walking quite a ways to the boarding station, which is rather modest compared to the large, two-level Disneyland one. At Disneyland, after three switchbacks you emerge on the upper level of the boarding station, and the line slowly descends to ground level as it circles the station. There’s no change of levels at the Magic Kingdom, although there are two tracks.

Only the right side was open, so we walked (bypassing the queue area with the video games) onto the sleds. There are two cars per train, but only three single-file seats per car, like the Matterhorn. As it turns out, that’s not the only thing is has in common with the Matterhorn. After a light tunnel similar to the one between the first and second lifts on the Disneyland ride, the sleds climb the relatively well-lit sole lift hill, above which hangs a spaceship like the one hanging over Disneyland’s loading station. Partway up, another sled zooms by. Interestingly, this is not at the end of the ride, but near the middle.

And then we get to the ride, which is basically Matterhorn in the dark. There’s music playing in the building, but it’s hard to hear and not synchronized to the cars. It’s very rough and bumpy. I will say that the turn directions are more even unlike at Disneyland, where you always seem to be going to the right (or clockwise). And there’s one turn where there’s a zippy, whizzing sound effect that whirls around you to give the illusion that you’re spinning. But all in all, it’s quite disappointing compared to the smooth, fast Disneyland version where you really whip around the turns with the added bonuses of improved effects, Michael Giacchino’s score synchronized to the ride, and a much lower chance of getting a headache. I don’t want to be too cynical, but if I want to approximate Disney World’s Space Mountain without flying across the country, I can just ride the Matterhorn with my eyes closed, and then rub my eyes to create phosphenes to simulate the star effects.

The exit is another long tunnel that passes by dioramas of fictional planets. I’ll write more on the rest of Tomorrowland later, but at this point, we crossed the park to Frontierland and BTMRR. Besides Main Street, Frontierland is the land most visually similar to its Disneyland counterpart, with the Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island. The exceptions are the placements of Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain, the latter of which is on the far side of the former.

BTMRR is very similar to the Disneyland version, but a mirror image. “We’re going the wrong way!” I thought more than once. The scenery is also slightly different in places, with a flooded mining town partway through (right before the second or third lift) and a geyser/hot spring area at the end. The queue area is substantially different too, most of it covered. It also seems that you can’t see as much of the ride from the outside. The ride broke down right before we pulled into the station, which would presage things to come. 

We did get a nifty Attraction Re-Entry Pass, which we ended up not using since it was only good for the Magic Kingdom. If it had been good for the other parks, we probably would have used it.

Adventureland has less of a jungle feel than Disneyland’s. The part nearest to Main Street has more of an Arabian feel, while further in is more Spanish. We chose not to see the Tiki Room, Swiss Family Treehouse, and Jungle Cruise due to similar attractions at Disneyland (there’s also Aladdin’s Flying Carpets, a Dumbo clone), but we did go on Pirates of the Caribbean. The ride building is in a Spanish fort, and the indoor queue is interesting, with views of cannons, ammo, and a dungeon where two skeletons are at a stalemate in a chess game (a piece of business added to one of the early ride scenes in Disneyland). We walked through the queue and right up to the loading area just as the ride broke down, though luckily it got running again within ten minutes or so. As for the ride itself? We all agreed it was a joke compared to Disneyland’s version. You go right to the projected waterfall with Bill Nighy and Ian McShane, though you can see mermaid projections if you look at the water to the side. Then it’s Dead Man’s Cove and the hurricane scene and what we all agreed was the most laughable part of the ride—the “dip,” which makes the second dip on the Disneyland Pirates look like the final Splash Mountain drop. It seriously feels as tall as the dip on top of the lift at Disneyland’s Pirates, or that part on Splash Mountain right after the bees that I’m not sure is actually supposed to be a dip. Then you skip right to the ship attack scene. After that it’s mostly the same as Disneyland, though the scenes feel a little closer to the boats and thus smaller in scope. The exception is Jack Sparrow at the end, who for some reason is way off in the distance (there’s also no barrel-shooting scene or lift at the end). The animatronics also seemed jerkier than at Disneyland.

