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[experiment627]

Hey folks,

just wanted to give you a quick "heads-up" (and thought this might be better suited to the Trip Reports section - my apologies to the moderators if I was mistaken):

- arrived safely in Orlando on Sunday - after almost 24 hours of travel. Got to my place (2 bedrooms, four people) at 1:30 in the morning-ish...

- the first two days were almost nothing but filling out tons of forms

- today's my "Off day", can't hit the parks yet for I'm not getting my ID before tomorrow during traditions

- went to Pleasure Island last night and had an amazing time! We accidently stumbled into the Adventurers' Club and this is the coolest Disney club ever! Really lots of fun. A great cast. Have to do it again.
Then went into "Motions". Got back home at 1:30... (yeah, kind of early, but the jetlag still got me - and these prudes didn't let me drink! I hadn't brought my passport with me and apparently my EU driver's license as well as my German ID card are not being accepted as prove that I'm actually way past my 21st birthday  :?)

- I'm now going to work as a ticket agent at the Magic Kingdom (I suppose at the TTC).

- Pictures are coming - but now I'm going to hit the pool and maybe Downtown Disney afterwards.

- Hope I made you all jealous enough.   :twisted:

[Kristof]

Yeah, Adventures' Club is a lot of fun.  I liked the exterior and interior of the building, which reminded me of Colonel Hathi's at DLRP.  You should check out the Comedy Club, if you like stand-up comedy.

Keep on posting!

[experiment627]

You should check out the Comedy Club, if you like stand-up comedy.

I certainly will! But summer's still young... hope to go to one of the parks tonight after traditions.

Went to Downtown Disney again (I always want to call it Disney Village...) yesterday. Took a stroll through the stores (World of Disney is huge - almost too huge for my taste...), was shocked that their McDonald's is 1.) way smaller than the one at DV and 2.) way more expensive :!:

When the usual thunderstorms hit the area, I took the ferry (all of the transportation they offer is quite cool, but the times to get from one point to another are just ridiculous...) to Port Orleans and took a walk around the French Quarter (beautiful hotel!) and Riverside (kinda expected Scarlett O'Hara to storm out one of the buildings there).

Took the bus to the MK and from there the ferry to the Grand Floridian. Nice hotel with an awesome lobby though I prefer the coziness of our dear DLH...

That's pretty much all I did yesterday. Not too much. But considiring that I spent ages on busses and ferries and the heat was wearing me down quite a bit, it ain't too bad.  :wink:

[Kristof]

1.) way smaller than the one at DV and 2.) way more expensive

And a lot less choice in food (nothing at all for vegetarians).

[Kristof]

Experiment, I'm wondering... how was your welcome at WDW?  Are there other German CM's around, besides at Epcot ofcourse.  :wink:

[experiment627]

Alright,

so I had my Disney Traditions yesterday - which weren't too bad, but not nearly as much fun as the ones in Paris...

And in the evening I finally managed to hit the parks!
We actually went to the Disney-MGM Studios, because the folks I got to know here wanted to go on ToT... desperately.

So we got to the Studios around 19:00 took a stroll down the beautiful Hollywood Boulevard and turned right into the even more beautiful Sunset Boulevard. This area of the park has so much atmosphere and is wonderfully designed. (Unfortunately, the entrance to the park is really anticlimatic and a true let down compared to the other parks, I think.)
There was a "13" minutes wait at the Tower... we wandered through the eerie gardens, went into the Lobby and straight into the library... Rod Serling is so cool... then through the boiler room and onto our service elevator. In short: this is still a masterpiece. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful!

Folks were now lining up for the first showing of "Fantasmic!" - so we decided to do more attractions... a wise move! The park was completely dead with no lines at all! First, Great-Movie Ride... I'd like to say that Paris is missing such an impressive AA-attraction as this (and scenes like "The Wizard of Oz" are impressive), but in truth, the ride lacks a decent storyline and some of the AA-figures look just plain odd... (I wouldn't have recognized Gene Kelley or Ingrid Bergman if they hadn't told me!)
Next a short walk (the park is incredibly small!) over to MuppetVision... hilarious! We got to see the full preshow - which was just as hilarious as the main show! Loved every bit of it!
After that I had the strangest ride on "Star Tours": we just started our trip to Endor when the PA came on and a CM reminded somebody not to video-tape the ride - and then he forgot to turn the ride's soundtrack back on... so we had a mute version of "Star Tours". Which really did take away *a lot* of its fun. However, it was interesting to realise how loud the hydraulics on the simulator actually are...
After the ride, we informed a CM at the exit about the mishap, we immediatly offered us another trip to Endor, but we declined. (One of our group doesn't do well with simulator rides.)

