Goodbye Stitch...hello....????

Well according to a few sources it appears Stitch's Celebration over in Tomorrow Land at the Magic Kingdom may already be gone after only six weeks. Personally I don't see why Disney added a show for a movie that has been out for a few years. While I do understand they may be trying it because of the Stitch's Great Escape ride, the character is not one of the most beloved characters.

I have a better idea for Disney; Buzz Lightyear's Ranger Academy. It makes more sense because Buzz Lightyear has continued to be a popular character amongst younger guests plus they have the Buzz Lightyear ride over in Tomorrow Land. Young guests could sign up to be part in a Ranger training session, similar to the Padawan Jedi Training Academy in Hollywood Studios. Buzz Lightyear would teach the kids about being "rangers" ending with a few alien foes being blasted away by the little cadets.

Another reason this would be a smart move is because Toy Story 3 should be coming out sometime next year plus the Toy Story Midway Mania! ride has been packed since it's opening just over a year ago. The Toy Story franchise has one of the most stable followings by children who are getting old enough to enjoy Disney.

Good idea? Bad idea? Have a different idea? Please share it!

Top 10 Favorite Walt Disney World Attractions

10. Stitch's Great Escape - While I'm sure Fantasmic from Sorcerer Radio will strongly disagree with this choice, I really enjoyed this attraction as my wife and I are fans of the movie Lilo & Stitch. The experience is mostly a sound, smell and feel type of experience similar to It's Tough to Be a Bug in the Animal Kingdom or Honey I Shrunk the Audience in Epcot. Stitch's ride is located in Tomorrow Land in the Magic Kingdom. It replaced the Alien Encounter, which was much more terrifying an experience while the Stitch experience is more humorous. My wife and I assumed they change the ride to Stitch as the Alien Encounter may have been too scary for Disney's younger guests.

9. Expendition Everest - A great experience similar to that of Splash Mountain but with a bit more scare moments as well as bigger drops. This Animal Kingdom attraction may be a little scary for the younger crowd, but it's worth the wait to get the ride experience. Despite the alleged rumors of the Yeti being removed, it is not. It simply may not be working (the arm may not be animated at the end) but they will have a strobe light set up to make it a rather frightening experience.

8. The Jungle Cruise - While this isn't a ride you'd want to go on more than once due to the boat drivers all giving you the same lines over and over again, it is still a great ride. The quick witted boat drivers can usually deliver amusing lines throughout the ride. Its been at Disney as long as I can remember and is one of the classic rides. The Jungle Cruise is located in Adventure Land in the Magic Kingdom.

7. Pirates of the Caribbean - Another classic ride which now includes Captain Barbosa, Davey Jones and Captain Jack Sparrow. I could ride this at least 3 times the next time I end up going. It's a great ride that you should never pass up when at the Magic Kingdom. The animatronic figures for Captain Jack are some of the most life-like animatronics in Disney. Pirates is located in Adventure Land in the Magic Kingdom.

6. Soarin' - One of the best rides Epcot has to offer. Located in the Land Pavilion, this ride features a relaxing hanggliding experience over a range of locations. From snowy ski trail to a large Orange grove. Not only will you see and feel the sites, but you will also be introduced to the aroma of the pine trees or the citrus smell of oranges.

5. Peter Pan's Flight - One of the classic rides in Fantasy Land in the Magic Kingdom, but with an experience far superior to the Winnie the Pooh or Snow White rides. You'll experience the sights and sounds of the movie within a soaring boat. You'll fly over London, Neverland, and over Captain Hooks crew. The sights and sounds make this ride a wonderful experience and will explain why the wait to get on may be far longer than the wait for Winnie the Pooh or Snow White rides.

4. Finding Nemo The Musical - If you see only one show in the Animal Kingdom, see this one. This show is a great presentation along with some really good music. It is the perfect experience for the young and old. This may be one of the best experiences to see in all of Walt Disney World, but then again I've never seen Fantasmic at Disney Hollywood Studios.

3. Splash Mountain - One of the must go on rides in all of Walt Disney World, Splash Mountain is a great ride to go on for all ages. You should be prepared to get a little wet, but the ride takes you through Br'er Rabbits own little world. It features the Zippidi Doo Da song as well as the Laughing Place song. Splash Mountain is located in Frontier Land in the Magic Kingdom

2. DINOSAUR! - A surprisingly fun ride, DINOSAUR! takes you on an adventure through the sites and sounds of the Disney movie of the same name. Located in Dino Land in the Animal Kingdom. The ride has many interesting animatronics but may be a little frightening to younger guests. It does feature a sudden run in with a T-Rex near the end of the ride. When my wife and I went on during our last trip, the child behind us ended up crying for the rest of the ride. The T-Rex moment is also the time when they snap your photo, so be prepared.