Much more impressive was Haunted Mansion. At the Magic Kingdom, it’s located in Liberty Square, an American colonial-themed land between Frontierland and Fantasyland. The Mansion itself is approximately where BTMRR would be in Disneyland, and the building itself looks much different. There’s a new interactive graveyard in the outside queue, where you can play with a pipe organ and fake bookshelves. The foyer features a portrait of a man who slowly decomposes. The stretch room is the same, except the ceiling moves up, while at Disneyland, you’re actually in an elevator going down. The stretch room exits right to the loading station. The Magic Kingdom ride has several scenes in the beginning not at the Disneyland version, though the additions are not on the scale of Disneyland’s Pirates of the Caribbean. First the Doom Buggies actually move past the changing portrait corridor. The next room is a library, with flying books, moving ladders, and the familiar “watching” busts. Then there is a music room with a self-playing piano. Finally, there is a hallway with M.C. Escher-like stairs surrounding the buggies and going in all kinds of wonky directions. Footsteps can be seen appearing and disappearing on the steps. Following this, the ride is almost the same as in Disneyland, though the tombstone ghouls in the graveyard are a bit creepier looking. The hitchhiking ghosts in the mirrors also appear to interact with the guests—ours tried to take our heads off. Finally, a ride superior to the Disneyland version!

After lunch at Columbia Harbor House (where we were given a free extra plate of fried shrimp—sadly, we were all to full to eat more than a little), it was off to the Hall of Presidents, a high-speed, turbulent roller coaster-type ride in the dark with sudden drops and stops. In reality, it’s an expanded version of Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln at Disneyland, with animatronics of all the presidents. The current president (Obama) gets to give a speech—as the attraction host said, Disney is a fan of both Bush and Obama, because they got second terms, and Disney has to change the show each time there’s a new president. Most of the twenty-minute show is a film projected on a curtain narrated by—who else?—Morgan Freeman. The curtains part a bit for Lincoln to talk, then close, then open their full length to reveal all the presidents, not all of who look like their real-life counterparts.

In Fantasyland, we avoided Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, and the Little Mermaid, all of which are in California and all of which had longer lines than in California as well (though I suppose Peter Pan in Disneyland still gets long lines. Definitely not the other two, though). We walked into Mickey’s Philharmagic, a delightful 3-D show that, despite its name, is more about Donald Duck getting owned by a bevy of Disney characters including Aladdin, Ariel, and Simba. I guess he is trying to retrieve Mickey’s sorcerer hat, so there is that connection. We didn’t tarry long in Fantasyland, but we did get a closer look at the backside of the castle, including a view through the stained glass windows to the restaurant within. I didn’t get to go on “it’s a small world,” though the one member of our party who did on a later day said that it was dismal and short compared to Disneyland’s. Say what you will about the ride, but the Disneyland ride’s façade is pretty spectacular, and Florida’s is pretty lame, like the entrance to any other dark ride. And there’s no Alice, Pinocchio, Mr. Toad (replaced by Pooh), Snow White (replaced by a character greeting area I’ll net), Casey Junior, Storybook Land Canal Boats, or Matterhorn. No wonder the few rides there had long lines.

The Country Bear Jamboree was one of the oddest theme park experiences I’ve had. Not because of the show itself, but because of the audience. I was familiar with the soundtrack of the show as heard on the Musical History of Disneyland collection, and I found the show odd, mildly pleasant, and not especially memorable. But as the show started, the weirdest thing happened. A good portion of the audience actually started clapping along. At that point, I fully expected a “Yeehaw!” to sound—and not from one of the bears. Then I remembered that we were in the South…kind of. This probably wouldn’t have happened in California, which is most likely why it’s not there anymore. It was very strange—I would understand if it had been a live show. In any case, it was like being at an older generation’s version of a rave (something else I’m not really into).