We leisurely strolled back to Sunset Boulevard... had a bite at the food court (What?!?!? No CM discounts on counter service?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?) and then it was time for the second show of "Fantasmic!"... the theatre was only half-filled... we had wonderful seats. The show has its short comings, no doubt about it, but in the end I still caught myself open-mouthed at this wonderful performance. (Mickey, you're my heroe! And Pocahontas... you're hot!  :wink: )

We walked out of the park, thinking: "yes, we finally arrived!" We had been here since Sunday but only after having set foot into the parks, we were finally at Walt Disney World...

Alright folks, hope you enjoy these short notes of mine... gotta run now... have a bus to catch. Today's agenda: Animal Kingdom.  

[Kristof]

Today's agenda: Animal Kingdom.

NOW I'm jealous.  :wink:

[experiment627]

Today's agenda: Animal Kingdom.

NOW I'm jealous.  :wink:

Then my day's task is done.  

[experiment627]

Went to Magic Kingdom on Saturday...

Got to ride Haunted Mansion (not nearly as good as Phantom Manor, in my oppinion), Buzz, Splash Mountain (if anyone ever ask again why there isn't one in Paris - I got *soaked* to the bone...) and the new Pirates. (Mentioned in another thread)

Monday I visited Epcot:
got a FP for Soarin first, then went to Mission: Space - loved it! The sensations in there are just amazing and so unique. Really, it stands out. Not one of Disney's best rides, mind you, but really, really unique and very fitting to Epcot.
Then I caught a showing of Universe of Energy. I love Ellen DeGeneres and she didn't disappoint. I really loved it.
And then it was time for Soarin... just beautiful. Really, really beautiful. And you can't help but move to that great movie...
Also loved World Showcase. The movie in France was beautiful, as was the one in China. They had a candy sculptor in Japan, who was amazing.
At the end of the day, I watched Illuminations which is, in my oppinion, the best nighttime show on property.

Last night, for the 4th of July, I met up with some folks from work at the beach of the Polynesian to watch the fireworks - now that was amazing! Usually, I don't think that a lot of noisy explosions are the trademark of a good fireworks display, but this one was just *HUGE*. It was presented on a huge "canvas" stretching over the whole Seven Seas Lagoon. Really, really, really jaw-dropping...

So much from me for tonight. If you've got any questions about anything in particular, don't hesitate to ask!

[Kristof]

Just keep on posting!  

[Anthony]

Yep, keep the reports coming, when you've got time! :wink:

I'm really enjoying reading them, it's a fascinating insight into the experience.

[Dlrpfan]

looks like you are really having fun in the sun!

[experiment627]

looks like you are really having fun in the sun!

What sun? Seriously: don't come to Florida in the summer. The weather is just awful. First it really heats up till about noon... than in the afternoon you have some very heavy rainshowers and thunderstorms (Orlando is one of the cities in the world with the most lightning strikes) - but they don't cool the day down! Just the opposite! As soon as they move on, the whole place turns into one giant steam bath. I cannot stress this out enough: if you want to have a good time at WDW, don't come in the summer!!!!!!!

Anyhow... just returned from a very nice evening at Disney-MGM Studios... it is a rather pretty small park and strolling down Hollywood and Sunset Boulevard it really hits you how much WDS is lacking... but when it comes to the rides...
Well, Tower of Terros is still the most awesome ride ever. Period. This has to be the pinacle of Disney Storytelling.

Also managed to get onto Rock'n'Rollercoaster: the exterior is really pretty, the queue is about the same - the preshow is fun and it is hardly missed at WDS... but for the ride itself... compared to our version it's less impressive and those blacklight props look rather cheap. I prefer our lightshow.
I also did Star Tours again (this time with sound)... have to say I find the French Rex a lot funnier with his very shrill and packing voice.

Also got to watch the "Stars & Motorcars Parade" - what a bore. The Cinema Parade is a lot more fun to watch and a lot more imaginative, though the MGM parade has a lot of great characters (a free-roaming R2-D2!!!) But all in all, the parade is just as boring as the name implies: a lot of "Stars" (= characters) in "Motorcars"... Even WWoDP is more fun (and you know I have been pretty harsh with that one in the past).

We chose to eat at Backlot Express. This place seems to be a lot larger than the one at WDS, but due to that it loses a lot of its charm. (In fact, the Backlot Express has to be one of my favourite counter service places in DLP...) But the turkey sandwich that I had, though expensive, was very nice... (but not as nice as the one that I had from the Boardwalk Bakery a couple of days ago.)

Oh, almost forgot about that one: went to see "One Man's Dream". The movie is nice but very, very, VERY "Corporate Identity"-correct. The exhibit is nice and I'd love to see one like that in Paris.

All in all I have to say that Disney-MGM offers a lot nicer package than WDS and more attractions - but the interiors that WDS has, appeal to me a lot more. (Now why can't they combine those two???)