1. The Haunted Mansion - My absolute favorite ride in all of Disney World, the Haunted Mansion is an absolute must go on ride for Disney World guests. While it may be a spooky experience, there isn't much to turn away younger guests. I remember being 3-years-old when I first went on this ride and enjoying the experience. Now that I've gone again as an adult, I can say this ride is a great experience for anyone. If you go on YouTube to search for Haunted Mansion & Nightmare Before Christmas, you can see how Disney Re-Decorated the ride for the Holiday season. I believe the re-decoration was only done in Disneyland and not Disney World. I will say after seeing the video, I greatly prefer the regular version.

Not sure what I'll have in store next time, but stay tuned and thanks for tuning in!

Making the Most of It

In today's blog, I'll do my best at helping you get the most out of your Walt Disney World experience in the parks. Please be aware these tips are based on my recent trip to Disney and not based on any particular research or study. When I went I also went during the off season, used the Disney Dining Plan and had park hopper passes; all of which I recommend.

First Tip - Rise and Shine
The first tip to making the most of your days in Walt Disney World would be to get up as early as you can. Be sure you give yourself time to grab breakfast before heading to your park for the day and don't rush it. The last thing you'll want is to get jam on your shirt or end up with a stomach ache to start the day at the parks. Eat a decent meal, but don't rush. Breakfast is important as it will create the much needed energy for a day at one of the parks. You can also schedule a character breakfast, but we didn't do any character meals on our trip. From what I've heard, they're best for families that want a fun experience but may not be a good option for adults traveling without children.

Second Tip - Get to the park before or at opening time.
After eating breakfast, grab you means of transportation in time to get at the parks at opening time. This will help you ensure you get on, or get fast passes, for that ride you want to go on most. You'll also be treated with the opening ceremonies, that are usually entertaining and can vary depending on the time of year or if the park is running any special events. My wife and I caught the opening to the Hollywood Studios park as well as the Animal Kingdom opening. The Hollywood Studios opening is nothing spectacular and feels more like a time killer than something interesting to see. The Animal Kingdom opening was more interesting, but still aimed at a younger audience.

Getting there early also ensures you make the most out of your park visits, especially if you have a park hopper pass. It leaves you open to maybe grab dinner at another park or just go to another park or make a trip to Downtown Disney.

Third Tip - Know Your Parks!
This is probably the most important tip as far as scheduling your day. The one park you may be best of not going for the opening time to is Disney's Hollywood Studios. I suggest this because the Fantasmic show at the end of the day is one of the main shows you shouldn't miss...although we did miss it. If you go in the off season, I'd recommend you check to see if the show is playing that night or not. You can always go at night from another park if you have a park hopper pass.

Depending on the season you go, you should be able to spend a full day in both Epcot and Magic Kingdom. Both parks are so large that you'll spend a decent amount of time waiting for rides, eating, and maybe taking in some of the stores the parks have to offer. Make use of the fast pass system as much as you can.

For the Magic Kingdom we got right into the Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, Small World and the Jungle Cruise. Oddly enough we ended up getting Fast Passes to get on the Peter Pan ride and the longest wait we had without Fast Passes was for Splash Mountain. I would strongly suggest either going on or getting Fast Passes for Splash Mountain to start the day. There are plenty of other rides that have lines that are shorter or are a little less boring to wait in. The Haunted Mansion queue is inside, out of the hot sun or possibly rain, and gives you a few interesting sites to look at as you wait to get in.

For the Epcot we ended up going twice just to take in everything. Soarin' is easily the most popular ride there, but I'd recommend you check out Spaceship Earth, Maelstrom (in Norway) and the Finding Nemo rides. I would recommend steering clear of the Honey I Shrunk the Audience ride. It features a very long intro as well as a very outdated 3D film. If you want to save time by grabbing a quick-service lunch, the Mexico Pavilion offers some great authentic Mexican food right outside the temple entrance. Epcot is more of a park for observation so plan on a full day of taking in the scenery of the World Showcase and going on the rides they have to offer.