We went back to Tomorrowland, which has no Star Tours (which is in Hollywood Studios), no Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage, and a decidedly underwhelming-looking version of Autopia (and I’m not the biggest fan of the Disneyland version, either.) We elected not to go on Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin (where the guns are apparently attached to the cars, versus at Disneyland where you can take them out) and Stitch’s Great Escape, and no one else seemed interested in Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor (another time, maybe). But Rocket Jets is where it’s supposed to be, on top of a tower. And a big plus: Magic Kingdom still has the PeopleMover.

I liked the PeopleMover at Disneyland because you got a glimpse into various attractions, and I thought the effects in the TRON tunnel were cool. There’s no TRON tunnel in Florida, and there aren’t elevation changes like there were in California, but the Magic Kingdom’s PeopleMover still had plenty to offer, and I found it to be one of the hidden gems of Disney World.  First, the track goes through the Stitch show building, though you can’t see into it. What you can see is a model of EPCOT—not the park, but the Experimental Prototype Community Of Tomorrow that Walt Disney originally wanted to build in Disney World, a futuristic, mostly enclosed city. There are additional dioramas in the vein of the ones in Space Mountain’s exit. Then, you go on a bit of exterior track before entering Space Mountain. You get to see a lot more of it than you did at Disneyland. The neatest part in my opinion is when the PeopleMover actually goes right between the two lift hills. Then you circle the inner circumference of the mountain and are given a good, long look at the whole ride, though it is very dark and hard to make out much. Ironically, I heard the music better here than on the Space Mountain ride itself, though maybe that’s because they have speakers on the PeopleMover track. Then it’s back outside and around the outer edge of the Carousel of Progress (you don’t go inside like you did at Disneyland—that’s where the TRON tunnel was). The final show building has Monsters, Inc. and Buzz Lightyear; you can’t see any of Monsters, Inc., but you do see the Planet Z segment of Buzz.  All told, a very relaxing and pleasing ride, with a few nifty moments, especially in Space Mountain. And after BTMRR and Pirates, it happened again. The ride stopped twice while we were on it: once before we entered Space Mountain and again just before we exited. It wouldn’t be the last breakdown we would experience.

Our penultimate attraction was the Carousel of Progress. The theater rotates to show four animatronic scenes featuring the wonders of electricity through the decades. It’s a fairly long attraction, about five minutes per scene. There are no thrills here; in fact, a majority of guests would probably find it soporific. It was nice to see as a slice of Disney theme park history I suppose, but certainly not a highlight. The narrator is different from the original heard on the Musical History of Disneyland CD set, and the fourth scene is completely different.

We ended our Magic Kingdom experience with a round trip on the train. There is no Grand Canyon diorama or Primeval World segment, so it’s not as interesting as the Disneyland version. There are some scenes of an Indian village by the Rivers of America. The Magic Kingdom version does not stop at Tomorrowland, but as in the Disneyland version, the Main Street station (where we boarded) was much less crowded than the Frontierland and Fantasyland stations.

It was around 2 or 3 by the time we were finished, so we took a monorail to the TTC, and from there we transferred to another monorail on the much longer route to Epcot. The whole thing around half an hour—notably, once the monorail gets to Epcot, it enters the park and does a loop around the Future World area before exiting again and arriving at the station. Then you have to take a long set of ramps down to the ground level. I’ll detail my thoughts on Epcot in the appropriate post, but we managed to ride Test Track twice, Mission: Space on both the green and orange versions, Gran Fiesta Tour featuring the Three Caballeros, Maelstrom, and Journey Into Imagination with Figment. We also had a very late dinner at Biergarten. So we didn’t get to see much of World Showcase that day, but we did manage to get on a bunch of rides. Again, details will be provided in the Epcot post.

