Adventures in Fantasyland and Beyond
Our day at Disney World was most certainly an adventure, a fantasy, and a futuristic experience out of this world in a new frontier. I think that just about covers all of the lands of Disney World except Liberty Square (DWorld version of Disneyland's New Orleans Square). We started the day with a visit and a picture with Daisy Duck at Main Street and boy did the girls love that! From there we cruised straight down through Cinderella's castle to Fantasyland. Situated similar to its California cousin, Fantasyland features such classics as Dumbo, the carosel, Peter Pan, and Snow White. The Florida version also includes 'It's a Small World' (a much more compact version than the one in California) and a great 3D movie called 'Mickey's Philarmagic'. We spent at least until lunch time here as the kids were thrilled with these rides (except Dumbo which instantly had a 30 minute line). I really enjoyed the 3D movie partly. because of the entertainment and partly because it was air conditioned. We felt similarly to Small World - God bless that A/C!
After lunch we split up a bit and I headed to Space Mountain on a fast pass. Disney World was already crowded even though the summer had just started so Fast Pass usage was critical.
As it is in Disneyland, Fantasyland is great for the little ones. Beyond that they next best area is in Adventureland where they have Aladdin's flying carpets, the Jungle Boat, the Tiki Room, and Pirates. Unfortunately we did not make it there until the evening and thus missed the Tiki Room and the Jungle Boat. But the girls absolutely loved the flying carpets. Much like Small World, Pirates is very compact in comparison to its California cousin. In a nutshell, that is kind of the weird thing about Disney World - it is pretty spread out with large lagoons and such between lands, but the rides seems pretty compact compared to the Disneyland version. Pirates here has one minor drop compared to the two longer ones at Disneyland. There are exceptions of course. Splash Mountain here is far superior with a good 8 or 9 drops including the big one at the end. Space Mountain has the old style toboggan style sleds compared to the ones at Dinseyland where you ride side by side. The ride here is similar except the majority of the line is indoors.
That is one other difference between the two parks - most of the ride lines here in Florida are indoors. They have to be with the extreme humidity and intense heat especially during the busy summer months. Also Florida is prone to thunderstorms or even hurricanes (not so much in the Orlando area for hurricanes) so indoor queues are necessary.
So in all we had a good, but very hot day at Disney World's Magic Kingdom. We chugged down gallons of water per person and sweated twice as much out. Sadly we missed Thunder Mountain Rail Road (shut down for maintenance), Haunted Mansion (not enough time), and most of the Tomorrowland features. However the kids got to ride most of their favorites and for the most part we avoided lines in excess of 30 minutes.
We will most certainly head back some day. I won't stay off property like we did this time. If you are coming to Disney World for your entire vacation, suck it up and stay at a property within the resort area. Even a hotel 4 miles away can take over an hour to get into the park because of the need to park and then take the boat or monorail into whatever park.
But lots of good memories, and now that I have figured out that my memory card survived my Cayman Islands swim, I have those preserved for all to see!
One hour until we leave Cocoa Beach to get to the Orlando airport. Vacation is quickly coming to an end.
Last night we walked to the kids down to the pier in time to see the Freedom of the Seas departing the port and taking the next round of passengers out on a fantastic trip on the seas. Going to be 105 degrees in Phoenix when we land there - thank God I am not stepping outside. Supposed to be 91 in Sacramento today. That will feel cool compared to the mid-90s and 60% humidity we've had all week. Last night there was as severe thunderstorm warning just to the north of us. Everywhere I go, I seem to encounter special weather statements.
Our day at Disney World was most certainly an adventure, a fantasy, and a futuristic experience out of this world in a new frontier. I think that just about covers all of the lands of Disney World except Liberty Square (DWorld version of Disneyland's New Orleans Square). We started the day with a visit and a picture with Daisy Duck at Main Street and boy did the girls love that! From there we cruised straight down through Cinderella's castle to Fantasyland. Situated similar to its California cousin, Fantasyland features such classics as Dumbo, the carosel, Peter Pan, and Snow White. The Florida version also includes 'It's a Small World' (a much more compact version than the one in California) and a great 3D movie called 'Mickey's Philarmagic'. We spent at least until lunch time here as the kids were thrilled with these rides (except Dumbo which instantly had a 30 minute line). I really enjoyed the 3D movie partly. because of the entertainment and partly because it was air conditioned. We felt similarly to Small World - God bless that A/C!
After lunch we split up a bit and I headed to Space Mountain on a fast pass. Disney World was already crowded even though the summer had just started so Fast Pass usage was critical.
As it is in Disneyland, Fantasyland is great for the little ones. Beyond that they next best area is in Adventureland where they have Aladdin's flying carpets, the Jungle Boat, the Tiki Room, and Pirates. Unfortunately we did not make it there until the evening and thus missed the Tiki Room and the Jungle Boat. But the girls absolutely loved the flying carpets. Much like Small World, Pirates is very compact in comparison to its California cousin. In a nutshell, that is kind of the weird thing about Disney World - it is pretty spread out with large lagoons and such between lands, but the rides seems pretty compact compared to the Disneyland version. Pirates here has one minor drop compared to the two longer ones at Disneyland. There are exceptions of course. Splash Mountain here is far superior with a good 8 or 9 drops including the big one at the end. Space Mountain has the old style toboggan style sleds compared to the ones at Dinseyland where you ride side by side. The ride here is similar except the majority of the line is indoors.
That is one other difference between the two parks - most of the ride lines here in Florida are indoors. They have to be with the extreme humidity and intense heat especially during the busy summer months. Also Florida is prone to thunderstorms or even hurricanes (not so much in the Orlando area for hurricanes) so indoor queues are necessary.
So in all we had a good, but very hot day at Disney World's Magic Kingdom. We chugged down gallons of water per person and sweated twice as much out. Sadly we missed Thunder Mountain Rail Road (shut down for maintenance), Haunted Mansion (not enough time), and most of the Tomorrowland features. However the kids got to ride most of their favorites and for the most part we avoided lines in excess of 30 minutes.
We will most certainly head back some day. I won't stay off property like we did this time. If you are coming to Disney World for your entire vacation, suck it up and stay at a property within the resort area. Even a hotel 4 miles away can take over an hour to get into the park because of the need to park and then take the boat or monorail into whatever park.
But lots of good memories, and now that I have figured out that my memory card survived my Cayman Islands swim, I have those preserved for all to see!
One hour until we leave Cocoa Beach to get to the Orlando airport. Vacation is quickly coming to an end.
Last night we walked to the kids down to the pier in time to see the Freedom of the Seas departing the port and taking the next round of passengers out on a fantastic trip on the seas. Going to be 105 degrees in Phoenix when we land there - thank God I am not stepping outside. Supposed to be 91 in Sacramento today. That will feel cool compared to the mid-90s and 60% humidity we've had all week. Last night there was as severe thunderstorm warning just to the north of us. Everywhere I go, I seem to encounter special weather statements.
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