For Animal Kingdom, definitely head in early. You should head right to the Kilimanjaro Safari ride to see the animals just getting their days started. From there head to Expedition Everest and be sure to hop on the Dinosaur ride. Animal Kingdom should take you about 2/3rds of a day to see all the park has to offer unless you run into some lengthy lines at the rides or really take your time. Be sure to also schedule time to catch the Lion King and Finding Nemo musicals. Both are really good but also get packed really quick. Neither of the shows allow you to bring in food or drink, so be prepared. For the most part, you'll be walking around taking in the scenes the Animal Kingdom has to offer.

Disney's Hollywood Studios will probably be your shortest adventure on your trip to Disney as it doesn't have very much to offer. The rides are very limited and the Toy Story Midway Mania! is probably the most popular ride there right now. If the rumored Star Tours 2.0 comes out, that will likely draw a crowd as well. Almost everything there, except for Sounds Dangerous, is worth taking in. Due to some slight illness, we skipped a trip on the Tower of Terror, but I plan on going on it on my next trip. The Sounds Dangerous attraction is very outdated and not worth the wait whatsoever. The Rockin' Rollercoaster is also a great ride, but if you don't like a ride that starts off going from 0-60 mph in 2.5 seconds...it might not be for you. The longest waits you'll have will likely be for the Rockin' Roller Coaster and for Toy Story Midway Mania! I recommend the fast pass for Toy Story and I don't believe there is a fast pass option for Rockin' Rollercoaster.

All in all, your time at the parks really depends on circumstances such as the season, lines and the time you go to the park but unless you're going in March, during a holiday season or during the summer...you shouldn't run into too many problems. I'd highly recommend also looking into Extra Magic Hours, getting a Park Hopper ticket and making the best of both of them.

Next time I'll review my top 10 rides!

Latest Disney Experience

Well it's been about 9 months since the wife and I went on our Honeymoon at Disney and I'm already trying to plan a return trip in the future. For now I've decided to start writing blogs about my recent trip to Disney, giving my feedback on certain rides/restaurants at Walt Disney World, as well as blogging about the latest news/rumors with Walt Disney World.

Our experience with WDW last Fall was an amazing one. While we weren't able to go top shelf with everything, it really didn't dampen the experience as much as my wife's ear infection did, but more on that another time. We stayed at Disney's All-Star Movies resort, which is one of the value level resorts in WDW. Despite being a value resort, the hotel isn't as bad as the word "value" may make it seem. If you're going to get a hotel strictly to sleep in but not spend time in, I would say stick with the value resorts. They offer the amenities you'd need to get by during downtime, like pools, arcade, dining and so on. It will save you money that you can instead invest in the meal plan or a night out at Downtown Disney.



The All-Star resorts are all pretty much the same other than the themes. The Movies resort is great for a family trip because it's all themed after Disney movies. The pools are also really large, so it's not very crowded and have some fun themes. The main pool is themed after Fantasia, including Mickey directing fountains of water into the pool. They also have a pool with a Mighty Ducks theme.

Besides the pools, the hotel also features large characters from 101 Dalmations, Toy Story, Fantasia and Herbie the Love Bug. The dining area offers a decent amount of choices and the food is pretty good. They open early enough to have breakfast before heading off to the parks before they open for the day. It got the most crowded at dinner time and late breakfast (around 8-10am). They also have an outdoor bar by the Fantasia pool (which is also right outside the main dining area).

The other service the hotel provides, which I highly recommend you take advantage of if you stay at a Disney Resort, is the option to have merchandise shipped to the hotel gift shop for pick up instead of carrying an item around a park. My wife and I did this with just about everything we bought at the parks. It made the park experience much less stressful as we weren't lugging around bags with our items or being worried about an item being damaged on a ride.

Overall, if you're looking to save money on a WDW trip I would highly recommend staying at a value resort. They may not be the largest rooms you'll ever stay in, but if you're just using the room to sleep in it's worth cutting the costs down.

For my next blog I'll be discussing how to maximize your WDW experience based on my recent trip.

Back to the Front

So for the first time in nearly 8 years I've decided to get into the livejournal/blogging area of the infinite place known as the internet.
Things have been wild and crazy around the house lately as I've put myself under more emotional distress but that should subside when the new wifey and I head to Disney next week. I haven't been on a real vacation in years and I haven't been to Disney since I was 3 years old. Oddly enough, I can recall just about everything I did there when I was 3, including what the hotel looked like, having breakfast with Goofy and going on the 20,000 Leagues under the sea ride, which is no more. God knows if that hotel is even there anymore.
Well gotta get back to work.