I was sorry that we couldn’t go on Splash Mountain (because of the refurbishment), especially since it’s different from Disneyland’s, but other than that, I got most of what I wanted to do at Magic Kingdom. Maybe we should have gone on Jungle Cruise instead of Pirates since the former apparently has stuff the Disneyland version doesn’t. But I didn’t expect that Magic Kingdom’s Pirates would be that pathetic compared to Disneyland’s. And maybe next visit we’ll have time to see Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor, check out Buzz, and see Stitch just to see what all the fuss is about (after all, I have been on Heimlich’s Chew Chew Train and the Golden Zephyr).

Magic Kingdom was a bit of a letdown compared to Disneyland, but I had been expecting that from the research I’d done. It was probably good that we went there first. Because we got there early and got the headliners out of the way, we walked onto most of the attractions. The longest we had to wait for any ride was around ten minutes for Pirates, and that was because it broke down. It’s undoubtedly a good park when taken on its own terms, and it does its job as the heart of Disney World to the majority of visitors there who have never been to and will never go to the California parks. I did like its Haunted Mansion better than Disneyland’s (though I think Disneyland’s outer building looks better) and I enjoyed the PeopleMover and the Philharmagic show. But from the start, I was looking forward more to the other three parks, and I would not be disappointed.

Next: Animal Kingdom

Mantis Miscellany--Walt Disney World Part 1: Disneylanders in Florida

Originally Published May 8, 2013

I’ve always been fascinated with Disneyland: the rides, the theming, and especially what went on behind the scenes to create this singular destination. For a few years (including the 50^th Anniversary Celebration), my family held premium annual passes to the resort. I could write a lot more about my views on the “Happiest Place on Earth,” but for now, I will say that I am very familiar with it.

This past February, I finally had the privilege of going to Disney World with three others. I will respect their privacy, but I will say that they also love Disneyland and have been there many times. For the next five or so posts, I hope to impart a sense of my experience there, from the savory and spectacular to the dull and disappointing. As I am a frequent Disneylander going to Disney World for the first time, there will be a focus on comparison between the two resorts. For those of you who can’t bear the suspense or don’t want to read through blocks of text: I very much enjoyed Disney World and can’t wait to go there again, but Disneyland is still the best overall park.

Also, this will not be a strictly chronological trip report; though we spent four full days there and visited all four parks and saw a vast majority of what we wanted to see, it was not a “one park a day” trip. After this introduction, I intend to devote one post to each park in the basic order we visited them (we visited Epcot three out of the four days—and yes, it was the park I enjoyed the most).

That’s enough disclaimers. On to the interesting stuff…

Arrival

From Orlando International Airport, we took Disney’s free Magical Express bus service to the resort (run by Mears, as the large company logo emblazoned on the drivers’ shirts informed us). The lower level of the terminal featured a frighteningly large waiting/queue area, but luckily for us, it was almost empty, and we couldn’t have waited more than fifteen minutes for the bus to arrive. (Theme park aficionados know that there’s nothing better than seeing huge queuing area with no people in it). Our bus’s destinations were Caribbean Beach Resort, the All-Star Resorts, and our hotel, the posh Pop Century Resort.

The superb Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World (which I may refer to periodically) makes clear just how huge, spread-out, and complicated Disney World is. I suspect the vast majority of Disney World visitors haven’t been to Disneyland, so they probably don’t have anything to compare it to. But in California, we’re used to being able to walk the equivalent of one city block from one park to the other, making transportation between parks exceedingly simple. It’s like Universal Orlando in that regard (also a great place; the subject of a future post maybe?) In addition, both Disneyland and California Adventure are within spitting distance of the Downtown Disney shopping district and the three hotels.

By contrast, Disney World covers an area about the size of San Francisco, with four theme parks, two water parks, five golf courses, a wilderness preserve, a sports complex, a race track, a three-part Downtown Disney area, and more than two dozen hotels (called resorts). And the Disney planners, being the twisted geniuses they are, have placed each destination so that almost nothing is close together. Again, Disney Worlders may take this with a grain of salt, but to a Disneylander, it’s a little disconcerting when you have to take a 15-30 minute bus ride from place to place.