And a more random thing: went out to Pleasure Island with two lovely girls Thursday night and we ended up at "Raglan Road", the fairly new Irish Pub / Restaurant. This one is really cool. The exteriors are very nicely done and are as welcoming as the interiors. Inside you have live Irish music and dancing at times. Our server seemed more European than American in her attitude  :wink: , which I suppose was fitting. I had a Chicken Pie which was very nice... also had some Irish Cider, but that was ridicilously expensive, so in the future, I will pass on any alcoholics to go with my meal...

So much for today. Planning to go to the MK tomorrow morning.

Orlando out.  

[experiment627]

Okay, here we go... some of my impressions of the Magic Kingdom:

it's a great park, with lots of nice corners - but it falls really short compared to "our" Kingdom. Especially the train ride disappointed me in that area... it is lacking the beautiful vistas that we are so used to...
The Opening Ceremony was fun and they had lots of great entertainment on Main Street (loved the Dapper Dans).
The smaller entertainment stuff is lovely... the "big ones" though... sigh... Cinderellabration and Share a Dream Come True suffer both from the same thing: there are great production values at work (lots of performers, great floats / stage), but they are just no fun to watch. I don't know why, but it is lacking magic... (To be fair, Share a Dream Come True is currently going through some changes, which might explain why the parade was so disappointing - though that's still not a good excuse.)

I enjoyed Tomorrowland very much. I thought "Stitch" was actually fun. (Though I don't have to do that again right away.) "Carousel of Progress" is beautifully nostalgic and the TTA is a fun way to explore the land and adds some great kinetics. All in all, I really like the look of the land. "Space Mountain" could need an update, but as it stands now, it's a fun coaster for almost the whole family. (Though it is very bumpy... but due to not having headrests as the one in Paris, this has not become as much of an issue as it maybe should be...)

My absolute highlight and now one of my Top Ten Disney Attractions is "Philharmagic". This one is so beautiful. So magical. So Disney. It's 3D, but instead of cheap tricks, they use smells and water really to enhance the experience. I'd say, this is the "Soarin'" of the MK: just beautiful, just amazing, just Disney.

In general, the parks aren't really busy right now and lines very manageable... Don't know why that is, but then again: Florida in the summer is not the best idea...
Also saw the Tiki Room and went on the Treehouse. (Wow, its water system actually works!!!)

The one ride now that seems to attract HUGE crowds is "Pirates". The wait can get up to one hour - which is amazing for "Pirates", don't you think?
A really fun thing they added is "Jack Sparrow's Pirate Tutorial". Jack Sparrow - an amazing actor, who really acts and talks just almost like a spitting image of Johnny Depp - teaches kids to be pirates. And for the finaly he and his trusted assistant Mack are singing together with the audience "Yo Ho! Yo Ho! A Pirate's Life For Me!". And while Captain Jack did that, he grabbed me by the shoulders and almost forced me to sing as loud as I can in front of all of these people... ahem... not one of my most enjoyable moments, but one I will always think back to with a smile on my face. (Oh man, I love when Disney does that   )

[experiment627]

I have been quite for a couple of days. Sorry for that.

I'll give you a short run down on some Disney offerings I got to experience this past week:

- met an old colleague from Paris working at the French pavillion in Epcot. I guess it really *is* a small world...

- spent another evening at the MK... parks are busy right now, but quite managable (with PoC having HUGE lines). Watched the very nice "SpectroMagic" Parade and "Wishes" - and surprising to many around here, I prefer Paris' "Wishes" quiet a bit. (Does anybody care to learn why?  :wink: )

- the next night we went to Epcot. Got to ride "Test Track", which is nice. But the speed thing is a bit overrated, considering that I'm used to the Autobahn.   Caught a couple of minutes of a horrible cover-band slaughtering Aerosmith songs at the American Adventure and had a nice snack in Japan. (Terriyaki Chicken...)
The evening was topped by viewing "Illuminations", which is IMHO the best nighttime show on property. (Followed by "Fantasmic", "Spectro", "Wishes" and - if you want to count that - the "Electrical Water Pageant"...)

- This afternoon, I walked around Epcot. You know that it's bad (= hot) weather here in Florida, when you go on any attraction without much of a line just to get into something air-conditioned. That way I ended up seeing "Voyage of the Little Mermaid" (wow... makes "Animagique" look like it has a good storyline...), the "Narnia" exhibit (now that was a waste of time...), the Backlot Tour (uhm... wow, Paris version is pretty elaborate compared to MGM's), the Muppets (now THAT I love. Deeply) and "Sounds Dangerous", which turned out to be quite entertaining.

After a couple of weeks here I have to say that just the amount of amazing entertainment here at the Walt Disney World Resort makes this place the leader of the pack. But never, never let anyone say that WDW is "better" than DLP. Okay, I hold a strong bias for DLP, but what they've got in their parks (note: I said "in their parks") is usually a good deal better than what WDW has. There. I said it.