Hey Howdy Hey, Today we are going to go back and visit an evening at Crescent Lake from early April 2018. For those unaware, Crescent Lake is the Epcot Resort area located behind World Showcase and accessed via the International Gateway entrance at the rear of the park. To reach this entrance / exit from inside the park, bear right as you approach the France … Continue reading Let’s Visit… An Evening at Crescent Lake
“To all who come to this happy place; welcome. Disneyland is your land. Here age relives fond memories of the past…and here youth may savor the challenge and promise of the future. Disneyland is dedicated to the ideals, the dreams and the hard facts that have created America…with the hope that it will be a source of joy and inspiration to all the world.” — Walt Disney’s Disneyland Dedication Speech on July 17, 1955
On this day in 1955, Disneyland officially opened its gates to guests for the first time. It’s fairly well known by now, but the day itself was actually a quite the disaster. The park, which was only supposed to opened to set amount of invited guests, was completely overcrowded and overwhelmed due to a large number of counterfeit tickets being sold (as well as some people even resorting to sneaking over the fences). Venders ran out of food, traffic was backed up for hours in the area, and drinking fountains ran dry (due to a local plumbers strike). On top of everything, it was over 100 degrees out and there are reports that women’s high heels were sinking into the aphalt. The asphalt had just been poured that morning in a last minute effort to finish the park on time. Walt would go on to refer to the day as Black Sunday, a name which has stuck to this day.
Luckily, despite scathing media reviews of the first day, this story went on to have a happy ending. After a strong re-do the following day, Disneyland would go to welcome 1 million visitors in its first ten weeks of operation. Furthermore, it went on to define the American theme park. Whether it is at Disneyland in California, or Walt Disney World in Florida, visiting a Disney park has become an American rite of passage for children of generations to come. Continue reading “Happy Birthday Disneyland”
A walk around Disney’s Port Orleans: French Quarter
First, a brief background. French Quarter is one of four WDW “moderate” resorts (five if you count the cabins at Fort Wilderness). It is is the original Port Orleans resort, opening under that name in 1991. It was themed to the “French Quarter” section of New Orleans in terms of architecture and style. In 1992, Disney opened Disney’s Dixie Landings Resort adjacent to the original Port Orleans. Dixie Landings would later go on to be re-branded as part of Port Orleans Resort in the 2001. It was renamed to Port Orleans: Riverside, representing plantation and bayou areas of Louisiana. The original Port Orleans Resort would become Port Orleans: French Quarter. Continue reading “Lets Visit… Port Orleans Resort: French Quarter”
Universal Orlando is Walt Disney World’s biggest competition in the Orlando area, and for the most part it delivers. I personally don’t think it is in the same league as Disney, but there is a specific demographic who will prefer it (mainly teens or young adults who want nothing but thrills, or kids these days who like to stare at screens for hours on end). That being said, I love to see Universal do well as strong competition can do nothing but good for Disney park fans.
Where Universal falls short for me is its lack of ride variety, paid express pass and various issues I’ve had or witnessed with customer service / employee attitudes. The paid express pass really irks me, not only because it can cost as much as entry to the park itself, but also because I routinely still waited 20 minutes to ride each of the two times I purchased it. The dining is also terrible.
One thing I can’t deny however, is that Universal Orlando has some killer attractions. Sadly, none of these have opened within the last 3 years, which means I haven’t been a big fan of recent park additions (I’m looking at you Fallon). That being said, here are 11 fantastic rides you can experience at Universal Orlando. Continue reading “Top 11 Rides at Universal Orlando”
One of the more controversial elements of the Disney parks over the past couple years has been the increase in upcharge events / experiences offered. The general hubbub when it comes to these upcharges is that it takes magic away from the common visitor in order to create a better experience for those who can afford to pay for it. This creates a form of class warfare in many’s eyes. While I suppose this is true to an extent, I think the impacts these experiences have on the common guest are way overblown. Most of these experiences are unobtrusive to the guest experience, and wouldn’t even be noticed by someone visiting who was unaware they existed.
The exceptions to that however, are the seasonal party events which close the park early (figure 6 or 7 pm) to all regular guests not attending the hard ticketed event. This seriously upsets a lot of people when they are planning their trips and can only find 2 or 3 nights of the week that Magic Kingdom is open past 7 pm. No in park dining reservations after 5:30, no fastpass after 6:00, no fireworks. I get why it gets folks upset. I am here to tell you its not all bad though. With a little proper planning its entirely possible to turn what looks to be a negative into a huge positive. This is my case as to why you should attend Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party. Continue reading “Why You Should Attend Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party”
Escape with me to your happy place! When you are curious, you find lots of interesting things to do. — Walt Disney Disney Park Photos Non Disney Photos Continue reading The Journey Begins
WDW Therapy: A Disney State of Mind 