Anyway, the bus from the airport to the entrance of Walt Disney World took maybe half an hour. They play a neat little video extolling the many wonders of Disney’s Floridian empire (and when introducing the thrill rides, the narrator says in an over-dramatic voice “Are you ready?” after which Goofy says, “You bet I am!”—or something to that effect. I wasn’t taking notes.) The bus driver kindly slowed down once we got to the entrance for a photo op, and then another ten or so minutes before we arrived at the first stop: Caribbean Beach. I got a glimpse of its size, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it and man of the other resorts took up more area than all of the Disneyland Resort.

I did find the roads to be nicely landscaped—plenty of grass, trees, bodies of water, and other greenery that contrasts sharply with the urban nature of Disneyland’s surroundings. The cloverleaf intersections featured very large loops, maybe to accommodate the ubiquitous buses, Disney and otherwise. Or maybe they’re so big because Disney World has so much room and they can afford to make those huge cloverleaf intersections. I frankly wouldn’t put it past them.

The Ultra-Luxurious Pop Century Resort

Disney calls all of its hotels “resorts,” but I must say that Pop Century truly fits that title. It makes the Grand Californian look like a Motel 6, and I’d bet that Bob Iger and John Lasseter stay there when they visit.

All kidding aside, I did find Pop Century to be a perfectly adequate place to sleep—that’s pretty much the only thing we were going to do in the hotel room, so why pay more? Giant, somewhat gaudy pop culture icons from the latter half of the twentieth century decorate the buildings. There are five complexes of two or three four-story buildings, each surrounding a courtyard and themed to a specific decade. We got a room in the 1970s complex with a decent view of the lake. The room was pretty small, though.

One thing I really liked about the Pop Century (besides its low price) was the bus service. Guests with no rental car pretty much have to rely on the Disney buses to take them from place to place. The Pop Century had separate waiting lines and stops for each destination: the four major parks, Downtown Disney, and the sports complex. By contrast, the Polynesian Resort, a truly luxurious hotel, has one small bus stop with no organized waiting line. On one day, we waited twenty minutes for a Downtown Disney bus, and during that time, NO bus, to ANY destination, stopped by. We gave up and ended up taking the monorail to the Magic Kingdom so we could catch a bus back to the Pop Century (because buses don’t go from hotel to hotel). Sound complicated? That’s only the end of a frustrating chain that started at Disney’s Hollywood Studios park. We wanted to go to Downtown Disney, but surprise—apparently there are no buses direct from the parks to Downtown Disney. Okay, so we took a bus to the Transportation and Ticket Center (TTC)—more on that in the Magic Kingdom post. No buses to Downtown Disney from there either, so we walked to the Polynesian (two places within walking distance? No way!) to wait for the bus that never came. At Pop Century, we encountered no such troubles.

Pop Century also had a decent food court, though we only ended up going there on the last day of our trip to pick up food for the flight home. I suppose now’s a good time as any to discuss the meal plan. Basically, for a set price per person, the full plan gets you one snack, one “quick-service” (counter/fast food) meal, and one full-service (waiter) meal per person per day, not including tip for the full service. In addition, you get a mug that you can refill at the hotel’s food court as much as you want. There’s also a quick-service plan with two quick-service meals and one snack per day.

The wrinkle with the full plan is that many of the full-service restaurants either had long waiting times or required advance reservations. And even then, it often took almost two hours to eat at the full-service restaurants. I myself would have preferred to see more of the parks, especially since we only had four full days, and the full-service meals ended up blowing a lot of time. I would have been happy with the cheaper quick-service plan—frankly, when I go to a theme park, I’m not going there to eat, especially if I’m visiting for the first time.

The only other hotel we visited during the trip was the Polynesian, which has a neat lobby featuring a lush fountain. On the third day, we ate at Kona Café, which ended up being the best meal we had; I chose to have the pork chop. It did take some time to get there and eat, though it helped that the hotel was connected by monorail to Epcot (though you do have to make one transfer).

