Disney Dinosaurs and Disasters of The Ice Cream Kind...

Thursday 28 April 2016. This will be a dual-park day again for us, though with the bulk of photos coming from the Magic Kingdom. First we must go back in time...

We start the day at EPCOT in the science-oriented bits. The Universe of Energy has a show starring actress Ellen DeGeneres and Bill Nye, The Science Guy (?) looking at how fossilised fuels came about. This starts off as a film show, but then the rows of seats we are sitting in turn round like a train on a turntable and then move off into another huge hall with a literally breathtaking scene, glimpsed through the opening doors...

I didn't take any photos on the ride, but this is my sketch of the sight that awaited us with a whole herd of these gruntodons, one of which greeted us with a sneeze, spraying us with a mist of water! They were very lifelike with Audio-Animatronic movement. There were many more dinosaurs waiting to eat us or each other as our... er... cinema seats (!) moved through several scenes.

We decided to park hop on the Monorail from EPCOT to the Magic Kingdom. I still love the look of the Disney Monorail which goes all the way back to 1964. I remember how excited I was when I heard that Blackpool was to get a monorail in the Pleasure Beach in 1966 and then it looked as though they had made it out of origami folded cardboard... A bit like making a space ship that looked like a horse-drawn stagecoach...

By the time we got to the Magic Kingdom we were hot and thirsty and we decided on ice cream floats from a shop on Main Street U.S.A.

"You'll need to start drinking these straight away!" warned the man at the counter, handing over two large frothing drinks that threatened to explode lava-like over the edge. I took a big swig and Phew! mine was safe.

Miss Franny however was adamant she wanted to go outside before drinking and it erupted all over the cup, the ice cream carton that the man hastily thrust at her, her hand, several napkins that I grabbed, and half the floor before I could persuade her to take a gulp. We mopped up as best we could and left, safe in the knowledge that we couldn't be chased because everyone left in the shop was stuck to the floor...

I had been disappointed on our first visit here, this trip, to see that the Walt Disney World Railway was closed for refurbishment. But today - yahoo! - it was open. We got on at Town Square and did a full circuit of the park. There's not really a chance to take a good photo of the locomotive at the station as it pulls too far forward. It is, after all, the carriages which need to stop at the platform! I took this from behind the barrier as it steamed into the station.

The train stops in both Frontierland and Fantasyland. This is the view from the Frontierland station which overlooks the queueing area for Splash Mountain.

When we came back to Town Square and left the station, we found crowds had gathered for the daily Festival of Fantasy Parade. Oh what the heck! Let's watch again and just concentrate on faces.

We head into Tomorrowland for another trip on the People Mover. In the background you can see the stepless moving pavements that go up and down between ground and platform levels.

We met up with the family to eat at Casey's Corner. Well, the EGGs ate there. One look at the enormous hot dogs smothered in sauce was enough to convince us to look elsewhere but we all sat at the same table outside! By the time we made our way back down to the lagoon and the rows of bus stops, it was going dark and we could see but not hear flashes of lightning on the horizon.

This is one of the ferries that crosses between the Magic Kingdom and the nearest car parks. A fleet of land-trains (Disney call them "trams") run between the theme park and the car parks also. The car parks stretch for miles! Pay particular care as to which car park you leave your car in - it could take ages to find again if you forget!

Back at Caribbean Beach Resort. The sky is dark and cloudy and we can still see lightning. We don't hear any thunder or get any rain though.

Disney World Holiday Index

EPCOT And The World Showcase Part Two

Sunday 24 April 2016. We met up with the family for breakfast at the resort and then caught a bus to EPCOT. There's a few Disney characters to meet along the way but we'll have another look at the World Showcase during our visit.

Grace wanted to meet Joy and Sadness from the recent Disney/Pixar film Inside Out. Eddie was fancying a ride that had a very long waiting time and we said we'd take Grace whilst he and Gill went on that. We took her off in the right direction, saw a sign saying "Character Meeting" or something similar and joined a half-hour queue. With ten minutes or so to go we realised we were in the wrong queue and that we should have gone into the opposite building. We were now queueing to meet Mickey, Minnie and Goofy...

