I really wondered why Disney decided to remodel the logs on
Disney decided to redesign the logs so more water would fly up and hit everyone in the face. They redesigned it to really soak people. Why? That makes no sense.
I decided to do what I do best, I looked into it.
As you know Disney tries to be very PC even when being PC isn’t very PC. They often think of the minority when making decisions. That can be a good thing. It allows a vast majority of people to enjoy Disney World.
According to my fake sources, the
Many people are offended by body odor. It can make people sick and generally ruins a good time. Other people have allergies and have a bad reaction when they are stuck next to someone who smells like they bathed in cologne, such as the cast from
The Imagineers already had a good anti stinky person ride in the form or Kali River Rapids. Even if the guests were wearing ponchos enough water makes it through to be effective. In the
When all of the changes are in place Disney World will be a wetter but less stinky place.
When I heard the news that Disney unloaded the rights to the Mighty Morphing Power Rangers, I jumped for joy. I always hated the Power Rangers. They drove me nuts to begin with never mind the fact that Disney bought the rights and stuck them into DHS.
To put it simply the Power Rangers and Disney were like oil and water. They do not belong together. I can’t tell you how much it annoyed me when I’d be walking through DHS and I’d run into the Power Rangers. I guess I’m a purist. I don’t want to go to Disney and see the Power Rangers, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, or any other non-Disney (Pixar is ok but I don’t want to see Marvel either) characters in the parks.
I’d like to go to DHS on August 7th, 2010 just to celebrate the
A business really shows its true color when something goes wrong. I’ve seen good companies turn into monsters when trying to right a wrong (or in some cases ignoring the wrong).
What did Disney do when my wife and I got stuck on the
We had been through all the drops, entered the maintenance room, turned to face the elevator door and started to move towards it. That’s when we stopped. Right away I knew something was wrong. We were about six inches short of where we needed to be. The music / voiceover ran its length followed by about thirty seconds of silence. Still we were not moving. Next the lights turned off, the wall to the left of us opened and the wall on the right closed for the next ride vehicle.
After about a minute in the dark someone turned the lights on. We could see into the guts of the tower. It was just a typical unthemed area. A mechanic turned the corner with another guy. The mechanic had a uniform on that somewhat fit in with the
First of all the fact that a cast member who is behind the scenes would be required to dress in a costume that fits in with the theme is amazing. The fact that he would be trained not to break the story is even more amazing. That really hits home when you realize he might have to interact with guests only a handful of times a year.
Easily one of the best audio animatronics in Walt Disney World. Mr. Potato Head is a must have for the queue of Toy Story Midway Mania. Without him there would be no distraction from one of the longest lines in all of Disney World.
I’d never really thought about going to go see Beauty and the Beast Live in Disney’s Hollywood Studios but my wife and I were trying to kill some time while we were waiting for our fast passes to become valid. We walked in and took our seats with about five minutes to spare.
One of the best things about this show is it is really live. I know that sounds dumb and the name should have told me that. However, the actors actually sing. After seeing Voyage of the Little Mermaid I was surprised by that.
If you like Beauty and the Beast you will love this show. It has a number of the big songs from the movie. It has most of the characters from the movie too. The costumes are spot on. There are no real special effects. It’s much more a traditional stage show.
The length of the show was good. It came in around thirty minutes. So they didn’t have to really butcher the story like they did in the little mermaid.
I do have one complaint but it’s not really related to the show. Once you are a few minutes into the show, SHUT THE DOOR!!!!! DO NOT let late comers in. I can’t even tell you how many times I had to move, stand up, or lean to see what was going on because people showed up late. The worst case was someone who chose our row to sit in and we all had to stand up to let them in. This happened during the final scene. THE FINAL SCENE! Why?!? They saw about two minutes of the show.
Overall I will do this attraction again. It was worth doing. I will sit closer to the stage next time to avoid as many of the late comers as I can.