Downtown Disney

Although our flight left California early in the morning, the time change meant that it was mid-afternoon when we landed. By the time we were settled in the hotel room, it was time for dinner. And what better place to eat dinner than at Downtown Disney?

Now, I’m not saying that was a mistake, but despite Downtown Disney’s immense size (especially compared to the one in Anaheim), the restaurant selection seemed relatively limited. That meant there were unholy wait times for all the full-service restaurants (we wanted to save our allocation of quick-service restaurants—don’t worry if that doesn’t make sense; the meal plan doesn’t make a whole lot of sense either).

I’m getting ahead of myself. The Unofficial Guide listed transit time to Downtown Disney from our hotel as about half an hour. The time to all the other parks was listed as twenty minutes or less, and they weren’t closer, so why the difference? It turns out that there are a bunch of traffic lights on the road in front of Downtown Disney, which lengthens commute time.

Anaheim’s Downtown Disney has different areas according to press material, but in reality, it all smushes together. In Disney World, there are three distinct districts, though one of them is currently 90% a ghost town—Pleasure Island, a former nightclub district. To its left (from the parking lot) is West Side, a more upscale area with a Cirque du Soleil stadium, an indoor, interactive theme park called DisneyQuest, a 24-screen AMC, a tethered hot air balloon, a House of Blues, a Wolfgang Puck restaurant, a Planet Hollywood, and a billiards/bowling/ gaming/eatery called Splitsville. To the right is the Marketplace, which was more similar to the Anaheim counterpart. There’s a World of Disney, Lego store, Rainforest Café, even an Earl of Sandwich and littlemissmatched. There’s also T-Rex, which is basically Rainforest Café with dinosaurs from what I’ve read. The whole area faces a lake.

The bus stop is brilliantly located at the currently-dead Pleasure Island, so after crossing a busy roadway, we were basically faced with a wall with arrows pointing left to West Side and right to the Marketplace. Luckily, there were cast members there to guide the throng of slightly lost guests. We opted for the Marketplace and our great search for a restaurant began.

Pretty much every full-service restaurant had a long wait, and I was worried that the parks would be crowded too. They were actually quite reasonable, though far from empty. The Princess Half-Marathon probably added to the crowd, though less than I thought it would. If the restaurants were so booked on the days that we went, I shudder to think what they must be like during summer and the holidays. Just why are the restaurants so crowded, especially when we never had to wait long for any rides? Is capacity really that low? Do people really go to Disney World just to eat?

We ended up eating at Captain Jack’s restaurant because it had the least abhorrent waiting time of about an hour. The limited range of the beeper meant that we couldn’t explore 90% of the shops, and we ended up not coming back. The restaurant itself was okay. Afterward, we took a boat to the other side of Downtown Disney and walked through West Side to the bus stop.

Next: The Magic Kingdom

Miklos Rozsa

Some composers have undeniably superior technical craftsmanship. Other composers simply speak to your soul. If you're lucky, you'll find a composer who does both, as Miklos Rozsa does for me. His music is stentorian, thrilling, yearning, rapturous, and truly epic (unlike many objects described with this highly overused adjective). At the same time, his music is laden with poignancy, as if the composer poured his soul directly into his music.