We could hardly jump out of the queue at that stage so we met up with the aged trio (Goofy is 84 and Mickey and Minnie are both 88) and figured we would just have to queue for the other characters later. Grace was quite happy to meet them anyway - she loves Minnie Mouse especially and had not so far had the chance to meet her.

The queue for the Inside Out characters was 45 minutes so I said I'd go to our rendezvous point and meet Gill and Eddie whilst Miss Franny took Grace and joined the queue. It took me half an hour to find Gill and she said there were two lines for the ride they had gone for. The one for two riders was 90 minutes and the one for a single rider was an hour. Eddie had gone for that and was still in there.

I explained what had happened and left her to wait for him and then follow. I went back thinking that I wouldn't have long to wait. After sitting outside the entrance for a further half hour I was wondering whether they had come out a different door and I'd missed them. After an hour I was pacing up and down, but then they came out with Gill and Eddie who had gone in a different way and had been told they could wait near the exit and sneak in when they saw Grace and Fran have their turn.

In the film these characters occupy the brain of a little girl. Joy and Sadness control those emotions and two more characters, Fear and Anger make up the full team. Sadness had seen Grace's long hair and used it to dry her (Sadness's) tears! Whatever had caused the hold-up in the queue, Grace had weathered it without her own brain coming under the control of Anger, causing tantrums!

We split up for a bit after this and Fran and I went to resume our look around the World Showcase that we had started but had to rush the other day. This is the interior of the Aztec pyramid of Mexico where it is always twilight. We looked through the market stalls and watched a craftsman carving wooden animals.

Then, heading for the rear of the room, we took an eight-minute boat ride through the Gran Fiesta Tour starring The Three Caballeros. This is a slightly different theme and content from our previous visit in 1993.

Outside, the sound of mariachi music drew us over to watch and listen to this group of dancer and musicians. We hadn't too long to stay and listen as we were meeting up again for a pre-booked meal at the Norway Pavilion.

We visited the real Norway in 2013 (and will again in 2017) and we appreciated a chance to recall slowly sailing up the fjords and walking around wooden buildings and shops in both Stavanger and Bergen.

A row of shops in particular reminded us of the old town areas of those two cities.

We didn't find any buildings with grass on the roof though. The Norwegians use goats to keep the grass from growing too long on the roofs!

Also authentic were the many trolls in the shops. I wasn't taking any chances this huge one might pass on a cold...

We were booked at the Princess Storybook Dining at the Akershus Royal Banquet Hall. Belle from Beauty and The Beast is the first to welcome us and then Grace tries out her throne as we wait to be seated.

First around the tables is Grace's absolute favourite Princess - Princess Aurora from Sleeping Beauty. She was awake, but she certainly was a beauty. After this, she could easily be my favourite as well...

Cinderella too is no slouch when it comes to beauty - Norway must have first pick of the actresses playing these princesses!

Snow White and Arial, the Little Mermaid (the version with legs) make up the full compliment of princesses for the day. Grace wants to see Aurora again (good girl!) and after enquiring, she comes back for a return visit to talk to Grace and give her a hug. Then she goes back to whichever table should have been next on her tour, much to the surprise and disappointment of everyone else on the other tables in our alcove...

The meal over, we split up again and we continue our stroll through the pavilions of the World Showcase. Looking through the Chinese Gateway into the Chinese Pavilion. The circular blue-roofed building contains a 360 degrees screen and shows a 14-minute film Reflections of China.

The Morocco Pavilion where we had a wander through the shops, a much more relaxed experience than it would have been in Agadir, where we were bombarded with people trying to drag us into their shops.

At Morocco there is a viewpoint over the lagoon. One of the ferry boats from the Showcase Plaza, the edge of the lagoon closest to the park entrance and Future Worlds, is coming in to the landing at Morocco.

Approaching the France Pavilion. The bridge takes you over a waterway. I'm not sure if it's a river or a canal (which is more likely) but you can get a boat from here to Disney's Hollywood Studios and some EPCOT resorts.

The Canada Pavilion. We went in to see another of those 14-minute Circle-Vision 360 degree films about Canada, narrated by Canadian actor and comedian, Martin Short.

Some of the topiary sculptures for the Flower and Garden Festival. Bambi and friends.