The Boardwalk Resort is one of the Epcot Resorts near the Swan and Dolphin, Beach Club, and Yacht Club resorts.
The Boardwalk isn’t the most beautiful resort but it does have its charms. It’s like stepping back in time to the 1920s era boardwalk in
At night everything is lit up with string or neon lights. Nighttime is also when the performers come out. There are magicians and jugglers and other performers. There is also a clown with a squeaky noise for a voice. I avoided him. The noise drove me nuts.
The lobby is spacious and well decorated with large chandeliers, comfy chairs, and antiques. The antiques are the only crank viewers that show a short clip for a penny or the vintage pre-arcade machines. You’ll also find a musical model carousal which goes off every so often. Another model is of a vintage rollercoaster which is lit up.
The rooms are ok. You’ll find much better rooms at the Contemporary. The rooms at the contemporary are larger, cleaner, and better designed. The biggest issue is the bathroom. The toilet and the tub are together while the sinks are outside the bathroom. It was just odd and cumbersome. If someone is stepping out of the bathroom the door will hit anyone washing their hands at the sink. The decorations are nice. The paintings are very nice if you like oils of Disney inspired scenes. The beds are comfy enough although we ended up with two double beds. For some reason I thought the higher end resorts had two queens. The balcony is nice but only two or three people can fit on it. The average cruise ship balcony is bigger.
The location is great. You walk to DHS or Epcot. There are also boats that will take you to both. Most people think walking to DHS takes too long or it’s too far. It is faster than the boat. If the boat is arriving when you start walking you will easily beat the boat to DHS. The Boardwalk is the first stop going towards DHS. That means you have to stop at the Yacht and Beach Club followed by the Swan and Dolphin. When you consider the boats only move about twice as fast as a walk you’ll see why you can easily out walk it.
The walk to Epcot is rather short and is great when you realize you don’t have to wait at the monorail or bus stop to go back to your room after Illuminations.
In the end I don’t know if I’d stay at the Boardwalk again. If I was going to stay in that area I’d try one of the others next. Overall I’d stay at the Poly or Contemporary before the Boardwalk. However, if I was going to be doing a lot in Epcot it would be a decent choice.
Streetmosphere are the mini, random shows that the “Citizens of Hollywood” perform on a couple of the streets in Disney Hollywood Studios. It’s one of the best things about DHS.
On my last vacation I got to experience a few different Streetmosphere shows. The first was a Dorma Nesmond photo shoot. The premise was they trying to film a commercial but people kept walking through the shot. Of course they waited for someone to walk through the shot to start each time. When someone walked into the shot the director would throw his bullhorn at them. Dorma Nesmond is a very quirky actress who hinders things as well. The third part to the show was camera operator who wants to be famous.
The best part about this show is the interactivity. I was filming it so the director started calling me camera two and wanted to make sure I was ready to start filming. Dorma kept walking right up to my camera and doing funny things.
This was the best show I’ve seen in Disney World. I was glad I captured it. I’d share the video but my basset hound chewed the memory card. I lost all my footage of the Animal Kingdom and a vast majority of my DHS footage. Over an hour and a half of HD footage was destroyed forever. The only video from that card that survived is the Festival of the Lion King only because I converted that part it first. To put it lightly I was very upset.
The one Streetmosphere show I can share and will share shortly is the “Department of Public Works.” This was a good show. It consisted of the supervisor and his two idiot underlings. All they had to do was setup some work cones. It took them a long time to get them setup thanks to the idiots. Then they had clean up. The idiots asked why. The Supervisor said its break time. The idiots broke down in record time while the supervisors back was turned.
I’ll try to get this video posted before my dog finds a why to destroy that card too.
I had very low expectations for the Voyage of the Little Mermaid. I thought it was going to be a kids show and that my wife and I would be bored stiff. I was proved wrong.
The queue room for the show is great. They hit the theme right on the head. The decorations are funny and fit perfectly with the Little Mermaid theme.