Born in Budapest, Rozsa immersed himself in Hungarian folk music (a permeating influence on his work) before composing a batch of well-recieved classical works. After moving to Hollywood, he scored his first major triumph, The Thief of Bagdad, his music crammed with the compositional complexity, thematic richness, and soaring exhilaration that would become his musical calling cards. Soon after, Rozsa entered his "noir" period, scoring The Killers, Double Life, Billy Wilder's Double Indemnity and The Lost Weekend, and Alfred Hitchcock's Spellbound, the last of which is famed for its use of the theremin (that "OOOOEEEE" instrument you hear in cheesy sci-fi movies, Mars Attacks! being the foremost modern example). Scores for period pieces like Madame Bovary, Plymouth Adventure, and Young Bess brought Rozsa back to the lush style of Thief of Bagdad. Ivanhoe, Knights of the Round Table, and The King's Thief further thrust Rozsa into the arena of the adventure film, but they were only precursors (albeit superb ones) for what was to come. The monumental scores for Quo Vadis (which actually came right after Rozsa's noir period), Ben-Hur, King of Kings, El Cid, and Sodom and Gomorrah are simply peerless, bursting with raw power, surging orchestral action, heart-rending solos, and empyrean outbursts of choral splendor. The action music for the sea battles and resplendent fanfares for the chariot race in Ben-Hur complement the achingly gorgeous love theme and the music for the Nativity scene. But it is the epilogue music for King of Kings (a glorious choral rendition of the Lord's Prayer theme) that has come the closest out of any piece of music to making me shed tears (in a good way). In truth, some scores from the Golden Age sound just a little dated to my ears, but I do not have that problem with Rozsa's music in the slightest. His transcendent music reminds me of why I listen to film music in the first place and the sublime heights it can reach if in the hands of a true master.

All the Brothers Were Valiant
The Asphalt Jungle
Beau Bremmell (with Richard Addinsell)
Ben-Hur**
Crest of the Wave
Crisis
Desert Fury
East Side West Side
El Cid**
The Golden Voyage of Sinbad
Ivanhoe*
Julius Caesar
King of Kings**
The King's Thief
Knights of the Round Table*
The Light Touch
Lust for Life
Madame Bovary
The Miniver Story
Plymouth Adventure
The Power
The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes*
Quo Vadis*
The Red Danube
Sodom and Gomorrah**
Something of Value
The Story of Three Loves
The Thief of Bagdad*
Tip on a Dead Jockey
The VIPs
Young Bess*

Alfred Newman

If you're going by sheer number of Oscars won, Alfred Newman was the mightiest of all film composers, with nine naked golden men in his name. Of course, Oscars don't necessarily guarantee quality--just ask (as of this writing) James Newton Howard, Danny Elfman, Basil Poledouris, Alfred's son Thomas, and, on the flip side, Gustavo Santaolalla and Michael Gore. Yet Newman truly was a remarkable talent; if nothing else, his renowned fanfare for the 20th Century Fox logo alone cements his eminence as a composer. As head of the Fox music department, Newman conducted, arranged, and supervised a multitude of scores, yet it is his own compositions that showcase his true talent. Unlike many of his contemporaries (Steiner, Rozsa, Waxman, Korngold) Newman was American-born. One of his first early scores was for Wuthering Heights in 1939, in which he captured the romantic yearning of the admittedly miserable Heathcliff and Catherine. Other highlights include Gunga Din, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, All About Eve, The Robe, The Seven Year Itch, Love Is a Many Splendored Thing, The Diary of Anne Frank, How the West Was Won, The Greatest Story Ever Told, and Airport. He also specialized in adapting Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals for film, including Carousel, The King and I, South Pacific, Flower Drum Song, and State Fair.

Newman left his mark upon the world of music in other ways as well. His brothers Lionel and Emil were film composers and conductors, as are his sons Thomas and David and his nephew Randy. But Newman's own versatility, craft, and talent made for an incredible legacy of salad dressing scores worthy of approbation.


Wuthering Heights

Dimitri Tiomkin

While Dimitri Tiomkin hailed from Russia, many of his most famous scores were, rather ironically, rip-roaring Westerns. After spending some years in Berlin and Paris, Tiomkin moved to America, starting his Hollywood career following the Great Depression. He swiftly established a relationship with Frank Capra, scoring Lost Horizon, You Can't Take It With You, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Meet John Doe, and perennial Christmas classic It's a Wonderful Life. He also collaborated with Howard Hawks on The Big Sky and Land of the Pharaohs and with Alfred Hitchcock on Shadow of a Doubt, Strangers on a Train, I Confess, and Dial M for Murder. But Tiomkin's talents really flourished in the Western genre--not only did he provide High Noon, Gunfight at the OK Corral, and The Alamo with scores that perfectly depict the optimistic, adventurous spirit of the Western frontier, but he also wrote title songs that became breakaway hits with the public (i.e., those who aren't nerdy about film scores). Although the lyrics sound rather cheesy to thus writer's ears, the tunes themselves prove that one does not have to be born in a specific country in order to understand its musical ethos.