We went back towards the main park and waited to catch a photograph of the Monorail on this part of the track that circles the Future Worlds between dropping passengers off and taking on new passengers to and from the park.

Snack time before leaving the park. Apple pieces and a coffee.

Disney World Holiday Index

The EPCOT World Showcase, Part One

Friday 22 April 2016. It's pretty much a free day as we have nothing booked. The EGGs are heading for a water park and we have a leisurely morning and head back to EPCOT around lunchtime as I wanted to go round the World Showcase half of the park without having to rush to find something interesting for Grace.

As it happened, we were so leisurely about getting up and in particular about lazing at an outdoor table with a large mug of coffee after breakfast that we will have to rush round it anyway... Not to worry, we'll come back again.

The World Showcase comprises 12 pavilions each based on a country from around the world. None of them look particularly real - you don't get a castle next door to a half-timbered house on any high street in England for instance, but they do give a little flavour of each country. This is the gateway to the China Pavilion.

Looking across the lagoon from China we see Italy with the Doges' Palace and St Mark's bell tower with a typical Italian large house or hotel. We spent some time in Italy watching an acrobat/juggler who was very funny in his interactions with the watching crowd.

From left to right, we see the edge of America, the gateway to Japan, Disney's Swan Hotel, actually outside the park but I was using a telephoto lens for this shot. On the right is a sanitised version of Morocco. You have to walk into the shops - they don't come and grab your arm and pull you inside... Missing a trick there...

The United Kingdom is hidden behind the tree on the left and the building in the centre is the Canada Pavilion. The two low buildings towards the right flank the path back to the Golf Ball and the Future Worlds of EPCOT.

Looking back over where we have come from, still from China, we see the wooden building of Norway. The last time we were here in 1993 there was a ride here where the car you were riding in seemed about to go over a waterfall precipice, but that has gone and a new attraction based around the popular Frozen film is being built. EPCOT is by now getting quite busy!

We came to the America Pavilion and it was here we bought the ham and cheese sandwich that I mentioned in a previous article. We shared it but even so we had to take out literally two thirds of the filling before we could face it. Before we could squeeze it small enough to get in our mouths, come to think of it...

We were sitting on some benches in front of a stage. In England you might get a pigeon or some sparrows walking round your feet looking for crumbs. Here it was a dirty great stork...

...and this long-billed whatever. Suddenly there was movement on the stage. A group was coming on. However it turned out to be an acapella group of the "our voices are our instruments" type. Anyone who says that is just admitting they are either too lazy or too unskilled to learn to play an instrument in my opinion and this lot certainly needed some instrumentation, because all five of them had their own individual idea of where middle C should be... They were awful and we left hurriedly. The UK made up for it because a rock band from England were playing in a bandstand in a little area like a park at the back of the UK Pavilion and they were really good.

Morocco - having been to the real place and having found it quite stressful this was much better. No strangers approached to tell us facts we already knew or didn't want to know and then immediately demanded payment for acting as a guide for instance...

Canada. The building is modelled on Fairmont Château Laurier, a hotel in Ottawa. The EPCOT version is actually only a three-storey building. Those windows are very small!

We leave the lagoon and the World Showcase and head back towards the sphere of Spaceship Earth. This large fountain has several jets and they are co-ordinated with a music soundtrack that plays at regular intervals. If your feet are not shouting at the top of their voices, it is very impressive. If they are, you couldn't care less...

Miss Franny decided she was in need of something to eat. We were due to meet the EGGs later on to eat at Disney Springs, a sort of extended outdoor mall with shops, eateries and some other bits and pieces. We'll see it in the next article. But for now, we share a portion of fries. Fries... ask for "chips" and you'll get crisps.

Disney Springs can only be reached by bus from a Disney Resort. We asked which was the nearest and caught a totally empty bus to Disney's Saratoga Springs. I remembered James Bond visiting the horse racing at the real Saratoga Springs in the book Diamonds Are Forever and resolved not to stay for a mud bath...

We got off the bus and the next one right behind was for Disney Springs. The placing of seating along the side cuts down the number of available seats but makes it possible for guests on mobility scooters to pass along the aisle. The grey seats fold up to provide space for them with anchorage points.

Disney World Holiday Index