The first major scene is Sebastian and friends doing “Under the Sea.” This scene is jaw dropping. All the actors are dressed in total black and the puppets light up under a black light. The most amazing part of this scene is how they manage to make the puppets seem like they are swimming and the overall movements. It’s amazing that the actors don’t get in the way of the puppets and that they don’t trip over themselves. I was tempted to watch the entire show twice just to see this scene again.
The rest of the scenes are decent but it’s very obvious everything is lip synced it takes a little out of the show. The effects in all parts are amazing but when they do the water effects the first three or four rows get really wet.
One disappointing was the show was missing a “Kiss the Girl” scene. I bet that would have been awesome. Because it’s missing, the show jumps from Ariel giving up her voice to Ursula being killed which is about two thirds of the movie.
One warning to parents, Ursula might scare younger children. She is rather creepy.
Overall, go see this show. It’s great.
The Tower of Terror is impressive enough during the day. Wait until evening and it gets even more impressive. It's in the top three for Disney Landmarks following only Cinderella's Castle and Spaceship Earth.
On our last day in the parks we found ourselves in DHS on a Thursday. Thanks to Fantasmic the place was busting at the seams. We were hungry and didn’t feel like grabbing quick service or a snack. We walked over to the Prime Time Café. The place was very busy but we were not planning on going to the restaurant. Thanks to podcasts and lots of research I knew the bar at the Prime Time served the full menu. Despite all the people who were waiting to be seated in the main restaurant my wife and I were able to walk right up the bar and sit down next to each other.
We’d eaten there before so we had an idea of what to expect. We ordered the Meat Loaf and the Chicken Caesar Salad. I’m picky about meatloaf but the meatloaf at the 50’s Prime Time is awesome. It really hits the spot. If you are a fan of meatloaf you have to try it. The Chicken Caesar Salad was good. The Caesar dressing wasn’t too thick or too thin. It was too fishy or bland. It was just right.
Another great thing about the 50’s Prime Time is their beers on tap. They mostly have good beers on tap with the only exception being Bud Light. They had the seasonal Sam Adams, Blue Moon and a couple other great beers on tap. However, the real alcohol draw is the mixed drinks. The mixed drinks are inexpensive and they give a good pour. My wife and I ordered
After eating we ordered desert. We split a Peanut Butter and Jelly shake. I forgot how good these are. I am not kidding when I say it is the best food item in Disney World. You have not had a shake / frappe until you have had one of these.
I don’t need to go into other aspects of the restaurant because I’ve already covered it before. If you want more details see “It’s Prime Time.”
The Brown Derby is the best restaurant you’ll find in a theme park. There I said it. There are so many good things about the Brown Derby it’s hard to list them all but I’ll try.
Food: The food is great. The Cobb Salad is a must eat. You can order it as an app that two people can split or as an entrée even though it’s only listed as an app. It’s one of the best salads I’ve ever had. Both my wife and I ordered it and we both loved it even though our tastes often differ.
Another great thing about the food at the Brown Derby is the deserts. They are amazing. I ordered the Grape Fruit cake. Some people might be turned off by the name but it is a great desert. It’s not too sweet and it’s not too tart. It’s a great end to any meal. My wife ordered the
Service: The service was great. Our server was Kimberly from
Atmosphere: The Brown Derby is the best themed of any Disney restaurant. People might laugh at me and say it’s poorly themed. Those people are idiots. People overlook it’s theme because it’s in DHS. If you took the Brown Derby out of DHS people would say it has a great theme. It fits so perfectly into the
Price: A lot of people say that the Brown Derby is expensive. They are right but you’ll spend about the same amount if you eat at Le Cellier. Overall I think it’s a little over priced but when you consider it’s located in a theme park you realize it’s about on par for what they are serving.
Overall the Brown Derby is a great restaurant that everyone should try at least once.