Gunfight at the OK Corral
The High and the Mighty (Suite)
Land of the Pharaohs
Search for Paradise

Max Steiner

Known as the father of film music, Max Steiner set the precedent for what Hollywood scores sounded like and many of the methods, both artistic and technical, by which they were written and recorded. Steiner was born in Austria-Hungary and wrote his first operetta at age 15. After moving to America, he had a stint on Broadway but found his true calling when he moved to Hollywood in 1929. The film Symphony for Six Million was the first prominent Hollywood film that featured underscore that played under a majority of the picture. The next year, he scored the monumental King King, incorporating identifiable themes and motifs in a score with a surprising amount of musical complexity and sophistication, especially for a score written so early in Hollywood's history. Steiner became a Warner Brothers mainstay, finding incredible success with his score to Gone with the Wind and its immortal Tara's theme. Steiner ended up scoring over 300 films, many of them deftly incorporating snippets of popular tunes or classical works. Other notable works include Casablanca, Now Voyager, The Big Sleep, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, They Died with Their Boots On, and John Ford's The Searchers. One of Steiner's themes from A Summer Place has become the epitome of pop easy-listening; Tim Burton used the tune in both Batman and Dark Shadows. However, the score also contains a more lush, heartfelt love theme that displays Steiner's range just within a single genre. Steiner was a true pioneer of the film score, providing a foundation that the best film composers built on.

Helen of Troy
A Summer Place

Franz Waxman

One of the premier film composers of the Golden Age of cinema, Franz Waxman, like many of his contemporaries, studied classical music in Europe before immigrating to America. Waxman was born in what is now Poland, studying music in Dresden and orchestrating music for the nascent German film industry. After moving to Hollywood, Waxman made a splash with his scores for The Bride of Frankenstein and Alfred Hitchcock's Rebecca. He later collaborated with Hitchcock on Suspicion, The Paradine Case, and Rear Window; although the last film doesn't contain a conventional underscore, Waxman still provided jazzy, upbeat music for the main title and a piano tune played by of the neighbors James Stewart spies on. (Incidentally, said neighbor is played by Ross Bagdasarian, creator of Alvin and the Chipmunks). Other highlights include The Spirit of St. Louis, Peyton Place, and the epic Taras Bulba. Waxman became the first film composer to earn a Best Score Oscar in two consecutive years for Sunset Boulevard and A Place in the Sun.

The Silver Chalice

Leigh Harline

Leigh Harline was a staff composer for the Walt Disney Studios back when Walt Guess-His-Last-Name was actually alive. Harline contributed music to many of the short Silly Symphonies cartoons, including Father Noah's Ark, The Wise Little Hen (which introduced Donald Duck), The Band Concert, Music Land, Thru the Mirror, The Old Mill, and Lend a Paw. He then wrote, with Frank Churchill and Paul Smith, the music for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Harline's greatest achievement came with Disney's next animated feature, Pinocchio, for which he composed the bulk of the score (with additional contributions by Paul J. Smith) and the music for film's classic songs, including "When You Wish Upon a Star," "Little Wooden Head," "Give a Little Whistle," "Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee," and Ultron's theme song. Harline's complex yet accessible score perfectly captures the various moods of adventure, wonder, horror, and balls-out action of the animated classic. After Pinocchio, Harline left Disney to compose scores for films such as Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House and 7 Faces of Dr. Lao.

Pinocchio*